Andor's Trail

This is my first and probably only post. I just wanted to say I've played the game from almost day 1. If I could program I would help, but sadly I can't. Take your time and do it right. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying you guys are awesome and we appreciate you continuing Oskar's work. This is the best classic rpg game out there.

I've been playing this game from the beginning and I love it but lost interest the last year and a half. I also checked in here for status updates on a regular basis but never made an account. That being said would it not be a good idea to finish the existing quests before tinkering with weapons and game balance? I mean if you guys focused on say the quest that you uncover basically in the beginning of the game by the weapon maker (I don't remember what quest it is you have to find some kind of stone) then you can do small releases that keep people interested. I mean fine tuning the gameplay for balance is nice but in the meantime can't we get some substance? Flush out the existing quests minus finding Andor of course but that would most likely move along as well while focusing on the existing ones that have been left open for an eternity.

I know the creator dumped this in your laps and you guys are doing an admirable job trying to keep it alive and running. But little updates with story maps and content would go along ways. Not just for the fans but most likely you guys too. Just to see some progress may be the thing everybody needs.

And I'm curious did Oskar leave an outline for the story when he left the project? And if so do you know how it is supposed to end? If not can he be reached to inquire?

Thanks.

Short version: no outline, no answers. The ones working on balance aren't the same as the ones working on quests/content.
I hope to manage to give you the long version within 24 hours.

Thanks for your interest in the game and welcome to the forums !

Hi folks, long time player checking in after quite a while (new kid = no time ). Wow, you three are picking up the pieces - thanks a million!
I look forward to the results, and would certainly subscribe to such a closed topic. If you ever want to port it into Dutch, I'm up for that too.
All the best!

408SJC wrote:I've been playing this game from the beginning and I love it but lost interest the last year and a half. I also checked in here for status updates on a regular basis but never made an account. That being said would it not be a good idea to finish the existing quests before tinkering with weapons and game balance? I mean if you guys focused on say the quest that you uncover basically in the beginning of the game by the weapon maker (I don't remember what quest it is you have to find some kind of stone) then you can do small releases that keep people interested. I mean fine tuning the gameplay for balance is nice but in the meantime can't we get some substance? Flush out the existing quests minus finding Andor of course but that would most likely move along as well while focusing on the existing ones that have been left open for an eternity.

I do currently focus on integrating as much of the existing, unfinished or bugged, submitted content in the game, so that we can release a new version with new things to do in the game. Most of what I found/received when Oskar left was a huge pile of uncoordinated content, for which their respective author was MIA. It took time to filter what was usable and not, and one of the reasons I developed ATCS (a desktop content editor) was to be able to make sense of it. There is still plenty of work to do for many of these, and I'm still undecided about whether they will be integrated in the next version, later, or never.

The gameplay balance effort is performed separately. It is, IMHO, needed. The weapon/armor/skill situation is not very good, nor flexible. However, as you said, it is not the highest priority, and is performed as a background task, by people who nicely accept to freely give time and math skill to the project. I think the changes that it will generate will be integrated in a v0.8 or v0.9, as I believe it will trigger some major changes in the game engine's number crunching section.

FYI, the "Heartstone" quest will not be finished soon. We had many discussions about it, and came up with some interesting ideas. Without spoiling, I think it will end up being end-game related, or at least necessitate access to areas of the world for which we don't have the maps yet.

408SJC wrote:I know the creator dumped this in your laps and you guys are doing an admirable job trying to keep it alive and running. But little updates with story maps and content would go along ways. Not just for the fans but most likely you guys too. Just to see some progress may be the thing everybody needs.

And I'm curious did Oskar leave an outline for the story when he left the project? And if so do you know how it is supposed to end? If not can he be reached to inquire?

Agreed, small, timely updates would help keeping players updated. But, seeing the initial time cost of taking over from Oskar, I thought that publishing a new version with little new content after over a year of wait would be more insulting than anything else. Next version may not be the largest content load ever delivered, but at least I think it won't be ridiculous. There are some technical improvements too
The fact that the main story is not written or outlined yet is a double edge sword: sure, it'll take some time to flesh out, and it is getting harder and harder not to make it contradict any existing event, but on the other hand, it doesn't restrict our creativity, and we can try confront our mutual visions (plus the community can still influence it).

carborundum wrote:Hi folks, long time player checking in after quite a while (new kid = no time ). Wow, you three are picking up the pieces - thanks a million!
I look forward to the results, and would certainly subscribe to such a closed topic. If you ever want to port it into Dutch, I'm up for that too.
All the best!

This kiddie situation is also playing a role in the delayed release
As for the Dutch version, I think there have been some work done, but not much. However, the current situation with launchpad is not sustainable (Oskar didn't leave the keys to that kingdom --> no new content in there ever) so I am currently trying to set up an alternative, which I will document in the relevant sitcky threads once done. Translations for AT are crowd-sourced. We don't have the resources or abilities to check them, and integrate them on a trust basis. If some punk decide to wreck the Russian translation with swear words instead of a correct translation, there's nothing I can do to prevent it.
As far as I know, german, russian and polish translations are the most active and up-to-date. We really rely on the community for this part.

I hope I got your concerns and questions covered. Now I'm going back to my ATCS session.

Thank you for this reply Zukero. I think this relays a lot of helpful information to some great questions that were asked and should help the community feel better about what is happening with this project.

Is there a road-map to what content, maps, coding, and balancing is intended to be complete before the next release? If so, can some sort of idea of how far along each part is so that those that want to help can get an idea of where help is needed the most. Also, it could be helpful for those that are just waiting to have a better idea of what is going on.

For content and maps, the list is not set in the stone yet.
For coding, there's a minor effort left to make sure the new translation platform (Weblate) is well supported, otherwise, it's all done.
For balancing, there's none to be done for this version, save for the initial balance of new content.

Where help is most needed, as usual, is content creation. The town of Stoutford is almost done, map-wise (some alignments issues that need to be fixed), but is completely empty NPC-wise. That means, shops, items, quests, background stories.... I'm not even sure it'll make it in the next version.

I'll try to create a locked topic about progress and roadmap later on, bu I just have so much to do these days that I don't think I'll do it before v0.7.2.
It's been discussed above, and I didn't respond to it yet, but I definitely agree this would be a good alternative to these defunct meeting reports. As usual, be patient...

Hi Zukero,
I*m not sure, if you generalized the items. There are at least two kinds of minor healing potions healing 5 HP and two kinds of Carrots. Even the mayor healing flask (quest reward) is the same as the mayor healing potions healing 40 HP. Dito for the weak antidot / antidot you can brew. There may be more, but with so many items...
Making those items generalized means fewer different items in the inventory and no more changing the quick items in the beginning of the game when relying to the minor health potions.

Hi! Long time player, first post.
Just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for continuing development.
It's a great game! Can't wait for updates.
Wish I could help but I'm not much of a developer.
Appreciate that someone took up the mantle.