176 réponses à ce sujet

[GCoyote]

Sting aside, though I wonder if I can grab something off his Labyrinth album under creative commons ... No? Ah well

I am testing the last two hours or so of the mod now. I got stuck a few times and one jump is particularly testing. But once I am clear on this I need to do the closing conversations and cut scenes.

Then there is a major side quest (five areas) and a few minor (potentially middling) ones.

I really can see a summer ending to this mod. If that is the case it has taken longer than any of my mods including the first.

It is my last city mod that is for sure

...

The Mistshore looking across dock number three to the tannery and Wendy's house of no veils.

PJ

 

Heh, it's your own fault for insisting on doing quality work PJ. 

[PJ156]

Heh, it's your own fault for insisting on doing quality work PJ. 

Thank you GC, but that remains to be seen

PJ

[PJ156]

After my pains last weekend I have stopped trying to fix the mod and got on with some more creative stuff. This is the result ... Hope Cove.

Hope cove is an interesting place. It is a prosperous fishing village very close to the city of Waterdeep. Initially it was built on the proceeds of piracy and wrecking but now it thrives under the attention of Lord Hope whose castle sits over the village center. Much of its money comes from the plentiful fish to be caught in the region but also from its two inns; The Black Pig and The Anchor. Both are always full to the rafters with young couples and Waterdeep business men who wish to conduct their meeting outside of the city walls; for even though the village is close enough to the city that you could count the bricks in the city walls it is still a twenty minute ride from the closest gate and feels like it is further away than it is.

As the vampire flies however, it is very much closer.



HOPE COVE

It's the last outdoor area I have to do and actually a bit of a throw away area as the character will pass through it to get to the castle. There will be some conversation to pick up some background but mostly the player will walk directly to the castle door unless they want to explore. The castle is going to be a variation on an upside down dungeon which I love to build most of all since they always make much more sense to me.

PJ

[AZVaquero]

PJ156,

 

After so many years, because I wanted to follow the process and discussion of a builder, I decided to make an account here.    That said, I've reviewed the entries here and am glad I did.  There is most certainly going to be an incredible module/series here.....as with TOTLOS!  And, I will follow your work here.  But my last post (at NWN Vault) was a shout-out to others to be prepared for your next mod.

 

I've always been impressed with your stories.  But, because you are able to place your tales into a visual world, it becomes great.  The story will always be the "hook", everything else will be "eye candy" - like the wizard robe   

 

Thanks for your dedication and hard work!  You've kept NWN2 alive and fun.

 

NWN tool set was simple compaired to NWN2 (for me) and to think you and others have accomplished so much alone is astonishing.  My hat is off to you and all the others who have really created works that IMHO are actually better than the originals.

 

Cord

[PJ156]

Hello AZVaquero,

 

Thank you, I am pleased you have enjoyed TLOS. Sorry for not responding earlier but I have just seen this post.

 

PJ

[PJ156]

 

I have just finished my first full run through of this module

 

Don't look here for fancy rest systems, complicated scripting or new custom content (except Tchos, Rjshae's and Kamal_'s work).

 

What I have made is a story I don't think you will find anywhere else. Interesting npc's (I hope) and some great areas to explore.

 

It is very dark, perhaps more so than I meant it to be, and it very much has the low fantasy feel  that my earlier work was looking for. It also has the down to earth, base feel of my earlier stories. Overall I am pleased with the result. I have not played this through in full before and the concepts and violence comes over as much more adult than I thought. I'm not going to change that now, this mod comes with a warning. There's no gratuity, no salaciousness and the swearing is very much in context (or in old English) but there is an undercurrent of menace and violence, much of it against people who cannot defend them selves. Of course your character is going to change all that. 

 

I have some 5000 words of npc dialogue missing, four load screens and some other polishing to do but I hope to have this complete this month depending on how the play testing goes.

 

If you have volunteered to play test I hope to be in touch soon 

 

PJ

[Jezla]

PJ, good to hear.  I'm slowly working my way through TLOS (I spend more time building than playing).  You have a knack for pacing a story, so I'll look forward to this one!

[PJ156]

Thanks gents.

 

I agree about the warning, this will come with one. It may not be as bad as I think, we shall see.

 

This is the first of three that follow on from the other five. You can use the same character but only one npc comes along with you. The rest are new.

 

It weighs in at 9 - 10 hours of play I think. and takes the character from lv 14 to 16. I hope to end it all at 20 though, again, we shall see.

 

PJ

[Arkalezth]

It may not be as bad as I think, we shall see

 

Personally, I hope it is. Dark, low fantasy and violent sounds right up my alley.

 

Count me in for the testing.

[OfficerDonNZ]

Looking good PJ!

