Patch 0.83b: the sweep after the peek

Okay! Here's everything new since 0.80b, all in one go.

The 83b sweep

Every few updates I go over the whole site and game again, top to bottom, and it was time. Mostly small stuff, but a couple of these were really annoying, so I'm glad they're gone.

Security: 7 fixes this time: 4 for privacy, 1 for the game's own safety checks, 1 limit against misuse and 1 for payments. As always, I'm keeping the details to myself on purpose.

Fixed

• The Weaver's paragraphs don't get cut off at a quoted list anymore. When she quoted a few words in a row (like "bread", "salt", "lamp-oil") and also left a quote mark out of place, the game's new fix-it step could end your paragraph right at the first word, and you'd pay for the short version. Now it either gets it right or asks her again, on me.
• You only pay for answers the game actually uses, all the way through. An empty answer, a judge with no grade, a cleanup that rewrote way too much, or an ask where they never answered: those are on me now too, and the game just asks again.
• The last paragraph of a chapter is never lost to a reload. If you refreshed (or clicked "carry on here") while the Weaver was still writing how a fight or a talk ended, the chapter closed as "the Weaver lost her words" and her paragraph got thrown away when it came. Now the page waits for her, and a paragraph that comes late still goes into your story.
• Setting off on the map, or turning to someone else, while your turn is still being written now waits a moment instead of costing you that turn. Same for a reload right after a fight.
• Your options can't get their words mixed up. A quoted word inside one option could split it in two and shift the rest onto the wrong skills.
• If the payment side has a hiccup at the wrong moment, your plan doesn't drop while you're still being billed for it. It sorts itself out on the next try.

Better

• Music on iPhone and iPad: the music changes with the moment right away, without needing another tap, and the short music cues (a win, a rank up, a quest) actually play there now. Changes are clean cuts there instead of two songs at once, and a film's own music doesn't play over the page's anymore.
• Music everywhere: switching it off and straight back on doesn't leave it silent, and going back to a moment whose song was nearly over starts a fresh one instead of a long quiet.

A little peek at what's coming

I've been heads down on something BIG for WyrmRail, and I want to give you a few hints. Just hints for now, lol.

• The Lull is getting a LOT bigger. True size. The kind of big where a mountain on the map is a mountain you can stand on, and the tallest peaks in the Iron Crown are about as tall as Everest.
• You'll see the Ring from miles away. The rail is lore-sized, half a mile between the rails, and I've walked beside it. It's a little ridiculous, in the best way.
• There's always something on the horizon. Towns, towers, and some strange tall things out in the wild, so there's always somewhere to head for.
• Every character can now be drawn from every side, gear and all. You'll see why that matters soon.

I'm not putting a date on any of it. I want it to be gorgeous when it lands, a place you'd want to park your character and just watch the screen. More hints next time!

Better

• The music changes with the moment in about half a second now. When a fight starts, a talk ends, or you open the map, it crossfades over instead of fading all the way out first. It used to take several seconds. Night falling still eases over gently, and between pieces of the same music it's still the same quiet few seconds.

Fixed

• Every so often the Weaver would write an answer with a quote mark in the wrong place, and the game couldn't read it, so it asked her again. You were paying for both. Now the game fixes that kind of answer itself and keeps it. And if an answer ever comes back broken and can't be fixed, that's on me, not you. You only pay for tokens when the game is doing exactly what it should.

Thank you for playing, and for every report. Keep them coming!