Legend of Grimrock: Master Quest Mod Released

The team at Almost Human has been really quiet over the past month, so while we await new details about Legend of Grimrock II, I figured I’d point you over to an ambitious new modification that revamps the original dungeon crawler with “tons of new puzzles, updated dungeon designs, unique story elements, and more.” Word is:

Legend of Grimrock – Master Quest is a complete re-working of the entire original game with tons of new puzzles, updated dungeon designs, unique story elements, and more. It has been referred to as “Grimrock on Steroids”.

The source files are available as a separate download on Grimrock Nexus (grimrock.nexusmods.com/mods/239), including the main dungeon editor file and many supporting files and notes about how I set up (and fixed!) all the complex systems listed below.

– The overarching dungeon layout is similar, but there are lots of local changes to specific rooms, and some completely new areas have been added as well.
– Original assets were used for the most part, with a few notable exceptions (such as Daniv’s excellent wall set variations).
– Most major items have been moved.
– Puzzles have been generally “upgraded”.
– The base difficulty level is increased:
* stronger monsters
* more monsters
* trickier puzzles (some with added clues)
– The difficulty (and XP awarded) scales up dramatically according to the average level of the champions at the start, so you can import your original Grimrock dungeon party and continue your adventure and advancement.
– There is increased replayability as high-level imported parties can expect to gain approximately 9 to 10 additional levels, and a variety of new skill tomes also add to the progression.
– The dungeon scaling is designed to work well for parties starting out from levels 1 to 25 or so, with the high end earning their way up to around level 35 by the end. This provides a unique chance to max-out multiple skills which really changes the strategy and approach to playing Grimrock.
– A whole new “loot” system has been added which tells you how much wealth your party has accumulated from the dungeon!
– Every item in the game has judiciously been assigned a loot value, adding a new dimension to inventory decisions about what to toss and what to keep.
– Your party will periodically be “ranked” and titled according to your current loot total, with a final accounting and verdict issued near the end of the game.
– An entirely new side storyline has been added (Lord Perel’s failed expedition), and other lengthy writings have been expanded upon or added containing new lore and background fiction.
– Earthquakes play a bigger role and affect the party, monsters, and the surrounding environment.
– Spell scrolls now grant a small skill or stat bonus, so they are not totally worthless.
– A new hidden boss fight awaits discovery!
– The original 71 secrets have been greatly expanded to 120.
– There is an extended end-game denouement that takes place after the events of the original last battle, ultimately leading to a final frenetic escape from Mount Grimrock.
– Many other small changes, additions, improvements, etc, have been made to the original labyrinth.

Thanks, Blue’s News.