Pre-release 6 of Rocks'n'Diamonds 4.4.0.0 available!

[Holger]

As another (and hopefully last) release candidate for the final version, the 6th pre-release of the upcoming new version of Rocks’n’Diamonds is available for testing.

It contains the following additions, changes and fixes:

• added support for crumbled sand for native BD graphics engine
• added sound for opening exit (outbox) in native BD game engine
• added the classic BD level set using the native BD game engine
• moved EMC style game elements to correct editor palette section
• removed unused BD screen border color in level editor
• fixed playing BD engine levels if preferred network player was changed
• fixed playing sounds at wrap-around BD cave positions
• fixed problem causing strange garbage on screen when it is snowing
• fixed graphical bug with covering screen when loading next level
• fixed playing loop sounds when using native BD game engine

This should be the last pre-release version before releasing the final new version 4.4.0.0 with the native BD game engine!

Now available from the download page!

[Holger]

OK, we're getting closer to the final 4.4.0.0 release, which I really hope to get out before christmas.

Please have a closer look at the new BD level set in the "Classic Games" section. I haven't replaced the old (R'n'D engine based) level set, but just added the new, BD engine based variant of this level set. While this might be slightly confusing for new players, I have decided to offer both variants of this classic level set for two reasons. First of all, the previous BD level set has lots of already existing high scores and solution tapes for all 100 levels, which means that it's perfectly playable with the R'n'D game engine, and it's always fun to watch other people's level solutions. The second reason is that some people might prefer to play the level set with the R'n'D engine due to being an asynchronous game engine, which is really noticeable when playing the set with both engines (always having little delays with the BD engine, where the player can only move every about eight game frames, while the player is moving immediately in the R'n'D engine, which can feel much smoother).

A new graphical "last minute" feature is the support for crumbled sand, which is known from the R'n'D and EMC engines and which really makes the BD engine look nicer when used with classic graphics. It might well have some quirks which I might have missed, so please let me know of any bugs and issues in this regard.

Other than that, I have improved support for level specific colors also when not using the classic original, C64 style graphics of the BD level sets. This requires a separate graphics set to also use different colors for selected game elements for each level, but I think I won't provide this feature already with version 4.4.0.0, but it might follow soon afterwards. Note that this feature won't be limited to the BD engine, but this will be a feature available for all newly created levels in R'n'D, regardless of the selected game engine. As soon as this feature is completed, I will provide an example graphics set which can then be used as an optional replacement for the classic R'n'D graphics set, to use level specific colors for all existing level sets that use the classic artwork set.

If there are no show stoppers anymore, the final version could be released in the next few days.

[ncrecc]

some bugs with "override custom sound":

• selecting the boulder dash custom sounds (artwork for certain level sets->boulder dash->boulder dash artwork->boulder dash) does nothing when playing RnD-engine levels; all sounds remain the same
• when any non-BD sounds are selected (e.g. Classic Sounds) and playing the GDash levelsets, magic wall sounds do not play. oddly this specifically seems to be an issue for the GDash levelsets, regardless of if "override custom artwork" is set. can be seen in Achim Hoffmann level 1
• when EMC sounds are selected (e.g. artwork for certain levelsets->emerald mine club->ace mine 1 (default)) and playing BD-engine levels, only some sounds are overridden (dig sound and explosion sound are overridden, but not "rock lands" or "collect diamond" sounds)

misc. bugs:

• in the BD engine, rockford's death sound doesn't always play when he dies. some example cases where his death sound doesn't play (some more pedantic than others):
  • he dies in an explosion (e.g. touches an enemy, or is too close to a detonating nitro pack/rocket/bomb)
  • a wall broken by a pneumatic hammer reappears on the same tile as him
  • he walks into lava
  • he is eaten by a biter that's set to eat players (Crazy Dream 2 has an intermission like this)
  • he is eaten by acid that's set to eat players
  • he passes through slime and is converted to a non-player object (Crazy Dream 2 has an intermission where slime converts rockford into rockford-holding-bomb, which is close)
  • (also, glued players never make sound when they die)
• when making a BD level, magic walls and non-sloped walls have the same graphic in the editor

[ncrecc]

walking is a bit jittery in BD engine when smooth element movement is active:

jittery2.gif (4.07 MiB) Viewed 9235 times

the same result can be observed when scroll delay is disabled

[ncrecc]

in level 15 of Boulder Dash (Native Engine), sand outlines flicker on every game tick, possibly due to the amoeba:

apocalypse.gif (4.17 MiB) Viewed 9235 times

[ncrecc]

sloped dirt does not mesh with normal dirt:

sloped_dirt_and_normal_dirt.png (3.94 KiB) Viewed 9234 times

(for that matter, should sloped dirt have crumbly sides as well?)

[mat]

If Rockford is killed by a falling element, the RND smashing player sound is played in additon to the sound from BD engine.

[ncrecc]

subtle audio bug: in the BD engine, when you complete a level, the "score ticking down" sfx stops playing when you reach 10 seconds left if you're using rnd's Classic Sounds, probably because boulder dash normally has the designated "low time" sounds play instead

[BryanFRitt]

The solved Boulder_Dash levels don't seem to be showing up in https://api.artsoft.org, Is this intentional since this is 'pre-release' version? Will they show up in later builds?

