Messages

1

Suggestions / Re: The UrW Anti-RSI Campaign group. ARSI, for short.

« on: January 30, 2023, 12:09:41 AM »

On behalf of struggling iron-age Finns everywhere, I have a couple of suggestions to reduce the risks of RSI and arthritis:
...

Great to have a thread about anti-RSI, discussing issues and potential improvements, thanks for raising this.

As a very high level look at the game, I believe one major problem and perhaps the main RSI problem we have, is tied to one of the tenets of the UrW game design which boils down to "do action X, to get better at skill X".
This certainly is not good for RSI at all, especially when combined with the ever-reducing skill-increase-success-chance rates; such as shooting few thousand arrows to increase bow skill from 99 to 100, it does get bad.
Currently game drops player as a 16 year old and player is mostly in control of their destiny; there are no hard classes and no hardcoded paths. One, via dedication, eventually can become a swordsman, an archer etc. That dedication is currently paid with RSI...
One alternative to this is, not having that kind of development at all, with a more static class system in which you start as archer for example but do not change from there, much - I would not prefer that, personally.
Another alternative is keeping any-to-any skill development approach but allowing much quicker skill development, starting as archer, quickly becoming swordsman. This probably would reduce immersion.
I am not sure what to do on this, if you or anyone have a suggestion to improve this, I would be interested to hear that.

...
1.  Clothing should be at the bottom of the inventory menu, as I believe it is the thing we make least changes to.  No more scrolling past 25 items of winter clothing to get at the tool.
...

Now, focusing on item 1 in your list (quoted above), there are already anti-RSI features in the game to help with the "too many items in list 'issue. Namely, the auto-assigned item letter codes for instant-item-interaction, as well as the FILTER functionality located under the TAB shortcut key in inventory view.

If you have anti-RSI efficiency on your mind, and you look at your inventory list & see 25 clothing items and you wish to get past those to reach a tool, then in that situation, you should not be scrolling down 25 items in the first place, as it would be against the anti-RSI efficiency.

Just hit the TAB key (the FILTER key), and use the built-in feature to show tools only and press 'a' key to pick the first item in the tools-only view (or, if it is not the top one in this new/updated tools-only view, then just hit the corresponding item key, such as b, c, d, etc.).

You can check out this post from paz, for a run down of what's already available in the game: https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=1747.msg4824#msg4824

2. (Your herblore suggestion) I agree with the herblore skill speed up suggestion. While at it, wheatherlore probably should be bumped up too.
3. (Bow suggestion) This sounds good to me also. Hitting live animals/humans, to level up faster (rather than 600 waste shots). Note that the dev is a real life archer and probably been training for years, so they may not like a fast tracked approach. There is no harm in suggesting though, let's see what they say, probably in the next round of suggestions-mass-review.

2

General Discussion / Re: [SOLVED] Issues running Unreal World on Ubuntu

« on: January 25, 2023, 11:36:04 PM »

Whoops, I haven't really used forums since like 2005 and forgot I was the one who had to edit the title. Thanks for any future people in need for making the guide!

Although I gotta ask for more help-everything was fine and I spent a couple hours making a trap fence, fishing and building a house for winter. Lots of fun, but then when I next launched the game my laptop shut down within a minute. I fiddled with the laptop a bit and it worked after a third attempt so I just kinda forgot about it. Now it's happening again: every time I launch Unreal World, the entire laptop dies within 20 and 60 seconds of opening Unreal World no matter what I do.

I tried searching for this issue but got no hits, and did some experimenting. It shut down in the same way with no noticeable pattern to how long it took whether I waited on the menu, I jumped into the game or tried creating a character. I launched with the terminal and waited for the crash but absolutely no unusual messages popped up before the crash. Ran Dwarf Fortress and cheated myself to a full fortress of dwarves to see if that would do anything, and it ran fine while I did RL chores.

