Underworld DLC (Behind the Scenes) and the future of Erannorth.
Hi folks!
With Underworld DLC content getting closer to final, it's time for some updates on the progress and my thoughts on Erannorth's future.
It's a long post, so grab a coffee and let me tell you a story.
Back in December, during the last DLC progress update, I mentioned that the new DLC Organization will be Underworld, and that their signature class will be the 'Thug'. Also that there will be a new race, the 'Nomad', which will be improving/re-imagining the Nomad race, I released in the Unofficial Expansion Pack a couple of months ago.
The only thing that changed since then, is the Underworld's signature class name, which became 'Crime Lord'. We still start as a lowly thug, but at least now there is a better/clearer goal of what we are trying to achieve here ;)
In that news post, I also asked you if you prefer the remaining part of the DLC to be events or archetypes.
And the resounding verdict was events.
Underworld DLC contents
There will be around 300+ new cards (around 150 for the new archetypes, and 150 expanding existing archetypes, loot etc.)
a mix of new enemies and bosses.
and several new challenges in the Sandox map.
But the main highlight of this DLC, will be an overhaul of all the in-game events and interactions, adding some more RPG elements to the game and setting up a more unified framework for modders to build their own events.
Why overhaul the events system? Or what's wrong with the current event system?
Well, many things, one could argue. Starting with the facts that I am neither a writer, nor a native English speaker. But since you are stuck with me, let's sugar-coat things a bit and round the problems down to three:
a) The Event system I developed myself wasn't very flexible, and in retrospective was a bit of a pain in the a@$ to expand with new choices.
b) Many choices in those events were archetype locked, and with so many archetypes, most events had nothing to offer, unless you were playing with that combination.
I mean why on earth would anyone check if the player is 'Shadow' and not if the player has 'Subterfuge'? Only one class can be a 'Shadow' but more archetypes could possibly have a 'Subterfuge' skill. DnD 101.
Well the simple answer to that is that Erannorth was initially designed to be a Card Game system. The various RPG-like elements like stats, character creation, world map and equipment were added incrementally at later dates at 'what if?' moments of restlessness.
c) there was little to no randomness, and few branching paths because of a). So every time the event would play in the exact same way.
A solution, and more problems
The recent addition of the open-source Ink Script framework, opened up a whole new horizon of possibilities for our own events system. Solving problems a & c in one fell swoop.
So I started re-writing all the game events and event-like interactions from scratch.
But then problem b) became even more apparent.
I had already started working on a moddable Expertise framework some time midways DLC2, and eventually some expertises were introduced in DLC3, but mainly to be used within the card system.
Because you know, the key of having passive skills in your system is to actually use them. There is no point of having a Subterfuge skill if nothing is making use of it.
When the watermelons get too many to carry.
Another major problem that slowed developing this expansion *a lot* is that it's becoming nearly impossible to keep each DLC standalone. Cards using other cards, events giving them as rewards, universal perks, locations using bosses unique to each expansion and even having a contunuity as an event. etc.
Each expansion is planned to work on its own, or that is the intent, but in practice they are build on top of each other and to complement each other. For me, who designed them, makes 0 sense for someone to pick DLC3 instead of DLC1, but it's something that happens more often than not.
In retrospective expandability wasn't something I had properly planned for, and honestly reaching 4 DLCs now feels like a feat. Not to mention that my life would have been easier, to plan things better if at day one I had Erannorth engine v1.085 in my hands instead of nothing.
This leads to the following piece of bittersweet news for those who came to love Erannorth despite its imperfections.
Underworld will be the last major expansion for Erannorth
Underworld DLC will introduce several new passive skills / expertise fields into the events system.
Each class in the game starts with 3 of them. You will be able to learn more using your Headquarter's (or Hideout) library. Having these fields of expertise will provide you additional choices in various events, certain cards that require them etc.
Building a Library in your Headquarters
Upgrading my Crime Lord expertise fields
All events are redesigned from ground up, to introduce more variety, randomness a few branching paths, but most importantly expandability.
The key word here is *introduce*. But I hope it will leave a better/unified framework for modders to tell their own stories. Let's see some examples.
Hey a corpse! Imagine that!
Bandits in the Clocktower?
The Bone Altar
Someone grown up!
Finally something familiar!
Hey who are you and what you did to my Nightingale?
Well you get the point ;)
Unforeseen obstacles and set backs aside, Underworld will be coming as planned by mid/end February. I'd say I am ~80% done. But as with all predictions, take it as: 'when it's ready' ;)
Also, as I said Underworld will be the final major expansion for Erannorth Reborn and further updates in Erannorth (if any) will be bugfixes.
Of course with every end comes a new beginning.
So I'll be giving you more details on Erannorth 2 after Underworld DLC is released ;)
Balance Changes, QoL Improvements and Community Requests
Hi folks,
I hope you had awesome holidays!
Personally, I did rest for a while, but overall can't say I got the actual vacation I was hoping for (or dreaming). I guess working from home makes it near impossible to stay away from work for long.
Which will unfortunately postpone my promise to leave English.json alone for a month, but on the bright side, there is a major update coming soon. ːsteamhappyː
And this (probably) will be the last (major) update before DLC4 hits the store next month.
So let's see what's new.
(Additional) Balance Changes
There are way too many to list here, but will hopefully conclude and finalize the meta changes started in patch 1.080.0. These changes won't break games in progress, but a fresh start is *highly* recommended, as your character might no longer make sense. ie. Have different bonuses than you expected etc.
The highlights are:
a) Combined Attribute bonuses are given every 3 attribute increments instead of every 4. In addition to that, the combined attribute bonus can reach up to +15 instead of +7. Which in practice means higher bonuses faster / more room to experiment with different builds in the same Sandbox run etc.
b) Agility and Willpower are equally important for your AP pool, and increasing either will have more impact to your AP gain.
c) Completing challenges in Sandbox will offer better rewards and higher chances to get limited edition allies.
d) Sub areas like caves, dungeons, etc. are much smaller, and have a much better reward gain, so they now worth the detour, if you can survive in them.
e) It's much easier to use Dispel. The check changed to Ptn + 1 >= Enemy Level (instead of Ptn + 3).
But of course not everything changed on our favor ;)
f) Many enemies toughened up.
g) All perks have been rebalanced to one degree or another. In some cases the entry point perk to some trees will make your life harder before it make it better. Or a bit harder to have characters that are equally good in everything. Or to make more worthwhile for their cost. etc.
UI Improvements
Again, there are plenty of improvements to list them all, so let's see some highlights.
Improved Readability
Card effects will appear each on its own line in the details pane. But will still try to minimize scrolling in the actual card box. Here is an example.
Note to Modders: The line breaks happen on the code side, by using certain formatting tags that the English.json file includes. But they will only process if the line "HasUserModifications" is set to "No". So if you want to use your own formatting ie. use custom line breaks etc. either remove this line or set it to a different value. Older mods should work witrhout any issues.
Perks effects will appear each on its own line in their details pane.
Note to Modders: This is done by modifying each perk description separately. So the only way to reverse that, would be to create your own perk descriptions.
(Quick) Deck Switcher
Added a button in your portrait to quickly access your deck presets, and switch between them.
3 Bleed, 4 Burn and... oh wait my Weaken perk
Hmm. How much damage would that be? Let's see... In this case I have 4 Venom counters + a perk causing weakened enemies to lose 2 HP = 14.
What perks can I pick *now*?
There is a new category that will highlight only the perks you can pick.
A list of advanced filters in deck builder?
Added a list of the advanced filters you can use in the filters panel.
You can read more about the upcoming changes below.
Patch Notes - 1.084.0
Balance Changes
A successful enemy 'Sneak Attack' will break up two of their Concealment counters.
Tweaked/re-balanced almost all perks.
'Combined Attribute' bonus will increase every 3 ranks (instead of every 4 ranks) up to the maximum bonus of +15 (instead of +7).
'Combined Attribute' Bonus Table changed to:
Negative bonus (below 10) are like before.
