The Great Wall of Ice

Posted on by
4

Early in the morning, we recorded and uploaded a video from the level 18, called “The Great Wall of Ice”. On this map, the Chumara is defended by an indestructible great wall risen and guarded by they evil God. As the Matak promised, you are enemies for now, so you have to defend your base against them and the Dakini while you try to find a way to enter and destroy the Chumara settlement. The Dakini Shaman is still imprisoned on a frozen planet and her people are controlled by the Chumara. If you are interested to watch the video, click on the image below.
[HD]Populous: The Solar System of Devil Worlds Block 3 Level 2 Preview (Level 18)





Also let me write a little sneak preview about the next level (level19):
The Blue Shaman was left this planet and called her god to help her people. Fortunately she returns and the Chumara have to face with the wrath of the god. On this level, you have to defend your base against the attacks of the Chumara, and the Dakini. When the countdown is over, Taitaki, the evil god will destroy the blue base. But if you survive as long as you can, you will win!

Old Launchers

Posted on by
Reply

It’s got to our attention that serveral people are still using a very old version of the Devil Worlds Launcher. Those were used in the Classic Worlds Beta (with Single Player Manager at the top) are no longer working because the update system is broken. Launchers used from the Classic Worlds Final can update itself to the latest version by starting the update progress 3 times, this is due to incompatibility between the versions. The oldest supported version is 1.4, older versions no longer receive mappack updates. However, you should migrate to the Mod Manager as the last update the Launcher will receive is the Cold Worlds Beta, the final version will be released for the Mod Manager only.

Anonymous ratings

Posted on by
Reply

From now on you can rate mods without a Populous Online account. The same rules applies: Only one rating per person (PC) is accepted. If you attempt to rate a mod again the old rating will be replaced by the new one. The detection is not IP based so multiple ratings are accepted from the same IP. We reserve the right to delete ratings and restore the registration-only system if we detect cheating on a massive scale.

Updates in the YouTube channel

Posted on by
3

As the subscribers of the Populous Online YouTube Channel probably already noticed, there are some updates. There weren’t much updates since 8 months, most of the previews of Block 2 were also missing. So I’ve been re-cut the video, recorded new parts and uploaded it. It’s a bit long, exactly as long as the entire Populous soundtrack, so you can hear it during the video, including the menu music. But that’s not all, you can also see the first preview video of Block 3, level 17: Cold Welcome. You weren’t see this level in the live previews. I’ll upload the previews of new levels as soon as the level reaches the stage of public showcase so subscribe to our YouTube channel today to be notified immediately. There’s also one more thing to notice: Users has started to make Devil Worlds videos. To feature them in the official channel I’ve created a playlist “Devil Worlds unofficial” and collected those videos there. If you got a video I didn’t found yet just drop a comment here with the video link and I’ll add it right away.

To compensate the delay of Block 3 we’ll open the Public Beta with 5 levels (the cold ones) and add the rest (the asteroids) later. Hope to see you soon as a Beta test participant once again.

An update has been released for the Mod Manager and the Devil Worlds mod (Mod Manager version only), changes:

  • Skin reloading is much faster.
  • Open Skin support for those interested in making a skin. We’ll offer you a template skin soon that you can edit.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the Mod Manager to think that the skin is corrupt if you exited from The Beginning window last time.
  • Fixed Allies Torn Apart, now the Dakini will kill the Matak Shaman as intended.
  • A well placed backdoor to Dakini could break ISC on Evil Land, it’s now been corrected.
  • Dakini’s Stone Head will now rise much later, 15 minutes before they actually going to worship it on Evil Land so you can’t steal it early.
  • Small balance change on Evil Land: The Chumara totem will now rise 2 minutes earlier but you have 2 extra minutes to get it – this gives you a little advantage to prepare for the fight but also increases the frequency of the reappear.
  • Adjused ISC on Allies Torn Apart and Evil Land to use half of the CPU time used earlier, improving performance on old PCs.

Hotfix for Land of the Wilds

Posted on by
Reply

It’s rare that we have to touch old contents, but now it’s time for an update for Level 7 of Devil Worlds. A Populous script bug (most likely it is, but it’s not been verified yet) caused the Land Bridge sometimes to not trigger. Now I’ve patched the level to use triggers instead of script commands to cast the spell so it should be always triggered properly from now on. The hotfix has been released for both the Devil Worlds Launcher and the Mod Manager for Normal mode. Since this level works in a different way in Hard mode the patch only affects Normal mode. If you’re using the Mod Manager you can report bugs and send us suggestions by clicking Feedbacks on the main screen.

