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{|border=3 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 align=right
{{Patch Navigation Links
!bgcolor=lightgray| [[Patches | All Patches]]
| Previous = Shadows of the Past
|-
| Next = Thorns of the Hopeslayer
|}
}}
''Material retrieved from original Zone caches available at http://web.archive.org.
'''March 2000''' - [[Announcements - 2000/03 - Darkness Ascendant|Announcements Page]]


[[The Spin from Turbine - 3/16/2000]]
== Game Changes ==
* [[Shadow Hunter Armor]] introduced.
* Sticky Melee introduced.
* Colored lighting effects introduced. Many lights, including the sun and moon, will now cast colored light in both hardware and software modes.
* Drudges and Golems have received new artwork.
* Dagger's skill damage modifier is now determined by coordination instead of strength.
* You can now use objects containing water to fill [[Empty Flask]]s!
{{magic|You fetch some water from the well!}}
* Objects containing water can now be used to fill empty flasks.
* Spell icons for Blade Bane/Lure, Bludgeon Bane/Lure, Acid Bane/Lure, Frost Bane/Lure, and Fire Bane/Lure updated with proper colors.
* Iron Ore and Slag icons updated.
 
== User Interface Updates ==
* You get a confirmation dialog when using uncharged mana stones on items that would be destroyed.
* The Bane and Lure spell icons now have unique colors.
 
== New Quests ==
* [[Shadow Armor Quest]]


----
== New Events ==
''Original Link (now dead) - <nowiki>http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ashenewsdarkness1.asp</nowiki>
* [[Shadow Abductions]]


Darkness Ascendant
== New NPCs ==
* [[Alean the Steel Forger]]
* [[Jibril ibn Rashid]]
* [[Koga Hideki]]
* [[Farmer (Qalaba'r)|Farmer]]
* [[Roaming Bowyer (Male Gharu'ndim)|Roaming Bowyer]]
* [[Farmer (Rithwic)|Farmer]]
* [[Roaming Bowyer (Female Aluvian)|Roaming Bowyer]]
* [[12.8S, 42.8E - Yanshi Festival Grounds|Yanshi Festival Grounds]]
* [[Farmer (Yanshi Festival Grounds)|Farmer]]


March 7, 2000
== New Locations ==
* [[12.8S, 42.8E - Yanshi Festival Grounds]]
* [[10.4N, 53.5E - Rithwic Festival Grounds]]
* [[74.2S, 21.9E - Qalaba'r Festival Grounds]]
* [[Wedding Hall]]


For months, floating Crystals and Shadow creatures have held stations in the wilderness, arranged like pieces in a game. Now they have mobilized. Rumored to have emerged from the earth, strange, twisted citadels hover over the land near several towns, and a vast, bat-winged figure is now regularly seen flickering like dark lightning amid the storm clouds. Have Dereth's heroes forced the leaders of the Shadows into some sort of desperate stand, or are these merely the opening moves in some larger and darker conflict?
=== New Points of Interest ===
* [[Spire's Head]]
* [[Shadow Spires]]
** [[A'mun Desert]] - 14.2S, 17.7E
** Aluvian Plains - 12N, 32.1E
** [[Blackmire Swamp]] - 26.2S, 51.4E
** [[Cragstone]] - 24.5N, 48.9E
** [[Eastham]] - 17.9N, 62.6E
** [[Khayyaban]] - 48.6S, 25.2E
** [[Linvak Mountain Range]] - 85.9S, 39.7E
** [[North Direlands]] - 20.2N, 71.2W
** [[Obsidian Plains]] - 62.4S, 71.1W
** [[Sawato]] - 29.5S, 59.3E
** [[Tiofor Woods]] - 43.8N, 0.8E
** [[Tou-Tou]] - [[26.4S, 98.0E - Shadow Geyser|26.4S, 98.0E]]
** [[Tufa]] - 13.8S, 3.9E


