(Updated 10/03/2023) The Necronomicon - Download Page

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Berpol said:
Question:
Is it possible (or at least planned) to get guards in your cities that are from the undead or summoned troops?
After I took a city it is now guarded with Vaegir instead of troops from the garrison (zombies+golems).

I don't think so... are you Vaegir yourself? I think the guards must be faction troops. I'm not 100% sure though.
 
Je5uve said:
Berpol said:
Question:
Is it possible (or at least planned) to get guards in your cities that are from the undead or summoned troops?
After I took a city it is now guarded with Vaegir instead of troops from the garrison (zombies+golems).

I don't think so... are you Vaegir yourself? I think the guards must be faction troops. I'm not 100% sure though.
No, I'm currently Rebels of Rhodok kingdom (no claimant). Possibly it's just the default when the script can't find the right kingdom.
Edit: At least I think it's Vaegirs but I'm 100% sure that they are not Rhodok, Nord, Khergit or zombies
 
This mod is the ****. I realy mean it. I haven't been able to find anything better or more satisfing to my evil world domination desires than this. The special armor sets are totaly awsome and you deserve this:
Official+Seal+of+Awesomeness.jpg


That said i do have a few suggestions you may or may not consider:
1) The special item additions to the main sets are curently only obtainable through griding the necromancer parties outside old zendar. I suggest you make some dungeon like quest (you know visit the catacomb of a powerfull undead lord and battle him for his prized unique items) through which you can obtain. Also they could be made thougher.

2) Some more unique and evil items could be added because i'm sure what's curently ingame is not even close to the full extent of evil legendary items humanity has imagined. To that end if you're interested i could do some research and provide you with materials.

3) Make the zombie tree's a bit more varied since curently no matter what build i try i usualy revert to the time tested Abomination swarm backed up by hommomculus elite troops. Maybe make two different paths, one that ends in abomination and one that ends in a ranged dedicated zombie. Also the abominations should be affected by the type of zombie they orriginated from (preserved, plague of burned).

4) The whole necromancy thing is great but you could add some form of magic system. Maybe make a mage cabal symilar to the necromancers that would hate them and try to destroy the blood fountain in old zendar.

5) The whole necromacer stuff is great but what they realy need is a faction of theyr own. Starting with just old zendar as territory and by no means unified like other realms (maybe the ruler could be decided through combat between necromancers), they should be able to take control of the land and turn everyone into zombies.

6) Sound. Beside the screms and theme sounds i miss a good horror soundtrack and none of your mods so fac includes one. Or it's so plain and not helping the atmosphere of the game that i simply ignore and don't hear it.

7) Make so you can chose a location in the world and dedicate to the worship of death. Something like an old battlefield, or a large ancient crypt you can claim for yourself and study the miracles of death there. Maybe even turn it into a underground necropolis to serve as your city and capital and from whitch you can start to claim the world for yourself. Not sure if the last part is posible, but warband has seen mods that add new cities and locations. But even if you add the first part it would certainly help the lore a lot.

8 ) Update the mod to warband? I mean it offers a ton of new opportunities, it's somewhat easier to mod (provided TW stops releasing crapy patches that do more harm than good) and most of the job is allready done (models, textures, mechanics). Also warband has prety impresive colection of scene packs, face packs, sound paks that make the game a lot more real and give it the feal. And these could easily be added to any mod.

Cheers and keep up the good work
 
Well, thank you for the award - I accept it humbly. Though, I would like to make no bones about the fact I think this mod has gone a million times better than I thought it would. :mrgreen:

In answer to the issues you posted:

1) The new accessory items for the sets are meant to be just that.... accessories. Usurper, for instance, is designed to provide the Shadowlord's set with a blunt weapon for taking prisoners. Torque gives the Artificer's set a stylish melee weapon. They are also meant to be obtainable only rarely from their appropriate necromancer groups. Quests are in the "what if" stage as of yet, though the first ones that will be going in will be for Edgar Allan Poe-related items like The Tell-Tale Heart, the Cask of Amontillado, the Purloined Letter, and the Gold Bug. I'm hoping I can have them each provide main stat bonuses (STR, AGI, INT, CHA). We will see.

