Daniel Harple, Hugh McMaster, Luke-Jr, Manuel Moos, Uzix, fman23, zolk3ri
Changes on the 0.2.9 branch
Added detection and reaction code for timing assist bots
/shuffle now works before you actually join a team
Implemented /shout command and associated settings
Fixed suspension and silenced status not being re-applied after a player disconnects and rejoins a server.
Tweaks to enemy influence system.
Ingame menu and console now are drawn on top of a semi-transparent, darkened area for increased readability.
New first start menu with clearer language selection and initial setup.
Tutorial match against one AI at slower speed.
Tutorial tooltips for the most important keybindings.
ADD_MASTER_SERVER command to announce a server to a new master server. Simplifies the process to list your server on a subculture.
Team launch positions logged to ladderlog with POSITIONS event. Disabled by default.
New command-line option "--input" added to poll for input from a file instead of stdin.
Added WHITELIST_ENEMIES_[IP/USERNAME] to allow players to be enemies, even if they come from the same IP address and ALLOW_ENEMIES_SAME_IP is disabled (which is its default setting).
GAME_END, NEW_MATCH, and NEW_ROUND ladderlog events include date and time.
Added ENCODING ladderlog event, which specifies the encoding for data in ladderlog.txt.
"--input" now can be used more than once to read from multiple files or pipes.
Manage external scripts on Unix dedicated servers. New commands: SPAWN_SCRIPT, RESPAWN_SCRIPT, FORCE_RESPAWN_SCRIPT, KILL_SCRIPT, LIST_SCRIPTS, SCRIPT_ENV.
New setting ACCESS_LEVEL_ANNOUNCE_LOGIN that determines if a player's login/logout message can be announced.
Authentication is now enabled by default.
Changes since 0.2.8.3.4:
Security fix: Check that the remote is allowed to create an object before creating it, not decide whether it gets to keep it after it already has been created and potential damage has been done. No arbitrary code could be executed, but a client could effectively shut down a server by sending crucial objects, such as the main game timer or the game itself.
Compilation fixes for current systems.
Changes since 0.2.8.3.3:
Eliminated undefined behavior that was fine in gcc 5, but now (rightfully!) turned into crashes in gcc 6.
Eliminated compilation disambiguity that was just causing a mild performance degradation in gcc 5 and is now a compilation failure in gcc 6.
Changes since 0.2.8.3.2:
security fix: do not read ahead of the beginning of network buffer.
security fix: don't attribute network errors from processing random packets to the connection to the server
security fix: while at it, don't process random packets unless they may be important
fix for potential crash with friend list filtering
intel driver compatibility
fix for rare crash with sound lock
fix for camera turning for bizarre axis configurations
Changes since 0.2.8.3.1:
security fix: old style action commands from clients no loger cause hangs and crashes
security fix: oversized packets are ignored properly
security fix: never read one byte outside of the received buffer
security fix: only include .cfg files from the var subfolder
compiler compatibility: adapted to gcc 4.60
smaller spelling fixes
FOV calculations now correct for widescreen and horizontal splitscreen
Additional checks against illegal values passed to renderer
Changes since 0.2.8.3:
fixed temporary sound disappearance when alt-tabbing away and back
default subcultures are now distributed
enable 32 bit color depth at desktop resolution
no more display lists for SiS cards
spelling mistakes and missing German translations
Changes since 0.2.8.3_rc4:
New setting: KEEP_PLAYER_SLOT allows the server to kick (preferably) spectators if it gets full so there is always one slot open for players
New setting: ACCESS_LEVEL_AUTOKICK_IMMUNITY sets the access level required to be immune from such kicks (and idle autokicks, too)
Intercepted chat commands are now written to ladderlog.txt. Format: COMMAND /command-intercepted player [command arguments]
Increased default speed of server pinging
Reordered game menus a bit
fast finish works again
Changes since 0.2.8.3_rc3:
Pinging previously popular servers earlier for quicker server browsing
Improved master server random polling, the second polled master now also is random, and all masters are polled if need be
Custom camera snaps to cycle direction once when activated if the turn speed is zero.
RESERVE_SCREEN_NAME now works regardless of the ALLOW_IMPOSTOR setting.