Continuing our commitment to bring you a major new chapter in Dereth's saga every month, we introduce the March event! A relative calm prevails despite the ghastly floating citadels and other omens. Dereth's heroes have managed to extend the reach of civilization, so builders have constructed festival grounds in outlying areas and even a magnificent wedding hall to host the mass ceremonies traditional in the spring. Master Smiths tinkering with crystal fragments and shadow gems have managed to incorporate them into superior suits of armor. Perhaps most significantly, the Asheron's Call developers have embarked on a project to refine the graphics engine, introducing colored lighting effects and amazing new Drudges and Golems. The world of Asheron's Call will come into even sharper focus over the coming months. Thanks for joining us in the adventure!
== New Items ==
{{Item Table|Caption=[[Armor]]
| Greater Amuli Shadow Leggings (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Amuli Shadow Coat (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Koujia Shadow Leggings (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Koujia Shadow Breastplate (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Koujia Shadow Sleeves (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Celdon Shadow Leggings (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Celdon Shadow Girth (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Celdon Shadow Breastplate (Pre-Patch)
| Greater Celdon Shadow Sleeves (Pre-Patch)
| Amuli Shadow Leggings
| Amuli Shadow Coat
| Koujia Shadow Leggings
| Koujia Shadow Breastplate
| Koujia Shadow Sleeves
| Celdon Shadow Leggings
| Celdon Shadow Girth
| Celdon Shadow Breastplate
| Celdon Shadow Sleeves
| Lesser Amuli Shadow Leggings
| Lesser Amuli Shadow Coat
| Lesser Koujia Shadow Leggings
| Lesser Koujia Shadow Breastplate
| Lesser Koujia Shadow Sleeves
| Lesser Celdon Shadow Leggings
| Lesser Celdon Shadow Girth
| Lesser Celdon Shadow Breastplate
| Lesser Celdon Shadow Sleeves
}}


{|
{{Item Table|Caption=[[Quest Items]]
|width=60|[[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Spire2.jpg|60px]]  
| Dark Speck
| A menacing, spirelike citadel floats over the crater it formed when it erupted from the earth.
| Dark Sliver
|-
| Dark Shard
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Lightdark.jpg|60px]]
| Shadow Fragment
| Side by side, a brazier and a portal showcase the new colored lighting upgrade.
| Cracked Shard
|-
| Tiny Shard
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Sneak.jpg|60px]]
| Small Shard
| The game now features this revamped model for the common drudge.
| Crystal Fragment
|-
| Scintillating Gem
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Olthoidark1.jpg|60px]]
| Sparkling Gem
| Green light reflects from the carapace of an Olthoi.
| Glimmering Gem
|-
}}
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Olthoidark2.jpg|60px]]
| Here we see similar lighting from all angles.
|-
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Magmadark.jpg|60px]]
| The dread magma golem illuminates the hallway as it descends on an adventurer.
|-
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Obsidiandark.jpg|60px]]
| The obsidian golem's many fine, sharp edges gleam in the torchlight.
|-
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Wood1.jpg|60px]]
| To make a wood golem, the Empyrean had to dismember a tree. Obviously, this does not make the tree happy.
|-
| [[Image:Darkness Ascendant - Water1.jpg|60px]]
| The water golem now appears as a translucent, glittering cascade.
|-
| ??
| When a sandstone golem is on a mission, the drudges tend to hang back and see how things go.
|-
|}


{{Item Table|Caption=[[Text Items]]
| A Treatise on the Properties of Fused Gems
| The Wedding Guide
}}


----
== Updated Items ==
{{Item Table
| Font
| Fountain
| Pool
| Vat
| Well
| Iron Ore
| Slag
}}


Asheron's Call Build Notes, March 7
== New Creatures ==
{{Creature Class|Shadow
| Small Shadow Child
}}


Here are all the tiny little details of the game update that was made on March 7, 2000. This list is culled from "check-in" notes submitted by the game developers themselves. Things of greatest note are listed first.
{{Creature Class|Target
| Oak Target Drudge
| Wood Target Drudge
}}


We won't reveal many changes concerning the new story developments, as these hold opportunities for players to drive the saga forward, and we don't want to take away the fun of discovery. As usual, the Town Criers, Barkeeps, and Scribes may know the latest news! Also, the trades of crafting and selling are always in flux, so changes to prices and abilities of items are not always detailed here.
== New Dialog ==
;Town Crier
{{Dialog|


Detailed Notes for builds 2290-2296:
|Town Crier tells you, "The pollen was not so bad.  My counterparts from the Sho and Aluvian lands must have weak constitutions."


