Dev News: Cave City Update

Feedback, bugs, and general gameplay related discussion.
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Shevarash
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Dev News: Cave City Update

Postby Shevarash » Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:27 pm

Earlier this year, I spent some time revamping one of my favorite zones - Cave City. I wanted to give it a small visual update as well as add new fights and equipment without taking away from the spirit of the zone - that mad dash to beat the clock while grinding through hordes of Undead.

Now that life is a little less frantic I am putting the finishing touches on the zone update and preparing to add it into the MUD sometime in September or early October.

The updated zone features new equipment and fights as well as what is hopefully an understated and classy ANSI update. And oh yes, Cave City itself is now home to some new landlords...

Happy Spelunking!
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Postby Disoputlip » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:02 pm

Sounds like a cool update. The ansi alone would be worth it!
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Postby Corth » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:05 pm

Shame on me for actually trying to read that.. with a headache for my troubles.

Cave City was my favorite zone on the mud. Its nice to see that it will be spruced up a bit. Hopefully the mobs haven't been changed very much, as it was a very delicate balance that seemed to work well.

Oh.. and wow.. first development board post in a couple of years. Right on!
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

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Postby Gormal » Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:17 pm

I was always of the opinion that illusionists were what ruined CC. The days of aborting the zone because one warrior wasn't on their toes was when it was really scary.
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Postby Ghimok » Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:52 pm

I think the fact that you can't have a 36 hour long CR anymore is what ruined Cave City.

When the backup set of your backup set of your backup set of your main set is laying on the ground somewhere up by Dred and you're tanking wearing a minor created shield and a stone dagger, you know you're having fun!

So yeah, Illusionists totally ruined it.

(not being sarcastic either).
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Postby Thilindel » Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:47 am

Ghimok wrote:I think the fact that you can't have a 36 hour long CR anymore is what ruined Cave City.

When the backup set of your backup set of your backup set of your main set is laying on the ground somewhere up by Dred and you're tanking wearing a minor created shield and a stone dagger, you know you're having fun!

So yeah, Illusionists totally ruined it.

(not being sarcastic either).


Oh golly gee, how I wish I could just call in sick at the hospital and have them totally understand how I can't come in to work because I'm stuck on a stupid-assed CR that actually messes with family life, work, and anything else for that matter.

Haha, a zone that takes 36 hours to CR is fun to anybody? You're one sick, SICK dude.
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Postby Ghimok » Sat Sep 15, 2007 2:56 am

Thilindel wrote:Oh golly gee, how I wish I could just call in sick at the hospital and have them totally understand how I can't come in to work because I'm stuck on a stupid-assed CR that actually messes with family life, work, and anything else for that matter.

Haha, a zone that takes 36 hours to CR is fun to anybody? You're one sick, SICK dude.


I never said we finished in 36 hours. That's approximately how long it took to get our gear back. Man college was great.

So I'm a sadist, sue me. While honestly I don't think 36 hour CRs would be fun anymore I do think the fact that there's no threat of loss anymore does ruin the game. If you throw enough time and bodies at any zone in the game (with 1 exception), you will eventually win.
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Postby Kifle » Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:26 am

Mmm.. cave city. Imo, illusionists (read: Corth and his boots of exploitation) are what ruined a lot of zones... But, such is life. Now I'm starting to get nostalgic and want to log in... too bad it's 12am and the wife will return shortly.
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Postby Corth » Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:29 am

Hrmm.. I twinked the hell out of CC without even needing boots. Any illus could have done it. Mislead, mirror image, displace, sequester and teleport could safely get you real close to the diamondine without having to mess with any nasty dragons. whistle :)
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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Postby Kifle » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:17 am

Corth wrote:Hrmm.. I twinked the hell out of CC without even needing boots. Any illus could have done it. Mislead, mirror image, displace, sequester and teleport could safely get you real close to the diamondine without having to mess with any nasty dragons. whistle :)


Yeah, for a lot of zones though it was better for a rogue to sneak around and have the illu just fold over like in tf/jot and crap... boots made my job obsolete... luckily fotex didn't have'em :)
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Postby Corth » Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:09 pm

Yeah being able to sneak like a rogue is maybe just a tad too much power for your run of the mill illus :)
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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Postby Thilindel » Sat Sep 15, 2007 3:36 pm

Somehow, this zone pisses me off while playing lich/necro. I wanna raise undead dragons. Seems so unfair *whine*
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Postby Sarell » Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:19 am

At the same time a rogue + illusionist / psi could do any of the same stuff even better.

I'm looking forward to the CC revamp more than Toril2! Hoping some of the feedback on it over the years are taken into account.
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Postby Teyaha » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:36 am

Gormal wrote:I was always of the opinion that illusionists were what ruined CC. The days of aborting the zone because one warrior wasn't on their toes was when it was really scary.


dont forget moonwelling into the oneway at the start, tossing the order!


the old mud really was good training in patience and overall gaming skill (which is nothing more than being able to pay attention to the task at hand really)
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Postby moritheil » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:37 am

Ghimok wrote:If you throw enough time and bodies at any zone in the game (with 1 exception), you will eventually win.


Now I'm curious as to which zone you think that exception is.

Anyhow, CC has always been the center of much controversy. Epic spanks, epic twinking with old-school conjurers, and the discovery of numerical errors in archery code . . . that zone was always at the forefront of innovation.
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Postby ssar » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:16 am

moritheil wrote:
Ghimok wrote:If you throw enough time and bodies at any zone in the game (with 1 exception), you will eventually win.


Now I'm curious as to which zone you think that exception is.


