Zelda Classic ongoing Beta reports

[Dark Nation]

Originally posted by Darth 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 :)

Unfortunately, beta 157 had a small problem in that it disabled Windows any time you ran it, making it look like you had to reformat (or reinstall Windows, at least) to fix it. Luckily, it was very easy to fix (takes about 10 seconds or so). Unfortunately, one of the features (no, not the "exciting new feature" that Darth Cronic mentioned, that was the removal of combo pages) in beta 157 was causing this problem to occur and no way was found to keep the feature while getting rid of the Windows-disabling problem. So, the feature was scrapped (kind of a useless feature anyway, and only took about 15 minutes to code in) and beta 158 was checked several times before being distributed and the problem didn't show up once. Since the code that caused the problem has been removed, there is no chance of the problem re-occurring and hasn't happened since beta 158 came out (160 is now being extensively tested). So, if any of you come across beta 157 somewhere, please don't run it. It has come to my attention that someone got handed a copy of it and they ended up reformatting. If only they had contacted me first, I could have saved them a lot of trouble.

[Dark Nation]

*sigh* It would seem that more than one person was affected by beta 157. Also, please read my previous post VERY carefully. Note that at no time did I call the Windows-disabling problem a bug. So, please keep that in mind if anyone tells you that I am lying or that I made up that story to cover my tracks. Beta 157 renamed your Windows folder, making Windows refuse to start. Renaming it back fixed the problem. One simple command. NOTHING WAS DELETED! But, since nobody but beta testers were supposed to get it, and they were told not to, nobody should have gotten hurt. If you want to read more about this, go to this page:

http://www.itachigirl.net/cgi-bin/ub...0&t=000117&p=3

Final comment: I was not coerced into this by anyone. I was trying to prevent the spread of unauthorized betas. Kenage strongly feels that I should have had to go to her and specifically request that she not give out betas that she shouldn't have in the first place. Something to the effect of:

"Please don't distribute betas. I don't distribute them for a reason. The fact that I have them in a folder that isn't accessable unless you know the folder name and I've only given that information to the beta testers should be proof that I don't want others to have them. It doesn't matter what the reason is."

Personally, I feel that my way was a better deterrent. In any event, the betas are housed elsewhere now so that should keep things safer for a while unless one of the testers turns rogue.

In Kenage's defense: Did you know that if you break into someone's house and get hurt in the process by something they carelessly left lying around inside the house (you trip in the kitchen and fall on a knife they left out), that you can sue them for negligence? Granted, you'd get in trouble, too, but you can try to take them down with you. Don't know how well that translates to the electronic world.

[Cyclone]

Getting back to the topic at hand...

Combining 161 and 162 into one post (I missed 161, but learned of 162, and am posting both).

Beta 161:

• Fixed the bug with exiting caves after using a pit combo.
• Fixed bug with doors not using the right combos when converted from older versions. This also affected secret combos.
• Fixed the undercombo cset not being used for pushblocks.
• Fixed the bug where the screen got corrupted when you died (all combo 0's).
• Fixed the bug where editing a combo after pasting would revert the combo back to combo 0.
• Removed the key file check.

Beta 162:

• Fixed the bug where using an entrance/exit warp after a pit warp would make you ignore the blue and green squares.
• Finally finished the MISC: More... code. Try it out and fiddle with the position in the Init Data dialog on the last page.
• Fixed the code for Link's movements so he should NEVER be able to get off the grid anymore. So, throwing a boomerang while changing directions shouldn't make him freeze, neither should walking off of a conveyor belt (although this was usually working, the new code should be better).
• Pasting a screen no longer leaves the old doors behind nor does it replace the ones from your copied screen with walls anymore.
• Fixed the bug where the raft would vanish if you went through a scrolling warp with it.
• Fixed the Link Dungeon Pos. Fix rule.
• Added a new quest rule (on page 2) called Hesitant Push Blocks. With it on, merely bumping into a non-heavy pushblock shouldn't trigger it.
• Fixed the code where the secret combos weren't using the right combo when you loaded from an older, combo-page-enabled version.
• Fixed the bug in exporting .QSU files (I hope).

And there we have it. :)

BTW, maybe I shouldn't say anything, but keep your eyes open, and be back here in this very forum this evening, because rumors are flying of a fantastic event. I say no more.

Cyclone

(Don't mind the Edit date. I noted an errant tag while reading just now.)

[Jigglysaint]

Okay everybody, update time!

