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101

Everything REXPaint / Re: Hard wrap for ANSI mode

« on: January 01, 2024, 09:42:45 PM »

Mmm, in that case maybe as an option would be the safest thing to do, especially since I'm not well versed in, or making personal use of, any of the ANSI-specific side of things.

102

Everything REXPaint / Re: Hard wrap for ANSI mode

« on: December 28, 2023, 06:40:35 AM »

Yeah I recall researching that there's not really a good strong standard for it, so just went with what I had.

I can add hard wrapping to the next version if you need it, though now I'm wondering if that should just be default behavior, or should I bother with making it a separate option? Would making it the default perhaps mess other people up? Heh, so many questions, and the lack of a standardized way to handle it is kind of annoying...

103

Everything REXPaint / Re: Hard wrap for ANSI mode

« on: December 26, 2023, 11:07:08 PM »

Also, I'm wondering what does ^[[?33h do :P, did a quick search on the webz, but didn't find anything.

"?33h" presumably sets 80x25 color text mode. According to the ANSI standard I believe this should be represented as ?3h, but in all the sample .ans files I was given at the time, ?33h was used instead (no idea why xD), so I coded for that... I don't use .ans myself so I only implemented it based on the initial requests according to the resources I was provided and what I could look up :P

Seems to have worked out okay over the years so far.

Discord seems like an interesting use case :)

Though yeah not super compatible. It won't be able to properly display the full .ans output anyway because they don't account for the file header (as you can see there). This is what I got when I edited it out, having drawn in RP the same thing you did:



Though newlines are indeed a problem with different window widths.

there could be an option for hard wrapping

And how is that presumed to work? More specifically, what defines when and where we want to add these newlines? Basically just check backwards from the end of each line and force an early linefeed after the last space that contains anything (character or background color). Maybe possible.

Also we can see that Discord uses non-standard background colors, although I guess if you just modified REXPaint's palette to match the list they're using you'd end up WYSIWYG in that regard.

In the end unless there's more of a need for it, I'm not super interested in building something directly compatible with Discord right now, especially since their own support is relatively new and could change. (Mainly referring to, for example, automatically removing the header.)

I do hope to release a new REXPaint version perhaps next month, though.

files could be in arbitrary width rather than 80 cols only

Yeah it was just made to adhere to the standard size used so that it could be compatible with other software and the most frequent use cases.

104

Announcements / Annual Review: Year 10 of the Cogmind

« on: December 22, 2023, 01:05:05 AM »

Well then, we're well into Cogmind's 10th year now xD

As is tradition I've put up an annual review over on the dev blog, looking back over this year's milestones and also giving a heads up about what's to come. Check that out for more details about larger fonts, map zooming, the Scraptown expansion and more.

Worth extracting here is the video from my stream this week, in which I do the first real playtest of map zooming and related features:



(Unannounced impromptu stream, and I was playing in the dev build, so in that sense not quite a typical stream, or even typical play since I was just fooling around, but... still didn't die despite doing a bunch of random stuff and wasting turns demonstrating features or causing chaos, was fun :P)

105

Everything REXPaint / Re: .gpl File type Support.

« on: December 11, 2023, 09:42:29 PM »

The RGB values represent the exact same thing though? They're just three numbers that each range from 0~255. If you mean formatting... yes, that's exactly what I've been saying:

have a separate converter for turning Gimp palettes into the format used by RP, operating on the text file itself. Someone could do this pretty easily.

It's just a question of formatting, easily solved via an external solution to convert between the two. I'm not sure why you indicate "I am not too sure really?"... it really is that simple!

If you were responding to this (I can't tell because you didn't quote any specific part)

Or a simpler approach would just be if you drop a .gpl into the normal palettes directory, REXPaint can just detect and automatically convert the first 192 colors for you and delete the original. Basically a built-in importing feature. That would be quite easy, too.

then yeah that's not something you can do because I didn't implement it; as emphasized there I was suggesting potential automated solutions that "can" come in the future at some point! Something RP "would be" capable of without too much trouble, and probably satisfy most use cases.

106

Everything REXPaint / Re: .gpl File type Support.

« on: December 10, 2023, 09:10:12 PM »

No need to experiment with how they're handled within RP, since it's not relevant for a situation like this--you can see the formatting in both cases right in the files. Anyway, it's on the list for potential automation at a later point.

107

Everything REXPaint / Re: .gpl File type Support.

« on: December 08, 2023, 07:33:26 PM »

Oh sure it's doable, and that's a potential reason to do it, cross-compatibility, it's just not compatible with the way RP handles palettes and would require significant changes. It would make more sense to simply have a separate converter for turning Gimp palettes into the format used by RP, operating on the text file itself. Someone could do this pretty easily.

Or a simpler approach would just be if you drop a .gpl into the normal palettes directory, REXPaint can just detect and automatically convert the first 192 colors for you and delete the original. Basically a built-in importing feature. That would be quite easy, too.

2.0 is going to be a who-knows-how-long kind of wait xD

108

Everything REXPaint / Re: Skin Colour Names

« on: December 08, 2023, 06:39:34 AM »

Thanks! And that's why I made it--needed one and couldn't find what I needed out there

Wish I could bring you 2.0 now, because it's going to be even better, but I'm just so busy with my main project at the moment... It'll happen eventually...

109

Everything REXPaint / Re: .gpl File type Support.

« on: December 08, 2023, 06:16:38 AM »

The file format is human readable so you can open the file up in a text editor and make your own if you know the RGB values.

Note that Cogmind's palette files are also human readable and you can do the same thing if you know the RGB values. That's how users generated all those palettes on the resources page.

There's tons more information about this and many other features in the manual included with the download.

Unlimited colors is not something REXPaint will do, though. In the current version they must fit on the grid presented. A future 2.0 would be significant expanded in many ways, especially the UI, so who knows then. I was eager to expand the tileset size to unlimited height, since that was a highly request feature over the years, so that was done, but I've never heard of anyone wanting more than the 192 colors that REXPaint supports. The vast majority of people are working with palettes significantly smaller than that. Of course if it's really important one can also have a couple palette files since it's easy to swap between them.

110

Everything REXPaint / Re: Skin Colour Names

« on: December 08, 2023, 06:05:58 AM »

Well... if you look, the two you've never heard of are also featured very prominently in your links there--they're not that uncommon

In fact, look a little closer at the lists and color values in REXPaint's default palette and you'll notice that's exactly where all the names come from! It's a common standard, after all.

Though when the full list of colors is as short as this, it's not really necessary to insist on compounds such as SkyBlue where just "Sky" will do.

111

Everything REXPaint / Re: Skin Colour Names

« on: December 07, 2023, 07:58:54 PM »

Hey BenDragon! Wow... you're right

I guess I was thinking most people would be using the other approaches, but indeed names are the simplest and what I tend to use for everything myself. You can see some sample names in the included skins, but that is not the entire list. I'll make sure to add the full list in there! (was actually thinking of releasing a new version of REXPaint soon, since I was just working on the engine and there's some useful new features and fixes combined with the newer patches I've been adding since the last release...)

Here you go:

red
flame
orange
amber
yellow
lime
chartreuse
green
sea
turqoise
cyan
sky
azure
blue
han
violet
purple
fuchsia
magenta
pink
crimson
gray
sepia

That should cover the entire spectrum (and matches the colors shown in each row of the default palette).

112

Announcements / SITREP Saturday #52: Zoom In

« on: November 24, 2023, 05:04:10 PM »

In the last SITREP (Another Big Bang) I already gave a general intro to the expansions coming to Cogmind, including Subcaves, Scraptown, the improved combat log, and lots and lots of new tech embodied in more than 100 items to come. Since then I've been working on implementing more of that stuff, specifically having completed over 100 of those new items, some of them incredibly involved--there's definitely something in there for everyone :)

Over on the dev blog I've been picking out a select few mechanics to write about and tide you over until all the new toys are in your hands, so I thought I'd offer a quick summary of those progress updates here to let you know. (Also there's a surprise at the end :D)

"Post-Balance" Cogmind Item Expansion

This article introduces the series with info about where Cogmind item development goes from here, a review of balancing levers, and a new lever in the form of "chargeable" items.



