MXL: Sigma Announced

Merc-only items are not happening. Lets move on now

He's asking about multiple variants of class items, not merc-only items

Like a unique Naginata that only barbs can use.

Yes, it would allow that. But its most probably not happening.

Since you're working on level improvement right now, could you try and see if you can make walls in ubers transparent? It's annoying not being able to see what's going on in Khalimgrad, Rathma Square, etc.

That's because laz did custom tilesets for his ubers (in some cases, unnecessarily). That screwed up automaps/walls fading. This may be an easy fix in very few cases; however in most cases it would require the map to be created from scratch. Sad times.

Actually nephew, that is one request you shouldn't entertain. The non-transparent walls adds an element otherwise lacking in the game. Archon, when did you start to lose your nerve?

Marco wrote:That's because laz did custom tilesets for his ubers (in some cases, unnecessarily). That screwed up automaps/walls fading. This may be an easy fix in very few cases; however in most cases it would require the map to be created from scratch. Sad times.

Yeah, I figured. I just brought it up in case it might be something you felt like doing.

UncleGrimjerk wrote:Actually nephew, that is one request you shouldn't entertain. The non-transparent walls adds an element otherwise lacking in the game. Archon, when did you start to lose your nerve?

archon256 wrote:I'm not a fan of trees in ubers.

You already are limited in how far you can see in isometric games because of how the camera is positioned, and the fact that it's fixed means you can't rotate it to look around obstacles. Blizzard even realized this and made it so that building roofs disappear when you enter them and walls turn transparent when you're standing behind them, but trees have no such mechanic.

Walking into a pack of zons that you couldn't see because of trees blocking your view definitely makes the game harder, but not in a good way, IMO. That just favors characters who have been built to have tanky stats instead of players who rely on active skills (like a sin using Blink) and positioning.

In the worst case scenario it'll turn LC1 from "Get just enough def that you won't die to a few arrows hitting you, then use hit and run tactics to strategically kill zons" to "Spend a bunch of time farming TUs and Honorifics to raise your defense and DPS to overkill levels, then walk in and faceroll the zons".

That was referring to trees in TA (before I realized Marco wasn't actually adding more :facepalm:

), but it applies to walls too.
More difficulty isn't automatically good. I don't think blocking the view of your character due to engine limitations is a good source of difficulty. You can disagree of course, ultimately this is a subjective matter

I did add more trees to TA; but they are just aesthetic and they do not make it harder to see. Regarding dunc wall fading, I agree that it would be nice to have them fade, but as I mentioned before, there is a possibility this doesn't happen. It's more likely that I re-arrange the map to prevent walls from being an annoyance (kind of like how I made passages in Tran wider to prevent getting barrel-blocked). This is achieved by making floor tiles hidden by walls unwalkable, and compensate increasing the area a bit. This method is used in several places already, including dunc itself. We'll see.

More areas. The world keeps getting bigger.

Act 3, Torajan Jungles

Khazra Dungeon, formerly known as "Toraja" in classic median

Marco wrote:Regarding dunc wall fading, I agree that it would be nice to have them fade, but as I mentioned before, there is a possibility this doesn't happen. It's more likely that I re-arrange the map to prevent walls from being an annoyance (kind of like how I made passages in Tran wider to prevent getting barrel-blocked). This is achieved by making floor tiles hidden by walls unwalkable, and compensate increasing the area a bit. This method is used in several places already, including dunc itself. We'll see.

Well, a semi-solution to this would be to edit the tiles directly with Photoshop and delete every second (or more) pixel to create a fade effect. This is what's essentially done with automaps. Of course, this means that the walls would always be faded instead of fading dynamically.

So this is the result of deleting every second pixel of the monastery walls with Photoshop. Normally, you wouldn't be able to see through these walls from this area.
http://i.imgur.com/NXdFb76.png

EDIT: Also, nice pics.