Eschalon: Book I Released!
Community Forums/Showcase/Eschalon: Book I Released!
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| After 2.5 years of full-time development, Eschalon: Book I is finally released! Read more about the game and download the demo here.    For those of you who want the beef on the tech side of it: it is made in 100% BlitzMax code, no 3rd party add-ons. It can be compiled with a vanilla BlitzMax installation. The same code runs without modification on IntelMac and Linux as well (those versions are entering beta next week) and I just got the MacPPC port done (just a few LittleEndianStream functions needed to get it working). It's a huge game with lots of areas to plunder and creatures to slay! Enjoy! :) |
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| Excellent downloading the demo now!!. Well done Tachyon, now it times I need to continue coding my game :) |
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| Briliant that it got finished! I knew the screenshot in the gallery. |
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| Wow, I remember the screen shot from the gallery as well. It's nice to see all the games that people have been working on for a long time finally getting released. =D Nice work! |
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| Excellent well done for finally finishing this epic. I'll play this as soon as my beta is out (today/tomorrow). |
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| Just been playing it through, very professional. I'm really enjoying this at the moment, everything plays fine, and havent got an problem so far. Def will purchase this when I get paid :) |
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| Thanks for the compliments guys! It's great to be in the "finishers club". ;) |
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| I am only a few minutes into the game, but I think this is the greatest BlitzMax achievement I have seen, so far. I am blown away by how professional this game is and how well you've done capturing the feeling of my favorite old-school RPGs. Two suggestions: 1) Make it so the list doesn't auto-scroll when I select a new skill from the skills list. 2) Do something to separate the blocks of text in the game window. Right now, I have this huge block of white text with no paragraph indentations or anything, so when new text is added, I have to read over the whole block looking for the new information. If this game continues to be as amusing as it is right now, I will definitely be purchasing the full version. Edit: Wow, fireflies, nice touch. That's what I call attention to detail. SpaceAce |
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| Wicked game, reminded me of Ultima Online, good job. |
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| Looks great, will have to download and try it some time. |
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| It's about time Tom! ;) Congrats brother, I've been waiting on this one for a long time. Time to dig in... Mark |
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| Extremely impressive standard. Well done! |
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| Congratulations on releasing this, I've seen this posted on other games sites too. |
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| Oooh, I remember this. Looks good - I like RPG stuff. |
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| Just played a few minutes in - great game, love it. Turn based is great, very well polished, love it. |
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| Outstanding work that man. Very polished and very professional looking indeed. |
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| Downloading right now. Will report back in a bit. |
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| Looks great! WIll give it a go when I get home from work. |
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| Congratulations for the game. Downloading... |
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| Nice intro sequence. Not my cup of tea but a very nice game nonetheless. Good luck with this. EDIT: My son really likes this game btw. |
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| I've seen the old screen shots in the gallery and had been wondering what was happening with this game. It looks amazing! I will download it in a bit, Great Job! |
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| I will purchase this as soon as the Mac version is available. |
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| Absolutely stunning, will buy it as soon as I get the dosh :) |
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| Ok, I just bought the Windows version, but will still buy the Mac version when it is released. There comes that good old Baldur's Gate feeling... :-) |
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| Top stuff, looks a bit odd on my widescreen, but it screams quality and beats the old spidweb rpgs i used to play in work. I too will look at buying when the mac version is out. |
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| INCREDIBLE! Yeah this is really good. I love the amount of detail that's gone into it. It's like an Ultima game (esp. with the reagents). I really look forward to carrying on my adventure in the full version (I reached the edge of the northern map where it said get the full version). Good stuff and good luck with it! The inventory system is good and really easy to use and the shops are great too. Couple of minor niggles I had: 1) I wish the player would walk faster! Even 50% faster! 2) If I highlight an item with the mouse and hold it down, I expect my player to go up to it and Open/Use/Attack it, but it doesn't do that. You have to move one square away and then click it. This is quite frustrating and the interface would be a lot nicer if you could do this (Baldur's Style). 3) Sometimes I wish I could change the camera angle to see where I'm going and to fight, and to look for items. But I appreciated it's an isometric game so fair enough. 4) At the end instead of warning you to save it could say "save now? Yes/No" *** SPOLIERS **** Oh yeah, my story. I didn't leave the village right away, I explored that basement for ages, got to a room with some mithril and then couldn't figure out how to carry on so I came back out again but ran out of torches on the way so had to randomly flail my way out, which was touch and go if I was gonna make it! Then I went shopping in the village, then got the key to the crypt and then...Well that's maybe enough spoilers! Anyway brilliant stuff |
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| Thanks Grey! Anyone else want to read more about it: RPGWatch has done a glowing preview of it, and the game is getting reviewed in PC Format magazine which I guess is big in the UK. |
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| I tried it yesterday, and it is really good! Intro sequence, windows, monster animation looks professional, graphically it reminds me Arcanum. I will play it again when I have time and eventually bought it. Respect for all the works put inside this jewel, and I really hope it sells well. |
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| PC Format magazine Yeah that's big.Yeah the intro sequence is very pro indeed nice one. All the interface is slick. The character animation is great too. Who's job was it to write all the Ultima-style mini-stories you keep finding in books? |
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| That was all me. Although I had a few music track donations and a couple of close friends gave me design suggestions throughout the entire process, I (unfortunately) was responsible for all the production single-handed. :( I didn't have the funds to pay someone to do it for me!! |
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| Wow impressive. So you did all the art too? I've used Kevin McLeod's music too before :-) I really enjoyed it anyway and was disappointed when the demo ended. I just wished the guy walked faster! And you could click and hold on items you want to interact with so that your players walks right up to them and interacts. |
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| Played the demo. Loved it. Bought the full game. Nuff said. |
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| Thanks JustLuke!! :D |
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| Oooh, I didn't realise it was OUT, I just thought it was a demo. May well get this for Christmas! I see you've decided to price it higher than "normal" Indie games, good on you as there is tons of content. |
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| OK, I am going to buy the full version, now. I really hope you'll consider the things suggested by both myself and Grey Alien. This is a really enjoyable game but a couple of small tweaks would be nice. SpaceAce |
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| Definitely- I take all suggestions to heart. Thank you SpaceAce and Grey. Hey, I figured this would be the best place to ask- PC Format magazine has also asked me to do a section called "Your Say" for the issue that the game gets review in. I have no idea what this column is because PC Format is not widely available in the US. If anyone has a few old back issues, could someone scan that column and send me it so I can see what it is/how it's formated. |
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| I haven't bought it for about 9 years! |
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| Tachyon, It looks like you're going to need a backup processor if you want to sell me a copy of Eschalon: Book I. Plimus is giving me grief. If you have PayPal, I can send you a payment directly, assuming Plimus continues to refuse the order (I've emailed them, but not heard back). Edit: Nevermind, Plimus saw the light and sent me the download link. SpaceAce |
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| Purchased! I hope it doesn't overwrite my progress in the demo... |
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| Nope, just uninstall the demo, install full version. Saved games are in your My Documents and are not effected when you remove the demo. Thanks Grey!! |
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| phew! Thanks god or that would have been a big SIN! |
