This is a list of new features in the current version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version: 3.12 BETA Released: December-22th-2009 * Saved characters from the previous versions (major version 3.10) are * compatible with this version, but the world they lived in will be lost. * See THE MIGRATION section before hurrying ahead with your old adventurer. - fixed: storehouse re-stocking Storehouses in villages will now re-stock from time to time even if the player isn't picking up any goods from them. You didn't find that shovel you were looking for? Maybe you should come back later on. - fixed: eternal flame bug If you left a zoomed-in area where a fire was burning, it could still be burning when you came back - no matter how long you were gone. - fixed: fire not burning down the flora - floating status of some wooden items checked - including some vital elements like rafts and punts - balanced prices of overvalued items such as javelins, staffs and clubs - fixed: possibility to make squirrels withdraw (and come down) from a tree - fixed: shutter deconstruction not bringing back the logs used - the effect of cold balanced You will still be prone to the cold weather just like previously but frostbite isn't as common anymore, except in extreme (wintertime) conditions. - improved: graphics, diversity and generation of zoomed-in maps Graphical improvements consist of re-drawn tiles and smoother representation of overlapping and curving terrain features, smoother seasonal ground/water/ice colouring etc. You'll see. * In addition to having just one simple "ground"-tile, we now have a couple different kinds of undergrowth and ground foundation tiles, which define not only the look of the terrain but several other factors as well. The new undergrowth types are: - Lichen Lichen mostly appears around pine heathland areas - especially in the whole new lichenous pine forest terrain type. - Moss ...which previously appeared as a tiny, barely noticeable tile here and there now forms larger continuous areas and has claimed its place as a dominant ground-cover in some types of forests and wetland areas. The new ground foundation types are: - Bedrock Plain bedrock is most commonly revealed on higher cliffs, mountain tops and the shores. No trees can grow on bedrock, and shovel work there is naturally useless as well. - Crag A crag is a rugged, rocky area that appears on the ground, mostly at higher heathland areas, shores and mountains. The layer of ground on top of the crag is very thin, revealing rocks and stones that lay on top of the bedrock. * Notice that the undergrowth (moss and lichen) can also grow where trees and plants can't, so you may occasionally run into bedrock or crag with your shovel even on a moss-covered forest tile. * All the zoomed-in terrain maps are now generated in more detail and also have stronger terrain type dependant characteristics and landscapes, as they are generated and presented on four levels: 1) ground foundation 2) undergrowth 3) pickable plants/berries/items etc. 4) trees/boulders/man-made constructions etc. (Oh, and the fifth element would be the elevation.) More ground foundation and undergrowth types are now easy to introduce and will be added later on. - some additions to hypertext game info * "TRACKING" re-written to match the current version * added new topics: VILLAGE, KOTA and SINGLE FARM. - villagers now practice a certain discipline as to how one is allowed to act in their territory You will be verbally and/or physically ordered if you break the rules of good behaviour. And if one seems not to learn their lesson, at some point the villagers will lose their patience and decide to get rid of you for good. Behaviour that isn't allowed anymore would be something like: - setting traps - felling trees within the village - setting a fire in a suspicious location (i.e. next to somebody's wall) - deconstructing buildings ...and so on - go figure :) - fixed: "Learn a new ritual"-task not getting completed if character has already mastered all of the rituals - improved: Hiding Hiding works pretty much the same way as previously, but there are some changes in game-mechanics: * Even though you are moving in an area where there isn't much cover to hide behind, hiding now means that you are also trying to move as silently as possible. So now it's possible to try to sneak closer to a sleeping game animal, for example, even in relatively open terrain. * Sneaking is prone to physical penalty and agility. Your chances of success at moving silently are better if you are lightly equipped, don't limp and don't need to cry out in pain every time you move your body. * Hiding mode will continue until you choose another type of movement (running for example) or quit hiding. Hiding isn't automatically stopped even if you are notified. If your prey hears you closing in, or even spots you, staying still trying to sneak forwards after a short pause will sometimes work. Of course only a foolish character would keep on hiding and sneak ahead slowly when the enemy has clearly seen him and is handling his battleaxe with a grin. - The biggest and the most fundamental addition in this version is the whole new random world generator. Before introducing this major change in more detail, let's introduce "the migration" process. This is how your old character, from the old world and the previous version of the game can be brought into this new version and also have a new world created. THE MIGRATION (of a saved character from the previous version of the game) * Do not uninstall the previous version of the game before your character has been succesfully migrated. * Install the new version and copy your character folder from the previous installation to the installation folder of this new version. * Now as you load your character with the new version a migration will start. An information box will appear, telling you pretty much same the thing that we describe here now. As you decide to proceed with the migration your character will bring along to the new map all the items in your inventory plus all the animals and party members you have leashed or nearby you. The migration can be accomplished only when your character was saved on a wilderness scale map. For this reason take some time to play the old version to gather your valuables with you and have your companions and animals around you. * Upon migration the old old world you lived in will be completely lost and replaced with a new random world. Solid structures can not be migrated. Only inventory items, leashed animals and party members. * After you've chosen to proceed with the migration, a new random world generator will pop up and you are off to generate a new unreal world for your character. Take some time to get to know the new landscape as from now on this is the world you'll be living in - there's no changing the campaign map after this. (Take a look at the section below which covers the new features of the random world generator). * If you are not satisfied with some aspect of the migration, for example location to start on or the area that was migrated, do try it again until you are happy with it. For migrating the character again quit the game without saving or otherwise delete your character from the new installation and proceed again from the top of this list. In case of unexpected troubles or in a need for personal migration assistance you can always contact the author. - random world generator overhaul (- a monumental task in a nutshell :) The random world generator itself has been completely re-written - and that means lots of new code and additions all over the game. What catches your eye first are the few visual changes in map generation and map of known areas displays: * The map is six times larger than previously and contains the whole UnReal World peninsula. * The look of the random world generator is fresh, but the basic controls are the same. You can re-randomize the map and starting location, zoom in and out and see cultural regions and when you are happy with the world you just enter and play it. * Color indicators of the cultural regions have been modified. * In-game display of map of known areas will also show you a little navigation box telling you which area of the map is being shown. New features of the random world generator itself are: * As the map is bigger, it now covers all the cultural regions. * A new map is generated only when creating a new character. Once you enter the world, there is no longer any need to cross the map border. * Different cultures are spread around the map in the areas we've learned to expect them, and now there's also a Njerpez territory in the south-east. * All the details are randomly generated, but the overall structure of the world is somewhat fixed. You will find most of the mountains near the northern coast-line. There are major lake-regions, where lakes are connected with rivers. The rivers flow all the way down to the sea, and sea-water is now distinguished from lakes. * There are also new terrain types: - Fortified village. Both the Driikiläiset and Njerpezit have some of these. - Settlement. A newly established house by NPCs. You won't find any stores there. - Lichenous pine-forest. An area with dry, sandy soil covered with lichen. Typically only pine trees grow here. - Pasture. An area where animals go to graze. It's mostly grass and might have some older trees here and there. - Cliff. Plain exposed bed-rock which grows almost nothing. You might only find one or two twisted pines rooted in the crags of the cliff. - Water tiles now come in different grades of depth. Shallow water is where you can wade. Normal water is where you can touch the bottom with a sesta, i.e. two or three meters (six to nine feet) deep. Everything deeper than that is graded as deep water. - Sea-water has its own tiles. - Road. In central areas of some cultural regions you'll find roads connecting the villages. * Region names are also generated with a whole new algorithm which pays attention to whether the area is forest, lake, island, bay, peninsula, mountain, hill etc. thus giving meaningful names in finnish. In addition to this a (sloppy) english translation of the region names is also shown to bring some extra flavour for non-finnish players. - added: height curves Terrain height is now generated for the whole random world and brings especially the zoomed-in map movement and graphical representation up to a whole new level. Different kinds of height curves are generated for mountains and hills, swamps and woodland areas and all of these blend together to create a seamless topographical surface. This beautiful new addition is best seen and experienced in the game itself, but a few things worth mentioning would be: * Character's field of vision is (naturally) prone to height curves, so some new tactical factors arise; hills, valleys, and ridges can provide different kinds of possibilities both for hiding and observing your surroundings. * There are hills and cliffs of varying steepness. Usually your character will be able to climb up or down a hill just by moving normally, sometimes the climbing skill is needed and sometimes you may encounter an upright cliff that is just impossible to pass - and you have to find an alternative route to reach your destination. Differences in steepness are also represented graphically so you'll soon learn to read the terrain height at a glance. * Even though the graphical and tactical additions brought on by height curves are in effect up to their maximum on the zoomed-in maps they also affect the wilderness map. Different terrain types now have a much wider scale in height than the previous basic "hills & mountains = high, everything else = low" categorization. By wandering on the wilderness map you'll find out that heathlands and pine forests range higher than conifer forests, and the swamps and wetland areas remain very low. The mountains and hills aren't the only lookout terrain types anymore - you can now also stand on a high heathland ridge and see backwoods far away and down below slowly turning into a wetland area - and so on. In general, the forest areas on the wilderness map don't block your eyesight as completely anymore as they slope on different levels of height. - added: Njerpez villages As revealed above in the south-east now appears an actual land of the Njerpez where your character can also travel to (preferably heavily armed). And on their own land the Njerpez live in the villages with some storehouses and livestock. As we have learned the Njerpez war-parties in the Unreal World do include only men, but in their villages you can find Njerpez women also. The land of the Njerpez continues to be an unfriendly place to visit but a good place for an adventure or revenge. And for the character who is after vengeance a carefully-planned attack on their villages may be satistactory AND profitable - especially if you happen to find a stockpile of loot. - added: Better and more fair (player wise) line-of-sight routines for NPCs including facing direction Line-of-sight is now calculated exactly the same way for you and for all the NPCs and animals. NPCs (and animals) also have a facing direction which is shown by a little blue arrow on their avatar - naturally pointing in the direction they are facing. This brings in more tactical possibilities to sneak up on your prey from behind. Also, when an alert NPC suddenly turns around 180 degrees to face in your direction that should