Pre-Fab Questions

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               Looking around the vault it soon becomes clear that a lot of people have put in a lot of effort into building pre-fabs. I was just wondering, has anyone on here actually used any of them or if anyone knows of a module that actually uses one or more of them? If you haven't used any, have you considered using them at all.

The reason I ask is simply because I see in the cc forums that they are having a little competition to build something and it occurred to me that if such a little competition was to be held here a good quick one would be to build a module entirely from pre-fabbed areas with possibly one or 2 custom areas to glue it all together.

Well it was just a thought.

TR
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               Define used. I didn't used any of them, however many times I get ideas from them. For example that Crypt what appeared today at vault. That "hanging root" placeable idea is very great.



Also I found some 1k item pack, that gave me some ideas to make my own items.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               By used I meant included one or more pre-fab areas in a module. I hadn't (at the time of writing the original post) considered people getting inspiration from them. I must confess I haven't downloaded that new one yet, but now you piqued my interest I'll have to '>.

TR
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Tarot Redhand, 05 août 2010 - 02:18 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_TSMDude]

               We have used some. The problem is when someone puts scripts into them. If it is just an area then placeables are fine but creatures and such I would rather not have.



Normally I see something and like it then change it enough to suit my needs so it becomes something all together different though we still give credit in our module opening for the idea from whence it first sprang.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               Yes, I had that thought of throwing together a mod made from prefabs, as a challenge and to acknowledge the work of all the builders who shared them. Because I was under the impression noone ever makes use of them and I thought that's a shame. Then I read in some thread that a few people (and I believe people whose opinion I value) said that what they don't want to see in a mod are prefab areas and they made it sound like they were overused (and not creatively used) by lots of builders - an impression that's directly opposite to my initial assumption that prefabs weren't used at all...

I still suspect it's more common for PWs to use prefabs, I'm not aware that I ever saw them used in SP mods. However, what made me abandon my plans in the end was not the rant about unimaginative use of prefabs but the lack of standards both in available prefabs and in the Vault category "Prefab". If you browse the category you will find you can't sort prefabs by requirements although IMO it's the most essential information in prefabs. Some are built with CEP 1, some with CEP 2, some with additional haks, some have extra scripts in it etc. etc. It just got too time-consuming and frustrating to find a lot of good prefabs that were compatible with each other and the Vault search functions didn't help a bit...
               
               

               

                     Modifié par olivier leroux, 05 août 2010 - 04:31 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Tyndrel]

               I've only done the one prefab, it's been downloaded 944 times (I just checked) but I've only seen it used on two worlds, one of which was a complete surprise. There I was walking down the street thinking "this looks familiar" and then it suddenly hit me. If anyone else has used it in their I would love to come visit. Of other prefabs the only ones I've recognised in PWs are Red's Crypt and The Lost City of Eldar by Waleswizard. I suspect that non area prefabs are probably used more.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Sharona Curves]

               I have used sooo many prefabs or gotten ideas from prefabs that they are too numerous to count.

In fact, I used Gaoneng's Alternative Door Forms Hakpack so much (before its inclusion in the CEP) that I actually uploaded A River Village Prefab from a multiplayer module a group of us builders were putting together.  I was sooo inspired by the imaginative nature of those doors that I knew I had to promote to my other fellow builders.  So I thought, why not upload an area that uses those doors in a module setting.   
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Fester Pot]

               Do non-area prefabs count? I've downloaded and used items from the 1,600+ Module Items v1.1 package made by a Sharon Tipton to populate stores and such. Although some of the descriptions were changed, I did appreciate the time saved. You can find the package here.

FP!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Fester Pot, 05 août 2010 - 10:39 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               @Fester Pot Thanks for the heads up on that item prefab by Sharona Curves. I wasn't aware of it until now. Just downloaded it and will take a look tomorrow. Actually looking up at the thread I find it mildly ironic that the person who posted immediately before you is (if you scroll to the bottom of the comments on that vault page you'll see) the author of the package you are recommending.



TR
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               OK so it seems that some prefabs are used then. I suppose the next question has to be if you were looking for a pre-fab what would you want it to contain. For example if it is a rural area, would you expect it to be populated with people and monsters? What about a town or city - same question, populated?

In fact let's widen it a little. If you were to use a pre-fab, what would the ideal one contain and what would it leave out?

TR
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Tarot Redhand, 08 août 2010 - 02:00 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               If it's an area prefab the ideal IMO would be a beautifully and thoughtfully designed area with good use of placeables but no people or NPCs and no scripts in it. If I want pre-scripted NPCs or scripts for this and that I'd look for a base module or for script prefabs. Area prefabs are meant to be imported in a module that already has certain systems in place - if any area prefab comes with its own set of people, spawns and scripts it will get very messy. Besides, for me NPCs and monsters are the fun part, I'd want to create them myself because it's the people that fill the place with life and add character to the mod. I wouldn't want that prefabricated.

And ideally the author of an area prefab would try to keep it as flexible and compatible as possible. I like haks a lot but it gets complicated - especially for inexperienced or casual builders - if every prefab uses its own set of exotic haks.  Keep in mind that an area prefab is not a base or starter module but just an area, likely to be imported into another module with its own scripts and haks and maybe combined with other, different prefabs.

(Not saying you can't create a full city prefab complete with people and spawns and NPC behavior and lots of interesting scripts but personally I'd prefer empty areas if I'd specifically look for area prefabs.)
               
               

               

                     Modifié par olivier leroux, 08 août 2010 - 04:21 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               Or, if you want a general guideline, I'd say a prefab should follow these principles:

1. Flexibility / compatibility
2. Clarity
3. Good documentation

Make it crystal clear what is required to use the prefab (SoU, HotU, CEP1, CEP2 and version number, haks...) - don't hide this vital information somewhere in your description or readme files, make it stand out. And always include a list of the components your prefab includes, how they are named and where a builder can find them and what they do. Ensure that a builder can easily see what components are included, choose the components he/she thinks useful for his/her module and remove the rest without difficulties.

I hope that helps. '>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par olivier leroux, 08 août 2010 - 12:32 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_TSMDude]

               Dungeons, taverns, and temples....those are things I look for beyond all else.



A good preab area looks purdy and adds to a module.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Ondaderthad]

               

Tarot Redhand wrote...

OK so it seems that some prefabs are used then. I suppose the next question has to be if you were looking for a pre-fab what would you want it to contain. For example if it is a rural area, would you expect it to be populated with people and monsters? What about a town or city - same question, populated?

In fact let's widen it a little. If you were to use a pre-fab, what would the ideal one contain and what would it leave out?

TR

You could make two version of the prefab. One with and the other without NPCs/creatures.

An area prefab definitely shouldn't have any scripts that could interfer with the user's module. Some trigger specific scripts "could" be OK but should be avoided.  

Some good examples are the works of Chaos_theocrat as well as Red's prefabs. I also used Tyndrel's Leybury city in the past and found it very well done.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_KooKoo88]

               I would like area prefabs with just the area and placeables.  However, I think that the lighting and sounds should be paid attention to as well.
IMO, creatures should be left out as well as scripts and npcs of any sort.  I have been fiddling around in the toolset recently and have been looking for prefabs to use as well.  I just don't feel like making the areas anymore.

Another issue is the use of haks.  A lot of prefabs out there use CEP which I don't intend to use this time.  Some use other haks too.  Not all of them state whether or not they need haks too.

It would be amazing if there were a list of area prefabs with and without haks.  '>  I've tried looking, but it takes forever to go through them all and there aren't enough that have 10 votes to be on the top rated list. '>