Zalminen's Beta Diary

EDIT: For any new readers:
This diary was started quite a while ago and many of the adventures have been changed a lot since then. But feel free to read anyway
--

While I was still among the ones waiting for the beta key I made a promise to myself that once I got in I'd start a beta diary so that everyone still waiting would have more to read during the wait.
Well, today I happened to get lucky and nabbed one of the beta keys posted on the forum so I'm starting this thread to fulfill my promise.

I'm playing this mostly on my netbook (1,6Ghz, 1GB RAM, 1024x600 resolution) but if it starts running too slow I'll switch to my other laptop.

I already quickly played through the first two fights before getting home so this little diary starts directly after them. Sorry.

Anyway, let's start with the game then.

Axes and things:

Now that the first goblins were dead, I went to the new shop that opened. On my netbook it looks a little cramped, but since scrolling works it's not a real problem.

I sold the treasures I'd received and bought the Woodman's axe. Cool, better cards.



Kobold Encampment

Ok, that opened up the next adventure.



Looks like my Human Fighter Agreyn is facing three kobolds this time: Bong, Klang and Bing. Gary gives the hint to move 2 squares forward, since the foes will be forced to stop when they move to an adjacent square and so won't be able to get past me.




And looks like I get a good opportunity to use Chop and attack both goblins at the same time. Another weak strike later Bong goes bong and I get the first victory point.

Klang is out of actions so I decide to retreat a little to force the little buggers to come to me.
Next turn I move again and so do my foes. Guess what time it is? Of course - chopping time!



First chop drops Klang, second chop drops Bing and sweet victory is mine! Bwahahaaa...

So, what do I get for loot... A Hatchet!
Well, more chops is nice so I switch it with my sword.



Next fight, then.


Aaand... more goblins, Snick and Git arrive to meet my axes. This time they have block cards...



One strike hits, the next one is blocked. My additional chop isn't enough to kill Git so the little bugger gets to hit me.
One more chop, a failed block attempt and one dead Git.
And next round Snick falls as well. Woohoo, another victory for the mighty Agreyn.



Looks like victory also meant a level up and a shield slot for my mighty hero. And more importantly - more loot...
Kobold Killer looks nice so I'll give up my Hatchet.

 

Shopping again

I buy a Rusty Shield and sell the herrings and one Hatchet so now I have a couple of block cards in my deck as well



Gary suggests I should get a another adventurer as well so I pick up a Human Wizard, Sangfar. Looks like his deck has a bunch of zaps. Well, a little ranged support is nice.



Tunnels into Darkness


Looks like I've got one tall kobold surrounded. Well, this seems straightforward enough.... except that Gary tells me the little bugger has plenty of blocks so I'll have to attack from behind.

Very well, Sangfar moves into shooting range, zaps the foe who calls itself Crung and Agreyn follows up with a simple thump which the enemy fails to block. The next hit also connects.but now only Sangfar has attack cards and he's out of range so I'll pass.



Next round Agreyn draws a Chop which does more damage than the enemy can block so Crung drops like a ... well, kobold.

The loot - a shield which isn't any better than my current one, as the Unreliable block will only trigger on a roll of 6. No thanks.



Next fight.... What on earth is that? An armored pig?


Oh well, I guess Oink is about to become Pork soon...

As you can see from the picture, the Wizard figure is currently blocking the leftmost card damage so I had to right-click on the card to check what the damage was (2) and managed to use another card by accident while attempting to do so. Oh well.

Damn, looks like the armored pig is indeed armored and my attack proves to be useless. And Oink takes a nasty bite out of Sangfar as well. The next two zaps luckily hit so the situation evens up a little.



Agreyn has just enough moves to get into melee range and Chops the little piggie - but the armor card keeps it alive, albeit with 1 hit point.

Next round Agreyn manages to block Oink's bite and Sangfar turns the foe into supper. Yum.



