KickStarter Knights of the Chalice 2 Thread - Augury of Chaos

[the mole]

I think it's tough for many codexers to understand that the types of games we enjoy just will never be that popular or that profitable.

lolwot
nigga, just look at codex goty. codex is not some monocled niche community. it's mainstream shithole with occasional "nigger!" posts.

Fair enough.

Also, if you can't pay 40€ for a game, you are a nigger.

I can but I don't feel like it, shrugs, I guess I'll just go back to all the games I haven't beaten yet that I bought for 10 bucks

 

[Desiderius]

I think it's tough for many codexers to understand that the types of games we enjoy just will never be that popular or that profitable.

lolwot
nigga, just look at codex goty. codex is not some monocled niche community. it's mainstream shithole with occasional "nigger!" posts.

Fair enough.

Also, if you can't pay 40€ for a game, you are a nigger.

I can but I don't feel like it, shrugs, I guess I'll just go back to all the games I haven't beaten yet that I bought for 10 bucks

You get what you pay for. There's a reason you haven't bothered to beat them yet.

 

[the mole]

I think it's tough for many codexers to understand that the types of games we enjoy just will never be that popular or that profitable.

lolwot
nigga, just look at codex goty. codex is not some monocled niche community. it's mainstream shithole with occasional "nigger!" posts.

Fair enough.

Also, if you can't pay 40€ for a game, you are a nigger.

I can but I don't feel like it, shrugs, I guess I'll just go back to all the games I haven't beaten yet that I bought for 10 bucks

You get what you pay for. There's a reason you haven't bothered to beat them yet.

I've bought many games for full price that were shit, so it's something I never do anymore

 

[Desiderius]

I think it's tough for many codexers to understand that the types of games we enjoy just will never be that popular or that profitable.

lolwot
nigga, just look at codex goty. codex is not some monocled niche community. it's mainstream shithole with occasional "nigger!" posts.

Fair enough.

Also, if you can't pay 40€ for a game, you are a nigger.

I can but I don't feel like it, shrugs, I guess I'll just go back to all the games I haven't beaten yet that I bought for 10 bucks

You get what you pay for. There's a reason you haven't bothered to beat them yet.

I've bought many games for full price that were shit, so it's something I never do anymore

This one isn’t.

 

[the mole]

I think it's tough for many codexers to understand that the types of games we enjoy just will never be that popular or that profitable.

lolwot
nigga, just look at codex goty. codex is not some monocled niche community. it's mainstream shithole with occasional "nigger!" posts.

Fair enough.

Also, if you can't pay 40€ for a game, you are a nigger.

I can but I don't feel like it, shrugs, I guess I'll just go back to all the games I haven't beaten yet that I bought for 10 bucks

You get what you pay for. There's a reason you haven't bothered to beat them yet.

I've bought many games for full price that were shit, so it's something I never do anymore

This one isn’t.

 

[almondblight]

I've said this before, but - if the Codex really wanted to help out with things, we'd have a fundraiser for a KotC 2 module competition. Even if it only raised a few hundred bucks, it could get a number of module creators who are tinkering with stuff to actually release something. Top prize $400, three runner ups $100, next 10 $20 or something depending on how much is raised. Blades of Exile had a few of those, and it really helped kicked off the module creation for it (there were a ton of Blades of Exile scenarios released).

 

[KainenMorden]

I've said this before, but - if the Codex really wanted to help out with things, we'd have a fundraiser for a KotC 2 module competition. Even if it only raised a few hundred bucks, it could get a number of module creators who are tinkering with stuff to actually release something. Top prize $400, three runner ups $100, next 10 $20 or something depending on how much is raised. Blades of Exile had a few of those, and it really helped kicked off the module creation for it (there were a ton of Blades of Exile scenarios released).

Player base is pretty small and the module creators aren't motivated by money. NWN has a large number of modules still being released with no financial incentive. It's not a bad idea but I don't think it would help much.

It's also not a game that has young 18-20 something players that want to get into game dev and will try to make a module to possibly help them land a job.

The player base is age 30+ with limited free time and we're fortunate to have the opportunity to play their passion projects.

It's just a niche game and that's fine. There isn't some marketing strategy or community involvement that would increase the player base in a big way IMHO.

 

[KainenMorden]

The two new modules designed by Pierre will be sold separately. That's why Mortmal is so pissed, he's already paid for them in the KS and Piere ain't delivering.

I can appreciate his frustration but also, ok let's say you've already given Pierre 120 euros or whatever.

What's the big deal? You're supporting him and he's not a scam artist, he's working on the game constantly and releasing updates. Maybe some players disagree on where his focus is but oh well. I'm confident he will release more modules eventually though of course you never know what life holds. I hope Pierre eats some meat soon if he hasn't already, a man cannot live off roots alone.

I guess it doesn't bother me to spend some money to help out an indie dev like him. The alternative is, games like this will cease to exist completely.

 

[mediocrepoet]

tbh I can't blame it on him, it seems to be an entirely French thing. They're always doing weird shit like calculating if they'll save 2 cents more by working from home vs driving to the office and using the company's electricity and then blow their entire salary eating every meal in McDonald's.

