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I'm not dead yet!

Wed, 28 Nov 2001 12:16:00

Tzar Sectus

Yup, I'm back and ready to be the project's programmer slave. Personally, I think we should just get the KMod2 into beta test stage as soon as possible, there's no fatal bugs (as I know of anyway) and all we need is to tweak the spells a bit and then all we need is some beta testers to find rest of the bugs and balance the new features... we do have some beta testers, right? Er... I've kind of forgotten which class is meant to have which spells, RambOrc, could you enlighten me on this? And we should do a rough approximation of how much mana the spells should take. When that's done we should be ready for beta testing, I know there's a bunch of bugs we already know of, but those will be taken out during beta testing. And yeah, which of the current features is to be kept or thrown out? If my memory is correct, these are the new features: -New Mage wands -The spells: -Possession -Lots-of-spooky-spirits-from-dead-bodies (can't remember what name I gave it) -Berserk -Summon Monster -Fighter with variable speed on weaponry -Remi
Thu, 29 Nov 2001 00:23:00

RambOrc

I'm going to make an announcement on Korax' Heritage and RavenGames tonight that we're searching for beta testers for the weekend. While I will do some beta testing, there are always things I'll surely never notice. Though not fatal bugs, there are some basic things to change before making the runtime module available to beta testers: <UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>disabling the Heretic character class<LI>fix the fighter speed thing, currently if you start the game, you have an immensely fast Gauntlets<LI>the mage's newer wands aren't available on the first 4 levels at least (I played that far yesterday)</UL> Also, a couple of old cheats should be re-enabled, as it's very difficult to test some things if there aren't in: "armload of weapons" - all weapons and armor (same as NRA was in Hexen) "shopping center" - all items (same as INDIANA was in Hexen) "i am the lamest excuse for an rpg player in the history of computer gaming" (makes you Level 10, gives you all weapons, full ammo and armor, all artifacts and 500 gold. Also make a short form of the same cheat, "lame", so that I can use that one for internal testing) From what you listed above, everything is being kept for KMOD2, the only thing taken out is the Heretic character class (maybe there is more, but I can't recall anything else currently) Possession and Summon spell goes to the mage. Note that the Summon spell replaces the Farm Animal spell and uses half the amount of Magic as before. Also, the Summon Spell should be acquired on Level 8 instead of Level 9 (as was the case with the Farm Animal spell in KMOD). Possession spell is acquired on Level 9. On level 10, the Mage gets the spell "Horrible Pain" which is pretty much the same as the cleric's "Wrath of the Gods" spell, just runs under a different name, uses nearly all available Magic and creates a stroke of variable strength. It still starts at 50 Magic (you can't start it with less Magic), but it can go up indefintely: it always takes down the largest multiple of 50 that's available, i.e. if you have 167 Magic, it will use 150 Magic and create a 3x larger hit as it would with 50. This spell is badly needed against the Heresiarchs and Korax, as all weapons of the Mage remain same weak and puny as before (and it's not much consolation that they don't use that much mana). The blue wand is acquired on Level 2, the red wand on Level 4, and the Gray wand on Level 6. This way, the mage gets one new something on each level from 1-10. Don't forget to remap the keys, T is now for the Summon spell. The Possession Spell is on F and the Horrible Pain spell on G. The 3rd new spell goes to the cleric, and it's name is "Spirits Within" (you gave it the name yourself, remember? [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]). I'm not sure about the Faith usage, let's try with 5 Faith points for each ghost you create. The spell is acquired on Level 5. That means the Banishment spell moves to Level 7. To avoid key remaps, just leave the keys for the 3 original spells as they were, and use W for the Spirits Within spell. That means there will be now one hole in the row, the R key which isn't mapped to any spell. If it's no prob to implement, then just map the Wrath of the Gods spell to both R and T for easier use. Oh yeah, before I forget, just double the health points of Korax, the 3 Tomb Bosses and the Death Wyvern (but leave it as it is for the Heresiarch, it's been more than tough enough already, [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]). Another thing to be implemented is the Spell Screen. It should look just like the Stats Update Screen does. It should simply list all available spells with name, key to use, and Magic/Faith needed. Also, it'd be nice if you could navigate the spells with the cursor keys (i.e. that a whole line becomes yellow if you move the cursor to it), and by hitting ENTER you could launch that spell from the spell screen (for some RPG types, it surely beats the hell out of having to remember 25 keys). I might have left out something, but currently the only other thing I can think of is the looting/shopping system. I think I've put a description in this forum (or else by e-mail) as to what monsters should drop gold and which ones silver. I think best would be that after exiting a hub and before reading the story screen, you would be teleported to the shop map (create an entry for map #32), where stuff can be bought. The shopping system is theoretically implemented, I checked and Camper even finished the part where I can simply add the Shop attribute to a linedef in WadAuthor and specify what kind of item can be bought for what price when the player pushes the use button on that linedef. I plan on making the shop level until Friday evening, so that shouldn't be a prob with releasing for beta test over the weekend. There is a good Q about the shop though, I think there should be either different rooms which open alternately depending on which episode you just finished, or there should be some other meaning to control which stuff you can buy at which point of the game (it makes sense to buy the Swamp key from the shop when you exit the Seven Portals and are about to enter the Shadow Wood hub, but at any other point in the game, it doesn't make sense. Also, it wouldn't be too cool to allow the player to buy items before entering the Shadow Wood that you would find only in the 3rd and 4th episode else). Also, about the Wings of Wrath, as I want to add them as shop item, you should tweak them in the single player mode so they expire after 30 secs or so (as it already did in Hexen when in multiplayer). Well, that's about now, if there's more I'll post it here or whatever... and if you find it already too much at one breath, then be sure NOT to check this message board in the coming days (j/k)... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Fri, 30 Nov 2001 00:34:00

