Beholder race/classes

[Nagyhal]

Beautiful feedback from you guys.

If you can hang tight, FlarePusher, I'll have a fully fixed version ready for you before the end of the evening, so you can carry on playing in bug-free bliss.

I've neither messed around with nor overly tested the Absorb Magic code, so keep your eyes open for further issues. Yes, keep all your eyes open. All of them.

[FlarePusher]

My only other question is wondering if the death eye tree is the last tree, I had that by level 15...

[Nagyhal]

FlarePusher, yes, once you have exhausted all the unlocks by advancing through your growth stages, there is nothing more in store for you.

I'll try to think of ways to make this information a bit clearer!

Also, I'm planning to notch up the difficulty of evolving your beholder quite a bit.

Sorry for the late update. I am working fastidiously on making this a clean package.

[Nagyhal]

v.5.9.4 [link] Changelog:

Absorb Magic:

• Absorb Magic will no longer crash when you possess only under-tiered items in your inventory.
• Absorb Magic no longer will accept items of beneath your current growth stage, forcing you to punch above your weight if you really want to make speedy progress to the higher forms of beholder.
• In addition, I have increased the growth points necessary for progress to the final growth stage from 12 to 20. Sorry about that, but players were reaching their final forms at level 3. Eventually, advancing your Beholder is going to be an involving process that will demand some difficult decisions from the player.
• However, I have also increased the bonuses for feeding on a unique (yellow or orange) artefact, depending on tier and regardless of your current growth stage. Legendary items grant even more, and Godslayers (should you have the miraculous fortune to find a spare one you don't need) are a full evolution instantly on consumption. So, my spawnlings, go forth and nom heartily!

Polish:

• Kludgy debug log messages removed, as I've finally learnt to debug Lua properly :3
• Mention of psionic focuses removed from tooltips due to confusion expressed by players. Eventually, there's going to be some kind of broad correlation of the nature eyestalks=spell, central eye=mind, and these features will return to the Central Eye talents.
• If you are wearing your cloak of deception (or as I imagine it, being sheathed in tentacles, cuttlefish-style) while you advance a growth stage, your tile will not be replaced by your new beholder form. You'll also not have to recover air back to full.

Stuff I'm thinking of implementing as a quick fix here or there includes granting lightning bounces when 0 damage is done to the target (consider, for the meantime, their failure to do this as a feature you'll have to work around—focusing should punch through those resistances), making flame laser splash damage less pathetically incremental, and continued front end enhancements. Bigger ideas are further down the pipeline, but I must stress again that you're going to have to wait.

[Sradac]

Beholder and Tempus Fugit are not compatible. Not sure which one of the two is the "problem":

Code: Select all

[LOG]	Icyu is out of phase.
[LOG]	#CRIMSON#Icyu avoids 33 damage!
stack traceback:
	[C]: in function 'error'
	/engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:152: in function </engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:134>
Lua Error: /engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:174: /engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:152: /hooks/tempusfugit/load.lua:21: attempt to index local 'target' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
	/hooks/tempusfugit/load.lua:21: in function </hooks/tempusfugit/load.lua:16>
	[string "return function(l, self, data) local ok=false..."]:1: in function 'triggerHook'
	/data/damage_types.lua:373: in function 'projector'
	/engine/interface/ActorProject.lua:198: in function 'base_project'
	...eholder-cont/superload/engine/interface/ActorProject.lua:16: in function 'project'
	/data/talents/spells/arcane.lua:74: in function </data/talents/spells/arcane.lua:70>
	[C]: in function 'xpcall'
	/engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:147: in function </engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:134>
	At [C]:-1 
	At [C]:-1 error
	At /engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:174 useTalent
	At /engine/ai//talented.lua:52 runAI
	At /engine/ai//talented.lua:61 doAI
	At /mod/class/NPC.lua:61 act
	At /engine/GameEnergyBased.lua:126 tickLevel
	At /engine/GameEnergyBased.lua:62 tick
	At /engine/GameTurnBased.lua:46 tick
	At /mod/class/Game.lua:1134 
 ----------------  Stack Dump ----------------
2: table // 2c55f98
1: table // 2c55f98
--------------- Stack Dump Finished ---------------

[Nagyhal]

Sradac, it's fantastic to have someone helping out with addon compatibility!

