LEGENDS Upgrade History A chronological history of LEGENDS enhancements and changes. LEGENDS(lite) version 7.1 January 1996 General enhancements and bug-fixes. 1. New command: DP #(REF) 2. Sysops can toggle whether or not players can chain commands together with semi-colon (;). (ex. n;n;e;d;etc.) 3. Added ability for customize whether or not the name of the player yelling is displayed. 4. Added private RESET.LOG files for each Implementors to monitor quest resetting. 5. Added ability for Sysop to customize attributes range in character generation. 6. Added support for attribute scores greater than 18.99. 7. New score listing includes all of the player ranked along with information from `Who's on-line' list. 8. For simplicity, LegendTASK has been split into two separate programs - an executable which handles all daily tasks (aging players, purging users, resetting quests, etc.) and the ghost event which builds any missing indexes, issues atmospheric messages, and resurrects monsters. 9. Fixed problem with downloading Implementor documentation. 10. Fixed problem with the file view command in Levolution missing the first line. 11. Fixed problem with removing users from a group. 12. Fixed problem with spells affecting player's damage ability. 13. Fixed problem with burned-out lights leaving empty inventory items behind. 14. Fixed problem with the unknown alias during communication. 15. Fixed problem with rooms not remembering which Implementor created it. 16. Fixed problem with monster duplication. 17. Fixed problem with recreating directories in Levolution. 18. Fixed problem with changing race/occupation to unknown type. LEGENDS(lite) version 7.0 : Levolution December 1995 Role-playing engine 1. New command: ALT [CHARACTER] 2. New command: DESCRIPT 3. New command: GO 4. New command: INVENTORY command shortened to INV. 5. New command: NC 6. New command: PUTINTO INTO 7. New command: TAKEOUT FROM 8. New command: THIEF 9. New command: VI 10. New command: WHISPER 11. The " and ' commands have been reversed for speed purposes. 12. EXPERT command returns. 13. Sysop limitable multiple personas for players. 14. Spell failure can be turned off or adjusted for playability. 15. Real-duration light sources. 16. Player definable character gender. 17. Player definable alignment. 18. Player-defined three-line character description displayed upon examination. 19. Players can no longer kill other players. 20. Players can now view the zones listing and see where they are. 21. Expanded zones listing with recommended level indication and description. 22. Spells and skills learned automatically upon level advancement. 23. Unless combat is initiated, invisible players can sneak past monsters. 24. When players die they are instantly taken to the healers instead of forced out of the game. 25. Corpses are created upon player death. 26. Items can be containers and hold multiple other items. 27. Items with same keywords in same place can be specified by #n. 28. Cloaks and items worm about the body hide armor player is wearing. 29. Monsters are considered for strength and ability when a player examines them. 30. Monsters can now cast area-effect spells at parties. 31. Yell displays who is yelling instead of "distant voice." 32. Improved command history. 33. Improved character status display. 34. Attractive, more colorful display. Implementation engine 35. New command: CREATE QUEST 36. New command: DEBUG 37. New command: EE <#REF | DIRECTION> 38. New command: EI <#REF | KEYWORD> 39. New command: EQ 40. New command: GI <#REF | KEYWORD>-><#REF | NPC NAME> 41. New command: IDS 42. New command: J 43. New command: .O 44. New command: REPLACE shortened to RP. 45. New command: SHELL 46. New command: SM 47. New command: SP 48. New command: %ZE 49. Attractive, more colorful editing/creation screens. 50. Improved NPC spell learning system and design screen. 51. During editing, color intensity indicates which variables have been altered. 52. Automatically generated descriptions for closed doors. 53. Assigning an NPC's race to IMMORTAL makes monster immune to all forms of spells. 54. Sysop definable message displayed to new players. 55. Reordered privilege information with higher control over abilities for Implementors. Levolution, operating system and compiled scripting language 56. Events are programmed in a fully functional, object-oriented scripting language. 57. Trigger a script when the player enters LEGENDS. 58. Trigger a script when a new character is created. 59. Trigger a script every time a player enters a specific room. 60. Trigger a script during idle commands or passes. 