The Veins of the Earth
Moderator: Moderator
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Finished overhauling character creation and dungeon generation.
Re: The Veins of the Earth

That's right, item creation feats are being done. This is Craft Arms and Armor, the wizard is selecting the bonus he wants to apply to an existing item. Creating items from scratch will take some more time, alas.
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Don't know when the next release will be, as I have come down with a cold. Argh.
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Beta 5.2 is out, grab it from GitHub or BitBucket or wait for ModDB authentication.
Also, I found a workaround which allowed me to upload a module file to te4.org in spite of md5 being reported as nil due to engine bug - the md5 entry accepts anything I type in, it turns out
CHANGELOG:
* bug fix - no more point buy popping back up after game start
* bug fix - fix oversight in naming function for drow females
* bug fix - no more "clones" (unkillable monsters)
* bug fix - no more sneaky lua errors related to temporary values
* bug fix - lizardfolk now get a torch
* bug fix - wands and scrolls now work properly
* bug fix - stores now stock properly
* overhauled character creation screen and dungeon generation
* handle animal and diplomacy skills
* item creation and enhancement
* new specific magic items: Holy Avenger, Dwarven Thrower, Flame Tongue, Luckblade, Nine Lives Stealer, Oathbow, Sunblade, Sword of the Planes
* new magic properties: of resistance, of the Endless Wave, of Detection, of the Eagle, of the Soul, of the Mantis, of the Spur, of Stability, of Contortion, of Magical Aptitude, of Arachnida, of the Bat, of SR 21, of Frostbite, of Fireburn
* new spells: create food and water, fly, levitate
* minimap now has background and shows level exits
* reduced the CR cap for level 1 to player level +3
* immunities or resistances as perks
* debug menu - includes adding creatures, removing them, killing off clones, adding XP, gold, or items to player, identifying all items in inventory, Lua console for other stuff
* cut down on flasher (top message bar) use
* add prompt to intro message and expand the pop-up border
Also, I found a workaround which allowed me to upload a module file to te4.org in spite of md5 being reported as nil due to engine bug - the md5 entry accepts anything I type in, it turns out

CHANGELOG:
* bug fix - no more point buy popping back up after game start
* bug fix - fix oversight in naming function for drow females
* bug fix - no more "clones" (unkillable monsters)
* bug fix - no more sneaky lua errors related to temporary values
* bug fix - lizardfolk now get a torch
* bug fix - wands and scrolls now work properly
* bug fix - stores now stock properly
* overhauled character creation screen and dungeon generation
* handle animal and diplomacy skills
* item creation and enhancement
* new specific magic items: Holy Avenger, Dwarven Thrower, Flame Tongue, Luckblade, Nine Lives Stealer, Oathbow, Sunblade, Sword of the Planes
* new magic properties: of resistance, of the Endless Wave, of Detection, of the Eagle, of the Soul, of the Mantis, of the Spur, of Stability, of Contortion, of Magical Aptitude, of Arachnida, of the Bat, of SR 21, of Frostbite, of Fireburn
* new spells: create food and water, fly, levitate
* minimap now has background and shows level exits
* reduced the CR cap for level 1 to player level +3
* immunities or resistances as perks
* debug menu - includes adding creatures, removing them, killing off clones, adding XP, gold, or items to player, identifying all items in inventory, Lua console for other stuff
* cut down on flasher (top message bar) use
* add prompt to intro message and expand the pop-up border
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Two different players sent me error logs regarding spellbook and higher-level spells.
I've reproduced the problem (spellbook displaying spells a level early, so you can't learn yet), fix coming tomorrow or in 2 days.
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That's in between adding a crapload of other stuff, most notably a randomized lore system, as I have to pass a course and one of the ways of doing so is making a text generator
***
Also, adding a tutorial level has been suggested. Any ideas? Suggestions?
I've reproduced the problem (spellbook displaying spells a level early, so you can't learn yet), fix coming tomorrow or in 2 days.
***
That's in between adding a crapload of other stuff, most notably a randomized lore system, as I have to pass a course and one of the ways of doing so is making a text generator

***
Also, adding a tutorial level has been suggested. Any ideas? Suggestions?
Re: The Veins of the Earth
You might have noticed I've revised the README to make it more readable.
Also, a big thing has been crossed off my list, namely polymorphing. That means mounts should be done tomorrow and the next beta should be up on Monday, as usual.
Also, a big thing has been crossed off my list, namely polymorphing. That means mounts should be done tomorrow and the next beta should be up on Monday, as usual.
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Did I promise you mounts and riding? Yeah, I did.

This fighter has a heavy warhorse for a mount. If the player clicks the mount button, the fighter will perform accordingly - his speed will be increased and the horse will disappear from screen. Another click will then dismount, making the horse show up again.

This fighter has a heavy warhorse for a mount. If the player clicks the mount button, the fighter will perform accordingly - his speed will be increased and the horse will disappear from screen. Another click will then dismount, making the horse show up again.
Re: The Veins of the Earth
I fixed a problem two players reported with being unable to memorize 2nd level spells (and getting an error instead) as Wiz3. Added a check which might seem spurious but prevents similar errors in the future. I also improved the right-hand part of the screen to be more readable.
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Another beta is out! Grab it from GitHub or Bitbucket or wait for ModDB.
I have a month to spare until the 1st anniversary of starting the work on Veins, and we're getting pretty close to Incursion's level, which was our target. Also, we have something Incursion does not - lore!
* bug fix - nil table in EntityTracker
* bug fix - no more errors caused by mobs trying to level up
* bug fix - lua error on trying to manually adjust stats lower than 8
* bug fix - no longer possible to manually adjust stats that were rolled
* bug fix - spellbook now accounts for levels gained every 3rd level
* bug fix - no lua errors should spells gain and spell slots gain ever mismatch
* bug fix - plant critters no longer as fast; shrieker stuck down in a spot
* bug fix - lua errors on pressing Space
* new tiles - altar, note, horse, griffon
* new spell - Ignizarr's fire
* in-game user chat now works!
* chat keys added to Help
* polymorphing & wild shape
* Ride skill and mounts
* lore framework added
* DR x/magic implemented; framework ready for other DR types
* coded locked doors
* auto-search for traps coded
* coded party support
* calendar changed to match Incursion's
* enabled creature templates, both from SRD and from Incursion
* Knowledge check necessary to be aware that the monster *HAS* a template
* show lore and show achievements screens
* added a test zone
* change zone capacity added to debug menu
* revised the README to be more readable; split off complete features listing
I have a month to spare until the 1st anniversary of starting the work on Veins, and we're getting pretty close to Incursion's level, which was our target. Also, we have something Incursion does not - lore!
* bug fix - nil table in EntityTracker
* bug fix - no more errors caused by mobs trying to level up
* bug fix - lua error on trying to manually adjust stats lower than 8
* bug fix - no longer possible to manually adjust stats that were rolled
* bug fix - spellbook now accounts for levels gained every 3rd level
* bug fix - no lua errors should spells gain and spell slots gain ever mismatch
* bug fix - plant critters no longer as fast; shrieker stuck down in a spot
* bug fix - lua errors on pressing Space
* new tiles - altar, note, horse, griffon
* new spell - Ignizarr's fire
* in-game user chat now works!
* chat keys added to Help
* polymorphing & wild shape
* Ride skill and mounts
* lore framework added
* DR x/magic implemented; framework ready for other DR types
* coded locked doors
* auto-search for traps coded
* coded party support
* calendar changed to match Incursion's
* enabled creature templates, both from SRD and from Incursion
* Knowledge check necessary to be aware that the monster *HAS* a template
* show lore and show achievements screens
* added a test zone
* change zone capacity added to debug menu
* revised the README to be more readable; split off complete features listing
Re: The Veins of the Earth
A hotfix for those with 1366x768 or similar resolutions:
https://bitbucket.org/Zireael07/the-vei ... irther.lua
Save to /modules/VotE/dialogs and overwrite the existing file.
https://bitbucket.org/Zireael07/the-vei ... irther.lua
Save to /modules/VotE/dialogs and overwrite the existing file.
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Thank you for the hotfix! 