tell you that it probably heard you approaching. - improved: AI in enemy selection for your party members and dogs Your companions and dogs will now only attack targets that they can see. They won't rush away for some random target in the distance like previously. As your companions maybe facing in another direction than you they can sometimes guard your back very effectively. In case your companion doesn't see an enemy to attack, they will attack the enemy within your sight. - improved: NPC combat AI and maneuvers and morale checks All of these changes apply to all the NPCs - so in the case of your companions they are helpful, and in the case of your enemies they might be downright nasty. * Weapon wielding: NPCs prefer to wield and use weapons that they master the best, or the ones which will cause the maximum damage - depending on how they see the situation. NPCs can also change their mind and wield another weapon even in the middle of the battle if they think it's a good idea. * Added archery for NPCs! - Not every NPC owns a bow, but those who do and choose to use it in a battle can be very dangerous enemies. There are no stories (yet) of an adventurer surviving an encounter with a party of Njerpez warriors armed with bows. * NPC combat morale is calculated in an entirely new, more intelligent way and there's also more variety between individual NPCs. Basic rules will deal with hits taken and given, and the number of fighting men on each side, but you can also expect to see some surprising courage, loss of control or a sudden fall in morale. Have some fun personal battles! :) - improved: Animal morale and approach/hurt/escape behaviour Just like with NPCs you can expect more variety between individual animals, even though the main characteristics for each species are determined. * A whole new behaviouristic feature in addition to plain escaping is hiding - which hares and birds (for example) tend to do. Now some animals don't necessarily reveal themselves to a hunter by escaping right away, but rather stay still and hope for the threat to go away. And indeed sometimes your prey may be hiding just behind the tree as you pass by. * Larger beasts, mostly bears, can make false attacks. Staying calm while under attack or even taking few bites(!) without charging back can sometimes save your life. * A desperation factor has also been added and it can sometimes turn an escaping, timid beast suddenly aggressive if the animal sees charging back as the only way to get rid of a tormenting hunter. As a result of all the new factors, you can also regularly encounter animals that don't behave the way you've learned to expect them to behave. For example, you might encounter an elk who will calmy stare the approaching hunter in the eye when it's more common for them to bolt off into the woods. And there might be a pack of wolves that can be scared away by throwing a branch at them. General behaviour rules for each species are dominant, but every now and then ananimal can surprise even an experienced adventurer. - added: a description of which direction the attack is coming from when you are attacked from behind. This is vital information especially when someone is shooting arrows at you. - added: tracks on the zoomed-in maps Wandering animals will now also leave tracks on the zoomed-in maps. In the wintertime even the lightest animal will leave tracks in the snow, so wintertime is the most fruitful hunting season for trackers. When there's no snow on the ground only the larger, heavier animals will leave visible tracks - unless the soil is suitable (ie. soft and moist) for the lightest prints to show. Each animal will have their unique tracks shown graphically. You will spot tracks automatically when you are nearby them, but only from a relatively short distance and this is also subject to your character's eyesight. The graphical representation of the track can indicate its age so that the freshest tracks can be clearly seen, and the older ones are alphablended into the soil according to their age. TRACKING-skill itself now works on the zoomed-in map also and can be used to tell you details of the tracks at your location. Even if there's no visible tracks in sight you can use the TRACKING-skill to look around more carefully and upon success figure out that there actually seems to be a vague trail nearby. Even if the animal leaves tracks, it doesn't leave them in every location it's at - except when it's walking in the snow. As the elk escapes from you and you rush after it you will find a track here and another there. Circling around, determining the direction of the tracks, some good guessing and sometimes returning to the last clear track and starting again may be required to stay on the trail. But all in all, this is a whole new way to enjoy hunting! In the wintertime a hunter who is skiing after his prey can build a warm camp for the night, rest and continue tracking again in the morning. The tracks will stay there - unless it's snowing a lot. Also it may be very interesting to come out of your cottage in the morning and notice that a bear had been circling around the animal pen during the night. In the wintertime the tracks of small animals can be fun just to find and follow. There may be a surprising amount life around you all the time even though your traps stay untouched and you've heard nor encountered nothing else for days but the wide wilderness humming at your back. - fixed: 'figure in distance' being lost after zoomed-in encounter The problem we had was: You spot a wandering creature on the wilderness map, an encounter happens on a zoomed-in map and as you return to the wilderness map you can't find the same 'figure in distance' anymore - even though we all know it's still in the area. This has been fixed now: If you lose the creature on the zoomed-in map, you may still spot it as a 'figure in distance' on the wilderness map. - zoomed-in locations of wilderness encounters improved Upon encountering a wandering animal/human in the wilderness the encountered being is now always within the field of vision of your character. Even if you haven't explored the zoomed-in map before, expect to find some bits of the map already known to you after zooming in. This simulates the character being more careful when wandering through the terrain prior to encounter, and also sometimes needing some circling around the exact location of the encounter before spotting the wildlife. - fixed: crash potential when dropping the last item from inventory - fixed: villages becoming deserted The ghost town syndrome is gone for good now. People may still wander away from the village for a little while but they will return for sure now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------