10 -> 0
11,12,13 -> +1
14,15,16 -> +2
17,18,19 -> +3
20,21,22 -> +4
23,24,25 -> +5
26,27,28 -> +6
29,30,31 -> +7
32,33,34 -> +8
35,36,37 -> +9
38,39,40 -> +10
41,42,43 -> +11
44,45,46 -> +12
47,48,49 -> +13
50+ -> +15
Willpower & Agility now have a higher & equal contribution to AP.
Initial AP formula changed to: Base Combination AP + Retroactive Perk Bonuses + Retroactive Attribute Bonus of (Agility) + Retroactive Attribute Bonus of (Willpower). (Instead of Attribute Bonus((Agility + Agility + Willpower) / 3))
Initial AP can't drop below Base AP ie. due to penalties in Agility or Willpower.
AP Gain per Level changed to: InitialAP() + ((Level - 1) x 3)
Completing Challenges will offer better Tier rewards & a higher chance of finding a limited edition ally
Exploration nodes are shorter and will yield much higher rewards
Minor tweaks in various Witch cards with 'Grace'.
Minor tweaks in various Summoner cards.
Dispel Rule Change: To succeed in the Dispel, Card Potential must be >= Enemy Level + 1 (instead of +3)
UI & QoL Improvements
UI Adjustments, Tweaks & Graphic improvements
Added 8 Male & 8 Female portraits
Minor Tooltip adjustments to improve their readability
Added a footnote with its DLC requirement in the Organization tooltip
Misc readability improvements in card details panel. Effects and their short explanation will appear in separate lines.
Added an appendix in the Codex entries with links to additional effects present in the card.
Enemy details will include their current Power and Health for easier access. Additionally there is now an estimation of the DOTs damage next to enemy Health value. A skull will appear if the enemy is predicted to die during their turn.
New Deckbuilder filters: 'Show Skills' will show only the skill cards.'Or' filter (||) can be used to show results that one or the other conditions are met.
In Sandbox Mode rewards will display ordered by Tier (High to Low).
(New) Quick Deck Switcher. You can click the new hand button (under the deckbuilder button) to open the deck switcher panel. With the new deck switcher you can save your current deck or switch to a different deck without opening the deck builder or to empty your deck and open the deck builder.
Starting Deck is automatically saved as a Deck Preset.
Re-formatted all perk descriptions to improve their readability.
Added a list of the advanced filters in the Filters panel
If the drawpile has less cards than the Clairvoyance, Rally or Supplies value, that value in the card will be change to reflect the actual amount of cards you can preview. (as it can't be more than the remainder Drawpile)
Added an 'Available Now' filter in Perks filters. It will show any perks that you can purchase right away.
Bugfixes
When reloading the game instances of cards in Hand were (incorrectly) removed from the draw pile too.
Card Details could some times show up for objects marked for destruction ie. hovering over an action that just killed an enemy as its destroyed.
After leveling up excess XP will be transfered to the next level.
In some casting methods AP was substracted after the card was fully cast, rather than before. In these cases AP restoration effects wasn't working as intended. ie. if the caster's AP was full at the time of casting.
Fixed a few mismatched Perk definitions/descriptions
Fixed a bug in the new Deck Switcher that could cause loss of stashed cards.
Expanded the Class/Level widget's textbox to prevent cutting longer class names. Level will instead appear there as Lvl.
In character sheet: some attribute tooltips were displaying a wrong calculation (of how much the assorted affinity will increase if they increase)
Focus effect will properly trigger after any Contingencies or Conditional effects trigger
When gaining stack resistances ie. Resist Physical any individual perk bonuses i.e a bonus in Resist Slashing will properly be taken into account and granted
Fixed a rare issue with some card texts flicker undecided whether to show the scrollbar or not
Damage projection will properly take into account the Nocturnal bonus for Drain
Modding Additions
Rally can be forced to fetch specific allies using LookFor[Type]:1. In this case Rally rule becomes: Remove the top x 'Type' Allies from your Draw Pile. Choose & Draw one, then Discard the rest.
New Action Effect: Stock Pile
Syntax: StockPile[Card]:[Qty]. => Add x[Qty] [Card] to your Drawpile.
ie StockPileElixir of Vitality:1 => Add x1 Elixir of Vitality to your Drawpile.
StockPile will add x temporary copies of the [Card] to your Draw Pile.
'Stock' cards don't go to the player's Deck, only in their Draw Pile and won't appear in the Deck Builder.
'Stock' cards are lost once they are used/go to discard pile and they aren't meant to act like 'deck-bloat curses' (a simple shuffle will get rid of them) but rather be something beneficial ie. to use alongside Supplies or Rally etc.
They are otherwise indistinguishable from other cards.
Note to modders: In order for StockPile effect to work correctly, the [Card] needs to have 1 (or no) TotalUses (single use card or not consumable card). Consumables with more charges won't work properly as they
must* be Singletons.
English.json
New Entries: CardRulesBloodTributeUnifiedEx, CodexOnDraw, CardRulesRallyAlly, CardRulesRallyAllyEx, CardRulesStockPile, CardRulesStockPileEx
Multiple changes in Card Rules and Codex entries.
Updated references to Willpower/Agility contribution and tooltips
Added a legend section with 'Affinity Symbols' in the affinity rulebook entry. (icon -> affinity it represents)
All edits are optional in traslation mods, but is still recommended to use a diff tool or crowd.in to adjust your edits accordingly.
All 6 new Entries should be added. Otherwise your mod won't be compatible with the upcoming DLC.
Underworld DLC progress
Underworld DLC edits/fixes/additions
Ehm... Raven you forgot the most important part...
Right. This patch will be landing later today in the main branch ;)
And that's all folks! Have fun!
Happy Holidays!
Hi folks!
2020 is almost over, and by most accounts haven't been the best of years. Sure, humanity had worse, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't hope for something better (or not be thankful for any good bits of it) ;)
We can only wish that 2021 we'll be a better year, and bring us all many smiles, health, and great moments with our loved ones. But in appreciation of what is already here, I'd like to thank you all for your continued support in Erannorth and wish you safe, happy and awesome holidays!
I plan on taking most of January off (from development) to just play Erannorth (and appreciate the games of my fellow developers). So unless a really critical/gamebreaking bug requires fixing, we'll probably be talking again late January. Modders and translators rejoice! I'll be leaving English.json alone for over a month ^..^
If like me, you are too planning to spend a large part of your holidays playing Erannorth, I added one last new feature for 2020, that I hope you'll find very handy.
Lacking a better naming idea, I present you:
Contextual Damage Preview and more
Hovering over an Enemy with a Card (or an Ally) will now provide the follow Contextual information in the bottom right information panel.
Card Damage Estimation: Show an estimate of how much damage your card will deal to the enemy, along with a prediction if the enemy will live or die.
Ally Damage Estimation: Show an estimate of how much damage your Ally will deal and how much damage they'll receive, along with a prediction if your Enemy or Ally will live or die. This at the moment doesn't include 'Morale' abilities, that may further damage the enemy, heal or harm your ally etc.
If your attack isn't Ranged and the Enemy has Counter Attack, Spiked Armor or Flying you'll get a relevant warning. Similarly, if the attack is Ranged and the enemy has Cover.
If your Potential is lower than the Enemy level you'll get a warning that your Debuffs will fail because you don't have x Potential.
If your Potential is lower than the Enemy level + 3 you'll get a warning that your Dispels will fail because you don't have x Potential.
If you have beaten an enemy before: you'll get a warning if you target them with effects that they are immune. If you meet the requirements to apply the debuff (enemy is not immune and you meet the potential) no message is shown.
If you target an Enemy with a Card that needs to target yourself or an ally, or a certain type of Enemy, you'll get a warning that you have the wrong target.
If you target an Enemy with a Card that can Destroy them or Control them, you'll get a confirmation that the HP / Power requirements are met.
If the Enemies have Gallop, Concealment or Incorporeal will display the chance they have to avoid all Damage.