First we have beta 165 (all list items in the words of DN):

• Fixed a bug where undercombs would use the cset for the original combo instead of their own cset.
• New Quest Rule (page 2) - Hide Carried Items: If an enemy is carrying an item (from the "Enemy carries item" enemy flag), then the item is invisible and you can't grab it by just touching the enemy. This makes it similar to the "Enemies->Item" screen flag, except it only applies to the enemy carrying the item (the item will show up if that enemy is killed instead of all of the enemies).
• New Quest Rule (page 4) - Translucent Ghini 2's: Makes the invulnerable ghinis released from graves translucent (you can see things through them, but you can see them, too).
• New Quest Rule (page 4) - Z3-Style Brang/HShot: Makes the boomerang and hookshot behave more like they do in Zelda 3. For instance, normally, when you throw the boomerang at an item, when the boomerang touches the item, you get the item immediately. With this rule on, the boomerang will return to you upon touching an item, dragging the item along with it. If you leave the screen before the boomerang returns with the item, you won't get it. Also, with this rule on, arrows won't collect items. Also, the boomerang and hookshot will now be able to deflect some projectiles, depending on their relative strengths. The hookshot will block these projectiles: fireball, sword, boomerang, arrow (spear), and rock. The wooden boomerang will block these projectiles: boomerang, arrow (spear), rock (basically, it acts like Link's small shield). The magic boomerang will block these projectiles: fireball, sword, boomerang, arrow (spear), rock, and magic (like the magic shield does). The fire boomerang will block the same ones as the magic boomerang, and will reflect the fireball and magic (like the mirror shield does).
• New Quest Rule (page 4) - No Melee Wpn Grabbing: If you turn this rule on, you won't be able to grab items by hitting them with the sword, wand, or hammer.
• Used a new program compressor to make the programs a little smaller.
• Update ZQuest.txt so JayeM doesn't have to.
• Fixed (for real, this time, I hope) the bug that makes DMap intro strings not show up sometimes, show up more than once, freeze Link and not unfreeze him, etc.

(Cool features, eh?)

Now for 168:

• Tiles pages increased from 126 to 252. At 260 tiles per page (13 rows of 20 tiles each), that's 65520 tiles. Twice what you had before.
• Increased the number of combo pages from 64 to 255. At 256 combos per page, that's 65280 combos.
• Increased the maxes for animation frames (for items so far, will do combos and weapons later) from 99 to 255.
• Alphabetized the item lists for the item editor and the special item selector.
• Renamed the items so they would alphabetize better in alphabetized list. For instance, instead of 'wooden boomerang' and 'magic boomerang', you have 'boomerang 1 (wooden)' and 'boomerang 2 (magic)'.
• Fixed the bug where flipping a tile in the combo editor actually flipped the tile in the tile list instead of turning on the flip bit for that combo.
• Added a new subscreen type, which adds 8 more slots for items (instead of 4 items across by 3 items down, there would be 5 items across by 4 items down).
• Moved the 'New Subscreen' quest rule out of quest rules and into the init data, changed it from a check box to a dropdown box, and added a third option, 'Revision 2' so the new subscreen type could be selected.
• Added Din's Fire back as it's own item.
• Farore's Wind and Nayru's Love have items added and show up in the subscreen, but don't do anything yet.
• Finished the boss keys and added them to the 'Revision 2' subscreen.
• Fixed the init data so you can set boss keys to start.
• Added the 3 new items (Din's Fire, Farore's Wind, and Nayru's Love) to the init data dialog.
• Added a new warp type: i-warp w/wave FX. Somewhat like the light world/dark world warp in Zelda 3.
• Fixed the bug where the Zelda 3-style boomerang/hookshot would crash the Windows version of ZC.
• Upgraded the graphics library to Allegro 4.02. This should make some things a little faster and more stable. If you are running the Windows version, you should download the Beta 168+ Windows Support Archive.
• Update ZQuest.txt so JayeM doesn't have to.

(Add-on note by Cyclone; don't worry, Din's Fire will be thoroughly tested. We know you want it. :) )

[Cyclone]

I really oughta check into the beta tester forum more frequently...here's two more updates from DN, as listed.

Beta 169

1. Fixed the bug that Jigglysaint mentioned where guys would show up both in the main room and in the item/passage room in a dungeon.
2. Added the frameskip code to the game engine and added a way to turn it off in the settings menu(otherwise, it's not adjustable, and I don't see it being so in the future).
3. Screen flags (burn, bomb, etc.) work with layers now. Each layer can have separate screen flags and separate secret combos. So, triggering a flag on any layer triggers all flags on all layers. So, if you burn a tree that has a burn flag on it (layer 0), then the branches (layer 3) will also burn if they have a burn flag on them. Also, secret combos and flags now show for the current layer instead of always for layer 0.
4. Switched to Allegro 4.1.0 WIP.

