TheAdiktuzScrolls: Arzachel

[indomitable1319]

Give it to your backpack and sell it.

 

[Adiktuz]

you can either sell them, or salvage them (as the chest will not drop any non-salvageable class-specific item)

The reason why the normal chests can only drop items usable by you, is that, they are one time only... A character can only open each chest once in their whole gametime... so it would be a waste if you get items not for you...

While the chests that would be on the Instance dungeons, will be there every time you go to the dungeon, so if they can only drop items that is for your class, you could actually max out your equips for your level in a few runs if ur lucky... (maybe not really easy but it is easier than the normal chances)...

 

[neku99]

lol ok XD

 

[Adiktuz]

Instance Dungeons:
-monsters don't respawn, and they will only appear when you go there
-chests are reset every instance
-there would be bosses too (and the boss drop would be class-specific)
-and oh, they're not really huge dungeons

I would also be adding some "passive" bonuses, maybe a total of two, which you could get at a certain point on the game. They would most likely be stat bonuses.

I'm also thinking on how to balance the stats more (especially thinking of replacing the skill Strength and adding another bonus to Agility)... if you have suggestions for this, please tell me... ^_^

And I might add some choice mechanism for certain parts (something like the choices system that Goris uses)

And still thinking about class advancement (especially on what I will do with the abilities)


btw, have you noticed the chest on the forest just outside of the fort (the one with spiders and bears)?

UPDATES
So far I've started on the instance dungeon idea, and its almost fully working now... I've also worked on adding a command to know where you are... I'll post pics next time. ^_^

 

[Marsal]

LULZ I just played Oblivion before I checked your thread and I just saw that "The Adiktuz Scrolls" thing
Idea from The Elder Scrolls?

 

[Adiktuz]

yeah... only played Morrowind though...

btw, no progress for now, I'm updating this comp (the new one...)... I hope I won't get any problems regarding wc3 with this...

EDIT: so far, problems with regards to my new comp and the WE are fixed... so maybe I'd start making progress later... ^_^

tried playing the map on the new comp and wow... on my old comp, when I go to the troll forest for the first time on camera2, my fps was like 5-10, but now, it gave me 40-60 fps...

and I might just remove the gambler...

and fixed some problem that makes the number of quest item when you retake a rep quest to be zero, even if you have more (but it shows right when you get at least another one)

EDIT 2: Got new models for the missiles of the Acro (courtesy of sPy's epic pack of rampaging missiles of pure awesomeness)

 

[Adiktuz]

I might just remove the gambler...

and fixed some problem that makes the number of quest item when you retake a rep quest to be zero, even if you have more (but it shows right when you get at least another one)

EDIT 2: Got new models for the missiles of the Acro (courtesy of sPy's epic pack of rampaging missiles of pure awesomeness)

EDIT 3: got some progress,

I added some new items...

made the Arcane Guild (pics later)...

made the WK unable to wear leather...

modified the camera1 a bit (by pressing Right/Left, you can now rotate the camera while on cam1... you can still change the AOA via the chat command, while for cam2, right/left will still modify the AOA since the rotation is based on the unit)

I've also added the first choice quests (well, you choose one of two available quests, and won't be able to take the other)... the branches of these won't change the end result that much but it will surely change your experience through the game... on the later parts, I will add some end changing choice quests...

Screenies were now taken on 1366x768 resolution

Alchemist Guild

Arcane Guild

-Some enemies can now deal status effects
-fixed a serious error on the save-load triggers
-working on the quests
-reduced the int gain of the Acro a bit
-fixed an error with the poison damage
-will be adding the first Aeon
-I might also post a gameplay video of one of the classes

 

[Marsal]

Tiles at arcane guild looks awesome However, it's a bit empty now.
The alchemist guild looks a bit weird at the sides.

 

[Adiktuz]

yeah... though it will really be a bit spacious, but I've still yet to add contents there... I also changed the lamps, because those lamps seem to turn-off all of my omnilights...

why is it weird at the sides?

 

[Marsal]

Well could be better if the floor has a different tile.
But it's only me ~.^

 

[Adiktuz]

I finished the first Aeon... anyone wants some kinda GP vid?

and added floating damage texts (off by default)

here's the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocQn03dniCA --> I suggest you view it in fullscreen...

Right now, I'm revamping the monsters coz they seem too weak...

also working on the AIs

[died after a few seconds of attacking a new boss closely]

17/05/2011
-Not much progress, but I finished making the part two quests (both branches)
-Still playing with the boss AIs a bit
[I think I got the level of difficulty that I wanted for the bosses, working on optimization and adding more possibilities]

The map is now on .3 alpha...

right now I'm working on the 2nd part side quests and the services by the guilds...

23/05/11
-no progress these past few days... just had some things going on on RL...

 

[Marsal]

What's the problem with the vid? It seems to disappear rapidly.

 

[Adiktuz]

yeah, IDK, its been like that since I've used hypercam on this new comp... the older vids were shot in Fraps...

 

[Marsal]

Well then why don't you use fraps? Or how about gamecam?

 

[Adiktuz]

I lost it...

Updates:
-I'd be finishing everything related to the 2nd part of the story during the following week (which is my last week of vacation...)

Updates (27/05/11):
-Working on the effects of the first friendship level with the guilds (which is at 120 guild points)
-So far working on the potions, runes and equipments that you could forge by achieving 120 points on the guilds...

Here's another vid of the Aeon... does not blink blink, but lag a bit, I should have lowered the settings on Fraps... haha

29/05/11:
-Progress was slowed because I'm studying a bit of Visual Basic 2010... haha...
anyway, I'll be releasing the next alpha demo later this week which will let you play until the end of the 2nd part of the story (including the first Instance Dungeon, the first Aeon and the first level of friendship with the guilds)... if worst comes to worst, it would be on Sunday (June 4, 2011) GMT + 8

 

[Adiktuz]

Here's another vid of the Aeon... does not blink blink, but lag a bit, I should have lowered the settings on Fraps... haha

NEW ALPHA
I've attached a new alpha map (.3 alpha)

-Added the first Aeon
-Added the 2nd part story quests
-Added the arcane guild
-Added the effects of the first friendship level with the guilds
-Preloaded most of the effects
-Added the first instance dungeon
-Modified some of the existing enemy AIs
-New Items
-Added damage display when units get damaged (off by default, can be toggled by using the -damage command, display color is dependent on how fatal the damage is)
-Others...

Notes:

The effects of the first friendship level with the guilds are still subject to change specially those on the alch and arcane guilds...

I'm still playing with the difficulty balance of the map...

For those who have saves from lower versions, I suggest you don't use them because that could cause problem with the lighting system (because I know save some lighting settings because of the dungeons)...

And oh, my fiddling with visual basic is going pretty nice... I was able to make my own web browser and a Tic-Tac-Toe app with a music player... haha...

Expect slower progess now as school is starting... ^.^

 

[n0w3]

i played it, so far so good for an alpha map
but i found out that the hotkeys can be annoying xD
If you want you could make it, Q W E or W E R for the first 3 offensive skills

 

[Adiktuz]

OLD

UPDATES ON CUSTOM HOTKEY
I made it to work, but it has a .025 seconds delay... coz the ForceUIKey seems to work a lot faster than select unit, if I try to run the ForceUIKey command on a time frame lower than .025 seconds, it doesn't work...

So right now, it uses F2-F5, the backpack will now have no shorcut key, as F6 is or auto-save...

the other thing it enables is that you could now change the current targeting spell to another one without cancelation, though probably not useful when you don't have enough time

Sample:
I was supposed to be using Snow World, the current command is for that so it's now just waiting for me to choose target, then I suddenly decided to use acid arrow, using the default hotkey, I would need to right click first or click the cancel button before I could change orders, but using the custom hotkey, it will auto-change to the new ability...

