@simomate2 just to bring you up to speed. the over-arching thread for the ABC (10 pages), the thread for last months challenge and the thread that points to the poll to select the "seeds" for next months challenge. If you take a look at these you will know all the joy and woe of what you might be getting into if you choose to have a go next month.
TR
2013 March, Adventure Building Challenge
Débuté par
henesua
, mars 04 2013 01:55
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#27
Posté 21 mars 2013 - 01:24
henesua
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We are holding a challenge next month. Please join us.
Your assessment that it is too late this month is probably correct depending on how much of a perfectionist you are.
Your assessment that it is too late this month is probably correct depending on how much of a perfectionist you are.
Modifié par henesua, 21 mars 2013 - 01:26 .
#28
Posté 23 mars 2013 - 12:27
Tarot Redhand
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Quick (more like lack of) progress report. For "The Bobbit" I have decided to work in what I call scenes. A scene is a major area with smaller areas branching off. These smaller areas are destinations in themselves and do not usually lead to anywhere else.
Well I am still on the 1st scene (told you there was a very warm kitty's chance) having only got the major architecture done. Seems that there are a number of unforeseen time eaters. For example, I placed a group of custom chickens and wanted them to wander aimlessly like the impression given by real chickens. I remembered the built in function x2_spn_rndwalk that seemed to fit the bill. For those that don't know this built in script (that goes in the onspawn event of the creature) does all the normal housekeeping for spawning a creature and then makes it wander aimlessly about. The trouble that I found is that it is not really suitable for small creatures as the distance travelled does not scale. so the chucks were running upto 10 meters in one go instead of maybe a max of 1 meter. So if I want wandering chucks, I'm going to have to write yet another script. It's doable, but in the remaining time? I have my doubts.
So how's everyone else doing?
TR
Well I am still on the 1st scene (told you there was a very warm kitty's chance) having only got the major architecture done. Seems that there are a number of unforeseen time eaters. For example, I placed a group of custom chickens and wanted them to wander aimlessly like the impression given by real chickens. I remembered the built in function x2_spn_rndwalk that seemed to fit the bill. For those that don't know this built in script (that goes in the onspawn event of the creature) does all the normal housekeeping for spawning a creature and then makes it wander aimlessly about. The trouble that I found is that it is not really suitable for small creatures as the distance travelled does not scale. so the chucks were running upto 10 meters in one go instead of maybe a max of 1 meter. So if I want wandering chucks, I'm going to have to write yet another script. It's doable, but in the remaining time? I have my doubts.
So how's everyone else doing?
TR
#29
Posté 23 mars 2013 - 03:17
CaveGnome
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Not doing too well... Here a sort of progress report: I have the major areas, the convs, the plot journal, the trading post, the merchants all functional, but my movement/travel system is being harder to get working as i want. The encounter/animal generating is not operating (in last ressort i can use Bioware default), and my bartering system is embryonic. I am trying to reevaluate the project and will probably end with something much simpler and rough. I had some cool ideas like an autopath compas for returning to the Trading Post, but this will not be for the first release. Obviously i was too ambitious.
Update 26 March:
Movement/travel working! Encounter/animal/monster generating in progress... Final goal area useable, but much, much less sexy than my initial planning.
Update 28 March:
Encounter/animal generating done. Sound work done. Signpost system done. Reworked the final goal area, that's better now
Update 30 March:
Simple bartering system done. Module uploaded.
Update 26 March:
Movement/travel working! Encounter/animal/monster generating in progress... Final goal area useable, but much, much less sexy than my initial planning.
Update 28 March:
Encounter/animal generating done. Sound work done. Signpost system done. Reworked the final goal area, that's better now
Update 30 March:
Simple bartering system done. Module uploaded.
Modifié par CaveGnome, 30 mars 2013 - 07:19 .
#30
Posté 23 mars 2013 - 04:42
jackkel dragon
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Well, since all the cool kids are making status reports...
Cave Defense is actually going way better than I expected. I finally got a debug version of a "win condition" working, so I can tell when the player clears a level. Right now there's not really a way to "lose" the first level (though it can become unwinnable), so I might consider making something for the player to actually defend (right now the enemies sort of walk in a scary way down a hallway, turn, and walk back).
I also have the merchant that sells gear and defenses and starts the level set up, but it has the annoying habit of helping in combat (it's unkillable). I may have it teleport away until the battle is over to avoid that kind of weirdness. Right now the conversation paths are ugly, but all but two (tutorial and go to next level) work.
I think the hardest part will be making the module interesting to play... you start at level one with no gear and only enough gold to buy a few allies and traps. This means that, despite unlimited respawns, you'll still be mostly watching your summonded help do all the work (or not, if you die and respawn at the map start while the combat goes on). Now, this first level is explicitly called a "tutorial" and thus is just teaching the mechanics... but when those mechanics involve a lot of prep work and not much actual gameplay... I don't know.
