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Build 345 Released!

This is a big maintenance patch fixing a whole BUNCH of issues. This isn’t still zombies multiplayer patch because that isn’t working yet. Next time, which should be real quick… The good thing is there are some fixes for CTF gold servers so they can use boulders for example.

Most important changes are:

• Added a new server filter called “Beginner”. This will be set as default for new players. It filters everything in the servers browser except small Rapid Team Deathmatch servers which are ideal to get into the game fast and easy without being overwhelmed by CTF.
• Team chat key is [Y] – sorry for the change but we had to make it compatible for OSX. Additionally you can use [T] for regular chat which is a very quick way to access chat [T] / [Y].
• Guards are Green in scoreboard, Global Admins are Purple and RCON admins are Red
• Banning is completely overhauled. Blacklists, whitelists and ban saving to a file should work. Griefers are gonna have a much harder time now.

Changes build 319-345:

– authentication system now uses KAG API (https://wiki.kag2d.com/wiki/API_Overview)

– fixed duplicate IP preventing from LAN play

– user roles separated (admin, guard, tester)

– added new default gamemode Rapid Team Deathmatch

– added default “Beginner” server filter

– default chat key is [T] or [ENTER]

– team chat is launched with [Y]

– vote keys on Mac OSX are [+] and [-]

– strings are loaded from .irrst files located in Base/StringTables

– fixed barrier dissapearing on client when match not started

– added random Lance bot to addBot command

– error message for duplicate master login

– fixed securitysetup using username instead of name

– fixed builder killing with hammer msg

– fixed couple of crash reasons

– fixed network clantag exploit

– fixed net logging of IPs

– added serverMessage(“message”); console/script command

– boulder multiplayer crash fixed

– fixed network connection memory leak

– added no GUI mode (F6)

– fixed squeezing

– fixed server console “CAN’T PICK’ spamming

– removed console “banned client trying to connect” msg

– ESCAPE also closes scoreboard

– added “Open external browser” button to awesomium browser

– server has chat texts logged in console

– random chests and lanterns are specified in the generator file

– all disconnection messages appear in popups

– fixed lantern and kegs in non-gold servers

– fixed launcher graphic flickering

– fixed connection messages error and returning to menu

– admins are now red in scoreboard

– fixed spikes spawning dummy blocks

– Ban system overhaul (unban)

        unban works via username

        bans stored in securitysetup.cfg        

        ban player needs to take username param

– removed hwid related ban stuff

– removed bans on kick

– guards and admins can always see player labels on hover

– when someone marks for vote kicks server announces it

– fixed wrong rooms appearings in mods

– game launches from menu only after succesful connect

– fixed bad delta msgs on server on player join

Discuss on forums!

EDIT: There’s a rather large issue in the threading of the new API calls, which is causing servers to crash. Will hopefully be fixed within the hour, sorry about that!

FIXED – HAVE AT IT

Guards vs The World

What is it?

Any premium players vs the KAG Guards.

When is it?

• March 24th North American Server 3:00 p.m.-Whenever p.m. US Eastern (Hosted by Teemo)
• March 31st British/European Server 3:00 p.m.- Whenever p.m. GMT (Hosted by Rayne)

Hopefully I can make the PT one! It starts at 6AM my time though, so no promises.

More info here, get in on it!

Geti

Current Direction

Hey guys, sorry for not posting much in the last week.

MM and I were more or less working our butts off at GDC last week, getting work done on multiplayer zombies and fixing a bunch of security holes. There’s still some more work to do before we release the changes but things are looking promising.

At GDC, our server guy FliesLikeABrick came over to meet us for a few days to work on that side of stuff and we made some great progress – once it’s in we’ll likely be able to make changes allowing shared IPs to be used again and also completely revamp the banning system – which should prevent the headaches server owners currently have to deal with related to people getting banned seemingly randomly, and /unban not working. As a bonus, account logins will be more or less unspoofable.

