"Butter scraped over too much bread," a Hobbit once explained succinctly. Those words are how I view Port Faria. The town is large and diverse, but a little too big for its own good.
Shops and establishments are spread out, secrets and NPCs are scattered, and the performance issues make it a frustrating struggle to traverse. Player aggrevations regarding the lack of a map undoubtedly stem from Port Faria, your primary entry into the Kingdom of Faria, and I want to fix this.
While the requested maps are not included in this update, a brand-new Port Faria is. I have remade the entire starter city with two things in mind; accessibility and performance.
This is now Port Faria. Every store, every amenity and every NPC is now situated in this one small district, the "Blue's Kiss District".
All 22 unique wandering NPCs now reside here, which makes the town feel more lively.
All establishments are found here as well, these include:
Red Dragonfly - Remedial Merchant
Sootbeard's Smithy - Weaponry Merchant
The Iron Maiden - Armour Merchant
Beauty and the Beach - Fashion Store
Passing Bird Inn - Inn and Tavern
Brewed Awakening - Cafe
Flower Power - Bomb Store
Succuhome - Exclusive Club
Cut Loose - Salon
Post Office - Mailmaster
Treasures of the World - Accessory Store
Antediluvian Ducts - Dungeon
Domain of the Celestial Arts - Spellbook Store
Lok Yi's Dumplings - Open Air Cafe
Angler Joe's Emporium - Fishing Stall
Knick-Knack Stall - Alternative Items Stall
Loreforge - Library
Self-Service Jam-Station
It also includes your home and Item-Seeker establishment, and your good friend Amber Farfaith's home directly next door.
Frame-rate and overall performance has now stabilised, too. There should be no frustrations with the constant stuttering that plagued the area previously. It is now an actual joy to wander the promenades of home.
That is not all, either. I have partially redone the Outskirts of Port Faria. Framerate was a little iffy here and was the primary motivator for its change. The map size has been reduced, and object count has been significantly decreased. Blacktrap Burrows has been moved, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find. I have also textured the geography differently now, too. Overall, you should see some frvrmy performance gains.
Are there more optimizations to come? Definitely, but this is a great initial change that benefits new players. And the changes to Port Faria benefit all, since the town is your home and you're never gone for long stretches (right now, anyway) of time.
I have also fixed a few bugs:
. Moved a misplaced Eventide Herb.
. "O Brother" questsheet now provides the correct information.
. Camera correctments in certain areas.
. Misc. dialogue fixes.
IMPORTANT: If you have a save file that puts you in the old Port Faria, do not worry. All you have to do is leave town and re-enter. I make it a priority to not break save files whenever I make fixes or update the game with more content. Still, it makes good practice to keep saving frequently
Speaking of more content, it is on the way, but its development took a backseat this past week as I reworked Port Faria. Here are a few rough screenshots of what is to come: