Some examples below.

I'm testing colors on Hellfire. Don't get surprised because of GUI colors.

Since the 1.59 version : "A lot of monsters and their bosses relocated for better monster variety on levels".
In theory, this idea seems great : it brings more variety and more randomness, making the game less boring. I haven't tested all levels, only some of them, but I don't like the new localizations. Before this update, each level had its own coherence, homogeneity and above all its own personality. The progression was, in my opinion, smoother and just simply better. Some examples :

- Night clans (archers with Lite arrows) in level 5, often in mass (level 6 before)
- Annoying Poisonous dogs in a level 9 which already contains lot of different monsters (bats, vipers, bears, spiders)
- Lightning demons appear too early according to me. Before, they could be met on level 15. Now, they can be present from level 13 to level 16.

Before the 1.59 version, some levels were mainly (the 9th) or totally (the 14th) populated with melee monsters, which allowed to melee characters taking a little breath. It doesn't exist anymore and all levels tend to look like each other. The purpose of this change was to make the game better, I don't think it has succeed.

That's why I suggest that in the 1.60, a modification should be brought concerning monsters localizations. Not necessarily coming back to the old ones, but figuring out a better way to conciliate balanced progression, coherence and ambiance of each level but also replay value (which includes randomness). I would like to hear your opinions on there.

Moreover, I didn't mix beasts and necros on one level.

The first idea proved not very smart, but the latter.. I don't know. The reason for not mixing necros with beasts was because of them requiring different melee weapons. And I never really liked continuously switching between sgarps and blunts. This would be no problem if there were some fast switch option like in D2 (by pressing "W"), but since there is no such thing, it becomes annoying to continuously swith between the two. I don't think this should be reverted back.

But with monster localizations...

I didn't just relocate beasts. I also thoroughly adjusted their stats. Same about their corresponding bosses, of course. Difficulty balance is even better. Why? Because now you won't see 15 bosses on one level. On some levels, you won't even encounter bosses. This is also a factor of luck. IMO, it really adds to the game.

Probably, you like some type of monsters more, others - less. And before you knew where to find your minions. Now you don't because it's a lot more random. Perhaps, this adds to this complaint?

It would be possible to maintain each level's "personality" if there were 1024 monster slots instead of current.. 137 (iirc?)

Lightning demons can be encountered as early as level 10 now. But their type has stats appropriate for those levels.

Opinions are welcome. But I think current set of things is better than before. Randomness is greatly increased. While balance is improved.

Even though opinions are welcome, reverting back to levels populated by preset types of monsters will be done reluctantly by me. It's a lot of work. And before starting it, I must be totally convinced it's for the good.

I told Sh4rk that you will finish Glad's animation... I think he stopped the work.

p.s. Mordor: the palettes look great, I wish I understood it well enough to help you out but I cannot make heads or tails of it. I'll give it another try next time I have a few days to look at it.

Добавлено (25.03.2008, 01:23)
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I finished sh4rk's yesterday I know it took me longer than usual, but you know its spring and the girls are out in force.

I was going to wait until I finished the last folder to send it all to you but I can send his now if you want. I also wanted to look though all of them again before finalizing it all. I noticed some glitches in some of the frames while I was playing and fixed them, so I want to check them all. If there is anything else you want to add with the town animations, I can do those too.

p.p.s - I see a post about Diablo 3 a few days ago but I cannot read it, what does it say Mordor?

It's not that it became easier with less bosses. Base monsters now are of greater danger compared to bosses. As compared to previous versions. Horror mode is really easier than before. Purgy starts introducing difficulties and Doom is the epitome. Especially, big bad bosses like Butchy, Leo or Defiler.

Gladoo, take your time and finish what you're planning. I'd prefer to wait more if the quality is involved. Regarding town, I still don't see any necessity to modify those.