2) Always in the works! And as far as materials go, I think the rest of the mod shows how resourceful I can be. My own studies of the occult and witchcraft combined with certain books I have and the power of wikipedia and other online resources leaves little to be desired. I am always willing to entertain suggestions though, of course.

3) Actually the next version will have at least four new troops: Abominations for the Burned, Putrid and Preserved upgrade trees, and also Patchwork. Patchwork are zombies created by scavenging for parts - they are made via the Necronomicon, and require a Ouija board like normal zombies. Time will pass on the world map while creating them, as if you were camping (you CAN be attacked while patchworking). Patchwork are much weaker than normal zombies (only level 2 and their armor is only half as protective) and they literally wield only sticks and stones. The idea is to have the ability to create cheap zombies without the need of visiting a city or fighting a battle for corpses. Scavenger necromancer parties have been given LOTS of these as troops. And be warned: sticks and stones will break your bones! Here is a picture of one; they look rather ragtag I think:


4) There will be no magic system. The premise of this game is akin to "what if the dark arts really worked?". As such, rituals are required for everything, and would take too long in the heat of battle. If I was to implement cursing your enemies, for instance, it would happen outside of combat and toward a particular faction lord or leader. Names would be required for the magic to work, and other necromancers would keep their names a secret, therefore unless the curses were premeditated there would be no time to cast them.

5) I like the necromancers as outlaws because necromancers have their own interests in mind at all times. Do you think you would bow down to a Necromancer king when you could easily supplant him yourself, and maybe have a nice crowned zombie for your horde? Wars and factions are the ways of men without power. A necromancer desires power and life above all else, and every one aspires to rule the world.

6) There IS a horror soundtrack - it's funny because you are the second person to say "there is no soundtrack". You probably have your music turned down all the way in your game options - crank it! I took every soundtrack in the game and made it run backwards and at about half speed.... since the native music was classical this gives it a kind of sinister "philharmonic of the dead" sound. The title track I did even more to. Most seem to find it helps the mood remain dark. :twisted:

7) But the point is to possibly gain enough power to be a landed lord with no faction and maintain that status, fighting back all the armies of the living, and taking THEIR castles as your own. This is VERY ambitious, and should not be attempted early in the game - in fact I would ally with a faction and destroy all the other factions first, then turn rogue. New locations may appear someday but nothing is in the works so far. I want this to be about invading the native lands of Calradia, and I don't want to lose touch with the native game too much. In fact, it is quite possible to be a normal character in this mod, and fight back the necromancers. I want this mod to stay very "sandbox".

8 ) Maybe someday. I wouldn't call it easier to mod, and yes last time I tried the module system was screwy and I couldn't figure out how to add my models properly. But eventually I'll hit up some tutorials and likely see what I can do to port it. I REALLY WISH there was a separate section for MODDING Warband, but my petition for a separate board was roundly, and I believe foolishly, denied. And on the basis that Warband modding was "close enough" to M&B modding for it not to matter. They seem a bit like 2% and Whole Milk to me, but whatever. I guess difficult is the new easy. :roll:

Anyway I thought I would drop a note and a little eye candy for all of my mod minions, and answer some questions. I am currently working on this mod, now that I have finally released a new version of my other mod, and a new version is on the way!

Until next time, loyal followers! :grin:
 
Here's another minion worshiping the great N0ught in gratitude for this horrifying creation.
However, I have felt a bit strange ever since talking to the Bloodfountain and wonder exactly what soul was sold.  :???:
 
Yep i finaly fixed some problems i had with the audion drivers and other stuff and i get the music. It's damn good actualy. But i wouldn't mind something a bit faster on the rythm during battles. I simply don't feel right with the slow and creepy background while choping away groups of enemyes with the shadowlord's blade (forgot it's name, oh the poor soul i have become because of to much necromancy)

As for number 5) i will admit when i made the suggestion i was a bit unsure what i realy wanted but after a tour through the Might and Magic universe i realised. Not a faction like the others ingame at the time. More like this: A necromancers greatest ambition is power. he amases so much and reaches such a level of knoledge that he is able to rend and totrture the souls of lesser beeings. So he starts enslaving other less powerfull necromancers and uses them for his own ascension. If you're the one enslaving then you can order your minnions to focus on more specific targets rather than normal wandering and pillaging (never seen a necromancer party burn a village or beeing strong enough to take on a lord army, this could be fixed somehow too). But you also need to make sure no other necromancers get strong enough to chalenge you. And if you are enslaved by a more powerfull necromancer then you have to grow strong enough to free yourself from his control. But in the meantime you must obey his every comand, cause if you don't he simply kills you through the same spell, mechanic that he used to enslave you in the first place. The whole enslaving thing should also work for enemy lords too. I mean i would love nothing more than to control the weakling and unworthy masses and send them to die in my name, festing on the carnage i unleash. Just a better explanation of what i meant in my original post.