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| Man, I'm LOVING this. There's nothing like a bit of grave robbing by torchlight! I nearly messed up as I didn't go to the cemetary, I headed north and kept getting killed in the marshes or by thugs, but then I figured it out and since then it's been ACE. I have some more suggestions (I know the game is finished, and you probably aren't going to touch it any more but here goes): 1) It would be great if when attacking a for (or a barrel/door to break it) you could just hold down the mouse button and it would keep on hitting. This is to avoid lots n lots of mouse clicks 2) Why oh why doesn't water show up on the map? You can't pass it, yet it's green like traversible terrain Maybe the map changes as I get more skil? ... 3) Couple of your scroll bars could really do with a little dragging bit in the middle (between the up/down arrows) - this also indicates where you are in the list. 4) Escape exits a shop, great, but it doesn't follow the exit cases in the conversation, I have to click those manually. This would be a neat little optimisation and surely can't be too hard? Anyway this is great, such an achievement. Best of luck with it. Now some tips for the beginners (no spoilers): 1) Get at least one skill point in cartography (or more). You won't regret it! Without mapping the game is hard. 2) Get a ranged weapon! (you need skill points to use it) I've been ganged up on too many times and killed. I now love picking them off at range until they are close, switching to sword and hacking them, and if they run I simple switch back to arrows - cool! 3) Don't deviate from where the quest tells you to go (at for the first few hours) or you'll get mashed. 4) but tons of torches like >10. It's no fun being stuck in a dark crypt... That'll do for now. |
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| Thanks Grey- I love that you're loving it. #2- Water does show up when your Cartography skill increases enough. Eventually you can even get NPCs/creatures to show on your map! Also, to add to Grey's tips....press F3 to see some of my tips that I put in the game, Very helpful ones in there! ;) [EDIT] Er, that is F1 for the playing tips...F3 is keyboard shortcuts menu. |
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| Me and the wifey just found out about the Cartography skill and I must say, this is an extremely intelligent feature. I havent played a game that I remember that did something like this. We were talking about the game and saying well the only thing I dont like is the automap, I wonder what cartography does? Hehehehe, then we found out. I am in awe in what you have accomplished here. This is one all around solid game. The storyline, details, GUI, graphics are all top notch. Very well done! Thank you for the hours of enjoyment here. |
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| Damned you for making me get off my MacBook! Haha, I'm going to download this, it looks like one of the most impressive BMax creations I've seen... Can't wait for the Mac version ;) |
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| I honestly think that this is the best game made with any flavour if Blitz. Seriously. It's an amazing achievement. |
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| I found something I think is probably a bug. If it's on purpose, I think it's really bad. My Cartography skill is six. When I cast Reveal Map, my cartography skill goes up to 21. If I walk around an area with my skill at 21, I get a fairly detailed automap. When Reveal Map wears off, areas that I already revealed with a skill of 21 go back to level six if I walk over them, again. In essence, the game is punishing me by degrading the quality of my maps after I have already made them. This renders Reveal Map nearly useless because A) It's not reasonable for me to completely avoid areas I have already mapped just to avoid degrading the map quality and B) It is basically impossible to keep Reveal Map active at all times since fifty turns goes by in about thirty seconds, so I would be draining my mana entirely every couple of minutes, in addition to the fact that I have to keep constant watch on the little message box since there's no effect shown when a status spell wears off. I also think there might be some balance issues with casters. I'm still very impressed with this game, overall. It's good to see such a polished product come out of left field like this. NOTE: - The quest to carry the seventy-pound item displays incorrect information in the quest log (it says eighty pounds, but the item weighs seventy and all the dialog when you get the quest says seventy). - Maybe it's just me, but it drives me nuts that my character's dialog displays, "Show me what you got," when I want to see a merchant's goods. SpaceAce |
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| Good point about cartography and Reveal Map! It doesn't make sense at all that you'd overwrite a perfectly good map with an inferior one, does it? And, yes, you're not the only one who finds "Show me what you got" irritating. "Show me what you've got" would be a little better, but "Show me your wares" would be perfect. |
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| Another minor fix that would improve the feel of the game - allow the user to close dialogue windows just by clicking off them. e.g: Inventory screen. |
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| Tachyon: Cool to hear about water being on the maps :-) And I'll check out the tips. |
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| Oooooooo, this sounds good. I'll have a peek at the demo :o) |
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| I've tried every sound option but I can't seem to control the volume of battle sound effects. Is that correct? If so, I really think you should allow users to change battle volume. This is getting to be a problem with my girlfriend sleeping and me trying to balance the volume of the game with other computer sounds. Also, how about 5% volume steps, or even a full 100-point range? Edit: Also, if you hist the escape key at any time during interaction with an NPC (say, using escape to close the trade window), the in-game menu pops up as soon as you say goodbye to the merchant. This happens to me 100% of the time because I habitually use escape to close windows in-game. SpaceAce |
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| re: the escape key. Me too, I realised that. Anyway I'm still loving this. I remembered why I don't buy role playing games now as it's 6am and I haven't moved in 5 hours! Must go to bed now! Oh there's a spelling error in the book about imbuing weapons, it says something like "imbning" in the text. Also thing I spotted a bug (not serious). Basically quicksaved then use a potion so that you have an empty flash in your hand, then reload the quicksave. You'll still have the empty flask in your hand! It time travelled! Spaceace: Try headphones ;-) My girlfriend said the game was cool and watched it until about 1am, but I just had to carry on...luckily I'm in a different room so the battle sounds (or the sound of me smashing a door before I got the lockpicking skill) aren't a major issue. Hey it's a really neat touch that you can learn skills from NPCs (Serpent Isle anyone?) and from reading books :-) |
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| Hey, just noticed that screenshot in the top post doesn't do the game justice. btw, I'll probably review this soon on www.BinaryJoy.co.uk |
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| Spaceace: Try headphones ;-) Eh, then it becomes a problem for my ears. I always have TV episodes or movies or audiobooks going while I am at my computer, and I can't reconcile the game's volume with some of those other things. I might have to jack up the WAV volume all the way to hear a quiet audiobook, then every time I bang on a door in the game, it sounds like the roof is caving in. Hey it's a really neat touch that you can learn skills from NPCs (Serpent Isle anyone?) and from reading books :-) I also think this is pretty kickass. However, it is a little too easy to make mistakes with the NPCs that, apparently, cannot be fixed. For instance, I brought the sextant back to the guy in Aridelle and when he offered to teach me skills for gold, I told him no and tried the other conversation options just to see where they led. Suddenly, the guy clams up and I'm stuck with the sextant and no skills. Another example is the secret camp where you get the quest to kill slimes. Some bad guys raided that camp and killed the NPCs while I was there, now I don't see how I can finish the quests. SpaceAce |
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| I quicksaved before giving the sextant back and followed the negative path, then reloaded. Anyway, turns out I didn't want to pay his exorbitant fees and just bought some cartographers sandals later on. Sounds bad about the NPCs being killed. Nearly happened to the woman in the woods whose husband is lost. It is interesting that they fight though. |
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| Do you HAVE to finish these quests? What happens if you don't? I realise killing an NPC who is important for the main quest is bad but are these simply sub-quests which are nice to do? Can they be manually removed from the quest list? P.S. After the really really splendid intro I played for about 20 mins. Nice and slick but didn't really hook me with those 20 mins. I'll give it another go at some point. |
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| I think the quest are just money+experience. A manually remove option sounds like a good idea (you can't do it now). I guess it's just a bummer for SpaceAce. Should have been more careful with loading/saving I guess... |
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| Only played the Demo but this game is great. I will be purchasing soon. To say you have done it all by yourself is an inspiration. I will finish a game one day, I have half a dozen games on the go. None near completion, must not get sidetracked by game demo's:) |