61. Trigger a script when the player leaves a specific room. 62. Trigger a script when the player leaves LEGENDS. 63. Assign a script to execute when the realm is reset daily. (Resetting quests) 64. File architecture with restricted the read/ write accesses. 65. Upload and download files from within LEGENDS. 66. Compile source code on-line. 67. Nine functions like iscarried(), isherenpc(), ishereitem(), etc. 68. Forty-two commands like setreset, if-then-else, forgeitem, etc. 69. Nest up to ten complex if-else-endif structures. 70. Do-while loops. 71. Define an infinite number of public variables. 72. Define an infinite number of private variables. 73. Input and interpret commands enters by the user inside the script. 74. Reset items critical to a quest with one command. 75. Resurrect monsters with a single command. LegendTASK improvements 76. Initiate Tag, the in-game player competition. 77. Toggle logfile capture to either private or public directory. 78. Combined about report printed into logfile for up-to-date summary of game. Miscellaneous improvements 80. Documentation released in Word 7.0 for Windows95. LEGENDS(lite) version 6.5 June 1995 General enhancements and bug-fixes. 1. SYSOP definable dice roll for attribute roles during character generation. 2. WHISPER command for speaking privately to another player online. 3. ROUNDTABLE command drops players into a SYSOP-defined conference so users can converse without using LEGENDS commands. 4. Incredible new SUMMON monster/player routine. 5. In-game upload capability for TXTFILES\ files. 6. New atmospheric message handler. Text-based listings make atmospheric messages a breeze to create and edit. 7. In-game upload capability for ATMSPHRE\ files. 8. Enter specific locations for monsters to resurrect to. 9. Improved COPYMONSTER command is not only CPU friendly, but can duplicate a monster x-number of times. 10. Real-time spell memorization during learning process. 11. New ANSI title screens. 12. Extended length of commands to 120 characters. 13. Bug fix for reroll lock-up when the return key is pressed during character generation. 14. Bug fix for CPU intensity problem caused by reroll option during character generation. 15. Bug fix for problem which allowed players to read Implementor's Handbook after leaving message sender/reader. 16. Bug fix for error caused by entering a (' ) command. 17. Bug fix for spell editor to edit existing spells and save changes. 18. Bug fix for item editor for items which have spells that won't fail. LegendTASK software The deamonTASK 6.1 software was completely rewritten. This new software offers all the original capabilities of deamonTASK 6.1 and is improved with the following features. 19. LegendTASK is fully integrated into the gaming environment. 20. It is a fully programmable script language support. 21. Program seperate daily and looping procedures to perform different tasks at different times through-out the day. 22. Awesome scheduler supports an infinite number of starting and ending times, including cross-midnight support. 23. It is also a menu-driven LEGENDS maintenance utility. 24. External editors for most primary databases with integrated find, edit, and destroy functions. 25. "Realm Reports" generation, including overviews and in-depth information on players, spells, items, and the realm. 26. Support modification of player physical attributes (str, dex, con, etc.). 27. Intelligent new reindexing system for faster, more accurate index creation. 28. Integrated capability for future add-on features. 29. Advanced clean-up features for cleaner, faster databases. 30. Exclusive game-(un)lock prevents access to LEGENDS(lite) during maintenance and reindexing. LEGENDS(lite) version 6.1 April 1995 General enhancements and bug-fixes. 1. The display problem when TITLESCREEN.QUESTS is set to ON, in the LEGENDS6.CFG, has been corrected. 2. A solution to CONCATENATED STRING TOO LARGE errors has been implemented. 3. A re-roll function has been added into the character generation system. 4. Stand-alone OFFLINE command added for quick removal of players who appear on-line but the user behind them is not. 5. The 18.xx problem with the constitution attribute has been solved in the character generation routine. 6. Implementors have been removed from the scores listing that is generated by the ghost task. 7. The implementor documentation was added. 8. The HELP command shows the Implementor's Handbook to Implementors. 