The detailed level information page is also been updated to reflect the new object info. The gameplay and story of the level weren’t changed.

Update: A Mod Manager hotfix has also been released, fixing the Public Game Monitor window when it’s been minimized, also fixed the bug that allowed downloading of Devil Worlds while in offline mode (it’s been failed because the Mod Manager didn’t know the version and resulted a corrupt mappack file). A new option has been added to the Options menu that allows you to set the Public Game Monitor window Always on Top and also updated the hint texts of some options.

Devil Worlds BETA is over – Support of the Devil Worlds Launcher is ending soon

Posted on by
Reply

The Devil Worlds BETA has been ended. The Hard Mode of Block 1 has been merged to the main Mod while the Block 3 previews are no longer available… Don’t worry, they’ll be back soon with fully functional AIs. Also the following changes has been made to other components:

  • Default and Galaxy skin: Removed the images of the Help document and the old Survey screen, making them about 40% smaller.
  • Default skin and Mod Manager: Small UI tweaks and fixes in Plain skin mode.
  • Mod Manager: Fixed a crash when Populous don’t start for any reason in Standalone Levels mode.
  • Images of Standalone Levels are now cached to RAM (both Local and Online) so you can check levels faster and decide which one to play – this also reduces server load and data sent through your network. The cache is erased when you return to the main screen.

The Beta mod is no longer available via the Mod Manager and the Beta entry has been closed in the Launcher. Stay tuned, the AI tests of Block 3 will start soon, expected availability is around the middle of May.

Please note that the support of the Devil Worlds Launcher will end soon. You’ll be able to participate in the Beta of Block 3 with it but the final version won’t be delivered for the Launcher. As soon as the Mod Manager Beta is over the Launcher will update itself to the final version of the Mod Manager but you should update as soon as you can since it offers you a variety of extra features like other cool Mods, Levels, Skins and Open Folder for testing your own levels and play non-Mod Manager Mods. However if you’re not interested in playing Mods other than Devil Worlds you can disable the downloading of new Mods in the Options menu.

Mod Manager Beta 2.5 is out

Posted on by
Reply

It’s the last major beta release before the final version with extra features and bug fixes. The full changelog:

  • Open Folder is now available. It’s a special testing area for developers to try mods just like if they were in the Mod Manager. It’s also useable to play mods that weren’t submitted to the main mods area, like Age of Chaos. A detailed tutorial about how to use this feature will be available soon, until that read the config.txt within SPPacks\openfolder
  • Public Game Monitor. If you’re hosting a Public Game and waiting for players now you can do whatever you want with your computer without missing the players who joined your game. Just minimize the game, the Mod Manager will display the current number of players and the game status. It also play sound by default when a new player join your game but this can be disabled in the Options menu. Please note that this feature will only alert you when players join via the Public Game list, Direct joins are not registered by the server so they don’t count as players.
  • A bug has been fixed that allowed you to return to the main screen while the game was still running.
  • Fixed the Public Game registration and un-registration problems with The Beginning and Undiscovered Worlds, now you can play the original game properly via the Mod Manager.
  • Fixed a bug caused I/O errors when clicking through Standalone Levels too quickly.
  • Querying the online Mods, Skins and Standalone Levels list is now three times faster because it’s done with one query instead of three.
  • Changed the annoying popup notification of new Standalone Levels to a download icon that appears next to the level heightmap.

In addition, check out the two new Standalone Levels submitted by our most active developer Impboy. Please note that the order of the level list is depending on your file system (the order of the list is the order the Mod Manager finds the files and the Online list is appended to the end), so after downloading a new content it may move up above already installed levels, it’s normal.

Milestone

Posted on by
Reply

It’s time to announce that we reached the magic number of 1000 files in our Image Gallery. It’s time to check it out! You can contribute aswell by uploading your screenshots, just click Upload Files in the top navigation bar. Please upload jpeg, gif and png only, there can be problems with bmp (pop takes screenshots in bmp). If you’re uploading a screenshot of a Mod Manager level or mod type the level name to the Level Name field so when your screenshot is apporved it will appear on the detailed info page of the level.
Additionally a hotfix has been released for the Mod Manager fixing the File Error dialog when hosting IP games, also now it returns you to the section where you launched the game upon exiting. It now also downloads the level descriptions for new Standalone Levels. Also a new Standalone Level is released, one of the “minimaps” from the long gone Populous Downloader so now you can have fun in an infinite uber hole once again. It can be played in LAN Multiplayer too (just like in the original) however since the Standalone Levels feature is designed for Single Player levels you can’t play it via the Public Games service or direct IP game.

