Asphyxia -- By: Azenn
THIS REQUIRES 1.22 AND MOTB
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In the depths of the frozen north, secrets of the past lie buried under the thick sheets of ice and snow. Icewind Dale, a recently settled land at the peak of Faerun, beckons many to its lawless domain. Yet, at what price will the indigenous people -- the local barbarians -- have to pay for the encroaching outsiders? And what ancient dangers of the past lay in wait, ready to take advantage of the new turmoil? That is for the destined to find out...
Updated: 4/12/09 - Version 1.09
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Credits:
Music:
Planescape:Torment � Mark Morgan and Richard Band
Icewind Dale 2 � Inon Zur
Baldur's Gate � Michael Hoenig
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Final Note:
Please post any bugs, feedback, questions, concerns or hate mail here in the comment section.
Either that, or email me at [email protected]. I promise I will read it and get back to you.
I would greatly appreciate any advice (even if you don't want to vote) that I can use when working on the next module, whenever that may be. Thanks again for playing, I hope you enjoy it!
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Version 1.09 changelog:
- Brightened many of the interiors.
- Fixed crash bug when removing companions.
- They should also have skills now.
- Other minor stuff.
Tell me if any of this doesn't work. Thanks.
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Portal Puzzle Solution:
You should be able to find the solution in your journal, but if not: go through the portal directly opposite the entrance staircase. When you get ported back to the entrance, simply run back and go through the very same portal again.
Although the author explicitly states that he had paid little attention to source material, it shows that a lot of work went into creating the setting. The way it was presented through use of object 'examine' descriptions, books and dialogue had me very very interested throughout my playthrough. I had some difficulty with itemisation, I ended up with two dex-based dual wielders and very few weapons that were useful. I thought at first about writing that as a critique in my mini-review, but to be honest it was fitting for most weapons in barbarian country to be big and brutal. Area design was just right, and coupled with the background music the atmosphere felt like a good fit in most places. Nothing that really blew me away, but it was solid and likeable. Of course, you can't really go wrong with soundtracks from the Black Isle classics. Fights were overall quite balanced. I had to do a couple of reloads in some cases, but that is part of the challenge. The final battle could've been made slightly harder, though. I beat that encounter without effort, and without needing any sort of healing. For your interest: I played with Korazen, Arilyn, the wizard's apprentice (forgot her name) and myself being a swashbuckler. What I was a little less happy about were the companions. There was nothing wrong with them in essence, and I did enjoy their input in conversations a lot, but I felt there was not enough opportunity to affect them (or for them to affect me, for that matter). If I tried to talk to them again about the same subjects later on, their disposition still hadn't changed one bit, despite suggestions in scripted dialogue elsewhere that it should have. What happened near the end came too late and felt a little forced. I also didn't get how my halfling companion kept liking my manipulative LE character and treating him like a friend until the end. She must be really stubborn in her ignorance ;) Another part I was not overly impressed by was the story. It started out strong with the jailbreak and a mystery to solve, but I find that it derailed afterwards. It tried to be epic in some parts and personal in others, but I felt that it didn't strike the balance right, which left me caring little about either part. It didn't help much that the question 'why me?' was never truly answered either. The part that was so shamelessly copied from the Warcraft history was painfully facepalm-worthy. Linearity sometimes caused issues. I knew who was Thalabesh before I knew who Tim was, but the module gave me no option to confront him about it. And some dialogue, particularly in the part with the bandit hideout, didn't make much sense if you decided to take another route than the 'intended' one. Overall still a very good module. I especially enjoyed the atmosphere, as well as the dialogue and the humour therein, which kept me wanting more and enjoying myself to the end of it.
