KickStarter Knights of the Chalice 2 Thread - Augury of Chaos

[Dickie]

Somebody took a Companion Crafter (£2,465) spot. Maybe it was them.

 

[JarlFrank]

Queen's wish is nowhereas deep and complex than what pierre is offering, nowhere near. Yet it gather 98K, cause it looks good enough, not fantastic, but good enough, a vogel's game

Yes, you're right, the graphic thing can turn off people. But I think that with Queen's Wish, the main factor is that Spiderweb Software has made many RPGs and it probably has 6,000 loyal customers or more.

Tbh it's all about the longterm fans of Spiderweb, not about the visuals. Queen's Wish looks way, way uglier than KotC 2.

 

[Dickie]

I was hoping this thing would get to 55k britbucks, so we could get all the classes, but I just don't know if it'll make it. I know a lot of funding comes in the last 48 hours, so I'm still cautiously optimistic.

 

[Mortmal]

Keep in mind only player characters will use sprites in the first module, the monsters still use tokens despite the trailer with the skeletons as sprites. at least until we get our first sprites update which can take months+

I know that, i'm just disgruntled about the outcome, even if the kickstarter is successful and Pierre did what he could, i'm quite sure 100-150K was within reach with a lot of efforts and a marketing expert leading the charge.

Hmm, I don't really see that potential outcome. This is a very niche game. I'm really excited for KotC2 and backed on day 1. But, let's be clear eyed about it. It's 2020, not early 2010s at the height of KS frenzy for video games. The graphic/artstyle of KotC1 / KotC2 is pre-1990s and despite the great gameplay that immediately makes it very niche. For comparison, check out Realms Beyond. Both are CRPGs, both are using OGL 3.5. It Kickstarted just a few years ago after the KS frenzy. It only made around $120k and it's artstyle / graphics is comparable to Baldur's Gate games. No marketing expert would be able to more than double Pierre's likely eventual KS take to be above $100k.

By the way, Pierre is doing a great job in doing KS updates, social media posts, AMA on reddit and opening a Discord server. I got to be honest, that is way way way more than I expected him to do for the KS. Given this activity, I view the money he's getting on KS to be close to maximized for the game he is selling.

You are wrong it's not so niche anymore there's a revival of the genre , a tabletop 5E book with nice illustrations gather 200K+ on kickstarter, just a book with pretty pictures , it probably require lot less effort to do one than a videogame . D&D is very popular , new people are getting in ,a new player base more interested to post their sexy tabaxi character pic in r/dnd than discussing mechanics although . But there's still the old nerds with heavy wallets too ,i'll say it again its the same demographics buying star citizen ships and custom golden plated D20 dices(dont touch my dices , thanks) .
The presentation is critical , the original art for kotc 2 is a disaster turning people away, mixing sprites with those awful pogs and keeping the abominable class pictures wont do it . There's no need of marketing experts , exemple are numerous , tabletop kickstarters are gathering ton of money kotc 2 stagnates at 30K . Queen's wish is nowhereas deep and complex than what pierre is offering, nowhere near. Yet it gather 98K, cause it looks good enough, not fantastic, but good enough, a vogel's game.... If i were him i'd be sick at those missing 70K.

I agree DnD is not niche, but KotC1 and KotC2 are niche games within that genre because of their pre-90s graphics. A more consistent art style, with better sprites than KotC1 doesn't change that.

I think you make my point with your own words that I have helpfully bolded above. Pretty pictures (dnd book), good graphics (if Star Citizen does one thing right, it's for sure pretty ships), and stylish items (ugh, no accounting for taste ... gold plated dice) sell, sell, sell. The KotC games don't have those things. So what's left? Sex, nostalgia and gameplay. KotC games only have the last one. Hence niche.

I think Vogel with Queen's Wish is being carried by nostalgia from his larger original fan base. Utlimately, I agree with you that a marketing expert probably wouldn't make a big difference. To really make more money on the KS, I think KotC2 would have to be demoing or showing that it would have Baldur's Gate 2, level of art and graphics out of the gate, not as implicit stretch goals at the 200k to 300k pound level.

