No, I'm not blowing my own trumpet. I've been taking a rest from building while I await feedback from the Beta Testers, and in the meantime have been playing with my Christmas present... Dragon Age Origins... this is what I refer to as awesome.
It's the latest roleplaying option from Bioware. Simply put it's the best game of this genre I've played for a long time. The graphics are very good despite anything you might have heard to the contrary. Don't believe any screen caps you've seen as proof of poor quality, as many of those I've seen as supposed evidence fail to point out they include a blur effect where the camera is focusing on a different object. Animation too is very good, with individual combat moves catered for, which go as far as capturing expressions on faces during battle. While on the subject of faces, the character creation process allows for maximum customisation of how your character looks, to the point that you can even alter the angle AND expression of your character portrait.
While character classes may seem a little limited to those of you who crave the multitude of classes offered by NWN, I personally find it refreshing. There are 3 base classes, although these can be broken down further so that you specialise in a particular area, so a Mage for example may end up being a healer, or a Rogue become an Assassin.
The storyline is excellent, with an accompanying mythology refreshingly simple yet richly detailed, so you quickly find yourself becoming absorbed in the setting. Character interaction is good too, with plausible responses for the most outlandish player choices, and excellent inter party banter that is some of the best I have seen in any game.
There are a couple of minor downers, but these are easily outweighed by the positives. Item icons are very limited, while their descriptions suffer from the same lack of detail, relying instead on bland descriptions of their properties. Gone are the flowery explanations of powers you may have grown used to in NWN. Having said that, there is plenty of mythology to read up on in the codex, but I would have preferred the items themselves to offer similar descriptions.
I should also briefly mention interiors. Gone are the Tardis like buildings of NWN, now replaced with lovingly created realistic interiors that have a more mature mediaeval feel to them.
Overall the game is excellent, easily deserving a 9 out of 10 even by my standards.
Perhaps annoyingly, I feel that "The Relbonian Chronicles" would perhaps slide more easily into Dragon Age as opposed to NWN, but the toolset is a lot more complex and would no doubt benefit from a creative team as opposed to a solo venture. Maybe there's someone out there who might consider such a venture? I have no idea if any of the NWN resources such as scripts and conversations will import over to Dragon Age as I haven't experimented with the toolset yet (indeed, I'm reluctant to do so until I've finished the game at least once).
That's all the news for now. I hope to go back to polishing the Beta by February.
Happy New Year All!
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas!
It's that time of year again! Time to wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Now I have a new PC I thought I'd treat myself to an early present and got Storm of Zehir for NWN2 so I could give it another bash in the hope that the various patches had improved the game beyond my initial disapointment, the intention being that if I liked it enough I'd consider remaking the Relbonian Chronicles for the NWN2 platform. Alas, although the game appears to run fine, the toolset refuses to open, so it looks like I'll be uninstalling it yet again unless someone can offer me any ideas. I'm fully patched up and running under Windows 7.
As for the NWN1 version, I'm getting some useful feedback on the beta which will hopefully result in a more polished product, but it's unlikely to be this side of the New Year which is a real shame.
Ah well, back to work. Have fun all!
Now I have a new PC I thought I'd treat myself to an early present and got Storm of Zehir for NWN2 so I could give it another bash in the hope that the various patches had improved the game beyond my initial disapointment, the intention being that if I liked it enough I'd consider remaking the Relbonian Chronicles for the NWN2 platform. Alas, although the game appears to run fine, the toolset refuses to open, so it looks like I'll be uninstalling it yet again unless someone can offer me any ideas. I'm fully patched up and running under Windows 7.
As for the NWN1 version, I'm getting some useful feedback on the beta which will hopefully result in a more polished product, but it's unlikely to be this side of the New Year which is a real shame.
Ah well, back to work. Have fun all!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Beta Released!
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=6062
I'm too tired to do more typing now, so just make sure you read the accompanying text at the above link.
Pixelknight, if you are reading this, please mail me. My laptop has died and I have lost your mail addy. Hope all is well :)
I'm too tired to do more typing now, so just make sure you read the accompanying text at the above link.
Pixelknight, if you are reading this, please mail me. My laptop has died and I have lost your mail addy. Hope all is well :)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
So Close!
Agh! Fu'm.. *gurgles* ...chit!
*Wipes away dribble from chin.*
Building can be sooooo frustrating! I am so close to having the Beta ready, but have been plagued with problems, mostly to do with PC behaviour, and by PC I mean machine and not player. As some of you will know my Desktop died a while back, but I was fortunate enough to be in a position to rescue my work and continue on a laptop that had been bought about a month prior to the desktop dieing. Now my laptop is on it's last legs. I guess it hasn't coped well with the heavy duty use I've been putting it through. First it started refusing to shut down, now it even struggles to start up. Sometimes it just keeps blinking through start up, and it was only through blind panic combined with trial and error that I discovered holding down control, alt, and delete for some bizarre reason breaks the cycle and lets it start properly.
Fortunately buying a replacement desktop was always on the cards, and the laptop failing helped give a gentle nudge to the wife that now was the time to buy, and today my new machine arrived, complete with Windows 7. For a dreadful moment I thought the new Windows was making the toolset behave very strangely, but having gone away to calm myself down, I convinced myself that the new work I'd done today may have been the problem, and that I should just go back to the older save on the laptop and try again. I'm pleased to report that it looks like my suspicions might have been correct, in that it wasn't Windows 7 giving me aggro, but rather my scripting. I'd been working on a scene where I wanted everyone to start of neutral so I could get some dialogue in, then have some of those present turn nasty, but for some reason I couldn't get the people I wanted to attack, and then all manner of default scripts started throwing errors at me. Having had a hunch that some of my include files were clashing in some way, I decided to tackle the issue from a different angle which involved some careful manipulation of factions to get the outcome I wanted.
Patience people. I'm nearly there. There's a few days I won't be able to work on it, but I'm confident I'll be in a position to give it a run through very soon. I just need to check the difficulty in some places, as I've now implemented game over occuring if the henchman dies. It kind of makes sense with the story, and makes the module a little more challenging. There's also a means of the henchman avoiding an immediatte death in the same manner that the player can re-spawn, so it's not all doom and gloom.
Right... dunno about you lot, but I need my bed!
*Wipes away dribble from chin.*
Building can be sooooo frustrating! I am so close to having the Beta ready, but have been plagued with problems, mostly to do with PC behaviour, and by PC I mean machine and not player. As some of you will know my Desktop died a while back, but I was fortunate enough to be in a position to rescue my work and continue on a laptop that had been bought about a month prior to the desktop dieing. Now my laptop is on it's last legs. I guess it hasn't coped well with the heavy duty use I've been putting it through. First it started refusing to shut down, now it even struggles to start up. Sometimes it just keeps blinking through start up, and it was only through blind panic combined with trial and error that I discovered holding down control, alt, and delete for some bizarre reason breaks the cycle and lets it start properly.
Fortunately buying a replacement desktop was always on the cards, and the laptop failing helped give a gentle nudge to the wife that now was the time to buy, and today my new machine arrived, complete with Windows 7. For a dreadful moment I thought the new Windows was making the toolset behave very strangely, but having gone away to calm myself down, I convinced myself that the new work I'd done today may have been the problem, and that I should just go back to the older save on the laptop and try again. I'm pleased to report that it looks like my suspicions might have been correct, in that it wasn't Windows 7 giving me aggro, but rather my scripting. I'd been working on a scene where I wanted everyone to start of neutral so I could get some dialogue in, then have some of those present turn nasty, but for some reason I couldn't get the people I wanted to attack, and then all manner of default scripts started throwing errors at me. Having had a hunch that some of my include files were clashing in some way, I decided to tackle the issue from a different angle which involved some careful manipulation of factions to get the outcome I wanted.
Patience people. I'm nearly there. There's a few days I won't be able to work on it, but I'm confident I'll be in a position to give it a run through very soon. I just need to check the difficulty in some places, as I've now implemented game over occuring if the henchman dies. It kind of makes sense with the story, and makes the module a little more challenging. There's also a means of the henchman avoiding an immediatte death in the same manner that the player can re-spawn, so it's not all doom and gloom.
Right... dunno about you lot, but I need my bed!
Monday, November 09, 2009
Yet more progress has been made, partly due to some help from Lance Botelle, who managed to implement my henchman being able to use "Soul Crystals" in the same manner as the player character, which was kind of essential really if I want to be able to release a Beta soon.
Areas are about 99% done, with the decoration of them being about 95% done, although these might be expanded on a little come the final version.
Great progress has been made on the henchman conversation file, to the point that he can say the same thing in a different style depending on his reputation score with the player, which should give good feedback to the player as to how they are getting on with the henchman. Although feedback is currently present in the form of reputation adjustment alerts, my intention was that these should only be present in the beta and removed for the final release. Lance however has thrown a spanner in the works by suggesting it would be better if they remain. My argument is the henchman responses should be enough feedback and that the alerts detract from immersion. Maybe I'll open up a poll for opinion once the beta is online.
Things are getting quite complex towards the end now, as conversations are increasingly having to depend on journal entries etc., with multiple possibilities presenting themselves. For example, I have a travelling merchant met early on who re-appears at a different location later in the game. Although it is a different location, it is one that the player has been to previously without the merchant present, so a trigger checks where the player is in the story, spawning the merchants cart and merchant if applicable. Not only do these changes to scenery occur, but I then also have to account for how well the merchant might know the player at this stage. Did the player talk to the merchant before? Did they do the quest the merchant had? It all amounts to several headaches when trying to manage it all. All the more reason to have the thing playtested.
Not long now for the beta! *fingers crossed*
Areas are about 99% done, with the decoration of them being about 95% done, although these might be expanded on a little come the final version.
Great progress has been made on the henchman conversation file, to the point that he can say the same thing in a different style depending on his reputation score with the player, which should give good feedback to the player as to how they are getting on with the henchman. Although feedback is currently present in the form of reputation adjustment alerts, my intention was that these should only be present in the beta and removed for the final release. Lance however has thrown a spanner in the works by suggesting it would be better if they remain. My argument is the henchman responses should be enough feedback and that the alerts detract from immersion. Maybe I'll open up a poll for opinion once the beta is online.
Things are getting quite complex towards the end now, as conversations are increasingly having to depend on journal entries etc., with multiple possibilities presenting themselves. For example, I have a travelling merchant met early on who re-appears at a different location later in the game. Although it is a different location, it is one that the player has been to previously without the merchant present, so a trigger checks where the player is in the story, spawning the merchants cart and merchant if applicable. Not only do these changes to scenery occur, but I then also have to account for how well the merchant might know the player at this stage. Did the player talk to the merchant before? Did they do the quest the merchant had? It all amounts to several headaches when trying to manage it all. All the more reason to have the thing playtested.
Not long now for the beta! *fingers crossed*
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Playability Approaches!
I am drawing very close to releasing the Beta of Chapter One, although my dream of releasing the final before the new year might be wishful thinking depending on how much needs fixing once the beta has been playtested fully.
I have about 95% of the areas complete, and have completed a cutscene where the player manages to escape from a room in an unconventional manner, making use of an item that they own from the beginning of the game that appears to be little more than a character embelishment, so I'm quite pleased that a more useful function for it is now implemented. The event takes place in the castle that is to host the final stages of the game. Followers of this blog may recall I re-designed the castle to take advantage of the new tileset that came in the last patch. It's been a bit of a nightmare linking all the doors, but now a majority of the placeables are in place it's really feeling like a castle.
I noticed the recent poll requested more info about the player character. I guess this is because due to concern of being forced to play a pre-generated character, but i wouldn't regard this as a weakness to the module. On the contrary, it's allowed me to concentrate on the story and better tailor the module. I don't want to upset my voters though, so for their benefit here's a little backround on the player character...
He's a male Dwarf by the name of Gerbilaf Bandiwide, who is a miner based in the heavily Dwarven populated coastal city of Kerral where rumours of plague have started to surface. He starts the game as a 1st level Fighter, owning a few unique items not usually associatted with a starting character, being a silk handkerchief, a mining pick, and a smoking pipe. He starts the game in his favourite local tavern after a hard days work at the mines, where there's a brief discussion of the strange black winged creatures recently rumoured to frequent the mine.
Gerbilaf is Neutral Good. Although he can't stray from this alignment during the game, there are plenty of alternative routes through conversations that have different outcomes and still fit within the scope of his alignment, including opportunities to use skills such as intimidation. At one point, it's even possible to intimidate a foe before combat so that he drops his sword.
I'd love to talk more, but this will simply delay the beta, so I'll end my discussion there. If you'd like to be involved with playtesting, keep an eye on this blog for notification of when the beta is available.
Happy gaming all!
I have about 95% of the areas complete, and have completed a cutscene where the player manages to escape from a room in an unconventional manner, making use of an item that they own from the beginning of the game that appears to be little more than a character embelishment, so I'm quite pleased that a more useful function for it is now implemented. The event takes place in the castle that is to host the final stages of the game. Followers of this blog may recall I re-designed the castle to take advantage of the new tileset that came in the last patch. It's been a bit of a nightmare linking all the doors, but now a majority of the placeables are in place it's really feeling like a castle.
I noticed the recent poll requested more info about the player character. I guess this is because due to concern of being forced to play a pre-generated character, but i wouldn't regard this as a weakness to the module. On the contrary, it's allowed me to concentrate on the story and better tailor the module. I don't want to upset my voters though, so for their benefit here's a little backround on the player character...
He's a male Dwarf by the name of Gerbilaf Bandiwide, who is a miner based in the heavily Dwarven populated coastal city of Kerral where rumours of plague have started to surface. He starts the game as a 1st level Fighter, owning a few unique items not usually associatted with a starting character, being a silk handkerchief, a mining pick, and a smoking pipe. He starts the game in his favourite local tavern after a hard days work at the mines, where there's a brief discussion of the strange black winged creatures recently rumoured to frequent the mine.
Gerbilaf is Neutral Good. Although he can't stray from this alignment during the game, there are plenty of alternative routes through conversations that have different outcomes and still fit within the scope of his alignment, including opportunities to use skills such as intimidation. At one point, it's even possible to intimidate a foe before combat so that he drops his sword.
I'd love to talk more, but this will simply delay the beta, so I'll end my discussion there. If you'd like to be involved with playtesting, keep an eye on this blog for notification of when the beta is available.
Happy gaming all!
Thursday, October 01, 2009
The Trouble with Detail...
...is that it can bog you down. So why am I typing this when I could be pulling myself free from the quagmire? Simple. After all the devotion I've put into this, it would be criminal not to raise awareness of it. If this brings joy to just one person out there (and I know it will in years to come because hopefully my son will be able to play it and get an insight into his Dad) then it would have been worth it, but it would be preferable to have more than that enjoy playing in a world of my own creation.
Awareness is working because you are here. If you think you'd like to experience "The Relbonian Chronicles" then go tell your friends. You can never have too much awareness ;)
So what's bogged me down? Nothing too drastic. Not even too important for Chapter One to miss out on, but eventually I'll need it. Picture the scene:
There are essentially two types of magic in Relbonia. Mystical, being that used by Sorcerors, and Faith, the kind used by everyone else.
When I say everyone, I do mean all classes. Those traditionally non spell casting classes present (Fighter and Rogue) can cast spells from scrolls, the type of which is limited by the "Faith" they follow. They are currently limited to one Faith. Clerics on the other hand, can eventually access all 7 minor Faiths along with all the others bar the master Faith, "Muthkernatum", which is only available to high ranking Druids (whom the Clerics protect). Sorcerors on the other hand have no Faith limitations, deriving their magic from the essence of the land, which is why they are generally regarded as non believers or worse still, blasphemers.
Because Relbonia has its own mythology, I have had to rename many of the spells. Mostly those used by holy folk to add flavour to the game, and in some instances others because of names associatted with other settings (such as "Bigby"). I believe I have the renaming part 99% complete, but I also have to make the scrolls to match the renamed spells so that a player may purchase them from temples or Druid Colleges. The Faith issue means that I have to limit what scrolls are available to purchase based on the Faith followed by the character, which is evident based on the talisman/holy symbol they can wear (all of which have unique powers associatted with the Faith).
The problem with such attention to detail is I can't remember to what Faith I've assigned certain spells, although fortunately I'm about half way through the spell hook script which will deny the casting of a spell to non Sorcerors if they don't follow the revelant Faith. I say fortunate because I have at least got my code remarked with the Faith applicable to the spell. Unfortunately I can't have this open while checking where I am with the scroll creation, so I've now taken it upon myself to expand on the database I created to keep tabs on what spells I renamed so I can make a note of the Faith they're assigned to too. Of course this means extra work, but I'm hoping by doing it, it will make my life easier. At least when I come to assign scrolls to temple shops later I can filter my database and know what to plant in the shops inventory.
Perfectionism is a curse. ;)
Awareness is working because you are here. If you think you'd like to experience "The Relbonian Chronicles" then go tell your friends. You can never have too much awareness ;)
So what's bogged me down? Nothing too drastic. Not even too important for Chapter One to miss out on, but eventually I'll need it. Picture the scene:
There are essentially two types of magic in Relbonia. Mystical, being that used by Sorcerors, and Faith, the kind used by everyone else.
When I say everyone, I do mean all classes. Those traditionally non spell casting classes present (Fighter and Rogue) can cast spells from scrolls, the type of which is limited by the "Faith" they follow. They are currently limited to one Faith. Clerics on the other hand, can eventually access all 7 minor Faiths along with all the others bar the master Faith, "Muthkernatum", which is only available to high ranking Druids (whom the Clerics protect). Sorcerors on the other hand have no Faith limitations, deriving their magic from the essence of the land, which is why they are generally regarded as non believers or worse still, blasphemers.
Because Relbonia has its own mythology, I have had to rename many of the spells. Mostly those used by holy folk to add flavour to the game, and in some instances others because of names associatted with other settings (such as "Bigby"). I believe I have the renaming part 99% complete, but I also have to make the scrolls to match the renamed spells so that a player may purchase them from temples or Druid Colleges. The Faith issue means that I have to limit what scrolls are available to purchase based on the Faith followed by the character, which is evident based on the talisman/holy symbol they can wear (all of which have unique powers associatted with the Faith).
The problem with such attention to detail is I can't remember to what Faith I've assigned certain spells, although fortunately I'm about half way through the spell hook script which will deny the casting of a spell to non Sorcerors if they don't follow the revelant Faith. I say fortunate because I have at least got my code remarked with the Faith applicable to the spell. Unfortunately I can't have this open while checking where I am with the scroll creation, so I've now taken it upon myself to expand on the database I created to keep tabs on what spells I renamed so I can make a note of the Faith they're assigned to too. Of course this means extra work, but I'm hoping by doing it, it will make my life easier. At least when I come to assign scrolls to temple shops later I can filter my database and know what to plant in the shops inventory.
Perfectionism is a curse. ;)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. :)
Sunday, September 06, 2009
So what's it all about?
Well we've successfully moved, but still have boxes strewn around our new house. For ages I thought I'd lost my Neverwinter disks, but recently found them hiding inside my Printer box which was a huge relief as my laptop had to be re-formatted a while back. Our son was a little unsettled at first, but he now regularly calls the place "Mummy and Daddies new house", so we are settling slowly but surely.
It's been a relief that I have this project to work on when I want to escape the drudgery of organising our house, and I'm pleased to say that as a result good progress has been made in the past week. The henchman is really beginning to shine as a character now, with numerous branches in conversations dependant on the reputation of the PC with him. I'm also close to preparing the final location of the module, although I should point out that as a castle it's a fairly large area to populate and prepare, and there's also a cutscene needed for it. So, we're a little way off yet, but there is most definately light at the end of the tunnel.
Followers of this blog should know by now that I've been priding myself on the level of detail within the module. If you're unaware of how such detail is incorporated then shame on you for not becoming a follower by clicking on the link to the left! ;) You're in luck however, for, as promised in my last post, it's about time I talked about the object of the series.
What has become apparent, as I'm sure any playtester will testify, is that "The Relbonian Chronicles" will succeed in becoming immersive. This is something I set out to do from the beginning. I didn't want to make a purely hack and slash module. I wanted to tell a story where the player becomes connected with the characters involved, to the point that they can experience being part of another world, and from different perspectives too.
The intention has always been for the Chronicles to be a series, with each module having the player roleplay a different character within the same world, thus gaining a different perspective of being a part of a whole. For those of you who fear the word "roleplay", it won't be as daunting as you might at first think. In order for the overall story to unfold the player will have to play set characters of a pre-determined class and alignment. As such, dialogue choices will not offer extreme choices, but instead feature options that fit with the character. Notice I said "Options" there. Not only are they present, but they can influence the game. None feel out of place, yet in some cases can make the game easier or harder to play. So, although the story is on a set path, the manner in which you get to the end of the path can have subtle differences. The henchman I've been taking so much pride in is a classic example of this at work, in that there are many instances of his dialogue changing dependant on their feelings toward the player.
NPCs too benefit from attention to detail. In at least 2 instances you can meet someone further on in the story in a different location. Meeting them again is not guaranteed as it will depend on the paths chosen by the player, as does the outcome of meeting them again. In some instances there are even NPCs that will feature in future chapters in larger roles, indeed, one of them is even going to be the players character in a future episode.
So, to summarise, it's a story, told in multiple parts, from the point of view of a differerent character, all of whom are connected in someway to the bigger picture... a series of events threatening the very existence of the Relbonian world.
It's getting late now, so I'm gonna have to sign off. Before I go, if there's anything you'd like to know about the module please ask here, and I will do my best to provide an answer.
It's been a relief that I have this project to work on when I want to escape the drudgery of organising our house, and I'm pleased to say that as a result good progress has been made in the past week. The henchman is really beginning to shine as a character now, with numerous branches in conversations dependant on the reputation of the PC with him. I'm also close to preparing the final location of the module, although I should point out that as a castle it's a fairly large area to populate and prepare, and there's also a cutscene needed for it. So, we're a little way off yet, but there is most definately light at the end of the tunnel.
Followers of this blog should know by now that I've been priding myself on the level of detail within the module. If you're unaware of how such detail is incorporated then shame on you for not becoming a follower by clicking on the link to the left! ;) You're in luck however, for, as promised in my last post, it's about time I talked about the object of the series.
What has become apparent, as I'm sure any playtester will testify, is that "The Relbonian Chronicles" will succeed in becoming immersive. This is something I set out to do from the beginning. I didn't want to make a purely hack and slash module. I wanted to tell a story where the player becomes connected with the characters involved, to the point that they can experience being part of another world, and from different perspectives too.
The intention has always been for the Chronicles to be a series, with each module having the player roleplay a different character within the same world, thus gaining a different perspective of being a part of a whole. For those of you who fear the word "roleplay", it won't be as daunting as you might at first think. In order for the overall story to unfold the player will have to play set characters of a pre-determined class and alignment. As such, dialogue choices will not offer extreme choices, but instead feature options that fit with the character. Notice I said "Options" there. Not only are they present, but they can influence the game. None feel out of place, yet in some cases can make the game easier or harder to play. So, although the story is on a set path, the manner in which you get to the end of the path can have subtle differences. The henchman I've been taking so much pride in is a classic example of this at work, in that there are many instances of his dialogue changing dependant on their feelings toward the player.
NPCs too benefit from attention to detail. In at least 2 instances you can meet someone further on in the story in a different location. Meeting them again is not guaranteed as it will depend on the paths chosen by the player, as does the outcome of meeting them again. In some instances there are even NPCs that will feature in future chapters in larger roles, indeed, one of them is even going to be the players character in a future episode.
So, to summarise, it's a story, told in multiple parts, from the point of view of a differerent character, all of whom are connected in someway to the bigger picture... a series of events threatening the very existence of the Relbonian world.
It's getting late now, so I'm gonna have to sign off. Before I go, if there's anything you'd like to know about the module please ask here, and I will do my best to provide an answer.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Moving in Two Directions.
I'm happy to report that I'm moving ahead on two fronts. On the one hand, my module creeps slowly onward. Slowly, but surely. More items have been made, more conversation options for the henchman that only fire under particular circumstances, and more work done on the journal entries. I shall try to post something on the object of the series at a later date.
Neverwinter Nights isn't the only front I've been fighting on. Moving house has also proven something of an obstacle, but I'm pleased to say we at last have a moving date, and are currently frantically packing in time for Wednesday. Unfortunately I'll be without the internet for a while during the transition, but I'm hoping it won't be too long a pause.
Wish us luck!
Neverwinter Nights isn't the only front I've been fighting on. Moving house has also proven something of an obstacle, but I'm pleased to say we at last have a moving date, and are currently frantically packing in time for Wednesday. Unfortunately I'll be without the internet for a while during the transition, but I'm hoping it won't be too long a pause.
Wish us luck!
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