With Knights of the Chalice II looking to get a proper release in early 2022, we get this here Kickstarter update that lists a good deal of fresh bug fixes and recently added features. Here are the full notes and some extra details:
Hello everyone! Version 1.21 of KotC 2 Augury of Chaos is now available for download here for both Windows and macOS. This is another relatively small update. I spent about half of the month scripting the Steam and GOG achievements and the other half fixing bugs and adding new options.
New Features in KotC 2 Augury of Chaos
- Added new high-resolution images for arrows, crossbow bolts and sling bullets. Also, arrows, bolts and bullets will reflect the type of enchantment of the ranged weapon, if the weapon is enchanted. This will be reflected through the colour of the glow of projectiles. Sleep Arrows and Slaying Arrows will also have a glow even when they’re fired from a ranged weapon without any enchantment.
- Added a new option under ‘Display’ allowing you to display arrows and bolts using the earlier low-resolution image, in case you prefer the low-resolution version.
- Added two new options under ‘Display’ allowing you to keep displaying the Initiative List and the Combat Log in combat when enemy creatures are acting or spell animations are being displayed.
- When a combat path includes red arrows as well as some green or yellow arrows, you can now click to let your characters move to the last square with a green or yellow arrow (the last possible destination square on the path). Previously, you had to move the mouse cursor to the last possible destination square in order to let the character move there.
- Added a new option under ‘Gameplay’ to allow Long Pathfinding. Normally, the game will not calculate long paths in combat, to accelerate processing when you’re mousing over different squares. You can turn on this option to let the game calculate long paths and display them with green, yellow and red arrows. This may be useful now that you can click on squares with red arrows to move in combat.
- Added a new option under ‘Gameplay’ to determine the targets of your Spread spells like Fireball accurately when you’re targeting spells and the game is highlighting targets. Normally, the game will treat these spells as if they were Burst spells to accelerate processing when you’re mousing over different squares. The game will then recalculate the targets accurately after launching the spell. You can switch on this new option now so that the highlighted targets of all your Spread spells will be determined accurately by the game.
- Added new options under ‘Spells’ allowing you to skip the explosion animation of many Cone-shaped spells, psionic powers and abilities.
- The weapon and armour description screen will now display ‘Armour attribute’ / ‘Armour enchantment’ / ‘Shield attribute’ / ‘Shield enchantment’ rather than ‘Weapon attribute’ and ‘Weapon enchantment’ for armour and shields.
- Flying creatures that have received the Prone condition will now be vulnerable to ground-based terrain effects such as Energy Wall.
- Added the bubble speech of the Coven of the Four Crones in the Low Sewers.
- Hints for the piano riddle of the Soul Sucker Death Snare will now indicate the note ‘Db’ in the second-from-last position.
- In the Script Editor, added a new Search box allowing you to look for a string within the current script. That can be very useful when you’re working on large scripts. You will find the new Search box in the top-right corner of the Script Editor window. After typing some text in the box, you can push the Return key, Up Arrow key or Down Arrow key to search for the next match within the script.
- In the Script Editor, when creating and editing script commands, you will see new Search boxes allowing you to search for existing variable names and quest names easily. Simply type a word in the box and press the Return key to obtain the list of all the variables or quests containing that word.
List of Bug Fixes in KotC 2 Version 1.21
- Fixed bugs occurring in the fight against the Green Goblin King. The game was adding the enemies two times into the list of combatants, once as enemies and once as allies. I’ve added checks so that it can no longer happen anywhere. Also, you will now get extra Experience Points for each surviving Grey Goblin ally after the fight against the Green Goblin King.
- Fixed a source of crashes involving creatures that have an alternative natural weapon (like some undead creatures) and are wielding a manufactured weapon. In that case, the alternative weapon will not be used. It is only appropriate for creatures that aren’t wielding manufactured weapons.
- Fixed a bug concerning the Quest Journal. The Quest Journal wasn’t getting cleared when loading a game, then starting a new game from the beginning of the module.
- Fixed a number of issues concerning Quickbar spells. Also, prone characters will no longer be able to cast spells using the Quickbar icons.
- In the Party Creation screen, there’s a button to load a saved game from an earlier module in a series of connected adventures. Previously, when you clicked on that button, the game would display all of your saved games without checking that they were from one of the appropriate modules. The Load Saved Game screen will now display only saved games from the correct modules (or nothing if the module that you’re launching is not part of a campaign of connected modules).
- Fixed a source of crashes in the Party Creation screen when loading a saved game from an earlier module in a series of connected adventures.
- Fixed the Experience Point award when the Fire Druid joins the party in the Mysterious Cave.
- Fixed a bug when using the SetPosition script command to move a character from a position on the current map to a position on a different map. That bug was responsible for Zerria appearing in some battles where she shouldn’t have been there.
- Fixed a problem with the SetVisible script command. That problem was responsible for Zerria and other blue cloaks appearing in some battles where they shouldn’t have been there.
- Fixed a problem in the display of initiative numbers on the Initiative List, on the right side of the screen.
- Fixed a problem in the Windows installer that resulted in the Spell Animation Previewer not being available in the Spell Properties screen of the Module Editor. To launch the previewer, open the Spell Editor, then double click on a spell to open its Spell Properties screen, then click on the button labelled ‘Visual Effect’ or press the shortcut key F2.
- Fixed a problem in the Windows installer that resulted in the OpenAL folder not being available in the install folder. That folder only contains a few different versions of the OpenAL32.dll file, which is responsible for music and sound. Usually, you won’t need those files, but you can try the game with any of these versions to see which version produces the best result. To try a different OpenAL file, open the OpenAL folder, look for one of the OpenAL32.dll files, then right click on the file and click Copy. Then go into your KotC 2 install folder, right click and click Paste. You might want to rename the existing OpenAL32.dll file before clicking Paste, so that you can restore the default file easily.
Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2
- Work on the remaining requirements for the Steam and GOG launch. On that note, I’m not certain that the Steam release will include the macOS version, but I’ll do my best.
- Prepare some new screenshots in order to showcase the isometric and sprite graphics. It will also be good to create a new two or three minute video showcasing the isometric and sprite graphics.
- The PDF Guidebook needs a section about Finchbury, another for the ruined version of Finchbury, and another for the Tutorial Adventure.
I expect the Official Release in late January or else in February. I will let everybody know once the release date has been set and I will Count On Everyone to Help Spread the Good Word when the time comes!
As always, if you find bugs or if you have any feedback, thoughts and suggestions, please feel free to let me know here, or in the Forums, or by email at enquiries [at] heroicfantasygames.com.
Thank You For Your Steadfast Support, Valiant Heroes of the Realm! Best Wishes for 2022!! 🙂