USER_LEVEL now escapes the given authenticated name so you don't have to guess the escaping rules. Ex: USER_LEVEL "name with spaces@forums" 2 changes user level for name_with_spaces@forums
Changes since 0.2.8.3_rc2:
Fixed crash with server polling
ROUND_WINNER and MATCH_WINNER ladderlog events now include the players of the team.
Camera switches to user preferred camera when you die in incam mode
Better support for custom language files
Players can no longer spam chat with /shuffle messages. Added new setting SHUFFLE_SPAM_MESSAGES_PER_ROUND, a per round, per player limit on the number of shuffle messages displayed.
Changes since 0.2.8.3_rc1:
Fixed dark color filters, such as FILTER_DARK_COLOR_STRINGS, to not filter the reset color.
ASE moviepack models no longer have a vertex count limit
Fixed endless recursion crash between rounds
Changes since 0.2.8.3_beta3:
Chat prefix spam protection. Guards against prefix spam, such as when a user always changes their chat message color, or prefixes all messages with a clan tag. Toggle with the PREFIX_SPAM_ENABLE setting.
Fixed VOTING_MATURITY to use the time when the player entered as its reference time.
Fixed single player highscore list not containing everyone.
Fixed generation of duplicate names in highscore lists.
Fixed camera crash when the grid is empty.
Changes since 0.2.8.3_beta2:
Fixed 'invincibility' bug. It really was cycles freezing in time.
Fixed sporadic sound related crash at round end.
setting rename: SILENCE_ALL -> SILENCE_DEFAULT.
Sound no longer gets muted after you switch the sound settings.
Fixed object collision detection that would sometimes pick a wrong wall to collide with, most likely the reason behind wrongly accredited kills.
Fixed inability to switch viewport assignment in four player mode.
Better handling of lag clusterbombs.
Server disconnects now also take immediate effect even when you're in a menu or chatting.
Changes since 0.2.8.3_beta1:
Made ready for Armatrators
Authentication routines now use utf8 as forward- compatibility with trunk. Previously, non-ASCII usernames simply didn't work at all.
Better lag slide protection: clients no longer get confused when the server sends their cycle back in time, and the server no longer does that for old clients.
Fixed rare wallpassing bug; it required what whould usually be an instakill and infinte wall length.
Changes since 0.2.8.2:
New settings and commands:
MIN_PLAY_TIME_*: minimal play time required before you are allowed to play on this server.
SPAM_AUTOKICK_COUNT: minimal number of spam warning messages you get in a row before you get kicked.
FORTRESS_COLLAPSE_SPEED: tune the collapse speed of fortress zones.
VOTE_KICK_REASON: default reason given on kick votes.
"/vote" chat interface to votes; "/vote kick " issues a kick vote.
new vote type "/vote suspend " suspends a player for VOTING_SUSPEND_ROUNDS rounds.
new vote type "/vote include ", includes configuration file vote/.
new vote type "/vote command " executes console command . (Both that and /vote include are by default only available to moderators).
VOTING_HARM_TIME: time between all harmful votes against a player
VOTING_KICK_MINHARM: auto-transform the first few menu issued kick votes to suspensions
(UN)SUSPEND kicks a player to spectator mode with a timeout. Intended to let new players watch before they play.
VOTES_CANCEL cancels all running polls.
VOTING_SUSPEND [] disallows voting during a specified amount of time.
ZONE_ALPHA_TOGGLE to override the systemwide alpha blendings setting and have zones rendered in wireframe mode even when alpha blending is on.
ZONE_ALPHA(_SERVER) to control intensity of zone rendering.
SCORE_HOLE for awarding sacrifice.
SCORE_SURVIVE for player survival and FORTRESS_HELD_SCORE for not losing each fortress zone.
KICK_TO and MOVE_TO: redirect a client to a different server
DEFAULT_KICK(_TO)_MESSAGE: default reason given to players for a kick
DEFAULT_KICK_TO_SERVER/PORT: default redirection target for KICK/MOVE_TO.
RENAME renames a player.
If all clients support it, PING_CHARITY_MIN/MAX can be used to constrain ping charity.
VOTE_KICK_TO_SERVER/PORT: redirection target for vote kicks.
SILENCE and VOICE allow to control chat of annoying players.
SILENCE_ALL can be used on the server to inhibit all cross-team communication unless specifically voiced.
ENABLE_CHAT can be set to 0 to disable all chat. If it is set on the server it only disables public chat and logged in players can still speak.
