Exile Update ver3.1

I just uploaded an update of "The Exile" to the vault. Some people were having problems with the final battle. If their PC died during the battle and their companion survived, the next cutscene would not trigger. I went into the scripts and added a few delays, so that your PC has a chance to revive before triggering the cutscene. Everything seems to be working fine now. Also, I added an option to export your character at the end (many requested this). I also toned done the alignment shift for stealing Tindra's stuff, which I accidently missed in the last update. Hopefully this is the last update and I can focus on "Lanterna" (well, once school is out, haha)
-Jer

School Projects

Only three more weeks of school. I'm busy working on a power flow project, senior design project proposal, stability project, homework, etc. I only have two classes next semester (one being my senior project) so I'm basically done. Back to working full time in a month.

After finals, I will make some minor fixes to "The Exile" and then moving on to the first chapter of "Lanterna" (which I have already started).

Back to school work...

Obsidian Module Contest

Obsidian just announced the module contest and the theme. It looks like they want a thirty minute to two hour gameplay module. I estimate that a good entry should take atleast 80+ hours to create. I am way too busy with school to even consider working on one. It'll be interesting to see what is submitted. If anything, those who attempt to build a NWN2 module, will gain a better appreciation of the amount of work that goes into building a module. I look forward to playing some of the new creations when I have some time (maybe in May).

New Logo by Cowface

I just received my new logo design for the campaign. The talented Cowface put this together for me. It looks great! How exciting, but back to school work for me...

busy with school

I haven't opened the toolset for a couple of weeks now (since the end of spring break). School has been very busy and I have four more weeks until finals. This is my last full semester. Next semester I have two classes and then I graduate, yeah. I will be going back to work in May.

It has been almost three weeks since I made some major improvements to "The Exile". Since then, I have received 350+ downloads and 3 comments. It appears that people are downloading, but I'm not sure if they are finding time to play through it. I hope people will give it a try; I feel that the new ending has been a major improvement to the overall experience.

I guess I better get back to my school work. I'll try and upload a few pictures of my progress with "Lanterna" (maybe tomorrow).

Jer

"Lanterna" map and Companions

This is a rough drawing (not to be used in actual module) to help me plan out the module's areas. I'm currently working on the Brinsby area (your home village).

Below are a few possible companions that you can travel with. For the first chapter, you will have a party limit of three; so choose wisely ;)

Companions:

Boone (Bear male barbarian) - Lived most of his life with the belief that he is one of the few talking beasts still living. He has longed to return to the Charnia region, to see if the rumors of talking beast in hiding are true. He has been a good friend to you and Fledge.


Fledge (Badger male rogue) - A valiant, brave, little creature who thinks he is a great fighter, but is really a better rogue. Highly intelligent, devote follower of Elos (talking beast never change), believed to be one of the few surviving talking beasts. Good at not being seen, opening locks, traps, etc. Very skilled with a small bow made for him by the Wood Elves. He lives in a humble burrow by your home (Brinsby). He has been your good friend for many years.

Balen (Mountain Dwarf male fighter) - Until recently, he had given up hope of finding any survivors of his lost clan. He fought against Zorn with the Charnians during the Great War. He was in Charnia at the time when it was raided. He was forced to retreat with the Charnians to this new land.


Drinn (Halfling male cleric) - Basically your Mr. Know-it-all. Well versed in the Deep Magic of Elos. Always willing to interrupt other's conversations with solutions to their problems. He is an old friend of your father and wants to go with you to look for your brother. He feels a need to look out for you, ever since your father disappeared.


Miki (Wood Elf of the East female sorceress) – She was also in Charnia at the time of the great retreat. She came over to this land and has been staying in Aberfax (and Lorenwaite at times). She recently learned that your brother went to look for your father’s lost caravan. She traveled to Brinsby to hear of any news. She has wanted to return to her people (The Wood Elves of the East) to see if any have survived, but it has been too dangerous to travel alone. She is eager to hear from your brother’s group.

