Friday, May 17, 2013

Beta

Edit: If your bug reports contain spoilers, you can mail them to me:  demonheartlamb @ gmail . com (no spaces). Or warn other people about spoilers in big letters and stuff. :)

I will now submit the first public beta version of Chapter 1 and go to sleep. (Only on the old NWN Vault for now. I'm considering other sites, too, but as long as it's available over there and people can get it, I'm too lazy to adapt to another site.)

This is not an invitation to play the module immediately. I'm pretty sure some terrible issue will arise. But if you want to test, then do - especially if you're willing to play it twice. To people like me who don't have the time, I'd suggest waiting for a safer release.

Also, I am very tired, so if there is something wrong with the upload... then it will be tomorrow.

And if they don't approve it immediately, there will be an even better version tomorrow. :)

Edit: Here it is - module page.

42 comments:

  1. Yey! Well done Lamb! :D Go to sleep- you deserve the rest!

    Off to a martial arts seminar so won't be able to play until I get back :( but I'm really looking forward to it, thank you for all the work you've put in <3

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    1. Finally got round to playing through! XD

      Well done! Your hard work has definitely paid off- it was really polished and I found no bugs at all. :)

      After reading through your blog I thought I had a vague grasp of where the plot was going but you still managed to surprise me with some of your plot twists...

      Loved it!

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  2. Thank you for all your hard work and effort!

    Hopefully I will get some time this weekend to sit down and play it a couple of times. As Reivan said, hope you get your well deserved rest!

    Thanks again.

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  3. Now it's time for those of you who want it, to take part in my module testing pain :D

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  4. Hello :)
    Did a quick run through the module and it was fantastic. Looking forwards to the next run.
    Found one "bug" and one annoyance, both in rather spoilery areas. Where would you want me to report them?

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    1. If they are spoilery, mail me on demonheartlamb @ gmail . com (no spaces)

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  5. Not sure if this is a bug, but I was completely invulnerable from the start of the mod up until after I made it to the witch's hut. Whenever I got hit by anything it would flash orange zeros above my head.

    By the way, Great work, and am really enjoying the series thus far!

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    1. You aren't supposed to be invulnerable; that is one of the more strange bug reports so far. I don't have an idea what could be causing it, currently.

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    2. I could play it a few more times and try and reproduce it.

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    3. Do you have an effect on your character, in the character sheet, that could give you damage immunity? There is supposed to be regeneration, disease immunity, an attribute increase and maybe something else, but no damage immunity.

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    4. I was also invulnerable. Solved it by Debugmode - toggle invulnerability

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    5. If I knew if it was the plot flag being set or an effect (and what kind of effect) I could set the module to turn it off just in case.

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    6. Googling around, I found that god mode mysteriously turned itself on in the module Tortured Hearts 2, as well. The author fixed it by setting the players to non-plot on each area entry! I can certainly try that, and I will also make a new version of the module that will write irritating error messages as soon as PC gets marked as plot!

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  6. Just want to say that I am hopelessly in love with this module and am so grateful and impressed by the amount of time and effort you've put into this to make ti so smooth and polished and most importantly, AMAZINGLY DETAILED.

    You really deserve all the praise in the world for this. I'm waiting anxiously for the next chapter! (In the meantime, I shall play through it again with more characters~)

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  7. Great Module,, No problems except for the Deer at the Cabin always in the door way,, and if you try to kill it,, you cant.

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    1. Deer are plot characters... Because the watchers always used to accidentally shoot them (I don't know if that would still happen, I later changed their arrow script). But I didn't know the rude deer could stand in the doorway. I can fix that, np.

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    2. Tnx Lamb :D

      Apart from that it was great :)

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  8. Great work Lamb, i've gone through the game twice, no bugs so far.
    Blue didnt appear on the second run though, this could be cause i had her quest item from previous run.

    you've managed to create a wide spectrum of choices for the character to take, which i found to be great. to be good or bad does feel like it has consequences, though sometimes giving normal responses earned me chaotic points. (i think its normal to answer one insult with another insult)

    the whole feel of the module is great, and im really looking forward to chapter 2.(hoping for a few sandbox elements and more sex in that one)

    when you've finished all chapters, i believe Demonheart will be considered by many to be the next ADWR

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  9. Greeting from Russia, Lamb! Just wanted to thank you for you awesome module! I haven't had such fun playing a NWN mod for a long while, probably from since I've finished ADwR. But your work is on par with ADwD, and some aspects of your mod for me are even more interesting than ADwR ones.

