Download it here
1.7 Changelog:

• Separate roms and CHD folders (roms folder will be used by default if no CHD folder is specified)
• Allow to exclude CHD game from set generation
• Includes properties files for each game with the following information: orientation, CHD, samples
• Includes 2 players version for roms with 4/6 players preventing the user from selecting specific characters
• Updated to FBNeo 2024-04-30 and Mame 0.265

WHAT IS BESTARCADE ?
BestArcade allow you to generate clean custom arcade romsets through two types of usage :

• generate retroarch sorted romsets (fbneo, mame2003, mame2003plus, mame2010, regular mame) keeping only the games referenced in the BestArcade list, above and equal to the working state level you choose.
• generate dedicated romsets : custom mame based on Best Arcade list, neo geo aes set, sega model 2 & 3 sets, atomiswave set, naomi & naomi 2 sets, handheld set, tvgames set

WHAT THIS TOOL DOESN'T DO :

• It's not clrmamepro and will not check that your romsets files are in the right version number
• It only works with non-merged sets, split and merged sets are not supported, use clrmamepro to generate non-merged sets if needed. However very few clones ares used, so it should be mostly ok with other type of sets.
• CHD are handled, decompressed CHD folder for each games must be located inside your CHD folder or will default to romset directory (i.e your CHD directory should contain kinst.zip rom and kinst chd folder at the same level)
• You can exclude CHD games from generation if that's what you want

WHAT THIS TOOL DO :
Retroarch tab :

• Available in Pi3, N2/N2+, N100 miniPCs flavor
• Only N100 tests will be maintained in the future, but feel free to share your tests for other machine types
• BestArcade list for Raspberry Pi3
• BestArcade list for Odroid N2/N2+
• BestArcade list for N100 MiniPC
• Generate BestArcade romsets by using your fbneo, mame2003, mame2003plus and mame2010 non-merged sets, your original sets will be kept intact
• Generate basic gamelist (Recalbox format but should work for other distribs) for your sets, with optional images. Genre images were generated with the awesome site Game-icons.net
• Generate csv files documenting the generated sets
• Generate a scoresheet comparing working level in generated sets
• Generate dat files for the generated romsets
• All needed DATs are included in the application

Custom tab :

• Same as above, without the testing part and everything related to it
• So it will generate a set of the most interesting games
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user or you can use the one included in the softxare data files)

Neo Geo AES tab :

• Generate Neo Geo AES full set from either FBNeo or recent mame set, FBNeo is recommanded though
• FBNeo/Mame DAT must be provided by the user

Sega Model 2, Sega Model 3, Atomiswave, Naomi and Naomi2 tabs :

• Generate full sets of this system from a recent mame set
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

Handhelds tab :

• Generate full set of all single-game (game & watch like, no consoles) handheld devices from a recent mame set
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

TV Games tab:

• Generate full set of all TV Games devices from a recent mame set
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

Basically what the title says, every time I download the G test scoresheet from the site, its a 0 kb PDF (which I obviously can't open). Tried it a few times and its always the same thing.
Anyone ever have this problem before?

This interview here with the Warhorse developer Tobias Stolz-Zwilling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkJ82qLArPI
I'll simply summerize, hopefully there's something new. I'll leave out the obvious things (like Henry being the protagonist):

• They started working on KCD2 in 2018/19, so that they didn't have to fire anyone between making both games
• It's a direct successor, obviously, same protagonist
• Henry will be taken to Kuttenberg (he used the passive term), he won't go there because he wants to
• Kuttenberg will be under siege by Sigismund
• No save game import
• They try to connect to KCD1 by dialogue and flashbacks, primarily for newer players
• Old players will feel right at home, story-wise as well as gameplay-wise
• The bigger team/budget this time around is used to deliver a better optimized game with way less bugs than at the KCD1 launch
• They're not, and I quote, "a team of punks trying to get out the game" anymore. They now have more experience, better time management regarding bugfixing and pre-release optimization, and have taken the user experience more into focus
• The team looked at what mods people liked to download, and tried to include some of those features in some capacity
• The design philosophy for them is "easy to learn, hard to master", although they struggled with the "easy to learn" part and put extra work into it
• Historical immersion was very important for them
• Example: Same combat system as in KCD1, but they streamlined the experience and made it easier to get into it, so new players don't immediately die in the tutorial phase
• They make a distinction between "hard to master", when it's due to gameplay reasons, i.e. Henry being a peasant and naturally bad at swordplay, and "hard to master" due to bad gameplay and design; they worked to remove the latter, limitations by bad design
• Henry will be able to read (likely, although he wasn't 100% sure at that moment)
• Henry won't start as a dumb unskilled peasant, but he'll be at a point at which he'll have to re-learn some thing
• The scale of the scenario will also force Henry to rise to the occasion, it's not about small-scale brawls with bandits anymore, but realm politics, the big stage, where Henry has to grow into it
• KCD1 was Henry's growth from boy to man, KCD2 is his growth from man to warrior
• Old systems/skills present in KCD1 are more or less also in KCD2 in some form; what they did was tune them better
• No survival mechanics, like having to pee etc.
• Reputation is more granular, now it's not just only by location, but also by social standing: The upper class of a place, for example, will have a different reputation with Henry from the beggars
• Even if people don't catch you doing crimes, a series of crimes will make everyone more vigilant and increase skill checks for a time
• Everything an NPC does serves a purpose. For example, if someone carries a bucket of water, they'll use it in some capacity. No NPC will walk circles with the bucket without purpose
• Save system is very similar to KCD1. However, they saw that the unlimited save everywhere mod was the #1 mod, so they made a compromise: Saviour Schnapps is cheaper, more available, and easier to make. But they kept the mechanic, because by requiring you to consume an item, it makes saving a more conscious choice, to reduce save scumming
• Looking back, they agree that making the Schnapps rare wasn't the best decision. When you needed it most in KCD1, in the beginning, you had little to no Schnapps available, which is what they want to avoid this time around
• There is nothing in KCD1 that was so bad that they had to remove it
• However, they reworked some options that they found not diverse enough. As example he mentioned the combat system, which now caters to different tastes: if someone wants to avoid combat complexity, the mace/axe will have way less complexity best for brute force. Swordplay will be for high finesse, with tricks and combos
• Each weapon has a stuntman/advisor of its own, that gives each weapon its own moveset/feel
• They got more historians on board to improve immersion and avoid unhistorical stuff, like a huge two-handed Berserk-style sword
• There are also a few new things, like blacksmithing. Similar to alchemy, you'll have several different steps and actions when crafting here: awareness of each strike you do, the colour of the iron when working it, getting the right rhythm, etc., etc.
• The idea wasn't complexity for the sake of complexity, but to create an immersive system, one that rewards players who engage with it and master it
• They wanted to include it in KCD1 already, but ran out of time. Now it's in
• You don't need to learn/use most of the skills (like blacksmithing, alchemy, bow, different weapons, riding), they're tools for you to pick up and use, or not
• KCD2 will have more dark themes/choices for Henry, especially morally questionable paths, as the story itself is also darker, bigger, more serious. Not brawls in taverns anymore, but the war between two kings
• Henry will learn that war is a horrible business, a path he won't necessarily go out of his own free will. He'll be taken down that path by the story events
• Those events will put Henry at a crossroads every now and then, forcing him to make choices regarding the story as well as his own psyche. He'll learn that war is sh*t, but that sometimes the greater good requires terrible choices, with appropriate consequences depending on the choice
• But it was also important to keep Henry's humour, the lighter themes of the game, many easter eggs, jokes etc., but the main story will be more serious than in KCD1
• A challenge was composing those profane melodies (even if they had a text), as only religious chants survived time. But they composed new tracks (like drinking music) in a style that would be believable for Bohemia in 1403
• KCD2 really finishes Henry's story, beyond that "we'll see"
• No camp management upgrades/mechanics, it's a story-driven RPG first and foremost. Nothing beyond the existing survival mechanics (like hunger)
• As you know, you can now pet your dog and horse
• Cats will also be present (as many of us probably know already)
• Kuttenberg will have hundreds of NPCs, with different nationalities present. Several markets will be there, like the animal market we see a glimpse of in the announcement
• Kuttenberg was the biggest challenge when making KCD2
• The original idea was a trilogy, each lasting around 20h. But when making KCD1, they became ambitious, so it kind of escalated. But that also means that they knew from the very beginning that they would continue Henry's story
• They briefly thought about Prague for KCD1, but that was so out of scope, they dropped the idea pretty soon. Rattay was at that time the best they could do
• For KCD2 they chose Kuttenberg, because it was relevant and necessary to the story
• Warhorse as a studio developed a more refined mindset, with a higher discipline and willingness to cut stuff earlier. KCD1 suffered from it, because a feature bloat would slow them down. Many things got cut too late, which cost them valuable time towards the end, which is why KCD1 released in a somewhat shaky state. That has now changed for KCD2, they're able to make the necessary cuts early on and manage their time better. Might hurt, but it's better for the game overall to do it that way
• No seasons; KCD1 was early summer, KCD2 is summer
• No swimming, just a sorry attempt at it in a cutscene (from the trailer), where Hans Capon is involved
• Will we see Theresa? He said this was a question regarding the story, so he can't answer that. We'll have to wait and see
• Minigames are of course in, especially Farkle turned out better than expected. So they improved upon it
• Tournaments are in, as "Kuttenberg is a big city"
• They really went door to door, went through the houses, inspected cellars, and really looked for all the old stuff, so that they could recreate Kuttenberg as close to how it was 600 years ago as possible
• KCD as a game series is big in Czechia, people in Prague for example recognize Tom McKay (Henry). When they made the announcement trailer, even the Mayor of Kuttenberg contacted Warhorse immediately, while normal folks discussed the filming vividly in their small facebook groups
• The team is very motivated right now, since the announcement boosted morale
• We might get some new piece of gameplay in the near future
• He said he was way more optimistic with the release date of KCD2 in late 2024 than he was with KCD1, that's how far along they're right now

