The Wall - Toolset Help Needed

[Legacy_Nimbolt]

               Hello!

I am in the middle of building a Westeros module in the vein of a Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones for campaign purposes and have come undone when it's come to replicating the Wall. Obviously this is an iconic fragment of the setting and I want to get it right.

In looking around I came across how another builder solved the issue and absolutely loved the effort, however to the best of my knowledge it requires a HAK which I'm looking to avoid. I've taken the liberty of screen shotting the Wall I'm looking to replicate;

http://img402.images...924/thewall.png

Now, my question to you is- Is there any way to recreate this version of The Wall without using a HAK and if so, how? If not, can the community on this forum think of any way outside using a HAK that could conjure something similar.

Thanks in advance.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bannor Bloodfist]

               Simplest answer is No, it's not possible.  You COULD create the necessary tiles and have the end user place them into their own override folder, but that is by far much worse than requiring a hak.

Folks are generally used to having to download updates, heck, you can't even purchase a brand new game, without having it patch itself on release day.  So the argument that folks won't bother with a hak just no longer holds water.

Forcing folks to use their override is much worse, as your override content may affect other folks modules, including other PW's etc.  Whereas a hak only affects the specific module it is assigned to, including PW's and most PW's out there already require hak downloads.  The other side is that even when you create your override(s) so they don't affect other mods, they just waste space, and likely will get deleted when folks clean up their system or reinstall NWN anyway.  Even Bioware avoided use of the override folder right up until their final patch, the 1.69 update would have required further delay in testing if they had been forced to move the few files they included in the override folder.  

What is sad, is that Bioware chose the word "hak" or I should say file extension anyway,  for something that is more akin to custom content.  Folks hear "hak" and immediately think "HACK" and take it in a negative tone.

Anyway, the easiest way is to just use a hak file which is nothing more than a container for custom content files.  Making them much easier to manage.  If you are worried about users not finding the necessary "hak" file, just incorporate it directly into the same .7z, rar, Zip file you put the module into when you upload it to the vault.  A simple readme.txt file included with that archive, can instruct folks on how to copy the hak file into the appropriate folder.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_SHOVA]

               you could use the VFX used in SOU, the multiple pink one..
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Nimbolt]

               Thank you very much gents!

Were I to implement a HAK I'd like it to be in a one shot file, the module I downloaded to show that example had five which made it somewhat excessive. Do you know a pre-existing HAK that would cater for what I'm looking to accomplish?

Again, thanks in advance. Very helpful!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bannor Bloodfist]

               Open your demo module in the toolset.

Right click on the area that has that wall and choose properties.  On the default page, the general tab, you can see what tileset was used.

That should allow you to figure out what hak was used by searching for the tileset in the various haks.

No one can tell you anything more without you digging some information out and providing more information on the specific module you are looking at.  Give us a link to the vault page where you found this module and maybe, if someone wishes to take the time to do the investigation, maybe they can tell you what tileset and hak was used.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_FunkySwerve]

               If you're using the CEP, you could just slap an iceskin effect on several devil's towers lined up in a row. Makes em semi-transparent, but looks ok. Or, you can iceskin border rocks and stack em.

Funky