It's been a long while since we've updated, but there is still love being given to this project.

Perhaps let's put something first that usually comes last: Thanks to anyone who helped with this project in one way or another over the
past years. This includes (but is not limited to) the following github users: Flow86, Flamefire, MarcusSt, jhkl, Peuc, shadowvzs and
any other contributor. Also a big thanks to everyone who donated via PayPal, keeping this project running!

As of late, our team has been a bit smaller, and we would love some fresh minds and new people offering a helping hand to make "Return
to the Roots" grow at a faster pace again. If you have a passion for Settlers 2, and some experience with coding, or would like to
extend it, please get in touch with us via the Discord, Github or our webpage (see #1 below). We are hoping to hear from you.

The following will summarize the project's development ever since 21 Oct 2015:

1. Discord
As most people do not use IRC anymore (or never did) we are now also present on Discord.
You can join using this invite: https://discord.gg/kyTQsSx
It's a nice place to ask questions and meet people to play, or share maps.

2. Fixes, Changes, Additions
I first wanted to show a (nearly) full changelog here but that'd be more than 270 lines as there have been over 500 issues closed.
To have a look at any closed issue, simply use the following search term on github: 'is:issue closed:2015-10-21..2019-12-24'.
You can also access the full list here: https://pastebin.com/Nitc06Kk

In more brevity:
Fixes:
- Fixed several crashes
- Fixed most (all?) remaining asyncs
- Fixed issues regarding controls (e.g. scrollbars)
- Fixed issues of the ingame random map generator
- Fixed issues the AI had
- Fixed visual bugs for storehouses (management)
- Fixed visual bugs when starting the game
- Fixed trade bugs
- Fixed several bugs regarding LUA functions

Changes:
- Charburner has been reworked (graphics)
- Layouts and functionality of some menus have been improved
- Improved shading a bit
- Player colors are now the same as in settlers II
- Trade has been improved

Additions:
- Addon: Auto demolish building if empty
- Addon: Change metalworks behavior on 0% (or no orders)
- Addon: Military building indicators are affected by reachability
- Addon: Disable coins by default for conquered buildings
- Added some missing Characters
- Added several functions for LUA scripting
- Added 3 new maps

3. Map editor included
The map editor which was written by Xaser now is included when downloading RttR. This means you no longer have to figure out where to
put the files shipped by Xaser and can simply use the editor out of the box. Flamefire also fixed some bugs the editor had. One of the
best additions is a map selection when loading maps, no more writing the name!

4. Settlers II Tools v1.0.0
Just some days ago we released Tools for working with the Settlers II file formats.
You can find those here: https://github.com/Return-To-The-Roots/libsiedler2/releases/tag/v1.0.0
They include the latest version of the lstpacker for example, which allows you to unpack all original *.LST and *.IDX files. You can
also use this to help improving the font, see https://github.com/Return-To-The-Roots/s25client/wiki/How-to-edit-fonts for further
information.

Thanks for reading, and do leave your comments!

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Hi,

we recently updated the build servers toolchains to new versions and Flamefire already put a lot of efford into updating the code to use the now available newer c++ language elements (Thank You!)

The various platform builds will now be in sync (now no incomplete builds will be available anymore)

We also changed the update behaviour:
Each commit will result in a build, but now a deployment to the website and integrated updater will not trigger automatically.
Instead a special deployment build will be done once per Night. (Now its really a nightly version!)

Team members with access to the jenkins build server can still trigger a new deployment build any time if necessary.

Like this, we can better decide which development features will be available and can do some pre-deployment tests if necessary. Hopefully leading to less broken automatic updates.

If everything goes well, we can try to get the current nightly ready to be deployed as the next stable release 0.9.0

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mfg
Flo

Hi,

since we had to change the main IP address of this server, we triggered the outlook/msn-problem again.

Currently registration mails are not sent to outlook/msn email addresses, so some accounts can't be activated.

I already contacted msn tech support again, but it will take some time to get a solution.

Meanwhile, please use a different mail provider to register.

Of course you can also send me an email so I can activate your account manually!

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mfg
Flo

Hi,

I recently noticed that registration mails are not sent to outlook/msn email addresses, so some accounts can't be activated.

I already contacted msn tech support, but it will take some time to get a solution.

Meanwhile, please use a different mail provider to register.

Of course you can also send me an email so I can activate your account manually!

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mfg
Flo

Hi,

today I changed the custom created ssl certificate for this website with a free one from letsencrypt.

Hope that the installation of the custom CA certificate or accepting certificate warning is not necessary anymore.

If you still encounter a domain name I forgotten about or if you encounter any problems, please report them to me!

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mfg
Flo