[Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

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Phitt
Posts: 442
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:43 am

[Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Phitt »

Phew, finally I'm done with my mod. Hope you enjoy and hope it is bug free.

Source files for the mod and a cleaned up, easy to use version of the tileset (which only includes the tileset itself - any other assets can only be found in the source files) are available as well. The source files are on the same Nexus page as the mod, the download link for the tileset resource can be found below the link to the mod.
== The Mine of Malan Vael ==

Explore the mine of Malan Vael and unravel its sinister secret.

The Mine of Malan Vael is a complete Grimrock mod featuring a new tileset made from scratch.

ATTENTION: If you've started a game using v1.3 of the mod, then updated to 1.4 and didn't solve the 'serve the dinner' puzzle yet you have to start over. I'm sorry for that, but for technical reasons it's not possible to solve the puzzle anymore with that 'version mix'. Since it's less than 10% of the dungeon it shouldn't be much of a problem though I hope.


= Installation =

Put the .dat file into your dungeons folder (My Documents\Almost Human\Legend of Grimrock\Dungeons). Start the game and click on 'Custom Dungeon', then select 'The Mine of Malan Vael'.



= Gameplay Information =

This mod is complete and was extensively tested. Of course I can't promise it's 100% bug free, but it should be close (apart from some minor 'known issues', see below). There are 5 levels to explore and the average play time should be somewhere between 3 and 4 hours.

The overall combat difficulty of this mod is quite high and the good, old 'hit and strafe' tactic will often not work. If you thought the original game was challenging you may want to play this on easy difficulty on your first playthrough. I don't recommend playing on hard difficulty on your first playthrough at all. Some important things to keep in mind while playing:

1. Secret areas are important, if you miss too many and play on normal or hard difficulty it will be very hard to survive.

2. Food is not overabundant like in the original game. Don't eat when you don't have to (eg eating a large food item to bring a character from 75% to 100% food level is not a good idea) and don't sleep when you don't have to (if just one character is seriously hurt it may be a good idea to simply use a health potion instead).

3. You will often get ambushed, so don't walk into an unexplored area without preparation. Make sure your characters are on (almost) full health and energy, get healing potions and bombs ready for use. Running away IS an option.

4. Last but not least, save often. I tried to place healing crystals in places where they make sense and help, but you can't have a healing crystal everywhere.



= Known bugs and issues =

- Ballista string doesn't move. This is because I couldn't export the weight painted model correctly. As soon as a stable, fully functional export is possible I will fix this.

- iron doors opened don't show up on the statistics screen. This is a bug with the editor, iron doors aren't counted in custom dungeons



= Credits =

Akroma222 for writing the Intro text and correcting/improving the notes I've written (and for beta testing)

John Wordsworth for the Grimrock Model Toolkit and beta testing

Xanathar for the Animation Editor

Kuningas for the Molt and Cultist creatures

Wallasaurus for the 3ds max export script

Ixnatifual for the tome descriptions

The Grimrock modding community for helping whenever I had a scripting question (you know who you are...I hope)

Almost Human for making an awesome game


I'm sorry that not all of you appear in the in-game credits (namely Kuningas, Wallasaurus and Ixnatiful), but it was a bit complicated to set up and it would have taken too much time to add more names. It's just a joke anyway, simply consider yourself part of the 'Grimrock community'. :P



= Changelog =

v1.4:

- fixed bug (caused by an engine update) that would mess up the position of the emergency vent light in the contaminated area
- added a tiny bit more food (4 food items in total) and another sack
- put a snail slice in front of the not-so-secret button that opens the 'food chamber' close the 'serve the dinner' puzzle so it should be impossible to miss
- fixed bug where the level 5 axe was 'Norja' from the original game and not my custom 'Great Axe' entry with adjusted stats
- 'Serve the dinner' puzzle was adjusted so it's more obvious what to do, you only need 2 food items instead of 4 and it looks better now (no more stacking food on the same spot)

v1.3:

- fixed minor bug with pickaxe, in the inventory it would show a required axe skill of 0 (which is pointless)
- short bow now has a required missile weapons skill of 5 (instead of no requirement)
- fixed bug where you could shoot projectiles through the destructible wall in the boss room before destroying it
- made the 'from midnight to noon' puzzle easier by adding a hint
- made the 'pitfall' puzzle a bit easier by slightly increasing the time the trapdoors stay closed
- added a note in front of the gate in the chasm area on level 2 to make 100% sure the player notices the two pressure plates
- fixed bug where ogre couldn't reach a spot
- reduced number of steps in step sequence puzzle on level 4 from 25 to 19
- slightly improved visuals for step sequence puzzle on level 4
- placed ballista arrow in front of the ballista so you can't miss it anymore
- fixed 'known issue' where looping sound effects from level 4 could be heard on level 5 as well unless you reload (thanks to Batty for finding a better approach)

v1.2:

- fixed two typos
- ogre is now scripted to walk on the correct path, he will follow the player no matter what and not get confused due to AI behavior
- fixed a bug that made the game crash when you hastily clicked multiple times on the trigger of the ballista when shooting
- fixed bug that prevented you from placing items in front of alcoves that are facing east or west

v1.1:

- greatly reduced file size by removing unnecessary files from the dat file
- doors of first pressure plate puzzle will now stay open forever after the puzzle was solved, no matter what you do
- second secret room was moved, it's easier to find now (both the button and the room) and the snail will respawn more reliably in case you run out of food for the 'serve the dinner' puzzle
- Malik now explicitly mentions the use of frost bombs in the note that lies in front of the ogre room on level 3
- made the 'four times four' puzzle on level 4 easier by filling one alcove with appropriate items
- put another safety check into the ballista script to prevent any odd crashing issues