Pre 90's graphics doesnt mean niche, people are accustomed to all kind of graphics now thanks to minecraft or phone games. 90's graphic do the job, better than soulless unity assets for exemple , plenty of switch games are selling extremely well as well .The graphic sell moto is outdated and only true for AAA games. Only thing missing in kotc 2 is beautiful 2D art that make you dream .Like this kickstarter,fateforge, it's nothing special can homewbrew that in my spare time but even before knowing what it is about you want to back it, 125k :

 

[Dickie]

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/2868861

Update #22: Second Knights of the Chalice 2 Combat Video!

Second Knights of the Chalice 2 Combat Video

Hello everyone!

I have just uploaded the sixth video in support of the Kickstarter campaign for Knights of the Chalice 2. The new video is the Second Combat Video of KotC 2 Augury of Chaos as part of a series of five Combat Videos. The link on Youtube is https://youtu.be/SXj3XPi1xK4. Feel free to post comments here or on the Youtube page.

Stretch Goals & Social Goals Report And Links
Following an incredible increase in funding, we're now very close to the campaign's Fourth Stretch Goal!! When I checked a bit earlier, we were only £ 546.43 or USD 679 away from the Fourth Stretch Goal.

Additionally, we're very close to the Next Stretch Goal for Youtube Subscribers! Only 22 more and we'll reach that goal! So Please Share And Subscribe, Valorous And Loyal Knights of the Kingdom! ^^

All of the following links can be used to help us reach the Next Social Goals and Further Increase Awareness of the Knights of the Chalice 2 Kickstarter campaign among CRPG lovers:

• Share on Facebook the KotC 2 Features page and Screenshots page!
• Share on Facebook the KotC 1 Features page and Screenshots page!
• Like us on Facebook!
• Follow us on Twitter!
• Subscribe to our Youtube Channel!
• Follow us on Instagram!

Please feel free to download the promo pack for KotC 2 if you would like to promote the campaign with images, text or animated GIFs.

You can also join our mailing list by registering on the HeroicFantasyGames.com forums or join us on Discord by following the Discord Invite Link.

Next Knights of the Chalice 2 Video
The next video in support of the KotC 2 Kickstarter campaign will be published on 22 June. It will be the Third KotC 2 Combat Video!

Only 13 Days To Go: Please Keep Spreading the Word! ^^
Thank You, Valiant Knights and Wise Wizards! Your Stalwart Efforts Are Not Going Unnoticed, And The Kingdom is Grateful!!

 

[overly excitable young man]

Wow. KotC 1 was very coherent graphics wise but this is all over the place.
A pixilated sprite fireball and then some Adobe After Effects.
Good looking portraits and then the pixilated "stunned" stars.
Weird.

 

[Jimmious]

Did he actually make the spell sound effects... with his mouth?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Did he actually make the spell sound effects... with his mouth?

If nothing convinced people to buy it before, this level of dedication should seal the deal.

 

[Rpguy]

 

[Twiglard]

The only tokens I accept are minorities (or none at all).

 

[Tweed]

WOOOOEEEEEEOOOOSSSHHH!! People who don't like the sound effects are not true believers, they were good enough for the first game, they're good enough for the sequel.

Well I was going to reroute my pledge through the codex for street cred and neato buttons, but Paypal is being a bitch so fuck Paypal.

 

[jungl]

Gave me dejavu how easily casters could get destroyed and rendered useless in knights of the chalice when in close combat. Concentration checks, grappling, small amount of hp.

Very annoying when its happening to you.

 

[Dorateen]

Gave me dejavu how easily casters could get destroyed and rendered useless in knights of the chalice when in close combat. Concentration checks, grappling, small amount of hp.

Very annoying when its happening to you.

But with a six character party, the player should be able to more effectively protect those casters than in KotC 1.

 

[Rpguy]

Gave me dejavu how easily casters could get destroyed and rendered useless in knights of the chalice when in close combat. Concentration checks, grappling, small amount of hp.

Very annoying when its happening to you.

But with a six character party, the player should be able to more effectively protect those casters than in KotC 1.

6? In this video he has 8. you can have 6 PCs +3 NPCs

 

[AdolfSatan]

Well I was going to reroute my pledge through the codex for street cred and neato buttons, but Paypal is being a bitch so fuck Paypal.

Same shit here, it kept declining my card. What a piece of crap.

 

[BlueSalamander]

Only thing missing in kotc 2 is beautiful 2D art that make you dream .Like this kickstarter,fateforge

I love the Fateforge artwork and I totally agree that it's a major draw. One thing to realise, though: Fateforge raised USD 125,000 because many of the rewards are printed books. It will be very costly for them to produce the books and ship them to the backers.

KotC 1 was very coherent graphics wise but this is all over the place.

We'll improve the graphics after the campaign.

Did he actually make the spell sound effects... with his mouth?

Nino created the sound effects. I'm not sure how he made them. I know that for the sound of the buzzing flies, he actually used bees.

Thank you everyone! Incline is close at hand! :D

 

[Abu Antar]

Codex needs another $373 for the fundraiser, if we want to create a quest.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

I assume that the amount of dollars one has to contribute to the Codex fundraiser is equal to the rewards even though they are in pounds? So for 20 dollars I'm in for the 20 pounds reward?

 

[Rpguy]

I assume that the amount of dollars one has to contribute to the Codex fundraiser is equal to the rewards even though they are in pounds? So for 20 dollars I'm in for the 20 pounds reward?

No, use a currency calculator to figure out how much you need to donate. To get the 20 pounds tier you need to donate 24.71$

 

[Rpguy]

 

[Abu Antar]

I assume that the amount of dollars one has to contribute to the Codex fundraiser is equal to the rewards even though they are in pounds? So for 20 dollars I'm in for the 20 pounds reward?

You can use Google to convert currencies.

 

[Infinitron]

Got an email:

Dear RPG lovers, developers, influencers, video game news providers and close friends,

The Knights of the Chalice 2 Kickstarter fundraising campaign has now raised nearly £ 35,000 and it will end in about a week!! Therefore, there is still some time left to Spread the Word Even Further or to Join the Campaign. I'm counting on you to let your friends, viewerships and readerships know about the campaign, so that we can have a Meteoric End of the Campaign!! :D Thank you!!

Here is the link to the campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-the-chalice-2-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs. The first KotC 2 adventure module, Augury of Chaos, and the KotC 2 module and campaign editor for Windows and Mac OS will be released to backers as soon as the campaign ends.

Knights of the Chalice 2 is a party-based epic computer role-playing game with turn-based combat and 2D hand-drawn graphics for Windows and Mac OS. KotC 2 is inspired by Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Temple of Elemental Evil and Planescape: Torment.

Just like the first game, KotC 2 is based on the OGL 3.5, the ruleset at the root of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5.

The Kickstarter campaign will support the creation of at least three new KotC 2 adventure modules: The Dark Arena, Forces of Chaos and Heart of Evil. The campaign will also be used to improve the game's graphics, add new high-resolution sprites and implement many new and exciting features.

In KotC 2: Augury of Chaos, your Heroic Party confronts a group of Evil Fanatics allied with various Demons and Fiendish Dragons! Blast your enemies with more than 700 spells, bull-rush them into spike pits, trick them with your superior guile, or crush them with your enchanted greatsword! See them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women, as your valiant party progresses all the way from level 1 to level 21!

Following the Kickstarter, the game is planned to be released on the developer's website, http://www.heroicfantasygames.com, and on Steam / GOG after a relatively short period of time dedicated to the improvement of the game.

Thank you so much everyone for supporting this project that I am so passionate about!!

