Update #68: KotC 2 Version 1.57 Adds Weather Effects + Update on World Map + Second Place RPG Codex GOTY!
Hi everyone! I hope you're well. The latest version of KotC 2 is version 1.57. It can be
downloaded here for both Windows and macOS. It can also be downloaded on
Steam and
GOG.
The latest version of the game adds the following (please scroll down for all the details of the update):
- Moving-water special effects. To see them, you'll have to activate the option 'Display Moving Water Animation' under 'Display' in the Game Options screen.
- Four types of weather special effects: Rain, Snow, Falling Leaves, and Glows (Will-of-the-wisps).
- A new option to display the mouse cursor while moving items in the Inventory Screen.
- A new option to adjust the walk speed out of combat. This may make movement smoother.
Preview image from The Dark Arena.
KotC 2 gets Second Place in RPG Codex GOTY 2022
I'm very glad to report that Knights of the Chalice 2: Augury of Chaos has obtained the Second Place in the RPG Codex Game Of The Year 2022 poll:
https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=12147
Thank you so much to
RPG Codex for setting up the poll, and for its steadfast support through the years! Also a big Thank You to everyone who voted in the poll, and to Dorateen for letting me know about the result! ^_^
Both Elden Ring, the winner of the poll, and KotC 2 received 75% of positive votes. Elden Ring obtained a score of 3.81 while KotC 2 obtained a score of 3.74. I think that's an awesome result!
Preview image from the new large-size World Map of Mindrel.
Map Settings for the new Weather Effects
You'll find the weather-effect settings in the Map Data screen of the Module Editor. You can press 'M' to open it, or click on Edit Map Data from the top menu, under Special.
First, there are two check boxes: Rain Sound Effect and Rain Affects Map Colour. When the first check box is ticked, the ambient sound effect for rain will be played whenever it starts to rain. When the second check box is ticked, the map will turn darker gradually whenever it's raining.
Next, we have five data-input lines dedicated to rain, snow, falling leaves, glows, and moving fog. The moving fog hasn't been implement yet, so turning the fog on will have no effect in version 1.57. Each of the other weather effects can be turned on by clicking on the check box next to the name of each effect. Turning off any of the effects will not reset the effect's settings. Turning on any effect that has zero in all of its input boxes will assign default values for that effect.
Map Data screen in the KotC 2 Module Editor.
The effect settings are: minimum delay in game frames, random delay, minimum duration, random duration, the angle in degrees (clockwise and the value of zero means down in a vertical line), the speed in pixels per game frame, the maximum number of particles, and the effect's opacity percentage.
Mouse over any input box to set the text cursor inside it. You can then use the Tab key to move the text cursor from one input box to the next.
As an example, if you set for rain a minimum delay of 500, a random delay of 600, a minimum duration of 200 and a random duration of 300, it means the game will wait for between 500 game frames and 1,100 game frames before starting the rain effect. Once started, the effect will remain for a duration of between 200 and 500 game frames. Afterwards, the effect will end gradually and then the game will again wait for between 500 and 1,100 game frames.
However, you don't have to set these input boxes manually, because you can also use the dropdown box control for each effect (next to the check box for each effect), allowing you to specify the effect's frequency: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Frequently or Always. If you select Rarely, Sometimes or Frequently, the editor will set appropriate delay and duration values in the input boxes.
You might want to alter the other settings (angle, speed, maximum number of particles, and opacity) slightly. In particular, you can use a low Opacity setting to create a subtle effect, or a high Opacity setting to create a very visible effect.
Finally, we have two more check boxes: Limit Leaves to Grass/Forest/Jungle squares and Limit Glows to Grass/Forest/Jungle/Swimming squares. If your map contains a building, you'll want to tick the Limit Leaves check box so that falling leaves will only appear in the wilderness areas of your map. With the other check box, glows will only appear in the wilderness areas and areas containing water.
New large-size World Map of Mindrel
In the past month, I spent quite a lot of time working on the new large-size World Map of Mindrel in Campaign Cartographer 3+ using the Spectrum Overland style. Please note: it's still a work in progress.
Preview image from the new large-size World Map of Mindrel.
I'm planning to use this new world map to create various regional maps that will be used in the three upcoming adventure modules, starting with The Dark Arena. The existing
world map isn't large enough to be used for regional maps. The new world map will cover 15,000 x 15,000 pixels.
About the Game-Time recording bug
I recently identified the bug with the recording of game time, with the help of Steve. Thank you very much Steve! The bug is due to the session clock not being reset when saving a game. That results in an increase in the recorded game time when saving the game several times in a row without reloading.
I've fixed that bug for version 1.58, which will be coming soon. For the moment, you can reload a game after each save in order to get the correct game-time recording.
List of changes in KotC 2 Version 1.57
- Added a new moving water animation effect, which is applied in the Module Editor using a new menu option under 'Other Tools'.
