Ice Ocean changelog/2006-1

This page archives the changelog for the Ice Ocean for the first half of 2006. The complete changelog can be viewed at Ice Ocean changelog.

2006-06-27

• More changes to carpentry syncronization. Now, you should get removed from the puzzle as soon as the server detects an out-of-sync condition rather than letting you continue and just get reduced score & ratings. If you see this condition, please /bug it and let us know as much as you can about what you did in the 3 or 4 placements before the error. (Did the ship reach a league point? Enter battle? Did you finish a column of stars? Place a T piece, then bump it left one square?) Unfortunately, we are having a tough time replicating the particular conditions that cause the bug...
• Changed the way connections occur at login time. Hopefully this will fix a problem some users with windows network sharing are experiencing.

2006-06-23

• Added some logging to carpentry to attempt to track down the puzzle out-of-sync bugs we've been seeing - Please do some carpentry so we can get this tested, fixed, and generally taken care of ASAP!
• Temporarily upped brigand/barbarian payouts to encourage participation on Ice.
• Fixed rumble client to allow shafts to come in just after (but still not just before) a drop. This was how it was always intended and why the server believed there was cheating involved...
• Bugfix: Fixed problem where duty puzzles would not restart if you joined them or completed a column of stars just as the ship reached a league point or entered battle.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem with dragging grapple icons on sea battle controls causing invalid skirmish moves.
• Bugfix: Fixed animation of ship on a turning ram
• Bugfix: Fixed colorization of midriff blouse and sash for portraits.

2006-06-21

• Bugfix: Names should once again appear on parlor tables.
• Bugfix: Large ships can again shoot 2 shots per side.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem with initial welcome email sending.
• Bugfix: Fixed missing corset in portrait creation.

2006-06-20

• Tweak the barbarian difficulty
• A few tweaks to the new clothing
• Fix the rumbling cheat detection, hopefully for good this time.
• Sounds when your teammate or opponent is knocked out in rumble.
• New monthly portrait Usil2's Dusk Sky

2006-06-19

• New clothing items at the tailor! Portraits are not yet ready for the new clothing, so unexpected things may result if you try a portrait with the new clothes. Ye've been warned! (Also note that recipes may change from their current form before final release, which may affect the coloring of your clothes)
• Harpsichord furniture item.
• Bugfix: Fixed another battle nav ramming problem

2006-06-16

• Bugfix: Fixed battle nav problem where a left or right turn would sometimes push ships back.
• Bugfix: Fixed another rumble cheat detection problem.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem where commodities were not properly removed from ships abandoned at sea.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem where creating one's first pirate caused the interface to hang
• Bugfix: Fixed missing private table message

2006-06-08

• Sea battle controls rearranged to be more consistent and intuitive. Sail tokens you have run out of are now more obviously indicated, and selection of which tokens you want to acquire from your sailors can be done by clicking on the token. Controls are now arranged the same whether you are battle-navigating while puzzling or from the crow's nest/wheel.
• Increased maximum number of hearties to 100.
• Ice now has butterfly weed produced at Wyeth Island.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem where Swordfight cheat detector would sometimes miss certain types of cheaters.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem with rumble cheat detection that would sometimes flag players as cheaters (usually in barbarian encounters) when they weren't actually cheating.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem where refer-a-friend didn't properly add referred players to the referrer's crew (if they're an officer)

2006-05-19

• Furniture that has vanished from a scene without being removed (as shown in the building logs) will now return to the owner's booty once an update has been made to the scene (ie: adding, removing or moving any furniture in the scene).
• Reclaiming furniture can now reclaim tables which have other pieces of furniture on them. The other pieces of furniture will be returned to their respective owners.
• Minor blows in Rumble (aka: sprinkles), will not be applied just before, or while your board is shaking.
• Fixed a problem with the Rumble shaft patterns not wrapping properly for large major blows.
• Bugfix: Fixed problems where you pirate was moved while in a puzzle (occuring in most parlour games).
• Bugfix: Fixed carpentry duty puzzle sync issues (ie: duty reports that don't match your performance)

2006-05-10

• Behind the scenes stuff

2006-05-08

• Bugfix: Fixed problem where duty puzzles (esp gunnery and nav) were generally booched.