* Colored lighting! Many lights, including the sun and moon, will now cast colored light in both hardware and software modes.
|Town Crier tells you, "High-ranking monarchs have been approached by an unknown presence and subjected to grueling tests on a distant island. Apparently this entity, whatever it is, does not think much of our monarchs. Might this have something to do with the frightful apparition in the lightning flashes?"
* All-new Drudge models. Beautiful!
 
* All-new Golem models. Gorgeous! Kill a golem today!
|Town Crier tells you, "The shadow spires have appeared in the vicinity of these towns: Eastham, Cragstone, Tufa, Khayyaban, Tou Tou, and Sawato. There are rumors of a few others out in the wilderness, all just as quiet and inactive. What purpose they serve or will serve is not yet known, though some have been said to have been within them."
* Wedding Hall added, plus fun wedding favors.
 
* Festival Grounds have been added near the Festival Stones named Wintersebb (near Qalaba'r), Leafcull (near Yanshi), and Leafdawning (near Rithwic). These are great places to hold contests of skill, since they have dummy targets of various difficulty -- the Leafdawning one also has a racetrack!. Scribes sell directions to all Festival Stones. Whack an oaken Drudge today!
|Town Crier tells you, "Just between you and me, I remember the sun being brighter long ago, before the sudden winter."
* Hand-to-hand combat is easier versus moving targets. You will “stick” to your target more.
 
* Weapons that use the dagger skill have never used coordination to determine their "damage modifier"; they used strength. They now use coordination, like they're supposed to according to the documentation. The higher your coordination, the more damage you will do. This was done by popular demand and hopefully will please more dagger-users than it will annoy. Since dagger-users have always needed coordination and not strength to improve their dagger skill, this change should help them focus their attribute-building. This affects the following classes of weapons: dagger, jambiya, khanjar, and knife.
|Town Crier tells you, "Yesterday I found a Wool Fez of Willpower!"
* Mages got proficiency-point gains for casting a spell on a creature, whether or not it resisted! This was broken compared to the way PP works for all other skills. Now, you don't gain PP by casting a spell unless the spell is NOT resisted by the target. This was a great way to gain PP, but it was unfair and broken, and it now is fixed.
 
* You can no longer equip bows with crossbow bolts and crossbows with arrows. There was a clever loophole making this possible. It was never intended to be this way. Fixed.
|Town Crier tells you, "A renaissance in metallurgy! First there was the rediscovery of Lord Atlan's weapon technology! Now, the master armorers in al-Jalima, Eastham and Kara have found ways to utilize shadow and crystal items."
* Fixed bug where you couldn't strafe while walking or running in Thrown Combat mode.
|Town Crier tells you, "But between you and me, they are very touchy! They will only make one suit of armor of a particular quality for you. They will make another of different quality without complaint, but if you ask for a suit similar to one they already gave you, they become very rude!
* Now if you cannot put a new craft object into your inventory (due to its being full or your being too encumbered), then you will get an error message and not complete the act. (You actually get a success then an error message; we will fix that later.) Still, it's a bad idea to have your main inventory be full, or to be at maximum encumbrance.
 
