Artsoft Entertainment

Rocks'n'Diamonds: Really Old News


2006-06-05 · ConfEdit 1.0.1 released!

Important update: Version 1.0.0 of ConfEdit contained a problem in a configuration file [sic!] that caused the program to crash on Windows installations that does not use a "." as the decimal number separator (so that most non-English Windows versions are affected, especially those which use a comma as the decimal number separator, like German Windows systems).
Please download ConfEdit 1.0.1 directly or from the Tools & Utilities section which has this bug fixed!

2006-06-05 · ConfEdit 1.0.0 released!

Ever tried to create such fantastic level sets for Rocks'n'Diamonds with new graphics and sounds by yourself, but always had trouble and problems editing all those configuration files to define artwork with a text editor? Here's the solution (for Windows users): ConfEdit by Alan Bond!
ConfEdit is the ultimate swiss army knife for all things related to creating and modifying Rocks'n'Diamonds' level sets, artwork files and configuration files, but without most of the trouble you may have had with the "traditional" method of using a text editor like "Emacs" or "Notepad"! It's the secret weapon that was used behind the scenes for the creation of famous level sets like Snake Bite -- now everybody can use this powerful tool for his or her own level set creations!
You can find screenshots and a detailed description of all features of ConfEdit (including advanced features like an internal BASIC language for automating complex tasks) on the newly added Tools & Utilities section! For all questions regarding ConfEdit, directly contact Alan Bond using his mail address from that page, or start a thread in the help section of the web forum.
Download ConfEdit 1.0.0 directly or from the Tools & Utilities section!
Important update: If you encounter ConfEdit crashing on your machine (especially if you do not use an English version of Windows), please read the special instructions at the end of the Tools & Utilities section!

2006-03-05 · Official launch of "Martijn's Boulder Dash Fan Site"

Yesterday, Martijn Mooij has officially launched a new web site for all fans of Boulder Dash and its various clones: Martijn's Boulder Dash Fan Site
This site features a great variety of all stuff that fans of Boulder Dash, Emerald Mine or Supaplex (or Rocks'n'Diamonds :-) ) could be interested in: Information about the history of Boulder Dash and Emerald Mine, a large list of clones (both free and commercial ones, for various platforms and operating systems), extra pages with more details on popular clones like RoX, and lots of extra fan stuff like game music (original and remixes), box cover scans, sounds and graphics.
Of course, you will also find a lot of things for Rocks'n'Diamonds: A great number of level sets (including levels originally released at Zomis' R'n'D Files Archive that were repackaged by Martijn for easy use in R'n'D), graphics, sounds and music, and tools and utilities around Rocks'n'Diamonds by Alan Bond and Simon Forsberg.
I can highly recommend browsing around at this new site -- if you like Rocks'n'Diamonds, you will discover a lot of exciting and entertaining new things there! So, check it out: www.bd-fans.com

2006-03-01 · Sokoban level collection released!

Although Rocks'n'Diamonds can play Sokoban style levels, there was only the classic Sokoban level set available in the "Classic Original Games" section. Thanks to the work of Dorothee Ebner, there is now a new level collection available for Rocks'n'Diamonds that contains only Sokoban style levels! She converted the following original Sokoban level sets to Rocks'n'Diamonds, resulting in 764 levels in 7 different level sets:
+ Mas Sasquatch (50 levels)
+ Microban (155 levels)
+ Sasquatch (50 levels)
+ Sasquatch III (50 levels)
+ Sasquatch IV (50 levels)
+ Sokomania in the Spaceship 1 (55 levels)
+ Sokomania in the Spaceship 2 (354 levels)
The "Sasquatch" and "Microban" level sets were originally created by David W. Skinner, while the two "Sokomania in the Spaceship" sets were originally created by various authors.
This new level collection package is available now at the "Levels & Artwork" section!
Important note: Level packages are now available in two archive formats:
  • The popular and well-supported zip format is supported out of the box by most operating systems, like Windows XP. Although popular and widespread, this archive format is technically outdated, because it does only provide poor compression ratio, so the resulting archive files are larger than needed and take longer to download over a slow network connection.
    zip archives can be extracted by virtually every archiving and compression tool, like WinZip.
  • The relatively new and less known 7z archive format offers much better compression, resulting in significantly smaller archive files which download much faster than their zip equivalent. For example, the above Sokoban zip archive version is around 300 KBytes, while the alternative 7z archive version is just around 50 KBytes!
    7z archives can be extracted by the 7-Zip file archiver, which is available as free software from www.7-zip.org for both Windows and Unix and which is able to pack and unpack a whole lot of further popular archive formats.
Conclusion: Use the 7z archive format whenever possible to increase download speed!