LAG_*: controls game level lag compensation.
FILTER_NAME_MIDDLE: collapses multiple whitespaces to one in player names.
FORTRESS_CONQEST_TIMEOUT: if an enemy contact with a zone happens longer ago than this value, it is discarded from zone memory.
TOPOLOGY_POLICE_PARALLEL, extra topology police flag to control the checks for walls getting copied into the grid in exactly the same place.
CAMERA_GLANCE_: separate settings for the glancing camera, work like CAMERA_CUSTOM_. Likewise, CAMERA_SERVER_GLANCE_* can replace CAMERA_SERVER_CUSTOM_* when glancing. CAMERA_CUSTOM_GLANCE are server side settings that can control whether server or clientside settings are used in various situations, see settings.cfg for details.
CYCLE_BOOST_? and CYCLE_BOOSTFACTOR_? for boosts when breaking away from walls, see settings.cfg or config.html for details
CYCLE_ACCEL_TUNNEL, works like CYCLE_ACCEL_SLINGSHOT, but is active when none of the two walls you're in between is your own.
CYCLE_WIDTH for making it impossible to squeeze through tight tunnels, see settings.cfg for details
VOTING_MATURITY controls how long you have to wait after login before you can issue kick votes.
CYCLE_DELAY_DOUBLEBIND_BONUS is an extra factor applied to CYCLE_DELAY for turns in the same direction. Can be used to limit the advantage doublebinders get while not punishing players who press both left and right at the same time.
LAG_O_METER_(TRESHOLD|BLEND|USE_OLD): Configure the minimal size of the Lag-O-Meter, its color and whether to scrap it all and stick with the old one.
ALLOW_TEAM_CHANGE: if set to 0 players won't be able to join a team, create a new team or change to another team.
ALLOW_TEAM_CHANGE_PLAYER/DISALLOW_TEAM_CHANGE_PLAYER: allow/disallow specific players to switch teams
INTERCEPT_COMMANDS is a space-delimited list of chat commands that shall be intercepted by an external script. Example value: /login /admin /teamleave /teamshuffle /shuffle /team
INTERCEPT_UNKNOWN_COMMANDS is a boolean specifying if an external script wishes to handle unrecognized chat commands. This would allow hooking arbitrary things like /foobarz or /mode ctf
CONSOLE_LADDER_LOG boolean places the ladderlog on stdout prefixed with "[L] "
PLAYER_MESSAGE : Like /msg, but from the console
All ladderlog outputs can be enabled or disabled separately by using LADDERLOG_WRITE_*. LADDERLOG_WRITE_ALL enables or disables all ladderlog output alltogether.
CHAT_LOG controls whether to write a machine-readable chatlog to var/chatlog.txt
CONSOLE_DECORATE_TIMESTAMP write a timestamp for every console message?
LADDERLOG_DECORATE_TIMESTAMP prefix every ladderlog message with a timestamp?
SLAP [points] sends a message to everyone and subtracts a number of points (default: 1) from 's score. Negative points are supported.
AUTO_TEAM_SPEC_SPAM to disable the spectator join/leave messages you get when AUTO_TEAM is enabled
If --enable-armathentication was activated:
/lock, /unlock, /invite and /uninvite team management chat for players of access level ACCESS_LEVEL_TEAM or better.
/teams chat command that rougly prints team layout.
ACCESS_LEVEL_IPS to let admins see IPs of players in the list.
ACCESS_LEVEL_SPY_MSG/TEAM to let admins spy on team/private messages.
CASACL to temporarily raise the access level
ACCESS_LEVEL to modify the required access level to change settings
AUTHORITY_WHITELIST and AUTHORITY_BLACKLIST to filter authorities you want on your server.
GLOBAL_ID_ENABLED to toggle remote accounts
LOCAL_USER, LOCAL_TEAM for local login accounts
MD5_PREFIX/MD5_SUFFIX for additional password scrambling
USER_LEVEL to grant users various access levels
RESERVE_SCREEN_NAME to reserve a screen name to a certain player
USER_ALIAS to bend authentication names around
(UN)BAN_USER to ban really stupid users based on their global user ID, BAN_USER_LIST to show a list.