Tzar Sectus

Just a quick reply for now. I've started messing around with the source code, but there's some things I'm unsure of... -How much spell points should Possession take? -What's the Fighter's name for the Faith/Magic thingy? -Should the Possession spell works as it does now, that it sort of randomly pick a nearby monster to possess or should it be a projectile fired or what? -And you mean that the Mage gets red wand at level 6 and gray wand at level 4, right? I'm pretty dang sure I made the red wand more powerful than the grey one. And one more thing about the wands, when given a new wand is the player *forced* to use that wand or can he change willingly between the wands? When I made the wands, I kept it in the mind that the player could change around since the uses are a bit different, the red and grey wands are very different and are useful in their own situations... hmmm... perhaps I could make it so that there's a fancy morph when changing between the wands. And yeah, I almost forgot the most important thing. Before I reinstalled everything I forgot to note down the specifications for the ftp we use for uploads, so if you can give me those again that would be really helpful when I upload a new build. -Remi
Fri, 30 Nov 2001 03:08:00

RambOrc

- make it 70 Magic points for now - it's called "Battle Rage" and it's in the e-mail I sent you yesterday [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] - I might be mistaken, but AFAIR the latest build already fires a projectile? If not, then change it to do that way, random choice is not exactly a good idea, I mean the spell is mainly for cases when you see a Slaughtaur in the middle of a dozen Ettins milling around... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] - if you're sure that the red is better, then make it be the one you get on the higher level (though I found the grey more useful, you are the one who knows how exactly it works). You should be able to change between any wands you already have, the way it's currently. As I'm moving the Korax site to a new server in the coming days/weeks, I'd say it makes more sense if you mail it to me, just use <!-- e --><a href="mailto:orc@gmx.ch">orc@gmx.ch</a><!-- e --> (unless it's more than 3 megs). Another thing, concerning the shop, just forget about the restricted rooms or whatever... it's a better idea to create different shops for each hub. What I'm not yet sure about whether the shop would be in one of the maps of a hub (i.e. changing that map), or in a new map after exiting the hub. The first sounds cooler, but I'll have to try whether I can compile the maps so that the game still works. I'll make a test tomorrow and give you a definitive answer which version should be implemented.
Fri, 30 Nov 2001 14:11:00