When calculating the damage projection in cards with fury the algorithm will properly take into account all Vulnerable stacks applied by one of its iterations
If your Ally morale ability isn't Ranged and the Enemy has Counter Attack or Spiked Armor you'll get a relevant warning
If the card has any Bonus effects that can trigger, they'll be displayed and also get included to the damage estimation.
If you haven't met an Enemy before it will be mentioned that it's your first Encounter
Will probably be building on top of it and improve it further coming next year, but in the meantime I hope you'll find it useful. ;)
Minor QoL Improvements, Bugfixes and DLC4 Progress
Hi folks,
Most of the updates since last time we talked are bug fixes and DLC4 content (or changes to support DLC4 content). This also includes some minor changes in the localization file, so you may want to update any mods modifying English.json to the latest version of the file (or at the very least add the new entries added).
Aside from that you'll find several minor QoL improvements and a more responsive Player's Handbook when your search is too wide and has hundreds of results.
DLC4 is on schedule (Q1/2021). One of the new Races and one of the new Organizations (and its Class) are done, and under testing.
Speaking of Q1 my guess is near its end. But all these are estimates, and the takeaway release date should always be: once it's ready ;)
So let's see what's ready:
Nomad (Confirmed Race)
The nomadic tribes of Folkswave have no lands to call their own, but they all share the same traditions, customs and according the contemporary historians roots.
Nomad tales and legends go back before the sundering and the formation of Deimos Chasm and point their origins to the ancient and glorious empire of Adh'xzar.
Underworld (Confirmed Organization)
Thieves, Scoundrels, Con Artists and Assassins are all free and welcome to join the various Underworld organizations. There is only one primordial rule: Don't get caught!
Thug (Confirmed Organization Class)
Life in the slums was rough. Few survive it, and even fewer actually grow stronger and tougher from the ordeal.
But you did, and you got noticed.
Luckily, it was the right kind of attention, and now you have a bright criminal carreer ahead of you.
Sure you are a lowly thug. But everyone has to start somewhere...
Will be giving more details at a later date, but the WIP page for the DLC is live so you can wishlist below if you like. But keep in mind that the description and contents of DLC4 are still far from finalized and will probably change.
At this point I am still debating whether to focus the remaining content on Events or additional Organization/Archetype. As both won't be possible.
So feel free to comment below what you guys prefer: Events or Archetypes?
You can read the merged patch notes below for more details.
Patch Notes - 1.081.8
Bugfixes
While hovering over Enemies: Moving over a tactic and then over the enemy wouldn't display enemy details properly
Fixed some card typos & definition mistakes
Fixed an issue with Conditional Synergies (in leveled cards) adding the level as bonus in the granted Synergy (when they shouldn't). i.e Red Skull Cult Hood was giving Synergy Multicast 3 upon reaching level 1 instead of a fixed Synergy Multicast 2 once the condition was met.
Linked the related cards in a few cards that was missing them.
Optimal target algorithm will properly take into account if the card has 'potentially harmfully Synergies' and 'Multicast/Fury' together and properly classify such cards as 'Enemy' cards.
Fixed an issue with certain Conditional Scripted Effects not triggering properly. ie Furious Slash
Fixed a visual glitch in card textbox caused by dropping a Card on a Card while a Synergy active. (And the issue introduced by 1.081.3 hotfix: detailed rules was appearing in the card box (if the detailed rules setting were chosen).
Restless Buccaneer was missing his artwork after correcting the spell error in the card name.
Sacrifice effect was dealing x3 damage instead of x2 damage.
Gaining 'Loyalty' for the first time wasn't showing up under PC portrait
When closing the Deckbuilder open side-panels (Filters and Split View) will close automatically. (Will no longer appear open in places it shouldn't i.e Drawpile view if it was open while closing the Deckbuilder.)
Area Completion reward Chest will always offer 4 choices.
Misc Changes
In Player's Handbook/Deckbuilder: You can search for cards by expansion using expansion::[expansion] i.e expansion::canticum noctem will show all cards included in the canticum noctem expansion
Compact Rules Only: The Conditional requirement part is removed from the card if/once a perk drops the requirement to 0 or less.
If the player meets the Expertise, Time, Archetype or Deck requirement of a card its color will change from dark red to dark green.
Added icon for Organization and Organization Mastery in the Character Sheet
Optimized fetching/displaying search results in Player Handbook. Long searches should no longer make the game appear 'as not responding' to windows.
'Apply' keyword renamed to 'Inevitable': Inevitable [Status] x: Applies (Unconditionally) x counters of [Status] to the targeted Enemy. This effect can't be avoided or blocked. Inevitable Statuses will affect the Enemy regardless the card Potential or their Immunities.
If the Herbalism expertise is in use (DLC3, Rs Hag Mod or UEP), Gather Herbs cards will fetch herbs that match the PC's Herbalism expertise (rather than gather card's tier + evolution).
Cards with 'Unsummon Ally' will no longer let you right-click-cast them. If you do so a message will appear in the log as a reminder that you need to target an ally manually.
In Deckbuilder: an x button will appear next to active filter when one is active. Clicking it will clear the active filter.
Underworld DLC content
'Underworld' organization/class support
Underworld DLC Resources
Nomad (Race), Underworld (Organization) & Thug (Organization Class) are fully done and under testing.
Card Set 176/?
English.json
English.json Edits: Several minor edits. You can compare the current version with your version using a diff tool like https://text-compare.com/ but at the very least make sure to add the new entries below:
Underworld DLC News, Let's Play Erannorth (Again) and a cancelled Contest.
Hi folks,
Let's start with an update on our modding contest. The window for submitting an entry closed (several hours ago) and as there wasn't enough entries the contest was officially cancelled.
Which is sad. Especially for the two modders who worked hard to participate. In any case, I'd like to congratulate them both and welcome them to the modding council.
If you haven't checked out our Workshop lately, and you like to have more events in your game, make sure to subscribe to their mods, and of course to give our fellow modders a thumbs up for all their hard work.
For those who start out their journey in Erannorth, can't stomach my written English, but can tolerate my awful accent: I started a new video series aimed for beginners, where we'll be unlocking everything together starting from scratch and I will be explaining all game mechanics and secrets as we do so.
And since I won't be bothering you with this again: If it's something you want to check out, make sure to bookmark the playlist below ;)
The first DLC of 2021, will be called 'Underworld', and since it can be ambiguous of what it means in a world like Erannorth, let me clarify. It refers to the various criminal organizations, thieves and assassin guilds (rather than the final resting place of souls).
All Underworld mechanics are actually coded for some time now, but most of the actual DLC4 content is not, so I am aiming for a mid/late Q1 release. If you have been testing out my Unofficial Expansion you are probably familiar with some of the new mechanics I was experimenting on, and that will be coming in DLC4. If not, keep reading ;)
I'll include in a parenthesis the patch each feature was added (for modders that missed them and want to catch up).
Some of the upcoming Card Effects
Alternative Effect / Discard. (1.071.3)
Some cards will have an alternative effect which you can trigger by discarding them. That can be anything, from getting a Synergy, gaining a resource or a buff, to inflicting damage to the enemies. etc.
Discarding a card is normally free and it won't cost you Concentration or Action Points, unless the Game Mode has a rule dictating that discarding cards costs HP.
So you can either play the card for its normal effect, or discard it for its alternative effect. The effect won't trigger if the card wasn't discarded by choice, but due to Hex, Feeblemind or a random Discard effect of a different card.
Some examples of what's possible:
Discard: Defend +2
Discard: Sneak Attack x4, Damage 12, but also Gain 6 Vulnerable.
Discard this summon and pay 10 life but gain two copies of this summon.
Discard this card and lose 2 AP to Draw 1 and gain Synergy Damage +2.
etc.
So basically everything the modder can imagine, can be an alternative effect that triggers upon discarding. Such cards come with a tombstone button, which you can click to quickly discard them. Of course you can still play them for their normal effects.