ACCESS_LEVEL_OP/ADMIN/CHAT/PLAY/PLAY_SLIDING to control who can do which things
/login chat command then uses the more secure hashed base logins
new chat commands /op and /deop to change other players' access rights
Featurelets:
Added Polish language file
clientside play time tracking and server controlled minimal required experience to be allowed to play.
color codes in chat increase the spam level logarithmically.
/team messages get a reduced spam level; reduction factor is given by (team size)/(number of total players).
/team messages can be used by spectators to chat with other spectators only.
Performance optimizations. Using OpenGL display lists to cache geometry.
Removed ztrick, antialiasing and perspective correction settings. They all had only one right setting and caused us some interesting bug reports.
Added PLAYER_RANDOM_COLOR for lazy people who just want to have a color that differs from everyone else on the server.
Configuration files get reloaded on SIGHUP
all admin commands now also accept partial name matches, like /msg, and check for case sensitive matches in the screen name first, then the user name, then case insensitive matches in the two.
--enable-krawallserver has been actually implemented now, and it enables secure logins to accounts local to the server and not-so-secure logins managed by authentication servers.
A subculture list for server groups that are not managed by our main master servers
A friends list and filter for the server browser that shows you only servers with your friends on them.
The client now can handle network traffic while it is waiting for the graphics card to swap buffers.
The dedicated server no longer uses a fixed delay, but a select() call (that returns when network data arrives) to idle. When data arrives, it does the minimum amount of work before it sends out the responses, resulting in lower latency. It is now safe to decrease DEDICATED_FPS to 20 or 10, latency is no longer influenced by that setting.
Game level lag compensation. When a command arrives from a client that is delayed, it is backdated to the time it was issued, provided enough "lag credit" is left. The client is informed of the delay so it can compensate in the future, which it does by forging the game timer.
Nonnormalized axes and axes with odd turning directions are now properly supported
The camera has a memory which player you like to watch. Every time you manually switch the camera and your favorite player is not dead, the favorite is set to the currently watched player. The next time the camera doesn't know what to watch, your favorite will be selected.
Players leaving to spectator mode with <0.2.8.2 clients are handled like spectators of 0.2.8.2 clients: they stay visible to the others.
Kick statistics are now persistent across server runs.
MESSAGE_OF_DAY is now displayed fullscreen if both server and client support it
Manual fullscreen messages can be triggered with FULLSCREEN_MESSAGE
Axes Indicators by meriton, can be enabled using the AXES_INDICATORS setting.
New "About" menu item in the main menu displays the version of Armagetron Advanced, the paths it uses, links to the main site, wiki and forums and the names of the project admins.
New entries in ladderlog.txt:
GAME_TIME
BASEZONE_CONQUERED : A fortress zone belonging to at the coordinates (, ) has been conquered
BASEZONE_CONQUERER : at the time of the last BASEZONE_CONQUERED message, has been in the conquered zone
ONLINE_PLAYER [<ping []]: At the beginning of the round, had and was on . This line is not printed for bots
NUM_HUMANS : There are players that are not AIs and are part of a team.
ROUND_SCORE has the player's team name appended.
ROUND_SCORE_TEAM: score a team accumulated during the last round.
WAIT_FOR_EXTENAL_SCRIPT: printed if the setting of the same name is enabled. In this case the server will delay the start of the next round until WAIT_FOR_EXTENAL_SCRIPT_TIMEOUT is reached or the setting is disabled.
Wrapped console lines are indented by an amount of spaces that can be specified using the setting CONSOLE_INDENT.
/help command that supports multiple help topics. Use HELP_INTRODUCTORY_BLURB and ADD_HELP_TOPIC to control its contents
/rtfm command that allows moderators to send help messages to newbies
/players now shows the players' color and allows searching
TEAM_ELIMINATION_MODE sets the way ArmagetronAd removes teams when there's too much teams.
Bugfixes:
Added compensation for drifting timers (observed often with overclocked mainboards)
Text input fields now let the text wrap correctly and make use of the space allocated for them in a not-completely-dumb way. And sigh depending on the text field, color codes are either ignored (for the usernames) or both displayed in text and rendered.
"KICK 2pack" no longer kicks user 2 instead of player 2pack.
Fixed various trail end related extrapolation/simulation inaccuracies that looked like lag.
When extrapolating, the game's sensors never detected own or teammates' walls, it mistook them for enemy walls.