Tzar Sectus

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
- it's called "Battle Rage" and it's in the e-mail I sent you yesterday [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]
Not the name of the spell, thou twit. The name of the "mana" the Fighter has, the same way Cleric has his called Faith, and the Mage got his named Magic. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
- I might be mistaken, but AFAIR the latest build already fires a projectile? If not, then change it to do that way, random choice is not exactly a good idea, I mean the spell is mainly for cases when you see a Slaughtaur in the middle of a dozen Ettins milling around... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Nope, the current code does a little quick search for a monster, the times I've used the current system I've actually hit the correct monster almost everytime. But okay, a projectile it will be... should it have some graphical sprites with it, or should it just be invisible? And should the projectile be instant or slower? <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
- if you're sure that the red is better, then make it be the one you get on the higher level (though I found the grey more useful, you are the one who knows how exactly it works). You should be able to change between any wands you already have, the way it's currently.
Do we got some graphical slave on the team? It it was possible, instead of lowering the wand completely when changing to a different kind, the colour would instead fade into the other colour (which gives the feeling that mage is uber cool with magical powers to change his wand... instead of having a big backpack with thousand of wands he change between). It could be done code-wise but that would simply be *way* too much work to do, so it could perhaps be nice with some additional frames which show the actual change between wands (well, not between *every* wand, only in the order they're changed red->grey->blue->yellow) Well, just an idea. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Another thing, concerning the shop, just forget about the restricted rooms or whatever... it's a better idea to create different shops for each hub. What I'm not yet sure about whether the shop would be in one of the maps of a hub (i.e. changing that map), or in a new map after exiting the hub. The first sounds cooler, but I'll have to try whether I can compile the maps so that the game still works. I'll make a test tomorrow and give you a definitive answer which version should be implemented.
That shop thingy still puzzles me. I'm *yet* to find the actual code where it is, I haven't looked any much, but I'd assume it would easy to find... grrrr, Camper should comment more of his code. -Remi
Fri, 30 Nov 2001 15:18:00

RambOrc

Twitching twit thouself, the name of the SP is Battle Rage. The name of the spell is "Berserker"... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] For the possession: just use the same projectile the Banishment spell is using, both speed and appearance. I'd say let the wand transform idea be saved for Korax Alpha (damn, one of these days gotta find an official name for that project). You see, the motto of KMOD2 currently is "time is of the essence"... I rather drop some cool ideas now but push it out ASAP, I mean if only bugs are fixed and nothing new introduced any more, it's got already about as much new stuff compared to KMOD as KMOD had compared to jHexen, which is fine. And if KMOD2 can be out before the 10th December, we should be able to make all bugfixes/errata before Xmas and so be able to stop development of KMOD2 this year still. I want to concentrate on Korax Alpha at latest in early January, but if possible even before... as that one uses the very same KMOD2 codebase, new ideas can be developed/finished up for that TC. I guess if you put a clearly defined Q to Camper by e-mail, he'll be able to answer it within reasonable time.
Sun, 02 Dec 2001 22:35:00

Tzar Sectus

Before I forget there's a minor gripe I have. When I played the KMod first there was one thing I found annoying, and that was the health modifications, that the bosses got more health was understandable, but some of the lesser creatures seemed almost immortal. I've never really thought much about it, until I looked at the monster objects in the code... the Slaughter has originally 250 health, and in the mod he has 1200! That's a *really* big difference. Why wasn't that cut down and have all the monsters go through a general health increase instead of a few becoming some Korax-wannabe? I strongly believe that the Slaughter is waaaayyyy too powerful (don't know much about the other creatures, can't remember if they were any different). Well, just my opinion. I've pretty much done everything which needs to be done in the code which I know of (except for smashing bugs that is... and except for the spell screen and shop thingy, I thought I'd save those for last), so have you managed to fetch any beta testers yet? And yeah, a question. When the player reaches a new level and can cast a new spell, should there be a little neat message telling him he has a new spell? <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Twitching twit thouself, the name of the SP is Battle Rage. The name of the spell is "Berserker"...
Heh, whoops, thought you were talking about the spell in your mail [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] Okay, got it now: spell=berserker and faith-thingy=battle rage. -Remi [ December 02, 2001: Message edited by: Tzar Sectus ]
Mon, 03 Dec 2001 01:52:00