Beta 170

1. Fixed the bug where weapons would always set off all screen flags immediately after using them.
2. Turned off the frameskip code. It just wasn't working out. The code is still in there, in case I get an inspiration on how to fix it, but it's off for the moment.
3. Fixed the bug where locked doors to the north wouldn't open.
4. Fixed the bug where "Ocen Surf FX" wasn't showing up in the Screen Data dialog.
5. I've just rewritten the screen rendering and the combo animation code. And, I added an option to turn off translucent layers in ZC (as translucency really slows things down). A comparison: NewFirst Graveyard. 9 translucent ghini 2's and 1 regular ghini. Vsync turned off. Beta 169 averaged about 120 fps. Beta 170 averages about 170 fps (oddly enough). If I turn off translucent layers, Beta 170 jumps to about 290 fps.
6. Added an autolayer feature to the layers dialog. Hit the button with the * for the layer you want to set up. Then, give it a map number. Any screen on the current map that doesn't already have that layer set up will get set with that layer pointing to the same screen on whatever map you gave it.
7. Updated zquest.txt to include brief directions on how to use the autolayer feature.

This concludes your ritualistic update. Stay tuned.

Cyclone

[Cyclone]

Late update. Many new betas.

Build 171 (mainly maintenance/bugfix release):

1. Fixed the eyeball combo types that broke in beta 170.

2. Fixed the bug where all layers would be drawn as translucent in ZQuest and in the view map option due to the recoding of the rendering engine in beta 170.

3. Overworld dmaps with level numbers shouldn't stop your horizontal movement after 8 screens.

4. Fixed it where level 0 can be a dungeon (I think). Anyone wanna try this out in a previous beta and the current one and tell me

5. Shutters should be fixed after they were broken ever since the switch to the door combo sets.

6. Boos doors now act like locked doors with respect to how far Link moves when he walks through one into the next room

7. Fixed the bug where going onto a screen and immediately getting placed on a raft (like when you leave the level 4 entrance screen) wouldn't trigger the secret SFX like it was supposed to. This was a bug in the "No Secret SFX" switch.

8. Rewrote the memory allocation routines that Zelda and ZQuest run through at startup to show how much memory they are allocating and how much memory has been allocated in all. This should help pinpoint where the memory problems occur. Looks like Zelda allocates 36.24M of memory and ZQuest allocates 45.73M. Add about 3M to each for the uncompressed programs and you have a 39M requirement for Zelda and a 48M requirement for ZQuest (not including the OS overhead). And this doesn't even completely include the music data, as that is allocated dynamically when you load music, since music sizes can be vastly different. I'm looking into doing the same in other areas, but it may take a while to do.

Build 172 (maintenance release):

1. Rewrote the validation routines that accessed the trash buffer so they can use a much smaller buffer.

2. Changed the allocation for the trash buffer from 8M to 100K. Now, ZQuest allocates 37.83M of memory instead of the 45.73M that ZQuest allocated in Beta 171. Also, Zelda now allocates 28.34M of memory instead of the 36.24M that Zelda allocated in Beta 171.

3. Per Cloral's suggestion, modified the firing rate of the Gohma 4 to match that of the Flame Gleeok. Before it would fire every frame that the eye was open. Now, it only fires every 8 frames.

4. Modified the menu in ZQuest to make it look like it did before switching to Allegro 4.1 (Allegro 4.1's menus are drawn 1 pixel smaller.

Build 173 (maintenance release):

1. First, an explanation... When doing masked tile blits, the game goes through every pixel in the tile and copies it to the destination only if that pixel is not color 0. It does this 256 times (once per pixel) for every tile. So, I rewrote the tile blitting routines so that they check a "blank tile table" I set up (to keep track of totally blank tiles) so that they can just immediately exit out if the tile they are blitting is totally blank instead of checking all 256 pixels of the tile every time it is drawn. I even wrote a version that handles tile quadrants (quarters of a tile) for tiles that use the CSet2 option. As a benchmark, in beta 163, I got about 120 fps in the graveyard in NewFirst with the normal Ghini and 9 translucent Ghini 2's. In beta 171, I was able to bring that up to 170 fps. With this rewrite, I get 240 fps.

2. Decided to write my own makefiles for the project to allow me to turn off the debugging code (yes, I feel stupid, debug code has been in there ever since version 1.841) and turn on optimizations on select files (mainly the tile blitting routines). Now, I get 360 fps in the graveyard mentioned above. So, there is a 200% speed increase over beta 163 (3x what it was before). I just tested the Windows version and was getting about 120 fps in the graveyard. Does the Windows version nomally run slower than the DOS? If this Windows version is slower than the previous ones, I may have to make some more changes. Can anyone give me a report on the Windows speed?