The acceleration and boost system always used settings for enemy walls instead of settings for team players' walls. That means that old clients connecting to a 0.2.8.3+ server that has CYCLE_ACCEL_ENEMY and CYCLE_ACCEL_TEAM set to different values experience syncing problems. The default behavior therefore is to lock 0.2.8.2 and earlier out of your server if you set one of them away from the default. If you want to set both accelerations away from the default, but to the same value, there won't be a compatibility problem; in that case, set CYCLE_ACCEL_ENEMY_OVERRIDE and CYCLE_ACCEL_TEAM_OVERRIDE to 0 and old clients will be allowed in. However, you should manually lock out players with 0.2.7 clients, for example by modifying CYCLE_ACCEL_RIM a tiny bit.
"Team Red" bug. If the server allows maximally two teams, no team ever gets to be Team Red.
Phasing made even more difficult; nice side effect of the fix is reduced network bandwidth usage.
Speed gauge resets between rounds.
More accurate Lag-O-Meter by meriton.
Zones were sometimes invisible.
Internals:
A complete netsync cycle is now sn_Receive(); nNetObject::SyncAll(); sn_SendPlanned();.
Ping charity is now completely server controlled.
Changes since 0.2.8.1:
Timestamps and teamscores added to scorelog.txt
Dedicated server now works on FreeBSD and OpenBSD
User running the dedicated server is called "armagetronad" again, the longer "armagetronad-dedicated" caused problems with BSD
Test versions refuse to connect to servers more than one version ahead
Prepared client for respawns
Team spawn formation is now configurable
Added reasons to bans
Added spectator autokicking
Added history to chat and console (wrtlprnft). Press "Cursor up" to edit and repeat previous chats and console commands.
You only enter a game once your client is synced
/msg now prefers exact matches over partial matches
Cycles now have better memory for pending turns (wrtlprnft)
Added player join/leave/rename messages to ladderlog.txt with IPs
Ping variance influence on packet loss tolerance code is now clamped by the regular, configurable, packet loss tolerance: effect of variance can be no bigger than the effect of ping.
Spectators are now regular players and can chat
The /msg command now converts the entered pattern into the internal name so if you write "/msg öäü" and there is a user named "öäü" with an internal nick of "oau" it will still get matched
Team changes are now only executed when allowed, the need for the temporary/permanent team imbalance setting distinction has gone away
Added brake toggle button Bugfixes:
Client sometimes crashed when leaving a server with AIs on over the menu
The server starting scripts were chowning /var/run and /var/log to armagetronad
Short names could crash the server
Direct cycle collisions sometimes lead to both passing trough each other
Init scripts now installed correctly with --enable-initscripts
Hopeless pending team change wishes are deleted
Large timesteps are now broken down into smaller ones on the game level
Pretend keys are released before entering chat
Two cycle steering events were sent if you doublebound the brake
Large speed boosts out of game rule bounds were possible during network glitches
Debug recording reliability increased, function call with undefined return value eliminated
Recording and scorekeeping no longer conflict
Input during a recording now has an end marker, making quick keypresses after leaving a menu not break it
CYCLE_RUBBER_DELAY was overridden sometimes by packet loss tolerance
ALLOW_CONTROL_DURING_CHAT now ignores modifier keys like shift and has been reactivated
The camera sometimes got stuck in free mode for the first round you watch
Crashfix in hole blowing code when no cycle was set
After a "perfect" 180, you're more often on the right side of your own wall That code caused some havoc at first, so it has been reworked
The smart cam did not like fluctuating framerates
Improved debug recording reliability: multiple master server visits and too quick keypresses were causing trouble.
Canonical DESTDIR support and added ROOTDIR support for testing
Login floods are detected and ignored
Player name updates sanitized
Disabled complicated feasibility tests for team menu entries, they did not have the full information and were often wrong
Team score only added to player score if no teamplay is possible
Changes since 0.2.8.0:
INCLUDE console command now gives a file not found error
ALL user given paths are validated for security problems in a special function
Fallback to default map on map load failure works again (broken sine 0.2.8.0_rc4)
Changes since 0.2.8.0_rc4:
Bugfixes:
SECURITY FIX: via a MAP_FILE path with included .., it was possible to write files anywhere, provided they did not exist previously. Clients with this vulnerability are locked out of the server now.
