[Adv] Terrarivania: Concerto of Harmony - An Exploration-based Multiplayer Adventure Map

Download for BETA: http://www.curseforge.com/media/files/573/830/Terrarivania_Concerto_of_Harmony_BETA_VERSION.zip

*READ FIRST*

This is the BETA version of the map! For all intents and purposes, the gameplay portion of the map is complete. However, the reason it's taken me so long to release this map is because of the story. It's long and stuff. It's like I'm basically writing a full-fledged RPG here. Yep, still working on that. However, I've been sitting on the complete version of this map since NOVEMBER, and have been dying to release it! So, to preserve my sanity, and to hopefully provide you with a jolly good time, I present to you the BETA version of the sequel/prequel to Terrarivania! Terrarivania: Concerto of Harmony!

Please! If you encounter any issues, TELL ME! The map is in BETA, and it definitely still needs work. If you see a place where I can improve, please voice your opinion as well! I'm working hard at finishing the story for the map, so I apologize ahead of time if direction is blurred; that's all contextual and will be covered when the story is ready. However, if there are some fatal gameplay flaws, I would really like to know about them so I can fix them later!

Features: Classic Metroidvania gameplay within the Terraria engine! Now with multiplayer!

Approximately 5 hours in length solo, 3-4 hours in multiplayer!

5 player class-based multiplayer RPG system, with single player functionality as well!

Watch as your characters become stronger as you progress deeper into Chateau de Chauvais!

Rules: (These rules supercede those found on the first sign in the map, as I could not fit everything on one sign. Sorry =P)

Up to 5 players allowed!

DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM ANOTHER CHARACTER'S CHEST!

Only the premade characters are allowed (take a new one in and see why this is an issue).

No pickaxes, hammers, or axes allowed. (Pickaxes found in the map are used as keys, and can only be used when allowed.)

No explosives (bombs, dynamite).

No cobwebs. No crafting.

No picking up torches/glowsticks or using them in your inventory.

NO MINING OR PLACING ANYTHING WHATSOEVER!

No buying anything but Health Potions, Wooden Arrows, Shurikens, and the mining helmet from the merchant.

Bosses must be fought in order to take the contents of their chest.

Signs with tall torches are story signs, don't miss them if you don't want to be lost!

Most importantly, have fun!

Notes: Everything needed to progress should be available without having to suicide.

Places where you are expected to use the provided pickaxes are marked by signs that say this: "This wall appears to be breakable... Maybe with the right tool." (Or some variation thereof)

Obsidian anywhere on the map is breakable, whether or not it is marked. This is the only material you are allowed to break on sight.

The map is a sequel/prequel to the original Terrarivania. However, you don't need to have played that map to be able to enjoy this map (especially since the beta version is lacking story at the moment ).

Should also note that this map has been complete since November, a.k.a. before 1.1, so unfortunately it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a 1.1 map (I originally planned to have this complete before that fated patch, but alas...)

Yes, harpies are supposed to spawn in the beginning (however, not at the high spawn rate present thanks to 1.1, sigh...), it was originally meant to be a mini-boss encounter, but I'm probably going to have to do something about it later if I start seeing a lot of complaints.

The soundtrack list can be found here: http://www.terrariaonline.com/posts/1611748/

The general outline of the map can be found here (SPOILERS): http://www.terrariaonline.com/attac...rto-of-harmony-general-outline-map-png.34513/

Here is the Character List for Terrarivania: Concerto of Harmony

NATHANIEL

Difficulty: *

Chest Type: Gold Chest

Recommended for first time players. Has a nice mix of playstyles, utilizing maces and magic, along with high-tier armor levels. Simple to manage inventory, as he doesn't obtain as much loot as his counterparts.Nathaniel learns several basic magic spells, and has the third best selection of the five party members.Main character in the story, father of the protagonist in the original Terrarivania. (This is the character most likely to handle Single Player playthroughs of the map.)

DARIUS

Difficulty: * * * * *

Chest Type: Normal Chest

Darius is the melee specialist of the group. Has the highest armor level of the group, however, his boss fighting abilities are significantly hampered by his poor range. Also has the highest growth potential of all five members of the party. Does not use spells at all except for lighting spells! He is Nathaniel's best friend. Recommended for expert players; NOT recommended for Single Player playthroughs! (Darius is the least likely to complete a Single Player playthrough of the map.)

