Category Archives: Update

You must challenge Doomdark everywhere…

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Latest version of both The Lords of Midnight and Doomdark’s Revenge is available across all formats version 2.0.4 (43), depending on store and your update settings, they should become available over the next few days. As always windows and non App Store OSX versions will be available here and here…

This release fully syncs both games with bug fixes and features. I will now be using my time to focus on updates to facilitate a release of The Citadel in the future, and I will post some blog entries on that over the next few weeks. However, if you have any ideas of features that you would like to see implemented, then contacted me and I will look at them. It would be nice to drop a new feature monthly or bi monthly just to stop the apps from stagnating and forcing me to keep the builds up to date.

There are a few new features in this release for both games, so I thought I’d mention them here. I have not had time to update the online documentation, but I will do soon as it doesn’t need a release of the app to do so.

ADDED: permanent scrollbar to all scrollable tip windows

It’s not always clear that the tip popups can be scrolled, so I made the scrollbars always visible to help with that.

Shows tip window with visible scrollbar
Tips Scrollbar

ADDED: panel_map_detailed – clarity behind multi lord select popup

On the map when there are a number of lords at the same location and a number of lords in the surrounding location, the selector popup sometimes looked confusing because of the lords in the background. I have added some fade out behind the popup to make things clearer.

Show map with lord select popup
Map – Select lord

ADDED: panel_look – compass – Long Press

I finally returned the compass to the main look screen. Just press on the screen and hold it for a few seconds (configurable in the options screen) and the compass will popup. Without releasing select the direction you wish to look. I have removed the haptic feedback that used to be there on mobile devices because it no longer feels right and its usage in the situation would fall foul of Apple guidelines.

Shows compass popup
Look – Compass

ADDED: panel_look – tool tip to lords on landscaping screen

You can now see who is stood in front of you by a long press on them.

Show lord with their name as a tooltip
Look – Tooltip

ADDED: panel_look – select lord from landscaping screen

Combined with the above. If you then release while still selecting them (or just press quickly) it will take you to the lords ahead think screen.

ADDED: panel_look – lord name to approach icon on choose actions

When you can potentially recruit or approach a lord, the command window icon will identify which lord you are about to approach.

Shows command window with lords name for approach
Command – Approach lord

FIXED: panel_select – crash caused by adding a new page / reorganise button

Fixed this crash when a new page was added to the selection screen. This could happen if you pressed the reorganise button or if you visited the select screen after recruiting a new lord. More prevalent in Doomdark’s Revenge because of the number of lords.

FIXED: panel_select – [win] missing or corrupt lord names

On windows the lord names were often becoming corrupt on the select screen. This has now been resolved.

FIXED: panel_select – truncated long lord names

Particularly on Doomdark’s Revenge grouped lord names would often become truncated depending on your screen size.

FIXED: [tme] – Stop diagonal movement of lord in tunnel

In the tunnels in Doomdark’s Revenge it was possible to cut the corner and move diagonally. This has been resolved.

Doomdark could choose from many roads after gaining the Plains

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So phase one of the new release is almost complete. Version 2.0.2 (36) of The Lords of Midnight is now available for iPhone, OSX, and Windows. You can download OSX from the App Store or you can get it from here along with the Windows version.

On iOS there is one known issue and that is a random crash caused by the move from OpenGL to Metal – a requirement enforced by Apple. You never lose any data and a restart of the game will take you right back in to where you were. If you are experiencing this problem then it is possible that turning off transitions in the options may solve or delay the problem.

Unfortunately it seems that the Cocos2dx has an issue here and the SDK has not been updated in two years, which makes me think it is nearly as good as dead – which leaves me in another tricky situation.

The suggestion is that I can move to a more updated Fork of Cocos2dx called ADXE. In theory it should be a small migration, but I’m just not up to it right now. Maybe I will give it a quick go one weekend when the mood takes me.

So I have made the decision to move on for now to phase two which is to get Doomdark’s Revenge release. Hopefully this shouldn’t take too long as it was already running in the new engine, I just need to check over a few things. I have pushed test version for iOS and OSX and will follow with Windows and Android real soon.

Sign up for testing

This does leave me vulnerable as the crash bug is probably frequent enough that I might start to get complaints and review ratings will start to decrease. However until I see how bad the crash is in the wild across multiple devices and os versions, it’s hard for me to gauge. I just hope that those of you have been following my progress and are therefore reading this will just take the crash on the chin for a while.

As later phases of my plan involve a complete re-write of the engine to c# and the potential move to unity (which is already under way), then I feel compelled to get Doomdark’s Revenge released and then focus on the rewrite. Because with the new engine will come many many new and shiny features…

He rode on towards the Tower of the Moon a little more gladly

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Thanks to the generosity of Scott Gibbens, who took time out from his 170 mile journey home at the end of a busy day at work, to swing by my place and lend me his iPad2 for testing… the new build is now working on all the devices it can. The only restrictions I have had to make is iOS7. This removes iPhone 1-3, and iPad1, and iPod Touch 1-4. Unfortunately, there is just nothing I can do for these old devices anymore. For the record, the current version in the app store will continue to be available and work on those devices that have already downloaded it, it’s just no future versions (should there be any) will be available.
This new build has gone out to the external testers, and as long as I get the ok, it will head to the store next week. All being well, I will do the same for Doomdark’s Revenge. I intend to release both LoM and DDR for Android, Windows, and OSX as well to unify the releases. However, Blackberry, and Windows Phone will not be getting this release.
 
For the record, this is what is available in this release…
 
1. Added discovery map
2. Added ‘tooltip’ info on map
3. Added cleanup button for lords on select screen
4. Change to undo system ready for difficulty modes
5. Added ability to UNDO from the gameover screen!
6. Handle new screen resolutions
7. Built for latest IOS SDK
8. Support 64 bit devices
9. Cosmetic changes on scrolling views – dithered
10. Update of engine to align with Doomdark’s Revenge
11. Misc minor engine fixes ported from Doomdark’s Revenge