This is a major milestone in the Biamin project! When I released 1.2 February 22nd 2014 after about a year of hacking away on it, I was pretty done with it, expecting a few feedback releases with bugfixes and suggestions from the Internet. I’m quoted as saying: «The ~2200 lines of code reflects a need for optimization, but I am not planning to do any major overhauls on the current game.» Enter our advanced Bash code side-kicker Kastian, who first pushes ahead some ideas I wasn’t able to implement myself, optimizes the entire codebase(!!!) in ~ 1.3, and then starts sending more suggestions for expanding the universe beyond my own mission statement.

While we were developing a more RPG-oriented branch of the project "2.0", I felt the original game needed to be moved somewhere safe. Then came the idea of "forking" it into the current subdivisions: code, legacy and gpl-only. Check them out on our gitorious project page. The first contains the full game, the second contains the current version 1.4 + bugfixes and the last one will follow the 2.0 series (full game) once we have reached stable. Read more about the different editions of Biamin on the About page.

So today we release version 1.4, meaning that we have successfully fulfilled the original game I created in 2013 plus optimizations. The LEGACY branch will only receive bugfixes from this point on. All active development and world expansion will continue in 2.0 and 3.0 etc. branches in the /code/ repository. I think it is safe to say that the LEGACY or original series of Biamin is a rogue-like adventure game made to encompass on-and-off playing, as a drop-in BASH replacement of games like e.g. solitaire. It features 4 playable races, 6 enemies, 8 items and 6 different scenarios in the 270 sections of the world map, as well as a map template generator and integrated update function for bugfixes. If you want to go beyond that, stay tuned for 2.0!

CHANGES in version 1.4

• Changed the roll dice prompts in battles (work in progress)
• Added re-seeder for more random dice rolls
• REMOVED the separate update_biamin.sh files and ADDED integrated –update function
• BUGFIX Player was still attacked the round s/he found an item. Fixed!
• CHANGED the flee dynamics: You roll for flee, but successful flee requires that you’re not caught doing so by your enemy.
• Compatibility fixes for MacOS (e.g. in map template creation)
• And let’s not forget Kastian’s code optimizations:)

I have updated the Download and About pages to reflect the changes in the project layout.

I have also updated the GPL-only repository up to version 1.4!
Note: GPL-only will at some point diverge from LEGACY as it follows the full game "2.0" series. Stay tuned for more information about the new RPG-oriented Biamin series coming soon!