The Book of Shadows

[darkange]

Ground breaking news : I finally beat the hard mode arena with lvl 32 party...

Spoiler: show

At the beginning of chapter 4 ... instead of going to Las Vegas with Alex party ... I went back at the crossroads first and tried again - along the way starting with lvl 12 I tried multiple times to beat the hard mode arena to get that golden sword ... I couldn't get past the chimera at first ... then the tiger killed me .... then the mana flayer .... then I reached that twister of minds creature and I couldn't defeat her - too many status inflictions and dmg - I managed to do it now at lvl 32 by using many items along the way - especially "angry pixie" and "pixie in a bottle" ... I had 250 % target rate on cedric and I was begging the creature to hit Cedric instead of the party ... but he just didn't want to do it lol ... only AOE spells continously ...
After I finally managed to kill it - I thought there would be 5 more fights or something but to my surprise it was the last one .... the golden sword is worth it - cool item . I am going to get rich now .... not to mention I can't wait to use Elliot spell that doubles DB after fight - I hope it stacks with Golden Sword

Congratulations! I didn't get that sword, though it may be that I kind of forgot about the arena until after chapter 7.
Still, when I returned in chapter 8, it certainly wasn't a cakewalk and my levels were much higher obviously. There is an expert mode. Not sure when the expert level becomes available. DB is good, but GP is great! Just saying...
I relied more and more on Cedric being the tank protector as the game progressed. With all the damage he can take/prevent, no wonder he's always feeling calorically deprived. LOL

Ha ... yeah I like how Cedric is always hungry lol ...
Did you finished the quest Scavenger hunt ? The last clue for me was the one in Silas Rest ... that was so well hidden ... I found it by accident .

[bgillisp]

I've uploaded your latest one.

Cool! That one will fix it so that the Act of War Vol 5 is a little easier to find, as I moved it to on a patch of dirt in the open and not behind a tree.

Here is the link to mediafire, bgillisp. Thanks for helping me. I'm just an old fart who knows nothing about computers!!

https://www.mediafire.com/file/cv7gywaz ... data2/file

Fixed it. You're now underwater. https://www.mediafire.com/file/gd870bbt ... data2/file

You may also want to go to your BMT Micro link and download the lastest version as well, as that should stop this from happening again to you.

Congratulations! I didn't get that sword, though it may be that I kind of forgot about the arena until after chapter 7.
Still, when I returned in chapter 8, it certainly wasn't a cakewalk and my levels were much higher obviously. There is an expert mode. Not sure when the expert level becomes available. DB is good, but GP is great! Just saying...
I relied more and more on Cedric being the tank protector as the game progressed. With all the damage he can take/prevent, no wonder he's always feeling calorically deprived. LOL

Originally the battle arena was 25 fights, and you couldn't use items, but I figured that almost no one would pull that off, especially as my best was round 21, so I changed it to what we got instead where the fights are harder but there are less of them, and you can use items.

BTW, not sure anyone found this but once you beat the hardest mode in Chapter 8/9 you can go through the arena again, the last monster upgrades to a harder version.

[darkange]

@bgillisp 25 rounds and no items to use - creative idea ... gimme gimme 25 rounds .
A great idea in this case is to add a "nightmare mode " for guys like me - and the 25 rounds arena battle should be available in this mode only or something like that ...if it's possible.

By the way I was laughing so hard at Liana's reponses : that beast took off with that person =))))
The modern technology

[bgillisp]

@bgillisp 25 rounds and no items to use - creative idea ... gimme gimme 25 rounds .
A great idea in this case is to add a "nightmare mode " for guys like me - and the 25 rounds arena battle should be available in this mode only or something like that ...if it's possible.

By the way I was laughing so hard at Liana's reponses : that beast took off with that person =))))
The modern technology

I don't think I got room left in the database to do that now, but I can remember this for the next game. Ok, it would be game after the next as I'm doing a small free game right now as I wanted to do something small after this game.

Glad you liked the quotes by the others as they remark on seeing the other world! Did you enjoy the Mostly Useless?

[darkange]

@bgillisp 25 rounds and no items to use - creative idea ... gimme gimme 25 rounds .
A great idea in this case is to add a "nightmare mode " for guys like me - and the 25 rounds arena battle should be available in this mode only or something like that ...if it's possible.

By the way I was laughing so hard at Liana's reponses : that beast took off with that person =))))
The modern technology

I don't think I got room left in the database to do that now, but I can remember this for the next game. Ok, it would be game after the next as I'm doing a small free game right now as I wanted to do something small after this game.

Glad you liked the quotes by the others as they remark on seeing the other world! Did you enjoy the Mostly Useless?

yeah .... but since I am a guy who never drinks coffee at all - not even in the morning ... it's the same for me if it's decaff or not

[littlebro]

BTW, not sure anyone found this but once you beat the hardest mode in Chapter 8/9 you can go through the arena again, the last monster upgrades to a harder version.

I've found that as the last enemy (Linda?) is now version 2. Does she get harder each time, or have I reached the zenith of achievement?

[bgillisp]

yeah .... but since I am a guy who never drinks coffee at all - not even in the morning ... it's the same for me if it's decaff or not

Honestly, I don't either, but my friends do get upset if you give them decaf.

I've found that as the last enemy (Linda?) is now version 2. Does she get harder each time, or have I reached the zenith of achievement?

That's as hard as she gets.

[littlebro]

Pride goes before a fall. Having felt pleased with myself over the improved final enemy in the Arena, I went off to get vol.5 of the Art of War.
I have crawled all over the location, peered as closely as I can, and can find nothing.
Just checking that I am in the right place.

Spoiler: show

Northpass Mountains, NW section.

[bgillisp]

Pride goes before a fall. Having felt pleased with myself over the improved final enemy in the Arena, I went off to get vol.5 of the Art of War.
I have crawled all over the location, peered as closely as I can, and can find nothing.
Just checking that I am in the right place.

You are, but have you downloaded the latest version? If you haven't there's a tree in the way that makes it impossible to get. In the newer version I moved it to:

Spoiler: show

By the blue crystals. It's on a patch of dirt so it should stand out more.

[littlebro]

Got it!

Thanks a lot.

EDIT
However, when I take all 6 volumes to the ghost, he keeps repeating that I must bring back all the volumes or the knowledge will be lost. I've double-checked my inventory & they are all there.

[bgillisp]

Got it!

Thanks a lot.

EDIT
However, when I take all 6 volumes to the ghost, he keeps repeating that I must bring back all the volumes or the knowledge will be lost. I've double-checked my inventory & they are all there.

Put them on the tables. The ghost wants them returned to where they used to be, not just delivered to him.

[littlebro]

Ah, I see.
Done and all well, got the skill.
But maybe worth mentioning that this quest was not in my quest journal. The only active one I had (still have) is for the main quest, and completing it doesn't make it show up among the completed quests either.

[bgillisp]

Ah, I see.
Done and all well, got the skill.
But maybe worth mentioning that this quest was not in my quest journal. The only active one I had (still have) is for the main quest, and completing it doesn't make it show up among the completed quests either.

You're right. For some odd reason I never considered this a quest (no idea why) so didn't put it in the journal. I'll see if I can add it for when I do the next update.

[kimo]

@darkange
My favorite quote was the obscure line about "making sandwiches" that reminded me of a line from "How I met Your Mother" about "eating sandwiches". But I laughed out loud at the car monster, too.

There have been several comments about levels, playing time, and such. So, I thought I'd offer my 2 cents at a game milestone.

I just started Chap. 7 at 46 hours and 1 minute of play time. I have explored most of the available optional areas. And I have completed all current quests except one at which I failed without trying it. Don't remember exactly, but it was one of those when you were asked to clean out the fields of monsters before you had to clear out the nearby tower. I, too, am an older explorer who isn't in a rush to finish. Clearing out the Castle at the end of Chapter 6 got me lots of goodies. I just wish someone would buy duplicate spell books from me. If even one NPC in the world bought them back, it would be worth the journey.

My characters (in no particular order) are at the following levels:
Alex 41, Jarvis 35, Savina 39, Kira 36, Cedric 39, Sarah 39, Josie 37, Elliot 38, Liana 37, Padrin 34, Renee 29

Misc comments:
I equipped Renee with a Learner Bracelet since joining the party.
Give Cedric or Jarvis the Rawr! ax and watch them go. Jarvis' "whirlwind" move is the best I have found and it took me a while to start using him.
I like the exp. point system a lot because it doesn't make me shuffle characters just to keep even levels.
Oh yeah, and I have about 255,000 coins in my pocket, so my characters are walking a bit crooked.

[bgillisp]

@darkange
My favorite quote was the obscure line about "making sandwiches" that reminded me of a line from "How I met Your Mother" about "eating sandwiches". But I laughed out loud at the car monster, too.

There have been several comments about levels, playing time, and such. So, I thought I'd offer my 2 cents at a game milestone.

I just started Chap. 7 at 46 hours and 1 minute of play time. I have explored most of the available optional areas. And I have completed all current quests except one at which I failed without trying it. Don't remember exactly, but it was one of those when you were asked to clean out the fields of monsters before you had to clear out the nearby tower. I, too, am an older explorer who isn't in a rush to finish. Clearing out the Castle at the end of Chapter 6 got me lots of goodies. I just wish someone would buy duplicate spell books from me. If even one NPC in the world bought them back, it would be worth the journey.

My characters (in no particular order) are at the following levels:
Alex 41, Jarvis 35, Savina 39, Kira 36, Cedric 39, Sarah 39, Josie 37, Elliot 38, Liana 37, Padrin 34, Renee 29

Misc comments:
I equipped Renee with a Learner Bracelet since joining the party.
Give Cedric or Jarvis the Rawr! ax and watch them go. Jarvis' "whirlwind" move is the best I have found and it took me a while to start using him.
I like the exp. point system a lot because it doesn't make me shuffle characters just to keep even levels.
Oh yeah, and I have about 255,000 coins in my pocket, so my characters are walking a bit crooked.

Glad you got the reference. As for spellbooks, yeah afraid no one buys them back from you at the moment. I'm going to look into scripting a better solution for the next large game I do though, especially as next game in this world I want to allow you to choose to multi-class if you wish. Thief/Cheerleader anyone?

Oh, and yes, I have ideas for more games in this world, including one with the same characters. No idea how long it will take to make them though, as I will still have to prototype them, make sure they are fun, etc.