AIDAN:

Difficulty: * * * *

Chest Type: Shadow Chest

The magic specialist of the group, Aidan has almost zero fighting capability if it doesn't use mana. Lowest armor level of the party, but has the most variety when it comes to magic weaponry. Has the strongest mid-game performance out of the five party members. Serves a strong utility role throughout the map. Nathaniel's brother, and the original protagonist's uncle. Father of Diana. Recommended for experienced players, but is also quite formidable in Single Player playthroughs.

DIANA:

Difficulty: * *

Chest Type: Barrel

The jack of all trades of the group; Her primary specialty is in ranged combat, but has low-tier armor level. She has access to the second largest number of magic spells and uses spears as her side weapons. Slightly complex itemization makes her more difficult to use than Nathaniel, as well as her poor armor level. Diana has the most variety of all five members. She is the cousin of the original protagonist, and Aidan's daughter. Recommended for Beginner level players, but is challenging enough for higher level players to master. Diana fairs somewhat poorly in Single Player, so it is recommended that she be played along with a group, like Darius.

LOGAN THE SLY:

Difficulty: * * *

Chest Type: Trash Can

The ranged weapon and consumables expert, Logan features the most complex itemization of the five characters. Has mid-tier armor level, and the widest selection of ranged weaponry of the five. He also uses shortswords as sidearms (not recommended), and is able to buy more ammo deeper in the castle. Logan is tricky to play at first, and has the worst early game performance of the five characters, but his power grows significantly as you obtain higher level gear (his growth curve is more relaxed than Darius'). Has access only to basic magic spells, but is able to have the highest movement speed of the five. Logan is a master thief that was captured by Nathaniel. Logan is being brought along on the journey to repay the debt he owes Nathaniel for trying to steal from him. Recommended for intermediate players,and his growth curve allows him to become the second best character for Single Player playthroughs.

Download for BETA: http://www.curseforge.com/media/files/573/830/Terrarivania_Concerto_of_Harmony_BETA_VERSION.zip

Mirror Download for BETA: http://www.mediafire.com/?o87r9unj956wof6

CurseForge Page: http://terraria.curseforge.com/maps/adv-terrarivania-concerto-harmon/

Too add a bit of context to what the story is all about in this map, here's the very first section of the lorebook:

My child, if you are reading this, then that means that I am dead. It means that everything I've worked for, all my hopes and dreams, have been dashed. I regret not telling you any of this sooner, but I was only trying to ensure you wouldn't have to lead the life that I once lived. My child, we are descended from a long line of demon hunters. Our ancestors were involved in every major battle in history. However, our names have been struck out of the history books by our own desire; our job is to protect the world from evil, nothing more. Know this, my child, you have hero's blood running through your veins. Upon my death, it is the unfortunate duty I have to place on your shoulders to protect the world. At the time of this writing, I have no idea how I am destined to die, I hope that it never comes to pass that you need to read this journal, but if such a dark event does occur, I am going to outline everything you'll need to carry on the bloodline and our duty.
The arch-demon, Azazel, is our sworn enemy. I've told you the story many times as a child, never expecting you to have to experience the reality of our situation. I hope that I didn't give you a false sense of complacency, though, for the threat he poses to us all is very real. He is the source of all evil on this planet; every dark deed, every shameful thought, it is all his doing. His influence resides in every human that has ever lived, and that includes us. However, our bloodline is blessed with the ability to see through Azazel's deceptions, allowing us the opportunity to fight back against his influence and bring peace once and for all to our planet. That is not to say that Azazel hasn't attempted to fight against us as well. My child, I've kept this moment of your childhood from you, I never wanted you to feel like you were in the cross-hairs of an evil force. But that is the reality of our situation, and I believe it is now time for me to explain why you are our best hope at finally destroying Azazel once and for all.
Your mother, she never died in a goblin invasion. The truth is more horrible than I would ever like to remember, but it is time you knew. When you were three, your mother was brutally murdered by her father, your grandfather, Lord Chauvais. I was such an idiot, I could smell Azazel's corruption all over him when he had arrived one night, out of the blue, and invited you, your mother, and me to his Chateau. It was the first time you ever met your grandfather, and your mother was so exited to see her father again after he banished her from their family. You see, your mother and I were deeply in love, but your grandfather did not approve of our relationship. We married without his consent, and in retaliation he banished your mother and I from the family, and we hadn't heard from him since until the night he came to our home in Seiryu. I should have seen it coming. As we were walking out the door, he turned to me and his face contorted into a creature I know all too well. I was instantly paralyzed by one of Azazel's spells, and before I knew it, you and your mother were whisked away. It took until morning for me to return to my senses. I had no choice but to chase down your grandfather, Lord Chauvais, and rescue you both from Azazel's clutches.

so this is the sequel to Terrarivania?