    Your work is way better than most of recent epic-scale mods with female protagonist, I liked it better than Gladiatrix (which is, by itself, a very good module, but I usually play non-fighter classes, and its lack of description of some scenes and reliance on character animations was dissapointing).

    Especially I wanted to congratulate you on truly great characters, which you managed to write. Each felt unique, and not just an archetype or rehash.

    tl;dr: Lamb, thank you for your great work! You're a treasure! And please, please don't abandon your series!

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  10. Hello lamb,
    Sorry for bothering you, I just had some questions about romances in Demonheart(if you have the time naturally, you must be quite exhausted after the release of chapter 1 :) ).

    After playing a chaotic good, smart-ass and rebellious heroine in chapter 1 and taking a look at the toolset I was asking myself :

    <<<<<< Beware ! May be Spoiler-ish for those who haven't played Chap1 >>>>>



    About obedience, desire combo with brash and respect, desire and fascination with Raze, how do they work ? Will there be different kind of romances (kind of like Dragon age 2's rivalry and friendship romances ?).

    Btw I already said how much I love your modules on NWvault (I'm loves), but once more, they're beautiful <3

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    1. I was tracking everything I could (and I might have missed some interactions) in hopes to be able to make the characters refer to how you treated them earlier, or try to guess your reaction and offer or withdraw their advances. I will be using this "knowledge" any way I can. I don't think my tracking system is reliable enough to be able to send you on 2 completely different paths, so it's mostly just parts of the same conversations that will be affected.

      In C1, it's mostly (or only, I don't remember) Brash who can say a few different things depending on how much he thinks the PC likes him or how nice he thinks she is. I sometimes combine these variables, depending on the situation. I use something like... if approval + 2*desire + obedience(only if positive) > 20... Brash says something slightly nicer. If not, he says something outright nasty. Also, the slut variable was very important with him.

      If you talked with Brash (had most of his PC-initiated conversations), you got some approval points, because someone might not want to talk to the bastard at all. Then, at the "blow" scene, he would make the rude suggestion on his own if approval + something else was relatively high (I'm not putting insane conditions). And if it wasn't so, PC could still do it by suggesting it herself (kinda crazy).

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    2. * That goes for things like obedience/disobedience, anyway. Neither of those two (or some similar variables) would break a romance. But if you keep seriously refusing someone (like telling R. that you don't want anything to do with him and to stop following you), that might mean something more. Or being cruel to Arana. These things aren't definite yet.

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    3. Sorry I if I'm repeating what you said(English is not my firs language) but as I understand: I can continue to play my smart-ass and rebellious heroine and get the bad boys and girls ? XD
      I can question Brash's authority or be a bit cocky and provocative with Raze without compromising their romance ? So in the end, the romance will not be compromised if I have too many disrespectful or disobedient points, (only if I chose clearly to end the relationship (really cruel responses or something similar)) ?

      Personally I find it really interesting to have different type of relations with the characters. Especially with characters that aren't "angels themselves" :) .That's why I love doing playthroughs with "a kind of" insubmissive and strong femalelead" (and the contrary) but in many games if you don't respond what the character want you to, you get nothing but hate. This is why I like Dragon age 2 system.

      Nevertheless, thank you very much for you response <3

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    4. You can continue like that. Most of the romances end when you kill the person, so no problem. xD

      Sorry that I don't have a smarter response right now, I am rather exhausted, and things keep changing anyway.

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    5. Lol no need for smart responses :) Yours is perfect.

      I've been trying to finish my module for years, so yeah the incessant changes and polishing/testing/bugs are exhausting (that and real life lol).

      So take care of you

      I'll see my choices hit me in the head in chapter 2 lol

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  11. Amazing, amazing, amazing!!! Very nice Lamb. I know it could be a year before you finish part 2, but I know it will be worth the wait. I will start a second play-through tomorrow. Only issue I found was an accidental fake wall. It was a visible area on the map, so I clicked and my character went through the wall without an issue. No negative impact though. Again, amazing. Haven;t had this much fun since Dance with Rogues.

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  12. This is really impressive work! I don't even have any bugs to report, I just wanted to say how great I thought my first play-through was :) I'm particularly impressed by how much dialogue there is, and how many choices there are buried underneath it. They add a lot of replay value, but that sort of complexity takes quite a lot of time. You've also done a superb job of making the companions really complex characters; I just love how every relationship the PC has is deeply conflictual, it really keeps the player on their toes.

    I'm ver much looking forward to all the intrigue awaiting us in an urban environment!

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  13. Will pretty much be spoiler free here. Just wanted to say I loved this module! Great job! I only had one small bug at the end, a faction issue in the last fight which I believe has already been documented by others. Other than that, no problems at all.