<darkgod> all this fine balancing talk is boring
<darkgod> brb buffing boulder throwers
<darkgod> brb buffing boulder throwers
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Some feedback:
I don't quite get the point of the re-roll character system. You can do it as many times as you want, which rewards staring at the character screen and pressing re-roll over and over again. I like 'pick class and race for me, I can't decide' buttons, this one...Didn't really like it in Baldur's Gate, don't like it here.
The point assign system is somewhat standard for d20 systems, but it would still help if it shown what the point cost of the next stat is going to be, especially since you don't allow just changing your mind with right click - you have to reset every time.
You can reroll to get a starting perk you want, then reassign stats to what you want them to be. Not sure if this is intended.
It's not apparent on the start screen what a perk does. Magical Talent, Investigator, what does that mean?
I'm pretty sure I'm getting random female drow names are giving me male names on the character screen. The dialog that asks me for my name when I get in the game seems to get it right, though. Asking you to pick name twice, once in the start screen, one when you start playing, is weird and confusing.
Clerics shouldn't have the choice of picking gods that don't allow their alignment. They probably shouldn't even see them in the list.
Clicking on anything in the spell list on the right side of the spellbook causes a lua error: attempt to call method 'use' (a nil value). Numbers on the left side overlap with the icons. For instance it's impossible to see how many castings of create food/drink I have memorized because the numbers are on the icon.
Attempting to pick up one of the pieces of paper caused a crash to desktop. Looks like one of the shader issues that were fixed in 1.2., you might want to look at that. The actual commit for that was http://git.net-core.org/darkgod/t-engin ... 3d09da2e28 I think.
Loading a pre-made character (after the crash) put me in the game with no ability bars. Reloading fixed the issue.
You might want to consider a red filter of some sort when on low health. Also, health bars on player and monster tiles.
I'm not sure why I'm making intuition check every few steps. Is it some sort of passive identification mechanism? If so, just tell me when I identified something, that's good enough. The constant checks are just distracting.
I ran into some ice floor and I stepped on it. The game proceeded to tell me that I fell, and wouldn't let me move in any direction. Resting didn't help. Pressing '.' didn't help, even after succeeding in a Balance check (which seems to be extremely difficult to do for a level 1 character in armour). It won't even let me cheat teleport. It seems I am stuck.
Attempt 2 was a dwarf fighter. I'm not sure why I start equipped with a sling? I accidentaly walked into a...shaft? I had no idea what it is, the tile was black, and I ended up on a different level. I tried to walk back, ran into a giant centipede which proceeded to one shot me. I'm not sure what is the purpose of shafts that you can walk into by accident.
Attempt 3 was a human fighter with magical plate armor perk, that doesn't actually give you magical plate armor, for some reason. Apparently you can't change your mind on the feat window before you close the screen, so now I have the artist perk thanks to a misclick. This is going great.
I found a light wooden shield which I can't use due to (missing dependency). Fighters don't get shield proficiency, wat?
Minimap is interfering with exploring when you're on the right edge of the map.
I am now apparently hungry. Was I supposed to pick up and carry corpses along the way? I eat the food ration. I keep exploring the dungeon but there's no enemies anywhere. I explored almost all of the level and only found 2 enemies. Hungry turns to starving very quickly. The food clock is simply insane. The map is leading to a lot of empty dead ends which are going to make the food issue worse.
I find an enemy and kill it, but it doesn't leave a corpse. I see what seems to be a piece of food at the end of a room and fail to realize that the slightly darker squares are actually chasms. I fall down the shaft into a room surrounded by 3 enemies that proceed to solve my food problems permanently by killing me.
I gave up at this point because of frustration. Keep working on it, I guess I'll play with it again in a version or two.
