Fixed a few bugs. There were protests from the Android folks about ships crossing land, so I now draw little channels to help explain how such a thing could happen. The rules are exactly the same, hopefully this cosmetic change will help those rules be accepted by more people.
Patch Notes 15
Version: EchoGolfFoxtrotFootfungus
Fixed a few Stormbound bugs, and also added a bug reporter! If a bug happens, a window should pop up asking if you want to send a bug report. This will send the log file and the autosave file right to bugreports@dreamreasongames.com.
Patch Notes 14
Version: BravoDeltaBravoRabbitsnacks
This ground breaking version fixes a single bug. Let me know how many bugs it adds.
Patch Notes 13
Version: EchoGolfEchoHoosegow
Just fixed a few bugs. Let me know if you find more.
Stormbound
"Stormbound" is an optional new rule expansion for Forward Line. Intended for advanced players, bad weather appears on the map adding another dimension of challenge and opportunity. For Steam users, this expansion is free and comes with the game!
When you feel ready, just check the little box in the game settings to turn on the bad weather option.
Patch Notes 12
Version: BravoCharlieAlfaWiddershins
Release the 'Stormbound' rule expansion.
Made little bubbles where a ship goes down. These will last until your next turn. This should make it a tad easier to find those pesky submarines.
Made the 'tile blocked' indicator easier to see for people who can't see red well.
Patch Notes 11
Version Update: EchoFoxtrotCharlieSnorington
My new debugging tool was great, and color coded the map according to the supply mass IDs. I found out that when a supply unit moved, it could orphan large swaths of an old supply mass. These orphaned entries could make the AI think that a particular air drop was a valid move when it wasn't, and it would crash the game.
Hopefully this will be the last version before the rule expansion that I'm planning comes out. However, if you find another bug, please let me know.
Patch Notes 10
Version Update: DeltaEchoBravoBaconflavor
Just fixed a bug that prevent the latest achievement from firing. If you missed out because of that, I. Am. So. Sorry.
If you still have the save, you can finish it up again and get the achievement.
There is another bug floating around regarding the new AI system, but I am probably going to need to make some new debugging tools to get a better sense of what's going on. Basically the AI tries to cheat and crashes the game in some instances. I will have a fix fairly soon I expect.
If you have this going on in your game, you might be able to save the game while the AI's turn is going, and when loading it again things might be fixed.
Patch Notes 9
Version Update: CharlieDeltaAlfaNincompoop
Fixed a bug that limited the moves for an AI unit to 50, which wasn't enough and crashed the game when it went over that amount.
Patch Notes 8
Version Update: CharlieDeltaZuluBeefaholic
I finally got the single player AI to work on the larger maps! This was a tough update. Yes, that's all I've been doing for the past months.
The old way was each time a player wanted to move a unit, the game would calculate all the legal moves. However, when the AI had to evaluate thousands of units on the large map, over and over, it was just too much work and it would crash the computer.
The new way is each time a unit moves, it's move options after the move are calculated and recorded. So that when the AI needs to know what they are, it's just a lookup instead of calculated fresh every time. The new way is ten times as complicated as the old way, and for a long time there were so, many, bugs.
However I believe it is finally working, and though it can take a long time for the computer to take it's turn, the game shouldn't crash.
I play tested on the largest map starting with one city, and it took me a month to beat it! That might be more Forward Line than most people have an appetite for, but it was a commonly requested feature so I made it happen.
Future Plans
I've got an idea for a rule expansion that I think will be fun! However, I still need to learn to make DLC on two platforms, so it will probably be early next year before it's finished. This will likely be a free DLC on Steam which will bring that and the Android version into closer price parity.
Right now these are just ideas, and they will need to be tested as to how much fun they will add to the experience. If it turns out it's not as fun as I hoped well... just forget I said anything.
Big Update Has Arrived! Patch Notes 7
Version Update: AlfaBravoSierraBeefaholic
Ok, some exciting new changes have come to Forward Line.
Handicapping
There is now a slider in game setup to determine how many cities each player starts with. When the slider is in the middle, each player gets the same default number of cities depending on the map size chosen. When the slider moves to either side, it gives the appropriate player an advantage in cities, first just adding more cities to one player, but in extreme settings it will actually take cities away from the other, to a minimum count of one!
To accommodate this handicapping system and allow people to start in what would have been a losing condition, there is a minor rule change to achieve victory. In order to win, you must win by capturing an enemy city such that you now have more than twice as many cities as they have. You cannot win the game by starting with that many cities or by capturing neutral cities. Victory can only come by capturing an enemy city while those conditions exist, or that capturing has made those conditions exsist.
The single player AI struggles a bit in the early game when resources are sparse, but starts to get surprisingly clever if it has a supply network and a good variety of units. Giving the AI an advantage with the handicapping system provides a much higher level of challenge than in past versions of Forward Line. See if you can beat it starting with just one city!
Steam Achievements
Speaking of challenge, I added a few Steam achievements. I didn't want to go overboard on this and encourage the sin of completionism, but there are a few goals to lay out that I think will increase enjoyment of Forward Line, such as finishing the tutorial, showing mastery over the AI and giving multiplayer a try.
Bigger Maps for Multiplayer
There are now two additional map sizes to play on for multiplayer in addition to the small 24x24, 8 city map. We have a 36x36 18 city map and a 48x48 32 city map. This largest map is not for the feint of heart! it is a grueling, multi-session struggle for grognards. Don't be surprised if your opponent quits before you can grab the victory. One must have the psychological fortitude to perhaps fight a losing battle over several nights, losing more territory each session. To win such a battle, you must choose opponents who possess great patience and high honor.
Sadly, or thankfully, depending on the free time you have, I was not able to include the larger maps in the single player game. The AI in Forward Line is the most complicated aspect of the project and it would take several months for me to redo the foundations so it could handle so many units. Giving the AI a handicap on the small map however, is plenty of single player action. You might not want more than that anyway.
Cosmetic Upgrades
Yeah, people have laughed at my graphics. This is where I have to disagree with them because I think they are perfect. They are concise and clear and serve the game well. Nonetheless I improved the UI on the main screen. I hope you like it. I guess it's even better than perfect now...
Lot's of Bug Fixes
I fixed so many bugs, I bet you didn't even know about most of them. Of course with a big update like this, there are probably some news one. I'll hammer those down as they become apparent.
Thank You!
I hope you all enjoy the new features, I think they improve the game by a great deal. Thank you all for playing! I also want to single out DazaKiwi for helping me test out all these changes. Without him, this rollout would have been a disaster most likely.