Chronicles of Charnia - "Lanterna"

Here is a brief (preliminary) introduction to the upcoming campaign...
Background-
approximately 60 years have passed since The Great Battle of Charnia (see "The Exile"). After that battle, the creatures and followers of Zorn continued to grow in numbers and eventually run the Charnians from their homes. The Charnians escaped into the forest and eventually crossed through a great mountain range via the mountain dwarves passage. On the other side of the mountain they began to build a small town with a few outlining villages. The followers of Zorn eventually stopped hunting the Charnians and returned to their lands. They began to lose focus (since there was no one to torment) and eventually separated into different clans and tribes based on race (goblins, orcs, ogres, dark dwarves, kingman, etc.) About 10 years ago your (the PC) father led a large group of Charnians in an attempt to return to Charnia. Since the attacks had pretty much ended, they felt that maybe Zorn's evil creatures had all destroyed each other and returning to Charnia would be safe. The caravan never returned. You and your brother were young at the time. Your mother has never recovered from the loss of her husband. A month ago your brother led a small group to try and find out what happened to the first caravan. They were only supposed to be gone for a week, but haven't returned. The past few months, there has been a dramatic increase in attacks on the outlining villages by goblins. Your mother has been very ill and bedridden due to all the stress of losing her husband and now her eldest son. You have decided to form a very small (thus undetectable by the goblins) party to search for your brother.

I have a basic outline of the main events of this campaign. There will be three chapters. Each chapter will advance you a couple of levels (maybe you'll reach lvl 6 or 7 by the end - like BG1). I want the areas to have a BG1 type feel (nonlinear, some areas with only side quests, etc.). I want the combat to be challenging and require tactics like IWD1. Most importantly, I want the companions to be interesting and fun to have around (since they are the ones you will be interacting with the most). I want people to feel sad that the story has to end - I know, that's wishful thinking ;)

Jer

"The Exile" goes through some major changes

Well, I posted a major update for "The Exile" to the vault. Many (including myself) were not thrilled with the previous version's ending. I spent a few weeks studying the OC and how it scripted large battles. After about 20+ hours of scripting and creating cutscenes, we have a much improved ending. I think most everyone will be happy with the way it turned out. I 'm am very pleased with it. It wasn't easy and took a ton of testing. I hope you enjoy it.

Jer

P.S. If you have played a previous version, try playing as a different alignment. This will give you a different companion (Sildor for neutral and Randel for good). They have some background stories, so feel free to right click on them and select "talk to".

The Exile

Due to popular demand, I'm planning on fixing the ending (for "The Exile") over spring break (1 week). I was never extremely happy with the ending, but the way it is, was very difficult for me to script. I'll research the OC and how it handled the multiple wave battles. I liked Berliad's suggestion; having multiple waves with a couple of leaders leading each wave. The scripting should be tricky, but I'll do my best to figure it out. Hopefully, this will make a huge difference for those who like to kill everything. Expect to see this update in two weeks...

Jer

p.s. the main purpose of "The Exile" module is to introduce The Exile (the antagonist). He plays an important part in the upcoming campaign (which I was going to start writting over spring break, but it'll have to wait).

Chronicles of Charnia - possible companions

I started working on some potential companions and their background stories. I will probably allow two companions to start with and maybe one more later on. Even if you do not pick up a companion, they may still appear later on in the story doing their own thing. Here are a few that will be encountered very early on in the first chapter (no names just yet):

1. Bear (male barbarian) - Lived most of his life with the belief that he is one of the few talking beasts still living. He has longed to return to the Charnia region, to see if the rumors of talking beast in hiding are true.
2. Badger (male rogue) - A valiant, brave, little creature who thinks he is a great fighter, but is really a better rogue. Highly intelligent, devote follower of Elos (talking beast never change), believed to be one of the few surviving talking beasts. Good at not being seen, opening locks, traps, etc. Very skilled with a small bow made for him by the Wood Elves.
3. Dwarf (male fighter) - Until recently, he had given up hope of finding any survivors of his lost clan. He was captured and escaped during the Great Wars.
4. Halfling (male cleric) - basically your Mr. Know-it-all. Well versed in the Deep Magic of Elos. Always willing to interrupt others conversations with solutions to their problems.
5. Elf (female sorcerer) - not sure about her background just yet.