RambOrc

The thing is, this health modifications would make any custom map unplayable (and there's a good chance they screw up Deathkings balance as well), but are pretty fine for the original Hexen maps itself (provided you play it from the beginning to the end). You see, when I was alpha testing KMOD, I found already in the 2nd half of the Shadow Wood hub that the game becomes immensely boring and feels like playing in god mode. That's when I decided that monsters that appear later in the game should be stronger than early ones. If you check out which monsters have increased health, you'll get a pretty straightforward picture: - monsters appearing in the 1st hub (ettins, afrits, green bulls, wendigos, centaurs) have the same health as in Hexen - monsters appearing in the 2nd hub have either somewhat increased health (like brown bulls, 2x) or unchanged (like Stalkers) - monsters appearing in the 3rd hub (bishops, slaughtaurs) have greatly increased health (3-5x the original) - boss monsters have immensely increased health (10x the original for all bosses except Korax who's got 20x) only exceptions are the reivers, where one type has the same health as before and the other type has a somewhat increased health (dunno any more the exact number). Also, on higher skill levels (I think 4 and upward), a Slaughtaur appears in the Darkmere, I think, but you can consider that single piece as a kind of extra mini-boss and it doesn't really disturb the balance of the game. Anyway, a Slaughtaur with 1200 HP and no spells will never approach a Korax that's got 200'000 HP, a teleport spell, dozens of monters he can summon to his aid, full control over the traps in his palace, etc. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] To be honest, what I really wanted in KMOD was monsters and bosses that had somewhat more HP (not THIS much), but also stronger attacks and maybe a bit faster and so... but Camper simply told me that's not possible. Though since then I suspect the word was rather "laziness", as he told the same thing about the speed attribute of a character influencing the weapon delay, and see you could implement it for the fighter. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Oh yes, speed, the speed attribute should actually influence the melee speed of the Cleric's mace as well. Another thing concerning speed we've been discussin months ago, I'm not sure you still remember, so just to be on the safe side: the speed attribute shouldn't influence the speed of walking that much as it does now; 10 is still the base value (giving you the same walking speed as in Hexen), but 1 shouldn't be 10% of this value, but rather 80% (i.e. each speed point under 10 makes your speed 2% lower than it was in Hexen, and each point over 10 makes it 2% higher, e.g. a figher with a speed of 30 runs 140% faster than in Hexen and needs to wait 71% of the time for the next punch he needed in Hexen). As for beta testers, Ichor signed up as only one, so I guess KMOD2 will come out just as buggy as KMOD did... [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] I will test it with all 3 classes on skill 3 once again, so BIG BIG bugs should be far between in the final release, but I'm fully counting on a 2.1 release and maybe beyond, LOL... we're the new M$, didn't I tell ya? [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] (j/k) ? propos patches... that just reminds me of the multiplayer debacle of KMOD, where 1.0 came out with virtually zero multiplayer capabilities (i.e. the game disconnected every time you did anything new, like accessing your stats screen, casting a spell, or even crouching) and all that came in 1.1 first... ...and so I recall it in the last minute that some of the spells are supposed to effect all player characters in cooperative, I guess you forgot about that just like me, right? I'd say put it at the bottom of the to-do-list, and if time grows short, we'll really save this for the 2.1 patch. The reason? If KMOD2 can't be officially released on December 10, we'll lose a good coverage possibility (it's a surprise what). As for the new spell announcement, yep it'd be basically good, OTOH how do you want to put it to effect? I mean, it comes at the same time as the "you've reached level XY" announcement. Hmmm... here a suggestion: when you reach a new level, the yellow message "you reached level XY" should be displayed along with the sound - just like in KMOD. Then after 10 seconds the next message should be displayed, telling you "you now have the XY spell". I'm not sure whether it should be a yellow or white message. After another 10 seconds, the 3rd message should kick in (in the very few cases where it applies), telling you "you can now use mana" (when cleric reaches level 3, fighter level 5). This one should be white and displayed for 5 seconds or so. p.s. shops, I haven't yet tried to extend existing maps, been working on the Alpha town big time, it suddenly starts to look like a real medieval town with the new textures I created Friday (see what a free day off work can be used for? [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]). As for the loot, I've thought of following: ettins: 25% chance for a silver bar centaurs: 50% chance for a silver bar slaughtaurs: 25% chance for a gold bar bishops: 25% chance for a gold bar Heresiarch: gold bar tomb bosses: 50% chance for a gold bar I'll try to make a quick estimation as to how much loot you get in a hub so I'll be able to determine the prices of items in the shops. Currency: a gold bar is worth 5 silver bars and the money is counted in silver bars (i.e. if you pick up a silver bar and a gold bar, you've got 6 money). This means you'll have to rewrite the current currency system somewhat, as it uses the ratio 1:10. BTW Camper has been mumbling something about "buy", I guess this means you should look for this word in the source code, but not 100% sure... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Tue, 04 Dec 2001 03:39:00

