Patch Notes: 1.2.00
Patch Categories
epitaph epiphany eidolon
Armageddon
November 30, 2015
Bug Fixes
- Various small bug and typo fixes.
- Many warnings fixed in the mudlib.
- An issue with the epitaph_time function has been fixed - it will now always give you the time converted to the local time.
- An issue with calculatng weather times has been fixed.
- A bug with cleaning up /net/obj/fplayer instances has been fixed.
- An issue with the persistance of chatter objects has been fixed.
- An issue with the persistance of shop inventories has been fixed.
General
- The patch numbers for Epitaph (the game) and Epiphany (the lib) have been separated out.
- New 'libpatches' command gives you the patch details for the Epiphany lib. Available only to creators. Functionality the same as the core 'patches' command.
- The web interface for the patch system has been changed to display patches from all valid categories.
- Version numbers for the trivial portion of the patch notes have now been changed to always have at last two digits - patch 1.0.1 is now patch 1.0.01.
- The way in which auto loading works has been changed for inventory objects, handling them all on call_outs. This means that containers full of things will take a while to fully load, but it also means that auto loading should no longer be a source of lag.
- All containers will now come with a 'The inventory is still being generated' inform when you look at them while auto loading is going on.
- Corpses have been moved off of the old 'bits' system and to a new, simpler system which allows for heads, bones, tissue samples and internal organs to be butchered out of a corpse. This will hugely simplify the task of handling races and bit objects.
- Special corpse bits can be added to NPCs with the new add_corpse_bit function.
- Nationalities have been converted from LPC objects to data files, and a new nationality handler has been put in place to deal with the various calls.
- The gore system, and the /mudlib/mixins/basic/gore.c file have been removed, with the intention of focusing instead on the staining system.
- Bury is now a living, rather than player, command.
- Race objects have been simplified and then moved to /data/races/. They no longer use the bits data, as this has been superceded by our new simplified bits system.
- A web log viewer has been added to /www/secure/creator/. It works on the current logs and offers a way of browsing through historical logs also.
- The format of logging is now JSON rather than XML.
- Set_shopkeeper now lets you pass in string parameters to customise enter and exit messages.
- Switching a light source on and off can now generate maestro events - 'light' and 'no_light'
- The breakable object system no longer tracks its own damage values, and instead uses the standard condition system.
- All objects extending from STD_OBJECT can now make use of set_general_check to create bespoke checks in whatever category you like - for example, there is now a check for whether something is a luxury for a person - the following is for a tampon: set_general_check ("luxury", (: $1->query_gender() == 2 :));
- A general check can now be performed with query_general_check, passing the category of check and the appropriate object.
- Knacks now have two new fields -; item->decrepitude and = ->suitable_random_knack. The first lets you flag up a knack as being a decrepitude, the latter lets you mark it as suitable for being added randomly to NPCs. Two new utility functions in the knack handler have been added to use them, and the challenge handler has been modified to use this rather than a hard-coded list of suitable knacks.
- A new 'request' command has been added, giving a simpler and more reliable and consistent way for creators to request items from the various handlers in the game. It now supports searching.
- The gender subsystem has been rewritten to permit for 'transexual' genders, which will result in gender neutral pronouns being used instead of the usual binary gender ones. The login system has been adjusted to permit male, female and 'transexual'.
- The help generator will now expand definitions within files when documents are generated
- Helpfile generation is now handled via call_outs, to avoid the grind that normally accompanies the process.Test characters now have access to all character benefits.
- By passing in a two element array as the difficulty to the task mapper's perform_task, you can now set an 'effective difficulty grade' which is used for TM calculations. This allows for the difficulty to vary even when the TM chances should not be impacted.
- The internals of the load_chat system have been entirely rewritten to clean up what had become an incredibly ugly and cumbersome system. It now works more cleanly using mappings and roulette_wheels, but it should have no impact externally.
- A 'set_fixed_weight' function has been added, for items which should bypass standard weight calculations.
Inherits
- A new set of light source inherits has been added. They stem from /mudlib/mixins/light_source, and are /mudlib/articulations/hand_held_light_source and /mudlib/articulations/worn_light_source. All torches and the like should now inherit from this.
- Test characters now use a /global/testchar inherit. This gives them access to the (cre) channel. They also now have their own entry on the 'who' line for their classification.
- All NPCs now inherit the new /mudlib/inherits/npc/trader inherit. This makes them respond to trade inquiries from players, and handles the listing and buying of extra inventory.
- The general shop inherit has been separated from the faction architecture, and moved into /mudlib/inherits/shops/inherit/base_general_shop.c. The file that resides in /mudlib/inherits/shops/general_shop.c is now the standard fsction articulation, which can be used as a base for non-faction based shops.
Interactions And Ambiance
- The soul system has been obsoleted by the new interaction system. These are handled by the new interaction handler, and /data/interactions/
- The Mercurial system was added to the game. This allows for NPCs to be given contextually sensitive moods and memories, and allows for players to interact with them based on their current emotional setup.
- The 'resolve' wellbeing measure has been removed and replaced with a player mood system, driven by mercurial.
- The Ambience system was put in place.
- Room chats moved from the room handler to the new Ambiance handler.
Performance
- Performance of the wellbeing system improved.
- Performance of the wander system improved.
- Performance of words_for_short and aliases_from_word improved by cacheing results in the string handler.
Rebooting
- Rebooting now has a delay on allowing players and creators to log on again, to allow for the delayed loading handlers to do their thing. Players and creators will also be prevented from logging on at any time these handlers are loading.
Searching
- A new 'string search handler' has been added, creating a cached framework for running searches against text within the game. See the schematics and achievements systems for examples of how it works.
Simul Efuns
- A walk_directory sfun has been added - it recursively explores a provided directory and gives a list of all subdirs.
- get_includes has been added as an sfun - it will give you the list of includes set up in any given file.
- expand_definitions is now provided as an sfun - pass it a definition and a file, and it will return what the appropriate #define result would be.
- A series of new efuns for handling rooms has been added. These are 'evaluate_room_and_exit which will run an evaluate on a room and all rooms linked to it, and return the ones that evaluate to true. 'get_building_rooms' will allow you to throw a 'net' over a room and return all of the rooms linked to it that are inside. query_entry_points will return the rooms in a building (as defined in the previous sfun) that have outside exits. It can ignore, or not, barricades as needed.
Stronghold System
- A significant chunk of new files has been added to support the stronghold system. These include the stronghold handler, the various inherits and articulations, and the data files to support this.
- All in-game furniture now stems off of the stronghold_equipment inherit. This includes the storage and surface base inherits.
- A new command, '/cmds/player/strong_holds' has been added to act as the primary player interface to the system.