Well, I managed to step away from Skyrim and opened the toolset to have another bash at Chapter 2. It had been worrying me a while as whenever I opened the toolset to have a look, I realised what was waiting for me was quite daunting and would end up shutting it down again. This time I perservered, and decided to crack on with the opening cutscene that will greet the player. Since I started dabbling with the Gestalt cutscene system I haven't looked back. True, for a perfectionist like me it's making a rod for my own back, but I feel quite strongly that the inclusion of cutscenes does much in the telling of the story and moves it away from a simple monster bash. As expected, problems arose.... camera positioning was never quite where I wanted it... NPCs wouldn't run where I wanted them to... camera wobble made text unreadable... all the usual stuff that had me cursing at the keyboard, but I got there in the end. The cutscene intro now sets the scene nicely, meaning I'm ready to move on to what takes place within the city where the first part of the module will take place. As I enjoy making areas, some of that has already been done.
No pictures for now. I think I've got flu coming on and need bed!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Oops!
I guess an apology is in order, for not only has work on part two ground to a temporary halt, but I also failed to post my usual well wishes for Christmas and the New Year. To some extent personal life has taken the usual toll, and certainly wasn't helped by the uninsured driver who crashed into the back of my car while I was stationary. My oven blew up on Christmas eve, I've not been well, and I attended a couple of job interviews, but I digress... the real reason things have ground to a halt if I'm completely honest with myself is the recent acquisition of Skyrim on the X box. Quite simply, it's the best game I have ever played.
For those of you unfamiliar with Elder Scroll games, they are fantasy based role playing games that have acquired a reputation for high quality. Morrowind certainly deserved such a reputation with its vast scale and attention to detail. Oblivion certainly looked promising with the same mammoth scale and extremely high quality graphics, but the story driven requirement to keep entering portals ended up feeling very repetitive, to the point that despite nearing the end, I felt bored and ceased playing.
Skyrim is far superior. You can venture as far as the eye can see in a landscape that will have you pausing simply to take in the view. The superior graphics extend to your inventory items, allowing you to zoom in on them and view them from any angle, making them feel much more solid and real, improving game immersion vastly as a result.
Your character can be taken in any direction you wish, with skills improving as you use them. I've been having fun with a stealthy character that favours two swords and dabbles with fire spells. They're also a dab hand at creating potions, poisons, and even their own magic items. It's been great fun, but I'm seriously considering starting again with a pure mage, which is testament to how good the game is.
There are bugs, but the beauty of it as a whole far outweigh the trivual annoyances that can crop up, and let's face it, in a game this big, it's no surprise that the odd quirky little thing will slip the net.
The storyline is great... no.... fantastic if you're into Dragons like me. A real epic story that delves deep into the lore of the Elder Scrolls. What's nice is that even the side quests have great attention to detail, often resulting in you wandering far from your intended path where something else gets the better of your curiosity.
Quite simply, it's awesome.
For those of you unfamiliar with Elder Scroll games, they are fantasy based role playing games that have acquired a reputation for high quality. Morrowind certainly deserved such a reputation with its vast scale and attention to detail. Oblivion certainly looked promising with the same mammoth scale and extremely high quality graphics, but the story driven requirement to keep entering portals ended up feeling very repetitive, to the point that despite nearing the end, I felt bored and ceased playing.
Skyrim is far superior. You can venture as far as the eye can see in a landscape that will have you pausing simply to take in the view. The superior graphics extend to your inventory items, allowing you to zoom in on them and view them from any angle, making them feel much more solid and real, improving game immersion vastly as a result.
Your character can be taken in any direction you wish, with skills improving as you use them. I've been having fun with a stealthy character that favours two swords and dabbles with fire spells. They're also a dab hand at creating potions, poisons, and even their own magic items. It's been great fun, but I'm seriously considering starting again with a pure mage, which is testament to how good the game is.
There are bugs, but the beauty of it as a whole far outweigh the trivual annoyances that can crop up, and let's face it, in a game this big, it's no surprise that the odd quirky little thing will slip the net.
The storyline is great... no.... fantastic if you're into Dragons like me. A real epic story that delves deep into the lore of the Elder Scrolls. What's nice is that even the side quests have great attention to detail, often resulting in you wandering far from your intended path where something else gets the better of your curiosity.
