Xerathul's revenge (module discussion thread)

[henk brouwer]

I finally finished my new module! here it is:

Xerathul's Revenge v0.5 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1066258650.zip)

(Extract this file in your modules directory)

The module was completely build from scratch, and contains a lot of new graphics. I experimented a bit with the mapgenerator, and was able to do some really nice things. (It's possible to create very interesting random maps in dungeon oddysey, I was able to make some nice maps and I think I only scratched the surface of what is possible)
It's a shame that the demo for dungeon oddysey does such a poor job at showing these possibilities, it seems that all the maps in the demo are quite straightforward and boring.. (the horrible square city blocks of Tarlumain... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif )

The module contains work from the following people

Tweaked classes.txt file by Rollo and David Gervais.
Graphics:
David Gervais
Lord Kodos
Myself (all the bmp files with the HB_ prefix)

Notable gameplay differences from the crown of the magi/crack of doom modules that were added in 0.5

0.50 : *Spellsystem changed to prevent abuse of the infamous "spell effect stacking bug"
-spells/skills like barkskin, berserk etc, that increase stats of the caster are automatically activated, and can no longer be cast (to prevent multicasting and bonus stacking) affected spells: Barkskin, Berserk, Cleansing Armor, Cloack of Darkness, Cold Enchant, Deadly Precision, Fire Armor, Fire Enchant, Giant Strength, Ice Armor, Lightning Armor, Lightning Enchant, Magic Armor, Magic Shield, Nature's bounty, Rage and Vigor.
-The lightspell will still stack, but it's casting cost has been increased, while casting lightspell at a higher level has been made more effective.

*Monsters will drop less gold and potions, but can drop other items like corpses with magical effects (yes I play too much nethack ) armor and other things.

*added the tweaked classes.txt file by Rollo and David Gervais.
-Early XP levels are more expensive. Higher levels are cheaper.
-priests can use slings, fighters can use bows/crossbows

*added torches (terrainobjects) that can be lit/unlit by rightclicking them in the game (like opening doors)


I hope to add new levels to this mod in future releases ( this Version still has an open ending),also new Versions should generate more random maps, in an attempt to make every game really different and to add more replayability.

[ March 29, 2004, 09:55: Message edited by: henk brouwer ]

[DarkStar]

Yeah! Good news. I'll have to get this after work. Can't wait to give it a run.

The changes you made to the spells/skills sounds interesting.

I'll let you know if I found any bugs, and maybe send some ideas your way. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Rollo]

I got it! I got it! Haha, I was first http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif .
Muahahahaha...

*Rollo dashes off to play DO.

[Rollo]

first impression: this is excellent Henk! I am just running around town talking to people and enjoying the the scenery. Very well done.
Can't wait to actually enter the graveyard...
BTW, the sheep rock http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif .

more detail later...

[DarkStar]

Awesome job!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I have only have uncovered the town area, and have done the first quest (wolves), and the second quest (key). I'm having a bLast, and I love the use of the tiles you have in there for the buildings, forest, and graveyard areas.

My only suggestions so far is that I think you should add some monsters in the forest areas in the town level, there is alot to explore and nothing to kill or find, maybe a few items, gold, or chests in some of the dead end areas? Exploring the area was fun but I was thinking I would find something in there.

I guess it's random but I didn't get anything for any of the chests in the houses in town.

Because of lack of items, and gold, I have a very hard time with the mine level with my level 1 Cleric, I must have died 10 times or more down there from the wolves. The graveyard was easy because of Turn Undead, need to replay with another class I think after I'm done with Cleric. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Adding some items, monsters, and/or gold, would allow the player to level up to 2, and maybe buy some better items. Maybe I should have gone to the graveyard map first, but I figured killing the wolves would be easier.

Love the sheep, it's a very nice touch.
Not sure if it's a new graphic, but I love the town cryer guy, very cool.

Liked the fact that one guy moved from the other town, and that his reason ties into the other 2 'offical' Mods story, very cool idea, and done well. Overall all the dialogue is written very nicely.

Graveyard area, very, very cool. I love the usage of the bridges. Nice graphic look to everything. Not sure if you can but it might be cool to add coffins that you can open to get gold or a simple item. All those areas with the fences and coffins are cool, but when I first saw the coffins I tried to open them up, hehe.