Time for LOOT! Some bacon and two wands! More zaps plus a Telekinesis so now I'll be able to slide foes around. Nice.

Shopping again

Before the next adventure I drop by the shop to sell the excess junk. There's all kinds of nice things I could buy but right now I don't know have a clear idea what I really need so I just save my money for now.

At this point I had to take a break since our kids were starting to climb all over me and I didn't have any block cards...

 

Thank you for this. You rock!

 

You could use F11 to have game without the upper menu bar, would help viewing more + better screenshots. Thank you seriously, I was about to ask for something like that here on forums You are involving others into game in very nice way!

 

Cheers for the run through great blog.

 

Great diary Zalminen. I'm looking forward to more!

 

Awesome stuff! I'm going to do video when I finally get to play, but this is great too.

 

White Skull Canyon

Looks like it will be kobolds again in the next adventure.

I also realized you can't currently scroll / drag down in this screen:



Not that there's that much need anyway. And other than this, I've had no problems playing on 1024x600.

Ok, moving on.
Yep, kobolds again, but this time the little stinkers have brought someone chanting mumbo jumbo.



I move forward, but let both kobolds waste a move getting to melee range...



...and then it's chopping time again. That and Weak Strike takes down the first kobold Sangfar moves closer hoping he can waste the foe with a Zap next.

The kobold hiding in the back decides his mumbo jumbo is inspirational enough to give him a new card:



The strange little bugger also decides to get annoying by using a healing blessing on the half-dead Git and zapping Agreyn with a Spark.

Finally I get a new turn and and can make the first Kobold regret getting healed.



I smash his ears in with a Bludgeon and Ib-Gabig decides he'll also want more punishment by using a healing blessing on himself. Okey dokey.

As Agreyn runs forward shouting obscenities the kobold priest squeals and tries to run around the corner. Sangfar blocks his escape route though and a moment later old stink-face is trapped and cardless so it's time to do some damage...



...and turn Bigabaga or whatever his name was to a bloody heap.Victory!

Loot! .... or just more herring. Urgh.

Next fight. Which apparently includes dangerous terrain... and a another pig in a can.



Ah, now I realize why I've managed to use a card by mistake twice already. You can normally use a card by left-clicking on the card or see a bigger picture by right-clicking on it.



I assumed that clicking on the big picture would always close the full view but looks like you need to again right-click to close the full view as left-clicking will use the card normally!
Ok, now that I know how it works it's not a problem but I had just assumed it worked differently.

Anyway, I use a move and Violent Overswing to pulverize the first Goblin - who is again named Snick... I know the damn buggers all look alike but looks like they also have lousy imagination as well. Or rigid naming traditions.

...and now my wife is next to me laughing at the little character bouncing animation (shown when you mouse over a card for a character). She thinks it's really cute



I zap the priest who dares to show his nose at the doorway of his hut and then pass.

Damn, looks like the crazy kobold has some other ideas though:



Just what I've always wanted. An unholy pig. Note to self: do not try to pet.

The priest zaps me once but after that Gary passes as well so I get more cards.



Sangfar returns the favor by zapping the Gababuga-whatever who finally stops gargling nonsense and dies. Then he tries whacking the kobold coming from the side but gets blocked - and the enemy immediately strikes back.
Sangfar retreats, although I then realize there was no need since the kobold is a minion and wouldn't get to use another card on this turn even if it did happen to be an attack card. Oh well.

Oink comes to melee range and gets a snout full of axe. Unfortunately the unholy bacon gets to bite and Agreyn takes 6 damage. Ouch.



Agreyn pulls back just to be sure and then Gary passes as well.

Although Agreyn only gets one attack card, Sangfar gets two zaps and all those movement cards will make it easy to stay out of bite range.



The kobold decides to move first though so Sangfar gets to turn the unholy oinker into a dead oinker with the Big Zap. And Agreyn gets a lucky block against the angry kobold.

It takes one more turn to bludgeon Git into submission but then it's adventure complete!

