Author Topic: NEW Module Builder needing advice!  (Read 554 times)

Legacy_Dash4031

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NEW Module Builder needing advice!
« on: December 08, 2013, 03:03:45 am »


               Hi, I'm a longstanding roleplayer in both NWN1 and NWN2, and have thus owned each game for long periods of time, and multiple times. However, I have never actually dealt in module-building on a large enough scale to actually build my own module.

I have a somewhat grandiose idea that should require minimum scripting (save for what can be downloaded from the vault such as a "permadeath" script.), and should still provide players with a unique and rewarding roleplay/rppvp experience.

The idea is simply this:

Setting: Oriental Wartimes (Non-Historic/Semi-Fantasy)

Plot: Three Factions (Samurai/Ninja/Ronin) are all vying for control of a border town/city that possesses a newly-unearthed and unexploited Goldmine.

Level Cap: 1-3

Magic: None-Low (Items may have magic properties, but only Out of Character in order to balance out some of the less useful weapons, like giving Daggers a +1 damage bonus in order to make them viable, but not overall better than the Shortsword.)

Overall concept:

Players will play either a Sanctioned Samurai (Fighter ONLY), a Ninja (Rogue ONLY), or a Ronin (Barbarian, Fighter or Rogue with multi-class available).

Once they select their faction they will be transported to another OOC area where they can access their faction shop to outfit and arm their character before venturing into the war-torn setting.

This is a Roleplay server with a level cap of 3 that enforces permadeath and is considered Low-Magic in terms of literal "arcane and divine magic".

Thus, each player will strive toward a different and unique goal that will vary from PC to PC to some smaller degrees.

Sanctioned Samurai ("Good"): In service to the current Daimyo, the Samurai are soldiers sent in to the war-torn town/city to "protect" its people and weed out the cowardly "ninja" who are targeting politicians and inciting rebellion amongst the hungry people.

Shadowclan Ninja ("Evil"): These stealthy assassins were sent in to infiltrate the town/city on behalf of their faction who opposes the Daimyo in open war. Rather than turn the city into a tattered battleground, the ninja were sent in to incite rebellion amongst the peasants, and to assassinate key targets or persuade others to join their cause. They directly oppose the Sanctioned Samurai.

Ronin ("Neutral"): These are masterless Samurai, warriors, or what-have-you with a much more varied background available to them. They are also the only faction that can freely multi-class, on top of possessing their own unique class (Barbarian) as well. They however, are not as well armed as the other two factions, and have no real cause to drive them. They also lack the comaradarie that the main two factions possess. Their goals vary, but may include fame, fortune or revenge.

I plan to keep the server relatively small so that opposing players will meet up more often than not. The Samurai are obviously meant to fight in open combat while the Ninja will have more means of escaping and the Ronin will once again vary greatly in their roles via combat.


Now then, what I really need help with are probably some of the most basic aspects involved in Module-building:

1) I want to compile hakpaks from the vault into a single file if possible. This will help keep things organized, and also provide players with a less-confusing list of necessary files.

2) I want to know what order is best to go in when building a module from the ground up. Do you gather your haks, etc and then build, or do you build base areas and then come back in with placeables later?

3) Furthermore, any and all advice will be taken into consideration.


Thank you, and sorry for the lengthy post.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Dash4031, 09 décembre 2013 - 10:15 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Tarot Redhand

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« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2013, 05:19:19 pm »


               Re. your request list.
1. My advice is if this is a single player module then don't put all the haks into one. Do you realise just how annoying it is to have the same custom content repeated in several different haks, wasting disk space? Rather if they are incompatible create a top hak instead that contains the combined 2da files.
2. I would normally start building and add cc as and when it is needed. Otherwise there is a temptation to use all the content that is in a hak even if the module doesn't really need it.
3. Never ever put your email address in a thread as there are bots that go around the internet just harvesting things that contain an @. The people who control these bots then sell all such email addresses to spammers.

While your idea is not to my personal taste, I can see nothing wrong with it in principal. Just learn what you can about factions.

TR
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Dash4031

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« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2013, 10:18:09 am »


               Thank you for the response and advice. This module is slated to be a multiplayer online server. In this way the faction wars are driven by the slew of players (ideally), as well as the DM Staff I'm rounding up. As for .2das, top haks and the like I know only the basics of each. I'll have to find some tutorials on how to go about compiling .2das into a single file or however it works.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tarot Redhand

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« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2013, 05:55:16 pm »


               Just realised the section of these boards that you posted in. You will get more response and help if you try asking in the toolset section I think.

TR
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Dash4031

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« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2013, 06:12:14 pm »


               Thanks, I will move or simply re-post this there once I get home from work.