2nd September 2009 - Shops, RuneTek5, Autocasting, Patches

As of today, shops in RuneScape are now personalised for every player. The amount of stock you see in each shop is now unique to your account and, therefore, no longer affected by the actions of other players

As of today, shops in RuneScape are now personalised for every player. The amount of stock you see in each shop is now unique to your account and, therefore, no longer affected by the actions of other players.

 

 

 

This has a number of advantages:

 

Most importantly, it allows us to relax the price limits on the Grand Exchange. For somewhat complicated reasons, it means it is safe for us to drop the minimum price for many items, and raise the maximum price for some items. This means many items will no longer have their price set against an artificial limit, allowing prices to move more freely and better match player supply and demand. Similarly, many items that are popular for high-alching have had their lower limits relaxed to make the Grand Exchange work more smoothly.

 

It means shops no longer have to offer unlimited stock to meet everyone's needs. Because each player sees their own stock, we can put in more realistic stock behaviour, where the stock (and price) goes up and down as you buy and sell, without worrying about one player buying out all the stock and depriving everyone else. Unlimited stock has weird effects on the economy of the game, and getting rid of it is vital for being able to relax the Grand Exchance price limits. Dont worry, the stock is still very generous and should be plenty to supply ordinary play particularly for items that you might need in greater numbers (e.g. arrows, runes and other consumables will be available in higher quantities than items like armour, tools and weapons).

 

Shops may now be more worth selling your items to. A general store will never be full of other players unwanted items and specialist stores may offer better prices when they are low on stock. This means they are more useful for converting junk items into cash, because each player has their own separate allowance for how much they can sell into the shop before the price drops.

 

With this personalising of shop stocks, we realised that it would negate some of the rewards earned from the Varrock and Karamja Achievement Diaries, so weve substituted them for other rewards.

 

 

 

The majority of Karamja diarys easy reward is that you get better prices from Karamjas shops. We couldnt take this reward away without replacing it, so we have added Dell Monti, a pirate with a passion for pineapples, who will freely share his fruity bounty with you on a daily basis (if you are wearing your Karamja gloves).

 

 

 

Varrock diarys smaller reward regarding shop prices is replaced with a greater possibility of obtaining skull sceptre parts from creatures in the Stronghold of Security, as well as doubling the charges it has if you make it while wearing your Varrock armour. Please note that the reward for buying battlestaves from Zaff while wearing Varrock armour has not been affected by this update in any way.

 

 

 

Mod Fetzki

 

Head of RuneScape

 

 

 

You now no longer require a specific magical staff to be able to autocast combat spells, as we have added this ability to the Magic Spellbook interface, along with other useful changes. Some of those staves that used to grant this ability now cause 10% more magic damage instead.

We have redesigned the way autocasting combat spells works so that it no longer requires a magic staff. Now, you can set a spell to autocast via the redesigned Magic Spellbook interface. This change is designed to make autocasting spells easier and more intuitive.

 

 

 

A summary of the changes is as follows:

 

Autocasting no longer requires a magic staff.

 

Autocasting is now controlled via your spellbook. To set a spell to autocast, simply select the Autocast option from the spell icon in your spellbook.

 

You can still single-cast spells by selecting the Cast option from the spell icon in the spellbook.

 

In the standard spellbook, Autocast is now the default option (left-click) for combat spells, with Cast as the alternate option (right-click).

 

In the Ancient Magicks spellbook, Cast remains the default option (left-click), with Autocast as the alternate option (right-click).

 

As with before, there are no spells in the Lunar spellbook that can be set to autocast.

 

You can still choose whether to receive Defence XP or not when autocasting spells via the new toggle button in the bottom-left corner of your spellbook.

 

You can now also receive Defence XP for single-casting spells that deal damage, if you have this option toggled on.

 

Four buttons have been added to the bottom of the Magic Spellbook interface that allow you to filter what spell icons are visible. Click on these buttons to toggle the visibility of combat, teleport, skill-based and miscellaneous spells.

