Blockland news & patch notes

There have been multiple updates to Blockland since the last news steam post. Here's a catch up post. r1983

• Fixed crash related to getWords/getFields
• Iconshots/ folder now writable from screenshot functions

r1981

• The fast connection packets introduced in r1972 can now be disabled by setting $pref::Net::FastPackets = 0; or unchecking the "Fast Packets" check box in the network settings tab. Note: this is a server-side setting.
• File downloads will now retry instead of stopping on the "got incorrect hash!" error (note: this is not the issue of downloads freezing in the middle)
• Fast packets will now stop immediately when client goes below the ghosting threshold
• Fast packets will now stop for a given client if their ping goes above 350
• Added missing Parent::onTrustCheckFinished to Brick_Large_Cubes
• Fixed some cases where you could create multiple orphan ghost bricks
• Fixed clicking while tumbling erroneously causing respawn
• Fixed instantly typing "wwwwwww" if you wrench a brick while moving
• Fixed ghost brick moving in the wrong direction while looking straight down

r1973

• Fixed WinXP compatiblity problem from r1972

r1972

• Multiple packets are now sent to ghosting clients on each network tick, reducing ghosting and file download times
• Fixed certain cases of file downloads stopping
• Fixed missing admin checks on some bot_hole server commands
• Fixed case where moving slow moving players can phase through walls

r1966

• Fixed issue where you could travel through a teledoor before it is removed by the build trust check
• Fixed vehicles not burning (both client and server will have to be running r1966)
• Fixed certain timescale/framerate combinations causing the game to freeze
• Fixed coverage issue on ModTer 8x CornerA brick
• Fixed crash when player type has no animations
• You can no longer execute files named "Support_AdminEvents.cs" - this user created script was used in several other add-ons and contained an eval injection vulnerability which would allow an attacker to execute arbitrary script code on the server. Note: this was not a malicious script, it was simply poorly coded and could be exploited to attack the server.

r1958

• Fixed LAA flag regression, should fix some crashes
• Reduced ghost lookup table size by ~10%
• Brick limit replaced by $pref::server::ghostlimit - this setting puts a hard limit on the number of ghosted objects in the game and reduces the size of the ghost lookup tables accordingly.
  • You cannot change the ghost limit while the game is running.
  • The ghost limit can also be set in gamemode.txt. Lower ghost limits are now set for the default game modes, saving significant amounts of memory per player.
  • The label in the custom game gui still says "brick limit" so people might have a clue what it does.
  • The valid values are powers of 2 from 32768 to 1048576, if you set some other value it will automatically round up to next highest power of 2
• $Pref::Server::BrickLimit checks replaced by getBrickLimit() - this function derives the brick limit based on the current ghost limit.

r1956

• Reverted ghosting optimization while I figure out what's wrong with it
• Fixed camera relative brick movement with supershift enabled

r1955

• Fixed issue with deleting bricks

r1954

• ParticleData framesPerSec value is now synced to clients
• Removed deprecated aiConnection class
• Removed old, non-functional "storm" features of precipitation object
• Sky object network update size reduced significantly, should fix bad packet when changing environment settings rapidly
• Light list in wrench gui is now sorted alphabetically
• Brick movement is now camera relative when in free cam mode
• Fixed https link parsing in chat
• Partially typed chat messages are now preserved when going from the loading screen to game
• Fixed case where player is stuck in animation on spawn (credit)
• Fixed chat being the wrong size in the loading screen
• Fixed backspace not repeating while playGui is active
• Delete buttons added to save/load bricks GUIs
• Fixed this graphical error on modTer ramp
• Miscellaneous network packing cleanup
• Added ballRadius field to projectileData, used to prevent sports balls from sinking into ground
• Fixed sports balls teleporting up through player when you run over them
• Certain cases of the master server failing will no longer kick players from the game
• Adjusted padding of listclients() console function for 6 digit IDs
• Addressed crash exploit related to NetStringTable - I've attempted to fix the actual bug in the class, rather than detect and filter bad traffic. Hopefully this works.
• Improved error handling on most master server posts/auth queries
• ModTer visible faces fix (credit)
• Client disconnect/CDROP echoes now show player name
• Fixed local connection IPX address echo displaying garbage on Mac
• Fixed screenshot functions being able to write outside of game folder
• Added more sanity checks for brick limit, as people are still somehow setting this to zero
• Made it less trivial to change your client timescale
• Health level of other players is no longer sent over the network
• Random environment button will no longer set transparent ground
• When ghosting, unghosted objects are now prioritized. This is to address slow loading when there are a lot of players/vehicles moving around.
• Increased maximum ghost limit to 1M, what could go wrong
• Increased datablock limit to 8k, that'll be fun to download
• You can now set individual player speeds directly using the following functions
  • setMaxForwardSpeed
  • setMaxBackwardSpeed
  • setMaxSideSpeed
  • setMaxCrouchForwardSpeed
  • setMaxCrouchBackwardSpeed
  • setMaxCrouchSideSpeed

r1931

• Shaders are now automatically enabled for supported video cards
• Removed "-1" chat spam event from lighthouse speedkart map
• Added flood protection to /activateStuff
• Added -serverName and -maxPlayers command line arguments

