ACR v1.88 Released

[Zelknolf]

ALFA's Core Rules version 1.88 is officially released. The changes will begin to roll out to individual servers as each team finds the time to perform the upgrade.

Users can expect this upgrade:
General Fixes
- Preception checks are now forcibly rerun after the use of default scripts to change faction (so that previous enemies won't continue to fight and become enemies again, for example).
- Automated consumable crafting is less likely to produce the already-somewhat-rare free scrolls.
- Changing combat modes with cooldowns will now function regardless of whether or not they've previously been activated.
- Lingering effects from having Combat Expertise on while logging out should no longer be available.
- Combat Expertise is more intelligent about updating when a user changes the contents of their hands.
- Combat Expertise no longer informs your entire party when you've changed your tactics.
- The skill focus feats for custom ACR skills now apply the bonus directly to the character, and should thus be more consistent in their function.
- A series of bugs which came from the ACR accessing operating-system-level information (generally disabling cross-server communication and the player chat interface) are fixed.
- Random spawn radius on the ACR Spawn System will now spawn the creature in a random spot inside the radius.
- The architecture around applying damage over time for Vitriolic Blast will now more-reliably count the amount of damage to be dealt through multiple sequential castings of Vitriolic Blast (warlocks should expect only one damage over time to function at a time, but the most recent will be the one it counts from, whereas previously only about 1 in 3 would restart the timer).
- The ACR Hotfix architecture has improved its architecture, and will no longer disable a server if it cannot apply the update (it will, instead, roll back and restart).
- Messages sent to a player while they are offline will now be displayed after the PC has finished loading into the module, to make it more likely that the player sees that message.
- acr_time_i now calculates all of its measures of time from real time in UTC, and provides a series of new functions that report in human-readable real time (rather than real time converted to game time).
- acr_portal_cnd.ncs (not just .nss) is now in alfa2_acr.hak.
- Subraces are less likely to be afflicted by movement rate bugs associated with changing appearance or swimming.
- Many icons are fixed for scrolls of RP spells
- The previously-advertised undead touch attack is now compiling in alfa2_acr.hak
- Turn Undead works on any creature with levels in undead, even if that creature's racial type isn't undead.
- DMFI item examine aborts-- instead of crashing the client-- if it can't find an item to examine.
- All polymorph effects are removed as part of logging in, to prevent client crashes.
- acr_vanity_i now uses a generic polymorph, instead of chickens, to prevent spell loss in spellcasters.
- Raise Dead cast by a DM avatar-- as opposed to a possessed NPC-- no longer applies a level loss.
- Favored Enemy: Beast can no longer be selected ("Beast" is not a canonical creature type. If you mean displacer beasts and unicorns, you want magical beast; if you mean dire bears and wolves, you want animal; if you want minotaurs, you want monstrous humanoid).
- Nonlethal damage mode should no longer destroy existing damage penalties (e.g. from alchemical silver).
- Trade Scrolls can be made from RP spells
- Intimidate can now be rolled with chat dice. (#inti)
- Tents and bedrolls can no longer be created during combat-- those who attempt to misuse them will instead be struck repeatedly by the metagame monkey.
- Word of Recall is available as drd 8 / clr 6, not wiz 8/ clr 6. (wizards seeking to move about in this fashion should use Greater Teleport).
- Wizards no longer have access to Stone Tell
- When making an area transition into space near hostile monsters, characters now receive both a spot and a listen check.
- Flee the Scene no longer sticks the user into a casting animation loop when used at less than the maximum range.
- Forgery checks are no longer intercepted by fortitude.
- Phat Lewt checks only allow one search check per person searching.
- Calls seeking natural hair color are now more reliable.
- Characters who are bleeding out will lose any standing invisibility effects, under the presumption that anyone who can dismiss invisibility would do so in order to provide healing.
- Icons are provided for a number of scrolls.

Core System Changes
- If a character's level is more than 8 higher than a target's CR, that target no longer provides combat XP.

Spell Changes
- Jump now has a scripted function (providing a general bonus to the jump skill).
- Glibness now has a scripted function (providing a general bonus to the bluff skill, but only inside of conversations; glibness cannot be used in conjunction with Feint).
- Magic Weapon and Greater Magic Weapon can now affect monk gloves and ranged weapons (providing an attack bonus, rather than an enhancement bonus, to these; while there is little we can do about the damage discrepancy, this will allow users to pierce /magic damage reduction with these weapons).
- Mass Camouflage is updated to its level and function from Complete Divine (drd/rgr 4, lasting 10 minutes/lvl).

