New beta release v0.8.5 - Ratdom

[Nut]

Hello fellow adventurers,

Surprise!!
We have another new beta release for you (v0.8.5 beta aka Ratdom)

• We have a huge new area with 139 new maps and 3 new quests:
  A big quest in a rat world, and two other small quests you will find on your way.
  
  This area is made for rather high level players. (The quests Lodar, Charwood, Colonel Lutarc, and the starter quests Disallowed substance and Rat infestation are mandatory)
  If you have completed these, and also have 9000 gold pieces with you, then you can dive into the new adventure.
  Just go home and take a nap - it's not really going to be refreshing...
  
  You will find many new maps arranged as a maze. This area looks and feels different than the rest of Andor's Trail. It will be also a challenge for the high level players who just run through new areas without no effort.
  (The area took a long time to create, so don't expect to finish it in a few hours )
  
  A rat named Clevred will accompany you even though you seldom see him. He is small enough to hide or travel in your bag. But he will talk to you, sometimes randomly, sometimes giving advice.
  
  
  Hope you'll like it.
  Please return your comments and ideas.

• And as always we've fixed some minor bugs and typos.

Here is is the link: https://andorstrail.com/static/AndorsTr ... 230221.apk

Again: Please feedback your comments and ideas, and of course bugs or strange things.
This will help us to fix the issues before publishing the release.


Have fun trying!


PS
It might be too hard, so we added an early exit to the quest, so that you can get out and complete the quest, even if you didn't really reach the end.

The map of the area looks strange and incomplete. That is for technical reasons and such a map probably won't be much help.
We haven't decided yet if we're going to remove the map of the maze entirely.
Please tell us if you really needed these map or if it was more of an irritation than a help.

[Osho]

Awesome.
Downloading now...


EDIT

1. So I am short of one item to finish the quest. Any hint?

find the fourth leg

2.

Is the fourth leg with the instrument maker? How can i obtain it? He takes away the bone each time I try to take it

3. Covered 132 maps so far. Reached all the way to the library. Any hint for further direction. I am circling around the same path.

[Osho]

Looks like the last item (as mentioned above) is either missing from the beta or simply bugged because there's nothing remotely close to that item to replace or find in the new maps unless some out of the box solution was required.

[Nut]

There are 4 legs, and you can get them for sure

[Nut]

... He takes away the bone each time ...

Take the bone and then

go and put it back yourself. You can

switch it with another one

then

[Osho]

Thanks Nut. I went back and picked another *similar item* and it worked. Luckily it was saved in the basket *phew*

contaminated bone

Finished.

Screenshot_20230225-151944~2.png

Here's my short feedback:-
Brilliantly designed map. Kudos to developers for making this complex cave with absolute perfection. No issue at all. Found some surprises in the cave.

Shields work better than the overview map, which is inaccurate and not useful IMO. Better to remove the map. Not necessary inside cave.

No cool items in the update. I hope in future more items either as monster drops or quest specific are added inside cave to make the adventure more fun.


Lastly,

Is it possible to remove the sword?

[RaptorNXT]

So far, so good! Look forward to the final version.

Could do with a few good drops.

Kudos!

[ljshua]

Haven't posted in a while but I thought why not because DAMN this still is THE best game in the entire store and just keeps getting better
So here are some of my thoughts

Overall I think it is an amazing update, definetely different from the rest but quite welcoming. Navigating through the cave was a bit of a challenge at first but where would be the fun if you could go straight forward when you already can vaporise everything in your way?

even if equipped with an oversized torch

The Map helped me a lot in the beginning but

after meeting Wart I never looked at it again
Also I thought it quite weird that the Map is only partly visible. I mean, since you have been there I think you should be able to memorize it, finding your way through would still prove very difficult. Also considering you are able to see the entire Roadmap?

Personally I am a collector, so I would have loved finding some useless trinkets on my way
But oh well, maybe I'll just try to figure out a way how to kill some monsters with the one new item

The first Quest

More Rats!

was very entertaining and confusing, but after coming back home I was in shock

maybe add a Quest where you find out they just ran away together?

The second Quest

Skelett Brothers

was a bit short for my taste, also to the end I missed the usual

'Ok, I will kill him for you'/'No I'll collect your bones instead' choice. Maybe a good place to add a trinket? instead of the WHAT 63 Gold? That was more than disappointing

As for the main Quest the end seemed a bit strange, you don't get to

meet Fraedro again explaining his story

or

after dealing with Fraedro not being confronted by Wart, not even by just bumping into him

Considering that the monsters were all very easy to roll over the final battle seemed a little unbalanced

I actually had to switch to fighting in the dark

But if the Quests to initiate this one stay mandatory I see no risk for lower level players running into a dead end.

The conditions you got on the way through were fun but had almost no impact, except the healing of course, maybe the intensity of the Arulir Mountain would be fitting. Higher level players can handle that xD

Finally some issues I encounterd.
When walking into a different area, just one map to another, it sometimes took up to two or three seconds before the map actually changed.
And by trying to go back to the map before I would usually walk one tile into the current map and turn around, but quite often that would not trigger. In rare cases even after two tiles into the current map and then returning would not trigger the mapchange.
Combined with the delay I sometimes waited a bit longer before I realized I had to try again

No issues with the

minigames/Sidequests. Perfectly designed and fun. Although some were far to easy for my taste

So in conclusion it took me about 2.5 to 3 hours to finish everything and to be back where I started. Sorry, but a few hours were more than enough
Also I did not think I'd be able to actually find all new maps but that was no problem at all. Great for saving my nerves, a little sad for the challenge

In total an amazing and worthy update for Andor's Trail, I really enjoyed it
Thanks a lot and keep up the great work!

How are only 10 smileys allowed??
Also sorry for the tremendous amount of spoiler tags..

[Nut]

Thank you very much for your detailed comments, glad you have enjoyed the quest

Some remarks:

• Most mapchanges are diagonally, so only a 2x2 mapchange field can be reasonably used. (Only up/down stairs are a 1x1 mapchange field). That explains your experience when you want to return immediatly.

• I don't know the reason for the little delay on some mapchanges. But it is nothing new, there are other places with delay already now

• Most monsters in the maze are lowlevel - just for adding a bit distraction, so that you cannot concentrate totally on pathfinding

[Osho]

Regarding shields - Is there any subtle difference between two (blue, orange) or both are same? I tried navigating the cave with both amulets, couldn't figure out any big difference between them. Except the route wrt yellow shield is not covered under blue.

I have created my own map to avoid memorising it. Gives a clear indication of the best route to take. If anyone wants I can DM images of the routes.