Not sure if it's a new graphic, but the guards for the tower look awesome. I like how the leader doesn't look exactly the same as the grunts.

The new items I have seen like the bone armor, and wand, are very nice.

A few things that could make the game easier to play:

I'm haven't seen one yet (maybe there are already in there), but it would be good to add a portal in town that takes you to the graveyard (like Crown of the Magi), and any other areas that you goto alot. Going from the graveyard to town to sell gets boring, and is slow, might not be so bad if you add wandering monsters to the forest outside of town.

Not sure if this can be changed but a clear exit from the mine, and between the forest and graveyard would be better, IMHO. Currently it's a 'magic space' floating in air you can't see. I would move the exit to the graveyard to the border of the forest if you can. I would move the exit to the forest from the mines to the gray colored wall against the border in the mine if you can.

Like I said loving it so far, it's really great work! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I'll post any more ideas/bugs I have as I continue to play if you want input on your Module.

Going into the tower...

[ October 16, 2003, 06:41: Message edited by: DarkStar ]

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by DarkStar:


My only suggestions so far is that I think you should add some monsters in the forest areas in the town level, there is alot to explore and nothing to kill or find, maybe a few items, gold, or chests in some of the dead end areas? Exploring the area was fun but I was thinking I would find something in there.

I guess it's random but I didn't get anything for any of the chests in the houses in town.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I kind of neglected the town area (and no there is nothing in the chests yet, sorry). I'll add more stuff to that in future releases, maybe some Groups of undead that made it into the town, to make things look more dramatic, some minor quests, and maybe some thiefs or other bandits.
I do however want the town to be a more or less save place, I won't add too many monsters.


Because of lack of items, and gold, I have a very hard time with the mine level with my level 1 Cleric, I must have died 10 times or more down there from the wolves. The graveyard was easy because of Turn Undead, need to replay with another class I think after I'm done with Cleric. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I must admit that I only tested the module with a fighter, so the other classes might be a bit unbalanced.

some tips: return from the cave to buy some better weapons after levelling (the quality of weapons in Gnimwick's shop should increase every time you level). Gnimwick might even have a decent cheap weapon for sale before you go on your first quest.

Try to allways fight one enemy at a time by using narrow passages or terrain obstacles

take a few skills in the weapon you are using as fast as you can.

Buy healing potions from Jarwena the Witch, the chance for monsters to drop them is much lower compared to the stock game, but they are important (and quite cheap)


Adding some items, monsters, and/or gold, would allow the player to level up to 2, and maybe buy some better items. Maybe I should have gone to the graveyard map first, but I figured killing the wolves would be easier.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It is. The graveyard is quite dangerous to new characters (Azrad will tell you this)



Love the sheep, it's a very nice touch.
Not sure if it's a new graphic, but I love the town cryer guy, very cool.

Liked the fact that one guy moved from the other town, and that his reason ties into the other 2 'offical' Mods story, very cool idea, and done well. Overall all the dialogue is written very nicely.

Graveyard area, very, very cool. I love the usage of the bridges. Nice graphic look to everything. Not sure if you can but it might be cool to add coffins that you can open to get gold or a simple item. All those areas with the fences and coffins are cool, but when I first saw the coffins I tried to open them up, hehe.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You evil graverobber! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif It's a nice idea though, and it should be possible. I might add it for the next Version.


Not sure if it's a new graphic, but the guards for the tower look awesome. I like how the leader doesn't look exactly the same as the grunts.

The new items I have seen like the bone armor, and wand, are very nice.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The bone armor was done by David Gervais, it's very cool indeed http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . I only did the graphics with the HB_ prefixes in the pictures directory.



A few things that could make the game easier to play:

I'm haven't seen one yet (maybe there are already in there), but it would be good to add a portal in town that takes you to the graveyard (like Crown of the Magi), and any other areas that you goto alot. Going from the graveyard to town to sell gets boring, and is slow, might not be so bad if you add wandering monsters to the forest outside of town.

Not sure if this can be changed but a clear exit from the mine, and between the forest and graveyard would be better, IMHO. Currently it's a 'magic space' floating in air you can't see. I would move the exit to the graveyard to the border of the forest if you can. I would move the exit to the forest from the mines to the gray colored wall against the border in the mine if you can.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Good suggestions, thanks!