3. Fixed the problem with the selection heart and fairy heart ring showing up as vine pieces. This requires the new zgp.dat file (Zelda won't even run without it). This will correct all quests made in versions that happened before I made ZQuest always store tiles in the files, even if they were the default ones (don't remember which beta). Any ones after that will have to be done manually. I can probably write a version check to fix those, though, during quest loading. Maybe in the next beta.

Build 174 (you guessed what this is):

1. Changed the allocation for the map buffer. Now, it changes size according to need. ZQuest now allocates 26.39M instead of the 37.83M allocated in Beta 173. Also, Zelda now allocates 16.90M of memory instead of the 28.34M allocated in Beta 173. Also, since they aren't nearly complete, I took out the custom font stuff. Maybe for Beta 175.

Lots of maintenance work going on. :)

Cyclone

[Cyclone]

Another maintenance release...what else? Two days late on this post, but here ya go, from DN himself:

1. Finished rewriting the item handling code. This will allow you to (when I write the code for it) disable items in DMaps.
2. Updated the item and equipment cheat and init data dialogs to properly handle the new item code. Unfortunately, if you saved your quest in beta 174, you may have to manually redo some of the init data stuff for the items and equipment. Older quests should convert fine, though.
3. Added "Can Keep Old Items" quest rule. Allows you to generally keep older items when you get new items. So, if an item is disabled or stolen, you can use a previous item you may still have.
4. Fixed the bug that Raichu86 pointed out where the selector on the cset list screen in ZQuest would be off the cset list if you select a high number cset (like 14), then exit and switch to a cset list that didn't have that number (like level csets).
5. Fixed the bug that Raichu86 pointed out where cancelling out of the Data->Palette (F4 key) dialog would set the color of the current screen to 0 in ZQuest.
6. Fixed the bug that Raichui86 pointed out where a second copy of the game screen would be displayed offset if SBIG is enabled and the resolution is higher than 640x480 in Zelda.
7. Fixed (I think) the bug that Raichu86 pointed out where the More icon would still be displayed if you quit a game while it was on the screen.

As you can tell, Raichu has been busy. More later. :)

Cyclone

[Cyclone]

This is just an update that DN is still working. We do have beta 176, but until further notice, he asked that details not be posted. When he gives the go-ahead, you will get to see what these secrets are. :)

For now..."IT'S A SECRET TO EVERYBODY"

Cyclone

[Dark Nation]

Beta 176

This is a maintenance/proof-of-concept release. THE ITEM CHANGES ARE NOT FINAL! EVEN IF THEY WERE, THEY WOULD BE OPTIONAL! DON'T GET YOUR UNDERWEAR IN A BUNCH!

1. Fixed the bug with the whistle and bait being interlocked programatically..

2. Added the long bow. Arrows shoot twice as fast with it.

3. Changed the following items:
-Bomb: Remote-controlled bomb. Press B once to drop it. Press again to detonate.
-Super bomb: Motion-sensing super bomb. Press B to place it. It will detonate if anything is or moves near it after it arms (the normal amount of time it would normally take it to explode after being placed). This includes Link.
-Potion: Poison. Makes you dizzy. Drink it once and the screen goes all wavy, Link staggers around, occasionally switches and uses different weapons, and usually ignores the controls. If you drink the poision while you are still poisoned, you die. This can even happen accidently while Link is staggering around, randomly using things.
-Magic Wand: Homing fireball wand. Shoots fireballs that will attack the closest non-invincible enemy. Fun to use on a screen with a zora. It will hover over where the zora is until it surfaces. If it gets there after the zora submerges, it will hover there until the zora moves, then usually go to the new location.
-Candle: Flamethrower. Hold down b and you will constantly shoot a stream of fire. You can even walk while using this, though you will move a lot slower. The red flamethrower shoots fire farther than the blue one.
-Magic Boomerang: Grenade boomerang. Explodes when it hits (except if it's on its way back to Link) an enemy or item that can be picked up by the boomerang. If it hasn't exploded when it gets back to Link, it explodes in his face.
-Fire Boomerang: Super Grenade boomerang. Still has the fire trail, but acts like the grenade boomerang, also. However, the explosion is bigger and more powerful.
-Bait: Super bait. This is much stronger than the normal bait. It will attract enemies a lot better.

[Dark Nation]

Beta 177 Progress...


(nam)

Optional upgrade that can be set from the start if you wish, or picked up along the way.