Chasing the Light — prequel to TRoW 1.18.3+

[Lexa04]

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《Chasing the Light ― Chapters 1&2》

After a long time of development, I am happy to announce my new campaign about the Green Isle. Two chapters out of four are now available on the github, and I hope you enjoy them. More info below

『Description:』

Peaceful life of the Green Isle's inhabitants turned into nightmare in an instant when legions of living dead invaded their land from the far West. Play as Haralin, a young peasant from a small village near Blackmore, who one day began to hear a mysterious voice calling itself messenger of the Light. Can you discover previously unknown powers, turn the tide of war and save your homeland from the hideous Wesfolk?

『Key features:』

• 8 combat scenarios + 1 сutscene;
• Complex storyline where the player's actions in one scenario can affect events/dialogues in a completely different one;
• Several optional companions, each with their own story and character development;
• Multi-stage unscripted conversations between characters;
• Different variations of dialogs depending on presence of the certain companions;
• 30 achievements, sidequests and ability to complete scenarios in different ways;
• Improved magic system from The Deceiver's Gambit, which is now used by several mages, each of which has its own unique set of spells;
• True ranged spells system, without the use of right-click menu;
• Most spells from TDG + more than 10 brand new spells;
• Fight undead, outlaws, monsters and loyalists using loyalists, elementals and one wose.

Available languages — Ukrainian and English

Link to the project's github — https://github.com/mavpii/Chasing_the_Light

[Lexa04]

The campaign was also published on the add-on server!

[ZIM]

Hello, just tried the campaign. Enjoying it so far. Just want to share some thoughts :
-In scenario 3, it's possible for Haralin to get softlocked in the middle of the quagmire due to not having enough xp. I personally think the quamire alone is already a very hard terrain to traverse, so there's no need to make it unwalkable.
-In scenario 4, Deaola still have the unhealable trait, is this intended?

[Lexa04]

Hello ZIM, thank you very much for playing! Regarding your thoughts:

> In scenario 3, it's possible for Haralin to get softlocked in the middle of the quagmire due to not having enough xp.

When moving to the place of force, Haralin always receives an additional 8 XP to be able to leave the swamp. Does it not work for some reason?

> In scenario 4, Deaola still have the unhealable trait, is this intended?

Yes, it is. I just thought it was a good way to show that she hadn't used any healing spells on herself until that scenario

[ZIM]

Hello ZIM, thank you very much for playing! Regarding your thoughts:

> In scenario 3, it's possible for Haralin to get softlocked in the middle of the quagmire due to not having enough xp.

When moving to the place of force, Haralin always receives an additional 8 XP to be able to leave the swamp. Does it not work for some reason?

> In scenario 4, Deaola still have the unhealable trait, is this intended?

Yes, it is. I just thought it was a good way to show that she hadn't used any healing spells on herself until that scenario

Oh, I see. I immediately tried using the debug mode, it does gives you additional 8 xp when you don't have enough, but otherwise the xp still says the same, hence why I thought it's possible to get softlocked.

And oh yeah, I just remembered something, the regenaration necklace doesn't work, I thought it's due to the unhealable trait, but after finishing the scenario the ability still doesn't show up

Also, I get that Haralin is supposed to a bit weird, but it's kinda annoying seeing him repeat "I swear by the Light" in each dialogue

[Lexa04]

> And oh yeah, I just remembered something, the regenaration necklace doesn't work, I thought it's due to the unhealable trait, but after finishing the scenario the ability still doesn't show up

Thanks for the report, it really didn't work because I used [modify_unit] incorrectly, but now I've fixed it. You can send me your save file and I'll try to fix it for you

Screenshot_297.png (117.75 KiB) Viewed 1468 times

> Also, I get that Haralin is supposed to a bit weird, but it's kinda annoying seeing him repeat "I swear by the Light" in each dialogue

Yeah, I agree with you, I'll add it to my TODO list to reduce it.

[ZIM]

> And oh yeah, I just remembered something, the regenaration necklace doesn't work, I thought it's due to the unhealable trait, but after finishing the scenario the ability still doesn't show up

Thanks for the report, it really didn't work because I used [modify_unit] incorrectly, but now I've fixed it. You can send me your save file and I'll try to fix it for you

Screenshot_297.png

> Also, I get that Haralin is supposed to a bit weird, but it's kinda annoying seeing him repeat "I swear by the Light" in each dialogue

Yeah, I agree with you, I'll add it to my TODO list to reduce it.

About the save file, I could edit it myself, so no problem.
Also, I have something to ask, maybe the Familiar from our spell could be excluded from being a speaker? Since it's weird seeing it being able to talk and pick up notes.
And is there any gameplay reason why Count Edvar doesn't have leadership? And why do the enemy destroy our villages when they capture it? While the village that they started with don't get destroyed?
And I just noticed by now, but it seems Juangh have two loyal traits starting from scenario 4.