[PJ156]

That's a fair point and I will think about that when I play test next. I could squeeze in one more without upsetting the balance too much I think. I am finding it is less about the levels and more about the equipment at high level play when balancing combat. If the critter can hit a PC of AC 25 - 30 and it can take a few spells and knocks then it will be challenging. In this respect an extra level won't change things too much but +6 Armour might.

[andysks]

I found that too while playing the MotB. It didn't really matter that me and companions were getting levels... well the epic feats are epic feats, yes, but the equipment was the real juice!

[PJ156]

Indeed.

 

I will look at the balance of things and perhaps squirt in a little more exp.

 

I felt artistic today and the issue of load screens has been hanging over me so I decided to tackle them. All four are done and I am very happy with them. 

 

I gave up doing one per area very early on in my last project and picked an image for each module that loosely says something about the module content. In my first modules this was runic associations (using rune quest runes for fire, mastery, disorder etc). this time I have gone for something more littoral with an image that is associated with the module but an overall theme that keep the module together as one.

 

This way I have 4 screens and not 45 jpeg's cluttering up my campaign folder.

 

They look like this:

 

 

PJ

[Arkalezth]

Those look good.

 

Re: levelling, I don't think there's a "best" way to handle it. You level fast in some modules/PWs, and you level slowly in others. Players may prefer one way or another, but so may module creators, so it's up to them IMO.

In this case, I'd say keep it consistent with the previous modules. It took four (the fifth had a different PC), though not all of them are equally long, to get to level 14, so my guess is that PJ's intention would be finishing the whole thing around 20. Not saying that a different approach is bad, though.

[PJ156]

I tried to target 3 level ups per modules in my last mods, this one has two so a third is not out of place. My target is 20 as you correctly said Ark but 21 would be just as good

 

PJ

[olnorton]

I'm probably the only one, but I found those bright orange load screens in your previous mod to be emersion breaking & a little hard on the eyes, coming between dimly lit screens.
With your resting restrictions you see a lot of the loading screen, & in your last one I replaced them all with a plain black screen.

But that's just my 2 cents worth & others seem to like the flash of bright colour.

[PJ156]

That's good feedback, thank you olnorton. That is easily repaired and I can provide one that is easier on the eye as one for this module set.

 

Orange and blue are the colours of the Tysan family hence the garish screen from before. these I hope are easier but I will do a black version for those who prefer it.

 

PJ

[kamal_]

You could darken the orange and blue, maybe with a dirt filter or something, bring it down to the brightness/color intensity of the game.

[PJ156]

I can simply darken these ones if they turn out to be too intense in game. I have not used them in anger yet so I will see.

 

Paint.net has the ability to play with the intensity so changing that is simple. I will do a darker set too, next time I have a few minutes

 

PJ 

[Arkalezth]

Or maybe switch the colours? Turn the orange parts blue and the blue parts orange, so blue is the predominant colour? I don't know if that'd look any good (I've never have any problem with the current loadscreens myself, but I'm sure I'll be paying attention at it next time ).

 

With your resting restrictions you see a lot of the loading screen

 

Which restrictions are those? I don't remember anything particularly... restrictive, regarding resting in PJ's modules. If it's only allowed in inns or something like that, I don't think I rested much.

[PJ156]

Ha, I wrote the campaign text today. High adventure or soap opera ... which do you think?

 

The winter of 1374 was one of the coldest The Sword Coast had known for many years. Thunder Bay is covered in a thick layer of snow and work on Dragon Scar will be delayed until late in the spring.

 

The cold weather reflects your relationships with you party, they have jobs to do and as soon as the quest to save Morag ends, they return to them.

Solace spends her time traveling between Neverwinter and the Tysan household, protecting and developing her father’s business interests. Alan returns to leading the town militia and Harald joins them; their combined skill as fighters keeps Thunder Bay safe and secure. Haralds wife, Moss, announces she is with child during the early new year, Harald’s happiness at the news is almost tangible.

 

Honour spends her time with Morag or Matthias, researching ways to bring her father back from Kelemvors realm. You see little of her but you are aware that her mental and physical states are in decline.

 

You see less and less of Ember as the winter draws in. She is focused on her work and family and, with you struggling to find anything meaningful to do with your time, she seems less keen to spend time with you. Your relationship breaks down in the early new year and, while you still remain friends, she keeps her distance. As spring comes to Thunder Bay she gently suggests that the life of the adventurer may be better suited to you, at least until Dragon Scar is completed and you take on the duties of the lord of the manor.

 

You are also aware that she is becoming very close to Alan Baxter as their work and their common values keep them in each other’s constant company.

 

You have little to do except drink and gamble until the weather breaks and you find that you also are taking less care of yourself, even the townsfolk start to keep their distance. Except of course the innkeeper who is slowly siphoning money from your purse to his, via the bar or the gambling table. You are sure it is time to move on but you cannot decide where.

 

That is, until you wake one morning to find Honour, disheveled and foul smelling, pacing at the end of your bed …..

 

PJ