Alternate Reality X - The Final Stretch

Following my announcement that I'm planning to complete release 1.0 of Alternate Reality X (ARX) for Monday 5th December 2016, the final stretch of development work has begun! It's great to have that clear goal in sight. I'm pleased with progress since the announcement but there is still a lot to complete before December to get all the features added so I'll need to push myself hard and stay focused. I'll be devoting the majority of my free time to making sure I meet my target, chipping away at small issues when I have a bit of free time and maximising the time I spend on development. I want everyone to be able to play a complete, fully integrated City and Dungeon for Christmas 2016! Visualising that goal tells me it will be a great personal achievement for me - and hopefully players will enjoy the results too!

As I go into this final stretch any assistance people can provide through donations to the project, however small would be particularly helpful. This support helps in a few different ways - it allows me to better justify the (very considerable) time that I spend on coding ARX to my family, helps cover some of my small development costs such as webspace and small hardware/software purchases and permits me to spend more time focused on development. The PayPal and Patreon details can be found at the support page here.

If you've donated in the past either through PayPal or Patreon then you have my sincerest thanks - it makes a big difference to me and has really helped me to keep developing ARX - probably more so than people realise. Alternate Reality X would not have been possible for me without your support. I've been thinking about ways to better convey my thanks once the project is completed and I have a few ideas which I think players would like.

My main focus for development is ensuring that 100% of the original City / Dungeon content and features are implemented for the 1.0 release in December. I've temporarily disabled some of the alternative graphics and music options to allow me to focus solely on ensuring the original games are completely re-implemented. Hopefully everyone is ok with that as a temporary measure - for me it makes managing the project easier and allows me to focus better on the key features which aren't in place or fully completed yet.

I've worked exclusively on encounters and combat recently. I've rewritten the main loop that deals with combat so that ARX now has a sensible turn structure with the player and opponents taking turns as well as adding in options for surprising characters, deciding whose "turn" it is first. One of the main reasons for rewriting this was so that animation effects for encounters as well as backgrounds (rain and other weather effects) could be added. I've added the encounter animations now which I think makes a big difference to making the game feel more complete. I'm now working on adding more encounter features. Release 0.75 will focus solely on encounters as there has been a lot more work involved in rewriting this part of ARX than I anticipated. I'll also be adding all the additional encounter weapons that opponents can carry such as Unholy swords, flaming pitchforks and diamond daggers among many others.

Release 0.76 will focus on all the other items and treasures that you can find in Alternate Reality (horns, eyes, tarot cards). I'll have more updates and possibly a video shortly once I sort out my screen capture software. It's going to be a bit longer before I have the next release out as I'd like to add more new encounter features first. Thanks for your support and interest in ARX.

Alternate Reality X - Release 1.0 - Target Release Date!

Time to draw a line in the sand. I first started the current form of my Alternate Reality: The City & Alternate Reality:The Dungeon remake project back in 2009 - A long, long time ago. I think I even still had a full head of hair back then! Alternate Reality X (ARX) as it's now known has come a long way since that 0.1 release back in 2009 and I've found myself diverted or distracted on occasion but the project is now well and truly back on track and developing on a daily basis.

Based on the solid progress I've made with development of ARX during 2016 I now feel that I can confidently announce a target release date for release 1.0 of the game. I have always envisaged 1.0 as completing my original vision for my Alternate Reality remake project - a full recreation of both The City and The Dungeon in a single, easy to use, seamless game for modern systems.

At the beginning of 2016 the game was still a confused mangle of code which I'd built up steadily between 2009 and 2015. It was full of workarounds, hacks and was very difficult to expand and add new features to. I've spent a lot of time reacquainting myself with some of my earliest code during the last few months which was a big challenge. I kept asking myself "Why did I do that????" Back then the main problem was that I was learning a lot about game programming for the first time and at the same time trying to develop the game. This often led to me making short sighted decisions without realising their longer term consequences. Later I would then struggle to bolt on a new feature to an increasingly precarious code base.

