NWN Contest: The DRM Monster and the Treasure of GOG (posted OCT 27/2010. Contest ends Nov 24/2010)

[Legacy_Eat2surf]

               Ah... but did you try the poached salmon in white wine sauce??
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_CheeseshireCat]

               Maybe it would better be a kind of an "N-pack" -- because my mod, for example, strips you down to nothing on start, and then gets around by fake inventory and NWN mechanics... Like, it does depend on you gaining a level at a specific time, and being restricted in some ways (not to mention it messes with item creation and spell casting scripts).



But I am definitely open to see what can be done.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_CheeseshireCat]

               

Banshe wrote...
How much of a change is necessary? I did receive a query about giving someone more time for their module and I did say "no" as it would provide an extra benefit to the contestant and I like to keep things fair and simple. 

However, what you seem to be asking for is a fix to a very critical bug which, if not addressed, effectively eliminates you from the contest.

So, perhaps you can outline the problem in more detail. Is it a script that is broken?

Yeah, a script.

Well, in detail, the things which were fixed are:

1) As I mentioned, I had a problem with crashes, so I had to restore the mod from backups a few times, and one of the include scripts got lost in process (a fix making Color Spray actually trigget target's OnSpellCast event which it just doesn't by default for some reason);
2) A "x = y" instead of "x == y" in one if check (not quite used to programming in the languages having it different, not the same "x = y" format); (edit: this one wasn't critical, either, IIRC, it was just causing the pirate to supply you with blank scrolls ad infinitum, not just once);
3) Possibly (not sure whether I did it before or after) a messed up capitalization of a stored variable's name in one more script making some things go odd in some cases, depending on sequence things are done, but it wasn't interfering with the completion of the module, just making stuff less fun. If following the walkthrough, it shouldn't have mattered.

Edit: And yeah, as I stated right away, I dunno if it's ok, if not, the original submission should do, obviously. But what is broken there is the puzzle opening the vault itself, though there's another odd bug that still allows to open it -- if you have a spell on quickslot, ran out of those spells, then try to use it again (I don't recall whether using a click on the quickbar or an F# key), then just *USE* a spark, it seems to still cause it to trigger the sparks sometimes, though it's apparently quite random...
               
               

               

                     Modifié par CheeseshireCat, 28 novembre 2010 - 05:45 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Ok. Thanks CheeseshireCat. I'll give that info to the judges so they are aware of the bugs. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_CheeseshireCat]

               If you use the unfixed version, point 3 still could be overcome by, once you finish scribing the scrolls, enabling the debug mode and issuing both "##SetVarInt Counterfeit 1" and "##SetVarInt counterfeit 1" at the resulting scroll stack.

If the puzzle opening the vault itself doesn't work, teleporting past the doors still would show the treasure.

Also, I wanted to point out that the main thing in the module is readables. Read every R-Click/examine description, including on the DRM monster itself, pay attention to the map notes, and to what the character is saying when you do stuff (chat pane is better kept open to at least 6-8 lines long).
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Ok. And we have your walkthrough if we get stuck. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_CheeseshireCat]

               By the by, were there any submissions to the model part of the contest?

I tried to get one friend to do it, but she didn't have the required tools right away, and with the limited time (I kinda learned of the contest halfway through even myself, talked to her a couple days after) didn't wanna bother.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Yep. There was one submission. Very funny and cool looking. Hellfire made it and, by default, won the three free games.



I will submit it to the vault as the contest winner when I get the module contest under control.



You'll get a huge kick out of it. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Eat2surf]

               Yeah... it's looking like a group mod for this contest isn't really a good fit.



But, a future one designed to be a group deal in the beginning might be fun later. .. eh?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Fred]

               

CheeseshireCat wrote...
...she didn't have the required tools right away

Hey, I was seriously considering making a model out of existing ones using only re-skins from the Vault and Notepad! My main reason for not doing was more the fact I wouldn't have been able to test it.

Ah well, congrats to Hellfire, anyway, whose model is probably awesome.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_CheeseshireCat]

               

The Fred wrote...

CheeseshireCat wrote...
...she didn't have the required tools right away

Hey, I was seriously considering making a model out of existing ones using only re-skins from the Vault and Notepad! My main reason for not doing was more the fact I wouldn't have been able to test it.

Ah well, congrats to Hellfire, anyway, whose model is probably awesome.

She is a professional modeller, has a render farm in her basement, literally, but NWN needs a rather specific and pretty outdated software, so go figure '> *MAYBE* if that was made available for the contest, it would have worked.

Eat2surf wrote...

Yeah... it's looking like a group mod for this contest isn't really a good fit.

But, a future one designed to be a group deal in the beginning might be fun later. .. eh?

Do we need a contest to make one?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               Ok. Folks...

We have reviewed all the modules and agreed upon a list of four finalists:

Tyndrel
Dick Loraine
Tarot Redhand
Oliver Leroux

These are not in any particular order. Mostly because the three judges all had a different order of preference but interestingly all chose the same ones.

As for the one's that didn't make it, some were very close and some not as close. One particular submission which was quite enjoyable suffered from such a simple problem as a misplaced "starting point". It had been placed in the final area instead of the starting area and therefore, only the last third was playable. I won't name names so I'll leave it to the party responsible to figure it out. Our best guess was that the author was testing the final area and did not move the starting point back to it's original location.

In other cases, there were some design decisions which weren't such a great idea. And in many cases, there was simply more of a particular element in the chosen modules than in the modules that were not chosen (i.e. more story, stronger plot etc.). 

If any of you would like specific feedback on your module, PM me. I enjoyed all your mods and would be happy to discuss them with you. 

As for our standing right now, all of you should be very proud of yourselves. Ten submissions is a good number. To be honest, I would be more than comfortable putting any of these ten modules  up against the GOG stuff.
 
Thank you guys for taking part.


And in response to the putting these modules together, I'm not sure if that can be managed. There is great strength in the NWN1 community and it's levels of creativity. Of the ten modules, none of the DRM monsters or GOG treasures were the same.  
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               Unacustomed as I am to winning anything... Thank you. Couple of quick questions. Weren't there supposed to be 5 winners? I only count 4 in your list.



And what happens now?



TR
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Banshe]

               There will eventually be five winners. The above four are not actually winners (yet).They are finalists.



What happens now is that we will give the four finalist modules to the GOG folks and they will give us their four finalist modules. Then the GOG judges and the NWN1 judges will decide on four of the five winners. The remaining four modules will be put up on the vault and there will be a poll on the GOG.com website. The community (both NWN1 and GOG) will vote for their favorite module (of the four left). That module will get be the fifth winner.



Put another way, there are eight finalists (four GOG and four NWN1). The judges will choose four winners and the community will choose the fifth.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               Heck, being chosen, by my peers as the saying goes, as one of four finalists still feels like winning '>. Congrats to the other 3 by the way '> and commiserations '> to the other competitors.

Out of curiosity do you know how many people entered on the gog side?

TR
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Tarot Redhand, 01 décembre 2010 - 02:39 .