Progress report for IA v6 Options

[Vuki]

[i]Estimated Date of Release: February 2010

Ohh, no.

I continue my V5 game and do not wait for V6.

[Sikret]

Estimated Date of Release: February 2010

Ohh, no.

I'm sorry for the extended delay.

Two groups of testers are currently testing the mod. The pioneer testing group is now at Abazigal's lair. The second (supporting) testing team is now re-testing the important battle in SOA portion of the game. The SOA part is already tested but we want to test the important encounters again. This second team is now in chapter 6.

More than two years has passed since we started working on IA v6 (v5 was released in November 2007). The content of IA v6 is more than 100% more than IA v5 (more than doubled amount of new content compared to v5). I admit that I could have added even more new content to the mod in two years, but two main factors interfered and slowed down our progress:

First, the new wilderness area which was supposed to be used in Expanded Druid Stronghold didn't get ready in time. I waited for 18 months just to receive an incomplete version of the area from the graphics artist who was making the area. I had already spent a lot of time making the required files for the expanded druid stronghold which remained unused and are now all archived to be used in v7.

Second, we spent some time blocking possible cheats and cheesy methods. This amount of time could have been used for adding more new quests to the mod, but I believe that blocking cheats is a very important thing to do. Players who play the mod honestly and without cheating have the right to be sure that cheaters can't finish the mod easily and laugh at the honest players. They also have the right to be sure that any report sent by other players to the forum contains true (rather than forged) information.

Saros' reports (both here and in Bioware Forums) proved that we were wrong in assuming that every player who installs the mod, installs it with the intention of playing it honestly. We realized that some people (even though a small minority) may just install the mod with the intention of beating the encounters with any illegitimate methods they find available in the game and then return to forums to write lies and forged reports to glorify their victories and pretend that they are important persons. This sort of players violate other players' right to read true information in the forum. A portion of our time was spent blocking those possible cheats and exploits.

Despite these delaying elements, we did manage to add a huge amount of new content to the mod. As I said, IA v6 adds 100% more new content to the game when compared with IA v5.

[lroumen]

The time between IA versions is generally quite a long time, but I find that the end-result, the released mod, is all the more worth the wait.

I would be saddened if a new version came out every few months, because that does not give us the proper time to finish our game from the beginning of SOA right until the end of TOB. You've changed basically everything in the game to some extent, such that the extra content isn't finished once you hit TOB but goes on until the end... I cannot say the same for other large mods that basically stop once you've finished SOA, or which don't kick in until late TOB.

I also find that some challenges are so difficult (dependent on party setup) that I think I can handle it, but then I'm still stuck for a few days trying out different tactics before I "have" to give up and venture elsewhere to level up, gain items or gain spells. I find that fun, but that also means that I cannot finish the entire mod within half a year.

Granted, I'm going through v5 for the third time, but since I'm using different characters the challenges are much different and are done in a completely different order (first game stopped half-way, second game finished to the end, third now ongoing and will be the second in v5 to reach the end). I'm already thinking about v6 though... and since I will be playing as a mage protagonist this time, I'm thinking I will be slaughtered so often.... I'm so bad with keeping mages alive.

[Sikret]

I would be saddened if a new version came out every few months, because that does not give us the proper time to finish our game from the beginning of SOA right until the end of TOB. You've changed basically everything in the game to some extent, such that the extra content isn't finished once you hit TOB but goes on until the end... I cannot say the same for other large mods that basically stop once you've finished SOA, or which don't kick in until late TOB.

Yes, and add to this the fact that different classes have access to different content/quests. This adds to the replaying value of the mod and will require you to spend a longer time to see everything the mod adds to the game.

In addition to the protagonist's class the NPCs' classes/kits also matter (though in a lesser degree than the protagonist's). For example, a player who has played a v6 run without a swashbuckler or protector or riskbreaker may be curious to play another game to see the new abilities added for these kits. The same is true for the new HLAs added for druids.

In general, Improved Anvil supplies the player with enough motive and material for playing the game several times while waiting for the mod's next version.

For v7, we plan to add Expanded Druid Stronghold and Expanded Paladin Stronghold as well. The Extended Twisted Rune also includes a complex encounter which I prefered to postpone to v7, because testing it alone would take a few months and could prolong the delay of releasing v6 even further.

[matti]

Oh, Paladin stronghold is really cool but what about Fighter Stronghold? Riskbreaker is such a beast, in IA 6 he's improved, playing riskbreaker as a protagonist with new quests...oh, boy...amazing!


About the delay. February 2010 is, for the first time, a REALISTIC date, in my opinion. Quality needs time, that's all I have to say.

[Chevalier de ...]

I played AD&D with SIKRET for many years (may be 10 years) and he was our Dungeon Master. He wrote many outstanding scenarios and I still have a lot of them in my memory.
I am sure that IA v6 will be the best mod for BG2 and TOB (as I now SIKRET, may be the most difficult one also )

Wait and see, you are in the domain of perfection....

[Sikret]

Hi, Chevalier! You reminded me of good old days of Playing pen and paper AD&D. Thanks for that as well as your kind words.

[Ralmevic]

Hi. I have a proposition to make for the new version of the imroved anvil. I think that the spellcasters that appear when you cast spells out in the open should be improved. They're ridiculously easy, and farmable with 9-level party, hence they provide a cheesy way of gaining xp.

[matti]

Hmm...what do you mean, improved Zelanora? Are you sure you have Improved Anvil properly installed?

[thick3]

Zellanora comes in after 6-7 waves

[matti]

Exactly. After 6-7 improved waves.

[Ralmevic]

Can we get a more specific "rough estimate" about the time of release? Like, is it gonna be in the first, the second or the third tenday of march?

Thanks in advance.

[lroumen]

It's still februari. Tomorrow too

[Sikret]

We are testing EDE v6 (the final battle of the mod).

[Ralmevic]

[thick3]

I see release date changed to March, still no concrete date yet?

[Redwall]

I see release date changed to March, still no concrete date yet?

It's been delayed a year. Just ignore the date and wait until it comes out.

[Raven]

It's really hard to predict when the new version will be released because it depends on how testing goes. Sikret can't predict how much time testers will be able to spend playing and also can't predict how much time will be needed to revise each battle (some need virtually no changes, others need to be changed, tested again, then changed again, tested again etc.). So it's really impossible to give an accurate estimate for the release date even though the testing process is nearly finished.

[thick3]

Hopefully a June/July release, sigh why mislead people with several false release dates
Was initially gonna wait for v6 in Feb, but already started a new v5 game when the release date changed to March. Meh :/

[critto]

Worry not, the release date is near. Everything's pretty much been tested, except for EDE. But that is a tricky one, as all of you who played IAv5 know. Sometimes it is simply hard to find a sufficient time to play (a decent EDE attempt requires around 1 or 2 hours whereas a fully successful one could take up as much as 4 hours).
I honestly don't think it will be delayed until summer, but however it might take us the rest of March.