A large, new mod is coming...

[nekarcos]

Hello everyone, let me briefly introduce myself:

I am a (somewhat) underground modder for Tales of Maj'Eyal. I have been working on a large-scale modification of the Age of Ascendancy campaign that will add a whole bunch of new content, such as new classes, mechanics, events, etc...
Recently, I have done some long reviewing and testing, and all that's left is to do some finishing touches so that it's worthy of presentation-- At which point, it will need some adventurous players who are ready to tear it apart and smash it to pieces (I KNOW it has unknown bugs).
I am rather eager to showcase this, because it first started as a personal project, then soon became ambitious enough to be something an entire community could enjoy.

... Now, I'm sure you can tell, but I'm rather beating around the bushes here. That is because I'd like to keep this a secret for a little while...

What I CAN assure you is that this mod is going to be big enough to be something that might bring you back to the game for a few more hours (-- and I REALLY hope so, because it sure pulled a lot of hours out of MY life... lol)

Anywho-- Think of this as a GOOD omen to come-- Something serendipitous, if you will. For the longest time, I've been wondering how I was going to make myself known here-- But today, I finally decided to bite the bullet and throw myself through the doors with my arms raised:

HELLO everyone! My name's Nekarcos, and I create content for this game called "Tales of Maj'Eyal". Though I have yet to release it, I hope you will enjoy what I make-- Tell me anything I should know that I don't know (but even if I WOULD know, tell me anyways-- I'll be reading everything!)

~ Thanks for hearing out this awkward introduction, Nekarcos

[darkgod]

Welcome, any ETA ?

Also, you posted on the wrong forum, Modules is for other games made with TE4 what you want is the Addons forum

[Effigy]

I look forward to it!

[rexorcorum]

Heya, Nekarcos and welcome!

That all sounds very intriguing and mysterious, so I'll definitely sink my pointy teeth into it when it's out .

And to elaborate a bit further on DarkGod's wise words - ToME's terminology can be a bit confusing at first, because what is usually called a "mod", here is an "addon" and a "module" here means a completely new game, made with the t-engine. And that's why the post (and your work) should be posted in the Addons section.

Cheers and we can hardly wait

[nekarcos]

You're all totally and absolutely right!
About 10 minutes after I posted it, I found the "Addon" section in the "ToME4" category and already knew I was off to a bad start lol

Thanks for the welcome everyone-- I plan to make the final touches and release it sometime before July 15-- Though, we all know how easily dates and deadlines can become fiction, so I made sure ONLY to post about this when I was certain it was coming soon.

Also, I appreciate the response, so I'll give you a bit more information about the project and myself:

I've been working on this for a year-- Actually, 14 months technically. It was a solo project I started after trying to make my own ideal character out of an adventurer and realizing "There just isn't ENOUGH in the game to accomplish what I'm thinking!". As a result, I ended up making my own classes and mechanics-- Then realized I needed even more than that-- And eventually, it turned into a full-scale project.
Because it was a solo job, however, I can't expect it to be as robust as I want it to be, despite all my playtesting-- So that's where you will all come in. As I said before, I expect it to be broken, battered, and torn apart-- But don't worry, I plan to fix it-- Even after the release.

With that said-- DarkGod, this message is for you:
"Occasionally, I would peek into these forums, looking for solutions-- And I would always see how supportive and responsive you are to everyone. Today, you were even quickly responsive to me. Let this be my way of giving back to you. You've made a truly immersive game that took many hours of my life-- Even BEFORE I purchased it on Steam or started developing! Thank you, sincerely!"

... Anywho, enough of that-- I have a lot that needs to be done if I want this to be nice and polished by my deadline, so I'll see you all then!

(PS: I'll make a new post in the "Addons" category when the project's done and ready, I guess... )

[darkgod]

Moved your thread to Addons

And aww thanks, I'm eager to see your stuff then !

[astralInferno]

Welcome to the community! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us.

I'd try to offer any obvious code pitfalls, but all the obvious ones are REALLY obvious ones involving commas. ;P

[Jarinex]

Howdy

I'm all for new addons to play with. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us!

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

A thought if your changes are REALLY extensive, you might want to designate the whole thing as another campaign. Kind of late to be making this mention and change, but AoA+ or something, so people could keep it around without disrupting normal gameplay. Of course, depending on what and how existing content was changed, that may be moot anyway, but it's a thought for polish. This doesn't have much of an impact on classes/races, but any content added inside the existing campaign could then be played or not played by choosing between AoA and AoA+ or whatever you name it.

[darkgod]

Come on give me a teaser/preview/whatever I'm curious !

[nekarcos]

Hey guys-- I'm glad to see you're still interested! We still have a ways to go (and gosh, the days are counting down FAST!)
I still can't reveal anything big until we get a little closer to the release date, but I CAN start revealing it in trickles.

