Eyes in the Frost Revisited
[p]Shout out to Fuzzy and Sam for helping me put this together nearly four years ago and shout out to my five year old for making it SUPER difficult to actually publish it in a finalized state! (Totally worth it, don't even worry!)[/p][p][/p][p]This update didn't take as long as expected because most of it was fleshed out in previous updates - it just needed some fine tuning to meet the standards of the modern game. Snowdrift Village is once again available via the world map immediately with download of the free DLC "Cross of Auria - Eyes in the Frost" downloadable from the link below.[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Key notes about this location: [/p]
- Many enemies from the Snowdrift Village area have had their attack patterns and loot pools changed. This affects Veil Trials 4 & 5 in addition to Snowdrift Village. [/p][p]Updates, Changes, & Fixes (DLC):
- Snowdrift Village is now accessible again. Visit this location north of Lvell. Requires DLC: Cross of Auria - Eyes in the Frost, formerly known as "Yuelslain's Village".
- Elementals and Risen now spawn at the beginning of the quest acceptance rather than sequentially.
- The Frost-Locked Box and Snow-Covered Supplies can now be picked up before the quests are obtained.
- Snowdrift quests now utilize the quest log.
- Changed some quest rewards.
- Compressed Veilstone field items now correctly add the item to the inventory. Previously picked up events that did not give the item are considered missed, but every enemy in the zone has a chance to drop the item and it can be purchased from the Item Shop with local currency.
- Compressed Veilstone can now be disassembled.
- Art, screenshots, and the description for this DLC have been updated on the Steam Store.[/p][p]Notes & Fun Facts:[/p][p]- The field enemies during the Snowdrift quests are based on my earlier design choices and utilize self switches and fixed encounters, therefore they never respawn and all players will experience the same events in the same places. [/p][p]- The 'duckbeard' mask was originally created for Terra Anatis fanatics, but this location ultimately had to be scrapped. A brief dialogue piece references the fanatics in a far away land. This would have been the almost-accessible city southwest of Auria.[/p][p]- The item name "Compressed Veilstone" was chosen due to Snowdrift Village's original access point, which was through the Veil. There used to be a Watcher who gave the original questline to help. In the most recent world map update, Snowdrift Village was connected through the old Battlefront location long after the event itself had been sunset.[/p][p]- Another location named Snowdrift Area exists in the game files and was briefly accessible with very low level normal and ice enemies. Due to the change in development this year, access was quickly removed. On the world map, Snowdrift Village begins out of player sight, but the Snowdrift Area accounted for the rest of the unused forest pathing between Lvell and Snowdrift.[/p][p]- Of all the locations in the game, enemies in Snowdrift Village have seen the most radical changes the most amount of times, going from a low level instantly accessible Veil area, to an extremely insurmountably high level area, back down to a 30s-50s challenge.[/p][p]- Both the duckbeard mask and Risen armor sets were created by CoA's special artist Samuel Escobar, who has since gone on to become a chef.[/p][p]- Cross of Auria sources art from free to use and free to use with credit designers through the RPG Maker Web forum. Samuel Escobar and FuzzyStingray were our only in-house artists throughout the entire development process. Most notable entries by Escobar are the Headless Horseman and other Halloween decorations and enemies, while the most notable entry by Fuzzy is Eurus - a completely custom made character and outfit whose parts do not exist in the engine. They focused primarily on creating engine generator assets rather than fixed images, but when we weren't making engine parts, Fuzzy was making sprite sheets (Eurus, Search for the Strongest characters) and Escobar was making static enemies (Horseman, Ryban, Wretch).[/p][p]- Snowdrift Village is the longest standing location in the game to be created, mostly finished, and then pulled, finalized, and re-released. When other locations were fixed or re-imagined, a new version of them was made and the current was converted into Timelost with save disabled and exits all going straight to the world map. However, it was not the first content DLC planned or created! Battle Series I-V and Battle Series X were already created in the Steam back-end before Yuelslain's Village was ever a thought. Now, Eyes in the Frost exists as Cross of Auria's second full scale DLC area behind BSX which later became Zodiac Overwatch. [/p][p]- Eyes in the Frost feeds directly into The Frost Queen. [/p][p]- Even though other areas may be considered a tougher challenge, Snowdrift Village offers some of the strongest gear in the game.[/p][p]- Access to Yeul's Castle is locked behind The Frost Queen DLC, which is not yet available. Following the questline "A Daring Raid" north will lead to a dead end. Stay tuned for future updates if I end up with enough time to release the content before the year is over. [/p][p][/p]
- [p]Enemies currently display their levels. This will be removed on the next patch.[/p]
- [p]Quest "A Daring Raid" is designed to lead into the planned premium DLC Cross of Auria - Yeul's Castle. Given that we're already half way through December, I'm either going to knock it out of the park or scrap it altogether. I am unsure which way the pendulum will swing at this moment.[/p]
- [p]All other local quests should function amongst themselves, including a reputation style system where new gear is available in each shop with each status boost in rep. [/p]
- [p]The Frostslayer class, purchasable with max rep from the Item Shop, introduces the first skill of the Ice-Killer element: Hailstorm. The default attack element of this class for Normal Attacks is also Ice-Killer, but Hailstorm can be used by any class that can cast magic.[/p]
- [p]Frostslayers have increased MP regeneration, critical rate, and evasion rate. They can equip Scythe, Axe, Katana, and General Armor. This may come as a drastic change when used on a character that does not normally utilize offensive gear.[/p]
- [p]Frostslayers, in addition to learning a mix of ice-based physical and magic abilities, learn the unique skills Freeze and Shatter at early levels. They do pretty much exactly what you think they do, and most enemies have no resistance to the Freeze state as it has been isolated to Snowdrift Village since its inception. The Deep Freeze state further increases damage dealt to a target by Ice-Killer attacks, but is removed on the same turn it is applied. Utilize your team working together to make the most of it![/p]
