Autopelago 0.7.3

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

0.7.* is incompatible with 0.6.0 and all other earlier versions. Using a 0.7.* game client requires a multiworld generated using a 0.7.* apworld.

The 0.7.3 client CAN be used for a multiworld generated for any earlier 0.7.* version. The .apworld file has not changed since 0.7.0 and is provided here just for convenience.

Special Note for Existing 0.7.* Multiworlds

To those who have a multiworld in progress with Autopelago 0.7.*, please consider the following:

• If the multiworld has multiple Autopelago slots, all are encouraged to update to 0.7.3, at their earliest convenience. Once, immediately after the upgrade, the rats will all return to the beginning with no auras, and they will have forgotten about what to prioritize. After this speedbump, they should all proceed as normal.
• If the multiworld has only one Autopelago slot, then you are fine to finish it off with whichever version you started with. You could switch to 0.7.3 if you really want to, but you will encounter the same speedbump that I described in the other bullet point in order to fix a problem that doesn't exist, so it's your call.

Changes since 0.7.0

1. Possibly fixed a crash that could be triggered by as-yet-unknown circumstances. Superseded by 0.7.3.
2. Handle multiworlds where one or more of the games gives multiple different names to a single item or location.
3. Trying to run a 0.7.* client on a 0.6.0 multiworld would go back to giving an obscure error instead of the more friendly error that was added a little while back.
4. Per-game state is again stored using a key that's unique to the specific slot. Previously, it had erroneously been changed to just one constant value for all Autopelago games in the multiworld, causing them to overwrite one another.
5. The per-game state wasn't getting re-saved as often as it should have. It used to only happen when the rat received an item.

Other changes since 0.6.0

1. I've got a grown-up code signing certificate for grown-ups now, so Windows Defender might stop trying so hard to defend you from this. Unproven: you may still run into some stuff (especially from Windows SmartScreen).
2. #108: Upon reconnecting, the rat will now immediately return to where it previously was.
3. #109: If we fail to read your last settings from the lastSettings.json file, then we'll actually log the error (unless the "error" is that this is your first time running the application).
4. #52: New YAML option to choose to generate only a subset of the game that stops at either the Secret Cache or the Captured Goldfish instead of going all the way.
   • As part of this, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (formerly needed to get to "Moon, The") is no longer special. Instead, "Snakes on a Planet" is now the final location so that it's more consistent with how the other victory locations work.
5. #111: Errors that take you to the scary-looking error screen will now also be logged to the console.
   • Untested, but what's the worst that can possibly happen?

Autopelago 0.7.2

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

0.7.* is incompatible with 0.6.0 and all other earlier versions. Using a 0.7.* game client requires a multiworld generated using a 0.7.* apworld.

The 0.7.2 client CAN be used for a multiworld generated for 0.7.0 or 0.7.1. The .apworld file has not changed since 0.7.0 and is provided here just for convenience.

Changes since 0.7.0

1. Possibly fixed a crash that could be triggered by as-yet-unknown circumstances.
2. Handle multiworlds where one or more of the games gives multiple different names to a single item or location.

Other changes since 0.6.0

1. I've got a grown-up code signing certificate for grown-ups now, so Windows Defender might stop trying so hard to defend you from this. Unproven: you may still run into some stuff (especially from Windows SmartScreen).
2. #108: Upon reconnecting, the rat will now immediately return to where it previously was.
3. #109: If we fail to read your last settings from the lastSettings.json file, then we'll actually log the error (unless the "error" is that this is your first time running the application).
4. #52: New YAML option to choose to generate only a subset of the game that stops at either the Secret Cache or the Captured Goldfish instead of going all the way.
   • As part of this, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (formerly needed to get to "Moon, The") is no longer special. Instead, "Snakes on a Planet" is now the final location so that it's more consistent with how the other victory locations work.
5. #111: Errors that take you to the scary-looking error screen will now also be logged to the console.
   • Untested, but what's the worst that can possibly happen?

Autopelago 0.7.1

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

0.7.* is incompatible with 0.6.0 and all other earlier versions. Using a 0.7.* game client requires a multiworld generated using a 0.7.* apworld.

The 0.7.1 client CAN be used for a multiworld generated for 0.7.0. The .apworld file has not changed since 0.7.0 and is provided here just for convenience.

Changes since 0.7.0

1. Possibly fixed a crash that could be triggered by as-yet-unknown circumstances.

Other changes since 0.6.0

1. I've got a grown-up code signing certificate for grown-ups now, so Windows Defender might stop trying so hard to defend you from this. Unproven: you may still run into some stuff (especially from Windows SmartScreen).
2. #108: Upon reconnecting, the rat will now immediately return to where it previously was.
3. #109: If we fail to read your last settings from the lastSettings.json file, then we'll actually log the error (unless the "error" is that this is your first time running the application).
4. #52: New YAML option to choose to generate only a subset of the game that stops at either the Secret Cache or the Captured Goldfish instead of going all the way.
   • As part of this, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (formerly needed to get to "Moon, The") is no longer special. Instead, "Snakes on a Planet" is now the final location so that it's more consistent with how the other victory locations work.
5. #111: Errors that take you to the scary-looking error screen will now also be logged to the console.
   • Untested, but what's the worst that can possibly happen?

Autopelago 0.7.0

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

Incompatible with all previous versions. Using the 0.7.0 game client requires a multiworld generated using the 0.7.0 apworld.

Changes since 0.6.0

1. I've got a grown-up code signing certificate for grown-ups now, so Windows Defender might stop trying so hard to defend you from this. Unproven: you may still run into some stuff (especially from Windows SmartScreen).
2. #108: Upon reconnecting, the rat will now immediately return to where it previously was.
3. #109: If we fail to read your last settings from the lastSettings.json file, then we'll actually log the error (unless the "error" is that this is your first time running the application).
4. #52: New YAML option to choose to generate only a subset of the game that stops at either the Secret Cache or the Captured Goldfish instead of going all the way.
   • As part of this, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (formerly needed to get to "Moon, The") is no longer special. Instead, "Snakes on a Planet" is now the final location so that it's more consistent with how the other victory locations work.
5. #111: Errors that take you to the scary-looking error screen will now also be logged to the console.
   • Untested, but what's the worst that can possibly happen?

Autopelago 0.6.0

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

Incompatible with all previous versions. Using the 0.6.0 game client requires a multiworld generated using the 0.6.0 apworld.

Changes since 0.5.0

1. Added some command-line flags to let you turn off various rendering modes, in case your graphics driver is unreliable. These should only be used if you run into issues. Run with --help to see what you can disable.
2. Move the "Back to Main Menu" button to a different place in the main game screen. In its old location, there was a little buffer around it where you could click on it to replace the world map with a completely empty tab.
3. #67: Tweak the behavior so that the game can keep going after goal completion. The rat will still make a beeline for the goal as soon as all the requirements are satisfied.
4. Add an earlier and more explicit check for compatibility. If the server's .apworld doesn't match, a very specific error message will explain this to you.
5. Perhaps improved startup time (unproven).

Autopelago 0.5.1

This is a quick fix to hopefully help someone whose system appears to support Vulkan, but which crashes at startup for Vulkan-sounding reasons. If you're on 0.5.0 and this doesn't sound like your situation, then you have little to no reason to update to this.

Compatible with Autopelago 0.5.0.

The fix here was to add command-line flags to let you disable any of the various graphics APIs that the Avalonia project chose not to enable by default (probably because of this), as well as a --no-gpu nuclear option just in case nothing else works.

Pass the --no-vulkan argument, for example, to disable Vulkan-based GPU acceleration. Run with --help for a full list of options.

Autopelago 0.5.0

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

Incompatible with all previous versions. Using the 0.5.0 game client requires a multiworld generated using the 0.5.0 apworld.

Changes since 0.4.0

1. Smart / Conspiratorial auras shouldn't move the rat towards already-checked locations anymore (#100).
2. Gigantic performance improvements to rendering, across-the-board (#104, in part).
3. Replaced the "Forklift Driver Certification" filler item, since a progression item already had the same idea (#102).
4. Lower the minimum width / height of the window, for the sake of HiDPI displays like the one that we tested this on (#101).
5. Allow customizing the player token. You can have one of three icons, and in any color (#50).
6. Remove the placeholder dots from the game map that would still show through some of the landmark icons. These were originally there to help show me where the landmarks should go, but they haven't been needed for months (#106).
7. Significantly rewrite the path finding code (again) after a bug report sent me on a fruitless search through some of the most complicated code in this application. I never found it, and it's still among the most complicated (though the rendering performance optimization is getting there now), but at least the code is simpler now... maybe I accidentally fixed it?
8. Slightly nerf the "Energized" buff: during a single round, it can now only activate a limited amount of times. Previously, an extremely long move with very high NRG would let the rat basically run across the entire map in a single round.
9. Probably(*) fix some reported issues where the Pause button would stop all the animations, but the rat would still dutifully go around the map doing its checks.
   • *I can say confidently that I made at least one change that fixed at least one potential cause of this issue. I am less confident that it's impossible for this to happen now in a different way.
10. Start bringing in game-specific Easter egg item ideas that @skidznet has vetted.

Autopelago 0.5.0-beta.1

Changes since 0.4.0

1. Smart / Conspiratorial auras shouldn't move the rat towards already-checked locations anymore (#100)
2. Gigantic performance improvements to rendering, across-the-board.

Autopelago 0.4.0

⚠️ UPGRADE NOTE

Incompatible with all previous versions. Using the 0.4.0 game client requires a multiworld generated using the 0.4.0 apworld.

Changes since 0.3.3

1. If the game window was maximized the last time you had it open, then it will start maximized again.
2. Write to the console log in the background so that the connection doesn't timeout after a large release on slow machines.
3. (#51) Move around several filler locations and rebalance everything for a smoother difficulty curve More details below.
4. (#80) Cap the "Startled" and "Distracted" aura counters at 3.
5. (#93) Add flavor text to key items and locations. No Easter eggs yet, I still need to tweak something to allow big numbers of them.
6. (#98) Fixed / worked around multiple sources of memory leaks when running the game for many hours.
7. (#94) Allow toggling off all of the rat's communications that would go out to Archipelago chat.
8. (#99) Adjust the default min/max times to 25/35 seconds, targeting a 2.5-hour run based on my calculations.
9. (#91) (APWorld only) Item and location groups. Use /item_groups / /location_groups from the generic text client for details.
10. The box in the top-left is much easier to hover over to get its tooltip now.

