[SPOILERS] Co8 v7 Beta Testing Thread [SPOILERS]

You get less XP for a given CR when your level is higher.
In the reduced CR case, you do hit the Temple with 6,000XP less. But at the end of the Temple, the gap is reduced to 2,000XP because you earn more XP when you are of a lower level.

Ideas:
1. Reduce the CRs even more. (could be quite ridiculous, however, if your goal is to bring the level of post-MR parties to 6; you'll probably also have to create duplicate entries of vanilla protos with lower CRs)
2. Make the player pay with XP to unlock NC.
3. Just warn the player that the Temple is going to be easier with every NC adventure pursued.

 

UPDATE

Level 1 ... Start.
Level 2 ... Welkwood Bog Final fight, (after). Cleared out spiders before bog.
Level 3 ... Moathouse 2nd level after jailed zombies, (went down the stairs in the main room).
Level 4 ... Moathouse final fight with Lareth including the called spiders.
Level 5 ... After assassin ambush, Imeryd's Run & Waterside Hostel, (whooped up the den of thieves)
Level 6 ... HB halve cleared, (just the outside and no minator).
Level 7 ... Smigmul and two rounds of AoH
Level 8 ... HB 100% including Minator and 1/2 of Temple first level, (resued orcs, girls and sailor)
Level 9 ... Big fight with Air Temple, (reactive temple after thump'n the earth losers) I came down the middle stairs right into the fight. I had not done the third phase of AoH.
Level 10 ... The third phase of AoH and The Season of the Witch after the fight with the drow captors.
Level 11 ... Cleared 3rd level of Temple, Freed the Wainwright's wife and completed Target of Revenge. Freed Prince Thrommel.

Side note; My NPC (Tickle me) Elmo gained a level after the fight with the room full of bugbears on the third level under the moathouse and another level after the assassin ambush.
Elmo gained another level upon completing the outside area of HB.
Elmo gained another level after killing Falrith.
Elmo gained another level after the re-active water temple and the fire temple.
Elmo gained another level after clearing the 3rd floor of the Temple, but before closing out Target of Revenge.

 

The road so far.
-defeated Belsornig & Co. (completed 2nd level).
-rescued & released Prince Thrommel (Burnt Farmhouse).
-defeated Smigmal & Falrinth. (completed 3rd level).
-gained Level 11 after killing some Trolls near Hedracks chambers.
-defeated Hedrack & Co. (completed 4th level).
-rescued & released Sargen (Hommlet).
-defeated Glabrezu (completed Earth Node).
-defeated Vrock (completed Air Node).
-gained Level 12 after killing some Fire Toads & Salamanders.
-defeated Balor Guardian (completed Fire Node).
-gained Level 13 after killing Hezrou Guardian.
-defeated Hezrou Guardian (completed Water Node).
-defeated Zuggtymoy (completed Temple - Locked Level).

Then some notes and questions.
-Iuz didn't summon the zombies, he only ressurected Hedrack. (tested w/ 4 reloads )
-got super laggy at Earth & Air Node but surprisingly not at Fire & Water Node.
-got super laggy when Zuggy summons her minions and also when the brainy creature use crushing despair, my screen was flooded full of text floats.
-sometimes Jaroo's Spell Permanency reduces XP (55342xp changed into 50000xp).
-no Darley in Fire Node (screen0003)?
-Greater Magic Weapon can deal damage worth 200-2069+ points? (screen0000 & screen0002) bug or I just don't know?
-guys how long does it take for (Thrommel, Tilahi and Sargen) rewards to be delivered?
-Gaear, if I plan to destroy the Orb to weaken Zuggy will it affect the quest/storyline in WotGS?
-Gem Hoarde is equivalent to 32k gold? Sweet.

Now after defeating Zuggy my party is having fun, drinking in the Welcome Wench Inn while waiting for their next move.

Edit: Hmm, I kinda like the post-Zuggy thing before we can access the NC (at least no need to reduce the CRs and XPs). Well maybe after we killed Zuggy, someone is waiting on the main floor or outside of the temple - like the Big 3 Ambush but not an ambush, a welcoming patrol (Verbobonc Patrols?) telling us that some sinister forces are stirring up trouble and we need to go to Verb and talk to Wilfy. Oh well, just giving some of my lame ideas. :shy:

 

I like that idea emo_ome .... you defeat the temple, you come out into the sunlight .... and instead of being greeted by cheering throngs of grateful civilians with questions about who gets the movie rights and lucrative licensing deals for the UBER HEROES - you are greeted by a patrol, not to congratulate you, but to inform you that not one but 3 new BIG BAD's (tm) have moved into the area, in the current power vacuum. A horde of super ORCS (Uruk-Hai, anyone?) @ Hickory Branch ... the most evil witch EVER .... and the Slavers. ETC. .... and the Phantom Menace of the Hextor cult and WOTGS...

I still like having the NC where it is .... but having new and improved, much harder scenarios would be new and interesting ... but as Gaear also said a real pain in the ass to implement.

could there be ... uh ... 2 versions? maybe ... you have the earlier versions of Hickory Branch, MR, Welkwood, ... and if you handle them where they are currently within a limited time window, you face the current challenge. if you do not handle them within a timely manner, the ability to go there is then locked, and you face beefed up version AFTER the Temple is defeated. Would that be possible to implement? I guess you could look at it like the various evil factions had much more time to prepare and train, so they are much stronger later ... and maybe some other unique situations story-wise could be worked out. Yeah, sounds like a huge amount of work but just wanted to throw the idea out there.

