So I've got a bit of a Dev update for you guys. Basically, I started playing TikaroHD's map Animosity yesterday, and I was struck by how well-made and fun the starting area was. It gave the player enough resources to start them along, yet still had that "fragile start" feeling that we're used to. It caused me to take a look at my own starting area for DsD, and realize how lacking it is.
The current starting area consists of a spawn point that gives you no starting materials at all, aside from a fishing rod, food, and glowstone. What follows is a series of bland, winding tunnels, where you fight a series of low-health mobs, only upgrading your equipment when you reach one of the three safe-houses, each of which contain a single piece of equipment: a stone sword with 10 hits left, a leather chestplate, and a speed potion.
Yeah, I know, it sounds horrible. And it probably would've been horrible in practice, and likely scared away about half off the people who started to play it. So I'm scrapping it, hopping in MCedit and filling the whooooole thing in with stone. The replacement area I have in mind will be much better (oh so much better.) No details yet, except that it's going to tie together the end of your journey in Dreadsky Isles to the start of your new journey in Depths. :3
The map is officially over for me Drago. I've completed the map, and here are the pics to prove it. And don't forget, I have the video series so you can see how this all happened. Thanks for letting me play an awesome map, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can't wait for the second instalment.
*snips*
Well well, finished already, huh? Glad you enjoyed it, and I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming episodes.
Oh yeah, I was wondering if you would be willing to put my victory photos on the main thread with the others. I posted them a page back I think.
I've actually been thinking of retiring those victory photos, or at least cutting down on them. They really eat up the bbcode on the OP and are kinda a pain to post every time. But if I feel inspired I'll add yours.
Also, I've been meaning to ask you, could you try and do something similar to what Apollo does when he posts two consecutive videos and no one else has posted since then? If you didn't notice, he edits the new video into his first post, and his videos are a week apart each. You've got a new one coming out each day, so it really chews through posts. I think you've done a quintuple post on this page, and the mods frown quite heavily on anything above double posts. I'm not mad, just would like you to be considerate of others.
At the bottom of every post, there's a bar of buttons labeled Quote, Multiquote, and Report, Under posts you've made, there's an extra button, Edit. You can take the bbcode used to post videos in your other posts and just paste them into the first post on this page. After that, report your four extra posts after the first one using the Report button, and just say something like "Accidental multiple posts, please delete."
The new starting area is almost completed; structurally it's laid out, and I just need to plunk down a few spawners and extra loot before moving on. I'm quite happy with how it's turned out, so here's a picture:
I was going to do an area-name hangman like I normally do, but I'm not feeling up for that, so I'll just give you the name: Starlit Descent.
Remaking this area has kinda inspired me to revamp a lot of the older areas (some of them are nearing a year in age.) So that's very likely what I'm going to be working on for the next week or so. I've been hoping to remaking Parasitic Paradise with the new 1.7 flowers, and Sunken Temple could use a bit more love than it got from my first pass. Those two areas will probably be the ones I do the most work on, as the rest just need some updated loot and spawners. Thistleback Mine (just realized I never released that name, hah!) in Intersection 02 had some sort of chunk error, so I'll need to clean up that mess and spruce it up a bit. Once all that is finished, then I'll continue working on Intersection 04.
The new starting area is almost completed; structurally it's laid out, and I just need to plunk down a few spawners and extra loot before moving on. I'm quite happy with how it's turned out, so here's a picture:
*snap*
I was going to do an area-name hangman like I normally do, but I'm not feeling up for that, so I'll just give you the name: Starlit Descent.
Remaking this area has kinda inspired me to revamp a lot of the older areas (some of them are nearing a year in age.) So that's very likely what I'm going to be working on for the next week or so. I've been hoping to remaking Parasitic Paradise with the new 1.7 flowers, and Sunken Temple could use a bit more love than it got from my first pass. Those two areas will probably be the ones I do the most work on, as the rest just need some updated loot and spawners. Thistleback Mine (just realized I never released that name, hah!) in Intersection 02 had some sort of chunk error, so I'll need to clean up that mess and spruce it up a bit. Once all that is finished, then I'll continue working on Intersection 04.
Looks nice, I take it you got the star idea from TGP? And yeah, it makes the map feel a bit outdated when the areas are are older, can you believe that UT2 came out 2 years ago?
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So Drago, just something that slightly confused me with Dreadsky Isles: why did you make the lore say things like standalone, part of set,etc.? I know each of us has his own preferred loot system, but why did you choose to make your one be like that if I may ask? I haven't seen another loot system like this, and it's very unique.
So Drago, just something that slightly confused me with Dreadsky Isles: why did you make the lore say things like standalone, part of set,etc.? I know each of us has his own preferred loot system, but why did you choose to make your one be like that if I may ask? I haven't seen another loot system like this, and it's very unique.
In the broader view of things, my loot system was inspired by the color-coded loot system in the Torchlight games. Torchlight had this cool mechanic where certain armor items would synergize together, and give you buffs to certain stats if you were wearing all the pieces at once. At the time that I was making Isles, there wasn't really a way to do this, so I just added the lore to certain sets of armor to say that they were meant to be worn together. Now with the attributes system, there is a way to make sets of armor give you buffs together, so the "Part of a set" description will make more sense now.
Almost there guys.
There we go!
The current starting area consists of a spawn point that gives you no starting materials at all, aside from a fishing rod, food, and glowstone. What follows is a series of bland, winding tunnels, where you fight a series of low-health mobs, only upgrading your equipment when you reach one of the three safe-houses, each of which contain a single piece of equipment: a stone sword with 10 hits left, a leather chestplate, and a speed potion.
Yeah, I know, it sounds horrible. And it probably would've been horrible in practice, and likely scared away about half off the people who started to play it. So I'm scrapping it, hopping in MCedit and filling the whooooole thing in with stone. The replacement area I have in mind will be much better (oh so much better.) No details yet, except that it's going to tie together the end of your journey in Dreadsky Isles to the start of your new journey in Depths. :3
Well i'm glad you're un-dunning the spawn, because i think i might've ragequit if i had had to play through that!
Also, I've been meaning to ask you, could you try and do something similar to what Apollo does when he posts two consecutive videos and no one else has posted since then? If you didn't notice, he edits the new video into his first post, and his videos are a week apart each. You've got a new one coming out each day, so it really chews through posts. I think you've done a quintuple post on this page, and the mods frown quite heavily on anything above double posts. I'm not mad, just would like you to be considerate of others.
The new starting area is almost completed; structurally it's laid out, and I just need to plunk down a few spawners and extra loot before moving on. I'm quite happy with how it's turned out, so here's a picture:
I was going to do an area-name hangman like I normally do, but I'm not feeling up for that, so I'll just give you the name: Starlit Descent.
Remaking this area has kinda inspired me to revamp a lot of the older areas (some of them are nearing a year in age.) So that's very likely what I'm going to be working on for the next week or so. I've been hoping to remaking Parasitic Paradise with the new 1.7 flowers, and Sunken Temple could use a bit more love than it got from my first pass. Those two areas will probably be the ones I do the most work on, as the rest just need some updated loot and spawners. Thistleback Mine (just realized I never released that name, hah!) in Intersection 02 had some sort of chunk error, so I'll need to clean up that mess and spruce it up a bit. Once all that is finished, then I'll continue working on Intersection 04.
Looks nice, I take it you got the star idea from TGP? And yeah, it makes the map feel a bit outdated when the areas are are older, can you believe that UT2 came out 2 years ago?