Short-Term orcs? Now you gave me an idea, If only one method of immortality is becoming a Herald for the Powers Beyond and Below (I think, there might be more). Then the MC should have more opportunities of gaining immortality, I think few orcs have a chance of attaining immortality through magic or necromancy
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Yes, you are right, there are ways for an orc to transcend his lifetime. There will be a few more once I have finished the shaman path. Either way, you will cease being an orc, for all intents and purposes, and became a greater being.
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I want the MC to simply stop aging through magic, alchemy, or necromancy. Simple Orc Immortality, no powers, no heavy burdens, just normal immortality. You can decide what the MC should do until you get bored, IDK how does the game end with a path like that. But this is something you can consider. I am not sure if that idea is good though.
As for your comment, I think it involves being a god or Lich King (?) I am not sure if Warcraft Lore works with your game?
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You have hit upon the problem with a standard orc immortality, allowing your orc to just exist within the game forever. It could work if I had 100 random events to make it entertaining but would be very hard to do.
An âendless modeâ would be best served with an entirely new game designed around it. I like the idea but at present it would be too game-breaking.
The lore of my game is my own creation, though of course influenced heavily by fantasy tropes. An orc who mastered arcane magic might well be able to unthread the constraints of a limited lifespan, though the closest you can get to it here is taking the Dark Path. The shaman path, if completed, will allow an ascension to godhood (might be a spoiler, but I think this is a predictable outcome for the greatest shaman ever!)
If, when completed and released, this game garners enough interest, I would be tempted to further the content, perhaps a DLC, where a more earthly lich path could be considered.
Thanks for the ideas, Patrick. Immortality is a path fraught with peril!
EDIT:
I think @Biwa_man , with their mastery of Tolkienâs orcs and @Patrick_Cody02 with their mastery of Warcraft orcs could, between them, create a true master orc race!!! 
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Will a orc on the shaman path become more angel like and otherworldy as they gain more power. something akin to a archangel i feel it would add some duality with the demonic path
I think a lich DLC would be amazing though there would have to be a good amount of arcane magic content added depending on the amount given by the shaman path
it could also add the story of a orcâs
path from wizard apprentice to archmage and then to lich and maybe beyond
does a Lichdom ritual always come from demonic tinkering and are there any good liches?
Will there be some overlap with the demonic path such as gaining divine powers opposite to the demonic ones?
such as
healing
inspiration
and miracles
Will we be able to do the opposite of what we did in the demonic path such as healing the world instead of corrupting it and fighting the powers beyond and bellow I would imagine they wouldnât be too happy with the effects a powerful servant of the gods would have no matter which one
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Is it possible to add more save slots?
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I donât think âangelic beingâ is really in keeping with orc lore. The orcish idea of a paragon of Krog isnât some angelic being from on high. Krog is more likely to reward battle, fury and (for a shaman) a touch of madness.
Ah, fair enough, youâre use of the word angel and archangel brought to mind christian iconography (thatâs my bad) which didnât really fit with Krog worship. Pretty sure Numbered has mentioned a Krog blessed shaman possibly being elevated to godhood to rule beside Krog, rather than just an angel underneath Krog, though there may be room for both, and obviously plans may change.
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I meant as ascending to a angelic like being like Orcon who according to the lore was a sage that krog liked so much that he put him among the stars kind of like the opposite to a demon lord on the demon path and I think since orcâs on the demon path gets a higher rank and power through service to the power beyond and bellow there should be a parallel hierarchy with gods
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Hi Ravioli,
Yes, I can certainly add save slots to DashingDon, though the released version will not operate the same way as this. I have read that Choice of Games is/has implementing/implemented a new save system, though it is not compatible with CSIDE as yet, which is what I use to write and code the game. Hopefully, it will be easy to add for the later finished version of the game.
But yep, Iâll increase the save in the next update.
Adding a lich path is purely speculative right now, but if I did it would probably focus on mastering arcane magic and conquering death with sheer magic, rather than divinity. This would mean that it doesnât necessarily involve demons, though would surely court their attention. Needless to say, such great interference in the fabric of life itself would be considered a horrendous act by almost every god and mortal authority in the land. This doesnât mean that a lich has to be evil but will be seen as evil (in this world anyway). Also, such an abundance of power will inevitably corrupt and lean towards hubris and a disregard for those who remain in the mortal coil.
I do really like the idea of imagining an orcâs journey from apprentice to master mage or lich. If I did such a thing, I would think it was best to have an early childhood event where you are taken away from The Plains to join the Ether Steeples. But, if this was to happen, it wouldnât be for some time. Once Green is done, I have ideas for a new project which keep changing and developing every time I close my eyes.