More art samples from among the newer (and crazier) items I've put together since last time:



I just like looking at latent energy:



Also reasons :)

Teleportation Mechanics

Teleportation Mechanics is kinda spoilery, but yeah there are several ways to teleport in Cogmind, and more are coming.



If you have yet to be blessed by NEM, you're in for a treat one day.



Special Events Give Back, and Perfect Stealth

The ID Mask will no doubt be a hot item if you can get your hands on one. Plus talk about using special modes as design test beds.



You can do that?



A Simple Approach to Player-Designed Robots

Read all about the Botcube. Have no friends? Do the HoZ hate your guts? Well you'll just have to make your own. You want the Botcube.



o_O



Projectile Deflection

Who said projectiles must go straight? Guided projectiles already tell us that's not necessary, and the new projectile deflection mechanic adds a bit of chaos to the mix. It's only a matter of time before Cogmind has you swatting away projectiles with your energy blade. Even better is swatting them into nearby enemies ;)



Missile go thataway...



We Zoomin'

I've always wanted to experiment with optional scaled interface designs. and although the plan was to do this sort of thing more around 1.0 (an arbitrary designation at this point :P), most recently I've put content development on pause to run some of these experiments to see where they lead.

Check out map zoom toggling in action:



Doubling the map size is the only option there, since it must still obey all the rules of the terminal architecture. That sample is using the base size 12 font, so is only a 720p window, while most people are playing at a higher resolution than that (not that resolution actually matters in Cogmind anyway--the point is each map tile occupies four times its original screen area).

Here's a crisp version of the cover image scene, also from a 16:9 720p window.

Results are promising so far and I'm hopeful this will be an optional feature for the next release.

Perhaps even more unexpected, I'm thinking of fast tracking the longer-term concept of full UI scaling with a new layout design, offering the option of sacrificing some data and convenience for size. However, trying to build and release these features sooner than originally planned will delay much of the new content, since we've got these 100+ items and dozens of new robots ready to go, but their homes have yet to be fully constructed!

Anyway, more info on this design direction will be coming to the dev blog soon.

113

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 12] Crash on first turn after entering Proximity Caves in RPGLIKE mode

« on: November 20, 2023, 12:27:14 AM »

Earlier this year I got a report about this one, fixed for the next release but thought it should be mentioned here in more detail since someone else came to me with the same issue more recently as there hasn't yet been a release since to include the patch.

A new encounter added in Beta 12 was apparently not compatible with RPGLIKE and outright crashes it if that encounter is generated in the Proximity Caves and you pass your first turn in that map.

The player who first reported it provided a save and I was able to easily find the cause, to be fixed with the next release, but until then if anyone has this issue I can fix your save file and allow you to continue/finish the run if you want! The easiest place to contact me and handle that would probably be the Cogmind Discord.

114

Announcements / SITREP Saturday #51: Another Big Bang

« on: September 01, 2023, 05:39:13 PM »

The world is expanding, again! Beta 13 is adding more maps, and that means... more lore, NPCS, and lots (LOTS) more tech. Nearly 100 new items are coming, together with multiple new bots, new AI behaviors, dozens of new encounters... all the sorts of things one needs to keep new maps interesting and replayable.

I'm glad at the decision to have released Beta 12 as a standalone when it happened (Scrap Engine, Garrisons, ECA, etc). Even though some of it was technically not yet fully integrated into the lore, it would otherwise have been quite a long wait for all this stuff without much in between to keep it fresh, except perhaps the possibility of special events, but I'm avoiding such detours for now in order to be able to focus on this sizeable expansion, Cogmind's largest to date.

Consider it a major post-1.0 expansion (with its own complete arc), just without the 1.0 part ;)

Today I'm here to share with you a little mid-cycle update to give you an idea of what's up. I've streamed the first major prerelease version of Beta 13, but other patrons have been doing that much more frequently in recent months, over on the Roguelikes/Cogmind Discord server. (Other than making an exception that one time, due to health reasons I've not been able to keep streaming for a while now, but I'll get back to it eventually.) Anyone interested in the latest news can find me hanging out with the Cogmind community every day over there, and I also post some updates on Patreon regarding upcoming features, but checking out other streams or player reports is another good way to see how new features are taking shape.

