FieldSoft's Legend of The Red Dragon II Advance is a remake to LORD II: New World. While trying to keep people with the mood and feeling they're playing LORD II, we want them to see, to notice the differences between the original version and ours. Yeah, so we're not the only one who ever done a remake of that game, but we've looked and though some ideas were good, we haven't found any overall satisfaction. That's when we started thinking to do our own project. Back when the idea was though, it was going to be called Max Larivée's Advance LORD II, it has been abandoned when FieldSoft IGMs fell under it's period of inactivity. But that's the first thing that came to mind when we decided to work on new project with a new team (leave out Max who's still around. He IS FieldSoft IGMs after all). In here, you'll be able to have an overall idea on what's been keeping us busy when it comes to the work on our FieldSoft's LORD II Advance. Please take note that a registered version of LORD II will be inevitably required to play the game, due to map locations and items restructuring, even if the map's shape is seemingly kept intact in the unregistered area. Even then, the game won't be worth it enough if it's just for the unregistered part of it.
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Main work
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We are undergoing the most important part in the initial making of FieldSoft's
LORD II Advance. First off, we are undergoing the major redrawing of the
map. East StoneBrook Village is no longer made out of match-sticks. No
houses are. All buildings through out the map are re-done. There is also
the restructuring and writing of Ref Files, making it more suitable to
fallow for observing authors. Other than that, we are looking for places
to fit our already produced IGMs into the game. Finally, we are modifying
text content for Animated storylines and adding gossips which might just
end up being a coming up new production.
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Modifications to cities
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Each cities will be re-made, some buildings places at different locations,
some added buildings for the sake of future add-ons. The main thing that
bugged us was the outside city appearance. For most of them were nothing
but a big square with the name of the city written in the middle. Others
had a pitiful sight of the inner city. Now, each cities viewed from outside
will be representative to the inner part, colorful and detailed as possible.
Here's a list of the modifications to each of the cities so far.
Stonebrook had minor remakes to do. Some buildings were slightly re-done, but mostly adding the surrounding inaccessible part of the outside of town viewed from the zoomed inside. As for East StoneBrook, besides the redraws mentioned higher, there will be a small cottage for people to buy. Nothing much, but it will be cheap anyway. Plans are to limit ownerships to 1 building using a var. That same var is also meant for players to resurrect at that place instead of their mom's house, seeing if they bought a new building, they no longer reside in their mother's house.
GreenTree was the longest of all (yeah, I know, it's the biggest). Seeing the work needed and put into the other cities, we thought this one would be an easy one. Remaking an acceptable fortifications, adding people to talk to throughout the city. In the SE map, we've modified the building's appearance, and moved the commoner's house as an anonymous house next to Ma's Boarding House. We've also moved the Dragon Statue to that location. In the NE map, we've spaced out the buildings, made a redraw of each, especially the church, and put a small grocery store for acceptable items to be sold. Barak's house will also consist of putting his diary on his night table and replacing the six chests by the randomized "get lucky or get kicked out" feature found in Barak's House IGM for LORD I. In the SC map, we've made modifications, such as two new houses just for the kicks of it (for now anyway), as well as a blacksmith (still for the kicks of it, but projects are underway). In the NC map, we've taken out Abdul's Armour for repositioning. We've re-done the training center for it to look what it's supposed to be like. A building with a major backyard, in which people fight against each other, against wooden statues, and practice archery. In the SW map, we've put back Abdul's Armoury, and re-done the graphics as always. The Red Dragon Inn is now a one door building for symmetrical reasons. The outer walls have also been pushed back to give more room for the city. Finally, in the NW map, we've replaced the cattles with the City Council building. So far, it's just for an animated storyline, but as always, it's a source of ideas, plans on developing it in a newer version are being thought of.
PortTown has been done from scratches. It has been stretched two screens high, giving it more opportunities, seeing all ten hotspots were used in one screen. In the S map, graphics are re-done, buildings such as the Travel Agency (now called SeaLine Travels) and the House of Fish have been moved to the N map. The hanging stake was replaced in the center, but kept for animated storyline purposes. The hotel is WAY nicer looking, though it kept a shape inspired by the original version. A new building, the Sunken Pirate Tavern, has been added. Reasons? Yup, you've found out, just for the kicks of it...yet for future projects that are already under work. In the N map, House of Fish and SeaLine Travels has been put back. We've decided from then on that each SeaLine Travels buildings would be done all the same way in each cities. The extension allowed to make more detailed docks, and so more detailed ships. So far, there will be the standard SeaLine Travels ferry, a big ArrisVille cargo ship, and a pirate's ship (intended for future projects, same as the one from the tavern). Now, they actually LOOK like ships!