A bit of yes and no. Chronologically, the events that occur in this map were before the original, even though the story is being retold by Nathaniel, the main character's father. In terms of map design, yes, this is the sequel, as it was made after the original and is set in the same universe.
The plan with this map was that I wanted to split multiplayer-based from single-player based, as in having two different parts of the lore with different focuses. One of my mistakes with the original Terrarivania was that it was designed from the beginning to be exclusively single-player, but took the Dead Rising 2 approach to co-op with basically having a non-canon clone of the main character being played at the same time by another player. Honestly, I wasn't much of a fan of my decision here, which inspired me to pursue a multiplayer-oriented sequel using the class-based structure that can be seen in several other custom maps here on Terraria.net.
Doing this, I feel justified in making the next part of the main character's story single-player only, which allows me time to better balance the encounters and make the best possible map I can. So basically, I planned on having Concerto of Harmony be a branch off the original Terrarivania, and any multiplayer sequels to Terrarivania will be directly related to Concerto of Harmony. The story of the main character, however, will persist, but only as a primarily single-player experience from now on. Don't let that discourage you from experiencing Concerto, though, as I will always try to accommodate players. There is still single-player functionality in this map, and I'll still implement the clone co-op in Terrarivania II, they just won't be the preferred or balanced way to play the map.

i get it's like a flashback, i'll try this out later. love your maps by the way

also you might want to check the cure download, it gave me santa is missing.

Crap, it did that again? I'll go fix it right away.

EDIT: Alright, everything should be good to go again. I appreciate the heads up, I still don't understand why that happens.

Ok I tried it out with Diana which I know you said she isn't much of a solo player but still I thought you jut meant it would be tougher. I found it was near impossable for progression with her especially because her barrels becmoe impossable to reach. Unless I missed a barrels somewhere holding a cloud in a bottle or shiney red balloon and also, I could not find that pick axe for the life of me in the very first dungon, not including the dugnon where the dungon gaurdian wakes up and kills you. Or where you actually supposed to go in there first? Overall, it was rather frusterating and in the end I ended up cheating and just getting lost. I intend to try it again, legit with the same character but I just would like to know before I try again, if it IS possable to do it solo with her or not.

Actually, the Sunken City (the Dungeon biome) is a bonus area that's only accessible after you defeat Lord Chauvais. Hmm, drawing from the information you gave, were you in the Mouth of the Abyss? That would be the first time you go underground. There are several barrels I left out of reach in order to encourage exploration further down the line when you have a cloud or a grappling hook. The place you should be aiming for, which I assume since you don't seem to have it yet, is deeper in the Mouth of the Abyss. There is an area called the Candlestick Sanctuary where you will find the Cloud in a Bottle, and from there you should be able to escape the underground and progress further towards Chateau de Chauvais. There is a hole in the ceiling close to the first savepoint you encounter in the underground that you can now jump through with the Cloud, which should take you to the Corrupted Caverns. The pickaxe you're looking for is not until you reach a bossfight closer to the entrance to the Chateau, and you'll need that pickaxe to get into the Chateau as well.

I know I keep saying this, but everything dealing with direction should be covered after I finish the story. I had the same problems with the original Terrarivania when it was without a story as well. Just know that the map is relatively linear until you reach the Chateau, where it branches off significantly into three separate paths you have to take eventually. It all comes back together for the finale, which even now I still have trouble getting to (there's an unexpected difficulty spike once you reach the Mausoleum).

Ohhh I see. I suppose I was just thinking that you had to get all the barrels the first time through, I didn't know you actually meant for us to go back and get stuff though now that I think about it, most Castlevania's made you do that so I should have anticipated that. Yes it was the abyss area. My bad, I was getting all frusterated because I thought I was missing something but in the end I was just being dumb XD I'll give it another go, this time legit and let you know how it fares. Though I may want to point out that harpies spawn near the very begining and makes it really hard to get through the desert next to the boat, or was that intended? Also, very nice work on the music to, it makes me feel like I'm actually playing a Castlevania game. ^-^

No Azazel(Or something else)?

