SXRPG Version 6.0.5 -- 1.16 Server

[ningenshikkaku]

Just wanted to say been playing this for years and it's super cool to see that you're still working on it - excited for the revamps and new map

[Mabuse]

Just wanted to say been playing this for years and it's super cool to see that you're still working on it - excited for the revamps and new map

hey thanks for the feedback, the new map being heavily worked on, there is the plan to finish it this weekend,

it will come along with some other changes,
but there will ne bo update before the new map is finished

also there are plans (ofc) to make ANOTHER map which will be based on some old really big map,
back in the days the sheer size and the resulting stat bloating (ye longer the game, ye stroger the heroes, ye stronger the enemies)
led to incredibly long calculation times, which made the whole game unplayable, but now with better engines, reduced stats and stuff, this task can
be taken on, and it will hopefully turn out really really good.

another thing i wanted to implement is some kind of "permenent variables" that keep track if a player has solved a certain map in e.g. grandmaster mode, and if so, the player will recieve some bonus, this may allow, some sort of campaingn play and ramp up in difficulty

there was also a plan to implement "random maps", and i eraly worked already years ago quite hard on it, however, everything is lost in thsat regard, a´so i would need to start from acractch (which shouldnt be too hard though, however, after this new mid-size-map, there will be a really big, long adaventure map, and then maybe random maps implemented or another big map)

also it would have been cool to use ai generated dark-fantasy art, for info screens or story telling, so a bit eye plaeasing and interesting pics, but as long its not allowed i will renounce on that cool stuff.


however, implementing new features or balance is fully halted, now really new content is needed, or i get nowhere


the next version will contain following changes:
-----------------------------------------------------------


- weapon upgrade system again reworked. it is not compatible with custom eras, with potencially unknown specials
(the old version simply didnt work properly once unkown specials were installed)

(this time the focus was not laid on which items are already installed, instead it looks which slots are free
and only free slots (only allows ONE damage-special, ONE cth special ... etc ... at a atime) can be filled with a special.
exceptions for KNOWN and BASIC specials were included (i.e. magical, marksman -> marksman can be upgraded to magical)
this means that a custom variant of marksman cannot be upgraded to magical or precision anymore.
so it is much more restrictve towards non-sx, non default eras, but compatible for now.


bug-fix:
---------
- fixed some gfx bugs (thelric wrong def gfx, darth saul wrong attack gfx)
- fixed some descriptions
- ankh-item didnt provide 1 life, instead activated revive mode (fixed)

balance:
---------
- magic-circle special refill +2 mana on successful hit

gameplay:
-----------
- wizard of war II map, endgame a bit sorted
- evil dead map overhaul, slightly
- castle of cantar overhaul, slightly


no spectacular things here, but they can be surely noticed.
and may surprise or change strategy on how a map is approached

[Mabuse]

The new Map hasnt been beaten so far, but im on it, so it is possible that there will be some minor updates
regarding problems with GFX (mainly team colory problems) or balance.
actually i got ass kicked 3 times (grandmaster), the basic machanics (leader spawns etc) work though
but there is always a chance for bugs ofc.

so testing is ongoing, but it should work so far,
the map isnt too big, but crispy, as it should be, its chapter 5.

however, if it turns out to be too crispy there will be some adjustments
(additional chests and potions)



----------------------
CHANGELOG :6.0.0
ESSENTIAL GAMEPLAY UPGRADE
----------------------

6.0.0
-------

- weapon upgrade system again reworked. it is not compatible with custom eras, with potencially unknown specials
(the old version simply didnt work properly once unkown specials were installed)

(this time the focus was not laid on which items are already installed, instead it looks which slots are free
and only free slots (only allows ONE damage-special, ONE cth special ... etc ... at a atime) can be filled with a special.
exceptions for KNOWN and BASIC specials were included (i.e. magical, marksman -> marksman can be upgraded to magical)
this means that a custom variant of marksman cannot be upgraded to magical or precision anymore.
so it is much more restrictve towards non-sx, non default eras, but compatible for now.

