[CF-Devel] Ice Castle in the Large Forest.

Sat Jun 21 05:49:07 CDT 2003

 --- Andreas Vogl <

     andi.vogl at gmx.net

     > wrote: > David Seikel wrote:
>

      I took a first glance at your maps, and the castle maps look quite nice.

Thanks.  It looked much nicer with 1.4 ice cubes.

>

      I noticed there is a large room in (IceCastleB) with all kinds of

     >

      monsters in it, especially high level ones, and masses of them.

     <snip> 
>

      The problem is that such masses of high level monsters tend to be

     >

      abusive. Players can get millions of exp just for sitting in one room

     >

      using mass-killing-spells like diseases or the like.

     >

      Besides, it's so pointless when there are just all monsters lined

     >

      up in cages. Wouldn't it be nice to have a little bit more "role play

     >

      feeling" when engaging high level monsters, or special/rare creatures?

It's an experiment in arena design, the idea is that you open the first
gate on individual cages to select the monsters to fight, then you dump
someone into the arena, and close the gate behind them.  This opens the
second gate and releases the monsters.  Most of the monsters are far enough
away from the entrance that by the time the combatant gets there, they are
out of their cage.  

Note that there is also a prison cell in there, this is for DM's to
imprison people, setup an appropriate set of monsters, and release the
prisoner.  If they survive, they are set free.  This is where we can add
role playing to it.

The arena is not important in the overall scheme of things, something else
could go in there.  Certainly the mix of monsters is not important.  I like
the idea of adjustable level of difficulty by opening the right combintaion
of gates.  I also like the idea of the dual level nature of the gates to
release the carefully selected bunch of monsters all at once.  I don't like
the big empty space though, obstacles and hiding places should be added.

>

      Finally, some monsters really are quest-specific, like the evil masters,

     >

      dave and the mudman. I would prefer if they were not used in other

     >

      maps, please at least change the name if you do.

As it was an experiment, I dumped most monsters in there so I could see how
it plays.  I actually have no idea which quests the Dave and Evil Masters
come from, I haven't been on those quests yet.  I have no objection to
removing them.  The Daves are way to hard to kill in a big open area like
an arena, so other than the fact that they have the same name as me, I
won't miss them B-).  The Evil Masters are also too hard to kill, I will
miss them even less.

>

      I've also seen a big library with nearly all kinds of spellbooks

     >

      in it. Isn't this kind of making it too easy to find spells?

     >

      Please at least take out the special spells.

>

      I noticed some of them are removed (a.k.a. "censored"),

     >

      but I found shockwave for example and color spray which are

     >

      quest rewards in other places.

Again, I don't know all the quests, I just started with all of the spells,
then censored those that I knew should be censored.  Looks like I should
censor some more, please send me a list.  The big library is only openable
by the Prince, and he only does that as a reward.  So far, I haven't come
up with a quest worthy of the reward, so it is basically his own personal
library.  This is similar to the big secret ring room in Scorn, where only
the DM can get in.

As I mentioned in the README, the castle is designed the way the Prince
would design it.  He wants a big library and a big arena, and all the other
fun stuff.  Game balance will have to adjust his design though B-).

>

      Your forest is nice, I looked at the image you posted earlier.

     >

      Personally I found it is really a huge forest, but okay why not.

It was that huge just to make the script produce less straight edges.  It
isn't a smart script.  Only the top third around the castle is actually
needed, the rest can go.  However...

>

      Unfortunately there were recent changes in the area where you

     >

      put it: Brest got a mountain ring, there is a new direct road

     >

      to lake country and mountain tops generally changed from wasteland

     >

      to the white moutains.

It isn't really important where my forset goes, or how big it is, the
current location and size was mostly chosen for ease of writing the
conversion script.  I do want the Ant Farm to link up with the Dragon City,
and be part of the UnderWorld, so the location of the castle can't be too
far from the Dragons.  The castle should be somewhere deep inside the
largest forest (elves like forests).  All else is subject to change,
although it is a bitch to get all the ground floor exits to link right.

Obviously, since I never got around to it, the scenic views are also a pain
to change.  They are currently small world scenic views.  Guess I won't
update them yet.

>

      Generally it's a good idea to always start with latest CVS when

     >

      modifying any existing maps. In the end, they have to fit with

     >

      latest CVS anyways in order to be put in - so better to be compatible

     >

      right from the start. ;-)

I started the large forest when 1.5 was released.  This was the first
release with the Big World, although it was mentioned in the docs earlier. 
Earlier I was working on small world with 1.4, and as you can see in the
maps with scenic views, I extended the forest a little bit there.

As far as I know, I was working on the latest version when I started.

I haven't actually touched it for quite a while, concentrating on my
weather mods.   I haven't been involved in Crossfire development for long
at all, and only recently joined this mailing list, so I have no idea what
is going on.  On top of that, I don't actually have an Internet connection
at home, and severe restrictions on my access elsewhere.  Staying current
with CVS would be a pain.  On the other hand, I would probably make the
effort if I got good reviews of my work so far.  Response so far has been
good, you lot may encourage me to work more on this B-).

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