What's Coming in the Revised Chapter One?

So, I've been fiddling again.  Since deciding Chapter One was worthy of a re-release, I've been working on a new intro movie to replace the one of old (see older post to view it).  It's come along well, to the point that I have a decent intro movie if I decide to venture onto YouTube, but I needed a break from it so ventured into the toolset to see where tweaks could be made.

One thing that always annoyed me was the scene in a cave where you can stumble across a bound prisoner.  It always bugged me that the sack depicted as containing the victim was far too small to actually contain a body.  Having only recently discovered how easy it is to scale an object this is an aesthetic fix I jumped upon and rectified.  Hoping it will improve the scene now it looks more believable.

I've taken on board comments from the past, one of which concerned item drops which quite frankly surprised me.  Some players felt there wasn't enough with regard loot, so I've been expanding on it slightly.  Another player felt that the Druid was difficult to please, so I've introduced an opportunity that can give previously unavailable slim bonuses (as well as penalties) to your reputation with him, via a conversation that opens up with a shop keeper should you have some unusual armour in your inventory, which, coincidentally, opens an avenue to sell them for a profit, thus opening up possibilities to buy something new in Oasis from the many items I can only presume some missed.

I've also been considering a bonus area, and was surprised to find one unused within the list of areas.  Although not complete, there is room to incorporate it.

As always.  If anyone is still watching, would love to know your thoughts on the matter.

Regards,

Quillmaster.

Plans for the Original Intro Movie

I'm currently experimenting with Apple Keynote to see if I can create a better opening movie since I plan on re-releasing Chapter One.  Below is the original intro.  If I have any success I'll be sure to upload it so stay tuned...

A Little Tinker

So, having given the module another play through, I've delved back in and found an error in a conversation branch that prevented the "Little Miss Milly" Quest to complete for me, which was a real shame considering the gift I missed out on, so I dove in and believe this has now been fixed.  There's some fun dynamics in the conversation with Milly which include the Druid Henchman.  I've never noticed before that the editor lists both file word content and module word content.  Chapter One currently stands at 80254 words across all conversations, with the Milly conversation using 935 words, and she is a fairly minor NPC.  The Druid Henchman for comparison has a word count of 9612, which doesn't include interjections he can make in the conversations of others taking place in his presence.

Think I've fixed the merchant issue whose animations seemed out of place if the merchant had moved from his cooking pot.

Does anyone know if intro and end movies are still supported?  If so do they know the format it has to take?  I'd really like to replenish these before posting any update.

Re-Visiting Chapter 1

Nostalgia had me yearning to give Chapter 1 a play through.  At first I couldn't get it to work, and then it occurred to me that I was trying to play with the latest version of NWN (enhanced edition), and that maybe I needed to rebuild the module in the toolset to make it compatible.  While there I thought I'd make a change to something I was aware didn't work, and am pleased to say I resolved the issue.  It involved the telescope on an external balcony of the castle.  It was meant to be useable and fire a conversation, but failed to highlight as an object one could interact with.  It now highlights as intended and fires a conversation between the main character and his henchman.  Although not essential to find, it does offer some opportunities to improve or worsen the relationship, so is a valuable resource for those who stated "I could never get that dam Druid to like me!".  Conversation choices have consequences, and one would be wise to read all options before deciding how to react, and frequently too, as some options only appear as a matter of circumstance.

Gailin (The Druid Henchman) was my first ever attempt at a henchman, and I'm rather proud that I could trigger responses from him.  Conversations are what I have the most fun with, and being able to have him interject with the conversations of others was a joy to work on.  There's a shop in Oasis where the shop keeper acknowledges his presence, opening up new conversation branches in the process.

I had great fun playing through again, sometimes in awe of what I had accomplished, but sometimes frowning at the flaws.

So... I started tinkering, and it got me to thinking I should upload an updated version so the current generation can enjoy it, maybe even expanding on it a little and fixing the end movie which is, I admit, somewhat annoying that the game could end without playing it.

You'll have to excuse me.  I need to go tinker on it some more. :)