Zelda Classic ongoing Beta reports

[Kratheous]

Originally posted by Dark Nation
[B]1. Finally completed the quest template system. I like it, at least. A new option under the File menu is Quest Templates. This is where you set up your quest templates. These are exported .zqt files. Then, when you select New from the file menu, you can pick what template to start from. The defaults menu will use whatever template you set, as the template filename is saved with the quest now. If you rename the quest template filename, then load a quest that used it, the default menus will fail until you point the quest back to a valid template file. How do you do that? With the template menu in the Quest menu. This is also how you set up a quest template for an older quest you may have. Whether or not a quest has a quest template (valid or otherwise) associated with it has no bearing at all on gameplay.
2. Fixed the bug where if you had a dmap intro string set and had a guy there with a string and you walked into the room, both would start showing up at the same time. Now, the DMap intro shows up, vanishes after a moment, then the guy string shows up.
3. Fixed the bug where a DMap intro string might show up twice.
4. Fixed the bug in ZQuest where the F12 key would turn the vertical flip bit on.
5. Added string linking. Now, when you edit strings, you can hit a check box to make the string linked to the next string. Then, when you play, after the first string shows up, the a short delay occurs. After that, you hit a button and the second one shows up.
6. Fixed and tested the expanded strings. Set up a string in slot 259. Worked for both the room string and the pay for info strings.
7. Fixed problem with some text being garbled (the triangle indicators showing you have more than 3 saved games, the copy indicator for the enemy screen, and the Paused and frames per second indicators, for example).
8. Removed the feature where tiles would not be saved if you were using the default tileset. While it makes quests larger for original-style ones where you don't edit any tiles, it makes things easier on my end. Plus, it makes it where you don't have to edit a tile just to get the MapMaker to work right.

FatCatFan, let me know when you get back and I'll send you all the important information about the new file format.

I'm thinking of going ahead and starting work on combo revamping. When completed, this will eliminate combo pages entirely. I could even double the number of available combos.

Or, I could hold off on that for another beta or two. Maybe add a few new minor features, like the trigger events that Jigglysaint mentioned or the frame for messages that I had talked about.
B]

[Cyclone]

I'm NOT using QUOTE tags.

• Possibly fixed the bug where older quests that were imported wouldn't display strings when you play them. Couldn't reproduce the bug, so couldn't test it. Any takers?
• Potion shops now work in dungeons
• Fairy ponds now work in dungeons
• Fixed a bug with dmap intros and fairy ponds where link would remain frozen after the dmap intro.
• Changed the string linking so you can pick any string you want now. Quests saved in beta 147 should automatically be updated by this beta to point to the right string.
• Fixed the keyboard mapping bug.
• Fixed the message string display bug. Now, if there are no overhead (3-6) layers (as with older and original quests), the message appears under link, like it did in LoZ. But, if there is an overhead layer, then the message strings display over everything.
• Fixed a bug with string linking and prices. Before, if you paid for an extended string in an info room, the prices would disappear when the second string in the current "string thread" started.
• Tweaked the new enemy tile animations. Previously, for the animations to work smoothly, I had to force the frame rates to be a power of 2 greater than or equal to 4. Now they just have to be a multiple of 4. For an example, check out the octorok animation in beta 147 as compared to beta 148.
• Added a new item: kill all enemies. When you touch this, all enemies in the room die. Useful when used with the trigger enemy. This item is never dropped randomly.
• Added a new screen flag. Invisible Link. Can't remember what it's supposed to do, though.
• Added a new screen flag. No subscreen. Not finished yet. At the moment, it blacks out the subscreen and prevents it from being used. Useful for cinemas, I guess. When it is finished, the subscreen should be totally gone instead of just black (click with the mouse to see what I mean) and the current screen should be centered on the monitor.
• Fixed a bug where the menu bar that doesn't have the cheat menu in it could appear in a different place than the one with the cheat menu if you have a high screen resolution set.
• Fixed the bug with money or life rooms where choosing to lose a heart container if you had 3 or less of then would set you to having 3. Also, you can no longer choose the heart container if you only have one left.

