Hello everyone, here is the promised August update on the development of Knights of the Chalice 2.
I call this update the ‘Light at the End of the Dungeon’ because it’s the first time that the game is virtually feature complete! And that is a great relief to me. First, let’s review the main things that were added since the last update. Secondly, we will have a look at some Necromancer Class design ideas. The Necromancer and Summoner are two possible Kickstarter Stretch Goals for the KotC 2 Kickstarter expected in November 2018. Thirdly, we will have an in-depth look at the beginning of the prologue adventure, called Augury of Chaos. I expect that it will be too big to be a free demo, particularly if it comes with the Module Editor. It will be a good stand-alone prologue adventure. Warning: if you want to avoid spoilers, then you should not read the content of the dialogue screens posted below. Finally, we will talk a little bit about what’s next.
KotC 2 Recent Additions and Improvements
All voice effects were implemented. They include 470 voice clips, half male, half female. Each time the character says something, the corresponding text is displayed as a bubble text over the talking character. As a result of the implementation of voice effects, I’ve had to upgrade the Options Screen to add two sliders: Voice Effects Volume and Voice Effects Frequency. Please see below the image of the Options Screen (click on a picture to enlarge it). I’m also adding an image of the Formation Screen, which you can use to set your party’s walking formation and make characters active or inactive, and a picture of the Script Editor box used to enter an ‘If Answer Is’ script command. The script editor image shows how easy it is to check for dialogue answers: you just select an answer in the drop-down box, as the editor already knows what answers you’re offering to the player.
All important magic items have been implemented. Of course, I’ve had to scrap the implementation of some items that I thought would be too time-consuming to implement. But we still have a good item selection now, much bigger than the limited number of items available in KotC 1. As well as the traditional and well-liked KotC 1 magic items, we now have the following:
Many magic musical instruments; magic fruit; magic plants; magic acorns; magic helms like the Helm of Clear Thought which grants immunity to Stunning; magic crowns like the Crown of the Archmage which grants additional spell slots; magic necklaces that allow you to cast Fireball as a Spell-Like Ability; many magical amulets that grant various immunities, or abilities like Darkvision, or a continuous Protection from Evil effect; magic Bracers of Impact that increase your weapon’s critical multiplier; Bracers of Tripping; Bracers of Push; Bags of Holding; magic potions and scrolls; ingots used in weapon and armour crafting; diamonds used for weapon and armour enchantments;
Various cloaks and mantles including the Fog Cloak, Cloak of Flames and a cloak that grants the effect of Globe of Invulnerability; Circlets of the Healer; Boots of Stomping; Boots of Perfect Balance; Boots that make you immune to the effect of Web spells and boots that grant a continuous Haste effect; many magic belts that grant a variety of bonuses for fighting or casting; a Belt of Giant Size; a Belt of the Lion which grants the Pounce ability; a Belt of the Rogue that increases Sneak Attack damage; a Belt of Battle Skill which upgrades your Base Attack Bonus from low to medium, or from medium to high; Rings of Elemental Summoning; Rings of Energy Containment; Rings that grant a Spell Resistance bonus; Rings that provide Damage Reduction; Rings that grant you Greater Invisibility; a Ring of Free Action that grants a continuous Freedom of Movement effect; Rings of the Destroyer that increase your damage rolls and Rings of Life that increase your Hit Points.
In addition, we now have a collection of magic robes and vests that can be worn by characters who do not have any Armour Proficiency. They include Vests of Vitality; Robes of Defence; the Robe of Eyes; Robes that increase your psionic power points; Robes that grant Spell Resistance; Tunics of Concentration; Robes that grant Damage Reduction; the Robe of the Acolyte; the Lesser and Greater Robe of the Battlemage and the Robe of the Archmage.
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I have added a beautiful four-minute medieval tavern soundtrack from Robbie. It’s so beautiful that the track will be used as default dialogue soundtrack. You can turn off the default dialogue music in the game options. I have also added a second tavern soundtrack of two minutes from Robbie, a nature/bird soundtrack, and a bunch of new ambient effects and creature sound effects.
I recently added four new subraces: the Mul Human, Half-Elf Human, Caravaner Mantis and Guardian Half-Giant. Please see http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/FWE/Pages/FWE_Subraces.htm for details.
A good number of AI and Editor bugs were fixed. The AI was improved. For example, it will not charge through dangerous squares like brazier squares or a wall of fire. I’ve also reviewed all of my notes to see if there was anything important that I forgot about. I’ve improved the graphical appearance of the combat-log box (please see combat screenshots below). And I have updated the Credits screen and help entry to comply with the attribution licence of certain graphical and sound elements used in KotC 2.
On the Steam front, I’m happy to report that I’ve finally got my own EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the US IRS. This is needed when a developer wants to start selling games on Steam. Hopefully, I’ll be able to join Steam without too much difficulty in coming months, after I have released my new Youtube videos for KotC 1 and the prologue module of KotC 2. I wonder if I will have to pay the Steam self-publishing fee for each KotC 2 module, or just once?
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Okay, sounds good, so what’s next?
Well, I’m planning to use the next 40 to 50 days to pack as much interesting content as possible into the prologue adventure, Augury of Chaos.
My next updates will probably be smaller: I will make a small update when my KotC 2 Features and Screenshots web pages are released, and another small update when my new Youtube videos for both KotC 2 and KotC 1 are released.
Now, a little bit about my personal life: I’m going through a difficult time financially. So I’m surviving just by eating roots – figuratively and literally: ginger and turmeric roots – and I am putting a whole lot of hope in the upcoming Kickstarter for KotC 2.
So, while I keep working very hard on KotC 2, please do your best to promote KotC 1 and advertise the Kickstarter expected to come in November 2018.
Also, I want to say ‘thank you for your continuing support’ to everyone who bought KotC 1, and a **REALLY BIG** thank you especially to repeat buyers: please let me tell you that your contribution is not going unnoticed, and it is helping me a lot in this development effort! I want to make the best game I can make, and YOU are really helping me do it. Much appreciated!!
Thank you for reading! All comments are welcome. Farewell for now, worthy adventurers, and please stay tuned! 🙂