Rally (1.072.4)
You remove the top X Ally/Permanent cards from your Draw pile, and can choose and draw one of them. The rest are discarded and you shuffle your deck.
Supplies (1.072.4)
Supplies is similar but for Consumables & Trinkets. You remove the top X Consumables from your Draw Pile, and can choose and draw one of them. The rest are discarded and you shuffle your deck.
Loyalty (1.075.3)
Loyalty on one hand is a resource that can be expended as an additional cost or checked to provide a bonus effects. But additionally whenever an Ally attacks you add your 'Loyalty' as a bonus to their Damage and then reduce your remaining 'Loyalty' by 25% (rounded down). So in a sense it acts similarly to amplify, but instead can boost your ally attack.
For example if you have 10 Loyalty, the first Ally that attacks deals +10 Damage, then Loyalty drops by 25% down to 8 (rounded down). The second Ally deals +8 Damage and Loyalty drops to 6. The third Ally deals +6 Damage and Loyalty drops to 4.etc. and finally Loyalty resets to 0 during the Debuff phase.
Apply Status (1.071.4)
Some of these effects were added in the base game during the Re-Balance phase so you may already have the opportunity to test them out. Apply Status, can unconditionally apply an effect to an enemy bypassing immunity and potential. Some examples of what's possible:
Apply Burning 1. Will give the enemy 1 Burning - no questions asked.
Apply Vulnerable 3. Will give the enemy 3 Vulnerable - no questions asked.
Apply Healing 2. Will give the enemy 2 Healing counters but it won't heal them. Those enemies can't heal while they have those counters.
etc.
Some of the upcoming Perk bonuses
Status Punishing Perks (1.071.3)
You can have perks that punish enemies for triggering a tactic, applying to you an effect or by having a status you applied. Such perks will target a specific status. Some examples of what's possible:
'All enemies that activated Bleeding Strike lose 5 HP before they act'.
'All enemies that activated Flying lose 6 HP before they act.'
'All enemies with Vulnerable counters lose 5 HP before they act.'
etc.
Auto-buff Perks (1.072.0)
You can have perks that each turn set a certain resource or a buff to a certain value. Some examples of what's possible:
'You start your turn with Blood Surge 2.'
'You start your turn with Retribution 4.'
etc.
Perks that modify how certain effects work (1.071.0)
You can permanently modify certain effects to always affect enemies regardless immunity, or to affect enemies regardless immunity but only while you have a certain buff. Some examples of what's possible:
Bewitched affects Vampires while you have 'Judgement'
Spirits are no longer immune to 'Vulnerable'.
'Sneak Attack' affects Undead while you have 'Empower'
etc.
And that's about all I can share for now. I'll be giving you more details in a future post. ;)
I hope that this has picked up your interest, for some of the cool things about to come.
In the meantime, have fun and stay safe!
Major Balance update, Legacy Branch and QoL Improvements
Hi folks,
Last time we talked I mentioned I was working on a major update, part of which was all about re-balancing several aspects of the game in preparation for the upcoming season of DLCs, and in particular the Underworld DLC which is planned to arrive in Q1 of 2021.
Well, It's done. And before making it live in the main branch, let me tell you: this is a major update, that will forever change the way you play Erannorth.
I estimate that during the past week overdrive, I revisited over 2000+ cards. So before you update make sure to finish any active runs, and forget everything you take for granted.
And preferably don't resume an existing character but start a new game. Nothing will break, but your deck and picks might no longer make much sense.
This update will affect radically the veteran players with established tactics, as they'll now have to take many steps back and re-evaluate many of their strategies. And it's safe to assume that not everyone would be happy about everything. After all, change isn't always welcome.
This why I created a 'Legacy' branch, where you can switch at any moment. I won't be updating the 'Legacy' branch, but you can always save the 'Content' folder if you haven't already and mod back anything you don't like to the way it was.
So before we dive in, I'd like to thank everyone for your feedback and suggestions during the testing of these changes ːErannorthRebornCheersː, and also remind you that our Modding Contest ends at 30 November.
Balance Changes
Enemy AI Changes
Enemies are smarter and will try harder to destroy you, employing a better variety of their tactics.
Frost Touch, Feeblemind, Bleeding Strike, Envenom, Fire Aura I & II now all have a cool down of 4 turns before they can be used again by the same Enemy
Enemies created through an Illusory Copy or a Multiply effect are no longer able to use these tactics themselves
Enemies will stop spamming the same debuffs once they exceed a certain amount (relative to player's level).
Flank tactic has a Cooldown of at least 2 turns (if its intensity is lower than 2)
Flanking Enemies will try to break your Defend more aggressively once it exceeds certain thresholds
Cover tactic will last for 2 turns and has 2 additional turns cooldown before it can be used again, additionally to the old Cover benefit it will also remove several stacks of Vulnerable
Healing Tactic will now remove several stacks of Bleeding & Envenomed counters from the healed Enemy (relative to the tactic rank)
Card Level Up rules
Many effects now have customized level up rules. Some increase by more than +1/CL (Card Level), while others don't. So not every card will become 'better' in an obvious way, but will still improve in potential and allow for triggering better synergies. So before assuming how the card will evolve, click on the Scroll Icon behind the AP cost, to find out ;)
You don't need to adjust your own custom Level up rules if you have any. Any common rules will be automatically get replaced by your own. And to undo any of these to the old vanilla setting, you can set the rule back to 0. i.e ## LR#Farthings:0 in your ModLoaderUser.conf.
Farthings +5/CL instead of +1
Concealment +3%/CL instead of +1
Pride +2/CL instead of +1
Chain +5%/CL instead of +1
Double +4%/CL, Triple +3%/CL, Quad +2%/CL instead of +1
Lifespan 0/CL instead of +1
Power +3/CL instead of +1
Health +5/CL instead of +2
Kill 0/CL instead of +1
ExtendAlly +0/CL instead of +1.
ExtendAllies +0/CL instead of +1. ( ExtendAlliesOfType[x] will still gain +1/CL. )
UnravelEffectMeditate +0/CL instead of +1.
AdjustStatusConcealment, AdjustStatusShield, AdjustStatusIncorporeal, AdjustStatusFlying, AdjustStatusCover will now gain +0/CL instead of +1/CL
Focus & Invoke +0/CL instead of +1/CL
Destroynon-Undead:+2/CL, Destroynon-Wicked:+2/CL, DestroyUndead:+2/CL, DestroyWicked:+2/CL, DestroyEnemy:+2/CL, Banish:+2/CL (Instead of +1/CL)
Card & Effect Tweaks, Nerfs & Buffs
Some effects were costing too little AP for their impact in their table, while others too much. This has been adjusted. And now more expensive effects will feel more rewarding, or if you prefer: more rewarding effects will now be more expensive.
Fury & SynergyFury: Minor/Medium increase in AP cost.
SynergyMulticast: Minor/Medium increase in AP cost.
Multicast: Medium/Large increase in AP cost.
Envy: Minor/Medium increase in AP cost.
In certain Cards 'Fury'/'Multicast' were used along with 'Chaotic' for the sole purpose to deal multiple damage the Chaotic damage, those will now use the 'Chaos' modifier instead which will just increase the number of the random enemies affected, while keeping their power level (and cost) lower.
Echo: Minor/Medium increase in the AP cost.
Focus & Invoke effects are now fixed and in many cases seen a Minor/Medium AP cost increase.
Kill: Major increase in AP cost. Boss status now grants an automatic immunity to Kill. There are now around 24 cards with the 'Kill' effect (down from around 60). In some cases this has been replaced with 'Destroy' effect.
Streamlined the various vanilla Destroy[Type] effects to fall under these 5 categories: Destroynon-Undead, Destroynon-Wicked, DestroyUndead, DestroyWicked, DestroyEnemy. They'll cost slightly more but affect higher Tier enemies and scale better.
Cards with Control Effects: They cost slightly more AP and will affect stronger targets.
Expend Buff costs are now fixed. Cards that require additional resources are slightly more powerful or cheaper than their normal equivalents. Additionally the resource cost won't go up as the card gain levels.
CustomBuff Effects/Card that produce Resources. As the resources expend cost is now fixed, (most) cards will also produce a fixed amount of resources. This isn't because of Level up rule, but due to a different syntax. CustomBuffs in mods will still increase normally.
Abilities unique to Allies are now excluded both from Area Rewards & Loot Tables
ReactivateAlly: Minor/Medium increase in the AP cost.
Herb cards changed to single use.
AoE & Empower effects got a minor AP cost increase.
Pride got a significant effect boost in efficiency and also a medium AP increase.
Other Balance changes
Fury & Multicast Rule Addendum: Multicast & Fury actions will now consume Concentration equal to their value instead of 1. i.e a Multicast 4 Action will consume 4 Concentration instead of 1. A reminder will display in detailed rules i.e Concentration x2.
Amplify Addendum: At the End of your Turn any unused Amplify bonus is lost.
Empower Addendum: At the End of your Turn any unused Empower bonus is lost.
Increased the minimum Deck requirement to 20 Cards. (This isn't hardcoded, and can be adjusted through the Race .json files.)
Demigod Enemies have improved AI abilities.
Lowered the Enemy Resistance gain per level from 30% boost per level to 15% (You can still modify this on a game mode basis.)
Replaced DLC1-3 Endgame quests with a series of Boss challenges
Perks that affect Amplify changed so that they target a specific element. So Pyromancy perk boost is just in Amplify Fire instead of every Amplify effect.
Necromancers now count as Wicked.
As a reminder: The bulk of these changes are done on a Card definition level, so if you are using mods modifying vanilla cards (like UEP, Rs Hag mod, New World mod etc.) then any overwritten cards will appear unchanged. And probably more importantly, Level up rules will affect mods designed with the old level up rules in mind in unpredictable ways. So keep that in mind.
Other Additions & Improvements
What the ... with the update size?
I improved the DOF in Enemy & Ally Artworks and thus their resources had to repack, probably if you didn't like them before you still won't, and you couldn't care less about this change... But if you did, then I think they now look way much better (than before).
Bugfixes
Fixed a typo in the card For the Highest Bidder making its text invisible.
Fixed an issue with Unravel Effects not triggering if their value become 0 due to a perk or card level modifier
Load/Resume of a saved file in modes with disabled Skills (ie. Agent) could reactivate them.
Immunity[effect]/Weakness[effect] search filters in Enemy Compendium weren't working properly ever since searching became case-insensitive
Herbalism Set & Expertise
Canticum Noctem DLC includes the revamped Herbalism set & Universal Perk Tree from my Hag & UEP mods, so you don't really need the DLC, but for now I haven't tweaked neither the Hag nor UEP version to the new Balance.
UI Improvements
Card Level up spoiler now includes the card's 'Potential' Modifier due to the increased level. This includes the Card's Level, Card's Penetrate & Card's Empower effects that are already there. So for example it doesn't include your level or additional active Empower buffs/synergies.
Player Handbook search results are now sorted by Tier
Split view decklist is sorted alphabetically to match the full card Deck View.
The AP cost of cards will also display in the split view decklist.
Card effects modified by Node-based Modifiers will now show up directly in the card. i.e Concealment at Daytime, Vampire Healing at Daytime, Leyline modifier on 'Damage' effect etc.
While hovering over enemies without a card all their resistances will display in order as "Damage Overview"
While hovering over enemies with a card only the relevant resistance or vulnerability will display.
'0' Resistances will now appear when inspecting an Enemy holding a card under 'Vulnerabilities'.
New Advanced Filters for Player Handbook & Deck Builder
New filter 'potential' in Deck Builder will display cards that have potential =,<= or >= than x. i.e potential>=4. (matches will be affected by your current level & empower see Potential in Rulebook)
&& filter in Enemy compendium, Player handbook & Deckbuilder, will now act as [Filter]&&[Filter] instead of covering only a subset of cases
ie. Enemy Compendium: 'tier>=2&&tier<=3' will find enemies that are more than tier 2 but less than
i.e Enemy Compendium: 'immunitybewitched&&underworld' will find enemies that are immune to bewitched and belong in the underworld faction
i.e DeckBuilder: 'show deck&&potential>=3' will show cards in deck that have potential 3 or greater
While in Deck builder 'F' will toggle on/off the Filters panel.
Added a 'Not In Deck' button in the Filters panel
New filter (not::) in Player's Handbook/Deck Builder.
i.e not::vulnerable, will exclude cards with any reference to vulnerable
i.e level unlocks&¬::show deck, will show the level unlocks that aren't currently in deck.
New archetype filter in Player's Handbook/Deck Builder arch::[Discipline] will show card specific to that discipline ie. searching for 'witch' will return all cards of the witch discipline but also non-witch cards that contain the word 'witch'. Searching instead for arch::witch will show only cards that belong in witch discipline. i.e grace&&arch::witch will return all the witch cards that include the 'grace' word in their text.
New ally race filter in Player's Handbook/Deck Builder allyis:[race] will allies that are of that type. ie. allyis::knight, will show all knight allies.
Seeding more Enemy variants
As you may or may not know, enemies in Erannorth normally corresponds to 10 Variants (Entries in Database) ie 632 Enemy Definitions in the Ultimate edition become 6320 Enemy Variants From Level = Tier to Level = Tier + 10. So the toughest Enemy is level 20 if I recall correctly.
But what if you want to play Endless or Conquest+ and don't want to mod new Enemies?
I added a setting to increase Enemy Variants. ;)
You can increase this up to 40 (Max Level = Tier + 40), but at a *significant* cost in loading times ie. 632 Ememy Definitions x 40 = 25280. So if you feel that the game takes long to restart probably you should leave this setting to 10. Or reduce it to 5 if you are playing a Gaunlet and not a Sandbox/Endless mode. (There is no reason to have your Enemies at a higher level than 20 if you don't intent to actually meet them ie. embark on an Endless or Sandbox+ mode.
Reset Progress or Unlock all archetypes instantly
While the archetype order and unlock cost is important, in terms of progressively building your Erannorth expertise some people find it a chore to unlock things. While others like me, have done it over 6 times and want to do it again.
Added a button in ModManager settings to (cheat) unlock all playable archetypes.
Added a button in ModManager settings to fully reset the game progress.
Added a button in ModManager settings to reveal the Saves Folder location.
Other Minor changes
<*> Improved/optimized the encounter generation algorithm for more Encounter variety <*> Deprecated: FixedCost:1 (All ExpendBuffCosts are now fixed. Can be individually overriden through Level up Rules) <*> Expanded CustomBuff[Buff]:x syntax. We can declare CustomBuff[Buff]=x:1 if we want x to remain fixed and don't gain any levels as the card advances. <*> Card details in Player's Handbook will now include the Expansion
English.json
I adapted the changes I was testing in UEP 2.x English.json for formatting. However 'Expend' will drop & Blood Tribute will change to icon only if the rules are set to 'Compact.'
You don't really have to use this English.json, or even change your translations/mods to accomodate this change, but you SHOULD still update the rules for StatusHealing, StatusIllusoryCopy, StatusMultiply, StatusCover, CodexFatigue, CodexEntryConcentrationFatigue, CodexMulticastAll, CodexMulticast, CodexFury, ManualEntryMulticastAndFury, CardRulesMulticastAll, CardRulesMulticastAllEx, CardRulesMulticast, CardRulesMulticastEx, CardRulesFury, CardRulesFuryEx, CardRulesEcho, CodexAmplify, CodexEmpower, ManualEntryTurnFlow. As it may confuse the end users as to why some things happen, whereas they didn't before.
Upcoming Balance changes
Hi folks,
In an alternate universe this post is about the upcoming DLC: Underworld, where I give you all the cool details and spoilers about it.
But in this universe, I want to give you the heads up, that there will be a quite major update, (along a somewhat overdue) balance update. Perhaps next weekend. So before we get to any DLC4 news let's get to that first.
