Homeland Part 1 Public Beta

[Kelandon]

As the title says, there is now a public beta version of Homeland Part 1! Download it here: https://kppp.webs.com/Homeland.zip

 

To be clear, Part 1 consists of the Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2. This is nearly 50 towns and 6 outdoor sections by itself. The scenario, when finished, will also include Chapters 3-5. Those are not part of this release.

 

Also, this is a beta version. There are still a few known bugs, and likely there are a lot of unknown bugs (which is the point). The known bugs are generally aesthetic and shouldn't prevent you from progressing.

 

As usual, if you want to be credited as a beta tester, play the scenario and email me any bugs/feedback you have. Bear in mind that it is intentional that some characters give you conflicting information, even about basic background.

 

The current plan is to finish Chapter 3 and then release a Prologue-through-Chapter 3 version. Then I'll finish Chapters 4 and 5 and release the whole scenario.

 

KNOWN BUGS:

 

Spoiler

In the Thkhi Cave, sometimes the dialog to destroy the altars appears repeatedly.

Some outdoors caches have undesired side-effects. Opening the one south of Leksandria converts the outdoor section from cave to surface. Some opened caches create duplicates next to the real cache.

The Leksandria sidequests do not display correct in the quest list.

 

EDIT: Note that if you downloaded before January 23, 2021, there was a typo in the email address in the initial pop-up dialog. Use the email address listed at KPPP or listed in the current download.

[Ess-Eschas]

Oh wow. This is really exciting to see! I hadn’t expected you to be releasing this for testing in sections, but that makes a whole lot of sense, especially when working out the general balance for later portions of the game.

 

I’ve already downloaded this, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what you’ve done. I know the scenario is far from being finished, but getting to this form of testing is still a big milestone, I think.

 

So, many congratulations, Kel!

 

You’ve released this just at the point when I’m rather busy, so it might be a few weeks before I get a report to you – depending on how much I find, of course. But you should have something from me relatively soon!

 

Here are some brief comments on your known bugs:

 

Spoiler

My hunch is that the outdoor cache changing the nature of the outdoor section might be another instance of the set_terrain() bug. It has some of the hallmarks of it, at least. When I get there, I’ll have a play around, and see if I can reproduce the problem in a dummy scenario. I have a guess as to what is causing the duplicate caches, too.

 

I meant to mention this in your Homeland thread, but I’ve got a nice little scenario set up for testing large-number problems in calls. When I have the time for it, I’ll work high quest numbers into it, and see if I can learn anything about quest numbers in the high 90s.

 

[BainIhrno]

I just downloaded it. It could be a while before I actually get to testing it; I'm just making the final touches to the "Redemption" port, and I have only just started replaying Bahssikava - as it's been a while since I've played it and Exodus, I'm not sure how good a job I can do if I don't have sufficient memory of the storyline established so far.

 

Congratulations!

 

[Sudanna]

That's really exciting!

[Kelandon]

12 hours ago, BainIhrno said:

I have only just started replaying Bahssikava - as it's been a while since I've played it and Exodus, I'm not sure how good a job I can do if I don't have sufficient memory of the storyline established so far.

There's a refresher at the beginning of the scenario, so you don't necessarily have to replay Bahs/Exodus to understand Homeland.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Is it an animated refresher with corny jokes representing serious plot points to save time? Exile III has one of those. It's great!

 

I'm still inching my way through Exile III, but I will play your trilogy someday, hopefully before you're dead so I can compliment you on your work. I'm a slow, slow gamer though. I'm thinking I'll play it next, before I start playing BoE again.

[Kelandon]

19 minutes ago, The Almighty Doer of Stuff said:

Is it an animated refresher with corny jokes representing serious plot points to save time?

It is animated, at least.

 

I actually kind of wonder if it might be better to start with Homeland, rather than Bahs/Exodus. For whatever reason, when I was a kid, I often started series in the middle, and I am absolutely convinced that the only reason I ever liked Dragonlance is that I started with Legends (the second trilogy) rather than Chronicles (the first trilogy). It created this Watchmen vibe, where there is this elaborate backstory that you piece together over the course of the series, instead of it being introduced in a bland, linear way. I sort of suspect that the same might be true here.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Question: Does it come before or after The Za-Khazi Run? I may replay the included BoE scenarios first and then switch to BoA for your trilogy depending on your answer.

 

EDIT: I'll probably replay them first regardless, now that I think of it.

Edited December 23, 2020 by The Almighty Doer of Stuff

[Kelandon]

1 hour ago, The Almighty Doer of Stuff said:

Question: Does it come before or after The Za-Khazi Run? I may replay the included BoE scenarios first and then switch to BoA for your trilogy depending on your answer.

 

EDIT: I'll probably replay them first regardless, now that I think of it.

Strictly speaking, it comes after ZKR, but I don't think anything in the included scenarios matters for the series. Except I guess the occasional appearances of Machrone.

 

Homeland is intended for a level 1 party. I tested it with a fresh default party and a customized party, and it should work either way.

[Kelandon]

Another known bug:

 

I believe that the Chapter 2 quest count is not correctly counting one of the Leksandria quests. I still have to verify this.

[Zeta Teridax]

The last time I was on this forum was in 2013, and I was in high school. On a whim today I thought, "You know I wonder what ever happened after the plot of Exodus?" And I went to see if I could log in to my old account here.

