18 replies to this topic

[WrayeOfSunshine]

Hey, everyone:

 

So I've spent the past couple of months working towards the first chapter of a 'dying earth'-style campaign. Essentially, the PC is an escaped slave, making their way south along with vast caravans, all of them fleeing the increasingly frozen and inhospitable northern lands.

 

I'm not too far in, so I'm not going to post about it too much for fear of over-promising followed by rapid burn-out, but I was feeling pretty happy about the look-and-feel of the first couple of big areas so far, so I thought I'd share!

 

 

 

 

[kamal_]

You've got some nice atmospherics there.

[Tchos]

Yes, it's looking good in a bleak, Misery Stone-like way.  I loved Misery Stone, so that's a good thing.

[Sabranic]

Makes me think of the area surrounding Maleck's citadel from Legacy of Kain for the PS 1. I loved the environments of that game.  You really did some great lighting work there.

 

D*mn I'm an old man. 

[WrayeOfSunshine]

Still pottering on with this very happily. 

 

I'm trying to keep everything really tight in terms of major area creation (one 'dungeon' starting area - > one exploratory area - > one hub - > two wilderness routes - > one hub) and then fill in the content around that.

 

One thing I am struggling with is companion barks. I'm just using triggers and the 'speak string' command from Lilac Soul's script wizard, but half the time they do work, and half the time you need to select the companion before they'll pop up. I'm thinking I might have to quietly crib a working script from a module that's actually got that figured out...

 

 

[andysks]

First of all, the areas look very good. My type of thing. Dark and spooky. Well done.

 

As for the barks, you might want to look at the gtr_bark_node script (or something like that). It is stock, works amazing and you only need to write the conversations and place variables on a trigger instead of making separate scripts for each barks. You can even specify priority on companion. From what I remember it works like this:

 

You make two bark conversations for two companions, and they should both say something when you reach these burning bodies. You put the condition script gc_node on each of these two lines, and give it a value for each companion. Then on the trigger (I think there is a stock trigger) put the node value and companion tags per priority and they will bark as you cross it.

 

There has been some time since I did all the barks for my work, so I might not be explaining it well. But the gtr_bark_node makes it very clear in the comments.

[andysks]

Hi again. I checked and there is no stock trigger. You'll need to make your own blueprint and add the variables. It's fairly easy but if you need help tell me and I will explain how I did it myself. I just need to read the script again .

[WrayeOfSunshine]

Oh, awesome - thank you, Andy!

 

I'll take a look at the trigger and see if I can figure out the blueprint for myself.

[Tchos]

You can check the SoZ areas for examples on how to use it.  They use companion barks in every dungeon.

[Sabranic]

My pals and I are excited to play this.  We really enjoy getting together and running the custom modules people make.

[ColorsFade]

My pals and I are excited to play this.  We really enjoy getting together and running the custom modules people make.

 

You guys do multiplayer on these then?

 

That's something that's been on my to-do list... figure out what I need to do to make my campaign multiplayer-friendly.

[Sabranic]

I bought 2 copies of nwn2 from GoG and have been using them to test and make sure it's multiplayer friendly.

[Arkalezth]

figure out what I need to do to make my campaign multiplayer-friendly.

 

I've played a few modules on MP that, AFAIK, weren't designed with it in mind. I don't remember running into any problems.

 

I feel that SoZ-style modules where you play a full party are naturally more MP-friendly than those where you play a single protagonist. Hack n slash modules are probably better suited for MP than others types as well, but that's arguable.

 

PS: Nice screenshots, and the plot sounds interesting and less zombie-infested than most apocalypses these days.

[Tchos]

Most apocalypses these days don't reveal anything; just destroy things.

[WrayeOfSunshine]

I've played a few modules on MP that, AFAIK, weren't designed with it in mind. I don't remember running into any problems.

 

I feel that SoZ-style modules where you play a full party are naturally more MP-friendly than those where you play a single protagonist. Hack n slash modules are probably better suited for MP than others types as well, but that's arguable.

 

PS: Nice screenshots, and the plot sounds interesting and less zombie-infested than most apocalypses these days.

 

Thanks!

 

No, I'm aiming for more of a climate-change pre-to-mid-apocalypse than a violent post-apocalypse: the sun's been burning out for a very long time, but the 'civilised' parts of the world are advanced enough technologically that they've only recently had to deal with the consequences of the problem. Now the rulers of the world have actually come out and said, 'It looks like we might struggle to sustain ourselves within a lifetime.'

 

And so in the midst of a lot of panic, the big merchant houses are packing up and heading south towards the equator, trying to buy themselves some time. So there's all kinds of practical conflict - effectively, it's a refugee crisis with a massive scarcity of resources - but bigger questions are also arising about the futility of it all vs. the possibility of hope.

 

I'm thinking quite a lot about Dark Sun, in terms of taking the standard D&D world and giving it just a quarter-twist due to completely different circumstances. So this is a world where paladins have become isolated ronin-like figures, remaining behind to protect the roads for the final stragglers, and clerics are setting off on desperate odysseys to track down their gods, and mages are gathering together for secret conclaves to pitch wild ideas about sending a colossal fireball into the heart of the sun...

[rjshae]

Perhaps then cold-adapted creatures such as boreal dwarves or ice trolls come to dominate the abandoned lands?

[ColorsFade]

and mages are gathering together for secret conclaves to pitch wild ideas about sending a colossal fireball into the heart of the sun...

 

Just don't make the story take a giant left-turn out of nowhere in the 3rd act and become a horror game with some random, skin-burned madman running around killing everyone. 

 

Yes, I'm still bitter at you Danny Boyle. Darn you for ruining a great film. Bastard. 

[WrayeOfSunshine]

Perhaps then cold-adapted creatures such as boreal dwarves or ice trolls come to dominate the abandoned lands?

 

Yes, definitely! Although I wasn't aiming to focus on them as a prominent, organised threat, a la Game of Thrones' Others - I really want the wilderness to have a sense of desolation and melancholy above all.

 

Since this is meant to be a more 'advanced' D&D world, I've been playing up the idea so far that golems have become a very common part of everyday life - so the player is more likely to stumble onto an abandoned village, where a construct is still battering away at its anvil, or a scarecrow golem is still barking out its rage at crows which have long since fled.

[WrayeOfSunshine]

The bark trigger works like a dream. Incredibly useful for fleshing out companions (and drawing attention to points of interest).

 

I've had a few days of holiday that needed using up, so I've been putting a bit more time in. Still trying to be quite restrained with this first pass; building area by area, filling out the essential quests, leaving the details for a second go.