AND SO YET ANOTHER AREA!
When the story you are imagining decides to take a detour on its own account, one can either ignore its calling, or see to where it leads. More often than not, as in this case, the setting for the scene in mind for the story's new direction requires its own unique setting. I should quickly add that the area in question did already exist in a manner of speaking, but like a reinstated cutscene from a movie, it managed to escalate to having a renewed area built status. (Screenshot below.)
The good news is, however, with these three latest new areas (since reporting), it shows that the main story is beginning to take shape, and is demanding attention. Furthermore, the various directions it has taken me have been encouraging, helping to fuel my imagination along the way.
To help not venture into "content creep" though, I am considering abandoning a small area (similar to this new one) that had been scheduled, and whose outline I used as a template for the one that may be taking its place. However, as the area is partly done already, I may yet change my mind on that matter, especially as I can already see another good reason to keep it in.
THE PUZZLES RETURN
As I have stated before, the Althéa Campaign would not be complete without its puzzles. And they are set to return in the next module. As in the previous module, the puzzles can be solved in more than one way, and some can be completely ignored if they are not your thing. However, if you are not prepared to use your player's "thinking hat", then it's likely to cost your PCs more in either gold or Life Essences to bypass a puzzle. The choice will be yours according to the style of game your prefer to play.
To this end, I have already created my first "ripped puzzle" for module two, which acts as a clue for the player, which they can choose to follow up immediately, or not. Like module one, the flow of the story and the direction in which it unfolds will be left up to the player to decide. It's not going to be "linear", demanding the player follow a particular path, although will remain a focussed story that the player has to decide the order in which they approach the overall game.
MOVING FORWARD
The latest updates to module two have had me go over some of the PnP (pen and paper) story background of late, simply because I want to ensure I have the logical flow of events that have taken place, and will take place, in the right order. And there is quite a bit of backstory to cover for the player, which needs to be done in a way that does not come across as an "info dump". Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I am looking at writing the first proper "dungeon" that has its history from my PnP days. One could compare it to a PnP conversion, but of my own material. While there has to be some compromise , simply due to missing models I can use, I am looking forward to seeing the results all the same ... and will, of course, keep you updated.
MODULE ONE
I would just like to end on a quick note to say that Module One has had fewer and fewer patches in the last week or so, and v2.77 is beginning to look like one of the last patches (possibly the last) that Module One will need. However, my wife is still playing her third play-through (with another main class and different approach) testing for anything else, and I am still eager to hear if anybody else has come across any issues (at all) with Module One. Please let me know.
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| A Small Quiet Tavern Where One Can Rest & Eat |
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