This is a stand-alone Quality of Life pack that improves some minor things about ToME gameplay.
This pack improves visibility of status effects by adding particles to certain effect types (such as "dizzy stars" for stuns and confusions, or green bubbles for poisons).
Background: It is otherwise difficult to tell if or when certain effects procced or not, and it is also kind of obnoxious having to check each and every enemy for whether they're affected by something or not.
Stability: Very High

• Features can be toggled in: "(Menu)" > "Game Options" --> "[Nekarcos]"

Quality of Life improvements for resting and auto-exploring.

This is a fork of a fork of Marson's auto-explore and rest tweaks, forked by Dracos and then again by mannendake. This version fixes opening doors taking a turn and returns the fixedart icons to their respective lore entries.

v3.5.1 *** FOR ToME v1.7.2 ***
This is a fork (with permission) of Marson's auto-explore and rest tweaks. It includes as well C.Lowe/CaptainTrip's improvements as well. It does not include, but recommends also using Johnny0's Faster RRE add-on for even better rest and auto-explore experience. This add-on contains numerous Quality of Life improvements designed to make resting and auto-exploring easier to use, brings the add-on overall up to being compatible with 1.7.x, and generally seeks to remove it being more optimal to do timed rests or manual recovery (particularly to help higher difficulty level and players without Faster RRE). Cleaned up feature list in this take, to make it easier to see what it does.

It is recommended to turn off Marson's Rest and Auto-Explore as well as C.Lowe's Rest Tweaks if using. This addon is meant to include all of them.

This mod provides several options to control it. These may be found by opening the Game Menu->Game Options->Gameplay menu. Feel free to customize to preference with the defaults meant to be free of questionable behavior.

Latest Update Notes:
• Double checked compatibility with 1.7.2 and added to mod notes how to get to the menu.
• Added an exclusion for track as it plays poorly with auto-use track.

Existing Features:
• removed First Sighting and Reset on Rest. Someone can patch them in if they'd like it back, but I'm not really keeping them alive.
• Fixed actor bugs causing Elemental Surge to never reset. Thanks Reca♥den.
• Fixed bug with Paradox Spacetime Tuning from 1.5.5. This may rebreak posessors with paradox, hard to kinda test.
• Mostly verified working on 1.6.0
• Compatibility with restart sustains. Thanks zizzo.
• When resting, it will check for infusions and runes that could be used to accelerate HP, Mana, or Equilibrium (via Ancestral Life or Meditation) recovery. If the acceleration appears significant, it will use them, rotating from first available infusion or rune outward. In experiment, I found this often reduced rest turn time by 50-80 percent, improving the more drained the resource was. Particularly helpful for Mana, as it avoids trade-off advantages of short term resting (for increased mana regen) + rune use by just handling that more optimal play for you automatically without breaking rest.
• Support for steam implants, with usual checkboxes. This may not always be faster based on steam sustains that may disable after the initial round of rest and steam implants having very long cooldowns (30+ turns) and steam's resource max being pretty small. It tries to be conservative on that, so will most likely help for cases where your functional steam regen rate is < 2.00 and never activate for things much above it. I found I was often getting 5-20 steam per turn, which makes the implant support useless.
• Supports for medical healing salve injectors. Cooldown measurements are a bit odd here, since they can range from 5-20 depending on injector. Went with 10 as a happy medium for how many turns of natural regen is considered to be equal to the cooldown cost of using it.
• Adding support to auto-stealth if available and not stealthed.
• Option for ignoring small damage when moving and resting, basically if it is <5%, it will ignore it by default, prevent small DoTs from preventing rest.
• Options added to control whether or not to use inscriptions to accelerate recovery of things.
• Fixes a ToME bug that can cause autoexplore or running to move only a single square and hang if used immediately after killing an enemy.
• Lore discovery will only stop autoexplore if it triggers a popup.
• Autoexplore will ignore Exploratory/Infinite Farportal return portals until the entire level has been explored.
• Ignores special terrain features such as Font of Healing after they are first discovered.
• Ignores open chests and alt Maze floor cracks.
• Rest and AE ask for confirmation if you have an escort in your party.
• Ignore already activated pedestals.
• Checks for and waits on any rechargeable items.
• Checks for and reloads any ammo in offhand quiver.
• Waits for cooldowns of talents set to auto-use.
• Waits for depleted air to replenish.
• Combines all checks into a single instance of rest, rather than having cooldowns etc. require a second resting phase.

Determines how auto-explore and running respond to telepathy, including mouse moves. Regardless of the setting, hostiles seen via telepathy will not halt resting or the Rod of Recall, nor trigger automated talents. Unique or powerful monsters (rank > 3) will always trigger a halt to running when they are spotted via telepathy for any mode except 'Original'.

Available modes:
• 'Always Viligant' always stops running when a hostile creature is seen via telepathy.
• 'Original' is standard ToME auto-explore behavior, which ignores telepathy when running or auto-exploring.

• Compatible with ToME v1.6.0

Notes:
Folks who have helped with bugfixes over the years:
Reca♥den
St_ranger_er
zizzo

• Telepathy will not prevent auto-exploring the way normal sight will. If a halt is triggered by telepathy, hitting auto-explore again will move you at least one more square in the direction of the auto-explore path. If in 'Always Viligant' mode and a hostile is within telepathic sight (but not normal sight), you will auto-explore in 1 square per keypress increments.

Not all adventurers seek fortune, not all that defend the world have good deeds in mind.
Lately the number of sightings of horrors have grown tremendously. People wander off the beaten paths only to be found years later, horribly mutated and partly insane, if they are found at all. It is becoming evident something is stirring deep below Maj'Eyal.
That something is you.

Forbidden Cults is a big expansion for Tales of Maj'Eyal to let you explore the horrors that lurk beneath the surface, to delve in long lost knowledge and lore and as usual to die a lot!

Forbidden Cults makes two new classes available to play:

• Writhing One: Give in to the corrupting forces and turn yourself gradually into an horror, summon horrors to do your bidding, shed your skin and melt your face to assault your foes. With your arm already turned into a tentacle, what creature can stop you?
• Cultist of Entropy: Using its insanity and control of entropic forces to unravel the normal laws of physic this caster class can turn healing into attacks and call upon the forces of the void to reduce its foes to dust.

Both those classes use a new resource called Insanity that gradually makes you both more chaotic and powerful as it fills up.

Forbidden Cults makes two new races available to play:

• Drem: A corrupt subrace of dwarves, that somehow managed to keep a shred of sanity to not fully devolve into mindless horrors. They can enter a frenzy and even learn to summon horrors.
• Krog: Ogres transformed by the very thing that should kill them. Their powerful attacks can stun their foes and they are so strong they can dual wield any one handed weapons.

Forbidden Cults adds many new zones for you to explore and die in:

• Kroshkkur: An ancient Sher'tul Fortress laying half in ruins that serves as a focal point, and home, for all kinds of creatures seeking lost knowledge.
• The Maggot: A huge living corrupted worm about to destroy Kroshkkur! Teleport inside and save your sanctuary of horrors!
• The Godfeaster: Deep undergroud the ground shakes as ... -- redacted by corrupt forces --
• The Scourge Pits: On the south of the Iron Throne lays a fool pit of ... -- redacted by corrupt forces --
• Forbidden Tomes: Find special artifact books of ancient lore. But, read at your own peril, for the story they tell may very well suck you in... quite literally.
  Maybe you will even find The One That Writes...
• Occult Egress: A strange, extremely old, contraption of unknown origin. It seems to require some kind of code sequence to activate. Maybe you will find some during your adventures?
• The Entropic Void: So you think you are strong? Powerful? Invulnerable? In the end, entropy always wins, as you will learn...

What would an expansion about horrors be without a bunch of new horrors to torment you with? Please give a warm welcome to:

• Searing Horrors: You liked luminous horrors? You loved radiant horrors? You will absolutely adore their searing big brothers!
• Nethergates: It sleeps. Maybe it should stay that way.
• Netherworms: Vampiric worm masses that are bound to tickle your fancy! And tickle hard.
• Fearful Symmetry: Geometry has never been so lively!
• Entropic Shards: Take an entropic crystal, shatter it with tentacles. And die.
• : And more ...