About D3, that topic is a 100% offtop thing. Nothing interesting.

they would no longer look like twins all of them. but the issue with boss monsters is important, too.

assassin will take much longer time to get finished. probably, recoloring gladiator could be started when Gladoo will finish the animation files.

my avatar is grinny enough i think

A screenshot to demonstrate this:

What I have in mind: make arcane star a long range magic spell with damage comparable to that of fiery blast. and make flash some sort of emergency spell that would be useful when surrounded or engaged in melee by melee monsters.

I'd really appreciate suggestions about flash now. If you can come up with formulas so much the better.

Max damage (with a SLVL of 28, CLVL50 and CurMAG 300) ~ 13 500

Spell type: magic (but uses same animation as lightning)
Min. Damage: [3•Rec(slvl, clvl)/2]
Max. Damage: 2•[3•Rec(slvl, clvl)/2]
Quick Min. Damage: 3•clvl/2 • (9/8)^slvl
Quick Max. Damage: 3•clvl • (9/8)^slvl
Real Damage 1: [3•Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[20] + 1))/2]/64
Real Damage 2: [3•Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[2] + 1))/2]/64
Duration: 0.95 seconds
Blockable: No

* The Flash spell is actually composed of two different effects, the two different Real Damages given are for the two different effects. The first hit in front of you and to the sides, the other behind you.
* You seem to be able to do two flashes in a row, then you have to wait for them to finish. Don’t know how this affects damage though.
* While casting Flash, you are temporarily invulnerable and can’t access the normal GUI.
* The flash will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 19 times.
=====================================

However, in TheHell Flash is more bugged than in original Hellfire. Secondary (rear side) effect doesn't cause any damage at all. Front side is working well, but is kind of weak. I think, its strength should be increased. Unfortunately, the spell is messed up at the moment.

Maybe, the formula would be [3•Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[30] + 1))/2]/64. This way a mage of level 50 with slvl 30 would deal average 2860 points of resisted damage if his flash hits all 19 times. double cast flash would deal double damage: average 5720.

upd:
the formula will be [3•Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[40] + 1))/2]/64

upd:
it's all done. version 1.59p is uploaded and ready for fieldtests. share some thoughts after you play with it for a while.. Also, see spells.xls for further details about new Flash's advanced details.

upd:

Another thing that needs attention. Defiler. He always drops Crypt map and this very thing is known to repel many from doing Defiler runs. Which is bad bad bad if you ask me.

Something's gotta be done with this map. Any ideas?

Currently, I am thinking about double drop like in The Dark. But it's a tough thing for me. I succeeded with Life & Mana regeneration, which was very tough for me, but it took me lots of time and brainsqueeze. I'd like to avoid that

Giant's Knuckle : in your update, you said "- 1 SLVL", I have this message displayed "spell levels unchanged (?)"

it works for me, and I assume that it should work for others equally well. try to restart game with this item in your inventory. that should help, and if it won't, tell me.

often times, playing around with good and bad effects brings results. for instance:

+ much life, - all resistance
+ AC, - some damage absorption (+DFE)
+ mana, - life
+ life, - mana
+ AC, - life
+ resistances, + DFE
+ life, decreased rate of life regeneration
+ same with mana
+ damage, - accuracy (- ToHit%)
+ accuracy, - damage
+ mana, - SLVL
+ magic, - mana
+ mana, - magic
+ ARD, + resists, + life, +DFE
- DFE, - AC
etc.

playing around with these combinations could result in something nice. if you like doing this and can spend enough time on it, you'll figure out what to choose. other magical items and unique items should be taken into consideration as well.

for now, I'm back to modifying spells....

Gladiator's maximum base Vitality is 220 now, done to limit maximum DFE at 110. And extra damage from Vitality when using axe raised to (CLVL * Vit) / 60

Nevermind, I have fixed most of them already, but left one dark palette (not without adjusting its gamma though).

upd:

Version 1.60 has been released this afternoon.

This thread is continued either in '1.61 in development' or in 'To Do list'