Lance has explained it well. For orcs, though they regard demons as evil, the notions of âgoodnessâ do not come into it when they follow Krog. A mortal can ascend the ranks of importance in Krogâs schemes, which does happen to your shaman, though not in as formalised a way as in the Dark Path. The shaman route is not a perfect counter-balance for the Dark Path, for the future of Arbit. It will seek to empower orcs for sure but is equally happy to do so at the expense of the other races, as well as demons.
I would say, from the point of view of the other races, a great, powerful orc shaman would not be seen as a good thing. But, for the orcs, it can be life and history-changing. In the Dark Path, everyone gets screwed, orcs included!!!
I would imagine that the imperial pantheon would follow a better counterbalance to the Dark Path, with a ranking of saints and angels. Indeed, imperial angels can appear in the shaman pathâŚ
Cheers to you all!
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UPDATE 12 (8th March 2024): 160k words added, totalling 1.49 Million
-Now with DARK MODE and the ability to adjust text size.
-Become the chosen shaman of the Krog faith and build a holy city around Krogâs Rock.
*-Follow Krogâs guidance and create a glorious settlement for the ages.
-Or stray from the path and watch your city crumble or fall into the abyss as a place for demons.
-Decide what to build and who to hire while keeping track of your cityâs Faith, Defence, Law and Wealth.
-Visit your citizens for minor quests and research great powers.
-Face off against an imperial crusade or travel beyond the ether to battle the gods themselves.
- Added a new stats screen where you can peruse the current state of your city, accessible once you rise to the position of shaman.
This new update present two distinct paths, depending on what you build. One path will lead to the crusader threat, one will lead to the Battle of the Gods. A third âepic endingâ is available to those who succumb to demonic temptations.
Here, you get to decided what to build and who to hire in three year cycles. To succeed, you must follow Krogâs guidance.
Possible issues might be the difficulty, which I may need to adjust. Keep in mind that straying from Krogâs path puts your city at greater risk of demonic conquest. Try to keep all your city stats above 50- below which will risk your city descending into anarchy.
Wishing you all a happy ascension!
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Havenât played it quite yet but was it possible to keep the saves or was it needed?
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Hi Lucifer,
Your old saves may work but if you want to get straight into testing the new content, you can start from the tester starting option and select that you want to become a shaman.
The choice to become a great shaman occurs once when you enter maturity. If your old saves are after that event, you wonât see the new content.
Hope this is clear!
EDIT: I have bumped the DashingDon save slots up to 9 now.
EDITEDIT:
Hi again Lucifer. I donât know why the saves disappear. I canât really influence the way DashinDon works, apart from adding the save slots and having it host my WIP.
Does it get rid of the old saves? I donât think it is something Iâve done, but if so then this, and your, message will serve as a warning about it. It deep keep my old saves.
EDITEDITEDIT:
No worries Lucifer, take as long as you want to reply. Iâm just hanging around my computer since it is upload day, anxious for bugs and stuff to squash. The best help for me is for testers to find out typos and bugs and I love that people are spending their time playing my WIP and, hopefully, enjoying it.
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It might be only on mine but my saves just disappeared thatâs what I meant but the 9 saves is really nice
Edit:also is it weird to say sorry for the long reply unless your the author? always curious and kinda felt bad since you responded in 2 minutes and I took an hour
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Yea it was my old saves didnât really matter for this update because the save I had was to far to be able to become the shaman but I thought Iâd see if that was a game bug or something on my end
edit:I canât respond again because I already posted 2 in a row but are you supposed to be able to please Krog with
Spoiler
Summary
The new god I would put this in the blurred text but I canât find it
Because I always get heâs unpleased
Other than that great update
I just looked at dashingdon and I didnât see it on the front page
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Finally this Is what Im waiting for! Krog bless you
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I forgot to post it as a new update on DashingDon. Thanks Lucifer.
Have you completed it and got to the final ending when it says âcongratulationsâ?
It is important to build religious buildings, but you also must maintain law. Krog is often not pleased- but if you build the things he wants, or research the things he wants, he wonât punish you, unless you wait too long!
EDIT: I can look through the text which says he is unpleased again to check if it is firing properly. This wonât stop you from completing the path, but detracts from the scene if you are not getting praised when you deserve it- not sure if you arenât but it wonât hurt for me to double-check. First, Iâll see if there are any big bugs or typos and then come back to that text.
I hope you enjoy Biwa! Krogâs blessings to you!!!
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You die a holy orc who failed to reach the demanding standard of Krog. Though he does not hate you. His green eye flickers with only a sliver of disappointment as your soul drifts through the ether to meet it.
âYou have done more than most ever could,â soothes the deep voice as your essence melts into that glowing eye, to spend forever peering out at all creation.
Can you tell me how to avoid this?, I tried everyway possible from building churches to creating Monolith of Krog, but the outcome Is always the same, can you help me?
