Yet another problem - New Toys
Kamen
Couldn't load "m_twn-11.lev" - making a maze.--More--
And then the all too familiar "Program in disorder, blah-blah", after which
I got a typical Gehennom maze. I use the New Toys nhdat and I have also made
my own modifications; but I've never messed with the Minetown levels.
Rob, something wrong with m_twn-11 or is it somehow my fault?
Rob Ellwood
Before I get started: your current game has a maze
instead of a minetown. It would be nice to fix that. IIRC,
Tina Hall once said that she replaced an already-visited level
for a game in progress. I tried once, but Nethack spotted the
replacement and killed the character. Tina, could you give us
a procedure?
Kamen wrote:
>
> Couldn't load "m_twn-11.lev" - making a maze.--More--
>
> ... I use the New Toys nhdat and I have also made my own
> modifications...
Best guess: file X should be changed to include the levels
from "New Toys". If you've recompiled Nethack, X is your makefile.
If you're just changing levels, X is your DLB.LST file. In more
detail:
This first section only applies if you're compiling all
of Nethack, instead of making changes to the .des level files.
You've got one new .des file (= source file for levels)
and several new .lev files (= compiled level file).
Edit your makefile. To find places that work on .des
files, search for "gehennom". Add rnd1.des to the list.
(There are two spots in the MinGW makefile.)
Next, to find places that work on .lev files, search for
"orcus". (There may be no hits. The MinGW makefile has one use
in the "file cleanup" section.) Do the same thing for all of the
new levels added in your version of "New Toys". The minetowns have
been renamed from "minetn-#" to "m_twn-#", so change those lines,
too.
Recompile.
End of "compiling all of Nethack, not just the levels"
Put nhdat and dlb_main (dlb in Unix) in a temporary folder.
Use "dlb_main x" from the DOS prompt to extract all the files
out of nhdat. Are any of the rnd1-# files there? Are the Medusa-3
and -4 levels there? Is m_twn-11 there?
If the files are there, I'm stumped.
If files are missing from nhdat, look to see if you have
the .lev files in \dat. If the .lev files are in \dat but not
nhdat, then DLB.LST is out of date. (DLB.LST lists all of the
files which should be included in the nhdat file.) Edit DLB.LST.
Search for "orcus". Add rnd1-1 to rnd1-11 and the two Medusa
levels. Rename the minetowns from "minetn-" to "m_twn-"; add
minetowns up to 11. Rebuild the nhdat file.
If the .lev files are missing from \dat, it's most likely
a makefile problem (if you're compiling all of Nethack) or you
missed a step in the level-building procedure (if you're just
compiling levels).
The above may be off target. If so, get back to me.
--
Rob Ellwood
"New Toys" for Nethack: 12 new levels + 4 updated a bit
http://members.shaw.ca/rob.ellwood/
Tina Hall
> Before I get started: your current game has a maze
> instead of a minetown. It would be nice to fix that. IIRC,
> Tina Hall once said that she replaced an already-visited level
> for a game in progress. I tried once, but Nethack spotted the
> replacement and killed the character. Tina, could you give us
> a procedure?
Um, I acted on a suggestion from someone else here (sorry, am
terrible with names), but I'll try to rememeber what I did.
Ok, I use OS/2, so I can go to the Nethack directory in another
window while the DOS version of Nethack runs in a DOS full
screen.
The original suggestion was, to crash Nethack (reset/close window
if neccessary) after a short visit to the wanted level (in an
extra game started just to create it), crash Nethack in your real
game in the same spot (outside the wanted level), and replace the
maze with the correct charname.n (character-name, .n is the
number of the level) before running recover on your game.
The trick is, that it has to be the same number, and also the
same type of level ([S] Gnomeking in my case, minetown in Kamen's
case).
I'm not sure whether it was just the same levels-into-the-mines
or levels-from-top-of-dungeon, but to be sure you have to match
all parameters. So if in Kamen's game the stairs to the mines
were on DL:2 and mine town on GML:6 (gnomish mines level), the
game with the replacement level has to have them on DL:2 and
GML:6 too. (For this, I reccommend using wizardmode so you can
check fast with CTRL+o.).
What you have to do is (make a backup of your game first, of
course, but after that), find out what the mintown level is
called (left as an exercise to the reader, I did with guessing,
but only had to chose between possible mines and Sokoban levels,
as they look different from ordinary dungeon level numbers, and
knew it was the last level as well as being more than Sokoban
has).
Then
- start a game (preferably in a different directory)
- get onto the downstairs just above minetown, visit minetown for
one move so the file is created, then return to the level above
- switch windows if possible (if not, you'll have to crash
Nethack at that point).
- make a backup of the right charname.n file (quit if you don't
need to crash the game)
- get into your game, on the downstairs just above Minetown
- switch windows (or crash it again)
- if you had to crash Nethack again, replace the wrong
charname.n,then run recover.
- if you just switched windows you can copy your backup
charname.n into your active game directory (and IIRC proceed as
normal, if IIRNC you'll have to run recover anyway)
If I haven't forgotten anything, this should get you the right
minetown in your game.