Also, It seems Boulder_Dash is more likely to produce bad tapes than other levels.

[Holger]

some bugs with "override custom sound":

• selecting the boulder dash custom sounds (artwork for certain level sets->boulder dash->boulder dash artwork->boulder dash) does nothing when playing RnD-engine levels; all sounds remain the same

That's true, it's because this sound set only contains sounds for native BD style game elements ("bdx_..."), while levels using the R'n'D engine only contain R'n'D style game elements ("bd_...").

I have added definitions for those non-native BD style game elements that are also supported by the R'n'D engine (like rocks, diamonds, magic wall and amoeba).

• when any non-BD sounds are selected (e.g. Classic Sounds) and playing the GDash levelsets, magic wall sounds do not play. oddly this specifically seems to be an issue for the GDash levelsets, regardless of if "override custom artwork" is set. can be seen in Achim Hoffmann level 1

This is a special case in the native BD engine: When both magic wall and amoeba are active, a single, special sound is played that contains sound for both the magic wall and the amoeba.

I have changed the sound engine so that magic wall and amoeba sounds not play correctly in the native BD engine when using classic sounds.

• when EMC sounds are selected (e.g. artwork for certain levelsets->emerald mine club->ace mine 1 (default)) and playing BD-engine levels, only some sounds are overridden (dig sound and explosion sound are overridden, but not "rock lands" or "collect diamond" sounds)

Yes, same as above: The EMC sound set knows nothing about BD style game elements, and therefore does not support playing sounds for these game elements (even though rocks may look the same in both engines).

misc. bugs:

• in the BD engine, rockford's death sound doesn't always play when he dies. some example cases where his death sound doesn't play (some more pedantic than others):
  • he dies in an explosion (e.g. touches an enemy, or is too close to a detonating nitro pack/rocket/bomb)
  • a wall broken by a pneumatic hammer reappears on the same tile as him
  • he walks into lava
  • he is eaten by a biter that's set to eat players (Crazy Dream 2 has an intermission like this)
  • he is eaten by acid that's set to eat players
  • he passes through slime and is converted to a non-player object (Crazy Dream 2 has an intermission where slime converts rockford into rockford-holding-bomb, which is close)
  • (also, glued players never make sound when they die)

All fixed but the glued player, which does not make a dying sound, but only the real player. And if there is more than one player, only the last player makes a dying sound (as it should be more of a "game over" sound).

• when making a BD level, magic walls and non-sloped walls have the same graphic in the editor

Fixed.

[Holger]

walking is a bit jittery in BD engine when smooth element movement is active:
jittery2.gif
the same result can be observed when scroll delay is disabled

This is due to the variable cave speed when non-milliseconds cave scheduling is used, and is only visible when using smooth movement. I already handled this issue to prevent jittery graphics as good as possible (at least I thought so), but your movie made me check the code again. And indeed I found a better solution to make smooth movement better, so the same movement should look now much smoother than before.

Thanks for letting me think about this again!

[Holger]

in level 15 of Boulder Dash (Native Engine), sand outlines flicker on every game tick, possibly due to the amoeba:
apocalypse.gif

Ouch! This last-minute feature was seriously broken for all other than the "standard" case (regarding cave speed).

Should be fixed now.

[Holger]

sloped dirt does not mesh with normal dirt:
sloped_dirt_and_normal_dirt.png
(for that matter, should sloped dirt have crumbly sides as well?)

I did think about both cases (correctly connecting crumbled sand with sloped sand sides, and crumbling the rounded sides of sloped sand), but in fact did just skip this so far.

I may fix this for the final 4.4.0.0 release, or maybe shortly after it.

[Holger]

If Rockford is killed by a falling element, the RND smashing player sound is played in additon to the sound from BD engine.

I assume you used the GDash level collection with included sounds, is this correct? Which version did you use? I have muted the "dying" sound for the native BD sound set, but you need the latest GDash level collection package for this fix.

If you are talking about the native BD engine with R'n'D artwork (like the new BD set with native engine in the "Classic Games" section), the observed behavior is by intention, as it is the same as in the main R'n'D engine.

[Holger]

The solved Boulder_Dash levels don't seem to be showing up in https://api.artsoft.org, Is this intentional since this is 'pre-release' version? Will they show up in later builds?

Regarding the new "Classic Boulder Dash (native engine)": I just forgot to add this set to the high score server! Just did that!

Also, It seems Boulder_Dash is more likely to produce bad tapes than other levels.

Argh, indeed. Although the notorious "snapshot bug" also happens for the BD engine, the large number of bad tapes was most probably caused by the fact that the high score server still had the pre-release version 4.4.0.0-test-1 installed, instead of the current version (4.4.0.0-test-6), so most tapes will have been played with the newer engine version, which the high score server did not know yet.

I have updated the game engine on the high score server to the latest version, and I will re-run all those failed tapes for BD levels again (which will hopefully "heal" some tapes).