 

Lo and Behold, I missed Christmas by almost a month. There's a lot going on in my life these days, but if I can find time for d&d amongst everybody's Covid schedules, I can find the time for Homeland.

 

I'm only sorry I wasn't paying attention this whole time!

[Kelandon]

Now that I've gotten some ways into Part 2, I can say that there will be minor changes to Part 1 when Part 2 is ready. By way of example, the sorcerer graphic is going to change.

 

Because some flags and quests are going to get shifted around, it is very likely that, when each part is released, old saves will not work for the new version — i.e., when Part 1-2 is released, you will have to start over.

[BainIhrno]

I have sent in a beta report - not sure if you saw it.

[Kelandon]

On 1/22/2021 at 11:35 AM, BainIhrno said:

I have sent in a beta report - not sure if you saw it.

Nope. Where did you send it?

 

EDIT: We've determined it was sent to the wrong email address. The email address in the scenario credits (or at KPPP) will work. It appears that the message at the beginning of the scenario has a typo in the address, which I'll fix shortly.

 

EDIT 2: This is now fixed.

[Kelandon]

A few comments after looking at the first two beta reports:

• There will be a readme with hints (and perhaps a full walkthrough) included in a future version, probably the Parts 1-2 version, which I hope to release toward the end of the year (but who knows). In the meantime, if there's something you're struggling to complete, you can email me or post here.
• There will be a bit more effort to keep you from getting trapped in a sidequest you aren't strong enough to complete in a future version, mainly in Chapter 2.

 

• I will probably level-gate the Escort the Ronathi quest, so that if you try to take the quest at too low a level, you're told to come back when you're stronger. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about the attack in the western farms, but probably something similar. I think I may leave the Lazhloss Mines quest as it is because it has natural difficulty gating.

• The quest list will be reorganized (and some quests combined) for a future version.
• When a quotation continues across several paragraphs, I follow the convention of opening quotes at the beginning of each paragraph and close quotes only at the end of the entire quote, both because this is correct English and because it gives me an extra character to work with in a number of dialogues. (This is different from what Jeff does.)
• Some of the dialogue presents more options when it should end, but I have not yet attempted to figure out why. This will be fixed in a future version.
• It seems like people are missing a lot of the sidequests, as I suspected might happen. I haven't decided exactly what to do about this. They're not really meant to be hard to find; you just have to go everywhere and talk to everyone. 

As noted, I've only received two reports so far. (If you sent a report and I did not acknowledge it somehow, I did not receive it.) I'll be collecting reports for several months before doing an update, because I want to keep working on Chapter 3 for a while before I backtrack into Chapters 1-2.

[BainIhrno]

Quote

• It seems like people are missing a lot of the sidequests, as I suspected might happen. I haven't decided exactly what to do about this. They're not really meant to be hard to find; you just have to go everywhere and talk to everyone. 

 

To clarify my comments on this, I'm not saying this is a problem or a bad thing - I only pointed this out to help give you a realistic idea of what a player is likely to find on their first play through; I'm only one person, but I felt if other people also say similar things, you might get an idea of how much people are finding without a hint file - whether you're okay with that finding out is your decision  

[Mr.TiC]

About the side quests:

I've just finished Chapter 1 and had 7/8 quests, don't remember the other quest counter.

Main problem for me is keeping track of the many quests, since for most of them you have to run around the whole area looking for clues and halfway through I forget which quest I'm supposed to be doing

I don't think it's an issue, if anything it's better than having short sidequests limited to one small area and getting them done in 5 min.

 

I do have one question, which bothered me from the start:

How come the newbie scouts/adventurers are fluent in Ancient Bahsikaavan? The original scouts were the only ones who learned it via Mind Crystals in Bahssikava, yet suddenly everyone in the expedition knows it.

Did the homeland sliths who joined the expedition bring books or teachers, or did the expedition memebers somehow re-use the mind crystals?

 

Edit:

ok I'm not sure which language the homeland sliths use, I assume it's ancient bahssikavan since you can understand the homeland sliths in previous scenarios because of learning the language beforehand.. or am I getting something wrong here?

Edited September 21, 2021 by Mr.TiC

[Kelandon]

7 hours ago, Mr.TiC said:

I do have one question, which bothered me from the start:

How come the newbie scouts/adventurers are fluent in Ancient Bahsikaavan? The original scouts were the only ones who learned it via Mind Crystals in Bahssikava, yet suddenly everyone in the expedition knows it.

Did the homeland sliths who joined the expedition bring books or teachers, or did the expedition memebers somehow re-use the mind crystals?

 

Edit:

ok I'm not sure which language the homeland sliths use, I assume it's ancient bahssikavan since you can understand the homeland sliths in previous scenarios because of learning the language beforehand.. or am I getting something wrong here?

The language of the homeland sliths is similar to the older Bahssikavan language—both are essentially "Modern Slith"—which everyone on the expedition learned either between Bahssikava and Exodus while they were staying in Vasskolis or during Exodus while they were interacting with the homeland sliths along the way (such as in Thassaka). Or slow learners may have learned it while staying outside Khitaloss Province between Exodus and Homeland. There are several months between each scenario, and by that point there are several sliths in the expedition who know the language.