That's about it, there is more, but mostly stuff that is already known.

Hi everyone I am going to apply in R3 for HEC Paris MiM, I am in the process of completing my application, but since GMAT exams taken after the 1st of February you cannot download the scoresheet but you can just send it. I sent it but in the application itself it still asks for a pdf copy (which I can’t get), if anyone could tell me how they did it it would be extremely helpful!

I know this is a very obscure issue, but I cannot figure this out.
My dad is running android 10 on an old galaxy S9. He's using an app called Pool League (the official APA app) v3.18.16. In the app, there's a button to press that will (on my s20) download a pdf of the week's scoresheet. On his phone, the button just does nothing. I can't get it to auto open in any pdf program (adobe reader, PDF Reader). And it's not downloading a copy anywhere on his phone. I've played around in settings with default pdf programs, download locations and settings, reinstalled the app, rebooted the phone. I can get files to download (even pdfs) through chrome on his phone, it's just this one app.
Screenshot of the offending download button.
After working on this for a couple hours I told my dad it's just a bug that's not fixable, but he is not very tech-savvy and is super bummed that his "phone is broken," and he lives for pool, so he does not understand at all. I don't want to wipe his phone or upgrade him to a newer phone because he really cannot handle it when things change the slightest bit. I've also sent this to the developers of the app but am not hopeful about a response.

Brewers fan here that also happens to make scorebooks. Our little scorebook shop put out a free World Series scorecards as a PDF download for those of you scoring along at home.
One day these cards will have a Brewers logo on them............but for now, we'll have to enjoy watching the team that knocked us out in the World Series (which has happened the last 9 times the Crew has made the playoffs). Enjoy!
https://www.numbersgame.co/products/2022-world-series-scoresheets-pdf

Like last year, we're offering a free PDF download for the World Series. Get it here! https://www.numbersgame.co/products/2022-world-series-scoresheets-pdf

I thought a consolidated resource would be nice to have, so that’s what I compiled here. I hope this helps.
USAV Indoor Rules
USAV Indoor Casebook
USAV Indoor Referee Guidelines and Scoresheet
USAV FIVB Indoor Ball Handling Guidelines
FIVB Indoor Rules
FIVB Indoor Casebook
FIVB Indoor Referee Guidelines
NFHS
NCAA Men’s Indoor Rules
NCAA Women’s Indoor Rules
AAU
Canadians, I didn’t forget about you. Eh
Volley Canada Indoor Rules
Volley Canada Indoor Referee Guidelines
Hopefully all of the links work.

Hi! I’m an employee of the VA, this is a burner account for obvious reasons but my credentials have been verified with the M od team of VeteransBenefits. My father is a Navy Veteran and received care through the VA so I have seen how things go down on both sides.
First of all, I know it may sound cliche, but truly, thank you all for your service.
I work for VISN 1 as an AMSA in the Clinical Contact Center, so this information may vary across other VISNs, but I wanted to provide some insight into how things happen on this end. This is probably going to be a super unorganized mish mash of information but I wanted to offer some insight wherever I have it….
All of our calls are recorded, and we are evaluated monthly on a certain number of calls using a very specific scoresheet We are required to: -Answer the call using the standard greeting, which, for us is “VA Health Connect (insert region here,) this is (insert name,) how can I help you?” -Confirm Veteran’s name & last 4 -Verify mailing address and phone number (yes we have to do this on every call, I know it can get repetitive) -Ask you if you’re experiencing any symptoms you’d like to speak to a nurse about (this is not COVID related, it’s literally any symptom, yes I know it’s frustrating and annoying. Trust, we hate it too!)
Most sites are transitioning to specialty call centers, meaning when you call in and press the option for appointment (here I believe it’s option 2) you are sent to the CCC, which is us, we handle PRIMARY CARE appointments only. If you call and tell us you need MH, Podiatry, Gastro etc we are only able to transfer you to the correct location. MH is the only ‘other’ department that is not handled by the specialty call center.
We aren’t able to transfer you directly to someone in your primary care office…even if you’re returning a call. I know. Behind the scenes, if you’re returning a call we have to send the person a message via teams, IF they respond and provide us with their extension we can transfer you. If they do not respond within a few minutes we have to send a message through your chart & let you know you’ll receive a call back.
If you’re calling to speak with primary care for any reason other than scheduling an appointment or returning a call, we have to send a message through your chart and let you know that you’ll get a call back, unfortunately we have no direct route to the front desk, nurses, PCP etc. Again, this may be different across other VISNs, I can only relay what I know.
We also do not have access via phone to local pharmacies anymore. Pharmacy questions are handled through Pharmacy Customer Care, sometimes called PCC, which is national. I highly recommend signing up for MyHealtheVet and downloading the VA: Health and Benefits app. If you are at all tech savvy MyHealtheVet can help you confirm appointment info, communicate with your care team, request AND track medications among other tools.
I have worked in healthcare for almost 8 years, the VA is newer to me, but working with patients is not new. I am also a chronic pain patient and can sort of (not totally as I am not a Veteran) relate to struggles obtaining proper care.
I wish I could properly explain how much it SUCKS to be yelled at, cussed out, told that you don’t care, you’re useless, stupid, ignorant etc because of someone’s frustration at a system. How much it sucks to warn your caller against their abusive behavior yet they continue, how much it sucks to finally hang up the call and feel like a broken punching bag when all you’re trying to do is help. I promise you there are good VA employees, VA employees that care and that will go above and beyond. I remind myself that I’m not the one you’re angry with, I’m not the cause for frustration…it’s the system, but please, remind yourselves of this too, remind yourselves that you are speaking to another human being with feelings, a human being that didn’t make these rules or build this system.
I hope some of this information helps SOMEONE out there. I am happy to answer any questions I can and if I don’t have the answer, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Thank you for making it this far. Thank you for being you.

