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Fixed a bug I inadvertently introduced re: the game saving Emma Strider's info.

The installers have been updated.

The game now supports two separate types of cut scenes! The cut scene with scrolling text is now called Cut Scene: Scrolling--that is now joined by a new type of cut scene, Cut Scene: Static.

Static cut scenes show a linear progression of text blocks and require the user to click in order to proceed through them. Static cut scenes use a medium-sized font, positioned in the bottom quarter of the screen, and allow you to use a picture (or a series of pictures!) to accompany the text.

You can create static cut scenes in the exact same way you do scrolling ones, with a few differences:

• At the top of the XML file, you'll use maptype="Cut Scene: Static" instead of maptype="Cut Scene: Scrolling";
• Within the <Narration> tag, use double-forward slashes (that is, //) to denote a new block of text;
• Attach a picture (recommended dimensions: 800 x 490) to a text block by including -PIC:Name of the picture- anywhere within that block; "Name of picture" should match the name of a PNG file within Data > Backgrounds, minus the file extension (e.g. -PIC:Title Screen- will make the game try to load Data > Backgrounds > Title Screen.png);
• Remove the picture (i.e. make the area above the text go black) by using -PIC:None- or -PIC:Clear- instead.

I've done a fair bit of work beneath the hood to make the game more easily support different window resolutions; I changed the game's default window resolution from 768 x 640 to 800 x 640; and I used that extra width to change the positioning of the dialog screen and where character portraits appear inscreen. (Specifically, characters now appear at the bottom of the screen, with the dialog box now appearing roughly at mouth level.) Personally, I think this looks much much better than having the portraits sitting up on top of the dialog box.

I also fixed an issue that was preventing the dialog window from being centered on the screen, and made the game intelligently reposition all of the dialog box elements and portraits whenever the game is switched between fullscreen and windowed mode.

I'm currently working on a new cut scene type that uses click-to-continue text instead of scrolling text.

Another update: fixed a bug that was causing the game to freeze when using attacks that don't yet have animations. The installers have been updated online.

Aaaaand it's fixed! Redownload recommended.

I did a battle, and whenever I tried to attack, the game stopped, and I had to hit F1 then Resume to get back.  I would select who to hit with what power, and then it would go like it was about to activate, but instead of an animation or damage, nothing happened.  This happened with a few different powers, though I was able to hit my own unit with an Archer's arrow.  I ended turn, and the enemy had the same problem.  When I hit F1, then Surrender, I made the enemy surrender.

I tried it again on a separate map, and the same thing happened.  Also, the enemy went first, game paused after it tried to Claw, and when I hit F1 + Resume, I was controlling the enemy.

Ah! Crud; I know what's causing this. I'll have that fixed in a second.

I did have them install to my desktop, however.

I think that might be the issue. Try reinstalling them both in the default (Program Files) directory and see if that fixes it.

The installers have been updated online; go to it, alpha backers!

After testing, I've made some further changes to random item drops in multiplayer. Instead of 40%, the game now prohibits item drops in spaces closer than or equal to 30% of the map's averaged length and width away from spawn locations.

To make up for this increased leniency, the game now actually weights each space according to its average distance from all spawn locations, meaning that item drops are much more likely to occur in places more or less equidistant from all players.

In your typical map where players spawn around the edges, item drops will occur almost entirely in the center of the map; if the spawn points are shifted inwards a bit from the edges of the map, there may also be isolated spots around the outside of the map where items can drop as well, exactly between two of the players.

I've tested it and I can confirm that it is pretty cool. ;)

Off the top of my head: that's a strange URL the map has listed for the Cave tileset. What OS are you using? Are the Telepath Tactics and Telepath Tactics Map Editor folders in the same parent directory (e.g. Applications or Program Files x86)?

Are actions processed before the dialog is displayed, or vice-versa?

In prior builds, they were processed afterwards; in the latest build, I've swapped it so they process beforehand.

[-VAL:--STR:--STAT:--NAME--LNAME--FNAME-]

You can now use placeholder values within replies and dialog script actions! All of these will now be auto-converted into the appropriate text before the game runs them:

-VAL:-
-STR:-
-STAT:-
-NAME-
-LNAME-
-FNAME-

Also: you can now nest the -FNAME- placeholder text within the -VAL-, -STR- and (most importantly) -STAT- placeholders.

Why is this important? Basically, this opens up a ton of new possibilities. Here is a sample dialog I just tested out using nested placeholders and the -FNAME- placeholder within the SetStat action:

Code Select Expand

  <Dialog>OnReachingSpace/5,3//-FNAME- has reached the magic space! Strength increased by 20! -FNAME-'s Strength is now -STAT:-FNAME-,Strength-.
<Action>SetStat/-FNAME-,Strength,+,20</Action>
  <Reply>.../EndConv</Reply></Dialog>

Moving Emma Strider onto space 5,3 thus resulted in the following:





Pretty sweet, eh? ;)

[OnStat]

The OnStat dialog trigger is now in-game and working! This is the 10th (and most likely, final) type of dialog trigger I'll be putting in the game.

The OnStat trigger takes four parameters: Character Name, Stat Name, Mode of Comparison, and Amount. These parameters function exactly like the first 4 parameters of IfStatGoTo.

So let's say we use:

Code Select Expand

OnStat   Emma Strider,Level,=,2

This will trigger the conversation the moment the game detects that Emma is level 2.

Not with the game's initial release, no; that wasn't popular enough to become a stretch goal. Possibly in a future expansion or somesuch.

[-NAME-]

You can now have the game auto-display the name of the character that triggered dialog, in dialog. This comes in 3 varieties:

-NAME-     first name
-LNAME-    last name
-FNAME-    full name

Suppose you have dialog triggered by OnMoveComplete or OnReachingSpace. You can use the name of the character that moved / reached the space automatically using those keys above.

For example: suppose that you have a conversation triggered by OnReachingSpace, and Emma Strider is the first character to reach the space and trigger the conversation. This dialog

Code Select Expand

-NAME-, look out--it's moving!

would instead be displayed as Emma, look out--it's moving!