The anniversary update already made some very important changes and addressed some of the common grievances among the new players, like Shields and infinite Reinforcement waves. But for the veterans among us, when it come to balance, the elephant is still in the room smirking at us.
And that is the realization, that once you learn the rules the difficulty drops a lot. We tend to copy ourselves or go on the safe route, maybe rehashing the same winning tactics over and over, as if we are missing the tokens, but damn, they are way too powerful to ignore.
So in my book, the main culprits for that are some really powerful effects like: Kill, Envy, Focus, Empower that can dominate the table if abused. While on the opposite spectrum some effects mostly unused in higher stages/difficulties like Pride, blitz tactics with short-term allies. etc.
For some time I was experimenting both in UEP and my personal setup with some different level up rules and was considering some changes, which I found they refreshed my games a lot. And what a better time to shake up things, ehm balance things, than before the next DLC arrives?
So the scope of this rebalance project aptly codenamed 'Broomsticks and Goblins' is five-fold:
a) To bring some old/outdated cards up to date with the latest DLCs. b) To nerf some one-stop effects like Kill, Focus & Envy. c) Make more interesting/viable some of the weaker/neglected effects like Pride. d) Make the leveling of some effects (more) worth-while. e) Make playing with non-unique allies a (more) viable strategy.
Some of these changes are already in the development branch, and others will be coming (there) in the coming days. If you are in the public development branch expect an influx of changes regularly and lot of confusion.
So don't get that announcement as an invitation to switch to that branch. Unless of course you are a veteran, what I just said made sense, and want to help shape the future meta of Erannorth.
Anything in there is a clay begging to change. Probably over 400-500 cards have already changed, and I am still testing things out. So they can easily change tomorrow to something else. Still not quite happy with the Pride effect. Now it feels too strong.
The development build of course will contain other goodies and some QoL improvements as well, and so the first time you'll update to it will be over 480mb. But below I'll just focus on the balance part of the changes:
Balance Changes in 1.078.2 beta
Boss status now grants an automatic immunity to Kill
Major increase in the cost of all Actions with the Kill effect (You can review them in Player's Handbook by searching for kill)
Minor increase in the cost of all Actions with the Envy effect (You can review them in Player's Handbook by searching for envy)
Further reduced the presence of 'Kill' effects. There are now around 24 cards with the 'Kill' effect (down from around 60). In some cases this has been replaced with 'Destroy' effect.
Tweaked the Actions with Destroy & SynergyFocus Effects. Both got a minor AP cost increase.
Tweaked Actions with Focus & Invoke effects. With few exceptions ie. Cards with Discard, most cards with the Focus effect now have a cap in the amount of cards they can draw/invoke (MaxDraw 1 or 2). This means that now the only reason to level up some cards would be to boost their potential rather than their effects.
Tweaked cards with AoE, Pride & Empower. AoE & Empower effects got a minor AP cost increase. Cards with Pride got a significant effect boost and also a medium AP increase.
Core Herb cards changed to single use
The following ## LR# Level up rules will now apply by default (CL=Card Level):
Farthings +5/CL instead of +1
Concealment +3%/CL instead of +1
Pride +3/CL instead of +1
Chain +5%/CL instead of +1
Double +4%/CL instead of +1
Triple +3%/CL instead of +1
Quad +2%/CL instead of +1
Lifespan 0/CL instead of +1 (Lifespan value won't increase as card gains levels)
Power +3/CL instead of +1
Health +5/CL instead of +1
Kill 0/CL instead of +1 (Kill value won't increase as card gains levels)
Closing Notes:
You don't need to adjust your own custom Level up rules if you use any. Any common rules will be automatically get replaced by your own. And to undo any of these to the old vanilla setting set your rule to 0. i.e ## LR#Farthings:0 in your ModLoaderUser.conf.
The bulk of these changes are done on a Card definition level, so if you are using mods modifying vanilla cards (like Rs UEP, Rs Hag mod, New World mod, Mods adding SFX etc.), then any overwritten cards will appear unchanged. But the leveup rules will still apply. In any case, what is canon, is just a mere recommendation in a game where you can mod everything to your image. So if you don't like these changes or the level up rules, make sure to keep a backup of your Content/ folder before this update so you have access to the old definitions, and if feel inclined to be able to mod all these changes away.
I'll be updating UEP 2.x and my own mods to match the new changes once all are done and the branches are merged. And if you are a modder you may want to adapt your own mods to the new level up rules. But in the meantime, if you do want to test these changes before they go live, disable any mods overriding vanilla cards.
For any heroic souls who'll decide to brave the maelstroms of the development branch, I am looking forward for your feedback and thoughts. ;) Take care and stay safe.
Split Deckbuilder View, Skills Progression and Starting Attributes Randomizer
Hi folks,
Before we dive in to the new additions, as a reminder for anyone who somehow missed it :P, there is an active modding Contest, and you can read all about it here ;)
While most of the additions in the recent patches are modding related, and in particular improvements on the Events & Tales systems, there are also several quality of life and UI improvements.
Let's have a quick look in the top three.
3. Starting Attributes Randomizer
During character creation you can now press the new 'dice' button in your Attributes section to have them set automatically for you. The way this works, is that up to 25 points are subtracted randomly from all of your attributes down to 8, then any points you have plus those we took away, are redistributed randomly to all attributes up to 18. Clicking this button repeatedly will reset your attributes to base attributs, and repeat the process offering you different assignments.
2. Skills Progression
Did you ever gained a level and never realized that you got free cards you could add to your deck? We all did, and hopefully sooner rather than later, eventually found the new cards, but still...
Now whenever you gain a level if you have any (already) unlocked skills, that you can use, you'll receive a notification. Like so:
Once you click it, you will see the new cards you gained, and if any are interest you, click the button to jump to your deckbuilder or just close the notification.
1. Split Deckbuilder view and other improvements
There are many notable improvements in the deck builder, but perhaps the most handy will be the new split view.
You can also find quicky the new skills you gained at your current level using the 'Anything New?' button.
Filters aren't something new, but now some most commonly used are easily accessible in the new filters panel. You can click the scroll icon to access it. If you are missing a tooltip or two, is because you are using a mod with an older localization file. That's nothing important or game-breaking to worry about, and there isn't really a need to disable such mods.
In this example I clicked on the Icon to view the Piercing actions in my collection.
In the video below you can see these highlights in action:
[previewyoutube="rrnlW_gkU1g;full"]
Patch Notes - 1.076.9
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue with skill card being inaccessible in the deckbuilder if they got unlocked by different means than mastery.
Fixed some typos in Consecrate & Desecrate descriptions
Fixed a typo in Hatred. Card will now properly get the PayLife effect at level 4
Blood Scion Senaschals are properly excluded from Loot tables
Summons that are also Skills will no longer appear in the Town merchants
Cards returning to player's hand will properly lose the orange glow effect
Fixed a bug that allowed cards to trigger/target other cards while returning them to hand
Gaining organization mastery could in some cases incorrectly grant the 'Mod warrior' achievement
Fixed an issue with Ink Event Rewards not processing properly if given in-between linked paragraphs.
Fixed an issue with Ink Events not loading properly on Workshop mods
When counting allies to determine if the summon limit is exceeded any allies marked for destruction are now properly ignored
Hovering/unhovering over an enemy while they attack was removing the red background under their name indicating that they are the active enemy.
Hovering exactly over the numerical value of an Enemy's status could block showing the Status tooltip
Drawpile order (upon loading a save) was recreated based on the Decklist order; instead of restoring the actual Drawpile order from the save file.
Passing over the status icons holding a card could interfere with the enemy info panel and make it disappear / act clunky
Positive & Negative resistances had their colors accidentally swapped in the previous patch, while I was changing their tones to darker.
Deckbuilder Improvements
Clicking the 'Anything New?' filter will show the card unlocks of your current level (if any).
Added a new button that will toggle dialog box with filters for Element, Tier, Action Cost & Evolution.