Hi! I’m an employee of the VA, this is a burner account for obvious reasons but my credentials have been verified with the Mod team of VeteransBenefits. My father is a Navy Veteran and received care through the VA so I have seen how things go down on both sides.
First of all, I know it may sound overused, but truly, thank you all for your service.
I work as an AMSA in the Clinical Contact Center, so this information may vary across other VISNs, but I wanted to provide some insight into how things happen on this end. This is probably going to be a super unorganized mish mash of information but I wanted to offer some insight wherever I have it….
All of our calls are recorded, and we are evaluated monthly on a certain number of calls using a very specific scoresheet We are required to:
-Answer the call using the standard greeting, which, for us is “VA Health Connect (insert region here,) this is (insert name,) how can I help you?”
-Confirm Veteran’s name & last 4
-Verify mailing address and phone number (yes we have to do this on every call, I know it can get repetitive)
-Ask you if you’re experiencing any symptoms you’d like to speak to a nurse about (this is not COVID related, it’s literally any symptom, yes I know it’s frustrating and annoying. Trust, we hate it too!)
Most sites are transitioning to specialty call centers, meaning when you call in and press the option for appointment (here I believe it’s option 2) you are sent to the CCC, which is us, we handle PRIMARY CARE appointments only. If you call and tell us you need MH, Podiatry, Gastro etc we are only able to transfer you to the correct location. MH is the only ‘other’ department that is not handled by the specialty call center.
We aren’t able to transfer you directly to someone in your primary care office…even if you’re returning a call. I know. Behind the scenes, if you’re returning a call we have to send the person a message via teams, IF they respond and provide us with their extension we can transfer you. If they do not respond within a few minutes we have to send a message through your chart & let you know you’ll receive a call back.
If you’re calling to speak with primary care for any reason other than scheduling an appointment or returning a call, we have to send a message through your chart and let you know that you’ll get a call back, unfortunately we have no direct route to the front desk, nurses, PCP etc. Again, this may be different across other VISNs, I can only relay what I know.
We also do not have access via phone to local pharmacies anymore. Pharmacy questions are handled through Pharmacy Customer Care, sometimes called PCC, which is national. I highly recommend signing up for MyHealtheVet and downloading the VA: Health and Benefits app. If you are at all tech savvy MyHealtheVet can help you confirm appointment info, communicate with your care team, request AND track medications among other tools.
I have worked in healthcare for almost 8 years, the VA is newer to me, but working with patients is not new. I am also a chronic pain patient and can sort of (not totally as I am not a Veteran) relate to struggles obtaining proper care.
I wish I could properly explain how much it SUCKS to be yelled at, cussed out, told that you don’t care, you’re useless, stupid, ignorant etc because of someone’s frustration at a system. How much it sucks to warn your caller against their abusive behavior yet they continue, how much it sucks to finally hang up the call and feel like a broken punching bag when all you’re trying to do is help. I promise you there are good VA employees, VA employees that care and that will go above and beyond. I remind myself that I’m not the one you’re angry with, I’m not the cause for frustration…it’s the system, but please, remind yourselves of this too, remind yourselves that you are speaking to another human being with feelings, a human being that didn’t make these rules or build this system.
I hope some of this information helps SOMEONE out there. I am happy to answer any questions I can and if I don’t have the answer, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Thank you for making it this far. Thank you for being you.

Hey fellow board-gamers, I’m part of a local team designing Aftergame, a new social board game tracking app. The current beta allows you to easily record the games you play, create a shared game history with your friends, and find and organise people to play a game with. We will be working with Mini-Wellycon to make sure everyone can find a game to join!
It’s early days still but we’d love feedback/thoughts/suggestions to help us focus on what's most important. We’re in the app stores! https://www.aftergame.co/download
Full scoresheet breakdowns, communities, and rulebooks coming soon.
Happy gaming!

