Exile Remaster

[BainIhrno]

Okay, the new version doesn't work at all. Load a saved game or create a new party, the whole thing crashes.

 

Anyway, some other errors:

 

1) Timers call the node twice in a row when the time hits.

2) When the party is invisible, it seems to make no difference. (It should make the party immune to archery and melee, but not spells)

3) My party is trapped in A Small Rebellion, literally. Trying to leave the scenario, even though I made it to the end, causes the game to crash, whether done by node, debug mode, or the Character Editor.

 

Will send you my saved game file if something may be wrong there.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Okay, the new version doesn't work at all. Load a saved game or create a new party, the whole thing crashes.

Blargh! Do you get an error message or crash report? And for the ending issue, your saved game would probably be helpful.

 

So anyway, I haven't made much progress, but I did fix the issue with special nodes - when importing a legacy scenario, the code was converting all "One-Time Do Nothing" nodes to "One-Time And Set" due to a missing break.

[Celtic Minstrel]

1) Generic Lever node graphic is a cave wall.

Uhh, okay, this is weird. The generic lever dialog is defined by the file data/dialogs/basic-lever.xml, which quite clearly states to use terrain graphic #13. I can't imagine why that would be - the lever terrain is #264, and the lever dialog pic is #9.

 

The question is: Should I change it to use dialog graphic #9, or the lever terrain graphic (#264 or #265)?

 

EDIT: For now I've gone with the former. It can always be changed later if people complain loudly enough.

[Celtic Minstrel]

2) On the "buy response, set flag" node, the "not enough gold" response never triggers even if you don't have enough. However, gold isn't taken and flag doesn't set, so merely a aesthetic error.

From the code I can't see why this would happen, so it's possible I already fixed it. If you happen to remember a specific place where the "buy response, set flag" node is used, that would help me to verify.

(I'm assuming you mean the talking node here.)

4) The SDF error I mentioned earlier sometimes applies to items - when reloading a game, items were taken away, but were no longer in the scenario. (I found a crossbow in Stalker's Fortress for example, reloaded to an earlier game, and didn't have the crossbow but the bow wasn't where I found it.)

 

5) The 'Simulacrum' spell keeps monsters even if reloading before spell cast. Monsters also appear to transfer to other scenarios (doesn't reset after end of scenario.)

These two are probably fixed by the overhaul to save files in the latest version (which apparently you can't run) - they're data not being cleared correctly when a saved game is loaded, but in the latest version, I no longer just reuse the existing "universe" and overwrite the data that was saved; instead I construct a new default universe (which would have no "item taken" flags and no Soul Crystal monsters) and then fill it with what's in the save file.

 

As such, I'd like to resolve the issue that makes the latest version unusable for you before trying to pursue something that, in all likelihood, is no longer a problem.

[BainIhrno]

Thanks.

 

Once we get that fixed, would like to point out a few errors. While I'm waiting on the "end scenario" fix to play Za-Khazi Run, I've started Adventurer's Club 1 with a new party. What I've noticed so far:

 

- Items that have custom graphics show up blank if they are in shops.

 

- Towns that do not have their boundaries drawn in a square have redrawn themselves - e.g. if it is 28x30, it becomes 30x28, and moves the party out of town when it shouldn't.

 

- Custom graphics don't automatically translate into the new format in custom scenarios. May have to be fixed manually - in AC1, had to make the background transparent (so white backgrounds didn't show up), and graphics have to be input to the correct numbers.

 

- This isn't a problem that's new, but still worth noting that Mac/PC used different shades of terrain, making custom graphics look out of line with the rest of the graphics.

 

- Also in the scenario editor (working on my own scenario), the shop talking node says "non-existent shop" whenever I try to input a shop, even though I already created the shop.

 

- Another ASR bug - the "if in boat" call causes the special node not to happen altogether, whether in a boat or not.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I've fixed a number of other bugs that you mentioned (and one or two that I noticed while investigating them).