Both the addons make a hook to the "DamageProjector:final" event. When this goes off, the Beholder addon checks to see if Extraplanar Origin is active, calling the on_damage function contained in the definition for this talent. This on_damage function teleports the beholder, emptying the map location designated by the x and y variables within the scope of the main damage projector (defined in tome/data/damage_types.lua). However, when Tempus Fugit makes its own, separate activity in response to this event, it tries to use the x and y held by the damage projector function which no longer refer to anything.

Both addons can be made more compatible with others in this case, though Beholder makes the more serious mistake:

1. Beholder can restore the changed locations of the damage projector's target to the x and y variables within the damage projector function.

2. Tempus Fugit can make a check to see that target = game.level.map(data.x, data.y, Map.ACTOR) does actually exist.

There shouldn't be a need to muck around with weighting or anything.

I can't promise a same-day fix on this one, but I'm working to make a nice bundle of changes in time for Christmas, including a general bit of clearing up on the code front. My God, you didn't actually look in there, did you? I'm so sorry.

[loimprevisto]

When I'm in the ID, I can't absorb energy from items... the quest shows up and I can use the skill but the inventory window that pops up is always empty regardless of which items I have.

[Nagyhal]

Woah, that one's pretty serious. Fix incoming.

[nuku]

Is it intentional that the fire beam splashes back on yourself? I became a sad little floaty ball when I noticed it.

[wildwolfofdark]

Is it intentional that the fire beam splashes back on yourself? I became a sad little floaty ball when I noticed it.

Actually made me lol. I haven't played as a beholder in a few months and it'll be interesting to play it again.

[loimprevisto]

I'm thinking of making a random encounter with a crashed beholder lifeboat, where it asks you to bring it parts and arcane items for fuel in exchange for a reward... or you can kill it and take its ring.

Any thoughts?

[Nizidra]

Code: Select all

error = "Lua Error: /engine/interface/GameTargeting.lua:118: /engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:152: /hooks/bloodknight/load.lua:44: attempt to index local 'target' (a nil value)\
stack traceback:\
\9/hooks/bloodknight/load.lua:44: in function </hooks/bloodknight/load.lua:39>\
\9[string \"return function(l, self, data) local ok=false...\"]:1: in function 'triggerHook'\
\9/data-Infinite500/damage_typesI500.lua:381: in function 'defaultProjector'\
\9data-beholder-cont/damage_types.lua:26: in function 'damtype'\
\9/engine/interface/ActorProject.lua:197: in function 'base_project'\
\9...eholder-cont/superload/engine/interface/ActorProject.lua:16: in function 'project'\
\9data-beholder-cont/damage_types.lua:17: in function 'projector'\
\9/engine/interface/ActorProject.lua:198: in function 'base_project'\
\9...eholder-cont/superload/engine/interface/ActorProject.lua:16: in function 'project'\
\9/data-beholder-cont/talents/fireeye.lua:86: in function </data-beholder-cont/talents/fireeye.lua:47>\
\9[C]: in function 'xpcall'\
\9/engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:147: in function </engine/interface/ActorTalents.lua:134>\
  At [C]:-1 \
  At [C]:-1 error\
  At /engine/interface/GameTargeting.lua:118 fct\
  At /engine/interface/GameTargeting.lua:124 targetMode\
  At /engine/interface/GameTargeting.lua:253 targetMouse\
  At /mod/class/Game.lua:1945 fct\
  At /engine/Mouse.lua:52 "

Conflict with Blood Knight add-on. When you have Extraplanar Origin active and selfdamage triggers it.

Also a suggestion: make ring of command's on-use ability be able to imbue any ring with gem (gem's tier less or equal ring's material level). Also maybe allow equipping cloaks and belts? You may think of belt as oversized necklace and cloak can be attached to just everything or be worn as veil.