It's not a French thing, it's just him. My guess is that he didn't simply replace the abominable tokens with better ones because he didn't want to bruise a friend's ego. So instead, he switched to 3D. But what’s really infuriating is that some of us paid for three adventure packs, and he’s wasting time fooling around with experiments , remaking the base game while we’ve paid and received nothing. So I’m about to say, if you can't afford it, just feel free to pirate it. I've already paid far more than the price of one copy, and I'm not getting the product delivered.

Several of us had, but Pierre is and always has been both eccentric and autistic, and you'd have to be in another world not to have noticed that before pledging.

He'll deliver on his own schedule. Being a bitch about it won't change anything. If you didn't realize that during the Kickstarter, well...

 

[the mole]

skald against the black priory is 13 dollars

 

[mediocrepoet]

skald against the black priory is 13 dollars

Skald and KotC 2 are so different they're almost not even in the same genre. It's a weird comparison tbh if you know anything about either game.

 

[warcrimes666]

almondblight Agreed, I thought of this a while back but didnt want to get all up in the mix with it really and I felt bad because Dorateen deserves something for hearkenwold as well. I collect assets and tinker with it here and there but I have no time and realistically im between 1 and 20 years from a complete original module (A Black Rose Blooms...some day...) and it's really crying out for some old tsr stuff to play through.

So I'd like to do this and I don't know how to go about it but I want to give Dorateen 100us for his tireless work on Hearkenwold and I'd like to put up at least another 200us towards a module competition as you describe. maybe Infinitron could look at this or whoever could feasibly apportion the monies to community vote. Would be awesome to get the ship of horror or something like that in play.

For those who may be interested regardless, here are all modules for every edition:

Spoiler

https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/rpg.rem.uz/Dungeons & Dragons/

 

[MjKorz]

skald against the black priory is 13 dollars

Skald should be compared to KotC1, not 2. KotC2 combat is far more complex.

 

[KainenMorden]

skald against the black priory is 13 dollars

Skald and KotC 2 are so different they're almost not even in the same genre. It's a weird comparison tbh if you know anything about either game.

Don't know much about it but I know it's not self published. Also read the combat kind of sucks. Not sure how big the dev team is, I assume a small number of ppl maybe it's 1 guy?

 

[Mortmal]

tbh I can't blame it on him, it seems to be an entirely French thing. They're always doing weird shit like calculating if they'll save 2 cents more by working from home vs driving to the office and using the company's electricity and then blow their entire salary eating every meal in McDonald's.

It's not a French thing, it's just him. My guess is that he didn't simply replace the abominable tokens with better ones because he didn't want to bruise a friend's ego. So instead, he switched to 3D. But what’s really infuriating is that some of us paid for three adventure packs, and he’s wasting time fooling around with experiments , remaking the base game while we’ve paid and received nothing. So I’m about to say, if you can't afford it, just feel free to pirate it. I've already paid far more than the price of one copy, and I'm not getting the product delivered.

Several of us had, but Pierre is and always has been both eccentric and autistic, and you'd have to be in another world not to have noticed that before pledging.

He'll deliver on his own schedule. Being a bitch about it won't change anything. If you didn't realize that during the Kickstarter, well...

From the Kickstarter ,the three adventures set to be deleivered in May 2023, don't blame the customer—blame the crook. Given that the game seemed to be in a finished state, those expectations weren't outrageous. He had a functional toolset and could have used it to provide the adventures in due time. There are RPGs that were completed in less time, like Ultima Underworld II and the Gold Box games. Fooling around with the game in an alpha state by adding stuff that wasn't wanted or requested by anyone, instead of delivering what was promised, is unacceptable in any other business.
But why do I even bother when the recent peak player count is only 2...

 

[mediocrepoet]

From the Kickstarter ,the three adventures set to be deleivered in May 2023, don't blame the customer—blame the crook. Given that the game seemed to be in a finished state, those expectations weren't outrageous. He had a functional toolset and could have used it to provide the adventures in due time. There are RPGs that were completed in less time, like Ultima Underworld II and the Gold Box games. Fooling around with the game in an alpha state by adding stuff that wasn't wanted or requested by anyone, instead of delivering what was promised, is unacceptable in any other business.
But why do I even bother when the recent peak player count is only 2...

Sure, but compared to other comparable Kickstarter projects like Arcadian Atlas and Copper Dreams, nevermind less comparable projects like Realms Beyond and Chaos Chronicles... I'll take KotC 2 any day. Just don't use Kickstarter or purchase early access, etc. if you're not comfortable possibly watching things being late, not being delivered at all, or being delivered in such a state that you wish that you'd just set your money on fire instead of giving it to a half wit.

 

[MjKorz]

The one thing I never understood about KotC2 is why did the developer ditch the charming graphics of KotC1? Did he ever explain the reason behind the graphical changes?

 

[mediocrepoet]

The one thing I never understood about KotC2 is why did the developer ditch the charming graphics of KotC1? Did he ever explain the reason behind the graphical changes?

