Beta and Demo Changes in 0.963
Updates in both the beta and demo in 0.963 include:
- Fixed a bug that caused scavenging to fail if no tools or skills were selected.
- Added code to regionalize creatures, so dogmen are more in the north, looters near DMC, and bandits/raiders in SW.
- Changed clean rags to only degrade over time while installed on a wound.
- Changed sleeping bags to stop degrading per hour.
The main reason for uploading a new build today was the critical scavenging fix. Some players noticed that scavenging would fail if they didn't choose any skills or tools. This build should correct that issue.
The other changes were part of the work I had already started when the bug was discovered. The first is regional monsters, which changes the way random monsters are selected. Previously, all monster types were possible everywhere on the map, and always spawned in single numbers.With the regional monster update, different monster types are more common depending on the area of the map. So looters tend to hang out around the DMC, bandits and raiders in the SW map, and dogmen to the north. It's still possible to find each anywhere on the map, but the probabilities have been adjusted. Also, some creatures now appear in small groups, instead of solo.
The clean rags and sleeping bags have been changed so they don't degrade per hour when just sitting around. Originally, this was in place to simulate rags becoming dirty, and sleeping bags wearing out from use. However, they were degrading all the time, even if in sealed containers and unused, which seemed weird. So I'm trying them without degradation until a better solution is available (time permitting). Note that clean rags still degrade normally when used on wounds.
Additional Changes Since the Last News Item
In case you missed it, there was also a build update on February 28th. That update included a change to AI behavior, the ability to cancel a scavenge attempt, and several bug fixes.
Both the beta and demo versions 0.962 included:
- Added leadership to AI, so some will follow others.
- Added code to allow aborting scavenge after seeing chances, but before choosing tools.
- Added code to prevent dragging item copies from crafting screen to other screens.
- Added code to remove camp icon when player empties a camp.
- Added code to remember which page the quick recipes was set to when the player left the craft screen.
- Fixed a bug that caused degraded item contents to get stuck in slot.
- Fixed a bug that caused container contents to be deleted when used in crafting.
- Fixed a bug that caused stacked conditions to not decrement effects correctly.
- Fixed sleeping pill bottle contents in loot tables.
- Fixed a null pointer bug that would occur when exiting craft screen after pressing a quick recipe button.
- Fixed a bug that caused quick recipes beyond page 1 to trigger recipes on page 1.
- Changed drunk condition to increase cooling rate rather than immediately drop core temp.
The AI change was a minor experiment I wanted to try. Each AI now has a random leadership strength, and NPCs of the same faction will tend to follow around the highest leader in view. They'll also start sharing the same home tile. In theory, this should make groups of similar creatures coordinate a bit more (or at least appear to), and also makes their shared home tiles a bit more interesting. I'll be interested to see how this works out in practice, though.
I also added the ability to abort a scavenging attempt after seeing the chances in the stat bars. It will return to the screen where all the scavenge locations are listed, where the user can either choose a different place to scavenge, or exit. This was requested a long time ago, and I happened to remember it as I was messing around in that code.
The rest of the changes are fixes and improvements based on some of the bugs folks have noticed since 0.961 went live.
In addition to the above, the beta has the following update:
- Added code to prevent random encounters from appearing underneath player while loading game.
This happened pretty rarely, but could be quite jarring to players, so I added a check to prevent it.
Let me know if you notice any other issues, and as always, thanks for your patience and feedback!
Fighting more than one enemy at a time!
jeez man! i like a challenge but i hope i dont bump into a pack of dogmen 2 mins after starting a new game.
The good news is that you should run into fewer dogmen in the early game (unless you bee-line to the north). The bad news is that you may run into a gang of bandits, raiders, or looters :)
Of course, bandits, raiders, and looters don't always get along...
Now that sounds interesting, is there a chance the npc's could fight amongst themselves and leave goodies behind?
Absolutely. Any NPC that carries equipment drops that equipment when they die. So provided another NPC doesn't walk off with their stuff, an enterprising scavenger can find some useful stuff!
Only question is, how do i update it to the 0.963, i can go only up to 0.962b. Oh and that would be through desura. Incase the update kicks in automatically in next few hours u can just ignore this post :)
The update has been added to Desura, and is just awaiting authorization. I think they still do auths on the weekend, but if you want to, you can also use the Desura connect feature to access the updated build on bluebottlegames.com:
Bluebottlegames.com
Let me know if you have any other issues!
Thanks for replying so quick. Thanks for the advice - it worked. Also as far as i know desura has approved the update, so im downloading it there as well. Keep up the awesome work!
I've updated it and now whenever I try to scavange it does nothing!
Hey THEJamiboi,
Sorry about that. It looks like the latest build is still awaiting authorization at Desura. If you want, you can get access to the latest build at bluebottlegames.com. The demo is freely available there.
If you purchased NEO Scavenger here, you can also get access to the beta by using the Desura connect feature. This link explains how:
Bluebottlegames.com
Hopefully, this will get you using the latest version (0.963) instead of the broken scavenging version (0.962).