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Adventure Building Challenge, Spring 2014


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#1
rogueknight333

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This is the official announcement of the Spring 2014 Adventure Building Challenge.

 

In the Adventure Building Challenge, members of the NWN community are challenged to produce a playable module in a limited period of time, and in accordance with some previously chosen theme or adventure seed, while also observing various restrictions on what Custom Content may be used. See this thread for more information, or this one for more recent discussion.

 

In this challenge, participants will have two months to make a module. To successfully meet the challenge, a playable module must be released and available for download no later than June 1, 2014. When completed, a module submission for this challenge should be released as an entry on the new vault (duplicate entries on the old vault may of course also be made, if desired), and should include the following tags: Adventure Building Challenge, ABC, Spring 2014 ABC. In the interest of producing high quality, polished submissions, participants are encouraged to produce at least a working "rough draft" of their module in the first month (i.e., by May 1, 2014) so as to spend the second testing and revising it, and are also encouraged to post progress reports indicating whether or not they are likely to meet this goal, but neither is a requirement. Participants will also be encouraged, but not required, to engage in a review and discussion of each other's submissions once they are released.

 

THEMES:

 

The themes for this cycle are as follows (2 each picked from two separate lists):

 

1A) Make a module for a warrior PC (i.e. a member of a class with full BAB progression such as a Fighter, Barbarian, Weapon Master, Dwarven Defender, etc.).

 

1B) Make a module using no more than one hak

 

2A) A Plague on You - The PC is tasked with the seemingly simple task of eliminating a plague of vermin, but in the process stumbles on a much greater plot.

 

2B) Blast from the Past - Pick a theme chosen for a previous ABC cycle to be used again. In this case that would mean picking one of the six themes chosen for either the March or April 2013 ABCs:

 

Treasure Map - the PC has come into possession of a map said to lead to treasure.


Into the Abyss - the PC finds himself on a journey through fiend-infested planes.

 

The Real Anti-Hero - the PC takes on the role of the goblins PCs routinely slaughter (or something along this general theme where the PC is the champion of the "Bad guys").

 

Pieces of Eight/All at Sea - a watery adventure set amidst an archipelago of small islands, possibly but not necessarily involving pirates.

 

Perilous Lodgings - the PC takes refuge in an inn, house, etc. that proves to be much less safe than anticipated.

 

Summoned - Inspired by the Summon Spell. Instead of a dire animal, elemental or planar beastie, some powerful magic wielder ends ups summoning the PC, intentionally or otherwise, to aid him.

 

Participants are encouraged to combine as many different themes for the cycle as possible, ideally using at least one from the first list (1A or 1B) and one from the second list (2A or 2B).

 

CUSTOM CONTENT RESTRICTIONS:

 

Module-specific custom content is restricted to no more than one of any given file type (hak, movie, character file, etc.), and the combined size of any such module-specifc content may not exceed 10 Megabytes in size. Participants are also encouraged to include a readme file indicating any sponsored haks used, level or other expected characteristics of PCs, or anything else it would be desirable for players to know before playing your module, and such a readme will not be counted against the size limit.

 

Sponsored Custom Content is not restricted. One may make use of as much of the CC found on our list of sponsors as desired. One may also freely use any hak released as part of the Custom Content Challenge, even if it is not listed there.

 

The module must be playable in vanilla NWN, meaning that third party add-ons (NWNX, NWShader, etc.) are not required to play it.

 

The module may be set up to take advantage of optional content outside the above limits (e.g. music files) provided that it can still be played without such content.

 

POINT SYSTEM:

 

Participants will be awarded points based on how well they complete the challenge while observing the various rules. This allows us to enforce the rules rather loosely (since it is hopefully all in fun) while also not ignoring them completely (since some structure is needed). Points will be kept track of and can accumulate over multiple cycles. Awards and penalties are as follows:

 

+100 points for releasing a module as part of the challenge

+10 points for using one of the proposed themes

+15 points for using at least one theme from each list

+5 points for using 3 or more themes (note this is +5 total for any number of additional themes used, not 5 per theme)

+25 for releasing on time

+25 for respecting CC restrictions

+25 for a submission free of game-breaking bugs

+15 for releasing a submission at least 3 days early

-20 for releasing a submission that is seriously buggy

-1 per day for submitting late

-1 per mebabyte used in excess of the CC limit.

