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[Dorateen]

Thank you, JasonNH

I now have a new version available to download. This cleans up some areas and fixes some unfinished business. Still more work to do, but I'm getting there.

For a recap/overview of this module, this is a Party based adevnture, involving story-driven dungeon crawls. A key design objective was to make extensive use of the Party Chat dialogue system introduced in Storm of Zehir.

Here are a few screenshots, carried over from the previous threads on the Old Forums

http://s124.photobuc...o2.jpg&newest=1

http://s124.photobuc...ty.jpg&newest=1

http://s124.photobuc...t2.jpg&newest=1

http://s124.photobuc...a3.jpg&newest=1

http://s124.photobuc...os.jpg&newest=1

I will continue to update the download for playtesting as I finish up the remaining details. Still holding for a mid-August release, may Dumathoin let it be so.

Harumph!

[PJ156]

Hello Dorateen, some more things for the to do list.


1. Forrest - Found the seeds
2. CotD - Looping hawk sound on path by wheeps.
3. Tomb - corners missing on main door entry tile.


Combats.

CotD

1. Lower undead - Not tested - simple
2. Whites - Very easy.
3. Greater shadow - Very easy
4. Wheep - Very Easy (I did not lose but it was very close a couple of times so could say moderate)
5. Rake and Elvira - Very easy
Level up here after R &E fight.

Tomb

6. Encounter 1 - Moderate
7. Giants - Very Hard (nearly a mod stopper, lots of preparation needed)
8. Reavers - Easy
9. Mixed undead - Very easy (fun but easy)
10. Big fella - Easy

Spelling/typos

Shared bewteen lovers
Complex diagrams

Looking good and the areas are real pretty .

PJ

Modifié par PJ156, 26 juillet 2010 - 10:56 .

[Dorateen]

PJ156 wrote...

Hello Dorateen, some more things for the to do list.

1. Forrest - Found the seeds
2. CotD - Looping hawk sound on path by wheeps.
3. Tomb - corners missing on main door entry tile.


Combats.

Hey PJ,

I added a few more undead critters to that canyon area, to make things a little more interesting. What I am going for is trying to push the party through a gauntlet, with combat by attrition. So maybe a few more nicks here and there, a disease or ability drain, will liven things up.

Yeah, those giants are a killer. I expect the party to take heavy losses, maybe use one of those Raise Dead scrolls they've been saving up. But once they survive, they should be all right from there.

I think I will add a level to the Blood Reavers inside the tomb and see how that goes.

Likewise, I should probably increase the level of the big guy as well. Again, I don't mind if the party wins the fight on the first try, but he ought to make the characters bleed.

By the way, did your Rogue find an alternate way to deal with the golem?

Thanks for the update!

[PJ156]

Dorateen wrote...

Hey PJ,

I added a few more undead critters to that canyon area, to make things a little more interesting. What I am going for is trying to push the party through a gauntlet, with combat by attrition. So maybe a few more nicks here and there, a disease or ability drain, will liven things up.

I noticed the ambush at the bottom, That took me by surprise and lost me my spellcaster . Just as a comment
 (I am trying to keep my own thoughts out of this - it's your mod not mine) but if you want this to be an attrition journey (and that would make it a lot harder - particularly the wheeps and the last encounter) then put the fireplace at the top. The PC can still go back to Edinmoor to rest but thats a pain. With no rest at the bottom of the hill they are more likley ot press on as thier resources deplete.

Yeah, those giants are a killer. I expect the party to take heavy losses, maybe use one of those Raise Dead scrolls they've been saving up. But once they survive, they should be all right from there.

Yes they are; they group up on the fighter and knock him to dead after he is down. The scroll only brings him back to 1 hp so two round are required for character 2 to be bringing him back. The giants lay down dammage much fatster than they lose HP. In the end the answer is in the two objects in the main entry hall and lots of buffing.

I think I will add a level to the Blood Reavers inside the tomb and see how that goes.

That might help. They took quite a bit of bringing down but did not do damage themselves, so while the fight was long it was never going to be a lose to the party.

Likewise, I should probably increase the level of the big guy as well. Again, I don't mind if the party wins the fight on the first try, but he ought to make the characters bleed.

He does that alright  this one is winnable every time but you have to have a healer on permanent backup to the fighter. The spellcaster then has to plug away with acid spells.

I will think about my testing system tonight perhaps it is too simplistic. I may win a fight five times in a row but that does reflect the effort and tactics/resources that it took to do so. I brought down the big defender because I have a sorc with melfs to hand, had I not this might have been a differend combat all together.

By the way, did your Rogue find an alternate way to deal with the golem?

The first run through yes. I will get to that again tonight. I expect things to slow down in the anvil of time there is a lot of combat in there.

Thanks for the update!

You're welcome, the mod is fun to play.