FlagCity's work has not started yet. But plans are already made for when that part comes in. The city has a tax payment thingny, right? Well it'll now be the capital city. That city's size will be stretched to a whooping squared four screen-big city! Details? The Tax Office will charge you (and notice you via letter-like info if not paid) according to the buildings you own! It will be an actual tax! Other than that, you'll have guards walking through the city (not planned as animated) when you illegally enter the city, you'll have a restaurant people will be allowed to buy, that does more than regenerating your strength (though that "more" will only work once a day). You'll also have more advance docks for there is a need for space for the insertion of IGMs. The adding of new weapons will also separate the Weapons and Armours into different buildings. We may also advance the healing center to a more hospital-like structure with more hospital-like options, still keeping it in the LORD era. Other plans are underway.
BoneTown hasn't been worked on yet, but it has it's worked cut out. It will be redrawn with a better arena that does other than giving cash, it can raise your strength and vitality. You will now also find the Master Thieves Guild. These two are meant to be IGMs also offered for the normal LORD II. When work has started on it, you'll have an update in the Incoming Productions Section for the IGMs themselves. One thing that won't be available on the IGM version of the Master Thieves Guild will be the training of "Skill Points", which will be a new feature added to the player's characteristics, replacing the usage done by Quest Points, which will have a new meaning: Popularity. Some plans are underway for making the Quest Points change the way people see you, if they've heard from you (other besides as a good or bad guy, seeing you can be very evil, and not being heard of) BoneTown is also meant to be more alive, as to add new happenings when "walking around" the city. So far, it's just too easy to make money or make/loose Alignment points in there. A bordello, inspired by an IGM of our production, will also be added, that you can buy, and that NPC characters will visit even if no one else does. It will be meant that the cheaper the price, the more people will come in (though that part will have a partial randomizer). It will be up to the owner to determine the perfect combination, though that last one will vary with the other players in the game's participation in that bordello. So far, we have not eliminated the possibilities of keeping the current bordello there, we might just make that last one more "Underground", being cheaper yet not as clean.
Sosen Village has started to get underway. Seeing people in big cities, other than GreenTree, mainly lives in hotel rooms (as far as we can guess), smaller villages are bound to have small houses surrounding them. StoneBrook Village does. So, we've dedicated a small part of what'll be Western Sosen Village, to small houses mostly placed on the beach. Another thing that inspired us, is that in Sosen Village, there's a Dragon Tooth Warrior that's speaks saying "we", which you wouldn't find in StoneBrook Village. Then, there's Basil (Conduct Business, remember?) who is described as a slightly evil looking man, whose gossips intends that the Dragon Tooth Clan is the way to go, quite opposing Uncle Lenny from StoneBrook Village who says they are liers. I've decided Sosen Village would be a village really similar to StoneBrook Village, where most of the Dragon Tooth Warriors would be from, a village of natural born mean people. But there is a major possibility of different scenarios offered to the players when they start a new game, something like Good/Bad, but that's still speculations, the modifications to that main storyline will only start once the restructuration of the game is completed. Anyway, to get back to the main idea, Sosen Village will have a Map positioning modification. No, it's still at the same place. But the map says "City Without Lodging" and "City With Lodging". From then on, if the Sosen Village Inn data file exists, the city will be marked as "With", otherwise it'll be marked as "Without". The central Sosen Village hasn't been worked on yet, that's where we're at right now!
ArrisVille! Well, this ain't no longer the capital city in FieldSoft IGMs' plans, but it still houses the royal family, as well as noblemen. It's also been stretched in length to two screens long. In the W map, there's the Weapons Shop, the Healing Center, The Hotel and Penyon Manor. The Hotel is in replacement to the Inn previously there. It's now a two storey building, with cheap rooms which includes smaller sized rooms, and a more expensive and nicer looking floor with three suites. The second floor is the one who'll be haunted by the Ghost. For clues given to that purpose of the ones who'll be looking for it, or for the players than never heard of that quests and don't see the meaning of paying more for their rooms, one of the many added people you can talk to in town will tell you about it. Other than that, the second storey being more expensive just keeps the guess people won't pay as much just to "check" if someone's around to kill, making it a safer place. As for Penyon Manor, well it was a small IGM also made by us, by Max Larivée more precisely, in his attempt to have all five castles from LORD I. It hasn't changed much, though it looks less like a bat with it's wings stretched out than the original version, which was placed someone outside of ArrisVille. That strange shaped happened to inspire the possibility of another IGMs involving Vampires, which would also be added in FieldSoft's LORD II Advance, but as of now, it's once again nothing more than speculations. On to the E map now. The castle of the Royal Family has been greatly bettered...also to fill space from the width stretch of the city (some of us found the city can't be as packed in width than in hight). The typical Sealine Travels center and the Bank are now put in that part of town, as well as a usual redrawn docking place for the SeaLine's Ferry. Nothing much was added to ArrisVille, but as of now there is projects underway in submission for a plaza of some sort. It'll be though out with the add-ons and modifications of the weapons and armors available.
