New Client & Other Major Changes

[GM-Ciar]

HeRO now has a new game client, plus several other major updates!

These changes are so big that many current game files will no longer work, so we decided to do a complete overhaul of the full installer as well. This means that all players must redownload the game in order to play.

It is recommended to fully uninstall the game before reinstalling it to get rid of excess clutter. Don't forget to save your screenshots and guild emblems, though!

You can download the game from any one of these links:
Pandora Online
Google Drive
Mediafire
Mega

Below you will find a massive list of updates released with the new client, full installer and latest patch. Be sure to check the second post for additional updates!

• Client Changes
  

• Visual Changes
  
• Multiple @main chat colors are available again via different heRO exe (Yellow, Red, Blue, Purple, Green).
  
• The game cursor is now the same color as the server mascot by default.
  
• Many interface buttons and icons are now the same color as the server mascot.
  
• Menu buttons have been upgraded to be small icons.
  
• The Status Window's ATK, MATK, & other letters have been moved slightly to the left so that they don't overlap with high number displays (IE: 1,000 MATK would show up on top of the "K").
  
• The client now uses 32 bit color maps for map textures. This helps to slightly enhance how maps and lights look in the game.
  
• Screen Shake effects have been disabled for all skills until a newer client allows the usage of the /quake command.
  
• Lv 99 Aura names may have changed, so that they no longer share the same texture as Warp Portal, Deluge and First Aid. "pikapika2.bmp" should be named "auraring.bmp" and "blue_ring.tga" should be named "aurafloat.tga".
  
• The limit on 3D mobs has been removed for this client. New 3D mobs may now be used, if we had any to use!
  
• The Costume Window has been somewhat redesigned.
  
• The server logo on screenshots has been updated.
  
• The server logo on the character select screen has been updated.
  
• Headgears with animated looping visual effects are now available.
  
• Male Hairstyle #28, #59 (The Kushiel), and Female Hairstyle #78 (The Janey) can now have different colors again. There may be others which were also fixed but are not documented. Please let us know if you encounter any hairstyles which previously worked but now have limited hair color options.
  
  Visual Effect Changes
  
• New visual effects are now available (From ~980 to ~1072 total).
  
• "Animated Emitter", "Magic Floor" and "Evil's Paw" map effects may now be used.
  
  Items
  
• Miscellaneous Items can now be placed on the shortcut window. This can help make it easier to keep track of them. Please keep in mind that future client updates may drop support of this feature.
  
• Opening the inventory window after obtaining an item will now show the newly obtained item with a colored silhouette, to make them easier to find.
  
• A compare button can now be found at the bottom of the item window. You can toggle it on and right click a gear in your inventory to open its description along with the description of an item in the same slot (Right click a weapon to see the description side by side with the equipped weapon).
  
  World Map & Navigation Feature
  
• The navigation feature has been updated with all custom info dating up to approximately June 2020.
  
• The Navigation feature has received a slight design change.
  
• A 'Help' button can now explain how the navigation feature works.
  
• The Navigation feature has been integrated onto the world map. Inputting the name or partial name of a mob will highlight the maps it spawns on (Note: may not work with some custom spawns).
  
• The World Map Interface now shows a map of the Ash Vacuum, the oversea nations (Amatsu, Brasilis, etc), Lutia, and Faeheim.
  
• Clicking on a field in the world map will bring up the navigation info for that map, which includes minimap and monsters.
  
• The map now shows a list of dungeons which when clicked, allows to open the navigation window, displaying monster info.
  
• Kafra & Cool Event Warp Services are reflected in the world map, with the exception of Lutia and Faeheim Warps.
  
• Airship services are now reflected in the map as well.
  
  Party Booking
  
• The party booking feature is now available. You can post your party, level and desired area in order to recruit others who also use the feature.
  
• Custom areas, events and even battlegrounds were added to the list of party options.
  
  Quest Interface
  
• Part of the quest interface has been changed to be the same color as the server mascot.
  
• The interface now uses custom backgrounds.
  
• Clicking an item sprite listed in a quest will bring up its description.
  
• Clicking an NPC listed in a quest will cause the navigation feature to draw a path to it, if there is one.
  
• Please note that currently there are not a lot of quests listed. These will be added as time passes, but we can now finally include custom quests in this feature.
  
• Additional Quest tabs are now available. However, to make space, their names had to be shortened to the following:
  - Ac: Active
  - Pn: Pending
  - Ch: Chronicles (Allegiance Related Quests)
  - Ep: Episode Quests (Official RO Timeline)
  - Wd: World (Amatsu, Brasilis, Faeheim, Lutia, etc)
  - Ev: Event (Seasonal Quests, if any)
  - New: Mentions the latest large content release. Currently, it talks about Faeheim.
  
  Chat
  Note: Maximum character input changes were not fully documented in the past so these changes may have already existed in the previous client.
  
