Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

To be fair, that can depend on just how high you are.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I think the sun can be considered beyond "very high". If said angel was fast enough to get near the sun so it could move around without getting spotted (90 million miles or so), he would hardly have any need of hiding!

On the other hand, perhaps the sun in Dominions is much closer to the earth. Being as it's probably some god's flaming chariot, or a glowing creature or something, it may not be very high at all.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Five or eight miles up and your prey on the ground isn't going to be noticing much of a parallax effect... you could definitely swoop down on one group without the others warning them or reaching them in time to help.

Ok, this has officially Gone Too Far.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Ur wingz R gunna melt LOLZ

(Now it's gone too far)

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Is there an Icarus hero for Arcoscephale? I don't remember.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

More like a unit and a commander. EA

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Those Ophanim are jaw-droppingly good, KO. I'm very much looking forward to these guys.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Thanks! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I'm quite pleased myself.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Will Marignon and Pythium have access to the new angels or Gath access to the old angels?

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

At first I intended for them to share angels, but I have decided to keep them apart to keep them diversified.

The old nations have more human-like angels, and the new ones otherworldly.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Space angels!

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

KO: I find that a rather interesting decision. IIRC, the Ophanim appear in the Bible in the Book of Ezekiel, no? Possibly also Daniel, and in the apocryphal books of Enoch. I could see why the 'western' nations (such as Marignon) wouldn't necessarily get them, but IIRC the Orthodox faiths (represented in the game as Pythium) delve quite a bit deeper into the more mystical origins of the angel.

Also, while on this topic, why does EA Ermor not get access to at least the Marignon/Pythium angels? I don't see a reason why this should be an issue, considering both the mechanical and flavor background of the nation.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Pythium is quite strong as it is, so I'll keep the Ophanim et al for the later isreaelites. EA Hinnom will not get them since they are sprung directly from the sin of the Grigori. They will have to do with other summons.

Good point on EA Ermor. But it would require a new identical spell, since each spell can only be assigned to 3 nations atm. Angels are MA, LA Mar and MA Pyth IIRC. Not impossible to do of course.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Well, as a suggestion, you could remove the angelic spells from LA Marignon (after all, they don't rely on angelic support anymore; quite the opposite, in fact), and add them to EA Ermor. Obviously, Reascendance would still be used for LA Marignon.

This would also open up the possibility for MA Ermor 'Fallen Angel' Summons (I guess something like Morrigans?), and quite possibly Ashen Empire skeletal angels (physically resembling the Prince of Death, perhaps?).

Getting back to the Ophanim, I guess it's mainly a question of what it takes to summon them, and what they do. They appear to be thugs of some sort, and (at a guess) they're summoned with Fire and Air. Given that Pythium doesn't get Fire magic easily, access might not be the balance concern it could otherwise be.

You know best, of course. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

They are summoned either as a scout/priest at lvl 8 astral/fire or as 4 noncommanders as part of a merkavah chariot together with a chayot/tetramorph at lvl 9 corresponding to the heavenly choir of Pythium.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Sorry if this was my misunderstanding, but some national spells do have been used by more nations, i.e: Monster Boar has been at least assigned to EA/MA/LA Arcoscephale, EA/MA/LA Pangaea and Marverni. Pack of Wolves is even more commonly used IIRC.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Heh, neat. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif But, really, KO, when are we going to get a Fire/Air focused nation? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

And these names are such a flashback to Xenosaga (with infinitely good reason).

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

So there are actually two or three spells for summoning wolves and the Monster Boar, they just all have the same name.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

It is no problem to add such spells, but there is a problem for modders if the spell has the same name, since only the first spell of a particular name can be modded.. Not a big deal though as I said.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Dont tell me THAT thing is stealthy. o0
- John... John, do you see that huge flaming many-eyed chariot?
- GAAH!!! No! I dont see anything! And you'd better not, too! And I think we are actually late to... someplace else... RUN!!!

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

not scout. i meant nocom commander, like golem

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

*nerdgasm*

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

The three nations are practically finished. I need some heroes for Gath and Hinnom, and some lesser national summons available to all three. Se'irim, lilim and some other creatures of the wild.

I finished the Grigori today. It was a bit irritating when they had identical sprites, so I decided to make slight variations on them.

Here is a screen from spooky sprites. THis is Azazel, theacher of weaponcraft, war and cosmetics.


http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...777-azazel.jpg

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

awesome !

