For 2019

[Calidor]

I’d still love to see hidden PCs lose that protection after a certain number of turns.

[PTRILEY]

   Halflings for example are now reasoned to have human wizards friendly to Halflings, rather than the wizards themselves be Halflings.

If this is the case, could Dragons not have human fighters too? Like in the Dragonlance worlds.  Mercenaries?

[Acererak]

All well posited and I have no disagreement.  Its just a question of the development "pie" available is consumed with the highest priorities of the new map, any kingdom anywhere and what it takes to make that work, some fairly important spell and spell list rework as has been posted, and a few other things.  I agree the Dark Elves are about the most powerful kingdom and if we can swing it we will be neutering some of their traits as well as changing some of the spell lists.  On the other hand, the most magic deprived are going to have better spell lists.  Halflings for example are now reasoned to have human wizards friendly  to Halflings, rather than the wizards themselves be Halflings.

Yep, totally understand Rick. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

[Ry Vor]

Obviously I'm most excited about the two things that are most striking to any that play:

1. The new Maelstrom map with its 13 regions.  While we did a refreshed, better looking map for The Resurgence, used throughout The Choosing, and we introduced the Centauria map for Duels, and I have at least three other maps that haven't been brought to the light of play like the Kingdoms of Arcania map, The Resurgent map was largely the original map from 1987 to not shake up what would likely be all returning player and the nostalgia aspect.  Avalon island had three areas instead of one, and Viperhead was moved to the other side of Terror, borders changed and regional shape, but largely it was similar with the same 10 regions and seas.  Maelstrom is all new with now 12 regions and no overtly dispersed kingdoms, with each region being different in play, and of course;
   
2. Now its very exciting to me to see a game who is loved I believe in no small part due to the vast differences between kingdoms and how they play and their inherent strategies now be unshackled from a designated starting position and how they might be selected anywhere, and also how that dynamic simultaneously allows virtually unlimited possibilities of kingdoms in any given game:  Druid and Elves, Dark Elves and Lizardmen, Warlock and Dwarves, etc. 
   

Then we will see how the new, somewhat streamlined model of PC Improvements works, as well as the adjustments to magic, with several key spells changing power levels, the less magical getting core spells such as Ward and Heal earlier and having at least 4 wizards/adepts at the beginning with Power 5 at least assured.  And some new useful spells, rather than having new spells just to have new.  With all that, there will be a new, more pronounced distinction between the mage kingdoms. A new set of recruitable, higher powered brigades that reflect the nature of the region.

And with all this, clearly the hope we get back a good share of the players who have been on hiatus from Alamaze.

[Wookie Panz]

I know many are excited to play this for the first time.  Are we weeks away at this point?
Do you see a a few test games first or what?
Will we continue to build upon the same Vahalla or start a new one?

[Ry Vor]

I know many are excited to play this for the first time.  Are we weeks away at this point?
Do you see a a few test games first or what?
Will we continue to build upon the same Vahalla or start a new one?

I would guess February for tests.  I wanted a new Valhalla but I don't think I'm getting that.

[unclemike]

I know many are excited to play this for the first time.  Are we weeks away at this point?
Do you see a a few test games first or what?
Will we continue to build upon the same Vahalla or start a new one?

I would guess February for tests.  I wanted a new Valhalla but I don't think I'm getting that.

I'm the bottleneck but I think we can get a test in a couple of weeks or so. It all depends on how much time that I have in January. I'm already getting more assignments in real life so the clock is running out on us for enhancing Maelstrom any further.

I contacted Rick back on Dec 4 about doing a Maelstrom release to keep Alamaze going and to attract more players. We discussed various options in how much we can get done during the holidays but he had to cut a lot out of Maelstrom due to my limited availability.

I completed most of the development work during the xmas break. I wasn't happy working during the holidays but I got a lot done. I'll be posting 4th Cycle Maelstrom Release Notes in UM Corner when I'm ready so stay tuned on what game features will be included with the initial Maelstrom release.

During this month, I need to do some functional testing on my changes and upgrade some of the websites to handle both The Choosing and Maelstrom games simultaneously. That's not an easy effort by the way. In fact, it's quite difficult in some areas. Valhalla was on the list but looks like it'll have to wait until later in 2019 along with some other things.

For the initial release of Maelstorm, the game queue may only be able to create a limited number of games and formats. Steel being the priority. The others may have to wait until later in the year when I have more time to make the changes. That doesn't mean that Warlords and other types of games won't be possible, just that Rick will need to create the other game formats via the server's game creation utility program instead that being automated by the game queue.

So for some formats, it'll be like old times where players send support their kingdom/region choices and Rick will create the game manually via the game creation utility program. The server game creation program is more flexible than the game queue. It can create a variety of Maelstrom games like having 2-12 players in a game to get started sooner or have players control more than one kingdom/region in a game, etc. The possibilities open up with the flexibility of the game creation program because the game queue website is limited in what it can offer.

I've already let Rick know about all of this and he wants the game queue to handle all game formats because then there won't be any errors that way but due to the time that I have left, Maelstrom games may have to be created by the server's program instead of the game queue website for a while.

The order entry website is my highest priority of course so I'm concentrating nearly all of my time in getting that to work with both The Choosing and Maelstrom games. I'll try to get more done during the Easter break and throughout the year but I can't say how much until then. Stay tuned for now. Maelstrom is just around the corner...

[VballMichael]

Thanks UM for all of your help. Let me know if there is anything I can do, though I know nothing about programming. I am pretty good at writing, so let me know if you need any proofing, writing or editing on spells, battles, etc....

[Ry Vor]

The new Maelstrom Spells include:

Winged Horse
Charm
Invisible Character
Blanket of Fog
Wind in Our Sails
Glorious Day
Falcon Familiar
Gargoyle

Guesses?

Also, lots of power level changes.  One, to make the mage kingdoms more distinct, and probably more surprisingly, that instead of mage kingdoms always getting more spells and earlier, they specialize more and even some basic spells don't go to some of the mage kingdoms.  And some of the core basic spells go earlier to the non-magical kingdoms.  For example, Dwarves now (as in Maelstrom) get Shield at P1 instead of P2.  But the Warlock might not get Sleep until P3, and the Necromancer may never have a Dire Wolf familiar.  Just examples.  Several less magical kingdoms have significant improvements in their P1 - P3 lists.

[Calidor]

Winged Horse- Spelled version of Great Bats or Pegasus
Charm- Create a Double Agent
Invisible Character- Hmmm...
Blanket of Fog- Interferes with recons and scrying. Actually would be cool if we could interfere with Divinations too.;
Wind in Our Sails- Ships go farther
Glorious Day- Combat bonus
Falcon Familiar- Deliver private messages (would be really cool!).
Gargoyle- Summons a Gargoyle to protect and defend for 1 turn