TripleAught wrote...
My thoughts pretty much align with everyone that has said "Make the most of any haks you use".
But what I'm really interested to know if if your world decided to go with haks or not? And what pushed you to that final decision?
I myself judge haks as follows:
1) Will it enhance my existing areas or detract from them?
This is more a concern when updating older modules or using older areas for a new module. If half a PW uses Bioware Tilesets or even enhanced variants, then adding areas made with LoW's or sixthrice's tilesets will make the other areas pale too much. Transitioning from a Bioware(ish) Rural or Forest Exterior to one of theirs on the next map just breaks immersion for me as theirs shine so much brighter.
'> This is also why I use the CEP. It meshes fairly nicely with the Bioware stuff. Were I to make a new module from scratch though, I'd likely use only the CEP appearances for creatures and placeables and use all custom tilesets from those mentioned above and others like Maxam and Senemenelas (something I ponder weekly actually).
2) Is the Hak complete or still in Beta?
When I first started building, there were many haks in developement that seemed promising. People get busy, drift away, find other things they like doing better and a good many hak projects never get completed. So completed haks are more attractive to me. I use Maxam's Versatile Dungeon and classic Dungeon tilesets and love them both even though his Versatile one is unfinished. Despite what is yet to be added or finished though, I played around with the existing features and decided that whether it ever was done or not, I'd be using it alot.
'> I did pass on some of sixthrices stuff though because it left me wanting still. That's not the case now, but was when I started my current PW. (I'm constantly tempted to just rip out half my areas and use six's stuff anyhow now that they are complete or nearer to complete nowadays)
3) Will I use the hak for more than just an area or three and can I come close to my vision with what I have already?
Many times I've been tempted to add a hak based on what it would do to fill a small need. If it's a large hak, but I only forsee using it for an area or two, then those either have to be "make or break" areas where I just gotta have it to pull off the desired effect or I'll do without. I've passed on several haks just because I knew I'd never really use them to their full potential. As a builder, I'm frugal and want the biggest bang for my buck everytime. As a player, it's disheartening to download haks that are Gigabytes in size and find out that the PW uses it in only a few areas. Sometimes as I test a potential new hak, I suddenly envision how I might come close using something I already have in my module.
4) Aside from the visual appeal, are there any or many pathfinding isues?
Early on, I'd added in the JPX Mountains to my module. They created some really nice areas to look at. Pathfinding however was horrible. Eventually, I ended up removing them and replacing them with either areas made with CEP 2.3 options or the large City/Rural Combo hak I use.
5) Are the haks easy to download and install? Do they work for all platforms?
You'd think that might sound silly, but some haks require abit of work to use. If players have to leap through too many hoops to get them to work, many won't bother. CEP seems to confuse many players as does the CTP at times. Some haks extract to a folder and need yanked from there and dragged to your hak folder. Most of us here can handle that, but there's alot of players that panic when more than point and click is required. I admit that CEP has caused me issues in the past as some MAC users couldn't get all the newer content. Luckilly, I was able to download what they needed over MSN to the handful of players I had that were suffering. A few haks I've passed on because they needed renamed inorder to work for Linux users. Reposting someone elses work with just the haks renamed isn't something I'm ever likely to do.
6) Does the hak "play well with others"?
If I need to add my own custom hak to merge 2da files or TLKs then I might pass or at least put off adding the hak. I have one hak currently that I plan on adding, but since it needs some merges made, I'm holding off a few months as I'll be adding a custom TLK and a custom hak (Spells and JFK's "Makeshift Weapons" ... ya gotta love duel wielding frypans) to my module anyways. This way, I only have to listen to players whine once this spring.
'> (They will and always do too ... even if you give them a months notice they'll wait until you've made the change and whine that you ruined their playtime
'>)
Anyhow, that's how I decide on what if any haks to use. As for the real "push"? That's easy. It came when I first added my underdark haks and saw that I coul dmake a "real" underdark finally. After that, the rest was an easy sale.
Modifié par kalbaern, 17 février 2011 - 08:57 .
