Author Topic: Siege of the Heavens v1_07 Released (Epic Adventure With Scripted Boss Fights)  (Read 1014 times)

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               The module itself can be found here.

This module is intended to be reasonably difficult and features scripted boss battles with unique powers.  These powers will kill you if you ignore them or do not react properly.  It is likely you will die a few times before learning how to survive against these abilities, but the only penalty for a respawn is the time lost. You should only play this module if you are willing to handle this type of challenge and work on improving your play.

---------------------------------------

A combined army of devils and demons has assaulted the heavens and the celestial host has been driven back to its stronghold.  Empowered by some of the mightiest archangels and the blessed Cathedral of Light, the  defenders have been able to hold their ground - but it is only a matter of time before the forces of good are overwhelmed through sheer numbers.

In desperation, the celestials have called upon legendary mortal heroes such as yourself to help turn the tide.  The fate of existence itself rests on your shoulders - fail and everything will be reduced to shadow and ash.

Can you accomplish what the angels themselves could not?  Can you prevail against the forces of darkness?  Can you lift the siege of the heavens?

----------------------------------------

Player Review:

"This was my favorite of the submissions, despite the fact that it does some things that in theory I strongly disapprove of. Magical Master has altered some of the normal rules, provided special equipment carefully designed with a thought to play balance, and in general crafted a version of NWN much more console-gamish (or perhaps I should say MMOish, since he mentions being a WoW player) than the standard sort of NWN game. My own approach tends to be more old-school D&Dish, where combat challenge can often be as much a matter of strategically managing resources over a series of encounters as it is about the difficulty of any single enemy, and so I would normally regard some of  the things he does, like providing basically unlimited healing and rest, as anathema.

However, I have to admit that these things actually work within the context of the very different style of gameplay he has fashioned, and he has managed to present me with something I encounter all too rarely in NWN modules: combat that has some real tactical depth and is a serious challenge. For that I am prepared to forgive him a multitude of offenses.

This module centers around 5 difficult boss-fights. Each boss has special scripted powers that the player will not survive unless he can figure out the trick to doing so. In many cases, this same power also has some associated downside for the boss that is actually the key to winning the fight if the player can figure it out. The battles thus require thought, and usually require precise play to survive even after one has figured out the trick to doing so. It was an entertaining experience for someone who likes tactical combat, and the moments when I realized how I could turn the tables in what initially appeared to be completely hopeless situations were very gratifying."

- rogueknight333

----------------------------------------

Siege of the Heavens is a Neverwinter Nights module designed for a level 40 character.  You do not need a level 40 character in your vault, however - you will be leveled up as needed if you join as a lower level character.  Good or neutral alignments probably make more sense, but as long as your character doesn't desire the end of everything, any alignment should work.

Unfortunately, there is an item strip - I simply cannot balance when I do not know whether players will have +1 clubs or +20 vorpal longswords.  Replacement gear is provided, however.  Your character will not be naked or wearing +1 items.  See the mechanical changes section in the ReadMe for more information on, well, mechanical changes (module should be playable without reading that section, it is just there if you want to perfectly fine-tune your character).

Please note that it is *STRONGLY* recommended you have a base Constitution of at least 14 (12 for an Elf or Elven subrace) *AND* get the maximum hit points on each level up.

The adventure itself is primarily action - the story is linear and there are few "roleplay" opportunities.  The focus is on engaging bosses with unique scripted mechanics - you will need to figure out how to defeat each boss.  This is NOT traditional "hack'n'slash" gameplay where you wade through hours of boring and identical foes with slightly more hit points and damage each time.

You may die a few (or many) times while attempting a boss, but do not worry - the boss will simply reset and you can respawn.  The only penalty is a small amount of time to run back.  Boss abilities have a shout, emote, and/or visual to indicate what is occurring, so pay attention to these to figure out why you died.

If you want more detailed information, a list of the bosses and their abilities is provided in the ReadMe(spoilers, obviously).

---------------------------------------

If you want to play the module but aren't comfortable building level 40 characters, there are four premade characters provided in the download: a fighter, rogue, wizard, and cleric.  These are completely optional and you are absolutely encouraged to design your own character. Playing the fighter (Dwarven Waraxe and Shield) and rogue (dual-wielding short swords) should likely be straightforward, but you will need to fill in empty spell slots gained from better gear for the wizard and cleric.  If you look at the spells they have in their spellbook and quickbar by default it should hopefully be clear what additional spells you should memorize (more of the same, basically).

---------------------------------------

Unfortunately, due to the time constraints of the Adventure Building Challenge, you only have half of the final module at the moment.  Once you finish the available content, you will receive an item called Lilanthria's Hope.  Hang onto this, because once the second half of the module is finished you'll be able to use Lilanthria's Hope to skip the first half of the module if you play as a character who possesses it.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 03 novembre 2013 - 06:56 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               See original post.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 12 mars 2013 - 06:48 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               Added a new version that ensures you have 1000 gold, includes a level 40 dwarf fighter as a bic character, and has a few minor bugfixes.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               Added v1_03:

- Selenoth the Hungerer is a potentially less depressing encounter
- Adjusted tuning slightly on Selenoth the Hungerer

--------------------------------------------

Previously added a new version (v1_02).

- Some screenshots on this page
- Retuned Selenoth the Hungerer (third boss). She should be about the same difficulty for high damage characters and significantly easier for lower damage characters.
- Added boss strategies in ReadMe
- Added some missing item descriptions
- Scripted some monk bonuses (described in ReadMe)
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               Word of warning: was testing some stuff and discovered two things -

The current "final" boss (encounter with three enemies) is more difficult than intended for wizards/sorcerers and has a bug that can happen very rarely (bug isn't crippling, just annoying). Working on fixing some stuff for sorcerer/wizard specifically to improve that and other things along with fixing the annoying bug.

