Lanterna Updated

I made an update to "Lanterna". First of all, I combined all of the files into one download to hopefully attract more players. Someone (I think EC) mentioned that too many files to download can be a turn off. I also finally figured out how to fix the annoying "PC dying and will not get up until leaving the area" bug. This also makes the ending more robust (just incase your PC dies near the end). I added a couple of other "fail safes" to the ending to make it more reliable. The download is 80+ MB, but is actually much less than it would have been if I left the .TRN files in the mods. Removing the .TRN (the game uses the .trx and the toolset uses the .trn) files reduces the file size almost in half.

If you haven't had a chance to try "Lanterna", now is your chance...back to Kuldahar for me...

Lanterna is Completed

The final chapter of Lanterna is now complete. I have uploaded the entire campaign to The Vault (Pending Approval). I went back and made a few minor changes to the previous chapters and added more companion conversations (you have to speak with them - select "talk to") at different stages of the story. It has been a 2 year project and hopefully you enjoy it as much as I have. The ending was a lot of fun to do. I have been continuously testing as I build and I made two run throughs with the completed version. Hopefully there are not too many bugs, we'll see...

Party Creation Feature Added to "Lanterna"

I just added the SoZ party creation feature so now you can create your own party or a combination of your own created companions and companions from the campaign. I suggest using the campaign companions for your first play through. That way you get all of the additional story elements and companion interations. Merry Christmas everyone! Back to work on Chapter 3, the final chapter of "Lanterna".

Lanterna Chapter 2 Released

I finished Chapter 2 and it is now available on The Vault. Chapter 2 adds another 4-6 hours to the campaign and will advance you to around 8th level with a full party (level 13-14 if soloing I believe - haven't completed a solo run). The story continues to unfold the fate of your father's caravan and the evil forces emerging in Lanterna. Enjoy...

Lantern on The Vault

Lanterna Chapter 2 Beta Ready

I finished chapter 2 of Lanterna. I made a quick test with the party I had from chapter 1 (Miki, Balen, and Ian). Everything seems to be working properly. I ended at level 8 and it should add another 4-6 hours for most players (depends on your play style). I'll probably continue to test and tweak for the next week and release on Saturday, December 20. Here is a screenie that I captured during a test run...

SoZ's new AI has made thing more interesting. One problem is that all enemies seem to come charging from eveywhere indoors once one enemy is killed (the shouting area seems to have expanded). Oh well, I guess it makes sense for the most part, but changes my original intentions for some of the encounters. Back to testing...

Lanterna Chapter 2 Status

I finished decorating the last area and all encounters are established. I made one run through with a party of a PC, Miki, Ian, and Balen. Everything seems well balanced and there are a few very tough battles. I'll be spending a few weeks working on transforming the story outline into actual conversations, interactions, and other ways of developing the story. Here are a few screenshots...

Lanterna Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1 has been on the Vault for about five weeks now. The first week saw many downloads, comments, and votes. Since then, the comments have been few and the downloads average 3-5 per day. I expect that to pick up once people get around to playing (there are a bunch of good mods recently released that everyone is playing through first). There are probably a number of players waiting for the entire campaign to be completed before playing.

Chapter 2 is about half way finished. All of the areas, area transitions, and world map are complete. I will be spending the next few weeks working on the conversations and details. It looks like chapter 2 will add another 4-5 hours to the campaign and probably 3-5 levels (depending on party size). I would like to add the option of creating a few of your own companions once SoZ is available. I'll probably wait until after I release chapter 2 to implement that feature (maybe when chapter 3 is ready). I want to give people a chance to buy SoZ before I convert the campaign to SoZ requirements. Hopefully, this weekend I will make my first test run of chapter 2.

Lanterna Chapter 1 goes BETA

The first chapter (1 of 3) of "Lanterna" will be on the vault shortly (pending approval). I decided to go back to my original idea of 3 longer chapters instead of 6 shorter chapters. So I have combined the smaller 1 and 2 chapters into one and am calling it "chapter 1" (confusing, I know). It should run about 3-6 hours depending on how much exploring you do and side quest you complete. A number of areas and encounters will be missed if you do not explore. The only hints (map pins) are for where the exits are located. I am working on a complete walkthrough with spoilers for those who would like to see what they may have missed. If you do get a chance to play, please leave feedback on how to improve the chapter and any bugs. I'll start on chapter 2 shortly; after finishing my holloween submission for BouncyRock.

Lanterna Chapter 2 Progress

I finished all of the exterior areas (minus encounters, final details, etc.). I added all the transitions to the world map and test all the areas out. There are two modules in the campaign so far and transitioning from area to area, even across modules, seems to be working wonderfully. I started on the interiors for Langdale as well. My workflow is the following:

1. build areas
2. add transitions and test them
3. add NPCs, stores, etc.
4. add basic conversations with quests parts, companion join parts, open stores, etc.
5. add encounters and solutions to quests
6. test the module (should be able to playable from start to end)
7. complete conversations
8. add details to areas, books, custom descriptions, etc.
9. test, test, test

Here are a few more screenshots:

Lanterna Chapter 2 Update

I decided to finish chapter 2 before releasing chapters 1 and 2. I have a world map working and two areas completed. I still have three exterior areas, two large interiors, and a number of small town interiors to create. Here are a couple of screenies:

Lanterna Update

Just a quick update... I have completed another 3 exterior areas and a number of interiors. I have one more exterior area to create and then I can start with the rest of the building process. Most the areas still need some detail work, but I wanted to have all the areas and transitions working before I began on the conversations, encounters, scripting, etc. I still don't have Boone or Fledge figured out (need to create a model for Fledge and Feats/Class for Boone). Here are a couple of pictures from East Brinsby...

Lanterna Update

It's been awhile since I worked on Lanterna. I finally graduated and hopefully will be able to continue with this project. I currently have a few areas mostly completed. Here are a couple of sceenshots...

The village of Brinsby where your adventure begins...

Brinsby Inn - a popular spot where many travellers look forward to stay when passing through your little village

Kinstan Caves

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...

"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

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

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