I'm pleased to say I'm now a lot more confident in my programming and game development skills and I've managed to gradually start to restructure my ARX code into a more sensible project. I've learned and read a lot about programming, C++, SFML and game development so I'm a lot better equipped to complete the project. I still have more work to do (and plenty to learn) but I expect to have a complete, well organised and (easily) expandable game by the end of 2016.

There is still a lot of work to do and features to complete before then but I feel really confident and excited that this is achievable and realistic. I can't think of any area or feature that I'm particularly daunted by. I know that completing the game will be hard work, challenging but also extremely satisfying. If the 1.0 release is well received then I can look to really expand on the Alternate Reality universe during 2017 with additional scenarios and other enhancements to the City and the Dungeon.

As you can see from some of the screenshots here I've finally set up Alternate Reality X so that you can finally encounter some of the more exotic Dungeon encounters that haunted the corridors and halls of the original game. I'm also continuing to add in the special behaviours and actions for each encounter type.

So, without further delay I'm pleased to announce that my target release date for Release 1.0 of Alternate Reality X is:

 Monday 5th December 2016 

It's a date I'll be putting in my calendar! Hopefully something of an early Christmas present for some people. This is likely to be Microsoft Windows only initially and will focus on completing 100% of the original features from The City and The Dungeon. You will also be able to complete all the Dungeon quests and complete that scenario.

I just want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to those people who have supported me through Paypal, Patreon, the AR forums, Facebook or by sending me personal emails of support and encouragement through the life of the project. It has made a big difference to me personally that you've had faith in what I've been working on and continued to support the project. If you have questions about this release or how I plan to achieve it then please post them here, on Facebook, the forums or send me a private message / email.

I'm not announcing this release date lightly - I take it very seriously. It's not only a commitment to those who've supported the development of the game - some from the early years - It's also a big commitment that I'm making on a personal level to myself. I think for me setting this release date will only strengthen my resolve to complete the game and help me focus on reaching my development targets. Regular releases of the game will continue to appear leading up to the final 1.0 release. Release 0.75 will focus on numerous improvements around City and Dungeon encounters. Thanks for your patience and support.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.2 for Unity 3D

Just a brief note to let you know that I've a new release of Alternate Reality X available for download. There are versions for both Windows and Mac OS X created using Unity 3D.

Windows: http://www.crpgdev.com/downloads/ARX_0.2_Unity3D.zip

Mac OS X: http://www.crpgdev.com/downloads/ARX_0.2_Unity3D_OSX.zip

Release 0.2 features initial Encounters, the addition of sound and music as well as various changes to the environment such as the use of terrain and the beginnings of shop interiors. It also illustrates the use of free models to make the environment more interesting and my first models made with Blender 3D. Thanks to Furious for the music and sound effects.

There isn't much interaction in this release but it hopefully gives you a good taster of things to come. Thanks for your support.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.72 Update & Quests

If only I had a suitable key?

Work continues on Alternate Reality X - now moving towards release 0.72. So far this release contains several bug fixes, new Dragon and Skeleton artwork and a number of improvements to encounters to really make encounters and combat in the game feel a lot more authentic to the original Alternate Reality. I still have a lengthy list of additional changes which I plan to add to the encounters for this release.

A mysterious tomb

There is a significant change in 0.72 relating to encounters. JPST made a great point on the ARX forums here about not been able to make use of "Charm" and "Trick" against evil lifeforms, therefore compromising your alignment as you were only able to use these on good lifeforms. In turn this meant you couldn't obtain the Intelligence and Charisma bonuses that are possibly (after many, many successful Charm / Trick actions). This is one of those issues due to me creating a "hybrid" AR encounter system with features from both the City and the Dungeon encounter systems. I really wanted to have "Charm" and "Trick" in ARX. In release 0.72 you can now gain access to the "Transact" menu to attempt a Trick or Charm against Neutral and Evil characters. This makes sense as I want to be able to add more "Offer" options for some encounters as an alternative to combat as in the the original Dungeon.

Run the Devourer!

I'm also modifying a lot of code under the hood to make the source code a lot more readable and maintainable and as I complete this work it makes adding new features much simpler and quicker. The use of OpenGL for ARX has reared it's head as a frustration though as I recently switched to Windows 8.1 and now my graphics card doesn't support OpenGL properly (a Radeon HD 4350 I think). Plays Dragon Age Origins and Fallout 3 just fine and I'm fine with Windows 8.1 itself so not changing back. I have the same issue with the Mac port of ARX - it also suffers due to OpenGL driver issues. It makes ARX testing slow though...

Danger in the City at night

I've also been working on adding some more of the Dungeon quests as you can see from the screenshots here. Whilst I quite like to jump around during ARX development and work on different things to keep things fresh and interesting, I'm now reaching the point where I'll be homing in on specific features and areas to fill in the remaining blanks, whether it's adding the remaining features to the City, adding all the special locations to level 1 of the Dungeon map or finishing off work on treasure types. I'll then be able to draw a clear line as to which sections of the game are 100% complete.

I really want release 0.72 to add a lot so it will be a bit longer before it's released. Thanks for your support.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.71, Mac OS X version and Next Steps

Alternate Reality X 0.71 running on Mac OS X!

Alternate Reality X 0.71 is now available for download from www.crpgdev.com. I spent a lot of time (about 50 hours sandwiched in around work and family commitments) on this one modifying and tidying up a lot of the display code in the background so that ARX runs much more consistently across different window and screen sizes. I've also modified the encounter art scaling code so that encounters in both the original Atari 8 bit style and using Ted's new art scale properly based on the 3D window size. Another area which annoyed me was the positioning of screen elements when visiting shops and modules. These should now appear neatly centred on the screen or window rather than spread out to the four edges of the screen as previously which I didn't think worked very well. Hopefully these changes were positive! This release also includes a couple of new encounter images from Ted - a Slime and a Noblewoman (who wasn't in the original AR).

Mac OS X version running full screen

I've got a lot of other visual changes that I have planned for future releases such as a smaller auto map, updated map - hopefully showing the full City and Dungeon 64 x 64 cell levels, encounter animation (at least for the original 8bit art) and lots of new wall textures. I may add a little resolution / display options utility as well so that people don't have to edit arx.ini by hand. I also need to clean up some of the interface generally in terms of text input and on screen prompts (or lack of)  which confuse people. Expect desktop icons for both the Windows and Mac OS X versions very soon :) 

The other major development for me is my first ever game release for Mac OS X. I now have a version of ARX 0.71 available for download on Mac OS X. I can't really say how satisfying it's been to be able to make this available for people. Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback and support for this release. Currently it's only available from this link but I'll add a proper page / description shortly:

www.crpgdev.com/downloads/ARX_OSX_0.71.zip

I had to tweak the security settings for the App but this only takes a few seconds and OS X will tell you how when you try and run the game.

Really pleased with SFML running on Mac OS X. The latest 2.1 version seems to be work really well and comes with xCode templates to get you started. Once I got past some of the differences with using xCode and became more familiar with using a Mac in general then SFML seemed to do its job very well. Laurent Gomila has done such a great piece of work with SFML since it started a few years back. If you have any interest in game programming then you should definitely consider SFML 2.1. 

The SFML 2.1 template and test project

In terms of game play updates for Alternate Reality X, I will be focusing on improving encounters and items in the game for the 0.72 release. This will include adding multiple body parts to combat, surprise and waylay, knock downs, fleeing, blocking, stun - you know what I have in mind. I could really use one of those Wands of Cold to cool down those hot headed Flame Demons. Alternate Reality for me is very much about the encounters you have so I really want this element to be very strong and close to the original games. Don't be surprised if the more friendly characters begin having a lot more to say that they used to - of course it may not always be useful or truthful!

I also want to include some of those juicy treasure items that made the City and Dungeon so enjoyable - eyes, scrolls, trumps and lots of weapons and armour. Some of these essential additions will probably require some fairly major changes to my older code which may require changes to the save game format. I'll see what I can do though.

I've had a few queries about Stone of the Citadel recently and whilst there isn't currently a downloadable demo work on it has continued in the background (mainly focused on design and content). This will be a Unity 3D project. The initial release will focus on creating your party of adventurers and I think will show how SOTC will capture the best of the classic CRPGs whilst adding some spice of its own. Expect a playable multi-platform demo in the near future.

If you enjoy what I've been doing with Alternate Reality X or other CRPG Dev projects then please consider making a small donation via Paypal to cover my time and web site costs. Please also keep your feedback, emails, questions and words of support coming - they are a great encouragement and help shape my future releases and games. Thanks as always for your support.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.70 - Now Available

Alternate Reality 0.70 is here and available for download from www.crpgdev.com. It includes some new Dungeon features and several pieces of great new encounter art from Ted. There are also some additional pieces of art from the unreleased Amiga version of the Dungeon.


A great looking Knight courtesy of Ted

A Mac OS X version will be available in the next few days which I'm excited about. It's looking pretty good so far and is a big step for Alternate Reality X. I'm really enjoying working on ARX just now so I would expect to have another fairly rapid release not long after this one, hopefully fixing some of the issues which annoy me such as problems with the different screen resolutions not looking good, fonts and text covering up Ted's artwork! If you would like to support development of ARX then please consider making a small donation via Paypal using the link. Thanks.




Homunculli attack!







Alternate Reality X - Release 0.64 Now Available

Release 0.64 of Alternate Reality X is now available from the download pages over at:

www.crpgdev.com.

I've added the final City establishment - the City Healers - to the game, City style potions, poison, diseases and a number of bug fixes. All 44 types of potion can be found in the game but several of them will need some work in the next release to be a 100% completed. Treasure Finding is working though and directly influences the probability of finding treasure after an encounter - something which people had mentioned in the last release. Potions are easier to find in this version than they will be in the final version to give players the chance to try them out.

The full list of changes include:

• Added City Healers - Includes heal wounds, cure disease, remove alcohol and remove delusions
• Added City style potions as treasure - Examine, Sip, Taste and Quaff
• Added Treasure Finding stat
• Added diseases and poisons and their effects
• Updated the wandering healer for the above
• Updated main menu with new image / layout
• Updated "Active Magic" and "Known Diseases" displays
• Added compass images from Jason and added background for use with large 3D window
• Added new guard / warrior encounter image from Ted
• Reduced encounter frequency
• Fixed Bug #027: Game hangs on second play through when creating character
• Fixed Bug #028: Compass images hard to see in full screen mode and needed position adjusting
• Fixed Bug #029: Crash when pressing ESC from Use object menu
• Fixed Bug #030: Shop stock items not saved as part of save game 
• Fixed Bug #031: Tavern and shop stock items not refreshed each day
• Fixed Bug #032: Guild lyrics display too quickly
• Fixed Bug #033: Death lyrics display too quickly

If you would like to support the continued development of Alternate Reality X then please consider making a donation towards my time and web site costs via the PayPal link on the blog, ARX Facebook page or website.

Alternate Reality X - Release Roadmap - May 2013

Updated: 22nd May 2013

 

At the time of writing release 0.63 of Alternate Reality X is now available. Ths list below includes unimplemented and new features. Release 1.0 will include all the content and features of the original City and Dungeon scenarios. It will be fully playable with all the quests completed plus a few more extras which will be unique to ARX. I have not included dates at this point and intend to keep implementation flexible but have grouped features in the major release sections where I think it's most likely they will be added to ARX. I would typically expect around 2-3 releases per group. New art, sound and music assets will be added to the game across multiple releases.

I'll update this as I expand it and probably put it into a tabular format so I can tick off each item as work on it is completed. The list is likely to get longer initially as I add more items and expand some of the individual items into smaller pieces of work.

 

Comments as always welcomed.

--

Release 0 .6x

• Major changes to the object and inventory system for dynamic object creation such as clothing and custom weapons
• Further work on City Shops
• Add City Healers
• Add experience modifiers following successful encounter 
• Display clean ups across resolutions and different display options
• Add check for successful retreat from encounters
• Adjust encounter frequency as currently seem too frequent in City
• Potions - City Style - sip, taste, quaff etc
• Merchant - trade for timepieces or compass (via menu)
• Use crystal to charge guild ring
• Thieves stealing items
• Devourer "devouring" items
• Add encounter treasure item - eyes
• Add some of the remaining combat features (surprise, waylay, flee, summon spell cast, block, disarm etc)

 

Release 0.7x

• Add duration based spells - Strength, Dexterity, Charisma, Fireblade
• Add combat spells - Cold Blast
• Spells (nearly all)
• Add additional encounter tables for the Dungeon
• Add Rathskeller Bar & Grille
• Add all encounter weapons
• Add encounter treasure items - scrolls, eyes, wands, horns, cards etc
• Add Dungeon Level 4
• Add effects of hunger, thirst and alcohol
• Add "Examine Items or Spells" option - Low priority
• Add Dungeon level 1 and 2 special locations and quests

Release 0.8x

• Add Dungeon Smithy
• Add Bank Vaults
• Add Weapon Enchantress
• Add Dungeon Chapel
• Add Smithy animation
• Add Dungeon level 3 and 4 special locations and quests
• Add remaining unique treasure items
• Weapon durability, breaks and repairs
• Darkness - light spell, torch light, helm of light

Release 0.9x

• Add Encounter animation scheme
• Add City Rain and Storm effects
• Add any remaining Dungeon quests & locations
• Add Dungeon ending sequence
• Add curses, diseases and poison
• Turn point + sub square movement (possibly)
• Delete saved game
• More info on saved game - time and date, char level, location etc

Release 1.0

• Add the AR introduction sequence
• Produce the ARX manual and supporting documents
• Add an ARX icon
• Everything else I've forgotten!

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.63 Now Available

Release 0.63 is now available for download from the downloads page at www.crpgdev.com. It includes the much requested City shops. I've started work on the City Healers but there is a bit more to do and there is still some furtehr work to do on the Shops to make them similar to the original City.  This release contains:

• Added City shops - core functionality including randomised stock, viewing, buying and wearing
• Trying to close program now brings up options screen for save & quit
• Adjusted gate counter speed to make it closer to the original games
• Code to adjust lyric speed against different processors by Scott
• Improved timings for lyric files for City Smithy (both original and new music versions)
• Fixed Tavern opening and closing times

If you like what I'm doing and wish to support the project's future development please consider making a small donation from the blog, webpages or ARX facebook page link.

More updates coming soon!

Thanks,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.62 Now available

Release 0.62 of ARX is now available for download at http://www.crpgdev.com/downloads.html. It includes additional Tavern features and allows you to buy provisions at the Dungeon Damon & Pythias shop. If you find yourself struggling in the City and you've previously made friends at a tavern then you may receive some help.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.61 Now Available!

"New" Dungeon gate graphics

Release 0.61 of Alternate Reality X is now available from the downloads page at www.crpgdev.com.

I've switched from Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 to Code Blocks for development and also upgraded to a newer version of the SFML library. These changes uncovered some bugs which had previously gone unnoticed but might have caused players to experience crashes. Compile times on Visual Studio 2010 were much slower for me than the 2008 version and I liked the option with CodeBlocks of using the same development environment and project files to compile native versions of ARX on Linux and Mac.

This release also has a few visual changes with the addition of some new encounter artwork from Ted to replace my placeholder images. I think they work really well and can't wait to see what Ted comes up with for some of the other characters. I've also added some images you might not have seen before from the 16bit Amiga version of the City and the unreleased Amiga version of the Dungeon. Hope you like them.

The main changes in release 0.61 are as follows:

• Switched to CodeBlocks and MinGW for development
• No longer requires Visual Studio C++ runtime installed
• Switched to latest version of SFML 2.0 (downloaded 1st March 2013)
• Improved compatibility for players using Intel graphics cards
• Fixed Bug #019: Offer menu won't page back when offering to Pauper
• Added check for arx.ini configuration file when the game is run
• Flags for Trolls, Goblins and Oracle now correctly included in save games
• Added "Loading..." message when loading image resources
• Added 3 new encounter images from Ted for use with alternate wall textures
• Removed the Might & Magic 6 encounter placeholder images
• Added Amiga City & Dungeon interiors for use with alternate wall textures

With the major changes behind the scenes in this release there are likely to be some new bugs I've not seen yet but hopefully you enjoy the release.