PS patchwork zombies are realy cool looking
 
Acolytes are essentially what you are talking about.... they are basically necromantic supporters with little power, or else assistants to greater necromancers. As far as having troops that "obey without question" I don't think that will happen - morale is a good measure of influence, which is after all , what power is all about. Should a necromancer find himself on a weak-willed slant his minions will start to wander off....

I have been rolling around the idea of adding Fanatics as well - dark arts zealots with almost no power, who may upgrade into Acolytes.

On the other end of the troop spectrum, Burned, Putrid and Preserved Abominations are in and fully functional for the next release. This should REALLY improve the troop trees - and finally all that oil, sulphuric acid and formaldehyde will be worth the investment!

I am also entertaining ideas for elite units for demons (Destroyers), homunculus (Shadow Warriors), and Golems (Blood Golems) - but I dont want to run out of room for items! I think I'm probably pushing it already.... I'll do what I can.

And I thought I had the "kill more prisoners" thing solved - good thing I micromanage everything in this game. Tested it and it was only taking from one stack. I fixed that. So mass murder in the next version! Yay! :twisted:

I dont want to say much about what else I am working on, but it is definitely Poe-related. An item set has been added... here is a screenshot of what will eventually be a VERY important location (not an in-game screenshot, of course; just a shot from wings3d). Herein is the Amontillado....



I love being cryptic. :grin:

A great many foul and curious things are afoot in the realm of Solid and Shade. We will see what happens next. Until next time, mod minions.
 
Alright, there will definitely be elite units for the next release here is a look at two of them...

DESTROYERS - Demons can upgrade into these heavy hitters given enough time. They have an enormously powerful, incredibly slow sledge hammer. And, yes, they have eyes all the way around their heads:


SHADOW WARRIORS - Homunculi can eventually upgrade into these even more shocking shock troops. Their halberds do some decent damage and have good range.


... And for the golem upgrade I have just two words for you: SIEGE GOLEM. Still conceptual on these last ones, but they are on their way. Think terminator. :grin:

And hey, somebody dropped me a note about something. Have ANY of you actually managed to loot Khan's Fist? Maybe post a sceenshot as proof? I have never tested it myself actually... some input on this is definitely appreciated.
 
Dungeons at last! Yay! And Super heavy hitters for my shock units! Double Yay! Can't wait for this. Maybe you could give us an estimate on the release date cause the wait is killing me.

Regarding the Khans fist thing i think it's broken. I caught sanjar in the open and attacked him, won the battle and after it i had the option of taking the khan prisoner, which i did. i tried talking to him while he was a prisoner, no result. I placed him in the prison of my castle, no result. i talked to him while he was in the prison, no result. (starting to see the pattern?) I took him with me and opend a door to old zendar still nothing. Actualy went to old zendar again nothing. Eventualy i left him as the single prisoner in the party and while camping chose kill a prisoner. i got the corpse but nothing else (which don't mind me saying is a bit stupid. i mean i kill the guy but only keep the corpse, no gear, not even the money the guy had on him?). maybe i did it wrong but i think i tried everything. So if anyone actualy managed to get those darn gloves, an explanation on how he did it would be welcomed.

Keep it up N0ought
 
Yeah, the glove would drop in loot when you defeat him in combat. I will look into fixing this somehow...

As for a release date, no idea yet, sorry. Going to work on the glove issue and the new golems today. The next release may be later rather than sooner, I am afraid. Lots of ideas popping up. :mrgreen:

NOTE: Just discovered the problem with Khan's Fist. I have the "itp_unique" flag on all of the legendary items, which means none of them are lootable - except i WANT Khan's Fist to be lootable, so I added the "itp_always _loot" flag to it. This may or may not solve the problem; playtesting will be required.
 
