Hearkenwold

Discuss user created adventure modules
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slowdive
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by slowdive »

Looks and sounds great! It also sounds like you are making good progress and maybe slightly ahead of projected schedule. I like the new conversation layout. Is it a module setting or a player setting for choosing the convo layout?
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

The conversation layout is an option in the main menu, under Display Options. It can be toggled between the two by the player, at any point during the game. It also affects the big image narration screen as well.

Regarding progress, if I wanted to be optimistic, I think I could finish by the end of August. But some of the branching conversations are quite long (KotC2 does not have the feature to link to previous nodes, like IceBlink or Neverwinter Nights) and I want to leave enough time to complete everything. If I go three weeks into September, it's still the end of summer!
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

August Update

I am in the middle of finishing up the Edinmoor conversion into the Knights of the Chalice 2 engine, and just uploaded a new video to give a peek at some of the upcoming content. Here, the party is making their way through a Villa/Estate of a minstrel, and run into some of his unfriendly associates. The battle did not go well on account of the enemy spellcasters getting their turn before our cleric could silence them or even finish them off. Still, our paladin was able to pull out a win as the sole survivor, but the casualties were high.

I would have re-fought this encounter, however I think it serves as a good demonstration of what the enemy AI is capable of, if not kept in check.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxY0MVKqe9U

In addition to new content for Hearkenwold, the Knights of the Chalice 2 engine has been getting numerous changes by way of class upgrades to Barbarians, Rogues and Monks. These have been incorporated into the module, so in the next version, enemies of such class types will be tougher.
Here are a couple of screens from elsewhere in the module showing barbarian bugbears that now have access to "Spirit Animals" (a feature that grants different special abilities) and have a sonic breath weapon.

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Finally, one of the puzzles that appears in the Augury of Chaos module is a type of coded message. The kind where you have to figure out what letter of the alphabet a rune represents, and try to solve it. Sometimes the player gets a couple of words as a starting point, and you can work it out from there. I was able make use of this in the upcoming Ednmoor adventure, where a particular document was written in code. It will be up to the player to figure out the message.

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Edinmoor should be complete in the next few weeks, although I still need to do some testing. And there are other fixes or improvements to the Hearkenwold module I am adding after receiving great feedback from players. So I am still aiming for an end of August release, but if it happens to slip into early September, that still counts as summer!
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slowdive
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by slowdive »

Looking great! That was a funny video. The casters were not messing around :lol:
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

Thanks, slowdive. I should mention that of course, all this content is in the IceBlink version of the module already. It is interesting that the IceBlink counterpart of the mages also have web, stinking cloud and fireball in their spell selection. Or at least they should. I will make sure to check that.
Pongo
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Pongo »

Loved the video! Those spell casters were proper nasty. I enjoy all the race/class specific convo options you add in as well, helps set a good tone for the adventure.
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

Thank you, Pongo, I appreciate the feedback. I think the different character dialogue choices are a big part of the experience. Some times, they are just one-off comments, which help give a little personality to a party member. And in more drawn-out conversations, these options can lead to varied responses.
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

September Update

I just released a new version of Hearkenwold for Knights of the Chalice 2, which now includes the Edinmoor adventure. I also took the opportunity to make a lot of fixes and improvements based on feedback I have received. If anyone is has KotC2, the module can be downloaded here:

https://www.nexusmods.com/knightsofthechalice2/mods/5

A couple of screenshots featuring new interactions with NPCs.

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At this point, I am ready to go back to working Iceblink. As I alluded to earlier, I need to continue the main adventure arc, which is definitely for higher level characters. And I will also add some other content as part of the larger map. I'm not certain how much I will get done this month, but hope to make at least a start, and have something to show in the next update.
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slowdive
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by slowdive »

Sounds great! I have been doing some coding on the weekends as time permits and streaming coding sessions on Sunday afternoons when I can. So some progress on my end, but slow :D
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

slowdive wrote: Sat Sep 03, 2022 3:54 pm I have been doing some coding on the weekends as time permits and streaming coding sessions on Sunday afternoons when I can.
I caught some of the coding stream on youtube. Always interesting to see. It's a good idea, I've often wondered what it would be like to make a video of building a module, the sort of under the hood work that goes on in producing content.
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