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To be fair, I donât know how difficult that is (I honestly thought it was a standard feature of Choicescript) but the bright white background is getting bad. Especially with a project this big. You end up staring at it for a long time.
As always my first playthrough is just enjoying the content rather than going through it with a fine tooth comb, but I do have a couple of suggestions.
-
I think itâs a mistake to not allow the player to name the new city. Provide a list of potential names and a text box so players can choose the name themselves. I get that the city is already âestablishedâ prior to the player arriving, but a small naming ceremony where the player announces the name of the city would be nice.
-
For testing purposes I would suggest perhaps lowering the amount of loot the player has? I started of with a fairly prosperous city because of the amount of personal loot the testing character starts with, so people testing are going to not see the lower income struggles for a city.
-
Iâll be honest. I failed on my first attempt, which isnât in itself a bad thing, the bad part is I donât know why I failed. All my city stats were around 60-70% and then I built a sewer system and suddenly I got a game over, even with my city stats quite high. In fact I went back and chose different options and still got a game over.
EDIT - Okay, I see now that building the sewer dropped my population which must have dropped below a threshold. It still seemed very abrupt. Maybe some sort of warning should be instituted as you get to lower levels of population? Perhaps an if statement at the top of the city building screen that gives a small message if you drop below certain levels of any of the stats that could potentially lead to a gameover?
All in all had great fun with the update. It definitely allows a suitably epic ending to your shamanâs life. I especially liked my floating magi-tech city.
CONGRATULATIONS You have been an orc of insurmountable greatness. Every orc soul has been shaped by your divine hand. Forever, shamans will sing and dance into a frenzy, regaling all with their tales about the orc who became a god.
In time, such a swelling of faith will grant you power enough to spread to other worlds. But for now, you are the supreme deity of an entire planet. Your orcs will come to dominate the future. Unborn legends will be inspired to feats of glory by their faith in you. Dark powers will be banished with the force of your name. And orcs will thrive like never before.
You have scaled the epic heights of the greatest heroes and surpassed even them. But all tales, from the smallest to the greatest, have one thing in common, they must come to an end.
You dropped one of the stats to gameover threshold. The one that did it the most for me was population. If your population gets too low you will get a screen about how the streets are quiet. Do a few constructions that help your orcs survive (I havenât checked the stats but Iâd hazard things like the healing houses) and avoid massive constructions that could potentially kill orcs (I know the sewer construction kills quite a few orcs)
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Hi Lance and Biwa,
I will endeavour to add a few bits of guidance in the text to warn when the city is reaching low population levels and to remind the player to keep everything out of anarchy (lower than 50 stat points).
A good tip is to remember to hire folks- and I wouldnât overly worry about Wealth, you can take out a loan and as long as the final crusade, or the battle of the gods on the other route, takes place before you default on your debt and the bankers send assassins your way, youâll throw off the bonds of debt.
I did add extra bonuses to the start of the playthrough, gave you a big pile of loot- in future I will drop this down a bit.
Yes, I will add an option to rename the city- A silly oversight on my part, left over from when I planed multiple city paths and each city had a distinct name based on its character.
And Lance, I really want to add a Dark Mode. Can you tell me if other WIPS on DashingDon have this option? I think all completed and released games have this by default, am I right?
I might need to put the demo on itch.io if it isnât a thing on DashingDon- and get to basic grips with html it seems.
I hope to get these things up soon (the Dark Mode might be a little later depending on how awkward it is to sort out)- so a small 12.1 update is incoming.
FUTURE PLANS
Okay, I feel with the game being so large, other city paths will be redundant. The shaman and chief paths, in my opinion, offer different styles of playthrough to not make the game repetitive and feel rewarding. So this means one final section is left- Old Age.
I do not plan for this to be a huge section, more of a conclusion to your orcsâ lives (those who donât become chiefs and shamans. I hope to validate earlier choices and give options to spend the loot. I like the idea of your old orc taking interest in an orcling or pup and offering guidance to him, to give you a sense of legacy, if you so wish. The largest problem is setting the boundary for when to transport your orc to old age. Iâll try and figure it out.
After this, I want to go through everything, take out the skeletons of unused events, rebalance a few things and implement some of the testersâ suggestions- the list is quite long.
And squash bugs and fix typos (Lance, no pressure!!! :D)
TESTERS-
Anyone who can help me with setting up the a menu to in the game to make Dark Mode work? I feel this is very important as the glaring white screen is something I too dislike.
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I just checked on making a fresh project in CSide and it has the menu and dark mode by default. Iâm not sure how you are developing the game or why that would remove a basic functionality from ChoiceScript. And itâs not a Dashingdon issue, most WIPs Iâve played have dark mode.
Have you done some custom menu stuff? Your stats button at the top of the screen looks different to other projects, that could have overridden the default functionality? Examples below.
Orcsome news! Thank you so much!
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