(To Crim, The Red Thunder)
That's actually something important I haven't tested out yet and will NEED to test! You see, the new classes/races have their own plot and story events, so some events are modified to behave differently from normal (for example, "The Ambush" plays out differently.)
I have not done a thorough examination of whether the non-addon classes/races still behave correctly or not, but I've done what I can to check.
... Believe me... The 1st version of this add-on is going to be an ABSOLUTE mess, and, in anticipation, I'm already compiling a list of things that need to be tested/broken upon release lol

(To DarkGod)
Hmmm... Alright. I'll mention that it's a "take" on the Age of Ascendancy plot, but from a "seated" point of view.

(Major Plot Character): "Nature has always been at war with Magic. However, it is not a war fought through grudge, but misunderstanding. Nature, a wholesome force which intends to regulate the world and keep things in balance-- and Magic, an ambitious force that seeks to go beyond normality, drawing upon the world's hidden potentials. Nature represents what is static and inert, while Magic represents what is dynamic and erratic. However, as we know about opposites, they are but two sides of the same coin. Just what could happen if-- for but a fleeting moment-- these two opposites... Joined hands and worked together as one towards a single, unified purpose...?"

[nekarcos]

Alright, a quick update (and something to give you an idea of what you're getting)
As part of my pre-release preparation process, I've been making a checklist of all the things that have been added/modified in the game. Here are some numbers that might be interesting for you out there who are anticipating the release:


*** ToME gameplay stuff
- There are 3 additional Races
- There are 3 additional Classes
- There are 48 Talent Trees, some of which have more than 4 talents per group
- There are 200+ (I lost count) non-cosmetic Talents, all usable by the player
- There are 50+ (I lost count) Timed Effects
- There are 34 new Damage Types (though maybe only 20 or so are "unique")
- There are 20+ modified Objects (hidden effects/interactions with the new races/classes)
- There are 20+ Chats
- There are 20 or so modified Chats

*** Nerdy stuff
- There are 25 superloading files
- There are 3 overloading files (overwriting nothing)
- A folder check says there are 307 GFX files
- The add-on's size is currently 4.26MB. Juxtapose this with the "Ashes of Urh'rok" add-on which is 0.48MB (music files excluded), or the Stone Wardens add-on which is 0.35MB. When I exclude the gfx folder from my add-on, its size is 2.07MB!


Just a few numbers to give you an idea of what the scale of this project is-- And to give me an excuse to keep you posted on my progress
Anywho, keep waiting-- Patience! Every hour feels like a minute to me, and there's still so much I need to do. For me, time is running out-- But for you, your time is coming...

[nekarcos]

Alright, so we're nearing the final week before this add-on's release! It's time to start revealing some of the things you can expect to see!
Today, I'll begin by describing some of the new concepts of gameplay this add-on will introduce:


*** You will be able to utilize your "environment"
You will make greater consideration of the terrain you stand on and the walls that surround you, taking your next step with that in mind. The rain that's dripping... The sand that's billowing-- Or even the visibility of the air in front of you. All of these things will now become very relevant. If manipulated well, you may find creative new ways to get the drop on your foes, perhaps maybe even lurking only a few steps behind them...

*** This time, you won't be alone
In ToME, you are an adventurer with a bizarre case of Xenomania, Noctomania, and Kleptomania. For this reason, your adventure is generally a very lonely experience. Now, it will be a little bit more like a mission (much like the "2nd half" of the game). You might find comrades that will stand behind you, introducing much more chat/discussion and creating plot out of the freedom/flexibility of your choices. What you do WILL change what happens in the story-- And maybe, even the fate of your adventure!

*** Some resources are powerful, yet "depletable/consumable"
Some things you've come to rely on will no longer be unlimited-- And yet, you may gain something extremely powerful in return that simply could not go without being in check. You may be required to make more prudent and careful decision making with what you have on your person, deciding how and when to use up certain things. Your backpack will play a bigger role than ever!

*** A big focus on enjoyable replayability
I have not forgotten what makes ToME "ToME". It is a grueling experience that begs awareness at all times, a well-thought out battle plan, prudence against all foes and situations, and an extremely great deal of luck! For this reason, the plot elements of this add-on are all very malleable, allowing you to explore different outcomes and results with each playthrough. That is to say, I DO expect you to die a lot (as is standard for a ToME experience), so why not have fun doing it?


I aim to reveal something new every day until release, so check back every so often!

[nsrr]

This mod sounds better and better!

Though...

I'm not really crazy about the 'consumable resources' notion. I suppose they could be good, depending on what they are, but ToME is sort of built around the idea of /not/ having consumables. I think a lot of people would agree that they don't really /want/ their backpack playing a bigger role. If they did, you'd probably see a lot more folks using Swift Hands. It can be extremely powerful, but also extremely tedious in practice. I'll wait to reserve my final judgement until I see how it plays out, but I just wanted to give you my initial take.

The rest of the ideas I am extremely enthusiastic about. Can't wait to see more!

[astralInferno]

Basically exactly what nsrr said. Everything else sounds amazing, but I'm the type of the person that will refuse to use consumables until the last boss fight because what if I need them later. Consumables arent my fave thing.