Like I said loving it so far, it's really great work! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I'll post any more ideas/bugs I have as I continue to play if you want input on your Module.

Going into the tower... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Thanks for the feedback, and good luck on your quest! (watch out for those gribusses..)

Henk

[ October 16, 2003, 10:38: Message edited by: henk brouwer ]

[David E. Gervais]

Yeeeeehaaaa, I killed the big bad wolf.

what's this... he dropped a pelt. hmmm very nice graphic.

I like this idea, make different kinds of pelts/skins/hides and have some animals drop them. The player could become a 'Fur Trader' to make some extra cash.

Now I'm off to the graveyard,... should I be afread? very afread?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by David E. Gervais:
Hooowieeeee, the Wolf den is sweet. Very nice cave feeling to it, nicely done.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I used the cavewall set that you created some time ago for that map, I really liked those tiles and added a few of my own for the floor etc.


I like what you have done with the tree gorups to add variety. I also see you have created many new decorations. Great job. I like the tree-stumps (now where is the evil lumberjack that is stealing all the trees?)
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Rollo has a simmilar forest level, without the buildings etc. hidden somewhere in his hack and slash module. In fact, now my module is finished I'm going to have another try at hack and slash http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif


I died several times but managed to kill all but the big bad wolf, I'll need to get better equipment before going back to try and kill him.

Gonna go sell my loot and see if I can get a better weapon than my mangled mace. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

I'll be back with more comments.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The big bad wolf can be a pain if he is generated with certain intrinsics.. good luck!

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by David E. Gervais:
Yeeeeehaaaa, I killed the big bad wolf.

what's this... he dropped a pelt. hmmm very nice graphic.

I like this idea, make different kinds of pelts/skins/hides and have some animals drop them. The player could become a 'Fur Trader' to make some extra cash.

Now I'm off to the graveyard,... should I be afread? very afread?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Don't forget to give the pelt to Mirjelle, she needs proof of your heroic deeds http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[David E. Gervais]

omg, the grave yard is extremely well done. I love the tone and feel of the graphics. Henk you're making me look bad. Actually I'm very happy that you have taken the time to do new graphics. This makes the game especially fun for me. It also goes to show how someone can completely change the feel of the game by just creating new graphics.

Now I'm off to see where this brass key takes me.. probably to my death, but don't worry, the autosave is on and I know how to reload. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ October 16, 2003, 15:01: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

[Malfador Machinations]

Nice module! Having funning hunting the undead. Love the new graphics, keep up the great work!

Aaron

[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Malfador Machinations:
Nice module! Having funning hunting the undead. Love the new graphics, keep up the great work!

Aaron<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">"Having funning hunting" hmmm, High praise indeed, so high that grammar and dictionaries have been tossed aside in the excitement.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[David E. Gervais]

Iiiiiiiii Like it. Very nice town map, I like what you have done with the tree gorups to add variety. I also see you have created many new decorations. Great job. I like the tree-stumps (now where is the evil lumberjack that is stealing all the trees?)

Note: instead of adding 'monsters' to the town map, how about adding some cows and horses that could drop some stuff if killed. (The player wouldn't gain any XP but could sell the stuff to get better equipment.) This is a trick I use in the Original DO modules.

I'm heading into the Wolf den now, wish me luck...

[David E. Gervais]

Hooowieeeee, the Wolf den is sweet. Very nice cave feeling to it, nicely done.

I died several times but managed to kill all but the big bad wolf, I'll need to get better equipment before going back to try and kill him.

Gonna go sell my loot and see if I can get a better weapon than my mangled mace. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

I'll be back with more comments.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by Malfador Machinations:
Nice module! Having funning hunting the undead. Love the new graphics, keep up the great work!

Aaron<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Wow, Thanks! (and thanks for creating the game! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif )

I hope that this module will inspire others to release new modules. DO is a fun game, one of its strongest points is that it can be easily modded. Can't wait to see some more mods (I know there are at least a few projects)

[Rollo]

well, what can I say?
This extremely well done http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . I liked the graphics, the story, the dialogue.
The tower was very cool. Inching my way forward from torch to torch...
The ending was a bit abrupt, but I hope there is more to come http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

one problem is with the text windows that pop up after a quest is done, because DO doesn't pause the game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif .

good suggestion for the coffins. it would be fun if at least some of them could be opened like chests. easy enough to do.

for the town area: perhaps some rabbits or deer would be nice to have to kill for food. Btw, I really liked the idea of adding talk topics to all the town 'monsters' (even chickens), so they can't be slain.

Keep up the great work.
Rollo

[DarkStar]

Still going at it. Playing as a Priest is pretty hard. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

One of my main problems is that the weapon store never seems to have any scepters in stock. Not sure if this is random but I haven't seen even one and my character is level 8.

The other thing is that I'm not sure that some of my my spells that are now skills are working.

For example Enchant Fire or whatever that spell was that adds fire damage to weapon attacks. I'm not seeing that happen, it seems like I'm just getting the normal damage from the scepter, without the extra fire damage. The spell is listed as always on, so not sure what the problem is there, if any.

You might want to look into these 2 things if you have time. If you end up doing another Version (hope you do) maybe look into the balance of the game for character that are not fighting guys.

Other then that I haven't found anything new as far as bugs or ideas to expand the game.

Do you have plans to expand on your mod? If so what types of things were you thinking on adding?

Once again, great job!

[ October 18, 2003, 21:15: Message edited by: DarkStar ]

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by Rollo:


one problem is with the text windows that pop up after a quest is done, because DO doesn't pause the game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif .
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yes, I ran into that bug as well, in fact I had just finished the game, was reading the victory message, and then got killed a few seconds later http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif . I haven't had a chance to test while pressing spacebar in this window will pause the game, I hope it does, since I rather like the text windows.
Originally posted by Rollo:

good suggestion for the coffins. it would be fun if at least some of them could be opened like chests. easy enough to do.

for the town area: perhaps some rabbits or deer would be nice to have to kill for food. Btw, I really liked the idea of adding talk topics to all the town 'monsters' (even chickens), so they can't be slain.

Keep up the great work.
Rollo <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yes, it would be kind of odd if you could slaughter Mirjelle's sheep after you rescued them from the wolves http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . Good suggestion about the food.

Originally posted by Darkstar:

One of my main problems is that the weapon store never seems to have any scepters in stock. Not sure if this is random but I haven't seen even one and my character is level 8.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hmmn, I'm not sure about what I did with the scepters, I copied most of the store content from the crown of the magis module, but I changed some things.. Have you tried the magic store?

Originally posted by Darkstar:

For example Enchant Fire or whatever that spell was that adds fire damage to weapon attacks. I'm not seeing that happen, it seems like I'm just getting the normal damage from the scepter, without the extra fire damage. The spell is listed as always on, so not sure what the problem is there, if any.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hmm weird.. I haven't tested all the spells for the new mod, but I'm sure that at least barkskin and a few others I tested worked, and I made the assumption that it would work for all spells.., but a character I played this weekend seemed to have some problems with the rage spell, so probably the spellsystem is broken http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif . I'll look whether there is an easy way to fix it, but I'm afraid there isn't..

Originally posted by Darkstar:

Do you have plans to expand on your mod? If so what types of things were you thinking on adding?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I do have plans, the module has a quite dissapointing ending right now, as Rollo already found out http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . I'm planning to add more levels to the dungeon, with perhaps some side-branches, for varieties sake, and add a proper ending.

Besides that I also want to make the dungeon a lot more random, with quests that may show up in one game, but not in the next, and with a number of different boss-creatures that the game could choose from. ( the guy with the key on the graveyard can be a completely different monster each game, etc) In other words, make the game fun to play for a second time, the randomness is a strong point of DO and should be exploited http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

But all that is probably long term, reall life is going to eat a lot of time in the coming weeks.. There might be a bug-fix for the existing levels quite soon, I might even stick some new features into that one, like coffins that can be opened and such.

Thanks for the comments!

