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[andysks]

Journal  Entry

• Elaborate Cutscenes

Since I started the making of chapter one, I was not overall satisfied with my cutscenes. They always seemed a bit... hasty, or not showing as much as I wanted. Thing is, the situation or the location didn't allow more than that.
I was really happy with my cutscenes from the prologue. There are some with many speakers, animations etc.
So I thought, why can't I make more of these?
Today as I was working on an area, it happened again and made me really happy, because it showed me that what I liked from the prologue is not gone, and I can still do it.

There is this convo I worked on today, where many things happen. Placeable conversations, encounters firing, vfx created, riddles, sounds... many things. After it was done in the toolset, I fire it, with a bit of pessimism, for cutscenes tend to not be perfect at once. But this one was. All cameras where I wanted them, all sounds, all encounters etc. Everything fired when it was supposed to.

• Main plot changes

Today was also a day of some changes to the main plot. I figured that I was giving too much by the end of the prologue. I don't like this. When a mod is planed to last for hours of gameplay, or a campaign that starts from level 1 and the plan is to get as high as possible, I can't give all the information in the prologue. Then then the player will work only in completing it, without any mystery or suspence.

The way I made the plot, it feels like so many branches, seemingly not connected, and the plan is to slowly make them all come together.

So I changed a couple of convos, 1 area will not be used, at least in the prologue, maybe later who knows.

• Placeable manipulation

I had some fun, creating an area like a hunting lodge. I am really happy that now I get more and more comfortable with the way placeables work, and how many different things you can make with them.
I need to list some that I did today, because english is not my mother tongue, and I tend to have difficulties finding some placeables on the list. I know what I want, just not how it's called .

So here I have: two curved stone walls into the ground, two stone wall posts. An elevated resized pillar that serves as a chimney. A resized crate on the bottom of it so that the player doesn't see underneath. Two wooden trouts on the sides with overland flowers on them. Weapon placeables on the other side and a couple of candles. In the fire, there are resized dirt mounds, fallen trees and logs.



So, excitement still here. I guess if after a year and something of non-stop work, if it's still here it will never go away .

Tomorrow I go a bit backwards, to the prologue. I need to create the outskirts of the capital, with some farmlands and the hangout spot for the companions.

Goodnight to all!

[andysks]

Journal  Entry


Last few days have been a bit slow compared to the previous weeks. This is simply because I always find some more custom content I want to use, and then trying to figure out how. For example, main quest leads you to a coastal area, where you encounter some sailors/pirates. I wanted them shirtless, tried and tried.... they always have a different texture on the head. Then I thought, enough is enough. It's just one area, one encounter. Not so important to take half day of my work... so I made them with clothes. I also thought, that I already use a lot of custom armor and weapons (BTH Weapons, Atom Armory, Weapons of Legacy, Hex Items, Aleanes Clothes, Dark Armory). So no more custom equipment I thought, not unless there is something new and seriously extraordinary.

Then I had some other... performance problems. I wanted to spawn an NPC, an enemy actually through a cutscene.
This guy is pretty bad, and thanks to Tchos' script ga_vfx, I can make some very cool things, applying a vfx on an object. I have made more than 50 vfx using Sorceress Ashura's Pack, but in this particular one, I wanted a trembling earth... perhaps a shaking screen. I coldn't find a way to do it, so I just used something else equally epic. It still got a lot of my time browsing through the vfx though. Just for one scene.

After all this, came one of this moments that I knew it could come. The danger of thinking more of the story as I build, can cause some blocks. The main story is in my head and most of it written down, but there was a small gap somewhere. Trying to figure out how to connect it... took me 2 days of staring at the ceiling. But it's done... so now the headache is over.

In the meantime, I did one more side quest, with more options of completion again. I was really fascinated in BG2, when you finish the quest in Trademeet, and then two rich people want you to find an artifact for them, and the mayor also wants you to find it for him. I don't remember the names, but all I remember, is the fact that both of these royals were not so friendly, and the fact that I had 3 ways to go and do it.
So, these sailors, are in mutiny. The Captain wants them dead, they want the Captain dead, and a personal exotic slave of the Captain wants them all dead for her own reasons. Same quest line, 3 ways to go, different loot etc.


On a not so relevant matter, I was over at the Rogue Dao forums yesterday, and NutMeg said on a thread that their project is actually not vaporware, as many people think, and they work hard to finish their work. This made me really happy, since a mod I have been really waiting for, is actually going to be finished. Good news after the bad news I got from Chaos Chronicles some months ago.

[Tchos]

I, too, lament Chaos Chronicles. I only found out this month.