With the next update we’ll also be adding multiplayer zombies – work there is coming along nicely, with only a few things still crashing the game and another handful of stuff not properly synced. Should be a blast when it’s done.

We’ll be properly back to the grind next week – we’ve been working very lightly this week to recover (MM is jetlagged to death and I’ve got a week and a half of coursework to catch up…) so we’ll keep you posted on progress as it comes.

Geti

ZOMBIE FORTRESS Single-player Released

ZOMBIE FORTRESS SINGLE-PLAYER

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. BUILD A FORT
2. WATCH OUT FOR ZOMBIES

In a land far far away… evil has spawned from the *deep*… yeah you know what this is…
If you’ve paid the 10 bucks it costs you are ready to play it (if not click here).
Launch the game right now and it will auto-update.
Run KAG and login at least once, open the Solo menu and select “Zombie Fortress”.
Wait for the night to come and be prepared for all hell to break loose...

We’ve been holding this release for a long time, trying to iron out everything. It’s still not all ironed out and IT’S NOT FINISHED, we have a whole bunch of stuff waiting to be done more in this mode. But it’s gotten to the stage where we just really want to show it to you guys.

Before you get too exited, zombies multiplayer doesn’t work yet. Trust me, we’ve tried to get this done and dusted (12-16 hour days for the last month) but it’s going to take a while longer. Since we’ll be off at GDCin San Francisco next week we’ve decided to give you guys access to the single player zombie fortress mode.Since you can’t play with friends yet, we’ve added something called Party Mode to zombies – you can recruit migrants, control them and give them basic orders. We’ll be expanding your control over party members in coming updates (go-to, gather resources orders, re-stock etc.).

Here’s how the basics work in-game:

Note that you need quarters for migrants to arrive and be recruitable!

Basically hold down [R] for a Party Menu or tap it quickly to switch between party members. 

CTF / TDM CHANGES:
This patch, besides zombies, introduces a ton of other things we added for the free version of the game in CTF. So much has changed that we haven’t kept a proper change-log. Here are some highlights:

• Lighting – castle interiors and caves are dark. You can hide in them. 
  Lanterns in full version (will work fully next patch).
• Workshops have no castle background. This means they can fit anywhere and don’t cost stone.
• Team bubbles stop on the edge of the screen so you can see your out-of-screen teammates crying for help
• Bomb has changed – doesn’t have the bomber-man effect – tweaked bomb jumping
• Many collision, networking, exploit and security fixes
• Swordfight is now Deathmatch – a mini-tutorial for training to fight with Knight and Archer
• AI that can fend for itself! (No more derpy Henries)
• Randomly generated dungeons and castles (fully moddable, get on it server owners)
• Rubble from collapsed castles and in ruins
• Tapping function keys [E] [Q] [V] to perform certain actions is now possible again, most importantly tapping [E] on the tent to quickly swap classes, and F to swap tiles. Long time players might appreciate the return of the first one especially.
• Player names on cursor show only when close and in full light (to allow hiding)

Due to some security issues, localhosting wont work, and those on shared IPs wont be able to play at the same time. This really bugs us and we’ll be fixing it ASAP, but it’s better than the alternative (a nice big security hole).We’re keen to see what exploits work (so we can sort out something to deal with them) and what ones dont (so we can laugh at the people who tried them) so we’ll be watching the forums keenly.

We’re not raising the price until the multiplayer is in to ensure noone feels cheated; that means KAG is still $9.99 for a limited time. To buy the Full Version of KAG (takes just 5 minutes;) ) go here.   

Very big thanks to KAG admins, guards and testers! It wouldn’t be possible without you.

Have fun!
Geti + MM

A word from Geti

This is cross-posted from the forums:

Trust me, we’re as frustrated with this taking as long as it is as you are. We were literally aiming for a feb1 release from the new year, but a lot has happened to push the release back. I’d go into it but it’d bore you as it’s just related to programming issues.

