Two Lords :: Official Release Of Episode I

[Eponasoft]

This is an official release of Two Lords. This is a complete version of Episode I of the game: "Escape".

http://www.eponasoft.com/2l.7z

This game requires Windows and is not built for other platforms, nor is it planned for release on other platforms.

Most of the details are in the included text file, Two Lords.txt. However, there are a couple of details not mentioned there.

A few known issues:
-A few of the menu items don't quite work, namely the player name field.
-Enemy AI is still a bit weak.
-The third mouse button's control is still a bit off. Of course, this feature is a 'luxury' for those with a mouse wheel.
-The game may still crash right after the title screen. If this happens, simply run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98.
-If you have to run the game windowed (highly unlikely with 640x480 mode working perfectly), you can disable the mouse by pressing M.

[h4tt3n]

maybe add a .zip version?

[Eponasoft]

Everyone should have 7zip by now! :) It's the programmer's archive format! :)

EDIT: Uploading .zip version right now. It's about 1MB larger.

[h4tt3n]

maybe add a .zip version?

[Eponasoft]

You already said that...

Zip version is uploading.

[Eponasoft]

In the time it took to upload the zip version, everyone could have gotten 7zip installed, hehe. :D But here it is.

http://www.eponasoft.com/2l.zip

[Frank Dodd]

Hi Epona,

Nice work on this, you have put a lot of effort in and made a very complete game, it all works smoothly and the intro sequences flow well to tell the back story. It really brings back the old Wolfenstein days :)

I think it would be nice if areas within visual range were revealed on the mini-map instead of just the 9 grid locations around the player this would improve the game flow as I found myself walking walls to reveal the boundaries, especially as some areas are circular.

I also think it would be worth extending the graphics and having more wall textures (even if some duplicates with extra details on them like vines and cracks) and if possible introducing a few more monsters for example 2 or 3 Brutus on the first level and more of them.

I think this is a great foundation and you would find it easy to get additional help from a graphics person if you need it.

Good luck with this,

Frank

[Eponasoft]

Thanks for the comments. I didn't want to make the first level too flooded with enemies, as it's supposed to basically be a tutorial level for the game. But I am definitely going to be upping the amount of textures in the game. I had revised the texture limits awhile back to get it away from RTe's limits, but haven't expanded on it too much just yet. The original QB version had a mapping system like you suggest, but it was built in to RTe and I've not yet implemented something similar. I'd like to before the final though, it would be much better than the current system.

Thanks for trying out my game. :D

[vdecampo]

Exceptional Work! My only complaint....I couldn't turn the music off or down (at least I couldn't figure it out) :)

Great Job!
-Vince

[kinem]

Very nice.

I second the comment about the map.

It would be nice to be able to skip the intro. (edit: ESC)

The first level seems too long and repetitive, though I haven't played it that much.

It would be nice to be able to customize the keys. I favor arrow keys for forward/back and rotate, with alt+arrow for strafe. I do not like using both mouse and keyboard. I was afraid to open doors for fear that touching the mouse would mess up my up/down angle of vision.

I got the arcane tears and the graphics are better. I don't think it's a good idea to degrade the base graphics just for this item - I'd rather it look good all the time.

The combats didn't work out too well for me - I either won too easily or died too fast. (2nd level boss). Maybe I needed to have found an item. I got tired of looking though.

I'd rather be able to save the game at any point.

I found the people (prisoners?) but couldn't interact with them.

Ah well, fairly good game. Which I have now deleted so I won't waste any more time playing it :)

[Eponasoft]

vdecampo: I'll add that as an option, thanks for the idea.

kinem: Glad you at least tried it out and gave some feedback. I do have plans to add customized controls, but I hadn't gotten that far just yet...it's a minor detail to be added later on. As for the "save at any point"...I was originally going to do that but decided against it. Save-whoring, as it's called, greatly reduces the challenge of a first person shooter. I want the player to succeed on their own merits and skills, not on "oops I got hit, time to reload the game". The strong enemy in the second level (Frost Fiend) is indeed hard to take out. As for the prisoners in the second level...you can't interact with them per se...even if you could, they wouldn't speak your language. :) As for the teardrops...the graphics don't get "better", so to speak, what it does is temporarily disables distance lighting and ends up looking more like Wolf3D.

Thanks for all the feedback so far folks, it'll help shape the final version. :)

[cirux]

Great work on the game. The music and sounds fit well together, I found it very atmospheric. The doom like yells/screams kept me on edge but I still got a fright when I turned round to have an unexpected brutus in my face!

[Lachie Dazdarian]

Being a beta tester a while ago of all episodes, I think the main problem of this game is the fact it's oversized. At least that's my personal opinion. I think a much more varied and interesting game could have been compiled in a single-episode length adventure (with bigger and more elaborate levels), than stretching all the content, from textures to enemies, to over 20 Acts (levels). But as it is conceptualized like this and doing it differently now would mean a complete redesign of all levels, change of story and other related stuff, it has to remain in the current state. Sometimes you can improve a certain game to a certain limit. More would require a complete rewrite. Still, as the variety of gameplay and content can't be improved much, I think the game's strongest side will become its length and developing story, which of course, won't appeal to all people. I do like the fact that the game is rather scary. It's not equally effective in all acts, but some later levels really have an eerie atmosphere.

Also, I personally prefer saving after completing a level feature for the reasons Epona mentioned. I think today gamers frown from having to repeat a certain game segment, while often it can be quite a rewarding experience.

The game controls suite me quite well. I like the combination of mouse and keyboard controls.

Anyway, gonna try to finish this episode till the next weekend. Interested about the changes since the last beta testing.

[speedlemon]

So... eponasoft is adosorken?

I'll try game tonight. :)

[Pete]

Yes, and also "Nekrophidius" and "Nodtveidt"