= Terms of Use =

The mine tileset is a modders resource. I only ask for three things if you want to mod with it:

1. Give credits.

2. Don't upload the source files package or the mod itself to other sites without permission.

3. Use the assets only in Grimrock mods and don't try to sell them.


Download and screenshots:

http://grimrock.nexusmods.com/mods/169 (Grimrock Nexus)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =116990543 (Steam Workshop)

Tileset resource download:

http://grimrock.nexusmods.com/mods/145
Last edited by Phitt on Wed May 15, 2013 12:53 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Rook
Posts: 71
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Location: Belfast, UK

Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Rook »

Great work! Downloading now. :)

215mb.. This must be worth it!
Batty
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Batty »

I found a secret rock button! ok, back to game...
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Skuggasveinn
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Skuggasveinn »

Congratulations on releasing your dungeon Phitt, this is stunning work, I know that the screenshots looked promising but seeing this in action just blows me away.
I'm just down at level 2, but don't have more time for today so I need to continue after work tomorrow and I can't wait :)

this tileset is in a league of its own, fantastic.

Skuggasveinn.
Link to all my LoG 2 assets on Nexus.
Link to all my LoG 1 assets on Nexus.
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Xanathar
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Xanathar »

I've no words to express my feeling in seeing this.
Totally awesome - it raises the bar at an unbelievable level. 8-)

Wow.
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germanny
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by germanny »

Very nice! 8-)

... downloading..
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Komag
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Komag »

Extremely impressive so far, here are my play notes for the first hour or so:
SpoilerShow
- intro awesome, music, story, love it
- first rooms look incredible, amazing high quality new tileset, so very well done
- pickaxe says requires skill axe 0, strange
- I like the notes by Malik
- gearing up a bit fast, but okay
- spotted my first secret button, nice!
>>(I prefer that they "toggle" secret walls, not just open, feels more "right" to me I guess)
- good timing puzzle with three gates, but after making through (on first try), then push button in hall around corner, gates are open, good
>>but when I press the first two buttons, now the gates close after a bit - should just stay open forever I think, plates too should no longer bring gates down
- uh oh, worker entrance broke, big quake!
>>now what? seem stuck...
- can't seem to have any effect on mine cart
- went back through entire mine, no other way to go
- no idea what to do, guess I'll wander around again
- tried using pickaxe on things - rocks, cart, walls, no luck
- looked everywhere, can't find anything to do
- okay, I give up, frustrated, will ask on forums and wait for clue/spoiler.
So you can see I'm hopelessly stuck at the mine carts only entrance, can't find any other things to try to do, need hint/help :)
Finished Dungeons - complete mods to play
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Phitt
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Phitt »

Thanks for the comments!
Komag wrote:Extremely impressive so far, here are my play notes for the first hour or so:
SpoilerShow

Code: Select all

- intro awesome, music, story, love it
- first rooms look incredible, amazing high quality new tileset, so very well done
- pickaxe says requires skill axe 0, strange
- I like the notes by Malik
- gearing up a bit fast, but okay
- spotted my first secret button, nice!
	(I prefer that they "toggle" secret walls, not just open, feels more "right" to me I guess)
- good timing puzzle with three gates, but after making through (on first try), then push button in hall around corner, gates are open, good
	but when I press the first two buttons, now the gates close after a bit - should just stay open forever I think, plates too should no longer bring gates down
- uh oh, worker entrance broke, big quake!
	no what? seem stuck...
- can't seem to have any effect on mine cart
- went back through entire mine, no other way to go
- no idea what to do, guess I'll wander around AGAIN
- tried using pickaxe on things - rocks, cart, walls, no luck
- okay, I give up, frustrated, will ask on forums and wait for clue/spoiler.
So you can see I'm hopelessly stuck at the mine carts only entrance, can't find any other things to try to do, need hint/help :)
The reason why I don't let secret buttons toggle secret doors is that I sometimes accidentally clicked on a secret button twice in the original game (or later came back to it and wasn't sure whether I had already clicked on it) and then I didn't know whether the secret door was open or not. Didn't want that, even though it's a very minor issue. The gate puzzle is the only puzzle that doesn't work like that (doors etc stay open forever after solving the puzzle), I may fix this in the next version. Personally I think gearing up is fun, though other people may think inventory management is tedious. The mod is relatively short compared to the original game so everything is a bit on fast-forward (more tomes, 5 skill points on level up, more gear in a shorter time).

The worker/mine cart entrance puzzle...here is a hint:

The worker entrance obviously doesn't open, so you have to use the mine cart entrance. Imagine you are a mine cart, what would you do?

And the solution is:
SpoilerShow
Walk on the rails like a mine cart would do until you reach the cart entrance (you only need to walk on the rails in the room with the entrance) and the door will open.
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hyppyp
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by hyppyp »

Look at some screenshots, would really LOVE to play this mod... However, I have the LOG stand-alone version and the steam one, how am I able to download and play this beauty, or is it nexus only ?? :(
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Phitt
Posts: 442
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:43 am

Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Phitt »

hyppyp wrote:Look at some screenshots, would really LOVE to play this mod... However, I have the LOG stand-alone version and the steam one, how am I able to download and play this beauty, or is it nexus only ?? :(
Everyone can download from Nexus, it doesn't matter what version(s) you have. You need to register if you want to download files >2mb (which unfortunately this mod clearly is), but that's all you have to do (and no worries, you don't get spam mails or anything like that). After you downloaded simply follow the installation instructions and play. :)
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