None Player Characters

Chapter One is getting ever closer to releasing a fully playable Beta. The first half of the module has already had some extensive testing, while the latter half has had none, so it seems wise to get some playtesting done before releasing an official final version, particularly as it is part one in a series and I won't want to put people off from looking forward to future episodes.
Although I envision the Beta being fully playable, it will be missing a few things anticipated for the final release. The town of Oasis will need some more townfolk to make it feel more alive. It will also need at least an end movie as the module will end on a bit of a cliffhanger and will feel odd finishing without an accompanying movie. A start movie would also be nice but not essential, so I suppose that will depend on how easy I find making the end one. Some of the scrolls I intend implementing might be missing but won't be a game breaker. There will also be something present that will be removed in the final release. At the moment the player gets feed
back when their rep with their henchman gets adjusted so I can get feedback if an adjustment feels out of place.

So, just to wet your appetite I'm going to talk about some of the NPCs present as that currently seems to be the most requested news in my poll here. As already discussed, "The Relbonian Chronicles" draws from a rich mythology that makes for a somewhat political setting where the Gods play an active role. As such, several of the NPCs are quite interesting. In some cases, they will play more active roles in future episodes and will only have cameo appearances in Chapter One, Zannaram being a classic example...

Zannaram was a once powerful Sorceror cursed by the Gods for his arrogance to assume the form of a Raven. As such, he roams the land in search of spell books to replenish the spells in his head. It's possible to have a very brief encounter with him about half way through the game, and again nearer the end where he might provide some assistance.

Math Skinnyfin is a Lith, a proud race of fish like people specific to Relbonia, being the earliest race known to exist (other than the "Ancients"). They are generally disliked by the other races, but there are some who recognise their loyalty and sense of honour, giving them the respect they deserve. We meet Math early on in the game when seeking passage on a boat. Later it's possible (but not essential) to rescue him, resulting in a reward that has consequences later in the game should he survive the rescue attempt. There are other conditions to the reward, but I don't want to post too big a spoiler here. Suffice to say it's good, and if the player doesn't like it, they're sure to be able to buy something they do like in Oasis after selling it. ;)

Gailin Both is much more in depth, being a henchman acquired at the halfway stage of the game. A runner for the Chronicle, he is initially annoyed with the PC for having his initiation ceremony into becoming a fully fledged Druid interupted by the arrival of the PC. Win his trust to increase control over him, otherwise you'll find him telling you to mind your own business when you suggest he changes his tactics. He's quite detailed now, to the point that even his posessions can cast light on the life of a runner.

Thon is a Half Orc met about halfway through who is initially sided with some bad guys the player can stumblle across who mistakenly presume the player is the help they have sent for. It's possible to have him switch sides, after which the player can either take him out too, or simply bid farewell. If you go for the latter option, he can turn up later, having been good enough to take out some other bad guys for you.

Another cameo appearance in Chapter One will be made by Allivanril, an Elven Sorceror due to make an appearance as the player character in a later chapter. Keep an eye out for him to gain a better understanding of what he's been up to when you come to play him. One of the main things that pleases me about this project is the politics involved despite the presence of magic and Gods. As an NPC Allivanril is clearly implicated in something bad, but that's because of his political motivations and an ignorance to the bigger picture. Sorcerors are frowned upon by those who derive their magic from the Gods, and to begin with, Allivanril is setting out to discredit the main body within Relbonia being representatives of the Gods, the Druids, by creating forgeries of the newsletter created by them, as he feels the ones penned by Druids offer a one sided perspective of world news. It is simply an unlucky coincidence that the man he hopes will distribute the forgeries for him is driven by far more worrying motivations that will later have our Sorceror acting on behalf of the Druids. Of course, his cameo appearance in Chapter One barely scratches the surface of this, but it does hopefully give you idea of the scope of the story.

Right, that's it for this post. Stay Tuned. :)

A Deadly Bug

Some time ago... possibly last year, I explained the death system I wanted in chapter 1 to Lance Botelle, and he was kind enough to supply me with some scripts that would hopefully have it working. Technically, he did have it working, but... allow me to explain...

What this first module required was as follows:

1. Up to a certain point (visiting a lighthouse), death would mean game over, with no respawn option. I felt that I could tie in some of the developing story into the respawn system to help make the story more immersive and death feel more real early on in the game.