9. The SYSOP documentation has been updated. LEGENDS(lite) 6.0 March 1995 LEGENDS and LEGENDSlite (herein referred to as LEGENDS, unless specified differently) use an entirely new software engine with improvements made possible only by the LEGENDS 5.0 engine. This documentation will inform you on the changes that have been made in the software or the final release. Role-playing engine 1. Colorful new screen display. 2. Players have more freedom with their characters. Improved point disbursement for attributes, along with user-distributable points for all attributes. 3. ALL attributes have extended 18.xx values for incredibly powerful characters with super-human abilities. 4. Attributes influence how fast a player heals and gains spell points back. 5. New races with new adjustments for each race. 6. Smaller selection of occupations for more distinctive gameplay. Occupations include Fighter, Thief, Mage, and Cleric. 7. Players start with a map of MidDraaven (the towne) in their possession so they know where to go in the all new world. 8. New players get a brief message explaining how to list the commands, plus how to get the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK from within the game. 9. Sixty new magical spells for mages and clerics. 10. Cast failure and improvement over time for all spell casters. As the spell caster increases experience levels, their ability to cast certain spells also improves. 11. Spell casters whisper magical chants prior to casting the spell. 12. Expanded spell-type (fire, ice, electricity) support. 13. Duration spells which can be cast upon a player and will affect that player over time. For example, the Armor spell will lower a character's armor class for a short period of time. 14. Spells affecting a player are displayed under STATUS as 'affected by:' so players can see exactly what spells are cast at them. 15. Thieves have finally received the recognition they deserve in LEGENDS 6.0 with the addition of three new skills for thieves to perform. 16. Skill improvement. As the thief increases experience levels, their ability to perform a certain skill increases also. 17. Skill points that allow thieves to perform their skills, but like a magic user, they have to save their ability for when they need it the most. 18. Improved lock-picking. 19. Pocketing picking to steal gold from other players when they're not looking. 20. Hide-in-shadows (invisbility) for stalking players and spying. 21. Back-stab attack to do great amounts of damage with a critical hit! 22. Lightning fast combat. 23. Real-time. If a player sits around too long, the monster will take the initiative and attack again. 24. Monsters select a single target from a group of adventurers. 25. Experience gained only upon slaying a monster to discourage cheating. 26. Multiple attacks per round for both players and monsters. 27. Immunities to certain forms of damage for players and monsters. 28. Resistancies to certain forms of damage for players and monsters. 29. In addition to weapons and spells, monsters can also cause poison, paralysis, darnkess, and even curses upon the player. 30. Improved combat engine also means that high level monsters are a challenge for high level players, as aposed to the the original system where high level monsters just critically hit a lot. 31. Real-time resurrection of monsters, when the ghost task is running. 32. Inability for players to specify long chains of names while running from room to room in a dungeon. See MISCELLANEOUS NOTES for more information. 33. Improved item-test support, offering a wider range of items that can cause an event to trigger. 34. User-definable failure messages for the item test. 35. Ability check against a player's attribute to see if they are strong enough, dexterous enough, or smart enough to perform an action. 36. User-definable failure messages for the ability check test. 37. Events can trigger things in different rooms allowing for much more advanced puzzles and traps. 38. Events offer loads of new possibilities, including triggers that happen when a specific monster is slain, or when the user performs an action. 39. Interactive barting system with shopkeepers where players have control over the prices involved with their items. 40. Players run the risk of being thrown out of a store for arguing TOO much or for offering an insultingly-low price for an item. Players have to wait until until the following day before the store owner will do business with them again. 41. In addition to healing player's wounds, the healers now offers protection, blessings, curing of poison, plus the removing of cursed items! 42. The new GROUP command allows players to join together and adventure without the problems that occured in the previous versions of LEGENDS. 