Mask of the Betrayer Toolset Impressions
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:09 am
I'm enjoying the single player campaign well enough, but that's not what I want to write about. Suffice it to say, it looks better, plays smoother and has cleaned up many of the issues of the original release.
While I can scarcely believe Atari forked out enough money for Obsidan to make an expansion (GF has said this is one of their primary cash sources), what a relief that they have. For the ALFA builder, the expansion is a genuine bonanza of improvements and convenience.
New interior tilesets: Sunken Ruins is just sweet....it's an easy to use, 2-layered tileset. There's upstairs and downstairs, and it seems to work much more seamlessly than Shadow Fortress. The Estate Tileset fills a major gap where classy interiors needed to go.
Exterior Tileset: New textures.....dried cracked mud, cliff textures that won't stretch and distort the way most rock textures currently do when applied to vertical surfaces, nice desert and grass additions, and an excellent cobblestone. There are new Grass types....finally some decent flowers.
Creatures: There are a few new creatures, but not many you'd see in a typical low level campaign,.
Placeables: This is one area that has been considerably beefed up. Lots of new placeables, and some very useful one. Rocks with the same texture as the tileset cliff texture. Tintable to boot. A whole new set of buildings with a decent generic style for rural settings. Stylish, but not overcooked. And snow placeables for all occasions. There's now more wall placeables than can be believed. Thangorn will have a seizure.
Placed Effects: The best till last. Waterfalls, snow, splashes, butterflies, falling leaves, drips, sunbeams, blood....this is great news for any builder.
Single Gripe: No additonal Placeable Prefabs. There's no single more useful element for builders, imo.
w00t!!
While I can scarcely believe Atari forked out enough money for Obsidan to make an expansion (GF has said this is one of their primary cash sources), what a relief that they have. For the ALFA builder, the expansion is a genuine bonanza of improvements and convenience.
New interior tilesets: Sunken Ruins is just sweet....it's an easy to use, 2-layered tileset. There's upstairs and downstairs, and it seems to work much more seamlessly than Shadow Fortress. The Estate Tileset fills a major gap where classy interiors needed to go.
Exterior Tileset: New textures.....dried cracked mud, cliff textures that won't stretch and distort the way most rock textures currently do when applied to vertical surfaces, nice desert and grass additions, and an excellent cobblestone. There are new Grass types....finally some decent flowers.
Creatures: There are a few new creatures, but not many you'd see in a typical low level campaign,.
Placeables: This is one area that has been considerably beefed up. Lots of new placeables, and some very useful one. Rocks with the same texture as the tileset cliff texture. Tintable to boot. A whole new set of buildings with a decent generic style for rural settings. Stylish, but not overcooked. And snow placeables for all occasions. There's now more wall placeables than can be believed. Thangorn will have a seizure.
Placed Effects: The best till last. Waterfalls, snow, splashes, butterflies, falling leaves, drips, sunbeams, blood....this is great news for any builder.
Single Gripe: No additonal Placeable Prefabs. There's no single more useful element for builders, imo.
w00t!!
