Ravenloft: Chapter one, Darkness Rising

apocrs1980

Thank you very much Wesoug,

I wanted to ask the players what they think is more intriguing, There is an event to where "The Lightbringers" enter the church to confront Danovich the fallen priest. In this version of the story an Iconic Character "Ashlyn Lightbringer" is killed by Danovich by a death spell. In terms of tieing in the PC with the story which option do you all feel would make for more enjoyable play?

Option A: you arrive too late and discover bits and pieces of the events that transpired that led up to Ashlyn's death

or

Option B: you arrive to assist Ashlyn and witness her death.

Again, thank you all very much for the comments and feed back!

apocrs1980

Hey there everyone,

Just an update, I'm working towards finishing up my last map for the chapter and wanted to leave a few screen shots of the Graveyard in the Village of Barovia behind the church.

nezthulra

Dude, anyway you can take all of the Ravenloft quests that have been published over the years and create a campaign from them? Would be cool if your could sell them on the Foundry

apocrs1980

Hey there Nezthulra, ultimately that is my plan
I want to have an episodic adventure all culminating to 3 person dungeon raids with the Lord of the realm your currently in the last of which will be a dungeon run in Castle Ravenloft to destroy Strahd once and for all, but that's only after you have found all the pieces of the Sun Sword. If I was able to get paid for the work I did it would defiantly free me up to do nothing but added content for the game, however I believe there are some serious legal issues with that, however, I think if folks were to donate say $0.25 a month with at least 1000 subscribers that would allow me to push out content like crazy. But again I'm not sure of the legal ramifications that would have :P I can not stop people from donating though

Also as a Side project I'm currently working on a old school RPG and I am looking for a programmer! So if anyone knows of one let me know, I'm also working on some 3D and concept art to submit to Cryptic, I would love to produce mass amount of Foundry content for everyone to use in their missions.

Cheers!

Apoc

apocrs1980

Hey all a quick update, chapter 2 will be ready for play in the next few days! If you havent done so yet give chapter one a play so your all caught up! And if your not familiar with the Ravenloft setting now is a great time to check it out

Regards,
Apoc

lolsorhand

I shall play through Ravenloft before I go to bed I believe Looks very promising, I watch Tsumoro's playthrough the first few minutes. Didn't want to spoil anything

delthanin

Nice! Looking forward to it!

apocrs1980

Awesome guys! If your a GF or DC I suggest reading the yellow text in the OP, it will help with the final fight although, it may be easier now that cryptic balanced out the lvl 60 monsters vs PC. Have fun and welcome to the realm of Ravenloft!

lolsorhand

apocrs1980 wrote: »

Awesome guys! If your a GF or DC I suggest reading the yellow text in the OP, it will help with the final fight although, it may be easier now that cryptic balanced out the lvl 60 monsters vs PC. Have fun and welcome to the realm of Ravenloft!

I'll go for the hardest possible, want to try out my purple GWF

Also would be awesome apoc if you could give me your view on part 3 of my campaign!

redneckronin

I loved TT Ravenloft, had a Paladin that rocked, and saved the day in an epic 24h sponsored RPG event my group did.

It was playing through this when I umlocked the Foundry on my first toon that inspired me to have a go at making something in the Foundry.

Now, my campaign isn't up to this standard, but I like to think Part 3 is getting close.

I will be playing this again, because it is that good.

All The Best

apocrs1980

tyvm Ronin,

I had hoped I captured the TT feel of the module so glad you enjoyed it, I'm working hard to make sure ch 2 is even better. I'm sure your modules will rock, we only get better with each project we complete.

apocrs1980

Hey everyone! Apoc here,

I just wanted to let everyone know that chapter 2 is finished and ready for beta testing! Just check under the subscribed tab

Just look for CH 2 Ill Fortunes. Enjoy!

melinden

Woo hoo, I'll let my guild know, we've been waiting for this one!

apocrs1980

Thanks Melinden I hope that Chapter 2 surpasses chapter 1 in both immersion and story.

redneckronin

apocrs1980 wrote: »

Hey everyone! Apoc here,

I just wanted to let everyone know that chapter 2 is finished and ready for beta testing! Just check under the subscribed tab

Just look for CH 2 Ill Fortunes. Enjoy!

Well, that's me sorted for this evening.

Guess my project can head to the back-burner for a day.

Because if this is even half as good as part one it will be a delight to play.

All The Best

apocrs1980

Thanks for the compliment ronin I really do appreciate it,
I hope it's to your liking

karitr

Immense is definitely the word :eek:

I literally got chills traversing some areas - how in the weeds (thanks del ) does greenery manage to get this sinister and creepy?

You do a fabulous job creating just the right ambience and I loved the amount of back story you have added to this chapter.