Tzar Sectus

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
To be honest, what I really wanted in KMOD was monsters and bosses that had somewhat more HP (not THIS much), but also stronger attacks and maybe a bit faster and so...
Does that mean I have the green lights to make the Slaughtaur faster and deadlier but less health-packed? I'm *dying* to lower the health rating of the Slaughtaur, I still believe it's too much. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
... but Camper simply told me that's not possible. Though since then I suspect the word was rather "laziness", as he told the same thing about the speed attribute of a character influencing the weapon delay, and see you could implement it for the fighter. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
*suddenly feels very proud* [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Oh yes, speed, the speed attribute should actually influence the melee speed of the Cleric's mace as well.
I was actually about to ask about that. I'll do it as soon as possible. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Another thing concerning speed we've been discussin months ago, I'm not sure you still remember, so just to be on the safe side: the speed attribute shouldn't influence the speed of walking that much as it does now; 10 is still the base value (giving you the same walking speed as in Hexen), but 1 shouldn't be 10% of this value, but rather 80% (i.e. each speed point under 10 makes your speed 2% lower than it was in Hexen, and each point over 10 makes it 2% higher, e.g. a figher with a speed of 30 runs 140% faster than in Hexen and needs to wait 71% of the time for the next punch he needed in Hexen).
I really can't promise exact % numbers, parts of the Hexen code is very weak. For instance, I'm very limited with how much I can decrease the speed of attacks because of a crappy tic system (and that can't be altered without rewriting half of the entire code... something I really don't want to do). But I'll see what I can do. By the way, should both the walk and run speed be altered or only the run speed? I can remember I was slightly annoyed that the running and walking speed would become the same at high speed ratings, so I'd personally want to see the walk speed be unaltered so that the player don't accidently fall off a cliff when moving carefully. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
As for beta testers, Ichor signed up as only one, so I guess KMOD2 will come out just as buggy as KMOD did... [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
One tester? Eek! Ah well, drag his butt over to this forum so he can at least put some input on stuff (always nice with a third opinion). <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
we're the new M$, didn't I tell ya? [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] (j/k)
Actually, we're worse than Microsoft... we release buggy software, and we don't even earn billions because of it! [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
...and so I recall it in the last minute that some of the spells are supposed to effect all player characters in cooperative, I guess you forgot about that just like me, right? I'd say put it at the bottom of the to-do-list, and if time grows short, we'll really save this for the 2.1 patch.
Well, yeah, I've sort of forgotten it... when I think of it, it should be easy to implement... well, anyway, bottom on the list it is, unless I have a bunch of free time and got nothing better to do [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
The reason? If KMOD2 can't be officially released on December 10, we'll lose a good coverage possibility (it's a surprise what).
*scratches head* What's the coverage possibility? Does the world blow up on December 11? <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
As for the new spell announcement, yep it'd be basically good, OTOH how do you want to put it to effect? I mean, it comes at the same time as the "you've reached level XY" announcement. Hmmm... here a suggestion: when you reach a new level, the yellow message "you reached level XY" should be displayed along with the sound - just like in KMOD. Then after 10 seconds the next message should be displayed, telling you "you now have the XY spell". I'm not sure whether it should be a yellow or white message. After another 10 seconds, the 3rd message should kick in (in the very few cases where it applies), telling you "you can now use mana" (when cleric reaches level 3, fighter level 5). This one should be white and displayed for 5 seconds or so.
Wouldn't it be nicer to have the message appear on the screen the same time as the "new level" message? <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Blah blah blah... shops, blah blah, currency, blah blah, monsters drop gold from nowhere... blah blah blah...
I'll do it as soon as possible... that is, after I've figured out the shop code. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
BTW Camper has been mumbling something about "buy", I guess this means you should look for this word in the source code, but not 100% sure... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Okay, I'll search for the word. I'll kill myself if there's another word in the code which incidently plainly have the letters "buy" in it and is everywhere. By the way, I tried re-enabling all the cheats but I stumbled into some bad problems. That litttle Camper git hasn't simply disabled the cheat code, he's made the cheat code as commentary, and I couldn't find every line which needed to be uncommented (and I'm not tempted to thoroughly look for it everywhere... the code is huuuuge), so I'd like him to do that, he probably knows where each line of cheat code is (at least I hope so). I'll mail you the new build tomorrow after I've finished up a few important parts of the code... I'm far too tired to do anything right now, all I can think of is sleep. -Remi
Tue, 04 Dec 2001 17:17:00

