KickStarter Lords of Xulima

[Grunker]

Same for me currently, the Soldier is awesome. What it needs is skill points and some help, but if you make sure to focus some coins and exploration bonuses for it, it's just great.

 

[cw8]

Lvl 24. Right, thats enough, no more.

It went from great to good to godawful. Continuing playing feels like a chore.

I'm level 37 atm. That's basically how my opinion of the game went along. Way too much combat. Sidequests aren't interesting as well. I'm gonna try to finish the game though.

 

[Pope Amole II]

Yeah I've found the same my Arcane Soldier by far my best single target damage dealer....No one else comes even close....I basically lvled no mage skills so far other then flaming strike. On bosses arcane soldier borderline op. When I killed the last witch (the 3rd one) my arcane soldier stacked up about 180ish burning and 30 bleed in a couple rounds.

Well, I was judging it by looking at his skills (not enough time to test everything, obviously) and they shouldn't do that much. They probably scale through either agility (which is kinda hinted at, but only slightly) or weapon quality. Dunno if it is a bug or a feature - the game is not exactly user-friendly in these issues.

 

[Applypoison]

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/lords-of-xulima-made-for-me.html

Almost two years ago, when I was in the midst of Tangled Tales, an anonymous poster commented and said that, inspired by my blog, he decided to create an RPG called Lords of Xulima. He linked to the blog of the studio developing it, Numantian Games. I was suspicious of the comment, given that the linked site (worth reading) referred to my blog as a "book." As it violated my comment rules anyway, I deleted the post and suggested that "it felt a lot like the author had simply plugged my name into that location and then tried to use my blog for free advertising."

Two years later, I feel kind of bad about that:



It turns out that the "book" thing was just a mistranslation (the developer is Spanish) and the developer really is a big fan. In an e-mail exchange a few days ago, Numantian Games director Jesús Arribas said that if not for my blog, "Lords of Xulima wouldn't exist." He also offered me some free Steam keys, so I absolutely had to check out the game. [...]

In basic design, Xulima feels a lot like an Infinity Engine game, with an oblique angle view as you march across some absolutely gorgeous terrain. Although you really need a mouse for fine-tuning, most of the commands have comfortably redundant buttons and keyboard shortcuts. Any part of the terrain--chests, corpses, plants, tree stumps, wells, and so forth--can have some kind of loot or encounter tied to it, so you have to move your cursor around to find those that you can interact with. Some people find this interface torturous, but I rather like it; it feels like you're truly exploring as you move around.

First impressions, worth a full read.

 

[Jaesun]

Got 2 Levels from storming the 1st Prince's castle.

 

[4249]

Finished the game today, took me 57 hours according to Steam. There is some fluff in that time though. I was expecting a majestic score screen like in Might & Magic, but the score was just a tiny sidebar next to the credits .

I played with my blindly started group(barb, arcane soldier and thief in front, mage, gaulen and a priest in the back) from start to finish on the old-school veteran difficulty and have to agree that the game is at it's best in the first 20-25 hours. After that the challenge starts diluting greatly and even with a fairly suboptimal party it becomes kind of a chore. Towards the end the amount of stat bonuses your characters get started feeling a really ridiculous and nothing was really challenging and pretty bad on the HP bloat side. Fiddling with equipment also lost all meaning towards the end.

Even with the game somewhat going down the gutter towards the end, I can't say it bored me too much at any point. Maybe being unable to play long sessions helped on that front.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

So i picked it up again, continued where i left off after a break. The mages are getting even better with the aoe, and since i got a lot of spare points, i managed to level up their passives. almost lvl 30 now, clearing the 3rd castle. Gaulen still a massive shitter in combat, since i still got to lvl his OTHER passives first

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Seems i got enough xp to lvl to at least 30-31. atm lvl 25, but holding the lvls every time until i get enough cash to pay for at least 2 skillups. That ways i level slower but got more skills per lvl.

 

[Neku]

Any ETA on the Linux version, Applypoison? I sure would love to give this game a try!

 

[cw8]

So i picked it up again, continued where i left off after a break. The mages are getting even better with the aoe, and since i got a lot of spare points, i managed to level up their passives. almost lvl 30 now, clearing the 3rd castle. Gaulen still a massive shitter in combat, since i still got to lvl his OTHER passives first

Wouldn't hurt to put like 5 points to Venom Strike, and then Gaulen becomes great in combat. The rogue's the massive shitter in combat except when he's throwing stars, (which still misses occassionally) but they're not unlimited.

 

[Jaesun]

Finally able to kill those MUSHROOM ASSHOLES.... so. damn. satisfying....

 

[Grunker]

That witch - Yoranwa - is she on the actual Velengard map?

 

[Pope Amole II]

That witch - Yoranwa - is she on the actual Velengard map?

Nope, she's west from Sorrentia.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

So i picked it up again, continued where i left off after a break. The mages are getting even better with the aoe, and since i got a lot of spare points, i managed to level up their passives. almost lvl 30 now, clearing the 3rd castle. Gaulen still a massive shitter in combat, since i still got to lvl his OTHER passives first

Wouldn't hurt to put like 5 points to Venom Strike, and then Gaulen becomes great in combat. The rogue's the massive shitter in combat except when he's throwing stars, (which still misses occassionally) but they're not unlimited.

Yeah thats the plan as soon as i max 2 other skills!

Btw listened to Pope's advice and didnt gather a single herb node till i dinged 30 in herbalism (got lucky and found 3 books on it). And its a MASSIVE bonus. 100% chance to get 5 herbs from EACH node, DAMN!

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

With the idea being what, making combat boring or becoming OP?

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Becoming OP of course.