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

[all the final fantasy fans start fawning over their new sephiroth]

I shall call him emo-angel.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Heh!

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Neato!

But...I only see six Grigori. Weren't there about a dozen?

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

That is seriously awesome art. And re: FF, no one will compare him to Sephiroth due to the fact that the Grigori has 3 too many wings. :p

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Looks mad!

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

I decided to make only six. In the references the leaders range from 10 to 11 to 20 and the total of watchers range from 100 to 200 IIRC.

They are a bit overlapping. Kokabel teaches the constellations and Barakiel the stars. I decided it was enough with one guy teaching astral magic. WIth six uniques there will not be too many of them running around in the game. Also their Nephilim progeny can have skills and references to their respective father.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

What is Sephiroth (apart from the ten emanations of god in Kabbalah)? Some kind of final fantasy monster?

I have thought about doing a Sephirah pretender.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Let's see if I can guess what you've come up with.

*checks Wikipedia entry on Grigori*

Lesse, we've got Azazel (death, maybe earth and blood), Kokabiel/Baraqel (astral, maybe death), Araqiel (earth, maybe astral and nature), Chazaqiel (air, maybe water), Shamsiel (fire, maybe astral), and Samyaza (because even though Armaros/Penemue has a more distinctive niche, Samyaza is too big of a name to pass up).That's one way to understate it.Do it...do it...

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Sephiroth is a boring 2 dimensional 'cool' emo villain in the game Final Fantasy 7 who is reckoned to be the 'best villain ever' by the same kind of people who were blown away by the philosophical 'depth' of the Matrix films.

In short, he's a neo-nerd idiot icon ;]

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

He got lucky to be around right when the Web reached critical mass. Not wearing as much makeup as Kefka might have helped also.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Agreed, except I liked the Matrix films. They were fun.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Only the first one was any good. It set up really high expectations, and the later films just failed to deliver.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Looks great!

So, if and when you feel like sending them my way, I would gladly proofread the descriptions, Kristoffer. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

I've thought about that and I'm almost finished. Made a couple of new ones today, but you might expect them soon. I think there are about 80 or 90 or so for you to read. I've changed many of them since last time.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

I cannot wait to play these nations! They seem so cool. and I have especially enjoyed the nations that have been added lately...especially Formoria and Tir na n'Og...Go Celtic myths!

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Are you talking only about Hinnom/Ashdod/Gath or also the Ulmish, Ermor and Abysian units? From the last email conversation on that, I was left with the understanding that the HAG units were very much still subject to change, so I would reread all of those in any case. Looking forward to it anyhow. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

In counterpoint to Sombre's, Sephiroth is the main villain of FF7. A very typical bisyoonen lead, he is mainly liked for his looks and his general amorality.

He generally has great appeal to those who play console RPGs. He has one black wing, and he either popularized or was popularized by the final boss music in FF7, 'One Winged Angel'.

An understanding of Japanese culture can find deeper reasons for his popularity, at least among Japanese.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Never heard of spooky sprites. What is the program you use to draw the sprites, KO?

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

In-house program developed by JK, originally for Atari ST or something. From Google groups archives, comp.sys.atari.announce:

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Huh. Interesting.

Followup questions:
Do you recommend it?
Is it available to the public?
Would it work on XP?

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

I do not recommend it, since there is no documentation whatsoever. But it is a quite good sprite program. At least when you are used to it. Gabriella got an intro and used it when she made the Bogarus sprites, and she said she liked it. So it might not be that bad.

It is not available.

It works on linux. Once there was a windows version, but it was never used IIRC.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Had the answers been yes, yes, and yes I would have given it a try.

Ah well, I'll use gimp to scrape by.

Thanks for the reply.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Ha! I'm fininshed!

All in all there seems to be exactly 100 new unit entries. A few are different shapes of the same monsters, but still, 100 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Soon beta testing will begin. I imagine there will be some balancing to do. The earlier Rephaim might pose some problems, since there are few units to compare them with. Fomorians and Niefel Giants come closest I suspect.

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Is there a new member of the 500 Club to compete with Niefel Jarls, Fomorian Kings and Dai Oni?

Re: Gath, dev diary or something
 

Yep there is. Two actually. One is more of a warrior, one more of a mage. And then there are two 400 guys in MA.

The 500 guys come with a price though. They eat a lot. Including population and their lesser kin http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif