Ashes Afterglow TC - closing the vault

[Vostyok]

@DoomJedi
Thank you for the comment!

@everyone else
I will see if can isolate these issues. I never noticed the door sound issue before. Will see if I can chase it down. I've been considering an update for the main Afterglow mod, but my priorities are on other projects at the moment. Work has been progressing well on another Ashes-related pack soon. Expect some more toys, more locations and some more enemies to play with. We are aiming for some time this year, but we will put out some more news when the project lead is happy.

Road map for Ashes future -
Additional bug fixes to currently released mod packs.
Afterglow v1.15 - expanded area to play with Lucy and her abilities, alternate ending depending on briefcase decision, additional endings based on choices in second hub, a big navigational check so pathfinding is a little easier on the bigger maps, the normal array of bug fixes and some additional art for enemies missing rotations.
Secret Project - might not be announced here
Don't know. Depends if feeling cute, delete later.
Afterglow expansion - new character, new prequel story. Aiming for 4-5 new weapons, 9 new maps, 7 new enemies, and a new NPC character, who has intimate knowledge about the cannibals' plans...

Far(ish) future - episode 3. Early prototype has been played around with. Expect a handful of new features but mostly improvements rather than feature-creep. Main thing I can promise is a 50% increase in sprite detail.

There's a lot more I want to talk about but I will wait until we get a bit further into production. I have enjoyed my little break. And I have plans. Big plans...

Bye for now.

[ButtonBoy]

Glad to hear from you Vos, I can't wait for some more Ashes to play through, 9 new maps and a couple new weapons sounds like it'll be interesting to muck around with, on a side note I'm interested in this secret project of yours, I wonder what it'll be but no pressure to deliver any news, work at your own pace. I hope you enjoyed your break, because it certainly sounds like you'll be quite busy!

[june gloom]

Am I crazy or was there a mod that combined Episode 1's tutorial, the main game and DMW into a single continuous episode (with DMW set before the main game?) I've been searching the thread for half an hour and turned up nothing. Wondering if I imagined it.

[Vostyok]

Am I crazy or was there a mod that combined Episode 1's tutorial, the main game and DMW into a single continuous episode (with DMW set before the main game?) I've been searching the thread for half an hour and turned up nothing. Wondering if I imagined it.

Don't worry, you are not insane

The mod you are thinking off is the Ashes minimods pack by Zaero.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/ashes-2063/d ... odsbyzaero

Currently it is hosted on moddb only. But there's the link.

[Plasmazippo]

Nice to hear from you again, Vos!

Regarding the secret project, keep the surprise until it's finished. It's worked well so far

[june gloom]

Thank you, Vos! ^^

[Cthulhu_RUS]

The monsters and weapons from this mod looks good in this wad, but some monsters work not correctly:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/dbp37-augerzenith

https://ibb.co/7N2YCgS
https://ibb.co/XXW5nyp
https://ibb.co/DfyBPg8
https://ibb.co/HGyqMMV

[camper]

The levels after clearing the monsters seem a bit empty, can't they be filled with random enemies again? True, in this case, the question arises of replenishing the resources that have already been mined. Maybe add junk flying out of the cannibals, after all, they fight with metal pipes or building fittings?
upd. Yes, one more thing, in this case, need a replenishable throwing weapon, like shurikens or crossbow arrows. Which can be picked up after use.

[june gloom]

It does feel a little strange that levels don't repopulate slightly over time. In 2063 this isn't such a big deal but in Afterglow it's very noticeable.

[Vostyok]

This was actually one of my planned features (maps that repopulate over time), but it ended up being relegated to a *later* feature and never implemented.

Top tip: when a Dev decides "it's fine, we'll figure it out later" they are lying.
They will never figure it out later.

I think this is more noticeable with the fact that returning to maps is encouraged, such as the key hunt for the trucks in Atlanta. I think the clash here would be though people who like to leave a town depopulated, ie being happy that the kill counter reads X/X to the positive when they leave a map, and to not have to return later to make sure they missed anyone.

Of course it makes a more lived-in world to have enemies repopulate locations, I don't want to alienate those players who like to be completionist with their genocide.

Interested to hear all your thoughts on this matter. Though in the future I am veering toward having scripted reinforcements spawn in when the story invites players returning to cleared out areas.

[Pachira]

This was actually one of my planned features (maps that repopulate over time), but it ended up being relegated to a *later* feature and never implemented.

Top tip: when a Dev decides "it's fine, we'll figure it out later" they are lying.
They will never figure it out later.

I think this is more noticeable with the fact that returning to maps is encouraged, such as the key hunt for the trucks in Atlanta. I think the clash here would be though people who like to leave a town depopulated, ie being happy that the kill counter reads X/X to the positive when they leave a map, and to not have to return later to make sure they missed anyone.

