Client release and changelog

A new client release, 0.980, is out! The changelog is at the bottom of this note, with the previous changelog for 0.979 since I didn't post that anywhere else. At some point, I need to get the changelogs integrated into the server code.

The biggest two changes from my perspective were automap improvements and the enemy hp bar. The automap was by far the hardest, as display code has to be nearly perfect, and it has to handle a boatload of corner/edge cases. There's really not a lot of ways to do it cleanly, and for some scenarios you simply have to special case it. Here is an example of a particular problem area before the changes:



Here is the same location with the new mapper:



For compact areas such as this one, it makes a huge difference.

The enemy hitpoint bar is another interesting addition, in that it displays the condition of whatever you're fighting, similar to how Diablo II does it. There's a problem with it however - the current location is off to the side, above the automap. This turns out to be remarkably hard to see and use while fighting, even though it's close to the scrolling text and the input window.

I think what's going on is that the left hand side of the client is now simply too 'busy' for the eye to easily handle. Diablo II handled this by putting the enemy hp bar in a well defined, easy location (top dead center), and you knew that the middle of the screen was the most important place to look. The hp and mana bubbles were left and right bottom corner respectively. Each location is very easy to deal with.

For the client however, we have the big main window, which pretty much needs to be scanned continuously in order to keep up with things, the typing bar at the bottom but sorta off to the side, the hp and mana bars above that but right next to it, and the enemy status bar to the left somewhere in the lower middle of the screen. It's just not that easy to find things.

One option I've been kicking around is to make the status bar two levels deep, with the enemy hp directly above your hp. Not only does this give a good way to directly compare yourself against the target, but it puts both things in a very visible, single location.

I did some looking around at adding audio, and think I've found some libraries that should do the job. It's a lot of work though, and it might be best for me to figure out how to do actions and triggers first.


Changes in version 0.980 - May 08, 09
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Keypad '5' now performs 'scan'.
Keypad '-' now walks 'down'.
Keypad '+' now walks 'up'.
Minor improvement to url clicking.
Don't lock main window unless more than one character is selected.
Diagonal exits now display a bit more cleanly.
Added basic zoom in/zoom out on landscape scale changes.
Left hand layout now puts automap at bottom of screen.

The automap is now either on all the time or off all the time, it no longer toggles based on login state.

Allow ctrl-+ and ctrl-- to more reliably change font when using keypad movement mode.

A display window for a target hp bar is now visible above the left hand side automap.


Changes in version 0.979 - Apr 28, 09
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Add walking via number keypad. Toggleable using 'preferences' menu.
Clear scroll lock when a button is clicked.
Add 'local echo' option under 'preferences' menu.
Help message when you disconnect/are disconnected is now highlighted.
Prevent beeping for additional key combinations.
Add mousewheel support.
The 'quit' dialog buttons have been changed from 'Quit' to 'Exit Program' instead.

Command queue cleared when you're disconnected, so your next connect attempt doesnt immediately error out at the name prompt.
The '//clear' command now clears scrollback, like the menu.
The 'clear' command in game now works. It sends two screens full of blank lines, so you don't lose your scrollback.

Mapping colors tweaked to better show towns and cities.
Default ansi colors tweaked a bit to get more color saturation.
Ansi color palette options added for ZMud style colors and bright colors.

When you start fighting, the area map will display 'Combat!' instead of the area name.
A new "Left Side Layout" option has been added under preferences. This moves the buttons and automap to the left side of the screen, whereit's closer to the various text windows.