Status Report

New Year Report

Well, another year goes down on KotB... well actually this is the first full year since it started so it shouldn't sound that ominous

Folks over at the KotB private modders forum will know I have been talking about having a beta version of the demo in testing by NY. This, of course, has not happened, since no matter how many times I have sat down to 'finish it today' (something that has been going on since before Christmas) there always seems to be something more I want to polish or add. It doesn't have to be finished before testing starts, just the interactive bits (if you take my drift) ie the dialogues and such: nice little extras like certain elements of the graphics, lighting, portraits etc can all be being worked on while the beta testing is occuring. BUT i want to have the quests and dialogues completely finished (obviously) before releasing for beta testing, and as I said there always seems to be one more extra bit to add / fix / fine tune. But certainly one large arc of the plot is about ready to go, and should be done any day now (I thought I could finish it last night but got sidetracked adding a whole new monster's lair to make one single character's incredibly minor but essential role somewhat more believable / playable, ie just where the hell did the spider silk seller end up anyway? :shrug: )

Now... what do we have? Time for a wrap-up, this won't have changed much since the last one I published (not much in the way of new maps, for instance, because we have pretty much all of them done - for the demo, anyway) but its worth reiterating:

108 new script files (and about 8 or so reused from ToEE, like the Caravan map traders).

79 new dialogue files so far (will certainly expand before the demo comes out). Thats a lot more than 79 NPCs to chat to, btw, since some of the guards reuse scripts, some are written so that similar critters use different parts of the same dialogue etc. Think about that number for a minute - SEVENTY NINE characters to stop and have a yarn with.

3 cats, with scripts for 2 more ready to go.

One (1) galore of new objects: books to read, containers to loot, twice as many gemstones to find, new weapons, practically all the new stuff in Co8 5.0.3 (a tiny number of exceptions due to the KotB specific new stuff clashing with the ToEE stuff and me not bothering to move it all around, but again we are only talking 2 or 3 items) and all the spells too (some of which work) including new spells that get used against the players (don't be surprised if your rogue archer gets spanked with a true strike - ray of clumsiness combo).

51 new maps (+ at least one more to come for the demo).

Reworked reputations etc.

More interactive NPCs: Guards who notice if you are carrying drawn weapons, shopkeepers who object to you taking things lying around their shops, the overwhelming majority of NPCs in the Keep on day / night routines ("no I won't barter with you, its the middle of the night dammit!") folks whose whole attitudes change according to your behaviour (and NOT just the opening line of the conversation), far more folks who initiate conversations themselves, and a dungeon to get locked up in if you get carried away.

More random stuff: Different monsters, in different locations, fighting (slightly) differently, every time you play.

So what exactly is going in the demo? Well...

• The outer bailey of the Keep and all its buildings, main gate, graveyard, sewers, cells.
  
• The Spider Woods, Mad Hermit, and Lizardman encounters from the module.
  
• The Lizardman refuge from Return to KotB.
  
• Another smallish locale (a la Nulb) which is not in the original module but is called for by the plot.
  
• A tower, inspired somewhat by the Shy Tower of Return to KotB. (But plays out completely differently).
  
• One (1) dragon, again inspired by something in Return to KotB (and U2 - Danger at Dunwater) but also playing out very differently.
  
• 26 quests, of which a good 15 can be played through right this very moment (at least by me ) and most of which will be finishable for the demo (A couple, like "find out if there is a single unifying evil force operating in the Caves area", will NOT be finishable in the demo. Deal with it.)

What won't be in it?

• The Inner Gatehouse and Fortress of the Keep.
  
• The Raider encounter from the original module.
  
• Another wilderness encounter suggested by the plot.
  
• The Caves of Chaos themselves.

These will all wait for the final version.

 

Re: New Year Report

That bard'll love our sewers.

 

Re: New Year Report

Just to annoy people with a half-finished game? Its tempting... :twisted:

 

ProphetPX's questions have been separated from this thread and moved to a separate thread because they represent more of a general discussion of the mod and contain general questions which are unrelated to this thread.

- Agetian