And that means loooootttt.....



Sangfar gets a level up which means a new Arcane Item slot. Too bad I happened to sell the extra wand I got earlier

I also score a Blunt Sword plus a Blessed Demon Claw. Now I just need someone who can use Divine Items...

Heh, and Gary seems to have heard my thoughts and tells me to go recruit a Priest. Or in this case a Priestess.

The heroes manage to talk Silvershield into joining them by promising her the demon claw they found earlier:



Who needs a Crude Healing Charm when nothing can stop the claaaawww!

But from this point any additional heroes would cost money. Oh well, even charm will only get you so far...

Back on the map, it looks like I'll actually get to choose between adventures from this point:

 

I am currently playing with F11, without that there'd also be the title bar and the menu bar visible in the screenshots. I didn't feel like spending time cropping the pictures, there's just too many of them for that.

Plus maybe this will give a better idea what the game looks like on smaller resolutions

And thanks!

But now I'll have to take care of some other stuff and then get to sleep, I'll play and add more again tomorrow night.

 

Looking forward to it! I'm looking forward to hearing about the Trog adventure that was talked about so much here on the forums. Sounds like it's pretty big step up in difficulty.

 

Nice write up. You can use the Menu -> Toggle Fullscreen in game to expand the screen.

On a related note, is there a hot-key in-game that allows this Fullscreen toggle?

 

Well, the Menu -> Toggle Fullscreen does work but unfortunately alt-tabbing away and back returns the screen back to normal. And since I'm constantly switching between the game, wordpad and paint I'd have to enter the menu every time which is just too slow to worth it. If there's a hidden hotkey somewhere for full screen, then great!

But now to the real deal:



*Diary, part 3 *

Caverns of the Troglodytes

Ok, since it sounds like there won't be kobolds to chop this time, I drop by Startington Keep to switch my Woodman's Axe to the Blunt Sword. I also dropped by the store but I still wasn't sure what I'd truly need, so I still didn't buy anything.

Oh well, onwards brave heroes.



Yeesh, and I thought the kobolds were ugly buggers.
(Note: all of this is written in character, in reality I couldn't classify the graphics as anything other than awesome...)

Looks like Agreyn is more interested in moving than fighting. Sangfar is faster this time, running forward to get into zapping range. He does just that twice, but gets stabbed in return.



Agreyn isn't going to be outdone by a mere wizard and moves to meet the closest Trog - who totally ignores Agreyn by targetting a strong stab at Silvershield!

The dwarf just gives the brute a wicked grin and gives Agreyn a divine slap on his butt driving Agreyn into a Righteous Frenzy!



It would be a little more useful if Agreyn had more attacks than a single Weak Strike but to Trogs horror the dwarven priestess then charges in and drops the foe in two hits.

Unfortunately the enemy gets to start the next turn and Sangfar is stabbed down before getting a chance to retreat.



Agreyn moves to the side, wanting to draw the enemies closer. They decide to do nothing so Agreyn continues, intending to move to the Trog who has already used it's action. The other Trog moves to striking range but Silvershield evades the brute - by charging to meet the other one!



The surprised enemy gets a face full of mace and gives it's last gurgle. Or glmg. Or was that it's name? Oh well.

Next turn Silvershield gets nothing but walks and blocks so she tries to dance just outside of reach to make the enemy waste it's moves. The dumb creature just stands there so Agreyn shouts out a challenge and runs forward!

The enemy meets his charge with a Predictable Stab but it doesn't matter much as this gives Agreyn all the opportunity he needs:



The enemy's tough hide fails to protect it and the heroes are triumphant!

Too bad the enemies have nothing worth taking except a couple of copper bowls. Onwards, then.

As the heroes reach the next cave they note two things: more Trogs and Sangfar.
"I thought you died!"
"I got better."



Silvershield gives Agreyn's butt a meaningful look but Agreyn looks violent enough as it is so the heroes just move into a better position to meet the two Trog Spearmen.