Added a split Deck/Deck Builder View. The old Deck view is still accessible within the Split view & the 'D' Shortcut.
Shortcut 'Q' will take you directly to the Split View (if the Fullscreen Deckbuilder is set in Game Settings as your preferred one). While in the Deckbuilder it will also hide/show the deck panel.
Other UI & QoL Improvements
Added a button to randomize attributes & assign automatically available points during the character creation. The way this works, is that up to 25 points are subtracted randomly from all attributes down to 8, then any points you have are redistributed randomly to all attributes up to 18. Clicking this button repeatedly will reset your attributes to base attributs, and repeat the process offering a different assignment.
Added a notification/button each time you gain new skill cards during level up. Clicking on it will display them.
Misc World Map Graphics Improvements. Changed them Map Pins & added matching tokens for each of the 32 vanilla portraits
Added a Button to cards with Discard effect to quickly discard them.
Added a setting to revert the Resistances (when hovering on Enemies) back to text. Default display is icons.
Added a Notification that game is loading while Purging Data / Initializing the content.
Enemy Name will change its background to red when they are acting, to be more obvious which enemy is the one acting
When hovering over an Enemy, their Name background will change to green, to be more obvious which enemy you are inspecting/targeting
Hovering a non-Ranged card over an Enemy will now display a warning in the cases they have Spiked Armor, Counter Attack or Flying
Enemy Resistances & Vulnerabilities will now display as Icons
Modding Related Additions & Changes
Map Pins (& travel to them) can now be locked if the player doesn't meet the "ShowMapPinRequirements":[Requirements] defined in their Location.json file.
You can start the Sandbox with the player already "exploring" an area by setting the following Game Mode properties:
"InMediaRes":bool, if true enforces the location & area settings below:
"InMediaResLocation":string, Specify Starting location i.e Lanmerih, this will override the vanilla starting point
"InMediaResArea":int, Specify Starting Area (0 = Town, 1 = First Area etc.)
i.e "InMediaRes":true, "InMediaResLocation":"Lanmerih", "InMediaResArea":0 - will start the Sandbox with player visiting Lanmerih's Town
i.e "InMediaRes":true, "InMediaResLocation":"New Ulnathiir", "InMediaResArea":2 - will start the Sandbox with player exploring area 2 of New Ulnathiir
These settings don't have any effect in non-Sandbox modes.
You can 'force' Equip an item on the player as a reward using Equip:item as reward. (Loot:item can be used instead, if you just want to grant the item)
Modders can specify a custom artwork for all towns or certain town based on their location. Place an AltTown.png in CustomArtworks/Tales to override all towns. Place an AltTown[Location].png (i.e AltTownGrysbog.png) in CustomArtworks/Tales to override Grysbog town.
Enemy Logic Changes: After triggering Multiply enemy will rest (instead of also attacking). After triggering a Deck>> tactic enemy will rest (instead of also attacking)
New Card>>[Cardname] tactic: You can use it to hand a card to the player directly. Imposed cards should probably have a nasty unravel effect or a curse to make sure the player can't discard them outright.
Card>> & Deck>> Tactics both have a default cooldown of 2 Turns.
Updated some Event functions: 'Camp' function: a) Having a Ration during Camp rest will now let you restore 15 HP & 15 AP and also cure any ailments or negative statuses you have (in the modes they persist ie. Agent) b) Not having Rations during Camp will restore 5 HP & 5 AP (but won't cure ailments and negative statuses). 'Feed' function: Feeding restores 15 HP, 15 AP and removes Bleeding.
Additional UI and QoL Improvements, tighter Ink Integration and Contest News
Hi folks,
It's 10 days or so since the initial announcement of Ink Script Integration and our new Contest. And if you are looking forward to participate and get a chance to win a 25 Euro Steam Gift Card, make sure to check out that news announcement for more details (if you missed it).
And if you did (miss it), don't worry! There is still a whole month left (till 30 November) to get acquainted with the story system and submit your entry!
Meager prizes and winning aside, I still hope that you'll all at least give it a shot, and have lots of fun both telling your stories and of course playing the stories of our fellow community members.
The news post above contains all the details you need to know, but to give you an idea of how hard it really is, let's have a look at a screenshot from Inklewriter. A free 'what you see is what you get' editor that allows you to write CYOA stories using Ink script without worrying on the 'script' part ;)
So if you can do this:
...and (of course) have a story and time to tell it, then the sky is the limit.
Both I and our Discord community will be there to help you with any minor details or obstacles you may encounter integrating your story deeper with the game.
Which is pretty cool I may add, and you'd probably want to check it out!
Moving away from the contest, in the past ten days, most of the work went in making a tighter integration with the new/alternative event system, and continuing with the Anniversary Edition improvements. So there are some UI and QoL improvements and some extra modding additions.
The most obvious change is the World Map
Which in case you wonder both location pins, your token and the map itself are fully moddable.
The Enemy info panel will now show their resistances as Icons
Which you may not like for one or another reason, and if so, you can just revert things back by checking the 'Display Enemy Resistances as Text' checkbox and of course 'Apply' in your settings.
Restarting the game will now show you a loading screen to ease your anxiety as you wait for the content cache to reset.
Which might be some time, especially if you have the full pack of the official content/mods - 4300+ Cards and 900+ Enemies (aka 9000 enemy variants) - and perhaps some more mods on the side ;)
For the cooler stuff (that I can't exactly show you), like Enemy Death/Spawn Events, New AI tactics and all the new story telling tools at your disposal I updated the original contest post with the Ink Script related additions, and the Patch Notes section of the discussion board.
Closing comments
I got a few bug reports that Nomad & Night Sister cards aren't working in the Unofficial Expansion pack. They actually do, but if you are using any mod with outdated English.json file ie. without the 'Loyalty' entries, then the card rules can't process/render properly.
You can either temporarily deactivate such mods while you play with the UEP, or update the mod's English.json file with the missing entries.
That's all folks! Looking forward seeing your Contest Entries! In the meantime have fun and stay safe :)
Ink Script support and a Modding Contest
Hi folks,
Before we get to the Contest details and tell you how you can win a 25 Euro Steam Gift Card, I guess you probably wonder what is Ink Script and why you, as a modder, should care that is now (fully) supported within our own modding framework.
Ink Script was created by Inkle Studios, the developers of the amazing interactive fiction games like 80 Days and the Sorcery! Series. And as it happens their framework Ink is also open source and can be used to write all sort of CYOA stories. And let me tell you, it's much much more intuitive and flexible than the event system I developed.
Additionally there is already a visual editor Inklewriter which lets you design your Ink story through an UI editor. Add your choices there, the text outcome, even view everything as a diagram to get a better grasp of how your story flows etc.
Whatever method you choose, this produces an Ink file which you can then bring into your Erannorth mod, and have your story playable in Erannorth or simply use it as random events, to add interactions with your allies, enrich challenges with more flavor etc.
The possibilities of what you can do with this robust framework added on top of our own are really endless. Which brings us to our contest!
The Challenge
1) Make a Choose your own Adventure story (as long as you like) or an Event pack if you prefer. But it has to be your original work. (Naturally, the resulting mod should be fully playable inside Erannorth) 2) Upload your mod entry (or entries) on Steam Workshop before 30 November. And give as a link in our Discord #modding_contest, But only one (your highest ranked) entry, will count as valid when it comes to determining your rewards and leaderboard placement. 3) Finally from 1st to 6th December, you will all get to vote on our favorite entries. 4) You'll get 3 votes. You can give all 3 votes to one mod, 2 votes to one mod & 1 vote to another or 1 vote to each of three mods. But you can't vote for yourself ! 5) The contest will be automatically cancelled though if we don't have at least 10 Entries by the end of the deadline (by different individuals). In this case voting/reward phases will be skipped. Sorry.
The Rewards
Well aside of the bragging rights, the thrill of modding and playing your own stories?
