Livonya's Beta 1.5 Mod.zip

Yes, the frogs are very strange. I have no access to their AI scripts. They are the only creature in the game that seems to have an internal AI.

I have been reluctant to create a new AI for them since I can't see what their original is like... thus at this point they are not set to break free.

- Livonya

 

Screeg -

When you tell an NPC not to sell their stuff it ONLY effects the items they are carrying at that exact moment. It does NOT mean that new items they make/get will not be sold.

Each time you make them items, give them items, or change their items you need to tell them not to sell.

In the 2.0 build this is also the case, but you will also be able to tell them to give up their items and then you can take them back.

- Livonya

PS: I am working on that damn control box... getting tempted to just take it out... annying little bugger that it is...

 

Thanks, but . . .

Thanks, I'll go there.

EDIT: What is Shift-Tilde ?

 

Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere, but I wanted to point out some flaws in the AI for Lareth when I fought him.

Firstly, I still think it's a bit dumb that he calls for backup when it should be pretty obvious that you've already slain them all. Perhaps some of his dialogue could be changed?

It also seems odd that he lets you position your fighters all around him before you initiate dialogue, but this is as per the original game and I don't know if there's anything that can be done about that.

It was good to see that Lareth had some spells cast before combat began (I don't know what they were but there were various effects visible), however his actions in battle left a little to be desired. I started laying into him and he cast Shield Of Faith. Fair enough. Then I tripped him and pummelled him some more. He stood back up and broke into his next dialogue. I opted to continue fighting and when combat restarted he immediately cast Shield Of Faith again. (Is there any point to this? Do his spells reset after the dialog?) I belted him some more and he cast Cure Serious Wounds. I missed a few times and he got the chance to fire off a Searing Light (or something like that) before I tripped him again and killed him.

His over emphasis on defensive spells made the fight a complete walkover with my party taking almost no damage.

 

i noticed that alot of enemies, and even friendlies, buff themselves as soon as you enter the map. Or even while talking to you.

For example, if you go to the broken gaurd tower next to the temple you will have the commander initiate conversation with you. Their casters will buff themselves as he talks, with every dialogue option you choose, they cast another buff... all in all, they cast 3 or 4 buffs.
Your party on the other hand does NOT do that. I was wondering if it was possible to let you have a "turn" for every "turn" they take to buff themselves.
You could use it to buff yourself, or to attack (abandoning the conversation)

 

You can buff BEFORE you go to the map. The problem is that there is no way for the NPCs to buff BEFORE you get there. All magic is reset when your party leaves/enters the map (except for with your party).

Having NPCs buff during conversations was just my way of making it seem like they were buffed before you arrived.

Clearly you can walk around with dozens and dozens of spells active at any one time. The NPCs do not have that ability. They can't buff up before hand.

So clearly you don't need to get a turn to do that when you should have ALREADY done it before you came there.

Only a fool wizard would walk around without Magic Armor up an running.

In the end you have a MASSIVE advantage over the NPCs as you can buff up before you go out for your day's activities. The NPC on the other hand does not have that ability, so giving you a turn to buff would mearly putting it back to the way it was before when no NPC ever had any spells up and running when you encountered them.

- Livonya

 

He will always be a cake walk. He is just one Cleric versus your party. Unless I make him cheat he will always be easy. Even a level 10 Cleric would be a pretty easy kill. There simply isn't much a single Cleric can do versus an entire party. (cheating is exactly what Troika did with most of the other single NPCs... ala Calmet, Terjon, etc...) The problem is that Lareth can join your party, and letting a super NPC into your party kind of spoils the fun.

However, it is ironic that you post this now, because I just finished a 5 hour stint working on Lareth. I changed the whole thing around quite a bit.

These changes are coming in 2.0

1) He will be a bit harder (better spell usage).

2) Dialog options change depending on if you killed his henchmen already (this was actually in his dialog already, but there were no triggers to get it going... so it was a cool fix as he actually has spoken dialog for it).

3) If you opt for my default Hard Mode he will have some assistance in the room. If you take the default Harder Mode then this whole encounter will be vastly more fun and challenging.

4) If Lareth calls for help then he will actually get it (unless of course all of his henchmen are already dead).

5) His henchmen will now have the proper feats for their class. In the original they all have Archer feats rather than melee feats, and now they will have the proper feats to help them kill you.

6) A few surprises which I will leave to be surprising...

I think it was a good improvement. He is still an easy kill, but the whole encounter over all should be a bit more difficult, and there are a lot more variations possible now.... some way more difficult than others.

I think I am done with him now. I hope this part of the game will be a lot more fun.

- Livonya

 

I'm reading T1 now and if I remember correctly this was a tough fight. Lareth had +1 Platemail and was really hard to hit. His staff of striking was devastating. He almost killed Elmo. Does he have the same ability scores as the module? He's a doomed man but he has a charisma of 18 and a lot of treasure, so he should have some options. He shouldn't be an easy kill. He wasn't in the pnp module. He is one of Lolths favorites and the repercussions for killing him could be severe. Hint.Hint. I want to see the hard version of this one.

 

Thanks Livonya!
Sounds like I'll be starting all over again when 2.0 comes out.

 

ooh oohh i want the hardest version lol it will be intresting to face a challenge before getting to the temple

 

The trick is don't get close enough for her charm spell. Fireball and magicmissile work good. If you come in by door from level 2 you are too close and the charm will get ya. Also, Fragarach and Scather are not auto-hits on her. The people that get charmed, stay charmed even after she is dead and continue to fight the party. This a wierd encounter sometimes, but i've never seen it CTD. F9 and try again, I guess.

 

No, they can't be buffed before I arrive, even the longest lasting buffs only last a few hours. This is the whole point of magic items.
It gives them an unfair advantage as effictively they are ALWAYS buffed, while my buffs only last for a short time. I have never fought a magic oponent in your mod that was NOT fully buffed, even if I surprised them.

This is the whole point, I cannot "surprise" any opponents. If I surprise them, it stands to reason they wouldn't be buffed, and I would. The opposite is true if they surprise me.
In fact, every single caster fully buffs themselves whenever I come into their map, even if they are friendly, its ridiculous to see that druid guy casting stone skin against you while he is using the swamp lotus you brought him to make a cure for the ailing little girl!

When you only get 1 cast of magic armor per 24 hours (you know, the resting time wasn't implemented correctly, you need only 8 hours of rest to count as a day), and each cast lasts 3 hours because you are "only" level 3 you cant be wasting it unless you are SURE you will be facing enemies.
I actually THOUGHT (and it made sense) that certain "opponents" were buffing themselves during conversation... which was a show of hostility, and fit right in with the situation. (I was sure the way the conversation was turning was influencing their casting... really!).

Keep in mind that only a few buffs last an hour per level. Some last 10 minutres per level, most 1 minute per level, and some even last only 10 seconds per level! I play heavy on the magic and I never, ever, buff before the days activities, the buffs just dont last. I buff before I am about to surprise a very tough opponent. My more volitile buffs i keep for the actual battle itself! (for example, I cast haste on my mages first turn, NOT immidiatly before battle, haste lasts such a short period it never stays for the whole battle, I tried prebuffing with haste and often it runs out before the battle begins)

BTW, an interesting twist will be to have a fully buff party at the service of the temple attack you one time when you are just traveling on the road. You will be completely unbuffed because you can't keep it all the time. They will be fully buffed because they are the ones who were hunting for you. That will be an interesting encounter