Incline Wizardry 8 Enhancements - A Call to Arms!

[townltu]

Stumbled upon a LP on YT which uses your faster combat mod,
it comfirmed what i already suspected from looking at the changed files:


Accelerated monster amimations are too fast.


While the estictic aspect may rely on personal preferences,
the accompaigning sounds delay most of the cycles to nearly the time of the originals.

Since audio editors will compress time of sounds only up to a certain degree without mutilating them
(defends on sounds, but reduction to 1/2 time is usually too much for audacity)
it would either require to switch the sounds off or to use other sounds, which changes the "acoustic footprint".

 

[Black]

You're not Mustawd

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

As usual in such circumstances, I'd recommend actually playing the game. I've spent dozens of hours playing different versions of this mod (in a middle of another playthrough right now) and at no point were the cycles "nearly the time of the originals". The combat is much sped up and works great.

The only "bug" is that some monsters were not altered and retain long animations (some slime variants for example).

 

[rjstf]

Stumbled upon a LP on YT which uses your faster combat mod,
it comfirmed what i already suspected from looking at the changed files:


Accelerated monster amimations are too fast.


While the estictic aspect may rely on personal preferences,
the accompaigning sounds delay most of the cycles to nearly the time of the originals.

Since audio editors will compress time of sounds only up to a certain degree without mutilating them
(defends on sounds, but reduction to 1/2 time is usually too much for audacity)
it would either require to switch the sounds off or to use other sounds, which changes the "acoustic footprint".

Stumbled upon a LP on YT which uses your faster combat mod,
it comfirmed what i already suspected from looking at the changed files:


Accelerated monster amimations are too fast.


While the estictic aspect may rely on personal preferences,
the accompaigning sounds delay most of the cycles to nearly the time of the originals.

Since audio editors will compress time of sounds only up to a certain degree without mutilating them
(defends on sounds, but reduction to 1/2 time is usually too much for audacity)
it would either require to switch the sounds off or to use other sounds, which changes the "acoustic footprint".

Is Kaucukovnik still working on this mod? There was mention of the new locations being tested, but there have been no follow-up reports. I got the first release to work, but was looking forward to the new content.

 

[townltu]

As usual in such circumstances, I'd recommend actually playing the game. I've spent dozens of hours playing different versions of this mod (in a middle of another playthrough right now) and at no point were the cycles "nearly the time of the originals". The combat is much sped up and works great.

The only "bug" is that some monsters were not altered and retain long animations (some slime variants for example).

"... and at no point were the cycles "nearly the time of the original" ..."
Dont you notice that sounds still play while the anims have already ended?
E.g. higardi bandits, both "get_hit" anims default times of nearly 1.1 sec are reduced to 1/3, ~ 0.36 sec
(.mls script entry "90" overides default fps of 30)
The related sounds higardi_m1_hit_voxN last ~ 0.71/0.58 sec and are not cut off by the engine when the anim ends.


To get an idea of the full accelaration, open e.g. monster "higardi highwayman#7 c"(=ID 228) in CF monster editor,
open the "Model script" with click on the button right to the one with the magnifier symbol,
outcomment all sound related entries in the get_hit1 & get_hit2 sections with #, save as new script and exit,
confirm to assign as the new script file for this monster, apply changes in the upper left, save changes in main menu.
Now whenever you meet 2 groups of highwaymen moving together on Arnika Road,
one of them has full animation speed when you hit them and no sounds.

To revert the changes, open monster ID 228 again and reassign "bandit_01" as script file.



The usual circumstances may not apply for someone who has worked thousands of hours
on importing&polishing hundreds of w8 anims, played the full game > 200 times and can finish vanilla in 3 h.
(admittedly by now only with wiz7 umpani ending import, but im working on the fresh party run)

 

[YES!]

How is progress going on this?

 

[Fenix]

Can I get only fast animations without class, weapon, item changes?

Here http://www.zimlab.com/wizardry/patches.htm Ihave something that claims to be fix for fast animation.
It is the thing?

 

[Sam Bixby]

Anyone know if this mod added Instakiller?

 

[Spiky]

Any news on this? Looks like the author abandoned his project. What a pity.. looked very promising.

 

[Black]

Worse, he may be dead.

 

[TigerKnee]

Worse, he may be dead.

What? Are you serious?

 

[Black]

Well yes, he MAY be.

 

[Black]

I think it's awesome that this mod is still going strong.

I bet it was this guy who jinxed it all.

 

[YES!]

Maybe he is working on it so diligently he doesn't have time to go on the internet.

 

[Achebur]

Hey guys, I'm a new Wizardry 8 player and fell in love with the game after trying it with Kaucukovnik's enhancements. After doing a few playthroughs, I fixed some stuff and made some balance changes that I thought I'd upload since it seems like Kaucukovnik may not be coming back. I'm definitely not trying to hijack the project or anything, these changes will probably be all I do. You'll need to install the most recent version of the enhancements and extract these files to your Wiz8 directory afterwards if you want to use them.



Class Changes - Remove Data\classesexpgroup.cfdat or Data\classesabilities.cfdat or Data\classesitems.cfdat to prevent some/all changes.

Fighter - XP Group changed to Elite, same as Bishop. Removed Stamina Regen.
Lord - Removed +2AC and +5% Magic Resist, added Stamina Regen.
Ninja - Given cloth starting armor as Kaucukovnik intended. Since Ninja started with Ninja Garb originally he couldn't equip most of the early game equipment, now Ninja can equip almost all of what the Monk can armorwise.



Vendor Changes - Remove data\databases\npc.dbs to prevent changes

All vendors will always have their entire stock of items available, no more RNG involved.
Reworked the way Ammunition is sold, Ta-Li Stones/Armor Piercing Arrows come earlier and Medusa Stones later. Cut down on amounts sold so that vendors don't get overloaded with ammo quite as fast.

Burz/He'Li - 4 sets of Arrows, Bullet Stones, and Quarrels, and Burz has a set of Musket Balls

Antone - 4 sets of Precision Arrows, Spike Stones, and Fear Bolts

Anna - 4 sets of Shrike Arrows, Barbed Arrows, Spike Stones, and Hunter Quarrels

Fuzzfas - 4 sets of Barbed Arrows, Spike Stones, and Hunter Quarrels

Sgt. Kunar - 4 sets of Barbed Arrows, Impaling Stones, Hunter Quarrels, and Musket Balls, and a set of Rockets

Sadok - 4 sets of Viper Arrows, Impaling Stones, and Fear Bolts

Crock - 4 sets of Armor Piercers, Ta-Li Stones, and Fear Bolts

Ferro - 4 sets of Mystic Arrows, Medusa Stones, and Lightning Bolts



Location Changes - Remove the entire Levels folder to prevent changes

View Distance increased by 50%, going too high (500+) can reduce fps and let you see stuff that you aren't supposed to in some areas, but a small 50% increase (~150) didn't make anything stand out to me and it makes the game much more playable in my opinion

X-ray chip correctly added to Mt. Gigas Caves in place of Ptorch (mtgigas1.sts)



Monster Changes - Remove data\databases\monsters.dbs to prevent changes

Dark Savant Version 1 - Given 85% Physical Damage Resist
Dark Savant Version 2 - Given 88% Physical Damage Resist

Still easy, but maybe now he'll last more than a round or two



Item Changes - Remove data\databases\items.dbs to prevent changes

General Fixes - Some of the new item images wouldn't fit in the secondary slot, so I swapped these images out and gave them to other weapons as a fix. There was also one staff that was causing the game to crash on the Rapax King's chest that was fixed by swapping the icon. Some items with no spell attached were still listed with 0 charges for some reason, these (non)charges were removed.

Monstrance - Removed +5 Piety, back to original stats

Zizka Star - 20% KO
HP & Stamina Regen +2
(Fixed some stuff on the new Zizka Star and altered it a little to suit my tastes, and to go along with the Lord class change above. Removed turncoat and stat requirements, and the Iron Will/Senses stat changes.)

