[Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

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dreameaterx
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[Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:01 pm

Likely most people heard about it already, yet here I am, about to present this rather unusual mod. (Built on v1.10, no idea which one, probably f)

Puppeteer is an unclassifiable mod. It contains something from every corner. It begins very vanilla-ishly, but at a certain point it will start to display a lot of changes. So why is it unclassifiable ? Well, it kind of contains something for everyone out there. New items present, new monsters present, new skills present, new maps present but the most significant change is the story change that starts to be noticeable after a few hours of gameplay.

At the beginning you fight with your vanilla char, with almost vanilla skills. At the end ?
https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-puppeteer/videos
This is how much change there is, though not immediatelly, but during the gameplay.

Main changes:
- a lot of new crafting recipes (and more coming)
- only for normal difficulty (it´s about a story, which story you want to go trough more than once ?)
- a lot faster leveling as there is only one difficulty and you have to reach level 85 to be able to wear the ´´Character change items´´
- remade gems and added gemwords, which are really simple to get and for all gem types
- as the game is harder mercs have been beefed a lot to withstand new enemies and make themselves noticeable (their inventory is not extended though, it does not make sense for you to have to care about equipment of another person, the story is the main point, not babysitting your merc)
- most levels up to fight in Worldstone are almost purely vanilla, after you actually finish the gameplay of first difficulty, you return to normal and start the aftermath maps (new being worked on)
- there are new items
- on start you get a charm which increases xp +150%, gold drop by 90% and magic find by 55% but lowers your damage, mana and life
- In act 1 you have rings, belts and amulets you craft from new materials, these items apply both positive and negative stats which you can choose whether you want to apply to yourself only or the whole party (for example famous ´´Maximise´´ which grants +1000% maximum damage, but lowers life and all resistances)
- in act 2 you got Halls of the Dead where you can craft a variety of new crafted quality items
- in act 3 and 5 you can craft a few new sets which offer new skills or craft a special weapon unfinished weapon prototype which can be upgraded in 10 stages
- and then of course, the items which change your character, due to the story, even for this ´´New character´´ choice, you decide yourself, you can choose from 4 new characters, each of which has, a lot smaller than vanilla characters, but new set of skills, which however suffices and is necessary to finish the mod
- there are new monsters, some also with new skills, some animations ripped from other games
- new superuniques among these new monsters
- new summonables and this time your allies actually join the battle at some places in game (something I thought is a grave mistake that they do not in vanilla)
- a lot of new sounds, music (sets the atmosphere at some places... I hope it does, okay ? :D), and I even went as far as to obtain speech lines for some bosses, and the new characters
- obviously improved drops and there are spots in the mod you can get pretty much any vanilla items at quite quickly
- synergies for vanilla skills from 4 base stats ( build diversity )
- vanilla skills do not require you to have previous vanilla skills

This and many more changes, too many to be listed actually, and more content is coming
Mod is almost fully documented (at least which items serve for what and how to craft them), non-aftermath enemies are even listed in a bestiary with all their stats, and some random descriptions. I even made a list of achievements! It is kind of supposed to help guide the player what are they supposed to do, where are they supposed to go etc. and if you want you can tick the completion. Mod is very linear and straightforward most of the time, sometimes you are even told in quests to go somewhere to get items.

All of this supportive information is available on the mod´s Discord:
>>https://discord.gg/BTfUm7v<<
And of course you can ask any question there, I am available quite a lot.

You can download the mod here:
>>https://www.dropbox.com/sh/23p1ogp8e2al ... WM7Ja?dl=0<<
The files on this link get swapped for the newest version whenever some change happens, log for this is kept on Discord server.

Oh, you install it by putting the second ´´The Puppeteer´´ folder inside the first one into d2se or if you don´t use d2se, place what is inside the second one into your D2 installation directory into your D2 game directory. You need your game to run 1.10 for that though. Then you just make a shortcut with -direct property. DO NOT USE -TXT! If I am not wrong it causes crashes. Oh as I am on crashes already, there is like 10% chance game will crash when making or loading a character. No worries, it does not harm the save anyhow, you just need to restart the game. Vanilla characters will not run. You need items you get on character creation to finish the mod anyway, so no use trying vanilla character.

Current Progress of development:
Main story: Complete

Aftermath ´´expansions´´:
Emilia´s Oath - Complete
Back to the Roots - Complete
Broken Law - Complete
A Storm to Come - Complete

That´s it folks ! I guess. Surely I forgot something though.
Last edited by dreameaterx on Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:10 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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mmpx222
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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by mmpx222 » Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:10 pm

Do you have a list of changes made to skills, or a list of new skills?
dreameaterx wrote:
Wed Feb 20, 2019 4:58 pm
- vanilla skills that do not reuire you to have previous vanilla skills
= All skills are independent, no prerequisites.
D2TXT / D2INI - Python scripts for editing TXT files, or converting between TXT ↔ INI files

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:37 pm

There is a list of changes made to vanilla skills on moddb, the very first picture has a comment under it with list, it´s a skill tree opened on it, most of non-vanilla skills are written about in the big, mostly white picture on the moddb front.

