Episode 60: The Deepest Darkest Places

Of the three modules I hope to complete for the Althéa Campaign, I believe the second module that I am currently working on, Predestinated Days, will end up being the biggest. At least, that is how it looks to me at the moment. Looking at my original notes, I thought it was going to be no larger than module one, possibly even smaller, but as I start bringing all the various storylines together, it's actually turning out to be quite a size. I'm not just talking about file sizes, but actual gameplay. New ideas and system improvements compared to module one are starting to flesh out this second module more than I realised they would ... and it's all having an impact. Read on ...

Background Conversations

One of the largest changes, especially from a role-play aspect is the way I now arrange some conversations. Previously, I used to rely on just the bluff, intimidate and diplomacy skill checks as a means of offering various approaches from which the player may like to choose. However, these three categories are broad in how they might be interpreted in a given situation with respect to role-play, and so can leave some players not having an option they may be fully satisfied with. 

This is where I have now introduced conversation nodes that may start a line of conversation from one of five personality groups, based on the background feat a player may choose for their PCs. I have covered this in more detail in a previous blog post, but, in brief, rather than be limited to one of three broader skills to flavour the conversation, the new checks I now make against a PCs background feat will, hopefully, begin to offer some more conversation options in line with the way players believe their PC behaves, or speaks. It offers some new node options along more personalised paths before perhaps reaching a skill check like those mentioned above. The idea being that the focus on earlier conversation nodes based upon character background responses helps to flavour the overall tone of the conversation.

The introduction of this style of personality trait system, where backgrounds flavour a conversation, does require more writing, but I am hoping the extra nodes I include will now help players be able to flavour the conversation more to their liking. No system is perfect in a CRPG, of course, but it does help flesh out the options available ... and the overall depth of the role-play.

From Paper To Computer

As I have mentioned before, this campaign was originally designed as a D&D pen and paper (PnP) campaign ... and one of those aspects which has come to light as I transfer ideas and dungeons from pen and paper to a computer environment, is that a translation to cater for various paths a player may take all adds extra conversations and area design that was not required in the paper original. All such alterations to cater for a computer environment add up quickly, but at the same time, offer new areas of gameplay that was not part of the original design. 

Basically, the translation of a PnP scenario increases in size for a computer environment, and so what once appeared a small side quest on the surface of it , can escalate into something bigger than first realised. In PnP, a DM can prepare brief notes for different NPCs and speak as them when required. In NWN you need to have all conversations ready, and all work together if the player decides to explore every detail of your design. This soon escalates into preparing more material than the paper counterpart may have originally required. On a plus side, it is exciting for me to develop these other areas of the campaign, as they allow for both new and old players to experience an area of the campaign previously never explored.

Area Designing

Now that I have sorted a couple of new puzzles over the last few weeks (rotating placeable objects and the new trap disarm GUI), I have gone back to finishing off some area designs. Areas have included a sewer in which the PCs will find themselves and more areas for the mega-dungeon I am hoping to include. 

Let me also just take this opportunity to thank rjshae for pointing me in the right direction to help fix some aspects of the sewer tileset I am using, which I have now learned suffered from broken or missing Projected Textures. With his help I was able to fix over 200 tiles, which now correctly show target UI. (Eg: The circle that appears when you click somewhere to walk.) For while the tileset still worked without this, I did feel the missing UI may hinder some gameplay, so it was good to have fixed.

Going back to the mega-dungeon, I can report that I have started work on the final areas that are involved with it, and been able to incorporate some of the new gaming elements that I have been working on in previous weeks and months, including the new puzzle objects mentions above. 

This week's screenshot is also from an area I have been working on of late ... a shot from a deep dark place ... and demonstrating some neat walk path I managed to pull off. As a heads up, yes, the PCs do take heat damage while standing in that platform.

A Deep Dark Place

Episode 59: Power, Paranoia & Fear!

How a world can change in the time between blog posts. In this case, I am talking about the real world! I'm not going to spend time debating the arguments for or against the current world's situation, but just comment that all injured parties are in my prayers and to say that I find it very sad that in today's age and society that people are still so affected by power, paranoia and fear. In a fantasy world, it's a core aspect of a story for stereo-typical characters, but in the real world ... and in our modern times? It's a crying shame to the human race that we have still not learned to play nice with our neighbours, and respect boundaries and ideologies, even if we do not agree with them. So, with a heavy heart regarding the current atrocities being carried out in the name of ... indefensible arguments, I will try to remain positive and blog about such aspects in relation to my fantasy campaign ...