 

Some bugs I haven't yet gotten to or was unable to reproduce:

 

• I tested the Relocate Outdoors node in Valley of Dying things, in the connecting tunnel between the surface and the school, and there were no issues. I'm not sure where things are in A Small Rebellion, so it's harder for me to try it in the sewers or icy tunnels, but I'll probably get around to it eventually. (Possibly sooner if given coordinates or instructions on getting there with debug mode.)
  
• When I tested poisoning arrows it seemed to work just fine.
  
• I haven't looked at the crash on leaving A Small Rebellion mainly because I thought you intended to send your save file for that purpose.
  
• I haven't looked into the double timer issue. It would help if I knew where I could find a timer to test it.
  
• I haven't looked into the crash you mentioned in the latest version because you've given me no info with which I can attempt to track it down. All you said was that it crashed - no error message (from BoE's error dialogs), no crash report (from clicking the Report button in OSX's "application crashed" dialog), no instructions to reproduce. I can't fix something if I haven't even the slightest clue what I'm looking for.
  

 

- Custom graphics don't automatically translate into the new format in custom scenarios. May have to be fixed manually - in AC1, had to make the background transparent (so white backgrounds didn't show up), and graphics have to be input to the correct numbers.

I do have code in there to force white to transparent in legacy graphics, not sure why that would be failing. What's AC1? I should probably test it out in the same scenario that you saw it in.

 

- This isn't a problem that's new, but still worth noting that Mac/PC used different shades of terrain, making custom graphics look out of line with the rest of the graphics.

This is actually extremely difficult to solve. I do want to have some sort of solution that dynamically adjusts the built-in graphics to match whichever brightness a scenario uses (or even adjusts the scenario graphics to match whatever the user prefers), but the adjustment does not appear to be anything simple. If someone could show me a set of adjustments that creates the standard Windows shades from the current built-in graphics, perhaps I could figure out how to code it, but at the moment I don't even know where to start.

 

- Towns that do not have their boundaries drawn in a square have redrawn themselves - e.g. if it is 28x30, it becomes 30x28, and moves the party out of town when it shouldn't.

This might actually be nontrivial to fix since Windows and Mac scenarios stored these rectangles in incompatible ways, and the advent of Intel Macs complicates the process of detecting whether a scenario is Windows or Mac (hopefully very few legacy scenarios were actually saved on an Intel Mac). I can see if there's a fix for this, but if you come across the problem in any of the four included scenarios, it would be great to have a list of the problem towns and the correct rectangle for each.

[BainIhrno]

1) The "relocate outdoors" special node isn't the problem. It's when one goes into "Advanced Town Details" and uses exit coordinates.

 

2) A timer can be found in Town #20, A Small Rebellion.

 

3) AC1 = Adventurer's Club 1: The Presence, by Shyguy.

 

4) Sorry, keep forgetting the .sav file. I often use a different computer for BoE and for internet, so I have to transfer my .sav file via flash drive, which I keep forgetting.

 

5) The best I can think of is adjusting graphic tones, and creating mac/PC versions of the scenarios, but I don't really know how to do that. We'll need to find someone who does.

 

6) A new bug I found - special nodes don't happen if they are called on the "exit town special node" feature in Advanced Town Details.

 

7) In the new version:

a) if I attempt to create a new party, once I finish designing the party and click "done" the game quits and gives an error message.

this also happens if I load a saved game.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Why can't we do what we were doing before and just have a toggle in Preferences to switch-in the Windows graphics if they're needed for a given legacy scenario? I really can't think of any better way of doing it.

[Celtic Minstrel]

1) The "relocate outdoors" special node isn't the problem. It's when one goes into "Advanced Town Details" and uses exit coordinates.

6) A new bug I found - special nodes don't happen if they are called on the "exit town special node" feature in Advanced Town Details.

Ahhh. I don't suppose you happen to know a specific place where these two features are used? I could probably set up a custom scenario for it if I have to though.

 

5) The best I can think of is adjusting graphic tones, and creating mac/PC versions of the scenarios, but I don't really know how to do that. We'll need to find someone who does.

I don't like an option that requires having separate Mac/Windows versions of the scenarios. My preferred way would be to dynamically adjust graphics on the fly so that they match, but as mentioned above, I don't know how to do that.

