a-a-a-and… i have GREAT news for you! your save is completely ok. it is the bug in loading routine which made everything go off-rails.

@red_kangaroo, here it is in `void recipedata::Load(inputfile& SaveFile)`.
what we have there is:

  if(game::GetCurrentSavefileVersion() >= 135){
    SaveFile >> bTailoringMode;
    SaveFile >> v2TailoringWorkbenchLocation;
  }

this is prolly a leftover from some older code, and it makes everything crash. the save routine and the load routine are identical, and this part of the code actually tries to fix something which doesn't need to be fixed at all. kill those lines for good, and the save will load without any problems.

p.s.: trying to resume suspended crafting actions still crashes, though. but at least it is possible to move around and kill monsters, and go back to the previous level (and back again to this one). the whole crafting thing is prolly need some love (which is a known issue too), but this, sadly, is beyond my abilities.

thank you! clean save loads ok here too, so i'll try to take a look at the broken one. sadly, i cannot promise anything (this bug is a NASTY one… and maybe not even one , but it's something to start with. thank you for your patience and help!

maybe i'll be able to at least deduce where it made a wrong turn. the problem with this bug is that it is almost impossible to reproduce it, it happens… sometimes. if only we could find a way to make it happen always… but the only thing we could do now is collect broken saves and try to guess what's gone wrong. T_T

btw, there is Solicitus temple in k8I, inherited from… CLIVAN, i believe. Solicitus is the god of Atheism. having god of atheism (by the way, the only god with a physical presence in the world) is so… ivanesque, that i simply couldn't omit it.

it would be interesting to use IVAN engine for some postapoc RL, though.

and we now have some kind of ranged weapons — we can throw things! this is more than enough, i believe. especially considering that in k8I you can throw armed mine or bear trap. throwing mines at Jenny is fun!

your wish is granted! is was easy wish, tho, because i haet this mechanic with passion too. the only thing that reminds it in k8I is "Look"ing — if you never ever stepped on a square, and revealed it by some other means, and there is a scroll, the game will not tell you which exactly scroll it is. but it hardly affects anything, because there are almost zero situations when you can Look at the square you never visited. and if you visit it, the scroll automatically became "identified".

and i may remove this mechanic again anyway, it doesn't add much to gameplay.

yes, it is known bug with saves, sorry. the current build is totally unplayable due to it. i think i fixed the bug, so the next build should be ok. this is one of the bugs you won't catch witn Wine — everything works with Wine, but fails on real windows system. once i'll be sure that it is fixed, i'll upload new build.

it would be interesting to see what exactly is wrong there.

can you please:
1) archive all files in your "save" folder;
2) clean "save", start a new game, enter UT, save and exit, and archive this save under another name;
3) upload both archives, so i could take a look?

step "2" is needed because i don't know if 32-bit and 64-bit saves are compatible, and if i'll be able to read your save at all. so i need a "clean" one to check if it loads. then i can try to investigate yours.

this won't… save your save , though, it is prolly broken beyond repair. but i might be able to spot what's wrong there, and try to fix that bug (or at least narrow it) to save future saves.

corrupted saves is known IVAN problem, which several people tried to fix, but some dark necromancer keep resurrecting it.

p.s.: it is important to archive the whole "save" folder — all files there are parts of the saved game state, and i need them all. the game basically saves each dungeon level in a separate file, so those are all dungeons you visited.

btw, i remembered one old topic, and reduced stamina penalty for blocking with shields. also, character will try to block with shield first, instead of always using the right hand, then the left hand. currently i simply divided penalty by 5, but i think it should be more sophisticated.

SPOILER ALERT. Click here to see text.

yeah. and our hero is not even very proficient with swords, even after training. just try to go without various ommel boosts, prays, wands and scrolls (i just described most of my runs, lol. very short runs.)

"high enough tech is indistinguishable from magic".

SPOILER ALERT. Click here to see text.

ah. then maybe crystal statue as an item then? that is, so it can freely spawn above special terrain. we can check and don't spawn statue if there is another one already, to not make light emitation too bright.

of course, the bugfix works too, but with it, no crystals could be spawned above an open door, for example, or sofa, or fountain, or any other decoration. it is safe this way, but slightly less interesting, i think.

it is possible to change the code a little, and prevent spawning only over "important" olterra too, i actually implemented this fix first. maybe it is better than a new item, dunno…

p.s.: it is easy — just add `IsImprotant()` method to olterra, and make it return `true` for stairs. and check it in `ChangeOLTerrainAndUpdateLights()` (and don't forget to `delete` new terrain if update failed).

maybe we can create a new item instead, "crystalshard", or something. currently, crystals are "digged" to stones, but imp may explode into much smaller "crystal shards". or even special kind of fluid, so it cannot be picked up, but can emit light, and can be spilled around — because small crystal shards are very close to "fluids", actually.

maybe i'll try to experiment with this later.