"DarkGod, is that all?" Obviously not! You will also find your usual addition of:

• Lore: Delve into the dark forgotten secrets of the world, where sanity is a very tenuous idea.
• Artifacts: Discover new objects of power and use them to further your own goals.
• New wyrmic tree: Unlock the scourge drake for your wyrmics.
• Glass Golem: Unlock the glass golem option for your alchemists.
• Events: Discover new strange contraptions in familiar zones. What could go wrong?
• Achievements: Because there can never be enough!

This is a fork of Better Item Descriptions that simply makes the tooltip larger and uses long phrases instead of abbreviations.
It also works with zOmnibus's Inscription Compare feature.
- sorts all stats by category
- item's passive power always the same blue color
- item's usable power - always yellow
- all rarity categories are displayed
- encumbrance value moved to the right under item name
- "on hit" powers always green
- "Stats" have an orange highlight and placed before others

If you hold ALT before mousing over an item, you can see its vanilla description.

This mod is not meant for new players. If you ask what part of a description means, everyone gets to laugh at you.

However, feel free to suggest better phrasing.

Donators/Buyers bonus!

Replaces default interface styles with cleaner versions to enhance readability.

First release focuses primarily on replacing everything related to the default interface styles in the base game.

Future releases will enhance individual styles and take care of minor tweaks.

Content consists of only graphic assets to try and have the highest possible compatibility with future patches.

Version 1.2.1 released Jan 16, 2023; see change notes.

Audiomancy is an audio enhancement for ToME that does not affect music. It started with the High Quality Sounds mod (thanks to Gurkoz), but it does a bit more than replace sounds. It enhances the code introducing random variance, layering, and new trigger points. Weapon types (sword, great axe, mace, sling, bows, etc.) have distinct sounds in combat, along with NPC types having different impact sounds. Many weapons have distinct critical hit sounds as well. Ranged weapons have separated attack and hit sounds. Melee and ranged talents you would have expected to produce sound before likely will with this mod. Multiple hits trigger multiple sounds, e.g. the Volley talent. There is still more to do, especially in terms of providing distinct sound effects for various game mechanics and talents, but the code as-is will affect almost every sound played in the game while adding more. I attempted to maximize compatibility, replacing a single function and using superloading and hooking for the rest.

Feel free to reach out to me with any issues you discover or ideas/suggestions you may have on Steam or at theclawhorn@protonmail.com.

Credits: https://pastebin.com/xirEZ2FY

Steam Workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2805820365

PS: Somehow the website tags got duplicated and I'm unable to edit them.

Version 1.2.1:
Fixed the attackTarget hook (thank you to "Chief of Kilimanjaro" and "purpel frog" in the ToME Discord); it now properly returns two values. This should fix various misc issues, anything dependent on the second return value.
Also cleaned up a few stray typo semicolons (the consequences of switching between multiple programming languages) which may or may not have been causing other various and possibly undiscovered issues.

Version 1.2.0:
Reduced volume of the universal crit sound layer and blade crits.
Added "Audiomancy Addon Options" to the main game menu - enable/disable the unique critical hit sound for each weapon type,
along with the universal critical sound layer ("gong" sound) that plays overtop any ranged or melee critical hit.
Misc small fixes/tweaks.

Version 1.1.0:
Added custom sounds for steamsaws.
Improved custom sounds for blade weapons & tridents.
Distinct critical hit sound added for blade weapons.
Changed/improved "crystal" impact sounds, made less longwinded & obnoxious (e.g. when attacking shivogoroths.)
Corrected the horror impact sound mappings.
Tried to balance overall volume, some sounds were too loud relative to others.
Improved memory usage & got rid of Entity:loadList injection.
Re-organized Audiomancy files so new data paths are obvious.

Description
This is my improved version of Turn Separators mod. writed by David Forrester (aka codefly). It's still add separators -> "--------"
"Have you ever noticed that the newlines in ToME's battle log don't always correspond to where you took your turn? This addon places "--------" turn separator lines at the exact points you made a move so that you can easily tell what has taken place since your last move, and what text corresponds to the turn before that"

I just fixed OoDChecker. This was good idea with update mod in a time, but ...