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| Spotted a bug: I had a chainmail coif + 3 and I used ectoplasm and silk on it and it because a coif+3+1 and it's ability went from +3 DOWN to +1 (not up to +4). Make sense? Wonder if this is a bug? I was able to cash Flesh Boil on a skeleton and it worked well! Perhams they should be immune? How do you refill an empty lantern? I have bought oil but it needs something else too I think. Have some more suggestions: 1) Have a player marker on the world map. This would be very useful. (Perhaps you have to buy a sextant like in Ultima) 2) Show the total damage in the scrolling text window as it's only shown as the floating/fading score on-screen at the moment. e.g. 12 + 3 = 15. Critical Hitx2 = 30 3) The spellbook is way to slow for casting a spell straight away instead of keeping one "ready". Say I want to cast Bless, I have to go into the magic book (click icon or press M), click Bless, click Power level, click OK. Then I have to right click in-game (more on this in a minute) - that's 5 clicks! Also when I go into the spellbook it would be REALLY useful if it retained your previous power level and spell because once I get level 4 say, I'm probably only going to use that for all my spells and I don't want to have to click it EVERY time. This would mean you could press M for magic and as level 4 power was highlighted, you could just double click a spell name to fire it off then and there instantly. How would you store one? well the OK button could say "store" or something. AND/OR you could have two buttons to be ultra clear: "store" and "instant" or words to that effect. 4) Grammar: In one of the pieces of text I saw "effected". This is not a real word, you probably should use "affected". 5) Is there a hot key to swap primary and secondary weapons? 6) Not that I'm complaining but I was thinking that swapping weapons (or lighting a torch) should use a turn so if you have to do it in battle it is "costly". However, the game is easier with it taking "no time". 7) When you autowalk somewhere via the map, really you should recover some health and mana and some time should pass. However, I guess this leaves it open as an easy way for players to "recharge" without camping and having random encounters so that may be why you left it out. Still loving it! It continues to be fantastic and heinously addictive. |
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| Another bug (related to something Grey Alien stated earlier in this thread): I sold some stuff to a merchant, then I got killed, loaded my last save and went back to the merchant. The merchant still had the items I had sold her before dying, including a special amulet I got on a quest. I haven't tried, yet, but it seems this could lead to exploitations involving selling or buying the same item multiple times. SpaceAce |
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| Grey: About the imbue bug: are you patched up to 1.02? Check the front page of our web site for a download link. Lanterns can be refilled with oil and a cotton wick. #3 - Hold down any number key 0-9 when you press OK in the spell selector. It will bind that spell/level to that key for quick recall. #5 - [ENTER] #7 - Health does regenerate while walking. To speed it up you can gain the skill "Survival" and/or boost your Endurance. To speed up Mana Points recovery, gain the skill "Meditation" and/or boost your Perception. |
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| Patch? Cool, no I'm on 1.01 thanks for letting me know. (got it, woo!) Cotton wick, ah I should have figuered it out. Is this in a book anywhere? 3) cool, but it's not obvious for people that don't know that. 5) thx! Is that on the F3 keys list? Probably. (I'll check) 7) I meant when you click the map and select a location to go there immediately, it doesn't regenerate then. But then if it did, you wouldn't need to camp. |
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| Can't put everything in the book Grey, that would take some of the fun out of things :). When I used to play Everquest there were tons of things going on that we had to find out the hard way... but of course there were other players to pass on the knowledge. |
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| Yeah I shoulda figured the wick thing out. just wondered if it was in a scroll or book that you find many of in the game. |
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| I played the demo of this and in the demo, I was just barely able to make level 2 killing all the monsters. How big is the game in relation to the demo? What level can a player expect to reach in game? |
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| The demo is maybe 8-10% of the total game. Most people are getting to level 15-18 by the end of the game depending on how many secrets they find. |
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| "Q" does not open the quest log as stated on the tips screen. I updated to 1.02 just to be safe, and "Q" still doesn't work. SpaceAce |
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| Sorry, that got changed to "J" for Journal. When I upload the 1.03 version to Plimus, if you buy the full version you'll get the updated keyboard shortcut screen. |
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| Hey possible tip? The smith in blackwater(?) asks me to find some divine ingredient that was stolen by thugs to the east of the town. However, I've explored the big cross roads area and killed everything. Is it there somewhere or maybe in the woods? thx. |
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| Grey, I killed everything, too, and didn't get the divine element. Maybe it's WAY east, like in another zone. Although, I've been through those areas, too. Maybe you can help me with something: I had two pieces of paper telling me which items to put into the brazier doodad to open the portal but somewhere along the line, I lost one of the pieces. I don't remember dropping it or selling it, but I can't find the darned thing. Do you know which items need to be put together to open the portal? SpaceAce |
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| Grey: There's a cave, east Loneloft. Look there. |
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| SpaceAce: I believe you need Ectoplasm and Mercury (I am not checking my notes, just going off of memory) |
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| Maybe you can help me with something: I had two pieces of paper telling me which items to put into the brazier doodad to open the portal but somewhere along the line, I lost one of the pieces. I don't remember dropping it or selling it, but I can't find the darned thing. Do you know which items need to be put together to open the portal? Same here, but you have an answer now. Seems you are further ahead than me and I thought *I* was playing this a lot :-) Perhaps I fart around too much mapping and fighting off "sounds in the night" when camping. |
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| Seems you are further ahead than me and I thought Actually, I got those papers a long, long time ago. I probably just took a different path than you. I actually have something like 20 hours on my character, but a LOT of that is resting, saving, resting, running out of the zone, resting, saving, etc. Like I said, I think there might be some balance issues with casters. As to Loneloft, I've wrecked that camp and been to the cave east of there without finding the divine ore. The cave is tiny and there seems to be a switch you can step on, but I haven't figured out if it does anything. SpaceAce |
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| SpaceAce: Perhaps a little light would help... |
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| Actually, I got those papers a long, long time ago. Me too, I just haven't reached the portals. I've been playing this game every night afte rwork adn when the kids and Helen are in bed from like about 11pm to 4-6am! It's taking it's toll but I'm loving it. I really like teh little descriptions that appear when you get to new areas, they really add a nice touch of atmosphere. Hey did you kill your brother (in-game), that was sad :-( sniff. |
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| Is it safe to uninstall the demo now I have the full version? It won't try to uninstall my save games will it? I know this sounds obvious and it's probably fine, but I really don't want to loose anything. |
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| ... http://www.basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=608&highlight=save+games+demo and many other Eschalan Book I topics are discussed on the Eschalaon : Book I forums . P.S. You can always save a copy of them. |
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| Yes Grey. The uninstaller doesn't touch your saved games. Thanks tonyg for posting the links! |
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| SpaceAce: Perhaps a little light would help... Hm, I tried putting torches in the holders and using my lantern, torches and gravedigger's flame. I will go back and try again. Hey did you kill your brother (in-game), that was sad :-( sniff. Yeah, I waxed him. I couldn't see leaving him to suffer after he told me there was nothing that could save him. I assume the game wouldn't lie to me that boldly. SpaceAce |
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| yeah me too haha, nearly quicksaved and tried the other option, but then thought what's done is done! Tachyon: Thanks for all your help. Sorry I didn't use your forums but your customer service is great! |
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| SpaceAce: Put torches in all the sconces (six I think, but perhaps there are eight) and then step on the pressure plate. |
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| Thanks, I figured it out. Previously, I hadn't noticed that each wall had two torch holders. SpaceAce |
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| How're things coming along, Grey Alien? I'm sort of stuck because my character isn't strong enough to advance through the hardest areas, but there's no weak stuff left to level up on. Tachyon: Invisibility is not working properly. The description says 10 turns per level, but I am only getting half that, plus the spell seems to count casting it as a turn. So, at level one, I can only take four steps before I become visible, again. At level two, I can take 8-9 steps (I forget which). Also, when invisible, the bad guys can still track me, which is kind of ridiculous. I'm invisible but everything I walk past zeros right in on me, even though I am almost always "silent" while walking. SpaceAce |