As this is an edge case, and due to low PC issues-related traffic volume here (and low traffic volume overall) you are much more likely to get quick help outside this forum.
I would suggest looking at existing posts in a PC support forum such as these few below, failing that, posting in a large one, on one of those PC hardware forums.
https://forums.tomsguide.com/threads/laptop-shuts-down-when-playing-games.368685/
https://forums.tomsguide.com/threads/laptop-shutdown-while-gaming-2nd-display-lid-is-closed.464521/

Alternatively, you could try posting in this forum, but as a new thread, under the Off-topic board, after providing your system hardware and software details and some of us can try and help.

As quick hints:
* In general PC unexpected shutdown issues are due to built-in thermal protection so it gets hot, shuts down to protect against potential damage.
* Ubuntu system general log and temperature related logs you can check also, see this post: https://superuser.com/a/67327
* If you have not done so a good start is updating the PCs BIOS (assuming there is an update available) because sometimes manufacturers fix these isues after sale but you may not have installed the "fix" yet by not updating the BIOS.
* Ensure you read all documentation thoroughly before you attempt any BIOS updates as it is the one area of PC in which software update can brick your device (see: https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/BIOS-update-bricked-my-laptop/td-p/7289344 ).

3

General Discussion / Re: That's how you think the weather will be like

« on: January 22, 2023, 12:24:28 AM »

The purpose of this post is to ask the community about their experiences regarding weather, and most precicely weatherlore skill.

I find it useful only for characters named Maximus - this skill, somehow, completes the guy.

4

Guides and tutorials / [GUIDE] Unreal World Outdated Free Version On Modern Ubuntu Linux

« on: January 22, 2023, 12:16:40 AM »

[GUIDE] Unreal World Outdated Free Version On Modern Ubuntu Linux

This guide attempts to help successfully run Unreal World outdated free version on a modern Ubuntu Linux system.
It is a rough step by step guide so if you have never installed a software package/game with a deb package, it might help.

There is a line somewhere in the middle of this post, marked with xxxxx (not kisses).
If you have already installed UrW or other software with deb packages before, you probably already know anything ABOVE the xxx line.

What's BELOW the xxx line is the main purpose I added this guide here.
It tries to help troubleshoot the missing dependencies issue so that more people can fix these issues quickly and locally.
Even though all of this can already be found in other web pages, YouTube videos etc. without knowing what to search for and without an overall structure, for some, it can be a daunting task to even start looking for help.

Please DO SEND any constructive criticism by replying directly to this message. Let me know if anything is wrong/unclear & needs further elaboration/important but missing from the guide etc.

Please DO NOT post technical issues by replying directly to this message - I will be happy to try and help you but best to open a new thread for your specific case, under General Discussion board. See the last bit of this message for a few hints on what to include in your help request.

Information on Ubuntu O/S
You can download Ubuntu linux operating system here: https://ubuntu.com
Installing Ubuntu is outside the scope of this guide but I will give a hint below so that, if interested but unsure where to start, you can look into it on the web.

Information on VirtualBox - The free virtualization software to keep your Windows or Mac and have your linux too (on the same PC)
If you do not wish to install Ubuntu linux on your existing hardware, you can use the free virtualization software VirtualBox https://www.virtualbox.org
You probably already knew this but this suggestion is for that one person who never tested (or heard of) virtualization software.
Assuming you have reasonably powerful/modern PC hardware VirtualBox software completely for free will let you run a "Ubuntu linux virtual machine" under your actual system.
Even if you completely "break" the linux, nothing will happen to your actual Windows system.
If you do use VirtualBox, ensure you provide adequate system resources to your new gaming virtual machine; e.g.: memory=4 GB, cpu=4x, display=128 MB VMSVGA & acceleration=enable 3d acceleration.

START
Step: Using Other Guides/Resources, Set Up Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 LTS
Ideally at first as a Virtual Machine so that you are used to it, a bit and feel more at home before you start diving deeper. Only then, start following this guide.

Step:  Update O/S, bring in the latest updates, fixes, dependencies etc and reboot

Code: [Select]

apt update && apt upgrade -y && reboot
Step:  Elevate to superuser & create temporary directory
Log back in after reboot, launch a terminal, become superuser, create a temporary location to set things up, store temporary log/output files etc.