Thanks for your continued support,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.60 Now Available!

Release 0.60 of Alternate Reality X is now available for download from:

http://www.crpgdev.com/downloads.html

It contains the following additions and bug fixes:

• Implemented City and Dungeon encounters as a single set using same encounter object format
• Combined encounter images into single set using Dungeon images for majority
• Added all Dungeon fixed encounter specials (32 in total)
• Added weapons for encounter specials above
• Added a Dungeon Quest
• Fixed Bug #002: Delay of a couple of seconds when entering some shops / modules due to music loading
• Fixed Bug #003: Mini map edges don't refresh properly
• Fixed Bug #004: City map wrapped at some points instead of leading to Wilderness
• Fixed Bug #013: Lyric strip appears over shop / module image at 800 x 600 resolution
• Fixed Bug #014: Daggers only type of weapon dropped after winning an encounter
• Fixed Bug #001: Goblins and Trolls don't recognise that you're carrying rival ring half
• Fixed Bug #016: Oracle offerings did not include weapons etc
• Fixed Bug #017: Pauper could not accept all positive items and never rejected offers
• Fixed Bug #018: City encounters didn't drop weapons

Hope you enjoy it. There should be another release out soon in February.

Thanks for your continued support and feedback- greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X: Release 0.59

Release 0.59 is now available from the downloads page at www.crpgdev.com. This release fixes and adds a number of features around experience awards, levelling up and level up bonuses for the seven primary stats. There's more work to be done to make experience points accurate across the whole of ARX and the City.

Changes included in this release are:

• Removed levelling up cap (previously level 5)
• Added stat bonuses when levelling up
• Added Strength, Intelligence and Charisma bonuses for repeated successful actions
• Dungeon encounters now award correct experience points when you defeat them
• Dungeon encounters now award correct experience points for 50% of hits during combat
• Removed "spinner" special from Dungeon level 1 map (location 40,15) as it left player trapped
• Added Knight to Dungeon encounters & related alignment adjustments
• Added Pauper introduction message
• Added text for quests to Oracle module

If you like what I'm doing with ARX then please consider dropping me a note, spreading the word online or making a small Paypal donation towards my time. 

All the best,

Acrin1

Alternate Reality X: Release 0.58

Release 0.58 is now available from the downloads page at: www.crpgdev.com. Please note that you may need to download the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable Runtime from Microsoft's site. Release 0.58 includes the following additions and bug fixes:

• Switched development to new version of SFML 2 media library
• Switched development to Visual Studio C++ Express 2010
• Added Barred door interaction in Dungeon - Locked, Bolted and Enchanted
• Added some Dungeon unique treasures - Razor Ice, Sword of the Adept, Map Stone & Amethyst Rod
• Expanded weapon format to include bonus to hit, parry, 2 handed, alignment, minimum stat requirements
• City Enclosed areas added by Dalimar
• City deathtraps fixed by Dalimar
• Fixed some Dungeon zone colour schemes
• Started work on Dungeon Oracle module
• Bug fix: Fixed so more than 44 rectangular map zones can be defined
• Bug fix: Fixed crashes relating to songs with longer sequences of lyrics
• Bug fix: Fixed images for staircases,
• Bug fix: Goblin Lord & Troll Tyrant now carry a Sceptre of Evil (not a dagger)
• Bug fix: Lyrics strip image overlapped with shop image for 800x600 resolution

Hope you find something of interest in this release. Thanks for your continued support for this project.

