Knights of the Chalice II - Version 1.11

[HiddenX]

Shamroxor spotted patch 1.11 for Knights of the Chalice II:

Update #44: KotC 2 Version 1.11 Adds High-Res Sprites For All Monsters!

Hello everyone! Version 1.11 of KotC 2 Augury of Chaos is now available for download here for both Windows and macOS. The main change is the addition of new animated sprites for monsters. Hurray! ^_^

With the addition of monster sprites from Pioneer Valley Games, the KotC 2 file size has now increased from about 1 GB to about 2 GB. I have now assigned a sprite to all the characters and monsters.

I did my best to find a matching sprite for all the creatures even though we're missing sprites for some of them. We're missing the Giant Snake, Snakeman, Giant Frog, Evil Eye, Psionic Beetle, Rust Monster, Giant Crab, Formian, Giant Scorpion, Gorgon, Hydra, Roc, Mimic, Mummy, Gelatinous Cube, Vrock, Marilith, Mantis and Centaur. I'll hire someone to create additional sprites after the game is on Steam. Right now, I think it's better for me to focus on the other remaining things needed by the game.

Winged characters can now have black, red, blue, green or white wings.

Skeletons deserve a special mention as they exist as both stand-alone monster sprites and modular character sprites. Modular sprites are for characters, they are designed to allow the display of weapons and armour on top of the character's body.

You'll find the 'Skeleton' option in the list of body types, which can be found either in the editor when you look at the Creature Properties screen and click on the 'Sprite' button, or in the character sheet of party members when you click on the token image in the top-left corner of the sheet (out of combat).

In addition to sprites, I've added hundreds of new dialogue icons that can be accessed within the Script Editor. Those icons are displayed in the top-left corner of the screen when talking to NPCs.

Now that the game has sprites for both characters and monsters, it can be played from start to finish with the 'Display Creatures Using Animated Sprites' option turned on.

Of course, I did some combat tests yesterday and I noticed a bunch of graphical glitches when playing with the sprites, such as the Confusion effect being displayed on the legs of a character rather than the head, or the 'item destruction' text being displayed right on top of the name of the item being destroyed. I will fix these issues soon, together with a bug I've just noticed when the AI uses the Slide action.

I also noticed an issue with player-character pathfinding in version 1.10. I've fixed it in version 1.11.

Some of the game options were somewhat hidden in version 1.10. I've added drop-down icons in the game-options screen in order to make it clearer that for some options, such as accelerated combat, you need to click on the option to display a selection box with the various choices.

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More information.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Wow, this looks much more like something I'd like to play now! Huge difference to add those sprites!

 

[Carnifex]

Nod, looks like a lot of positive changes have been made. Keep the faith, folk, this entry should be glorious!

 

[forgottenlor]

Yeah, Pioneer Valley Games makes good art. Mostly they sell it to RPGMaker developers, but I've seen their stuff used in other games as well. It was a good idea to make use of their sprites, its quality art at a very reasonable cost.

 

[Morrandir]

Very nice. Looks like an actual game now.

 

[lackblogger]

Yes indeed. With my preview nearly complete now, just one more episode to go, I'll do an epilogue and show some screenshots and descriptions of the user-friendliness of these new additions after that.

 

[Ripper]

Yeah, Pioneer Valley Games makes good art. Mostly they sell it to RPGMaker developers, but I've seen their stuff used in other games as well. It was a good idea to make use of their sprites, its quality art at a very reasonable cost.

Yes, I think it's great these kind of asset-makers can make a living this way, and I think this is a good illustration how they can be used effectively and economically, to really transform a project.

 

[henriquejr]

Has this game been released yet?

 

[Carnifex]

You can play an early access version right now, I believe, but the full game itself hasn't been released as of yet.

 

[Darkheart]

Sprites are fine and all, but did they change the one-hit party wipes in later stages of the game?

 

[bjon045]

The early access version is "full" in that you can play till the end of the game. Although I wouldn't recommend it. I backed the kickstarter at the paladin level and i've played a bit but their were just too many bugs and balance issues at this stage for me to continue. I'm a big fan of the first one (completed it) and I'm hoping one day kotc2 gets to the same level of polish.

 

[lackblogger]

yes, there's no open early access at this point, there's only access for people who have kickstarted the project.

 

[Morrandir]

Do they already have a release date?

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

It was a good idea to make use of their sprites, its quality art at a very reasonable cost.

Pierre knows a little something about this. Did you read his little story about gathering roots and berries to eat during development?

 

[Ripper]

Yeah, I hope his sales mean he's no longer foraging in the woods. He's an eccentric chap, but he's clearly committed to delivering what he promised.

 

[screeg]

Did you read his little story about gathering roots and berries to eat during development?

The stuff of gaming legend...

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

I kept thinking about this game last night, as I played another fine implementation of D&D rules in Kingmaker, but now I'm into my turn-based, neutral-evil-Inquisitor-pet-class playthrough. I've enjoyed my couple of sessions with it, even with the tokens, instead of the sprites. Reminds me of playing on graph paper.

 

[vanedor]

When 1.0 was released last year, it was the complete version. But the development continue... Not sure what he is going to call the released version, exactly. Perhaps when he is going to manage to put it on Steam?

 

[forgottenlor]

When 1.0 was released last year, it was the complete version. But the development continue… Not sure what he is going to call the released version, exactly. Perhaps when he is going to manage to put it on Steam?

I think so, when it hits Steam it will reach its biggest audience. I think the developer is fine tuning it up until that point.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

I don't think I've read him even mention Steam yet, outside of the first game already being available there for you sprite purists. I believe he has already passed a self-imposed deadline to get it up on GOG. I hope this stuff comes next after the sprites, as I'd like to read a little story about Pierre skipping the roots for at least one night to go out for a steak.