2006-02-28 · "Contributions" 2005 and 2006 released!

The new "Contributions" level package with all remaining sets for the year 2005 and the first levels of 2006 is now available! Special thanks to Martijn Mooij for fixing some level sets of Rado Negundo!
The following players contributed additional level sets in 2005:
+ Bertrand Grondin (14 levels)
+ Martijn Mooij (67 levels in 2 sets with custom artwork)
The following player contributed the first level set in 2006:
+ Sascha Mücke (8 levels with custom elements)
This great new package is available now at the "Levels & Artwork" section!

2006-01-11 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.1.2 released!

This version is an important bugfix release, as it removes a major bug in version 3.1.1 which prevents private levels from being edited with the level editor. Everybody who wants to create his or her own levels is strongly encouraged to update to version 3.1.2. (Besides that, version 3.1.2 is identical to the previous version 3.1.1.)
Get the new version from the Download section!

2006-01-04 · Server downtime of www.artsoft.org

Due to a server problem, www.artsoft.org (including the web forum) was not available for about 10 hours last night. The problem was fixed today late in the morning. ("night" and "morning" as in "Central European Time". ;-) ) Everything's now fine again. As far as I can see, there was no loss of data.
Sorry for the inconvenience!

2005-12-24 · Jürgen Bonhagen's R'n'D level package updated!

As one of the absolute highlights of this year's level contributions to R'n'D (and on time for Christmas :-) ), Jürgen Bonhagen has just finished his new level package!
It contains as many as six great level sets, some of them brand-new:
+ JUE 1 Edition (40 levels)
+ Bug Machine (one-level set)
+ Game Inside (one-level set)
+ R&D West (10 NEW levels)
+ R&D Puzznic (30 NEW levels)
+ Puzzle Mix (60 NEW levels)
Puzzle Mix, the biggest set of Jürgen's new package, contains the following three sub-sets: "Boulder Dash Only" with 30 classic, Boulder Dash style levels, "Boulder Dash Soko" with 10 levels combining features known from Boulder Dash and Sokoban, and finally "BD - JUE", which contains 20 levels featuring various CE (custom element) techniques to introduce new game concepts like elevators.
R&D Puzznic offers 30 new (CE based) levels that use the game concept of the game "Puzznic": Elements of the same kind disappear if they touch each other. The obvious target is to clear away all Puzznic elements. Once you got the idea, you will quickly be addicted to this simplistic and beautiful puzzle game!
R&D West was once planned as part of a larger project by Alan Bond and Jürgen Bonhagen that never came to life. Nevertheless, the 10 levels of this great set with lots of custom elements and custom artwork are playable very well! The hero appears with a time machine in the Wild West, has to fight against evil cowboys and has to collect gold nuggets to solve the level. Even without any player action, there is a lot of action like battles between the cowboys and the indians (but it seems that also the cowboys among themselves have a lot of fun killing each other ;-) ).

Although this set has been developed in summer 2004, it contains many things that never happened before in R'n'D level design! The graphics of the hero, the indians and the cowboys are based on beautiful 3D models, which were designed, animated and rendered by Alan Bond.
A full description of all level sets, a lot of screenshots and of course the download itself are available now from Jürgen's R'n'D site! (Also available from the "Levels & Artwork" section.)
And not to forget: Merry Christmas to all fans of Rocks'n'Diamonds! :-)

2005-12-04 · "BD Dream" released!

