24 réponses à ce sujet

[Sunjammer]

Little Red Riding Hood Redux is the challenge module created by Team 5 (nedlbin, Stratovarius667 and Sunjammer) at the Second Builders Event hosted by BioWare in Edmonton on 8-10 July 2009.

The Second Builders Event was an opportunity for BioWare to show off some of the toolset's (at that point) unseen features to a group of Beta Testers.

On the Wednesday and Thursday morning we got to see the client, the level editor and Social for the first time. We attended some workshops on level/area building, stages and conversations, plots, etc.  However there was a little suprise in store for us after lunch on the Thursday: we were challenged to create and present a Dragon Age mini-module before the end of the event.  There were various requiments that had to be met (10 minutes of game play, 100+ words of dialogue and 1 combat encounter) and we had to have it ready to present our mini-moudle by 4.00pm on the Friday.

I'm delighted to say that everyone managed to produce something that worked (to some degree) and after the event the general consensus (both at BioWare and amoung the Beta Testers) was that releasing these mini-module would be beneficial as they can show you what could be done with the toolset by three novices (at least in terms of Dragon Age) in a very short space of time.

Ideally I wanted to make our module available in time for Day 1 unfortunately due to issues with the final two beta releases and because of the light mapper issues with the retail release  it was not possible to make it available until now.  The Builder-to-Player package can be dowloaded from the project's files page(social.bioware.com/project/334/&v=files).  Unfortunately the Builder-to-Builder package and the Level files are not allowed for this type of project so I'm hosting them on my own website: the links to these can be found in the project's discussion forum (social.bioware.com/project/334/discussion/586/).

The module and resources you can download are essentially the one we created at the Builders Event.  I've been very strict about not improving the module so I've restricted any changes to only those that were necessary to fix issues caused by importing/converting/bugs.

[SoopaMan]

Great, Sunjammer! I'll be sure to check it out.

Modifié par SoopaMan, 30 novembre 2009 - 04:27 .

[Looy]

The Quest doesn't seem to work, I gather all the items but neither the Mother or Grandmother will allow me to turn in.

Modifié par Looy, 30 novembre 2009 - 06:35 .

[digitalscars]

yer geting the same prob here

[Sunjammer]

There appears to be a fault with the DAZIP file which was masked by my override directories not being completely cleared down.  I'll get a new version upload just as soon as!

Modifié par Sunjammer, 30 novembre 2009 - 09:22 .

[sirchet]

Is you pc supposed to start out with zero for each stat? The mod starts you off with a character already made, is that the norm?

[Sunjammer]

Looy wrote...

The Quest doesn't seem to work, I gather all the items but neither the Mother or Grandmother will allow me to turn in.

sirchet wrote...

Is you pc supposed to start out with zero for each stat? The mod starts you off with a character already made, is that the norm?

Both issues are a result of a missing module script.  I've uploaded a new version which should fix both these problems.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

[digitalscars]

a nice short funny run thanx for that

[ladydesire]

Very well done; I mentioned that you'd released it to Stratovarius and asked him what parts of it he contributed.

[Ashmaran]

Thanks for sharing It's great to have a functional mod and the data behind it to see how you did things.

[FalloutBoy]

Did you build your own levels or did you use existing layouts?



How did you guys divide up the work amongst the three of you?

[Sunjammer]

ladydesire wrote...

Very well done; I mentioned that you'd released it to Stratovarius and asked him what parts of it he contributed.

FalloutBoy wrote...

Did you build your own levels or did you use existing layouts?

How did you guys divide up the work amongst the three of you?

The other teams used existing layouts however we had a secret weapon in the guise of nedlbin (Markus "Wayne" Schlegel) who had quickly got to grips with the level editor (which had not been available before the event) so we decided we would use custom levels.
 
After a quick huddle to decide on the plot we broke it down as follows nedlbin would create our custom levels; Stratovarius667 would write the character generation and transformation scripts; and I was responsible for the plot, stages, dialogues and generally gluing things together. The nonexistent fourth member of our team was RoboBrad who would be responsible for all the VO and virtual acting.
 