* When shopping with maxed-out encumbrance, you'll find transactions are a bit easier. Still not a good idea, though.
|Town Crier tells you, "News! Three new Festival Grounds have been created for the enjoyment of all athletically - inclined people of Dereth. They are near the Wintersebb Festival Stone east of Qalaba'r, the Leafcull Festival Stone west of Yanshi, and the Leafdawning Festival Stone west of Rithwic."
* Artifex Vault has a fix to a locked door that was confounding.
* Lure Blade 1 updated. Was using wrong component. Lure Blade and Turn Blade spells had problems since they both shared the same formula.
* When appraising lockable items, if you have the lockpick skill, they now display their lockpick difficulty appropriately.
* True Value can now be cast on orbs, wands, and scrolls.
* Olthoi Noble and Queen can fit through smaller spaces . . . beware.
* Wells and Fountains in towns should be usable by players to get water. The solution here is pretty cool. Flasks can be used from a player's inventory on a well to get water! Shopkeepers sell flasks.
* No matter what your Alchemy skill, as long as it is trained, you will use the Smelting Pot successfully.
* Spell icons for Blade Bane/Lure, Bludgeon Bane/Lure, Acid Bane/Lure, Frost Bane/Lure, and Fire Bane/Lure updated with proper colors.
* Life magic spells no longer work against characters in the purple-bubble stage before they materialize from a teleport.
* A clever exploit made it possible to hold a chest open and leave the area. Not anymore.
* You get a confirmation dialog when using uncharged mana stones on items that would be destroyed.
* Errant "Tool was destroyed" messages fixed.
* New creature emotes allow more flexible creative effects.
* New technology introduced that sets the stage for more complex questing.
* You can now use extended/accented characters in chat.
* The dart (or whatever) throwing animations pushed a character back each throw -- back, back, back . . . Fixed.
* Lugian Boulder launch needed a sound. Well I did better. I provided a sound for the Lugian boulder launch AND collision. And the landing now sounds NICE and LOUD!!!
* Texture memory warning should only appear once after startup and after settings are changed.
* Various infusions and oils now look like they should, with colored bottles as they appear on the ground matching the icons in inventory.
* Female chest used to sink when putting on certain armors, allowing her head to float above her body slightly. No more.
* Scrolled examine panel will now stay at the scroll point when its data is refreshed. Makes it easier to examine something when its mana is dropping.
* After you inscribe an item, shortcut keys 1-9 could stop working. Fixed.
* Golem stomp attacks no longer sound like sword-swishes, instead they sound like large stomps!
* Projectile spells were colliding with floors of liquid hot magma! Fixed.
* Overrode Mountain Rat level to 20 and added 346 CP. Rats are no harder; their level and CP are now more in line with their toughness.
* Aluvian shopkeepers that sell bundles of arrowheads now buy them back. Others are being fixed later.
* Icon for Iron Ore should look like a lump of rock, not an ingot. Fixed.
* Slag item should look more like slag. Fixed.
* Silencia's Golem emoted when handed an item, and it sounded like cows eating grass, according to the bug. OK, so it sounded like SCRATCHING, which all creatures do, but we agree that it was a bit too small a sound, and replaced it with grinding rock.
* Empyrean lighthouse final degrade happens much farther back now.
* Lightning Elementals bleed better!
* Some male robes looked crummy at the back, many people claimed to look like a hunchback. Wanted me to either fix it or provide them chapel bell towers. I opted to fix it.
* Skeletons never "bled" with particles from their top half. Fixed.
* Add sound, degrade to the beeswarm.
* Brittlemain and Impenetrability spells were using the wrong visual effect. Fixed.
* Inscriptions and parchment/book text should be less prone to getting wiped out under odd circumstances.
* The lightning dart particle effect is now positioned correctly.
* Attempting to cast a spell whilst running caused character to stop but didn't cast spell. Fixed.
* Creatures have a level-up effect now. Level up a bunny today!


|Town Crier tells you, "News! The heritage groups have published a book on weddings, available at scribes. Despite the ominous atmosphere, love is in the air, and people are getting married. The resilience of life is amazing."


