Quest full changelog

Quest has been completely rewritten. It is now free and open source.

· The major new features in this version are the text processor, gamebook scripts and script editor code view
· There is a new “Text + Script” page type which lets you run a script before displaying the normal gamebook text and options, so you’re not forced to display text and options manually. There are new functions for moving the player between pages, and for adding and removing links.
· In gamebook mode, when playing a sound there is a new option for the sound to continue playing after the player moves to a different page
· You can now turn off the automatically generated display verbs list on a per-object basis (contributed by Pertex)
· New {rndalt} text processor code displays a randomly chosen name from an object’s alt list (contributed by Ivor Levicki)
· With the new-style menus, restored the option to force the player to make a choice from the menu before continuing.

· The major new features in this version are the text processor, gamebook scripts and script editor code view
· There is a new “Text + Script” page type which lets you run a script before displaying the normal gamebook text and options, so you’re not forced to display text and options manually. There are new functions for moving the player between pages, and for adding and removing links.
· In gamebook mode, when playing a sound there is a new option for the sound to continue playing after the player moves to a different page
· You can now turn off the automatically generated display verbs list on a per-object basis (contributed by Pertex)
· New {rndalt} text processor code displays a randomly chosen name from an object’s alt list (contributed by Ivor Levicki)
· With the new-style menus, restored the option to force the player to make a choice from the menu before continuing.

· automatic map generation
· web fonts
· cover art
· text effects
· background images
· changeable player “point of view” object
· light and dark rooms and objects
· automatic display verbs
· new UI for Windows player (identical to the web-based version)
· Windows player UI is now powered by Chromium

· A few bug fixes
· Exit links now immediately move the player (unless they have more than one verb) – thanks to James Gregory for suggesting and implementing this
· The Editor will now not save invalid expressions (with mismatching brackets or quotes) to prevent a problem where this would cause the game file to become unloadable

Enhanced Game Browser:
· You can now see star ratings, and read reviews and comments, directly within Quest. You also have more control – from the Options window, you can change the download folder, and enable or disable the Sandpit and Adult categories. Also, the Adult category option can be “locked out” with a registry setting (see “Configuring Quest” on the wiki for details) – handy if you’re rolling out Quest on a school network for example.

Simple Mode:
· Hides Quest’s more advanced functionality in the Editor – great for beginners, or for using Quest with younger children. The Editor becomes stripped right down to the basics – only rooms and objects are displayed in the tree, without the distracting “clutter” of functions, walkthroughs and so on. The Script Editor is cut down so only the most important script commands are displayed when adding a command. But full power is only ever a click away – you can toggle Simple Mode on or off at any time from the Tools menu.

Enhanced Game Browser:
· You can now see star ratings, and read reviews and comments, directly within Quest. You also have more control – from the Options window, you can change the download folder, and enable or disable the Sandpit and Adult categories. Also, the Adult category option can be “locked out” with a registry setting (see “Configuring Quest” on the wiki for details) – handy if you’re rolling out Quest on a school network for example.

Simple Mode:
· Hides Quest’s more advanced functionality in the Editor – great for beginners, or for using Quest with younger children. The Editor becomes stripped right down to the basics – only rooms and objects are displayed in the tree, without the distracting “clutter” of functions, walkthroughs and so on. The Script Editor is cut down so only the most important script commands are displayed when adding a command. But full power is only ever a click away – you can toggle Simple Mode on or off at any time from the Tools menu.

· Quest has been completely rewritten.
· It is now free and open source, and much more powerful.

· New feature: Players can now customise fonts and colours for a game from the new Options window.
· New feature: Container “open” and “close” messages can be customised per container.
· Improved: More useful error messages if Quest can’t load a game file due to an error in one of your scripts.
· Fixed: Various issues with Quest 4 games – locked exits in CAS files, sounds in ZIP files, and timers running at the wrong time.
· Fixed: Memory leaks in the Editor which could cause Quest to hang when switching to/from the Code View with large games.

· Easy to create games. It’s easy to get started creating games with Quest 5. The visual editor is designed to be intuitive – everything is shown in plain English, and the aim is that features are easy to find by exploring the menus and tabs. You don’t need to learn programming syntax, or spend time trying to get the system to understand you. I believe that no other system is as easy to get started with.

· Easy to play games. I would guess that the vast majority of people in the world have never played a text adventure game. Quest is designed so that new players should be able to easily figure out how to play – see my earlier blog post on Eliminating “Guess the Verb”.

· Powerful. Behind the visual editor is a fully featured programming language. This means that although Quest is easy to learn, it doesn’t restrict what is possible. See my earlier blog post about the design of the Script Editor.