The real question is what's the face over the gate to the left supposed to be. It looks comical to me, like a bear that ate something and instantly regretted it.

Maybe the Lich Queen's dress just has a really low back?

Ooh I see another DLC costume for Joanne.



Clearly she's been locked up in those catacombs for way too long if she's ended up looking like that.

What are you talking about? She doesn't look a day over seven...ty hundred years.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNGahJrXAAAWI6n.jpg:large" style="max-width:100%">

In other news, finished level 8 and started level 9. I'll definitely finish this in next days, even if this final level will have some surprises

Then there's only the robbery missions left for the RPG part. And well, also the "final battles" but I won't say against who

The Queen needs her morning coffee...

OMG, snakes on acid!

If that's from catacombs level 8 and you're recommended to have a party of level 18, why are the enemy monsters labeled levels 5/6/7?

Like with Loren or SOTW, the levels of enemies are independent from the ones of the party. They have starting attributes on level 1 (shown in the monster detail page in the catacomb exploration) and on each level up they increase their stats (depending on difficulty level).

A level 2 Ghoul could be much more powerful than a level 6 Skeleton Mage for example.



Also, since in this game you control only 3 members, even a fight vs 4 is tough. Sometimes is easier a fight with 3 higher level enemies than one with 5 very low level ones.

That means as a player I don't have a rough idea of what their difficulty will be until I fight them. Which means the only way to know that the "level 2" Ghoul is a bigger threat is through dying to it while I focus on the level 7 spider I thought was the bigger threat.



Some systems would approximate the party level for an indicator of difficulty and then adjust the monster stat scaling as appropriate. E.g. the old level 6 skeleton mage would have the same stats as the new level 18 skeleton mage, just the level display is different to indicate you're expected to have an even-difficulty fight against that creature with a party of 18 (well, if it was a 1v1).



As it is now, I'm not sure there's an actual benefit to showing the monster level at all?

As it is now, I'm not sure there's an actual benefit to showing the monster level at all?

I agree.

Yes indeed I was thinking to not show it. After all, the stats are shown. But players could wonder why some monsters have higher stats than others still? Especially when there are 2 or more of the same kind and different levels. Not sure how to explain it... maybe I'll just put some + to display the relative difficulty of the monster vs base values.

Or maybe some "stars" since it's more cool to see

** (out of five). Ghoul monster had great lines but seemed to lack enthusiasm.



Jokes aside, I think RPG players would understand the same type of monster can have different stats even without the rating system. The difficulty rating is only useful if it's accurate across different monsters, otherwise it's misleading (like in SotW).

OK then better not have any rating indeed, since it would be impossible to have a "global rating" for each monster

Beside now there's more space to put more descriptions for enemies (like the Skeleton Mage or the Warrior):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNKUWn8UYAAA8gT.jpg:large" style="max-width:100%">

Since we're nitpicking the interface anyway:

1) Have you tried removing "Encounter type"? I think it might look better. It looks a bit weird since it should have the title treatment too, and yet shouldn't because you would have title upon title if you did.

2) Why does it need to say total exp? Can you kill some and run away/lose and still get some of it?

3) Winning -> Victory. Of this I am sure.

Yes encounter type can be removed and just display "Catacomb exploration" or "Robbery mission". Total exp is the total experience you'll get from battle, in SOME battle you might only need to kill a specific enemy (like in SOTW), however I don't think I've implemented it yet (not sure I will). For now I'll leave it as that.

Winning=victory, yes

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNWaPzUVAAA1vv3.jpg:large" style="max-width:100%">

Those cultists are the first enemy who can actually resurrect (but only Skeletons!). They are a powerful enemy.

I don't know why but having enemies with FEWER skills and fewer party in general, makes each change have much more importance/weight in the gameplay, vs SOTW or Loren. Quite pleased by how the battles are done so far

I read "Marx Cultist" at first.

In that case, the Raise Dead skill would be Raise Salary

I've finished the catacombs today. Only 3 days late from my self-imposed deadline of end of August

I can't say anything about the end battle and what happens for obvious reasons, but now I can send the sources to Forsaken who in the next weeks will rewrite it so people can experience a cool writing beside my stupidly hard battles



Next step, design and code the robbery missions, then we'll be at very good point with this game, coding-wise

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO7szwvWEAAkEYm.jpg:large" style="max-width:100%">

I'm retesting the catacombs again (quickly, using cheats) with the new rewritten texts by writer. I'm also adding all expressions/sounds, so this part is 100% done and I won't need to touch it again! last famous words (tm)



See, the old Apolimesho has fans too!