Advice from those out there on building.

[Legacy_Tetzor]

               Well then,

I thank you for taking the time to read this. I have always enjoyed NWN, and the great people that come and go with it. Hands down it's the only game that let you create what you have in your head.

I find myself with more time on my hands that I know what to do with, as I found out that they just closed my area of employmnet and now the search begins for new employment '>  *trying to keep upbeat,lol*

But to keep from going stir crazy I always wanted to do a small world in nwn , but never had the time do to long hours and on calls. So I am wondering if you were to start something from scratch, would you

a. Use the Cep and build with that and try and work around it.

B Project Q, jump on board with this and try and work with what they have

C Just start from scratch and piece everything together and not have to worry about a third party per say.


Any thoughts or pearls of wisdom would be appreciated!!

Thank you

'>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tyndrel]

               Hi Tetzor,  I'll offer you my humble opinions on such things but in the end you must choose what is right for your project and your abilities. Building a world is a huge undertaking if it is going to be any good. If it isn't going to be any good then it will be empty, many worlds are these days.

To address you hak questions,

a. CEP is huge and contains content from the very first days of NwN right up to date.  I've used it in everything I've built so far, simply because most folks have it and it has the best chance of containing anything that I need. Your world has a chance of picking up "passing trade" on gamespy from folks who want to jump straight into a game without downloading extra content.

b. Project Q is much newer, much smaller, and has the advantage of not trying to remain backwards compatable with versions from the early days of the game.  It has had the freedom to "cherry pick" content much of which is later work or things created specifically for it. Sadly it is not compatable with CEP so you cannot take the easy option and use both.

c. In an ideal world this would be the perfect option but it requires large amounts of time be put into collecting and collating the content you wish to use and the technical skills required to do so.

In the final analysis this is an old game and you may well just be building for your own satisfaction so pick what makes you happy. I'm splitting my own current project so that the first part (around 400 areas) is CEP only but will link to a second server that uses some other haks, particularly tilesets.

A day spent planning before you start can save months of frustration later on. Set out the less exciting things like naming conventions, scripted systems, factions etc. at an early stage, you will thank yourself for it later.  Good luck.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               I am partial to Project Q due to its smaller size and high quality. Given that you are starting now, on a fresh mod, I'd simply use Q. Its much less to deal with than CEP and yet has plenty of material to inspire you.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par henesua, 13 février 2012 - 04:27 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               To your answer I would go the "C" route. However this route is not for a beginners, you must know whats available, where its available and how to reuse it, merge 2DAs etc.

BTW when you are talking about CEP, there is one possibility, you can still use former CEP1. This cep has the advantage that is not overfilled with stuff yet but still there is enough to build anything you need. Disadvantage is that not many players still have it these days so many players wont be able to "hop" on your server without downloading/looking for download first.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par ShaDoOoW, 13 février 2012 - 04:36 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               If you go with Project Q...wait a few weeks - we've got an update coming soon that will fill many of the "holes" people think Q has...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lord Sullivan]

               

Tyndrel wrote...

...

b. Project Q is much newer, much smaller, and has the advantage of not trying to remain backwards compatable with versions from the early days of the game.  It has had the freedom to "cherry pick" content much of which is later work or things created specifically for it. Sadly it is not compatable with CEP so you cannot take the easy option and use both.

...

Actually, it is CEP that is not compatible with ProjectQ.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Badwater]

               Any kind of decent building takes a lot of time. There's no way around it. Any of us that do it spend enormous amounts of time to create and build a world and we're all probably certifiably nuts for it.

I think you have two ways to approach this. 1) You have a clear idea of what it is you want to create and you find whatever way to fit the vision you have, or 2) You need to become more familiar with the mechanics and logistics of building in order to have any clue of what you want to do.

I suggest you build 3 test modules - one with no custom content, one with CEP, and one with Project Q. They do not have to be very large, just something to play with.

First, go through terrain options and tile features and groups in these modules, just to see what they have.

Next, play around with what they have for placeables and creatures.

After doing this you'll have an idea of what looks you like and what custom content you want to be using.

This will take some time, but the time saved when you actually start constructing your world, and having a better idea of what's available to bring it alive, will be many times greater.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Knight_Shield]

               I will add something ..like ShaDoOow  said CEP, but I think CEP2.1 isnt bloated like the others and people who have CEP2.1-CEP2.4 can still login.

Also make backup..backup backup...backup...............backup .....backup  of your mod.
Put it on usb ,other computer etc. Having multiple backup is the way to go.Not that the toolset will eat it but sometimes you can erase it when you dont mean to.Couple wrong clicks and 1000 of hours of work is gone.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_SuperFly_2000]

               I'd use Project Q even though it does have its own oddities like another system for shield appearence and stuff and it does not provide the amount of stuff as the CEP. On the other hand its a lot more streamlined I think and with new updates coming up I guess will be more beefy also :-)

I also started from scratch with Project Q and then some custom tilesets. Takes forever though.

If you enjoy it while doing it I guess there is no harm though.

About the players same there...if you enjoy a few players I guess its all good :-P

Been thinking to help other servers by simply playing there instead though...there are still many good out there that need more player attention....
               
               

               

                     Modifié par SuperFly_2000, 22 mars 2012 - 04:21 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Vivienne L]

               There are no easy answers to your question but I'll share my experience:
I started out building my module with only the standard resources as I only had dialup internet at the time and wanted to keep things as simple and light as possible (hak-wise) but first I had to add the CTP Babylon hak as I wanted a desert city! then I added the CEP as I wanted specific looking NPC's and specific placeables etc.. and there was no avoiding the CEP after all, LOL, and with must have loadscreens and custom portraits and now I've only recently discovered Project Q... So there are so many choices.... But the advice above is spot on!

Badwater wrote...

Any kind of decent building takes a lot of time. There's no way around it. Any of us that do it spend enormous amounts of time to create and build a world and we're all probably certifiably nuts for it.

I think you have two ways to approach this. 1) You have a clear idea of what it is you want to create and you find whatever way to fit the vision you have, or 2) You need to become more familiar with the mechanics and logistics of building in order to have any clue of what you want to do.

I suggest you build 3 test modules - one with no custom content, one with CEP, and one with Project Q. They do not have to be very large, just something to play with.

First, go through terrain options and tile features and groups in these modules, just to see what they have.

Next, play around with what they have for placeables and creatures.

After doing this you'll have an idea of what looks you like and what custom content you want to be using.

This will take some time, but the time saved when you actually start constructing your world, and having a better idea of what's available to bring it alive, will be many times greater.

When we play around with the toolset, we discover what is essential for our module and what we can do without, I have installed and uninstalled many haks after playing around in the toolset....
Good Luck with your building and above all, have fun!