Balancing, Difficulty, and Timings

The big deal this release is what I've been calling "rebalancing".

Internally, each location (including the filler ones) has a "difficulty" value that determines how "hard" it is for the rat to check that location. Essentially, this "difficulty" translates to how lucky the rat has to roll on the RNG, but that gets modified by the number of rats in its pack (the "RAT" number in the top left), its buffs / traps, and (new in 0.4.0) a "mercy" factor to make sure that the rat will eventually succeed at every check no matter how unlucky it gets.

Until 0.4.0, everything past the sewer level had its "difficulty" set to be just about as easy as it possibly could. That's because very early on in development, the game used to stop at the end of the sewer level anyway, and I knew that just blindly rescaling the difficulty of locations based on graph depth would possibly make it less realistic, not more.

So instead, I simulated thousands of rat-only multiworlds with a mix of 4, 10, and 25 rats in each one, recorded for each location how many attempts it took a rat (on average) to complete that check, adjusted things to target an appropriate-looking difficulty curve, and re-ran to confirm. After several rounds (and adding diminishing returns on the boost from the rat pack's size), I landed on something that looks about right to me:

Number of average attempts to complete each landmark (10-rat multiworld)

{
  "asteroid_with_pants": 9.333,
  "frozen_assets": 8.832,
  "alien_vending_machine": 8.126,
  "trapeze": 7.538,
  "room_full_of_typewriters": 6.455,
  "snakes_on_a_planet": 5.085,
  "minotaur_labyrinth": 4.5,
  "homeless_mummy": 4.152,
  "seal_of_fortune": 4.066,
  "secret_cache": 3.526,
  "overweight_boulder": 3.275,
  "broken_down_bus": 3.183,
  "binary_tree": 2.928,
  "rat_rap_battle": 2.865,
  "space_opera": 2.839,
  "stack_of_crates": 2.829,
  "computer_ram": 2.809,
  "copyright_mouse": 2.753,
  "kart_races": 2.672,
  "stalled_rocket_get_out_and_push": 2.672,
  "captured_goldfish": 2.633,
  "blue_colored_screen_interface": 2.61,
  "daring_adventurer": 2.53,
  "roboclop_the_robot_war_horse": 2.45,
  "computer_interface": 2.412,
  "bowling_ball_door": 2.37,
  "restaurant": 2.238,
  "pirate_bake_sale": 2.226,
  "makeshift_rocket_ship": 2.212,
  "angry_turtles": 2.207,
  "basketball": 1.984,
  "prawn_stars": 1.934
}

It's hard to get PRECISELY what I was looking for because for some locations, the smallest possible change in difficulty will put it MUCH further away in the other direction. But this is still overall what I was aiming for:

1. Overall and in general, later checks in a zone are "harder" than the earlier checks in the same zone.
2. The "hardest" checks by far are what we've been calling the "optional bosses": things at the end of dead-end paths that never directly block progression towards the moon, but that could hypothetically contain something important nonetheless. A future version may make these by default more likely to contain important items (and I think this is a YAML setting you can do even in this version).
3. Overweight Boulder and Broken-Down Bus are slightly "harder" than their position suggests that they "should" be, to simulate an element of running into a "wall" at an important spot in your game.
4. The "zone bosses" (Captured Goldfish, Secret Cache, Snakes on a Planet) are the "hardest" required checks in their respective zones, and for the two that don't immediately lead to completion, the game actually gets a little bit "easier" for a while before the overall difficulty ramps back up to the same level.
5. Space Opera itself is intentionally much "easier" than others around it: the hard part there is gathering enough rats to be able to even try it in the first place, and then all the rats also give you the biggest boost.

Here are the step timings that would make an average game take 1 hour in my testing (so if I were targeting a 2.5-hour game, I would multiply these numbers by 2.5 to get the average and then set the min/max lower/higher to make it more random):

Rat Games in the Multiworld	Seconds per Step
2	8.4s per hour of game duration
4	8.5s per hour of game duration
10	9.3s per hour of game duration
25	10.5s per hour of game duration

Your mileage will absolutely vary based on the number and type of other games present in the multiworld, but this should get you into the ballpark.

Autopelago 0.3.3

#92: fix some calculation errors with the revamped "find closest reachable unchecked location" logic that would sometimes cause the rat to think that a further-away location is closer than it really is.

This doesn't sound that bad when it's written like out that. The part that turns it from "rats will be rats" to "this is a top-priority bug": when the rat starts along that path, the location might have been so sub-optimal that it's sub-optimal after even a full round of movement. If so, then the next time the calculation runs, it might see the optimal one instead and so it starts running towards there.

When the conditions are just right, this could put the rat into an infinite loop where it runs back and forth forever until you run out of patience for it.