This is the 3.0 patch intended for bringing the European releases of Worms: Armageddon to the same updated version as the American release. It is necessary for updates v3.5.x.x onwards.
WORMS ARMAGEDDON PATCH
V3.00 Multi-lingual
Updates European Release V1.05e (Mastered 14/1/99)
Updates German Release V1.05g (Mastered 15/1/99)
This patch will represent the next master built for production runs.
All Wormnet players will require the patch.
Note:
The patch will not work on or enhance illegal versions of the game.
PATCH FEATURE OVERVIEW
- Completely revised WORMNET connection & IP address resolution.
- Completely revised ranking/scoring system and 'cheat' detection.
- Greatly enhanced WORMNET stability and general operation.
- Fixed "Black Screen" hangs/crashes on some systems
- Added user-editable gravestones!
- Added option to minimise the game.
General Compatibility
- Fixed 'black screen' loading problem due to some machines running a dial-up request dialogue in the background when Worms Armageddon is launched. (This can also be prevented by disabling the Dial-up account by telling it to connect via LAN rather than Modem).
- Changes made to menu libraries to fix a number of compatibility problems which caused Black Screen 'Hangs' on some systems.
- Fixed bug in Deathmatch difficulty. (Where skill levels didn't increase if you won, then lost, then restarted and continued).
- Upon installation of the new patch, old DLL files are automatically deleted.
- Improvements to launch code (Copy Protection routines) which increased DVD compatibility, fixed some general-protection faults upon launch. [Note that a machine infected with the CIH virus caused many of these problems.]
Wormnet Related
- Update to client & server to fix the problem of I.P. addresses being unresolved which led to users being unable to HOST or even CONNECT to other games on Wormnet. (IP address appeared as '0' in the network configuration screen.). The IP entry screen should now be left blank and not used UNLESS there is a problem with connections since the server and client pick up the correct IP address transparently.
- Fixes to server and client which meant that some games did not appear on the server list on Wormnet.
- When hosting a network or open Wormnet game, the list of available custom levels was listed twice, this has now been fixed, but caused no ill effect.
- When a client surrendered and quit, the host would crash back to Windows with an error.
- Fixed tabulation text display problems on Wormnet Rankings page.
- Clean up 'dead' or 'old' games quicker.
- Added ability to FORCE a certain I.P. address through the Network Configuration page. By default, WA now resolves the I.P. addresses through Wormnet automatically. Forcing another I.P. address is only useful when you have a non-standard connection (such as having both a local and global I.P. address).
- Added a warning when connecting to Wormnet which flags if the user has a conflict with their I.P. address resolution. In simple terms, Wormnet is seeing a different I.P. address to the one which it ought to, this is usually the case in connections with proxy servers or firewalls. The user may be able to fix this by using the FORCE IP address (see above) but any user which is behind a firewall will simply not be able to host since Wormnet will never be able to contact the host directly. (There should be no problem joining games under these circumstances).
General Problems
- Some larger texts overspilled their text boxes, these have been fixed.
- Text error when confirming team delete fixed.
- On some machines, when importing files into the landscape editor, no colour information is retained or the image is washed out. This has been fixed with new versions of the import libraries. Also speeded up the import process.
- Some team files were being lost by a combination of events, now fixed.
- Fixed a problem with the single player Deathmatch mode which caused the difficulty to remain constant, ensuring easier progress to 'Elite' status.
- Optimisation on the code has been turned off for some libraries and functions since this was causing problems.
In-game Modifications
- Ability to fire rope vertically down has been disabled (via use of Grenades etc).
- Ability to 'knock' Worms around using the rope, leading to predictable moves and tedious play has been disabled for some Wormnet channel games only. All other modes of play still allow it.
- Worm icon added to the cursor when teleporting Worms in at the start of the game, using the 'Teleport in' option.
- Code size overhead reduced, mainly due to unrequired debug info being removed.
- Added extra function on the DELETE key, now shows TEAMNAME/WORMNAME in addition to existing options.
Menu System Modifications
- Exit button added to the stats screen.
- A confirmation has been added to mid-game stats/chat screens on network games to avoid accidentally quitting the game.
- 15 second turn time option added to existing options.
- Now altered the mission screen stats to indicate the current mission number you are on. Previously the figure in the MISSION column referred to the number of missions complete and this was confusing when the number of attempts were displayed in the next column.
- A minimise function has been added. Click the bottom of the screen on the main menu (the one after the Worms Armageddon logo screen and music) to minimise Worms Armageddon. This function is not available on other screens due to the way in which Worms Armageddon works. Please ensure the game CD is in the drive before maximising the game again. Whilst minimised it allows usual access to Windows95/98 facilities.
- Added a great facility that allows you to custom design your tombstone! Simply put a 24x32 pixel bitmap (Windows BMP format) image in the USER\GRAVES directory and select it from the CREATE TEAM/EDIT TEAM screens. You must ensure the image is the correct size and colour resolution (ie. 256 colours/8Bit Indexed colour) - if unsure, load one of the existing images into Windows Paint and edit that. A number of examples have been provided and note that these tombstones are also sent in network games.
- We've re-instated all the old Worms/Worms2 levels to the generate random landscape routine, thus giving a range of 28 different landscape styles instead of just the new ones. These can be over-ridden by selecting new style from the landscape editor.
- Fixed a bug in the terrain editor that made imported levels have an indestructable border.
