v27 (stable)

DQIX Enhanced v27: the second stable version. Everything below is new since
v26, after 21 nightly test versions.

What's new

• Easy setup: double-click Install Dragon Quest IX.bat and a window
  walks you through it: choose your ROM (it says which version it is),
  where to put the game (Documents by default; it warns about OneDrive and
  folders Windows protects), shortcuts on the desktop and in the Start menu,
  then it builds the game with a progress bar and a Play now button. The
  game is listed in Settings > Apps, where it can be uninstalled (your saves
  are kept unless you say otherwise).
• More routers let friends in: when UPnP is switched off or missing, the
  game also asks the router with NAT-PMP and PCP. Friends with IPv6 can join
  over IPv6 too (the game asks the router's firewall to let them in), and
  joining accepts an IPv6 address.
• Send a bug report (Help menu, or F10): saves the report, then opens a
  ready-made report on GitHub with the zip to drag into it. It says first
  exactly what's included, since the report is public; your save is only
  included if you tick the box.
• Any version of the ROM can be tried: no more checksum check. The USA
  version is the tested one; others get a warning and are built anyway.
• Clearer windows: the update window's buttons fit their text
  ("Update to v27", "Skip this version", "Later"), and when a new stable
  version is offered, a button to install the newest nightly instead.
• Playing with friends far away: tag mode (canvassing for guests) and
  co-op through Pavo with up to 4 players over the internet. The game sets up
  your router where it can, and the host gets a window with the address to
  send to friends and a Start button.
• DQVC like the original: sales on the original calendar (Fridays,
  08:00 UTC), new stock every day, every player their own shop, visitors can
  shop at the host's Sellma, and DQVC works inside multiplayer sessions.
• Modern options (new Modern menu):
  • Widescreen: the world is drawn wider than the DS's screen, so you see
    more of it left and right, and the top screen sits small in the corner
    like a minimap. Menus slide over to make room; in battles the commands
    sit in the corner at half size. 16:9 in a window, as wide as your
    monitor in fullscreen. Enhanced mode.
  • Walk in any direction with a controller's left stick, now on at
    first and without the stylus's arrow on the screen.
  • The top screen in the corner, with the field as on the DS.
• Nothing extra to download: DQVC and the downloadable quests are built
  into the game; the build fetches DQVC's news by itself.
• Updates from inside the game: Help > Check for updates (stable or
  nightly), and a notice when a new stable version is out.
• The game's own icon: dqix.exe gets the icon the DS menu shows for the
  cartridge, made from your ROM when the game is built. Double-click
  game\dqix.exe (or a shortcut to it) to play: no console window.
• New installs start with the DS Lite look: the DS Lite screen filter
  and the screens inside the photo of a real DS Lite (F6 and F7 switch them).
  Updating doesn't change your settings.
• New installs start with Wireless > Connected mode on, so Sellma's
  downloads and DQVC work straight away (switch it off in the Wireless menu).
• The photo of a real DS Lite is the default console; tidier help windows.
• The right stick turns the camera while you walk around (like L and R,
  slower with a light push). In fullscreen, double-click outside the
  touch screen to go back to the window.
• Fixed: a rare freeze after "Continue your adventure" (it took an
  interrupt arriving at one exact moment, e.g. after skipping the logos with
  a tap on one particular frame).
• Fixed: the sticks could tap and press L/R on the title screen; they only
  walk and turn the camera once an adventure is loaded.
• Fixed: A and B (and X and Y) were swapped on Switch controllers (Pro
  Controller, Joy-Cons). Every controller now uses the DS layout by
  position: right button A, bottom button B.
• Fixed: a thin line of one colour along the top of a screen when the
  screens are shown smaller than they are drawn (with the console photo).

How to install: download Source code (zip) below, unzip it and
double-click Install Dragon Quest IX.bat. A window walks you through it.
Already on v26? Download v27 the same way (v26 can't update itself), and
copy dqix.sav and settings.ini from your old game folder into the new
one. From v27 on, updates come from inside the game: Help > Check for updates.

Still being checked: internet play has only been tested on one PC so far,
and router set-up (UPnP, NAT-PMP, PCP, IPv6) against real routers by few
people. If something goes wrong, Help > Send a bug report.

The plans for what comes next are in ROADMAP.md.