I'm still thinking if I'll release it for now to get some feedback... Though I would need to adjust it first to show the right Icon and ability name (the test I've done is using generic dummies... so now I'd need to make one dummy hero per ability)... And the ability icons on the main command UI will still be there ofc...

Here's A Pic and some notes about the new hotkey system

HotKey

And oh, I forgot to say, you can toggle the damage display by typing -damage... its off by default... but I would probably set it to on by default next time...

15/06/11
-Well, it seems that I would be pretty busy on school, so expect not much reports on progress... Right now, for this proj, I would focus on planning first during this time frame...

If you have suggestions, feel free to post it here, though I might not be able to go online that much...

 

[-Kobas-]

Progress look nice, I like new ideas.
As soon as I find some time I will post small review

 

[Adiktuz]

Thanks!... ^_^

 

[neku99]

hey dude it's been a while! It seems all is going well with this project. I've also been dragged to school work and to top it all off net has gone haywire. I'm using broadband. Ima check the new stuff out in a jiffy. Keep up the good work.

 

[Adiktuz]

Updates! [Edited 26/10/2011]

First, I will be redoing the abilities of all classes...

The Combat System has been changed into an arrow-key-press type for all abilities, including the normal attack. Abilities will now be executed via pressing a corresponding sequence of four arrow-keys. Press sequence is reset after two seconds from your last press or after an ability is executed. Abilities will have their own cooldowns, which will be denoted by buff placers in your character's status bar.


You will have access to all possible abilities for your class instead of just choosing 4. The abilities will be viewable via the Ability Books which is accessible from your backpack. Usage of abilities is restricted by your hero level, and you would be starting with about 3 usable abilities at level 1.


Also, since the arrow keys are also used for controlling the camera, I implemented a simple command to determine whether you're in combat mode or not (-combat), which is on by default. While in combat mode, arrow key press will be for ability execution, while in non-combat mode, arrow key press will be for controlling the camera. A visual indicator will appear above your unit when you're in non-combat mode.

Ability Book Preview [Outdated

]

I'll post a new Ability Book preview when I get a screenie...

Also, I'd be making the damage text to be visible by default.

 

[Switch33]

Looks neat. Do you plan on having the game almost completely keyboard combat now or is it like you cast a spell with a button then you use arrowkeys to change the effect of the spell? I've only ever seen one map that pulled off all arrow key controls pretty good and it's pretty much dead in the water after the patches i think. It is pretty epic to have arrow key combat but has a kind of common issue with button mashers. The delay is there even for online somewhat with some delay reducers.

You need a fixed camera now(if you didn't have one before) though else the arrow keys would force the camera to a crazy place during combat.

Also, I'd be making the damage text to be visible by default.

In my opinion in almost all maps it should be on default. Else people don't realize that the command exists to show your damage at all. Also it's more of a plus than a minus to show combat damages.

 

[Adiktuz]

Yeah, I have fixed camera from the start...

and yes, its a full arrow-key combat system... as for network delay, this is SP only, and you cannot even play it on LAN or BNET becoz of the map file size limit...

Also, take note that the commands are executed after you released the arrow key, not when you press...

 

[Switch33]

The whole idea of a arrow key type rpg for spells is just awesome to be honest. I only made the comment about multiplayer in case you decided to change the map a bit but yeah the size isn't near multiplayer (by the way the limit for multiplayer is a bit above 8 megabytes which i figured out from a few friends like its roughly a little under 8.5 megabytes probably which is weird as heck).

Also, take note that the commands are executed after you released the arrow key, not when you press...

I think that is the best way to do it. And this kills button mashing a bit.

One thing i'd suggest is for the tooltips for it you should do something along the format of this(having a line of it's own under the keys text using brackets):
Press Keys:

-

-[Up]-[Down]

It'd look better and be much more readable.

 

[Adiktuz]

Cooldown on the status bar

Previews!

Ability Books of SM and WK

I would be adding contents next and then release another alpha map with only the WK and SM playable...