I'm going to continue working on this first level until the main gameplay elements are fully working, but I think that if I succeed I'll be able to make new levels as quickly as I can design areas and new enemies/allies/traps. With luck, there might be more than five minutes of gameplay in my submission.
P.S: Launchers can be picked up and reused now. I will listen to no whining about how the game doesn't explain which way the Launcher will face when placed.
Cave Defense is actually going way better than I expected. I finally got a debug version of a "win condition" working, so I can tell when the player clears a level. Right now there's not really a way to "lose" the first level (though it can become unwinnable), so I might consider making something for the player to actually defend (right now the enemies sort of walk in a scary way down a hallway, turn, and walk back).
I also have the merchant that sells gear and defenses and starts the level set up, but it has the annoying habit of helping in combat (it's unkillable). I may have it teleport away until the battle is over to avoid that kind of weirdness. Right now the conversation paths are ugly, but all but two (tutorial and go to next level) work.
I think the hardest part will be making the module interesting to play... you start at level one with no gear and only enough gold to buy a few allies and traps. This means that, despite unlimited respawns, you'll still be mostly watching your summonded help do all the work (or not, if you die and respawn at the map start while the combat goes on). Now, this first level is explicitly called a "tutorial" and thus is just teaching the mechanics... but when those mechanics involve a lot of prep work and not much actual gameplay... I don't know.
I'm going to continue working on this first level until the main gameplay elements are fully working, but I think that if I succeed I'll be able to make new levels as quickly as I can design areas and new enemies/allies/traps. With luck, there might be more than five minutes of gameplay in my submission.
P.S: Launchers can be picked up and reused now. I will listen to no whining about how the game doesn't explain which way the Launcher will face when placed.
#31
Posté 23 mars 2013 - 10:23
Tarot Redhand
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@jackkel dragon - you realise you have just cost me a couple of hours... As I rolled around the floor laughing my head off. Moi a cool kid. He-he-he-he!
TR
TR
#32
Posté 23 mars 2013 - 11:58
CaveGnome
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@jackkel dragon - Your idea seems to have potential... Makes me remember the happy days playing Dungeon Keeper. Will it have Goblin Mistresses and Big Horned Devils as ultimate defense against greedy human adventurers? ;-)
#33
Posté 24 mars 2013 - 06:14
jackkel dragon
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CaveGnome wrote...
@jackkel dragon - Your idea seems to have potential... Makes me remember the happy days playing Dungeon Keeper. Will it have Goblin Mistresses and Big Horned Devils as ultimate defense against greedy human adventurers? ;-)
We'll see. I still have to work my way up past the CR 1/3 goblins to more fearsome allies before I can figure out what the top dogs are.
At any rate, here's a teaser of a currently unwinnable bonus level based on a certain movie adaptation of a certain novel:
#34
Posté 24 mars 2013 - 08:52
henesua
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That looks cool, jackkel.
And as to me... I've been screwing around too much with Ubuntu to make much progress. Unless I buckle down today, I'm not going to release this friday. I think I'll still release this module though. I like the story.
And as to me... I've been screwing around too much with Ubuntu to make much progress. Unless I buckle down today, I'm not going to release this friday. I think I'll still release this module though. I like the story.
#35
Posté 27 mars 2013 - 01:49
Tarot Redhand
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Update 2 - In the past I would have thrown the module into my discards pile and moved on by now. As it is I have exported the three areas that I had made, deleted the module and made a new one. Imported the areas and one was corrupted. I did this because I tried to be too clever and imported an erf that had a large number of items (I can't remember the author, but there were a lot of things in there) in it. The trouble was there were also quite a few scripts in there which made finding the ones I wanted harder. Add to that the fact that all the blueprints were making opening and closing the module, in the toolset, slow, it got to the point where I had to say enough is enough. Having deleted the corrupted area, I now have to remake it. That will still mean that there will only be one scene (see def above), out of the 5 I estimate I need to tell the story, by Friday's deadline.
Nightmare doesn't begin to tell it. My main excuse is that it has been over 2 years since I touched the toolset except for simple demo modules for custom content. Then there is the research. I didn't expect it to take so long. Will it ever get finished? Highly probable, 'cos it has gone beyond annoying and made me angry (I don't tend to get angry with people, just things). No, I refuse to quote that ancient tv show (me smash). Just will not be finished anytime soon.
TR
Nightmare doesn't begin to tell it. My main excuse is that it has been over 2 years since I touched the toolset except for simple demo modules for custom content. Then there is the research. I didn't expect it to take so long. Will it ever get finished? Highly probable, 'cos it has gone beyond annoying and made me angry (I don't tend to get angry with people, just things). No, I refuse to quote that ancient tv show (me smash). Just will not be finished anytime soon.