There is an effect for shaking the screen to simulate a trembling earth, but I don't think it's in a SEF, so my VFX script would not handle it. A different script would have to be written for that one, if one hasn't been already.

[andysks]

I searched for earthquake and shake on the ga_ scripts but nothing returned except the spell script itself. I am also certain some should exist. I will make some more research on this later maybe.

[ColorsFade]

andysks wrote...

The danger of thinking more of the story as I build, can cause some blocks. The main story is in my head and most of it written down, but there was a small gap somewhere.

I think when you are building something like this, if it has any size at all, it is impossible to think of every single little story point and plot twist up-front. There has to be gaps and one has to trust that as you work and develop the module, you'll find ways to fill in the gaps. 

And there is a benefit to that too: some of the best story elements come up organically. Filmmakers have been doing this for years; sometimes the best stuff is thought up or created on the spot, right when it is needed. 

[Tchos]

Here...this should do it.

// ga_earthquake

void main(string sObjectTag)
{
    ApplyEffectAtLocation(DURATION_TYPE_INSTANT, EffectVisualEffect(VFX_FNF_SCREEN_SHAKE), GetLocation(GetObjectByTag(sObjectTag)));
}

[andysks]

ColorsFade wrote...

I think when you are building something like this, if it has any size at all, it is impossible to think of every single little story point and plot twist up-front. There has to be gaps and one has to trust that as you work and develop the module, you'll find ways to fill in the gaps. 

And there is a benefit to that too: some of the best story elements come up organically. Filmmakers have been doing this for years; sometimes the best stuff is thought up or created on the spot, right when it is needed. 

I agree. And I really prefer this way... it gives so much freedom. But f course it has it's bads as well. The blocks etc. But after so many years playing games and P&P I guess our imagination runs quite wild, so that the blocks don't stay for long .
Truth is, this is where the excel documents I keep have been proven most helpful. Especially one, I track all progress. I have a horizontal row with area names, and a vertical with things to be done in them, like merchants, generic NPCs, rest system, props etc. The list is quite long. When something is done, I make the cell green. When I started it but not finished for some reason, it's grey, and if not even started, it's red. When all these are green, it will mean that chapter one is finished. Extremely helpful. Otherwise I would get so confused...


Tchos... thanks so much for this. So simple... huh ? 

[ColorsFade]

Tchos wrote...

Here...this should do it.

// ga_earthquake

void main(string sObjectTag)
{
    ApplyEffectAtLocation(DURATION_TYPE_INSTANT, EffectVisualEffect(VFX_FNF_SCREEN_SHAKE), GetLocation(GetObjectByTag(sObjectTag)));
}

You da man Tchos! Once again! I was looking for just that effect a while ago...

[Tchos]

No problem. If you look in the visualeffects.2da, you'll see that there are actually several columns for shaking the screen, which can be used by any effect. There's a "shake type", "shake delay", and a "shake duration". It looks like "shake type" can be either 1 or 2 (those are the only ones that are used by any effect). The stock VFX_FNF_SCREEN_SHAKE uses type 2, and a 3 second duration. If you add more effects to the visualeffects.2da, you could try a shake of type 1 or a different duration, if desired.

[andysks]

Journal Entry

• Chapter 1 Main Plot Completed

This. I am very happy that the excel cells for the main quest on Chapter one became all green. Of course, that doesn't mean a lot. It is like 20 convos, 10 areas and some scripts and items. Now there is the really time wasting part. Adjust some area properties, add generic NPCs, merchants etc. But still.

The most interesting part is, that the Main quest for the prologue took me near half a year, while chapter one only 2 months. Of course I got to thank the community for this, since I used some prefabs and scripts from them. Also, the progress has gone so much faster since I decided to not release as chapters, but as a whole thing. This thread is also extremely helpful.

But I want to say a few things that I liked during this period.
First of all, the way I had it before, and I was about to even release it, it was like that.

Game starts, you go somewhere, you learn A LOT about the reason everything is happening, and then you must find a way to the Planes to solve the events that occur.

Now, from the A LOT that you used to learn, I changed this to only one piece of information. I cannot not spoil it, so I will only say that from 3 pieces of info that was used to be, now it's only one.
Now, a portal to the Hades, is not easily found in my prime. So here's where chapter one begins. You need to find some components that will help the research for a portal there. And when you find them, you need to go to a specific location, that is marked with events that occured centuries ago. Events linked to the outer planes.
And chapter two ends.

I am really glad about the way this evolved. When I started working on chapter one, it was all so overwhelming. Everything was not linked, NPCs from previous areas needed to reapear, Journal updates etc.
This was because of the previous idea to release as chapters. I had everything wraped for the prologue. And suddenly I had to continue the flow of events, without ending the prologue like it used to be.
But, every obstacle comes for good we say in Greece , at least when I used to live there, and I learn this every day that I work in this mod.

Tomorrow's ToDo List : Go from area to area in Chapter two, and check the properties. Implement the wandering monsters, and write some barks for the Elven City Area. If time allows, place some generic NPCs as well.

Goodnight!

P.S Tchos, your earthquake script is flawless. Now monsters like dragons can make a dramatic entrance .
P.S.S Remind self to compile all scripts in campaign before I use kamal's commoner AI (so that I not be confused that they don't work, since I didn't compile them ).

Modifié par andysks, 25 novembre 2013 - 02:49 .

[ColorsFade]

Good progress! Way to go Andy!

[andysks]

Hey thanks Colors. I am glad that things work out. I can see now, compared to the moment I was testing my first areas there is a big difference. Back then I needed so much time to make, test and figure out the wrongs of a script that didn't fire as I wanted. I am talking about the most simple stuff here...well, now I find them simple . For example putting a variable that is supposed to be an interger on string. I learned from my mistakes... and I see this now.

Now, I test an elaborate cutscene, questline, encounter... and they all workout from the first test. No fixes needed. This really makes me happy, because I want this work to finish some day .

Small update

Today I used Tchos' Collection scripts. They worked as intended. More quest ideas and diversity:wizard:.
I also filled the Elven City with merchants and generic NPCs. i now use AP dynamic NPCs. It is a shame I didn't know of it when I was creating the capital city which has near 100 of them and had to create them all one by one. Other than that, I started some work on another forest area that I will need next to this one. I donwloaded the Forest with a Camp by Marcelo_Lopez. I liked the texturing and height work, and I'm trying to bring it closer to my needs. Very good area, recommended for a generic forest.

Yesterday Pj sent me his placeables work and I saw some placeables I didn't know of. For example the Dragonlance or Adam Miller ones.  I loaded them to my test module and stuffed my testing area with them to see which ones I'll need in Return of the Exile. Lots of them. The community was really busy when this game got out . This goes for PJ as well. The thing he's done... is so helpful, and when the time for the full release comes, I think it's going to be one of the best helps for the builders.

P.S Does anyone know if the RWS Ankheg ever got released?
P.S.S Does anyone know if there is an Ettercap somewhere? Google didn't help.

[Tchos]

As for the ettercap, I saw a blueprint for one in one of the several monster packs, with stats and abilities from the Monster Manual, but it doesn't have a special model, so it uses the umberhulk as an approximation. See Krondorl's D&D Monsters Compilation, Monster Manual Series, and No Hak Monsters - 23 New Creatures.

[andysks]

No Hak and Krondorl's I already use so no. I guess in the Monster Manual could be one. The No Hak has an Ankheg, but it's simply a rescaled beetle. I can live with an ettercap looking like an umberhulk, but the ankheg beetle doesn't look so good. Ah, what the hell, no ankhegs then .

[Tchos]

You know, I think I must have been thinking of the ankheg, not the ettercap. But I would guess that Baldur's Gate Reloaded has ettercaps in it, since they were in the original game. Maybe check there?

Modifié par Tchos, 27 novembre 2013 - 09:18 .

[andysks]

I haven't played it yet, but from a video I saw I'm quite sure they also use the umberhulk model. As for the ankheg, I read on a thread, I think from Hellfire, that the model worked perfectly submerging and animations etc, but I cannot seem to find a release for the thing.

[andysks]

Journal Update

• Sad Update

Yesterday my PC flatlined, crushin the toolset. I was in the middle of making some screenshots for loadscreens, and was working on an area that I couldn't take a proper screenshot in the toolset. Toolset, game, excel documents were open, and when I also tried to open Photoshop, it probably was too much. Toolset crushed. Anyway, long story short, much work is lost.

• Downside

The obvious.

• Upside

• It's not as much as it could be. I used quite some prefab areas, where I made minor modifications.
• Main quest dialogues are campaign recourses, and the module lost had only barks and side quests and merchants etc.
• Some crazy scripts Tchos provided, and the companion system that I worked so hard for, together with ColorsFade, are all campaign resources as well.
• Items too
• Generally Campaign and all other modules are fine. Only the one I was working on vanished from sight.

I had only worked on the main quest so far, so not much is lost there. But all side things are simply gone. I guess it won't take me too much to recreate now that I know where's what, and as I said areas are easily imported since they are prefabs. Some I did myself... well I have to redo.

