ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

This is something that happened to me once a while ago, but has happened consistently the last several characters I've played. In addition, other players have been reporting it in chat, but I haven't seen it on the forums (although I only checked the first two pages): Pushed zones from the server aren't showing up on the map. Bearscapes, Poosh, even the Pikataclysm and Santascape when DG was feeling like sending those out. I haven't seen them in ages.

Hypothesis: There is a long-forgotten cap on the number of zone points on the world map. Because I'm using an addon that adds new zone points (Iron Throne, Caldera, and Sludgenest for all characters), I'm hitting that cap unexpectedly.

Alternate hypothesis: The placement algorithm can fail to find a suitable location or attempt to place the portal on top of an existing portal, causing the zone to fail to show up.

In case it helps, here's an excerpt from my log file for a character that got Bearscape but couldn't find it:

Registering on level load wilderness-1 function: 0x21658478 nil
[LOG] Message from #GOLD#DarkGod#WHITE#: Grooooowwwlll. The Bearscape has come!
This is an event you got to enjoy because you were logged in at the right time, look for a portal on your worldmap!
Beware, Bears are cute but this zone might not be that easy! Level 15 recommended.

Waladil wrote:Hypothesis: There is a long-forgotten cap on the number of zone points on the world map. Because I'm using an addon that adds new zone points (Iron Throne, Caldera, and Sludgenest for all characters), I'm hitting that cap unexpectedly.

In that case, players who aren't using that addon should be able to see these zones. However, I'm not using any addons apart from the 3 that were activated by default in my version, and I haven't seen any pushed zone ever (although I regularly search the map for them when I see the note).

Waladil wrote: Alternate hypothesis: The placement algorithm can fail to find a suitable location or attempt to place the portal on top of an existing portal, causing the zone to fail to show up.

Possible.

Another thought that crossed my mind is that I usually reveal all accessible parts of the worldmap very early. If the algorithm is looking for an unrevealed tile, then it would fail in most of my games (or put the portal somewhere inaccessible). I'm not sure how likely this is though, I'm just stabbing at the dark.

When the Bearscape does appear, does it show up at one of the places where the random dungeons usually appear, or is it completely random? Also, how does it look like?

Random dungeons. And it appears even if you have revealed the tile. I had to explore to find pikataclysm once, and bearscape showed up later on. It was instantly visible on the tile already revealed.

Appearance of bearscape/poosh is a portal that looks like the portal on high peak 10. And appearance of santascape is a snowman. Lust forest is a green jungle tree thing. And Pikataclysm is a red tree.

Bumping because DG told me to while in-game.

Fixed

Can I get a "woo!"

"WOO!"

I can.