 

7) In the new version:

a) if I attempt to create a new party, once I finish designing the party and click "done" the game quits and gives an error message.

this also happens if I load a saved game.

Hmm, can it be linked to any specific aspect of the party? Does it happen if you just accept the preset party without editing? Does the party have a vahnatai, Anama, or pacifist, and if so, does removing that fix it?

 

I'll note that I use the preset party for most of my testing (usually bypassing the create party dialog by alt-clicking the Start Scenario button). So if it's not system-specific and not directly linked to the creation dialog I probably would've already noticed this... which means it's probably at least one of the two (hopefully the latter).

 

Why can't we do what we were doing before and just have a toggle in Preferences to switch-in the Windows graphics if they're needed for a given legacy scenario? I really can't think of any better way of doing it.

Well, this is indeed an option, though I'm not sure it's possible to reliably determine which graphics are required in all cases. (It should be possible at least for legacy scenarios, though. I think. Maybe.)

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

It would only be relevant for legacy scenarios anyway. But I just meant to simply go to Preferences and tick a box when you're playing a scenario and find the graphics don't match.

[Celtic Minstrel]

A new build for Windows and Mac.

[BainIhrno]

For the crashing, I don't think any new party works. Worth noting I've tested the Anama feature and it has no effect and doesn't register.

 

 

For #6 in my previous post, see town #22 in Adventurer's Club 1.

[DesertPlah]

I will play this game again someday. Looking at a few years of prison at the moment, and my PC died...again.

 

Anyway, I was a Spidweb fan before BoE, and it irks me that he (Jeff) seems to hate BoE anymore, but I at least understand it from a professional standpoint. That's energy spent that je doesn't get money for and isn't likely to get many people interested.

[BainIhrno]

I'm hoping once everything is finished and we have a practically bug-free OBoE, we can start a comprehensive website for it, maybe it could bring a few more people in.

[Fenix Wulfheart]

Is there where I put this? I tried out your BoE build, the newest one posted "2016-10-16 15:55" for Windows and encountered a minor bug. I cannot click the buttons to open any menus are interfaces, I can only use them with kotkeys. I had to press M to cast mage spells, had to press t to talk, etc.

 

I really like the conversation mechanism, by the way. The text that can be clicked is highlighted in different color and it eases the worries I always had a bit of, worry that I was missing important things.

 

I also had a bit of a curiosity. Would it be possible at some point to load up the other Exile games into the Scenario format in order to make the unified game engine for the use in all official Exile works? I'd like to have characters from one Exile game go straight into another XD. In particular I always felt that the heroes of Crystal Souls would probably be given the honor of being the Surface Explorers.

 

Of course, since Exile 1 uses different spells and stuff that would be harder to do, and all of them had a bunch of little tweaks and stuff. Still, its a thought!

 

I'm also curious if the engine will allow for the addition of spells, abilities, items, etc. I got the impression it won't, but you never know.

[Fenix Wulfheart]

Clarification: The bug is not so minor. I also cannot end combat once I have started it in town mode!

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Did you press E for End? (Always bugged me, I think it would be easier if starting and ending combat were the same key, but it's not, for now.) Did you try clicking the End button?

[Fenix Wulfheart]

Did you press E for End? (Always bugged me, I think it would be easier if starting and ending combat were the same key, but it's not, for now.) Did you try clicking the End button?

 

Yeah, I tried E. I didn't try any other keys beside E and F, and the button did not work. None of the toolbar buttons were working at all, I had to play with hotkeys. The mouse could be used for anything above the button-toolbar, but not for the toolbar itself.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I also had a bit of a curiosity. Would it be possible at some point to load up the other Exile games into the Scenario format in order to make the unified game engine for the use in all official Exile works?

I believe Exile III could probably be ported to the OBoE engine without too much work. One forum member (Ishad Nha) has partially done this already (specifically, porting the terrain so you can set BoE scenarios in the same settings), and I think he could probably finish it if asked; the main reason he didn't wasn't technical issues if I recall correctly.