Alright, guys. Despite a several hundred mile move and first-time home ownership, alongside a host of other major life changes, I managed to put together what I think is a very cool 3 month update for Caverns of Xaskazien II. Before I get into all the new stuff, though, I want to throw a shout out to some players from the Caverns of Xaskazien Discord channel, who not only provided a lot of useful bug reports, but also some incredible ideas for ways to improve the game. Yard, Monkooky, Gokudera ElPsyCongroo and yaynitz, thank you for the feedback, much of which has been incorporated here! (And if I missed anyone, I apologize! There were a lot of messages to scroll back through!)
You can download the game (or just the latest patch, if you need it) here: https://virtua-sinner.itch.io/caverns-of-xaskazien-ii
Here’s what’s new:
Major Improvements:
- New game concept: Scrolls can now sometimes be reusable - the higher your Runic Lore skill, the greater the chance that a Scroll survives usage. This was done to make Scrolls more useful and Runic Lore more worthwhile to spend Skill Points on.
- New game concept: Prayers can now sometimes be reusable - the higher your Piety skill, the greater the chance that a Prayer survives usage. This was done to make Prayers more useful and Piety more worthwhile to spend Skill Points on.
- Re-instated Class: Spearman.
- New Perks: Spear Fishing, Hold at Bay, Javelineer, Pin Enemy, Spear Maintenance, Probe the Ground, Receive Charge.
- New Map Tiles: Manacled Prisoner, Silver Web, Corpse Filled Pit, Corpse Filled Pit Trap, Pit with Animal Carcass, Pit Trap with Animal Carcass, Frigid Water Filled Pit, Frigid Water Filled Pit Trap, Icy Bottomed Pit, Icy Bottomed Pit Trap, Dwarven Temple.
- New Spells: Cremation (Cantrip), Solidify Spirit, Feeblemind, Pyrotechnics (Monsters can cast, too).
- New Event: Refreshing Rain.
- New Monster Variant: Mad-Dancing Satyr.
- Redid High Score screen to better fit imagery and themes of the current game.
- Redid graphic for Brute to make it fit better with the current aesthetic.
Minor Improvements:
- Changed effect of Brevalia Day to instead grant you Regeneration for 10 turns. This was done both because its effect felt underwhelming for a holiday, and because I wanted to use its old effect for the new Refreshing Rain event.
- Rarely, large open bodies of Water, Lava or Acid may now have Stalagmites rising from within them. This will never block passage, but should add some interesting aesthetics and occasional tactical choices.
- Cause Disease spell will now automatically cause a random Disease rather than having only an 85% chance, to make the spell more worthwhile. This applies to the monster cast version, as well.
- On the Map screen, Known Pit Traps of all types will now be visually distinct from Open Pits of all types.
- In the standard view, Stone Golem Assembly Tables and Steel Ant Assembly Tables will now be visually distinct from Homunculus Assembly Tables.
- Unpowered Golem Assembly Tables of any type will now have a separate graphic from their powered variant, in addition to having the lighting effect change they always had.
- Non-flying NPCs and monsters of at least Standard Intelligence are now 83.33% less likely to wander onto Mine Tracks, to help keep them safer from errant Mine Carts.
- Potion of Fire Breath has been changed in the way it works. It used to give a 75% chance to cause 75 to 150 Heat damage to the monster in your square but a 25% chance of killing you outright. It now causes Heat damage equal to between 25% and 50% of your Max Health, with a 90% chance of causing that damage to the monster in your square and a 10% chance of causing it to you instead. This should make the potion a lot more survivable if you drink it unwittingly, and still keep it a useful tool against enemies.
- Updated manual to make it clear that monsters, regardless of intelligence, cannot see Friendly Traps and will not take specific efforts to avoid them.
- Included a new Loading Screen tip to the same effect, as well as several other new Loading Screen tips.
- Also updated manual to include the info on the new rules surrounding Scrolls and Prayers.
- Soldiers no longer start with a Tomato and Bandage but instead with a Wooden Buckler, to better compliment their starting skill of Blocking.
- Using Holy Water against an Undead or Diabolic monster is now considered a Good act.
- Using Unholy Water against a Person or Animal is now considered an Evil act.
- Updated queries of Desperation spell, Desperation Spellbook, Staff of Desperation and Desperation Scroll to make clear that the spell will have no effect on Xaskazien.
- Expanded the Damning Prophecy event text slightly to make clearer the psychological damage the prophecy wreaks.
- Successfully charming a monster with the Recruit Goblinoid perk, Animal Friends perk, Demonic Control perk, Gather Minions perk, Friend of Nature perk or with a Diadem of Rulership will now scroll the word “Charm” above your character.
- Unsuccessfully charming a monster with the Recruit Goblinoid perk, Animal Friends perk, Demonic Control perk, Gather Minions perk, Friend of Nature perk or with a Diadem of Rulership will now scroll the words “Charm” and “Fail” above your character, and with Text Prompts set to Basic, will also inform you textually in the Bottom Bar.
- Sleeping monsters can no longer break free from shackles.
- Changed query of Magic Sensitive/Magic Seeking/Magic Finding jewellery from “+X% chance found armaments are Magic” to “+X% chance found Weapons and Armour are Magic” to keep the effect clearer.
- Expanded description of Mirrors to elaborate on what Doppelgangers are, so you can make an informed decision if you don’t know.
- Open Bottomless Pits will now play the Lair sound effect, keyed to distance, to help players realize they’re upcoming and not blindly stumble into them.
- All Undead are no longer just “Immune to Smoke Inhalation” but “Immune to Inhalant Gases” meaning they won’t be harmed by such squares, and should freely enter such squares without hesitation.
- Made all Glyphs two-toned to stand out a little better and just to look more attractive.
- Rafts, Row Boats, Dragon Boats, Mine Carts and Gnomish Bores should now be visible on the mini-map, provided you have line of sight to them, with faded graphics representing if they’re broken.
- Cult Temple will now be visually distinct from the normal Temple on the mini-map since the Temple is such an important square.
- Listed Miracles in the Religion Tab will now be grayed out if their Faith cost is greater than your available Faith.
- Listed Spells in any of the Spell Tabs will now be grayed out if either their Spell Point cost or Intelligence requirement are greater than what you have.
- Tripled the chance that players shed disease on entering a new map. This means Disease Resistance skill, in addition to its 25/50/75% chance to not catch a disease in the first place, now provides a 15/30/45% chance to shed each disease on entering a new map. Dwarves now have an innate 30% chance to shed diseases on reaching a new map (instead of 10%) and all enchantments/Magic Items that increase odds of shedding disease have also had their odds increased. This was done to make Disease Resistance a more useful and desirable skill.
- When querying a Weapon, its Strength or Dexterity requirements will be written in red if you don’t currently meet them.
- When querying any kind of Armour, its Strength requirement will be written in red if you don’t currently meet it.
- When querying any known Spell, its Intelligence requirement will be written in red if you don’t currently meet it.
- Cleaned up clumsily worded text accompanying prompt to enter Hot Halls.
- Frost Breath had its Spell Point Cost and Intelligence Requirement lowered from 20 to 15, to keep it in line with value of other spells.
- Sparks had its Spell Point Cost and Intelligence Requirement lowered from 25 to 20, to keep it in line with value of other spells.
- Absorb Life Energy had its Spell Point Cost and Intelligence Requirement lowered from 35 to 30, to keep it in line with value of other spells.
- Demonic Assistants and Demonic Congress spells both now have a 10% chance of immediately dropping your Spell Points to zero instead of having their normal effect, to help curb their overwhelming power as spells.
- Scholars now start with an Absorb Life Energy Scroll instead of a Candelabra, since the Candelabra isn’t super useful on Dung. Level 1, and they need a little extra survivability early on.
- Duellists now additionally start with a Broken Bottle equipped as a second weapon, to allow them to take advantage of their Dual Wielding capability right out of the gate.
- Envy can now only be used once per NPC, to curb its abusiveness.
- Monsters that are Flaming because of a Flame Augmenter, monsters that are Burning or monsters that are Frozen will now always be visible to Infravision, even if they normally don’t give off a heat signature.
- The chance of Knockout Blow perk taking effect has been dropped from 15%/30%/45% to 10%/20%/30% because it was overpowered.
- Sleeping Monsters who are affected in any noticeable way (taking damage from any source, gaining any status effect, being relocated by teleportation) will now immediately awaken.
- Neither the player nor monsters will slide from Grease or while on Ice if they’re sleeping, because as funny as that was, it didn’t make sense for a stationary being to be shooting in random directions and because it frankly complicated matters behind the scenes.
- While asleep, the player and monsters now have no chance to dodge pendulums.
- If the player is asleep and is affected in any noticeable way (taking damage from any source, gaining any negative status effect, being visted by a deity, etc.) they will now immediately awaken.
- Detect Treasure has been changed to a Mid Power spell costing 45 Spell Points, to help curb its overwhelming power.
- Players will not be able to see beyond their current square or hear any sound effects while inside any kind of Wall now (via a Wall Pass effect). This was done both for flavour and because the Wall Pass effect is pretty darned powerful for a very low cost. You also cannot look at your mini-map while inside a wall.
- When generating procedural maps, all Frigid or Frozen squares adjacent to Lava will be converted to normal temperature variants, solely to avoid the cognitive dissonance of something next to lava remaining cold.
- Updated text in query of Mine Carts to take into account the speed of the Mine Cart when describing your chance of entering. (So instead of saying “If you move onto a square containing a Mine Cart...” it might now say, “If you move onto a square containing a Slow Mine Cart...”)
- When a liquor barrel runs dry it will now make the sound of the barrel being removed and placed on the ground.
- Cauldrons now have a unique background noise that can be heard if in earshot.
- Standardized text output of entering Hot Coals to read “Hot Coals!” as the top line.
- Capitalized “Stalagmites” in the death phrase, “Impaled by stalagmites.”
- If you die by materializing inside Cave Columns it will no longer give you the death phrase, “Impaled by Stalagmites” but instead, “Perforated by Cave Columns.” Also it will no longer output in the bottom bar that you’ve been impaled on Stalagmites, but Cave Columns instead.
- All NPCs are now considered Persons, which means spells like Animate Dead, and miracles like Create Ghoul or Create Vampire will work on their corpses.
- Added red letter calculation of your odds of becoming paralyzed to queries of Netted Pits and Known Netted Pit Traps.
- If any Weapon/ArmouMagic Ring/Magic Amulet/Magic Item is beyond a player’s ability to use because of a lack of the appropriate level of skill (or ongoing mastery spell effect) its Type will be listed in red when queried.
- The Vestonian miracle called Prayer has been nerfed to only work on deactivated Good Shrines, instead of ANY Shrine, both for thematic purposes, and because it could get really abusive if you had a lot of Faith and found the right shrine (like a Fivriaskan Shrine, for instance).
- Dracones are now sub-classified as Spirits, since they’re semi-transparent, intangible, undead beings (and they always should have been so classed). (This means they can also now be summoned via the Call Spirit spell).
- Shield of Caleese will no longer play the healing sound if it should heal you but you don’t need healing.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed serious error causing you to lose no Faith points when casting Act of Destruction.
- Fixed serious error causing Defile miracle to cost no Faith Points.
- Fixed bug in former Brevalia Day event which now applies to the new Refreshing Rain event, preventing the event from removing Greasy status or Insect Swarm status.
- Fixed bug that could occur when a Satyr was attacked by another monster, sometimes causing the Satyr to confuse itself instead of its opponent.
- Fixed error using wrong graphic in the casting of Dismiss Spirit spell if the monster resisted the spell. (Also fixed error that might have affected sound effect playback for the spell there too).
- Fixed errors in the player casting Cause Disease against a monster or a monster casting Cause Disease against another monster that would not let the spell cause Insanity in the target if the target already had Restain Fugue.
- Fixed error when a monster cast Cause Disease at you that would have no effect if the randomly chosen disease was Insanity.
- Fixed bug not allowing monsters to cast Hose Down at other monsters.
- Fixed ancient code that guaranteed Rakshasas would resist all spells even if their Magic Resistance was somehow reduced. Also removed this old code where they were resisting things they should no longer be allowed to resist under current rules (like certain potion effects).
- Fixed error allowing Stunning Blow miracle to reduce the duration a monster is Stunned if you caused a Paralysis effect with it and the monster you stunned was already Paralyzed for a greater duration.
- Fixed bug that caused half of all Lightning Fields to function as though inoperable, even though they still appeared to be powered on. (Also re-included the Lightning Field sound effect in this update, because while it was present in the last master download, it wasn’t in the patch, which means if you patched you couldn’t hear lightning fields).
- Fixed error where the Speed stat wasn’t being displayed in green when querying monsters who had had their Speed artificially increased beyond normal by a special monster.
- Fixed bug labelling both a certain mid-power and high-power weapon enchantment “of Willpower.” The high power enchantment retains that label, but the mid-power enchantment will now be labelled as “of Self-Control.”
- Fixed text overwrite in query of Goblin Warrens Lair title.
- Fixed typo in intro text to Gap Tooth Keep.
- Fixed bug introduced in last update that made it impossible for monsters that should be able to walk through walls to do so.
- Fixed bug that, when learning any non-Warrior skill from a trainer, would simply output in the bottom bar “Skill Increased!” instead of, for instance, “Cartography Skill Increased!”
- Fixed bug causing player to take damage when entering a Scattered Caltrops square while flying.
- Fixed error outputting the wrong amount of Falling damage you stand to take when you query a Hole.
- Fixed oversight allowing Demonic Control perk to charm Xaskazien.
- Fixed bugs allowing, under very rare circumstances, weapons or armour to remain equipped after their Condition reaches zero. Now the game checks at the start of every one of your turns, and if any of your equipped weapons or armour have zero Condition, they’re instantly unequipped.
- Fixed text overwrite in queries of unusual Fire Elementals.
- Fixed superfluous checks to see if you have a viable saved game that used to kick in as soon as you decided to either create a new character or start a new game.
- Fixed typo in entry text of Goon Lair.
- Fixed typo in query of Grease spell.
- Fixed bug preventing Lockpin’s Golden Sword from instantly killing any Golem it hits, unless that sword was your 2nd weapon equipped while dual wielding.
- Fixed bugs preventing Lockpin’s Golden Sword from auto-hitting Golems.
- Fixed bug slightly messing up sound effect when you successfully use a Ferry Dock.
- Fixed text overwrite bug when querying regular Bandits while a Bandit Chieftain is also on the level.
- Fixed bug making boats frequently spawn atop other boats, destroying the lesser boat.
- Fixed bug displaying red swirl beneath unique Succubi, even if the Succubi has yet to be identified as a non-Damsel.
- Fixed bug labelling a Gem of True Seeing as a Mid Power Magic Item when queried (which it used to be) instead of a High Power Magic Item (which it is now).
- Fixed bug labelling a Gem of Locking as a Mid Power Magic Item when queried, instead of a Low Power Magic Item which it’s always been.
- Fixed bugs allowing your queries of squares containing a Gnomish Bore, Raft, Row Boat, Dragon Boat or Mine Cart to show details of the vehicle in question, even if you couldn’t see the vehicle, tipping your hand as to its location.
- Fixed bug where successfully casting Demonic Congress claimed in the bottom bar that you would now have a 50% chance to get 1 Spell Point per turn instead of 6 as it should be.
- Fixed multiple bugs where it was unlikely but theoretically possible that a new monster could come into play already having had False Pride cast upon it.
- Fixed bug that could claim in the high score list that you’d been killed by “a Xaskazien” (instead of just “Xaskazien”).
- Fixed bugs that were incorrectly calculating your chance to dodge Pendulum Blades and incorrectly calculating the damage those Blades did when they hit.
- Fixed bug causing Guardian Ancestors perk to always only provide one use per map, regardless of how high a level the perk is.
- Fixed bugs that made Shattering Blow and Shield Bash perks much less likely to take effect than they should be.
- Fixed bug making Shattering Blow perk less likely to take effect the greater a monster’s Acid Resistance (when that should have no effect on it).
- Fixed bug causing query of Silence spell to reveal gibberish.
- Fixed text overwrite in query of Total Reconstruction Spell Book.
- Fixed text overwrite in query of Farkle’s Redwood Armour.
- Fixed errors printing wrong bracketed benefit gained from Blessed/Exalted/Divine Armour when queried.
- Fixed errors printing wrong bracketed benefit gained from Bugfoe/Bugbane/Bug Repellant Armour when queried.
- Fixed error causing Succubi to appear as Damsels once more (and to scream for help) if you reveal them to be Succubi, then walk away and encounter them again.
- Fixed bug causing Knockout Blow perk to have no effect.
- Fixed error that would occur when spells become erased because you now have too many in your Spell Book, labelling the cause of erasure a Booby Trap instead of Too Many Spells.
- Fixed error miscalculating the amount of damage the player does to sleeping enemies.
- Fixed error allowing you to throw a Disintegration Sphere at an NPC.
- Fixed rare error where, if you cast a spell at a monster in your square and there are more than one monster in your square, it would have checked for spell resistance for each, and applied the first successful resistance it got, when the spell actually only targets the first monster in your square.
- Fixed error miscalculating the amount of Faith the player is told they would gain when querying an Onyx Altar (though the Onyx Altar itself functioned properly).
- Fixed rare error that could award the player Experience if he applied Frozen status to a monster but did not apply Burning status, and the monster thereafter died from Burning.
- Fixed bug that could allow Dwarven Cave Tribe event to happen over and over again.
- Fixed bug that could allow Prison Sentence event to happen over and over again.
- Hopefully fixed errors that could really rarely allow you to become Frozen or Burning or Electrified for a negative number of turns, with problematic consequences.
- Fixed omission of fact when querying a Wand of Extinguishing that it will remove Burning status from you and all adjacent monsters.
- Fixed error rarely allowing Xaskazien to die by standing in a Flame and then not giving the victory to the player.
- Fixed error sometimes reporting to characters that they had successfully lock picked a door by using a lockpick which they didn’t actually possess.
- Fixed error preventing Poison Gas Cloud spell targeting highlight from disappearing if you abort the spell cast.
- Fixed error causing Lastaviark’s Blessing miracle to kick you out of the Blessing side screen if you try to bless a Weapon that already has a suffix enchantment.
- Fixed errors with Lastaviark’s Blessing, Identify, Hone Weapon and Bless Armour miracles that would still cost you the Faith points, even if you aborted the miracle.
- Fixed oversight allowing Chests revealed by Detect Treasure (and Nose For Gold) to come into play with any level of Booby Trap attached (instead of a Dungeon Level appropriate trap, as it should have been).
- Fixed bug not letting Revitalize miracle take effect if the only debuffs you were currently afflicted with were either Greasy or Swarmed.
- Fixed bug not providing the option for Wandering Clerics to remove your afflictions if the only debuffs you were currently afflicted with were either Greasy or Swarmed.
- Fixed error causing Mimic to once again appear as an Object as soon as you fight a second round of combat against it.
- Fixed error causing Giant Ant Lion to appear as if under the earth again as soon as you fight a second round of combat against it.
- Fixed pluralization errors in text output of a successful cast of Summon Insects or Insect Plague (“The monster will be engulfed in poison insects for 1 turns!”)
- Fixed error scrolling the amount of spell points you lost in green lettering instead of purple when you read a Cursed Scroll of Spell Drain.
- Fixed error preventing you from winning if Xaskazien is killed when you try to set an Explosive Trap and accidentally trigger it.
- Fixed errors that occurred when you tried to set and accidentally triggered on yourself a Poison Gas Trap Kit, Explosive Trap Kit, Flame Trap Kit, Sleeping Gas Trap Kit, Paralyzing Gas Trap Kit, Stench Cloud Trap Kit, Web Trap Kit, Falling Caltrops Trap Kit, Acidic Vapour Trap Kit, Smoke Trap Kit or Steam Burst Trap Kit, treating the resulting hazard squares as though the Player had intentionally created them (and resulting in the player being awarded the experience if a monster died as a result). You gaining Experience is the intended result if a monster triggers the trap, but not if you accidentally trigger it on yourself.
- REALLY fixed bug this time that I thought I fixed in the last update, leaving the Temple of Temptation Legendary Land without a Temple.
- Fixed bug still using old graphic for Weapon Merchant Corpse.
- Fixed text overwrite in query of Thieves Guild Master.
- Fixed pluralization error when Genra drains Spell Points (“The Genra drains 1 Spell Points!”)
- Fixed same errors with weapons of Absorption/Empowerment/Spell Drain, Sceptre of Mist Fingers and Greenleaf Sickle.
- Fixed further errors causing Webs of any type not to break when monsters leave them.
- Fixed bugs not taking into account Gauntlets of Swimming when printing odds of drifting or drowning while querying squares.
- Fixed errors causing unidentified Scrolls of Meteor Strike, Cleave Soul, Brain Burn and Shatter Mind to not be used up when you cast them without a viable target, provided your Runic Lore skill was at least Basic.
- Fixed erroneous info in query of the Vestonian miracle called Prayer, claiming it worked on Altars, too, when it actually only worked on Shrines.
- Fixed errors with Blink spell, Teleport spell, Blink Trap, Stray Sod event, Spatial Distortion event, and teleportation via Imp that could, if triggering while you’re in a Chasm of any kind, make you fall back in when you should have been teleported out.
- Fixed text overwrite in query of Message From the Ethers Spell Book.
- Fixed bug with Mad God’s Whim miracle that could transform monsters into dead versions of other monsters.
- Fixed bug with Mad God’s Whim miracle that wasn’t outputting the text it was supposed to, to tell you what you’d transformed the monster into.
- Fixed bug making it only possible to place Iron Walls in BSP Room style dungeons. Now they can be placed in any style dungeon except original and cellular automata (so they won’t be placed in natural cave environs).
- Fixed bug that could freeze the game during maze generation while it was trying to place Iron Walls.