I created the wanted level in my test directory in wizardmode,
and renaming the wizard.n to charname.n provided no problems,
just getting the matching .n and the proper depth were tedious.
(And no, there wasn't even the slightest urge to leave some
wizardmode uber-item behind.)
The only weird thing that happened was getting a second Sting,
because the alternate game randomly created it in the replacement
level, but I left that where I found it.
> Put nhdat and dlb_main (dlb in Unix) in a temporary folder.
> Use "dlb_main x" from the DOS prompt to extract all the
> files out of nhdat. Are any of the rnd1-# files there? Are
> the Medusa-3 and -4 levels there? Is m_twn-11 there?
>
> If the files are there, I'm stumped.
What about dungeon.def? You have to tell it the correct number of
alternate levels. IIRC I only got the error because it was
looking for one more Gnome King level (the third) than there
were, as I only had two (the MAZE:"name" in the mines.des was
wrong).
Tina
Rob Ellwood
>
> Rob Ellwood wrote:
>
> > ...Tina Hall once said that she replaced an already-visited
> > level for a game in progress. ... Tina, could you give us
> > a procedure?
[Snip procedure.]
Thanks, Tina.
[Troubleshooting Kamen's problem.]
> What about dungeon.def?
The file that couldn't be loaded was "m_twn-11". That
name comes from the New Toys dungeon.def; vanilla uses "minetn"
and only goes up to 7. Conclusion: his dungeon.def is correct
for the New Toys collection, but some or all of the extra .lev
files are missing.
Kamen
"Rob Ellwood" <rob.e...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:3CDEE94D...@shaw.ca...
>
> Before I get started: your current game has a maze
> instead of a minetown. It would be nice to fix that. IIRC,
> Tina Hall once said that she replaced an already-visited level
> for a game in progress. I tried once, but Nethack spotted the
> replacement and killed the character. Tina, could you give us
> a procedure?
>
> Kamen wrote:
> >
> > Couldn't load "m_twn-11.lev" - making a maze.--More--
> >
> > ... I use the New Toys nhdat and I have also made my own
> > modifications...
>
> Best guess: file X should be changed to include the levels
> from "New Toys". If you've recompiled Nethack, X is your makefile.
> If you're just changing levels, X is your DLB.LST file. In more
> detail:
No, I'm still playing with the precompiled exe.
[snip]
>
> Put nhdat and dlb_main (dlb in Unix) in a temporary folder.
> Use "dlb_main x" from the DOS prompt to extract all the files
> out of nhdat. Are any of the rnd1-# files there? Are the Medusa-3
> and -4 levels there? Is m_twn-11 there?
There are four Meduse levels... And only ten Minetowns. I must've screwed it
up, though I have no idea how. I'm going to fix it now.
Too bad that character died soon after entering the maze.
Kamen
news:abo9h0$jpa44$1...@ID-78286.news.dfncis.de...[snip]
> There are four Meduse levels... And only ten Minetowns. I must've screwed
it
> up, though I have no idea how. I'm going to fix it now.
I just unzipped the NewToys zip file and guess what - there ain't no 11th
minentown level in the nhdat. Please check it out for yourself and update
the file on your site if I'm not wrong. I'm going to compile it for myself.
Darshan Shaligram
>> Kamen wrote:
>> >
>> > Couldn't load "m_twn-11.lev" - making a maze.--More--
[...]
> Too bad that character died soon after entering the maze.
Minotaur?
--
Darshan Shaligram dars...@aztec.soft.net
Kamen
news:Xns920DB5E828A26da...@130.133.1.4:
> "Kamen" <kir...@abv.bg> wrote:
>>> Kamen wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Couldn't load "m_twn-11.lev" - making a maze.--More--
>
> [...]
>> Too bad that character died soon after entering the maze.
>
> Minotaur?
>
No, human zombies. Didn't have the time to check if there were any
Gehennom-specific creatures.
--
Kamen K., honorary member of the Lamers Team (tilt)
Rob Ellwood
>
> I just unzipped the NewToys zip file and guess what - there
> ain't no 11th minentown level in the nhdat.
You're right: the Windows version is screwed up. :-(
And I've found several bugs in the last release.
I'll make a separate post about problems with various
levels.
--
Rob Ellwood
"New Toys" for Nethack: don't use the Windows version.
Rob Ellwood
Summary: there are two level-related bugs in 3.4.0, and
four in the last release of New Toys. I'll fix them all in the
next release of New Toys.
Level-related bugs in 3.4.0:
1) "Bustling Town": the stairs down can be walled off from
the town. (This happens about 0.1% of all games. Workaround:
pickax.) Trap doors can drop you into sealed-off cavities. (0.01%.
Workaround: dig, teleport, or wait for rescue.)
2) Valley of the Dead: the stairs up to Castle are destroyed
if a trap is created in the same square. (1%. Note that level
teleports are not possible once you have the amulet. Workaround:
cursed potions of gain level.)
Level-related bugs in New Toys:
3) You can get a random maze at level 3-6. (10%.)
4) If the new special level is on level 6, AND level 6 has
the stairs to Sokoban, AND it's a particular special level, Net-
hack locks up. (0.5%. Workaround: crash Nethack, then use
"recover".)
5) The stairs down from the "Broken Maze" level are sometimes
shown as plain floor on the map. (2%. Workaround: dig down, then
come up from the level below to find the stairs. Or try ">" on
all of the floor squares.)
6) Windows precompiled version of New Toys only: Minetown
is sometimes replaced by a random maze. (10%. Workaround:
e-mail me your save file and I'll try to fix it. Save the game
when you're on the stairs leading to the should-be-minetown, and
with nothing in the maze that you mind losing (e.g.: pets).)
Discussion:
I'll put together fixes for all of the above problems.
The worst of the bugs in "New Toys" (3 and 6) were from
procedural errors while building the "nhdat" files. I'll write
batch files to do the build. This will eliminate procedural
errors... once I've debugged the batch files. :-\
I don't see any way of predicting and avoiding bugs 4
and 5. I submitted a bug report to the Dev Team about bug 5.
I do not yet understand bug 4 well enough to submit a bug report.
I find the number of bugs in New Toys very discouraging.
My apologies to everyone affected.
--
Rob Ellwood
Level-related bugs: 6 (2 fixes ready for testing)
Rob Ellwood
>
> Summary: there are two level-related bugs in 3.4.0, and
> four in the last release of New Toys. I'll fix them all in the
> next release of New Toys.
Fixed.
When you get the zip file, look at the date inside
NewToys.txt. It should be May 14. A cache somewhere keeps
giving me the previous versions, but it worked OK for someone
on a different ISP. (Yes, I cleared my cache buffer.)
--
Rob Ellwood
"New Toys": new & fixed levels for Nethack
http://members.shaw.ca/rob.ellwood/
Mike Parker
Firstly, it's great what you're doing. However you should put these
bugs on the website to warn people before they download (like I did).
Perhaps put a date on the main website as to when it was last updated
too.
Pat Rankin
Rob Ellwood <rob.e...@shaw.ca> writes...
> Summary: there are two level-related bugs in 3.4.0, and
> four in the last release of New Toys. I'll fix them all in the
> next release of New Toys.
>
> Level-related bugs in 3.4.0:
>
> 1) "Bustling Town": the stairs down can be walled off from
> the town. (This happens about 0.1% of all games. Workaround:
> pickax.) Trap doors can drop you into sealed-off cavities. (0.01%.
> Workaround: dig, teleport, or wait for rescue.)
This is entry C340-43 on the known bugs list at www.nethack.org;
the status for it is listed as "fixed". (If I recall correctly, the
fix just extended the pre-mapped area so that its edge always has
openings, rather than altering the code to guarantee that paths will
be successfully generated.)
> 2) Valley of the Dead: the stairs up to Castle are destroyed
> if a trap is created in the same square. (1%. Note that level
> teleports are not possible once you have the amulet. Workaround:
> cursed potions of gain level.)
This is the same bug as entry C340-29, although the warning
given refers to "type 3" rather than "type 5". The fix implemented
for C340-29 does fix this case too.
However, the suggested workaound does not work. If the stairs
fail to get created, cursed potions of gain level will always yield
"you have an uneasy feeling" and fail to take you up a level.
Rob Ellwood
>
> Rob Ellwood writes...
> >
> > 1) "Bustling Town": the stairs down can be walled off from
> > the town.
>
Yes, indeed.
> ...the status for it is listed as "fixed".
"Fixed" means "fixed in the next release", which might not
come out for a long time. For most bugs, it doesn't matter. For
showstopper bugs, it does.
The Dev Team's policy for new releases tends to leave
showstopper bugs around for longer than necessary. How about
a 3.4.0.1? The boulder-landmine fix is about 1 line long, and
I doubt a fix for Valley-staircase is much bigger. For these
changes, file compatibility is not an issue.
> ...the fix just extended the pre-mapped area so that its edge
> always has openings...
I did the same thing: put a continuous band of floor
around the MAP. Unfortunately, this hurts the level's looks.
> > 2) Valley of the Dead: the stairs up to Castle are destroyed
> > if.... Workaround: cursed potions of gain level...
>
> ...does not work.
Darn. That leaves hacking the code and replacing the
level file for a game in progress.
--
Rob Ellwood
Rob Ellwood
>
> ...you should put these bugs on the website to warn people
> before they download (like I did).
Yes. My apologies if horrible things happened to your game.
I left non-showstopper bugs alone for weeks. It was only
the "minetown replaced by maze" bug that got me rolling on fixes.
> Perhaps put a date on the main website as to when it was
> last updated too.
Done.
The latest version is May 15. It has one new special
level since this morning.
The two worst bugs were from procedural errors. Fix:
I've automated my build procedure.
My old testing methods didn't spot the two worst bugs.
Fix: I've changed my testing methods to catch a wider range
of errors.
When I download the zip files, I'm given old, buggy
copies from a few days ago. Fix: I warn people of this on
the web page, and explain how to check for it. (Which won't
help if their own cache gives them an old copy of the web page.)
--
Rob Ellwood