Note: After I release the next version of TAS:A, it would be going into hibernation... updates would still be possible though they might only be minor fixes etc, huge updates are probably won't be done anymore... this is after considering the current code structure, amount of wasted file size and some other factors...

and the next proj is on my mind... its an ORPG... but it will be pretty small first... as I don't have much time to spare... but hopefully the plans for turning it into a multi-map one will be achieved... but I'd rather start out by creating all of the core systems first, and make them as efficient as I could, then make out the terrain before starting out on the gameplay matters...

 

[Vengeancekael]

SM

Also I love the idea of having buffs tell you if a spell's on cooldown!
Good job C:

 

[Switch33]

Off-Topic

and the next proj is on my mind... its an ORPG... but it will be pretty small first... as I don't have much time to spare... but hopefully the plans for turning it into a multi-map one will be achieved... but I'd rather start out by creating all of the core systems first, and make them as efficient as I could, then make out the terrain before starting out on the gameplay matters...

Not to impose anything on you; but you could join me. I've been working hard mainly on just generating worthwhile core systems for the orpg map i've been making forever now(removing duplicates of code; and recoding to work with newer systems). I stopped production on many of the systems just to fiddle with some model editing over last few days since i've been budgeted with time more now. I stop working on scripts every now and then just to explore random ideas how to improve the structure of the map-- like using transport slots for spell slots; learning some modeling tricks here and there etc. (My latest idea is to mess with lightning effects and try to produce a real chain like effect which I'm gonna start trying to do similar to iriat caught but with smaller and probably better looking chains.)

My map mainly just needs some more work in a few areas then it will eventually be ready to start generating some seriously amazing content. Let me know via pm, post on the recruit thread, or map develop thread of mine if you want. When you got some time i'll show you what I got done so far via skype or through pms etc so your not making a decision in the dark at least.

I can't wait to try the new version of this. The buffs as cooldown is a neat idea. I have been trying to get ideas on how to best manipulate how cooldowns are shown. I've been considering lots of ideas like using models with replaceable textures that are replaced with icon textures or just using images. Bleh, I'd use buffs as cooldowns too for my map since it's a really good idea actually but I simply cannot since transport slots cloud over the buff UI.

 

[Adiktuz]

For the other one, I'm actually halfway with the core systems... And I can't really join others since my class will resume in 4 days so I won't have much time anymore...

I would most probably release the next version in 1 or 2 days... ^.^

 

[Switch33]

Well, regardless we could still collaborate by talking on skype to improve the cores together. I won't have much time any more soon as well. Getting stuck up with all my classes and stuff. Two of my classes expect group projects with 10 pages (ouch). And yet i'm still trying to get an internship class for next semester as well(double ouch).

 

[Adiktuz]

The problem is that, I don't have internet at the dormitory, and it seems that I won't be able to go home that much during weekends too... I plan to really focus this time on my studies to ensure that I'm only 2 semesters away from graduation... (I'm already delayed by 1 sem)^.^

 

[Switch33]

No internet at the dorm? What is this ludicrous? Hmm, you my friend need to learn how to steal the internetz. A joke, but surpirsingly router network with WEP keys are pretty easy to hack into i've heard. Or there are fobs(usb port internet) that sell at stores like radioshack. Just look into other options is all i'm saying.

 

[Adiktuz]

off-topic

Or should I say the dorm has one, but really unreliable... and I used to had a usb port internet before but it has low signal at our room... Y_Y

EDIT: Attached is version 0.4 alpha... I suggest people to read first the in-game game guide after you select your character... Right now only SM and WK are playable...

Feedbacks and suggestions are highly welcomed... ^_^

 

[Switch33]

Just tested it out. The hotkeys make it a lot more interesting. And you've cleaned up the UI a lot.

The only issues I have are:

• Skills should show their range. Especially since attack misses a lot if you are not close and it took a while to notice that.
• I pick'd the white Knight and was unable to equip any of the items he got throughout the game even when he matched the requirements. (I only played to lvl 3, but all the leather items requiring lvl 1 were not equipable.)
• It is really hard at least for the first few levels. Maybe at lvl 1 there should be an arrow key spell for healing instead of at lvl 9.
• I found it annoying the only way to heal was through staying a night at the tavern or wtever since it was very costly. At the first few levels it should be discounted or something.

