26 réponses à ce sujet

[LordNyvek]

Hi guys.  Let me start by saying... I am the suck when it comes to area design.  For this reason, I've looked at the vault, but can't seem to find an area that satisfies me.  So, I bring it to the community.

I'm looking for an external area with the following features:

• City that is RIGHT outside a castle
• City looks as if it is festival time
• Near the castle wall, there is a stage where the nobility sit
• This city is a major hub, so it needs to "look" busy
• Has an arena area
• Archery contest area
• Debating area
• Barracks building
• Several buildings that could be inns dispersed throughout the city
• At least 6 buildings that could be shops dispersed throughout the city
• Two tower buildings that could serve as guild towers

Currently, this is the only area that I need.  If anyone is willing to work on this, let me know.  Obviously, the creator will get credit when I post the final product.  Thanks for any and all interest! 

Modifié par LordNyvek, 10 août 2011 - 05:11 .

[LordNyvek]

No one? Is this place dead?

[rjshae]

Yes, that is a fair amount of work you're talking about, especially if you need it populated with people and interiors. It took me a couple of months just to build a decent-looking 16-building port town with interiors and the local populace. Adding the conversations and scripting will be even more work.

Not trying to pan the idea, of course. It sounds great.

Modifié par rjshae, 12 août 2011 - 05:44 .

[LordNyvek]

Ah. You're right. I should have noted that it wouldn't need to be populated at all. Just the buildings. No interiors built. Just the town itself. Everything else would be done by me. Conversations, scripting, etc.

[kamal_]

Sounds like it's time to start with one of those toolset/area building tutorials. Take a prefab you like and alter it to fit.

Incidentallly, you can't really make a festival time look, the requisite placeables like flag type banners are missing unless you know of some.

[Morbane]

I also believe that asking for so much involvement from people that have their own projects to get going that you might have to take the time for yourself to undertake the area construction. No better way of getting it done the way you like than to do it yourself. Invest the time to get some prefabs from the vault and like already said get what you need from a few and mash them into something you need. I think I speak for many: Learning how to do it yourself is very gratifying - if not more time consuming but at least it would b your work.

[LordNyvek]

I do appreciate all the advice from you guys. Problem is, I've been going at it for a bit now, and I truly honestly just suck at it. I'm a programmer by trade, and personally, level design escapes me. I'll continue to try stuff, and see how it turns out. Thanks again guys.

[Shallina]

use a prefab then.

[LordNyvek]

Shallina wrote...

use a prefab then.

Sorry, but seeing as how I stated I've already looked in the vault for a prefab, this statement was less than useful.

On that note, I was being quite sincere in my thanks to the rest of the participants about the help.  Glad to see the community isn't dead, and there are some helpful folks here.  

[_Knightmare_]

You might not be able to find a prefab off the Vault that will fit exactly what you are looking for, however, prefabs can be very useful as a base area. You might look for one that is some sort of town at least similar to what you are looking for and then modify it to your needs (this is perhaps the most common use of prefabs). At least most of the general design, terrain, texturing, placeables, etc. would already be done for you. You would just tweak it to add in things like your arena, etc.

[Clyordes]

Sorry matey, as most of the people here have already stated - what you're after is a fair bit of work, and although there may be some people around who are happy just making prefabs to order, I odn't think I've seen many of them around - most of the prefabs on the vault are parts of projects or PW's put up for other people to use.
What some of the other builders are saying above goes for me too though - although you may not be able to find a prefab that exactly fits what you're after, starting with one that's at least got some of the elements you want & moving stuff around / adding / deleting things as you need is an absolute massive time saver. 

Its hard to appreciate how long it takes to set up the basic landscape, textures & layout of an area, especially an urban environment with all the associated mix of placeables, textures, effects, etc. unless you've made one or two.

The town I used as my initial starting area - "Hochoch" - in the link in my sig. was a prefab which fairly well matches what you're asking for - castle on hill, lots of buildings, big lake that you could convert into a sea by dropping the mountains on the far side & deleting all the placeables on them - then you could add in the bits that are missing - the arena etc., and maybe re-tint the houses (I really didn't like the original colours used by the builder) & you've saved yourself a load of time.

Personally I found it really hard to remember what all the different buildings etc. looked like, but Smorpheus' Toolset Index is absolutely awesome for giving you categorised pictures of all the placeables available, creatures, items, etc. that makes finding exactly what building, or placeable you want MUCH easier than otherwise - here's the link - nwvault.ign.com/View.php 

You may suck at some aspects of the toolset, but once you've got a base area, playing with the tools in the terrain tab & putting in your own placeables may get you a lot further than you expect

And we're here to help you if you get stuck with any specific elements along the way.

Good luck!

Cly.

[Clyordes]

Oops - didn't say which link in my sig. I meant - its the reptile god one - download the adventure mod file & open it in the toolset & look for the area marked Hochoch. Export it & import it into a new module & away you go.

I'd direct you to the original prefab, but I can't find it :-(

Cly.

[Clyordes]

Oops again - I really shouldn't try & post while I'm supposed to be working - you didn't ask for a hill or a port - that was another poster. My advice still stands though, and if there's anything you want to know how to do - shout up.

Cly.

[kamal_]

Since you say you are a professional programmer, you should offer to trade the area for scripting. It would be worth making your area for fixing any bugs in the commoner ai I wrote and integrating that with the CSL ai for instance.

[The Fred]

Making areas is tough. I for one haven't even started tackling cities yet. However, it occurs to me that you might want to consider splitting your area up. I'm pretty sure there are a few city prefabs on the Vault, and whilst you haven't found anything which ticks all your boxes, might you be able to use one as the bulk of the city, and then make another area to be the bit outside the castle with the Nobles' stage or whatever? This way you don't need one area which has everything in it - just take a couple of different areas and stitch them together. It would also lower load times. You could also just take a prefab, delete a few buildings and stick a castle in it. Easier said than done, but also easier than building the whole thing from scratch.

[PJ156]

Kamals offer is a good one, there's a man who knows how to knock out a city.

You might also consider the other advice, particularly the Freds last post. Crossroads keep from the OC is very good for what you want. there is a large space outside the keep for building you city area. I have just done something similar but the city are does not fit your needs.

You are welcome to my area if it would suit you and build on that?

PJ

[MokahTGS]

LordNyvek wrote...


I'm looking for an external area with the following features:

• City that is RIGHT outside a castle
• City looks as if it is festival time
• Near the castle wall, there is a stage where the nobility sit
• This city is a major hub, so it needs to "look" busy
• Has an arena area
• Archery contest area
• Debating area
• Barracks building
• Several buildings that could be inns dispersed throughout the city
• At least 6 buildings that could be shops dispersed throughout the city
• Two tower buildings that could serve as guild towers

Have you looked at AW Template - Town by Alaster Wolf? That is a good sized city and can be made to look quite busy. It also has several of the features you want and could easily be customized to add a few more of the features you require.

As other have said, splitting this up into several area might be a good idea. You didn't specifically mention docks, but I just released the Grumpy Strumpet Prefabs - City Docks that was meant to connect to that template city prefab by Alaster. I also have a prefab arena area called Grumpy Strumpet Prefabs - Thundergnome that might serve as another area.

With a little tweaking you could have all those areas together and give the very good impression of a large port trading hub.

[The Fred]

Incidentally, I like this idea of trading areas for scripting. I mean, I have a very long list of areas I need to build and very little time or skill with which to build them... ;-)

I have to say, I completely sympathise with your plight. I myself am of the opinion that I *can* build areas, but only slowly and in many passes, when I remember to do things like add sounds and, erm, placeables. The only thing is that it's time-consuming even for the best area-builders, so even the most philanthropic ones are going to think twice about building a huge made-to-measure prefab like this.

[LordNyvek]

kamal_ wrote...

Since you say you are a professional programmer, you should offer to trade the area for scripting. It would be worth making your area for fixing any bugs in the commoner ai I wrote and integrating that with the CSL ai for instance.

I sent you a message.  I hadn't thought about the trading of skills, but it is a fantastic idea.

I did look at several of the existing prefabs (not just the pictures, but downloaded and loaded them up).  The problem is that even though I'm creative enough to write my story, I'm artistically and aesthetically challenged.  So I wouldn't even know where to begin on changing something.  But I have been trying.  I completely mangled Kamal's Stronghold Town.  It's not so pretty anymore.  But I'm not one to give up, so I trudge on.

[Kaldor Silverwand]

I am also artistically challenged. My solution for my campaigns has been to modify areas from the OC, MotB, SoZ, or prefabs in the vault. That has meant that I have to compromise a bit on some of my ideas, but the fact is that many a mod has failed to be released due to too many ideas.

Regards

[LordNyvek]

Kaldor Silverwand wrote...

I am also artistically challenged. My solution for my campaigns has been to modify areas from the OC, MotB, SoZ, or prefabs in the vault. That has meant that I have to compromise a bit on some of my ideas, but the fact is that many a mod has failed to be released due to too many ideas.

Regards

Good to know I'm not the only one.  

[kamal_]

I'm guessing your looking for a more traditional Neverwinter type city, and not a crazy city like in that prefab I made. Anyway trade accepted, you get your area and the community gets your programming talents applied to the commoner ai.

[MokahTGS]

 Kamal's plan sounds like a good one...If I did the area I'd ask for some sort of automated tinting system that only used shades of pink...not that useful for the community.

[The Fred]

Maybe we should have some sort of help trade thread. Put what you want and what you're willing to give for it, then someone can PM you if they have an offer.