Martijn Mooij, the author of the BD fan site www.bd-fans.com, who already contributed a level set for the "Contributions 2004" level package, has created a new level set: "BD Dream"!
This new set contains 102 new BD style levels with a nostalgic atmosphere around a story that is introduced in the first level, accompanied by custom graphics and music. It also contains solution tapes for all levels. As this level set is quite large (around 11 MB) due to its custom artwork and MP3 music files, it is released as a separate package.
Download it here or from the "Levels & Artwork" page!

2005-08-28 · "Contributions" 2004 and 2005 released!

The new "Contributions" level package with all new level sets from the years 2004 and 2005 is now available! Special thanks to bojster for providing solution tapes for quite a lot of the older level sets!
The following players contributed new level sets in 2004:
+ Andrzej Grzesik (50 levels)
+ Benoit Karriere (16 levels in 2 sets)
+ bojster (7 levels)
+ Dorothee Ebner (255 levels in 4 sets)
+ Eden Corbin (31 levels)
+ Falk Sobe (51 levels)
+ Martijn Mooij (15 levels)
+ Niko Böhm (25 levels)
+ Norbert de Jonge (2 levels)
+ Philip Winter (20 levels)
+ Rado W. Negundo (236 levels in 5 sets with custom artwork)
+ Remco Mooij (18 levels)
+ Xinyu Sun & Xiangdong Wen (4 levels)
The following players contributed new level sets in 2005:
+ Bill Cotter (25 levels)
+ Rado & Yoshi Negundo (66 levels in 2 sets)
+ Spica (100 levels)
This great new package is available now at the "Levels & Artwork" section!

2005-08-17 · "Snake Bite" released!

As an absolute highlight of the upcoming "Contributions" level package, here comes "Snake Bite" as a separate release -- a double feature level set presented by Alan Bond ("BD2K3") and Jürgen Bonhagen ("The Bug Machine", "Game Inside").
"Snake Bite" contains two awesome level sets with both action and puzzle style levels, great new artwork and a whole new game concept! See screenshots of the level sets on the "Screenshots" page for a first impression!
Important note: You need Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.1.1 to play "Snake Bite"!
See the full documentation of all new "Snake Bite" elements and download the game right now! (Also available from the "Levels & Artwork" section.)

2005-08-16 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.1.1 released!

This version is mainly a bugfix release, although it already contains most of the features of the new Emerald Mine compatible game engine (but not yet fully accessible from the level editor). New level sets containing native Emerald Mine levels (which are not yet released, but may come soon) can already be played with this new game engine.
Most important changes since last release version 3.1.0:
- added tutorial level set created by Aaron Davidson
- added editor element descriptions written by Aaron Davidson
- added native game engine for Emerald Mine (Club) levels
- added level skipping functionality to main menu
- added support for dumping small-sized level sketches from editor
- added use of "editorsetup.conf" for different level sets
- lots of bugfixes and internal engine changes (see ChangeLog)
Get it from the Download section now!

2005-01-20 · Pre-Release versions of upcoming version 3.2.0 available for testing

The upcoming new version 3.2.0, which contains a new, additional Emerald Mine compatible game engine, is ready for testing. Pre-release versions are regularly announced in the Web Forum.

2004-12-16 · Forum temporarily down for maintenance

The forum is temporarily down for maintenance today -- please stand by!
[Update] Everything's up and running again now.

2004-09-04 · Rocks'n'Diamonds Wiki Documentation available

In addition to the existing documentation by Niko Böhm, he has now also created a Wiki based documentation project for Rocks'n'Diamonds! (Both projects are now also linked in the "Documentation" section.) Feel free to join this project and add more documentation! :-)

2004-06-28 · Contribution levels available as separate package

The additional levels contributed by other players (before version 3.1.0 part of the Rocks'n'Diamonds base package) are now available as a separate package in the "Levels & Artwork" section. (The new levels contributed in 2004 so far will be available in a few weeks.)

2004-06-19 · Levels and Links sections updated

The sections "Levels & Artwork" and "Links" have been updated and extended.

2004-06-18 · Launch of the Final Rocks'n'Diamonds Web Forum!

