Hey Urists, Beta 24 is now live and includes the beginnings of a tutorial and audio on chargen and in the log screen. There's also a few crash fixes regarding creature variations and threading behaviour thanks to Putnam and some fixes to the audio. There's only a few little things left to clear up before Adventure Mode is ready, and one big thing (the tutorial), and then we'll be able to turn our attention back to the underlying simulation, which will generally improve both Fortress and Adventure modes. [h2]Beta 24 Patch Notes[/h2] [list] [*] Started adding tutorial (camera, movement, menu options, popups for many menus) [*] Menu sounds during character creation and the adventure log [*] Improved river and campfire audio loops [*] Can click on portrait for status [*] Hive no longer looks like clothing [*] Made string display more compatible with fan translations [*] Made threading more stable [*] Fixed modding crash involving creature variations [/list] We wanted to let you know that NOW is the time to buy copies of the game as a gift, or tell your friends who inexplicably still haven't bought it. [b]The game is 20% off right now[/b] (which it hasn't been since April), and that's as low as it's going to be for quite awhile... at least six months but maybe more. But if you're here you probably already own the game so maybe here's a more relevant tip... Caves of Qud and Tales of Maj'Eyal are also going on discount in a day or two, so you can get them for an extra 10% off if you own Dwarf Fortress, in the [url=https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/44587/Legendary_Roguelikes/]Legendary Roguelikes bundle[/url]. [h2]Guidebook[/h2] Also, Fangamer put up their preorders for the [url=https://www.fangamer.com/collections/dwarf-fortress/products/dwarf-fortress-guidebook-official]Dwarf Fortress guidebook[/url], a lovingly crafted codex of insight and tips. A perfect gift for yourself or other fans of fungal cuisine. You can also add an "Expedition Leader's Journal" for $5, which is a logbook specifically created for tracking the details of your different fortresses and worlds. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34693670/61d37c4f69ee9eb50f4be9e1134d0005c2cb613d.png[/img] [h2]Back to the Grindstone[/h2] Tarn's been away for little events like moving countries and [b]getting married[/b]! But now he's settled into his new life, and back to work on Adventure Mode. Look how happy he is! You all helped make this happen with your support for the game. Congratulations to Tarn and his love both. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34693670/f01c80038e3cf6057554a874469093394f04b2fe.png[/img] [h2]Children![/h2] Meanwhile, the artists have been busy, as usual. Carolyn has started designing the portraits for children, though It might be a bit before we see them in-game. Here you can see dwarf children on top versus the adults below. They'll need adjusted clothes since their bodies are a bit smaller, and we won't be showing in detail the injuries they can sustain, but a head-bandage should communicate quickly that they're not in good health. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34693670/c3fe2149373a00d6e5b277d5466199557d1b7d8c.png[/img] [h2]Crashing?[/h2] We know some folks are still experiencing new crashes, even though updating [url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170]C++ redistributables [/url]fixes it for most people. It's very mysterious to us but if you have any clues to share with us, please let us know, especially if the whole game exe just won't start, we'd love to know your OS details, driver setup, etc. That's all for today, but we'll see you at the next patch! Tanya, Alexandra, Kitfox and Bay 12