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Modifications to castles
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So far, the amount of castles is to be greatly augmented, due to the project
of ownership limitation to one building. Though an intention of the former
Max Larivée's Advance LORD II, we kept in mind of separating businesses
from domains, allowing two building ownings, but removing personal quarters
from the initial buildings, such as the private room in Sosen Village Inn.
But the coming up plans for the longly planned ChasVille IGM where every
buildings are for sell pushes that possibility to a reality. As an overall
"so far", the ownerships would be listed as so: StoneBrook Cottage in NorthEast
StoneBrook Village, Violet's House (yes, this IGM will be integrated in
FieldSoft's LORD II Advance for the first version) in SouthEast GreenTree,
Gannon's Keep (a remake of the lost Gannon Keep v2.4 IGM is underway) in
replacement for Runion Keep situated West-North-West from GreenTree, Castle
Coldrake Situated near the Rockholm mountains in the NorthEast section
of the world, Sosen Village Inn, in Sosen Village, FlagCity Restaurant,
in the coming up FlagCity, Starlak's Tower, in replacement for the Wizard's
Tower (the new name is dedicated to a NPC found in two IGMs of our production),
positioned A couple of miles east from FlagCity, BoneTown Bordello in BoneTown
(duh!), and Penyon Manor in ArrisVille. Of course, it is planned, once
the initial remake is done, to have a brand new well sized continent in
teh SouthWest part of the world, which would includes new places for people
to buy. Modifications to the current four castles are as so:
Runion Keep will be graphically redrawn due to Gannon's Keep overwriting, which will include two towers, one with a scribe of your own (just for the kicks of adding something more without busting the game's proportion for low-level users) in the East Tower, and a personal Half-Human Half-Troll (remind you someone from LORD I, on one of the five castles?) which will train the people once per day in their skills, endurance, strength and vitality. That tower will be guarded and the guard will let not one pass but the actual owner, even if the player had the password to enter the Keep itself.
Castle Coldrake has also been redrawn, but that's about it. Two of the four towers include nice bedrooms of some sort, on includes the Team Treasury, the other's empty, opened for suggestions on future projects. Perhaps something that would have to do with the initial owner of Castle Coldrake, maybe a new quest in the Rockholm area other than the Ghost Quest. Speaking of which, the Rockholm area was recolored for more "rock'n dirt" atmosphere when climbing the mountains.
Sosen Village Inn will be bettered graphically, but that seems to be about it. If the plans on separating domains from business get's off, the first floor might be abandoned for direct access the the second floor like other Inns.. Other plans say that empty room on the left might just be good for something. So far, work hasn't started on it at all yet.
Wizard's Tower. A former FieldSoft IGMs author, David Loranger, had done a graphical remake of that place and called it the Mage Tower, which should've been released if not for a couple of more days with the previous FieldSoft IGMs Team. It was already drawn on FieldSoft IGMs' WorkMap (shared WORLD.DAT and MAP.DAT where authors do their jobs, all compiled together at the end), but that's history. Still, Max Larivée had spoke of a Wizard, Starlak, who lived in it once (there goes the mystery of the tower), so it'll be renamed to Starlak's Tower, with graphical ameliorations, and possibility of a couple of more magical tricks to be done with it. Depending on the ideas that comes out, their might be a third floor.
So far, the castles are as so, but there's a possibility of adding quests to each castles. Depending what you own, depending what adventure you may embark yourself in! Speculations, still...
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IGMs added so far
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Of course, we would never steal IGMs from another author, that would be
against FieldSoft IGMs' goals. All IGMs we're talking about adding are
home productions from our authors. As far as it goes, the IGMs are listed
as fallow for FieldSoft's LORD II Advance. They are to be included in the
first release. These are Violet's House, Gannon Keep, GreenTree Grocery
Store, Seth Able's Music Shop, Penyon Manor and DarkCloak Tavern. They
will all be added sooner or later, but a lot of reviewing of those other
ones are required, depending on how to insert them into the storyline planned
for FieldSoft's LORD II Advance. Some of them may not be placed or accessible
in the same way, seeing better customizing is possible, since we're making
that world ourselves, without dependence to an already established world.
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Two different maps
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Max Larivée had personalized his map on his BBS he had back when
FieldSoft IGMs was at it's beginning. That's a part that was taken into
account a long time ago, two maps were planned on Max Larivée Advance
LORD II. Now, the idea has been completed. There will be a plain map showing
nothing but the lands, including the desert, the dark forest, as well as
mountains and forest to cover area unshown on the map, but that the surrounding
maps seem to offer as filled. For instance, Between the Rockhold area and
the Northlands,, so far there's just water. But if you walk all around
that water, it's surrounded by mountains, all around. It's obvious there's
no sea there, it's a mountain with no paths going trough it, that's all.