Quite simply, it's awesome.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Inspirational Fuel
I believe I've mentioned in the past that I've been labelled a "Regressive Achiever". We're very rare (so I've been told). Most people when getting from A to Z conclude that they best go to B first, whereas I'd argue that since Z is where I want to be, I'm going to need to get to Y at some stage so spend my time working out how to get there. Regressive Achievers tend to tackle things backwards. As a result they tend to be slow and methodical, perhaps taking longer, but usually achieving a superior result far closer to the desired requirement of their chosen task. Ever since I was told this, I have to chuckle at the amount of times I subconciously work like this without realising I'm doing it. It's most obvious in the manner in which I draw. I have an unusual style that my art teacher used to criticise me for, yet I find it is the only way I can work. When I work on an animal portrait, I have to see evidence that I am achieving what I want, or I lose interest, so I'll finish part of the portrait (I usually do the eyes first, as that's the most important feature to get right) before moving on to another section. If you were to photograph progress of one of my drawings, you'd get the impression a jigsaw was being made.
It recently occured to me that even Neverwinter can't escape the way I work.
Having encountered many a thread in the past requesting building tips and advise, I thought perhaps I should elaborate on my own methods. True, they may be long winded, but, like my drawings, by finishing the finer details before tackling the bigger picture, I find I am provided with the inspirational fuel required to take the project further.
So, for your own enjoyment, here is the thought process involved in the latest piece of "The Relbonian Chronicles - Chapter Two" that I've been working on...
For the introductory cutscene, I need a conversation to take place between the player and an NPC who is the leader of the local Thieves' Guild. I work on the location where the conversation will take place until I'm happy with it in terms of content, lighting, and most importantly, music. I say music is most important for two reasons. One, it helps set the mood for what will happen in the scene, and two, it helps put me in the right frame of mind to capture the essence of what I want in the characters that will inhabit the scene. Having got this far, I'll start working on the NPC, taking care that the location he will inhabit is visible to me during the creation process, and that the music can be heard.
Players of my previous works will know I pay great attention to detail, taking the trouble to have an NPC match their chosen portrait as closely as possible. With the help of the music and the setting, it occurs to me that the head I've selected, although close to the portrait, doesn't portray the intimidation I want to convey so I return to browsing through the head models until I find something more suitable.
Having found something more suitable, I find a description of the NPC comes more naturally, and am able to move on to the inventory. By far the most important item is the clothing, as again, I want it to tie in with the chosen portrait of the character. In this instance I am fortunate that not a great deal of the clothing is visible, so the main things I need concern myself with are the colour scheme and the fact that he shouldn't be showing off his chest. Rather than spend ages looking for something that fits the bill, I just copy what he's wearing and edit it to my personal taste, eventually culminating in the outfit shown below. Note that while I work on the outfit, I keep the NPC details visible so that I can still refer to the character portrait as reference.
Now, at this stage it occurs to me that as an actor in a cutscene his equipment isn't that important. I don't let that stop me however, as there's no reason I can't use it elsewhere (perhaps even a later chapter) for whatever reason, and so I set to work on giving the armour both properties and a description...
"Armour of Wrist Whistling is the apt name given to this armour by the maker, a famed tailor called Vence Volderberg, who is rumoured to have created the original Runner costume favoured by the Druids. This outfit is for an entirely different type of customer however, with urban camoflage as opposed to rural clearly evident in the expensive dyes used to colour the garment.
Light yet well padded, it has been designed to allow swift movement of the arms (hence the name), allowing the wearer to block potential sword swipes with the bladed forearm attachments.
It is rumoured that some in Relbonian high society oppose the open production of such garments arguing that they are favoured by criminals and that anyone wearing them should be treated as such."
Satisfied that the description tallies with the properties I designate to it, I then place it on the NPC to see if the final look fits the bill.
Now I'm happy. He looks the part and suits the music I'm listening too perfectly. I create a one line conversation file and assign it ready for working on later, and browse through a few voice sets until I find the one I feel best suits him. With that done, I place him in the scene, look at the clock, and realise I should be getting to bed!
Rest assured that work continues, but the perfectionist in me can be a little demanding of my time. Hopefully that's already clearly evident to those of you who played Chapter One.
Bedtime again... lol... night all. :)
It recently occured to me that even Neverwinter can't escape the way I work.
Having encountered many a thread in the past requesting building tips and advise, I thought perhaps I should elaborate on my own methods. True, they may be long winded, but, like my drawings, by finishing the finer details before tackling the bigger picture, I find I am provided with the inspirational fuel required to take the project further.
So, for your own enjoyment, here is the thought process involved in the latest piece of "The Relbonian Chronicles - Chapter Two" that I've been working on...
