We got a new stable version for OpenClonk 3. It is a pure bugfix release. Below are the fixes and changes relevant for players and creators.

Download OpenClonk 3.3 changes =====================  + map creator: don't crash when using a template within itself (#534)  + Draw particles with subpixel precision  + do not pass controls to disabled cursor anymore (i.e. via SetCrewEnabled)  + Don't crash on Call()  + Hold a reference to the temporary proplist used in case of script errors  + update: Log an error message when extracting the update program fails  + Make dedicated server compile with fmod  + Script: continue in a do-while loop jumps to test instead of start of loop  + Fix #including a definition that has local variables with proplists  + gtk: Make the window fullscreen even when not changing the resolution  + Fix missing mouse cursor in fullscreen without resolution change  + Adapted stone door to open for all players if set team == 0  + Fix walking animation with xdir=0 (#887)  + Producers: consume required material (#885)  + Win32: Mark OC "DPI aware" (#891)  + Abort SimFlight if no more movement can occur (#914)  + Fix incorrect reloading of animations (#837)  + Fixed a typo in Tutorial01  + Fix Call() in global context (required for ScheduleCall)  + Attached objects with SolidMask (slave elevator case) can carry objects  + Fix C4Command::Jump, i.e. jumping as part of pathfinder.  + Fix snow melting in lava/durolava  + fix material conversion on insertion into converting liquid  + Fix SolidMasks not moving objects if the top left of the landscape was solid  + fix typo in catapult script  + Cleanup main texture map. Remove unused and duplicate entries. Added Earth-earth.  + Fix crash when INT_MIN/-1 and INT_MIN%-1 in C4Script  + Fix sound volume when using OpenAL  + Comment out assertion on cleaning up script engine after a round + Fix an assertion in the network lobby

Life was way too simple in the world of OpenClonk, especially for those interested in peaceful cooperative play. So I’ve made a couple of volcano-themed scenarios available in the experimental branch.

We got ourselves into a sticky situation.

The first scenario is Volcano Escape, a cooperative parkour scenario in which you have to get out of the bottom of a volcano. But unlike other race scenarios, you better work together in this one. The lava in this volcano is much hotter and submerging in it means instant death for your Clonk. Since you cannot hope for much help from outside in this dangerous area, there are no relaunches. Also be careful when digging into ashes, as they are unstable and crumble, away, potentially opening a path for lava flow onto your Clonks. Situations can become tricky and you might need to do some well-planned detonations to reroute lava lakes to reach the checkpoints. The scenario has a dynamic map for re-playability and can also be soloed quite nicely.

The ice is melting…

The second scenario is Hot Ice, loosely inspired by an equally named Clonk Rage map by Diddy. It’s a simple, fast-paced melee on some icy shards on top of an active volcano. Naturally, the ice won’t last very long and you better get rid of your enemies quickly. You can use the newly improved club to throw chunks of ice and firestones at your enemy, or you can wait for some of the chests placed on floating islands on top of you to fall down and pick up contained weapons. The game mode is Last Man Standing without relaunches, so a round can end pretty quickly.

We finally reached the gold! Seconds after this screenshot was taken, the whole cave got flooded with poisonous acid

The third and by far hardest challenge is called Acid Gold Mine. It’s a cooperative gold mine scenario in desolate lands where deadly acid rains from the sky. All you have to do to win is to mine a small amount of gold. However, the valuable mineral is buried deep in a volcano which is haunted by spontaneous eruptions and earthquakes. Especially the earthquakes, coupled with the big lakes of acid accumulating on top of you and some odd meteorites dropping here and there, can lead to unwanted, fatal leaks of acid into the mine. To help you secure tunnels and close gaps, very durable metal bridges can be built from special wall construction kits. It’s highly recommended that you approach this scenario cooperatively, because the task is definitely not easy.

As usual with scenarios that aren’t approved for the main pack yet, you can play them in the development version only. To test them, just download the latest nightly build zip file from the development snapshot download page, unpack the contents to a new folder, run openclonk(.exe) and select your scenario of choice from the Experimental folder. Remember that all players in network need the same nightly build version to play together.

Screenhot of Mape showing the map of Krakatoa

Developers from Clonk Rage might remember Mape, an editor for dynamic landscapes described by a Landscape.txt file. The editor shows a live preview of the generated map while editing the Landscape.txt code, so that the engine does not need to be started to see the generated map.

Mape has been refurbished to work with OpenClonk, and it has been integrated into the OpenClonk source code, so that it is now officially part of OpenClonk. On the Development Snapshots page the current version can be downloaded including all dependencies for the Windows builds such that it runs straight out of the box. There is also a wiki page available which describes it in more detail.

Happy Mapping

Survivors of the local population beg for help.

Oh no! King Horax, the evil tyrant, has raided a nearby village again. This madness must stop!

In this upcoming mission, one or more sturdy adventurers will build up a small stack of weapons, storm the monarch’s castle and liberate the people from the evil king. However, the castle is not easy to reach, as it is protected by sturdy rocks and hot lava lakes. And even once you got there, the sovereign has quite a few loyal servants who won’t give up their home easily.

Horax’s servants fighting against two invaders.

This experimental mission features a rudimentary AI to oppose the player Clonks. The AI works similar to that of Dragon Rock, which veterans might know from CR. You can try out the current version from a nightly build or by checking out the current state of our repository. The scenario is called “Dark Castle” and is found in the experimental folder. There is still a lot of work to be done on the AI, castle furniture, intro, outro and general balancing. But for the adventurous, the scenario should already be quite playable.

The magical mushroom cave.

Zapper’s new mushrooms will also make their first appearance in this mission. They have been reinforced with a deadly poison should you dare to come near unprepared. But they are guarding a chest full of weapons that might prove useful in the battle against Horax.

In case you were wondering why there are no more new commits in our Mercurial repository since November:
As most of our developers were not content with Mercurial, we switched from Mercurial to git as our version control system.

The old Mercurial repository will soon be not available anymore, so make sure to check out the new git repository. PeterW updated our tutorials for building OpenClonk on Windows and explained the git workflow to those who are not familiar with git yet (or generally any distributed version control system).

I also adapted the looks of the OpenClonk git web frontend to fit into the rest of the site, it’s linked in our header. I expect that soon the autobuilds will follow and again be directly linked on the shortlog page.

Scaffold construction in Skylands

Sky island scenarios have always been among my favorites in the classic Clonk series because of both the freedom and the challenge they offer to the players. Now that basic settlement got a bit boring, it’s time for OpenClonk to get its first cooperative aerial scenario. In this scenario, you need to collect five parts of an airplane spread out among several of the distant sky islands and bring them back to the construction site.

That will be a tough challenge though, as a new feature has been added for this map. It’s storming and the storm is certainly strong enough to blow poor Clonks off the islands if they aren’t careful!

Wind is simulated to flow around obstacles, so it can be blocked with wooden constructions (see screenshots). But be careful not to block the windmill, or your buildings will be out of power. Also, the more you block the wind off, the stronger it will blow above and below your obstacle.

Those who are daring to try out the alpha version can checkout the current development branch and find Skylands in the experimental scenario folder.