I would say get someone to proof-read the story board for you as there are still many typos that need to be corrected. There was one other issue right at the end that you may know about but I will PM you with it anyway (to avoid spoilers).

For now I think I shall have to light a scented candle to get the stench of undead from my nostrils and make a cup of cocoa to warm my chilled bones. Great job!

redneckronin

OK, this is simply just amazing.

The hand-crafted environments are second to none - they are jaw-droppingly brilliant in their complexity, attention to detail, atmosphere - everything.

I'll not post any spoilers, but will just say the "Church Transition and Escape" just have to be seen to be believed - a four-storey custom built building that is pure brilliance.

Story is equally excellent, and there are some nice "longer texts" that are optional but add so much to the story that it would be a shame to deliberately pass them by.

The whole thing evokes Ravenloft brilliantly.

Am sending a PM with typos etc.

All The Best

apocrs1980

Thank you so much ronin I'm glad those few months of work were worth it ^.^

It was painstaking to build but I was very happy with the end result

As a side note, yesterday I moved the end chest over next to the church, can anyone confirm for me that it is indeed by the church doors? I had been getting reports that it is still where you have the fina fight.

Thanks

karitr

It was still near the final fight when I finished your quest yesterday, but I played it in the evening UK time and it could have possibly been in my journal for a few hours before being played. So it's more than likely the pre-edited version I played. I'd check for you, but it is raid night in Europe in my other MMO.

redneckronin

apocrs1980 wrote: »

Thank you so much ronin I'm glad those few months of work were worth it ^.^

It was painstaking to build but I was very happy with the end result

As a side note, yesterday I moved the end chest over next to the church, can anyone confirm for me that it is indeed by the church doors? I had been getting reports that it is still where you have the fina fight.

Thanks

OK, I played it mid-morning UK time; but I'd had the quest in my quest-log since I picked it up, just after you posted about it here, so like Karitr I am sure I was playing the pre-edit version.

All The Best

lolsorhand

Really liked it Apoc, I will replay it in a day or two and give my rating. (Game crashed as I opened the chest >.>)

pure711

Hello again, Mr. Apoc!

Was looking forward to the next quest and you delivered. Details and use of dynamic lighting was profound. The fact that you spent a significant amount of time on these maps was very evident. Loved the incorporation of allies into the battles. I liked the history story about the love triangle found in one of the books. That little spell book on the church floor explaining the “process” was almost disturbing detailed… love it. (hopefully that wasn’t written from experience!) The church environment was beautiful. Loved the church dialogue scene with the use of effects and animations.

And here’s a bunch of minor fixes/polish:

**Just as a disclaimer, some of these “stuck” spots won’t be found by the typical 1-spammer player, but some of the more explore oriented ones will definitely find them. How much of these you actually decide to fix is obviously up to you**

-Opening Scene, NPC named “Barovian Woman #1” next to cart
-I did notice others mention problems with fog, but understanding the foundry is limited in tweaking the exact amount of fog and draw distances, I thought the fog was fine. You could consider lightening it if you wanted, but I didn’t think it was horrible.
-Bartender dialogue, “As Arik finishes cleaning down the last mug in the line(,) he then grabs…”
-Barovian history vol 4, “…poor condition when he found it(,) but he had….” ---- “The Land(.)”

---

“thieves(,) and cowards” ---- “recogni(z)ed” ----“complicated spell though but (erase ‘but’)” --- “He watched as his refelction (reflection)” --- “generally keeping themselves to themselves” (phrasing??) ----
-Ismark dialogue, “where these crusaiders (spelling) found them…” ---
“our accommodations were no(t) to your liking.” ---- “find a group of adventurers called “The Lightbringers(,)” they have….” ---- Danovich resides there, yet no one has he(a)rd from him….” ---- “knowledge (capitalize) gained from them would allow you….” ---- “Response: Rozalina(,) who is that?”
-Stuck area: Upon entering the map “northern district” there is a house skeleton on the left. You can walk right through the structure, end up inside, and then hop over a wall to get to the outside area of your map. Forced reset. http://imgur.com/5jsi8UE&SYfcjVO#1
-Barovian History Vol 5, “Thier Place in the world:” (spelling/caps) --- “not strictly organizedand (space)” --- “themmembership benefits (space)” ---- “diffuse nature of the organization meansthat (space)” --- “through few can claim completeknowledge (space)” ---- “gather Information (caps)(extra comma) on history, local knowledge….”
-Rozaline dialogue ---- Response: “….Lightbringers carrying detailing it’s exist(e)nce.”
-I noticed the sword in the story being referred to as the Sun Sword and the Sunsword in different dialogues.
-Songa dialogue, “[NICNAME], we will be healed soon…”
-You can get into the house and around the barrier as soon as you enter the map by hopping up a wall. Basically you can get inside this area before ever doing anything on this map. Entry is here: http://imgur.com/QBskSkN
-There’s a vine looking tree outside the left side of the church door that’s hanging way off the wall that could be slightly rotated
-I’m not sure if the Zelda roof scaling was intentional, but this roof is easily hopped on to from the roof below it and this opens up the entire left side’s back end of the map. A plethora of stuck spots exist here in which I’ve had to /killme tons of times out of getting stuck in various places. http://imgur.com/JdYzws8
-Some miscellaneous details that could be deleted behind walls http://imgur.com/OHpc20q
-Add invisible block or heighten it so users can’t get access to this area and jump into off map areas: http://imgur.com/2QhVGax
-Speak with ashlyn dialogue – Danovich: “Yes me son, no one will take…” (me son?)
-Corpse of Ashlyn Lightbringer, (look for any weapons) (capitalize) --- “….bonding ritual, with a more precious offerings(.)”
-Danovich’s Journal – “his faith (unwavering)”
-System notify: “Using the latter (ladder), you manage to….”
-Interact box: “Lite (light) the incense”
-Song dialogue, “(A)s the blaspheme raises (its) arms and screeches….” --- “(We’re) with you….”
-Objective, “lite the final insense” spelling
-Objective, “speak with songa” capitalize
-Songa Dialogue, “…..bunch of useless junk, but who knows, wh…” text limit?
-While the graveyard was highly detailed, it felt a little shallow beneath the church and the northern district, perhaps since the zone was absent of interactables/lore. Maybe adding some to the graves or some other objects in the area?
-Outside the northern brazier area in the grass, there is an invisible wall that awkwardly protrudes outwards
-The combat difficulty overall at level 60 was fairly easy, if anything…maybe too easy. Especially with having all the guardians with you for the harder fights. This is particularly noted in the final boss fight. Especially compared to your prequel, this boss fight was really undertoned in comparison. I almost felt sort of a, “wait..that was it?” feeling at the end.

Again, great job with your quest. Looking forward to the next.

apocrs1980

Thanks pure!
I have made all these changes but I have run in to a very serious bug, whenever I publish the quest it no longer published the updated version, only the older version with all of the errors.
I have tried everything, even unpublished, waited for the quest to no longer show in the catalog, and then doing a republish...still same results, only the older version posts.
I'm at a loss, I have taken all of the quests down for now and deleted the campaign, I am hoping after a longer period of time that I can get the newer version to publish. here is to hoping

redneckronin

apocrs1980 wrote: »

Thanks pure!
I have made all these changes but I have run in to a very serious bug, whenever I publish the quest it no longer published the updated version, only the older version with all of the errors.
I have tried everything, even unpublished, waited for the quest to no longer show in the catalog, and then doing a republish...still same results, only the older version posts.
I'm at a loss, I have taken all of the quests down for now and deleted the campaign, I am hoping after a longer period of time that I can get the newer version to publish. here is to hoping

Mmmm, strange.

I've been tweaking and publishing mine for the last 3 hours or so. Had no problems, and updates are going live.

Hope you get it sorted soon.


All The Best

lolsorhand

Here's to hope

apocrs1980

Alright, republished the quest as a copy hopefully, issues are fixed.

apocrs1980

Still doesn't show up in the catalog, and even more bizzar the original copy is still getting plays. I dunno what's going on.

apocrs1980

Okay!! It's finally working, but will only show in the catalog with the short code until it gets some plays, if people wouldn't mind helping me out I just need a few play throughs.
The new short code is NW-DEUJ7PVCO

Ver 1.05 Patch notes:

* Numerous fixes to the dialogue including grammatical errors, syntax errors, and spelling errors.
Letters and books read should now appear as OOC.

* Invisible walls have been revamped so that the Northern District is no longer exploitable.
The invisible wall in the graveyard has been adjusted so that it is no longer annoying.

* Encounters on the second floor of the church should no longer be able to be pulled to the 1st floor by abilities such as Singularity.

* Mini event has been retooled so that players do not accidently overwhelm themselves with enemies whilst trying to escape the Understory of the church.

* NPC's should no longer have numbers after their names (ie. Barovian Woman #2)

* The last fight has had it's difficulty adjusted, it should now feel truly like an epic boss fight, complete with added FX

* There are no longer duplicates of the Lightbringers (Hobbs, Tran, and Leopold) once you have finished the ending dialogue with Songa.

* The end reward chest was moved next to the church exit to prevent players from having to go back and forth.

* Flavor text has been added to various gravestones in the graveyard, all are humorous to read.

saerrael

Awesome! I'll hop to when I've patched my my Q2.

Edit: you may wish to correct the short key you posted, I found your quest under NW-DEUJ7PVCO , not NW-DEJU7PVCO .