Filling it up with mountains will only give it a more realistic map-like
sight. So that first map would be the Land Map. SeaLine Travels would be
selling the second map, keeping players away from other cities until they
buy the Complete Map from a SeaLine Travel Center. That map would include
city location, including added cities to FieldSoft's LORD II Advance. Cities
with the marker indicated in light blue with have a SeaLine Travel Center
and Docks in them, allowing a bit more information, and once again diversifying
the game. On the other hand, there is the possibility of having one single
map, and getting it completed for some extra cash at a SeaLine Travel Center
using a var, which would be the same thing, all while saving an item space.
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Other plans for the next of later release
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Animated Cut-scenes: though the scrolling text will be reserved for storytelling
from NPC characters, there will be direct animation while playing. Not
the one we'd all like, but it's to bring the game to life. You may walk
out the the 1st Bank of GreenTree to see the Godfather kicking a drunk
guy out the the Red Dragon Inn. You may have small happenings occurring
when you step on a particular spot, or when you first enter a building.,
who knows, the possibilities are there. Also for cut-scenes, there will
be more animation added to present tense story, such as the clearing of
Turgon's name, or arriving at Ma's Boarding House with Laura and Uncle
Edward. Many ideas are underway.
A choice of career: No, sadly not the way we'd all want it, but still better than nothing. You could chose between Evil or Bad, changing the way people look at you, who you can and cannot talk to, and the overall position you take in your quests. There could be conversion from one side to the other, other than just going from a positive to a negative amount of Alignment Points. The quest your leader would offer you would be the same as the ones from the other camp, set aside different points of view, rewards and achievement paths. The story is intended to double, if not triple, so we've got our work cut out for that to become a reality.
Items adding and removal: For the game to be longer, and not to seem to reach an end so soon, items such as the SmackRod and Gryphon Moon will be taken off the usage. You will carry them for the classification Quest, but will not keep them or use them. Other items planned are more diversified weapons and armors, and items to use. Having a higher level of difficulty in further area, and offering "half-way-to" weapons in villages added between the already available villages, such as three small add-on villages FieldSoft IGMs cooked up some time ago. And also planned are more Quest Items. Not satchels and purses, but Key items and weapons such as the Cloud Sword and Ancient Flute. There is talk of an item availability randomizer for some stores. That would make the game more diversified, but would fill a lot of space in the ITEMS.DAT, so that would be seen only in a later version when no newer items are intended to be added. After all, for some of the items, there's always the vars that can be used. Items such as the Ghost's Ring, the Mountain Amulet and the SkyStaff could be removed from the item list though still present in the game. File-Written vars keeps the possibilities up!
A whole new continent: It's planned, to double the game in size and length, to add another well sized continent in the SouthWest part of the world, giving the map a more "Inner Sea" style. That new continent would only be available later on when you'd have a certain amount of Quest Points, being able to explore the world for new Quests to discover and more glory to obtain. Have I said it before? We intend to double the game in size and triple the game in length. That continent would include new Major Cities, new difficulties, new creatures to fight, new buildings to own, etc. We're thinking boldly here, and aren't ashamed of it, that enthousiam ain't going to waist (You should see Max Larivée nearly dancing around these days! Hope he doesn't read that!).
The inevitable return of the Red Dragon: Yes, we WILL have the Red Dragon
in this story. Such as, there will be an end to the game. Will we put the
"start all over again" style of LORD I, or the "life goes on" style of
LORD II, we just don't know yet. We're still at the primary stages of the
game, we aren't even done the initial remake yet! So far, the concept of
the Red Dragon's Return would turn around the Dragon's Volcano, an IGM
of ours that explained there was NO Red Dragon in LORD II: New World, for
those who doubted it. We've seen other IGMs implying other possibilities.
Red Dragon's Hideout, for instance, pretends the Red Dragon made a deal
with the warrior, back in LORD I, to pretend he had killed it and the Red
Dragon would hide. That just doesn't fit. Barak's Diary does mention that
it was one of Turgon's disciple who had beaten the Red Dragon. Back in
that era, even the thieves had honor, remember? There wasn't that kind
of lying from such a great warrior. We stood with the fact that he WAS
killed, and at the hand of a noble member of the Death Knight order (that
last part was added by us, actually). And so, we might make it a resurrection
thingny, or the birth of a newer and more fierce Red Dragon. Scripts for
both stories or being judged by Users at some of FieldSoft IGMs Distribution
Centers BBS, but possibility B is winning so far!
Of course, we're just begging for more suggestions from you. We've got plenty here, but inspiration to completing older ideas come from the incoming of newer ideas. Ideas can be given on modifications you'd've done to LORD II: New World if you were the one doing the remake, or can be quests in relation or not with some or all of the quests discussed above. Please see the Contact Us Section for details.