Conflict

There is no doubt that part of what makes a fantasy game exciting for many is the conflict. When it comes to writing a story, much of what drives the pace of a book involves conflict of one type or another. This is something I learned very early in my campaign writing, but at the same time, I also learned that "conflict" does not always have to end in combat. This is something I have noticed some of the more thoughtful writers have tried to include in their works. i.e. An option to resolve a conflict by a peaceful or agreed solution. However, let us now look at what is usually involved to bring about conflict that ends in combat in the first place ...

1) Power

The direct cause is normally a force or power that desires to make an impact on its surroundings. Ultimately, the "power" normally manifests within or takes control of a creature or being through which it desires to make its influence felt. In the Althéa Campaign, there is only one main source of power, but misunderstanding of that power causes the races to develop a paranoia.

2) Paranoia

History of my campaign tells us that as the races grew, they ventured into regions of land occupied by others and encountered one another. Who were these others? Look at what they do! See what they can do! It's clear they are different! Do they think and say things about us, like we might do about them? What if they think less of us? What if they do not like us? What if they want to hurt us? Such differences between the races and cultures lead to the third and final problem of fear.

3) Fear

Not everyone of the various races looked upon these cultural differences as potential problems. In fact, most would learn to celebrate the differences, or in the worst case, agree to differ and, instead, cultivate those things they had in common. But then there were others that could not accept the differences, or believed, in their ever deepening paranoia, that these other races were a threat to all that they believed about the power to which they held. This happened in every race, and it was those with most paranoia and fear of losing the power that their own culture had brought them that would be the first to bring about war ... the result of power corrupted by fear.

Conflict In Action

The Althéa Campaign has quite a rich history and background, but this is also information that sits more in the background during gameplay, as such detail is not normally the focus of the player's interest when playing a game. For most of us, all we want to know is who is the "bad guy" and what needs to be done. For most, we may pay lip service trying to prevent a conflict turning into combat (especially if we are low on HPs), but, if the bad guy won't listen, we then resort to the combat that the game supports.

In this sense, combat is purely a means to an end to reach the end of a game and feel satisfaction for completing yet another adventure. However, how many games do you remember how and why the conflict came about? For many players, this may not even be a consideration, and may even be considered "boring" and assigned to the same dust-building books assigned to real life history.

My point is that "real" conflict, especially that which results in combat is the result of a much deeper fundamental point of life ... and power. Conflict can be both "helpful" and "challenging" if it can be resolved amicably, but can end in dreadful destructive results if one party involved in the conflict fails to understand that any power they possess must be used for "good" rather than "evil". And loss of control that results in combat is normally a result of fearing a loss of such power, not only in their station, but ultimately also in the loss of their own life, where they have no power at all!

In the Althéa Campaign, I aim to give every conflict that results in combat an understanding that this is the case: a fear of its own existence of some kind. From a creature that simply attacks to protect itself from a perceived threat to its safety, or sees the PCs as a source of food by which to extend its life; to power driven overlords and undead that have lost all perspective of life for others, who only desire to extend their own existence by any means possible!

Thankfully, for Althéa, such evil beings are few and far between ... and there are heroes that will pick up the gauntlet and do all they can to help preserve a fair share of life for everyone. The red line, however, is that these heroes must not lose perspective and indiscriminately destroy life themselves to justify their actions. Unless the laws that govern such power are not observed, then any man "can pass from life to death". The real difficulty is understanding what these laws are, and what ... or who it is that made them. That is the fundamental part of the story of The Scroll.

Other News

Conversations, cutscenes and journal updates ... all being updated as I make progress. I did have one very frustrating moment when I spent more time than I needed to when trying to write a cutscene. Everything in my code and experience said a certain action I wrote to take place should work fine, but it simply was not, no matter how I altered it. In the end, the problem turned out to be a corrupted creature object! Once I had deleted that and replaced it, the original scripts I wrote worked fine. Let that be a lesson to everyone: Consider the associated object!

Finally, just to say that The Scroll (Module 1) v1.50E has finally been uploaded. In fact, it had another upload today, but no version change because the three points it addressed were minimal issues. i.e. Unlikely to affect most players, and even then may not be noticed. (See the download page for more info.)

Death - The Final Conflict!