I don't quite get the point of the re-roll character system. You can do it as many times as you want, which rewards staring at the character screen and pressing re-roll over and over again. I like 'pick class and race for me, I can't decide' buttons, this one...Didn't really like it in Baldur's Gate, don't like it here.
The point assign system is somewhat standard for d20 systems, but it would still help if it shown what the point cost of the next stat is going to be, especially since you don't allow just changing your mind with right click - you have to reset every time.
You can reroll to get a starting perk you want, then reassign stats to what you want them to be. Not sure if this is intended.
It's not apparent on the start screen what a perk does. Magical Talent, Investigator, what does that mean?
I'm pretty sure I'm getting random female drow names are giving me male names on the character screen. The dialog that asks me for my name when I get in the game seems to get it right, though. Asking you to pick name twice, once in the start screen, one when you start playing, is weird and confusing.
Clerics shouldn't have the choice of picking gods that don't allow their alignment. They probably shouldn't even see them in the list.
Clicking on anything in the spell list on the right side of the spellbook causes a lua error: attempt to call method 'use' (a nil value). Numbers on the left side overlap with the icons. For instance it's impossible to see how many castings of create food/drink I have memorized because the numbers are on the icon.
Attempting to pick up one of the pieces of paper caused a crash to desktop. Looks like one of the shader issues that were fixed in 1.2., you might want to look at that. The actual commit for that was http://git.net-core.org/darkgod/t-engin ... 3d09da2e28 I think.
Loading a pre-made character (after the crash) put me in the game with no ability bars. Reloading fixed the issue.
You might want to consider a red filter of some sort when on low health. Also, health bars on player and monster tiles.
I'm not sure why I'm making intuition check every few steps. Is it some sort of passive identification mechanism? If so, just tell me when I identified something, that's good enough. The constant checks are just distracting.
I ran into some ice floor and I stepped on it. The game proceeded to tell me that I fell, and wouldn't let me move in any direction. Resting didn't help. Pressing '.' didn't help, even after succeeding in a Balance check (which seems to be extremely difficult to do for a level 1 character in armour). It won't even let me cheat teleport. It seems I am stuck.
Attempt 2 was a dwarf fighter. I'm not sure why I start equipped with a sling? I accidentaly walked into a...shaft? I had no idea what it is, the tile was black, and I ended up on a different level. I tried to walk back, ran into a giant centipede which proceeded to one shot me. I'm not sure what is the purpose of shafts that you can walk into by accident.
Attempt 3 was a human fighter with magical plate armor perk, that doesn't actually give you magical plate armor, for some reason. Apparently you can't change your mind on the feat window before you close the screen, so now I have the artist perk thanks to a misclick. This is going great.
I found a light wooden shield which I can't use due to (missing dependency). Fighters don't get shield proficiency, wat?
Minimap is interfering with exploring when you're on the right edge of the map.
I am now apparently hungry. Was I supposed to pick up and carry corpses along the way? I eat the food ration. I keep exploring the dungeon but there's no enemies anywhere. I explored almost all of the level and only found 2 enemies. Hungry turns to starving very quickly. The food clock is simply insane. The map is leading to a lot of empty dead ends which are going to make the food issue worse.
I find an enemy and kill it, but it doesn't leave a corpse. I see what seems to be a piece of food at the end of a room and fail to realize that the slightly darker squares are actually chasms. I fall down the shaft into a room surrounded by 3 enemies that proceed to solve my food problems permanently by killing me.
I gave up at this point because of frustration. Keep working on it, I guess I'll play with it again in a version or two.
<darkgod> all this fine balancing talk is boring
<darkgod> brb buffing boulder throwers
<darkgod> brb buffing boulder throwers
Re: The Veins of the Earth
That's what I keep telling zireael 
She's got a good base with already quite a lot of stuff; but it needs to be way more polished before she continues adding more.
It feels like a raw material with lots of potential once it's polished

