It is with immense pleasure that after around five years (!!?!) of development, including a year “off” when I thought / feared I might never return: Ultima Ratio Regum 0.8 is done!
Main features:
- Procedural generation of potentially millions of possible NPCs in all settlements within the game.
- Several dozen different NPC types, each with their own schedules which play out alongside the player’s actions.
- Face generation with significant variation for genetics and culture.
- Detailed conversation system, with several hundred potential lines of enquiry, and answers / detail of answers / willingness to answer determined by a range of social and personal factors, leading to millions of possible conversations.
- Procedural clothing generation for almost all possible items of clothing, differences in clothing between cultures, and also major differences in clothing between culture types (feudal, nomadic, tribal, etc), and unique clothing styles for religions.
- A large number of general optimisations, improvements, new visuals for various things, and so forth.
You can download it here.
I have no idea whether this is the last version or not, but it’s done. And more importantly it contains everything I hoped for and everything I wanted; a living breathing talking moving world, with vast numbers of people, procedurally-generated dialects and speech patterns, faces, clothing, NPC schedules, and a million other things I probably mentioned somewhere back in the blog’s history but forgot about, in the long period between then and now. Although I don’t know whether any game can really meet expectations after five years: I do, sincerely, hope you all find something interesting in this world and its people. As long as that’s the case it will have been worth the time spent.
One final note: this is the largest and most complex release I’ve ever done. I’ve spent well over two years bug-fixing and attempting to make everything run correctly, but I’m sure I’ve missed things, despite the hundreds of hours I’ve put into exhausting testing everything I can find myself and nearly a dozen other people also performing playtesting duties. (I have also fixed another bunch of minor bugs from the previous blog post which I found in the process of final playtesting this week.)
Anyway, what this means is: if you find a bug, especially a crash bug, please report it to me with maximum information: where were you, what were you doing, had you previously been saving or loading, was there an error message, etc etc. In fact, any information you can give me about everything you’d done in the game up to then – had you stayed in one district, had you entered lots of houses, had you traveled the world, etc – will also be of immense value. As well as the trackback, the more information you can possibly give me, the easier it will be to hunt down what went wrong. You can use the contact form on the website, or leave a comment on this blog post. Thank you!
(However, if you find some weird phrasing in NPCs’ speech, please actually don’t report that – I already know that the sentence generator comes out with something weird from time to time).
And thank you all for sticking with me, or for coming back: either way, it’s wonderful to have people here for this, and it means a great deal to me. I wish you luck in the world of URR!
you just saved this shitty year from going down in history as the shittiest year in recent memory.
you are the man!
Haha, thank you Mike! I’m so glad I got it out in 2020. (Barely!)
Congratulations! Downloading right now and can’t wait to try it out. I also really hope that this is not the last version and someday we will see 1.0 .
Thanks Nazar! You never know…
Congratulations Mark! Finally! Can’t wait to dig in.
Thanks Jan!
For years I checked here every 1-2 weeks for news. Amazed by the idea of the procedural images and all.
Today is the day that saved a bit of 2020. Cant wait to download and play later today.
Thanks for your patiemce and ongoing dedication to your project!
Remco, I’m so glad you’re still here after so long! I super appreciate the kind words :).
Congratulations, Mark!
Is there no Dvorak/Qwerty and Windowed/Fullscreen option now? I really enjoyed playing 0.7 in fullscreen.
Thanks Pavel! Unfortunately the new libtcod version really changed how fullscreening worked and it made the thing stretch hideously; apparently there is a way to make it “letterbox” like it was before, but I couldn’t get it to work, and I just HAD to get this out before the end of 2020. It’s one of the first things I’ll be looking at for a 0.8.1!
Oh I see. Man that’s complicated! But I’m so glad it’s finally out. Now it’s time to get into some interesting conversations with the slaves in my mansion. I really love the small details (though maybe unintentional) how slaves tend to move closer to the wall, showing their obedience.