And yes, that is correct, just wrote it in a simplier way.

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Thu Feb 21, 2019 6:49 am

This the list of vanilla skills synergies:

Amazon:
Critical Strike - +1% chance per 30 dexterity
Dodge - +1% chance per 40 dexterity
Avoid - +1% chance per 40 dexterity
Penetrate - +1% attack rating per 5 dexterity
Decoy - +1% life per 4 vitality; +1 second duration per 20 energy
Evade - +1% chance per 40 dexterity
Pierce - +1% chance per 35 strength

Assassin:
Claw Mastery - +1% critical chance per 20 dexterity or strength
Burst of Speed - +1% cast speed per 10 dexterity
Weapon Block - +1% chance per 20 strength
Fade - +1% defense per 10 vitality
Shadow Warrior + Shadow Master - +1% damage per 4 energy; -1 damage taken per 10 vitality

Necromancer:
Raise Skeleton - +1 damage per 3 strength; +1 life per 2 vitality
Revive - +1 second duration per 10 energy
Golem Mastery - +1% damage per strength; +3 attack rating per dexterity; +1% life per 2 vitality; +1% velocity per 15 energy
Fire Golem - +1 fire damage per 2 energy
Bone Armour - +1 absorbtion per 5 energy
Bone Wall - +1% life per 4 energy
Bone Prison - +1% life per 4 energy

Barbarian:
Shout - All Resistances +1 per 15 vitality
Battle Orders - +1% mana recovery per 5 vitality
Battle Command - +1 to all skills per 100 energy
Sword, Axe, Mace Masteries - +1% damage per 5 strength
Pole Arm, Throwing, Spear Masteries - +1% attack rating per 4 dexterity
Increased Stamina - +1% stamina per 3 vitality
Iron Skin - +1% defense per 4 dexterity
Increased Speed - +1% velocity per 10 strength

Paladin:
Prayer - +1 life healed per 5 energy
Defiance - -1 damage taken per 12,5 vitality
Vigor - +1% stamina per 2 vitality; +1% move speed per 10 strength
Might - +1% damage per 3 strength
Blessed Aim - +1% attack rating per 4 dexterity
Concentration - +1% chance uninterruptable per 10 vitality
Fanaticism - +1% attack speed per 5 energy

Sorceress:
Energy Shield - +1% absorbtion per 20 vitality
Warmth - +1% fire skill damage per 7 energy; +1% lightning and cold skill damage per 10 energy
Enchant - +1% attack rating per 4 dexterity

Druid:
Cyclone Armour - +1 absorb per 4 energy
Werewolf - +1% damage per 3 strength
Lycantrophy - +1% life per 5 vitality
Werebear - +1% attack rating per 4 dexterity
Poison Creeper - +1% life per 2 energy
Oak Sage - +1% life per 5 vitality (spirit only)
Carrion Vine - +1% life per 5 vitality
Heart of Wolverine - +1% damage per 5 strength
Spirit of Barbs - +1% reflection per 2 energy

This is the picture containing the main story part of the content, including most of the new skills.
Image
(I know it doesn´t look great, but that´s not the function it is supposed to serve.)

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by mmpx222 » Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:28 am

Wow, that's a very big pic. What program did you use to make that?

Unfortunately, the image is too big for my phone--I can't properly zoom in. Maybe splitting the pic into smaller pics would help.

I also read your post on Will of Eternals. It's rather hard to read, because the descriptions of game mechanics are jumbled with the lore/plot/story.

You could reorganize the article to make it it easier to read. I suggest dividing the article into sections. Each section can describe one Eternal, using:
  • 1 paragraph for the backstory
  • 1 paragraph for the gameplay info
  • A list of skills the Eternal can use
D2TXT / D2INI - Python scripts for editing TXT files, or converting between TXT ↔ INI files

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Thu Feb 21, 2019 4:51 pm

Downloading the pic on phone helps for me, also this link: https://i.ibb.co/c2dTZp7/Guide.jpg

I´ll see what I can do about the post.

It doesn´t seem to be possible to divide gameplay and skills without complete rewriting in some cases, though.

Edit: I edited it a bit, might have some mistakes in it now though, hope it´s better than before.

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:21 am

Hello :)

I'd like to inform interested that I am going to release a new "expansion" soon. As every expansion had before, this one will aswell have the following features which I require from myself for every expansion. Every expansion always had:
- new map, preferably a spaceous one
- new monsters with new skills or skills that have not been used in such manner
- new collectibles, which have to improve you stats-wise
- new lore or semi-logical events explanation

In this is expansion I combine volf's creepy Tristram and graveyard tileset from multimedia section (thanks to both creators)

A few screens are available on moddb. :lol:
More on mod's Discord.

With that I'd also like to announce I am looking for testers. The mod is generally very roughly tested, just so that things "seem" alright, as so far I am almost on my own, regarding development. How can you help ? You don't need to know how to mod, actually, might possibly be better if you do not (though modders are also welcome), just give it a shot and share what and how should be improved.