 

As staves are no longer required for autocasting, we have granted some of the more special ones the ability to cause 10% more magic damage. The following staves receive this bonus:

 

Ahrims staff

 

Master wand

 

Void Knight mace

 

Zuriels staff

 

Corrupt Zuriels staff

 

Ancient staff

 

Finally, it is also now possible to autocast these spells:

 

Saradomin Strike

 

Flames of Zamorak

 

Iban Blast

 

Mod Rathe

 

RuneScape Content Developer

 

This week sees the release of a massive upgrade to several elements of the RuneScape game engine. These include the RuneTek 5 graphics upgrade described in last weeks developer blog as well as key parts of the game server and RuneScript systems.

This week sees the release of a massive upgrade to several elements of the RuneScape game engine. These include the RuneTek 5 graphics upgrade described in last weeks developer blog as well as key parts of the game server and RuneScript systems.

 

 

 

The graphics engine update brings with it a complete revamp of the Standard Detail option, bringing resizable window (for everyone) and fullscreen (members only) modes, as well as optional new features that include:

 

 

 

Distance fogging and sky colour.

 

Ground blending and path smoothing.

 

Underwater visibility.

 

We've also improved High Detail mode with shadowing across all world levels (if your computer can support it) and an improved minimap in both versions. You'll also be pleased to know this upgrade has allowed us to fix several long-standing bugs, including:

 

 

 

Mis-clicking in heavy load areas (such as the Grand Exchange) causing unwanted actions.

 

Progress bars on Grand Exchange interfaces not working on several graphics cards.

 

Less visibly, we've also taken the time to heavily update parts of the server action and scripting systems. This follows on from work we did earlier in the year which Andrew described in this blog. The aim behind this batch of changes was to try to make the timing of actions more consistent across the game, which will help to make future content bugs less likely. We have done weeks of additional testing on these server updates, however, they are quite extensive and incredibly wide-ranging, so if any bugs have managed to slip through the net, we encourage you to submit a bug report.

 

 

 

All told, we have written or re-written around 50,000 lines of the game engine over the last few months to really improve these key areas and allow us to create a whole new set of exciting upgrades over the coming months and years.

 

 

 

This update to the game engine has allowed us to pull both the SD and HD versions of the game into the same applet. As such, we have updated the home page of the website so there is now only one Click here to play button. If you wish to switch between using free or member worlds, this can be done using the World Select feature, which can be found on the game applet's main menu.

 

 

 

Whether you see an advert above the login screen or not is dependent on whether the last world that you logged in was a free or a members world.

 

 

 

Mod Chris E

 

Game Engine

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

In other news...

 

 

 

One thing the new engine has allowed us to do is create context-sensitive cursors. If you choose to turn this option on in the Game Options menu, your mouse cursor will display a small icon of the default interaction with any object, location or NPC e.g. Open Door will change your mouse cursor to an icon of a door opening. These cursors have not been added for every default interaction just yet, but we will be looking to expand upon them in future.

 

 

 

The Special Attack bar in the combat interface now also displays the amount of special attack energy you have remaining as a percentage.

 

 

 

Weve made some changes to the World Select page. Firstly, youll notice weve removed some of the information to clean it up a bit. The Quick Chat and PvP columns have moved into the more general Activity/Location column. This column will now only specify a flag and country if the world doesnt have a theme, and weve created a RuneScape flag to go with the latter. On the right-hand side youll notice a Ping column. This displays the response time between you and the servers lower is better, so this should help you find a lag-free word near you. Note that some of your preferences may have changed if you were previously sorting by some of the removed columns. Simply select your new preferred choice(s) and it will store those for next time.

 

 

 

Mobilising Armies themed worlds now come in two varieties: worlds where games require four players for a game to start, and worlds where games require 20 players to start. Visit the Themed Worlds page to see how many players are required to start a game on each world.