Any suggestions or comments are welcome...

Jer

Tests

Tests and projects for the next couple of weeks. Spring break is three weeks away. Hopefully, I will be able to start working on the storyline for the next campaign. I have a basic outline of main events. I want to have strong stories for the companions. I'll start releasing information, in a few weeks, about the possible companions (background, personality) for the first chapter.

School

School is keeping me very busy right now. Lots of home work and a couple of test. Only 3 weeks til spring break, yeah ;) Congrats on Prophecy of Aracas-Chapter 1 making the Top Rated list and recently updated, as well. Also, PoRR has been updated. I won't be able to play any modules for a couple of weeks (tests for the next two weeks).

Chronicles of Charnia

I've been working on the storyline for my upcoming campaign in the Charnia setting. It takes place around 50 years after "The Exile". I would like to have a few characters from "The Exile" make an appearance in the campaign (maybe Sildor, Gildor, Veloria, Belin, and/or Fifur). I would like to have 3 or 4 chapters (each about 5 hours of play time). Here are some of the design ideas:

• It will be designed for good and neutral characters.
• I plan on having multiple paths to the end, plus companion specific quests.
• I would like to include a few options for talking beasts as companions (bear, badger, etc.). I loved Reepicheep (the mouse) and Trufflehunter (the badger) from Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia). Also, I will have a few dwarves, humans, halflings, and elves for optional companions.
• You can keep the same companions for the whole campaign. I hated swaping out companions in the OC. Just when you were building some interaction between them, you have to split them up, Ugh.
• A number of optional side quests that are interesting and add to the main story.
• More scripting and animations to create more immersion, I want this to feel very cinematic.
• I probably will ask for help. Anyone interested in helping on this project? I will need scripters, writters (story and dialogue), custom content modelers, etc.

That's all for now. Thanks for your support.

Jer

My Rating System

I created a system for rating NWN2 modules which I have played. It involves the five areas that mean the most to me. It also adds a weight factor to each area, since some aspects are more important than others for me. Here are the areas:

1. Story (plot holds my attention, NPC/companion interaction, etc.)
2. Replayablility (enjoyed it and would play again)
3. Strategic Combat (challenging, makes me think)
4. Atmosphere (area design, music/sounds, scripting, etc.)
5. Polish (bugs, grammer, spelling, etc.)

I am scoring each area with a 1-5 vote:

1. didn't like it
2. weak
3. OK
4. Good
5. Excellent

The vote for each area is multiplied by the following weight factors: 6x (story), 4x (replayable), 4x (combat), 4x (atmosphere), and 2x (polish).

Here are my current scores (and their vault equivalent):

1. Tragedy in Tragidor (76/100) (9 on vault)
2. Prophecy of Aracas (56/100) (7.5 on vault)
3. PoRR (50/100) (7.5 on vault)
4. From Within (40/100) (7 on vault)
5. Willowbow (46/100) (7 on vault)
6. Avendale (26/100) (5 on vault)

For comparison, I have the NWN2 OC at (66/100), Baldur's Gate (92/100), and Icewind Dale (94/100).

Plans

I need to figure out how to use this blog thing and how best to organize all my stuff. I would like to have information about the Charnia setting, history, updates on the upcoming campaign, and possibly organizing a team to help me (scripters, conversations, custom content, QA, etc.). I'm not sure if I should use this blog or create a web site with forums. My spare time is limited, so I may just stick with this basic blog for awhile.

First Post

Well, I decided I need a place to record my progress on different NWN2 projects. I will also leave various comments on different modules I have played.

Anyway, I need to get back to working on my homework assignment. I'm currently taking 4 classes at ASU:
EEE471 Power System Analysis and Design
EEE425 Digital Systems/Circuits
EEE488 Senior Design
EEE498 Solar Energy (Photovoltaics)

Lots of fun stuff...