[SPOILERS] Co8 v7 Beta Testing Thread [SPOILERS]

Hey Ranth, thanks. I just seem to find TOEE too "unstable" to try ALT-TABing around .... oof.
Yeah, i know how to screen capture, i would probably use Photoshop to save the JPG... it's just when i try, at least on this laptop, pressing Print Screen while in TOEE does nothing (apparently) ... and hitting ALT-TAB or CTRL-ALT-DEL to get out of TOEE cause it to freak out.. MIGHT be a Vista thing...?? lol

Thanks for the tips anyway. I'll keep trying to get it to work.

 

Thanks Gaear, i'l try that. It is likely similar to the image generated by the system when saving?

 

Sorry Gaear, I did not mean to break the "control group" aspect you were trying to achieve, where we all employed similar means and paths to achieve LVL 10 to test the new content. My personal opinion is that I believe Lareth is too hard to fight with a level 3 party, and HB is WAY too hard at the level 5 I have read some people do that on here, if the map is to be completed without retreating or resting. It seems to me the author meant that map to be conquered in one go, without resting, as there is the imposed penalty upon reaching the cave if you have rested, or retreated. To me, that means properly preparing in advance, and taking enough weapons, supplies and equipment - and being leveled high enough - to survive the whole thing in one attempt. I hate trying to barely survive a combat with "under-leveled" characters and having to reboot and try multiple times to just barely scrape by. Right now, my party LVL 6 is getting creamed by the Nulb ambush in the house you buy there.

... I played it like 15 times last night, and had experienced repeated near total party wipes by turn 5 or 6 ... It's not from my tactics (ha! at least i hope so...)

Of course i was expecting the fight, having beaten this rough crew in previous playthroughs. Usually I wait until I am level 8 to take them on, though. I had one attempt where the dude with the heavy flail charged in on turn 2 and with his 2 attacks scored a critical hit of 65 (!!!!) damage that OHK killed my bard, and then he landed his 2nd hit, almost killing my wounded cleric gnome. I enjoy the difficulty of that fight, it makes winning that much cooler! ... And yet I also read some people on here like to play that fight at level 5 or so as well.... wow. I am assuming most of the enemies in that fight are 9th level (from their HP and abilities, & number of attacks). I have no idea how that is fun... LOL!! I spent 2 hours restarting that fight....!!! My sorcerer was laying down multiple Greases and Dazing, while the clerics threw in Bestow Curses and Spiritual Weapons, Hold Person spells, etc. to no avail. LOL Not fun ... So with this current party mix I probably need another 2 levels ... to survive. The only dude to survive beyond the 3rd or 4th turn in most of the attempts was my raging barbarian druid, and one or two of the commanded skeletons...

Imeryds Run I had a good time with, as the uber-powerful Seahag is easily distracted by Spiritual Weapons. While she played with those I pelted her with arrows and bolts from a distance to avoid her deadly claws. I let the lizards kill themselves by running through a summoned Spike Field. The Behemoth Kingfrog targeted over and over one of my commanded skeletons, and could not swallow him; so he only attacked one of my characters repeatedly. The fight was surprisingly easier than I expected for those reasons.

I mean ... I could start over, yeah ...but I am just being honest here. I don't believe I can beat Lareth if my party is not level 4, as there are just two few tactical options to take on his larger and better equipped force, where most all the opponents are already higher level than your characters. I have never attempted HB before getting to levels 7 or 8, and I usually do Welkwood after getting to level 2 in all my playthroughs. I know that is not what it was intended to serve as... but I normally do BOTH Hommlett Fedex quests and then start Welkwood after I have leveled in my previous personal playthroughs... again so I can complete the adventure in one go, without retreating or resting.

I guess this would put me in an outside the norm playing style ... I don't know...??? but I feel that it makes the game unenjoyable and too hard to ALWAYS fight enemies that are stronger and more numerous than my party. I am not asking to be "off the team" as I am thrilled to be contributing to bettering the game, doing the testing and finding what works and so forth...

I am a very proud member of this community, and I hope it has shown in my posts here. However, I have never played the way you are asking us to do, and I am trying my best... but its frustrating with the smaller party, and low-level challenge for everything... sorry for the rant! No ill feelings meant I have always played this game with a full 8 person party, this is the first time i have ever attempted going outside that "norm" for me.

If you want me to start over, I will. I always think playing this game that characters don't seem to advance in level fast enough, though.

Actually... that is my opinion, so I guess I am in the minority ... in that view??? Your characters are supposed to be heroes, and I like seeing them develop, succeed. Some of these encounters are already very challenging.... which is why I try coming up with my own "unique" tactics. Most of the time, though, I make sure my party is close to or higher leveled than my foes... otherwise the odds are too stacked against you...

*sigh* I'll start over tonight. Again, sorry for the rant... But I imagine it will be slow going for me, as I am not used to developing my party this way ... and I don't have unlimited play time as everyone else has also reported here. I understand what you are trying to achieve with your requests as per the beta-testing...