Also, I know the zoras are broken (well, almost on crack, anyway) in this version. I realized it when I was testing, but forgot about them until just now. This will be fixed in Beta 149.

-----

Now, my additions.

Those in the contest: I hope I can give you this one. Look for the new QDB forum for the contest, and I'll eventually have you guys in there if you've already entered.

Those simply downloading the player: check the relevant topic for updates. I believe it's this one.

Cyclone
[email protected]

[Cyclone]

New update. In DN's words:

-----

• Added a breakable shields rule. Old quests have this enabled by default. With if off, you can't break darknut shields with the hammer anymore.
• Potions now restore magic, too.
• Magic refilling is 4 times as fast now.
• Fixed the zoras. When I fixed the new enemy tile animation code, I broke the zoras. They became very... fast.
• Fixed the range on the super bomb for triggering bomb and super bomb flags. Now, If the inner smoke patterns hit the flag, it will trigger. Before, the very center smoke pattern hat to hit the trigger.
• Fixed the "no subscreen" quest rule. Now, the subscreen won't activate when you hit the "start" button and there is no black border on the game field when you activate the menu.
• Fixed (for real, this time, I hope) the bug where Link would sometimes freeze for an intro string and would stay frozen.
• Fixed (again, for real, this time, I hope) the bug where intro strings would show up more than one time (it might show up again if you enter a DMap a second time).
• Fixed string linking where the correct string is displayed now instead of just the next string in the list.
• Not a biggie, but a small asthetic changeL Now, message strings, intro strings, and dmap titles only display the edit cursor in ZQuest if you are actually editing the string.

I'm currently checking into the possibility of making it where you can set the compas and continue points for DMaps by holding down Ctrl or Alt and clicking on the grid area. Also, looking into allowing each DMap to have its own custom minimap. If its not set, then the correct minimap (overworld or dungeon) will be used instead.

-----

When 150 comes out, the contest folks will likely be getting it.

Cyclone

[Dark Nation]

What's new in this version:

• Added a test feature to ZQuest (under the Quest menu). All it does is run Zelda, so you need to save before you use it or you won't see your changes. Also, in the DOS version (haven't tested the Windows version yet), when you come back from testing, the menu is blacked out and mouse movement is jerky. No idea why. If I can't get this problem licked soon, I'll take it back out.

[Cronic]

Originally posted by Dark Nation
What's new in this version:

1. Fixed combo flipping bugs. Combo displays correctly when flipped while using a cset2. Also, the walk flags and cset2 flags flip with the tile now.

2. Fixed (I hope) the bug where enemies would not show up sometimes.

3. Added new map stuff to dmaps. Click on the edit maps button when you are editing a dmap to access it. However, this isn't quite complete yet (on the ZQuest side). When you close the map chooser dialog, you will be back to the dmap chooser dialog instead of the dmap editor dialog. This should be fixed in the next beta. Also, anything you did on the dmap editor window might not be saved if you make changes and click on the edit maps button instead of the ok button.

4. Fixed the gohma bug.

5. Fixed (I hope) the bug where levels above 32 would have glitches (especially regarding information that is saved into the save file).

6. Fixed the Alt-key bug in the game engine. That should be the last of the port-related bugs.

7. Constant moving traps now obey walk flags on layers 1 and 2.


Now, if there aren't any new major bugs found in beta 152, I will concentrate on trying to remove combo pages altogether. This will probably be the greatest single change since combo animation.

[Cyclone]

The latest:

-----

What's new in this version:

Nothing. Well, nothing you should be able to notice. I did some internal work on the combo and cset system. Before, on a screen, the combo and cset were stored together in a word (the combo was a byte long and the cset was 3 bits long. screen flags used to be stored there as well and were 5 bits long, but I moved them out a long time ago). Now, the cset is stored separately. The purpose for this beta is to make sure I didn't break anything.

The next step (now that the combo is stored by itself) is to eliminate the combo pages altogether and let you use any of the available combos anywhere you want.