[Lexa04]

> Also, I have something to ask, maybe the Familiar from our spell could be excluded from being a speaker?

I see Familiar as a magical creature, so it can speak and pick up notes, just like the light spirits. But I will definitely remove this ability from elementals that are created by spell 'Summon'

> And is there any gameplay reason why Count Edvar doesn't have leadership?

Hmm, I don't know about this, I didn't change his unit_type

> Also why does in Scarhane even the enemies got turn into undeads? Could it just be disabled entirely, it's very annoying having to kill an enemy twice, the scenario is hard enough already. The sorcerer we killed don't get turn into an undead, so it will also be more consistent.

Turning into the undead after death is a spell cast by Lich-Lord Lenvan to help his army in the assault. And obviously, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to use his own servants as additional troops after their death. I took this ability from TRoW.
However, the mages on both sides don't turn into the dead when they are killed, because since Lenvan is far away, his spell is not as strong and cannot bend the will of those who can use magic. I thought there was some kind of dialog about it

> And why do they destroy our villages when they capture it? While the village that they started with don't get destroyed?

They only destroy the villages in Scarhane as well as its castle and camp tiles (you can see how they turn into a more destroyed version of themselves).

> And I just noticed by now, but it seems Juangh have two loyal traits starting from scenario 4.

I will look into it and fix it, thanks

[ZIM]

> Also why does in Scarhane even the enemies got turn into undeads? Could it just be disabled entirely, it's very annoying having to kill an enemy twice, the scenario is hard enough already. The sorcerer we killed don't get turn into an undead, so it will also be more consistent.

Turning into the undead after death is a spell cast by Lich-Lord Lenvan to help his army in the assault. And obviously, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to use his own servants as additional troops after their death. I took this ability from TRoW.
However, the mages on both sides don't turn into the dead when they are killed, because since Lenvan is far away, his spell is not as strong and cannot bend the will of those who can use magic. I thought there was some kind of dialog about it

The dialogue is there, I just felt that the enemy raising back a bit annoying, but after try to play the scenario anyway, it's not that hard as i initially thought, since human enemies are not that much anyway. But now what I feel needs to be improved is the turn limit. Either increase it or make it so we have to save some of Count Edvar's men, because at the time the caravan managed to escape, all of his units are scattered around the battlefield. I also feel there are not enough turn limit to complete the achievement Tame the Beast and the scenario, since Haralin has to pick up the book and go all the way back to the start. Maybe Deaola should be able to pick it and give it to Haralin?

Also, there's a bug in scenario 8, the cutscene gets stuck after the Grand Marshal unit shows up.

[Lexa04]

> I also feel there are not enough turn limit to complete the achievement Tame the Beast and the scenario, since Haralin has to pick up the book and go all the way back to the start. Maybe Deaola should be able to pick it and give it to Haralin?

In this scenario, any unit can pick up a book, but allies may ask for a fee

> Also, there's a bug in scenario 8, the cutscene gets stuck after the Grand Marshal unit shows up

Can you provide more details and your save file so I can fix it?

[Tarcil]

Playing the campaign right now and only getting ever more frustrated.
The story is really cool and the scenarios are crafted as well, but the difficulty is really getting me off the campaign. Its incredible difficult and frustrating to play the scenarios as I have no clue how I can survive and progress. And I have barely any units at all bc. I have barely any gold all the time. Apart of this I like the unit roster as well as the characters.
Quit at the scneario in the caves below Esten as I have no clue how to get through there without cheating (too much)

[Lexa04]

Hi Tarcil. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the story and characters, but I'm sorry to hear that you had troubles with the high difficulty. Since you're the second person to say this, I think I need to do some rebalancing. For example, move all difficulties up one, i.e. normal becomes hard, easy becomes normal, and one more difficulty will be added.

Could you please elaborate on which scenarios you encountered problems in and what you think could be changed?

[Lexa04]

Btw, what difficulty did you play on? Can you send me your replays please so I can analyze them?

Also if you had an alliance with bandits in S5(Aftermath), you can find some of your gold in their camp in S6(Miscreants)

[Tarcil]

I think I played on Hard, which may not be the wisest idea to be fair ^^.
I think that the most urgent problem is the second scenario. After the children getting evacuated you barely can escape to the swamp in the west bc. I had to sacrifice every unit to bring the children to safety. Especially the one in the west of the village. Maybe raising their ability to walk over snowy terrain could help?
The other scenario is the one in the caves, where the spiders are too strong in my humble opinion.
Regarding the save files. Where do I find them on the steam version?

[Lexa04]

Oh, playing on Hard might not have been the best idea. I think you should lower the difficulty to Normal. You can do that in the settings before starting the scenario. Instructions on how to do this below

You can find your saves in the steam version through the game itself. Instructions on how to do this in the second screenshot. Instructions on how to do this below