RambOrc

Yeah, you're welcome to meddle with those values, like giving the Slaughtaur 600 HP, just up the strength of his projectiles to double the original value. Same goes for other monsters with increased HP; also, for Korax and the tomb bosses, if you can double the strength of their attacks, you don't have to do that upping of their HP compared to KMOD I was asking earlier on. I'd say leave speed and AI the same for KMOD2, that'll be something for Korax Alpha (imagine a Heresiarch that can teleport and modify its environment [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]). Exact percents aren't really important, I just tried to give an idea as to which direction the system should go... important is that the increments are more or less always the same, i.e. every time speed goes up 1 point, the weapon delay should shorten with as much the same interval as possible. Also, the increments should be near those percentual values I gave you earlier on. As for walk and run, let's say as long as your speed is below 10, both walking and running should get slower than original, and up to a speed of 15 your walking speed should increase as well, then over 15 only your running speed. At 15 your walking speed is ca. 110% of that of the original Hexen, which should be still fine, I guess... but I find it important that you see an increase in walking speed as well. One tester? Hey I'm a beta tester as well, don't forget that! [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] And a pretty thorough one, in case you didn't realize. You just saw how many bugs the final release of KMOD had, but you have no idea how much bugs I found while Alpha and Beta testing it... just to give you a couple of examples, you couldn't break stained glass with the Mage's wand, Stalkers and Reivers were invisible, and and and... [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] I'm going to give Ichor access to this forum, but currently he'll get disconnected from the web for an unknown length of time (home.com goes down), so I just hope he'll be online still when you have the beta runtime ready to send out (best is, you send it to <!-- e --><a href="mailto:fury@hosted.ravengames.com">fury@hosted.ravengames.com</a><!-- e --> the same time you send it to me), and I just dream of the possibility he'll be still online by the end of this week when he should report his findings... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Actually, we're worse than Microsoft... we release buggy software, and we don't even earn billions because of it!
Don't give up just now, KMOD has been downloaded somewhere around 500 times since June... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] As for December 10, there'll be a major event on RavenGames where KMOD2 could be featured along with some SoF and Heretic stuff (and if all goes according to plans, also EF and Heretic II). OTOH if the mod is simply not ready to go, then we won't release it on Dec 10... especially that on 2nd thought I'm not sure myself what would give a better chance for KMOD2, being featured at a big event with some more popular games' maps where the event is big but KMOD2 is in the background, or if it comes out on its own, where the event is rather small but KMOD2 is the very center of it. What do YOU think? Another argument for pushing the release back a week or so is the multiplayer, especially that I'll be able to test multiplayer with Camper on a LAN (BTW Camper is officially the 3rd beta tester, but don't get your hopes too high in that department, LOL). OTOH the old argument for pushing it out ASAP is that it influences Korax Alpha's release date, which in turn influences when work on The Serpent Power and on Korax Arena can be started... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] And I'd be glad if all projects could be finished more or less in 2002. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Wouldn't it be nicer to have the message appear on the screen the same time as the "new level" message?
AFAIK you can't print 2 lines at the same time, or is it possible? If yes, then make the "you're level XY" yellow on top, and the other annoucement(s) white below. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
That litttle Camper git
Watch out what you say about Camper (that fucking animal, damn his hide, LOL j/k), as he's reading this board - the thing with the "buy" he said from himself, after reading this topic and checking the code, all on his own... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] Anyway, I hope he'll make the cheat upgrade, so you can erase it from your to do list.
Wed, 05 Dec 2001 21:45:00