Subcaves

The first new map has been mostly completed, found right at the first depth and essentially offering an alternative start that skips some early floors, but can also be quite dangerous.

It was when I put out that prerelease that I did a one-off stream to fool around there and see how it plays:



To avoid spoiling the explorers among you I won't be detailing what you'll find within, but for those interested in more information, the video above visits a couple times as an introduction, naturally along with commentary.

I will say it's a fairly large map, and rather different from other caves in a number of ways, most importantly featuring several new types of inhabitants.

A debug shot showing encounter classifications as distributed across a particular procedurally generated Subcaves map (connections between encounter areas not visible):



Combat Log 1.5

As a common request by patrons during past feature voting, Beta 13 includes a revamped combat log. I was considering writing a blog article about it, but never got around to doing that beyond what was posted to Patreon, so since I can't point you to the blog, I guess I should at least run down a summary of main points here.

The combat log update is a decent one, but I wouldn't call it a 2.0 because this isn't a major overhaul, per se. The format is essentially the same as before, just lots more info is being added, alongside an important new functionality. I admit the results are growing on me, despite not being a "combat log user" myself, but no, this will not get me to start taking it seriously as part of my own play :P. The main goal is still to not require use of the combat log, just maintain it purely as a tool for those who want to more deeply analyze some specific encounter or setup, or just really like poring over ever more log data.

For quite a while I wavered back and forth between expanding the existing combat log content or completely rewriting the architecture from scratch to possibly support new features, even starting some work on the latter idea which showed promise since it would theoretically result in something easier to debug and modify, not to mention allow some even more special functionality, but I noticed it would encounter some of its own unique roadblocks so gave up on that approach and decided to just deck out the existing combat log with most of the relevant data people would like to see there. It's looking nice.

The combat log still supports the original five different detail levels, though this update is mostly for players who prefer the "Full" detail setting, so I'll be focusing on that here.

Of course, with all that extra potential information to display, we're ideally going to have a new way to view it, more than the mere 6 lines of log space we normally have (a limitation that made me less eager to greatly expand it in the first place). What I did to facilitate searching back through longer sections of intense combat is have the main/normal combat log itself serves as a scrollbar for an expanded view that appears when and only when the combat log is manually scrolled back.



You'll still have access to the expanded and configurable automatic on-map version of the combat log, as the action is playing out, though this new feature is more for further exploration of details after the fact, which is clearly what you're after if you're scrolling back through the log anyway. Scrolling to the bottom of the combat log, or performing any other action, automatically hides that view again so you can get back to playing.

(By the way, I also renamed that top-center multiconsole mode from "CALC" to "COMBAT," to reflect the fact that it really is a combat log these days--it's original purpose, when added by request, was simply to allow players to see all the factors included in hit calculations! A bit of Cogmind dev history there from, oh, a decade ago...)

As for the contents of the combat log, when set to Full it should be a good bit easier to follow the entire flow of a battle as you know it, details and all. I won't claim that it's perfect, an unrealistic goal in part because you don't always have perfect information anyway, and how to display such situations in an understandable manner gets incredibly complex.

Here's a sample expanded combat log pointing out some of the new data:



First of all you'll probably notice that separate turns are easier to differentiate due to how only new turns are marked with a number (though I did not extend this feature to other logs or standard combat log presentation, just this one).

Drilling down into the details, the rest should be pretty self-explanatory. All critical effects are now indicated where applicable, as are disruption, penetration, heat-triggered meltdowns, and more.

Melee combat is also more detailed, explicitly indicating sneak attacks and follow-ups.



Also terrain destruction!

As you can see, for combat purposes there is much less need to mentally merge the regular log and combat log to get a clear picture of what happened during an encounter. The combat log was originally designed purely as a supplement, providing additional information not present in the main message log to avoid doubling up between the two and thereby keeping the combat log short, but now that there are ways to see more of it at once, pretty much the entire process can be followed in the combat log when desired. In the interest of keeping the main log self-sufficient for those who don't want to bother with a combat log, there is indeed now duplicate messaging in some cases (although sometimes appearing in a different form).