ALLOW_CONTROL_DURING_CHAT has been disabled for now.
Another connection termination bug.
Changes since 0.2.8.0_rc3:
Added spectator mode toggle key.
Thresholds when a white background bar is rendered behind texts is now configurable in the expert section of settings.cfg.
Ingame menu trigger key is configurable now, only ESC stays hardcoded.
The map parser checks whether the map is stored at the right location.
Map validation errors are now visible on the client.
Made magic numbers used by the smart camera configurable for user tweaking. This is undocumented and unsupported.
The server browser now shows a B beside the score to mark bookmarked servers. Bugfixes:
-Os compile option is filtered out if GCC 3.3 is used, it makes the build go bad.
Extremely low values of CYCLE_DELAY were not honored, an arbitrary delay of .005s was added to it.
On entering a server, the camera would sometimes be stuck in free mode.
Changes since 0.2.8.0_rc2:
Almost final artwork
Moviepacks can now also contain texture replacements for the default cycle model
Added number of teammates alive to HUD Bugfixes:
Dual textured floor rendering is now disabled without alpha blending as it did not work anyway.
Lag-O-Meter now has the correct size (the old, buggy one can be restored by setting LAG_O_METER_SCALE to .5).
The network system made some IDs randomly unusable, causing zombie cycles, invisible walls and disconnections.
The AI Team from a previous local game session was sometimes still visible on the score table in the following network game on a remote server.
The server did not start a new match when temporarily, only spectators were online.
Player walls were rendered twice.
The server wrote console center messages to stderr.
UNBAN_IP did not work at all.
The code that should kill a cycle in performance/DOS protection circumstances just crashed.
Changes since 0.2.8.0_rc1:
Bugfixes:
Dedicated server for Windows works again.
Cycle turns are now executed more accurately on the server.
Timer stuttering at end of round (was non-critical, but ugly).
Custom camera did not turn when the internal camera was configured not to turn.
Idle player kick code crashed when it kicked a client with many players.
The code that removes inactive players after a while removed the AI players.
Reverted smart camera movement to pre-beta4 behavior, the new code made some players seasick :)
Ingame admin interface gives more useful information to the invoker
Small font rendering improvements
Zone conquest message, if it is not the one that ends the round, now states the name of the zone owning team.
Changes since 0.2.8_beta4.2:
Fixed bugs:
Random client disconnection
Another vote-not-appearing-on-client bug
Invisible wall segments right after turn
Arena initialization before all settings are transmitted from the server
The server was using more rubber than the client sometimes
Crash with moviepack and some maps
Object sync messages not accepted by client in second network session
Chatbots and idle players can be removed from the game and kicked (CHATTER/IDLE_REMOVE_TIME,IDLE_KICK_TIME)
Players/team leaders can pause the game before a rond starts (PLAYER_CHAT_WAIT*)
Color codes can be filtered from player names (FILTER_COLOR_NAMES)
New machine readable log file: ladderlog.txt
Configurable and better core dump/team kill/suicide distinction algorithm
Unknown settings are recognized now in configuration files
All global key bindings (Grab mouse, pause and texture reload were left) are now configurable
Player listing length limit adjusted so two teams/16 players fits on screen
Less verbose upgrade warning messages
Imposters can get a non-conflicting name (ALLOW_IMPOST[EO]RS)
Changes since 0.2.8_beta4:
Fixed bugs:
Windows version had a memory overwrite error causing crashes and weird behavior.
The game quit when the chat key and a key bound to an instant chat were pressed to quickly.
Votes expired too early on the client.
Performance: a lot of unused temporary walls were hanging around each round.
Cycles sometimes warped to odd locations.
Tweaked smart camera to not stay in front of the cycle so much.
Tweaked smart camera custom glancing. Report back whether you like or hate it!
Made custom camera even more configurable, changed default settings. (old ones are still in settings.cfg)
Forced glancing end on cycle turn now looks better.
FOV settings now deal better with wide screens/splitscreen mode.
Increased ping measurements again by adding the fluctuations. The raw average ping caused the game logic to be too picky.
Changes since 0.2.8_beta3:
Famous fixed bugs:
Random huge felt lag or blank screen (it was actually a problem with the timer) is gone.
Bogus "possible phase bug" message.
Seemingly random walls popping out of nothing, only to disappear a second later.