Should have v1_04 released tonight or tomorrow.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               v1_04 has been released.

- Mestil's Acid Sheath now reflects damage again (and slightly more than Elemental Shield used to)
- Elemental Shield now only grants protection from boss abilities
- Some minor bug fixes and other behind the scenes work
- Simplified bardic damage reduction (see ReadMe)
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               v1_05 has been released.

- Captain Xer is now less shy

Apparently I introduced a bug in v1_04 while cleaning up something else that made it impossible for the fourth boss to spawn.  My extreme apologies to those who tried to play through the module and couldn't complete it.

rogueknight333 kindly pointed this out earlier today and has a solution if you want to continue from where you were instead of restarting (though restarting would be easier for most):

"I was recently replaying this and ran into a bug in the latest version: when I went to the east to fight Captain Xer, he was nowhere to be found, making it impossible to proceed. It persisted after going back to an earlier save before entering the area, so it seems to be more than a one-time fluke as well. I was able to get around the problem by writing a simple script to spawn in that boss, putting it in my override folder and running it in DebugMode, but it would seem an issue that should be addressed in an update at some point.

P.S. In case anyone else has this problem and wishes to use my method of correcting it, the script I wrote was as follows:

void main()
{
CreateObject(OBJECT_TYPE_CREATURE,"sh_devilcapboss",GetLocation(GetObjectByTag("
POST_sh_devilcapboss")));
}

After running this Captain Xer appeared where he was supposed to be (obvious from a map note where that is and when this should be run), and as far as I could tell everything worked fine subsequently."
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 17 mai 2013 - 01:45 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               Argh.

Again, my extreme apologies.  There IS actually a fourth and fifth boss which you should now be able to fight.

For those wondering how such a large bug occurred, I was splitting the spawning of some creatures and accidentally moved the line spawning the boss inside an if statement.  And while I tested to make sure all of the trash mobs before the boss spawned correctly, I never actually checked the boss since that was working previously.  Stupid of me.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               Some people have mentioned having difficulty with the third boss, so I threw together showing a quick video showing how to beat it (used the "default" character) for anyone struggling:
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 19 mai 2013 - 05:21 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0


               Current planned patch notes for v1_06, updated 9/04 ...

- Frenzy damage from Selenoth the Hungerer reduced (IMPLEMENTED)
- Stone of Binding will allow you to teleport back to the area you used it from instead of simply the area where you died last (IMPLEMENTED)
- Merchant quirk or two will be fixed (he'll buy and sell for 1g instead of selling for 1g and buying for thousands) (IMPLEMENTED)
- Dying on a boss fight will result in a message being sent to the player about the boss's current health (IMPLEMENTED)
- Defeating a boss will result in a message being sent to the player about the fight length (IMPLEMENTED)
- Teleport animation time reduced (IMPLEMENTED)
- Journal entries for more guidance (IMPLEMENTED)
- Some typos fixed (IMPLEMENTED)
- Improve Lilanthria's dialogue at "break-point" (IMPLEMENTED)
- More dramatic boss deaths (IMPLEMENTED)
- Lilanthria won't give surplus plot items (IMPLEMENTED)
- Add autosave at entrance to areas (IMPLEMENTED)
- Some behind the scenes work in making some things smoother (IMPLEMENTED)

Very open to feedback/criticism and other suggestions.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 10 septembre 2013 - 08:44 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0
Siege of the Heavens v1_07 Released (Epic Adventure With Scripted Boss Fights)
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2013, 10:04:40 am »


               So I noticed I had a mini rush of downloads yesterday - if you haven't played the module yet, I'd suggest waiting another day or two so 1_06 is out (see above post for progress on that patch).

That said, if you're super eager most of it is polishing and adding a few little extras - the core experience is unchanged (though you may have difficulty on Selenoth).  Just a public service announcement.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 05 septembre 2013 - 09:04 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0
Siege of the Heavens v1_07 Released (Epic Adventure With Scripted Boss Fights)
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2013, 08:33:07 am »


               Final bug testing in general and tuning passes on Selenoth in particular - hoping to release 1_v06 tomorrow.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0
Siege of the Heavens v1_07 Released (Epic Adventure With Scripted Boss Fights)
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2013, 09:49:41 am »


               The good news is that the v1_06 is done - improved the responsiveness of some scripts and added new features mentioned in the patch notes.

The bad news is that the Vault won't seem to let me actually update it.  I'll update this accordingly when the new version us actually on the Vault.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0
Siege of the Heavens v1_07 Released (Epic Adventure With Scripted Boss Fights)
« Reply #13 on: September 12, 2013, 04:59:47 am »


               v1_06 has been released!  Patch notes...

- Frenzy damage from Selenoth the Hungerer reduced
- Stone of Binding will allow you to teleport back to the area you used it from instead of simply the area where you died last
- Merchant will always buy and sell for 1g
- Dying on a boss fight will result in a message being sent to the player about the boss's current health
- Defeating a boss will result in a message being sent to the player about the fight length
- Teleport animation time reduced
- Journal entries added
- Some typos fixed
- Improve Lilanthria's dialogue at "break-point"
- More dramatic boss deaths
- Lilanthria won't give surplus plot items
- Add autosave at entrance to areas
- Some behind the scenes work in making some things smoother
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 12 septembre 2013 - 04:00 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MagicalMaster

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2712
  • Karma: +0/-0
Siege of the Heavens v1_07 Released (Epic Adventure With Scripted Boss Fights)
« Reply #14 on: September 12, 2013, 05:01:51 am »


               Double post.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par MagicalMaster, 12 septembre 2013 - 04:02 .