----
|Town Crier tells you, "Have you noticed the changes in the sky? Though all is peaceful now, some say the distribution of monsters has changed: perhaps they sense a coming storm. But the rabbits seem to be reproducing as usual, so the storm must be a ways off yet. Thank goodness!"


|Town Crier tells you, "News! Ominous floating monstrosities have appeared all over our island! Many people are holding their breath waiting for something to happen, but there is no sign of activity. Some even say they are empty. Magical experts have determined that it is unlikely that the strange spires pose any immediate threat."


|Town Crier tells you, "These dark spires loom quietly for now, and experts agree they do not pose any immediate threat. However, I heard a rumor that some people are being taken inside of them and subjected to strange questions. What power can play with mortals like this?"


|Town Crier tells you, "The Great Sage, Aleister the Loquacious, has published a treatise on fused gems. He certainly earned his name. He is quite long-winded, and very full of himself, to boot."


|Town Crier tells you, "That dratted pollen has finally subsided! I can breathe freely once again!"


----
|Town Crier tells you, "Is it just me, or do the lowly Drudges now look somehow more...menacing?"


|Town Crier tells you, "Books are now available at the capital cities' scribes that detail scholars' that detail scholars amazing discoveries about the strange crystals that have been acquired from the shadows and the remnants of the Great Work."
}}


== Related Articles ==
* [[Announcements - 2000/03 - Darkness Ascendant#Rollout Article|Rollout Article]]
* [[Announcements - 2000/03 - Darkness Ascendant#Teaser|Teaser]]
* [[Announcements - 2000/03 - Darkness Ascendant#Release Notes|Release Notes]]
* [[Announcements - 2000/03 - Darkness Ascendant#Letter to the Players|Letter to the Players]]
* [[Announcements - 2000/03 - Darkness Ascendant#State of the Code|State of the Code]]


== Media ==
<gallery>
File:Spire2.jpg
File:Lightdark.jpg
File:Sneak.jpg
File:Olthoidark1.jpg
File:Olthoidark2.jpg
File:Magmadark.jpg
File:Obsidiandark.jpg
File:Wood1.jpg
File:Water1.jpg
File:Sandstone1.jpg
File:Portaldat 200003.png|Portal.dat
</gallery>


[[Category:Patch]]
[[Category:Events]]

Latest revision as of 13:05, 13 November 2020

March 2000 - Announcements Page

Game Changes Edit

  • Shadow Hunter Armor introduced.
  • Sticky Melee introduced.
  • Colored lighting effects introduced. Many lights, including the sun and moon, will now cast colored light in both hardware and software modes.
  • Drudges and Golems have received new artwork.
  • Dagger's skill damage modifier is now determined by coordination instead of strength.
  • You can now use objects containing water to fill Empty Flasks!

You fetch some water from the well!
  • Objects containing water can now be used to fill empty flasks.
  • Spell icons for Blade Bane/Lure, Bludgeon Bane/Lure, Acid Bane/Lure, Frost Bane/Lure, and Fire Bane/Lure updated with proper colors.
  • Iron Ore and Slag icons updated.

User Interface Updates Edit

  • You get a confirmation dialog when using uncharged mana stones on items that would be destroyed.
  • The Bane and Lure spell icons now have unique colors.

New Quests Edit

New Events Edit

New NPCs Edit

New Locations Edit

New Points of Interest Edit

New Items Edit

Armor

Greater Amuli Shadow Leggings (Pre-Patch) Greater Amuli Shadow Coat (Pre-Patch) Greater Koujia Shadow Leggings (Pre-Patch) Greater Koujia Shadow Breastplate (Pre-Patch) Greater Koujia Shadow Sleeves (Pre-Patch) Greater Celdon Shadow Leggings (Pre-Patch) Greater Celdon Shadow Girth (Pre-Patch) Greater Celdon Shadow Breastplate (Pre-Patch) Greater Celdon Shadow Sleeves (Pre-Patch) Amuli Shadow Leggings Amuli Shadow Coat Koujia Shadow Leggings Koujia Shadow Breastplate Koujia Shadow Sleeves Celdon Shadow Leggings Celdon Shadow Girth Celdon Shadow Breastplate Celdon Shadow Sleeves Lesser Amuli Shadow Leggings Lesser Amuli Shadow Coat Lesser Koujia Shadow Leggings Lesser Koujia Shadow Breastplate Lesser Koujia Shadow Sleeves Lesser Celdon Shadow Leggings Lesser Celdon Shadow Girth Lesser Celdon Shadow Breastplate Lesser Celdon Shadow Sleeves