After yesterday's deletion of our Web Forum, I won't trust any free (neither "free" as in "free beer", nor "free" as in "free speech", but "free" as in "you get what you pay for" :-( ) web forum hosting company anymore.
Therefore, I have now installed phpBB, which is the current "state of the art" in forum software. It is totally free, open source, fast and comes with a lot of features. Among other things, this means: No annoying advertisements anymore. No "too many connections" anymore. No waiting for slow servers anymore.
I will try to make all functionality from the old forum also available in the new one soon, especially that marvellous "level sketch" feature. Currently, the new forum looks still a bit simple and generic, but this will change in the future. I hope that all active and all occasional members of the old forum will soon meet again in this new forum, so that the R'n'D community will soon be reunited again. The new forum is hosted directly on this web server and can't be deleted by a hostile provider anymore. This forum is here to stay.

2004-06-18 · Rocks'n'Diamonds Web Forum deleted for unknown reason!

Yesterday evening, our great Web Forum, which was hosted at www.proboards.com, vanished without any known reason. It is suspected to be simply deleted by ProBoards, with all posts, all user information, and all work we have put into it. :-(
Until we know more, please use the still existing, old forum. :-(

2004-06-08 · New level set "game inside"

Jürgen Bonhagen has just released a great new level set: "game inside" (needs the brand-new version 3.1.0). It's a one-level-set, but it marks the current state-of-the-art in custom element level and artwork design. I never thought that something like that was even possible by just cleverly using CEs!
See a screenshot and the description in English or German. The package can be downloaded from Jürgen's download page. Also have a look at his previous one-level-set "bug machine", which is included in the same package. Both levels utilize the current CE techniques to a very high degree, and I'm highly impressed what can be achieved using ordinary custom elements!
Visit Jürgen's R'n'D site:

2004-06-07 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.1.0 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.8:
- fixed obvious bug with wrong "Murphy" graphics (when digging etc.)
- fixed a lot of Emerald Mine and Supaplex game engine emulation bugs
- re-converted Emerald Mine and Supaplex levels to apply engine fixes
- changed default snap/drop keys from left/right Shift to Control keys
- added level loader for loading native Emerald Mine levels
- added level loader for loading native Supaplex packed levels
- added group elements for multiple matches and random element creation
- added elements that can be digged or left behind by custom elements
- added element "Sokoban field with player" missing for Sokoban levels
- added custom element features to allow building of teleporters
- added option to use step limit instead of time limit for level
- added pressing "space" key as valid action to select menu options
- added clipboard (cut and paste buttons) for custom and group elements
- added shortcut to dump brush (type ":DB" in editor) for use in forum
- added network multiplayer code for Windows (still only command line)
- replaced old tutorial level set with far better one by Niko Böhm
- "contributions" levels now separate package to make base set smaller
- too many bugfixes and changes to list them all here (see ChangeLog)

2004-01-23 · New Rocks'n'Diamonds Web Forum

We have moved to a great New Rocks'n'Diamonds Web Forum!
Alan Bond has created a new forum that replaces the old forum (which is still available to read the old posts there). The new forum has a lot of advantages over the old one! It is much faster, offers a lot of great new features many people missed in the old forum, and it looks so much better -- but you should see it for yourself! :-)
This new web forum is again a great place for discussion around Rocks'n'Diamonds, submitting bug reports or suggesting new features, find help, talk to other level designers or artwork creators and read announcements of new releases! Join it now!

2003-12-20 · Web Forum now with German Section

The Web Forum now also contains a German Section!

2003-12-14 · Cool New Level and Artwork Stuff!

Do not miss the fantastic, brand new level & artwork sets
- "BD2K3" (requires 3.0.8!) from Alan Bond (Documentation, Download) and
- "jue2" from Juergen Bonhagen (Documentation and Download)!
Just download, extract into "levels" directory and enjoy!