She's got a good base with already quite a lot of stuff; but it needs to be way more polished before she continues adding more.
It feels like a raw material with lots of potential once it's polished

[tome] joylove: You can't just release an expansion like one would release a Kraken XD
--
[tome] phantomfrettchen: your ability not to tease anyone is simply stunning
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[tome] phantomfrettchen: your ability not to tease anyone is simply stunning

Re: The Veins of the Earth
I'm quite fond of d20 systems and playing a d20 roguelike seems like a perfect mix for me...But yeah, focus on polish before more features. Right now you have a large number of classes and races available but the game just felt unplayable after half an hour...So it's a lot of effort going to waste.
If you want me to do more testing and feedback, contact me on IRC. Despite my initial frustrations, I'll be happy to help.
If you want me to do more testing and feedback, contact me on IRC. Despite my initial frustrations, I'll be happy to help.
<darkgod> all this fine balancing talk is boring
<darkgod> brb buffing boulder throwers
<darkgod> brb buffing boulder throwers
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Supermini - thanks for the excellent feedback.
Of all those, only certain monsters not leaving corpses is not a bug. The rest are either outright bugs or oversights, and you managed to put in several requests for UI enhancements too.
Of all those, only certain monsters not leaving corpses is not a bug. The rest are either outright bugs or oversights, and you managed to put in several requests for UI enhancements too.
Re: The Veins of the Earth
Supermini (and anyone else wishing to playtest) - I've just uploaded a test version to te4.org.
http://te4.org/sites/default/files/game ... .18.1.team
CHANGELOG:
* bug fix - character screen on 1366x768 and similar resolutions
* bug fix - not being able to close the load premade screen
* bug fix - party info not being saved leading to weird bugs [DarkGod]
* bug fix - no lua errors on clicking spell names in spellbook
* bug fix - no more silent lua errors due to an oversight in encumbrance logic
* bug fix - check if item exists before trying to ID it (kudos to lucianogml for reporting)
* bug fix - naming box in character creation now picks female names correctly
* bug fix - perks not being cleared correctly
* bug fix - skill points going into negatives if half-points are present
* auto-explore [DarkGod]
* spell rework [framework by DarkGod]
* silenced the pseudo-ID Intuition checks
* changed the font and background of lore notes
* add tooltips to attributes and feat/spell perks in character creation
* add 'are you sure?' pop-ups to feat, skill and class dialogs
* add healthbars display & shaders
Known issues:
* bard gets no spells?
* food clock needs more tweaking
* the hp_warning shader doesn't work
* actor generator needs to be fixed to prevent overly high CR stuff spawning
* the pretty race+class+perk item giving function sometimes buggers up not giving anything
http://te4.org/sites/default/files/game ... .18.1.team
CHANGELOG:
* bug fix - character screen on 1366x768 and similar resolutions
* bug fix - not being able to close the load premade screen
* bug fix - party info not being saved leading to weird bugs [DarkGod]
* bug fix - no lua errors on clicking spell names in spellbook
* bug fix - no more silent lua errors due to an oversight in encumbrance logic
* bug fix - check if item exists before trying to ID it (kudos to lucianogml for reporting)
* bug fix - naming box in character creation now picks female names correctly
* bug fix - perks not being cleared correctly
* bug fix - skill points going into negatives if half-points are present
* auto-explore [DarkGod]
* spell rework [framework by DarkGod]
* silenced the pseudo-ID Intuition checks
* changed the font and background of lore notes
* add tooltips to attributes and feat/spell perks in character creation
* add 'are you sure?' pop-ups to feat, skill and class dialogs
* add healthbars display & shaders
Known issues:
* bard gets no spells?
* food clock needs more tweaking
* the hp_warning shader doesn't work
* actor generator needs to be fixed to prevent overly high CR stuff spawning
* the pretty race+class+perk item giving function sometimes buggers up not giving anything