You stop digging.

Mar 25, 2017, 6:15 pm
#1
Joined: Mar 25, 2017
Occupation: Google dude
Location: Heck
Posts: 6
So hey, first of all I'd just like to say thanks to all those involved in taking up the torch and resuming development on IVAN! I first played IVAN 0.50 about a trillion years ago and always thought it had a ton of potential, so imagine my delight to discover that the latest version was just three months ago. But anyway.

I'm seeing a weird behavior and I'm unsure if it's me or if it's a bug. I haven't once successfully used a pickaxe in this build (0.50.8). Even if I'm trying to dig into a regular old crummy wall in the UT, all I do is spend one turn and get "You stop digging." Screenshot attached.

Even if this is an expected behavior, it seems like I should be getting some more specific reason about why I can't dig. It seems more like I'm just failing to perform the action for some reason.

I'm a regular old Windows 7 user. Let me know if there's more info I can provide.

Edit: Here's some more info: I found a meteoric steel wall and tried digging that, and got a normal message informing me that the wall was way too hard for my pickaxe.
You fail to free yourself from the bronze bear trap and your head is stuck in it in the attempt.
Mar 26, 2017, 1:45 am
#2
Ex-Tyrant of the IVANers


Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Occupation: Junior Scientist
Location: Not California
Interests: Physics and Astronomy, Exoplanets, Singing praise to Valpurus while smashing skulls with a bloody warhammer, Jogging
Posts: 2,920
I think this is a known issue; at least, I've run into it. I don't remember how to correct it but I do remember it being very simple. The same issue also interferes with the 'w'alk command. Perhaps toggle numlock?
"Put more stuff in the... thing where... more stuff goes in."
Mar 26, 2017, 3:03 am
#3
Joined: Sep 8, 2010
Occupation: Petty Functionary
Location: Drinking pea soup in the world map
Interests: Mangoes
Posts: 1,216
Yeah I think it's a bug in SDL2. Try toggling NumLock like Izzy said.

Welcome to the forums by the way Zeor!
Batman? wrote
its been so long since i had gotten that far i didnt think it through. arrrr!!!!!!
Mar 26, 2017, 11:06 am
#4
Joined: Mar 25, 2017
Occupation: Google dude
Location: Heck
Posts: 6
Great, thanks, looks like toggling numlock did the trick. Sorry to pester over a known issue, but my search didn't turn up anything about it. Shrug. Thank you!
You fail to free yourself from the bronze bear trap and your head is stuck in it in the attempt.
Mar 26, 2017, 11:10 am
#5
Joined: Dec 2, 2007
Location: New Attnam
Interests: bananas
Posts: 2,299
It is a known bug, lengthy discussion here: https://github.com/Attnam/ivan/issues/40

But thanks for the report and welcome!
Mar 26, 2017, 11:15 am
#6
Ex-Tyrant of the IVANers


Joined: Dec 8, 2007
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Would it be worth stickying a "Known Bugs and Easy Fixes" thread?
"Put more stuff in the... thing where... more stuff goes in."
Mar 26, 2017, 1:59 pm
#7
Joined: Sep 8, 2010
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capristo wrote
It is a known bug, lengthy discussion here: https://github.com/Attnam/ivan/issues/40

But thanks for the report and welcome!

We could stick something on the wiki? I don't know. But just out of curiosity, where do most of our visitors go when they visit the site? I imagine that most of them are playing IVAN currently and are looking to beat the game. Are they leafing through page after page on the wiki? Or do they spend all their time trawling through all our posts in search of our ancient wisdom on beating the game, and best techniques for getting past Jenny?

My question is where best to put info on known bugs and their workarounds to increase the likelihood that people will find it?
Batman? wrote
its been so long since i had gotten that far i didnt think it through. arrrr!!!!!!
Mar 26, 2017, 6:58 pm
#8
Joined: Mar 25, 2017
Occupation: Google dude
Location: Heck
Posts: 6
I looked through that Issues page on GitHub there but didn't find this pickaxe problem because I guess it was kind of a footnote under the 'g' key dealy which I never use. I think I only found this forum in my continued searching for any mention of the issue.

