itch.io

Oh, I think I also use Window Capture as opposed to Game Capture.

Interesting - OBS is what I use to record.  And I do usually record in Windowed mode, just because it's easier.  You can resize your OBS recording window by grabbing any of the corners of the red recording area box in OBS, and pulling them toward the center of the screen.  That'll shrink the window, then you just have to drag the window back into place.  With any game, it takes some effort to get it sized just right.  You'll also end up with mouse contrails anywhere you move the mouse outside the borders of the recording window, so I usually bring it all in Adobe Premiere and layer in a black box over whatever areas need masking.  Hope that helps, and I'm glad you're enjoying the game!

I think it's a false positive.  Over the years, grabbing random roguelikes from around the internet, I often get them.  Apparently lesser known files can trigger some virus detectors just by virtue of being lesser known.  Let me know if anything else pops up, and I'll see if anyone else chimes in with the issue.  But I just ran about 60 different tests to see if I could determine anything amiss, and it's checking out as fine no matter what angle I take.  Thanks again for bringing this to my attention!

So, I uploaded the executable to this site: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload

It came back clean after running through tons of virus detectors.  I don't really know what's up with that detection other than to say the file would be niche and unheard of and it's likely an overzealous detector.  Feel free to upload the file yourself if you want to see the results.  Thanks for letting me know about this, btw!

Here's ChatGPT's thoughts on the topic.  It also gave me a bunch of suggestions for steps I can take, so I'll be trying those out this weekend and reporting back what I can learn:

Possible Causes

1. Heuristic Detection:
   • Some antivirus programs use heuristics to flag behaviors that might resemble malware, such as:
     • Frequent updates or changes to the executable.
     • Accessing low-level system resources.
     • Packing or compressing the executable to reduce size.
2. New Build Misidentification:
   • If the recent build contains code that is new or altered in a way unfamiliar to antivirus databases, it might mistakenly flag it as a threat.
3. Generic Threat Name:
   • The designation "DefenseEvasion.A!ml" suggests Windows Defender or another antivirus has classified the program as a generic potential threat, often without specifics. It may just be that certain code patterns or file behaviors resemble malware.
4. Executable Compression or Obfuscation:
   • If you're using tools like UPX to compress your executable, antivirus software can incorrectly flag it as malicious because such tools are often used by malware creators to hide their code.

Fascinating.  And crappy.  So far you three are the only ones reporting, but three's a big enough number to raise my eyebrows, and I'm guessing there will be others...  I'm still at a loss as to why this would happen, though.  I obviously play the game constantly on my end and it doesn't happen, so I can't reproduce the results.  And the only things new since the last update are a new executable (generated directly from my Microsoft Visual Studio 2008), and a bunch of new .pngs (generated directly by my Adobe Photoshop CS4).  I wonder if something changed in a Windows update to make this happen...  Would one of you mind if I sent you directly the previous version of the game to see if it has the same issue for you?  I'd love to try in two fashions: 1. Send the full previous game and see if it triggers, and 2. just hve you copy and paste the old executable into the current game's folder.  Wondering if that might provide some insight into what specifically is triggering the issue.

I don't know what to tell you on that aside from that many unknownish roguelikes I download pop up a Windows demand-to-scan type message when I go to play them.  I write that off as them being unknown to Windows, so extra caution.  I've never heard of DefenseEvasion, though, so I don't know what to tell you.

I really appreciate it, and I'm glad you're enjoying the channel.  I keep wanting to get back to it, but life is packed!

Absolutely!  Please send me a link to any videos you do!  (Or post them on the itch page!)

Ah, thanks, man.  I appreciate it :)

And the Candle of Invocation is repaired on my end!  Thanks again for pointing this out!

The Candle of Invocation is definitely borked.  Followed the logic and I see how to fix it, it'll just take a bit of time.  The Identify miracle lists as costing 10 in every spot I see, and actually costs 10 in the miraclecosts array...  I'll test it shortly, but I don't see an error there... I can't remember if there are Events or anything that can come into play that temporarily make miracles cost extra (if not, there should be), but if there IS, it's possible one of those was in effect.  Again, I'll test in game when I can find a spare minute to do so.

Thanks for the bug reports!  I will look into both today!

Interesting.  Yeah, the game itself runs at 1024 X 768, and by default, in full screen mode.  If you can get it running you can go to Windowed mode, but there's no way to do that from the outside.  Let me know if you need it, and you can PM me an email address, I can modify a preference file on my end to run in Windowed mode and email that to you.  Or you could try to temporarily lowering the resolution on your monitor and seeing if that helps...  Though my display's running natively at 3840 X 2160 and the game still kicks into full screen mode without hesitation.

Not sure what to tell you, as I've never seen that happen.  If you figure anything out, let me know, and I'll keep an ear open for anyone else experiencing this!  Thanks for the report!

And the patch is live!