I'll probably test it more later; just it is kind of strenuous to continually do the same hotkeys.

Maybe a cool way of doing this map would be to make it situational combat-like. Where the multiboard suddenly switched and said something like--

Status:
You just got hit for x dmg. (Here would be scrolling combat texts just for like 2-3 lines.)
Opportunities:
Critical Strike
Keys: [Up] [Up] [Down] [Down]
Heal Self
Keys: [Down] [Down] [Up [Up]

and it'd change those 2 or 3 randomly generated opportunities rather than having the player memorize all the combinations. Cause with all the combinations at a higher level as it is now would mean simpler controls which is strange.

 

[Adiktuz]

old

The inn payment is based on level... and there are foods at the other camp... I'm still working around the difficulty level, but so far the current set-up is the best I found (I actually nerfed regeneration here, before regeneration was Regeneration skill + Vitality, now it was Regeneration skill + .2*Vitality)... and which skills you allocate points into can also change the problem... (for me, during testing I always allocate points to Weapon Lore first to increase my damage)... and its not really a full hack and slash diablo style where you're supposed to just go around on a rampage... I've added repeatable quests for a reason... ^.^

what do you mean by skills should show their range? I think I've written them down except for the normal attack...

I think leather is not usable by WK...

as for the multiboard, hmm... I have no plans for that... one of the reasons I made the system this way was to force the player to get acquainted with his or her character's style... and doing it like that would kinda make it like a turn-based combat...

Thanks for testing and for the feedback... ^_^

After months of dormancy and working on some other things + hardcore studies, and after finishing playing some games, I decided to finish this first... so expect progress but maybe not much due to studies...

EDIT: playtesting again, fixed some bugs/tooltip discrepancies, edited the bonuses that stats give...

 

[indomitable1319]

Heyyyy! Adiktuz.
How's the project going?
I missed playing this.

 

[Adiktuz]

nothing really right now... acads is taking its toll on me... XD...

 

[indomitable1319]

We appear to have the same problem.

 

[Adiktuz]

yeah... right now I'm on a group meeting overnight for one of our subjects... but I've been thinking about what to do with this once I get my time off...

 

[shadowvzs]

i am bored, a bit tired with making my map (but i will continue ), so i tryed your map, and i must say it is really amazing the terrain and design, i love it, totally look like mu when i went outside from town with that big trees and nice grass and that big rocks (i watched ig rounded good quality rocks in other cinematic maps too, it is from Ulimate Terrain map or from somewhere else? because i tryed scale the normal rocks but that look ugly)

(only thing what i missed the mob slaugthering )

 

[Adiktuz]

The doodads were from here and from B2Ms pack... Glad to hear someone playing this map... expect progress after this semester ends (about 3 weeks)

 

[Bugz]

Looks very good, i just had to subscribe.

 

[Adiktuz]

I might start reworking on this in the following days...

 

[neku99]

Dude been a long time, I must say there have been a lot of changes in the battle system XD. Tried the latest map haha very cool and the interface was so clean ahaha...although I kinda got lost in the arrow keys thingy. Its kinda hard to aim the skills but yeah. Been a long time )

 

[Adiktuz]

yeah, a really long time... and I've been inactive for a pretty long time now too...

 

[mckill2009]

y u inactive, eh?, exams? ...

 

[Adiktuz]

not just exams... its because of all of my acads... XD... even right now, I'm working on the requirement of one of my subjects...

 

[neku99]

hehe well concentrate on yer acads first, you'll be better off knowing you did well on yer accads. lol btw, cant you believe it, I'm in college now dude! darnit!

 

[Adiktuz]

Wow, congratulations on that...

I'm really missing modding too much... can't wait to be able to start again...

 

[sengjung123]

followed, and downloaded your alpha map. gonna test it out with some close friends of mine at my house later.