Of course it makes a more lived-in world to have enemies repopulate locations, I don't want to alienate those players who like to be completionist with their genocide.

Interested to hear all your thoughts on this matter. Though in the future I am veering toward having scripted reinforcements spawn in when the story invites players returning to cleared out areas.

I think it'd be cool, maybe add in mini events as well to sort of make the return trips feel a bit more exciting. Like for instance maybe you run into cannibals and raiders fighting it out, the cannibals attracted by all the dudes you killed and the raiders came to find out what happened to their missing friends. Also maybe having it so you could run into a new friendly npc to talk to on the way to the newly accessible area now that an area on the way is cleared out.

[CyberneticPhantom]

This was actually one of my planned features (maps that repopulate over time), but it ended up being relegated to a *later* feature and never implemented.

Top tip: when a Dev decides "it's fine, we'll figure it out later" they are lying.
They will never figure it out later.

I think this is more noticeable with the fact that returning to maps is encouraged, such as the key hunt for the trucks in Atlanta. I think the clash here would be though people who like to leave a town depopulated, ie being happy that the kill counter reads X/X to the positive when they leave a map, and to not have to return later to make sure they missed anyone.

Of course it makes a more lived-in world to have enemies repopulate locations, I don't want to alienate those players who like to be completionist with their genocide.

Interested to hear all your thoughts on this matter. Though in the future I am veering toward having scripted reinforcements spawn in when the story invites players returning to cleared out areas.

I think it'd be cool, maybe add in mini events as well to sort of make the return trips feel a bit more exciting. Like for instance maybe you run into cannibals and raiders fighting it out, the cannibals attracted by all the dudes you killed and the raiders came to find out what happened to their missing friends. Also maybe having it so you could run into a new friendly npc to talk to on the way to the newly accessible area now that an area on the way is cleared out.

I actually love that idea. Maybe a random scavenger comes by after hearing all the fighting stopped or a new merchant is moving their wares through the area or the militia of a nearby town is coming to investigate/ scout out the area after hearing all the noise. I also like the idea Vostyok had just on its own as well though. Having enemies only return to maps you're encouraged to return to yourself for whatever reason is cool. If it's something like a raider camp like we saw with the Roamer's it can be a returning patrol but maybe in a more natural area like the Biodome or just if we find ourselves in an area that has more wilderness then maybe more mutant like enemies could return in larger numbers. It's a really cool idea!

[baddude1337]

For repopulating mops, how about having the opposite enemy type? Say a map is mainly raiders, have mutants spawn on the second visit, and vice versa. Reflect them moving in on territory after it is cleared. Will keep the variety of encounters in the levels fresh that way IMO.

[RKD]

I think the clash here would be though people who like to leave a town depopulated, ie being happy that the kill counter reads X/X to the positive when they leave a map

I'm one of those . Even then, I think the extra monster spawning can still appeal to even completionists. Just make sure they are in fair places.

Imo, this could work if the spawning points of these groups are predetermined. Let's say you complete a map with a truck on it. Later on you need to go back to said truck. Spawn whatever monster group you want either in the way to the objective, the map entrance or around the objective. If, instead, they spawn in random places, no way I'm tracking down that one bastard who decided to appear in the other side of the map (or in a hard-to-reach spot).

Maybe include a mini-boss there (like a bigger recolored version of an already present monster), just to spice things a bit if it isn't a hassle to do.

[june gloom]

I think this is more noticeable with the fact that returning to maps is encouraged, such as the key hunt for the trucks in Atlanta. I think the clash here would be though people who like to leave a town depopulated, ie being happy that the kill counter reads X/X to the positive when they leave a map, and to not have to return later to make sure they missed anyone.

Of course it makes a more lived-in world to have enemies repopulate locations, I don't want to alienate those players who like to be completionist with their genocide.

Interested to hear all your thoughts on this matter. Though in the future I am veering toward having scripted reinforcements spawn in when the story invites players returning to cleared out areas.

I think the best option is to tie it to scripted events. For example, sprinkle in a few new ambushes in the subway tunnels as you move back through them, or even drop them in areas that you wouldn't otherwise revisit unless you were secret hunting. And not just whole packs suddenly just showing up in big open areas, but random singular enemies wandering common paths. Bonus points if there's some way to show how they got in, like a previously closed shutter door being now open (similar to the mall level in Ep 1) or a broken window. Even better, those newly opened monster closets could be entry points to new areas, perhaps small rooms with items or whathaveyou, incentivizing re-exploration.

The other option, have new enemies just filter in over time regardless of what you do, would ultimately result in a losing war for resources as your ammo expenditure is likely always going to be more than you actually get back from drops. While this certainly sounds fun and in keeping with the theme, I think the completionists would be annoyed more than anyone else.