- Added a new option in the Game Options screen, under Display, allowing you to activate or deactivate the display of moving-water animations. Please note: New players should have the option turned on by default, but existing players will have to click on this option in order to display the effect.
- Implemented the weather special effects Rain, Falling Snow, Falling Leaves, and Glows (Will-of-the-wisps). A map can have both rain and snow happening from time to time (one after the other, randomly and according to the duration settings specified in the Map Data screen). Actually, a map can have all of the four effects. All four effects can be turned off by the player by switching off the game option 'Display Environmental Particles' under 'Display' in the Game Options screen.
- Updated most of the maps of Augury of Chaos to add weather effects and moving-water effects. The updated maps are: Green Cave, Red Cave, Finchbury, Ruined Village, Gleegold Keep, Mysterious Cave, Moon Crypt Special Level (Furnace), Water Shrine, Low Sewers, High Sewers, Oubliette. Also updated the Tutorial Adventure. Also added a few Slope squares with altitude 5 on the map of Finchbury. You might use them when fighting.
Preview image from the new large-size World Map of Mindrel.
- In the Module Editor, added to the Map Data screen a bunch of input boxes dedicated to the new weather effects. You can use the Tab key to switch from one box to the next.
- Added a new game option 'Display Cursor When Moving Items', available under 'Display' in the Game Options screen. If you find moving items in the Inventory Screen somewhat difficult, this new option will help you. Thank you very much Steve for this great suggestion!!
- Added a new game option 'Adjust Walk Speed Out Of Combat' under 'Gameplay' in the Game Options screen. You can use it to reduce or increase the out-of-combat walking speed of your characters. Thank you for the suggestion, Steve!
- In the Game Options screen, dragging one of the volume sliders will no longer affect the other sliders if you mouse over them.
- Fixed a bug in the display of the Local Map for some map sizes or screen sizes, due to fractional position values.
- Fixed some issues with creature orientation after a Bull Rush or Pull combat manoeuvre.
- Fixed some issues with screen scrolling when performing a Throw Creature combat action.
- Fixed an issue with combat shortcuts using the Shift key not working when pressed while mousing over the Combat Actions menu or other controls.
- In the help entry about Combat Shortcuts, added a mention of the hotkey 'N', used to activate the Turn Undead ability of Clerics and Bishops.
- Fixed a bug in the Module Editor when you move an Activable Zone by only a few pixels using Left Control + click and drag. Pushing Contrl + Z to undo would then have no effect.
- In the Map Data screen of the Module Editor, you can now use the Tab key to cycle between the input fields of the three colour components.
- In the 'Creature Properties' screen of the Creature Editor, you can now use the Tab key to cycle between the input fields for Max HP, Current HP, Speed, BAB, Fort, Ref, Will, Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha. You can also cycle between the Location X and Location Y input fields.
- In the Module Editor, when mousing over multiple Activable Zones, the editor will now highlight the smallest moused-over zone. Previously, it was difficult to select a small zone positioned within the area of a larger zone.
- Fixed a source of crashes when switching from Windowed mode to Full Screen mode (or the other way around).
- Fixed bugs in the graphics code that could cause display problems depending on the computer's graphics card. I had to go through that part of the code because I was having problems displaying a really huge map, the Crossroad Castle map designed for the upcoming adventure module The Dark Arena.
- Reduced the file size of the overlay image for Finchbury by almost 12 MB by deleting fully transparent pixels on the map. Actually, I had no idea that PNG files would keep colour information even for completely transparent pixels. They do, unless we clear them. I discovered this while working on the overlay image for the Crossroad Castle map. Likewise, reduced the size of the overlay image for the Tutorial Dungeon by 1 MB. Also did the same for four smaller overlay maps of Augury of Chaos. The lighter images should be faster to load when playing, as well as taking less space on your drive. Also reduced the file size of all the big sprites for Dragons.
- Fixed a problem with the display of Torch Lights and Activable Zones that have the 'Overlay' parameter, when there isn't any overlay image on a map. Now they will get displayed even in the absence of an overlay image.
- Fixed a display issue in Module Selection screens in the macOS version only.
- Fixed a problem with the display of Water Splashes in the macOS version only. They were printed two times.
Preview image from the new large-size World Map of Mindrel.
Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2
Unchanged from the
previous update, the next development steps are the following:
- Work on the three upcoming adventure modules. Create the new world map & new dungeon maps.
- Hire a graphic designer to create new sprites, new maps and other types of artwork.
- Fix any remaining issues mentioned on the Steam Forum, GOG Forum, website Forums, and by email.
- Implement new features such as new monster abilities, subraces, familiars, items and the fog effect.
As always, if you find bugs or if you have any feedback, thoughts and suggestions, please feel free to let me know here, or
in the Forums, or by email at
enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com.
A Bold Warrior Fears Nothing! Thank You For Your Support, Brave Heroes of the Realm! Take care