Warning: long.
When I was little, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the world kind of crashed down on our family. Two suicide attempts led to my mother's lengthy hospitalizations. Mental illness, alcoholism, and more made the parents less able to fulfill functions. Yet, as a family, they, my three siblings and I found that word games were a space where we could all meet and have fun. My parents loved words and gave us that love. It was if everything else was suspended for the length of a game. Very special.
Our favorite was Sark, a word game played with cards, golf pencils (no erasing allowed!), and scoresheets, which when we ran out our Dad copied on an early Kodak copier at work and spiral bound to make special.
Sark was published in 1949 in Rochester, NY, by Owens-Krass company ("Sark" sort of Krass backwards we realized a month ago after 60+ years of knowing this game lol) and over the years disappeared.
In the 1990s, my eldest sister uncovered an original box (heavily loved) and made us sets. But tough to play as a family when we were all over the place and the Internet barely nascent. Then, last year, she was cleaning out their house for a move and found another. I had a little money thanks to a COVID real estate boom sale and thought, "why not make it an app? Then we can play from anywhere and share it with others!"
After horrible experiences as a rank amateur finding developers for prior potential apps, I managed to via serendipity to hit the jackpot with a very professional, off the charts skilled, and personable developer and his team. Nine months later, Sark launched Mar. 9, 2023.
Now, my sister is #1 on the leaderboard in total points, and her daughter (my beloved niece), her husband, and one of her sons play with mom/grandmothemother-in-law, me and my husband (the guncles), from our homes in the US and Europe. Note: the 11 year-old grandnephew is a hilarious trash talker and teaches us new acronyms (hubby had to ask but even I knew "nvmd" ;-))
My "marketing" has consisted of sitting at a table in our town during spring break, humorously corralling people with "do you play word games on your phone?" (target market--so fun! met amazing people of all ages) a half dozen social media posts, and $300 ad spend on Tik Tok and Insta/FB. Am revving up the marketing engine after having recovered from the launch.
The only mention of Sark I've ever found on the web was a photo of an old game box and someone's typed list of the game rules on boardgamegeek.com. Until launch, I had never known anyone outside of our family to play it or know of it. Then at launch, a friend of my husband saw my first post and said it took him back to playing it at the family cabin in Minnesota! You know, one of those much-used games you'd have in such places. Warmed my heart.
Please find the info and download links for Sark in the App Store and Google Play at sarkgame.com Thank you and I would love any feedback.
Reddit says at the top to use something called the "Showcase flair" but the Flair drop down below is greyed out and my Google searches and Reddit help searches haven't...helped...so please forgive this newbie and I am open to...help.
Note: All done legally, legal advice on staff.
Tom Jacobs ("Kriksis"), Marfa, TX