Original Turn Separators mod by Codefly

Installation:
For Steam users: subscribe to this mod
From site: Download the '%mod_name%.teaa' file and copy them to Game Addon directory: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons
Check (or set) Auto: Active status on this mod in 'Addons' tab on start screen

Remove:
For Steam users: If you would like to remove this mod, you'll have to unsubscribe it's first from Steam and then delete the file named '%mod_name%.teaa' from C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons
From site: Delete the file named '%mod_name%.teaa' from C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons

or make it easy in game:
On start screen: Open 'Addons' tab and select "Manual:Disabled" in %mod_name%
That's all.

 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: РУС :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Описание
Это моя улучшенная версия оригинального мода. Убрана проверка версии клиента.
Замечали когда-нибудь, что новые строки в журнале битвы не всегда соответствуют концу своего хода? Этот мод помещает "------" между строками хода, что бы можно было легче визуально отделить минувшую очередь действий.
Мод по прежнему добавляет разделитель между игровыми ходами для большей наглядности.

Установка:
Для пользователей Steam: Подпишитесь на мод
С сайта: Скачайте файл '%mod_name%.teaa' и скопируйте его в директорию Аддонов игры: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons
Проверьте, что в игре в меню 'Addons' напротив мода стоит Auto: Active

Удаление:
Для пользователей Steam: Если хотите удалить мод - сперва отпишитесь от него в Steam, а затем удалите файл '%mod_name%.teaa' из директории C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons
С сайта:Удалите файл '%mod_name%.teaa' из директории C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons

или в игре:
На стартовом экране: Откройте меню 'Addons' и выберите "Manual:Disabled" напротив %mod_name%

Many in Maj'Eyal have heard of "demons", sadistic creatures who appear seemingly from nowhere, leaving a trail of suffering and destruction whereever they go. Their Fearscape floats far above the skies, watching and waiting, but not idly; their agents scout the land, their legions build up their forces, and their scholars develop new spells and strategies. As the barrier between our worlds begins to crack under their scrutiny, helpless Eyalites have begun to disappear, whisked up to serve as their slaves and playthings. They imbue these victims with magical powers to better survive the ensuing stresses - can you use your new-found abilities to escape the legions of Mal'Rok?

Features:

• Start with a new class, the Doombringer! These avatars of demonic destruction charge into battle with massive two-handed weapons, cutting swaths of firey devastation through hordes of opponents. Armed with flame magic and demonic strength, they delight in fighting against overwhelming odds, softening up the crowd with waves of fire, then feeding on the flames and suffering of their surroundings to stay alive while quickly reducing any group to a pile of ash and gore.
• Unlock a new class, the Demonologist, with an all-new item enhancement mechanic! Bearing a shield and the magic of the Spellblaze itself, these melee-fighting casters can grow demonic seeds from their fallen enemies. Imbue these seeds onto your items to gain a wide array of new talents and passive benefits, and summon the demons within them to fight on your side! Ever looked at a gigantic demon-cursed minotaur and wished it was on your side for once? Well, now you CAN summon one to pound your foes into paste while you cast devastating spells from afar, or call forth a squad of Fire Imps to pelt your enemies to death while they exhaust themselves on your impenetrable defenses! Demons have persistent health, making them a little more precious than disposable necromancer skeletons or summoner beasts, but can be revived from death nonetheless.
• Two new zones, with all-new art, foes, and bosses! You've seen the plains of the Fearscape before, now see the lairs and headquarters of the demons themselves!
• Over 10,000 words of written lore to find! The demons were once an enlightened, peaceful race, hailing from a distant planet known as Mal'Rok; learn what drove them to plot Eyal's eternal torture! Discover monuments to each of the demonic species and noteworthy individuals, showing the place of honor each has among them! Get a glimpse into the culture and daily lives of these sadistic invaders and their brainwashed thralls!
• Unlock a new race, Doomelves: Shalore who've taken to the demonic alterations especially well, corrupting their typical abilities into a darker form. Blink away to safety, transform into a shadowy dúathedlen to hide in the shadows or prey on your foes with blasts of darkness, use your new resilience to soak up status effects and critical hits, and assault your enemies' minds to leave them unsteady in combat!
• Between the aforementioned classes and Doomelves, a whopping 75 new talents!
• Unlock two new cosmetic options! You know you've always wanted demon-horns.
• Two new events, appearing anywhere in Eyal!
• 20 new artifacts, with unique and interesting effects. Collect the Obsidian Treasures to amass more and more power! Slip your hands into the Will of Ul'Gruth and watch your sweeping blows smash down walls! Wear a giant hideous hell-mouth as a fashionable belt!
• 7 new achievements! Conquer the worst Urh'Rok's forces can throw at you, and hang their metaphorical skulls from your profile page!