43. Experience from a killed monster is distributed to everyone in the group. 44. Players in a group can see one anothers' stats. 45. Full support for official LEGENDS expansion quests that are already available to improve and expand your world. 46. Two built-in quests that automatically reset when they are completed. This way, when someone solves a quest, there is no need to go in and try to manually rebuild the steps involved with solving it. LEGENDS does it automatically. 47. Richly-detailed new world with mapable dungeons, traps, a bigger version of MidDraaven with more stores, and more places to visit. 48. In-game information on all installed quests using the QUESTS command. 49. Smaller (yes, smaller) command parser for faster gameplay, less confusion and less memory usage. 50. Communication between to characters in a room is as simple as the double-quote and single quote commands: " and '! 51. Enhanced information-sharing system so that players can see and hear more of what is happening around them. 52. Suicide-lockout to prevent players from cheating by creating a character, dropping their gold, suiciding, and starting a new character. Now players have to wait 24 hours before they can start a new character that they have suicided. 53. Real-time effects from poison and curses. 54. Zone-based yelling for realistic long-distace communication. Players at opposite ends of the realm can not yell to one another. 55. Four new directions of movement: NORTHWEST, SOUTHWEST, NORTHEAST, and SOUTHEAST. 56. Drastically improved built-in message system. 57. Improved configuration system. DeamonTASK engine 58. Expanded high-scores listing generated by the ghost task which lists top ten players, in addition to the best fighter, mage, thief, and cleric in the realm, plus the best adventuring party in the realm. 59. Can be set to run all day, just a portion of the day, or just once. 60. Stores are always fully stocked, so the items players want will always be there. 61. When set to run all day, the ghost task will constantly resurrect monsters at a rate specified in LEGENDS6.CFG. 62. When set to run all day, the ghost task will also make use of the new atmospheric messages that add detail and excitement to the game. Implementation engine 63. No longer will DemiGODs have to constantly switch between two seperate programs. There is now a transparent network of programs that are constantly being utilized by one another for seemless integration of the DemiGOD commands of what was LEGENDS FORGE 5.0 and the playability side of all versions of LEGENDS. 64. Improved playability and speed. 65. Create and edit shopkeepers and their attitudes toward players. 66. All new editing screens for monsters, events, items, etc. for all the new capabilities in the environment. 67. The FINDMONSTER command now lists that total amount of experience that can be gained by a player who kills all the monsters in the zone. 68. CREATE and EDIT ATMOSPHERE messages that add excitement and detail to the game. 69. DemiGODs who create multiple characters will have the same privilege setting for all their characters. 70. Using the OFFLINE and ONLINE command, DemiGODs can bring multiple characters online and then can watch what EACH character sees through a unique interface that allows them to see and hear that is occuring in each room with each character. 71. Expanded WHO command displays not only the player's race and occupation, but also the room and zone that the user is in. Miscellaneous system 72. As far as I am aware, it is nearly impossible (if not completely) impossible to cheat in this new version. Since experience is only gained from killing a monster, and not from casting spells or anything else, there is no way to build scripts that will gain them experience as they used to. 73. In addition, I have also made it impossible for players to set up a long string during combat, such as ATTACK DRAGON ORC OGRE TROLL TROGLODYTE and then run from room to room killing all the monsters. If they try this, LEGENDS will not know what they are trying to attack. 74. I have tightened the restrictions on real-time healing so that any command the player enters will cause the healing time to start over from zero. This means that players have to SIT and do nothing until they are healed. If they start entering commands, they will not heal as fast or at all. (r)rpgSoft, LEGENDS, LEGENDSlite, and LegendTASK are registered trademarks of Jeffrey D. Hoffman. (c)Copyright 1995 by Jeffrey D. Hoffman. All rights reserved.