Random camera focus changes while you were still alive.
Every 100th console line got deleted.
Reduced pings! Actually, just the measurement is improved, the actual latency stays the same. I hope nobody notices that. Good thing nobody reads NEWS files :)
New text editing convenience: Home and end keys work, and CTRL+left/right/del/backspace work on whole words. Thanks, Nemo!
New instant chat functions: There are now 25 instant chat strings. If an instant chat string ends in a , it will not be sent immediately, it's opened to be edited by you. Pressing an instant chat key while already chatting will insert the string, provided the key does not produce a regular character.
If enabled by the server administrator: control your cycle while you chat.
Turning speed of custom and internal camera can be adjusted with CAMERA_CUSTOM_TURN_SPEED and CAMERA_IN_TURN_SPEED.
The custom camera zooms out from a closeup at round start. Useful to see your position in your team. Configurable with CAMERA_CUSTOM_ZOOM.
Master server redundancy enabled. Thanks to Lucifer for hosting the backup master!
Changes since 0.2.8_beta2:
More bugfixes: most annoying was the crash/infinite loop a server got in when the master server was unreachable
Added zones to map specification
Reworked top level map format (sorry to the map makers for the inconvenience)
Windows: added start menu entries that open the system and user data directories
Bandwidth limitation now works. That means if you lowered the bandwidth limits in the network setup, they were not respected. You probably should readjust them.
Changes since 0.2.8_beta1:
bugfixes, of course
added recording and playback startmenu entries for Windows
abuse prevention: added IP banning, player number per IP and client limit, doublebinding can be crippled on server command
Changes since 0.2.7.1:
Server side cycle synchronization issues fixed:
destination removal fixed
lag sliding caused by different interpretation of grinding turn commands on client and server fixed
niceness for older clients: sync interval decreased, no sync in front of wall to prevent local tunneling
Client side cycle synchronization issues fixed:
smooth corrections now only affect the appearance, the correct values are used internally
sync messages are no longer ignored,
new extrapolating sync method implemented,
ghosting fixed,
wall ends sticking out fixed ( for enemy cycles ),
the sophisticated distance based sync code implemented years ago is now actually used, oh dear.
Performance improvements:
netobject synchronization does no longer traverse all netobjects
disabled gameobject-gameobject interaction
added support for nonorthogonal driving directions
added support for debug recording and playback
switched to using automake
Changes since 0.2.7.0:
Fixed security issues: fake message ID crash, fake peer ID crash ( both maybe could be used to execute arbitrary code ), fake logout exploit, fake connections DOS attack
The feared "left grid" error message has been replaced by recovery code
Fixed transfer of infinite floats over the network
Fixed network timer inaccuracies on long running servers
Fixed rip bug ( for those who like it: search and you will find )
Fixed wall bending ( there is still some wall bending left, but it will be too small to notice )
Fixed tunneling bugs ( you were able to move from one side of a wall to the other )
Fixed bounce bug ( a small zigzag towards a wall sometimes put you further away from it, leaving a hole )
Fixed massive reference counting overflow crash caused by repeated close grinding/180ing
Made rubber code customizable and frame rate independent ( new CYCLE_RUBBER_ variables in settings.cfg )
For debugging and scripting: dedicated server console messages can be decorated with client ID and IP
Topology police: facility to catch tunneling issues after they happened. off by default
Cycle network code is more robust
Update frequency of cycle position now configurable and more frequent for client's own cycle that the rest by default
Corrected rc.d scripts to start the server as a system service
Voting more configurable: voters can be made public, spectators can't vote any more by default
Moviepack floor color fixed
Hostname lookup failure fixed
"PLAYER_1 nick" console command problems fixed
Windows libraries moved out of the main source tree
Source code now compatible with 64 bit and gcc 3.4
Colored explosions!