While MM battles with the multiplayer side of things and makes sure all the code is cross-platform compatible I’ve been going around and addressing a lot of the other bugs in-game, like bombs not going through windows properly, bomb jumping being retardedly overpowered, squeezing (i tested with one of those door-teleporters you see in public servers, they don’t work any more thank god) and a few others, and MM has also fixed elevatorjumping, workshops not working with someone in front of them, some issues with hit detection.. I have also set up things like per-player IP and score logging for a server, fixed the whitelist/blacklist code, changed the way bombs damage terrain (which will likely happen again once the build goes public if it rapes dirt too much), tweaked some of the graphics, and I’ll be working on fixing or changing /ban and /unban soon. We really just need to make sure the multiplayer mode isn’t too prone to exploits this time around, tweak how the maps are laid out, fix three AI issues and push it out.

We’ve been crunching since February started, it’s been a hell of a ride.

-Geti

Figured those of you who don’t frequent the forums could use an update on what’s going on.

Also, if you’re interested in the future of the balance of KAG, get your butt in here and have your say.

Geti

MM’s blog

I started blogging more frequently on my personal blog http://mm.soldat.pl. I write there about things not directly related to KAG. It’s more about my current thoughts on game design and what I want games to be like. 
If you are interested in making games or just reading about it check it out!

MM

KAG is one of the Essential Free Indie Games For Your PC

We got featured yesterday on G4TV.COM along with classics such as Cave Story and Dwarf Fortress in an article called “Essential Free Indie Games For Your PC”. This is really amazing that we’re getting this attention.

KAG is a completely free game right now and it offers an insane amount of fun. In a couple days we’ll have a patch ready with more new stuff for the free version and a completely new game mode for the paid version called:
 “Zombie Survival Adventure”

We just added a new payment option (most requested by players). You can now pay with Google Checkout (along with PayPal and Allopass).

Did I mention it’s still the special discounted price because the game is still in alpha? It costs only 9.99$ but the price will raise slightly after the mentioned patch is out. You can get it here.

Have fun,

MM

Wrapping up zombies

We are officially wrapping up the zombies build. Not adding anything more. Fixing and tweaking the most important things. Consulting with the few happy testers and heading straight to the bliss of release.

This is gonna be like 30% of what we plan this mode to have but since this is still alpha we want to push this out so that you can have some fun. I personally haven’t gone more than an hour before dying and without stuff to do. I think this wil be your first impression when you play the zombie mode – there’s so much to do! And we’ll add even more later :).

The free version will have lots of additions and improvements as a collateral of working on the zombies.

No concrete date of release sorry. Its gonna be released when no bugs are present.

PS. We’ve gone past build 300 days ago. This means KAG is officially 300 days old/young.

MM

Quotes from Testing Day 1:

A selection of quotes from today’s testing, which will be ongoing until the build is released:

yeah it’s damn fun.

I love those one undead with the mad jumping skills

:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
mfw per-generator map sizes

hwoo that was fun
oh just played a really long game
made a big castle and got deep underground
im sorry but i do not have many glitches to report

and now i pass out

why is it in japanese

i fell through underground floor into a pit full of zombies because of the rubble
twas a good death

godt
this is fking epic
argh
the exploders
try kegs neat
damn i havent even tried kegs yet

man it was really fun just to have a knight following a builder, both with lanterns, exploring the caves

:D:D tiny army

i love the darkness
it’s amazing
yeah
night mode too
I love it till I’m in it 😀
nah, it’s still fun then, blind fighting zombies.
lanterns can be used as zombie distractions too
what, do they try to eat it?
yeah
same as bombs
bombs are more effective 😉

Now you know some of the people to pester for info I guess 😉 They’re sworn on pain of death not to distribute anything at this point though, except maybe some screenshots.

We’re entering the polishing phase of this build. It’s going to be a doozy, there’s so much stuff you’ll barely believe it… until you’re playing it all. We’ll keep you posted with more commentary as the days go on, hoping to have it wrapped up and ready by next week!

Geti