Both nedlbin and Stratovarius667 immediately got busy with their tasks however before I could really do anything there was a workshop with David Gaider that I wanted to attend. When I got back from the workshop Stratovarius667 had set up our Group/Project on Social and had created a whole bunch of templates for me to use. Unfortunately due to bandwidth issues only one team were able to use Social so we resorted to transferring files on a stick.
 
That was the shape of things for the next 27 or so hours: we would disappear off to a workshop, tour, interview or whatever and then come back would work on the module. A few of us elected not to go for lunch on the Friday because we were crunching the deadline but Chris Priestly very kindly brought us some food from the local pub to ensure we wouldn't starve.

In the end I think all the teams made it, more or less, on time.  I think we were the last to finish but we have the excuse of two of our team members being called away to give interviews and having some idiot called Sunjammer forget to check-in the resources before importing a builder-to-builder file (and thereby losing an hour worth of tweaks)!

Modifié par Sunjammer, 01 décembre 2009 - 12:59 .

[ladydesire]

Sunjammer wrote...

In the end I think all the teams made it, more or less, on time.  I think we were the last to finish but we have the excuse of two of our team members being called away to give interviews and having some idiot called Sunjammer forget to check-in the resources before importing a builder-to-builder file (and thereby losing an hour worth of tweaks)!

That sounds like someone had a blonde moment. :innocent:

[Sunjammer]

[nedlbin]

LoL. You really pictured that day absolutely how it felt for me, too.



By the way, Sunjammer didn't mention that he fixed thigns up quickly and had all the laughs at his side in his presentation of the whole thing )

[sirchet]

You had THE Wayne on your team?

Isn't that unfair to the other teams?

And then Sunjammer and Stratovarius667 to boot, that's waaaaaay unfair!

btw ... Are you guys teaming up for anything else?

[Sunjammer]

Given that everyone attending the Builders Event was a NWN/NWN2 veteran I don't think any team had an advantage over the others.  Certainly all the demo mini-modules were winners in one way or another: facing rabid death squirrels as a cat; beheading Hurlocks in Ostagar; or having Adriana and Fernando as companions against a horde of zombies.  I strongly recommend dropping by the Builders Event 2 group (social.bioware.com/group/289/) group and "encouraging" the others teams to release their modules.

Note to self: check post if pasting from word!

Modifié par Sunjammer, 02 décembre 2009 - 02:44 .

[Sunjammer]

We've talked a bit about the team organisation and roles but does anyone have any technical questions about the module or the export/packaging process, for example, "How did Sunjammer manage to omit the most important script from the first DAZIP file?"

[ladydesire]

Sunjammer wrote...

or example, "How did Sunjammer manage to omit the most important script from the first DAZIP file?"

*mubbles something about "blonde moments"*

[FalloutBoy]

Sunjammer wrote...

We've talked a bit about the team organisation and roles but does anyone have any technical questions about the module or the export/packaging process, for example, "How did Sunjammer manage to omit the most important script from the first DAZIP file?"

I'm so early on in the building process for this game that your explanation would probably sound like gibberish to me. But since you asked, how exactly did you manage to do that? In NWN 2 the process for distributing your module was pretty simple. How is it different in DA?

[Ashmaran]

Answered my own question by playing around with the plot system. 

Modifié par Ashmaran, 03 décembre 2009 - 10:50 .

[Sunjammer]

FalloutBoy wrote...

Sunjammer wrote...

We've talked a bit about the team organisation and roles but does anyone have any technical questions about the module or the export/packaging process, for example, "How did Sunjammer manage to omit the most important script from the first DAZIP file?"

I'm so early on in the building process for this game that your explanation would probably sound like gibberish to me. But since you asked, how exactly did you manage to do that? In NWN 2 the process for distributing your module was pretty simple. How is it different in DA?

Not sure I'm qualified to identify the differences with NWN2 as I only ever create the most basic of modules (i.e. a standalone, self-contained .MOD file).  However I can hopefully explain the DA process and how not to replicate my mistake.