Alright the BLOOD ENGINE is done - these Golem upgrades are VERY powerful ranged troops, but they are slow and vulnerable, since they lack a melee weapon. They are essentially walking cannons for parking during sieges to lay out some major firepower:



All three of the shock troop upgrades will be powerful, but vulnerable - none of them have shields - so they will only really be useful during blitzes or very micromanaged battles. It should be fun.

Altogether seven new troops are going in the mod on the next release. This should give rise to a plethora of new strategies. Combined with a lot of needed fixes and some necessary style changes (Golems are slightly reddish now), this looks like it may wind up being the most groundbreaking release so far! More soon! :cool:
 
Been playing this mod for about 2 days, just thought I'd throw in some feedback.
Overall, it is extremely fun. Hunting for legendary weapons, conquering the world, there is nothing better.
The one crippling disappointment for me was the Artificier set.  For the hefty price of 6 Philosopher stones, it was less effective than the Shadow set and its gun was far less useful than the Hunter's crossbow.  I really love the steampunk feel of that set, so some kind of a buff for it would be appreciated.

I know recruiting lords has been mentioned before, but I think it is a good idea to have so the player doesn't have a thousand castles and towns to micromanage and garrison troops in.  It makes sense that no one would really ally themselves with a necromancer, but perhaps there could be a ritual to summon a sentient being that has enough intelligence to hold some land.  It'd make being an undead scourge a lot less of a hassle.

Every model in this game looks fantastic, excellent work on that.  I'm digging those new shock troops.
 
Not sure if this is a bug or feature:
Item bonuses do not seem to add up if more than one with identical bonus is equipped. E.g.
Necromancers blindness and shadowlords projection each +1 spotting gives +1 spotting total
Bloodpreservers countenance and acolytes vessel each +1 trade gives +1 trade total
This of course discourages odd armour combinations, so may not be such a bad thing.

Stheno is surprisingly weak when encountered in the arena or training field, and she does not keep all of her armor on.
Should'nt Sthenos armour be an integral part of her body that others cannot wear, except by killing her?
Maybe it should be made non-lootable.
 
norup said:
Not sure if this is a bug or feature:
Item bonuses do not seem to add up if more than one with identical bonus is equipped. E.g.
Necromancers blindness and shadowlords projection each +1 spotting gives +1 spotting total
Bloodpreservers countenance and acolytes vessel each +1 trade gives +1 trade total
This of course discourages odd armour combinations, so may not be such a bad thing.

Stheno is surprisingly weak when encountered in the arena or training field, and she does not keep all of her armor on.
Should'nt Sthenos armour be an integral part of her body that others cannot wear, except by killing her?
Maybe it should be made non-lootable.

Actually that is not a bug, and it is meant to ENCOURAGE scavenging for skill bonus equipment. Since only one point per skill can be given at a time it allows certain inventory-related strategies - for instance, if you equip Tongueflayer or Medusa's Shield you can free up inventory space by storing away your Skin Poppet. This is a trade-off for certain items like the Evil Eye, which has another effect as well as the skill bonus - if you are wearing the Shadowlord's Presence you must choose whether to keep the Evil Eye in your inventory ONLY for the fog banishing ability, or else clear inventory space.

And after all, if I could add lots of different stat bonuses, the mod would turn into kind of a hack of diablo, which is one of the reasons why I abolished "set item bonuses". As it stands now you can go for a nice stylish set of equipment and get a few bonuses out of it - or mix and match for something hideous and yet way more skill-bonus functional. I like the diabolical choices I have set up - it keeps the game in balance.

As far as the Stheno thing goes, I have been looking into adding races. It doesn't seem like it would be difficult, just tedious to add. Lets see I would need.... 16 new races, off the top of my head. I think there may be some limit to the number I can add - I need to research it more, because if there isn't at least that many it wont work anyway. Also there is the problem with the game considering ALL extra races female.... I know, it's a wierd limitation.

Otherwise I could always look into making Stheno's equipment screen unreachable.... that would be one simple command. And then to get Medusa's bow and arrows, you would have to ask her for them or something. It could be do-able. Or I could write her out of tournaments... not sure if that is possible.