Hi all, glad to see you all here! I’ve been using Reisner scorecards for I’m guessing about a decade , but would finally like to get better at using project scoresheet coding. Up to now I’ve just been using my own shorthand. I see David Cortesi put together a 30 page pdf called “scoring a baseball game the project scoresheet way” back in 2001 but it seems to no longer be available. Anyone know where this can be downloaded or have suggestions on a thorough primer on how to score using project scoresheet notation? (Note, I have Reisner’s brief overview but have found there are a number of situations not covered). Thanks everyone, and hope you all have a great season scoring.

• BETA 12: ENCRYPTED COMMS

Welcome to Beta 12! Embrace the new Scrap Engine to create unique parts by feeding it other items, and explore significantly expanded Garrisons with major new rewards.
With the huge Beta 11 already completing our full balance pass and turning out quite well, Beta 12 is just the first step towards many new features to come in what is essentially our second "post-1.0 cycle." Although originally planned to include one brand new map, the Beta 12 concept was then expanded to two maps, then three maps, and in the meantime patrons voted for a Garrison expansion... That became a big deal on its own, so what I've done here is package up a separate Garrison + Scrap Engine update to release early, allowing you all to play with these features while I get back to working on all the content related to the new faction(s?). Technically I've already built a sizeable chunk of one of the new maps, but want to at least offer it together with a second map which has yet to be created.
But enough about the future, let's talk about what's playable now in Beta 12!

Expanded Garrisons and ???

The first stop on our so-called "detour" I mentioned in my announcement last October is the new Garrison design. There's a whole article about those I've pointed to before, detailing how they're put together, and some of what that design means for gameplay.
Hacking a Garrison registry to get All The Intel (yes, Garrisons can even have hackable Terminals in them now!):

• Download(Registry)

The core layout should be familiar if you've set foot inside one before, but aside from a few new base layouts, the focus is really on integrating a variety of localized encounters, some good, some not so good, some risky. Sometimes you may even stumble across big events in there...
In the past, RIF (bothacking) builds have always been the most likely to visit Garrisons, often infiltrating many across a single run, so that alone is a good enough reason to improve Garrison variety. And in that vein we have new robot hacks (now up to 72), a new RIF ability (Code Merge, mmmm...), and even a new type of coupler (I won't spoil the surprise on that one, but it's huge).
But now aside from RIF builds I'm sure we'll be seeing just about any type of build willing to go into a Garrison under the right circumstances as part of new meta strategies, since doing so can earn favor with one of the other major factions. I've always wanted to make that connection, and expanding Garrison was the perfect opportunity to do just that, hence the introduction of the new utility after which this release happens to be named: Encrypted Comm Array (ECA).

• ECA

Whether it's just one or two Garrisons, or many of them, getting in there and destroying stuff will make a certain robot very happy (if you know who I mean), and this will in turn open up new doors as you progress... One of the most obvious direct benefits you'll get is access to allies who you can track down and join up with to aid you in various ways, be it fighting at your side, repairing your parts, or even hacking terminals.
My most recent stream happens to be doing an "ECA run," although due to a royal screw up on my part we don't acquire the necessary tools until the end of that particular stream, which I'll be continuing next week. (Another screw up: The audio balance on that stream was completely off for the first segment, having accidentally used the wrong settings from a previous setup and only later being notified and adjusted it to achieve proper results xD) It also happens to be a full melee run, albeit a very non-optimal one, but evading and bashing things is fun? :D
For the RIF challenged, new types of Garrison intel could come in handy assuming you can't bring down a Phase Generator to use your own infowar utilities, like locating all the Phase Walls:

• Access(Emergency)

The Scrap Engine

It's here.

• Scrap Engine

Now you, too, can feed the engine in an attempt to influence what parts it creates for you, right on your core. The Scrap Engine introduces a whole new build type, and as such requires new strategies aimed at taking advantage of your strengths while avoiding exposing your weaknesses. It is very strong, but getting the most out of it requires a high level of "dedication" in your build--at the extreme end, become an almost unstoppable force of metal and might at the expense of funneling your build into a narrower set of tactical options.