Tzar Sectus

I actually managed to make the exact percent numbers you mentioned, but when I made the new speed code I stumbled on a problem... the walking speed is totally unaffected by the speed attribute. And I had no freaking idea why, I wasted two hours trying to fix it but I got no way. I'll look at it later, but right now I want to do anything but looking at that speed code, it's gonna give me nightmares. By the way, there's one thing I've forgotten about, and that's the new sword. Should it work just like the Axe without mana, or should I just plainly disable it? And the Berserker spell, I can remember we had a discussion about how it should have been changed. But no changes has been made (that's why you found those bugs regarding it) and I've totally forgotten how it's meant to work. Could you quickly write the specifics about it. About which attributes which should increase, and with how much. I'll respond to the rest later. Right now I need to crash down on bed... that stupid darn speed bug completely exhausted me. -Remi [ December 05, 2001: Message edited by: Tzar Sectus ]
Thu, 06 Dec 2001 20:19:00

RambOrc

the sword should definitely work w/o mana, or there wasn't much point in making it [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] I assume it's packing a lot more punch when loaded with mana though, does it? Berserker: I like simple things, that's why I just meant and still mean the spell should simply double strength, speed and health (maybe even armor class?), and when you snap out of it, simply halve the values, i.e. if you have 50 health when activating it, you've got 100 while berserking, and when at the point of snapping out you have 35 health, you get 18 health afterward. For strength and speed, the real value should be restored. On second thought, I'm sure armor class should double as well - just keep displaying the old value. The point is that a higher armor class makes you less vulnerable, and that's really the point, a berserker doesn't feel pain the way a normal guy does. p.s. did you send the new build to Ichor as well or should I mail it over to him? Yes, I know, I should rather make a download area, relax, for all future projects there will be a 10 GB FTP server, but currently I'm in the process of moving nearly all of the sites on my network.
Thu, 06 Dec 2001 22:10:00

Tzar Sectus

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>The sword should definitely work w/o mana, or there wasn't much point in making it [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] I assume it's packing a lot more punch when loaded with mana though, does it?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I never really balanced the nonpowered sword, if I remember correctly, it's the same power as the Axe only multiplied with 3 (since it hits three times at a time with short intervals). So I believe it's quite deadly. Not at all sure if it's too powerful, won't it tempt the player to only use the sword and nothing else? Perhaps the nonpowered sword should have a strength where it's deadlier than a nonpowered axe, but less deadly than a powered axe? That way the player have a reason to change weapon. I also assume I shall make the sword as the axe, so that the player can willingly change between the powered and nonpowered, right? <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Berserker: I like simple things, that's why I just meant and still mean the spell should simply double strength, speed and health (maybe even armor class?), and when you snap out of it, simply halve the values, i.e. if you have 50 health when activating it, you've got 100 while berserking, and when at the point of snapping out you have 35 health, you get 18 health afterward. For strength and speed, the real value should be restored.
Allright, I'll get to work on it. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
On second thought, I'm sure armor class should double as well - just keep displaying the old value. The point is that a higher armor class makes you less vulnerable, and that's really the point, a berserker doesn't feel pain the way a normal guy does.
Hmmm... I'll see what I can do. It may be a problem since I can vaguely remember that the armour code is processed in a very odd way, I'll get back to you on this. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
p.s. did you send the new build to Ichor as well or should I mail it over to him?
I sent the build to him as well... at least, I'm pretty darn sure I did. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Yeah, you're welcome to meddle with those values, like giving the Slaughtaur 600 HP, just up the strength of his projectiles to double the original value. Same goes for other monsters with increased HP; also, for Korax and the tomb bosses, if you can double the strength of their attacks, you don't have to do that upping of their HP compared to KMOD I was asking earlier on..
I'll do that, though upping the damage rating for the Korax may be a problem, so I guess I'll just double his HP instead *shudders at the thought of the health Korax's gonna have soon* <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
AFAIK you can't print 2 lines at the same time, or is it possible? If yes, then make the "you're level XY" yellow on top, and the other annoucement(s) white below.
As you probably know by now is that I've increased the one-line limit to two already, I may increase it more if it would be nice with more messages at the same time. Oh, you say the "you have new stuff" message should be white? Guess I'll do that too now... <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Watch out what you say about Camper (that fucking animal, damn his hide, LOL j/k), as he's reading this board - the thing with the "buy" he said from himself, after reading this topic and checking the code, all on his own...
Well, I didn't seriously mean it... if I seriously meant it, I would have said something like: That fucking bastard! I hope he burns in hell where he belongs! And etc... [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] But I don't mean it, so then I'll stick to words like git, dork, twit, and such. Perfect words for when you want to insult someone without actually wanting to insult them [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
One tester? Hey I'm a beta tester as well, don't forget that! And a pretty thorough one, in case you didn't realize.
And hopefully I'll get a chance myself to do some beta testing. I've managed to rid the code of all currently known bugs, and I just need to program some new features (re-write berserker, spell screen and switching between non-/powered axes/swords), and I'll get a chance to play this thingy myself (wheeee). One final thing. I finally managed to find out about the evil walking speed bug... and it wasn't any bug. It's just that 2% percent was so darn little it didn't do any difference in the code! So, how much should the new percentage be? 5%? -Remi
Thu, 06 Dec 2001 23:53:00