2006-05-05

• Slight tweak to booty awards for beating brigands
• Sofas now available from the furnisher
• Bugfix: Fixed problem where sea battle tokens sometimes became locked and unchangeable.
• Various random behind-the-scenes duty puzzle changes - if you notice anything out of the ordinary in the duty puzzles, be sure to /bug it

2006-05-01

• Bugfix: Fixed problems with sea battle sword fights ending early if only bots are fighting.
• Bugfix: Code changes to improve server stability

2006-04-26

• Bugfix: Tells should be working again
• Bugfix: After the melee portion of a battle, the vessels should now properly disengage.
• Bugfix: Rumble NPPs should start playing by the rules again.

2006-04-25

• Bugfix: Fixed problems with defending while in a team Rumble match
• Bugfix: Refer a friend should work again
• Bugfix: Fixed problems in Poker not dealing out the right number of cards
• Bugfix: Rumble tournaments can once again specify which Bludgeon to use
• Bugfix: Fixed problems with the globes changing color when placed

2006-04-19

• Government deeds are again tradeable. A warning message will appear in the reciever's trade window if a government deed is added.
• NPPs on a vessel will now automatically dismiss a challenge puzzle if ordered to a duty station.
• Bugfix: fixed new furniture position issues.

2006-04-18

• Bugfix: Fixed Drinking scoring for Stein when placing on already-colored squares
• Bugfix: Fixed a confusing message for Bludgeon Trunk
• Various behind-the-scenes stuff which you hopefully won't ever see.

2006-04-17

• Bugfix: Rumble should now show up properly on the parlour tables and be properly labeled for tournaments
• Bugfix: tan/tan Bludgeons and red/red Swords should be colored properly in portraits

2006-04-14

• Being planked or forced to move to a new scene while in a puzzle should no longer auto-dismiss the puzzle (unless it's a duty puzzle)
• New furniture: Tub, Globe, Globe Table, Bench, Bar segments and Potted Plants
• Portraits with Bludgeons are now available
• Tweaks to the new Sea Battle system to prevent ping-ponging and to more quickly adapt to the win/loss record
• Bugfix: Have the skull that shows up in the birds eye view always center properly
• Bugfix: Minor fixes to the new cheat detection system
• Bugfix: Rumble combo message #34 now exists
• Bugfix: Minor fixes to Rumble sound effects
• Bugfix: People jobbing for the navy (and not navigating) should no longer be placed on Brigand hunting navy vessels
• Bugfix: More fixes for duty puzzles not playing properly after league points
• Bugfix: Properly assign Battle Nav performance
• Bugfix: Ultra-high rated players should now be able to encounter Brigand Kings
• Bugfix: Brigand Trinkets should now be properly handed out on Doubloon Oceans
• Bugfix: Fixed scoring while using a hook and chalice in drinking

2006-04-05

• Bugfix: Fixed problem in S/F cheat detection that was incorrectly flagging stallers (a perfectly legitimate strategy) as cheaters.
• Bugfix: Fixed problem laying out large fonts on configure house panel.

2006-04-04

• Improved visiblility of Rumble targetting indicators
• Updated Rumble AI
• Improved cheating detection in swordfighting matches - please let us know if this incorrectly flags you as cheating
• Bugfix: Fixed bug where non-brigand-king ships would sometimes show up as being in the brigand king flag
• Bugfix: Fixed some broken brigand king sayings
• Bugfix: Fixed various minor rumble issues
• Bugfix: Fixed issue where wrapped items were sometimes unable to be placed on a rack after unwrapping

2006-03-31

• Fixes to might rating calcuations
• Battle Nav experience should be generated at a more reasonable rate
• Bugfix: Creating a Rumble tournament and specifying 'everyone use this bludgeon' but not providing a bludgeon would cause serious booching
• Vessels should no longer be mislabeled as Brigand King on the Battle Nav board

2006-03-29

• Fixes to Rumble NPPs, they should now feel the full brunt of your combo attacks
• Rumble sea battles should no longer take forever to complete (if only NPPs are left alive)
• Painted Eggs
• More Brigand Kings
• Minor Bug Fixes

2006-03-28

• Updated Bludgeon recipes
• Minor bugfix for gift wrap

2006-03-27

• New generic greeting card available from the Palace Shoppe
• Battle Nav screen will now show Flag names
• New Rumble Pit and Bludgeon Trunk furniture
• Bludgeons can now use 16 different colors (as a result, current bludgeons will have all recolored themselves)
• Minor adjustments to the Bludgeon drop patterns and NPP Rumble AI
• There are now FAQ's displayed prior to the petition form

2006-03-26

• Retooling of the Bludgeon drop patterns
• Bugfixes for NPPs that would freeze during combat

2006-03-25

• You can now use A and S to move between targets in Rumble
• Various Rumble sound fixes
• More changes to the Rumble AI, Board Summaries will give a more accurate representation of the NPPs state
• Bugfix: You should no longer be knocked out early in Rumble Sea Battles when your board is not full

2006-03-24

• NPPs have been made easier
• Bugfix: Rumble sounds should now always end when the game is over
• Bugfix: You should no longer have your bots die early during a sea battle
• Bugfix: Various Rumble animation fixes

2006-03-23

• NPPs can now accept Rumble challenges
• Rumble training mission now available
• Rumble now has sound and a new cursor
• Changed the name of Gloves to Bludgeons
• Barbarians now roam the seas ready to Rumble any pirates they grapple
• Pirates with hook injuries will show the hook which Rumbling (if fighting bare handed)
• Manager/Roomate invitations will now require the pirate to accept the position instead of having the position automatically forced on them
• Fancy beds can now be bought in a variety of colors
• Bugfix: Fixed problems with Bilge not reporting the correct performance
• Bugfix: Rumble team games can no longer be started when the starting teams side has more participants
• Bugfix: Poker ratings should no longer show up on portraits made before Poker's addition
• Bugfix: Fixed a problem where during Rumble your active window could become really small

2006-03-09

• Rumble games can be played many players again!
• Note: in multiplayer games, you may defend a teammate by targetting them. This will prevent some of the damage they would have taken, but some will be incurred by yerself.
• Gloves can be specified for Rumble tournaments, no gloves is an option for normal Rumble challenges.
• Various rumble graphical improvements and stability fixes.
• Gift wrap is now available in the palace shoppe. (Note: Deeds cannot be gift wrapped)
• Brigand King now gives out one of several special trinkets.
• When players are deleted, attempt to transfer any stalls they may own to a manager.
• Sea Battle rating should again be visible in older portraits. Newer should not include it.
• Poker ratings adjustments modified to be more stable.
• Bugfix: Players returning to their seat at a poker game were not always shown their cards.
• Bugfix: Ships which had temporary battling swabbies aboard didn't properly refill with normal swabbies at end of battle.
• Petitions can now be rated for whether or not your question was answered, if you are a paying customer.
• An OceanMaster can request more information from you in order to answer your question.
• You will be notified upon login if a petition needs your attention.

2006-03-03

• Bugfix: Trinkets should now be given out upon defeating a Brigand King
• Bugfix: Shipyards should now be able to sell Gloves
• Rumble games can no longer be more than 1 vs. 1 until bugs are fixed
• A new option has been added to specify using a left handed mouse
• Rumble keys should now be configurable
• Bugfix: Watchers and eliminated players will no longer have their fists displayed on the playing board
• Bugfix: Bug reporting should be working again

2006-03-02

• New Puzzle: Rumble
• New Items: Gloves, available at the Shipyard
• Beware Brigand Kings when fighting red ringed ships
• Might Ring reworking
• Sea Battle rating has been removed
• Battle Nav rating has been added
• Government Deeds are no longer tradeable

2006-02-22

• Drinking mugs rebalanced.
• Play-to-stain games ends if all players are passed out.
• Minor changes to poker rating system.
• Enforce minimum rebuy in poker.
• Bugfix: Building/vessel records no longer auto-scroll to bottom.
• Bugfix: Players could get a black screen when attempting to arrange furniture.
• Officer chat color changed.
• Flag news posted when crew joins/leaves flag.

2006-02-06

• Poker fixes

2006-02-03

• Poker fixes

2006-02-02

• More poker improvements

2006-02-01

• New Valentine's Portrait for this year
• More poker improvements

2006-01-31

• Re-added Valentine Portrait
• Added Valentine trinkets to palace shoppe.
• Chat enhanced to allow display of pieces of eight graphically.
• Poker table furniture
• Various Poker improvements

2006-01-27

• Fixed poker slowness, other minor poker changes.

2006-01-26

• More poker improvements, fixes

2006-01-25

• Poker improvements - added Check/Fold option, modified some animations, fixed some graphical oddities.
• Fixed bug where duty puzzles sometimes didn't give credit for work performed.
• Improved chat display efficiency.

2006-01-20

• Various Poker improvements, fixes
• New monthly portrait background - Sky's Winter Aurora

2006-01-17

• Poker! (Consider this game still in Alpha, please let us know if you see any issues.)
• Bugfix for server sometimes not restarting after reboot.
• Fixed a bug where badges could be bought twice.
• New items for sale in the palace shoppe.