Modifié par PJ156, 27 juillet 2010 - 06:28 .

[PJ156]

Hello Dorateen
1. During the giant fight in the tomb, the rock throwing animation works lovely but often the two back giants would toss the rocks off to right screen. It now occurs to me they are throwing them at the cat. Certainly in one of my deaths, once they had finished with the party they moved on to the poor moggie.
2. Corner missing in room with bed in last level of tomb.
3. I just said I would be happy to serve Loren and he has disappeared.
　
Combats
Tomb
1. Howler Grikfell Zagarth - Very Easy - good combat; bad guys are tough to hit and have lots of hit points, all significant attrition was down to my spell casters. I opened each door first in turn to mix things up a bit. Thing is, these guys can’t hit a barn door with a bulldozer. The cleric makes things interesting though, have to pump my fighter with healing when he goes up against him.
2. Gurn - Very Easy - This guy is on his own he goes down very quickly.
3. Jebrix - Hard - The very confined area to fight makes this one tough, once he is invisible then it is just a matter of time till the party fry. Still he goes down in the end.
AOT
1. Treasure hunting dragonmen - Very easy.

Nobody else will fight me

The spiders have escaped. Have not done that quest yet, I went to sell some stuff and get some rest, speaking of which ....

PJ

[Dorateen]

PJ156 wrote...


Hello Dorateen
 ....

PJ

Ah-ha! Now I see, the first time you went through the AoT, you chose to fight Loren and his Knights. Loren does disappear if you choose the more diplomatic route, but he is really just retiring to another room. You will probably find him there.

I wanted to give players the option to use a party member with diplomacy skill to be able to avoid some of the fights. Don't worry, there are still plenty of enemies who won't take a liking to you. 

My latest update already fixes things like the campfire that says and the time pieces in two parts. Map pins should be working now.

I really appreciate the time you are putting into this. When I am done and ready to play again, I will go through Sheep in Stone and Caravan Club, and vote on the Vault!

Modifié par Dorateen, 28 juillet 2010 - 12:22 .

[PJ156]

Dorateen wrote...

Ah-ha! Now I see, the first time you went through the AoT, you chose to fight Loren and his Knights. Loren does disappear if you choose the more diplomatic route, but he is really just retiring to another room. You will probably find him there.

Okay, his sudden fade to black looked a bit odd.

I wanted to give players the option to use a party member with diplomacy skill to be able to avoid some of the fights. Don't worry, there are still plenty of enemies who won't take a liking to you. 

Cool but I won't get to make notes on battle for all the critters. The knights make the place feel a little like ToEE,

My latest update already fixes things like the campfire that says and the time pieces in two parts. Map pins should be working now.

I saw one time piece in two parts in the room with the dust motes. Did not comment I knew you were onto that.

I really appreciate the time you are putting into this. When I am done and ready to play again, I will go through Sheep in Stone and Caravan Club, and vote on the Vault!

That would be cool .

Pj

[Dorateen]

PJ156 wrote...

Dorateen wrote...

Ah-ha! Now I see, the first time you went through the AoT, you chose to fight Loren and his Knights. Loren does disappear if you choose the more diplomatic route, but he is really just retiring to another room. You will probably find him there.

Okay, his sudden fade to black looked a bit odd.

I agree, I'm going to change it so that he walks away at the end of the conversation. (Unless the party kills him.) For some reason, I just hate that ga_move_to exit script.

Modifié par Dorateen, 28 juillet 2010 - 02:49 .

[PJ156]

I have completed lv 1 of the Anvil of Time and I am now on lv 3. A lot of the combat is quite easy as I am fighting individuals. Where there are groups it gets tougher. I am still winning but not always with the party intact or with more that a few hp's. That to me is good balance but it iis difficult to reflect in my simplistic scoring system.
　
Generaly fun again. As I picked the diplomatic start option. On level 1 it was never clear who was on my side and I ended up with some unconventional allies.
　
Possible Bugs/issues
　
1. Spiders had left the locked room cant see how without going into the toolset.
2. Ardis offers spider quest again after spiders have been defeated.
3. Map name for anvil of time lv 1 appears as Anvil of Time1 (space needed)
4. Lorens comvo does not change the second time you meet him, thus it is possible to accept his quest again or break allegiance with him.
5. Sp. anvil of time 3 needs caps to be the same as other levels.
6. Pomere’s hammer is a very powerful weapon I think it makes a big difference in the early game.
　
Combats
　
AOT 1 & 3
　
Spiders - Very easy but they had got out of the room somehow so the local knights backed me up. Not really a good test of that combat.
Ardis Treval - Very easy - they did some damage but had already been weakened by the spiders. Might have been tougher were it not for the spider issue
Acolytes - Easy - A lot of fun this one - In the one they won all of them opened with a magic missile.
Loren Caradoc - Very Easy - Went down easily enough on his own. His knightly friends came to join the action but I was helped by the dragon men.
Adventurers - Moderate; had a very poorly party after this one.
Ghost - Very easy
Gondi - very easy
Primus - very easy
　
Spelling/typos - Youcan search these in the toolset I think. Note - I can see some language that I might change, but this is your mod and your npc’s. Would you like to have me note the things that I see? In the end, as with all my comments, they are yours to do with as you will.
　
Xedlon
　
Ancient wizards (double space)
Around for (double space)
Kings Assassin.
SpringSpeak
WordsLet
Some holier (double space)
Nevermind (is that one word ?)