Demonsbane - Damage 6-20, To Hit back to +1

Excaliber - Initiative increased from -5 to 0

Kabuto - Price increased to 2000

Necklace of Endurance - Faerie can equip

Aeromancer/Geomancer/Hydromancer/Pyromancer Ring - Priest & Bishop can equip

Ankh of Sanctity - Back to original stats, everyone can equip again

Ankh of Might - Price increased from 4000 to 5000 to match other Ankhs

Mystic Spear & Dread Spear - Initiative reduced from +2 to -4

Amulet of Healing - Price doubled from 10000 to 20000



That's all for the changes, feel free to leave feedback.



https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-TnaqZbcqAvcnF0Y29tS1o1RnM

 

[Achebur]

Forgot one item

Doll's Gloves - Mage and Psionic can equip

 

[Black]

seems like Kaucukovnik may not be coming back.

Too soon.
I was thinking that classes that have access to Psionics should be able to learn X-Ray, it being pretty much one of THE spells and restricted to only one school, wizardry is kinda silly.
So, change X-Ray to wizardry/psionic?
DraQ

 

[Achebur]

seems like Kaucukovnik may not be coming back.

Too soon.
I was thinking that classes that have access to Psionics should be able to learn X-Ray, it being pretty much one of THE spells and restricted to only one school, wizardry is kinda silly.
So, change X-Ray to wizardry/psionic?
DraQ

Hopefully it is too soon, but its been about a year and a half since he's been around so I dunno.

X-ray is useful but it's not better than enchanted blade/missile shield imo and those are restricted to mage. All you really need to beat the game is element shield/soul shield and those are already available to all 4 magic schools so I don't see this as a huge problem. In general alchemy and psionics just aren't as good as wizardry/divinity since the latter schools offer more utility, but if you spread the useful buffs to all the classes then they'd all probably feel too similar so I don't really see it as a good solution.

There are a lot of things that could probably still be balanced better, but I think the game is in a pretty good place where it is now and like I said I don't want to get too heavy handed with changes and take over the project by accident so I'm probably just going to leave stuff like that alone. As long as every item/class/spell has some kind of use then things are balanced well enough imo.

That being said, some things do strike me as over/underpowered but I wouldn't really know how to change them without feeling like I'm going too far. Maybe you guys have some ideas?

Fighter's berserk and Rogue's backstab are too good, and Samurai/Ninja/Ranger can't really make up for the difference in damage. For ninja I was thinking that adding a 2nd boomerang shuriken, boosting the damage/kill% and maybe making them ninja-exclusive might be a good idea. Being good at throwing stuff is supposed to be the ninja's thing so I'd want to approach it from that angle if I was going to give them a buff instead of giving them backstab ability like rogue or something like that.

Most of the custom armor that the blacksmiths make is useless by the time you get it

Some of the items you can still buy from Ferro seem like they should be handplaced (platinum greaves, snakeskin boots, robes of regen), but then you wouldn't have much to spend your gold on at the end of the game

Wiz8 unfortunately sticks to usual rpg trope of heavily favoring swords and throws bloodlust and demonsbane at you right after starting the game. I was considering putting a good axe or something in Arnika's vault and moving bloodlust to ferro's locked armory instead, it would still fit when you talk to Antone since he says that Ferro must have made the blade

Ankh of Might too useful? Permanent +20 str on every character that uses physical attacks adds up

Even with power cast and boosted damage, magic doesn't really hurt the Dark Savant or some endgame enemies which is kind of lame. nothing much that can be done here afaik

Omnigun? - remove blind and disperse all the useful status effects from the final version throughout the earlier ones. this would require changing the descriptions for the gun too which is why I don't really want to touch it

 

[Achebur]

Forgot to mention for monster changes - Brekek doesn't give any XP, so if you have OCD and like to keep all your characters at the same amount of experience then it's easier to manage now

New: Ivory Blade - Removed KO/Turncoat, back to original stats (i dont see why this was buffed?)

 

[rjstf]

Glad to hear you're working with this mod. Does your above link have the entire set of folders for the mod? Does it include the new areas he was working on {see http://www.postcount.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?47-Wizardry-Series)?

Last time I tried to play his mod, I couldn't get past Milano in the Rattkin tree. After the usual dialogue, he didn't move and I couldn't get past him.