• "Flak Accelerated Rail Construct"

In short, it vacuums up many types of parts to generate "constructs" in your empty slots, so picking what to feed it, and when, are key to success. There's a lot to learn about guiding its creative potential...
You can read a lot more about its features in the dedicated article. All you really need to know now, however, is how to acquire this thing in the first place.
The way you will normally find the Scrap Engine has not yet been added, so for now it spawns on the floor right at the entrance when you arrive in Recycling (sounds fitting, yeah? :D). It appears there because Recycling will indeed be the map in which it's found later, albeit not right at the entrance. Currently there is only one reliable route to reach Recycling, via Storage, so in this version you'll have to head that way if you want to try your hand at building constructs, but soon there will be a new second route to access that area... all of that's coming in Beta 13.
Other contents of Recycling itself have also changed, in preparation for what else is coming off in those parts... For one, the Spotters are gone o_O
Among the QoL things you'll notice while using the Scrap Engine, "edible" resources intermittently blink white while in view and the engine itself is in COLLECT mode:

• Suck 'em up!

And a list of your Scrap Engine's current contents (the items it will use to build new constructs) appears over the left side of the map any time you toggle it, or feed it a new item:

• Yummy!

Effective use of the Scrap Engine will require experimentation and observation, especially when you're just starting out. I suggest you feed it some armor sooner rather than later ;)

RIF and Bothacking

As said, of course RIF users will enjoy the added variety on their many Garrison visits, making diving more fun and interesting both with new challenges and rewards. You'll quickly note that RIF Installers may be a little harder to find since they can appear anywhere now:

• RIF Installers can appear in some interesting places...

At the same time, once you've found the first, subsequent installers won't be so difficult to locate since you can ping them from a distance:

• Ping that Installer!

(...assuming you're doing it to actually install the RIF system rather than... gasp blow them up)
And in the rewards category, you can even find more than one installer in the same Garrison!
I'm sure bothackers will also enjoy the new coupler type and RIF ability, and can rejoice at the removal of [ARC] couplers, which had their slots in the pool replaced by [Specialist] (those being more common now given Heavy activity) while ARCs can now be hacked using regular [NC] couplers, and even fully controlled (including their contents!) if you have that much power.
purge_threat was also restored to its original (cheaper) cost (10, yay!), now that I had more time to implement the true intended effect of repeatedly using it: diminishing returns.

Little and Not-so-Little Things

So that brings you up to speed on Beta 12's key content, but there's more! Actually there's still the full changelog so let's have a look at that...
Cogmind Beta 12 "Encrypted Comms" (230303) changelog:

• NEW: 30 new encounters
• NEW: 11 new items (including new mechanics)
• NEW: 1 new derelict robot class (multiple variants)
• NEW: 3 new Terminal hacks
• NEW: 1 new unauthorized Terminal hack
• NEW: 1 new RIF ability
• NEW: 1 new Relay Coupler type
• NEW: 2 new robot hacks: emergency_deploy, formatsys_deep
• NEW: 3 new build type descriptors
• NEW: 1 new corruption effect
• NEW: 1 new scoresheet entry
• NEW: 1 new ambient machine track
• NEW: 25 new sound effects (total = 1123)
• NEW: Multiple lore entries related to new content
• NEW: Expanded Active Sensor Suite activity paths to include all maps and prefabs
• NEW: Exposed earth cells make use of background color to help differentiate from walls in ASCII mode
• NEW: Garrisons redesigned with new map generation algorithm including many encounters and events
• NEW: Major new way to use Garrisons to interact with a particular faction, without RIF (new mechanics and effects across multiple maps)
• NEW: RIF enables pinging of nearby RIF Installer locations
• NEW: Pinging a new special machine location via RIF or other capabilities automatically blocks movement for a moment
• NEW: Recycling entrance area includes free access to Scrap Engine (placeholder acquisition method)
• NEW: ECM Suites also prevent alert increases caused by 0b10 pursuers losing track of Cogmind
• NEW: Derelict Wizard class includes terminal hacking AI behavior under certain circumstances
• NEW: Additional AI behaviors during particular large-scale battle in Research
• NEW: Extended game major NPC data core contains additional map information
• NEW: Some derelict classes capable of moving through Twisted Machinery
• NEW: Item info window explicitly lists Chunk count for AOE damage, which may not always be 1~3
• NEW: Gallery data exporting includes explosion arc values for applicable weapons
• NEW: Tearclaw descriptions indicate they ignore armor
• NEW: On-map popup shows in white when attached part rejected due to system corruption
• NEW: More detailed old save incompatibility detection and help system
• NEW: Options for reporting on botnet effectiveness (advanced.cfg: reportBotnetSupportedSuccess/reportBotnetInsufficientFailure)
• NEW: [Polymind mode] Hosts require 1~2 turns to reboot after being released
• NEW: [Player 2 mode] Additional situations with more dialogue lines (total = 789)
• MOD: RIF Installers placed randomly instead of always near Garrison entrance or exit
• MOD: Having RIF installed no longer immune to "Garrison interior compromised" alert
• MOD: Alert increases from Garrison interior compromised effect slower to kick in, but rate increases over long term
• MOD: purge_threat cost decreased (15->10), has diminishing effect with each successive use on a single map
• MOD: Removed Relay Coupler [ARC]
• MOD: Relay Coupler [Specialist] more common
• MOD: Relay Coupler and Authchip descriptions listing multiple robot classes now order them alphabetically
• MOD: Heavies no longer call sensor-based reinforcements while aware of Cogmind's precise position
• MOD: GOLEM Unit activation never triggers within 5 turns
• MOD: Deep Caves wall more proactive if chambers disturbed
• MOD: Removed one potential Shearcannon source
• MOD: ARC storage type changed from Large to High-capacity
• MOD: Mechanic class built-in inventory capacity increased from 10 to 12
• MOD: Mass info no longer listed for unidentified items
• MOD: Some multislot treads not quite as common
• MOD: All VSS Leg coverage reduced (60->50)
• MOD: Imp. Q-Thruster support increased from 8 to 9, base speed reduced from 35 to 40
• MOD: Cmb. Linear Gravjet support reduced from 17 to 14
• MOD: GOLEM parts and installation of backup parts do not trigger Lightpack effect
• MOD: Wall/door destruction at a depth of -10/-9 in 0b10-controlled areas increases influence by 1
• MOD: Ranged robots no longer proactively back away from melee-equipped hostiles while standing in an open doorway
• MOD: Scrapyard renamed to Junkyard
• MOD: Adjustments to certain Mines layouts
• MOD: Operators/Mechanics no longer always start immediately adjacent to their assigned interactive machine
• MOD: Research branch firing range encounter no longer allows victims to attack one another if only some assimilated
• MOD: Zion more reactive to potentially hostile actions
• MOD: Zion defenses no longer infinite
• MOD: Data Miner now has Disruption immunity
• MOD: Propulsion of the same category may not always have the same Mod/Extra speed modifier (updated stat context help)
• MOD: Recycling defensive measures replaced
• MOD: Updated several lore entries to reflect changes to Recycling
• MOD: Expanded conditions under which Decoy Drones might self-destruct
• MOD: Latent Energy Streamer special behavior indicated as part of description in part info window, rather than under Effect header
• MOD: Several events with disabled bots no longer include possibility of Programmer class
• MOD: Updated large robot AI around blocking terrain
• MOD: Part auto-replacement system allows power sources of different subtypes to be swapped with each other if swap is desirable for other reasons
• MOD: Updated "Rincewind" achievement description to be more specific in light of NEM artifact
• MOD: Switched Toggle part auto-activation hotkey from F10 to Ctrl-F10
• MOD: [Player 2 mode] Player 2 ignores Fusion Compressors
• MOD: [Player 2 mode] "Corrupted" prefix not shown for items listed in Player 2 loadout
• MOD: [Polymind mode] Suspicion reduction from attacking 0b10 enemies restricted to more reasonable applicable scenarios
• MOD: [Polymind mode] Stasis bubble strength transferred between host and Cogmind where applicable
• FIX: Wall/door destruction in -10/-9 increased influence by 3 instead of 0 due to regression in Beta 11 [aoemica]
• FIX: Particular broken NPC might be given a line of dialogue in a certain extended game scenario (spoilers) [aoemica]
• FIX: Crash during rare Shearcannon-related NPC event if targeting its own position [aoemica]
• FIX: Scoresheet Last Messages section could include player notes [aoemica]
• FIX: [Polymind mode] Gunslinging by 0b10 bots could choose to target Cogmind even if unsuspicious [aoemica]
• FIX: Ablative armor flashed while at 200 heat, despite its description stating it doesn't take effect until rising above that level [aoemica]
• FIX: Interactive machines in extended game map were locked instead of disabled after major event [aoemica]
• FIX: Beta 9 update unintentionally dumbed down extended game major NPC during certain combat situations [aoemica]
• FIX: Swapping positions with stationary FOV-sharing drones did not update their FOV until a later visible action forced an FOV update [R-26 Lightspeed]
• FIX: [Polymind mode] Assimilating targets via hacking-capable host caused them to always share FOV with Cogmind [R-26 Lightspeed]
• FIX: Fabnet effect audio played globally regardless of map position [R-26 Lightspeed]
• FIX: Beta 11 Watcher Feeds AI targeting update also caused hostiles to ignore assimilated Watchers [R-26 Lightspeed]
• FIX: Item search window scrolled in opposite direction if using LMB on darkened item [ktur]
• FIX: Item search window could crash while attempting to scroll in some situations [ktur]
• FIX: Scoresheet could increment Reinforcement squad tally even if none was able to be dispatched in a certain extended map [leiavoia]
• FIX: Using full or partially loaded Trap Extractors moving over free nonmatching trap items would attempt to collect them [leiavoia]
• FIX: Prefabs might create door into adjacent room, which could later be blocked by a different prefab-placed machine [gammafunk]
• FIX: In rare cases certain actions during the Mines cave-in event could cause numerous excavation squad dispatches over a long period [Lumberblack]
• FIX: Context help for robot DORMANT state still indicated hacking was possible [nogimagogi]
• FIX: Context help for weapon Arc stat reworded to clarify projectile mechanics [Benkyo]
• FIX: Derelict-infiltrated ambush traps could exist in Research branches [Infomantis]
• FIX: Updating from certain older versions to newer versions with a run in progress could delete an older primary save file, leaving only backups [2zz423]
• FIX: Hard Hitter achievement could be earned indirectly by triggering Z-Power destruction [Paperbell, DeadlyBlueApples]
• FIX: Mechanics could complete repair tasks on target no longer affiliated with them if conditions met prior to faction change [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: Repairing or Scanalyzing a Broken part at a machine could break it again [JackNine]
• FIX: Crash due to replicating Broken LC Capacitor [Boris]
• FIX: In rare cases a patrol initially present on new map may remain stationary until certain unlikely conditions met [Youngster]
• FIX: Typos [Eltons Kuns, aoemica, lyra]
• FIX: New Control(Release) special hack missing from scoresheet records affected recording of some other extended-game spoiler hacks
• FIX: Relay Coupler [NC] description missing Minesweepers from list of applicable targets
• FIX: Attached broken multislot parts fixed by a Recalibrator did not update their "Broken" prefix for additional slots automatically
• FIX: Potential crash during system corruption IFF burst if passing turns while Cogmind offscreen near right/bottom map edges
• FIX: DSF deliveries could stack a cache on top of existing items
• FIX: Dying to a Fire trap caused game over screen to report death by cave-in
• FIX: [Polymind mode] Crash on taking control of Programmer host while default info panel already open

Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 12, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 11.2 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.
Regarding save compatibility, Beta 12 actually comes with a more helpful detection and notification system which will display a log message like so:

• Sample save version notice

(If you're not using the Steam version it would leave out the Steam-specific part, since updating is manual anyway.)
Cogmind always keeps your old save files, even in the event of an automatic update on Steam, so finishing a run from an earlier version is as simple as switching your branch to the one indicated (as read from the save file version). For example:

• Cogmind Branches on Steam

In pretty picture updates, the Active Sensor Suite first introduced back in Beta 11 alongside a bunch of other new infowar utilities has had its "desire path" data fully fleshed out!

• A.S.S. desire path sample, in a branch!

All the main 0b10-controlled maps already had the majority of their paths set based on existing procgen content, but many outlying branch maps rely on heavy use of prefabs which, even though placed procedurally, also needed to specify just what kinds of realistic paths they might contain, and therefore how they might link to other parts of the map. This process involved revisiting hundreds of prefabs to manually place markers in order to help define paths that reflect the activity one might expect in these areas.
It's now done, making the Active Sensor even more useful than before, while also helping bring outlying areas to life from a different viewpoint.
The above example shows full Active Sensor data for a larger Proximity Cave base linked to an 0b10 outpost deeper in the caves, and below you can see an interesting scenario I came across that shows path activity generated for a small Warlord outpost linked to some of their guards nearby in the caves:

• Desire path sample #2

As one might expect, there's room for environmental storytelling out there, too.
ASCII mode also got some prettification in the new rendering style for earth cells, which make use of a background color, although technically the impetus there wasn't aesthetics, but a need to visually differentiate cave walls from earth in that mode. (Tiles didn't need this, since that mode uses separate tiles for each anyway.) See here:

• Earth cells: Tiles vs ASCII
• Doing various things to expose or view earth tiles.
• Okay where we really needed the distinction was in the caves...

There weren't many more item adjustments in Beta 12, since Beta 11 took care of that with a comprehensive review, although we have a few stragglers that got tweaked. ECM Suites were buffed for stealth-minded Cogminds, while one of the top-tier flight units (Imp. Q-thrusters) got a 12% increase in support, and the only top-tier non-prototype hover (Cmb. Linear Gravjet) had its support dropped by 18% to bring it in line with the tech behind it. (Use the lower-tier Cmb. Antigrav System to fill the more heavy-support hover role, albeit without the linear hover speed.) Another notable propulsion update: Late-game multislot treads were way too commonly found just lying around, especially given how much they've been buffed over the years as even more types were added (technically increasing prevalence further), so they are generally a little more rare now to bring them back in line.
Overall balance is looking good, though, which is great because it confirms the foundation is ready for yet more exploration of interesting new mechanics :)
Beta 12 also brings a fair number of AI modifications, some specific to certain areas or events, but also a few applied more generally. Of particular note, robots fighting in doorways will no longer back away from melee-using enemies, so to use automatic doors as a convenient temporary shield you'll just have to rely on impact weapons to send targets flying back out the door ;). You can even hook up with AIs capable of hacking machines, something they can go off and do on their own before returning to report what was learned.
In the general QoL department, if system corruption rejects a part, in addition to the several other sources of warning feedback you'll now also get a popup on the map showing the name of the item:

• Oops, there goes our spoofer...

Note we've always had the cogmindPartLossMapIndicator advanced.cfg option which could do this, but this new behavior uses a different color, and is always active.
You might enjoy one or both of the two new botnet-related settings in advanced.cfg, in order to know when your previously-installed botnets were what enabled you to succeed at a given hack, or inform you that you were close enough that you would've been successful with just a slightly bigger botnet, altogether useful for assessing how that ability fits into your overall hacking strategy (but entirely optional, and off by default).

• Botnet-enabled success!

Wiki on Cog-Minder

aoemica's ultimate Cogmind tool Cog-Minder, including robot/item/hacking/lore reference materials and a battle/build simulator, has more recently been expanded with a great wiki full of strategy info and useful tips. There are tons of screenshots showing various encounters, supporting diagrams, and more.

• Wiki page overview: "Storage"

Most of the maps are in there, with a great level of detail, but there are also plenty of wiki links and other topics that could be filled out with more info. Consider contributing if you have something to add!
Have fun playing around with Encrypted Comms! And in the meantime I appreciate the help with leaving reviews since the December Polymind update (after forgetting to remind everyone for so long xD), very helpful! I'll be analyzing Beta 11 stats to share soon enough, as usual, then be getting back to work on Beta 13. That expansion already includes several brand new robot classes and 25 new items, most with new mechanics, and that's just some of its tangential pieces--the real meat is going to be exciting stuff, as one would expect from a new major faction :)

• A preview of more to come...