Mod Manager Beta 2 is coming

Posted on by
2

A major update is coming for the Mod Manager with many cool features. Upon user request the program will be able to launch Populous: The Beginning and Undiscovered Worlds (if you got it) so you can access the original game and mods via a single shortcut. In addition, you can host Public Games on the original Multiplayer levels (and Undiscovered Worlds if you and the users willing to join got it) so if you want to have a quick match with your friends who didn’t got the MatchMaker you can now do it. Please note that unlike for mods, the Mod Manager won’t check the original game so all modifications will remain in place. This may cause problems in Multiplayer when levels or constants are modified. (Please note that games played via the Public Games service doesn’t count towards your MatchMaker rating!)

The second major feature is the Standalone Levels. Many developers do a few levels only, if you’re one of them it’s time to submit your levels as the Mod Manager will now be able to manage levels don’t belong to a mod. The levels are collected to a level list with previews and descriptions, downloading and updating levels are automatic and happens in the background. If you play a level once it’ll be saved to your computer so you can play it anytime offline.

Also the feedback module will be launched where anyone can send feedbacks for every mod, skin, standalone level and for the Mod Manager itself. Feedbacks will be delivered to the Developer Centre where the content owner will be able to read them. Optionally you can leave your e-mail address so the developer may contact you when needed to sort things out.

More updates:

  • Fixed all the Minimize bug, now you can’t hang the program when minimized in any way.
  • Updated Public Games registration window allows you to decide if you want to register your game or not, enter a name and select the expansion to host (TB/UW/mod) in one step.
  • Constants now can be pulled from the Library to the Normal and Strong mode slots.
  • Save Game Isolation seperates saved games on each mod to prevent crash when a save loaded that didn’t belong to the loaded mod and to let you use all 8 slots for all of your mods. Those who download the program for the first time, migrate from the Devil Worlds Launcher or got Devil Worlds only won’t notice anything, the isolation is automatic. Those who got multiple mods installed will have to select which mod each saved game belongs. This choice is permanent, since mappack files are encrypted there’s no way to restore saved games associated to the wrong mod!
  • New rating icon for new mods that didn’t received a rating yet so it’s no longer the same as the worst rating.
  • New cool icon for the program.
  • Small bug fix related to Strong mode.
  • Update: Fixed a bug that prevented starting the Mod Manager when the settings file is corrupt. Additionally the default settings are now supplied within the full download so you’ll no longer get the “Settings corrupt” message upon the first start.
  • Update 2: The Survey system is replaced by the Feedback system
  • Update 2: Fixed a bug caused skins got corrupted during an update apart from the default. Please note that due to this only the latest Mod Manager is receiving skins and skin updates

While preparing for the launch of the new version the Update system will be shut down, when it happens we’ll post a Breaking News. Once the system is back you’ll be able to download the latest Mod Manager, Library, skins and the updated mods that uses the new features of the Library. During the maintenance you won’t be able to download and update the Devil Worlds Launcher and the Mod Manager and downloading new mods won’t be possible so you can only play the mods you’ve already downloaded. Additionally, your approved content list won’t appear in the Developer Centre. The Public Games service and the rest of the website, including the Library and content submission will work as usual.

Update: The maintenance is over and Beta 2 is available. Since the Galaxy skin is no longer compatible with this version it’s unavailable until the owner creates the new buttons.

Change Report

Posted on by
Reply

As you can see, the Populous-Online website and all of our projects are in development. Almost all of the height maps of the next release block of “The Solar System of Devil Worlds” are available! Also we have developed a new, much more detailed height map generator and replacing the old uploaded previews. In addition, we have improved the detailed level description pages, so you can turn on-off the object layer. Please note, only the most important objects are showed on the preview such stoneheads, totems, obelisks, prisons and the starting locations of the tribes. Due to technical issues, the object layer previews of the “Katara’s Voyage” mod are not available yet.

Also let me introduce a new Mod Manager skin, called Galaxy. This skin illustrates, how much can a skin modify the default look of the application. If you are interested in skin making, please read this article!

galaxy2galaxy
And finally, there are preview pictures of the new Mod Manager Beta patch. There two new special item on the mod list, called “Populous: The beginning” and “Standalone Levels”. If you enter to the Beginning’s page, you will see a launch button, which will launch the original game. The Mod Manager won’t install or overwrite (the Mod Manager never write over files) files, so if your game is modified, the game will start with modifications. However if you have the Expansion Pack (“The Undiscovered Worlds”) installed too, a new button will appear next to the Launch. Also there are so many new function, so there will be a detailed post describing them. Until that, there are the previews:

modmgr2
modmgr1