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| Haven't bee playing for the last two days as I've had to make tons of tweaks to my current game for BFG, they are releasing it today. I'll let you know though. I do think that the game is a little tough though. Sometimes you fight something and its ToHit and damage is the same as yours, and then there's like two of them, so you're gonna die. Or if you survive then you have to rest (and get attacked in the night) and then fight the next one. At least I don't need to buy potions all the time since I got high up in the Divination stat. Basically when I'm epxloring a new area I cast a level 4 Bless and Leatherskin (not got stoneskin yet) and these boost my stats enormously. I've also got pretty good light armour that I've enhanced by using the alchemy skill. Then I fire my powered up bow at them until they get near, then change to sword. This tactic is working out pretty well in most cases. I sometimes use other spells like entangle but it doesn't work on some "big" things (like raptors). I haven't advanced very far in elemental magic yet. Basically I started as a warrior and kept getting whipped so decided to branch into bows and magic and that's worked out well. Frustrated that sometimes I see a great item but don't have enough money and when I go back later, it's gone anyway. |
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| Hello. Then he rolled a 6 and a 2, followed by a four and a four, then somehow rolled three double 6's in a row. Maaaaarvellous! :o) Goodbye. |
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| It's nearly as good as Larn, you should try it out. Maybe put your screen in B&W mode? |
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| Hello. Jake: I have tried it, and left it on my laptop for future investigation. I agree with all the praise it's received; it's an excellent game. Obviously, not a patch on Larn, of course, but who could hope to acheive such magnificence again? No-one, that's who (well, except maybe a divine Teddy Bear called...no, better stop there) :o) Anyway, Larn in B&W - man, you've not lived 'til you've seen it in all it's 32 colour glory. Praise Be Unto Larn. Goodbye. |
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| haha @ teddy bear. Was Larn in colour on the Amiga, I can't recall. I didn't think so. Yeah anyway this game is excellent but the demo doesn't do it justice, there's lots more in the full game... |
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| There is a simple cheat for this game. Instead of resting, just hold the space bar down, takes about 4 times as long to get your health back, but you don't get wandering encounters... |
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| I wouldn't call that a cheat, sounds quite a balanced tradeoff |
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| TaskMaster: haha, now all I need is a paperweight... |
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| Get your Linux and Apple version out and get the awareness going, IMHO this is where this thing could really sell well as your not competing with as many other games. Congrats on getting it finished and sticking at it, I would agree this is the best thing released written in BlitzMax to date. Darkheart |
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| Darkheart: thanks for the encouragement. I am stuck in the middle of Mac beta testing until BlitzMax 1.28 update is released, but I am hopeful that sales will spike once I get alternate versions out. Taskmaster & Grey: The spacebar "exploit" should be fixed in the latest version. Sorry! ;) |
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| what you'll have to tap it instead? or will random encounters occur! |
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| I wouldn't say sorry. I believe it should be fixed. :) |
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| Couple of things I noticed: 1) On gulf of Madria in the top middle area, if you try to go right you are stopped by some invisible barrier before the trees start. You can go up and round it to the eastern-most beach but you can go along the light house wall. I guess this is because when you go through the lighthouse it loads of the main map again and somehow you wanted the two areas separated and have built an invisible wall? 2) If you have a stack of unidentified ectoplasm, you can use lore on the entire stack 3) If you have a stack of IDENTIFIED ectoplasm, you can place an UNIDENTIFED ectoplasm on the stack and it fits fine and therefore becomes INDENTIFIED without having to use a lore spell... 4) Do you have a "quick walk" key that you used for testing or anything. I'd KILL for that feature. It would be the single best thing you could do for the game. I'm a busy guy and I want to enjoy the exploring, fighting and leveling up but I don't want to walk REALLY slowly everywhere, especially through already explored zomes. I've probably wasted hours of my life watching the scenery go past slowly (esp. in Krakamir). Tie fighter had a time speed up key which was Rad and I think ultima VII let you run around pretty quickly...Didn't Baldurs as well? Please, pretty please, add something like this. There is a room with 4 chests a presure plate and a gate in the Ossary. I've no idea what to do. Hint please? :-) |
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| Did you notice the signs above the chests? If not, read them. The chests are looking for specific items. Let me know if you need further assistance! ;) |
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| crap know I missed them, doh! I'm pretty near the end now, just the goblin place and the final location to do... |
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| Do you have an affiliate scheme? I'll be writing a review of this game on www.binaryjoy.co.uk and an affiliate scheme would be great...Are you planning to put it on any portals or just going to sell from your site based on marketing and word of mouth? How are the sales going btw? Good I hope. |
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| Great game, just finised it. Saw both endings. Thanks ever so much for a great game! |
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| Thanks Grey! Yes, I use Plimus' affiliate system and there are a couple smaller portals selling the game. Sales have been okay so far- I am hoping that with the Mac release I see a sales climb a bit more. Actually, there is a third ending. It's an exclusive club really, and only about 12 people have joined it. To become a member, you need to kill the Chancellor and survive the following onslaught by his elite guards... |
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| wow ok haha. OK, I'll check out Plimus. |
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| Well, I can tell you that I'm eagerly awaiting the Mac release. :) |
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| Now that I've finished Crysis, I'm back to playing Eschalon and still love it. I'm also waiting for the Mac release, then I don't have to boot to Windows anymore to play this beauty. |
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| Tachyon: Can you please let me know if the fee I paid Plimus includes VAT or not? If so, I can put the sale through my company accounts. Thanks! |
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| :D [Speechless] |
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| Grey: No, you did not pay VAT on your order. Plimus only applies VAT when a CD is being sent in addition to the digital download. Others: Mac version is coming next week. Release date will be announced on the website later this week. |
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| As soon as the linux version comes out, im defo buying this game! (or is it like bmax where you pay once and get access to all versions?) |
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| An updated Windows demo has been released, with 2 additional maps to explore. If you weren't sold on the first demo, please try the new demo out: http://basiliskgames.com/book1.htm D4NM4N: Not quite like Bmax, but we will work with people to get them the version they want. If you really want the Linux version, just wait- the demo will be available within a week and then we'll put the full version probably before Christmas. |
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| Cool, ive tried the windows dmo, its just if im going to buy it i might as well wait until i get the version for my primary os. Rebooting from linux to windows just to run certain games is a real chore :) |
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| Tachyon: May I ask what method you are going to use to sell the Mac version? Are you using a key (3rd party wrapper or code written yourself) or just a separate download? I'm asking because I'm at the same stage myself with Holiday Bonus (now that 1.28 is released). thanks! |
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| Nasty tip for people who run out of torches. If you use windowed mode, then you can turn your screen gamma up and it gives you a decent view of the dungeon in the dark :o) |
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| Bah, that gamma trick works on just about any game. Question for Tachyon, if you do not have light, does your too hit score get affected negatively? |
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| I know I'm not Tachyon, but yeah it does. There is a modifier for target heavily concealed by darkness. Occurs if using ranged weapons or melee weapons. In about the second half of the game I got hold of the Predator Sight spell which is invaluable. |
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| Grey- I'm doing the Mac and Linux versions just like the Windows version: the demo is a separate game from the full version. When you buy the full game, you get sent a download link (rather than unlocking content "hidden" in the demo). |
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| New screenshots added to the top of this post for those of you wanting to see more of the game. A new, expanded demo is available as well. |
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| OK thanks. Those screenshots remind me. What was the purpose of pulling the level on top of the lighthouse. I got some experience but don't know why. Perhaps it was a mission for someone but I never got asked. |