The updated combat log also actually does multiprojectile weapons properly, and in a nice format, giving you a tally of the portion of shots that hit followed by what is hit:



In the past multiprojectile weapons were not even compatible with the combat log at all, with additional projectiles past the first just appearing scattered in between later messages, since it wasn't originally built to support them.

Another new addition to the combat log: programmer hacking.



Overall Beta 13 has a lot of nice QoL updates, the combat log just being one of the more expansive projects in that category.

New Tech

There are so many new toys in Beta 13, toys that enable whole new types of builds, or support existing ones.

As usual I'll be leaving the details to your discovery, but sharing the art for some of them couldn't hurt ;)



71 new items have already been added, with plenty more on the way. Of course the majority of these exist because new enemies and friends alike need them to operate, meaning you'll be finding new bots to salvage for material, perhaps whether they want you to or not :P

For example the new Multitool that Artisans use to build and reconfigure their creations, in your hands can also be used to repair damaged machines and restore them to functionality, among other capabilities:



On that note, a handful of item abilities are a bit more extensive and need more space for a complete description, so that's handled by the QoL department which has inserted a convenient new button to access it if necessary:



After Beta 11 did a good job of finalizing the core parts, I've again taken to using the helpful spreadsheets put together during that period to continue balancing in the same vein, like with this propulsion data I was using to add several new types:



Scraptown

I'm currently working on a major new faction, one mostly concentrated in a new map of their own, but with the potential for significant reverberations throughout the world. The United Federation of Derelicts might like to meet you. Or not, depending on what kind of Cogmind you are :)

Depending on how long Scraptown and all the other related features take, there's a good chance I may end up deciding to release this expansion before its full story arc is complete, since it will require a third new map (a new Research branch) and that would of course extend the production time. We'll see just long it takes.

That's all content to come, though. In the here and now, note that the leaderboards now more explicitly indicate the location of each win (as originally reflected in the scoresheet) instead of showing all wins as simply "Ascended."



Beta 11 Stats

It's been a while since they came out, but there were no other announcements in which to mention them since, so some of you might not be aware that earlier this year after Beta 12 released I did the normal survey of select stats from the previous version, Beta 11. As usual there are tons of charts, graphs, and data to pore over, things that were relevant to look at after that transition. It was a particularly interesting one considering the rebalancing that occurred in that release.



Thanks for all your support! It's been great to hang out with all the wonderful folks in the community, really keeps me going and looking forward to introducing the UFD in all their derelict glory :D

115

Stories / Re: Funniest moments

« on: August 19, 2023, 06:22:48 AM »

nogimagogi writes "He found another one :goXom:"

I love P2

116

General Discussion / Re: Performance Mods for Cogmind [STABLE] OpenGL, modern CPUs (2007-2013+) (4k res)

« on: August 03, 2023, 05:53:07 PM »

Definitely some great work by Luigi, and yep Beta 13 will release with these enhancements built in, but if you want them before then, get the files from his post!

117

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Re: [Beta 8] Guided Weapon Range

« on: August 01, 2023, 11:13:13 PM »

For Beta 13 I've gone ahead and added projectile cumulative range tracking, so guided weapons will obey their actual travel range, for better or worse.



Needed to do this now because it'll also be relevant with the upcoming projectile deflection mechanics... It still wasn't absolutely necessary, but it's been in my notes forever so we'll at least see how this plays out.

118

Support / Re: Borked save / Replicable crash

« on: July 31, 2023, 02:19:34 AM »

Oh sure it's still maintained in that any known bugs are fixed, and it is indeed compatible with all versions, but I can't realistically do the normal full testing, since most people don't play it and it's not the standard way to play (or a great experience, in my opinion, since it breaks fundamental rules of Cogmind!).

I was speaking more generally in terms of what modes and events are. Some other even lesser-played ones are more likely to undergo greater impacts or imbalances over time. To be honest, RPGLIKE was never balanced to begin with and has always been incredibly easy compared to the normal game, so nothing to worry about on that front xD

It'll always be playable, so don't worry about that and keep at it if you like! New maps and whatnot will all be compatible since it is essentially just focused around Cogmind and progression rather than anything external. Perhaps the main unfortunate point would be that it doesn't get further redesigned to better accommodate for new items and mechanics, but again it was never really balanced to begin with...