 

[Achebur]

Glad to hear you're working with this mod. Does your above link have the entire set of folders for the mod? Does it include the new areas he was working on {see http://www.postcount.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?47-Wizardry-Series)?

Last time I tried to play his mod, I couldn't get past Milano in the Rattkin tree. After the usual dialogue, he didn't move and I couldn't get past him.

Nope, you'll want to have "Download version 0.9 RC" from the first post installed before extracting the files in the link I listed. I haven't touched the new areas so they'll be the same as they were if you choose to use them.

And I didn't have any freezing issues with the Rattkin so hopefully it doesn't happen to you again. I'm not using the new areas like I said, so it's possible something that came from them could have caused the issue with Milano.

 

[TigerKnee]

Class Changes - Remove Data\classesexpgroup.cfdat or Data\classesabilities.cfdat or Data\classesitems.cfdat to prevent some/all changes.
Vendor Changes - Remove data\databases\npc.dbs to prevent changes
...

What does "prevent some changes" mean? Does it revert the changes he made or something?

Alchemy does have one utility - providing you with effectively infinite money.

If you really want to buff Magic damage, I suppose you could tediously go through all the enemies and reduce their resistances.

 

[Achebur]

Class Changes - Remove Data\classesexpgroup.cfdat or Data\classesabilities.cfdat or Data\classesitems.cfdat to prevent some/all changes.
Vendor Changes - Remove data\databases\npc.dbs to prevent changes
...

What does "prevent some changes" mean? Does it revert the changes he made or something?

Alchemy does have one utility - providing you with effectively infinite money.

If you really want to buff Magic damage, I suppose you could tediously go through all the enemies and reduce their resistances.

It means that you can prevent the changes that I'm making in that section by deleting the file(s) I listed, just in case someone really doesn't like something I did. For example, if you don't want the Dark Savant to have damage resistance, then you can delete data\databases\monsters.dbs before copying the files over and the boss will stay the same as he was.

That's very true about alchemy, even though it's been made less profitable in this mod than it was originally. And I don't have any plans to change magic resistances/damage, lowering resistances would make status effects hit easier so I don't really want to mess with that. It's too bad that you can't give enemies specific status effect immunities separate from their magic resistances.

 

[Leitz]

As usual in such circumstances, I'd recommend actually playing the game. I've spent dozens of hours playing different versions of this mod (in a middle of another playthrough right now) and at no point were the cycles "nearly the time of the originals". The combat is much sped up and works great.

The only "bug" is that some monsters were not altered and retain long animations (some slime variants for example).

"... and at no point were the cycles "nearly the time of the original" ..."
Dont you notice that sounds still play while the anims have already ended?
E.g. higardi bandits, both "get_hit" anims default times of nearly 1.1 sec are reduced to 1/3, ~ 0.36 sec
(.mls script entry "90" overides default fps of 30)
The related sounds higardi_m1_hit_voxN last ~ 0.71/0.58 sec and are not cut off by the engine when the anim ends.


To get an idea of the full accelaration, open e.g. monster "higardi highwayman#7 c"(=ID 228) in CF monster editor,
open the "Model script" with click on the button right to the one with the magnifier symbol,
outcomment all sound related entries in the get_hit1 & get_hit2 sections with #, save as new script and exit,
confirm to assign as the new script file for this monster, apply changes in the upper left, save changes in main menu.
Now whenever you meet 2 groups of highwaymen moving together on Arnika Road,
one of them has full animation speed when you hit them and no sounds.

To revert the changes, open monster ID 228 again and reassign "bandit_01" as script file.



The usual circumstances may not apply for someone who has worked thousands of hours
on importing&polishing hundreds of w8 anims, played the full game > 200 times and can finish vanilla in 3 h.
(admittedly by now only with wiz7 umpani ending import, but im working on the fresh party run)

Soooooo what's the conclusion on this?

 

[Black]

Hey Achebur, I seem to have a problem with some of the changes you made.

Game crashes when going from lower to upper monastery on all working renderers, might have to do with the map changes I applied, no crashes before that.