By the way I've also noticed a much higher rate of discovering artifacts in this version. I've found Saal'thul lying around three times in 20 games. Same thing with an artifact mace whose name I don't remember. Those and oil lamps; I've also found three or four genies. I mean my only frame of reference is a lot of games in 0.50, but it seems odd to me.

e: Apparently this is the forum's 27,000th post?

edit again: Three games later, there's Saal'thul again, hanging around in the UT. I feel like we have another issue here.
You fail to free yourself from the bronze bear trap and your head is stuck in it in the attempt.
Mar 27, 2017, 1:42 am
#9
Ex-Tyrant of the IVANers


Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Occupation: Junior Scientist
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Posts: 2,920
You might just be getting lucky, I'm not sure. I can't look at the source code (at least, not and understand it), but there's nothing wrong in the script files. The spawn rates are such that a carrot is 150 times more likely than a saal'thul, for any random item drop.
"Put more stuff in the... thing where... more stuff goes in."
Mar 27, 2017, 9:20 am
#10
Joined: Mar 25, 2017
Occupation: Google dude
Location: Heck
Posts: 6
Hum. Yeah I guess those odds aren't insane. I've just definitely observed a sharp increase in the generation of good stuff in general - artifacts, arcanite helmets, ommel bone plate, etc. Maybe it's just me, iunno. I'll just keep it in mind as my sample size increases.
You fail to free yourself from the bronze bear trap and your head is stuck in it in the attempt.
Mar 28, 2017, 9:56 am
#11
Joined: Dec 17, 2007
Occupation: Taking Names, Formerly Kicking Ass
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 991
I definitely feel like the game goes on streaks where it gives you the same items over and over in consecutive games.
Booooooooooo!
Mar 28, 2017, 6:17 pm
#12
Joined: Aug 15, 2016
Location: Wales
Posts: 12
fejoa wrote
Are they leafing through page after page on the wiki?

Or do they spend all their time trawling through all our posts in search of our ancient wisdom on beating the game, and best techniques for getting past Jenny?

for a long time I did both before registering, your posts have made me laugh too many times and educated even more. IMO, dedicated enough players will go through everything and piece out each and every nibble of info..
Mar 29, 2017, 2:09 am
#13
Ex-Tyrant of the IVANers


Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Occupation: Junior Scientist
Location: Not California
Interests: Physics and Astronomy, Exoplanets, Singing praise to Valpurus while smashing skulls with a bloody warhammer, Jogging
Posts: 2,920
Do we have a beginners guide anywhere? We ought to. Just something to help new players get past Jenny, addresses common issues, light on spoilers and scummy techniques and heavy on advice (such as "Plate armor is worthless, unless it came from Atavus.")
"Put more stuff in the... thing where... more stuff goes in."
Mar 29, 2017, 6:39 am
#14
Joined: Sep 8, 2010
Occupation: Petty Functionary
Location: Drinking pea soup in the world map
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daneel wrote
IMO, dedicated enough players will go through everything and piece out each and every nibble of info..

And then they join the forum!

Ischaldirh wrote
Do we have a beginners guide anywhere? We ought to.

I really like this idea
Batman? wrote
its been so long since i had gotten that far i didnt think it through. arrrr!!!!!!
Mar 29, 2017, 7:15 am
#15
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
Posts: 764
Ischaldirh wrote
Do we have a beginners guide anywhere?

We have this. JoKe's guide is very well written, IMO.
Mar 29, 2017, 9:37 am
#16
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Posts: 634
red_kangaroo wrote
We have this. JoKe's guide is very well written, IMO.

It's also very spoiler-heavy and not really aimed at complete beginners, if we're talking about an IVAN 101.
Mar 30, 2017, 11:19 am
#17
Joined: Mar 25, 2017
Occupation: Google dude
Location: Heck
Posts: 6
Yeah, personally I'm not big on spoilers. Which probably explains why I'm kind of terrible. But I still have fun.

On that note, it is also possible that this perceived uptick in my finding good stuff is actually a side effect of my surviving longer on average. Hard to pin down cause/effect there.
You fail to free yourself from the bronze bear trap and your head is stuck in it in the attempt.
Apr 12, 2017, 9:55 am
#18
Joined: Mar 25, 2017
Occupation: Google dude
Location: Heck
Posts: 6
Yeah I think that artifact discovery rate thing was just me having a bizarre run of consistent luck. And surviving into the gloomy caves more often.
You fail to free yourself from the bronze bear trap and your head is stuck in it in the attempt.
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