 

The cycle organizer (me) reserves the right to award further bonuses and penalties beyond those listed here as additional reasons for them occur to him, as well as to generally revise the system in response to feedback from the community.

 

EDIT: Note that details of this point system have been altered from what was originally posted.

 

FINAL COMMENT:

 

Have at it and have fun!


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#2
rogueknight333

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Submitted projects:

 

Whack-a-hole by CaveGnome



#3
simuseb

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YAY!!! :D

 

So have I got this right? This time we aren't all doing the same theme, but rather selecting one each from each numbered list? If so, I'll probably use 1B and Perilious Lodgings



#4
MagicalMaster

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The idea is that you're supposed to pick at least one theme from 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B.  Combining themes gives a bonus.



#5
werelynx

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What about posting at least a link in builders forum?



#6
rogueknight333

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So have I got this right? This time we aren't all doing the same theme, but rather selecting one each from each numbered list? If so, I'll probably use 1B and Perilious Lodgings

 

Yes, that is the recommended procedure. You are permitted to use no more than a single theme, and encouraged to combine as many as you can get away with.

 

What about posting at least a link in builders forum?

 

I bumped and included a link in the original ABC thread, which hopefully should be sufficient. Anyone interested in the contest should feel free to spread the word in appropriate forums I may have overlooked.



#7
simuseb

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I'm going to announce my submission: The Steward of Castle Terror. 

Won't shed any light on what to expect from it just yet though ;) I suspect it will take 1-2 hours (though it will take longer if I have the time) to complete and will take a character from level 1-3 (maybe 4) 


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#8
VeeTpl

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Hello.

 

I'm interested in participating in the challenge. Just one question.

 

 

The only hak I'd like to use is to enable some custom music that I want to use. The hak obviously will be minimal since it will only be a .2da file but does the 10MB limit apply to the extra music I'd like to feature?


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#9
Zwerkules

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I need a little break from creating custom content, so I'll probably participate.

The module will be called 'Sweet dreams of sour gherkins' and the theme is 2B perilous lodgings and possibly also 1B.


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#10
rogueknight333

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...The only hak I'd like to use is to enable some custom music that I want to use. The hak obviously will be minimal since it will only be a .2da file but does the 10MB limit apply to the extra music I'd like to feature?

 

 

You can do this, check the last sentence under "Custom Content Restrictions" in the initial post. You can include the .2da file needed for the music to work as part of your single custom hak (which should put it well under the 10MB limit if that is all it contains), and recommend players download separate music files available somewhere else to get the full experience, so long as players who do not want to bother can still play through a music-free version of the module.

 

I need a little break from creating custom content, so I'll probably participate.

The module will be called 'Sweet dreams of sour gherkins' and the theme is 2B perilous lodgings and possibly also 1B.

 

Great, glad to have you on board. Anyone else want to announce a project?



#11
MagicalMaster

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Possibly.  Didn't expect we'd be trying to do this so fast and not sure I'll have the time next month.  Would have been much better for me if we had started in May rather than April.  Trying to figure stuff out.



#12
VeeTpl

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You can do this, check the last sentence under "Custom Content Restrictions" in the initial post. You can include the .2da file needed for the music to work as part of your single custom hak (which should put it well under the 10MB limit if that is all it contains), and recommend players download separate music files available somewhere else to get the full experience, so long as players who do not want to bother can still play through a music-free version of the module.

 

Excellent, then. Thanks for clearing that up.



#13
CaveGnome

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Here i go again... This is a 1B / 2B thingy based on my unfinished ABC April 2013 entry.

