Here's some greater detail from my last post when I mentioned 80% of the mod's objects are interactive. Clicking on almost anything results in pop-up text above your character, giving insight into your character's thoughts. This includes even mundane objects, that may or may not be related to investigations. (Note: If items are in your inventory, you must right-click them and select "examine.") I could have adopted the lazy route of forcing players to right-click, and then click again to "examine" for all objects even outside the player's inventory, but that's an inconvenience. Instead, by simply single-clicking objects, it makes an otherwise tedious process more stream-lined. All of this interactivity was inspired from Phoenix Wright, where I fondly remember the series having a running gag over the discussion of mundane ladders.You'll know an object's interactive by hovering your mouse over it and seeing a blue silhouette. To make things easier, I recommend mapping a key to the "Tool Tip" command in the "Misc" section in-game. When you hold that key down, all interactive objects become highlighted. I don't remember what the default key is, but whatever it was, I hated it, so I recommend mapping it close to W,A,S,D.
All of these single-clicked objects come with a technical price: Each object requires a unique script. This likely increases area load times, but I have a fairly strong PC with my new SSD, so the load times seem fine to me; therefore, I'm not the ideal candidate to test this mod's specification requirements. I think what I'll do is release a "prelude" chapter, serving as a technical demo. This prelude would span the introduction, and finish the first investigation. It would take maybe 1-2 hours for a player to finish, but it would provide me valuable info, including whether the load times are acceptable, if the mod's dependencies on other mods are working, general feedback, and whether the mod simply works. It would also give everyone an idea whether this mod is right for them or not, because again I have to caution there are adult and evil/dark themes.
Even though it's a prelude, I do plan to have decisions, meaning I'll have to worry about carrying the decisions you've made over to the next chapter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone were to finish the prelude mod, only for me to build upon that mod and turn it into a "chapter 1," they'd have to restart the mod from the beginning, since their saves would no longer be compatible. I won't allow that to happen. That's akin to punishing players for play-testing.
Sounds like a plan!
ReplyDeleteYou're correct that they'd have to start over. Technically it's possible to reload a save in a new version of a mod. I forget the exact details of how to do it, but it's way more in depth than overwriting the old one and loading your old save.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't have a problem replaying a couple hours worth of prelude. I'll probably be doing that anyway.
I also think replaying wont be an issue (specialy when you can speed things up with DebugMode)
ReplyDeleteWell, it would definitely save me time if I didn't have to worry about transferring decisions over. I guess I could put a disclaimer saying the mod is a demo and early access and nothing they see is necessarily final, so they should know they might have to start over if they play it.
ReplyDeleteIt's either that or embrace some beta testers, but I don't see much point in keeping the mod a secret. May as well expose it to as many people as possible.
I'll think on it.
I think something else I may consider is a Dragon Age: Inquisition approach, where at the beginning of chapter 1 I just straight-up ask the player questions on what they did in the prelude. It's corny and makes the choices seem a bit artificial, but it would save me a lot of time as opposed to going with an item token route.
ReplyDeleteDemonheart has a prelude, and it makes sense because it's a separate location in the game world, and it is (mostly) just a linear introduction to the mod. But if you plan to include first investigation in your prelude, then it seams like it should be part of the chapter 1 rather then separate mod. Also, on the topic of transferring information between modules, I think Demonheart stores all the relevant variables on a single item that caries with you, so you could have an unremovable item like inquisitor's seal or something that stores all relevant player choices.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to reading the PC's inner monologue, I think it's rather uncommon in NWN games but a big feature of detective stories.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think asking people to re-play 1 or 2 hours would be an ok price to pay to get content earlier, rather than witing a bit longer while you build in the tools required to export decisions to the next module. Plus, what if you later on change your mind about something in the prelude and want to add a new decision or just a new option that you'd want to have carry over? It may not be wise to lock down every bit of the story you publish just to have feedback on a tech demo.
I'm with the others, I have zero problem replaying it if changes need to be made. Besides, usually there's a significant time gap between that kind of test and the final version of the game that I'd rather play through again anyway just to re-familiarize myself with the choices and characters. So I think you're right that if you just put a disclaimer that the prelude isn't a finalized version and a warning that characters cannot carry forward, I'm sure most people won't care.
ReplyDeleteHi, ReMeDy. Any news on mod?
ReplyDeleteI've mostly been modding for Crusader Kings II (a static portrait mod), doing a website for a client, and the usual full-time work at my job. Granted, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't preoccupied with other games either, like Dangan Ronpa 2, Until Dawn, Deadly Premonition, and League of Legends. It might get worse with Metal Gear Solid V out next week. With the exception of League and MGSV, I've been focusing on detective/murder games just to gleam ideas off them. I still have Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishment, and Murdered: Soul Suspect in my back catalog, but I'm going to sit on those for now.
ReplyDeleteI am still adding to my story script though and re-revising scenes to flesh out the characters. I am focusing on the early part of the story so I can get something out to you guys, but it does scare me a little that once I release something, it may trap me into a corner of potential plot holes if I'm not looking at the script as a whole, so I've been taking my time. Sorry, wish I had better news.
thanks for answering. it's okay. you are right about looking at the script as a whole. there is nothing good in stories with plot holes. you don't need to rush. about job and games - i know that feel bro. good luck to you.
DeleteGood to hear you're still tinkering, at least. It's really hard to be steadily creative when you're working more than full time, so I think it's impressive you've been working on one mod already, let alone two! Enjoy your well-earned free gaming time :D and let us know what those two detective games are like, if you get round to trying them and you feel like sharing.
DeleteCKII is great but I found it awkward to mod robustly through patches unless you have some good text diff tools or the patience to write some custom scripts. Good luck with that!
Aw, was hoping for some good news since demonheart died.
ReplyDeleteStill, good to see that you know the importance of a good story and are still somewhat working on it.
Good luck! Hope to at least see this one finished one day.