RambOrc

Well the sword is way slower than the axe, or isn't it? If the sword is significantly slower than the axe, it's no prob if it's somewhat more powerful than a mana-loaded axe, I'll still opt for the axe for close-quarter battles with lots of lesser monsters. In case they've got more or less the same speed, then go with the version you mention. Also, how much stronger is the powered up sword than the manaless one? And yes, you should be able to switch between the 2 swords, same as with the axe. If armor is causing too much trouble, then just leave it, it'd be a nice touch but as nobody knows about it yet, nobody will miss it... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] I played KMOD with all 3 classes on skill 3 and I was able to beat the 200'000 HP Korax with each class (and that's already 20x the HP he had in the original Hexen [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]), so with all these new enhancements for the classes Korax should get stronger as well... indeed, merely doubling his HP is something you might not even be able to see. The reason? My beta testing memories will give you the answer: - with the cleric, it was just too easy (as everything in the game), as you could heal yourself fast in any situation, and with "Wrath of the Gods" bust all bosses except for the Heresiarch and Korax with a single hit, so no battles here - with the mage, killing Korax was just a matter of patience, Bloodscourge used 1 or 2 mana from each color and I could create tons of mana with very little Magic any time, so it was just a question of restoring Magic with urns and quartz flasks so I can keep up the invulnerability spell all the time... it was a piece of cake, but a long piece of cake as Bloodscourge is a pitifully weak weapon compared to the 10x-20x HP increase of the bosses. Now the Mage has Horrible Pain which is up to 4-6x more powerful than Wrath of the Gods, so it should now be a quick piece of cake to bust Korax - with the fighter, it was a very long and very tough fight and with this class I had to reload a lot of times in Korax' palace; in the end I managed to crush him, and had maybe half a dozen artifacts left in the end (mostly torches and the like, LOL). Now the fighter has a fucking' powerful sword, he can deal out more damage in the same time (speed now reduces weapon delay), and can go berserk which doubles the strength of his attacks once again, reduces his weapon delay even more, and gives him twice as much HP (indeed, in a short and furious battle, I think you're now able to create 1-200 HP with a single quartz flask, as it fills up your Battle Rage and you can go berserk again) So maybe we should give Korax 500'000 HP this time, not 400'000... [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] 5% for the speed increase? That would mean on speed 30 the fighter is double as fast as he was in Hexen, and on 40 he'll be 2.5x as fast, which means you won't see anything from it by running (turbo 250 is the engine limit), but you should be able to chop wood faster than a chainsaw... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] If Camper really implemented that back for KMOD, speed limit should be 10 for mage (i.e. never any benefits), 20 for the Cleric (meaning he can get up to 1.5x fast as in Hexen) and 40 for the Fighter... uhm, if you go berserk, you are 5x as faster as in Hexen, that won't do... so it's either 2 or 3% for the percentage, OR you have to lower the limits to 15 for the Cleric and 20 for the Fighter (that means with max speed and berserk he's 3x as fast as in Hexen).

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