-----

Cyclone

[Cronic]

Ok this update is really to let you all know DN is still working on it. We have an exciting new feature that is heavily experimental at this point so DN makes us no promises as to whether it will stay or not, but if it does I can assure you it will make many Zquesters happy :)

[Cyclone]

It's about time I update this, isn't it? This one's been out to us for a few days, now; four, to be exact.

In the words of DN himself:

What's new in this version:

1. The secret combos should work now. Before, they were referencing the templace screen. Now, they do not. Also, before, when you activated a secret combo, the flag that was set on the template screen for that combo would be copied over. Now, it is stored with the secret combo. To select what flag you want (I may need to tweak this later), hold the ctrl key when you click on a secret combo and you can pick a flag for that combo.

2. Doors should be separated from the template screen now.

3. Moved some things around in the quest menu.

Known issues:

1. Import/Export doesn't work right, because of the change in the file format. Beta 159 will fix this. This also causes the zgp.dat file not to work (your default blank quest when you start ZQuest).

Future updates, as usual, will be made known.

Cyclone

[Cyclone]

More stuff from DN.

---

What's new in this version (make sure you get the beta 159 Support Archive as well):

1. More fixes to the combo-pagelessness code.

2. Fixed the bug where combos past page 4 wouldn't show up in the big combo list (where you select combos to edit).

3. Added some more shortcuts to the menus.

4. Added a new screen flag "No Secret Sounds". Supposed to prevent secret sounds from sounding on the current screen. Hasn't been tested yet.

5. Added a new screen flag "NMEs Always Rtrn" Makes enemies always return for that room.

6. Added some speedups for the combo scrolling. Try holding shift, control, or alt (or a combination of these) while scrolling using either mouse scrolling, the scroll buttons, or the page up, page down, up arrow, or down arrow keys.

7. Removed the code that exists ZQuest if no key file is found or if an invalid keyfile is found. It will still tell you if one of these things is happening, though. This will help me find bugs in the system.

8. Fixed the import/export functions.

9. Separated the sound effects from the rest of zelda.dat. The sound effects are now stored in sfx.dat. This is the first step toward customizable sounds.

10. Fixed the problem where moving tiles to their original location will delete them.

11. Fixed the sword beams, I hope.

12. "I-Warp Total" has been renamed to "Full-Screen Warp" or something like that.

Can't remember any other changes at the moment. I may add more later.

---

Cyclone

[Cronic]

Dark Nation writes:

"DO NOT SAVE OVER OLD QUESTS WITH THIS VERSION! THERE IS A VERY GOOD POSSIBILITY THAT YOU WILL CORRUPT SOMETHING! THE NEXT BETA MIGHT NOT READ QUESTS FROM THIS BETA! USE BETA 152 INSTEAD!

What's new in this version (make sure you get the beta 159 Support Archive as well):

1. More fixes to the combo-pagelessness code.

2. Fixed the code for moving combos. Now, screens, doors, secret, and undercombos are updated as well.

3. Fixed the 'R' key in ZC.

4. Fixed the '*', '+' and '-' keys in ZC. '*' refills your life. '+' give you 1 more unit of life. '-' takes away a unit of life. Hold down shift when you press '+' or '-' and it will affect magic instead of life. Holding control will make it affect containers (heart containers or magic containers). Hitting the '/' key refills your magic meter. Should I make this shift+'*' instead?

5. The combo misalignment arrows are back in.

6. Walk flags now appear on top of everything.

7. Fixed some problems with overhead combos in relation to screen effects (warping and such) and text.

8. Screenshots now work properly with the "No Subscreen" screen flag set.

9. Updated the door combo set creation code (used when loading older quests) so that the top and bottom combos of left and right bomb doors are pulled from the current screen instead of from the template screen.

10. Added 2 new combo types. "Eyeball A" and "Eyeball B". Both change their appearance based on where link is located in relation to them. Basically, you could use them to make eyeballs that look at Link wherever he is. I can't really think of a better way to describe it. Test it and see what you think.

Can't remember any other changes at the moment. I may add more later.

I'm sure that the bug that previously was corrupting quests that had exactly 256 combos is still around. I think it's a roaming bug, though, so something else may trigger it now. You might want to turn on the auto-backup feature."