Code: [Select]

sudo -i
mkdir /aaa && cd /aaa
Step:  Install pre-requisite software SDL2 library
SDL2 library is a software Unreal World requires, you can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer
Install SDL2 libs, with the command below.
Warning --yes flag means "Automatic yes to prompts; assume 'yes' as answer to all prompts and run non-interactively". I've added it here for speed, but if undesired, remove it.

Code: [Select]

apt --yes install libsdl2-2.0-0 libsdl2-image-2.0-0 libsdl2-mixer-2.0-0 libsdl2-net-2.0-0
Unreal World - Free Vs Paid Version Notice
I encourage everyone to purchase the game via itch.io or Steam so that you can enjoy the BEST Unreal World there is.
If you do not have the financial bandwidth at the moment (or just do not want), thankfully the very generous devs allow you to still enjoy the game legally (except the very latest goodies).

Step:  Download the Unreal World game package.
As of today (2023-January) v.3.63 is the free-but-not-latest version of the game and this link goes directly to that file.
This wget command should save the file urw_3.63_amd64.deb in your current directory, which is /aaa

Code: [Select]

wget http://www.unrealworld.fi/dl/3.63/linux/deb-ubuntu/urw_3.63_amd64.deb
Posterity Notice In the future when devs update the free version, the direct link below probably will not work, so you will need to go to the official website https://unrealworld.fi > Downloads > Ubuntu > 64-bit, right click on the download button/link, copy the shortcut/link, then update the wget command above with the new link.

Step:  Install the game
dpkg -i urw_3.63_amd64.deb

Step:  Launch the game
Click on the desktop icon or just issue the command listed below to launch the game.

Code: [Select]

urwIt would be great if it "just worked" when the game is launched.
Newest version of the game (3.72), as expected, does just work.
However as reported earlier (link below), older version of the game may rely on dependencies that are not clearly listed in the dpkg installation screen ( report: https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=6845.0 ).
Furthermore when user attempts to launch the game no clear instruction is given other than a cryptic message as detailed in the topic linked above.
This is the core issue: when launch game instruction doesn't work, it is not clear what is expected of the user to fix the problem. Install something? What exactly?

Step:  The right thing to do approach
The right thing to do now is to identify what missing software components are needed and install those, and only those.
This approach is not detailed / covered in this tutorial.
As far as I know there is no such list, it is not clear, it is not only system dependent, probably also version dependent. It is detective work and can be time consuming because:
* Game UrW is dependent on lib1, lib2, lib3.
** lib1 is dependent on libA1 and A2.
*** LibA1 is dependent on libX27 which is then dependent on libYYY341 and libYYY342.
***LibA2 is dependen...
Sometimes, it goes on and on. It is possible to get to the bottom of it but may need dedication...

xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx

Step:  Quick Hack: install 'em all
As a quick workaround, we can: 1) quickly determine what libraries are mentioned, AND 2) in a quick/scripted manner, try to install all "mentioned" libraries.
This is the not a precise approach at all and probably should be avoided on your actual/primary computer.

What to do on your actual/primary computer
a) It is probably best to just purchase the full game which is based on a recent build, using modern software (library) versions, and in my experience works flawless.
b) Alternatively, you can dedicate large amounts of time to systematically try libs and eventually find the working combination.
(If you go this route and eventually succeed, perhaps post a reply here sharing your O/S  exact version, game version, and what software packages you installed to get it working which can be seen with "grep Commandline /var/log/apt/history.log". I already have the paid version but it can help another person save time).

What to do on your gaming PC/gaming Virtual Machine
You can follow the instructions below to automatically add any and all missing software without careful consideration. You may end up with too much so perhaps do not do this on your main computer.
It may be OK to do this on a dedicated-gaming-virtual-machine which can be snapshotted/re-created with relative ease.
WARNING This can screw up your computer
WARNING Snapshot the virtual machine before doing this, in case it breaks something, you can revert back to the previous state with a single click.

Step: Install software package pax-utils
We will use lddtree utility which is distributed with the pax-utils so we need to install it.

apt --yes install pax-utils

Step: List dependencies and their dependencies using the lddtree utility, save output to a text file

Code: [Select]

lddtree /usr/bin/urw3-bin > lddtree.1.raw_output.txt
Step: Post-process the output to create filenames

Code: [Select]

cat lddtree.1.raw_output.txt | awk {'print $1'} > lddtree.2.filenames.txt
Step: Post-process the filenames to get base filenames (roughly)

Code: [Select]

cat lddtree.2.filenames.txt | sed -e 's/.so.[0-9]//' > lddtree.3.baseishfilenames.txt
Step: Automatically try to install any and all missing software
WARNING This can cause issues. If executing on a virtual machine, consider creating a snapshot before running this command, and otherwise, consider running a new backup just to be on the safe side.
The 1st command below just shows on screen what it will attempt to automatically install.
The 2nd command below will actually attempt the software installation, for each package.
SHOW command

Code: [Select]

cat lddtree.3.baseishfilenames.txt | while read line; do echo apt -y install $line-dev; doneINSTALL command

Code: [Select]

cat lddtree.3.baseishfilenames.txt | while read line; do apt -y install $line-dev; doneNote: This will not install every single missing library which is why it is called a 'Quick Hack' but based on my limited testing it is good enough, it did the job of converting a cannot-run-old-urw Ubuntu box to one that can run it and did it pretty quickly.

Step:  Once more, try launching the game
Now that a bunch of additional software is installed, there is a (high) chance, the missing dependency is now addressed so what failed earlier may work now.
Click on the desktop icon or just issue the command listed below to launch the game.

Code: [Select]

urw
What to do if it still doesn't work
Don't worry, take deep breath, relax. Remember nothing has changed & concept is the same, we still need to identify and install what is missing then it should work...

When relaxed adequately, go to the GENERAL DISCUSSION board, start a new discussion thread so that other linux users can try and help.

Please invest a few seconds to clearly naming the thread because what you put in the Subject field can pull or push technical people.
It is good to see something like "Getting 'Inconsistency detected by ld.so' error when launching v.3.88 under Ubuntu 52".
It tells us what O/S you have, which version of the game you are running, and what error message you are getting. That's a pretty good start.

Hope this helps someone, some day.

5

General Discussion / Re: Issues running Unreal World on Ubuntu

« on: January 21, 2023, 11:17:06 PM »

I am on 3.63, and it's now running perfectly! Everything in the first command was already installed but the second needed installation.

Thank you very much for your help!

I am very glad to hear that, and thanks for letting us know. Now, finally enjoy the great game!

On another note, as you might noticed, I've modified the thread subject and prefixed it [SOLVED] so that it's clearer to any board browsers.
Accurate information is good for future search results & external search engine hits too.

Edit: Just sharing as a FYI... I took the commands I used for this issue, cleaned up the notes a bit, combined with the general methodology notes & put them all in a rough guide post, as linked below. It might be of use later, for a future version, or even for another software/game.

[GUIDE] Unreal World Outdated Free Version On Modern Ubuntu Linux
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=6878.0

6

General Discussion / Re: Issues running Unreal World on Ubuntu

« on: January 21, 2023, 03:03:27 AM »

...
Regarding updating, I actually did that just before my initial post for unrelated reasons but I just tried again-there were a handful of updates but still nothing.

OK thanks for following up.

I checked the binary of the free-but-older-version of the game v.3.63 tonight, and after investigating it, I realized in this particular case, ldd output, at least the default output as we suggested/repeated earlier wouldn't have mattered. Still good advice for most other cases. Your post too demonstrates the fact that, ldd is not spitting out what UrW needs.
While it is possible to make ldd tell us more with extra parameters, probably not needed at this stage.

Instead, please try these below, and when prompted, just press Y and accept the disk cost & let apt auto-install any dependencies, as usual.

