Returning to Tales of the Midd...er, Maj'Eyal

[Hunter]

Okay...things have changed a bit since I was last here. I've been playing since Pern, but gave up waiting for a full release of 4.0. So I downloaded this latest version and...well, things have certainly changed. It looks interesting.

A couple questions before I start playing:

1) Has it become essentially a multiplayer on-line game? The opening sequence when creating a character seems to hint at that. If so, what leeway does one have to simply play it locally?

2) Is it currently a full version or are we still testing the engine itself using limited storylines and/or modules?

[lukep]

1. There is no online gameplay. The online features are chat and the character vault, which saves a character dump in the vault. You can play offline with no problems

2. It is a complete game, but it will probably be expanded a bit (more side zones, classes, talents etc...) before development is done.

[Hunter]

Okay, thanks. I've started fumbling around and it's all a bit confusing for the classic rogue-like fan in me. Is there some sort of newbie guide somewhere that I can look over?

[Rectifier]

There's a tutorial in the game, but I'd try the wikipedia for spoilers/whatnot.

[Final Master]

2. It is a complete game, but it will probably be expanded a bit (more side zones, classes, talents etc...) before development is done.

It's not complete as it's still in beta.

[lukep]

It's not complete as it's still in beta.

That's not what beta means.

To clarify what I meant by a complete game: There is a full progression of dungeons throughout the game, including both side zones and ones necessary for the main quest. There are character classes that cover the main archetypes present in singleplayer games, each with a range of talents that make up a complete class. There are diverse monsters to populate the world, and they are appropriate to each zone. There is equipment (including various base items, egos and artifacts) suitable for most goals, and you find better equipment throughout your progress. There is a storyline that draws you from one point to the next and ties the action together. All of the elements are there and tied together; it's not just a test for the engine, it is a game.

[Hunter]

I've done the two basic dungeons near my starting point (and died twice.) I'm still a little fuzzy on the various aspect of the skill points and haven't figured out how to regenerate magic points, but have gotten a hang of the basics (not too different from the rogue-likes, though I do miss being able to do everything with one or two keystrokes, like "I" for inventory or "S" for search or "?" for in-game documentation.) I've even managed to speed up the graphics, which were ridiculously laggy at times and I don't have a slow machine. So far, so good, and I think I could get into this new version.

The wiki seems to be, well, mostly empty, so that's not much help as a guide. Learning the entire new system of skills and magic isn't going as quickly as one might hope.

[bricks]

Sounds like you might be playing an Arcane Blade or a Shadowblade; they don't have innate mana regeneration. You need to use a skill, appropriate equipment, or a "manasurge rune" ability, which you should have started with. Runes and infusions are kind of like socketable talents; they replace the consumable potions of other roguelikes and RPGs.

I don't recommend either of those classes for a new player, for the record. They both feel very neglected at this point in development. Berserker is a good place to start because it's a very simple playstyle; once you get a hold on the mechanics, or just get bored with Berserker's "bump to win" playstyle, you should try something else. Archmage and Summoner are two classes you will unlock shortly.

[greycat]

The wiki seems to be, well, mostly empty, so that's not much help as a guide. Learning the entire new system of skills and magic isn't going as quickly as one might hope.

There are certainly gaping holes in the wiki, but there are at least two guides/walkthroughs linked from the front page (although I haven't looked at both of them to verify the quality and up-to-date-ness). What, specifically, did you need the wiki to say that it doesn't already say? That would give us an idea of where to prioritize our efforts.

[Hunter]

Thanks for the help, everyone. I found the real wiki. Before, I had been searching for help on these forums and one of the threads for noob questions linked to "http://te4.org/wiki/tome4"...which, as you can see, is substantially less-populated with useful links than the wiki linked from DarkGod's own pages.

[Grey]

I've corrected the page to note it's outdated - thanks for pointing it out.

[Hunter]

No problem. The real wiki is very helpful, so now my main issues are adjusting to a turn-based system that doesn't use ASCII and figuring out how useful things are without racing to the wiki every 3 minutes.

Also, not getting caught by my boss.


A couple questions I do have...

1) The "unlockables"....I assume they're specific to each download? That is, if I unlock one on my copy of ToME, I will always be able to use it from that moment on?

2) Is there any way to determine monetary value (and I'd love to know exactly what sort of pricing scale is being used because the numbers just look odd to me when I'm in the store) of a found item without going to the store? When I'm encumbered and have to choose which of two different items to drop, I'd like to keep the more valuable one for resale when I reach town.

[Obsidian]

If you set up the online profile, and play with it active, unlocks will be carried through versions. Some of the unlocks require quite a bit of specific effort and sometimes wouldn't be practical to unlock in one version cycle (at Darkgod's impressive update rate).

As for cash-value, most stuff past gems and artifacts isn't worth much early on, and there's an item that's easily attainable that lets you direct convert gear to cash so you don't need to do 'town runs'.

[Grey]

1. Unlocks transfer between between versions, yes. If you have an online profile they even transfer between machines.

2. Colour of items is a start - purple > blue > green > white. There are also artifacts (orange or yellow) which are generally good. Similarly material type inflates price - steel is better than iron for instance. You can normally tell how good the material type is by how high the stat requirements on the item are. More item types other than gems are about equivalent in value, so don't bother to carry heavy stuff like shields and armour for selling when you could have 15 daggers instead.

[Hunter]

Okay, thanks.

If I create a profile, will anything I do be uploaded automatically or do I have control over this? I'd rather be able to choose when (and what) I start and stop sending information from my computer to someone elses' server, you understand.