BYOND 4.0 Version 421.990 Release Notes

Website notes accompanying build 990

Website hub entries now auto-detect the presence of BYOND on your system. This is done through a plugin in the FULL v.421 installer, so those of you running older versions of BYOND or the v.421 UPDATE will not have this feature. That is unimportant though. All it means is that the first time you click on a Join or Play links on a game's hub entry you'll see a page that says BYOND was not detected on your system. Simply click "continue" at this point and you won't be bothered again.

If you're already logged in, you'll notice a new ##webid part to any byond:// links you see. If you click one of these after 421 is installed, you will end up logged in on the pager using the very same key you're using on the web. This is a quick way to get into a game using your regular identity. (A feature like this has already existed for a while in which you could click a link on the news page of the pager and you would login to the website.) In fact if you were logged in when you first tried to join a game, you'll notice this logs you in on that key automatically.

When you want to join a game, you'll see a Join link even if you're not logged in. If the game is hosted in a version before 420, you'll see that you have to login to play, and clicking will redirect you to the login page. If the server is hosted in 421, you'll be able to join as a guest. You'll still redirect to a login page in case you want to login first, but the login page will give you the option to continue as a Guest.

Fixes

icon/New() and icon() were not including both nonmoving and moving states in their results when a named icon state was extracted and the moving argument was left at its default value. The reference entry "New proc (icon)" documented the intended behavior. (Theosco)

Attempting to display an image in a grid or statpanel using the \icon macro or <img> tag could cause a crash when changing the cell's background color if the correct icon state did not exist in the file. (Katsuri)

Compressed messages of a certain length were sent out incorrectly. (Cheeseburgermafia)

The pager was automatically minimizing whenever connecting to games. Now it only does so in logical situations. (Kumog)

Features

Guest logins are restored, and Guests can host games. When logging into a game as Guest, your ID will become Guest-XXXXX, where XXXXX is some unique number that stays the same for each computer. Guests cannot log into games hosted by 420 or older versions. They can however download games like any other user.

The Games page of the pager has been altered. Games are presented in a pseudo-tree that lets you expand any listings to see the servers that are available. If a game is currently hosted, you will see the number of players in each server; otherwise, you'll see how many users are currently watching that game who are logged into the pager. If a game is installed on your system or is downloadable by you, you have the option of playing in DS or hosting in DD.

Also on the Games page is a selection box for guilds. You can look at your own watched games, or the games listed in several different guilds. This list of guilds includes all of our "banner guilds" (the guilds whose games influence the banner rotation) and any guilds you belong to that have a list of games.

The pager alerts you when a game you are watching that is hosted but has 0 players, has new players join. This way you'll be alerted to activity in a game that you want to watch even if the game is always hosted.

The Friends tab in Dream Daemon has been replaced with the Privacy tab. You still can create custom friend lists, but there are also checkboxes now for hosting games only for your pager friends or for certain guilds. The list of guilds is the same one used in the pager.

When a user disconnects from your server, this is reported to the hub instantly by your server so their name doesn't stick around in the player list on the website.

When hosting a game in Dream Daemon, the hub will tell you if the world is reachable by outside players by attempting a connection. If the connection succeeds immediately or within 30 seconds, then players can join your world. If the connection fails immediately, or no response is received within 30 seconds, the hub tells your server that it is unreachable. Dream Daemon reports this information as soon as the hub pings you back.

DreamMaker now includes a "Make EXE" dialog under the Build menu. This can be used to create an executable with a custom icon and (byond) url used to run, host, or connect to a game on the BYOND Hub. This can then be distributed to other users as a "standalone" application. It will even automatically download and install BYOND for users who don't have it.