- Modified Cluster Bombs to make sure that +100pt kills are impossible to prevent this sort of abuse in the game - a "fire in the hole" cluster attack (when all bombs are exploded simultaneously) now renders approximately 75 pts damage and ensures clusters are used to provide widespread attacks, as they were designed. [Note - this is on the standard 3* power setting]
- Added the terrain type in the help box in the landscape editor to make it easier to select a level (as requested).
- Team weapons have been tweaked slightly to balance the options out more; Selecting Cows will now give you 2, not 3; Selecting Pigeons will get you 2 and not just 1, but they will be delayed by 2 turns; Moles have been powered up; Old Woman is delayed less and so is the Sheep launcher.
- Added a command-line function to make the game load quicker, skipping the logo and intro sequences. To enable it, right click on the games' shortcut on the desktop, click PROPERTIES, then the SHORTCUT tab, in the top box where it refers to target, add a space then "/nointro" (exclude the quotes). The game will then go directly to the main menu upon loading.
Wormnet Modifications
- Improved the screen update (refresh) of the Wormnet screens.
- Added more open channels. Use these to set up your own games with 2-6 players. These games are not ranked.
- Wormnet players with ELITE rank can now continue to play in the WormsLeaguePRO channel. The Elite channel now has it's own seperate rank.
- Wormnet players no longer need to log out of the server to recieve any new rank they may have achieved.
- Personal stats information is always available, without the need to log out of the server.
- All the teams that play in ranked channels now consist of 4 worms, unlike previously where it was 8 in Beginner, 6 in Intermediate and 4 in Advanced.
- When a ranked game is full (ie. 2 players are connected) then the system will return a message more appropriate than "Connection Failed", it will say "Game full, try another game." or similar. All ranked channel games are for 2 players only, to play a game with up to 6 players, use one of the OPEN channels.
- Code added to check when a game has been disconnected, also added code to ensure game stats are reported on Wormnet.
- Modifications to the statistics and ranking lists on Wormnet - note: these are made server side continuously.
- Ranked channels on Wormnet are now represented with a Trophy icon, rather than icons similar to the ranking graphics. Chat channels are now represented with a speech bubble.
- Cleaned up a half-hidden button on the Wormnet Rankings page.
- Locked out people who were connecting to Wormnet via IRC chat servers, although they were doing no harm apart from causing confusion.
- Decreased time-out period on Wormnet connections to 40secs from 60secs.
- Removed the PING information since it was not useful.
- Major modifications to allow us (and other server centres) to easily host new tournaments & game types with fixed settings on Wormnet without the requirement for further patches. (Internal utility)
- Inactive Wormnet accounts deleted after 60days (accounts with 0 points)
- Wormnet Login remembers the last login name and goes immediately to the password requester to facilitate easier logging in.
- When checking the locale and rank of a player, it no longer displays the default rank. It also displays a '?' mark while performing the check.
- Added the following functions to the chat panel;
/time Displays the local time
/me <action> Produces an IRC style 'action' command
- /me SMILES would print "YOURUSERNAME SMILES"
- Added a verbose messaging system to Wormnet which makes for easier tracking of players movements and what they are doing. You now get information when people host, attempt to join a game, fail to host or join, or decide to return to the lobby.
- Added the schemes used in Wormnet ranked games to the USER/SCHEMES folder so they can be practised.
- Added additional information when you connect to a game so you can see what the connection is doing whilst waiting for the game to commence.
- Added immediate audio feedback and timer-waiting icon when you add a team when joining a host, previously there was an unresponsive delay.
- Removed the ability to edit your teams once connected to a game since this caused many problems which led to crashes.
- Alterations to the /away command to prevent message flooding. Now only prints the away message if you are sent a private message. Also, typing any new text will automatically reset the away message to OFF.
- Added "Hall Of Fame" to Worms League channel, shows various "highest" values.
- There was an ommission that the chat panel didn't disappear on the host's side if the other player disconnected. This has been included in the patch. Basically, if there is only 1 player in the game/room (or after the game) then the chat box will disappear. If there is a chat box, then more than 1 player is active.
- Wormnet will now spot if you are behind a firewall when you connect, or if there is an IP address problem. If there is - and you have 2 IP addresses, you should try using the FORCE IP command on the network configuration page. If you have a proxy server on your connection (or firewall) then you should disconnect it. You can still join games in these circumstances, but not host.
- Added an easy way of sending private messages. Simply double-click on the players user-name and this will prepare your message text with /msg <USERNAME>. Type your message press return to send a private message to that individual only.
- Added a time-out for Wormnet hosts to start the game. Some people were using this to force others to quit and obtain points by deception. Not finishing games will now lead to points deduction. Generally, any form of disconnection (either in-game or manipulated {dropping connection, etc}) will be scrutinised. In these cases, there may be a short delay of up to 1 minute whilst the other machine registers that a machine has dropped out, please be patient. If you purposefully quit out of a ranked game, there will be a delay while the other machine is notified - in short, do not quit ranked games - play with real spirit! [Note: this applies to ranked games only]
(Please see the section on Wormnet for full details of the system changes and how it is structured, the scoring system etc).
Notes
- On the BIG SHOT mission, the text indicates that the mission involves one Worm with an unlimited supply of shotgun bullets.
This is incorrect, the actual ordnance for the mission is;
3x Handgun, 2 x Uzi, 2x Longbow, 3x Girder, Unlimited Blowtorch.
- If you want a weapons crate every turn, make sure weapons crates are set to max and all others are off.