The game seem to crash when I look at military type NPC (1-7). The last line in the console says something like: [3244] failed to execute script urr 080. Talking to them works fine though.
Thank you for this bug report! Can you possibly capture the exact output?
Thanks Pavel! And that is totally unintentional, but I LOVE that people see in it emergent things I did not. That’s really fantastic. (Though other kinds of NPC movement, especially in groups elsewhere, is intentional…)
I will play the game a few more times and will send you the reports with descriptions via e-mail. There seem to be some similar crashes with different error numbers [sorry, I don’t know the correct term)].
Amazing, thank you! If the console shows the crash the really crucial thing is the line number, which is probably at least 100,000 or so (e.g. one of the other bugs I’ve had reported was on line 850,000 or so).
Heyyy! What a ride! I can’t even remember the version of URR I found at the start anymore. There were definitely still skills in the game pertaining to umpteen weapon specifications and such, though. I read at least one update on the skill system before it was stripped, so you’ll know better than me when abouts that was. Either way, I’m stoked you’re finally free from (most) 0.8 troubles! Even if you never continue this project, as a sheer world-building and exploring game/tool, URR is already one of the most diverse and involved out there, so you should be proud!
Love your stuff, man. Have a lovely 2021 if we don’t hear from you for a while!
Conor, thank you! Haha, yes, that was a different era, no doubt. I super appreciate the comment, and the kind words – really. I’ll be back soon with a 0.8.1 bug-fix I’m sure, but I might take a little bit of time before doing that, as bug reports seem mercifully few and far between!
Can’t believe you actually released it. Congratulations and greetings from /rlg/.
Thanks Anone! I appreciate it :).
Glorious release! I’ll download it when I can.
2020 ends with something good at least. Again, congratulations Mark for such an undertaking. I hope it’ll give you a bit of a breather
Thank you Kasaris!! Oh yes, definitely time for a bit of a breather now…
This game looks awesome! I downloaded it and opened it but it crashed a few minutes later. I had just spawned in the world, walked around slightly and talked to a guard before entering a nearby building. There I talked to a carpenter and was systematically going through every talk option when I asked the carpenter “who does your nation regularly trade with.” A save icon suddenly appeared and my game crashed. I loaded up the game again and asked the carpenter the same question, same crash.
Same. The console gives different error messages though, one time I was asking “Who does your nation regularly trade with?” to a “5” in the military district and the console error number was [16032], next time I asked that question to a person “h” in the city center the message was [14420].
Thanks Pavel!
Thanks Ten! I appreciate the bug report. I think this comments to one or two others, and I think I know the issue…
I have also had a few similar crashes in the middle of a conversation, and it always saves before crashing (which is good). I am having a great time exploring and looking at things, though! I don’t really have any idea what I’m doing other than walking around but it sure is interesting!
Thanks for this Diogo! Any information you can send me about the conversation crashes, especially error logs in the console, would be a tremendous help if possible. Or just any info about who you were talking to and what you were asking them about! 🙂
Just a note in case it helps anyone else. If you resize the window the game won’t resize. But if you press any key the game it’ll fix it and resize.
Thanks for pointing that out roobee, I think that shouldn’t be too hard to fix.
I’ve never commented before, but I’ve been following this for a long time. Very exciting to be able to finally play.
Thanks Nick! I appreciate the post :).
Best Christmas gift ever!!!!
Thank you soooooo much Mark!
Haha, thank you Silencess! 🙂
Make it open source! Let us help you finish it 🙂
Thanks Ivan! It’s a lovely offer but for various reasons open sourcing isn’t on my plan. We’ll see what happens though!
Congratulations! A tremendous achievement in several ways
Thank you Zack! I really appreciate the comment :).
FIIIINALLY
I KNOW!!!! It’s all very exciting.
Wow! Best Christmas gift in a very long while! 😀
Now, download and play! 😀
Congrats and thanks for your efforts!
Haha, thanks Roberto! I do hope you enjoy :).
Hey Mark,
really big congrats.
I was so free and send a note to the German Game Star. It would be cool if some coverage gives your amazing project some more deserved visibility.
Greetings from Germany,
Adrian
Thank you Adrian! I really appreciate the kind words – and the referral!
Outstanding! Can’t wait to test it out.
Actually seriously considering taking a day off at work today, just to play URR 😛
Thank you! And I’m hoping for next URR releases 😉
Thanks Heniu! Haha, I am very flattered indeed. I hope the game does not disappoint!
I’ve been following URR since 2013, and this is my first time leaving a comment on your new website. Which is to say: Congratulations on a tremendous achievement by any standard.
I distinctly remember an anectode about this project clocking 420,000+ lines of code in a single file at some point, maybe four years ago or thereabouts. For posterity, I feel I have to ask: Where does urr.py stand today?
Alpan, thank you! I really appreciate the kind words. Haha, yes, it stands at more than that; it’s nominally double the number, but that’s only because the conversion from Python 2 -> Python 3 introduced a blank space between every line for some reason. So in actual code, it’s about 450k; including the line spaces, it’s about 900k…!
ive been waiting all this time lol, cant believe its been so long
I know what you mean Daniel – it has been a while…!
Hello Mark,
Congratulations for such a magnificent work. Really impressive. I can’t help but compare it to something as monumental as No Man’s Sky, in the sense that both games emphasize exploration and never cease to amaze you at every detail discovered. It is one of those games that makes you dream, whether you play it or just follow its development closely.
I have been following your blog post closely since I learned about version 0.7. I wish you were encouraged to continue developing it, but I understand if you leave it at 0.8, which in itself represents a giant step forward.
On the other hand, I just want to refer to a bug (maybe it could be my problem). It turns out that my character can go up stairs but can’t go down. If I go up to a second floor in any building, I get stuck there. It is not something specific but constant and there is no error message (the ‘Shift +>’ keys just don’t respond to me).
I use Windows 10 64-bit and my keyboard is Spanish and it is set to Spanish. I think I remember that this did not happen to me in version 0.7. Is the information given enough or would you need something else?
Frankvill, thanks so much for the message! I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this out, and particularly for the kind words; it honestly means a lot to hear that people are excited by and interested in the project. Thanks so much.
Re: the bug, thank you for this. One or two other people have reported this, but only on non-English layout keyboards, which (as you rightly suggest!) I think is the core issue. It’s something to do with how keyboard inputs are handled. On a Spanish keyboard, are the < and > above the , and . or are they elsewhere? Thank you!
Both symbols are in a key. When you press the key, the display shows ” is shown by pressing ‘Shift’ at the same time.
Location: This key is near the left key ‘Shift’.
Sorry, I don’t know the reason but some symbols didn’t appear in paragraph. I repeat this.
Both symbols are in a key. When you press the key, the display shows is shown by pressing Shift key at the same time.
Location: This key is near the left key ‘Shift’.
“”
Interesting, thanks Frankvill! I just Googled it and I see the > and < are quite different from UK / US / Aus keyboards. That confirms what the issue here is; I'll try to find a solution ASAP.
Thank you!
Ha ha sorry for my last replies. I was typing from my smartphone and some letters didn´t appear. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand me.
I promise not writing more replies about this topic 😉
Hey Mark,
My antivirus, Avira Free, still detected the .exe as a false positive. Also it completely deleted the file, folder and the folder URR was in (my roguelike folder. But that might be Avira’s fault.
Hmm, thank you for this Merijn – that’s good to know, although that seems to be the only antivirus I’ve so far had an issue reported about. Yikes though, I hope you didn’t lose anything else!
My plain old Windows Defender actually just did the same thing, as soon as I extracted the game files from their zip.