2. Once the lighthouse is reached, it becomes apparent that it's possible to return from death there for a limited amount of time owing to the lighthouse co-existing in Limbo (the plane that the dead travel upon - see accompanying pic). It does mean however that the player has to retrace his steps to where he died, but at least it's less frustrating than not being able to come back at all. So, after the lighthouse has been discovered, death should result in the player teleporting to Limbo, but able to return to the land of the living via the lighthouse.
   


3. Later in the module, it becomes apparent that the lighthouse method can no longer be used because of how the story has developed, but another method becomes available in the form of soul crystals. As long as a player has some, he should be able to respawn on the spot.

Early testing of the system Lance had scripted for me looked positive. In case 1, the GUI panel appeared with no respawn option - great! In case 2, the player went to Limbo - woohoo!

Unfortunately I hadn't got around to testing case 3 until a couple of nights ago. While technically it did what I had asked for, respawned the player and removed a soul crystal, it did it in the same manner as case 2, in that no GUI panel came up. It just happened automatically. Now in case 2 I liked the fact that it did it like that. The first thing a player experiences when venturing to Limbo is disorientation. He asks where he is and has to be told he is dead. The fact that no GUI panel appears with the respawn option helps add to the feeling of "what just happened" when arriving in Limbo - perfect.

In contrast, case 3 didn't feel right at all. I wanted to have the GUI panel appear to give a sense of having died as opposed to looking like you'd just got up again after falling over, so I did a terrible thing... I got brave and started to tinker with it myself.

I discovered that the routine Lance had made rested exclusively within the "ondeath" script, so logically concluded I needed to transfer case 3 to the "onrespawn" script. That's when it all started to go horribly wrong. At first it wouldn't work at all, so I started tampering with it some more, and along the way all the logic got screwed up. Eventually I figured out that because I'd changed the script where the routine rested, my variable names were doomed from the start. Calling a target referred to as "odead" in a respawn script should have gave the game away early on really - doh!


So, I'd wasted a whole night screwing it all up, but the good news is that I managed to fix it after a couple of laborious hours tonight consulting the Lexicon. I'm glad I did though, because I discovered how to place text in the GUI panel (This is the article that helped me.). This has meant I've been able to improve on the immersion even more by using text relevant to the story instead of the standard random game hints that can appear. What this means is that by further editing of the "ondeath" script I now have messages appear in the GUI panel such as "You are currently unable to return to the land of the living." for case 1, and for case 3, either a message explaining that a Soul Crystal will be used for respawning, or that the player has no soul crystals remaining (with the respawn button vacant).

Please excuse me while I let out a small scream of elation ;)

WOOHOOO!


It's always great if you can solve something yourself :)

It's the little things that count

I've had quite a productive weekend, going in and polishing existing conversations. What's funny though is how much extra work one can make in the process. What was supposed to be a simple quest became much more complicated, with multiple tests slowly uncovering various bugs that required sorting. The good news is that I think I've ironed out all such problems which is always satisfying.

In the process of fine tuning I've enjoyed polishing the existing content with little touches which may well be missed in the finished product, but I believe such touches are worth applying simply because when they're not missed, they do so much more to enhance player immersion within the story.

The quest that I've finished isn't integral to the story, but it does add to the feeling of the town in which it takes place having events of its own, no matter how trivual. In this particular case it simply involves re-uniting a girl with her dolly. As such it has a relatively small xp reward on completion, but what's nice about it is that there are two possible "successful" outcomes, only one of which involves an item being given to the player as a reward. I love creating items, and am a firm believer that everything within the world having a plausible reason for existing, no matter what powers they may bestow upon the user of such items. Fortunately for me the "Relbonian Chronicles" have a rich mythology for me to draw from, but I like to give the same level of detail to all my items, no matter how mundane they appear to be. In the case of the dolly quest, I needed to create the dolly and a reward from the girl. Although I'm not going to reveal here how the reward is required, I will show the item details to give you an idea of the attention I'm giving to the module:

Dolly
A crude dolly made from sewn linen stuffed with sand. Popular among Relbonian girls. This one is oviously much loved, made evident from the sand seeping from the seams.

Bangles
Although nothing more than cheap jewellry for a child, these bangles are far more significant to you, being a gift from the charming girl Milly from the town of Oasis. Simply looking at them fills you with a sense of pride for making the young girl happy, and does wonders for helping your mind stay focused.

They are of great sentimental value and can never be parted with.

Saving Throw Bonus: Mind Affecting +3
Use Limitation: Alignment Group: Good

In the case of the bangles above, I've made them undroppable to tie in with the description. Not only that, but it also prevents the player from selling them which would make them far too valuable for a gift from a girl. I like the fact that the description implies they are non magical, yet also gives a reason for the benefit of wearing them.

