Hi there.
Very very good idea to allow direct control of shadows and great you implemented a kind of "action queue" for these commands. Did not test it yet, but I hope there will be no conflict if I also use a client mod "Action Queue"?

Besides that I already made my own shadow maxwell mod years ago:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1868560353
It might have a few features you might be interested in. I think modders should always share ideas and code, of course with credits, to make mods even better. So feel free to take ideas/code from my mod as long as you credit me in the mod description for that feature (at least if I did not credit someone else for that in my description :D)

If you are not interested in anything from my mod, what do you think about sharing the direct control? I would like to play a mod like mine, but with the nice direct control of shadows. If the direct control is coded mostly in your API mod, I can of course make my mod dependent on your API mod.

(if my post does not fit this discussion, please move it elsewhere, we can also discuss about it at Klei forum https://forums.kleientertainment.com/profile/881349-serpens/ )

I'd really like a base attack slider in the options. I like to limit myself to only 5 shadows but feels like he needs a bit more dmg when I do so.

I'm not sure how open you are to feature feedback, but I figured I'd give my two cents anyway just in case. I absolutely love this mod, and the work you/your team has done is amazing. By far the best character mod in the entire workshop, and certainly stands enough on its own to replace Maxwell's actual character design even in its current state. Far better than anything I think Klei will end up making.

However as it stands, I think the mod has 2 main issues:

1. Maxwell has really no way to fight. I know this is Don't Starve TOGETHER, but I think pretty much every character (save for Wes for obvious reasons) has a more or less manageable time fighting bosses on their own. I don't think this version of Maxwell does, really. Or at least, it's very tedious and not fun as is. His 0.75 damage multiplier makes it quite difficult, but more importantly just annoying. You would think the duelist puppets would make up for this, but they usually just end up being clunky and unreliable, even in large numbers -- and especially vs bosses with AOE attacks. Changing his modifier to 1.0 seems like a bandaid solution to me, so I'm wondering if there are any ways to mitigate this with a more interesting mechanic/ability, or some overhaul to the way shadow duelists really work. (maybe they move/act in tandem with Maxwell but have reduced damage modifiers?)

2. The sentry puppets don't make much sense imo. I'm not really sure what their application is, as they don't pack any sort of punch, and they only attack hostile mobs. They seem like a bit of a waste to summon as they stand.

Anyway, thanks again for this wonderful mod. I look forward to your future releases :)

Originally posted by FnNasty:

I'd really like a base attack slider in the options. I like to limit myself to only 5 shadows but feels like he needs a bit more dmg when I do so.

You can edit this in the code yourself, if you like. It's somewhere in the your game files under the path Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\322330\2809332721
Then open the tuning_and_strings.lua file, and modify line 36 from 0.75 to 1.0, or any number you see fit.
Cheers.

Originally posted by ethannnnnnn:

1. Maxwell has really no way to fight. I know this is Don't Starve TOGETHER, but I think pretty much every character (save for Wes for obvious reasons) has a more or less manageable time fighting bosses on their own. I don't think this version of Maxwell does, really. Or at least, it's very tedious and not fun as is. His 0.75 damage multiplier makes it quite difficult, but more importantly just annoying. You would think the duelist puppets would make up for this, but they usually just end up being clunky and unreliable, even in large numbers -- and especially vs bosses with AOE attacks. Changing his modifier to 1.0 seems like a bandaid solution to me, so I'm wondering if there are any ways to mitigate this with a more interesting mechanic/ability, or some overhaul to the way shadow duelists really work. (maybe they move/act in tandem with Maxwell but have reduced damage modifiers?)

I actually think that Maxwell is fine for the most part when it comes to soloing bosses, it just requires a somewhat different play-style. AoE damage isn't usually a problem for Shadow Duelists because they won't get close if the boss is about to attack and they are 1 hit from death, even if they aren't being targeted directly. Here[i.imgur.com]is a gif of 5 shadow duelists wiping the floor with Deerclops in less than a minute.

The problem they run into with bosses that can sometimes get them killed is the groundpound attack that a few of the bosses have. This can sometimes kill them in "one" hit because it actually hits multiple times. But even then, soloing is still doable. You just need to bring plenty of nightymare fuel and sanity restoration. All you really lose if they die is 1 nightmare fuel and the sanity cost to conjure them again, since they drop the Dark Sword, so if you bring another Codex you can put it on the ground and conjure more Duelists during the fight. Sanity restoration is already something you should be bringing to boss fights anyway, and Maxwell still has a better time with it than most because he doesn't have to stand right next to the boss at all. I managed to get Toadstool down to about half health with 8 Duelists and 3 Loggers. I didn't take a single point of damage, it's all sanity and nightmare fuel management, conjuring additional puppets when needed. I'd also recommend equipping a Magiluminescence to give your Duelists a speed boost.

Originally posted by ethannnnnnn:

2. The sentry puppets don't make much sense imo. I'm not really sure what their application is, as they don't pack any sort of punch, and they only attack hostile mobs. They seem like a bit of a waste to summon as they stand.

Shadow Sentries are meant to be for base defense. They patrol your base, defending it against enemies and hound attacks, like traps and catapults do. They're pretty good at fighting enemies that are less than or equal to their own numbers, but they get bodied pretty quickly if they're outnumbered. Was thinking of possibly modifying them to be more of a tank/support Shadow Duelist, taunting enemies and healing other Shadow Puppets, stuff like that. Not sure yet. I don't think they're that bad, to be honest, just underutilized. But also I could be wrong and they're terrible.