Ok so I played legit this time and actually had a ton of fun getting to the point with EoC and after 3 tries actually beat him. ( yay me ) but after that I kinda got stuck at the town were your supposed to summon the Goblins to get the pick axe because Diana doesn't get a ton of health and playing solo means you can't summon the goblins. Cause you have to have 220-240 hp with all total characters on the map for the goblins to come. I haven't gone past this point because I wanted to ask if there was something else for her route or not.

@ Mikuo, It's no problem, I look forward to hearing any feedback you have when you're done. Originally, I intended to have only 1 Harpy spawn, as an introductory mini-boss. However, with 1.1, the spawn rate seems to have been increased, which is unfortunate as it unbalances that particular area. I am quite fond of the design of the entryway into the Sunken City, I'll be heartbroken if I have to change it, but I will for the sake of balance if it causes too much trouble.

@ Nakano, That's where the story is going to come into place. I'm using Concerto of Harmony as an introduction to the villain Azazel and his methods, as well as to five of the six central main characters in the Terrarivania lore. If you've read the Prelude to Terrarivania I, then you have an idea of the style that the story is written in. However, the reason it's taking me so long to put this part of the story out is because I am basically writing one of these preludes for every cutscene (about 20) I have planned in the map. A bit overly-ambitious, I'll admit, but I think it will be worth it once it's finally complete.

I've never heard of the health requirement, was that something added in 1.1? Sometimes it's difficult to keep track of all the things Red implemented, I know a lot of them directly affected my maps, which is why I have a sort of sour attitude towards 1.1. If that's the case, I'll have to fix that, because Diana's max health is 240 and Aidan's is 200, and they'll be well below the requirement by the time they reach there. When I was designing the map back in the twilight era of 1.0.6, I was able to summon the goblin army with every character, so that's why I haven't noticed this issue. In the meantime, you can go ahead and take the pickaxe from the goblin chest, it's not your fault you don't meet the health requirements, and you didn't miss anything, you're just feeling the aftermath of the 1.1 update on pre-1.1 adventure maps...

Edit: Just did some research and internal testing, and what you said is true. Well, this is crap. I have no idea how I'm going to fix this for single-player besides giving them another free pass. Sigh. How discouraging.

Hey don't get discouraged, this is actually a very easy fix. Instead of having goblin invasion just have king slime. After all now that you can summon him, it makes it that much easier to fight. Sure he might be a tad difficult for the players at that level but if you manipulate the town surroundings it should be an easy enough win and if you already had king silme bein used, simply switch where you had him with the goblins.

I was also considering using tConfig to change some of the requirements around the map in general. The problem with that is that I didn't want to make this map any more complicated to install than it already is. I'm fine with the idea of changing the army with the slime from a gameplay standpoint, however, the story for this section was already written and it was actually going to be a major turning point. Well, the map is still in beta, and don't get me wrong, I'd rather know about all the problems that exist on the map instead of otherwise, but man, looking back, in some ways I'm glad it's taken me this long to write the story, if I had released the map when I intended, it would have been broken by 1.1 a couple of days later. I guess what I'm planning to do now is see if I can use tConfig to mod things back to the way I intended them, that way I don't have to go back and rewrite anything (holy hell that would be awful, all things considering).

This might be a little bit of a stretch, but you could just keep the goblin invasion and have people backdate their Terraria versions to play this? It's fairly easy and quick to do, and I personally wouldn't mind it if it meant we could experience the map the way you first intended it.

There's a lot of possibilities to handle this problem, I'll list them out and maybe we can all figure out a solution that would fit best:

1. I use tConfig and alter the values involved (this is harder to install, but gives me more control over the content and balancing, as it doesn't have to be JUST the army I fix. This at the moment is my preferred choice. However, this creates a significantly more complicated installation process that I'm not sure that all players would be willing to go through just to play this one map. What I can do, I've been thinking, is make my own complete "SquishyWizard44" mod that should be used in all my maps, that way it's not like they're installing a mod just to play one map).

