Knights of the Chalice 2 Update – High-Res Sprites For All Monsters

If you weren’t a fan of the token-based visuals of Knights of the Chalice II, this Kickstarter update should please you greatly, as it informs us that the game can now be played from start to finish with the “Display Creatures Using Animated Sprites” option enabled. Here’s more on that, along with some additional information:

Hello everyone! Version 1.11 of KotC 2 Augury of Chaos is now available for download here for both Windows and macOS. The main change is the addition of new animated sprites for monsters. Hurray! ^_^

With the addition of monster sprites from Pioneer Valley Games, the KotC 2 file size has now increased from about 1 GB to about 2 GB. I have now assigned a sprite to all the characters and monsters.

I did my best to find a matching sprite for all the creatures even though we’re missing sprites for some of them. We’re missing the Giant Snake, Snakeman, Giant Frog, Evil Eye, Psionic Beetle, Rust Monster, Giant Crab, Formian, Giant Scorpion, Gorgon, Hydra, Roc, Mimic, Mummy, Gelatinous Cube, Vrock, Marilith, Mantis and Centaur. I’ll hire someone to create additional sprites after the game is on Steam. Right now, I think it’s better for me to focus on the other remaining things needed by the game.

Winged characters can now have black, red, blue, green or white wings.

Skeletons deserve a special mention as they exist as both stand-alone monster sprites and modular character sprites. Modular sprites are for characters, they are designed to allow the display of weapons and armour on top of the character’s body.

You’ll find the ‘Skeleton’ option in the list of body types, which can be found either in the editor when you look at the Creature Properties screen and click on the ‘Sprite’ button, or in the character sheet of party members when you click on the token image in the top-left corner of the sheet (out of combat).

In addition to sprites, I’ve added hundreds of new dialogue icons that can be accessed within the Script Editor. Those icons are displayed in the top-left corner of the screen when talking to NPCs.

Now that the game has sprites for both characters and monsters, it can be played from start to finish with the ‘Display Creatures Using Animated Sprites’ option turned on.

Of course, I did some combat tests yesterday and I noticed a bunch of graphical glitches when playing with the sprites, such as the Confusion effect being displayed on the legs of a character rather than the head, or the ‘item destruction’ text being displayed right on top of the name of the item being destroyed. I will fix these issues soon, together with a bug I’ve just noticed when the AI uses the Slide action.

I also noticed an issue with player-character pathfinding in version 1.10. I’ve fixed it in version 1.11.

Some of the game options were somewhat hidden in version 1.10. I’ve added drop-down icons in the game-options screen in order to make it clearer that for some options, such as accelerated combat, you need to click on the option to display a selection box with the various choices.

Also, the Windows installer will now allow you to specify the installation path.

Let’s try to reach 1,000 subscribers on Youtube this year!

It would be very cool to reach this target as I’d like to upload short podcasts from time to time, as long as it’s easy and fun for me. I’ve already uploaded one and I’ve already recorded three or four more to upload a bit later. They will cover a wide range of topics, but I expect mainly investment/making money, healthy foods/compounds/extracts, CRPG design/development/marketing, and manga/anime/books/series. Of course, I will also keep using the channel for posting future KotC 2 videos.

Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2

Now that I’ve finished the big work on sprites, I can focus on much more interesting stuff.

• Add the new content in the village map and a few extra quests in chapter 2 and 3.
• Add the main difficulty slider and the two new options (more campfires, easier encounters).
• Implement the Barbarian Class upgrade. Add local-map screen. Add features suggested in forum.
• Create the tutorial module. Add module-creation info in guidebook. Fix any remaining bugs.
• Add feat-selection recommendations. Add the new feats / items / spells / features as promised.
• Read & reply on HeroicFantasyGames.com forums, Discord server and here on Kickstarter.
• Add backer names to the KotC 2 Credits Screen as appropriate, and assign forum labels for backers.
• Continue working on the Steam page for KotC 2 and start working on the Steam version of KotC 2.

Do you like the game’s new graphics? How about the Ultra Accelerated Combat option, do you use it and is it fast enough for you? Are you creating a new module and would you like to sell it through the 5-5-5 User Module offer? Have you found a really annoying bug and I seem to be completely oblivious about it? Feel free to post any comment here or in the forums, or email me at enquiries[at]heroicfantasygames.com. Thank You For Your Support, Brave Warriors, Mighty Paladins and Wise Wizards of the Realm! Enjoy! 🙂