Henk

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by DarkStar:

One of my main problems is that the weapon store never seems to have any scepters in stock.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I just checked, they are for sale in Azrad's magic store ( the building you start right next to). I hope that makes the game a bit easier. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Originally posted by DarkStar:

For example Enchant Fire or whatever that spell was that adds fire damage to weapon attacks. I'm not seeing that happen, it seems like I'm just getting the normal damage from the scepter, without the extra fire damage. The spell is listed as always on, so not sure what the problem is there, if any.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I just looked at it, I made a small change to classes.txt that made fire enchant available as a starting skill. It worked perfectly. ( I did get an animation for fire damage upon hitting the target, and the extra damage was applied). I'll run some more tests under different conditions.

Does anyone else have problems with spells under the new system?

[Rollo]

Fire Enchant worked fine for my ranger.

[DarkStar]

Oops!. Yeah after I posted my email I started playing again and found that shop. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[clark]

fun mod http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

I have a question maybe someone can answer...

Is there a way to make an item act like a key, but not disappear?

Right now you open locked doors and each time, you use up a key, but I was thinking that there might be a way to set it so you can keep the key... not because I want to cheat or anything like that http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif No, I was thinking it might be really neat to implement a 'shovel' type quest/activity.

I'm sure some nice talented artists http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif could even come up with the picture files for a 'buried hole' which opens up to an 'open hole' (think of it like the open/closed pics of the chest). So then, armed with a shovel, you search the graveyards- or a pix axe in the mines, and then you find the lost relic of Shathra...err, well, you get the point.

PS- Oh, and what's really fun sometimes is to mod in 'teleport' for your characters as a spell... hehe. I never realized there were secret rooms until I popped into one. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by clark:


PS- Oh, and what's really fun sometimes is to mod in 'teleport' for your characters as a spell... hehe. I never realized there were secret rooms until I popped into one. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif There are secret rooms!!?
I didn't know http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif not even after making my own mod..(so don't bother searching for them there) DO is full of suprises http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif .

About the keys: It was discussed before but sadly isn't possible. It would be a really nice addition though.

[ October 22, 2003, 19:05: Message edited by: henk brouwer ]

[clark]

LOL! Good luck finding some of those secret rooms (I think they appear in the Magi module in the temple levels) I have encountered one instance where I 'discovered' the secret room. The passage appears as this small pink 'globe' attached to the wall, you click on it, and it opens up! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

To bad about the key issue. One work around I have done, (becuase I am lazy, and I hate going in and out of the town, over and over) is to edit the txt file for the store generation of 'keys'. Each time you go into the town, three keys are always for sale- I upped it to 3 keys of each kind (copper, silver, iron) by adding in extra entries.

I also reviewed the item.txt file (man is that thing HUUUGE!). There is a line that can be adjusted to affect the number appearing in a stack (think arrows and shots, how they appear in multiples). Perhaps all shovels can be edited to appear in stacks of 99 (or whatever number, with a neccessary reduction in weight!) and then the shovels get 'used up'. So say you have ten shovels, what that means, is you can use it ten times before it 'breaks'. Just a thought on a work around...

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by DarkStar:

The graveyard was easy because of Turn Undead, need to replay with another class I think after I'm done with Cleric. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hmmm I just played a test game as a priest. Turn undead indeed seems a bit overpowered :-). Other spells like magic bolt etc, seem to be almost completely useless. guess I need to balance things a bit.

[henk brouwer]

An update on the changes I've worked on so far. no new download yet, just an update to show that some work is still being done on this module.

0.52 :
*Added some new non-player-characters to the Wirwood map.
*Added the "Random Quest". The game will pick this quest randomly from five possible minor quests for each game.
*Changed : Main quest enemies are randomly selected from several possible enemies for each game.
*Added: Thorar's drinkdungeon, the town's tavern has opened it's doors, go here for a drink or to receive minor quests.
Fixed : Some typos. There are probably many more of these.
*Changed : Decreased the effectiveness of turn undead. It seemed slightly overpowered for this module :-).

0.51 : *Added some new tiles, tileGroups, quests and monsters to the old levels.
*Added a few wandering monsterGroups to the Wirwood map.
*changed: graves can now be opened, and may contain items.
*fixed : chests in Wirwood did not contain items.
*fixed : some scrolls did not work because of changes made in 0.50
*fixed : items generated in the dungeon were never higher than level 2.
*fixed : It was possible that more than one quest enemy was generated for some quests.