Cheers,
PJ

Modifié par PJ156, 29 juillet 2010 - 12:10 .

[Dorateen]

PJ156 wrote...

I have completed lv 1 of the Anvil of Time and I am now on lv 3. A lot of the combat is quite easy as I am fighting individuals. Where there are groups it gets tougher. I am still winning but not always with the party intact or with more that a few hp's. That to me is good balance but it iis difficult to reflect in my simplistic scoring system.
　
Generaly fun again. As I picked the diplomatic start option. On level 1 it was never clear who was on my side and I ended up with some unconventional allies.
　

Great! I really like your testing system, and with the additional feedback, has proven quite useful.

I have changed the conversation for Arlis to show once only, and then have given him a follow up dialogue, so no worries there.  Same with Loren.

The spiders certianly sounds like a glitch and is bugging me (ha ha). They are placed in that room behind a locked door as a defender faction, and should only turn hostile upon crossing the speak trigger. Have not run into this issue on playthroughs over here. Maybe it got messed up when the area loaded?

Thanks for catching the typographical errors and the continued combat balancing. I will likely toughen up Primus.

[PJ156]

Hello Dorateen,

I completed this tonight, because of the way I have played I cannot give you an idea of the length of the mod. I must leave that to others. Here are my comments:

AOT 2

1. Rogue bypassed GC in triggered convo. But it is not intuitive after the GC in neutralised, as to what the rogue must do to pick up the exp.
2. Level II to level I spiral stairs don’t link.

AOT 1

1. In final transport room cannot pass between pillars.

End game

No clear ending/closure.

Combats:

AOT 3

GC’s - Very easy - very interesting but they were not hurting me.

AOT 2

GC - Very easy - I did not lose against this one but he had me on the ropes once and in none of the combats did I have a whole party. So well balanced but not greatly challenging.
Knights Archers - Very easy - Might be tougher if the archers could hit, as it is the drop one at a time.
Flying critters - Moderate - Took me bit by surprise, they gang up and deal damage fast, a good encounter.
Dragon men guards - Very easy - hard to hit but with no resistances they go down quickly. Did not take any damage from these.

AOT 1

Blink dogs - Very easy
Final battle - Very Hard - The bad guys do, and take, a lot of damage but the fear attack is what makes this so tough. A very challenging encounter.

Functionally I have not come across any bugs in either run through. There are a few convos that would benefit from the npc reacting to recent events or previous convos.

I will have a look through for typo’s at the weekend but from a play point of view I am done for now. I will play the finished product.


Good luck

PJ

[Dorateen]

PJ156 wrote...

Hello Dorateen,

I completed this tonight, because of the way I have played I cannot give you an idea of the length of the mod. I must leave that to others. Here are my comments:

[

Thank you very much, PJ! I believe I am now well-armed to tackle the list of items left to do. Hope to have a very productive weekend.

I was just tidying a few things tonight, going on your notes. The Knight Archers, for example,I have reassigned as Rangers at a higher level, and used the Marksmen package. Now maybe they will shoot better! Also, I upped the level of the guardian dragonmen, as they should be harder than the ones on the level below.

Regarding the final transport room, I converted the dais into an environmental object. That should fix the walkmesh issue between the pillars.

The finished module will have some proper epilogue conversations upon returning from the last dungeon. In addition, there will be two more small side quests. And I will complete the encounter in that room you were unable to get into on AoT 1. It is meant to be a high-level challenge for powerful parties, just for fun.

Best regards

[Dorateen]

I have a new version of the module for playtesting. This one fixes some of the outstanding issues, while adding content that had been left out.

After the final dungeon, there is an NPC that now has a proper epilogue, including the option to exit to the Main Menu and "officially" finish the module. There will be two more NPCs that charatcers can converse with to bring closure to the adventure, I just have to finish those conversations.

I finished the dialogue for one of the merchants, and added a side quest. Also, found a bug that did not take items from players. The parameter had to be set to take the item from all members of the PC faction. I fixed that in a couple of other instances when the party has the option to return something to NPCs.

At this point, I am hoping that I am two weekends from release. If anyone else would like to give this a whirl, just shout.