 

I'd like to have characters from one Exile game go straight into another XD. In particular I always felt that the heroes of Crystal Souls would probably be given the honor of being the Surface Explorers.

I think that won't really work. Each of the Exile trilogy is balanced with a first-level starting party in mind; treating them as a BoE scenario that you can transfer parties between would destroy that balance.

 

Of course, since Exile 1 uses different spells and stuff that would be harder to do, and all of them had a bunch of little tweaks and stuff. Still, its a thought!

I think most of Exile I's spells are in E3 too, though I seem to recall a "Recharge" spell for wands that has no equivalent in later games.

 

I'm also curious if the engine will allow for the addition of spells, abilities, items, etc. I got the impression it won't, but you never know.

The engine allows for the addition of items, at least. It doesn't allow for the addition of spells, except of course by implementing them in C++, which I already did for a couple new ones (usable by items only though). Customizing the spell lists would take quite some work as well, as it's basically hard-coded now.

 

Now before you get too excited about the idea of remaking the Exile trilogy in OBoE, the main limiting factor is that it would need permission from Jeff. For the record, I also like the idea, but not enough to take the time to ask his permission. Another thing I'd like is backporting ... what was it, "Diplomacy with the Dead" I think? ...from BoA to BoE. But again, that requires his permission (unless he releases BoA's source under the same terms as BoE's).

[Thaluikhain]

I believe Exile III could probably be ported to the OBoE engine without too much work. One forum member (Ishad Nha) has partially done this already (specifically, porting the terrain so you can set BoE scenarios in the same settings), and I think he could probably finish it if asked; the main reason he didn't wasn't technical issues if I recall correctly.

 

Really? There'd been discussion of that sort of thing in the past, and usually dismissed as too much work, though I think it was usually assumed to be a scratch built BoE scenario.

 

In any case, even forgoing E3, it'd allow people to take E3 towns and put them in BoE scenarios. Some towns from E3 got made into a BoE format, but not many IIRC.

 

Though...tbh, that might have been exciting a few years back, but nowdays interest in BoE seems to have waned. Being able to play E3 again without mucking round for compatibility would be quite nice, though.

 

EDIT: Not meaning that as a slight on the hard work done by devoted, fans.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Really? There'd been discussion of that sort of thing in the past, and usually dismissed as too much work, though I think it was usually assumed to be a scratch built BoE scenario.

Well, I think his process is some kinda of automated E3 -> BoE conversion. It certainly wouldn't be perfect, and much touch-up would be needed. I don't know how much; at worst it might be as much as reimplementing every little special encounter. (I don't remember if they were hard-coded or if E3 already had a prototype of BoE's special node system.)

 

In any case, even forgoing E3, it'd allow people to take E3 towns and put them in BoE scenarios. Some towns from E3 got made into a BoE format, but not many IIRC.

I thought Ishad Nha already completed that, actually - a terrain-only conversion of the entire E3 game. If I recall correctly, he could have converted NPCs too but was asked not to.

[Thaluikhain]

I thought Ishad Nha already completed that, actually - a terrain-only conversion of the entire E3 game. If I recall correctly, he could have converted NPCs too but was asked not to.

 

Really? Didn't know about that.

 

In any case, one thing I'd be very interested in is the (presumably inevitable) variants of E3 that could get made. There were 3 possibilities going for who was behind everything, could rewrite the ending to make it one of the other two and keep it a surprise, or even randomise it.

 

Bit ambitious, though, OTOH, replacing the slimes with another type of monster and putting them in new dungeons, say, shouldn't be that hard

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

But I like slimes. I even made a red one which is included with OBoE to round out the set.

[Thaluikhain]

Is it called "Red Slime"?

 

I mention the slimes in that they seem to be the plague with the least "presence" and would be easiest to replace.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

No, CRIMSON slime. I had to go with the naming theme of not using primary and secondary color names, but rather, shades. There's no default (blue shade) slime but the graphic is there, it's used for ice slimes and ice puddings.

[Thaluikhain]

No, CRIMSON slime. I had to go with the naming theme of not using primary and secondary color names, but rather, shades.