KotC 2 Features:

• Turn-based, party-based tactical combat similar to that found in the RPG Dark Sun Shattered Lands made by SSI and in Troika's Temple of Elemental Evil.
• User-friendly interface. Launch a charge, full-attack or coup-de-grace with a single click - the computer will automatically look for the best option available. Out of combat, move the party with a single click or by keeping the mouse button pushed. Also see the KotC 1 How to Play webpage for more information.
• A well-developed emergent Artificial Intelligence. Enemies act as a group and support each other. They can use special actions like Grapple, Trip, Disarm, Sunder, Feint, Bull Rush, Ready Versus Spell or Swallow Whole and other tactics like taking a Five-Foot step before casting Maximised Fireball. They might use a Wind spell to dissipate the player's Acid Fog or Incendiary Cloud.
• Omnipresent help files and clear in-game feedback (a feature also found in Temple of Elemental Evil) on the results of each dice roll, saving throw, attack roll, modifiers and so on.
• More than 700 Spells and Psionic Powers (see the list of Wizard spells). The game also features 22 Classes, 10 Races, 36 Subraces, 478 Feats, 41 Cleric Domains, 71 Weapon enchantments and 51 Armour and Shield enchantments. Click here for more information about the Classes, Feats and other topics.
• With the right materials and sufficient gold and experience points, craft your own weapons and armour and apply enchantments like Vorpal, Life Stealing, Wounding, Swift, Dispelling or Flaming Burst (see the complete list).
• Multiple-choice dialogue options offering real choices and real in-game consequences to the player. Use your party's unique skills and consider your own preferences and playing style in order to resolve situations in the most suitable manner.
• Enjoy a variety of engrossing puzzles and riddles. Use your intuition and logical thinking to decrypt mysterious coded messages. The game's cryptography interface, inspired by Broken Sword Shadow of the Templars, makes decoding a captivating activity. Do not worry about the difficulty of puzzles and riddles though, as the game frequently provides Hints designed to help you resolve this type of challenge.
• KotC 2 Augury of Chaos allows you to create your level-1 characters and take them all the way to level 21 or so. There is no limit on character level.
• Use the powerful integrated toolset to create new modules and campaigns easily. Easily swap monster tokens and sprites or create new ones. Create new monsters, new dialogues and new maps easily. The best modules may also generate an income stream for you.
• Enjoy fast Saved-Game loading and saving and various game options designed to accelerate gameplay. Enjoy various convenience features, such as the Saved-Game preview image display, Tab key press to highlight objects that may be interacted with, or the Inventory Screen highlighting of spell scrolls that may be learned by a character.

Cheers! Best regards everyone! ^^

Pierre Begue (enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com)
KotC 2 Features KotC 2 Screenshots Kickstarter Page KS FAQ Instagram
HeroicFantasyGames.Com KotC 1 Features KotC 1 Screenshots
Facebook Page Twitter Profile Youtube Channel Discord Server
Get the Free Demo of KotC 1 Here or on the Steam Page

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/2870730

Update #23: How to set the AI of Enemy Spellcasters to Create Memorable Encounters!

How to set the AI of Casters to Create Great Encounters

Enemy magic and psionics users in Knights of the Chalice 2 usually require particular attention when creating interesting battle encounters. The main elements to take into account are the following.

1) Available Spells and Psionic Powers: the caster’s level determines the maximum level of the spells and powers that can be cast. The level and ability scores determine the number of available spell slots of each spell level.

You can either give all possible spells to the caster, or limit the creature’s knowledge by removing certain spells. You may also decide to have the caster know only the number of spells that a normal character would know through the standard level-up process. In this case, you should create the caster using the Character-Creation Interface rather than the Creature Wizard.

2) Caster Range: you can set the favourite range of the magic user, which determines how close to the player characters the magic user will move. Choose between Touch Range, Close Range, Medium Range, Long Range and Varied Range.

Setting Long Range means that the magic user will only be able to use Long-Range spells, as he or she will be too far from the player characters to cast Close-Range and Medium-Range spells, unless the party members are surrounding the magic user.

Setting Close Range gives the most flexibility to the magic user. Setting Varied Range means that each round, the range will be selected randomly between Close, Medium or Long.

3) Cast offensive spell %: you can specify a parameter used to decide each round whether the magic user should cast an offensive spell or a defensive spell. For example, setting 80% means that each round the magic user has an 80% chance to cast an offensive spell and a 20% chance to cast a healing or protection spell.

For Clerics and other magic users focusing on healing magic, the parameter called ‘Cure allies %’ is used to decide each round whether the magic user should cast a healing spell or a non-healing spell. Regardless of this setting, a healing or protective spell will only be cast when it makes sense for the AI to do so.