Posted by Fanos at on07/13/10
Solid FR ;)
Posted by verduran at on05/17/10
Very enjoyable, this module reminds me how I felt when I started playing my first custom module in NWN1 - it's a very different experience from the OCs and cam probably only exist in custom mods. Haven't encounter any of the game stopping bugs mentioned on the other comments so it's all good for me. The plot-line is absolute ANARCHIC - but made up with the excellent storytelling and dialogues. It ended a bit abruptly though, maybe since the author had the plan of a sequel in mind, the fate of the Bunny-Slaying guild was undecided, a little comment on what happens to the bandit leader (provided that u didn't kill him) would have been nice, the second treasure map u get which I can only suppose meant it's in Hell, the ignorant of Ilmater initiate may lead somewhere, the monk in the inn that won't talk much, the werewolf and the lumberjack's dialogue leading to nowhere other than bloodshed (which I avoided), the vampire that swore vengeance if u chose to kill him, the multiple named bunnies around the module (and the non-responding bear). I would kill for a sequel to this but, as Azenn has mentioned earlier there (probably) won't be one. So I'll have to work those with my imagination =P. There's one thing I have to confess, I'm sort of a companion-holic, I love hearing my companions commenting on current events, so I chose to bring along all 5 of them with me, I have thus not taken the difficulty of fights in consideration. (and I really like how the companions work out, good work on that) Most of the bugs I've encountered have been mentioned in other comments, though I did get a 2da missing picture on one of the loading screen, the only files I got in my override was the ambient file and Tony K so I'm not sure what's wrong there. Speaking of loading screen, I really would recommend working with some custom ones, since seeing a peaceful countryside in sunlight really breaks the atmosphere when u are traveling in some creepy place. I do have 1 question though, during the first act there's a door opposite to the drow lich sector with a mysterious man standing outside, is there a way to there? (since I was unable to get there and was wondering what the man's doing there if that part is inaccessible) Gonna play some Live Forever now, wish me luck =)
Posted by Wendek at on05/11/10
Wow, truly an excellent mod. The end is especially awesome -without it i would have rated something like 8.5 tbh- . On the plus sides, the fights are balanced (or mby it felt easier because i played a priest unlike what I do usually, and they own) and we get some decent equipment. The story is quite good, not the best out there but enough, and the characters are alive, with their thoughts, motivations and such. On the less good side : i had a bug at the entry of the Forlorn Tomb, which led me back to Arithark since I mostly use quicksave. The module could definitely use more auto-saving in case a nub like me screws up -i saved when the cult member was running and the conversation wouldn't trigger afterwards-. Speaking of this fight, it is quite absurd : quite difficult (found it harder than the final fight), but with almost no reward, be it experience or items. Quite surprising since there are really good items as rewards of much easier fights (such as Miserymaker). And the mod could use some Alignement shift depending on the acts. Technically you can play a lawful good paladin and do evil everywhere. (even if I don't see why would one want to do that) That's it. Even if the "less good" part looks bigger, it doesn't change anything to the fact I really liked this mod. Looking forward to the next one, although the introduction seems quite meh. But I'm sure I'm wrong. =)
Posted by EggSoup at 2010-04-2818:29:44
Seems broken... SoZ compatible?
Posted by Dave24 at 2010-04-1219:18:38
Getting ready to exit the prison, have 2 quick questions. Where is the cook referenced in the map from the library? Is there someone who can read that book found in the warden's room?
Posted by Dave24 at 2010-04-1219:17:15
Getting ready to exit the prison, have 2
Posted by Sumguy at on03/17/10
Great mod. The story conversations sound like they are straight from "Mysterious Gibberish for Dummies" and up to the very end you always get this "What the hell? Is everybody on acid?"-feeling but other than that it's very nice and reccomendable. Liked the conflicted companions.
Posted by Bumpus at 2010-03-0112:30:13
this looks really cool
Posted by MrMaunus at on01/27/10
Definitely worth playing (One of the best modules I've played this far).. Loved it :-) Good humor, nice area design, great story, liked the design of magical gear and atmospheric music.. Only thing to complain about is the gray hairs I got from battling with Ozymandias or what was the name of the mummy. (At least over ten tries I think. Maybe even over twenty. Well maybe you could also take this positively as a challenge. :-) ) Thanks for your effort put to this Azenn!! Appreciate it.. Is there a sequel what was implied in the ending? Hope to see some other works of yours.
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking 9 - Outstanding, a Must Have 8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation 5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements 3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized 2 - Very Little Appeal 1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
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