June 15, 1997
Well, today is the big day... We have a final form version of TMG 1.08! This was probably one of the quickest releases, yet involved quite a bit of work, and re-working of the game. I revamped the item distribution system so that items can be added and distributed much easier than in 1.07. I re-worked the concept of shops... Now, they are not just limited to selling the stock 14 weapons/armors/shields that come with the game. Now, you can also have shops sell items that you create!June 1, 1997
By the time you read this, TMG 1.08 beta 3 will be available for download. The official release of 1.08 is set for June 15th. I don't forsee any changes between where the beta is now and what I will release. The main focus of this release was getting the stock weapons / armors / shields into the new format and getting pictures and descriptions for all of them. These pictures are pretty sharp! Just go into your inventory menu by hitting the Y key from nearly any menu and identify an item. You should see a picture and a description. Actually, this will not work if you have upgraded from a previous version of TMG. This is because in 1.07 items that you were using were converted into "generic" items. Any items purchased from the stores will have pictures and descriptions in this version. ENJOY!May 22, 1997
Just want you guys to know, I'm putting the beta of TMG108 on the net this weekend. I've sort of changed how I'm releasing betas. It's first going to go to a select group of testers to be stress-tested before I put it on the net for everyone else to download. Couple of updates to the game that you should hear before you download the game.
ANSI pictures have been added to nearly every menu to represent where you are. There are pictures of weapons in the weapon
shop, armors in the armor shop... you get the idea...Mob difficulty setting. This one global setting allows you to adjust the difficulty of all mobs in the game with one global setting (as
opposed to changing allt he mobs individually).Shops have been changed dramatically. Instead of the shops we're all used to that sells a certain set of items, shops can be set
up to sell _ANY_ item in the database! Shops are now a list of items to sell and their quantity.Along those lines, I had to take out the weapon/armor/shield editor to replace it with a shop editor/item selector.May 4, 1997
Just a little update as to my progress.Have gotten some small ANSI's made
up for a bunch of the menus... Thanks to Sandy!Messageboards automatically "govern" themselves... you can set boards up to
keep only a certain number of messages... after that, the oldest messages go
the way of the dot-matrix printer =)Added a nice line editor to the magicfg program that is sure to be helpful in
editing things.Now distributing all stock items in one script as opposed to internally hard-coded.
This means that there will never be a problem with stock items not corresponding
to their own script, as that information is generated with each upgrade and the
addition of new items to the game.April 15, 1997
Ack! I knew it was bound to happen! First bug (found by me, so it's not too big), but it basically nullifies all the items in the game from working properly (oops)... I left a file out of the ZIP if you must know. It is the built up item registry for 1.07, which contains all the correct script numbers for all the items built in to the game (so the first item you find will actually try to call the script for the Bow of the Dead or something like that... This is _BAD_ I urge you all to download ITEMS.ZIP (404 bytes) and unzip it into your Magic Gate directory and then everything will be working just fine. I came across this bug when I was writing the new install batch file for 1.08 to take that file out (1.08 will load them into the registry dynamically from one script so there's no need to fuss with overwriting and merging registries *yech*)... anyway, glad I caught that one within a few days! If you are having difficulties still, please, email me at joconnor@sequoianet.com and I will be more than happy to give you a hand with your problem (P.S. I am not a liscened therapist, so none of my opinions should be taken as life advice, except that you need to play TMG 1.07 =)April 13, 1997
I've gotten quite a number of letters from you guys on this already, I like how things are beginning to look! Anyway, one of the many letters I got was from a man named Seth Able Robinson *GASP*, yeah, the bigguy of LORD sent me a letter, he also clarified something about LORD II which I erroniously reported! *blush* anyway, it seems I had the concept of the game down wrong, and there were no IGMs to speak of for the game, but rather whole new worlds, which don't really join together, and in that respect, LORD II does save variables that can be programmed in the REF files for the game. My mistake, thanks for the good words and the clarification.April 12, 1997
Hey! 1.07 is COMPLETE! This one has everything but the kitchen sink! (maybe idea for a special event... hmmmm) All the documentation is complete along with examples of the new stuff! Download it NOW! This installs right over your existing copy of TMG without a problem, I've installed it over 1.04, 1.05, and 1.07 beta 1 with no problems! Code-wise, there is no difference between beta 2 and the final release, but the new release contains the updated documentation, or if you want, go to the on-line documentation section and save them from there!April 11, 1997
Hey! 1.07b2 is here! This isn't really a beta, as the code isn't going to change for the final release, but I still need to write the docuentation *yech* for all the new features. This version will need to patch your game up to 1.07, but what it does is rather minor. It will go through the entire character list and write out their inventory for them and remove it from the character file. There has been a slight change to the variables in the scripting language as well involving the weapon/armor/shield values as all items have a current and max attribute (Attack/defense/damage resist)..My mind is already racing to the next version, and I've got quite a few ideas already... More to come on that though!
