RambOrc

Scattered Evil 2.2 is now available on SourceForge and ModDB.

Journal Redesign

The Journal has been rebuilt from the ground up – not just visually, but also in functionality.

Sleeve

The left quarter of the Journal view stays the same on all pages, showing general information.

• Character Information: the player’s name, class, and alignments
• Player Assets: a dynamic list of the monetary value of the cash in the player’s bags, items in his inventory, and his bank account
• Armor: the type of armor worn, current durability as both absolute value and percentage left, any resistance gems embedded
• Keyring: list of all keys in the player’s possession

Chapters

All chapters are now single pages with dynamic overlays that change the displayed content when moving the focus to another list items.

• Main Page: when opening the Journal, the right three-quarters of the Journal view shows a grid of icons that allow access to the different sections (size and number dependent on RPG Complexity)
• Quests: a dynamic list of active, completed and undiscovered quests; hovering over a quest’s title displays a short description of the current quest stage (where to go, what to do) and a map sketch of the surrounding area to make it easier to find a location
• Atlas: high resolution maps show the province and some of the regions in great detail; you can now choose to display the hero’s custom notes as usual or the official place names instead
• Arsenal: a dynamic list of weapons, spells, cantrips, prayers, and martial skills; hovering over an item’s name shows information about the weapon/spell or who to talk to if you haven’t acquired it yet
• Codex: a compendium of information about the world and its denizens; hovering over a topic will display a detailed entry on the subject
• Notes: a section appearing only if RPG Complexity is set to Standard or Old School, it displays currently relevant notes for pending tasks and for Mansion collections; notes are removed after the associated task or collection is complete
• Crafting: see the next bullet point

New feature: Crafting

• Herbalism: find and harvest different types of herbs all over Charybdea
• Alchemy: mix the right combination of herbs to brew powerful potions
• This feature is disabled when RPG Complexity is Off

Treasure improvements

• Treasure chests can now be found in a larger selection of dungeons
• In addition to finding them hidden in dark corners, treasure keys now also drop from certain foes
• The content of treasure chests is randomized for each new game (saving before opening a chest and then reloading won’t change the contents)
• Treasure chests have received visual updates to make it easier to recognize them and to make it clear when the player is already in the process of unlocking a chest
• There is now a lot more gold hidden in secret rooms

RPG Complexity differentiation

• When RPG Complexity is set to Off, dungeons now include a significantly larger number of health and mana pickups, making shopping less mandatory; the number of pickup items also slightly decreases when going from Standard to Old school complexity
• On Old School complexity, you can now find treasure (mostly gold and herbs) in towns as well

Revamped key management

• There are now clearly visible standardized locks wherever a key can be used
• Locks and keys are unique throughout the entire game, so there is no way to use the “wrong” key on a lock or doing it in the “wrong” order
• Locks and keys now have distinctive animations so it’s always clear whether a lock needs a key, is in the process of being opened, or is already open
• These changes also fix previous issues with some keys disappearing from the player’s inventory

Miscellanous fixes and improvements

• Ability score updates have been moved to a dedicated Character Update Screen
• Greatly reduced the difficulty of Vermin Hovels on Hard and Nightmare skills
• All monsters that drop a specific quest item or trigger an action upon their death are now protected from being morphed and thus accidentally blocking player progress
• Fixed the vertical position of many pickup items that were hovering too close to the floor
• Reorganized some of the Options submenus, including the addition of “Display Settings”; also added a few new settings and removed some old ones

Scattered Evil 2.1 is now available on SourceForge and ModDB.

High resolution HUD

• The HUD is now rendered in 1920×1200 instead of the legacy 640×480. Besides the improved visuals, the higher resolution also allows for more information to be displayed in the same space
• A new HUD options menu has been added, allowing customization of over a dozen different display aspects
• The HUD now has three different modes: classic (Hexen style status bar), compact (a minimalistic set of icons in the lower right corner), and none. These modes are independent of the screen size setting and you can toggle between them using the HUD options menu
• The class abilities (martial skills/prayers/cantrips) are now stored in a scroll that can be unrolled to pick the active ability
• When RPG Complexity is Off, the status bar mode replaces the nonfunctional weight, hunger and fatigue counters with a panel showing the current values of all six ability scores
• The conversation screen now uses more screen estate if the HUD mode is set to compact or none
• For the more technically minded: the numeric counter function has been completely rewritten, allowing the rendering of numbers in four different sizes, up to nine different colors, optionally as percentages, with custom vertical alignment (left/right/centered) and a built-in protection against overflow (large numbers are truncated, e.g. 105000 becomes 105k)

Afrit family models

• All afrits now have a fully animated 3D model with a unique skin, making it easier to distinguish them from each other
• It is now always clear when an afrit is invulnerable: it visibly turns to stone
• Afrit Martyrs now have a distinct spinning animation when they are homing in on you, making it easier to recognize and sidestep
• Afrit Dominators now invoke their invulnerability a lot less often and have gained a powerful melee attack

Morphing changes

• In addition to the Porkelator, the player now has access to Morph Ovum as well
• Morphing a monster is now permanent, making morphing a tradeoff between an easy kill and loot/experience
• The player is now immune to morphing effects
• Morphed pigs and chickens now have animated 3D models

Inventory and item changes

• Beyond getting a new look, the inventory navigation now has a more natural feel to it
• The inventory has been modified to only include artifacts that can be used directly
• Gold and treasure keys are now shown on the status bar
• New food type: roast chicken. Restores a large amount of health without adding fatigue
• Armor repair kit restoration limit upped by 25%
• Dark Servant has been removed from the game
• Banishment Device has been removed from the game
• Deprecated and legacy artifacts have been removed from the game

Character and player changes

• The character creation process has been overhauled: rerolls are now standardized across classes, with the sum total of all attributes always the same
• When RPG Complexity is set to off, the number of character creation steps is reduced from seven to four, speeding up the process of getting into the game. You are also automatically granted a high starting value for each ability score, removing the need to worry about gaining levels early on
• On Old school RPG complexity, the player now starts without his first class ability and needs to find a representative of his order to learn it
• The player now has a 3D model as well, viewable in mirrors (e.g. in Thystes Academy). Currently standing/walking animations only

Class ability changes

• Create Mana cantrip won’t cast if the player has full mana stores
• Spirits Within fixes and optimizations
• Healing prayer won’t cast if the player is at full health
• Phalanx cost increased, but the player can now slowly walk while it is active; berserk and phalanx can’t be used simultaneously any more
• Class ability sounds can now be turned off

Miscellaneous fixes and improvements

• New visual settings menu added to toggle screen tint and flash effects
• There is now a cooldown option available for auto health usage
• Ettin Commander’s damage greatly reduced
• Lava Dweller’s damage greatly reduced
• Dark Advisors don’t resurrect on death any more
• Heresiarch damage skin added
• Gimme cheats for artifacts and class abilities have been improved so they only provide the intended items