The new changes are mainly meant to make the game more random, some quests and enemies will not show up in each game, so replayability should be a bit higher.

I plan on extending the dungeons a bit deeper (maybe two or three extra levels) before releasing the next Version.

[ April 01, 2004, 17:09: Message edited by: henk brouwer ]

[DarkStar]

Sounds awesome - can't wait to try the new Version.

[henk brouwer]

Yes I'm still working on a next Version for this mod.. it's not ready for the next release but here is a small update on the current status. Most of the new changes are aimed at making the game a lot more random, replaying the module a second time should result in a completely different game with other dungeon levels, graphics, monsters and quests.

0.53 :
*Added a new dungeon level
*Added magical portals from some dungeon levels back to the town.
*Added a temple (with a priest and store) to the town.
*Added divine gifts (superior weapons and armor that are automatically destroyed after they have been worn/wielded for a certain amount of time) these can be bought at the new temple.
*Added tilegroup based map generation for the dungeon levels and wolfden. maps generated in this way use different graphics each time the game is loaded, depending on the tilegroup that is randomly chosen; A level might be a dungeon in one game, and a dark cave system in the next.

[DarkStar]

Glad to hear that you are still working on this!

The new changes sound great. The divine gift idea sounds very cool - as does the random map generation.

Can you believe it's been almost a year since you released the first Version?

It could be that new Version will come out on the same day 1 year later - that would be cool. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[henk brouwer]

almost a year already? hmm, I'm affraid I won't be able to finish it before the anniversary, there's still lots of stuff to add and test (like a proper ending). I hope to finish it before the end of the month though.

[DarkStar]

Any news on the new Version? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I decided to run thru the module again this weekend. I ended up with a strange bug. Maybe someone here can help me out.

I made it to the 2nd dungeon level. There are 2 stairs. One is down and the other one is up. The funny thing is that the stairs that has the DOWN graphics goes UP. The stairs that have the UP graphic doesn't do anything.

I'm trapped in the level I can only go up. The level is VERY small and I don't see any other way to advance. I have explored the whole level and there wasn't any monsters or items. It seems like there is a 3rd level to the dungeon but I can't reach it.

Is this a bug? What am I supposed to do? It's very strange and I don't think I can finish the game.

Any ideas are welcome.

On another note is anyone else still making modules for this game? Things seem to be dead around here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[henk brouwer]

Hmmm it is indeed a bug.. (or two seperate bugs really)
There are only two dungeon levels, so the stairs down (who seem to connect to the level above now http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif ) should not go anywhere right now. I just put them there for future Versions. The stairs have been repaired in my current Version.

The second bug seems a lot more serious, I've run into it once in the new Version of the module that has not been released yet, I thought it wasn't present in the old Version, and I have not been able to reproduce the bug since. it seems like you just did http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif.

The tiny level you are on should contain the current end boss of the game (a huge skeleton-demon with a group of fire elementals) but for some reason the game does not generate him on certain occasions, the problem is that you need to defeat him to win the game (and get the current lame ending)

There might be some hope for your game though, the one time I ran into this the demon-lord was found hiding on the first dungeon level instead of the second, I'm not sure what caused him to be generated there.. So unless you've already completely mapped the above level there might be some hope of finishing the game. Could you let me know if you find him there? It would be good to know wether it's the same bug I found, or a new one.

Thanks for the bug report http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DarkStar]

Thanks for the info. I did clear the level above as far as I can tell. I didn't see the boss you talked about. I guess I will run around up there again in hopes he will appear. If not guess I can't win the game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

There isn't a way I could hand edit something to make him appear again?

I will keep looking for bugs. I haven't seen any since the Last bug report I sent you (almost a year ago I think). The module seems pretty clean.

Looking forward to the new Version when it is released.

[henk brouwer]

I think content of levels can not be changed during a game since all the maps are generated at the start, and all monsters are placed during the map-generation, and not later... except for summoning.

maybe you could change some existing monsters properties and give him a spel ability that summons the offending demon-lord... that would be a lot of work though, and I'm not sure wether it would work.
Also the endgame is really not that good in the current Version, so you're not missing that much.. (you kill the demon-lord and get a victory message)

I'm affraid your game is lost, sorry..