The enemies get into zapping range so Sangfar zaps one of them and then retreats.

The enemies get a couple of hits against Silvershield and Agreyn but the fighter is now close enough to swing.



Too bad the foes Tough Hide reduces the damage enough to keep it still on it's feet. "Should've hit the other one," he mumbles.
Since the enemies do nothing Silvershield moves to the other side of Agreyn in case she'll get to attack next turn.

What she does get is a stab towards her considerable chest area. Silvershield proves worthy of her name by managing to block the hit.



The dwarven priestess gives Agreyn another righteous slap and the frenzied fighter strikes the nearest foe, nearly dropping him. The Trogs retreat, the dwarven priestess right behind them.
Agreyn who isn't as fast gets a stab from from the Trog Scuttler closing in from the side.

The dwarven warmachine continues her rampage, slaying both of the weakened speartrogs. Agreyn and Sangfar both move to attack the leftmost trog who tries to scuttle away.



The foes bad luck with armor continues as both heroes manage to hit a weak spot and the Trog promptly dies.

As the remaining Trog happens to get no attacks on the next turn, Silvershield chases it towards the other heroes - well, make a guess what happens next:



Well, now this loot looks more like it!



Bulky Club for Agreyn, Zapping Headband for Sangfar and a Blocking Hammer!

My victory opens up the Lair of the Trog Wizard but I'll have to take a break before trying that..

 

Great post! Silvershield was a beast!

Maybe you can get a program like Fraps to take those instant screenshots for you (without having to go to paint or alt-tabbing out). I believe even the unregistered version will let you take screenshots all day long.

 

Looks like unregistered Fraps will only take .BMP screenshots. I'll hunt down a better alternative sooner or later but for now Paint is quick enough for my purposes.

Well, time for the next adventure,

Lair of the Trog Wizard!

"Ok, who was supposed to be watching our back?"
"You?"
"Oh..."
"Nice going guys, now were surrounded by those hairy apes..."



Agreyn moves to block the enemies coming from the north and west while Sangfar and Silvershield head south to take out the single enemy there. The first northern Trog gets a mace to the face and retreats but the rest advance. Agreyn, not wanting to hit by three enemies at once retreats as well.



"Gruzzle kill..." the southern scuttler yells, striking at Sangfar with the crude spear.
"I'll take care of him," Sangfar replies and runs towards the foe.
"You do that, big boy," Silvershield chuckles and slaps the wiry wizard's butt as he leaps past.
"Why you... you... AAGGGHH".
The hairy beast is taken by total surprise as the old guy flings himself at it in an unholy frenzy, first hitting and then zapping the foe.
"Gruzzle die..."



The next turn brings the foes charging through the narrow path. Agreyn hits the first foe twice, but it's hide protects it just enough to keep it in the fight and Agreyn takes two hits. Agreyn retreats and Silvershield does the same in order to give Sangfar a better place to shoot from; the corner blocks his line of sight from his current location.
The enemies take advantage of the situation and advance.



Sangfar zaps the foe but again the tough hide keeps the beast on it's feet.

Since advancing with Silvershield would allow the enemies to start on the next round, the heroes pass.

Now there's no safe way to retreat without getting hit so attacking is the only option. Too bad the cards don't really support that either.



Oh well, maybe the enemy will do something foolish.

Agreyn hit does nothing and the enemies pile even closer. Silvershield grins at the hairy ape's navel in front of him and gives it a good hard whack. Agreyn bites the dust but Sangfar manages to drop a Trog. Silvershield's second blow doesn't fully go through the foe's hide and leaves it standing, if only barely.The enemies then move, giving the heroes a chance to pass first.

...and too bad the foes still have one attack card left. Retreating would have kept Sangfar up but now it's Silvershield against three foes...



Looks like even dwarven heroism may not be enough.



Healing presence is useless since it can't be self-targeted. Silvershield still easily drops one foe but gets hit again, this time from behind so she won't even get a chance to block.

Next turn. Two walks, two unreliable blocks and Righteous Frenzy. Silvershield can't even retreat as she'd either have to move too near one of the Trogs or through a square with difficult terrain. She walks towards the weaker foe and this time gets lucky and blocks the enemy hit. Too bad the enemy still has a move card left and both minions retreat, with the dwarven heroine right behind the other one.



The odds may be slim but attacking is the only way to win so Silvershield keeps pursuing the scuttling enemy. Surprisingly Gary passes so the dwarven grinder turns another Trog into paste and runs after the last foe. It's Dwarf versus Trog, both with equal hit points left...



The enemy strikes first, bringing Silvershield down to 3 hp. The enemy has no attack cards left so now it's just a question of whether Silvershield can penetrate through the Truddle the Trog's tough hide. First hit - no damage. The second hit is good though and the Trog has 4 hp left. Gary gets to pass first.

The enemy retreats again and this time it's faster, managing to shake Silvershield



The next turn - no attack cards. Two walks and a healing presence. Silvershield retreats in case the enemy has an attack card. Nope, turns out it drew just scuttles.

Hmm, I wonder if I could cast Healing Presence on an enemy? (The card will Heal 2 all adjacent allies every turn, duration 3)And if I did that, which allies would it then heal? Mine or the enemy's?
Oh well, getting to pass first is more important than satisfying my curiosity.

This time I draw an attack card - but finally Silvershield's luck runs out as both blocks fail to stop the enemy's blow.



Ok, time for attempt number two.

This time the heroes charge towards the northwest first to keep the foes from grouping, Silvershield leading the charge.
Sangfar takes a blow from the southern Trog and Silvershield exchanges blows with the western Trog.



Sangfar evades the northeast Trog, Silvershield takes another hit and Agreyn fails to reach the northern Trog. Silvershield gives Agreyn a Healing Presence which might atleast keep them alive a little longer.
Meanwhile Sangfar gets a couple of hits on the southeastern Trog.

Next round Sangfar's zap does nothing and he's forced to flee towards his allies. The heroes take more damage.
Looks like the enemies have nothing but scuttles left so after that the heroes finally get to do some damage.
Agreyn moves in and drops one Trog but Silvershield's blow is stopped by the tough hide.



Sangfar falls, but Agreyn, bolstered with a Righteous Frenzy does enough damage to one Trog that even two successful armor rolls won't save it.

Next round... and Agreyn being useless.



...and soon both remaining heroes are dead as well.

 

Time for attempt number three.

This time each hero gets only one move card so the chances of chasing down the enemies look bad. I pass, and as the enemies scuttle closer Sangfar zaps the southern Trog with a Big Zap. Hmm, no armor cards for the enemies yet? And they pass?



Oh well, Sangfar won't let the chance go to waste and blows up the southern Trog with a Penetrating Zap.

Silvershield takes a blow and Sangfar hits another Trog with a Spark. The foes move closer, bringing one of them right next to Silvershield. The dwarf grins evilly and hits the enemy twice, dropping the hairy foe.
Sangfar and Silvershield chase the western Trogs, hoping to make them waste their remaining moves but unfortunately the enemy has enough cards and still gets away. Blah.

Next turn Silvershield charges the western Trog who refuses to flee. Instead the eastern Trog takes a stab at Sangfar.
Silvershield trades blows with the Trog and now the enemies are down to one scuttle and one Tough Hide card.



Sangfar zaps one foe and it scuttles away. Now it's finally time to unleash Agreyn! Strengthened with an Unholy Frenzy, he charges the eastern Trog and drops it with two blows. Two foes left and all the heroes are still up!

On the next round the northern Trog again scuttles closer. Sangfar retreats in order to make the enemy waste it's moves and Silvershield casts Healing Presence on Sangfar and takes a blow to the back from the southern Trog.
Since the enemy is again down to one Tough Hide, Agreyn moves north and drops the unlucky foe with a Violent Swing - and Sangfar does the same with the western Trog! Hooray!