When it happened, I went immediately to restore the previous version of the folder, only to find out that "There are no available versions of this folder". Thank you Windows.
Then it was a moment of desicion. Throw the PC out of the window, or keep calm, go to sleep and put my head down and work on it again. Obviously I chose the second. I love this project, and will finish it no matter what.

P.S After this last screeshot, I wanted to make a backup for chapter two. Irony thy name is Andy .

[ColorsFade]

CTRL-S is something I press often. On top of that, I backup locally using Mercurial, and I backup remotely to Dropbox.

My brother-in-law, who is a hardware repair guy, was watching me work one day. He was amazed at how often I press CTRL-S to save my work, regardless of what application I am working in. I told him that basically a long time ago when I was an undergraduate, I lost some valuable work due to not saving frequently enough. I don't make that mistake anymore.

Same goes with backups. They're just too valuable.

So sorry Andy. Keep going!

[andysks]

I just found a folder on my desktop called "backup Modules", I didn't even know when I did. There is some of the work in there! I think because of that, instead of losing more than a month, I lost a week or something. But this is not a solution. I should make external or online backups. It happened to me already two times, and I'm not gonna wait for the third .

[ColorsFade]

Yeah, just use dropbox. It's easy.

I try and push my changes to it every couple of days. I should probably do it every day. You just never know...

[Tchos]

Do you have a saved game from your module from some test run? Work can be recovered from saved games, too.

[andysks]

Nah, I didn't yet do a test run that required save in between. It's not so bad. I keep being optimistic. So far the count of lost data is :
1 store (big deal) + its dialogue
2 areas used on a side quest, rather small... plus their dialogues. This was a bit complicated sine it had many variables and ways of completion.
All generic NPCs I put in the past few days are gone + their bars.
And generally around 7-8 dialogues all side quest related, or just aesthetic.

It's really good I found a backup... I don't even remember doing one. And this was the main reason I felt mad. But since one is found... the work lost is not as bad as I thought.

[andysks]

So I got things narrowed down to just one side quest. One day work it was. Made my daily back up now . Look at this guy smilling now, while yesterday he fell into depression! Kidding aside, I know back ups are a work saving deal. I also know now that the Photoshop shouldn't be open with many other programms running together.

Anywho, I wanted to change the topic... what was done yesterday is bad news, it's over.

I saw something on Tchos' thread, that got my attention. He has been creating the Temple for a while now, and he said he made a banner for his kuotoa creatures... with their god's symbol.
This, is going the extra mile to add something. Something many might not even notice. Hell, something many wouldn't notice if it wasn't there, including me. My point is, I don't always have the same patience to stand and create such things. Sometimes I do, sometimes not. I admire those who will sit and do this.

Using a custom setting, and not the one of Faerun, it means I "have" to do a lot of such things. It's time wasting, it's boring sometimes. Creating so many custom items, load hints, books, dialogues with lore etc to give the feeling and backround of the world.
When I found the Bonus Blueprints pack from rjshae I nearly organized a party. Somebody did all this work... yay! I can use it, it will save me loads of time. Then I saw that many of the items mention locations or persons from Faerun lore. And here's the question.

Do you people think it is a big deal if when and if playing my campaign, you loot an item for example that says it got created in Candlekeep? Does it take much away? Is it a let down, or not a big deal.
I ask because I really want to use this pack, and probably others that will come handy, but I have no time to check every item I add in a store to see it's description and decide if I want to use it. Same goes for a lot of other things.
I try to minimize these, like thinking if I want to change the classes 2da so that no Shadow Thief of Amn is available etc.

[Tchos]

It wouldn't bother me to see a Faerun-specific description on an item in a custom campaign. You'd have to change a lot of items, including ones in the stock resources, if you wanted to excise all such references.

The main reason I created a custom banner is because I find banners and heraldry to be a useful way of giving the player an indication of what they're about to encounter. I know many people wouldn't recognise the meaning of the banners, but that's not necessary for the player to already know, since this is an RPG. If a character in the party would recognise it, then they comment on it, to inform the player. If I consider something to be common knowledge for most characters in the game world, then the information is just in the object description or DM text.

[andysks]

Tchos wrote...

It wouldn't bother me to see a Faerun-specific description on an item in a custom campaign. You'd have to change a lot of items, including ones in the stock resources, if you wanted to excise all such references.

That's what I think as well. And who knows, maybe Faerun is another material plane or something .

If I consider something to be common knowledge for most characters in the game world, then the information is just in the object description or DM text.

How do you people make the eye symbol when I hover on a usable placeable? Is it a SoZ thing? I never played SoZ but I like this system for objects that can be examined, like signs.