TR
#36
Posté 28 mars 2013 - 01:09
Tarot Redhand
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Finally, one little piece of good news. I got the chucks to work almost perfectly. Found Flocking Behaviour by Mike England on the vault. With a little tweaking it is almost perfect for what I wanted.
TR
TR
#37
Posté 28 mars 2013 - 07:01
henesua
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Due to Easter madness and by request, I am extending the "deadline" for the completion prize this month until end of day Saturday/Sunday morning. Consider it a day and a half of additional time.
That said - for those panicking - there is always the honorable mention. For an honorable mention, all you need do is complete a module for the challenge. Don't sweat the deadline in that case.
Lastly - this is a hint of what is coming in terms of how we schedule these things. I very much like how things went in February. In February we never had a Player Review, but a Builder's Review. And that is fine with me. It was lively. I think that is the way to move forward. And we will handle it that way this month.
Builder's Review starts at the beginning of April. Even if you don't get the completion prize, feel free to soft release your work for others to review during the month of April. You'll still get an Honorable Mention - meaning that we'll host your module as part of the challenge if you want, and/or link to your vault page for the module.
I'll formalize the specifics this weekend, but consider this going forward. I would rather you release your work sometime in April for other builders to look at rather than not release at all.
We will however start the next cycle of module building at the same time: Monday.
That said - for those panicking - there is always the honorable mention. For an honorable mention, all you need do is complete a module for the challenge. Don't sweat the deadline in that case.
Lastly - this is a hint of what is coming in terms of how we schedule these things. I very much like how things went in February. In February we never had a Player Review, but a Builder's Review. And that is fine with me. It was lively. I think that is the way to move forward. And we will handle it that way this month.
Builder's Review starts at the beginning of April. Even if you don't get the completion prize, feel free to soft release your work for others to review during the month of April. You'll still get an Honorable Mention - meaning that we'll host your module as part of the challenge if you want, and/or link to your vault page for the module.
I'll formalize the specifics this weekend, but consider this going forward. I would rather you release your work sometime in April for other builders to look at rather than not release at all.
We will however start the next cycle of module building at the same time: Monday.
#38
Posté 28 mars 2013 - 08:06
jackkel dragon
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While I've gotten an embarassingly small amount done for having so much time, I think I'll be able to upload something by Saturday. I've got some non-modding projects I'm way too behind on to do much more work on my module for a few weeks, but I think I'll have time to fix a few bugs before uploading. With luck, my module won't fall apart when I release it (unlike when I tried to add an extra level and every major script had to be re-written. 
)
)
#39
Posté 28 mars 2013 - 08:10
henesua
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Jacckel, even if you can't get this in by Saturday, don't sweat the deadline. People can turn in projects late for the "honorable mention". Just let everyone know in the thread when your module is ready for the other builders to review.
I think we'll have a few late submissions this month. Considering that the review of February's modules went almost for the entire month, I think a late submittal for March would probably be fine during the first couple weeks of April.
The problem with late submissions is how long it takes me to post them. We'll have to work this one out. As a back up to speed up posting, you may want to create your own vault page as well.
I think we'll have a few late submissions this month. Considering that the review of February's modules went almost for the entire month, I think a late submittal for March would probably be fine during the first couple weeks of April.
The problem with late submissions is how long it takes me to post them. We'll have to work this one out. As a back up to speed up posting, you may want to create your own vault page as well.
Modifié par henesua, 28 mars 2013 - 08:11 .
#40
Posté 28 mars 2013 - 08:47
CaveGnome
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If all goes well. i can upload something too before the deadline. The module will be something playable even if it's buggy and lacks polish. It's better for me to aim firmly for the deadline because after march ends, my NWN builder time will be exhausted for a while (no time to update my work before April's end as i have lots things pending IRL). I will try to play other fellows submissions, but don't count on it before mid April.
Speaking of the module: it is sort of working. I can go from story start to end, but keep in mind it is a easy and short one. Last effort needed: a minimal subset of the bartering system (i got the ideas and some parts, but need more scripting, ha...) and some final testing.
Good luck to everyone...
Speaking of the module: it is sort of working. I can go from story start to end, but keep in mind it is a easy and short one. Last effort needed: a minimal subset of the bartering system (i got the ideas and some parts, but need more scripting, ha...) and some final testing.
Good luck to everyone...
#41
Posté 31 mars 2013 - 11:54
henesua
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Congratulations to our completeion Prize Winners!
PHoD
Jacckel Dragon
CaveGnome
Those interested in reviewing these modules should head on over to the vault and download the submissions.
If anyone is still interested in submitting their module, please do. We've got Honorable Mention awards for ya.
PHoD
Jacckel Dragon
CaveGnome
Those interested in reviewing these modules should head on over to the vault and download the submissions.
If anyone is still interested in submitting their module, please do. We've got Honorable Mention awards for ya.
#42
Posté 01 avril 2013 - 01:27
henesua
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Jacckel and CaveGnome, if you could take some screenshots of your mods and send them to me, I'll post them on the ABC page for March.
#43
Posté 02 avril 2013 - 01:13
Tarot Redhand
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As I have so far created so little of the module that I declared, I feel it doesn't even deserve an honourable (a dishonourable one maybe (
)) mention. Consequently, instead of submitting it to henesua, I have placed it in my dropbox/public folder. If anyone would like to take a look at the pathetic shambles it can be found here. I do intend to finish this, it is just taking so much longer...
TR
)) mention. Consequently, instead of submitting it to henesua, I have placed it in my dropbox/public folder. If anyone would like to take a look at the pathetic shambles it can be found here. I do intend to finish this, it is just taking so much longer...TR
#44
Posté 04 avril 2013 - 11:32
Tarot Redhand
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Well I thought I had got my outdoor area finished and changed one little script... Seems like Axe's walkway points is sensitive to that particular script. Cest la vie (followed by enormous gallic shrug). So I need to undo my "efficiency" changes and then I can get on with the interior areas.
TR
TR
#45
Posté 04 avril 2013 - 12:46
CaveGnome
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@Tarot Redhand
He... i know that feeling. When a script refuse to gently behave with others. Scripting (and programming) is like a black art. You continuously circle around engine or language limitations and unknows. And we are lucky, having this incredible documentation the community as come with.
Any feedback on the march ABC modules?
CG
PS: Could some goodfellow explain (or provide a link) on how to insert pictures on forum messages?
He... i know that feeling. When a script refuse to gently behave with others. Scripting (and programming) is like a black art. You continuously circle around engine or language limitations and unknows. And we are lucky, having this incredible documentation the community as come with.
Any feedback on the march ABC modules?
CG
PS: Could some goodfellow explain (or provide a link) on how to insert pictures on forum messages?
#46
Posté 04 avril 2013 - 06:01
Tarot Redhand
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@CaveGnome 1st create an album on here. Add your pictures to it. Be aware of size restrictions, documented there. Pictures should really be no more than 500 x 500 pix (I think). View each picture in turn. At the bottom of the frame surrounding each picture there is the option to share this. Click on it and you will have the choice 4 different options. Choose the UBB code and highlight & copy the text. Paste this text into your message. Voila. 1 Piccy in thread. Like So ->
No I am not the artist that created this, just search on deviantArt for spelljammer. Original is over 9 times larger.
TR
No I am not the artist that created this, just search on deviantArt for spelljammer. Original is over 9 times larger.
TR
Modifié par Tarot Redhand, 04 avril 2013 - 06:04 .
#47
Posté 04 avril 2013 - 06:52
Rolo Kipp
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<adjusting his...>
The image will be scaled down to 540px width. Any height.
Just put the image url in between two "img" tags (without the spaces I've included to make it print):
[ img ] http://myawesomesite...wesomeimage.jpg [ / img ]
You can do the same thing with url tags and have the image link to something:
[ url=http://myawesomesite.com ][ img ] yadayadayada [ / img ][ / url ]
<...behavior>
The image will be scaled down to 540px width. Any height.
Just put the image url in between two "img" tags (without the spaces I've included to make it print):
[ img ] http://myawesomesite...wesomeimage.jpg [ / img ]
You can do the same thing with url tags and have the image link to something:
[ url=http://myawesomesite.com ][ img ] yadayadayada [ / img ][ / url ]
<...behavior>
#48
Posté 05 avril 2013 - 12:38
CaveGnome
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Thanks...
Trying.
Nice Bioforest... One-Eye Wolf Trading Post ver 0.55 is coming soon to the vault but next iteration will not be out before May.
Trying.
Nice Bioforest... One-Eye Wolf Trading Post ver 0.55 is coming soon to the vault
but next iteration will not be out before May.
#49
Posté 05 avril 2013 - 09:09
henesua
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CaveGnome wrote...
Any feedback on the march ABC modules?
Feedback is a give and take between participants primarily.
I have not had time to check any out yet, but will get to it when I can.
In the meantime, if you made a module, I encourage you to play others and give feedback. Typically the others will be
#50
Posté 05 avril 2013 - 11:02
Tarot Redhand
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Naughty henesua, you know that guilted isn't a word (anyway the phrase emotionally blackmailed expresses it sooo much better). 
TR
TR