Name: Whack-a-hole
2B Seed: Summoned
Story: On a sunny day, you walk on the dusty road. Birds sing merrily as the wind blows in the trees. A river flows not far away and there is a lovely farm right next to a small bridge. This sight reminds you that your last meal took place long ago. Perhaps the farmer could sell you something to eat.
Custom content: Don't know exactly, could be secret.

Last Work Update:
All needed areas, convs, npc, creatures, VFX here. Monsters IA working (baddly, but will do). Grenade system half finished (key part). Half-fleshed secondary areas.


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#14
rogueknight333

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"Whack-a-hole" sounds interesting. I was hoping you would take another shot at it.



#15
Zwerkules

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Tussi1.jpg

 

The ghost of this lady (when she's finished) will be your companion in the module "Sweet Dreams of Sour Gherkins".

 

She's finished, I only have to compile the model now. Her name is Samara.


Modifié par Zwerkules, 05 avril 2014 - 09:58 .

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#16
rogueknight333

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The ghost of this lady (when she's finished) will be your companion in the module "Sweet Dreams of Sour Gherkins".

 

I am guessing that she is a sweet dream and not a sour gherkin.



#17
Zwerkules

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I am guessing that she is a sweet dream and not a sour gherkin.

 

It's all just a dream and there are some sour gherkins in it, too.



#18
henesua

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Sour gherkins are great. If you were someone else, Zwerk, I'd wonder how you know about them.



#19
CaveGnome

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Hello,

 

I am not sure if i need to make a step-by-step quest journal for the future "Whack-a-hole". The game follows only one simple linear quest thread that i think is pretty straighforward, and the important objects and creatures have already their own descriptions and conversations. Is this an important feature in your opinion (could be useful for beginners) or should i use the saved brainpower for better game ia, added vfx or more creative scripting ?  Thanks.



#20
Wensleydale

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Tussi1.jpg

 

The ghost of this lady (when she's finished) will be your companion in the module "Sweet Dreams of Sour Gherkins".

 

She's finished, I only have to compile the model now. Her name is Samara.

She doesn't crawl out of a well and suck your soul out through your face, does she?



#21
rogueknight333

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I am not sure if i need to make a step-by-step quest journal for the future "Whack-a-hole". The game follows only one simple linear quest thread that i think is pretty straighforward...Is this an important feature in your opinion (could be useful for beginners) or should i use the saved brainpower for better game ia, added vfx or more creative scripting ? 

 

In my experience the main situation in which journal entries are actually important rather than simply a nice little extra is in long epic modules in which considerable time can elapse between receiving a quest and getting to the later stages of it, in which case reminders of what one was doing just before saving the game last weekend (or whenever) can be quite handy. Presumably that is not the sort of thing we are dealing with here, so I would suggest doing anything else you think important, and then add in extras like journal entries if you still have time after that. A compromise approach might be to just make sure that NPCs are able to repeat their original quest-assignment spiel when asked, just in case a player needs to be reminded of something.


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#22
rogueknight333

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The 2nd month of the challenge has now begun. Anyone have progress reports to make? Anyone else want to jump in and make a short module (there is still a whole month to do so)?



#23
CaveGnome

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A little progress with Guacamole, err... Whack-a-hole ;-) April was rough. One of my computers exploded in flight (PSU started burning and sparking and thy power connector melted) and another one had a heavy BSOD (registry completely corrupted, i had to patch it with one from a third puter... The machine is now recovering :-) nothing was lost as i had multiple backups, motherboards and PSUs but well...

 

On the game side, i am working on a sort of letter puzzle that controls a big foe and i would like to make an artefact that makes gizmos you can throw at another Foe and i have made a system, where if you break some containers you gain some dried wood that can be handy for some other threats... Making progress, but i need a little more time.


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#24
rogueknight333

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...April was rough. One of my computers exploded in flight (PSU started burning and sparking and thy power connector melted)...

 

Sounds like the making of your adventure is turning out to be a bit of an adventure in its own right. Hopefully your luck with computers will be better this month.


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#25
Thalraxal

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I was disappointed that I missed last year's ABCs completely, and even though this one is more than half over, I'm in!  I'm not sure what I'm making yet, but it'll be something.


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