Originally posted by ethannnnnnn:

Originally posted by FnNasty:

I'd really like a base attack slider in the options. I like to limit myself to only 5 shadows but feels like he needs a bit more dmg when I do so.

You can edit this in the code yourself, if you like. It's somewhere in the your game files under the path Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\322330\2809332721
Then open the tuning_and_strings.lua file, and modify line 36 from 0.75 to 1.0, or any number you see fit.
Cheers.

Thank you! I will do just that.

Bro!
First of all, I want to say that you are the best!
I downloaded your mod a week ago and I really liked it for its balance, you literally brought me back to the game.
but now the difficulty level has dropped significantly
before it was impossible to constantly use dolls - it was difficult to fight the Horror - now it's easy to keep the level of reason needed - I was very upset (
I want to ask you to add 2 functions to the mod settings
1 offon sanity recovery after a Horror kill
2 please return the old skill (long and slow - it created a balance)

with love Van

When I burnt a few trees to get some charcoal i figured out that commanding to chop a fully grown tree (15 axe hits) and burnt tree (1 hit) costs same 15 sanity loss
I suggest that command to chop a tree sanity cost is the same as amount of default axe hits it need to be chooped
So burnt and very old trees cost 1 sanity, trees on 1st stage - 5 sanity, 2nd is 10 and 3rd, fully grown, 15

I think a shadow archer would be awesome, especially because when going against clockworks or frogs, shadow duelers are useless. Even if they cost a ton to craft to balance it out, I would love the addition of a shadow archer. Thanks for viewing my idea.

hello there! im not sure if you are going to read this or even take my suggestion but i think its worth a try since i absolutely love the mod, i believe that one of the problem with the mod is the codex and the way it works, i think that the range on its attack and its cooldown make a extremely cool and unique attack become a bit awkward to use since you need to attack and just stare or run at the shadow creature while you wait for it to recharge, i think it would be better if we had a shorter cooldown and a better range, and also the option to be able to gain sanity on killing shadow creatures, and if possible, make maxwell be able to craft his codex recepies either while holding it or just knowing the naturally which would make it infinitly more confortable to craft stuff

I'm working on a substantial update based on a lot of the feedback I've received lately. Here are a few notes:

The removal of the sanity bonus penalty (when killing shadow creatures with the Codex) was definitely a mistake. I did it with the intention of decreasing Maxwell's ability to stay at low sanity and farm nightmare fuel, but all it really did was let him use his puppets even more, it's not difficult to drop back to low sanity when all you have to do is click on a few trees. Right now, my plans to address this issue in the next update are twofold:

• Shadow Creatures that are hit by the Codex Umbra attack at all will restore NO sanity when killed.
  
• Maxwell can consume nightmare fuel to restore 15 sanity.

These changes will prevent Maxwell from so quickly being able to bounce back from low sanity and gathering more, while still giving him an option to be able to do so at the cost of nightmare fuel. This also provides another use for nightmare fuel, with the intention of reducing his unparalleled ability to farm it endlessly.

In addition, in order to make fighting shadow creatures a little more engaging and give Maxwell more of a supporting combat role, I have considered reworking the Codex Umbra attack to be more like the old Siphon Shadow ability. These changes are somewhat tentative, but if I do end up changing the attack it will be something like this:

• It be fully channeled again, ending when the player moves.
  
• The range will be increased.
  
• The slowdown effect from it will be decreased to 30%.
  
• It will not deal damage to normal enemies, instead increasing the amount of damage they take from other sources. This has a chance to draw aggro.
  
• It will deal rapid damage over time to shadow-based enemies.

As of now, the Codex Umbra can be used to kill pretty much any normal mob in the game without much effort and in almost complete safety, even if it takes a bit longer. These changes are intended to make it effective, but only if used with other players or shadow puppets. The changes to nightmare fuel above may address this indirectly by making nightmare fuel (and thus the Codex Umbra attack) more costly to use, so these changes may be shelved for now until the results of those adjustments are more clear.

These changes aren't set in stone, so feel free to give feedback on them while it's still in development.

Also I forgot to mention, Shadow Sentries are going to be reworked as well, since the consensus right now is that they are fairly useless. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, so it might not be in the next update.

Originally posted by Serp:

If you are not interested in anything from my mod, what do you think about sharing the direct control? I would like to play a mod like mine, but with the nice direct control of shadows. If the direct control is coded mostly in your API mod, I can of course make my mod dependent on your API mod

Sorry for the late reply. You can go ahead and take whatever code you want from this mod, assuming that you can decipher it. The direct control is not dependent on the API mod (just the visual action costs).

Originally posted by Ziro2k:

• Shadow Creatures that are hit by the Codex Umbra attack at all will restore NO sanity when killed.

What if i deal most of the damage with codex and then make a few last hits with usuall weapon? Maybe Maxwell sholdn't restore any sanity from killing nightmare creatures by any means. Srry I dont know how to read

Also I have an idea for sentry puppets, what if we give them a Walter's slingshot (or smth they can shoot with)? So, they will shoot until they run out of nightmare fuel, which we should use to recharge them. This way they can have a reasonoble damage, because they won't be infinite

For last i wish that when maxwell hold his codex he would actually had smth in his hands, so there was a visual indicator that he has it equipped

I do love the idea of a ranged shadow puppet, that would be super cool to add. You could even add an ammo slot to it like how Mattrix suggested, or make it expensive to craft like Fletchstag suggested.