April 7, 1997
The latest word on 1.07 is in: Script additions of items is 90% complete. I just need to add some debug code! This is a great thing! Also, I've had some ideas on things that would generally improve how the game plays and works in multi-node fashion.On-Line messaging system can activate scriptsProgrammable menus (so that based on values, not all menu items would be available) actually
I would like it to just be an extension of the scripting language so that variables can be set and
checked within menus as well as regular scripts.Seperate Item file for the script so multiple scripts could use the same items and so
it will clean the main script file up.. tentatively - ItemFile to be put in @#DEFINECalling of scripts within scripts without bombing the stack to high heaven. Its a
matter of memory... I just need to have enough stack space to be able to do this, or
be able to exit out of the script before calling the next and be able to come back
into the first one without losing its position.Being able to run a script from a ptdesc structure in memory and passing the pointer
to the structure to the script parser to have it run that (this would be useful in mail as
well as some other places)
March 24, 1997
Version 1.07 is ready to be released except for the scripting code to add items to the game via the scripting language. I am very leary of releasing it without that ability as I feel items have now become a vital part of the game. I have decided to release 1.07 as an "Advanced Beta" tonight. The code for the items is in, but the number of items in the game is currently minimal. With the addition of five new wear locations, there just aren't enough items in it right now for a full release. Look for a final release within the next couple of weeks, that includes more items and full ability to add items via the scripting language.
Feb 13, 1997
I would first like to apologize to those who have been patiently awaiting the release of TMG 1.06. Unfortunately, 1.06 will never be released. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I had to ... Call it 1.07! I just went crazy on the things I added! Everything that I said I was going to include in 1.06 is already in there! The big overhaul is coming with the addition of inventory and items! These are just AWESOME! Items can be just your average everyday sword, dagger or armor or whatever. On top of that, "Special" items can be created which can do anything a script can do. Yes, you heard me correctly, Items have the power of scripting behind them! I've got test items in the game right now that I am experimenting with, and I just love these! I've been thinking about them for quite some time now, but hadn't really decided how I was going to implement them yet. There isn't any documention on how to create them right now, but it is soon coming. I have a select few people testing out the item system, and the version with the magic items is going to be hitting their hands within a few days here. Once they've given it the high sign, I can put it out there for release. I'm shooting for the middle of March, and I still need to finish the events script for the registered users. I can picture registered users having more stock magic items to choose from as additional motivation to register =) I'd like to offer you the following information regarding the next release of The Magic Gate:On-Line messaging is now available in every section of the game as opposed to just the Town Square.Now with Game Random events. Just sitting in the Town Square, a random event could happen to you! These events are run as a script and easily added to the game.Event Scheduler. Want an event to happen at 4:00 p.m. every day? You can do it in the newest version! You can set it up to be run every day, every week, every Tuesday, etc...Creatures are now classified as a certain race. Everything from Avians to Zombies are here. This is going to work in conjunction with the modifications up and coming. Not to worry, the new version is going to read in your old file just fine and add the default race to it.Weapons Armor and Shield Editor added to the configuration program.Characters can now carry more than the weapons/armor/shields they are using. Up to 12 items allowed in your inventory.More wear locations. You can now wear items on your head, around your neck, a ring, and on your feet in addition to the armor, weapon and shield positions we're all familiar with.Items can be linked to scripts that execute at different times. They can be activated when you wear it, remove it, or use it. The full power of the scripting language is available!
Now for a call to anyone who's played the game and thought something could be better. Send me your ideas, and I will see how they fit into the game, and if it's good, it's in! You'll see your name in the documentation as well!
Do you like to create creatures? Have you added on to the standard creature pack? Want to help make The Magic Gate just that much better? Send me your creatures! Tasteful & Creative creatures will be added to he creature file included with the game. To give you incentive:
10 Creatures earns you the add-on pack normally only available to registered users.
20 Creatures will earn you a free registration.