On the other hand, someone may want to play AS Stheno, strip her items and armor from her, and have a good time as a Gorgon (not that several of you haven't already done this). I like to leave the mod as sandbox as possible - much of the atmosphere depends on the "costume effect" of the equipment being worn by game characters. Without it, zombies would be just ordinary guys - also, the head, body, hands and feet acquired by dismembering corpses would be obsolete if I added races.

Basically, this mod is a twisted house of cards....

Much of Solid and Shade depends on other parts of it, and imbalance will threaten to destroy the whole project. I must be very careful. However, I have considered MANY things in this area of the mod (obviously). Thanks for the input, it is duly noted!  :mrgreen:

177cheese said:
Been playing this mod for about 2 days, just thought I'd throw in some feedback.
Overall, it is extremely fun. Hunting for legendary weapons, conquering the world, there is nothing better.
The one crippling disappointment for me was the Artificier set.  For the hefty price of 6 Philosopher stones, it was less effective than the Shadow set and its gun was far less useful than the Hunter's crossbow.  I really love the steampunk feel of that set, so some kind of a buff for it would be appreciated.

I know recruiting lords has been mentioned before, but I think it is a good idea to have so the player doesn't have a thousand castles and towns to micromanage and garrison troops in.  It makes sense that no one would really ally themselves with a necromancer, but perhaps there could be a ritual to summon a sentient being that has enough intelligence to hold some land.  It'd make being an undead scourge a lot less of a hassle.

Every model in this game looks fantastic, excellent work on that.  I'm digging those new shock troops.

The thing about the Artificer's set is the gun itself, as one of only two guns in the mod (three after the next release), and the ENORMOUS shield, and the Engineer bonus of Torque. There MAY be another item that will give engineer bonuses eventually (a throwing weapon, actually), but that all depends on what I get done with quests. I will boost the damage on the gun, however.... it should have been 80 damage, not 70, in the first place. The bullets in the set add +10 damage, which is probably why I had it set at 70, but the gun should do at least 80 on its own. Thanks for roundabout helping me discover this!

Besides, the Artificer's set is supposed to be the "I'm-a-brittle-old-mad-scientist-necromancer-defend-me-while-I-blast-away-with-my-cannon" set.  :lol:

Once the new golem upgrades arrive, such strategies will all become clear, and the Artificer set will make a lot more sense.

As far as lord recruiting goes, I think there is some confusion about the mod - you CAN, of course, join a faction, and thereby use your influence to use their army (I recommend getting friendly with the Nords). And you can always hire faction troops from the volunteer level, of course.

Otherwise a Necromancer is, by nature and necessity, a rogue force - a neutral army in M&B speak. The game will warn you if you take a castle while neutral, that any of the other armies may declare war on you. This is very realistic and I like it. Your best bet is to join a faction and eliminate all other factions.

Once again, I want to stress that I don't want to get too far away from native in this mod. In this frankenstien monster, native M&B is like the torso.... I can add heads and limbs until it's bristling with appendages, but the heart must remain the same. Evil has fallen upon Calradia. Let there be no hope for the weak....

Until next time, mod minions.  :twisted:
 
Well I have decided that, while I am relatively no closer to producing quests for the mod yet, I have done enough to it at this point to warrant a new release anyway and save quests for the next version (no promises!).

I am going to do some playtesting and some minor tweaking, and I should have a new version for you all within the next few days. :mrgreen:
 
Great, i'm dieing to get my hands on more advanced shock units. A question though: Will save games be compatible?
 
Nooooooo. My empire of darkness shal crumble :cry: :cry: :cry: . Oh well time to build a new one and be twice as evil as before. :evil: :evil: :twisted:
 
Added eight new forum banners to the first post - now you can represent the mod with your favorite item set. :grin:

I did wonderful things today - in the next version you will be able to Burn, Boil or Preserve not only your Zombies, but your Revenants, Horrors and Abominations too! Fully customizable undead are a beautiful ugly thing. :twisted:

Patchwork wont be customizable, nor very useful, except early in the game and later when you want to fill up your stronghold. Scavenging for Patchwork will be done on the world map during the day, as opposed to gravedigging, which is only at night. This gives a good balance for the brooding necromancer.

Almost ready for a release. Stay tuned!
 
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