Darn! Can you stop it auto-deleting them? I’m sure there should be a way to say “no this is fine” (at least there is on mine?). Maybe your WD is flagging it as a more “serious” threat, perhaps?
Windows Defender on Win 10 also finds the exe file to be malicious. It did so with version 070b as well. I waited since 09/2016 to actually start the game … but no luck for me. I think the “problem” is caused by the toolchain used to make an executable from the python script. Hopefully you can find a way to fix it. Otherwise i will never experience your game. *sad*
Horst, thank you for this! It’s interesting 070b did this as well; I don’t think many reported that. Strange. As with a previous comment: can you “override” Windows Defender on this?
1. I love that I can finally explore around this game! Been following this weekly for a couple months or so (since I learned of its existence). So happy it’s finally out!
2. I, uh… hate to ask this after all this work you just did, but what’s the best way to report errors? xD Not saying I expect quick fixes or anything, I just want to help if I can.
Hi David, thanks for the comment! Yes, please post a bug report here, or use the contact form; both will find their way to me. The most important thing is the detail on what you were doing, and the trackback in the console. Thanks!
DAE getting this? https://imgur.com/sIuI1OC
You’re the second person to report this – I’m glad only two people have so far (that’s a good sign) but I think a handful of people are still getting virus warnings. I’m looking into safe “certificates” and the like at the moment…
Hi,
Just FYI, I received the identical warning as Adam. I am running Windows 10 Home Single Language, Version 2004, OS build 19041.685, Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0
I haven’t tweaked my anti-virus settings lately, but I think this is the only false positive I’ve seen in a while.
Thanks for this Gordon! That’s very frustrating. It’s a “known thing” that Python executables sometimes produce false virus flags, but nobody seems to have a solution right now. I confess I thought I had fixed the issue, but I see now that I had merely mostly fixed it…
You’re a superstar Mark!
Haha, thank you Sweet!
Yaaaaay!!!!!
I was looking forward to this the most this year! Definitely more than Cyberpunk 2077!!! Even more than the graphical version of Dwarf Fortress!!!!
Congratulations Mark!!! Great job!!! If I ever see you in person, or if you’re ever in Santa Barbara or Los Angeles, I owe you a beer or something!
Thank you Paul!! I am extremely flattered by the praise, thank you :). And yes, absolutely! I cannot wait to travel again, I am truly desperate to do so. Once travel resumes I’ll probably get back to posting here about my travels, it would be lovely to meet some URR folks.
This is great news! I’ve been following this project for a while now, and this is a major milestone. Thanks for all your hard work on URR — I’m going to enjoy trying out the new release. And happy 2021!
Thank you crowbar, your support has been great for so long! I do hope you enjoy the new version :).
Wow Mark, congratulations!!!! thinking back to times when I was afraid that your concussion could forever alter/dampen your creative output, reading this now is such a refreshing and positive way to start the year!
congrats again and always happy to see what you work on / publish next! 🙂
Greets from GER, happy 2021!
Ben
Ben, thank you! These sorts of messages really make it all worthwhile :). Thanks again!
This release made 2011-2020 the best decade of the 21st Century!!!!
Hahaha, thank you Jesse, you are very generous!
Good afternoon. I’ve been following your project for a long time. Adalise are you going to develop? Will there be any further updates?
Hi there! I might continue development, I’ll have to see how things go in the coming months :).
Hi Mark,
I can’t install URR because Windows detects a Trojan in the .exe file (the wacatac.D3!ml).
Been following your project for a long while and am looking forward to trying it out 🙂
Martin
Hi Martin, thanks for the message! Sadly I know this bug, it’s an issue with Python executables. Obviously there is no virus, you just need to tell your computer it’s safe if you can!
Just saw your interview/essay piece that “AI and Games” did, so stoked to get home later and try your game out. Super inspiring man 🙂
Thank you River! That’s super kind of you. Would love to hear what you think of the current version!