Median XL: Ultimative *XV* released

[Drystan]

So, just wanted to show off this to those who may have played Median XL (or other D2 conversions/mods,) or for those who are looking for a challenge and something different.

Marco NecroX is still modding Diablo 2, and developing upon his expansion of Brother Laz's mod, Median XL, releasing a new update to Ultimative last week called Ultimative XV. I know that my laptop doesn't really keep up with it too well, but I would LOVE to get back into some Median, that I'm seriously considering getting a new laptop/PC with a decent graphics card and specs to run D2 (and Median!) on full settings.

I don't think I could really promote it well, but it has some serious action, challenges, beautifully developed effects and AoE skills, and is has a really solid balance, so check out the video below.

Oh, and pump up the volume, HD, and enjoy in full screen.



More Info? Check out the Median XL Forums.

@zaphodbrx - *prod*

And for the record, my HC sorc hasn't gotten past Baal on Normal. She's up to Baal, but my SC build can't work a way around him without getting killed at least once. If I can find a PC/laptop that'll run it smoothly, I'll definitely keep attempting it.

Edit: Added reference to Brother Laz's mod, Median XL, which NecroX expanded upon in the form of Ultimative

 

[TheNix]

I take it BrotherLaz is no longer in charge of MXL.

 

[clueso]

if i would know where i could get D2 for free i would download this mod again

have played MXL a lot

 

[Drystan]

I don't know to be honest. I get the impression that Laz has kinda left the D2 modding scene.
The "latest" news on his site for Median XL is from August last year (2013,) and NecroX has been adding on to it in the Ultimative version, and is still very much active having just released a new version.
My bad for not including Brother Laz in the OP though.

@clueso - No one here will give information on getting D2 for free. The best we can say is "try google" as it goes against the forums rules. D2+LoD shouldn't be too expensive nowadays though.
But yeah, great mod that should definitely be tried.

Edit @TheNix
From the MXL: Ultimative Documentation:

Main thread by MarcoNecroX
Median XL: ULTIMATIVE

No introduction is needed. If you are here you have probably heard about
this mod already. It contains a lot of new stuff on top of the existing
Median XL mod by BrotherLaz. Scroll down to features & changelog for
more information!

Why should you play Median XL Ultimative? this has been asked several
times. The answer for this is 'why shouldnt you?'. This is still Median XL.
The base is still the same, many people have wondered if this mod is
a full conversion, it is not, it just adds a bunch of new content. You might
been wondering who the hell I am, I'm just a very old player that knows
this community very well, I've seen all reactions to changes laz has
made so I know pretty well what this community wants from a mod.
Basically, if you like Median XL, you should like this version too!

 

[zaphodbrx]

Not terribly excited. For me Ultimative 13c will always be best version.

I haven't played median XL for over 6 months now...

But I had started a HC necro and got it to level 25. Maybe I'll dig up and continue that character..

 

[TheNix]

Thanks Dry, I hadn't heard about Laz. I played MXL for about six months a few years back and I wasn't overly impressed, but I wasn't the target audience. I think the D3 developers could have learned a lot from Laz.

Edit: Bloody hell, the most recent MXL file I've got is from July 2009.

 

[Drystan]

Apparently, Brother Laz work(s/ed) on creating Unique items for Path of Exile. This article is an interview between incgamers and Brother Laz from late 2012, with a question regarding D2 and Median.

I'd recommend checking out the full article, but I'm quoting a small section here, just to entice you to check it out as well.

Median XL

IncGamers: Your relevant experience was creating items for your Median XL mod for Diablo 2. Can you summarize your time working on that mod for people who know nothing about it? It wasn’t just the same game with some tweaked stats; you made mods that were almost total conversions with all new skills, classes, quest events, etc.

Laz: Yada yada self-important bragging blah best mod ever. Tldr: Diablo 2 partial conversion, 2003-2012, new skill trees for all, new items, new monsters including Ni’Va and barrel throwing monkeys, 30-something uberquests instead of Blizzard’s pathetic 2 uberquests, intended to be a more strategic experience at first but quickly evolved into total pandemonium, now the mod has black holes and Viz’Jaq-Taari nuclear calldowns and lets you turn into a giant quill rat and yet it’s still difficult and challenging and also still lore friendly. Also #3 Mod of the Year at ModDB at some point and was played by Blizzard and Riot Games people.
Download now, unless you are playing Path of Exile instead, in which case please keep playing Path of Exile. Latest official version is MXL2012 v005 which you can download at Modsbylaz, though a couple of fans have resumed development where I left off in early ’12 and their modified version is called Ultimative.

IncGamers: Obviously the items are a big aspect of that as well, and they were basically your resume for working on Path of Exile. Can you ballpark estimate how many items you created, including unique and sets and runewords, in the different versions of the mod over the years?

 

[sirjahn]

Thanks Drystan for sharing this info here. I've wanted to try Median XL for quite some time. This new version looks awesome and I think my new 'puter can handle the speed and graphics. I'm wondering, will this overwrite and replace the single player characters i now have, or will this be totally separate. Don't want to lose my current roster if I don't care for Median after dl'ing.