Many other parameters can be set. For example, if you set the parameter ‘Willing to harm all allies’ to 1, then the magic user will be able to cast area-of-effect damaging spells on the party members even if these spells would also hurt the allies of the magic user.

Spoiler

You can set the parameter ‘Use metamagic %’ for magic users who have metamagic feats like Metamagic Maximise, Metamagic Empower and Metamagic Widen.

If you set the parameter ‘Favour Damage Spells’ to 1, then the magic user will cast energy-damage spells preferentially.

For casters who can also fight in melee or ranged combat, you can set the parameter ‘Use spell or psionic %’. Setting 60% means that each round, the magic user has a 60% chance to cast a spell and a 40% chance to perform a traditional melee attack or ranged attack.

For all creatures, you can also specify the necessary conditions for the creature to run away in fear. Enemies may decide to run away from the fight if their leaders have been defeated and/or if a certain percentage of the enemies have been slain.

4) Auto Buffing: You can set the magic user to cast or manifest day-duration protective and buffing spells and psionic powers automatically. These spells and powers include Protection from Arrows, Mage Armour, Blur, Mirror Image, Minute Meteors, Stoneskin, Contingent Break Enchantment, Dispelling Buffer, Foresight, Mind Blank, Good Fortune, Contingent Greater Break Enchantment, Longstrider, Produce Flame, Shillelagh, Freedom of Movement, Call Lightning, Call Lightning Storm, Sunbeam, Blindsight, Inertial Armour, Thicken Skin, Lesser Concealment, Inertial Barrier, Psionic Keen Edge, Greater Psionic Eye, and Greater Omnidirectional Eye.

5) Programming the spells that the creature will try to cast during each combat round: you can set specific spells and psionic powers using a Tactics Script associated with the creature. Without a script, the AI will decide what spells to cast on its own.

With a script, you can set the AI to cast Fireball in the first round, Haste in the second round, etc. Usually, you want high-level magic users to cast Accelerated Spell in the first round, followed by some powerful offensive spells or a powerful summoning spell such as Summon Marilith.

You can specify all of these in the creature’s Tactics Script. You can also specify a particular target (a position or an allied creature) for each spell, or the use of a metamagic feat like Metamagic Empower for each spell.

Finally, you can set the magic user to always cast a particular beneficial spell, such as Haste or Death Ward, on a particular target, such as a Troll leader. In this case, when the Troll loses the Hasted condition, the magic user will recast Haste on the Troll. When the Troll already has the Hasted condition, the magic user will select a different spell.

Unlike the AI in KotC 1, the AI in KotC 2 takes into account the Intelligence Score of enemies. For example, low-intelligence monsters will focus on the nearest party member, or the last character that hit them, rather than go directly to the party’s Wizard.

In KotC 2, there are two AI modes which you can select in the game options: fast AI and thorough AI. Fast AI is the default option. It gives priority to the smooth execution of the game. With the other option, the AI will take more time and perform more calculations before acting.

Out of combat, you can have monsters and NPCs follow a path and/or speak some words in a text bubble. This is done through the creature’s Non-Combat Script.

Social Goals Report And Links
We're very close to the Next Social Goals for the Youtube Subscribers and the Facebook Likes and Shares. We're also about ten backers away from the campaign's Fourth Stretch Goal! Thank You!!

All of the following links can be used to help us reach the Next Social Goals and Further Increase Awareness of the Knights of the Chalice 2 Kickstarter Campaign among CRPG lovers:

• Share on Facebook the KotC 2 Features page and Screenshots page!
• Share on Facebook the KotC 1 Features page and Screenshots page!
• Like us on Facebook!
• Follow us on Twitter!
• Subscribe to our Youtube Channel!
• Follow us on Instagram!

Next Knights of the Chalice 2 Update
The next non-video update will be published on 24 June. It will focus on the Summoner Character Class!

Only 11 Days To Go: Please Keep Spreading the Word! ^^
The Knights of the Chalice 2 Kickstarter will end in 11 Days, So Please Keep Spreading the Word! Thank You, Legendary Heroes of the Realm!! ^^

 

[Rpguy]