 

Was wondering about that, yeah.

 

As an aside, I always thought the best bit about the slimes was that room where slimes are trying to merge (The Thing style) with other creatures. That was never really explained why or how that what happening, or what it would lead to. But it had lots of potential.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Yeah, I remember that room. They weren't just trying to merge; There was a slime trying to form the shape of a human but collapsing back into a puddle repeatedly, with no indication that it was "eating" anyone, IIRC. The slimes were always one of my favorite parts about Exile.

[Thaluikhain]

IIRC, there was a room in which it looks like slimes are eating, a wolf, a goblin and a lizard, but on closer inspection they are trying to merge with them. I wonder if they were supposed to do that, or having been left to their own devices they're moving beyond just running round dissolving things.

 

Out of interest, what is the Crimson Slime's special ability?

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Neither the Crimson Slime nor the Turquoise Slime exist in the Blades of Exile Base yet. Turqoise slime may get a new graphic if we decide to keep the Ice Slime graphic for just Ice Slimes and Ice Puddings, but I'm not sure right now. Poison Touch and Disease Touch are free as far as slime touches go, although Mauve Slime doesn't have a status touch, just minor spellcasting ability, so their abilities are still up for debate.

[Thaluikhain]

I'd suggest a new graphic for Turquoise, I don't like monsters, especially with very different capabilities, having the same graphic, though the Ice ones do generate ice fields around them so they look different.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I'd suggest a new graphic for Turquoise, I don't like monsters, especially with very different capabilities, having the same graphic, though the Ice ones do generate ice fields around them so they look different.

There are already several monsters with the same graphic but different abilities, so I'm reluctant to accept that argument. (For example: Salamander and Fire Lizard. Cave Slime and Viscous Goo. Wraith and ... I think it was called Deva or something - the leader summoned by Summon Host.)

[Thaluikhain]

Certainly (also, Shade and Spirit). I personally find it annoying to run into a group of monsters, some that are relatively powerful magic using spirits, and some that are merely shades. i can't really see a good reason for having multiple monsters using the same graphics, beyond having to create less graphics.

 

But, it's not like it breaks the game either way, just my personal preference.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Ice Slime generates ice fields, but I think Ice Pudding, with the same graphic, has freezing touch.

[Thaluikhain]

Just checked, and other way around, but yeah one of each so easy to distinguish.

 

Mind you, I have accidentally fireballed one of my own party, because the PC graphic with the armour and red and gold shield looks sorta kinda not really like the Troglodyte Defender with the armour and red and gold shield. I think I did that more than once.

[BainIhrno]

Back at it after a while. Newest version of BoE doesn't load saved games from earlier versions (although parties made in current version are fine), and End Scenario still crashes the game.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I did change the save format slightly, though it's not difficult to convert interim saves - you just need to strip off the first 10 bytes of the file. And this has nothing to do with ancient saves, which should still load.

 

I'm afraid it's been awhile since I looked at Blades of Exile, so I can't give an ETA on when these bugs will be fixed. Hopefully sooner rather than later though.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

It may be more sooner than later if people showed more interest. It would make the development feel less of a drag. I know there are more people out there who love BoE besides us four, but nobody else participates for very long.

 

I guess you can consider this a call to action. Maybe I should post a poll. "Would you: []work on code []playtest []pokeholesinthingsandseeiftheybreaktest []design during development []design when there's a release version []play scenarios for fun" etc. ? Maybe it would get some silent observers to speak up or something, I don't know.

[BainIhrno]

Okay, problem: Can't adjust skill levels in training windows except for HP/SP.

[questionmarket superscrip]

I think some of your trouble comes from the fact that it takes some serious work to figure out what to download. I would suggest making a single clean, clear, coherent page that briefly (i.e., in 1-2 sentences) explains what's going on with BoE and has a small number of easy downloads for Mac and PC. Currently there is no such thing. The BoE forum header has some decent info, however:

 

1. It's very hard to get there by google. Google isn't just for reaching a new audience -- it is commonly used by people who know what they are looking for and just don't have the exact page handy.