As incentive to train tentacles maybe add "at level 3 you can use any 1-h weapon in offhand, at level 6 (yes it would require spending cat point) you can dual wield 2-h weapons. With that amount of tentacles you should be able to do this.

Another suggestion: increase tentacles' attack range or increase race mastery or both with growth level. Also make race talents scale with effective level instead of raw level.

[Talow]

So any news on the big update?

[Nagyhal]

Well, that was a poor turn for the past couple of months on my part, wasn't it?

While ajfluffy was hard on his luck, I suffered some physical setbacks of my own, as when minding my own business on some quite Sunday afternoon I was hit with widespread neuropathy (nerve damage) like a bolt from the blue (or, to make a proper roguelike reference out of it, some sort of dark "gift" from a mischievous Chaos God). Took me a while to readjust to my new and grotesquely tormented mode of existence, but now that I have done, I am closer to Beholders than I've ever been before. Oh yes...

Here's the changelog for the latest beholder update:

• Reworked the Central Eye tree's gaze attacks, making gazes into sustains that produce a persistent field effect.
  Note: All gazes this time round are essentially prototypical, and will be reworked extensively in the coming patches. For the first roll-out, I have tried to keep them very close in spirit to the original abilties as conceived by ajfluffy. Concentrated into the current Central Eye tree, they are very powerful, but future releases will expand them into multiples separate trees similar (though in no way identical) to the current eyebeam abilties. However, even keeping this in mind, it's a damn hard slog getting them anywhere near balanced. I need your testing, players, and I shall need it desperately on this one! But more than that, and with an eye swivelled toward the coming of the future Psionic classes, I shall also need your ideas!
• Added a freebie talent named "Direct Gaze" to give players a modicum of control over the beholder's facing mid-combat.
• Beholder Focus now will increase crit power on targets in your gaze, more closely adhering to the Central Eye tree's theme and functionality.
• Replaced Suppress Magic with an ability named "Intensify Gaze", which produces a silence field when Draining Gaze is activated, but has a different effect while maintaining Paralyzing Gaze.
• Removed eyestalk fatigue (by popular demand, but—because the new beholder's more a midrange beast—it plays a lot better anyway)
• Added a ranged pull and movement effect to the Tenactle Combat tree's Grasping Tentacles and Spiny Tentacles abilities respectively, giving players the chance to be a little bit more creative in their approach.
  Note: This tree will see more work in forthcoming patches!
• Restore now regenerates health only so long as the beholder keeps its central eye closed. This is for flavour, but it was also a very powerful talent (and remains so.)
• The Tribeam tree's Invigorate Eyestalks has been rebalanced for the new, powerful central eye and absence of drained eyestalks.
• Tribeam and Death-Eye trees are visible on start-up, with their beholder growth prerequisites fully detailed.
• Beholders start now in the Scintillating Caves, a natural nexus of magic energy for our magic-eating, Draining Gaze-activating friends. Go forth and nom some crystals!

Forthcoming in the next few major updates:

• Eyebeam trees will be refactored and diversified, making them less of a class point hog.
• Gazes will be made fully psionic in anticipation of the Beholder's more psipower-leaning castes.
• Psionics will grant beholders access to the telekinetic wielding of gems.
• New Mage Eye-specific magic-focused trees, including a psionic tree that augments magic ability!
• Beholder NPCs, in anticipation of a dedicated zone!
• A blinded state that behaves more sensibly in consideration of the beholder's multiple eyes.
• New melee abilities.
• New, zapping lazerr graphics.
• Lazerr sound effects.
• Beautified gazes with impressive shader effects.
• Full refactoring and polish-up of the Central Eye tree's code base. I want anybody to be able to help me create beholders by building gaze talents that are activated with just 10-20 lines of clean and readable Lua.
• Devouring magic items will be integrated with transmogrifying.
• Beholders will be of neuter gender.

And, most critically but also, speaking honestly, for me most problematically:

• Beholders will be reflavoured, reimaged, and cleansed of every reference to any WoTC copyrighted material.

[rexorcorum]

Amen