KickStarter Knights of the Chalice 2 Thread - Augury of Chaos

[ERYFKRAD]

Pierre's version definitely looks more 3d-to-2d-converted.

 

[Dorateen]

Because people seem to like desert geography, here is a video showing an encounter in one of the desert areas from Hearkenwold

 

[InD_ImaginE]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/3949505

Update #77: KotC 2 1.66 Fixes Bugs + New Preview Images from The Dark Arena!​

Hello everyone! In the past month, I worked on the main NPCs and new soundtracks for the upcoming KotC 2 module, The Dark Arena. I also released the KotC 2 update 1.66 a few days ago. The latest version can be downloaded here for Windows and macOS, or from Steam and GOG.

Lady Anne is the Second-in-command of the Knights of the Chalice and Head of the Order of the White Sword.
I also worked on a new item (Reishi mushroom) and associated spell ('Second Chance') designed to allow you to resurrect characters of level 1 and level 2 without loss of gold or experience. The intent is to make low-level battles less punishing. Thank you so much Juhani for highlighting that issue to me!

Sadly, I haven't been able to work on the game very much this month because of relentless house-repair problems. Even today, I've had a new one which will be costly to fix. :-( Never fear, though, my motivation and dedication to KotC 2 remains intact.

Elaraelitha is the Head Wizard of the Knights of the Chalice.
The latest version, 1.66, has a bug when using the spell animation preview feature in the Module Editor, or when loading a map that has zero activable zones ; that bug will be fixed in the next version.

List of changes in Knights of the Chalice 2 version 1.66​

• Fixed a source of crashes when transitioning to a different map and the mouse cursor is positioned over an inter-square door.
• Fixed a display bug when casting spells out of combat, which also prevented the casting of the single-effect version of Dispel Magic out of combat. Thank you so much Dorateen for letting me know about this bug and other issues !

Sir Philip is the Third-in-command, Captain of the Guards, and Head of the Order of the Red Shield.

• Mousing over the class name in the character sheet of Bishops will also display the character's list of Cleric Domains.
• In the module Hearkenwold, the Mysticism Cleric Domain will correctly grant its bonus to the spells Bless and Bane.

• When mousing over both a character and an activable object that can be clicked on, the game will now focus on the object.
• In the Creature Editor and Template Editor, clicking on the button labelled 'Recalculate Slots' will now remove all of the spell slots of the character if the character has the class Warrior, Aristocrat or Commoner.

• In the Module Editor, in the 'Equipped Items' page of the Creature Editor, the tooltip information will now be correctly updated when you change the torso (armour) item or one of the weapons of the creature. Also fixed the tooltips when switching the position of two items.

Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2​

Similar to the previous update, the next development steps are the following:

• Work on the map data, NPCs, monsters and scenario of the upcoming KotC 2 module.
• Hire a graphic designer to create new sprites and other types of artwork.
• Implement new features such as new monster abilities, subraces, familiars, and items.
• Fix any remaining issues mentioned on Steam, GOG, heroicfantasygames.com, and by email.

As always, if you find bugs or if you have any feedback, thoughts and suggestions, please feel free to let me know here, or in the Forums, or by email at enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com.

Thank You So Much For Your Support, Valorous Knights and Wizards of the Realm!! Take care

God he is using cheap 3D model as portrait, the kind you find in Western Visual Novel shovelware in Steam

Just don't use sprite at all Pierre, jesus this just makes your games looks like a cheap slop

 

[mediocrepoet]

^^ This is basically why I've never tried to make a CRPG. This probably already looks better than the shit I'd design/buy and throw together. I am no artist, by any stretch and I have no sense of colour or anything else.

 

[Desiderius]

Looks fine to me.

Diminishing returns on that stuff.

 

[Serus]

The portraits are looking bad but in general I agree with Desiderius and don't care much. The areas certainly look good enough for me. What i wan't is gameplay as good as in the first campaign.


Well, maybe even better. Last chapter for once. Also some chapters were too small, too cramped in my opinion. Maybe not too small in terms of content but more by actual size of levels. What works - and has to work - in tabletop isn't necessarily best for computer game and may look silly in one. Size of a level takes away all sense of exploration of a "real" dungeon from the player if the whole "dungeon" is made of half dozen rooms. I mostly mean the 1st and 2nd chapters, especially the first one. He should also consider adding some places like a short corridor ending with an inactive passage and text: "This corridor leads to some other dark parts of the dungeon, you have an overwhelming feeling this is the wrong direction to go...". Would add to the size in a narrative way without adding actual dungeon to be made.


At what character levels is this campaign going to end? Can't find the answer after 30 seconds of clicking and i am too lazy to do more.

 

[Serus]

Because people seem to like desert geography, here is a video showing an encounter in one of the desert areas from Hearkenwold

Damn i need to play your masterpiece (no pun intended). I started it once buty got distracted somehow. I know i would like since I liked very much KotC.
A propos, sequels when?

 

[Dorateen]

Because people seem to like desert geography, here is a video showing an encounter in one of the desert areas from Hearkenwold

I know i would like since I liked very much KotC.
A propos, sequels when?

It is designed more like an open-ended, ongoing campaign. I'm working on new content right now, which will be added to the module later next year.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Because people seem to like desert geography, here is a video showing an encounter in one of the desert areas from Hearkenwold

I know i would like since I liked very much KotC.
A propos, sequels when?

It is designed more like an open-ended, ongoing campaign. I'm working on new content right now, which will be added to the module later next year.

Is there any particular reason you are sticking with both version of KotC 2 engine and IB?

Would it better to commit for one?

 

[Dorateen]

It is designed more like an open-ended, ongoing campaign. I'm working on new content right now, which will be added to the module later next year.

Is there any particular reason you are sticking with both version of KotC 2 engine and IB?

Would it better to commit for one?

I enjoy building in both toolsets. They both have their strengths, and I think they compliment each other well. IceBlink is a good way for me to design the blueprint of the module first (making maps, conversations, encounters, etc.) and then port over to the more advanced KotC2.

 

[Serus]

Because people seem to like desert geography, here is a video showing an encounter in one of the desert areas from Hearkenwold

I know i would like since I liked very much KotC.
A propos, sequels when?

It is designed more like an open-ended, ongoing campaign. I'm working on new content right now, which will be added to the module later next year.

Does it mean that the sum of exp and levels to be gained rises as well or you somehow scale down the content that already exists?

 

[Dorateen]

It is designed more like an open-ended, ongoing campaign. I'm working on new content right now, which will be added to the module later next year.

Does it mean that the sum of exp and levels to be gained rises as well or you somehow scale down the content that already exists?

No scaling, but the adventure itself is non-linear. Through free exploration, it is possible early on to wander into combat meant for higher level characters, and the player might later find encounters that the party is much stronger for. The content I am presently working on is designed for 10th level characters, which is where the module leads up to this point.

 

[Dadd]

God he is using cheap 3D model as portrait, the kind you find in Western Visual Novel shovelware in Steam

Just don't use sprite at all Pierre, jesus this just makes your games looks like a cheap slop

This makes the game look soulful

 

[Dadd]

Did he update the visuals sometime this year? Looks better than how I remember from last year.

 

[vitellus]

Did he update the visuals sometime this year? Looks better than how I remember from last year.

you can alternate between sprites (decline) or tokens (incline), but idk when that was added. i've only played since just recently

 

[Infinitron]

Ever more isometric: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/3976636

Update #78: New Preview Images from The Dark Arena + Update On New Sprites!​

Hello everyone! In the past month, I worked on a bunch of things for KotC 2, including some encounters of the upcoming module The Dark Arena, new soundtracks, text-to-speech AI, 3D asset purchases, and the 3D tools that can be used to create sprites from 3D models. I also worked on version 1.67 of KotC 2, but it's not ready yet as I'd like to add some more things before I release it.

On the graphics front, I'm planning to improve the character-creation interface so that your choice of race and gender will automatically display something that's appropriate for your character.

I'd like to add modular sprites for dwarves, just like I added modular goblins earlier. I've already got the required artwork from the Medieval Underdeep pack of PVGames. However, it's a bit limited when it comes to weapons for dwarves: there's only a sword, handaxe, battleaxe, greataxe, off-hand axe, and some shields. I guess it's not a big issue. For example, the greataxe sprite could be used when wielding a halberd.

For the Centaur, I recently purchased some very nice animated 3D models that I'm planning to turn into isometric sprites. I've got a male centaur, female centaur, and another male centaur.

For the Mantis, I haven't found a really good 3D model on the 3D asset stores. There's a free Mantis model on OpenGameArt that I've been working on a bit using the 3D tool Blender; I might just use that model if I can't find someone to create a better one. I did contact a couple of 3D creators recently, but they didn't reply. I ended up buying a good bunch of animated 3D models from three online retailers.

You may be wondering why I should be acquiring 3D models for a sprite-based game. That's because it's much easier to create large sprite sheets using animated 3D models, which can be scaled up and rotated at will. That's particularly true for high-resolution sprites with eight possible orientations.

Anyway, for the Mantis, and possibly a few other models like the Mimic or even this six-armed creature, if you know 3D animation and you'd like to help with animating that model, or improving the texture, please email me at enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com. Thank you!! Or if you know someone who might like to create a four-armed Mantis model for the game, please feel free to drop me a line.

For the Drake, I might use one of the winged gargoyle models which I purchased recently.