1st Place: 1x 25 Euro Steam Gift Card + Modder role + a seat in our Discord Modding Council 2nd Place:1x 10 Euro Steam Gift Card + Modder role + a seat in our Discord Modding Council 3rd Place:1x 5 Euro Steam Gift Card + Modder role + seat in our Discord Modding Council
--
The Gift Cards are converted by Steam automatically to your local Currency. Also we'll need to be friends on Steam for at least 3 days before they'll let me gift you the card (from what I understand and I don't really mind, so feel free to add me.)
You can read more on Steam Gift Cards here: https://store.steampowered.com/digitalgiftcards/selectgiftcard
How can I add Ink Script to my Mod
So you wrote your Story excellent! And now wonder how you can make it run in Erannorth. (Pro Tip: don't leave that part to the end)
Below you can read everything you need to know about integrating those two together. The Vanilla Event system is document in our Guides Section/Modding Guide & the patch notes.
1) A json file is needed in My Mod/Tales/ as the entry point to your Event ie.
Chronicles of Oakstead/Tales/A Decayed Corpse.json { "ID":"A Decayed Corpse", "Requirements": "", "Unique": false, "AutoIncludeInEventNode": true, "MainGraphic": "Corpse4", "Title": "You find the remains of a dead adventurer", "Inklet":"Chronicles of Oakstead/Inklets/Chapter1" }
Here we basically just need an ID & the Inklet path and probably a graphic. Optionally we can include it in Random Events or not, make it Unique or have requirements to show up.
2) Empty & false fields (Requirements,Unique etc.) can be safely ommited. The "Inklet" field is what makes things kick. 'Chapter1' refers to my Ink story .ink file, while Chronicles of Oakstead/Inklets is the folder it's in (My Mod/Inklets)
3) You can create .ink files either in a text editor using a very easy scripting language or with this visual tool Inklewriter but export as ink rather as a json. Unity generates different json files out of the files, than the visual tool.
This alone will make your Event playable, so you can play the story from start to finish, but of course as is it has no way of interacting with your Character. At this point you should probably want to integrate it further with Erannorth and make your story interact with your Character more.
Giving Rewards, Setting Quest States, Triggering Encounters etc.
All these stuff can happen in the Vanilla system through the rewards string. In Inkle stories you can pass them as tags like so and Erannorth will recognize them as 'rewards' for the Player.
You can define rewards, pass quest states, trigger encounters etc. directly inside the inklet as tags [# TAG # TAG # TAG] i.e like so: # Grant:Rewards # XP:4 # AP:-4 # Encounter:Large Spider - Lv 1 # Encounter:Large Spider - Lv 2
You can put the above the text or next to the text as per Ink Script syntax
To have the tags parsed as Rewards and not as normal tags, start with # Grant:Rewards
You can use any reward string the vanilla Event system supports
You can read all about what you can give as rewards, quest states etc. in our modding guide, but this is something new, and you may want to use it to make your Ink stories more live with images, as there is no support for the native Ink Script image tag.
You can change the Background & Main graphic of an Event after the event is created at any time using ChangeCover:Graphic & ChangeBackdrop:Graphic as a 'Reward'.
i.e as an inklet - # Grant:Rewards # ChangeCover:Anticipate
i.e as a reward in Event field - ChangeCover:Anticipate
Displaying stuff about the player in the Ink Story
You can print out the following game-specific variables in your story and choices:
Syntax: '>ER>variable' ie. >ER>name - this gets replaced with the PC name once the story executes. etc. These aren't Ink Script variables so they can't be used in checks using the Ink language.
Hiding Choices, Passing Requirements
You can check for any of the usual requirements directly in your Ink script and show or not certain choices based on the check outcome. That is in addition to what you can do with Ink itself, and should be used if you want your Story "talk" with your Character.
[Talk with the Seer...@IF: AP:10, Race:Human] [/noparse]
In the above example [noparse]
& [] are standard ink script definition of choice, Talk with the Seer... is what the player sees as choice and @IF: AP:10, Race:Human our requirements. The player will see this choice if they are both Human & Have 10 AP at that moment. [/noparse]
ie. [noparse]
[Explore the Dungeon...@IF: Rations:1, QuestStateDungeon Entry:Found] etc. [/noparse]
(I added an extra space before AP & Rations because Steam tries to replace them with icons. The correct syntax is without a space there!)
If there aren't any valid choices the 'Continue' button is shown instead.
Some new Encounter related features you may want to know
You can use Encounter:[Enemies] as a node (in custom stages, challenges, event rewards etc.)
i.e Encounter:Con Artist - Lv 1, Large Spider - Lv 2, will trigger an Encounter with those two enemies.
[Enemies] can also be pulled from the DB randomly using instead of their Names: Race, Class, Faction or Environment and instead of Level ?. With ? you take a random level between max(1, SC / 2 & SC), where SC is the amount of Stages your PC has cleared.
Note however that this way you may bring out a boss if they match the query requirements, and killing a boss advances the stage. This isn't a problem in Challenges, or Adventure areas but may lead to a prematurely ended Gaunlets if you kill more than one boss in the same stage.
or with a Inklet tag: # Grant:Rewards # Encounter:Wildlife - Lv 1 # Encounter:Large Spider - Lv ?
You can also specify an Element requirement in Parenthesis ie. Encounter:Shadow (Poison) - Lv 1, Wildlife (Slashing) - Lv ?, Canticum Noctem (Astral) - Lv 4
Always add some sort of fallback as your query can yield no results i.e Wildlife (Bludgeoning) - Lv ? at stage 1 can't find any matching enemies.
Additions in 1.075.7+
Improved Combat Integration
It's now possible to resume story after triggering an Encounter through Ink Script. The Event UI is hidden and the Encounter text instead appears in a different dialog box. If you end your turn after all enemies are dead the Event UI will reappear again and you can resume the story. Trying to open a different event will tell you it's not possible and also resume from where you left things in your story.
You can (optionally) pass a Victory Text along the rewards that will display after the Event UI reappears with # PassVictoryText:[Text]
i.e #PassVictoryText:You wipe the blood from your >ER>weapon and look around...
Executing ER Functions
You can execute a modder exposed 'function' using ExecuteFunc:[function], (that's a different thing fron Ink Script function, and doesn't interfere with them in any way.)
i.e ExecuteFunc: Store:Witch, will open a Witch Store. (I added an extra space before Store because steam tries to replace it with an icon. The correct syntax is without a space there!)
i.e ExecuteFunc:Chest, will trigger the Chest function etc.
You can execute only one function per choice.
Note, that it's possible to Execute a function that in turn triggers an Event. Be mindful, as it will replace your current event with the one you are calling. You can find a list of the exposed functions in the modding guide.
LootOne & ChooseOne Workarounds
Since # is used to separate tags in Ink, whenever you need to use ChooseOne or LootOne in Ink Script you can substitute the # reward divider with >> i.e # LootOne:Random Card>>Random Card
Additions in 1.075.8+
Enemy Spawn & Death Events
You can hook certain Events to trigger when an Enemy Spawns or Dies
In EnemyDB at the Enemy's Definition, use SpawnEvent:[Event] or DeathEvent:[Event] (or both) to bind these Events to that Enemy
These can be story specific / unique: i.e SpawnEvent:Interact with Eldanoth, DeathEvent:Eldanoth's Demise
Or totally generic / more than one Enemy can have them: i.e SpawnEvent:Plan Ahead, DeathEvent:Grimoire
If more than one Enemies of the Encounter have Spawn/Death Events and more than one triggers at the same turn, then only the last one triggered is playable
If an Inklet is active but hidden ie. caused this Encounter then both Spawn & Death events are ignored
Resetting Turns & Reinforcements
You can reset the Turns Encounter Lasted & Reinforcement Arrived counters as an Event reward using ResetTurns:x, ResetReinforcements:x
if you plan on having lots of Encounters in the same node, you should probably reset these before each Encounter.
If you need more help, jump into our Discord #modding channel! I'll be happy to help and welcome you, as you embark in your magical modding journey. And of course if you come into any issues, or have suggestions on improving Ink integration, I am all ears ;)