 

Its better to wait for the update than post part of it. :roll:

That interface... is interesting. (will edit this post once I can use it)

System in update in 6, This is fun =P~

No patch notes on first post? Should have kept my topic then all this could be on first post and it wouldn't be repeated 20 times like it all has been.

Magic filter settings

Look at items like the void range helm or ring of duelingNew Mini-map is epic and apparently I'm logged in on two worlds simultaneously.

And the new cursor is funky. Inventory Items look different. The cursor changes depending on what you click. If you click to remove a piece of armor for example it will show that silly helmet. I'll edit with the shop interface in a minute.

[hide=Patch Notes]

Graphical

 

 

 

A graphic has been added to the timer that displays how long your gravestone will last.

 

There was a rendering problem with the chatheads of various full helmet models.

 

Players' feet sank through the decks of certain ships.

 

A tree in Catherby was not attached to the ground.

 

Various interfaces and menus have been adjusted to fit longer words in other languages.

 

The Explore emote had a sporadic problem with the player's left arm.

 

The musician at the west side of Varrock had an invisible chathead in certain graphics modes.

 

Some railings in Keldagrim had clipping issues.

 

The shading on some of our wallkits has been fixed.

 

The roof of a building in south-west Varrock did not always vanish correctly when you stood under it.

 

When you placed ore in the Blast Furnace, the ore's shadow would sometimes appear in the wrong place.

 

The rivers of blood in the Blood Altar were the wrong colour.

 

Hunter box-traps had graphical errors when they animated.

 

Some doors were too tall for their buildings.

 

The 'damaged armour' junk item had a dodgy arm. Apparently this was a bug, not just part of the damage.

 

Female characters wearing Christmas items would levitate while resting.

 

There was some a heightmap problem on Tutorial Island.

 

A rope-swing on Karamja had its animation running in the wrong place.

 

The crashed ship on Crandor had graphical errors with its sail.

 

The inventory icons for teleportation tablets have been adjusted.

 

If you read a skill guide or quest journal while watching a shooting star through a telescope, the interfaces could overlap horribly.

 

The swamp bubbles in Temple Trekking / Burgh de Rott Ramble have been updated.

 

The ladder to the Ourania Altar had missing polygons.

 

A statue in Falador Park has had its weapon model fixed.

 

Stopped your arms disappearing when wearing certain Fist of Guthix reward items.

 

Improved the looks of some of the pathing around the Meiyerditch area.

 

NOTE - This week's game engine update has caused numerous graphical changes throughout the game. You'll therefore encounter many things that don't look exactly how they did before the update.

 

 

 

 

 

Quests

 

 

 

In Recipe for Disaster, prayers should be unavailable in the final boss battle. This restriction was not working reliably.

 

The dragon token from Recipe for Disaster may no longer be used in certain minigames.

 

There was no animation for picking Fenkenstrain's pocket.

 

It was possible to use high-level logs on the Odd Old Man's boiler even if you lacked the Firemaking level to burn them normally.

 

The level-up messages relating to Curse of Arrav had incorrect information about the quest's requirements.

 

Firemaking no longer moves you around the ice in Myths of the White Lands.

 

The lockpick interface in Kings Ransom has been adjusted to better fit the text.

 

Fixed a text issue in the While Guthix Sleeps quest.

 

Adjusted some text in Tale of the Muspah quest.

 

 

 

 

 

Minigames

 

 

 

The new capabilities of our graphics engine have enabled us to update the feature where you lean on the Duel Arena walls to spectate. In particular, you can now control your camera while watching the duels below.

 

In Mobilising Armies, you may now recover your investment if your opponent immediately quits the game.

 

Implings in Puro-Puro have had their respawn locations randomised so that spawn-campers can't monopolise them so easily.

 

If you place a barrier in the Great Orb Project while you're moving, it should stay where you put it instead of trying to follow you.

 

Fixed an issue with the camera in the Mobilising Armies waiting room.

 

Increased the size of a text component on the Temple Trekking map to avoid cutting text off.

 

Adjusted an interface in Barbarian Assault where an image was overlapped by text.

 

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous

 

 

 

You now lose EP for being teleported by the chest in Ardougne Castle if it teleports you during combat.

 

If you're prevented from moving by a spell, you are no longer able to move by planting mithril seeds.

 

If your character encounters a NPC (non-player character) that it can't walk through, after a pause it will attempt to walk around the NPC.

 

Various bugs involving the friends list have been fixed.

 

It was possible to cast the Bake Pie and Humidify spells at the same time.

 

Players could stand in the vicious trees around Draynor Manor.

 

The Grand Exchange herblore price list has been updated to show wergali.

 

The pre-purchase information for a bagged evergreen plant was incorrect.

 

If you charged some headgear with summoning scrolls, then dropped it on a non-members' world, the headgear would vanish.

 

Non-members no longer have Enchant Bolts on their spell lists.

 

Many shops in RuneScape were using an unnecessarily large amount of memory on the server. They have now been optimised. This shouldn't have any visible effect on the shops.

 

Various player suggestions for the menagerie rooms have been implemented, including the ability to store strange pets such as fishbowls and clockwork cats. The pet feeder is also less laborious to use now.

 

This week's game engine update includes a major rewrite of the way RuneScape processes your mouse-clicks. You'll therefore encounter various features in the game that don't behave exactly how they did before the update.

 

The quest journal for 'Learning the Ropes' had obsolete descriptions of certain interface buttons.

 

The Report Abuse interface had several missing apostrophes.

 

The in-game Agility skillguide had an incorrect description of an obstacle in the Rellekka Slayer Cave.

 

The Notes screen had occasional problems wrapping text.

 

If you right-clicked on Patchy Pete, you'd say "Yes please" even though he hadn't offered you anything.

 

Adjusted a few references in the tutorial to refer to recently changed side interface icons.

 

Updated the Agility shortcuts to reflect changes to a shortcut near the new Aquanites.

 

Players should no longer be able to purchase additional skillcapes if you already have one in your POH.

Personalized Shops, RuneTek 5 Game Engine and changes to Autocasting Magic.

Ancient staff is gonna be worth 20k...

EDIT: master wands will be 2m+ perm probably :shock:

Huge update... I have to enrol for college, back in 3 hours lol.

I am so happy I was online to see this (I have never been online when an update occurs) and now I have 3 in one go!

Awesome!

:twss:

I don't really like the shop one and I don't really care about the magic one.

The new game engine sounds nice.

autocasting god spells, fml, i now have a useless void mace, 3 extra damage isnt going to make me feel better

Not really sure how I feel about the shop update. Other than that, sounds great!

wow :o this is very helpfull for mages

Game engine sounds nice, certain staffs being made slightly stronger for maging is nice too. Don't give a damn about the shops though.

edit - new game login screen :lol:

edit 2 - You can also turn off the 'cinematic opening' in the bottom left of it.

The loading screen was also changed.

now every idiot and his friend will run around hybriding, and the final vestiges of skill that remained in god maging is dead

runescape gets easier with every update

Okay, yay.. but I can't play as member anymore? The only option is existing user... and it's giving me ads. Wtf is this?

And I'm unable to enter HD-mode. Another update that is not usable when it's launched...

Aaaaand it's incredibly laggy.

Great! Not sure about the shops tho.

And btw the microhelper will need updating, as it effects removing the advertisement when logging in.

Special attack bar now says 100%!

It will also show if you're actually attacking something... useful for waterfiends.

Mis-clicking in heavy load areas (such as the Grand Exchange) causing unwanted actions.

Oh yes, one of the most annoying bugs in RuneScape gone!

The text is much harder to read, as the black outlines are gone. :shock: I hope this is a glitch.

God damn, is it just me or is this game really slow now? It feels so slugish, even on the login screen? And I can't even select the option for High Detail.

Never mind, a quick reload of SwiftKit and its now working flawlessly.

Is it just me or do inventory items look different... :?

Oh yeah try hovering over a monster, drop item in invent or whatever now.

Also new cursor :o