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| That was an unfinished quest. I couldn't get the script working so I left it out, however as you noted, you still get experience for your actions. |
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| Spoiler-question: Where can I find the third egg? I can't remember where I found the first one, but the second one was in that strange "spider garden". Another interesting side-note is that I managed to obtain the Goblin key --before-- the "Eschalon-Dumbledore" sent me on the quest and -before- the Giants sent me to the "Eschalon-Jurassic Park". I also have the Vela-Goblin key and another key that I can't remember where I found it. I'm still on the search for the fourth key. I probably have enter the Grimmhold underground again. There's not much else left to go, I've search almost everywhere else. By the way, I find the "Darkford" thing on the map confusing. I manage to get to Bordertown and to the two guards west of of Bordertown. I also managed to see the drunken Captain ONCE, and got a few items from there. I was not able to open the gates, though, and left. Since then, I could not go back. Anyway, is this place "Darkford"? I'm still hooked to the game and love it. I usually play it with headphones on, and the atmospheric sound backdrop in the dungeon sequences is awesome. |
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| Easter eggs: check the Ossuary and the burned out tavern close to where you start the game. As for the keys- I've tried to make the game non-liner, so you can go where you want and do certain things out of order. It may break some of the story, but it gives you more freedom to explore the world on your own. Yes, that area is Darkford. It's a passage through the mountains, but you can only visit it once (you have one chance to get the gate key; if you miss getting it, you have to find another route into Crakamir). |
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| yeah I got the 3 keys before I got given the quest - confused me at first but I kept hold of them just in case. I also had a few other unused keys at the end. I also felt guilty for killing some of the disciples in the magic tower when they saw me steal something. I didn't know it was a "good" place so thought nothing of killing them, oops! When I got to the top, we didn't have much to talk about because I hadn't yet been given the quest to go there, so it was quite funny. Sorta like "Hi, uh, did you want to talk to me", "Uh, no not really, don't know why I came all the way up here past your traps n stuff, bye!" Yeah I nicked some stuff off the drunk captain too (the gate key) |
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| Non-linear gameplay is probably the coolest thing since the invention of computer games, so that's absolutely cool. ;-) Ok, I'm going home now and will take a short vacation in Eschalon tonight. (Have I mentioned that I like playing Eschalon better than playing Crysis?) |
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| *sniff* I'm through... I didn't solve the puzzle with the four chests, though, meaning I never got the third egg. I also never found the second piece of paper with the rest of the portal info (but the tip above helped). Anyway: GREAT GAME! :)))) |
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| Tachyon: I demand that you assemble a 1000-strong team and get Book2 done ready for the weekend :-) Seriously though, with the success of this one, you should be able to reinvest and get the others done quicker plus you are guaranteed sales from all the fans of this one! Long may the franchise live! |
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| Does Mac mean that there also will be a PPC version? |
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| Thanks Grey- I hope sales pick up when some reviews start getting posted/published. And yes, Book II is being blueprinted right now but it's gonna be a while! :( taumel: Yes, the Mac will be a Universal Binary. Check the website next Tuesday (the 11th) for download links to the demo and full version! Also the Linux demo will be put online as a sort of "open beta" next week as well. |
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| Tachyon: OK radical idea. How about you recruit the BEST testers and most reliable people from your forums to help you out with the next game. Offer them credit or in exceptional cases profit share. It wouldn't cost you anything and you'd get it done sooner AND of course two (or more) heads better than one! I love working in a team, the games are so much better once you've all kicked out the crap ideas and improved the good ones. |
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| Grey: Oh, I agree. I hope to be able to recruit some graphics people for the next game. Graphics take the most amount of time and is the thing I need the most help with. The problem is finding people who have the talent, time, dedication and are still affordable. |
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| Graphics take the most amount of time and is the thing I need the most help with. The problem is finding people who have the talent, time, dedication and are still affordable. I can hear you. I am still trying to find a good and affordable comic-style illustrator for my own ideas/projects. I completely suck at drawing or painting. |
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| Hey, if you guys would like some illustration help, I'd be happy to help out, if you're interested. You can check out my stuff at http://yashkemash.deviantart.com/. I myself am trying to code an old school adventure game (Gabriel Knight-style), and am trying to figure out where I can get free music to use...any suggestions? |
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| Well, the first 10 minutes was fun, then I walked into the town, tried to pick a lock, and got attacked by a guard and killed. What sucks is, now I have to start over because that guard will KEEP KILLING ME OVER AND OVER. Is there ANY way to get him to go away?!?!?! I mean, I cant even get into the town without him killing me. |
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| sounds like a bug! |
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| sounds like a bug! That or im hated. Or there are evil guards taking over the world. Hmmmm.... |
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| Hey reisntall the demo. |
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| My girlfriend wants to know how to pick locks, she selected the skill on character select screen but can't use it. Do you need to collect items to use your skills with? |
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| Terry R: Yes, once you are branded a criminal, you will always be a criminal in that town to whoever saw you commit the crime. If you are going to commit a crime, you must do it without anyone watching, or you have to kill the witnesses. One thing you can do (although you must be higher level) is you can cast Charm on the person angry at you, and when the spell wears off they will be back to normal, having forgot what they were upset about. Mac version available tomorrow! |
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| Sweeettt Kay im buying it. *goes off to murder the guard* Edit: Found another glitch. The murky red/white potion that is "Unknown" at first, If you sell an unknown potion to the apoticary in the first town, then you try and buy it back, it says ,"Would you like to buy Strength of an orge potion?" Wonder what the potion is ;) |
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| Why is that a bug? The apothecary knows what it is. :) |
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| "Orge", wow early viagra potions. |
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| Mac version out! Sweet. :) |
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| andy_mc: Sorry I missed your question. Yes, you need to have the Lockpick Skill, and you need lockpicks in your inventory. Most tavern owners sell them. |
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| Sticking to my word, I just bought the Mac version as well. |
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| Okay i just downloaded the game and will try it out - hope i find time this weekend. The intro and the forrest looked very good. I wouldn't have expected this when looking at the screens you've posted here. A bug i've noticed during character generation was that the total number of points can get below 20 if you've already selected some abilties do an exchange of a class. When you do this a few times then you end up with something like -12 points with the already selceted ones. And oh yes i couldn't select a female... So far it looks good and feels polished. I like the sound design, great music too and the way you colour the tiles according to the light. |
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| taumel- Yes, that is a known bug. It's very obscure, but the workaround is to select your class first, and then your skills. Don't go changing your class after your skills are chosen. This is the recommended order of character creation anyways, bug or not. |
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| I just had a further try and i when i was entering the city perfomance went down dramatically. Normally it plays fine on my mini but there it's all slow motion then. However if i enter a shop performance increases to a certain degree. I would like if you would beeing able to minimize open windows like for instance the inventory just by right clicking it in a passiv area. Moving around would be much better if the distance would be used as the speed at which the character is moving. I sometimes also had problems walking around obstacles oh and sometimes characters are visible although they should be partly hidden. Why can't i lookup the shortcuts in the game? If you're using the smaller viewdistance then sometimes there show up more then there should be. If you're playing for a longer period, especially in the city, then after some time things slow down a lot - memory leak? But it for sure has a certain ultima charme. :O) |
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| One thing that helps speed the game up is to definitely try switching to OpenGL (if you are playing the Windows version) and try 16-bit color. That can make a huge difference on some hardware. Also, I have noticed that having several web pages open in the background (you, the kind with flash banners and things going on) can really drag performance down. |