The Cave Columns bug is an ongoing issue.  I tried to solve it in the last update and may have made it worse.  You're allowed to enter them if you have the Spelunking perk or if you are under the effects of a Wallpass spell/effect.  If the latter and the wallpass runs out while you're in a Cave Columns, you'll die on the next turn.  It seems easy to fix in my head, but the code there is really tangled.  I'll have to spend a lot of time revisiting to figure out how to fix it.  I'll let you know if I think I've achieved success.

I like the idea of the merchants stopping if you move adjacent to them...  I'll have to communicate it to the player in the manual because it could get a merchant killed if you're banking on the fact it may move out of a monster's way last second, but I think it's a good idea.  I'll try to implement that.  Also going to implement the auto-center on your character idea.  Not sure I have time for any of the above today.  We'll have to see!  

Fixed the problem where the Magic Draining Beam Trap could remove an enchantment from an armour piece and that enchantment wouldn't disappear if it provided a benefit to a Primary Attribute.

Alright, solved the mystery of the amulet.  Previous to the last update, Rings/Amulets of Elemental Protection (etc.) and Rings/Amulets of Lycanthrope Protection (etc.) were 2 distinct enchantments (suffix 23 and 24 respectively).  With the introduction of more sub-types of monsters in the last update (Spiders, Demons, etc.) and the creation of 6 new enchantments that protect you from those specific monster types, I didn't want the player constantly finding suffixed jewellery that was specific to these sub-types - so I consolidated all of them to suffix 23.  Now if it finds suffix 23, it generates a new random number from 1 to 7.  On a 1 it leaves it as suffix 23 (Elemental protection), but on a 2 through 7 it rewires the suffix to be 300 to 305.  The problem was the variables hasprefix and hassuffix that it was temporarily storing the prefix/suffix in while it generates it was of type char which can't store a number as high as 300.  Now hasprefix and hassuffix are of type int, allowing them to properly store the numbers.  Bug fixed.

The Cave In Shake Effect was saving in the saved game, not the preference file.  Meaning if you quit the game and on your return started a new game it would no longer remember (though it would if you loaded an old game).  This has been fixed!  Thank you!

Thank you so much for the reports!  Looking into the bugs immediately!

Did you notice any unusual terrain nearby?  That early it would have had to have spawned from what would probably be a Dead Side Gate on, like, turn 1.  If it was there literally from the getgo, like on your first turn, unless there was an Event that brought it in (Undead Uprising, maybe?) I can't think of any way it would be there.

The lycanthropy bug should now be fixed (on my end).  It was actually caused by a minor improvement I forgot to mention elsewhere - if you turn into a werebeast now, instead of showing your graphic as a dead version of your race and class, it should replace it with a live version of the appropriate werebeast.  (It was looking for those graphics in the wrong folder).

The bug did NOT, as I had initially thought, have anything to do with the new Were-dragon, but while investigating that code, I discovered a bug there too!  The were-dragon couldn't ACTUALLY cause Lycanthropy.  This too has been fixed on my end.  I'll try to get a bug fix update with these (and maybe a few other improvements) before another 3 months goes by!  (Maybe this week, time permitting).

I'm so glad you're enjoying it!

The Lycanthropy thing sounds like a bug.  I've never seen it happen, but I'll investigate.  The most recent update did add 1 new Lycanthrope - the Were-Dragon.  I'm betting the bug has something to do with that, but I'll have to check.

The level 26 enemy on Level 8 CAN happen, but it would be rare.  Events could cause monsters to appear out of depth, but certain rare map tiles can too.  For instance a Sewer Grate can spawn Goblinoids of any level at any level, and a Toothy Cave can do the same for Giant-types.  These types of squares have a low chance each turn of spawning a new monster of the appropriate type, and when they do, a small chance of then sealing forever.  If they don't seal forever on their own, you can try to seal them if you can find the square.  But probably not a bug, just a situation that can arise.

The Nightmare and Giant Worm would be native to Ilastra.  Not all Legendary Lands have such scary inhabitants, but some do.  The entry text does give a warning:  "While the dungeon's inhabitants are, for the most part, of low strength, the wizard who lives there has summoned a few particularly nasty pets."  Most Legendary Lands have great rewards balanced by pretty steep risks, but since they are pre-designed, you can at least learn which ones you deem worth it after you've visited them.

The Blunderbuss issue sounds like a bug too.  I'm looking at the code right now, and it SHOULD have said, "DEX required: X   INT required: X"  (Where the INT requirement BTW would be 70% of the DEX requirement).  Based on the code, not sure how it output Max Health required...  Obviously a bug I'm overlooking somewhere...  I'll have to keep an eye open.

You're not the first person to mention the desire to have the map stay centered after an auto-move.  It wouldn't be hard to implement, (I think), so I'll look into it for the next update.

I'm not sure the Skill Point reposition would work.  Even if there's open space, other stuff goes there sometimes, under the right circumstance.  But I'll check and see if I'm wrong.

It would be really hard within the current system to rework the inventory.  There's a lot going on under the hood...  (for instance, and offhand, if your equipped Weapon is Inventory item 96, it means you don't have a Weapon equipped - no inventory can ever expand beyond 95 slots)...  I'll keep it in mind, but it won't be a priority right now.

I very much appreciate your desire to contribute more to the project!  I'll look into a donation button.  Not sure how that works.  The truth is, after 29 years of working on the game, it's only in recent months that I opened up the possibility of people donating even when they download.  

Thank you for the bug reports!  I'll dig into the lycanthropy one literally this instant!

Right here is fine.  Not sure if there is a character limit, but if you need more you can always leave more replies.

Nice!  Just gave it a watch and left some comments on the video!

Nice!  Thanks for posting these :)

Hey, thanks for posting that!  I really enjoyed watching it :)  I'll answer a few of the questions you posed and share some observations in the comments on the video itself!

No combat log.  I could add Tab to just toggle back to the last tab you were on.  I'll make a note and try to get to it.  The Back button issue you describe sounds like a bug.  I'll have to look into it.  You can right click any square to center the screen on the square you clicked, which is how you can scroll with mouse.  If you hold the button down it will continue to scroll, with the speed essentially controlled by how far from the center of the screen you've got the mouse pointed.

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement!  It's a passion project, so always gratifying to know it's reaching an audience that enjoys it.  As for the "computer doesn't like it" that's undeniably my fault - I'm not a coder by trade, so everything I know about coding is learned by trial and error in my spare time, so nothing is optimized the way a professional might do.  I do have some plans to address some of this in the nearish future (probably not the next update, but the one after that).  I'm curious to know what the Event was that lead your favourite RL death!

:)

Wait, I MIGHT have just fixed it.  Truth is, I've been dicking around with the code, and I just changed something that might have been the cause, but I'm not entirely sure I didn't add that something previously while dicking around with the code.  So...  MAYBE fixed?

I've been searching for the slide from grease into stalagmites bug.  I cannot find any loophole that would allow sliding from grease to put you into stalagmites in the first place...  I'll keep looking, but I'll be up front and say I'm not sure how to fix this one right now.

I suspect there's nothing missing because it's been downloaded dozens of time and no one's said anything - must be some weird error in the general transfer to you.  If you send me your email at stopthesaturnians@gmail.com I can WeTransfer you copy I'm playing - hasn't been updated much, I don't think.  Just let me know here if you've done so, because I never check that email and might forget otherwise!

Ah - BOTH of those are bugs!  I thought I'd fixed the sliding into Stalagmite deal a while back, but evidently not...  I'll have to look into them.  Thanks for the bug report and glad you're enjoying the game!

Alright, officially:

- Another Face in the Crowd will now check once before increasing racial hatred for the killing of a single monster rather than once per monster-type of that monster. This will prevent the incongruity of receiving a message that Another Face in the Crowd kicked in, for instance, when you kill a Were-rat (which is both a Person and an Animal) and then receiving a notification about hatred for one of those aspects rising.

- With the Blink spell, Anywhere But Here perk, Weapons of Dismissal/Eviction/Banishment, Pantos’ Dismissal Miracle, Allumas' Unpredictable Outcome Miracle, the Blink Trap, the Stay Sod Event, monsters on a Friendly Blink Trap or you accidentally setting your own Friendly Blink Trap off, it is no longer possible for the subject of the random teleportation to be teleported back to the exact same square it started from.

I'm leaving the Berserker, though.  Both it and the Pooka (which has the same ability) are meant to be impossible to predict, and I like the slot machine effect of their ATT and DEF flickering.

Actually, I probably will change the Another Face in the Crowd situation.  It's not technically a bug, but I can see how it would be received that way.  Hopefully fixed for the next update

The Berserker situation is intentional.  You can't predict what their Attack or Defense will be as they're randomized moment to moment. 

The Blink spell I'm aware, too...  might consider changing it, but I'll have to think about it...  it's pretty overpowered for its cost as is, and a 1 in 3600 chance that it returns you to your starting point at least compensates a little for that. 

The Another Face in the Crowd thing is news to me.  I'm checking out the code based on this report and I can't see any way that could happen.  I'll keep an eye open, but it literally leaves the increaseracialhatred() function via a return command before increasing hatred when it kicks in, so I'm not sure how it could happen.  OH... unless the monster had multiple monster types.  A were-rat, as an example, is a Person/Animal, so it could pass the Another Face in the Crowd check for the Person half, but not the Animal half or vice-versa (in which case it would still benefit you, of course).  Thanks for bringing it to my attention.  I'm not sure if I want to change it or not, but am very, very swamped as I head toward a release in the next week or two and am trying to wrap up all loose ends as is...

AND congrats on the victory as the Human Paladin :)

As an aside I also encountered an error in the casting of Demonic Assistants yesterday (and the same would apply to the Demonic Congress spell).  If you cast it and it fails, taking your spell points, it still leaves the little Demonic Assistants icon up...  literally forever, unless you're able to cast it again.  Doesn't hurt anything, but it's irritating.  It's been fixed now!

Fixed it so only wall variants move now, while everything else stays put.  You can still get trapped if you aren't careful/lucky, but should be substantially less deadly now.