The whole idea, and beauty behind D&D adventuring, in my opinion, is that it is not linear... I'm not one of the people that is over-worried about encounter balance in the game. For example: I was party level 3 when I had a random encounter with an Ettin and 3 brown bears while traveling to the Moathouse - of course I was ANNIHILATED by them! LOL But in a D&D world, you are truly meant to not know what might be around the next corner... Obviously Power Word RELOAD was employed right there, after a half-hearted attempt to put up some kind of fight for a round or two.

I understand why we are trying to make sure the balance IS there - I have seen the comments of those concerned about the change in content from vanilla, and all the EXP, treasure, etc. with the added NC. BUT life throws challenges at you, and sometimes they are harder/ easier than expected. It's up to you to be prepared. In fact, sometimes I wish the game could be a little more randomized in the events as they appear...! Maybe I am the wrong guy for this kind of beta-testing, as in my personal playing style... but please don't hold it against me... I have the best of intentions in serving the improving of the game.

 

Gaear,

I could start over but it will take a while. I honestly dont think I am too off the beaten path though. I am finishing most of the temple levels and doing fights as I have the power to do them. Some fights have always been too hard to do when you first get the opportunity to try them. For example:

• You can do Lareth at level 3, though that has always been too hard for me. I went and did other content (Emridy or something) not random encounters to get to level 4.
• Grud's eye quest has always been to hard with the sea hag at level 4-5 when you get to nulb.
• HB is impossible without a level 5 caster with fireball for me.

These are pre 7.0 issues though. If you are concerned about this stuff, I suggest asking about it in the Toee forum. I did not know you wanted me to stop at level 10 (which I have done except Funok is 11. I can reload to where Furnok is level 10 if you want. It will be before I started temple level 3). I would rather use my current level 10 group to test new stuff. I am working on a PhD and have little free time. If you need someone to start from the beginning again, I need to drop out. No hard feelings.

 

Hmmm, I usually get my level 4 after fighting Lareth, or just before.

I think I'm pretty much on track with the scheme you laid out Gaear, right?

 

Hey guys, did anyone have the convo issues i described earlier with Rannos, Gremag, Rocutio the courier...??? They seemed to be much more difficult to ensnare with the various dialogue options i remember being there, such as intimidating, diplomacy, gather information, etc. My bard and cleric at level 5, and level 6 with near maxed convo type skills for their level could not enact the branching dialogue choices i remember being available as early as levels 2-4 in my previous playthroughs ...

I was wondering if something was changed regarding this, or if i somehow screwed up myself...??? Never encountered difficulty intimidating the courier, or getting the magic short sword as a bribe from Rannos ... this time however he was all business, and only Gremag had other options ... but he only offered 50 gold, or 100 when pressed in conversation as the ONLY options available. My Diplomacy, Intimidate, Bluff and Gather Information were all over 10 on at least one character in the party, and I tried conversing using all of them...!

 

Alright, restarted with this party:

CN female elf Chloe OakenLeaf cleric of Obad Hai (Plant/Earth domains)
CE male dwarf rogue Flint Trapspringer
CG male half-elf ranger J'allan UlDragos
TN male half-orc barbarian Bruin Brokentooth

i'll recruit Spugnior in Hommlett as my NPC

*sigh* here goes...!

 

I think I've followed all the rules on what to and what not. Never farm on random encounters, never skipped NC when it's ready and haven't use the console. I stated my progress on every level and where I'm headed, but if starting over is necessary then I'm willing to follow . Hmm, would it be possible that you guide us on what should we do then we can use a specific save and work the things you need.

Although it would take time for me to report back here since I'm still studying :bored:, it's our final semester and starting this week we will be having our final examination which means that I would have a minimal play time, Oct 15 will be the end then after that would be our semester break which will be my time to play it through . Anyway, is there a deadline for the v.7 to be released? if so then I would try to play it fast.

 

I have been having a problem with magic missile, I get the sound effect when it's cast but no missiles or damage and the combat freezes on my wizard after he casts it without any way to move to the next combatant or end the fight.

I'm the KING of run-on sentences.

Oh, I've just been updating my earlier post for level gaining status.

 

Sirchet, we too experienced that. You should download the magic missile fix by Gaear on the previous post. It is on Page 2 named Spell288 - Magic Missile.rar

 

I found while starting the new playthrough the same texture issue that Sir Chet described.
I am attaching a JPG... i could not get the screenshot key to work on my laptop, so i have used the Snippet tool instead, in TOEE windowed mode.

Please see attached.

 

LOL sorry Sir Chet, nice try... but that would probably be me. :twitch:

Looking over my previous posts, I should seriously tone down the verbose and run-on nature, and uh... punctuate and write with a bit more attention to prose. Less "stream of consciousness" ramblings from this point forward!