bug-fix:
---------
- fixed some gfx bugs (thelric wrong def gfx, darth saul wrong attack gfx)
- fixed some descriptions
- ankh-item didnt provide 1 life, instead activated revive mode (fixed)

balance:
---------
- magic-circle special refill +2 mana on successful hit
- mid game fix-boss spawns buffed (+1 lvl)
(thus all fix boss spawns a bit stronger (turn 40+) on all maps)
- Time Limit for all Maps set to 200
- default weapons get +1 damage
- units got stat adjustments, thus it is ESSENTIAL UPDATE

gameplay:
-----------
- wizard of war II map, endgame a bit sorted
- evil dead map overhaul, slightly
- castle of cantar overhaul, slightly

Content:
-------------
- New Map "Sanctum of Shadows", the next Chapter of the Heroes main Quest
will take the player to the northern mountains to repell the rise of evil once again

CHAPTER V: THE SANCTUM OF SHADOWS

After tracking down and destroying the Forbidden Artifact in the Temple of Bones the Heroes are summoned to the northern mountains of Kaarg.

Here, at the most isolated northern outskirts of the Kingdom, aeons ago, the gruesome Cult of Nexx worshiped ancient Firesnakes and Dark Deities hidden deep in the mountains.
These dark deities had the ability to lift the barriers between worlds and gifted their worshippers with insanity, deformation and incredible destructive power.

During the great war these cults formed an alliance with the Emperor of Chaos and were eventually defeated at last and sealed into the mountains for eternity.

Nowadays the Region was mostly unhabited and only a small garrison served as a remembrance of the incidents hundreds of years ago.

For a while now though, reports claim the presence of deformed barabarian tribes, small attacks and a change of nature in the area.
The old and proud woods turn into rotting swamps, nature itself seems to turn into something undead and evil and rumors reported the awakening of a long forgotten evil in the mountains.

Although the garrison was reinforced, there was an attack led by a dark elven sorceress, which destroyed the garrison and only few of the bravest Warriors survived the attack.

It seems the ancient Cult of Nexx has awakened once more, and it is urgent to act,
since it presence is most likely to announce the uprising of an even greater danger and an opening bewteen the worlds of man and evil.

Your task is once more to investigate the source of the attack that destroyed the garrison and banish all evil that haunts this region.

[Mabuse]

small bugfix.

some gfx were fixed
some resistances adjusted (in favor for player and diversity)
i placed 2 additional (random)items to find
also there is one ability point to find

beside this i got the hang on it, now and got to the end game
so the map is very well playable, it is surely crispy though
its pretty straightforward with a small twist

also there always a chance to get overwhelmed
thats when ankh comes in handy, it can be also used as part of the strategy.

im curious how it plays in team.
as soon i have a reply it will follow



----------------------
CHANGELOG :6.0.1
ESSENTIAL GAMEPLAY UPGRADE
----------------------

6.0.1
-------

bug fix sanctum of shadows
-----------------------------
- various gfx bug fixed
- barbarian shaman teamcolor
- recruits fixed/changed ai 9
- one bookshelve will povide additonal ability point

balance:
---------
- some resistances got adjusted (mostly more vulnerable), so the update is essential

[Mabuse]

As a small adjustment i reduce difficulty (a bit) by reducing movement in mountain terrain for barbarian and dark elves (inf+cav)
an opportunity to slow down enemies is important to have, wont have too much impact though


----------------------
CHANGELOG :6.0.2
ESSENTIAL GAMEPLAY UPGRADE
----------------------

6.0.2
-------
- win+timeout message fixed

Balance:
--------
- barbarians + darkelves now slower in mountains

[Mabuse]

so with the new map finished and already beaten
(but still need to be beaten with mage and 5 players party, which will come sooner or later)


its time to move on

- so the plan is to work on areally nice giant,epic map with lost of stuff to discover and more changing things.
- for that reason there might a need to implement "fast travel spots" that allow to fast travel between certain locations on the map
(which is a well known concept, so np here).
- as a result telepot spell users will be also able to place teleport markers on the map
(right now it only works with other humans)

- there was a plan to implement random maps, and i was also able to recover the stuff i worked on in the past,
but i also noticed quickly why the stuff was abandoned, since it produces crashes on big maps (and i have no idea why, and i remember i also had no idea why in the past )
and since it would be a time consuming project anyways, and there is no certanity it will be useful at all, we let it rot atm.

