Path: utzoo!attcan!telly!lethe!yunexus!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!bu.edu!nntp-read!adb From: adb@cs.bu.edu (Adam Bryant) Newsgroups: comp.sources.games.bugs Subject: Re: Conquer v5.0 Message-ID: Date: 26 Nov 90 21:19:23 GMT References: <2413@wheaton.UUCP> Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: Boston University Lines: 102 In-reply-to: water@wheaton.UUCP's message of 21 Nov 90 06:34:39 GMT In article <2413@wheaton.UUCP> water@wheaton.UUCP (Paul Waterman) writes: + + From: water@wheaton.UUCP (Paul Waterman) + Newsgroups: comp.sources.games.bugs + Summary: When? + + The summary line says it all. If I recall correctly, in February there + was a post that said that version 5.0 of conquer was already in beta + testing. Then, a little later, there was a post that proclaimed that + conquer version 5.0 would be coming out over the summer. At the end of + the summer, a post stated that it would be out in about two months. + + Guys, it's been longer than that. Care to update us on what's going on + with version five? Will it ever come out? Will any messages that I + send to the author ever be answered? + + No flame intended. I'm just in an interesting mood, and have a horde + of gamers here waiting for version five. + + - Paul Ack. I am truly sorry that it has taken so long on the development of conquer, but I am the only one working on it, and I have not had any time until recently to work on it. [I guess you could think of it as three months of writers block, phffttt] The hardest part for me has been getting back into a programming rhythm after having to stop work on it for about a month due to lack of time. Right now I am attempting to remedy that by reworking the source into a more organized form so that I can more easily code it. The current status of development: - Version 5.x is a full rewrite of conquer, from the ground up. This was done to allow an unlimited number of nations, armies, navies, etc. through the use of new dynamic structures. - There are now more display and highlight options. - There are now more magical powers. [32 per class instead of 32 total]. - The world is cylindrical. [Wraps when moving east or west] - Map coordinates are now relative. [Capitol of each nation is 0,0. This make nation cooperation more realistic.] - Raw materials are stored within city sectors and are usable only on a local level, so they must be transported via caravans. - The code is written using ANSI C, and automatically provides prototyping for those compilers which support it. - The mailing system is greatly enhanced and is much more usable than the prior version. - A more advanced, built in pager provides an easier method for examining the documentation. - The documentation is now written in roff source using macros which handle output for both online and hardcopy. Preformated online and hardcopy ready (postscript) documentation will be distributed during the official release for those sites without roff. [nroff, troff, or psroff] - The data file will automatically use compress and zcat (or a system equivalent) if your system supports it. This results in a 10 to 1 compression ratio, which can be rather handy. - The compilation options which may affect the data file are grouped together within the header.h file and are obviously marked to allow better control of the compilation. - The size of the world can now be 256x256 (or even greater if a proper compilation option is set). For this version, the location values and maps sizes are carefully monitored, and overflow is prevented. - The number of army units can be either > 250 (unsigned char to hold the unit id number) or basically unlimited (unsigned short to hold the unit id number) [default]. This is also a compilation option. - The world generator is much more robust, with nicer looking land and water formations. And there are a bunch of other things which I can't think of right now which have been written into the new version. The things which I will complete before I post to comp.sources.games: - Add a user customization system. [.conqrc file] - Write the loading system for raw materials onto navies and caravans. [Caravans are new land based transports] - Write the magical power perusal / purchasing screen. [Almost finished with this] - Add a new combat system which will allow multi-way battles to take place. - Add more spells and a new spell casting method. [Almost completed] So far the source code is much larger than version 4.x and it has been written about 85 to 90 percent from scratch with the rest coming from yanked 4.x code and some external contributions. Hopefully, I will be able to get a fully functional version done by January, with the bugs worked out a month or two after that. Sorry for all of the delay (I guess I was a bit of an optimist), but I only have two hands. :-) adam p.s. The beta code in the file "conquer/beta/conquer.tar.Z" should be updated in about a week, but I can't guarantee anything. *sigh* -- Adam Bryant INTERNET: adb@cs.bu.edu Conquer Hack'n'Slasher BITNET: adb@buenga list: conquer-news-request@cs.bu.edu UUCP: ...!harvard!bu-cs!adb