As well as paying attention to items, I also like to pay attention to the environment. As an example, there's a tower in Oasis that has two floors. The tileset used has a doorway in the circular room as well as the stairs, so for the upper floor I needed to disguise the door somehow, as there was no reason for it to exist. Thanks to the latest content from the 1.69 update, I used the canvas door which doubles as excellent curtains that can be opened and closed with accompanying sound effects. Just behind them I've placed a large window. While the solution looked nice, I felt it deserved more, so attached a script on their "OnOpen" that has a nearby NPC comment on the excellent view.

That's all the news for now. Happy buiding all! :)

Aid from the Quillmistress!

Well, I must confess I thought I'd never see the day, but a few days ago I had the laptop in the kitchen and when I got up to start working on dinner, jokingly said to my wife "Do you want to design an outfit for me?". No sooner had I left my seat than she was turning the laptop round and asking me for the brief and a few pointers on how to use the toolset for costume creation. Perhaps even more surprising is that after she'd finished the first outfit, she turned to me and asked if there were any more I needed making. Seems I brought out the fashion designer in her!

One of the things I pride myself on is attention to detail. Just look at the effort put into making the NPCs matching their portraits in my "Muddles in Milton" module to get an idea of the lengths I go to. "The Relbonian Chronicles" are no different. Being set in their own mythology means I have to go that extra mile in preparing books etc that fit into the story. Costumes too require such attention, and I'm pleased to say my wife has done me proud, so I thought I'd share them with you all here.

The first outfit I required was for the "Chronicle Runners". These are usually apprentice Druids who deliver news throughout the land, so the outfit needed to hint at a love for nature and speed. It also needed to look as if it would offer protection from the elements, while being light enough to enable the wearer to run comfortably. I liked the way the cuffs of this outfit almost look like leaves while suggesting speed. She even included a pouch for the runner to place the scroll they'd be carrying.

As I'm now working on the town where the player can stock up before heading of for the final part of the module (Chapter One), I felt I should work on some custom items to tempt them with, and offer a choice when it came to the armour. Between me and my wife we made 3 sets, 2 of which are based on elemental faiths. Shown here is the set based on the faith of "Mouys" (Water), and again, I think she captured the essence of what I wanted beatifully, even down to the accompanying helmet.

The other elemental based armour was earth based, while the non-elemental one adds some flavour to the area in which it can be bought (a town situated in a desert), being made from the scales of the giant scorpions said to roam the desert. It occured to me while these were being designed that I'd never seen an option in a Neverwinter module to view an item of clothing while worn before purchase, so I set about creating a "changing room" in a shop. The latest 1.69 patch has a rather nifty curtain doorway perfect for the purpose, so I made a little room with a mirror at one end with the intention that you could use the mirror to preview the available outfits. For the preview mode to work, I had to assign a camera position to view the player face on, but this failed to work in the room because the wall behind the mirror interfered with the desired position forcing the camera to swing behind the PC. I've got round this by making a duplicate area of the room with a doorway where the mirror should be. When using the mirror, the player is transported to the duplicate area where the camera can sit safely in the doorframe. By placing two light shafts either side of the frame, it gives a fairly immpressive illusion of viewing yourself in a mirror. Below are a couple of screen caps of this "mirror mode" while trying on the "Rathna" (Earth) and "Scorpion" Plate.

The only downside to this rather nifty little routine is that it's possible to escape from the conversation and thus keep the outfit you are trying on without paying for it. I've dealt with this to a degree by making "preview" copies of the outfits that don't have any of the magical abilities in place and also tagging them as "stolen" so that they will be un-sellable (There will be no merchants that buy stolen items in this module). I might make an "on exit" script for the area that destroys all preview items on the player but am currently undecided.

Something else I'm fairly excited about is that the water based armour will be available as a reward, but it will be fairly difficult to collect...

SPOILER ALERT
Since the manner in which such a reward will be acquired will be difficult, I see no issue with posting the potential spoiler here as a treat for those who decide to play having followed this blog. There is a cave fairly early on in the module in which the player can untie a "Lith", after which a small battle takes place. If the Lith survives the battle (if he dies the reward potential is over), he rewards the player with an amulet that has the ability to cure poison once, after which it is destroyed. Provided the player does NOT use the amulet AND wears it in their neck slot when visiting the Temple of Mouys in Oasis, the armour can be acquired.

That's all for now. Happy gaming all :)