 

2. There is a serious vocabulary problem. The forum header says "Blades of Exile". It has a link to CBoE but doesn't explain what the C is. It also has a link to an experimental builds folder that is itself titled "oboe" but that is full of files labelled simply as "BoE". It also discusses "original Blades of Exile" which appears to be different from OBoE. That's at least five different uses of BoE. I have heard all these terms before and this setup still confuses me; I imagine it will cause many people, who might remember BoE but not know what any of these terms are, to decide to walk away until there is just an obvious modern version to use.

 

Basically, there are two (and only two) things that should be front and center: 1 version of BoE updated to run on modern systems but with no changes to game mechanics, graphics, etc.; and 1 version of the BoE that you are working on, that is the most stable and polished version available. Make those easy to find, easy to download, easy to get started with. THEN once people are into those, you might get more interest in helping with development.

[Randomizer]

Part of the problem is the link for the latest Mac version goes to a suspended account. The link with all the versions, has a buggy Mac version for the most recent date. There are problems with not being able to train before the first scenario and not being able to leave combat.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

 

Blades of Exile is a small software suite that allows you to design, share, and play adventures using the engine of the award-winning Exile Trilogy by Spiderweb Software, using a simple point-and-click, node-based system that involves no scripting or coding. Over 300 adventures have been shared since Blades of Exile was released in 1997. It no longer works, so Spiderweb Software gave it to the community under GNU GPL 3.0.

 

Classic Blades of Exile (Classic BoE) runs reasonably well on modern computers. Very little user-end functionality is changed from the 1997 version. It is not being maintained but may allow you to play scenarios immediately.

+Classic BoE for Windows. Mac OS version currently unavailable.

 

Open Blades of Exile (OBoE) is a project to fix many bugs, add a few unobtrusive features, maintain compatibility with legacy scenarios and save files, and provide stable code going forward. It is under development and may have major bugs.

+OBoE for Windows and Mac OS (10.7 and later)

+IRC webchat for OBoE developers and users.

 

Blades of Exile Resources:

+At TrueSite4Blades you can download scenarios to play, read walkthroughs and tips, find graphics for your own scenarios, and more.

+Encyclopedia Ermariana is a repository of both canon and non-canon information about the world of Exile.

+Documentation for the game and the scenario editor

+Original Blades of Exile source code and resources

[questionmarket superscrip]

That's definitely an improvement. I am a little confused by the description of BoE. The use of phrases like "software suite" and "award-winning" may be technically accurate, but it really serves to obscure what BoE is more than anything. Meanwhile, the clear key word "RPG" does not appear, and scenarios are referred to as "adventures" for some reason, which makes it sound like a graphic IF engine or something.

[Celtic Minstrel]

There is a serious vocabulary problem. The forum header says "Blades of Exile". It has a link to CBoE but doesn't explain what the C is. It also has a link to an experimental builds folder that is itself titled "oboe" but that is full of files labelled simply as "BoE". It also discusses "original Blades of Exile" which appears to be different from OBoE. That's at least five different uses of BoE. I have heard all these terms before and this setup still confuses me; I imagine it will cause many people, who might remember BoE but not know what any of these terms are, to decide to walk away until there is just an obvious modern version to use.

Well, the C stands for "Classic", though I'm not 100% sure whether "Classic" is supposed to refer to an original untouched version or the updated version. For my part I've always used BoE or OBoE, where the O stands for "open". I guess "original Blades of Exile" would refer to the versions still downloadable on Spiderweb's site.

 

The only obvious modern versions to use are the various snapshots I've uploaded to my VPS, most of which are for Windows (which is only because I hadn't been getting any feedback from Mac users). None of those are entirely stable, though I think they're somewhat playable. I guess I should make another Mac build soon though; I think I might've fixed the skill training problem awhile back.

 

Basically, there are two (and only two) things that should be front and center: 1 version of BoE updated to run on modern systems but with no changes to game mechanics, graphics, etc.; and 1 version of the BoE that you are working on, that is the most stable and polished version available. Make those easy to find, easy to download, easy to get started with. THEN once people are into those, you might get more interest in helping with development.