HUD enhancements: customization, works in splitscreen mode
Directory scanning code added ( not yet visible, will be used for moviepack/cycle selection )
Moviepack sky texture support
Master server can now run on windows, too
Explosion sound now actually works
Changes since 0.2.6.0:
added HUD
Winzone may now be a deathzone
Changes since 0.2.5.2:
Split custom camera into server defined and client defined custom camera
Fixed monster chat message exploit
Added local player silencing
Added Kick voting
Added player names on cycles ( implemented by Christian Reitwiessner )
Harsher ( and configurable ) spam protection
Fixed strangely bent walls
Changes since 0.2.5.1:
Fixed fullscreen toggle while chatting
Disabled trilinear filtering for ATI cards by default ( to avoid lockups )
Worked around flawy S3 texture storage
Fixed crash when trying to change teams in spectator mode
Changes since 0.2.5:
Another go at the "11th Round Bug"
Player list is now sorted after displayed score ( before: some invisible combination of team score and own score )
Fixed brakes when connecting to a 0.2.4 or earlier server
Updated FAQ with server setting hints
Unified Windows and Unix network code
Fixed texture hardware mode
Less connection losses
Fixed network ID related crash
Added player names to information you get from a server
Added window-fullscreen toggle key and separate setting of screen resolution/window size
Changes since 0.2.4:
Fixed online observer mode switching
Fixed command line options
Fixed player quit message
Fixed AI join message
Fixed double registration of some network objects ( had no known visible symptom )
Added security checks to see if Armagetron is run correctly
Fixed big brother ( reporting of OS, graphic card and version to the master server )
Disabled memory manager by default
Fixed single player exit game crash
Fixed zero length sting receive crash
Completed network version control
Added timestamps to logfiles ( code fragments by k_at_work )
Added reason to login deny/kick messages
Fixed 11th round bug ( additional round started after match end )
Added --doc command line switch to print offline version of online help
Fixed sign of rise/drop highscore messages
New console commands: quit/exit ( dedicated server only ), kick , center_message and console_message
New setting item: MAX_CLIENTS
Improved server browser, less skipping around
Added instant win zone
Cycle brake is now of limited duration
Changes since 0.2.3:
Fixed score display ( really! )
Fixed freestyle mode round counting
Fixed server freezer
Fixed explosion sync
Fixed AI crashes when player leaves in mid-battle
Fixed configure script: now really uses sdl-config
Speeded up deletion of unreachable servers
Fixed endless recursion bug ( "11th player bug" )
Moved team start positions further apart
Player name is now taken from $USER on first start and player color is randomized
Changes since 0.2.2:
Fixed highscores and ladder
Delayed score deletion after match end
Fixed autoexec.cfg loading
More automatic rebuilding
Fixed dedicated server idle quitting
Fixed auto AI
Fixed instant chat
Fixed score display for many players or long player names
Fixed very rare client crash
Fixed not so rare release only crash
Fixed balance-related typos
Tweaked smart camera so that it works well when braking
Fixed finish mode game setting
Changes since 0.2.1:
Fixed another connection-loss bug
Fixed observer freeze
Observers now don't just get kicked when nobody else is online
Fixed software renderer detection
Updated FAQ
Fixed config file loading on some architectures
Improved team coloring
Fixed stuck brake bug
Changes since 0.2.0:
Fixed crash when watching a quitting player
Changes since 0.2.pre4:
Fixed crashes
Fixed windows network connection problems
Fixed clour related problems
Added marker for own cycle to avoid confusion in team mode
Changed directory placement: configuration resides in /etc/armagetron, user configuration in ~/.armagetron/var
Data files added to ~/.armagetron/textures ( or /models or /sounds ) are now loaded in favor of original data, allowing user specific mods
Changes since 0.2.pre3:
Fixed some more rare crashes and lockups
Fixed team handling: all team change operations now get only active on next round address
Fixed moviesounds
Fixed server-master server communications
new installation method: make update ( keeps user configuration )
Changes since 0.2.pre2:
Fixed some rare crashes and lockups
Improved cycle handling over network
It is now allowed to fight with an arbitrary large team against the AI regardless of the balancing settings
improved rendering precision: z-fighting artefact are now uncommon, and at the same time early clipping on the near clipping plane
Changes since 0.2.pre:
got rid of "zombie" players
corrected team messages
fixed chatting
fixed 32 bit rendering
Changes since 0.1.4.9:
it is now possible for players to form teams
explosion now can blow holes in player walls
delay added to wall disappearance after death
finite wall length supported for snake-style gameplay
arena size and game speed configurable in the menu
the AI has been greatly improved
there is an Internet master server active
support for localization has been added, currently featuring English and German
AI players now have names
the moviepack title screen is displayed
Linux version: easier system-wide installation with RPM packages or "make install"