Another big release with some cool new content, new ways of using existing content and plenty of bug fixes.
If you're new to Caverns of Xaskazien II, you can download the latest version (0.67.17) here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0rckwzt4rp24stp/Caverns%20of%20Xaskazien%202%20Ver.%200.67.17.zip?dl=0If you've already got at least version 0.66.12 installed, you can patch it to the latest with this download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vh9v4nptde9y6yl/COX%20Update%200.66.12%20to%200.67.17.zip?dl=0PATCH INSTRUCTIONS: Put the zip file in the root folder of your game and unzip it. Click "Yes to All" when it prompts you. Feel free to delete the zip file afterwards.
Although the details will be discussed below, I want to point out the new READ ME file in the root folder. I'm trying to make the game as user friendly as possible - hopefully the READ ME is more digestible than the full manual, for those who want a quick briefing on how to play. Please let me know how clear/unclear it is.
As per usual, here's a brief description of the game for newcomers followed by the changelog for the current release. Enjoy!
Game Features:- A rich, graphical game, with loads of animation and dynamic, coloured per pixel lighting.
- An exclusive orchestral soundtrack created for the game by professional film scorer, Dave Coleman.
- A full sound environment with close to 1000 unique sound effects, volume keyed to the source’s distance from your character.
- An intuitive keyboard and mouse interface.
- An easy to understand UI that ensures all information any player could want on any topic is only a mouse hover away.
- 300 visually distinct monsters, each with a dozen+ variants (including named boss types), and robust AI that differs by monster intelligence level. Summoning and Charm methods allow you to raise your own monstrous army to fight for you, too.
- Merchants and NPCs to deal with, as well, each of which can run afoul of the monsters, just like you.
- More than a hundred unique booby traps for the unwary, most of which may be set by players to ensnare monsters, too.
- 125 base weapons and 75 base armour pieces, each with thousands of possible enchantment combinations and legendary variants.
- Hundreds of unique magic items, mundane items, potions, scrolls, staves, wands, rods, food items, etc.
- Nearly a hundred unique spells.
- Play as either sex in any combination of 38 Classes and 13 Races, and customize your character as you see fit through the upgrading of both Attributes and Skills.
- Procedurally generated dungeons utilizing multiple methods of generation to create caves, structured areas, labyrinths and even forests, supplemented by occasional pre-generated dungeons called Legendary Lands.
- Hundreds of unique environmental features to interact with and use to your tactical advantage (or detriment).
- Both random and scheduled special Events to mix up gameplay.
- A comprehensive user's manual in the docs folder.
- All for the low, low price of free
A few screenshots from my most recent playthrough:A Precarious Crossing:
A Widely Branching River on the Map
Upgrades to Ver 0.67.17 since last release (Ver. 0.66.12):Major Improvements:- New Mundane Items: Spell Drain Trap Kit, Honeycomb, Tamaran Coffee, Vorduvian Tea.
- New Terrains: Blast Craters (non-linear chasms), Bee Hive.
- Made it possible (though uncommon) for there to be more than one River, Frozen River, Acid River, Lava Flow or Chasm on a map.
- Made it possible (though uncommon) for any of the above to be more than 1 square wide (theoretically up to 38 squares, though the odds of this are astronomically low).
- Made it possible (though uncommon) for each of the above to fork.
- Made it possible (though uncommon) for each of the above to link up with lake types (so lakes can empty into rivers, etc.)
- Made it possible for the map generator to create Bridges and Rope Bridges that are more than just 1 square in length over Water, Lava, Acid or Chasms.
- Game now checks whether your current save is playable or if the character is dead and grays out the option to load game accordingly. It won’t highlight the option if you point at it and the save is not viable, nor will it try to load the game if you click it. This should save time for players waiting for a game to load, only to have it fail at the end because the character is dead.
Minor Improvements:- Added a READ ME to the root directory of the game, giving a brief overview of the rules.
- Made Wishing Wells grant Attribute Points on success, instead of randomly picking an Attribute to increase, so that the player actually CAN get their wish instead of a random reward.
- Made it so that while a Psychic Fear spell is ongoing, monsters in your square will try to move in a random direction, rather than standing and fighting.
- Standardized many more Situation Panel text outputs for Basic and Intermediate Text Prompt modes.
- Made text output red during combat if your Text Prompts are set to Basic and the game is communicating why you didn’t get to attack this turn.
- Once you’ve discovered the contents of a Cauldron, the game will now prompt you with the Cauldron’s title (i.e. “Drink from Healing Broth Cauldron?” instead of just “Drink from Cauldron?”)
- Added clarification to query of Poison Immunity icon that Poison Immunity will not cure you of existing Poison.
- Added clarification to query of Nausea icon that while you can’t cast Spells, you can still use Objects that produce spell effects, like Scrolls and Wands.
- Allowed space bar, enter or keypad enter to dismiss an Event screen.
- Allowed any button press to dismiss a Situation Panel prompt, (with anything except “y” standing in for a “No” or “OK” answer).
- Allowed left clicking anywhere to dismiss any Situation Panel prompt, too (with anything except clicking “Yes” standing in for a “No” or “OK” answer).
- Made Lakes, Frozen Lakes, Acid Lakes, Lava Lakes and Lakes of Mud less chaotic (and more visually appealing) by disallowing diagonal connection of parts. This has a side effect of tending to make them smaller, which also makes the game more survivable.
- Made it so Events, outside of Holidays or post-Warning Events, will not get generated on the first map of any game, to let players get their feet before throwing new things at them.
- Made it so Book of Legends cannot be used in a Legendary Land, to prevent a potential loop of hopping from one Legendary Land back to a reset version of the same Legendary Land.
- Gave Improvised Weapons and Armour a low resale value, rather than flatly saying they’re worth 0 gold.
- Made Energons and Lightning Elementals glow blue, lighting their own squares.
Bug Fixes:- Fixed error not outputting any reference to Cartography if you cast a Clairvoyance spell.
- Fixed typo telling you you’d “recieved” a map.
- Fixed error not properly displaying Counterspell graphic.
- Fixed error occasionally generating doors in odd places during the design of certain styles of labyrinths.
- Fixed several typos in text output from eating Mushrooms from a Mushroom Patch.
- Fixed several instances of missing text output from eating Mushrooms from a Mushroom Patch.
- Fixed error that, with Text Prompts set to Basic, wouldn’t output anything in the Situation Panel if you jumped in an Acidic Pool but nothing melted.
- Fixed error that, with Text Prompts set to Basic, would tell you that a Giant Centipede had Poisoned you, when they, in fact, only Mildly Poison you.
- Fixed errors not enacting certain types of Insanity or Confusion if you passed your turn by left clicking your own square.
- Fixed errors not allowing the “left click to move into adjacent square” function to work if you were Confused.
- Fixed pluralization error in Temple output which could reference “1 gold pieces worth of Treasure”.
- Fixed error mislabeling a Blink Trap as a Teleport Trap when you disarm it.
- Fixed error not immediately re-rendering lighting after a Blink Trap teleports you.
- Fixed error not immediately re-rendering lighting after a Magic Archway teleports you.
- Fixed rare error that, with Text Prompts set to Basic, would tell you “Something is blocking the Hellhound from entry” if you failed in conducting a ritual at a Small Pentagram and there were already too many monsters on the level to allow another, even though it’s now a Lesser Demon that should appear.
- Fixed error that would, with Text Prompts set to Basic, output the successful results of conducting a ritual at any Pentagram four times instead of just once.
- Fixed error not setting NPC intelligence high enough to have them avoid wandering into some dangerous areas.
- Fixed errors with Scrolls of Summon Vermin, Summon Knight, Summon Minor Fiend, Summon Monstrosity and Animate Dead, sometimes misinterpreting the level of Runic Lore required to identify them which could allow an improperly trained character to try to use the Scroll and be warned that it won’t work where they are (because the square is occupied, say), rather than having the scroll fizzle away or, conversely, might NOT warn the player of such a circumstance and just waste the scroll, even though they had sufficient skill to merit being warned.
- Fixed erroneous info in query of Temple claiming that characters with Advanced Piety can pray once per level to regain Health equal to the Dungeon Level (when they actually regain twice that amount).
- Fixed error not always properly re-rendering lighting when you’re carried along by a mine cart.
- Fixed typo in Level Up text output for Mage class characters.
- Fixed error occasionally (but not always) pasting red square beneath graphic that accompanies the text output of a Monster Attitude shift in the Situation Panel.
- Fixed error that would lower the base resale value of the highest end weapons to 0.
- Fixed text output error switching the lines “you’ve released a” and “you’ve disturbed a” when you disturb a monstrous plant by searching a Lush Plant.
- Fixed error making it impossible to find Whiskey.
- Fixed error that, with Text Prompts set to Basic, was posting the wrong image when you interact with an Air Shaft.
- Fixed error not properly setting the gradient for the chasm beneath Rope Bridges over Chasms.
- Fixed error scrolling “Strength Too Low” instead of “Dexterity Too Low” if you try to learn Secret Detection skill but can’t because your Dexterity is too low.
- Fixed error not lowering the printed odds of a monster hitting if that monster was standing in Mist (though it did ACTUALLY lower the odds during combat).
- Fixed error dropping the “an” or “a” article in the text output if you found a Chilly/Frosty/Icy Weapon.
- Fixed text spacing error in text output of accidentally setting off your own trap.
- Fixed error still showing Dig Sites, even in territory that’s no longer known.
- Fixed outdated queries of multiple side screens advocating you “click Done” to leave the screen, when the Done button was replaced with an OK button long ago.
- Fixed error allowing you to gain more than your maximum Spell Points on Sacrificial Pits.
- Fixed multiple errors not initializing Counterspell, Air Shield, and sometimes even Mage Helm, Mage Shield or Mage Armour on monsters, either when they’re first placed, or when they’re summoned/raised from the dead.
- Fixed errors not lowering the turns remaining on active Counterspell or Air Shield spells for monsters, meaning they would be permanent once cast.
- Fixed error that, with Text Prompts set to Basic, would display the wrong graphic when you drink a Potion of Skill.
- Fixed error asking a second time if you wanted to ring a Brass Gong, after you’d already rung it (although the second answer was moot, as nothing would happen).
Hope people are enjoying the game! I'm definitely enjoying continuing to work on it. Next update when time permits (probably a couple weeks).
