Loyal friends of Hillsfar, I am writing this to let you all know that the lack of postings is NOT a signal that the project has died. I have suffered as of late a computer disaster which I am now just recovering from with a new laptop (sweet) and real bad case of real life (I am sure that you can all relate on one level or another).
I have a portion of the the city finished but am running into some design questions. I have tried to model the city as closely to the original game as I can and I did this using a 32x32 grid. I am now second guessing myself wondering if I should have done that as 4 8x8 grids with world gates between them.
I have also discovered designing alone is not the best way of doing things. Sure I have 100% control of each aspect of the module, but working with others tends to keep you motivated and gives you less work. However as Dragonforce puts it, "We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days through the fire and flame we carry on." So that is what I must do, carry on.
I will post some meager screen shots of what I have so far as soon as I figure out how to do that.
Until next time.
Rat
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Project Begins...
Well, it looks like the Hillsfar project is going to be more than just wishful thinking on my part. I have started the mapping and plot development for the project (in between real world activities, man you gotta hate when the real world intrudes in design time.) Here is an over view of what the Hillsfar project will entail:
The Hillsfar project is a mod loosly based on the SSI game Hillsfar. It is set in the Forgotten Realms and will be made for Neverwinter Nights 2. I want to incoporate one or two major story lines along with a few side stories and maybe a few Easter eggs as well. I also want to try to use as few hak packs and custom content as possible. I want to go this route for a couple of reasons. First, it will force me to rely more on my own abilities and second, I fear the mod would be come too big in addons and become more about the little details and less about the story (I am all about story, in fact some of my favorite computer games to date are Infocom text adventures).
The original Hillsfar game was more of an arcade style game as apposed to the other games in that series (Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and Secret of the Silver Blade). One of the biggest challanges is going to be what aspects of game to leave in and what parts I can get to work. There is an arena system in the original that I am going to have to look at and see what I can do with. There are things like archery ranges, the use of horses, game made up of many unrelated quests instead of an underlying story, etc. which I will have to work around as well.
It was my original entent to make the game more of a "you enter a big city, what do you want to do" type adventures but quickly realized I would NEVER finish. Depending on the finished product of Hillsfar and the response (if any), I may go back and do a "Return to Hillsfar" type of mod that will entail more of my original ideas. My original storyline has been scrapped for another day as I think it would have been too big for just one city. The main story line I am working on now is a similar style of adventure, just scaled back.
I am sorry if I sound too vague on things but I don't want to give away any spoilers and to be honest I am just not quite too sure on wether some things are going to make it into the mod at this point.
Once I finish my mapping I will begin building. I am hoping that the whole process of mapping and building will take no longer than 2 or 3 weeks, including the placing of objects. Then comes story finishing, scripting, conversation building, alpha testing, beta testing, agony, suffering, insight, and everything else that goes with mod building.
Well, I have rambled on long enough. I will be back when I have more news. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, rants, etc. I read it all.
Until next time.....
Rat
The Hillsfar project is a mod loosly based on the SSI game Hillsfar. It is set in the Forgotten Realms and will be made for Neverwinter Nights 2. I want to incoporate one or two major story lines along with a few side stories and maybe a few Easter eggs as well. I also want to try to use as few hak packs and custom content as possible. I want to go this route for a couple of reasons. First, it will force me to rely more on my own abilities and second, I fear the mod would be come too big in addons and become more about the little details and less about the story (I am all about story, in fact some of my favorite computer games to date are Infocom text adventures).
The original Hillsfar game was more of an arcade style game as apposed to the other games in that series (Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and Secret of the Silver Blade). One of the biggest challanges is going to be what aspects of game to leave in and what parts I can get to work. There is an arena system in the original that I am going to have to look at and see what I can do with. There are things like archery ranges, the use of horses, game made up of many unrelated quests instead of an underlying story, etc. which I will have to work around as well.
It was my original entent to make the game more of a "you enter a big city, what do you want to do" type adventures but quickly realized I would NEVER finish. Depending on the finished product of Hillsfar and the response (if any), I may go back and do a "Return to Hillsfar" type of mod that will entail more of my original ideas. My original storyline has been scrapped for another day as I think it would have been too big for just one city. The main story line I am working on now is a similar style of adventure, just scaled back.
I am sorry if I sound too vague on things but I don't want to give away any spoilers and to be honest I am just not quite too sure on wether some things are going to make it into the mod at this point.
Once I finish my mapping I will begin building. I am hoping that the whole process of mapping and building will take no longer than 2 or 3 weeks, including the placing of objects. Then comes story finishing, scripting, conversation building, alpha testing, beta testing, agony, suffering, insight, and everything else that goes with mod building.
Well, I have rambled on long enough. I will be back when I have more news. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, rants, etc. I read it all.
Until next time.....
Rat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
