Eschalon: Book II Feature List

To give us something new to chew on, Basilisk Games has revealed a list of features they intend to implement in their upcoming Eschalon sequel.

ENGINE
* 1024 x 768 native resolution
* Numerous optimizations implemented which improved engine speed (up to 30%) and lowers RAM usage.
* All tiles have been re-rendered to take advantage of the higher engine resolution.
* Enhanced lighting and special effects.
* New weather effects: snow, rain, and thunderstorms. Weather isn’t just a special effect; severe weather effects gameplay stats and skills.
* “Brightness Booster” option for players who are afraid of the dark.
* In-game control over sound volume has been improved
* Audio driver selectable at launch for improved hardware compatibility or the option to shut off all game sounds.
* Rebuilt timer function which should fix the problems associated with leaving your computer on for long periods of time.
* Most keyboard commands can now be remapped via .cfg file.
* The saved game location can be alerted via a statement in the .cfg file.
* Saved game function rebuilt with more redundancy and error catching to cut down on the number of bad saved games.
* Numerous updates to the scripting engine and file handling, making the game one step closer to being fully modable.

GUI
* New GUI layout
* Additional save game slots (20 total)
* Increased number of Inventory slots (79 total)
* Increased number of Quick Slot spaces (10 total)
* New Key Ring feature: any key acquired is placed on a virtual key ring and does not take up inventory space.
* Enhanced Alchemy mixer with one-click mixing via a built-in recipe book
* Two “equipment configuration” presets for convenient swapping of armor and weapons sets.
* You can now dump torches by right-clicking on the torch icon.
* Walking via keyboard
* “Health meters” on objects while bashing show exactly how much structural integrity remains

GAME PLAY
* 7 new spells; several existing spells have been altered/upgraded.
* Gender Selection (play as a male or female character).
* Selectable attack mode alters damage and accuracy based on character ability and enemy stats.
* Parry mode for defensive posturing when needed.
* New skill: Repair. Used in fixing worn equipment for better performance or increased value before selling.
* New skill: Foraging. Used to increase your chance of finding food and alchemy components during your travels.
* Significant skill rebalancing for more unified progression.
* Weapons and armor now deteriorate realistically with use (optional). Increasing your weapon and armor skills slows deterioration rate, and the Repair Skill can be used to fix damaged equipment.
* Food and Water now a factor in survival. Long treks into deep dungeons will require planning and preparation. (Optional)
* Powder kegs can now be picked up and dropped in new locations which makes for strategic game play options.
* Game world objects more dynamic: explosions and fire can affect objects; more objects are usable.
* Rebuilt the luminosity function to remove exploits. This corrects the “Torch exploit” as well as balancing “Hide in Shadow” better.
* New difficulty modes and tracked statistics add to replay value.
* New item generation function for thousands of unique weapon and armor variations.
* Difficulty settings for easier or more challenging gameplay.

MISC
* Improved User’s Manual with additional game information often requested by players
* In the Character Editor, pressing F1-F5 now loads premade character data into the editor and allows you to modify it from there, rather than just automatically starting the game with a pre-designed character.