Important: this addon will have no effect if left unconfigured! Please read the description!

Recommended settings:

hit escape -> video options

• Requested FPS: 30
• Resting divider: 10
• Running divider: 5

Description:

Enables faster run/resting by use of FPS dividers.

These dividers simply divide the game's requested FPS by their respective values while resting or running. After starting a new game or loading a saved character, configure this addon by hitting escape -> video options. Setting these dividers to something greater than one can substantially reduce the amount of time required to finish resting/running on older computers.

Just be careful when resting on an escort mission...

Changelog:

See the forum discussion for the changelog.

Makes clearer view of EuipDoll by replacing item egos list with actual name, and tuning a font a bit
Because 'Ichorqueen' tells me much more than 'steel,hate,psyport,super.c,telekinetic', and looks definetly better :)

Donators/Buyers bonus!

One year has passed since the one the Orcs call the "Scourge from the West" came and single-handedly crushed the Orc Prides of Grushnak, Vor, Gorbat, and Rak'Shor.  The Allied Kingdoms, now linked by farportal to their distant, long-lost Sunwall allies, have helped them conquer most of Var'Eyal.  The few remnants of the ravaged Prides are caged...  but one Pride remains.  Kruk Pride, isolated on an island, is the last orcish settlement that stands; they, too, face their impending doom.  The Sunwall has blockaded the only exit point from the island, and now, the technologically advanced civilization of Steam Giants have come down from the mountains to take their homeland with machines and weaponry unlike anything else on Eyal.  Kruk Pride has reverse-engineered their technology before; their only hope is to do it again and rise up against the Pride's foes.
 

Features:

• Explore a whole new campaign from level 1 to 50, one year after the events of the original Tales of Maj'Eyal campaign. Liberate the Orcs (or die trying) by rising up against the Sunwall, the Steam Giants of Atmos, and other dangers that may lie in wait...
• Play as one of three new races: the battle-hardened Orcs, the brutal Yetis, and the unstoppable Whitehooves. Discover their stories, their pains, their hopes... and their awesome racial powers!
• Risk your life in over 20 unique zones! Explore the ruins of a lost city, lay siege to the Sunwall forces at the Gates of Morning, and raid the Steam Giants' mining quarry - each has its own unique foes and hazards, leading each to feel and play different from the others.
• Play as one of the four new tinker classes: Gunslingers, Sawbutchers, Psyshots and Annihilators! Plus a class evolution: Technomancers! Crush and rend your foes with heavy metal, electrocute and immolate them with your gadgets, charge across the battlefield or nimbly strafe in style - each plays differently, and none provide any shortage of ways to slay your foes.
• Master steam technology to build powerful tinkers to augment your equipment. Need to close in a bit quicker? Turn your boots into rocket boots! Having a hard time deciding whether to shoot someone or stab them? Build a Hand Cannon into your gloves, or deploy a Weapon Automaton to do the stabbing for you! If you have a problem, steamtech has a solution, usually involving explosions; with over 80 different powerful contraptions to craft, enjoy unparalleled versatility and trying something different with every playthrough.
• Master the tactical uses of over 140 talents! Fire bouncing trick-shots and psychic-infused shots, use your steamsaws as shields or wheels, terrify your foes with long mechanical arms - there are no "boring" talents here, everything has its own special applications and properties!
• Use advanced technology in the world of Eyal! Burrow through sand, plant bombs to destroy tunnels, and discover that you aren't alone in using it...
• Infusions and runes are for puny humans; implant new medical injectors to pump an array of experimental chemicals into your body! Injectors can use any (infinitely reusable) salve in your inventory as long as they're off their cooldown, giving you versatility you've wished you could get with a couple of inscriptions.
• Loot over 70 new and powerful artifacts. Pump lead into foes with big guns, quick guns, and explosive guns! Shred them with saws that maim, saws that thirst for blood, and saws that aren't really saws! Violate common sense by strapping a rocket to your back and calling it a jetpack!
• Enjoy dying in horrible and exotic ways at the hands (or claws, jaws, guns...) of over 140 new creatures! Not mere piles of stats and chain-stuns, these foes will provide unique challenges - suffer the Sunwall's newest cosmic spells, the new breeds of ritches that infest and multiply, the Steam Giants' elaborate defense systems, and find new strategies to adapt to each!
• Earn a trunkload of achievements! Have your accomplishments recognized for liberating the Orcish people, displaying exceptional mercy or cruelty, or showing your prowess with impressive feats! Give a boss a fate worse than death, show Sunwall forces how frustrating it is to fight a Radiant Horror as a paladin, come out on top against impossible odds, display a suicidal lack of situational awareness, and wear a badge of pride or shame for each!
• Read roughly 27,000 words of new lore to immerse yourself in the world! Learn how things have changed since the Scourge's campaign, feel hatred and/or pity for your foes, uncover grand schemes and sinister plots, and notice the elaborate connections between Var'Eyal's numerous factions. Every zone has a story behind it, and every story ties into a bigger picture; enjoy a tale of horror and humor, of intrigue and glory, of despair and hope.
• Earn the right to use the classic (and Ashes of Urh'Rok) classes in Embers of Rage, and the new tinker classes in Maj'Eyal! Play a Brawler in the East to fulfill your life-long dream of suplexing an entire nation of giants, or play a Sawbutcher in Maj'Eyal to shred through Dreadfell in a whirlwind of sawblades and steam!

