Re: LoC 2024 - Development Thread

[nargil66]

@Bumbleguppy I have some bad news regarding Spirit mastery - the Raise Skeleton skill doesn't work on my end and instead of summoning a skeleton, is crashing the game.
I was forced to change the skill structure entirely. How it works now:





The base Raise Skeleton skill and the dummy buff skill (it does nothing, except to activate SkillSecondary_Petspawn.tpl) are now level 1 by default, the raiseskeleton_summonskill.dbr is the skill that is actually shown in in the player skill tree. So there are some good and bad news. Good news are the stats of the summoned pets are visible now. Bad news are SkillSecondary_Petspawn.tpl spawns TWO pets on killed monster and ignores pet limit, so i had to reduce the chance to spawn and the pet lifetime drastically.

Another thing is, i don't like much the idea of human skeleton spawning from a killed boar or crow, I think to change the spawned pets to something more universal. How about calling the skill Soul Shatter or Soul Splinter and describe that when you kill a monster, you use fragments of it's soul to conjure the pet? As i see it, there are two options of possible pets summoned by such skill: Soul Wisp and Soul Sprite. I plan to make either of them very short lived and unstable, exploding on contact, similar to the Shadow Sprites skill in Soulvizier.

Which one do you think will be cooler BG, wisps or sprites? Or maybe a flying skull or something?

[Bumbleguppy]

This is one of the big reasons I stopped modding is the simple breaking of established interfaces with the game engine functions. If I call a function that does a thing, I want that that function continues to do that thing in the future.

But the devs working on this game don't adhere to basic interface consistency and change whatever suits their fancy I guess to make it better for controllers on XBox or something to generate more profit.

Yeah, how about a wisp. There should be a wisp with spirit coloring in the summons from the equipment skills. Maybe give them a short radius visions of death skill (on death maybe?) which I know is used by monsters because I made it so you could copy that. If higher level are resistant to fear at least the chance to fumble and crowd control from aggro will still be useful even to melee hybrids.

[nargil66]

Ok, wisp it is. Here are some early tests:



Vision of death skill is cool too, i'll check the effect you made, i made one too before seeing this, but your version will probably be better.

Edit - Yep, as expected, your effect is far better

[Bumbleguppy]

Yeah, well done. I think that will be pretty fun.

Maybe increase the anger multiplier by level or a taunt buff on summon that increases to improve their aggro by level as a reason to pump skill points? I dunno it's pretty cool already so nice 

[nargil66]

Ok, i'll see what i can do about aggro, seems like a good idea.

Btw, I found some interesting info about ghosts in Ancient Greece:

Types of Ghosts in Ancient Greek Literature

Ancient Greeks believed two underworld goddesses presided over the spirits of the restless dead, known as Melinoe and Hecate. Melinoe was thought to oversee the propitiations offered to ghosts and spirits of the dead. She was described in ancient literature as wandering the night, followed by a train of ghosts, striking fear into the hearts of all who saw her. Hecate was also associated with ghosts, accompanied by the Lampades as her retinue. Like Melinoe, Hecate led her own nocturnal procession of ghosts, heralded by the barking of dogs. The widespread prominence of these two deities in Greek culture, who were dedicated to overseeing restless spirits, indicates that the Greeks were fascinated by the concept of ghosts.

Ghost Sub-Categories

Ancient Greeks divided ghosts and specters into three subcategories – the ataphoi, the aoroi, and the biaiothanatoi. The ataphoi were believed to be the spirits of people whose bodies had not received a proper burial. A prime example of an ataphos from ancient Greek literature is Elpenor from Homer’s Odyssey. In the epic story of Elpenor – a companion of Odysseus – he fell off a roof while intoxicated, and his body was left without a burial. When Odysseus later visited the underworld, Elpenor’s shade appeared and begged the hero for a burial. Greeks also believed in the aoroi, or spirits of those who had died too young. These spirits were left unfulfilled by life, and could easily become vengeful after death. Lastly, they thought a biaiothanatos was the spirit of a person who had suffered a violent death, including those who died in battle and war. Much like the ataphoi, Ancient Greeks believed that a biaiothanatos would become active if they were not properly buried. Indeed, the majority of ghost stories from Greek literature find their origin in improper burial, suggesting burial rites were essential elements of ancient Greek religion.

Source: https://www.thecollector.com/ghost-stories-ancient-greece-rome/

Donno, may be useful for something. For some reason while reading about the Aoroi, i imagined a spectral skull with Nightmare wings attached to it, hehe. May even try to make such model

Edit - More interesting now



Edit 2 - the skill is finished. Here it is on first and ultimate level:





If it is balanced, i cannot say, remains testing.

[nargil66]

Gosh, I've made an OP skill again. Here is what happens with AoE:



Either i have to reduce the spawn chance or to limit the wisp count to 2 per killed enemy again. Sorry Bumble, i can "beautify" things for your mod, but don't expect great game balance from me 

[nargil66]

Alright, all 14 Divine illusions + the Transmog weapons and auras for the gods are done. Preview:

There is a big chance to release the update this evening, but I don't promise anything, because i'm very sleepy.

[nargil66]

The new Christmas update is almost ready for release. I start to prepare the files and will come back to you sometime later

[nargil66]

Ok, after the Xmas release, i wanted to continue on Spirit Mastery. I always prefered ghostly, instead of "bony" skeletons, like the ghost army in LotR. So here they are, starting with the archers:



I hope you like them Bumble. If you want i can return to the white skeleton mesh, but i'll certaily keep the ghostly equipment.

[nargil66]

What is new - the rework of skeleton warriors will be delayed a bit. I had this idea before and i wanted to test it. What if I use animated textures for some of the UI elements, instead of the same old boring icons? Resistances for example. So here is the idea in action:



7 icons are made, 9 remain. I apply the current progress as attachment below, so it doesn't get lost. If you want to test, put "ingameui" folder in your Database folder, as with any addon mod. A more finished mod is coming soon!

[sauruz]

Pretty cool indeed!

I would change the vitality with a animated skull if possible, to be more unique, or the bleeding with a drop of blood.

[nargil66]

Pretty cool indeed!

I would change the vitality with a animated skull if possible, to be more unique, or the bleeding with a drop of blood.

Pretty good ideas, i'll see what i can do about them. I'd also like the cold res to be a snowflake again...

Anyway, i post the latest version of the UI mod (see attachments). Animated Health and Mana bars are included as well. Previews: