Angband 4.0 beta release

Nick · March 14, 2015, 02:36

The beta release of Angband 4.0 is now available from the autobuilder page (select the Latest Build link for your platform). The download link on Rephial will remain unchanged until the official release.

This release is the result of a major rewrite, and has been a massive effort by the devteam and many others. It is intended to have no gameplay changes - aside from one obvious one

The highlights are the removal from the game core of any reliance on the user interface (masterminded by takkaria), and the moving to the edit files of a lot of game content. If that seems a bit dull, don't worry; significant gameplay changes are planned for 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, and work on 4.1 will start as soon as the official 4.0 release is out the door.

The purpose of this release is to enable more people to test and find bugs, and to give a first look to the community. There are number of things unfinished - notably, the thanks.txt file needs a big update. Please report bugs as you find them either on the forums or at the bug tracker; the autobuilder page will contain updates as bugs are fixed.

There are a number of changes to the way things work; a list of the main ones is below. Please ask questions if needed, and please play and find as many bugs as possible.

Here are the main noticeable differences:

Savefile compatibility is broken, more thoroughly than you could imagine. Start a new game.
Genders have been removed, but the player history is editable so you can write your own backstory.
Monster memory is no longer in the savefile, but in a file called "lore.txt" in the user directory (\lib\user on Windows, ~/Documents/Angband on OSX, ~/.angband/Angband on Linux). Putting a copy of monster.txt, renamed to lore.txt, in the uder directory will give full monster memory.
There is much more game info in the edit files, and for the most part it should be changeable without breaking the game (or mostly even your savefile). If you want to change an edit file, putting an amended copy in your user directory will make the game load that instead of the regular one.
In particular, there is a new edit file called constants.txt which contains many formerly hardcoded values - dungeon and town level dimensions, store and home invetory size, view and spell ranges just to name a few.
There will be others I have forgotten (especially since this is my second version of this post having accidentally deleted the first)

fizzix · March 14, 2015, 03:00

Make no mistake, this release was about 90% Nick, 9% Takkaria and 1% other people who primarily contributed via "moral support."

Derakon · March 14, 2015, 03:27

Congrats on the release, you guys! This is monumental.

mrrstark · March 14, 2015, 04:05

Excited for the release.

I extracted it to a fresh folder, Windows 7. Made a priest and noticed a couple problems with the XP right off the bat. AU and XP were the same number, then I killed a drunk and the XP went to what's shown in the image.
angband-v4.0beta-1-gf2fa8c2

Nick · March 14, 2015, 05:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrrstark

I extracted it to a fresh folder, Windows 7. Made a priest and noticed a couple problems with the XP right off the bat. AU and XP were the same number, then I killed a drunk and the XP went to what's shown in the image.
angband-v4.0beta-1-gf2fa8c2

Congratulations - first bug, and it's a beauty! I'll see if I can work out what is happening.

Nick · March 14, 2015, 06:08

Well, the good news on this one is that it's just a (Windows only) display bug - if you go to the 'C' screen, you can see the actual values. That said, it's a rather annoying one. I'll post in this thread when there's a fix and updated version.

Raajaton · March 14, 2015, 13:58

Nice! Thanks for all of your hard work! I've got my hands full now between this, the new npp beta, and the new release of neoband. I will start play testing this hopefully later today.

klassik · March 14, 2015, 18:27

yay, things are moving forward.

great job!!!

Nick · March 15, 2015, 02:20

OK, there's an update which seems to fix the windows number display bug, and also fixes a bug which was causing crashes on exit in windows.

Please download the latest and find more bugs!

Nick · March 15, 2015, 03:40

One other change I forgot to mention - ammo is automatically put in the quiver now, there is no need to wield it.

March 14, 2015, 02:36	#1
Nick Vanilla maintainer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 57 Posts: 9,426 Donated: $60	Angband 4.0 beta release The beta release of Angband 4.0 is now available from the autobuilder page (select the Latest Build link for your platform). The download link on Rephial will remain unchanged until the official release. This release is the result of a major rewrite, and has been a massive effort by the devteam and many others. It is intended to have no gameplay changes - aside from one obvious one The highlights are the removal from the game core of any reliance on the user interface (masterminded by takkaria), and the moving to the edit files of a lot of game content. If that seems a bit dull, don't worry; significant gameplay changes are planned for 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, and work on 4.1 will start as soon as the official 4.0 release is out the door. The purpose of this release is to enable more people to test and find bugs, and to give a first look to the community. There are number of things unfinished - notably, the thanks.txt file needs a big update. Please report bugs as you find them either on the forums or at the bug tracker; the autobuilder page will contain updates as bugs are fixed. There are a number of changes to the way things work; a list of the main ones is below. Please ask questions if needed, and please play and find as many bugs as possible. Here are the main noticeable differences: Savefile compatibility is broken, more thoroughly than you could imagine. Start a new game. Genders have been removed, but the player history is editable so you can write your own backstory. Monster memory is no longer in the savefile, but in a file called "lore.txt" in the user directory (\lib\user on Windows, ~/Documents/Angband on OSX, ~/.angband/Angband on Linux). Putting a copy of monster.txt, renamed to lore.txt, in the uder directory will give full monster memory. There is much more game info in the edit files, and for the most part it should be changeable without breaking the game (or mostly even your savefile). If you want to change an edit file, putting an amended copy in your user directory will make the game load that instead of the regular one. In particular, there is a new edit file called constants.txt which contains many formerly hardcoded values - dungeon and town level dimensions, store and home invetory size, view and spell ranges just to name a few. There will be others I have forgotten (especially since this is my second version of this post having accidentally deleted the first) __________________ One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

March 14, 2015, 06:08	#6
Nick Vanilla maintainer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 57 Posts: 9,426 Donated: $60	Well, the good news on this one is that it's just a (Windows only) display bug - if you go to the 'C' screen, you can see the actual values. That said, it's a rather annoying one. I'll post in this thread when there's a fix and updated version. __________________ One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

March 15, 2015, 02:20	#9
Nick Vanilla maintainer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 57 Posts: 9,426 Donated: $60	OK, there's an update which seems to fix the windows number display bug, and also fixes a bug which was causing crashes on exit in windows. Please download the latest and find more bugs! __________________ One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

March 15, 2015, 03:40	#10
Nick Vanilla maintainer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 57 Posts: 9,426 Donated: $60	One other change I forgot to mention - ammo is automatically put in the quiver now, there is no need to wield it. __________________ One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

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March 14, 2015, 03:00	#2
fizzix Prophet Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Madison, Wisconsin, US Posts: 3,025	Make no mistake, this release was about 90% Nick, 9% Takkaria and 1% other people who primarily contributed via "moral support."

March 14, 2015, 03:27	#3
Derakon Prophet Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 9,022	Congrats on the release, you guys! This is monumental.

March 14, 2015, 04:05	#4
mrrstark Adept Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 101	Excited for the release. I extracted it to a fresh folder, Windows 7. Made a priest and noticed a couple problems with the XP right off the bat. AU and XP were the same number, then I killed a drunk and the XP went to what's shown in the image. angband-v4.0beta-1-gf2fa8c2

March 14, 2015, 13:58	#7
Raajaton Swordsman Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 296	Nice! Thanks for all of your hard work! I've got my hands full now between this, the new npp beta, and the new release of neoband. I will start play testing this hopefully later today.

March 14, 2015, 18:27	#8
klassik Apprentice Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: virginia, usa Posts: 87	yay, things are moving forward. great job!!!

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