Development Info English Sacred 1.7 patch very soon

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Encore Software; Sacred

<A href="http://www.ascaron.de">Ascaron</a>'s <b>Mirko Worsley</b> posted <A href="http://forum.sacredeng.ascaron-net.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19384&perpage=15&pagenumber=2">this message</a> in the <A href="http://forum.sacredeng.ascaron-net.com/">English forum</a> for <A href="http://www.sacred-game.com">Sacred</a> talking about the final release of the full blown, non-beta <b>1.7 patch</b>. Here's the mixed bag on the subject:
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<blockquote><u>Today, Patch 1.7 final will be released to the community</u>. That makes a stepping stone for us internally because the programmers can take a short breather before moving on to the development of the free addon due next month. <u>This also marks the complete demise for Campaign games in closed</u>. The reason for this decision is a little more complicated, but I am going to try and relay it here. Campaign games are quest orientated, and especially in closed, where password protection of servers is not allowed (to provide playing slots for as many people as possible) there are players that would like to just cause havok. The save system is not designed to work against that, nor is it equipped to continue the game like you would in single player because your quest information, map information etc. is saved and can be prone to cheating. Saving all that we can on the character save file (which is stored on the lobby server) we have eliminated a cheat problem. Sure, the outcome is not positive to those attempting to play campaign on close but for the greater good we felt it was in the best interest of supporting a cheat free enviroment.</blockquote>
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Good news, the patch should be available soon. The bad news is they're removing part of the multiplayer functionality from Closed Multiplayer.
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So, what's the hold up? In <A href="http://forum.sacredeng.ascaron-net.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=163537#post163537">another thread</a>, you have <b>Mirko Worsley</b> saying this:
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<blockquote>The final patch will include the complete fixlist, and also go through what has changed since 1.66.
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I know I also said the patch would be here today, however, we are still waiting on feedback from Encore before we can proceed.</blockquote>
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Stupid, lousy publishing contractual obligations. Kind of a shame <A href="http://www.encoresoftware.com/">Encore</a> even gets a say in the patch considering how borked the North American version is compared to what the Europeans get. North Americans get no gore which makes the <i>Wood Elf's Exploding Arrows</i> and zombie deaths look really lame, no really useful map which shows a lot of stuff that I've been scratching my head over where to find it, no color manual, and so forth.
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[Major_Blackhart]

Strange how they make a big deal with us when we usually don't give a rats ass about violence. Is Encore a US publisher or a Euro/Asian one entering the US?

 

[Sol Invictus]

It's an American publisher. European (specifically German) publishers have thus far been the only anti-blood propegators, mainly due to government restrictions and not because of anything other than that. As far as I know, most games released in Germany these days have blood in them, and are saleable so long as retailers don't hawk them to kiddies. It has only really been an issue of American publishers exporting their products to Europe that overreact to the regulations and self-impose these nagging little censors, so you'll notice why JoWood's games tend to contain blood while Atari products released in Germany/Europe tend to be relatively bloodless.

Most Asian countries do not have any censorship for games, other than banning X-rated games, which is prefectly understandable. We usually get the uncensored US versions when it comes to imports.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

X-Rated games? I didn't know they actually banned them in asia.

 

[Jed]

I always figured that's where they all came from...

 

[Sol Invictus]

Japan != Asia

Anyway, I hope Encore says 'no'. We'll watch the reaction from the British buyers.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

It is kind of interesting they're holding up the International English version for the North American English version. It's a pity, too, since 1.7 beta 3 is pretty nice. If the game had been released in the state 1.7 is currently, there would have been a lot less bitching about it.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Really? I look forward to it then.

Hurry the fuck up, Encore.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Things I've noticed that's been improved:

• Items now have regeneration of combat arts bonuses on some of them. YAY!
• Combat Art runes also give other bonuses as well, making it better to actually use them in weapon and armor sockets.
• Skulls are now sockettable. Meaning that 5-16 damage skull you were wondering why anyone would use as a weapon can now be placed in a proper weapon or armor.
• Set items are no longer fixed value items. That means that if you're a level 23 gladiator, and you find a gladiator set helmet, it will be geared for your level.
• Quests now sometimes give rings, combat art runes and other things in addition to money and experience.
• Rares and uniques can be found at lower levels and are appropriate for that level.
• Item fields can adjust damage, defense, and other properties based on a skill level or attribute amount. Items with this field tend to get better as you advance.
• Monsters that are UBEREASY versus your level won't bother trying to attack you because they ph34r j00.
• More random quests and all quests now give you the little compass thingy, which was broken in 1.6.
• Addition of Survival Bonus. The less you die, the more damage you'll do. So, dying is actually has a penalty. This bonus just adds to your capacity for damage dealing,

That's just all I've noticed or been told about.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Survival Bonus also adds to your ability to find phat lewt. Think of it as Sacred's take on the Magic Find property in Diablo II.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

Addition of Survival Bonus. The less you die, the more damage you'll do. So, dying is actually has a penalty. This bonus just adds to your capacity for damage dealing,


Shouldn't be the other way around, for people who are bad at the game. Won't that just make it increasingly hard every time you die.

 

[Sol Invictus]

No, that would be exploitative. Being rewarded for failure is exactly what drives a poor system. If people were rewarded for their laziness like they are in some countries most people would be unemployed and subsequently the entire economy will turn to shit.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yeah, if it was the opposite, you could just run naked in to hazardous areas several dozen times and become more powerful by being a suicide lemming. The way it is now, it makes you not want to die, which is the point. Dying isn't cool and there should be a penalty.