2. I can change the maximum health levels for all the characters to better accommodate these new requirements (pluses and minuses; on the plus side this allows me to keep everything the way it is, I'll just add extra hearts for the characters that need it; on the negative side, the classes were balanced in terms of how much health they have, so balancing issues may arise).

3. I can change the encounter in Wit's Bend to the King Slime instead of the Goblin Army (Easiest game-based way to fix this, but hardest for me to personally implement, as that would include me completely rewriting one of the major turning points in the story).

4. I can give players a free pass if they do not have at least one player using Nathaniel or Darius who do reach the health requirement at that point (By far the easiest to implement, however, it's kind of a scummy way to fix this problem. I already feel bad enough that the first encounter with EoC is so difficult for single players that I had to allow them to skip it, if anything this is my least preferred approach and would like to avoid it as much as I can).

5. I can require players backdate their versions of Terraria in order to experience the map the way it was originally designed (This approach I'm least familiar with, it sounds reasonable but I'm not sure how well it would sit with the general playerbase. I've been trying to keep things as simple to install as possible, as I've seen that most players don't even use the custom soundtracks because they don't want to be bothered with the (easy) installation process. I've also implemented the Fairy Bell as a deeper replacement for the horrible Ball of Light, so that would need to be addressed if I have the players backdate).

Ok so I have now played through the whole map and here is my general opinion. Playing as Diana actualy showed me the hardest parts of the game play in my opinion because she is what would call, squishy interms of begain able to take a hit. Being that her max hp was 240, the heart crystals were a welcome find when you did find one. However, als being that you tried to make her all rounded made this a perticulary difficult choice as to what to use. I found myself having to switch between the trident and water bolt spell through most of te game. That said, the water bolt is ESSENTIAL for all boss encounters as it is the only piercing spell she gets and arrows can run out very quickly. I found it odd you kept trying to give the player unholy arrows when the player is meant to be a demon hunter ( just a thought lol ) Anyways, all in all the game play was difficult but fun and I would recommend that you raise the level on her difficulty rateing especially if a person intends to play as her solo. The scenery was fanominal especially considering you didn't use anything from 1.1 and the challenges where challenging. It made you exited just to find one of your own kind of chests. I however must regretably say that I could not beat the last cthulu as harpies would just tear through me as i tried to dodge the boss itself =/ I also found the seceret dungon for her and I must say that I was impressed with it, though I wasn't to sure why you gave a guide voodoo doll lol. I never did find the rest of the jungle armor either sadly which I'm sure would have helped in the last cthulu fight. Finally, the music, oh my goodness. I would have thought I was playing a castlevania game the whole time! It really helped the atmospher of the game. Kudos to you my good sir. In the end, I rate this map 10 of 10! I can't thank you enough for this awesome map and I look forward to any future works you might have in store. I could only imagin the things you could do if you learned how to implament all of the newest content as well. I salute you good sir!

Thanks, I really needed that after the recent developments. I hope to get the complete story out within the next two weeks, most likely during my Spring Break, when I'll actually have time to finish it. Glad you enjoyed it, bugs and all. The reason I kept Diana's difficulty rating low is because I've always felt the spears were one of the more overpowered weapon classes in the game, and I tried to keep her in check. I also ended up giving a basic spear to Darius, because he was woefully underpowered without any semblance of ranged combat. I'll probably switch Diana's difficulty with her fathers, I never really felt he was too difficult to play, just that he has low stats and needs to manage mana efficiently.

In the bonus dungeons, I gave voodoo dolls to symbolize that you unlocked a new character. Back in 1.0.6, these had no function other than for killing the guide (better than using an angel statue, hah).

I have several other project I've been working on concurrently with this one: Santa is Missing (of course, need to put that one back into high gear and finish it off), a metroid-themed map (tentatively called Terrarioid), a completely underwater adventure map (in the style of Aquaria, tentatively called Terraquaria), my secret project (working title is "The First Winter" and is to have a dark theme akin to Silent Hill), and of course Terrarivania II (which I intend to make as my magnum opus, perhaps the last map I make).

Sound's awesome! I certainly look forwared to the new Terrarivania 2. Will you have to play the first 1 to understand the story or no? If so then I'm all over the first one XD Sad that the T2 will be your last map but then again I'm sure these things take a very long time to make and you have a life. So I totally look forward to the maps that have planned.