- [p]While the enemies of this area were designed using character sheets between level 30 to 60, the gear and skills obtainable within this zone make dealing with the enemies significantly easier. [/p]
- [p]Anti Barrier - This location was the origination of the concept of Warp in Cross of Auria and is the home of the Recipe Book which will allow you to create more guides for Warp and the Warpstrike line. Higher tier warpstrike skills strike additional times. All Warp-based skills have the chance to apply the debuff state by the same name at tiers 1-5, which reduce enemy barrier per turn by 10, 100, 500, 1000, 2500 at rates of 66%, 50%, 33%, 10%, and 3% per hit respectively. The Warpstrike line also removes 200 of the target's barrier before damage is calculated, regardless of how much damage would be done - including if that value would be 0. You should think about visiting this location if Obscurite enemies are proving too difficult! [/p]
- [p]Frostslayers are the 83rd Class entry in the database and will appear last for every character except Ruby, who has Sparkwraith in the 84th slot. Frostslayers learn: Froststrike, Frostbolt, Freeze, Shatter, Hailstorm, Double-Strike, Wicked Strike, Icestrike, Ice Spike, Blizzard, Avalanche, Triple-Strike, Ice Barrage, and Icefall. In spite of being in the 83rd class slot, its learnable abilities were set before Black Mage was created and before II and III skills had armor penetration. In spite of those things, given the other characteristics of this class, I still feel it's worthwhile to use in its current state - especially when grinding in the local region. If you feel it's too weak or too strong or just missing a little extra something - let me know! At this point in development, it's about making a game that's both fun and rewarding to play without as much mystery as there may have been in the past. [/p]
- Many enemies from the Snowdrift Village area have had their attack patterns and loot pools changed. This affects Veil Trials 4 & 5 in addition to Snowdrift Village. [/p][p]Updates, Changes, & Fixes (DLC):
- Snowdrift Village is now accessible again. Visit this location north of Lvell. Requires DLC: Cross of Auria - Eyes in the Frost, formerly known as "Yuelslain's Village".
- Elementals and Risen now spawn at the beginning of the quest acceptance rather than sequentially.
- The Frost-Locked Box and Snow-Covered Supplies can now be picked up before the quests are obtained.
- Snowdrift quests now utilize the quest log.
- Changed some quest rewards.
- Compressed Veilstone field items now correctly add the item to the inventory. Previously picked up events that did not give the item are considered missed, but every enemy in the zone has a chance to drop the item and it can be purchased from the Item Shop with local currency.
- Compressed Veilstone can now be disassembled.
- Art, screenshots, and the description for this DLC have been updated on the Steam Store.[/p][p]Notes & Fun Facts:[/p][p]- The field enemies during the Snowdrift quests are based on my earlier design choices and utilize self switches and fixed encounters, therefore they never respawn and all players will experience the same events in the same places. [/p][p]- The 'duckbeard' mask was originally created for Terra Anatis fanatics, but this location ultimately had to be scrapped. A brief dialogue piece references the fanatics in a far away land. This would have been the almost-accessible city southwest of Auria.[/p][p]- The item name "Compressed Veilstone" was chosen due to Snowdrift Village's original access point, which was through the Veil. There used to be a Watcher who gave the original questline to help. In the most recent world map update, Snowdrift Village was connected through the old Battlefront location long after the event itself had been sunset.[/p][p]- Another location named Snowdrift Area exists in the game files and was briefly accessible with very low level normal and ice enemies. Due to the change in development this year, access was quickly removed. On the world map, Snowdrift Village begins out of player sight, but the Snowdrift Area accounted for the rest of the unused forest pathing between Lvell and Snowdrift.[/p][p]- Of all the locations in the game, enemies in Snowdrift Village have seen the most radical changes the most amount of times, going from a low level instantly accessible Veil area, to an extremely insurmountably high level area, back down to a 30s-50s challenge.[/p][p]- Both the duckbeard mask and Risen armor sets were created by CoA's special artist Samuel Escobar, who has since gone on to become a chef.[/p][p]- Cross of Auria sources art from free to use and free to use with credit designers through the RPG Maker Web forum. Samuel Escobar and FuzzyStingray were our only in-house artists throughout the entire development process. Most notable entries by Escobar are the Headless Horseman and other Halloween decorations and enemies, while the most notable entry by Fuzzy is Eurus - a completely custom made character and outfit whose parts do not exist in the engine. They focused primarily on creating engine generator assets rather than fixed images, but when we weren't making engine parts, Fuzzy was making sprite sheets (Eurus, Search for the Strongest characters) and Escobar was making static enemies (Horseman, Ryban, Wretch).[/p][p]- Snowdrift Village is the longest standing location in the game to be created, mostly finished, and then pulled, finalized, and re-released. When other locations were fixed or re-imagined, a new version of them was made and the current was converted into Timelost with save disabled and exits all going straight to the world map. However, it was not the first content DLC planned or created! Battle Series I-V and Battle Series X were already created in the Steam back-end before Yuelslain's Village was ever a thought. Now, Eyes in the Frost exists as Cross of Auria's second full scale DLC area behind BSX which later became Zodiac Overwatch. [/p][p]- Eyes in the Frost feeds directly into The Frost Queen. [/p][p]- Even though other areas may be considered a tougher challenge, Snowdrift Village offers some of the strongest gear in the game.[/p][p]- Access to Yeul's Castle is locked behind The Frost Queen DLC, which is not yet available. Following the questline "A Daring Raid" north will lead to a dead end. Stay tuned for future updates if I end up with enough time to release the content before the year is over. [/p][p][/p]