Changes:

• Tweaks to "Blockheads Ruin Xmas" gamemode:
  • Can now throw presents by clicking
  • Fixed bug where you could destroy presents in the street
  • Player score reset when second player joins game
• Added error handling on various tcp objects, improves reliability when traffic is filtered through threat management system.
• You will no longer be kicked out of the game if the auth server connection times out. Only positive rejections will kick players.
• Fixed crash from disconnecting from game while mission editor is open
• Can now get the speedykart achievement by yourself

Changes:

• Tweaks to "Blockheads Ruin Xmas" gamemode:
  • Can now throw presents by clicking
  • Fixed bug where you could destroy presents in the street
  • Player score reset when second player joins game
• Added error handling on various tcp objects, improves reliability when traffic is filtered through threat management system.
• You will no longer be kicked out of the game if the auth server connection times out. Only positive rejections will kick players.
• Fixed crash from disconnecting from game while mission editor is open
• Can now get the speedykart achievement by yourself

Changes:

• Blockheads Ruin Xmas game mode added. Gather presents and jump into the fire pit to destroy them. Build by Sumz & Hamburger, code by Zor. (Note: I tweaked and reformatted the code, so problems may not necessarily be his fault)
• Removed $Pref::Steam::DisableSteam, replaced with -nosteam command line option
• Improved error messages for authentication dns/connection failures
• Vehicle steering options moved from "advanced" to "controls"

Changes:

• Blockheads Ruin Xmas game mode added. Gather presents and jump into the fire pit to destroy them. Build by Sumz & Hamburger, code by Zor. (Note: I tweaked and reformatted the code, so problems may not necessarily be his fault)
• Removed $Pref::Steam::DisableSteam, replaced with -nosteam command line option
• Improved error messages for authentication dns/connection failures
• Vehicle steering options moved from "advanced" to "controls"

This update fixes some bugs and improves handling of steam network outages, which we seem to be having a lot of lately... Changes:

• Fixed DIERR_NOTACQUIRED keyboard input failure if you alt+tab while steam overlay is up.
• Improved handling of steam network outages, will now work if you have auth'd once before and your configuration hasn't changed
• Fixed playerlist not showing max players or servername when joined via steam
• More echoes added to steam api init
• Fixed cases of being promted to enter a key when steam is down
• Improved handling of steam offline mode
• Fixed case where attempting joining a full or passworded server via steam would result in no main menu buttons
• steamClearAchievement() now works

The keyboard/overlay fix may also effect the "random key takes a screenshot" problem, let me know because I cannot duplicate this issue.

This update fixes some bugs and improves handling of steam network outages, which we seem to be having a lot of lately... Changes:

• Fixed DIERR_NOTACQUIRED keyboard input failure if you alt+tab while steam overlay is up.
• Improved handling of steam network outages, will now work if you have auth'd once before and your configuration hasn't changed
• Fixed playerlist not showing max players or servername when joined via steam
• More echoes added to steam api init
• Fixed cases of being promted to enter a key when steam is down
• Improved handling of steam offline mode
• Fixed case where attempting joining a full or passworded server via steam would result in no main menu buttons
• steamClearAchievement() now works

The keyboard/overlay fix may also effect the "random key takes a screenshot" problem, let me know because I cannot duplicate this issue.

I have posted a list of known issues related to steam here: http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=242718 I will be working to fix these as soon as possible. In the mean time, make sure you're actually connected to steam when you start the game and don't leave the game window while the steam overlay is up and you should be fine. I will also be updating the registration system on the Blockland forums so that people who bought the game on steam can post there. I will post an announcement here when that is working.

I have posted a list of known issues related to steam here: http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=242718 I will be working to fix these as soon as possible. In the mean time, make sure you're actually connected to steam when you start the game and don't leave the game window while the steam overlay is up and you should be fine. I will also be updating the registration system on the Blockland forums so that people who bought the game on steam can post there. I will post an announcement here when that is working.