Quest Items

Dark Speck Dark Sliver Dark Shard Shadow Fragment Cracked Shard Tiny Shard Small Shard Crystal Fragment Scintillating Gem Sparkling Gem Glimmering Gem

Text Items

A Treatise on the Properties of Fused Gems The Wedding Guide

Updated Items Edit

Font Fountain Pool Vat Well Iron Ore Slag

New Creatures Edit

Shadow

Target

New Dialog Edit

Town Crier

Town Crier tells you, "The pollen was not so bad. My counterparts from the Sho and Aluvian lands must have weak constitutions."

Town Crier tells you, "High-ranking monarchs have been approached by an unknown presence and subjected to grueling tests on a distant island. Apparently this entity, whatever it is, does not think much of our monarchs. Might this have something to do with the frightful apparition in the lightning flashes?"

Town Crier tells you, "The shadow spires have appeared in the vicinity of these towns: Eastham, Cragstone, Tufa, Khayyaban, Tou Tou, and Sawato. There are rumors of a few others out in the wilderness, all just as quiet and inactive. What purpose they serve or will serve is not yet known, though some have been said to have been within them."

Town Crier tells you, "Just between you and me, I remember the sun being brighter long ago, before the sudden winter."

Town Crier tells you, "Yesterday I found a Wool Fez of Willpower!"

Town Crier tells you, "A renaissance in metallurgy! First there was the rediscovery of Lord Atlan's weapon technology! Now, the master armorers in al-Jalima, Eastham and Kara have found ways to utilize shadow and crystal items."

Town Crier tells you, "But between you and me, they are very touchy! They will only make one suit of armor of a particular quality for you. They will make another of different quality without complaint, but if you ask for a suit similar to one they already gave you, they become very rude!

Town Crier tells you, "News! Three new Festival Grounds have been created for the enjoyment of all athletically - inclined people of Dereth. They are near the Wintersebb Festival Stone east of Qalaba'r, the Leafcull Festival Stone west of Yanshi, and the Leafdawning Festival Stone west of Rithwic."

Town Crier tells you, "News! The heritage groups have published a book on weddings, available at scribes. Despite the ominous atmosphere, love is in the air, and people are getting married. The resilience of life is amazing."

Town Crier tells you, "Have you noticed the changes in the sky? Though all is peaceful now, some say the distribution of monsters has changed: perhaps they sense a coming storm. But the rabbits seem to be reproducing as usual, so the storm must be a ways off yet. Thank goodness!"

Town Crier tells you, "News! Ominous floating monstrosities have appeared all over our island! Many people are holding their breath waiting for something to happen, but there is no sign of activity. Some even say they are empty. Magical experts have determined that it is unlikely that the strange spires pose any immediate threat."

Town Crier tells you, "These dark spires loom quietly for now, and experts agree they do not pose any immediate threat. However, I heard a rumor that some people are being taken inside of them and subjected to strange questions. What power can play with mortals like this?"

Town Crier tells you, "The Great Sage, Aleister the Loquacious, has published a treatise on fused gems. He certainly earned his name. He is quite long-winded, and very full of himself, to boot."

Town Crier tells you, "That dratted pollen has finally subsided! I can breathe freely once again!"

Town Crier tells you, "Is it just me, or do the lowly Drudges now look somehow more...menacing?"

Town Crier tells you, "Books are now available at the capital cities' scribes that detail scholars' that detail scholars amazing discoveries about the strange crystals that have been acquired from the shadows and the remnants of the Great Work."

Related Articles Edit

Media Edit

  • Portal.dat

    Portal.dat

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