Choking Palace?
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Postby Dalar » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:14 pm

moritheil wrote:
Ghimok wrote:If you throw enough time and bodies at any zone in the game (with 1 exception), you will eventually win.


Now I'm curious as to which zone you think that exception is.

Anyhow, CC has always been the center of much controversy. Epic spanks, epic twinking with old-school conjurers, and the discovery of numerical errors in archery code . . . that zone was always at the forefront of innovation.


You mean the one boot where we found out archery was bugged and ran to the nearest zone?
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Postby moritheil » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:09 am

Dalar wrote:
moritheil wrote:Anyhow, CC has always been the center of much controversy. Epic spanks, epic twinking with old-school conjurers, and the discovery of numerical errors in archery code . . . that zone was always at the forefront of innovation.


You mean the one boot where we found out archery was bugged and ran to the nearest zone?


Yeah. As I recall, there were a few extra zeroes in the code that caused dragons to die within 3 rounds of archery. Most normal mobs died in 1.5 rounds. Pretty comical.
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Postby Shevarash » Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:28 pm

Update:

The CC changes are just about finished. It took a little longer than expected, as Shar and I went back and fleshed out the new changes a bit more, adding a few new mobs and fights. We are planning on releasing the updated CC on 10/21.

Cavecity is now home to some new overlords, who of course possess new equipment and maybe even some rare loads for your enjoyment.
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Postby Birile » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:50 pm

Shevarash wrote:Cavecity is now home to some new overlords, who of course possess new equipment and maybe even some rare loads for your enjoyment.


I don't mean to panic, but this doesn't mean that any of the other items have been removed, have they? Especially the plethora of quest items? Probably not, but I just wanted to make sure! :)
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Postby Shevarash » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:12 pm

No, I haven't removed anything. Which isn't to say that everything is in the same place...
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Postby Birile » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:33 pm

Shevarash wrote:No, I haven't removed anything. Which isn't to say that everything is in the same place...


Sneaky!
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Postby torkur » Fri Oct 12, 2007 4:05 am

This sounds awesome, can't wait for 10/21!
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Postby Shevarash » Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:01 am

Complete!

The Cave City changes are now live! Have fun, and feel free to email or mmail me with comments, questions, or suggestions.
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Postby Zoldren » Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:51 pm

was fun until people started getting summoned to a !tele (!spirit walk) room on the second level.

Will give it a go again latter But it is definitely time consuming.....
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Postby Shevarash » Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:58 pm

I think the first run through of a zone is always going to be a little time consuming. It certainly is not intended to be a long drawn out zone, but it is unforgiving, as Cave City has always been.

You can kind of choose your own path through the zone, and good strategic choices will make the zone go faster. I'm sure you'll all figure these things out in record time.
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Postby Dalar » Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:10 pm

what would you compare the difficulty to? I really hate the long 4 hr+ zones.
It will be fixed in Toril 2.0.

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Postby Shar » Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:14 pm

There really is no comparison. The zone Cave City is still there, so I guess that makes it the regular old CC, now with extra mobs, fights and equipment.

Heh.
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Postby moritheil » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:23 am

I am favorably impressed. Zone length was getting a tiny bit long, but slugfest zones tend to be like that, and in terms of XP and loot what we did was totally worth it.

In short, the group was great, the fights were exciting, and the zone rewrite succeeded in making things action-packed. The one fight that threatened to totally wipe the group yielded the most impressive ring seen since Muspelheim invasion. The old gear was there as well, and save for a few touch-ups to some trash items, unaltered. Unsurprisingly the ring and some nice new mage-only leggings dominated the first-round bids. Since the leggings are a superior version of the TTF leggings, and come from a much less annoying (but equally lethal) fight, this is clearly intended to reward people for playing this classic zone again.
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Postby Kegor » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:38 am

It's the same zone as it was with some flavor and added difficulty to the special fights. The same tactics apply to getting to eq fights. Not sure why people are making comments about spanking for reasons that have always existed, with the same time range that has also always existed.

I loved the classed mages in the eq fights that punished the tanks and/or the group when not properly delt with. Very nicely designed color shemes as well. Can't wait to do it again and see what other treasures might be found.
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Postby sok » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:24 am

i dont have anything to add, so i wont say anything.
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Postby Shevarash » Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:08 am

Flames removed. Personal attacks are not allowed on this board, and I especially don't want Dev News posts hijacked for that purpose. Thanks!
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Postby torkur » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:04 am

Didn't get to see Q fight, but the new zone has added difficulty and more eq, with the same coolness of old cc. Very good ansi upgrade too. Awesome upgrade and I wanna go back.
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Postby Ghimok » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:24 pm

I'm pumped to try this next week when I have more time.

Here's hoping for a 20 hour CR that can't be pussed out on because of rogues/illusionsits!
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Postby Elet » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:28 pm

well love the new changes cant wait to try again :)
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Postby Dalar » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:54 pm

moritheil wrote:Since the leggings are a superior version of the TTF leggings, and come from a much less annoying (but equally lethal) fight, this is clearly intended to reward people for playing this classic zone again.


Speaking of TTF, do the area gods realize that certain zones are left alone every boot? Magma? ET?
Last edited by Dalar on Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:28 am, edited 3 times in total.
It will be fixed in Toril 2.0.

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Postby Gormal » Sun Oct 28, 2007 4:41 am

Dalar wrote:Speaking of TTF, do the area gods realize what that zone is never done yet? Magma? ET?


Do you realize how poor your grammar is?
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Postby Dalar » Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:33 am

Gormal wrote:
Dalar wrote:Speaking of TTF, do the area gods realize what that zone is never done yet? Magma? ET?


Do you realize how poor your grammar is?

was at work
It will be fixed in Toril 2.0.

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