The DA Process

By now everyone should be aware that there are two types of resources in Dragon Age: file based resources (2DA files, levels, materials, morphs, VFXs, etc.) and resources contained in the Toolset's database (module, areas, creatures, items, scripts, etc.).  In order to get the database based resources out of the database for testing or distribution we have to export them.

There are various different export options:

    * Full Export
    * Export With Dependencies
    * Export Without Dependencies
    * Export All Resources Of This Type

The Full Export option exports everything in the database which includes about 2800+ core resources and this does take a while; the Export With Dependencies option exports the currently selected resource(s) and all of the resources it uses and all of the resources they use and so on.  Depending on what you are exporting this can range from a couple to a couple of hundred but generally only takes a few seconds.  Export Without Dependencies simply exports the currently selected resource(s) and stops there. 

Note that for a script Exporting Without Dependencies still involve all the include files being exported which might cause some confusion.
 
Once you have exported the resources you can create a Builder-To-Player Package i.e. the  .DAZIP file.  When you select that option you will be presented with all tree structure of all the exported resources visible to the module.  This will include all the core resources which we are not normally interested in (under Dragon Age > packages > core > override) as well as the module resources we need (under Dragon Age > addins > [module uid]).

/uploads_user/1000/52/11483.jpg

The exported file based resources can be found under  the (collapsed) Dragon Age > addins > [module uid] > core > override branch while the exported database resources are found in under the Dragon Age > addins > [module uid] > module > override branch.

Simply deselect any inappropriate resources (in our case Dragon Age > packages), click Ok, chose a name for the  .DAZIP file and upload it to Social.


How Not To Replicate My Mistake

In truth my mistake a byproduct of trying to develop and play at the same time compounded by the slightly odd choice of export options. 

Normally when I first test a module I'll do a Full Export and go off and make a cup of tea.   Thereafter I'll usually use Export With Dependencies because it is so much faster.  Unfortunately currently any time we wanted to play DA:O after exporting we have to clear down the export directories.  The knock on effect is that if we want to test a module or create a Builder To Player Package after playing DA:O we have to remember to do a Full Export again.

You can see where I'm going.  The problem with Export With Dependencies is that there is no way to Export Module With Dependencies.  That said any time the you export anything the module properties (which I assume are contained in the .CIF file) are updated.  The "biggest" object you can export with dependencies is an area however even if you export all the area's in your module there is one big omission: the module script!

And this is what I did: forgetting that I'd recently cleared the export directories I simply exported the four areas in LRRHR and packaged them up.  The custom rrhr_module script wasn't exported, never appeared in the manifest and therefore was never included in the .DAZIP file.  Since this script handles the character generation and the plot progression its omission left the original version utterly broken.

The good news is that I have found a solution until such time as the next Toolset patch is available: I'm sating my DA:O playing needs on my PS3 instead of the PC!

Modifié par Sunjammer, 06 décembre 2009 - 12:25 .

[Sunjammer]

It appears some people (183 of you) have been downloading the old B2B file from the old Little Red Riding Hood Redux project (social.bioware.com/project/33/).  This file is incomplete and contains content made by a much earlier versions of the toolset and database.

The project itself was created as part of the Second Builders Event hosted by BioWare from 8th to 10th July 2009 to transfer files between team members and test Social (it was the first time anyone outside BioWare had seen Social). The project was never intended for public consumption and, in fact, until I noticed a "duplicate" entry on my project subscriptions I had forgotten it existed.

For the real Little Red Riding Hood Redux project up-to-date and working B2B files please visit the project's discussion board (social.bioware.com/project/334/).

Modifié par Sunjammer, 08 décembre 2009 - 12:47 .

[Sunjammer]

An interesting little arithmetical coincidence just happened on the LRRHR project page: 30 votes, 630 downloads and 3150 views.

30 x 21 = 630
30 x 105 = 3150

630 x 5 = 3150

Anyway this is simply to say thank you to anyone who voted, downloaded or even just viewed our little module. I hope you enjoyed it or found it useful and, of course, if you have any questions about it let me know.

[Sunjammer]

I've uploaded a new version of the B2P package with improved light map rendered with EclipseRay v1.02. I've also uploaded a new version of the B2B package created from/for Toolset v1.01.