Difference between revisions of "Worms Armageddon ReadMe (English)/v3.6.19.7 Beta Update"

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* A host can now limit the number of players joining, simply by resizing the upper-left player list box. To do so, click and drag the bottom edge of this box. (In v3.5 pre-beta 3 Avacado build, this wasn't working 100% — now it is.)
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* 3.5 Beta 3+ users can now connect with each other online without going through the time-consuming CD-check; this saves time for people joining a game and reduces jerkiness/lag for the host.
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* You may now play TCP/IP online games directly, bypassing WormNET.
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** One person hosts, by leaving the IP address box blank and clicking the '''Direct TCP/IP''' button.
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** The other people join by entering the host's IP address and hitting '''Enter''' or clicking '''Direct TCP/IP'''.
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* Localisation is improved. Your Nation is set directly from geographic location information if available ('''Control Panel: Regional and Language Options: Location'''). Your Language is set in a more direct manner. Sublanguages don't have to be explicitly recognised for the main language to be used, and messages that haven't yet been translated are shown in English.
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* Backwards compatibility with previous patches starting at 3.5 Beta 1
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** A new feature or bug fix which changes the game logic will not be activated unless all people present in a game are using a patch at least as recent as the one in which that feature/bug fix was implemented.
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** When all players light up to signal readiness, a message will be printed stating which game logic version will be in effect. If emulation of an older version is necessary, the message states which players' presence is causing emulation to be necessary. The host then has the option of either booting the players who do not have the latest logic patch, or starting the game with emulation.
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** If a player present in an online game at the host/join stage is running a version too old to support a certain game setting (for example, a colour map) the host will see the player's name crosshatched in red in the player list. If this is the case, then when all players light up, the printed message will explain why the game cannot be started with the current settings and players.
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* Networked Game Message History
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** Now carries through to extra rounds and the finish of a game.
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** Can now be read after the host or all other players have left a finished game.
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* Features affecting game logic
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** Teleporting – Before, if you tried to teleport somewhere that was blocked, the game would search up and down for available spots. Now, it searches nearby in all directions and picks the closest spot, with an orthogonal bias.
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* Volume can be changed in-game and in the Options menu of the front end. Using this allows you to balance the game volume with MP3s, voice chat software, etc.
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* Added an AFK (Away From Keyboard) mode that automatically skips your turns while you're gone. This mode is activated by entering '''/afk''' or '''/away''' in the chat. It is cancelled when you pressanything chat-related, such as typing or pressing PageUp or PageDown. You can minimise while staying in AFK mode; when you restore, your AFK status will be cancelled.
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* The chat is now opened by default in online games, and a message describing how to open it with PageDown is displayed until the user presses a chat-related key.
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* Changes relating to maps/levels:
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** Imported colour maps are saved in PNG format (with metadata) and usable in online games.
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** Maps may have up to 64 colours (65 including black) if graphical glitches are to be avoided.
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** Maps can have up to 96 colours (97 including black), but then soil textures (the background that appears when land is blown up) will get corrupted. This is not a problem if Indestructible Terrain is enabled. '''[Also however, the background graphics get corrupted; the solution is to disable backgrounds while playing.]'''
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** Map previews and thumbnails are now anti-aliased for better detail and aesthetics, and to be informative and accurate in the case of maps with patterns or thin lines. All types of maps now have thumbnails.
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** Large map files now transfer more smoothly, and have no file size limit (previously they were limited to 64985 bytes). Progress bars are shown as maps are sent or received, and players can chat in the meantime.
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** While clicking rapidly through map thumbnails, you may accidentally skip past a good looking one. Now you can backtrack with a Shift+Click.
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** The logic for classifying a custom map as island or cavern has changed. Now, it is only a cavern if its eight topmost rows of pixels are entirely filled. (Before, it was only an island if its entire top, left and right edges were empty.) The reason for this change is that it matches the game's logic; the cavern border added by the game itself always overlaps the top eight rows. To facilitate this in the editor, right-clicking on the Borders button will now add a top border, turning the map into a cavern.
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** Maps can be organised into folders, which can then be navigated in the map editor listbox.
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** Black and White maps, or colour previews of them, can be converted into full colour maps by right-clicking the Preview/Edit-mode button. They can then be saved in PNG format.
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* Games are automatically recorded and can be played back.
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** The files are stored in '''User\Games''' under your main W:A folder, with the extension '''.WAgame'''
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** Double-click one of them to play back the associated game.
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** You can launch playback instances while another instance of W:A is running minimised.
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** The recorded game files are self-contained, and can be moved, emailed, posted on the web, etc. They will play back for anyone with an up-to-date W:A installation.
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** During playback, the speed can be controlled with the top number keys 1-9,0. The progression is geometric in pairs: the keys correspond to multiples of 1,2,3,4,6,8,12,16,24,32. Holding Shift while pressing a speed key will slow down playback, otherwise it will be speeded up. (Note: Slowdown is limited to ?×, and your machine may not be able to play at the fastest speeds.)
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* Front End
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** Buttons now behave more closely to standard buttons in other applications.
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** Scrollbar functionality is much improved. Before, dragging the scrollbar to the end of a long list wouldn't actually go to its end, which could cause frustration when slogging through long scheme lists, map lists and message histories.
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** List boxes and Combo boxes, such as the list of Schemes and Level Files, are now properly sorted and respond intuitively to keyboard control and the mouse wheel.
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** Chat Bars always get the default keyboard focus so that it is not necessary to click on them before typing.
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** Dialog screens such as Multi-Player, Network Hosting and Game Options behave more uniformly and logically. For example:
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*** Numerical option buttons that are locked to certain values (e.g. Turn Time of 15,20,30,45,60,or 90 seconds) will now display a value rounded to the nearest instead of defaulting to one value (e.g. Turn Time used to show 90 for any unrecognised value, even low ones like 13 seconds). '''[Unfortunately, "infinite" turn time (a negative number) was rounded up to 15 seconds for display, which was misleading. This was rectified in v3.6.25.1.]'''
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*** A right-click now causes ''all'' settings and options to go backwards by one tick, whereas before, in many of them you had to go all the way forward and wrap around just to go back to the beginning.
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*** Teams can be edited while in an online game.
  
 
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Revision as of 20:59, 5 July 2008

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