New modder

I've been lurking around the forum for the last few days and I thought it rude not to introduce myself, especially since I'll probably be begging for help pretty soon. I'm an undergraduate game designer who's making an Arcanum module as a project for school. Basically what this means is that I'll be modding around 40 hours per week until mid-April. By then I hope to have something both playable and fun.

Thing is I don't have very much experience of WorldEd apart from pushing a few buttons now and then during the last 5 years, so I was wondering if you have some helpful suggestions, opinions, problems I might encounter or applications I should get my hands on.

Preperation
I've read what exists of Amtut and yes, I do everything on paper before starting any serious editing.

Software
Running the 1.0.7.4 WorldEd, although it seems that most prefer the 1.0.7.0. Undating and dating doesn't really bother me and I've added the temp folder to my Swift-Buttons.
I've also downloaded the Dialog Editor and when I'm done here I'm going to dig up a Hex Editor.

Limitations
My mod will (probably) not include:

• Custom backgrounds.
  Followers: to simplify balancing I cut out followers.
  Differentiations between good and evil.
  WorldMap: The mod is supposed to be made up of a series of smaller maps, navigation is supposed to be done by talking to a "guide" who then "shows you the way".

 

Ouch. Hope you didn't spend any money for your course.

There is a reason why there are no university degrees for inventors: creativity cannot be taught.

 

Yeah, I know how it sounds. Officially the degree equals an american one in computer science, or so I've been told.

Creativity I have plenty, but the program has taught me alot about proper designing methods and I get the opportunity to discuss my game ideas on a daily basis with others like me.

My paper is going to be on how I've applied different theories when creating the module.

You may not be able to teach creativity, but without reasearch and structure we'd be reinventing the wheel every day.

 

Ahh, then you'll be fine. Game design is a lot different to computer science though. Game design is about game mechanics and the "theory of fun".

Maybe you have a computer-programming related degree? Programming is different to game design. Game design can be applied to card games and board games as well as video games.

Or in the case of video games: pong. We must know about other games to avoid accidental copying; and to know what the gamers want.

 

Bhraal, have you read the "The Dark Tower" book series by Stephen King?

 

It's actually degree in hypermedia over here. I don't know how that translates into computer science in the states, but apparently it does. I promise you, it's not a progamming degree (we have a program for that running parallell to mine). I guess it's hard to explain exactly how it works without streaching it out over one or two pages so I'll say this:

• Most of our course litterature is about designing video games, one that your quote indicates you might have heard of.

• This week we got our yearly visit from Ernest Adams who held lectures and workshops on different aspects of game design.

• So far I've done two projects where designers, graphical artists and programmers make a game together. They're meant to mimic a real work environment and the school's gotten credit for doing a good job in that department.

Which is another neat think about my school. There's always someone who's played the most obscure games and recommends them to you, widening your perspective.

And when it comes to what the gamers wants:

• 1. What do you think is fun / have seen others have fun with?

• 2. What do your friends think is fun / have seen others have fun with?

• 3. Alpha- / Beta-testing.

Saddly, no. Bought the first three books a few months ago but I haven't found the time to read them yet.
Let me guess, it has something to do with my username? No?

 

Yeah, I know about him. I went to one of his workshops.

To be honest, I hate what he is doing. He is encouraging individuals to get into the game industry, making more competition for the game designers, and all the while he makes money without having to design anything. :/

 

Bhraal, if you start modding, I want you to make a DT mod. That's my simple request. I'd do it myself, but I just can't figure out how to work WoldEd.

 

I kinda see what you mean, but I doubt he's getting rich anytime soon on holding lectures. And he does do consulting / freelance jobs.

But hey; if he designs less, there's more room for the rest of us.

That really does sound interesting! But I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while. Like I said I haven't read the books yet, and the plan for this mod is pretty much set. If I can find the time maybe I could start building a DT one around the end of spring / beginning of summer.

 

Sure, he ain't designing anything, but he's encouraging many others to become our competition, which is worse. :/

 

Well then it's survival of the fittest, and even if I don't get a job in the industry I'll probably get to play som kick-ass games with all the new ideas coming in.

 

Where fitness is having connections to get one into the industry. :/

 

Which is why I go to college. I've got plenty of friends who've done internships for developers and gone on to work for them. And then we have conferences and stuff likethat where they're always looking for new people, granted that you say the right things and know what your talikng about.

There's always a way in, it just may not be to obvious. Maybe you don't even have to go through QA-hell.

 

Someone who used list in a forum message? Well, you impressed me. Anyway, I am, by no means, an expert on the topic, but if memory serves, it's fairly nearly, if not good old fashioned positively impossible to use/utilize WorldEd or anything akin to it in a module. Also, Wolfsbane, if you ever mention DT here again, I'll hunt you down and kill you: That was the worst series I ever read. Those books were aweful. Aweful.

 

Did you mean WorldMap? Because, like I said, that's what I'm going to work around.

Maybe I need to get make things a bit clearer. The thought is having the module take place in one city, divided by city walls. In each area there is a NPC (the "guide") or simply tiles that trigger a dialog, asking to which area the player would like to go. Kind of like the subway system in Tarant, except the player gets moved to different maps instead of different positions on the same map.

 

This sounds... interesting. And yes, I did mean WorldMap.

 

You're joking, right?

 

Sarcasm? Hard to tell on a internet forum...

Thing is the module is splitt into 2 parts, one with a middle ages setting (lots of magic and almost no tech) and one set almost a thousand years later. The later part is meant to change depending on the decisions the player makes in the first. To not have to do a huge map over and over agin with small changes, I chop it up over several maps. I then use global variables to call the maps I need.

Example:
================================================

The town square has it's own set of maps. One of the players decision in a quest in the middle age dictates which map that should be called.

• 5015 Magical shops (magic still reins supreme)

• 5016 Magical and tech shops (the two try to co-exist Arcanum style)

• 5017 Tech shops (Age of technology has come)

================================================

Different decisions control other map sets giving the illusion of a highly influential world.

I drew up a map of what I have planned so far (how complicated I've done things). This shows which map sets are affected by which decisions.

 

I certainly hope not; I wouldn't be able to withstand being a tester.

 

No he isn't. Talk about dragging oooooon and ooooon and not saying a goddamn thing... As far as I'm concerned, the only decent thing King has ever worked on was Rose Red. At least that had a plot that could be resolved in six hours, albiet with a certain amount of repetition.

*mutters something obscene as she adds King to her list of shame, having blocked out her memories of DT until now...*