I.E. in the case of Hickory Branch ... you hear about it from Kenter Nevets, but you don't immediately go there. 2 weeks later in game time, you finally trek out there, and it's deserted ... maybe a token force of goblins or Orcs is found and dispatched ... the party returns, reports the quest solved, and you think it's over. Turns out the Horde was simply on the move, pillaging somewhere else. and you hear about it later ... after they have grown in size and strength.

This could make everything all new for some players, though they might report it as bugs ... expecting the old scenarios. but i guess you could have a chance to discover the NC as it is now, OR a placeholder for a "missed opportunity" ... and then the UBER version later after the Temple is defeated. This would satisfy both player audiences.

I still wish that the Co8 created Ronnie had some kind of special involvement with Hickory Branch, concerning his special hatred and vitriol towards Orcs.

 

Re. reward encounters, it's generally 2-3 weeks. If you've rested for over a month and still haven't gotten them:
1. Try going back to the place where they were set free / first encountered.
2. It's possible the timed event failed (that happens sometimes). In that case the only way is to trigger it manually. Reminds me that I've been itching to bulletproof it...


Re. game balance. It has been suggested a few times that rather than inhibit the NC to retain the Temple's difficulty, we instead beef up the Temple itself.
Perhaps the idea has merit, if we include it as a form of NC. E.g. after completing AoH, you step up to Brother Smith:

Code:

{484}{Those tips worked out well for me, and consequently I believe I am well posed to crush the Temple with ease. Rather disappointing, I must say, because I was looking forward for some challenge there.}{}{1}{game.story_state >= 4 and game.global_vars[974] == 2 and group_average_level( pc ) >= 7}{600}{}

{600}{[Brother Smyth smirks.] Then perhaps you'd prefer an unarmed escapade? I can also soften you up a little if you'd like.}{[Brother Smyth smirks.] Then perhaps you'd prefer an unarmed escapade? I can also soften you up a little if you'd like.}{}{}{}{}
{601}{Don't be ridiculous! I just wish I'd encountered some fierce opposition there. Thrill of the kill and all that.}{}{1}{}{610}{}
{610}{Be careful with what you wish for...}{Be careful with what you wish for...}{}{}{}{toughen_temple()}

But that's out of the question for 7.0... 8.0 maybe.

 

UPDATE

Level 1 ... Start.
Level 2 ... Welkwood Bog Final fight, (after). Cleared out spiders before bog.
Level 3 ... Moathouse 2nd level after jailed zombies, (went down the stairs in the main room).
Level 4 ... Moathouse final fight with Lareth including the called spiders.
Level 5 ... After assassin ambush, Imeryd's Run & Waterside Hostel, (whooped up the den of thieves)
Level 6 ... HB halve cleared, (just the outside and no minator).
Level 7 ... Smigmul and two rounds of AoH
Level 8 ... HB 100% including Minator and 1/2 of Temple first level, (resued orcs, girls and sailor)
Level 9 ... Big fight with Air Temple, (reactive temple after thump'n the earth losers) I came down the middle stairs right into the fight. I had not done the third phase of AoH.
Level 10 ... The third phase of AoH and The Season of the Witch after the fight with the drow captors.
Level 11 ... Cleared 3rd level of Temple, Freed the Wainwright's wife and completed Target of Revenge. Freed Prince Thrommel.
Level 12 ... After the fight with the young white gargoyles/dragons, (maybe if they were white they'd be more dragon...ish)

Side note; My NPC (Tickle me) Elmo gained a level after the fight with the room full of bugbears on the third level under the moathouse and another level after the assassin ambush.
Elmo gained another level upon completing the outside area of HB.
Elmo gained another level after killing Falrith.
Elmo gained another level after the re-active water temple and the fire temple.
Elmo gained another level after clearing the 3rd floor of the Temple, but before closing out Target of Revenge.

Was strange that Lydia the innkeeper in Verbobonc confused my halfling-mouth piece for a human.

Quote: Lydia; What does a human want with me?

 

Uhmmm ... I was talking about the white dragons in the spectral node of the temple, yeah the spectral node, that's what I meant ... CRAP!!

OK, gonna start from a save before I ventured off track and continue through the temple and the nodes only.

I think it's just that I normally go to Verbobonc just before the big battle in the large room just before the nodes.

And Lydia the innkeeper, (in *cough cough* Verbobonc) when first spoken to does in fact ask what does a human want with her.

 

So, the reward encounters. Did they eventually trigger for you, emo_ome?

Looking inside the scripts, it seems it's the same old thing as vanilla, which as far as I recall was fairly unreliable.

So, I gave the reward events the scheduling system treatment in order to bulletproof it. Can this be merged in and tested?
(NB, testers - the file is meant for Gaear to merge with the 7.0 files, don't use them yourselves)

 

Well Gaear, I must be loosing my mind.

I have reloaded that save three times now and I have not gotten that line again from Lydia.

Obviously I must have been mistaken, very strange thing though ... veeeeery interesting ... possibly a conspiracy maybe. :twitch:

Or, I could just be loosing my mind. :roll:

 

Well actually one did actually triggered, it's the reward from Sargen delivered by his courier - which is actually strange because he's the last person I've rescued (Am I right that 1st come [rescued] 1st served [reward delivered]? Based on their timeline?).

Edit: Just now, I've been wandering all over the world map to see some of the undelivered rewards but I've been seeing a R.E. with a portrait of a blue colored letter T in its face, but it's gone after a few reloads. :shrug: