26 réponses à ce sujet

[Hoegbo]

Hi for the last 2 years I've been developing a module based on a PnP session I DM'd that lasted for 2 years.
 
Now I am finally starting to se the fruits of my labour and module one is getting close to a public beta test.
for those who remember I had 2 posts about this module on the old forums. A lot of things ahve been changed in order to minimize the workload as the original module were to have a turn based system, a tweaked magic system and so on. a lot of theese systems have been pu on hold and /or dropped entirely and replaced with simpler systems that gives more or less the same results.

the module is now a paladin only module stretching over 26 modules,669 areas , and over 200 hours of gameplay content.
 
the mod will take you from lvl 1 to 30 from the meager beginnings of a student in the imperial academy into the knight templar legend you are destined to be. the module is a low magic setting and I use alot of custom armors to make the module seem as different as possible.

story backdrop:

The world of haedrin has been in a historical dark age , some kind of cataclysm long ago erased a empire consisting of all known races. only ruins are scattered around. no one knows what and why this happened.
now mostly humans live in this run down world. the only traces of other races are the occational demihuman slave found from time to time. and there are rumors that small settlements of the gnomes ,elves , halfings and dwarves exist. there is also a rumor that most of  the demi human races left the world entirely.

some time in to the dark time where all history was lost the church of the true god emerged and grew in power.
They spread their word of their religion and outlawed the practice of magic, hunting spellcasters to extinction.
they made communities and based most labour on slavery. death penalties were given for the slightest offence.

they established themself in walled cities and made them into independent city states. outside the walls the chaos from the dark times remained. the outlaws as they are called became anarchist that strived to destroy what the church had made. no trade caravan can travel outside the walls without a small army to defend it. as soon as you are outside the safety of the walls you enter a brutal world where only the strong survive.

one city grew faster than the others , Aesir. it became more than 20 times larger than any city and armies that could easily conquer the continent. but instead it tries diplomacy to win over the other city states. this is where you begin your journey. in the imperial academy, in the former city state of theym. where you are haunted by the dreams of a knight like figure fighting of a demon.

and so your story begins in a dark corrupt world where altruism is dead.

I hope this module will allow people to explore and discover new places there are 11 overland maps so there should be quite alot of lore story and places to explore.

you will take the lead of a small sttrikeforce/legion/army to assault some of the dungeons and keeps located around the world. how you enter the dungen and at some points time, will have an effect on how the enounters inside the dungeons will be.

the companions will have strong opinions and interject directly into the main story. so the story will be different depending on whos in the party.

I could go on forever but I'll leave it at this and give a pointing finger to my blog
http://demonmelody.blogspot.com/
or for the project page here on the social site.
http://social.biowar...m/project/3794/ 

Modifié par Hoegbo, 10 décembre 2010 - 12:32 .

[Arkalezth]

I've known of this module for a long time, but I haven't been following the updates. 200 hours sounds crazy.

How much is completed? Any estimated date for the release/alpha/beta/whatever?

[Hoegbo]

what I hva left is finishing music ,voice overs, stremlining the conversations a handfull of scripts. and the internal testing phase I plan on releasing 1 module at a time for testing to save time. the testing phase will take quite some time to finish. but I the beta on the first module is aaound christmas time/new year

[Hoegbo]

and aparently spelling needs to be added to the to do list there is a list somwhere on my blog

[dunniteowl]

This is one I have been waiting to hear more about and you didn't disappoint. Looking forward to seeing how this one looks Hoegbo. I know you've been working on it a long time.



Congratulations on getting this far. 200 HOURS?!? ZOMFG that's a lot!



dunniteowl

[Hoegbo]

dunniteowl wrote...

This is one I have been waiting to hear more about and you didn't disappoint. Looking forward to seeing how this one looks Hoegbo. I know you've been working on it a long time.

Congratulations on getting this far. 200 HOURS?!? ZOMFG that's a lot!

dunniteowl

I hope the stuff I do is acceptable , ince this has become my 2nd baby.

as for thegameplay hours , its 222 hours according to my spreadsheet.but the main story line is perhaps half of that  theres alot of optional stuff as well for the sandbox ish part of hte module.

[Quixal]

That is huge. Congratulations on the home stretch. I look forward to having a look at this.

[M. Rieder]

Hoegbo wrote...

the module is now a paladin only module stretching over 26 modules,669 areas , and over 200 hours of gameplay content.
 

Ok, seriously, I read this like 3 times looking for the punch line.  OH MY GOD!  The only thing I can think is how are you going to debug this thing before social security kicks in!  So how much of it do you have done now?  This is truly the most ambitious project I have heard of.  I know there are some 100+ hour mods in NWN1, but seriously...OH MY GOD! 

Hats off and best of luck!  I'll be very interested to play a paladin-only mod.  I think it is an interesting class that doesn't get enough attention.

[Hoegbo]

M. Rieder wrote...

Ok, seriously, I read this like 3 times looking for the punch line.  OH MY GOD!  The only thing I can think is how are you going to debug this thing before social security kicks in!  So how much of it do you have done now?  This is truly the most ambitious project I have heard of.  I know there are some 100+ hour mods in NWN1, but seriously...OH MY GOD! 

Hats off and best of luck!  I'll be very interested to play a paladin-only mod.  I think it is an interesting class that doesn't get enough attention.

the debuging will be and a small team of friends that helps out on the bug fixing part. I have a huge spreadsheet that tracks every single variable , what script should be where and so on. so far all the scripts are tested and found to work on its own I|ve made a rather complex spreadsheet in order to track potential bugs as well as getting some great tips from Kamal.

most of the module is done all areas are complete, some need some more population and some need a brush up on the texture side. I need to finish a few script system and finish some GUI stuff. and last but not least finishing some music and testing.

[M. Rieder]

Hmmmm..... a spreadsheet. That sounds interesting. Debugging is the eternal arch-bane of my existence. I would be interested in hearing more about your spreadsheet, if you are willing to discuss.

[Hoegbo]

I can send you a empty spreadsheet example , next week. I won|t be at my computer this weekend otherwise I|d send you it right away. perhaps you can improve what I already have. for future work

[bhaal123]

I have checked out your blog, this looks very interesting. I can't wait to play it I hope its being released soon.

[Hoegbo]

I know the testing will take some time first up is the "intro module" for testing. then I'll decide weather or not to release the overland maps (8 linked) then there will be the story related modules which which are added to the overland maps there are 3 additional overland maps along with those 8. the jungle ,the city and the darklands (a cross between limbo , astral plane and a magical dreamworld )



I jsust redid the module setup to be able to release in chunks. I'm still not sure how to release it but Its an option I'm thinking about.



as I said I know testing will take alot of time. and I cant really set a date for the final release.

[M. Rieder]

I found releasing in chunks made life a little easier. It was nice to get something out there, get some feedback, and to break down the debugging a bit.

[kamalpoe]

I think for anything really large you need to get that first one out there. You're going to be having similar scripts, basic conversations etc in many places throughout a campaign, so getting something out and fixing the bugs that come with that helps you learn what works right for the rest of the work you want to do.



The first module serves as a proof of concept and fixing the bugs is an author learning experience.



Unless most of those areas are just "enter, kill monsters, leave" without quests/scripting, TDM is going to be a long slog to debug. I would recommend having a module outside the campaign that has empty areas and just serves to test conversations and scripting. That way you do not have to load and reload the entire module with all it's areas when you want to test some things. I made a test module that's two connected empty areas so I could test area entry scripts and several things at once. A test npc that you can talk to and be given items/journal advancement for different quests is useful to in order to allow you to test beyond anything in a chain that's broken.

[M. Rieder]

Another reason to release in parts is increased exposure. If you release just one large game, then you only get one chance to be on the "new modules list" and only one opportunity to make the top 15 list on the vault front page.



If you release multiple modules in a series, however, there are several different chances to make the list which will bring attention to the other modules. This makes for better visibility. Based on the size of your project, I would imagine that you want maximum exposure, so that's a consideration as well.

[PJ156]

I'm in the part works camp on this. Post a bit and find out what the reaction is. Then keep up instalments to keep the momentum up.

M R and Kamalpoe have the right of it IMO. Some may say they don't want votes or we are not iterested in the comments etc but these mods don't sell themselves.

I once read that it takes 10 hours to create one hour of playable mod. I think that is grossly underestimated. I think it is around 40. None the less even at 10 hours per hour the math for a 200+ hour mod is staggering. I personally am dissapointed at the number of downloads we get but that is where the game is right now. So you should go for all the exposure you can and maximise the number of people who pick up your mod and justify your hard work.

Hall of fame is a very long way off for most modders even if the mod is of very high quality . Misery stone has only just gone off the top 15 to HOF, Trinity and Maimed gods saga still have quite a way to go. Its early days but traffic on Islander has been very slow as yet (good luck E.E.)

Perhaps too many off topic words to say what I wanted to but its a topic which I feel strongly about.

PJ

[kamalpoe]

With open world modules you really can't release things in installments unless there are linear choke points. If SoZ was a community module when you go to the Sword Coast and when you returned to Samarach would be choke points. In my campaign I made a natural one after the first module. I couldn't make another though.



Balancing an open world is also problematic, there are things you can do but it's another topic.

[nicethugbert]

Does it use Kaedrin's? He's done stuff to make paladins much less boring.

[Arkalezth]

Good question, Kaedrin's pack adds some nice Paladin PrCs. Nice to see more class-specific modules, there weren't a lot until some months ago.

[Hoegbo]

The first module is pretty much a linear story with a few side quests and some other small stuff to do. its jsut a way to get introduced and to learn about the world you "live" in. as well as introducing the plot.so this one could very well function as a demo. however the overland map is a 9 module interconected overland map so that one will take some time to release. so there will be a huge gap in the release times. after that the modules come in "story" chunks or themed modules with the main quest continued. I am to errattic and to much of a right brainer to decide on things beforehand so I'm still not sure what I'll do. but I'm leaning towards

as for the area content I do not have a lot of empty areas without any cutscene or things you need to do. most of them are packed and individually tested at one point to work as intendet.



and yes I am using Kaedrins prc pack. Too many good paladin spells there like deafening clang and the divine spirit. I also included some other custom skills like ,

Scrying,

discern truth,

military tactics.

comprehension



I probably forgot some since the list seems short.



there are also a few extra feats like darklands teleportation. which is a feat you can use to get past hindrances like a collapsed hallway. this only if there is a darkland conduit near it.

call darklander, essentially a summon spell that summon a native dakland being.

Darkland armor. gives you a ac bonus

Enigma, grants you a full suite of weapon and armor for those desperate times.



and a few others I'm not at home so I do not have the full list. but there is quite a few additional custom spells and linked up to the darklands and the artifact called the azure star which scales as you level.

[Haplose]

Regarding the partial releases.... well I personally tend to avoid such modules. Unless there is something particularly interesting or the chunks are meaty. Modules that are shorter then 10 hours and don't reach at least around 8th level are just not very interesting for me. As a general rule of thumb, I might make an exception here and there.
Far too often these works are dropped later and you're left in the middle of an unfinished story, wondering what's next. Or wait for the sequel a year or two.. might as well not bother.
Also the character building game hardly exist on the first 5 levels or so.

Sorry about the cruel words, but these are my feelings and I did want to express them - as another point of view to be considered by the builders. Of course, this does not mean everyone shares my feelings in this regard.

Then again, with 200 hrs of game material and a total scope of 30 levels you DO have enough material to consider splitting and still having VERY serious separate modules.

Modifié par Haplose, 13 décembre 2010 - 01:28 .

[Hoegbo]

Those are not cruel words I am of the same opinion , in fact I cant even start a tv series withouth knowing its released on DVD.



I have to release it module by module for testing purposes and I was considering doing so for the campaign. but I|m starting to see that more people feel like me and after the testing I might release the entire thing but considering it will take me 55 days with 4 hours a day of gaming to play through the entire thing the all in one go release will be pretty far into the future (even though we are quite a few alpha testers). I|'ll probably see how the beta feedback turns out.



your input is apriciated

[dunniteowl]

You should also consider the final size of your release. It's going to stop some people altogether if they have to download something in the 4GB and larger size all at once. Then again, most games these days are at least that large and are pretty regularly distributed digitally, so, it may not be as large a problem as it was even 2 years ago.

dunniteowl

(who doesn't care if its released in small chunks, medium chunks, over a period of time as "chapters" or in one HUGE Saga -- as long as it 'tastes' good is the rule of the cook, it doesn't matter how much food you make. I see it the same with gaming. As long as it's playable and enjoyable, the size doesn't really matter.)