  
• Main, Battle, and Chat Room have a maximum character input of 234.
  
• PM box have a maximum character input of 234.
  
• NPC dialogues have a maximum character input of 4096.
  
• Sending repeated lines or sending too many messages no longer returns a warning message.
  
• Players will no longer receive the "This player is not in your friend list", or "This player is not in your guild" warning when messaged by others.

• User Interface
  
• Several corrections were made to different game messages.
  
• The "Charge" button on the character select screen has been removed.
  
• The Battleground and banking buttons have been removed from the User Interface, as our versions are custom and therefore these buttons are unnecessary to have currently.
  
• The Menu buttons (accessed via alt+v) now have been rearranged slightly.

• Commands
  The following commands are now available. Please note that these could have existed before and just not been documented:

• /eqopen - Opens or closes equipment
  
• /accept & /refuse - automatically refuse party invitations. Unknown if it works or not, currently.
  
• /clipmouse - Unknown use. If you find out what it's for let us know so we may document it!
  
• /stateinfo - Related to status icons.
  
• /battlechat - Allows or disables battleground chat?
  
• /minigame - Does nothing?
  
• /loading - Randomizes loading screens
  
• /window /wi - Snaps windows together
  
• /miss - Shows or removes "Miss" message when skills miss
  
• /guildinvite - As the name implies. On the old client, it was bugged and would kick the user offline.

• Quality of Life
  
• MATK variance in the status window now shows a tilde (~) instead of a plus symbol (+).
  
• The limit on displayed damage has been increased from 6 to 10 digits. Basically, asura strikes that deal over 999,999 damage will show the proper number. Please note that this had and still has no effect on the actual damage dealt, it only allows to show the proper numbers for high damage attacks.
  
• A cancel button was added between the "Login" and "Exit" buttons, allowing players to return to the server select screen. This has little impact on the general playerbase, but helps Test & Dev members swap between live and test servers easier.
  
• A confirmation window including will now appear when buying items from vends.
  
• Pressing Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9 now shows a variety of emotions rather than flags. These are hardcoded however and the emotions that appear cannot be changed.
  
• The Item Description window automatically stretches to accomodate an item's description, unlike before where players had to scroll up or down or manually
  enlarge it.
  
• The /aura command now instantly disables auras on screen, contrary to before where they stayed until you moved out of view and back in again.
  
• GRFs larger than 2.1 gb will no longer crash the client.
  
• The checkbox that allows showing the public your equipped gear will stay on after changing characters, but as with the previous client, it will still show gears while unchecked upon closing the game.
  
• The replay button can now be accessed directly from the hero exe rather than its previous semi-convoluted method.
  
• New NPC sprites with a view ID of 10,000+ may now be added. This is a technical update mostly for GMs reference.
  
• New items with an ID of 30,000+ may now be used. This is a technical update mostly for GMs reference.
  

• Bug Fixes
  
• /invite and /expel now work on names with spaces without requiring " ".
  
• Autotrading will no longer close the client.
  
• Logging an account that is already online will no longer close the client.
  
• Token of Siegfried now properly shows the resurrection button on the KO window.
  

• Installer Changes

• File Changes & Updates
  
• Added DLLs and other system files used in newer game clients.
  
• Added a new setup.exe
  
• Added the necessary files to fix most if not all of the graphic issues related to Nvidia (black squares on maps, pixelated sprites).
  
• The patcher has received a visual revamp!
  
  
  Homunculus AI
  
• AngeAI is now the default homunculus AI for heRO, thanks to Ange for creating it! If you would like to use the old AI, you can download it here and replace the existing AI and AI_Sakray folders with it.
  
• Homunculus now attack all targets automatically. Use alt+T to change it from passive to active mode.
  
• Homunculus now "dance" around cells to attack faster.
  
• The preset delays for homunculus skill usage is now closer to heRO's custom ones.
  
• If your homunculus is out and you don't move for a few minutes, it will automatically stop attacking to prevent AFK leveling.
  
  Quality of Life
  
• New installs now come with preset chat tabs: "Main", "PM", "Guild", "Party", "Battle", "Etc".
  
• Hotkeys are preset (0-9, qwertyuiop, asdfghjl, zxcvbnm,.) to prevent the hassle of setting them up when downloading heRO.
  
• Interface Hotkeys, Macros and Emote hotkeys are now preset as well.
  
• Mouse freedom is enabled by default (being able to move the cursor out of the RO window). You can change this via the game's setup, located in the RO folder.
  
• BGM, Sound Effects, Skill and Attack cursor snapping, and window docking are enabled by default. When muting sounds, it is highly recommended to do so by checking the mute box, not disabling it via "sound mode" as it might interfere with ingame graphics due to client interactions beyond private RO servers' control.
  
  Other Changes
  
• Added many official sprites and headgears.
  
• Removed many duplicate or unnecessary files to reduce file size, bringing the installed game down from ~2.7gb to ~2.3gb.