    Enjoyed interacting with all the characters. They are have depth and have their own personalities (especially Sir Brash!) He's one complicated badboy dude. And that atmosphere of the module is stirringly creepy at times. Just well done with everything you have created in this module. I can tell you obviously spent a lot of time and creative effort to make it fantastic to play. Definitely left me wanting for more!

    Thanks again and will continue to watch for further updates.

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  14. No issues for me.
    Was great to play and had some surprises to. MORE PLEASE :p

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  15. To say that this module is the beginning of a masterpiece is putting it far too plainly. Lamb, I have no words for how awed I am by both the imagination you've woven this story out of, the skill with which you've built it, and the care and precision you've put into it. I know a lot of people are comparing this (more or less) to ADwR and I, myself, am a long-term fan of ADwR, but I felt compelled to say that Demonheart stands apart from it, beside it--anywhere BUT compared to it. You simply can't compare this module to any other--Demonheart is in its own class.

    I eagerly look forward to the continuation of the story. The mingling of horror, adventure, romance... it's amazing. A module has never made me teary-eyed from tragic horror like this one has. Thank you so much for giving this to the community. Know that we're always behind you, always supporting you, and always admiring and appreciate of the work and effort you put into this.

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    1. appreciative*

      See, I was so in awe that my fingers went all lame!

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    2. I appreciate the non-comparison. I am also a great admirer of Valine's work, but I wasn't trying to create another ADWR. I just happen to be another female gamer who likes romances and fictional bad guys (as I suspect Valine also does).

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    4. And we fellow female gamers who like the same adore you.

      Also, it randomly occurred to me that what I said may (or may not, probably not, but just in case) be misconstrued -- by "its in own class," I wanted to make sure you understood that I didn't mean in any way inferior. In fact, I actually meant that -- in my opinion, for all that I loved and still love ADwR -- it's far /superior/. ;)

      You're the best, lady ma'am.

      (fix'd for spellings)

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  16. SPOILERS. Possibly.
    Others probably already let you know about these, but figured I'd let you know just in case.

    - Had that issue with the final fight where henchwoman kept attacking while they're all green. And I believe I have a version higher than 076.2
    - When I used the Blue Rose power, nothing happened. I had the recipe that uses it in my inventory too I think.
    - Not really a bug I guess, but the maze dream sequence was VERY laggy. I don't know what was causing it, but is there some way to make it less laggy? My computer didn't have any problems with anything in the prologue, but that area went to about 4 fps.

    Overall I thought it is a pretty amazing module. I'm hoping the later chapters will be a little less linear, but that's just me. I'm impressed by the systems you have running behind the scenes, mainly how you're measuring reactions to conversations, and obviously the demonheart stuff. The more creative you and we can be with those, the more fun this is going to be. =D

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    1. Thank you for the reports. I still need to find some time and fix the last fight, as well as some of the other bugs.

      The maze area could easily be laggy because of an insane new placeable that I made - the black shadow/smoke thing (that's probably too many visual effects). Good to know that it doesn't work properly on all systems, I will see what I can do about it. :D

      The beginning is probably the most linear part, although I do have to railroad some things all the time, because I can't write a real-life simulating application with all the possible choices...

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  17. I had also experienced low fps in maze.

    \\Spoiler ahead!\\

    Lamb, if you are still fixing errors, then I should mention - Sir Brash in Rivera's dungeon sometimes can be seen if running nearby his cell. For some people it can spoil "pleasant" surprise.

    And my thanks for captivating adventure, I definitely will follow yours blog from now )

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  18. So not sure why this is happening, I have sometimes gotten a random bug with Brash where all of a sudden all his stats are 8. I'm not sure why, but I reload and it doesn't happen. I noticed it first in the SPOILERS




    Woodfolk dungeon, reloaded, then when I went back to give the crossbow to those archers it happened again. Reloaded and it didn't happen.

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    1. So I've confirmed, every time I enter the optional Dungeon all his stats go to 8. Is there anything reeeaaallly important for chap 2 which happens in there?

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    2. I love this module, but it taunts me. I entered the optional dungeon six times in a row, and all his stats were set to 8. Then immediately after my previous comment I enter again and it doesn't happen. >_>

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    3. It happened to me, too, but I don't remember in which area. I thought it corrected itself after a while. I never told the game to ruin his stats, but maybe it happens because of some other function I was calling. Or the game is just evil.

      The only important things there are that you meet Krath and maybe have some private time with Brash.

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  19. It's ingame bug, happens to me occasionally in any module. Mine solution - to check out PC stats before henchman's.
    Still, game engine calculates real stats in combat, not reseted.

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