He had... I don't recall the specifics though. I think it was at first wanting things to be like a tabletop game, then when he got shit on for that, he started bringing in those abominable 3D things which... oof. As I recall, there was also something about the number of sprites and animations required or something. Someone else may remember better.

 

[KainenMorden]

tbh I can't blame it on him, it seems to be an entirely French thing. They're always doing weird shit like calculating if they'll save 2 cents more by working from home vs driving to the office and using the company's electricity and then blow their entire salary eating every meal in McDonald's.

It's not a French thing, it's just him. My guess is that he didn't simply replace the abominable tokens with better ones because he didn't want to bruise a friend's ego. So instead, he switched to 3D. But what’s really infuriating is that some of us paid for three adventure packs, and he’s wasting time fooling around with experiments , remaking the base game while we’ve paid and received nothing. So I’m about to say, if you can't afford it, just feel free to pirate it. I've already paid far more than the price of one copy, and I'm not getting the product delivered.

Several of us had, but Pierre is and always has been both eccentric and autistic, and you'd have to be in another world not to have noticed that before pledging.

He'll deliver on his own schedule. Being a bitch about it won't change anything. If you didn't realize that during the Kickstarter, well...

From the Kickstarter ,the three adventures set to be deleivered in May 2023, don't blame the customer—blame the crook. Given that the game seemed to be in a finished state, those expectations weren't outrageous. He had a functional toolset and could have used it to provide the adventures in due time. There are RPGs that were completed in less time, like Ultima Underworld II and the Gold Box games. Fooling around with the game in an alpha state by adding stuff that wasn't wanted or requested by anyone, instead of delivering what was promised, is unacceptable in any other business.
But why do I even bother when the recent peak player count is only 2...

Did 1 guy in his spare time make those games? I'm not saying you're wrong to feel how you do but you can't hold Pierre to the same standards of a professional dev team from the 80s-90s.

Yeah the switch to 3d, I disagree with, maybe he thinks it will make the game more popular. He got really pissed when people said he made one of the worst RTS ever and didn't understand why they felt that way.

Yes, he's eccentric and im in no position to diagnose him but probably on some type of spectrum of autism. I don't think all creative people are that way but many are and it's something that I expect.

Probably my last comment for awhile on all this but what I found interesting was going on his forum and reading his reviews of games. I don't think he ever finished BG2 or IWD2, much less trying out the difficulty enhancing mods for them.

He played a lot of nwn2 and the nwn1 expansions and actually found them tough in certain places.

It's amazing that he created 2 of the toughest tactical crpgs ever.

I know that kotc1 seems simple compared to 2 but it's about on par for being as complex and difficult as any 3e crpg or mod for that type of game ever released before it. Maybe Pathfinder is more complex but with inferior encounter design and some players argue much of the complexity is just bloat.

 

[Damned Registrations]

How is the module creation tools for this? It occurs to me my preference for theory crafting characters, often gimmicky or imbalanced ones, would lend itself better to making bosses and such for a module than actually playing the game. Is it on par with something like an RTS scenario editor or a bigger pain in the ass?

 

[almondblight]

Player base is pretty small and the module creators aren't motivated by money. NWN has a large number of modules still being released with no financial incentive. It's not a bad idea but I don't think it would help much.

It wouldn't be about getting someone who isn't interested to suddenly create a module. It's more about getting the people with a half-finished module they've put aside for later to finally finish it up and put it out there, or for people who have just dabbled in the editor to release something. It's a public event for people to work on modules - think of it like a gamejam.

It would also be a chance to highlight modules to the player base (especially with the modules being voted on by the community). There are probably a lot of people out there who've never tried Hearkenwold, for instance, or even know it's out there.

 

[rojay]

This is the first I'm hearing we're not getting the next module free. That sucks and I hope he changes his mind.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

This is the first I'm hearing we're not getting the next module free. That sucks and I hope he changes his mind.

Dude was completely upfront about it though

 

[Gandalf]

As far as I understand there are at least 2 more unknown fan made modules being made by some other folks.

 

[Gandalf]

How is the module creation tools for this? It occurs to me my preference for theory crafting characters, often gimmicky or imbalanced ones, would lend itself better to making bosses and such for a module than actually playing the game. Is it on par with something like an RTS scenario editor or a bigger pain in the ass?

It's not hard to operate, I think, and it's powerful. Super powerful. Good stuff.

Downside is that the manual covers only a little glimpse of the thing, so there is much space for discovery, experminets and tinkering with the script editor. I did unknowingly collide with the hardcode by making my own spell or item the wrong way.

Some of the RTS scenario editors I saw have this tile based paint tool for creating backgrounds. This one works differently, there is a 64x64 pixels tile grid on which one can designate a tile types (grass, wall, water, etc.) with a tools (brush tool, rectangle tool, etc.), so the game will later ignite the right sound/script during the gameplay, but the in-game background itself must be an imported image (for example a 1920x1920 pxiels .png depicting a village from an isometric point of view).

As for boss making. Here's a little glimpse at the tool that is used for making creatures (click on the images to enlarge):

I hope that this post was informative.