Thanks in advance :D

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:07 pm


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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by moscitor » Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:18 am

i dont know what to do in this mod, i can't cube anything, only the skull, but with the resullt, that the game crashes with a "c00000005"
no new stories, but a new gem without description...

€: maybe I have to play this mod in English an not in german, but don't know how...
There is as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:38 am

In theory, if you use english files as german, there should be no problem. The files are located in data/local/lng/eng. Rename the eng to de. It should read the files okay, as far as I know, german should not miss any english letters. Report if you have any further troubles. For faster response join Discord.

It should not be impossible to cube something only due to different langauge. c000005s also shouldn't pop up. How did you install the mod ? Put the folder into D2se ?

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by moscitor » Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:06 am

yes, I used the D2SE-install
the 64-bit download via moddb didn't load...

later on I will try a fresh installation, maybe my median installation-files are involved... (don't like the new median-installer, I would prefer a D2SE-plugin)
There is as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:37 pm

Hit me up afterwards about how did it go.

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by moscitor » Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:20 pm

no improvment...

€: now on discord

Image
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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:21 pm

A stream record with muted music half of the video and low quality. - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/412865266

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by gogodanny » Sun Apr 21, 2019 1:24 pm

Hey it sounds amazing and I'm trying to run it. the Downloader can't find the file though ...

Is there anything I'm doing wrong?
only 2 things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity ... although i'm not sure yet about the universe (c) Albert Einstein
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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Sun Apr 21, 2019 4:01 pm

No, you are not. I apologise but the installer no longer works. It has been archived so there should be a pop-up saying it is no longer supported. I will request help from the person who made it if he could check out what is wrong with it.

You will have to install it manually. Download the file from moddb or dropbox open the archive, then open The Puppeteer and there is another The Puppeteer in there. Extract the second one to your MODS folder for D2SE. Then run it trough D2SE.

In case you do not use D2SE, extract the files from the second The Puppeteer folder into your game directory - data and plugy.ini, no need to extract d2se_setup.ini as you won´t be using it. If you aren´t using plugy (you need to have plugy applied to your d2gfx.dll for it to work without d2se for this mod - tell me if you need help with this), no need for plugy.ini either. Now make a shortcut from Diablo II.exe, right-click it and select properties. The lines there will read "C:\Program Files (x86)\Diablo II\Diablo II.exe" and the second one "C:\Program Files (x86)\Diablo II" or something else, depending on whether you installed the game into default directory or custom. To the first line add -direct. So together it will look like "C:\Program Files (x86)\Diablo II\Diablo II.exe" -direct. Now you can launch the mod using this shortcut while you can still play vanilla when launching Diablo II.exe itself. The game will only read mod files when you have this shortcut within your game directory, you cannot move it on desktop or somewhere else.

Hope it helps, contact me if you need any further help.

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by gogodanny » Sun May 05, 2019 1:16 pm

Hi there,
sorry it took some time.
I finally managed to properly install everything and launch the game.
So far I'm at A1 outer cloister and encountered zero bugs so far.

My findings so far:
1- difficulty is nice, especially if the charm is equipped.
2 - kiting is mandatory, proper usage of items found is as well
3 - droprates are abysmal :-/ (lvl 28, no set, no unique)
4 - the 1000% dmg amulet is kinda mandatory, as enemies (re-)spawn so quickly and u can't deal proper damage without it
5 - Zero deaths so far (luck i guess?) - playing as amazon ...
6 - Until now I played with Charm, now I had to dodge it, as I need the damage (again no good drops) from the amulet
7 - Merc is finally useful (YAY!)

Hope this doesn't sound too harsh, I just rate my experience so far and want to share :-)
only 2 things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity ... although i'm not sure yet about the universe (c) Albert Einstein
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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Mon May 06, 2019 10:08 am

Not at all, thank you for feedback. I'll comment on your points.

3. I guess bad luck ? I usually do drop a few of them in A1 already. I should have proof on youtube, as I recorded gameplay. It's still rng so I cannot do much about it except rising it in general. Depending on your further progress I might have a look at it, possibly rise it, there will be places where you can get solid items regardless of rng.

4. Depending on your character and build it may seem so, but f.e. my paladin did not, ama did not, melee assassin did not There should be several ways of aquiring solid damage numbers. I recommend getting more of these items for easy adaptability.

5. This is where your luck went it seems, I died several times myself here, though likely due to my attempt to evade usage of potions. Again visible on record.

6. I almost never had to take it off, just needed a bit more awareness to not die. It is a tool, use it to your advantage.

1,2,7. Thanks ^^, I'm trying to build it so that player needs to stay aware of his enviroment, aswell as tried to make mercs more useful, though they seem to have some early game xp problems. Hope it will entertain.
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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Sat Jun 22, 2019 9:40 am

A new update for the mod has come out. A lot had to be rebalanced for the mod difficulty not to stand on players x command.

For further info visit https://moddb.com/mods/the-puppeteer

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Re: [Mod Presentation] The Puppeteer

Post by dreameaterx » Mon Jun 24, 2019 6:34 pm

Some more news on moddb.

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