For the introductory cutscene, I need a conversation to take place between the player and an NPC who is the leader of the local Thieves' Guild. I work on the location where the conversation will take place until I'm happy with it in terms of content, lighting, and most importantly, music. I say music is most important for two reasons. One, it helps set the mood for what will happen in the scene, and two, it helps put me in the right frame of mind to capture the essence of what I want in the characters that will inhabit the scene. Having got this far, I'll start working on the NPC, taking care that the location he will inhabit is visible to me during the creation process, and that the music can be heard.
Players of my previous works will know I pay great attention to detail, taking the trouble to have an NPC match their chosen portrait as closely as possible. With the help of the music and the setting, it occurs to me that the head I've selected, although close to the portrait, doesn't portray the intimidation I want to convey so I return to browsing through the head models until I find something more suitable.
Having found something more suitable, I find a description of the NPC comes more naturally, and am able to move on to the inventory. By far the most important item is the clothing, as again, I want it to tie in with the chosen portrait of the character. In this instance I am fortunate that not a great deal of the clothing is visible, so the main things I need concern myself with are the colour scheme and the fact that he shouldn't be showing off his chest. Rather than spend ages looking for something that fits the bill, I just copy what he's wearing and edit it to my personal taste, eventually culminating in the outfit shown below. Note that while I work on the outfit, I keep the NPC details visible so that I can still refer to the character portrait as reference.
Now, at this stage it occurs to me that as an actor in a cutscene his equipment isn't that important. I don't let that stop me however, as there's no reason I can't use it elsewhere (perhaps even a later chapter) for whatever reason, and so I set to work on giving the armour both properties and a description...
"Armour of Wrist Whistling is the apt name given to this armour by the maker, a famed tailor called Vence Volderberg, who is rumoured to have created the original Runner costume favoured by the Druids. This outfit is for an entirely different type of customer however, with urban camoflage as opposed to rural clearly evident in the expensive dyes used to colour the garment.
Light yet well padded, it has been designed to allow swift movement of the arms (hence the name), allowing the wearer to block potential sword swipes with the bladed forearm attachments.
It is rumoured that some in Relbonian high society oppose the open production of such garments arguing that they are favoured by criminals and that anyone wearing them should be treated as such."
Satisfied that the description tallies with the properties I designate to it, I then place it on the NPC to see if the final look fits the bill.
Now I'm happy. He looks the part and suits the music I'm listening too perfectly. I create a one line conversation file and assign it ready for working on later, and browse through a few voice sets until I find the one I feel best suits him. With that done, I place him in the scene, look at the clock, and realise I should be getting to bed!
Rest assured that work continues, but the perfectionist in me can be a little demanding of my time. Hopefully that's already clearly evident to those of you who played Chapter One.
Bedtime again... lol... night all. :)
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Skyrim
I made a start on the opening cutscene last night. It's tough getting the camera to do what you want. Guess the Director in me will slow things down a little.
Decided to have a break and browse for a while. I remembered The Elder Scrolls were due to release Skyrim soon, so decided to check out their site which is where I've been the last hour. I have to say everything looks awesome. True, I thought that about Oblivion but ended up disheartened by the repetitive combat in the gate zones, but Skyrim looks so much better. Just take a look at this Dragon Combat in game footage.
All Elder Scroll games have paid high attention to detail, and Skyrim is no exception. It's worth watching the other videos available to get a sense of how far this goes ( The puzzle and key scene is a particularly good example.).
This looks to be a dangerous game to buy for kids who need to do homework, or even adults come to that... hmmm... perhaps I'll add it to my Christmas list and let fate decide ;)
Decided to have a break and browse for a while. I remembered The Elder Scrolls were due to release Skyrim soon, so decided to check out their site which is where I've been the last hour. I have to say everything looks awesome. True, I thought that about Oblivion but ended up disheartened by the repetitive combat in the gate zones, but Skyrim looks so much better. Just take a look at this Dragon Combat in game footage.
All Elder Scroll games have paid high attention to detail, and Skyrim is no exception. It's worth watching the other videos available to get a sense of how far this goes ( The puzzle and key scene is a particularly good example.).
This looks to be a dangerous game to buy for kids who need to do homework, or even adults come to that... hmmm... perhaps I'll add it to my Christmas list and let fate decide ;)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Chapter Two Underway
I realise it's been a while, but a rest was both needed and much deserved after the completion of Chapter One.
The good news is that Chapter Two is now underway, and I'm setting out to include as much attention to detail as the prequel. NPCs will match their portraits as closely as possible, have voices and conversations that give them real personality, and descriptions too. Area designs have carefully placed items that sometimes require use of the "Adjust Location" tool to ensure I attain the look I'm trying to achieve, and also have careful consideration given to both lighting and sound. As in Chapter One, no item should feel out of place, and will have in depth lore unique to the world of Relbonia..
As a teaser, here's a few screen caps of the areas I've been working on. You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Hopefully you won't have to wait so long for the next update...
This will be the home of the player character and where the game will start. I hope to start on the opening cutscene soon...
Here's a weapon shop that will have a major role in the story...
And these are the nearby docks.
That's all the news for now.
All the best.
Quillmaster.
The good news is that Chapter Two is now underway, and I'm setting out to include as much attention to detail as the prequel. NPCs will match their portraits as closely as possible, have voices and conversations that give them real personality, and descriptions too. Area designs have carefully placed items that sometimes require use of the "Adjust Location" tool to ensure I attain the look I'm trying to achieve, and also have careful consideration given to both lighting and sound. As in Chapter One, no item should feel out of place, and will have in depth lore unique to the world of Relbonia..
As a teaser, here's a few screen caps of the areas I've been working on. You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Hopefully you won't have to wait so long for the next update...
This will be the home of the player character and where the game will start. I hope to start on the opening cutscene soon...
Here's a weapon shop that will have a major role in the story...
And these are the nearby docks.
That's all the news for now.
All the best.
Quillmaster.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
So What Happens Now?
Well... I must say I'm a little disheartened, primarily I guess because the following for NWN1 has shrunk to such a degree that I feel creating a new mod for the "community" may as well have meant creating a new mod for my neighbours. The feedback I've had, while generally good, has been a lot smaller than I had hoped, and this has left me wondering whether or not making the sequels might be a waste of time. That's not strictly true, as I enjoy the creation process and love story telling. If nothing else, I believe I'm making something my son will enjoy playing in later years, provided of course whatever computer I have at the time can still run it.
I have made a start on the areas for chapter 2, but the speed at which I tackle it will largely depend on further feedback. So I guess this is a warning to you all, If you want to see a sequel, get more involved. There is a project page for this over at the Bioware boards where you can start a discussion if you so wish.
So, with that said, what are the plans for Chapter 2? Well this time round the main character will be a Thief, with the intention to start a little higher in level than the main character of the prequel. It will be a human female struggling against the prejudice of the male dominated Thieves Guild, but she'll be a strong willed woman who regards most men as a means to an end. They'll be a henchman again at around the halfway stage, but this time a very unusual one... an Ancient! You'll just have to play Chapter 1 if you don't know what one of those are ;)
I have made a start on the areas for chapter 2, but the speed at which I tackle it will largely depend on further feedback. So I guess this is a warning to you all, If you want to see a sequel, get more involved. There is a project page for this over at the Bioware boards where you can start a discussion if you so wish.
So, with that said, what are the plans for Chapter 2? Well this time round the main character will be a Thief, with the intention to start a little higher in level than the main character of the prequel. It will be a human female struggling against the prejudice of the male dominated Thieves Guild, but she'll be a strong willed woman who regards most men as a means to an end. They'll be a henchman again at around the halfway stage, but this time a very unusual one... an Ancient! You'll just have to play Chapter 1 if you don't know what one of those are ;)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Latest Patch Hak Now Available
Just posting here for those of you who may not be aware that the latest patch hak for Chapter One is now available that corrects a number of issues including a possible game breaker that could occur in final scene if your reputation with your henchman was high. Simply overwrite current patch hak and you'll be able to continue play instead of having to start again.
All the best,
Q.
All the best,
Q.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Chapter One Uploaded!
I've just uploaded Chapter One to the vault and it's available here. Now it's time for a well deserved rest!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The End Very Nearly WAS Nigh!
I recently had a heart stopping moment when I thought all was lost. Started up NWN with the intention of using the toolset, only to be confronted with an error message that stated something along the lines of "Not in the install directory, please correct or re-install NWN." Obviously I wasn't looking forward to a potential re-install, particularly as I had accidently left my external hard drive at my brothers house who lives many miles away, and it contained many of my backup files.
Fortunately I remembered I'd been having mouse issues the previous night, so it occcured to me that while exploring the NWN folder I may have accidentally moved something I shouldn't have. Fortunately that was exactly what the problem was, and I was able to return said folder to its original location. Phew!
I've certainly been busy. Having re-visited an old message from one of my playtesters, I realised I'd only got half way through their list of potential bugs and then forgotten about it during a period of inactivity. I'm happy to say that these have now been dealt with.
I also managed to polish a cutscene that juddered in game yet behaved fine while testing, and have since realised it's important to test such scenes in an identical environment to which they will fire in game. By that I mean if a scene is fired when you enter an area, don't assume that by placing the module start within the area you'll be testing it in game conditions. Place the start where you can jump/transition to the area in question. This has been an important lesson.
I've also extended the ending even further, so it's changed quite substantially from the Beta.
There are two more things to fix, then it's just a case of making the end movie, so I'm confident I'll have a final version on the vault within a few weeks.
For those of you who are interested, there is now a project page available over at the Bioware site.
In the meantime, here's a few more screen caps along with some footnotes of what you can expect in Chapter one...
Fortunately I remembered I'd been having mouse issues the previous night, so it occcured to me that while exploring the NWN folder I may have accidentally moved something I shouldn't have. Fortunately that was exactly what the problem was, and I was able to return said folder to its original location. Phew!
I've certainly been busy. Having re-visited an old message from one of my playtesters, I realised I'd only got half way through their list of potential bugs and then forgotten about it during a period of inactivity. I'm happy to say that these have now been dealt with.
I also managed to polish a cutscene that juddered in game yet behaved fine while testing, and have since realised it's important to test such scenes in an identical environment to which they will fire in game. By that I mean if a scene is fired when you enter an area, don't assume that by placing the module start within the area you'll be testing it in game conditions. Place the start where you can jump/transition to the area in question. This has been an important lesson.
I've also extended the ending even further, so it's changed quite substantially from the Beta.
There are two more things to fix, then it's just a case of making the end movie, so I'm confident I'll have a final version on the vault within a few weeks.
For those of you who are interested, there is now a project page available over at the Bioware site.
In the meantime, here's a few more screen caps along with some footnotes of what you can expect in Chapter one...
The Relbonian Chronicles are rich in their own unique mythology, with many books and item descriptions adding to the immersion.
High attention to detail, with light and music carefully considered for each area.
Inclusion of cutscenes to further enhance the story.
Interaction with many an NPC.
Use of visuals in both cutscenes...
...and in game play.
Combat that steadily rises with a variety of opponents. This first one is hidden so as not to be a spoiler ;)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The End is Nigh!
...but not in a doom and gloom way. I'm actually quite excited as I've done a lot more work to the module. All conversations and quests are now completed, which feels like I've hit a major milestone.
I've also changed how the module ends. It had been bothering me for quite some time. I wanted it to end on a cliff hanger, but it just felt like it was lacking something how it stood in the Beta despite at least one playtester telling me it was okay. The player ends up leaving a castle via a specific route but I'd failed to explain the reason for the routes existence. I knew it had a valid reason, but to the player I felt like it might appear that I'd just got lazy toward the end of the module. I suppose to a certain degree this was true, for the novel the module is based upon had a set scene which I chose to ignore for I felt it had no purpose and wouldn't add to game play, but oh... how wrong I was! I decided it was worth implementing after all, and while it is true that from the player perspective it just prolongs how long it takes for the module to end for a minute or two, it adds so much tension and drama that I now feel it has a much stronger cliff hanging ending as a result. Not only that, but it has also given me the opportunity to implement some aknowlegdement of the final standing between the PC and henchman.
So what's left to do? I have some more scrolls that need creating and placing in their relevant merchant stores, then it's on to the end movie and... job done! I might consider creating a walkthrough document as there are a few nuggets players might not want to miss, but I'm likely to leave that until the modules release. If anyone could assist in the end movie that would bring the release a lot closer. ;)
Till we meet again.
Quillmaster. :)
I've also changed how the module ends. It had been bothering me for quite some time. I wanted it to end on a cliff hanger, but it just felt like it was lacking something how it stood in the Beta despite at least one playtester telling me it was okay. The player ends up leaving a castle via a specific route but I'd failed to explain the reason for the routes existence. I knew it had a valid reason, but to the player I felt like it might appear that I'd just got lazy toward the end of the module. I suppose to a certain degree this was true, for the novel the module is based upon had a set scene which I chose to ignore for I felt it had no purpose and wouldn't add to game play, but oh... how wrong I was! I decided it was worth implementing after all, and while it is true that from the player perspective it just prolongs how long it takes for the module to end for a minute or two, it adds so much tension and drama that I now feel it has a much stronger cliff hanging ending as a result. Not only that, but it has also given me the opportunity to implement some aknowlegdement of the final standing between the PC and henchman.
So what's left to do? I have some more scrolls that need creating and placing in their relevant merchant stores, then it's on to the end movie and... job done! I might consider creating a walkthrough document as there are a few nuggets players might not want to miss, but I'm likely to leave that until the modules release. If anyone could assist in the end movie that would bring the release a lot closer. ;)
Till we meet again.
Quillmaster. :)
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