GearHead2 v0.412

[Joseph Hewitt]

I've just uploaded GH2v0.412 to http://gearhead.roguelikedevelopment.org/. Mostly this release corrects a few bugs with the previous one, but nothing really major has been added. Here's the list of changes:

- Some new portraits and arena missions
- World map starfield bug fixed
- Arena unit faction, rank now displayed (vidinfo.pp,glinfo.pp)
- Skill schools will show skill descriptions (services.pp)
- Arena mission NPCs can be assigned element factions (gh2arena.pp)
- Can now use taunt from the skills menu (pcaction.pp)
- Talking routines cleaned up, use messages.txt (pcaction.pp)
- Local enemies won't talk to PC even by telephone (pcaction.pp)
- Player should no longer be able to target clouds (targetui.pp)
- Rearranged the ASCII chargen display (vidgfx.pp)

That's about it. Try it out, let me know if you find any more problems, or if there are any problems I forgot to fix... I know a number of issues haven't been solved yet, such as the swarm misfire bug.

[Anticheese]

Quoting: Joseph Hewitt

- Can now use taunt from the skills menu (pcaction.pp)

*Grin*

Quoting: Joseph Hewitt

- Player should no longer be able to target clouds (targetui.pp)

"That one looks like a statue..."

"That one looks like a Grapefruit!"

"That one looks like a chemical weapons facility..BOMB IT!"

Quoting: Joseph Hewitt

- Rearranged the ASCII chargen display (vidgfx.pp)

Excellent! Thanks alot!

---

Okay, some comments on the new character creation screen.



The red area seems a little too small. I think it should annex the space taken up by blue and the blue area get shunted up one line to make use of the excess space.

I'll post a mockup later.

As for green? My character is 16 but has an abnormally large amount of starting XP. Is this normal?

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: Anticheese

Quoting: Joseph Hewitt
- Can now use taunt from the skills menu (pcaction.pp)
*Grin*

Plus, you can still use it from (t)alking as well.

[Sabin Stargem]

In the picture, there are the words 'hopeless' next to the characters ability scores.  Is that an description of how good or bad they are?  Those descriptions are not in the SDL version of the game.

[Anticheese]

In the ASCII version the stats are given a tag ranging from "Hopeless" to "Legendary". Because I have not "Finalized" the stats they are still at the 1 point mark.

The reason why they are at 2 points and are in bright green is because my characters family history gives me an initial morale boost.

[Joseph Hewitt]

The descriptions aren't in the SDL version because the character display is more cramped there. I should try to fit them in, though, because I like them.

[Anticheese]

While we're talking about taunting, I don't like how long it is and the fact that it is treated just like any other status condition.

I was fighting a pilot with the Taunt skill a game ago and I failed my rolls..badly. So I get flummoxed.
I take some pretty hefty stat penalties (Curse you high school bullies) but pull through and defeat him.

I'm pretty sure that I could go to the doctor and (s)he would cure it for a nominal fee.

I think that Flummoxing should end when the taunter is dead, or if you flee the combat after an hour or so.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Good point. It should go away every time the scene changes. I've added this to the to-do list.

[Anticheese]

Minor question, but seeing as Flummoxing is treated as a status condition, could a doctor cure it?

[Joseph Hewitt]

No, because it doesn't have a cure skill defined. Anyhow that change has now been made. Flummoxing and burns go away when you move from one scene to another.

Here's an issue with v0.412 that I don't want to start a separate thread for: Currently the five arena unit ranks are "Green", "Regular", "Experienced", "Veteran", and "Ace". I think I ripped those directly off from MechForce on the Amiga... Rather than claim it as a homage, does anyone have any better ideas?

[Anticheese]

Green? Rookie would fit it better

I think that Regular should be replaced by Experienced..but I also think that Veteran and Ace fit the difficulty settings they represent

[Joseph Hewitt]

It's been changed to:
Rookie, Experienced, Veteran, Elite, Ace

[Sabin Stargem]

I think the Taunt ability should snap to enemies present, since it is bit of an bother to scroll around from the corner of the map to the player's targets.

EDIT:  By the way, I sometimes find that destroyed mecha would start moving in a straight line and tends to leave the battlefield if all enemies are defeated, but before that time their icons are just the junk icons, and they are not moving.  This is especially disturbing since this happened during battles on Caley Rock and inside Spinners.  It deprives me of loot as well, which is troublesome.  For some reason, it makes me think the machines are possessed or something.

EDIT 2:  I think there is another problem with the Gordon Valeus battleship quest, along the line that is about the thieves who stole the parts.  After completing the quest, the area in which their space station was found wouldn't disappear, and it is in the color of an regular enemy patrol.  This is confusing, so I think that area should be removed after the quest.

EDIT 3:  When I attack an enemy patrol and there is someone trying to escape the battle, their dialog box would have an number at the beginning of where the text starts.  Very minor typo.

EDIT 4:  I sometimes find that the viewpoint from which I operate would make it harder for me to select objects and enemies at times.  I would like the direction keys to be able to do diagonal movement, by pressing the two appropriate keys at the same time, like Up and Left to move the selection cursor diagonally, to the upper-left.

[SharkD]

Quoting: Joseph Hewitt

It's been changed to:
Rookie, Experienced, Veteran, Elite, Ace

I think you had it right the first time.

Quoting: Sabin Stargem

I think the Taunt ability should snap to enemies present, since it is bit of an bother to scroll around from the corner of the map to the player's targets.

It would be great if all applicable skills did this, such as Talk.

Is being Flummoxed something that occurs in GH1, as well? Could you provide a short description of Flummoxed so that I can add it to the wiki?

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: Sabin Stargem

I think the Taunt ability should snap to enemies present, since it is bit of an bother to scroll around from the corner of the map to the player's targets.

Good idea. I'll add this to the to-do list. As SharkD says, Talk should do this as well.

Quoting: Sabin Stargem

By the way, I sometimes find that destroyed mecha would start moving in a straight line and tends to leave the battlefield if all enemies are defeated, but before that time their icons are just the junk icons, and they are not moving.

Crud. This is a side effect of the changes I made to salvage... I'll get to work on it.

Quoting: Sabin Stargem

After completing the quest, the area in which their space station was found wouldn't disappear

It's a perminant location. Depending on its nature, it may contain things that will continue to be useful after the quest is finished. It may be used again in the future, or even in another simultaneous quest.

Quoting: Sabin Stargem

When I attack an enemy patrol and there is someone trying to escape the battle, their dialog box would have an number at the beginning of where the text starts

Do you remember exactly what was said? That'd allow me to quickly find the exact line with the typo.

Quoting: Sabin Stargem

I sometimes find that the viewpoint from which I operate would make it harder for me to select objects and enemies at times. I would like the direction keys to be able to do diagonal movement, by pressing the two appropriate keys at the same time, like Up and Left to move the selection cursor diagonally, to the upper-left.

I think this can be done fairly easily.

Quoting: SharkD

Is being Flummoxed something that occurs in GH1, as well? Could you provide a short description of Flummoxed so that I can add it to the wiki

No, it just occurs in  GH1. It's a condition of being infuriated and confused which temporarily lowers your stats. Body is unaffected, Charm is reduced by -5, and everything else is reduced by -2. This condition is usually caused by being taunted.