2003-12-14 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.8 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.7:
- added "musicinfo.conf" for menu and level music configuration
- added "editorsetup.conf" for editor element list configuration
- added "copy" and "exchange" functions for custom elements to editor
- added configurable "bored" and "sleeping" animations for the player
- added "awakening" sound for player when waking up after sleeping
- added configurable element animations for info screen
- added configurable music credits for info screen
- added configurable level set information for info screen
- added warnings for undefined token values in artwork config files
- menu entries now also selectable by clicking on entry text
- better sniksnak turning movement (two steps instead of only one)
- fixed turning movement of butterflies and fireflies (no frame reset)
- fixed bug with wrong default impact sound for colored emeralds
- fixed bug with double nut cracking sound
- fixed a very nasty bug in dragon turning code in TurnRoundExt()
- finally fixed tape recording when player is created from CE change
- added new contributed levels from the following players:
   + Audrius Saikunas (4 levels)
   + Efraim Yawitz (20 levels)
   + Krystian Abramowicz (100 levels)
   + Paul E Collins (formerly known as Equinox Tetrachloride; 64 levels)
   + Sebastian Simon (12 levels)
- amazing new level set:
   + "BD2K3" from Alan Bond
   + 43 levels full of BD nostalgia, action and fantastic effects
   + overwhelming use of custom elements
   + complete artwork set with graphics, sounds and music
   + available as a separate download (all platforms)
- another great level set was updated:
   + "jue2" from Jürgen Bonhagen
   + 15 new mind-boggling levels full of new challenges for your brain
   + complete artwork set with graphics and sounds
   + available for downloading from

2003-12-03 · Rocks'n'Diamonds Web Forum

Join the great new Rocks'n'Diamonds Web Forum!
This new web forum, created by Alan Bond, is a great place for discussion around Rocks'n'Diamonds, submitting bug reports or suggesting new features, find help, talk to other level designers or artwork creators and read announcements of new releases! Join now!

2003-11-10 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.7 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.6:
- fixed incorrectly displayed animation for attacking dragon
- fixed bug with not setting initial gravity for each new game
- fixed bug with teleportation of player by custom element change
- fixed bug with player not getting smashed by rock sometimes
- fixed serious bug in code for delayed element pushing
- fixed little bug in animation frame selection for pushed elements
- fixed bug when pushing element that can move away to the side
- fixed tape recording when player is created from CE element change
- fixed player animation frame reset for identical animations
- unavailable setup options now marked as "n/a" instead of "off"
- prevent "extended" changed elements from delay change in same frame
- speed-up of reading config file for verbose output
- added configuration option for opening and closing Supaplex exit
- added configuration option for moving up/down animation for Murphy
- added animation for "turning" action (for elements with move delay)
- added turning animations for bug, spaceship and sniksnak

2003-10-06 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.6 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.5:
- fixed bug when initializing font graphic structure
- fixed bug with animation mode "pingpong" when using only 1 frame
- fixed bug with extended change target introduced in 3.0.5
- fixed bug where passing over moving element doubles player speed
- fixed bug with elements continuing to move into push direction
- fixed bug with duplicated player when dropping bomb with shield on
- fixed switching bug (resetting flag when not switching but not idle)
- fixed element tokens for certain file elements with ".active" etc.
- added "switching" event for custom elements ("pressing" only once)
- added support for MP3 music for SDL version through SMPEG library
- updated: The artwork and level set of Juergen Bonhagen.
   For screenshots and downloads, visit his R'n'D site:

2003-09-29 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.5 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.4:
- fixed bug in multiple config pages loader code that could crash the game
- enhanced (remaining low-resolution) Supaplex graphics
- active/inactive sides configurable for custom element changes
- new movement type "move when pushed" available for custom elements
- now four envelope elements available
- font, background, animation and sound for envelope now configurable
- main menu doors opening/closing animation type now configurable

2003-09-13 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.4 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.3:
- fixed bug in multiple config pages code that caused crashes
- fixed bug in custom definition of crumbled element graphics

2003-09-08 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.3 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.2:
- fixed bug (missing array boundary check) which could crash the game
- fixed problem with setting mouse cursor in SDL version in fullscreen
- fixed problem with flickering when drawing toon animations
- fixed problem with player animation when snapping and moving
- fixed several nasty bugs that may have caused crashes on some systems
- added envelope content which gets displayed when collecting envelope
- added multiple change event pages for custom elements
- added support for loading various music formats through SDL_mixer
- added music to Supaplex classic level set

2003-08-22 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.2 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.1:
- fixed bug with messing up custom element properties in 3.0.0 levels
- fixed bug with choosing wrong engine version when playing tapes
- fixed bug with creating inaccessible elements at player position
- fixed bug with not finding current level artwork directory

2003-08-18 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.1 released!