All the best,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.57

 
Release 0.57 is now available for download from www.crpgdev.com/downloads.html

New features and bug fixes include:

• Added Encumbrance / object weights, messages and some side effects
• Added "Use timepiece" option to display hour and minutes
• Added menu option to select new music where available (Tavern, Smithy, Troll King, Goblin King, Guild, Death)
• New versions of Tavern, Smithy, Troll King, Goblin King, Guild and Death music from "Furious"
• Added on screen song lyrics for Death and some other music
• New song from Furious - The Nightstalker added to Taverns
• Bug fix: No longer start a new Dungeon character in a "Creepy Room" location
• Bug fix: Now correctly registers death whilst exploring
• Bug fix: Stopped loading shop interior images every frame!
• Bug fix: "Get" command didn't display armour names when picking up from ground
• Bug fix: Tavern opening and closing time checks prevented access sometimes
• Bug fix: Corrected Tavern opening and closing times message
• BUg fix: Paying a tavern membership fee bypassed opening time checks
• Bug fix: Object buffer tidy routine would sometimes remove carried objects
• Bug fix: Use / Drop routine would sometimes not display carried objects
• Bug fix: Apparel wasn't being saved in save game
• Bug fix: Large encounter images for fixed encounters appeared out of proportion to doors

Alternate Reality X - 0.56 Released

Hi,

 

I'm a bit late posting this but I uploaded release 0.56 of Alternate Reality X last week. The main changes include:

• Added new Death music as a sample of Bruce's work on new music and sound effects
• Added Pause option whilst exploring and during encounters
• Added buying clothing at D & P
• Wear, drop, get and swap clothing
• Added "Cheap Robe" to starting inventory
• Buy a compass from the City shops
• Added "Apparel" display & "Birthday suit" check
• Added "Known Diseases" display
• Added "curses" display
• Bug fix: inventory overflow led to game crashing after extended play
• Bug fix: Mini map no longer appears on Death screen

Thanks,

Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - 0.55 Released

Hi,

I've just released the latest version of my AR remake. It's available from www.crpgdev.com.

It's been a while coming but hopefully it contains some interesting developments to start taking the game to a new level. I think the new display mode works really well.

In release 0.55 you can find:

• Banks added - Open and close up to 9 bank accounts, deposit and withdraw, sell gems and jewels, apply for jobs, view account balances and view bank failure rates
• New smooth version of the AR font
• New full screen / window 3D view with information overlays and large encounter graphics (just borrowed placeholders for now)
• New 3D fogging for darker dungeons (new graphic style only)
• Lots of new graphics textures including Palace and Arena entrances
• Added ARX.ini configuration file for setting video resolution, full screen mode and graphic style
• Added F12 key to display information for debugging / bug report purposes

Please keep supporting the project and if you feel able please make a small donation to help support the project and keep its development rolling along. Lots of interesting things lined up but it takes time to implement them.

Make sure to send me your feedback about this release as to how the new features work out and any issues you get with these changes.

Thanks for your continued support,

Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - 0.5 - Released!

Slightly later than planned ARX release 0.5 is now available from the downloads section of www.crpgdev.com

It includes the following changes:

• Added "The Retreat" for resting and recovering lost hit points
• Added "bartering" for the "Damon & Pythias Shop"
• Added "bartering" for the City Smithy
• Added "Alternate graphics" option back in
• Added an initial "Acknowledgements" page
• F1-F4 hotkeys to go directly to the various information screens

Hope you enjoy it and keep on supporting the project.

Alternate Reality X - Demo 0.43 Released!

Demo 0.43 of Alternate Reality X is now available from the www.crpgdev.com download page. The main changes since demo 0.42 include:

• Added full source code for ARX to the game download
• City and Dungeon guilds now merged
• All Guild functions added including joining, remove curses, learn spells, practice spells, deposit / withdraw from guild locker, resign
• Added "Drop" command
• Added "Cast spell" command
• Added the "Healing", "Conjure Food", "Conjure Key" and "Location" spells
• Added "Offer" command to "Transact" menu
• Fixed visual map zone issues where walls and floors had incorrect textures and colours
• Tweaked City and Dungeon gate counter speed and increased starting values slightly for stats
• Fixed move backwards bug which allowed characters to pass through walls

Thanks for your continued support and feedback.