 

[Cyrax]

Thought i'd give it a try as well. To avoid sirjahn's problem i thought i'd copy the entire D2 folder and rename it to Median. Making it 2 separate games.
Fired it up and it seemed to work. Only i got to see all my D2 chars. Ok, i copied the entire folder including savegames so that's the problem. Deleted the save games from my Median folder. Tried again. Still seeing my D2 chars. Seems like somewhere it's still referring to my 'old' D2 copy rather then the 'new' Median one. Any ideas on how to fix this?

 

[zaphodbrx]

Cyrax it doesn't work that way. Back up your D2 saved characters. Then delete all the D2 characters. The savegame folder will be empty and you can make MXL characters in it. Then to go back to D2 just do the reverse.

Of course it is much easier to set up with with Plugy and modifying path parameter in the plugy.ini file. Or even better setup D2SE + plugy and it does the entire job for you with minimum effort for any number of mods that you like.

Drystan: Didn't you complete upto Hell ( Destruction ) Baal with HC sorceress?

 

[felixbavaria]

Thought i'd give it a try as well. To avoid sirjahn's problem i thought i'd copy the entire D2 folder and rename it to Median. Making it 2 separate games.
Fired it up and it seemed to work. Only i got to see all my D2 chars. Ok, i copied the entire folder including savegames so that's the problem. Deleted the save games from my Median folder. Tried again. Still seeing my D2 chars. Seems like somewhere it's still referring to my 'old' D2 copy rather then the 'new' Median one. Any ideas on how to fix this?

It's been a while since I played MXL (was on my old computer still), but IIRC the problem is that D2 doesn't look into the current directory for save games, but rather the path specified in the Windows registry.

So, I would try the following:

Start Windows Registry Editor (Start -> Run -> regedit.exe)

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Diablo II

Change "Save Path" string to <MXL install dir>\save

If you're not on Windows, I have no idea, but there should be an equivalent setting *somewhere*.

 

[sirjahn]

Well, got MXL up n' running. Pretty cool it is. Don't know how long I'll stick with it, but really liking it now.

 

[Drystan]

Thought i'd give it a try as well. To avoid sirjahn's problem i thought i'd copy the entire D2 folder and rename it to Median. Making it 2 separate games.
Fired it up and it seemed to work. Only i got to see all my D2 chars. Ok, i copied the entire folder including savegames so that's the problem. Deleted the save games from my Median folder. Tried again. Still seeing my D2 chars. Seems like somewhere it's still referring to my 'old' D2 copy rather then the 'new' Median one. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Don't worry too much. Median saved game files and LoD saves are completely incompatible. If you have LoD characters, but the Median .mpq file, the LoD characters will display a message upon trying to load saying "Unable to enter game. Bad stats data." or some such. Same for Median chars with LoD .mpq.

Note that this won't mess up the files/saved games. The two versions are just incompatible.
That said, it is ALWAYS a very good idea to occasionally back up characters/data when playing around with different versions. To do this, just make a copy of the 'Save' folder, and place it anywhere you'd like - rename it to "Backup [/Emergency] Saves" if you'd like. And if you finish with a mod, just Cut and Paste each set of characters back and forth.

Cyrax it doesn't work that way. Back up your D2 saved characters. Then delete all the D2 characters. The savegame folder will be empty and you can make MXL characters in it. Then to go back to D2 just do the reverse.

Of course it is much easier to set up with with ***** and modifying path parameter in the *****.ini file. Or even better setup **** + ***** and it does the entire job for you with minimum effort for any number of mods that you like.

Drystan: Didn't you complete upto Hell ( Destruction ) Baal with HC sorceress?

Hey. Please note that that mod (even if referring to Median) isn't allowed to be mentioned on the forums. I agree, it makes it much easier to do certain things, but it still includes unwanted tools. Personally, I only use it for Median Ultimative characters since they are completely separated from my LoD files.

I'm not really 'excited,' but it is great news that there's still a solid D2 modder out there, and I definitely want to get into it again. I just know that later on, with all the big effects, it did slow down my laptop a bit, so I must get a new PC soon.

I don't know. I opened D2, scrolled to the bottom of my char list, and have a HC Conquorer, lvl 120. I'll have to change my files around to see.

 

[Drystan]

Buh, yeah, you're right. The HC Sorc is up to the Throneroom and Baal. The SC sorc can't beat the Infernal Contraption without dying, and it's rediculously difficult to begin with! Then the SC sorc simply couldn't beat Baal previously (ran into his room with all the minions up, thus Baal spawned more apparently.) It's tough.

 

[zaphodbrx]

The infernal contraption is immune to fire and cold ( IIRC ). Just switch to lightning. One thing about MXL is that you have to be able to adapt your build at all times. Sometimes, you can use an oskill ( like lightning wall or devouring cloud ).

I remember you said something about a hamachi network for HC MXL? I'm still interested in that, maybe we could play on weekends.

Also have a just-act 1 completed HC necro that's been in the fridge for 6 months. Maybe I'll get back to it