Allow me to introduce my new mod. While I'd like to claim that it's finished, I have to admit it has become fairly large - extremely large in comparison to all the other mods I've seen. And it's not just the size of the code base: I changed the game's core mechanics quite a bit. My mod does not alter a few select scenes here and there. It modifies the entire game. And so it has developed past the point, where I can properly test it myself. It's probably wise to make a Beta phase before the final release. I'm looking for a handful of brave souls now, who want to playtest the mod and report bugs, if any, to me. Suggestions and critique are welcome as well, of course!
1.) Styles:
The mod started out as a compilation of all the other mods out there, that add new styles. All in all there's around 40 styles the player may learn - around 50 if you include weapon upgrades. Some of these new styles I added to the existing stores, but introducing all of them in that manner would have been a bit boring. So I devised a new mechanism for learning styles: Through combat.
You will have to fight for new styles. There's no specific opportunity to do so. You can learn a new style whenever you fight an opponent, who uses that style. Take Iron Palm as an example: In vanilla Jade Empire it was introduced through a looong and overcomplicated quest. But in my mod you may (or may not) be able to learn it, as soon as you fight Gao the Lesser. Or the Red Minister Transformation: You don't have to wait for the last third of the game to acquire it anymore. You can learn it – at least potentially – as soon as you fight the old emperor's ghost in the Necropolis.
There's little a catch, though: You will have to do well. Should you take any damage whatsoever, your chance to learn is gone. But if you truly prove that you can defeat a new style, a special store will pop up at the end of the combat round where you will be able to buy it for a tenth of what it would cost at regular stores. This way you can – at least potentially – acquire each and every style in the Jade Empire. Some of the best styles can be acquired by this mechanism alone: Blizzard for example (Master Li's magic style) or Death's Razor.
While having increased the total number of styles, I reduced the number of styles you get for free. Horse Demon and Toad Demon aren't simply granted to you anymore. You will have to buy them for quite a bit of silver at Zin Bu's store or fight for them. Red Minister and Jade Golem aren't granted anymore, either. And they aren't for sale. I'm thinking of adding Tang's Revenge and Mirabelle to that list.
No damage whatsoever may be a bit too much to ask, though. So if you would like to make it a little easier on yourself: There is a certain gem that'll allow you to lower that requirement from "no damage at all" to "not too much damage". Call it a cheat mode if you will, but my mod is not about making the game easier or harder. It's about adding flavor.
2.) Style Points:
Right. So now there are over 40 styles you can acquire. That's nice and all, but what good are so many styles, if you don't have the points to level them? Some people have apparently resorted to increasing the number of style points you get at level-up. That's possible. And rather simple, too. But also a bit dull. I went the opposite route. I reduced that number to zero. Yes, zero. You won't get a single point for free. You will have to fight for those as well. Opponents will drop them in the form of black orbs that look like health-, chi- or focus-power-ups. The lowly gimps may or may not drop a single point. Since there's so many of them, I added a bit of randomness here. Your chances lie at roughly 50 percent. And they sink even further, if you allow them to hit you. In other words: The better you do, the bigger your chances to get a style point. The tougher opponents will drop points, no matter how badly you do, and they won't just drop one, but several points at once. How many points they drop, however, depends on your performance. Get hit a lot and they'll drop less.
In short: How many styles you will get and how many of them you will be able to level depends entirely on how well you play the game. That's my own personal gaming philosophy right there: The more proficient you become at playing a game, the more variety in the game world should open up to you.
3.) The And:
But wait! Wait! That's not all of it. There's more. A lot more, if I say so myself. But this post has gotten long enough already...
Here's a quick and incomplete list of the other changes:
- Lots of new autosaves, that'll allow you to skip the cutscenes and jump right into the fray.
- New techniques and gems: Especially noteworthy is an open-palm-specific technique, that allows you to regenerate your stats while out of combat and a closed-fist-specific gem that allows you to replenish your stats in combat at your opponents' expense.
- A number of styles have been modified. Especially noteworthy is Storm Dragon: It can no longer be used to incapacitate your opponents for ridiculous amounts of time. And it no longer damages your opponent's health either. Instead, you can regenerate your focus with it. My aim was to turn Storm Dragon into the equivalent of Spirit Thief.
- Specializations: If you invest significantly more points into one stat than in the other two, you'll become a specialist and do bonus damage. Favor health and you become a martial arts specialist. Favor chi and become a magician. Or favor focus and become a weapon master. The bonus is applied after effects. That means gems count towards the bonus as well.
- Lots of changes to the economy: You'll get more silver out of combat; there are new merchants; etc
- other stuff
4.) Let me know!
So... if you want to give the mod a try, send me a PM with your email address and I'll mail the beta to you (ca. 5 MB). Should you find any bugs, contact me and I'll mail you the fix.
Modifié par pecoes, 07 décembre 2010 - 05:33 .
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