MedievaLands Forums

This update to MedievaLands includes many behind the scenes changes, and one very small change to the Soldiers Quarters in Yserbius. The quick summary is that I have changed a number of systems but this should not change how the game works or looks - so if you see any oddness as you play this version, please let me know so I can fix any bugs I have introduced.

Here are the five changes I have made in the past two weeks:

First, I have spent ten hours moving all the style and color code into a single place in the source code. My idea here is that if I ever want to change the color scheme of the game - for example, to make it more uniform throughout - it will be much easier to make that happen. (However, I have not made any changes to the actual colors or styles yet - so if you see some strange looking fonts or a bizarrely colored window, let me know and I will return it to how it used to look.)

Second, I have spent another ten hours moving several hundred text strings out of the source code and into a localization database. My goal with this change is to make it easier to edit the text in the game. I estimate that I have another several hundred text strings left to go, so this is very much in progress. (However, I have not made any changes yet to the text strings. If you see some bizarre out of place text - or if you see a "LOC_ERR" message, meaning that a localization string is missing, please let me know.)

Third, I have combined the point-of-view renderers for Yserbius and Twinion to a single generic renderer. Less code is always better, and as a side benefit Yserbius could now potentially use all the graphical resources from Twinion - and vice versa. (However, I have not made any changes to the textures in either game. If you see some incorrect walls, doors, or out of place objects, please let me know and I will fix those!)

Fourth, I have rewritten the compression and decompression code. In general, resources should be packed more tightly and the game will no longer allocate a byte buffer for every call to the decompression routine. This should be unnoticeable to players - but you can rest assured that the MedievaLands engine is in the best shape ever.

Finally, I have created a new map data format, and translated all the maps currently in the game to the new format. The new format is more explicit in how it invokes map script events, which is very exciting from a scripting perspective. Just as exciting from the designer perspective, I can now edit the map geometry and create my own maps. But I have not done any of that yet - except for one small change to the Soldiers Quarters map on level one of the dungeon of Yserbius: I have removed the lock pick requirement from the back door in that map. This change is meant to improve the player experience for new players: it has always struck me as odd that the requirement to open the shortcut door in the Soldiers Quarters was the same as the door at the very end of the level which leads to the same space. From my perspective, you should be rewarded for traversing the entire level - not frustrated with a locked door after a punishing trip. The shortcut remains locked - you'll continue to need a lockpick or the lockpicking skill to open that door.

In addition to all these items, I have fixed two rare bugs that could cause the client to disconnect: one where you tried to use a skill when dead, and one where you died while teleporting between maps. These changes firm up the game's stability - MedievaLands is in a really good place now, and continues to improve with every update.

Until next time, take care, and keep in touch.

Zane