Here's the list of the models I've acquired together with their Youtube links: Animals Pack (includes a Scorpion, Crab, Frog, Crocodile and other animals), Beetle, Six-Armed Naga Queen / Marilith, Hell Watcher / Evil Eye (includes a boss version and minion version), Hydra, Snake, Basilisk / Snakefolk, Male Centaur, Female Centaur, Soul Eater / Babau, Gargoyle / Devil, Gargoyle / Drake, Stone Gargoyle, Mummies pack, Genie, and Fairy.

I've also got the following free models: another Male Centaur, Demon Girl, Bear, Tiger, Felguard / Satyr, and Warriors. Finally, I've got some monster sprites from PVGames that I might add to the game at some point, including the Dragonfly, Hungry Plant and others.

Separately, on the music front, I've been given the excellent Fantasy Open World RPG music pack as a gift from BlackMid. Thank you so much, BlackMid!! Using that music pack, I've created two new soundtracks that will be used in the upcoming KotC 2 modules. From my earlier music-pack purchases on Humble Bundle, I still have many other music files to convert to the OGG format. We'll definitely have a lot of new music tracks in the new modules!

On the sound effects front, I've purchased the Swordfighter sound pack. I'm thinking to use that sound pack to play male and female warrior shouts and screams when a character achieves a Critical Hit, or when defeating a foe. There will be an option to turn that effect on and off, and maybe also a new option to turn off the existing voice effect that is played when combat begins.

The music pack from Ovani that I bought earlier also contains a bunch of monster voice effects for Goblins, Trolls, Orcs, Naga creatures, Demons, Dragons, Skeletons, Zombies, Ghosts and other monsters. I'm planning to add some of these to the game.

Finally, I've been looking into the Tortoise text-to-speech AI voice tool using the Jarods Journey Youtube videos. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to be able to make use of it. Still, it would be cool to have a voice for some parts of the story and dialogues, especially if I can have a proper voice for a dwarf, an elf, a villain, etc. I'll have to spend more time on this to find out.

Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2​

The next development steps are the following:

• Continue work on the encounters, monsters and scenario of the upcoming KotC 2 module.
• Work on the conversion of 3D models into isometric sprites, and on the modular dwarf sprite.
• Work on voice effects for Critical Hits and monsters, text-to-speech AI, and new soundtracks.
• Implement new features such as new monster abilities, subraces, feats, familiars, and items.
• Fix any remaining issues mentioned on Steam, GOG, heroicfantasygames.com, and by email.

If you find bugs or if you have any feedback, thoughts and suggestions, please feel free to let me know here, or in the Forums, or by email at enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com. I appreciate it!

Thank You For Your Steadfast Support, Fearless Mages And Warriors Of The Realm!!

Even If You Get Only Three Wishes From The Genie, I Wish You All The Best For The Year Ahead!! ^_^

 

[Tweed]

No mention of kobold models. Someone needs to tell Pierre that this is a dragonbold household and not a dogbold one. Of course, I highly doubt these models are going to look any good and when it comes time to play again I'll probably just whip up some portraits with the almighty power of AI.

 

[Jermu]

90% of text is

sprites
3d models and animations
text-to-speech AI voice tool

I want more chalice no need to focus on pointless shit

 

[mediocrepoet]

I don't know, I chuckled a bit when I was reading the year end update. It's so sincere, I love Pierre.

 

[Serus]

90% of text is

sprites
3d models and animations
text-to-speech AI voice tool

I want more chalice no need to focus on pointless shit

The graphic stuff is understandable, once he started to do "isometric" graphics he had to continue. This time the whole module will be made in "isometric" so there is need for the models. OTOH, wtf is text-to-speech AI tool for in a KOTC game? There isn't even that much text let alone a need to voice it.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Why does he insist in focusing on all the things none of the KOTC2 players care about?

 

[Desiderius]

Probably in hopes of getting a few more KotC2 players.

 

[MerchantKing]

No mention of kobold models. Someone needs to tell Pierre that this is a dragonbold household and not a dogbold one. Of course, I highly doubt these models are going to look any good and when it comes time to play again I'll probably just whip up some portraits with the almighty power of AI.

>we wuz dragonz and sheeeeit
Typical Kobold "reasoning"

 

[Reinhardt]

kobolds > gnomes

 

[Serus]

Why does he insist in focusing on all the things none of the KOTC2 players care about?

That's Pierre's genius. He made a game so ugly and priced it so badly that no one wanted to buy it. Other than people who already knew how good it is, like us. So now he tries to make it slightly less ugly (for some), to sell to a few more people. At this point it won't matter when it comes to sales anyway. He is an idiot-savant. Which, to be fair, is mostly a good thing for us who play his games. Usually. Long live Pierre Begue, he is by far my favourite French person. At least alive one, perhaps of all time. People like Saint Louis, Napoleon or Alexandre Dumas didn't make any CRPGs which makes Pierre automatically better than them.