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| No, that's not working here as a) i played it on osx and so it's openGl already and b) it isn't fillrate limited so the reduction from 32bit to 16bit don't change a thing. Beside of maybe that the amount of overlappig objects and a the logic behind might be an issue could it be that the lights (torches) are a part oft he problem? I'm also experiencing this in larger underground locations were they appear. It would be nice if saving would also work by confirming with the mousebutton and not just by hitting the return key. |
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| Has anybody else had the problem of the game SAVING really slow? |
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| No I haven't. Tachyon, why not try to get this game on the front page of Blitz as it's well deserving, it's one of the best blitz games ever for sure. I'm gonna try and get Fairway Solitaire on there too. |
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| It already is! |
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| It's in the news, but not in the Great Blitz Games section. |
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| Grey: Yes, I would love to have Eschalon up there. The game really is a testament to BlitzMax- 100% native BlitzMax code (no 3rd party mods) running on all 3 platforms using the exact same code base. I really can't thank Mark and the BRL crew enough for such an amazing language. |
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| yeah it rocks! My Fairway Solitaire game has no 3rd party mods either and it's about to come out on Mac (just adding minimise code to Windowed mod), but no Linux version is planned. |
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| Thanks for redoing your signature images Grey ;-) |
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| well they were all different sizes and it looked dumb + I had a new one to add. They don't take up any more vertical space. |
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| The signature does look better. My still is crap. By the way, what quests have you been able to complete, All of mine get to a point where it is impossible in the demo. I have not had much time to play it, but when I have played, I have not been able to go to he place where you have to give that full recovery potion, and the cript quest, you can't go in it. |
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| The recovery potion has to be given to someone in the south coast area. Guess it's shut off in the demo. Oh the crypt quest near the start? Shame you can't go in there in the demo as it's cool. I really started to groove to the game even more when I was raiding coffins. Just buy it, you won't regret it. |
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| I played this demo - graphics are good, some good cinematic qualities, but it's not the kind of game I like to play, personally. Kinda slow for me, but it does look very polished. |
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| Its a nice looking game with nice features. But not the games I play. (Did try it thou). Keep up the good work. |
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| I think it's a very nice game but i'm dissapointed about the fact that you should have to pay several times for different platforms. If i'm buying a game, i'm buying the game content for me and not my computerplatform. This isn't a user centric licence. Imagine you would have to pay for each BlitzMax version... |
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| taumel he has to support each version so i think hes has the right to charge for each version. I can only think of one crossformat game where it comes with another version for free and thats unreal 2004. |
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| Obvisouly he has the right to offer the game how he wants to, no question but this isn't a good way. Again i do buy a software for myself and not for my system. Today quite some people are using more than one os, they might have a win pc at home and a osx notebook for portable stuff or any other combination you would like. For those people these old licences (pay per platform) means buying software for several platforms which is something no one likes. More companies are getting this and if their software is available for different platforms they're changing their licences to a pay per user based system. And sorry if a game is made with a tool which already works this way, then offering the game on a pay per platform basis looks like milking those who are honest enough to buy originals instead of instantly looking for a torrent to me. Most of the people don't buy a second licence due to money reasons but they would be happy if they would have the possibility to use it on another platform too if they run into such a situation, so offering a pay per user licence offers instantly more value to the software. It also gives somekind of flexibility in these days were you're jumping between operating systems. And he's already profiting from the fact that the game is available for different systems and so osx, win and linux users can buy it. |
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| I am definitely asking for this! The demo was excellent even though you could not complete any quests. This game has my vote. |
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| I am definitely asking for this! The demo was excellent even though you could not complete any quests. This game has my vote. Thats funny. I beat three with the demo... |
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| Most of the time, when you buy a piece of software it is licensed to run on one machine. Being able to get three separate versions to run it on Windows, Mac, and Linux sounds a lot like being able to run it on three different machines to me. BlitzMax is different, it is billed as a cross-platform programming language, one able to make a program that will run on all three platforms. If you had to purchase the capability to compile on each platform separately, then it would kind of defeat the purpose. |
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| As i've already written already above there is more and more software coming out were you get the possibility to run the software on all the supported platforms. I also wrote about the reasons why this is important. Of course this means that you can run the software on different machines, on a win and on a mac and on a linux machine. That's the purpose of a crossplatform release. But it's likely you aren't loosing a lot as people mostly just stick to one licence and don't buy two or three licences of the same game. They just restrict themselves to one paltform. Now were is the benefit? More hassle for the user as he isn't flexible and has to make the decision if it's more likely that he'll play game more on system A or on system B. You tie the user and so you're mostly giving away an important advantage which you receive by using a tool like BlitzMax which enables you to do crossplatform releases quite easily. Especially for indie releases this could be a nice advantage over bigger commercial titles which you just waste. Personally i've stopped buying software which ties the user in such an outdated way and i prefer crossplatform software because it a) gives you the platform indepency and b) saves you a lot of money. For the developer it has the advantage that his software is more attractive through this feature and so should increase the sales. Anyway back to the game. I liked what i've seen in the demo so far (otherwise i wouldn't have cared in this thread too) and i would have bought it but i won't do it anymore due to that i'm tired of getting milked by some bad thoughtout licence. |
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| I might be common for "software" to be cross-platform under a single license but how many games have you seen which offer this? I think this whole getting "milked" angle is insulting to the developer. This guy worked for 2.5 years to release the game and I think he is entitled to whatever income he can fairly generate from "nice" supportive customers. |
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| He might have worked 2.5 years on the game but hasn't thought a lot about the licence. I mean come on there isn't even an offer which gives you a discount if you want more than one platform support. Might i ask you what's the difference between an application and a game? That offering an crossplatform application seams to be more vaild to you than a game. Some Indie games offer it, mostly those were doing the port is easy. You mostly don't see it in big titles because they either a) don't build on a technology which makes the port easy (may it be from the licence costs for the used engine or that it would be a technical challenge to them), b) that it's no digital distribution and so you might run into problems with the delivery (win version ready at the same time as the mac version, more dvds), c) only interested in a certain (mostly win) market and d) that they are greedy and conservative thinking. How many sales do you think you'll receive more from people who like to play the same game on different platforms and actually pay for this contrary to those you could gain by offering the feature that they could use it on different platforms if they want to and also do marketing with this feature? Not to mention the good press you could also receive by doing so. |
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| Just a question: Have you asked the developer yet if there is or could be any special deal for a multi-platform purchase? You never know... |
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| Yes i've mailed with him. |
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| taumel wrote: Personally i've stopped buying software which ties the user in such an outdated way and i prefer crossplatform software because it a) gives you the platform indepency and b) saves you a lot of money. Then what software do you buy? Other than BlitzMax, I haven't seen any software with cross platform licensing. When I bought Photoshop for Windows and then realized that I needed it for the Mac laptop that I took out of town, Adobe made me buy the thing again. Same for 3 other commonly used applications (luckily not as expensive as Photoshop). This isn't my rule, this is an industry rule. BlitzMax is the only software that I've seen that let me have cross-platform licensing with one purchase. That is amazingly generous and I don't want to ruin it for everyone else, but if Mark decided to charge for each version I'd happily buy each version. It's worth it. Having said that: taumel- if you buy the game and want the Mac version too, then email me with your order number and I'll give you a download link to get the Mac version as well. I'd rather sell 2 games for the price of one than no game at all. |
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| As you were talking about a gamedev tool already what about torque? And whilst beeing at torque wasn't Marble Blast also sold cross for all three platforms? If not there are still others... I also bought a lot of software only for the win platform during the last years but in the meantime as i do have to use more than one system i'm not fond of this anymore and so i primary buy software which is offered via a crosslicence. One of the latest bigger packages i've bought because of this was Modo ( http://www.luxology.com/whatismodo/userfriendlypolicies.aspx ) beside of smaller shareware tools. Sometimes you don't find a good one and have to buy one for each platform but i try to avoid this whenever it's possible. Beside of Freeware, BlitzMax has the most generous licence i've come around so far and much Kudos for this to BRL but what i find dissapointing is that the people who are making software with this tool don't give this advantage to the customers and this way help tearing down the software barrier which is in your way when you're moving between different platforms. Instead they try to sell for each platform without thinking about the opportunity they have. They use a tool with this cross idea but they don't share the spirit. You know, the more online services there will be built up, the more this is your chance to sell software. Why should i buy an offline application for different platforms more than once when i just can use an online paint program for instance? Why should i pay for more than one game licence when i can play games via InstantAction or Flash/SW3D/Unity/Java games in the browser on every system? It's a matter of content and as soon as the online content is getting more interesting you'll loose with this pay per platform concept more and more ground. Really this is such a great opportunity beeing able to publish for more than just one platform. But a lot of people screw it up with this pay per platform concept. |
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| I don't think it makes sense to have games cross platform and allow the user to install on whichever he wants. In fact, even on the same platform, you are only suppose to install it on ONE machine. They even use CD-Keys and whatnot to make sure two games installed from the same CD-Key can't play with each other on the network. So, releasing a game that allows it to be installed on any platform, basically says, go ahead and install it on three machines. And, I don't really see why a game would need to be installable on more than one platform for ONE user. You would be constantly moving save game files around, talk about a pain in the ass. Pick the product you want and buy it. Now, I understand productivity software (not games) needing to be on more than one platform. Just not games, it really does not make sense 99.9% of the time. |
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| taumel you make it sound like he just clicks a button and out pops a version for linux, pc and mac its not that simple. |
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| Yeah I imagine porting the save games from one machine to the other back and forth would be a fag (if it even worked at all) so I imagine that players would start with a different character on a different platform, so they are really playing the game twice anyway. Of course there's nothing stopping you playing it twice or more on a single platform. I was considering buying this for my MacBook Pro and playing it again, and I didn't think twice about spending the money on such a great game especially to support the Indie developer. However, I realised that it may be a hassle to play with a trackpad instead of a mouse, so I didn't. |
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| Terry R Thats funny. I beat three with the demo... Which ones? EDIT: I found that maddox guy, and the ore for the blacksmith... what else? |
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| @TaskMaster Maybe you want to read what i've written before as i wouldn't argue different... @PeteCarter So how much work is it? In Unity you press the publish button and if you don't use any weird shaderstuff you're mostly done. In BlitzMax it also depends on what you've done. Some things take some time others don't. If you have done it once it goes a lot faster for the second time and even with the first try it's a lot faster than if you would have to start from scratch just with the media. @GreyAlien I've asked if the save games work between the platforms and Tachyon said that it's working so were is the problem? I can handle it sending me an email with the savegamefile from one computer to the other when i know i'll be out of house for a weekend for instance. No problem for me... |
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| Gave the Mac demo a whirl, but the current control set really doesn't favour a trackpad at all. >< (was expecting it to work like Diablo2, point at location, character moves to it, not click-and-hold direction) Will give it another shot later when I got my USB mouse handy, in the meanwhile, came across a minor issue which you probably already know of. The close button on the Mac release when windowed doesn't work (on my copy of Leopard here anyways). Stupidly polished game anyhow from my first 10min of play, the high-quality music was really unexpected. |
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| The close button on the Mac release when windowed doesn't work (on my copy of Leopard here anyways). I'm going to pick up a copy of Grey's 1.05 Framework to give me a bit more system-level functionality in the engine. Looks like he has done a lot of work on the Mac side of things recently. |
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| correct. It's going to be released tomorrow probably. Today I'm releasing the Mac version of Holiday Bonus. I can also give you the code to minimise a Mac window too :-) |
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| I subscribe to PC Format. I don't have a scanner but I think I have some back issues in pdf somewhere. Do you still need samples of the 'Your Say' column? Impressive game btw! |
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| Naw, I've already sent the editor my 'say'...some drivel about commercial games lacking innovation and indie developers having more freedom to create unique games. :P Thanks though! Let me know when you see my game reviewed (I'd guess February or March) |
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| Oops, forgot to mention this one: the Linux version was just released a couple days ago. If you have been waiting to try the Linux edition out, grab the demo by following the link in my sig. Thanks! |
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| Tachyon: May I ask you which sites you submitted your game to for Macs please? I submitted Holiday Bonus to apple.com and also to macgamefiles.com (oh and I saw your news item about Eschalon on insidemacgames too, neat, was that a general press release that they picked up on or did you target them specifically?) Thanks for any advice. |
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| Um, with the Mac version I never targeted anyone specifically. I think just the limited Mac gaming market and a "promising-looking" RPG was all it took for me to get full Mac coverage (even in Mac Life magazine!). I never once contacted Apple.com but somehow ended up being a featured download as well. InsideMacGames has their own store and wants to carry Eschalon, but their take is nearly 60% and the terms were a bit vague ("we may delay paying you if your monthly earning are over $500") so I haven't signed with them yet. |
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| OK thanks, well it seems your game is unique enough to carry itself, good for you! |
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| For Information: Eschalon Book 1 got a nice half a page review in french printed magazine "Canard PC" (http://www.canardplus.com) |
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| Thank you for posting that info, alain! |
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| The linux version is out BARGIN! Ill be getting this. Problem ive got is i cant seem to find the savegame for it. Where is it? I want to copy it from my windoze system (as id rather not do it all again!) Awesome are pee gee btw, i feel like im playing the oldskool ultimas, krondors and baulders gates all over again with a fresh storyline and approach, very profesional :D |
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| Hey Dan, the save game is in the My Documents folder called Eschalon. :-) Its a great game, I'm still going through the demo currently :) |
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| vista? |
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| Eh,sometimes Vista saves the game in another location. Check the install directory. If it's not there, search the system for "35.map" which is a file that will be in the saved game folder(s). It will be somewhere inside your home folder most likely. |
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| Just bought it :D Awesome so far. Is there any kind of world map? im kinda lost. oh, and which way is north, upleft, up or upright? |
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| Go into Options, you can turn on on-screen direction lables. In the manual (check the Start menu) there is a world map, and you can also buy one from the tavern owner in Aridell to view from within the game. The automap only works when you start putting skill points into it, so get a couple points in there so you can map out your environment a bit. |
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| Aha so the map is an inventory item. Cool |