New Spells
- Dimensional Anchor is now available as a spell, and has a scripted function (stopping spells such as Etheral Jaunt, Etherealness, Dimension Door, and Flee the Scene).

New Building Tools and Options
- acr_tools_i has exposed a GetMasterSpellId() function, which may be used to acquire the source spell of one which was cast from a subradial (for instance, one might use this to tell that Protection from Evil came from Protection from Alignment).
- The ACR has initialized a system which allows the tracking of effects and adjustments to characters through a PC Skin item. It is currently a fairly-weak system, but it lays the groundwork for future enhancements, correcting synergy bonus calculations, and providing skill foci for ALFA's custom skills.
- acr_roll_i now contains ACR_Roll, which will roll arbitrary dice and return the result.
- Feather Fall is available as an item property.
- acr_hazards_i includes a series of functions which can handle movement and damage related to falling, as well as a series of functions to handle balance (obviously cooperating with the falling portion)
- acr_environment_i shows the early implementations of functionality to track a region's temperature.
- Our sample CLRScript project now has a workable sample constructor.
- Area Transitions which are not two-way linked intentionally (e.g. one trigger, one door, two waypoints) may now have ACR_SAT_NO_WARN set as a local int to 1 to suppress the warning when using them.
- ACR_GetArmorRulesType should be used instead of NWN2's GetArmorRulesType-- it is available in acr_tools_i
- There are new KEMO chairs.
- fx_icebody.sef is available from the core resources.
- There are now appearance types for differently-sized dragons and lions (of note to builders that the appearance -type-, not its scale, determines the mechanical effects of size. Making a gargantuan creature 1/10th its size won't help its attack bonus or armor class, or make it appropriately vulnerable to tripping, without changing the appearance type).
- zSpawn's random colors are once again random.
- Logs will no longer present XP gain when there was none given.
- Copies of the appearances for playable races with mechanical size set to tiny, small, medium, large, and huge are now available, labeled with (Size) after the names in the toolset. These are not yet attached to any other systems (such as enlarge or reduce person), but may be used for specific niche uses (e.g. fey, giants) now. These appearances do not change the scale of the creature, and they will still need to be manually set to look the size that they are.

New Features
- #showstate now includes address information on servers.
- ACR_CreatureBehavior has reached experimental state. Proficient scripters and builders may attempt to fenagle functional creatures out of them, but they remain officially unsupported.


As always, the complete release notes for this and prior releases are available through the technical documentation link in Drupal.

[Veilan]

Thanks to the whole tech team for their work in keeping the magic running behind the curtain.

Cheers,

[boombrakh]

Thanks to the whole tech team for their work in keeping the magic running behind the curtain.

Cheers,

What Veilan said, but better.

[Riotnrrd]

huzzah!

[Mick]

Thanks for all the hard work, team!

[Dorn]

Thanks to the whole tech team for their work in keeping the magic running behind the curtain.

Cheers,

What Veilan said, but better.

what they said, but better

[Rumple C]

Thanks to the whole tech team for their work in keeping the magic running behind the curtain.

Cheers,

What Veilan said, but better.

what they said, but better

What Dorn said, but not quite as good.

[Ronan]

In addition to the above:

• Mage Armor, Improved Mage Armor and Shield now work properly: The mage armors can be cast on others, are no longer dispelled by Combat Expertise, no longer break across logins, and Shield now protects against Magic Missiles.
• All the new spells are now craftable via the crafting system and present in the Creator, and they all have valid icons.
• Crafting projects should no longer be stackable, ever.
• DM-created crafting projects with duplicate spell requirements no longer explode servers.
• The spawn-point variables ACR_SPAWN_RANDOM_RADIUS, ACR_SPAWN_RANDOM_RANGE and ACR_SPAWN_IS_ACTIVE_SCRIPT now function properly.

[Stormbring3r]

Thanks to the whole tech team for their work in keeping the magic running behind the curtain.

Cheers,

What Veilan said, but better.

what they said, but better

What Dorn said, but not quite as good.

What they said but with a *giggle*

[Curmudgeon]

Thanks!

[Castano]

thanks!

[Keryn]

Keep rocking tech dudezzzz

[Heero]

Good job!

[dergon darkhelm]

again thanks to all you people who, you know.....do stuff for ALFA!

[Castano]

thank you!