Loot? Rusty Shield and Patchwork Plates. Too bad the there's no armor slot yet available for any of the heroes.



Onwards!

Adventure - Part two

...Ok, this is getting silly. Six Trogs and one of them wizard? Oh well, no-one said being a hero would be easy...



Sangfar zaps both scuttlers and then retreats. Agreyn and Silvershield manage to slay both scuttlers but take damage from the spearmen doing so. The damn Trog Wizard zaps Silvershield from afar.



Silvershield chases after the wizard and gets to give the bugger a solid whack despite getting zapped again. Agreyn hits one of the spearmen doing little damage but manages to make them retreat nevertheless. I quickly pass in order to get to act first on the next round.

The luck of the draw turns against me as neither Silvershield nor Agreyn draw any attack cards. Agreyn and Silvershield retreat and the wizard zaps Silvershield.

Sangfar runs across the battlefield in order to reach the enemy wizard (and to get away from the spearmen) but Agreyn takes a strong blow and dies. Sangfar's maneuver does mean that he gets to kill the enemy wizard.

Two heroes with 4 hp each against 3 Trogs with 25 hp combined. Not looking good.



The foes chase after Sangfar who retreats. Silvershield isn't fast enough and is struck down.

I spend the next six rounds running away from the Trogs, hoping to draw an attack card with a range higher than 2. On round 9 the Trogs finally catch me and even though I take one down, the others easily kill me.



Third failed attempt means no more retries and I'll have to restart from the beginning.

Hmm, looks like I just found another situation that doesn't quite work well on 1024x600 resolution. I guess the lowest button would allow me to return to the map but there's no way to scroll down to see what it actually says. And after alt-tabbing away and back even the top goes too far down to click.

At least Restart Adventure -> Return to Map works fine.

Ok, that's enough for tonight, tomorrow I'll either go shopping for better weapons or try The Wizard's Workshop instead.

 

Yeah, I was happily surprised how playable the game has been on 1024x600. The shop is a little cramped but it's draggable so no big deal.
So far the only real 'problems' have been the adventure starting screen and the defeat screen and neither has been a showstopper.

Btw, is there a way to scroll the play area after you've already selected a card to use? (By arrow keys, holding down shift/ctrl/alt or something?) I know I can cancel some cards and then drag the screen normally but what about with those cards that can't be cancelled?
I'm not at home right now so I can't test it myself.

EDIT: answering my own question, looks like I can drag normally as long as I click outside the possible movement squares.

 

Since my games were starting to take way too long, I've now switched to only taking screenshots during the fight (using the Firefox add-on Fireshot) and then doing the writing afterwards. It makes things a little faster..

Wizard's workshop

Before heading out again, I drop by the shop and this time can't resist buying a Versatile Staff - mostly because I really missed having more range against the Trogs.



Then I'm off to The Wizard's Workshop!

As the heroes enter they're immediately greeted by two tin cans. I mean Tin Golems.



The enemies clonk closer and get zapped by Sangfar. As this triggers no armor cards, the heroes let the golems waste their moves coming closer - and then gang up on the closer foe.



With the first can open, everyone prepares to fight the next one - who happens to draw no attack cards on the next turn.



It's fate is pretty much sealed at that point. Or crushed to be more exact.

The loot? Another Rusty Shield and another Crude Healing Charm. Whee.


On to the second floor:



"Looks like we've got another one of those cans to pry open. Looks a little better though..."

And apparently it's pretty well armored, as Sangfar notices when zapping it. But Sangfar's aim is still better.



The golem soon stops so Agreyn and Silvershield move to surround it. The golem starts suddenly flailing with it's fists with nasty results:



The golem manages to drop Silvershield but Agreyn and Sangfar easily dispatch the foe.

The loot is nothing special though. An Armor of Doubt and some staff.