EDIT: Actually, I need to clarify that this is written for and tested on Ubuntu latest LTS Desktop 22.04 and UrW 3.63 (free-but-outdated) version and tested only on this version.
If you are however on the latest and greatest version of this game (v.3.72) let us know.

1. Install the SDL2 library components:

Code: [Select]

apt install libsdl2-2.0-0 libsdl2-image-2.0-0 libsdl2-mixer-2.0-0 libsdl2-net-2.0-0
2. Also install this audio dev lib:

Code: [Select]

apt install libjack-dev
Then open the console and type "urw" and let us know the outcome. If this does not work we will need more info from system.

Edit: clarified on what OS/Game versions this suggestion was tested on.

7

General Discussion / Re: Issues running Unreal World on Ubuntu

« on: January 20, 2023, 11:31:23 AM »

So first off... ..I'm not Ubuntu literate enough to really understand what I need to do.

...It sounds like one of these is missing on your system. If you post the output of ldd, we can probably figure it out which one

I think Plotinus is suggesting that in addition to running the said ldd command on your terminal, you'd also post a copypaste of the output here in the forums so that other linux users could help you to figure out how to resolve possible issues with dependencies.

Good suggestion! Perhaps just do that, run ldd (as per Plotinus' example) and copy & paste the output here to get assistance.
While doing so, if you can kindly put the pasted ldd output in code brackets, it would particularly please me, like so:     [codee] your pasted text here [/codee]
Note that I used double 'ee' for the demonstration but you should use single 'e'...

If you installed the O/S just few months ago (presumably from a recent source) then this is a low success chance suggestion but because it is also a low effort one, I will suggest it...
Before doing the ldd suggestion mentioned above, perhaps try O/S update which can help get rid of bugs.
If you have not done so before see updating Ubuntu, here: https://itsfoss.com/update-ubuntu/

Edit: typo.

8

Mod Releases / Re: [Tool] WhereIsMyRobber - a "Homeland Robbers" tedium remedy

« on: January 18, 2023, 08:16:30 PM »

I looked up my old forum account and reset my password in order to say thanks for this!!

Yes, this tool is a fantastic idea, perfectly plugging a hole in the market.

I also like the prompt at the end, which is functional and valid but also humorous at the same time: "Do you want to find another robber near you? (Y/n)"
It defaults to YES, too. UnReal! 

9

Modding / Re: Generated map image

« on: January 12, 2023, 09:20:16 PM »

Some progress:
<snip>
working out an issue with size constraints (which is why the tiles are scaled to 6x7 currently)
Ignore gimp file size, actual file size is 25.2mb

Thanks for sharing the developments. I look forward to the next update.

Following up on your previous message, I have looked at the map-in-memory idea. After some brief evaluation, (for me) I did not find it to be faster than the method suggested below.

(While on the matter, as a side curiosity, I also briefly tested modifying portions of the map via memory locations and also via WORLD.DAT file modification followed by its duplication as WORLD.PLM. A primitive quick test succeeded in generating an artificial island in the north west corner of the map that was visible in F6/in-game map screen. A follow up, wider scope test, attempting to create a massive island, failed, as the game completely ignored this change, somehow reverting to the default/previous state. At this point, I am unsure whether there are checks in the game code preventing from a modified more-than-threshold map to be used, but that's my first guess.)

Back on the original goal of obtaining a (mostly-unmodified) single, unified Large Unreal World map:
Prior to your interest in developing a convenient external utility solution, I was thinking doing via another route, using the convenience devs gave all users (i.e.: F6/in-game map screen). As detailed in the suggestion thread, my main issue is the in-game map is not big enough.

Observation shows the entire World Map (the entirety of the F6 screen, including the sections that are only visible via scrolling) appear to be made of 6 "cells", like so:

Code: [Select]

----------------------------------------------------
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|       A        |      B         |        C       |
|                |                |                |
----------------------------------------------------
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|       D        |      E         |        F       |
|                |                |                |
----------------------------------------------------
The quick solution I had on mind is based on the idea if you copy and paste small map enough times, it would get "big enough".
It could work like this: 1) take 6x screenshots save to disk, 2) pixel-perfect merge the 6x in the correct composition to create a unified map, and 3) save output externally.

As a proof of concept, without any script/program involvement, I did this manually by taking manual screenshots and manual merging in GIMP and here is the outcome:
* 6x screenshots, each displaying a single cell at max-zoomed-out level:

** Click here for the full sized version, then right click and open image in new tab.
* 1x unified Large World Map:

** Click here for the full sized version, then right click and open image in new tab.

My current thinking is that there are imperfections in this final output, for example between cells A and B in the middle of the border however it is still much better than the small World Map I can see in UrW F6/in-game map screen so I would consider this a win, if it can be automated by any means.

Just sharing in case you would like to evaluate this approach, that is, in case you have not done so already.

For the automation/convenience part, I had ideas like using an AutoHotkey script to grab and save screenshots, use ImageMagick to post process to create the unified merged large picture etc. but that would be hard to use for some. A nice utility, as single software package (I believe you prefer .NET?) surely would be far superior solution.
I have not done any AHK/IM tests on this even though I used C & IM together long ago and I remember it gave adequate results for a problem then, so probably this would work but won't be nice or easily maintainable.

Now the good part: having seen your post & updates, if you are still keen to develop a solution, all I have to do now is wait! :>

10

General Discussion / Re: Unreal World in the Media

« on: January 11, 2023, 09:07:43 PM »

Added a new entry:   On 22nd June 2022, Unreal World wins the 'Roguelike Roulette' and gets attention in the Reto Does Games YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8QFNefhCLQ&ab_channel=RetoDoesGames

If you know of any other good Unreal World videos or recorded Twitch streams please post here, thanks!

11

Gameplay questions / Re: Tips, Tricks, FAQs

« on: January 11, 2023, 08:42:58 PM »

Came here to report that the 1st post has been updated:   Added #23 How to Make Cordage From Fibre Plants (hemp/nettle/flax); and style improvement.

While here, the usual call:   if anyone has any tips & tricks, that appears to be useful to most/many players, please post here. Thanks very much in advance.

12

Gameplay questions / Re: Hemp cord experiment

« on: January 11, 2023, 08:26:49 PM »

You can make cordage from hemp in UrW. The process is the same as with other fibre plants (nettle and flax).

Just take a look at TEXTILECRAFT entry in game encyclopedia (F1).
You can spin fibres into yarn, yarns into cords, and finally cords into ropes, if you like to.

That's great, thank you for the correction - I've updated my message above, accordingly.

13

Modding / Re: Generated map image

« on: January 10, 2023, 01:50:59 PM »

Heres the gist of it
<snip>

Fantastic! Once again thank you for a fully detailed response.
I will look into the memory method at first chance and will keep an eye out for your potential next utility release.

14

Modding / Re: Generated map image

« on: January 09, 2023, 09:23:23 PM »

Just wanted to share this, was able to generate an image of the game map from data and save it to file, kind of neat to look at.

Thanks for sharing this. Agreed, pretty neat. Opens up a lot of external possibilities.

In your embedded screenshot, it appears, this completely bypasses the fog of war (FoW), is that bypass, mandatory by nature or optional?
Did you create any open source code on this or alternatively is there any public information/writing on your experiment?

15

Solved'n'fixed bug reports / Re: Nejerpez warriors shoot tree trunks at me

« on: January 09, 2023, 08:37:43 PM »

Nejerpez warriors shoot tree trunks at me!

Well, were you doing particularly good in battle, just before this happened? If so, perhaps it is a new feature?

A new algorithm quietly slipped into the 3.72-patch#3 as a limited-time easter egg, for detecting players in the 99th percentile by the in-game battle performance & showering them with this unique compliment, some sort of flower bouquet (with the known limitations of the climate & season), same day air delivered by friends from eastern lands in their lovely Christmas attire and spirit.

Maybe it is meant to be taken not as a bug but as a testament to the bravery, skill in combat, and the indomitable spirit of honoured recipient