Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer (4/6/14)

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Weird Heather
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Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer (4/6/14)

Post by Weird Heather »

I have created a small mod that creates three small dungeons, all of which are accessed from the Rockhammer map. The primary purposes are to provide places where a new character can gain a little loot and experience early in the game, and to provide some places close to a geo marker that can be used for loot storage and a safe place to rest at any point in the game. This mod should be compatible with the Alchemist's Tower mod and the Rockhammer Mine mod. Anyone else who wants to modify the Rockhammer map is free to incorporate this mod if desired, but please note that it may not be fully debugged at this point.

I have provided a detailed list of the dungeons and their locations in the spoiler tags below.
[+] SPOILER
1. Old storage cave. This scorpion-infested cave is located in the small clump of mountains south of the geo marker.

2. Abandoned cellar. This roach-infested cellar is accessed via a staircase that has been added to the ruined, abandoned building near the well east of the geo marker.

3. Abandoned mine. In the northeast corner of the map, a small abandoned mine has become a hideout for a lone thief. It is in the hills just north of the road to the blocked pass.
This is a savegame mod. To install it, download and unzip the file, and copy all of the files into a savegame folder. It is best to install this mod right at the beginning of a new game. If it is installed later, it will reset the Rockhammer map. See the README file for more details.

This is much smaller and simpler than the Alchemist's Tower, so I don't think the bugs will be as bad as they were in the initial release of that mod, but there might be a few bugs. Please report bugs to this thread and I will address them as soon as possible.

Change Log (slight spoilers possible)

1.0 3/25/2014 Initial release
1.01 4/6/2014 Added sconces to cellar and change monsters in abandoned mine
Attachments
small_dungeons_rockhammer-1.01.zip
(41.54 KiB) Downloaded 1471 times
Last edited by Weird Heather on April 6th, 2014, 3:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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MyGameCompany
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by MyGameCompany »

This is an excellent mod! Those little areas add so much to the start of the game, and the difficulty level is almost perfect!

A couple of minor comments:
[+] SPOILER
The thief's cave is a bit tough, but not bad. I didn't expect the wolf and swarm in the side alleys. The wolf made sense to me (possibly the thief's "pet", but the swarms didn't seem to fit. I would have expected the thief to clean them out, since he's living there. But that's just me. :)

One small critique: it would have been nice to have a couple of empty sconces in the abandoned cellar where I could stick a torch. I started a new game as a ranger, and had no light. I would expect the abandoned cellar to be dark, but if I could have stuck a torch in an empty sconce, I could have lured the roaches to the light where I could shoot them.
Well done!
Troy
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Check out my Book III mods: The Mystery of Rockhammer Mine and Expedition into West Mirkland
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Weird Heather
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by Weird Heather »

Thanks for your comments. I will most likely make the changes you suggest.
[+] SPOILER
I'm thinking that I should replace the swarms with another wolf. The thief is perhaps a bit tough for the early game, but there is one very easy way to take care of him; I'll leave it to people to figure it out.
I'll wait two weeks or so to see what else people have to say about it before I put out an update; since this is a small and simple mod, hopefully it will just need one update, and then it can be considered stable and finalized. Depending on how it is received and on how many more mods I feel like making, this might be the first in a series of similar mods - possibly for all three games, not just Book III. I have always liked games that have optional small locations, such as little caves, small dungeons, crypts, ruined buildings, and bandit encampments. Ultima VII has lots of these. Eschalon has some, but it could use a few more.

Maybe other modders would like to create some of these small locations. For people new to modding, this is a good way to start since the mod is compact and easy to debug. It only took me a few hours to throw this one together and test it.
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by GChrisSfish21 »

Guess I'll have to move my loot again ...
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by GChrisSfish21 »

Just finished. Was easy for my high level character. However, starting over it will be a big help to acquire more loot and weapons earlier. Thanks, Heather!
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munster
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by munster »

Fantastic, I'll be downloading and playing this as soon as I get a few free minutes!

I'd just like to say thanks to you and the other modders for these great little bonus extras that really do add to the enjoyment and the whole experience of playing Eschalon.
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by Randomizer »

I played with a starting mage after doing Rockhammer Mine and it wasn't hard except I have to go back for locked chests and the door. Trying to decide if I want to use the new item.

I liked the spot hidden places in the two new mines since that adds more things to find.

A True Ranger challenge gets easier with the extra food in the storage cave.
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Weird Heather
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer

Post by Weird Heather »

I have just uploaded the latest version. The changes are minor; I have made the changes that MyGameCompany suggested. I am currently playing through the entire game again using all of the mods that exist so far, and I have been using the areas in this small mod for storage. Everything seems to be working. Unless somebody discovers a bug that I haven't yet encountered, this version will be the final one.

Thanks for all of the comments so far.
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xolotl
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer (4/6/14

Post by xolotl »

Ah, that reminds me that I never did say thanks for this! I loaded this up on my most recent playthrough, and the new areas were quite fun, and had some pretty nice starting equipment for the early game. So yeah, thanks!
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer (4/6/14

Post by leonxim »

This one's good. Small but good one. i liked it. Thanks & appreciate your work :)
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer (4/6/14

Post by helivoy »

Just implemented and played this -- very nice work!
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Warren1965
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Re: Book III small mod: Small Dungeons - Rockhammer (4/6/14)

Post by Warren1965 »

I recently got a new computer and when started playing I was really annoyed I couldn't find the 3 dungeons at the start. Between this and Weeping Mountain I had forgot what the vanilla game was like. Great work your mod is pretty close to seamless with the base game and the items means I can wait until Moonrise rather than spend precious skill points. Thank you.

Warren
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