The Village of Cliffdell lies on the outer reaches of the realms of Hadrian. Sierra and Tessa are supposed to rendezvous with Landon here and continue to the barbarian lands, yet he is nowhere to be found...
...but the mysterious gypsy who lives on the edge of the village might no something of his whereabouts.
- I'm still working on encounters leading up to the Dakari lands.
- This week I'll be focusing on the Forest of Sorrows, which is a dark and twisted place. Legend has it that any who enter the forest never return.
Oooohhh, it'll be interesting to find Landon again. I like him.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like building GIII is coming along well.
I know I've definitely enjoyed playing. Sierra's adventures are always fun.
Compared to the first, second module is a disappointment. Is there a chance you add at least some RPG elements to the third? While there is a lot to improve in the gameplay department, the story itself looks fine (except that it feels a bit too repetitious).
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what you are looking for when you say RPG elements. If you are wanting something like 15 distinct paths to choose from to reach the end then it's not going to have that. That would take me a couple of years to complete and I don't even know if anyone will be playing NWN in a couple of years. Plus, I don't want to invest that much time with this.
DeleteWhat I'm doing with this series is telling a specific story and giving the player a chance to live that story out as a character who can make choices along the way. To me, that is role playing to a degree, but to others it might fall short of what they are looking for. In my modules the player can make decisions but not to the point that it drastically alters the storyline that is happening. For instance, the character really needed to become a gladiator in the first module and she really needed to join the Shroud in order to keep the story intact. I didn't include options for her to run off and join a singing troupe as a bard or become the next priestess of glory because that is just too much time to invest. In the third module there will be two different and distinct possible endings. That's the best way I can describe my design philosophy so the players will have to decide if that's the kind of module they want to play or not.
Totally distinct paths are pretty uniportant. Probably what everyone (fanbois excluded) is (or was) looking for in RPGs are:
DeleteC&C => actions having impact on the gameworld; different quest endings (so you can actually fail a quest in other way than by not finishing it or getting wacked); alignment that matters
nonlinearity => lots of skill checks; time-dependant or not available from the start sidequests; quests not resolvable instantly in current area; freedom of exploration (within reason); interaction with plot-unrelated gameworld elements (so it feels 'live')
feel of accomplishment => hard to resolve or unresolvable at all for specific characters quests; unwinnable, optional combats; hidden and obscure stuff; interesting/useful rewards (eg. extra weapon enchantment or amusing bonus intimate scene)
original storytelling => surprising plot that's not thrown in player's face; as little plot devices as possible; non-cardboard characters; well-described important items (eg. henchmen' armor)
There may be a single, hardcoded path from start to end, but the more of above stuff is laced in it (read: more attention is paid to details), the better the module become.
What kind of endings? Cool/bad, good/evil or lawful/chaotic? Did you notice that G/E is more suitable for local issues (eg. being selfless or selfish) while the L/C for whole storyline (eg. follow superiors or follow your own conscience)?
I've never wanted anything 'unwinnable,' optional or not. I don't mind getting beat to serve the plot, if I get a chance @ revenge. Now I may like optional conflict that's exceptionally difficult, or tricks that require skills instead of straight conflict. (See the ending battles of Prophet, though not the way they depend on the screwy NWN pathfinding, perse).
DeleteBut I've never seen the love affair for "unwinnable" final/optional battles. Not unless the player's choices render them unwinnable.
Since you brought the Prophet here, you should remember that huge spider: you can't beat it, you don't have to fight it, and you gain nothing from it. Even your sidekicks try to talk you out from going near its lair.
DeleteIts only purpose is to add flavour and 'feel' to the module's story. To increase the illusion that it is the player who is thrown into live gameworld, rather than gameworld is wrapped around the them.
Stuff just standing around to be interacted with is outright boring. Or a too-large-to-render-effectively city with 5 inhabitants, 5 of whom are plot devices.
I never said everything should be a plot device. I enjoy well-fleshed out cities with NPCs who have their own lives.
DeleteI also mentioned the ending battles of the series specifically. I didn't like the spider, even though I'm not nearly as annoyed when you're warned to not try it. I did like the Dragon in Harper's Tale, however, because even if you couldn't beat it, you could still take its loot.
This is looking interesting. I know this update mentions Landon, but I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see more of that delicious Braxton in Part 3. He is my favorite of all the love interests you've created.
ReplyDeleteWe'll definitely be seeing Braxton eventually. He's my favorite too, so I can't leave him out :)
DeleteGreat reading your bblog
ReplyDelete