First, I acquired my first Solid State Drive (SSD) for Christmas. I had to backup and migrate my old data to the SSD. Everything went well and the SSD runs great. It's a Samsung 840 EVO ~750GB. The data transfer speeds are insane compared to my old spin drive. The data below is my spin drive. The data above is my SSD. I'm not 100% sure what the numbers in this benchmark screenshot mean, but the graph indicates huge improvements! Judging by my speeds in the NWN Aurora toolset, this means less painful load times and faster modding.Since the last update, I've mostly been implementing additional resource files. I have all the portraits settled on and installed, including new characters I haven't mentioned yet. I'm writing some in-game books for lore purposes. I also added custom loading screens and increased the number of playable classes, so you can now play as a Fighter, Rogue, Barbarian, or Paladin, as opposed to only Paladin. Finally, I think I've settled on a soundtrack. Depending if NWN Vault accepts the mod with this soundtrack, I may have to release two versions of my mod -- one with the soundtrack and the other without. I know for a fact the Nexus won't accept this, as they're anal on copyrights. I tried uploading a Skyrim anime Berserk soundtrack mod to the Nexus, which didn't work out, lol. Anyways, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm keeping the soundtrack a secret until release.
As I expand my script, I am concerned about a promise I originally made in my FAQ I may backtrack from, especially since I'm a one man crew. I said, "I'm striving for a Japanese visual novel approach. Unlike most western games offering a huge decision near the end (ex. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), the Japanese visual novel approach provides major decisions near the middle of the story. Each route branch caters to a specific in-game character based on your past decisions." There's a problem with this I didn't account for: Japanese visual novels typically aren't detective stories. For a good detective story to work, it needs a strong conclusion. Ultimately, only one path will truly satisfy the player, as it is the only path where you discover the main culprit.
I think this is how the endings will work: One path is the true ending. This ending further branches into extended segments with whoever your romance option is. Your romance option is decided by choices you've made and scenes you're witnessed unique to your romance. Any other endings are "bad endings," generally involving rape, sexual slavery, etc. The problem with the true ending approach segmenting off into these romance endings is I must put it near the end of my mod and not the middle, because once the culprit is captured, all sense of suspense is lost, and I want to avoid degenerating the mod into a sappy love story. Romance is definitely a strong theme, but my hierarchy of importance is still mystery > sex > romance. I'll create a flow chart for those interested in seeing all the endings.
Hopefully, I can keep this blog more updated. I work a full-time job, so I'm trying to juggle this behemoth of a project while I can. Part of me wonders if I should have quit a long time ago, but I'm too deep into it now and I'm excited to know what you all will think of it upon its release.
No quitting!
ReplyDeleteStill looking forward to this, glad to see that things are working out for you.
The endings sound fine (bad ends are fun :P), here's hoping we get to that point eventually ^^;
Congratulations on your acquisition, I got my first SSDs a few months ago and find it incredible how much more responsive the whole OS becomes. Welcome to the World of Tomorrow :D
ReplyDeleteIt may be a good idea to package the sound files separately in any case, even if for no other reason than to give the option of downloading a smaller file to those with low bandwidth.
I don't think it would make sense for us to try and hold you to past promises, particularly if you feel changes are necessary to improve the game :) Having said that, I for one entirely agree that it makes much more sense to move most of the romance content before the big revelation, and not just for the reasons you mentioned. For one thing, you wouldn't want the story to be so focused on romance that characters become completely isolated from their environment, as if how a person (both PC and NPC) behaves in all other aspects of their lives, their decisions, goals and achievements, had no bearing whatsoever on their interaction; the way the player charts their path towards the goal should have a bearing on whom they romance and who is willing to romance them back, how, and why. For another, the fact that the player has to act on incomplete information adds a lot of tension to their relationship with potential partners, perhaps because they might be suspects, or they might become targets for the enemies the PC makes while they investigate. It's also hugely satisfying to walk into the final confrontation with allies at your side whith whom you've formed the strongest of bonds, for better or worse. What I'm trying to say is, I don't think sprinkling the romance into various scenes and decisions throughout the story gives it any less of an importance at all, if anything quite the contrary.
When you say "Any other endings are "bad endings,"" do you mean abrupt dead ends during the game or epilogues that don't involve one of the main romances? Would that suggest it's impossible to achieve a "good ending" without romance? Just to be clear, romance is a really big part of what I enjoy in a game like this so I'm not asking for ways to avoid it; I'm just wondering if by chance, accident, or occasional fancy I should decide not to pursue any romance this would automatically lead to a bad end.
Any and all updates are appreciated, progress updates doubly so ;) Thanks ReMeDy!
The "bad endings" won't be abrupt game over black screens. I don't want the player feeling they're getting cut off. I want those endings to last longer than your average bad ending, without feeling like they're dragging on. Your protagonist might be able to escape from some of these situations, turning a conceivably bad ending into something putting her back on track of the main story, so even if things look bleak, play on.
ReplyDeleteThe protagonist does not need to get romantically attached to the characters, but I highly recommend pursuing a romance to learn more about the characters and what their motivations are. Many characters will try forcing themselves onto the protagonist, so you'll need to put up some resistance if you intend to avoid all the romances. I'm going for a bit of a soap opera approach, where there will be a lot of romantic conflict. Your character is the only female inquisitor in the Church, so some guys will take advantage of that.
You hit the nail on the head about the incomplete information with romantic partners. The majority of the romances will involve characters you don't necessarily fully trust. I find it more exciting that way, and creates a "dark romance" that avoids the sappy Romeo and Juliet approach and takes the story in a direction both men and women could enjoy.
Hope that cleared up everything.
Looks good including the changes. Nice to see you are continuing on with your project. Bad endings can be good and you are allowing for some late rescue attempts on getting back on track for the pc - all good.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update and good luck.
Great to see you make some progress, everything sounds more and more exciting! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso congratulations on your SSD, those sure help a lot!
Hey ReMeDy, any chance for a tiny update? =)
ReplyDeleteI've been too busy with Bloodbourne and work, lol. I have some stuff created, but I'd rather release big updates than several small ones. It's funny how I always wondered why Lamb was so slow on her updates, yet here I am doing the same thing lol.
ReplyDeleteI still think about the mod on a daily basis, and I'll email myself notes from my work computer into my email inbox, so I can revise my script with them when I get home. Sometimes, I jot notes on scrap pages when I have a moment of inspiration. I think right now my script eclipses the word count on Lamb's Chapter 1 Demonheart mod, and yet I'm not even halfway close to being finished, so I may have to release episodic content. We'll see.
Ah, that's cool and understadebul =)
ReplyDeleteI hear that game is great, would try it as well, but don't have a ps lol =)
Any update on progress ?
ReplyDeleteI (and probably others) would be happy even with a partialy complete release for the time being.
Yes, I recognize I do owe everyone an update. I'll provide one on Monday, after Mother's Day.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I'm not even close to a partial release, as I have too many bits and pieces of the mod. I'm dabbling in multiple parts of the mod to assess what the technical hurdles will be. For example, if I can't do a scene due to limited programming knowledge, I may have to rewrite a part in the story's script. This rewrite could impact any number of parts in my mod.
ReplyDelete