119

Support / Re: Borked save / Replicable crash

« on: July 31, 2023, 01:51:48 AM »

Well.... the RPGLIKE event, I mean

That and other special modes are basically built as one-time things that were autoactivated and everyone played it for a time, with its own leaderboards etc, but you can still play them after the fact (by request--not everyone has the time/opportunity to play them when they happen). I can't maintain them all, though, so this does mean that some event modes can eventually encounter bugs, like this one you've hit.

I do sometimes add new content to Player 2, and update that one, since it's really cool and meshes especially well with even new content.

120

Support / Re: Borked save / Replicable crash

« on: July 31, 2023, 01:32:23 AM »

Ah yeah this was reported earlier this year, it's a bug specific to RPGLIKE (since that is an old event that doesn't/can't get fully tested before releases anymore) due to new content added in Beta 12. I fixed it for Beta 13, but for now there's no normal way to avoid crashing if you happen to get that particular event in the caves under that mode.

What I've done is get you past the first turn where the crash happens, so you can take this save and drop it in to continue your run!

121

Support / Re: Borked save / Replicable crash

« on: July 31, 2023, 01:27:05 AM »

Hi Sere, thanks for letting me know and I'll take a look at it now.

122

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Re: [Beta 12] crash after swapping equipped weapons

« on: June 15, 2023, 06:55:02 PM »

Hi Wilfeymon, thanks so much for the report and detailed information, this was perfect. This issue was newly introduced in Beta 12 due to some Beta 13 prep code that was merged in there before its time, and was discovered and fixed a couple months ago but not yet released. It's among the fixed bugs list in the sticky (although can't blame anyone for not reading the whole thing ).

There are some new special slot behaviors coming in Beta 13, and they were not yet fully playtested but some of that code was released along with Beta 12 anyway since I figured it would be harmless... Clearly not xD

It doesn't usually happen, only in a very specific orientation, but for now will just have to be careful when trying to swap/manually move anything regarding multislot weapons (specifically weapons--this doesn't even impact other part types as far as I recall).

123

General Discussion / Re: Experimental Keyboard Layouts and Command Rebinding

« on: June 15, 2023, 06:47:38 PM »

I imagine they will since it's the main thread pointed to for info on this topic, although to be honest seeing as you have significant added value here, I think it would also make sense to also put your AZERTY info/files out there as a separate thread of its own, too.

124

Ideas / Re: [Visual Feature request] Display a filling bar above Cogmind on matter pickup

« on: June 15, 2023, 06:45:44 PM »

Hmmm maybe an alternative could be to display a small number the same way core damage is shown?

Right, that's what I meant about this being unnecessarily distracting feature because it's to reflect a simple piece of info that's already reflected elsewhere (and should generally be obvious since you're running over it on the map) and will cover other much more important info, like objects and where you're going etc.

This number could be the percentage of remaining matter (and maybe energy/core) after the action, instead of the absolute number. Not sure if map can display a percentage sign, though it's probably unneeded if it's an advanced option.

Yeah total percentage is perhaps a more interesting alternative (and certainly '%' can be displayed, it's just a regular old character like any other, and we've got many on-map displays that already show this).

In general you're supposed to kinda keep an eye on your resource levels every so often regardless of what's going on, which I feel is a better approach--getting used to doing that instead of having it right in your face all the time, but that said some people do have a lot of trouble getting used to that, or even experienced players sometimes forget at certain opportunities... That said, it's mostly about values going down that people forget, rather than going up, which again should be pretty obvious since you see it on the map as you're moving over it (and the brightness of the matter also tells you approximately how much is there, in case you hadn't already noticed that bit).

Meh, in the end it's definitely an optional sorta thing which I don't feel would be a net positive as far as default behavior, but we'll see.

125

Competitions / Re: Serflord April 1st ARG!

« on: June 11, 2023, 06:08:14 PM »

Hey Luigi, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing! I imagine I'll have to try this later, but I might want to stream it and still can't do that after my injury, so I guess I should wait for now...

I saw you had streamed it with the community, and that at least one other player has been enjoying it as well. Good to see it finally getting some love