ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Hey there everyone. I had a couple of highly noob questions.

1. Is there a difference between betas other than general gameplay improvements? I saw some-one talking about a certain beta having tilesets and others not having them?

2. Any advice on a certain type of character to play, or anything I should do in the beginning so as not to get pwned? I'm all for steam-rolling through and learning through experimentation, but if you've got a piece of wisdom, please share it.

thanks!

No, the betas are all about gameplay and enhancements. At this stage there is very little documentation on how to play and so, but that will come in time; this of course won't help you much...

Tilesets are definitely a work in progress. I haven't tried them (since I routinely run in ACSII mode) but there are people who are developing them and contributing them in. Have a play with them. Once you have decided on a character you can access the tilesets by using the <ESC> key.

As to your starting character that very much depends on your style of play. One thing to bear in mind, is that as you progress through the game, you can trigger events that will allow you to access new races and professions.

So when creating a new character there are a number of basic races to choose from and a few professions.

Each race has additions and subtractions to your base stats STR, DEX, MAG(ic), WIL(lpower), CUN(ning), CON(stitution). Each race has a racial ability as well.

At this stage there is a very direct relationship between Races and Professions. If you want to be a Mage type, play an elf, if a thief play a hobbit and so on. That will loosen with time.

Most Professions have at least 2 (or more) major stats that you should enhance (as you go up in levels). The game will state this to guide you...

Once you have got past the Stat screen and your profession choice, you may be able to allocate points into a few skills.

Skills are divided into Schools of Mastery. Each School will have a number of Talents under them (usually 4). Talents are subdivided into Class Specific Talents and General talents.

Once you have allocated them then game proper will start.

I am not going to suggest a profession to go for since they all have their good points and bad points and they all have ways to play them!

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the game.

Any time I'm starting a new RPG type game, I like to use a big brute character (Barbarian, Warrior, Fighter, whatever it's called in that game). I usually find those have the simplest needs, and are great for learning the game. Once you understand the basics of the game, then you can choose characters that require a bit more finesse.

So, for learning ToME 4, I'd start out with a Dwarf Fighter or a Dwarf Berserker, and see how it goes. After one or two of those, you should be ready to branch out wherever you like.

1. Yes. The both the game and the engine are currently in development. Classes, items, quests, dungeons and game mechanics are changed and added constantly between the betas.

Regarding the tilesets: They were still incomplete and thus added if availible. I don't know if they're complete now but I dont think so. In addition the "Online Profile" was added with the current beta.

2. Humm. Depends a bit on your playstyle... As a rule of thumb the ranged classes are usually a bit stronger (at least in the early game) because you can avoid taking dmg very easily if being careful. But the melee classes go well too.
As a race the Dunedain (melee) or Elf (ranged) are strong because of their race abilities.
I'll recommend that you simply think what you'll like to play and then try the class and look at the set of skills if it siuts what you think is fun.

Most of the general tips were already covered by madmonk, so just try it.

In addition, don't forget that the choice of classes/races is quite limited at the beginning. More birth options are unlocked by achieving things by playing.

Thanks for the wisdom. I've only been playing this game for a couple minutes and I must say, this may be one of the few roguelikes I can actually really delve deep into. I've read about ToME before, and always thought it sounded really detailed and deep. With the implementation of a non-archaic interface, this may bridge the gap for a lot of people, and turn them on to roguelikes. Very, very cool indeed. People need to realize the beauty of indie gaming. Anywayyy...thanks again.

Heh, well. ToME 4 is basically a complete new game therefore it's not as deep and complex as the old ToME 2.x (which you propably have read about) yet. But well, thats why its still in beta isn't it? Stuff gets added pretty fast right now.

Enjoy discovering the fourth age!