This is a custom edit of the "Improved Combat Text v2" mod. All credit for the original work goes to to the original mod by Codefly
and credit for maintaining it up to v2 goes to LeoMaven
This description is also shamelessly ripped from LeoMaven's page.

Description

This addon replaces ToME's floating combat text:
- Shows the damage type (lightning, etc.) as icons or text!
- Text moves in a consistent direction and should be much easier to read than ToME's default for a variety of reasons.
- Can group damage for an entire player turn, or by every action taken - choose how much information you want to see!
- Various font sizes to choose from
- Various font coloring options (color by major damage type, use the default red / green, etc.)
- Text duration can be changed to fit your play style.
Icon credit for this addon goes to Lorc.

Custom Edit

The original addon is great, but I was always frustrated with the excessive amount of floating talent text and other garbage that just wasn't relevant to combat.
All of the yellow lines drowned out the actual combat damage numbers and it made me not want to use it. This custom edit gives you an option in the settings area to disable this text, and it is off by default.

Installation:

* For Steam users: subscribe to this mod
* From site: Download the '%mod_name%.teaa' file and copy them to Game Addon directory: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons
Check (or set) Auto: Active status on this mod in 'Addons' tab on start screen

Remove:
For Steam users: If you would like to remove this mod, you'll have to unsubscribe it's first from Steam and then delete the file named '%mod_name%.teaa' from C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons
From site: Delete the file named '%mod_name%.teaa' from C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\TalesMajEyal\game\addons

or make it easy in game:
On start screen: Open 'Addons' tab and select "Manual:Disabled" in %mod_name%
That's all.

Note for LeoMaven or CodeFly

If either of you want to just steal my code and put it in your addons that is completely fine with me.
I don't really want to maintain this long term if I don't have to so feel free to just update your own stuff and let me know. I'll take my addon down if there is no reason for it to exist.

This addon add a column to inventory which show items Tier and allows sorting to show higher Tier first
Useful when in late game you interested only in Tier 5 items

There is an option under "Game Setting"->UI->Sort Items by Tier by default
which is if enabled makes sorting by Tier default when opening Inventory
Otherwise click on 'T' to sort items by Tier

items which is going to be transmo- and of type scroll (rune,infusion..), tinker or other without Tier specified will be placed at the top of the inventory to avoid occasional transmo of valuables

This mod is safe to use without starting new game