Most important changes since last release version 3.0.0:
- fixed bug that caused a crash at startup under Solaris
- fixed bug that caused the DOS version not finding its files
- fixed bug with missing graphic for active red disk bomb
- added custom element property for dropping collected elements
- added another 128 custom elements for those who can't get enough
- fixed PCX files in the DOS version ("classic" graphics only)

2003-08-05 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 3.0.0 released!

Most important changes since last release version 2.1.1:
- final version bumped to 3.0.0 due to the massive changes
- graphics and sounds now completely and dynamically customizable
- element animation length, speed and mode now freely configurable
- 128 custom elements with lots of configurable element properties
- advanced custom element settings for powerful, self-created elements
- automatic tape playing function for game engine and level testing
- added support for stereo WAV sound files
- added support for background images for all menu screens
- added some example levels showing how to create custom artwork
- fixed Supaplex gravity tubes
- fixed very nasty bug in SDL_image (and X11) PCX loading routine
- fixed some very nasty bugs in bitmap zoom routine
- fixed very nasty bug in level/artwork loading routine

- added new contributed levels and artwork from the following players:
   in the section "Contributions - 2002":
   + Abby King (14 levels)
   + Alan Bond (30 levels, all solvable, BD style artwork set)
   + David Hutchinson (25 levels, artwork set)
   + Equinox Tetrachloride (50 levels + 100 levels, all solvable)
   + Sylvan Hancock (39 levels)

   in the section "Contributions - 2003":
   + Andreas Buschbeck (85 levels, all solvable, complete artwork set)
   + Edward Leuf (10 levels, all solvable, artwork set)
   + Emanuel Schmieg (22 levels, all solvable, complete artwork set)
   + Gavin Davidson (47 levels)
   + Jorge Jordan (17 levels)
   + Rafael Gatti (17 levels)
   + Randy Johannessen (17 levels)
   + Richard Valvona (3 levels)
   + Sam Bateman (35 levels)

- great new levels with full artwork are now available from:
   + Juergen Bonhagen (with complete artwork set)
      Download now!
   + Andreas Buschbeck (with complete artwork set)
      Download now!
      Update: Now with a nice custom elements tutorial (in German)!

2002-08-13 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 2.1.1 released!

Most important changes since release version 2.1.0:
- sound bug (causing crashes) fixed
- support for /dev/sound/dsp (devfs) added
- small NetBSD compilation bug fixed
- default keys for "snap field" and "place bomb" fixed for Mac OS X
- two excellent new level series from players:
   + Alan Bond
   + Gerrit Holl & Timen van den Berg
- for details, see CHANGES file (included in the package)

2002-08-05 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 2.1.0 released!

Most important changes since release version 2.0.1:
- native Mac OS X port (finally!)
- graphics, sounds and music now fully configurable
- added support for TrueColor PCX graphics files
- added support for 16 bit WAV sound files
- enhanced sound system (especially regarding stereo and loop sounds)
- "quick save" and "quick load" functions with shortcut key
- single-step playing mode (automatic pause after each step)
- behaviour of "Escape" key in level editor now more intuitive
- some little (game and compilation) bugs fixed
- new Boulder Dash style "snap-pushing"
- memory leak in image loading code fixed
- several excellent new levels from other players:
   + Conor Mancone
   + Gavin Davidson
   + Jerome Kunegis
   + Rüdiger Schäfer
   + Flyboy: level group "Cops and Robbers" with own graphics set

2002-03-19 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 2.0.1 released!

Most important changes since release version 2.0.0:
- several little (but nasty) bugs fixed
- fullscreen now working
- 341 new levels from other players
- for details, see CHANGES file (included in the package)

2001-01-01 · Rocks'n'Diamonds 2.0.0 released!

Most important changes since release version 1.4.0:
- major code redesign
- SDL support for 32-bit native Windows version
- SDL version adds music modules and fullscreen

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