The first of those also may not exist anymore, though if Ormus's build still works, then I guess that would suffice for Windows users. (ADoS couldn't run it, but he was using WINE on Linux, so that might've been the problem.) The second of those isn't especially polished and stable.

 

That's definitely an improvement. I am a little confused by the description of BoE. The use of phrases like "software suite" and "award-winning" may be technically accurate, but it really serves to obscure what BoE is more than anything. Meanwhile, the clear key word "RPG" does not appear, and scenarios are referred to as "adventures" for some reason, which makes it sound like a graphic IF engine or something.

While you may kinda have a point on the IF implications, "adventures" nevertheless seems like an accurate description of what a scenario is. I also agree that "software suite" is a bit of an odd choice of words.

[Celtic Minstrel]

ADoS: That looks like an improvement, but I think some additional links would be good - the repository (https://github.com/calref/cboe) and possibly also the issue tracker (https://github.com/calref/cboe/issues). Unfortunately you need a github account to start new issues though. There are ways around that, but I haven't set them up yet.

 

EDIT: Also, should we maybe retain the link to the old Win16 / MacOS9 version on Spiderweb's site?

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

 

Blades of Exile is free, open-source software that allows you to design, share, and play adventures using the engine of the award-winning Exile role-playing games, by Spiderweb Software. It uses a simple point-and-click, node-based system that involves no scripting or coding. Over 300 scenarios have been shared since Blades of Exile was released in 1997. It no longer works, so Spiderweb Software gave it to the community under GNU GPL 3.0.

 

Classic Blades of Exile (Classic BoE) runs reasonably well on modern computers. Very little user-end functionality is changed from the 1997 version. It is not being maintained but may allow you to play scenarios immediately.

+Classic BoE for Windows. Mac OS version currently unavailable.

 

Open Blades of Exile (OBoE) is a project to fix many bugs, add a few unobtrusive features, maintain compatibility with legacy scenarios and save files, and provide stable code going forward. It is under development and may have major bugs.

+OBoE for Windows and Mac OS (10.7 and later)

+IRC webchat for OBoE developers and users.

+Github Repository: Files and resources for OBoE, for developers. You can also report problems at the Issue Tracker. (Note: Despite the web address, this is for OBoE now.)

 

Blades of Exile Resources:

+At TrueSite4Blades you can download scenarios to play, read walkthroughs and tips, find graphics for your own scenarios, and more.

+Encyclopedia Ermariana is a repository of both canon and non-canon information about the world of Exile.

+Documentation for the game and the scenario editor

+Original Blades of Exile source code and resources

 

 

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Celtic Minstrel: I don't think we should clutter the forum header with useless software like the original 16bit BoE that nobody will use or care about. As for github and the issue tracker, they both say cboe in the URL so I didn't realize they were OBoE. I put them in with a note, but it's kinda awkward. It'd be good to fix that if possible.

 

But does Classic BoE actually work correctly? Since it's in the header I assumed it does, but I don't actually know.

[questionmarket superscrip]

Again, the forum header is not particularly easy to reach, including by google. And it has a lot of random clutter all over the page from stuff not in the header itself.

 

Make a simple web page somewhere, anywhere, specifically dedicated to the BoE project.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I could include this in the header of the directory listing for /oboe/. Making a page separate from the directory listing is also a possibility, of course. I'm not sure if that'll make it easily googlable though...

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

I have a Blades of Exile section on my personal site, but the URL is "AlmightyWebsite" and the site also includes things like my "The Idiot" comics and a game where you hit space aliens with potatoes. I'll go register a new domain just for BoE, there's a great one available. Stay tuned!

 

EDIT: openboe.com is now registered to me via JustHost! I'll figure out what to do with it later I guess.

[Celtic Minstrel]

You could point it to my VPS if you want (23.226.229.74)... though if we expect high traffic I'd want to tweak some apache settings...

 

Alternatively, you could put up a website via your own hosting service.

[Balladeer]

Linky. Because, as said on the page, redundancy doesn't hurt.