- there will be more use for tools that help with map creation which add flavor to maps for example, and be slightly different and more randomization aspects
e.g. place stuff on maps based on certain paarmeters

- also i thought it COULD be fun to randomize (certain) enemies in SXRPG this is a thing i might work on.
leaders+keyguards may get different sets for the maps as well bosses may become randomized (depending on the leaser (each leaser gets a certain "set")


so the things that will be work on is:

- new really big, halfway non linear map (well, there will be always a line ofc), but with more stuff going on, keys to find, locations to unlock, changing enemies etc. a bit more interesting gameplay.

- "leader sets". that will chosen randomly for maps

[Mabuse]

A quick Bugfix.
whie ideling around and thinking its time to test a nice 5-player run, i noticed Error-Messages at start of the game.

which i didnt notice before, since i disabled messages completely, and only activated them because i played a game in Multiplayer Lobby
....
fixed. it was due to typos in "advance_to" .




----------------------
CHANGELOG :6.0.3
ESSENTIAL BUGFIX
----------------------

6.0.3
-------
- fixed annoying messages, that related to typos in upgrade tree
"unknown unit types"
(wasnt aware of them earlier, since i disabled messages completely ...)





----------------------
CHANGELOG :6.0.3a
ESSENTIAL BUGFIX
----------------------

6.0.3
-------
- fixed annoying messages, that related to typos in upgrade tree
"unknown unit types"
(wasnt aware of them earlier, since i disabled messages completely ...)


6.0.3a
-------

- added some shop sounds, so everytime you buy something you get an acoustic confirmation
(sounds may be more elaborated in future versions, depending on the thing you buy)



----------------------
CHANGELOG :6.0.5
ESSENTIAL BUGFIX
----------------------


6.0.5
-------
- fixed really bad bug that deleted all specials when FOCUS was added

[BKoF]

I noticed some units do not have their default regeneration upgraded to megaregen on final level (eg.djinn from eoma summoners ageless era) is this a bug or a feature?

[BKoF]

This game is still unplayable. You will get flooded by unbalanced OP bosses and just lose trying to handle them with potions.
Edit
Use focus for ranged or charge for melee, should be manageable. Just watch defenses and resistances.

[Mabuse]

I noticed some units do not have their default regeneration upgraded to megaregen on final level (eg.djinn from eoma summoners ageless era) is this a bug or a feature?

hello, i might be that they dont use standard regen ability.

in next wesnoth 1.18 version, there will be wml tool to filter for ability-types.

and then EVERY regen ability will be set to SX-regen, same with other other ability-types (leadership, heal etc)

[Mabuse]

This game is still unplayable. You will get flooded by unbalanced OP bosses and just lose trying to handle them with potions.

yes, there is a learning curve.
definately the game is winable (with reloads on hightest difficulty).

remember that there are difficulty settings. no shame in starting on normal or easy, to get a grasp of what to do.
starting in highest difficulties need advanced knowledge about map and stuff. one failure in setup means you will lose and get overwhelmed by bosses and end up in a downward spiral using pots to stop boss flood. buying pots is good in late game pressing forward and bring down guardians.

if you play a game in team, i would suggest starting normal since you dont know wether your mates will always make wise decisions.

Edit
Use focus for ranged or charge for melee, should be manageable. Just watch defenses and resistances.

there are different strategies, i agree on charge as its a great way to double the damage for cheap for melee

for ranged, i also made great results with magic circle, it draw less incoming damage, thus allows to put less gold into HP ( = more damage) and also
replenishes MANA and thus you get more mana for attack-spells or mana-balls or teleport to help mates etc

in fact i have a mage build with magical circle+blessing using inferno drake that is by far the strongest unit i have ever seen in early game
it carried almost the whole team through the early game and is convenient to build up.

the classic great mage is ofc also a powerhouse.