Ok lvl 39 now, 4 x Inferno is TEH LULZ XD

Gaulen is also a good fighter now

 

[Grunker]

Why not just use cheats? What's the difference?

 

[Pope Amole II]

Why not just use cheats? What's the difference?

Hmmm, I have a strong deja vu feeling that I've already seen you using the same exact phrase somewhere in these threads... Too lazy to search, though.

Anyway, it doesn't really make you OP - it's a nice reward but, the way Xulima's stats work, neither +15 (at best) stats & skillpoints your party will gain from doing so won't really change anything. Diminishing returns galore, y'know. So it's just a maneuver that rewards you something extra and good rewards is something that this game sorely lacks.

Another thing is that, past the honeymoon stage, you become OP anyways and the combat grinds to halt anyways, so what's the point of trying to be fair with it? At least with bigger stats it'll end quicker.

 

[Grunker]

Why not just use cheats? What's the difference?

Hmmm, I have a strong deja vu feeling that I've already seen you using the same exact phrase somewhere in these threads... Too lazy to search, though.

I have no idea why, since I've never said anything like that, but I am of the belief that using exploits to make games significantly easier so that they pose no challenge is the same things as cheats. I don't look down on it or anything, you can do whatever you want with your game, I just don't get why people think exploits and cheats are different (and thus don't get people who enjoy doing one but think it cheap to do the other).

Anyway, it doesn't really make you OP

I wouldn't know, I haven't done it. I was taking it from the horse's mouth:

its a MASSIVE bonus.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Probably any game can be abused in similar ways. Personally I try to avoid OP stuff unless as Pope says my main interest is just finishing it to see all the content. Occasionally I might do that if I find my joy wavering.

I find that happens when I spend too much time on a game without turning to something else for a while. I have taken to playing 3-4 games at a time and alternate between them so as to minimize the OD factor sucking the joy out of it. 5-10 hour chunks keeps it fresh by the time I get back around to it. I also try to leave off at a point where something exciting is about to happen.

I am 15 hours into Xulima now and have moved onto Shadow for Mordor for a bit. Then I need to circle back around to Banner Saga which I haven't played in a while but is coming to a head.

 

[Pope Amole II]

I have no idea why, since I've never said anything like that, but I am of the belief that using exploits to make games significantly easier so that they pose no challenge is the same things as cheats. I don't look down on it or anything, you can do whatever you want with your game, I just don't get why people think exploits and cheats are different (and thus don't get people who enjoy doing one but think it cheap to do the other).

That depends on the scale of exploit, of course. While maximizing the herb amount is really pleasant (hence the capse-locked praise), it's not nearly on the level of, say, navarro APA rush. I just feels good. It's also counterbalanced by the fact that, pre level 30, you're not gaining any herbs so you're somewhat weaker there - it's less of exploit and more of investment.

And, well, while I won't argue with such logic, it only has its place in a finely tuned game where there's an actual challenge. Since the later parts of Xulima are clearly designed by using the "just ctrl+c, ctrl+v more shit here" approach, I don't see much sin in screwing with them.

 

[thesheeep]

I have no idea why, since I've never said anything like that, but I am of the belief that using exploits to make games significantly easier so that they pose no challenge is the same things as cheats. I don't look down on it or anything, you can do whatever you want with your game, I just don't get why people think exploits and cheats are different (and thus don't get people who enjoy doing one but think it cheap to do the other).

Seriously? It is not that hard...

Cheat = Making the game easier in an artificial way without playing it
Exploit = Making the game easier by playing it in a certain way not intended (but not prohibited) by the developers

Not that hard, is it.
An exploit still requires you to work for it (sometimes more, sometimes less), while a cheat requires no work at all and gives instant boosts. Hence a cheat is considered super lazy.
An exploit also (sometimes) requires in-depth knowledge of the game, and thus finding and using exploits may increase your e-penis. By understanding an exploit, you have proven to have at least some knowledge. A cheat has nothing to understand, they are usually dev tools left in the game.

That herb collecting exploit is a good example as it actually requires more work than "usual" playing doing it, as you need to backtrace all those areas.

 

[Jaesun]

I restarted my party.

So it begins....

 

[Grunker]

I have no idea why, since I've never said anything like that, but I am of the belief that using exploits to make games significantly easier so that they pose no challenge is the same things as cheats. I don't look down on it or anything, you can do whatever you want with your game, I just don't get why people think exploits and cheats are different (and thus don't get people who enjoy doing one but think it cheap to do the other).

Seriously? It is not that hard...

Cheat = Making the game easier in an artificial way without playing it
Exploit = Making the game easier by playing it in a certain way not intended (but not prohibited) by the developers

Not that hard, is it.

It is, at most, a semantic difference in many cases. Not in this one as Pope clearly says, but are you playing the game if you're infinity-grinding monsters with bugged respawns in KotOR2?

Anyway, it's not like I give a shit, I'm just curious that some people need to rationalize their cheating to themselves.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Tbh i dont consider it a cheat or a exploit, more of a investment (as Pope said). Tbh picking up herbs as you find em or witholding until you get max lvl herbalism is a choice, tbh.

I have never used cheats before in any game.

Ive played for 30 lvl (28 to be exact, since i found 2 books for herbalism) without any bonus from the herbs and holding back lvls till i get enough cash for 2 skillups at least. I consider that intentional gimping with a promise for future benefits.

The accumulated herbs do provide a MASSIVE bonus to a single players stats if he eats em all or a decent boost to a party overall.

I'm lvl 42 at the moment, and as mentioned before, the game itself has devolved into a series of 4x infernoes to drop mobs (in this case, them annoying demons) as soon as possible. It has a certain satisfaction to it, due to them giving me some trouble (pp leech, anyone?) before.