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| Have you considered licencing the engine/editor? |
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| Yes, I've considered. Right now it is just too "proprietary". I am working to make the next game a bit more open and scriptable, then I can offer modding tools and engine licensing. |
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| I am working to make the next game a bit more open and scriptable, then I can offer modding tools and engine licensing. That will be a potential money spinner for you in the realms of Blitz. It would be great to have a RPG Framework :-) |
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| Last news from French newspapers :) -> There is a full 2 pages review of Eschalon Book 1 on the latest CanardPC printed mag. it receives 7/10. |
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| Tachyon, this bloody rox!! Ive been playing it for a while now with my battlemagey style classed character. Done all the bees and been to the vault (gonna go back one day when im "bad" and wax that rude ugly little green guy on the door!). Just cleaned out all the carnivoraptors (theyre b'stards) and made it to vela. Well into it!! My only only moan so far (and its a small one) is it would be nice if it paused when camping once you reach full health/mana and asked if you want to continue sleeping. |
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| My only only moan so far (and its a small one) is it would be nice if it paused when camping once you reach full health/mana and asked if you want to continue sleeping. Thanks for the compliment! I've added your request to the "ToDo" list for Book II. |
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| Completed book 1. When is book 2 comming out? Will we be able to keep the character? |
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| @D4NM4N.. hehe.... just to think of it, this guy spend 2.5 years building it, and you finish it just like that. But is this game single player? Isn't this an MMORPG? *downloading* ... it defently looks awesome, and shows what BlitzMax is capable of. |
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| Its not MMO but if you enjoyed the old ultimas and baulders then you WILL like his game :) |
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| Well, Book II is being built on this engine (though modified for 1024x768 graphics and new effects) so I don't anticipate as long of a development cycle. However, it probably won't be finished up until the end of 2008/early 2009. I am not sure how I will handle character importing. If I allow it, I will need to reduce your character's abilities...trying to balance the game between new characters and imported Level 19 masters would be too difficult and not make the game very fun to play. |
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| The game is fantastic... I need help for publishing my games... In reward u'll receive a full release of LOD's Game evaluated 20$ US and Candy World at 10$ US and a 5% of the game's sales... |
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| Thanks Xylvan. I don't have much advice for you other than always listen to what critics tell you. If you make a good game, it will begin to sell itself through word of mouth and good reviews. I think your games look great and they have some potential. Just keep at it and make each new game better than the last one. |
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| If you make a good game, it will begin to sell itself through word of mouth and good reviews. So true. Bit of marketing never hurt tough. I would suggest posting a demo on all main download websites. so it shows up on google more and other catch it while browsing for other stuff. Its cheap and effective. |
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| Not to hijack the thread about this excellent game, but... Marketing is the thing I find sorely lacking in indie game development and one of the things that keeps games as "critically acclaimed" but not "profitable enough to be done again. Anyway, if you're looking for distribution of your great games, especially the ones written in Blitz, I'd like to help my brethren out. Send me an e-mail and I should be able to help you get onto at least one portal I know of. |
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| Okay i've played through it. Thanks for bringing back such a nice old skool rpg experience! As written before i've experienced some technical issues but nothing which influences the game in a bad way. One thing i found quite hard and maybe not this well balanced was when i got cursed as it always was at such a high level that i couldn't uncurse myself. I wonder if this is possible if you don't invest all your level up points only into one skill. Anyone found all three eggs? I only found two of them... I've read Book two will have a party and as i'm not this fond of parties i hope that there will be an option so that you also can play through with just one character. The only RPGs i remember were it was fun to play with a party was The Bard's Tale and Dungeon Master. Even in Ultima it already felt like micromanagement. It's nice if they do things on their own as NPCs but i really dislike the management work. Anyway a very enjoyable game! |
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| Thanks taumel! A small correction: Book II will not have a party, it will be a solo adventure like Book I. In fact, I believe the decision has been made to keep the entire Eschalon trilogy solo games. We are working on another game (entirely different engine) that will be party based. |
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| Oh sorry that i mixed this up then and so even better. I'm really looking foward to this one. :O) |
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| You gotta love the isometric... Looks fantastic, plays great too. A testimony to the power of Blitz products. |
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| By the way any estimation when Book 2 should be released? |
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| I'm working on it now, but I estimate another 12-18 months of development time. |
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| Okay thanks! |
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| Just played the demo, very nice love the whole feel of the thing, really nice menus too. love titles and music. the game plays really nice the lizards are getting on my tits abit though :OP may have to buy this one. |
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| Hey Tachyon, just to advise this that this month issue has Eschalon: Book I reviewed in its indie section. You didn't get game of the month, but a respectable score of 81% I believe and the reviewer was very impressed with the game, so well done to you :) |
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| Hey Tachyon, just to advise this that this month issue has Eschalon: Book I reviewed in its indie section. This month's issue of what? |
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| Doh!!, They really should help - PC Zone - UK Magazine, page 86, sorry the review score was 82% |
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| Should really be on the BRL Homepage as well. It shows Bmax can be used to create an RPG which is a question that crops up on most Programming languages forums. |
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| I agree, it's a fab game. |
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| I sent Mark an email back in December and he said he'd look into it, but I didn't hear back. Anyways, thanks guys! It means a lot to me to get kudos from programmers and other developers whom I have great respect for. |
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| I hate most rpgs but i played your demo and really liked it, so ive just ordered the full version and im downloading now, i hope the demo save files work i dont want to start again :OP |
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| Tachyon, it might be an obvious answer but how did you do the lighting? Screen3 It looks more like hardware lights but I remember you saying it was all core Bmax. |
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| i hope the demo save files work i dont want to start again :OP I asked the same about 300 posts ago ;-) and being a pro, Tachyon made sure the saved games carried over fine. |
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| Any chance of starting a new thread on this? Kind of hard now to find people's responses and such :o) |
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| Hey Tachyon, I've finally had time to check this out ... been looking forward to it for ages. As someone said, it's without doubt the most polished Blitz game I've ever seen, and an inspiration to us all! You should be mighty proud, and I hope you sell a silly amount of copies. I have no real criticisms, although I will give a more detailed critique when I've played the full version. Anyway, just wanted to say well done and keep doing what you're doing. You deserve all the success in the world. Jasper |
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| Thanks Sonic. It has sold okay so far, but as with all indie games the problem is getting the word out. Casual game portals won't touch it because it's too "deep" for their audience (that was the actual response from a very large and well-known game portal). Few mainstream game sites bother to run any press release I send out. I can't even get the demo on a cover disc (PC Gamer apparently wants to run the same games multiple months in-a-row rather than give my game even one month.) :( |
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| I think it will be a slow-burner man. People who are into this sort of thing will find it virally (and there are many, especially those who grew up with Ultima like me). I don't think it will date. I really hope so anyway, because I want to believe in indie dev! (Although as it stands I'm going job-hunting when I get back from Tokyo next month - finally calling my ten years in the music industry a day and getting a real job. Then I can afford to buy it haha!) Is there any online mode? That might be interesting, to put your characters head-to head. |
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