Legacy of Kain: Revival beta

[bluemonkmn]

I finally managed to update the file in the existing submission.  Joomla sure leaves some features to be desired.  I had to manually update the database, but it all looks good now.  The file downloaded from the submission will compile and run properly from SGDK 2.1.8.

[Vincent]

Great!  Thanks!

[bluemonkmn]

I remembered that I still have to play through this game.  So I loaded my saved game and started playing, but hit an error again.  I think it's the same error that resulted from sorting the tilesets.  But maybe it happens differently after loading a game instead of starting a new game because no rule was called to set the message font?  Are you planning on any more releases with a fix for SetMessageFont?

[Vincent]

Hi bluemonkmn!

Well, I made a new version of the game but I didn't release the source code yet.  If you want to play the compiled version with the bugs solved (and a couple of new features I think), you can get it here:
http://cid-95f82d4a2ad34fe6.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/LokRevival.rar

Okay, I uploaded the source as well:
http://cid-95f82d4a2ad34fe6.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/LokRevivalSGDK2.rar
Can you replace the source in the project repository with this one? 

Thanks!

[bluemonkmn]

Done.

[Vincent]

Thanks!  Please, tell me if you get any other bug!

Have fun

[bluemonkmn]

Wow, this is a long and incredibly detailed game!  I'm very impressed.  I played for 5 hours today and managed to beat Janos and Hylden (starting from a saved game I had before).  It's quite challenging.  I have to quit for today, but there is a *lot* of gameplay in this game!  Now what did I say I/we should do to publicize it?  Post it to freeware/shareware sites?  I hope people still play long involved games and not just little things like Angry Birds .

Edit: I posted my review on the SGDK2 homepage, along with a nice big screenshot.  I am a little bit rushed at the moment, so I hope I did it justice.

[Vincent]

Hi bluemonkmn,

Wow!  Thanks a lot for the review!  I'm glad you found some time to play and enjoy the game.  I must admit I was afraid you tried it and didn't like it since it was released some time ago and I never really got your comments.

Thanks a lot for the review on the SGDK2 homepage!

I already followed most of your suggestions about publicity.  I posted messages on many forums, but it didn't get much attention.  The traffic on my website didn't go up very much.  I hope people still like long games too.  Maybe the story line is too complex or difficult for people who didn't play LoK games at all?

If you have ideas to publicize it, I'm all ears.

Thanks again!

[SmartBoy16]

Word of mouth is the best way of advertising. (Note the success of Minecraft). Try to find some LoK fans and see if they will be able to spread the word.

As for my review, it looks very good. If I didn't have college work and stuff, I'd play it more.

[Vincent]

I'm also posted info about my game in many LoK forums but it seems it didn't generate much interest.  Probably because there are some LoK 3D fan games in development...   Thanks your review.

[bluemonkmn]

I'm trying to pick up where I left off playing last time, but I'm lost and forgot what I was doing.  I was in the Hylden dimension and had destroyed two portals.  I figured out I could go back to the Hylden Fortress and use the portal there to get back to where I started, but I don't know how to complete the 3rd "stop Hylden invasion" objective, and I can't figure out or remember what's next.

[Vincent]

Hi bluemonkmn!

Haha!!!  It's great fun to answers questions about my game. I love it!

The last step to complete the Hylden Portal objective is to close the portal in the whirlpool at the lake of the dead.  You got the first part right: backtrack to the Hylden Fortress and use the portal to reach Vorador's Mansion.  Once you're back in the mansion, make your way to the lake in the Pillars of Nosgoth area.  When you get near the cliff, Kain will close the portal automatically by throwing the Nexus Stone in the lake.

Also, as a friendly warning, this means that when you close the portal in the lake you cannot go back into the Hylden Dimension or Hylden Fortress, they are closed forever.  If you still want to complete other objectives or find hidden items, you have to get to them before you close the portal.

You must be near the end!  From what I heard, this is the last objective most people deal with.  In what order did you complete the objectives?

Have fun!

[bluemonkmn]

I think I'm completing the objectives in the order that they're listed.  I can't seem to activate whatever I need to activate at the Pillars on Nosgoth to access the Elder God.

[Vincent]

When you are ready to fight the Elder God, you must activate the pillars one by one.  To do this, first use the skill Spirit Vision.  When you can see the spirit world, look at the left-most pillar.  This pillar is spawning colored pixels.   At the base of this pillar, use the skill Activate to activate this pillar.  When done correctly, this pillar will stop spawning colored pixels and another one will begin to.  They are activated in this order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5 (the central pillar is the last one to activate).

[bluemonkmn]

Aha... I thought I had thoroughly searched this screen, even with spirit vision, but apparently I didn't look high up at the leftmost pillar with spirit vision active.  I see the pixels, now that you have pointed them out.  I managed to finish after a few attempts fighting the elder god.  Quite an impressive battle.  I did alright after I realized I could suck his life sometimes .  Nice credit sequence too.  According to the game stats, I played a little over 4 hours, but I'm sure that doesn't count all my failures where I had to re-load.