Cutscene Work

I spent today tweaking a cutscene and messing with custom content in the module. It turns out the Caereena: Krakona rising recommends having certain color files in one's override, which--to experience the adventure as it was intended to be experienced--I placed in my override. Well, when my cloaks started reverting to pre-1.68 style cloaks in the toolset and weird issues started cropping up, I immediately suspected those override files...later, I would discover that they had nothing to do with the issues I was having, and that I (once again) deleted all the files from my computer in vain. :( Waaahhh!!!

In any event, it turned out that a rogue baseitems.2da had come with one of my most recent packs, and the 2da was outdated, and didn't account for, among other things, the new cloak system. So, all I had to do was remove that and everything worked like a charm. Yay. :)

So yeah, cutscene and CC work mainly. We went out for dinner and to get some clothes for winter (just got home), which was...uh...nice, I guess...? :P

Website Day

So while I did do a little bit of work in the toolset (just adding the contents of some new hak stuff into the game itself) today, I spent most of my creative energies revamping some of the back history for Lynncair in terms of the Godswar conflict and the personalities and fates of the individual Gods; check out the new stuff at The Encyclopedia of Lynncair, in the Lore section. I also made 10 or so small edits to other pages across the Encyclopedia to maintain consistency on each page, for each location and description. It may not sound like a lot, but it was a decent amount of work, and was rather time consuming. Still, it was fun. :)

In other news, I woke up early to fill up and mail out my last few athletic supplements and forms; between meals, I also did some reading ("The Subtle Knife"--I'm hooked!) and kicked both my parents' butts in Scrabble--it feels good to exercise my vocabulary like that. ;) I also forged ahead in Caereena: Krakona Rising, which was enjoyable; I've gotten farther than I ever did before, and it's been fun exploring the detailed world Dallo & co. crafted. :)

Finally, friends came over for the evening, and I had a lot of fun catching up with them.

Not much to report...

I spent the morning playing Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms. Then, I arrived at a Stealth Mission in a cavern-like area, with weird little patrolling buggers that are faster than you and 1-hit-kill you but have pretty crappy perception skills. Of course...there's no such thing as stealth or invisibility in Champions of Norrath, so I was like "Uh...ok, this must be like Flece infiltrating the Royal Palace in Summoner" and I proceeded naively. 10 tries later, I was starting to get annoyed. I mean, I'm practically a god in terms of strength in that game, but these lousy buggers can 1-hit-kill me? That just screams of bad game design, and it's just about caused me to stop playing...which, considering that school starts in 5 days, probably isn't a bad thing, actually. ;)

In any event, we went on a family jaunt into town today to get some "civilization" stuff done; when we got back, I did some college-related work (athletic supplements, mostly) and then did a bit of playtesting for TLS, taking plenty of screenshots along the way. 11 of the 21 or so made my "quality" cut and can be viewed now in the gallery, in the 12/28/06 update. :) Below is a personal favorite...

So, let's see, what else...what I do for the remainder of the night is still up for grabs between playing Caereena: Krakona Rising by Dallo & co. and watching the entire contents of my 2nd of myr 4 family guy DVD's. :) Or, I could be intellectual and play my parents at Scrabble...I whooped them 2 days ago, then tied my mom yesterday (believe it or not--that's the first time I've ever tied, it was incredible!), so I may need to show them who's boss again.

Computer Issues

I'll keep it short and sweet--I've had major computer issues these past 3 days. Registry, hard drive--you name it, it's been wrong, and in a big way. Stuff was basically freezing, auto-restarting and then failing to load up windows...luckily my dad knows how to deal with these types of cryptic issues, and after working practically non-stop (for which I'm really, really grateful), I think it's fixed now and as good as it's gonna get (I'm typing this update from it, so that's good!).

If nothing else, this whole ordeal has cleared up an extra gig-and-a-half on my 30Gb hard drive, which is significant, as well as consisted of a defragmentation of my disk, multiple registry fixes, and a handful of virus checks and spybot tests. So, theoretically, it should be better than ever now...I'm just being careful and tentatively optimistic. :)

In any event, I should be able to get back to TLS development (finally), though the past few days haven't been wasted; I've done brainstorming on The Star Mounts, and I'm really psyched about what I have planned. Even if no one else ends up enjoying it, I won't care because I'll have enjoyed the process of devising the plot twists and I know it's the kind of story I would really enjoy. I'm sure people *will* like it, but still. :) Oh, I've also gone back to my roots and played Champions of Norrath with my little brother (first time on the PS2 in literally months), which was a nice break from modding. So, perhaps this whole computer issue has been a blessing in disguise...? ;) One thing's for sure--this post has gone far beyond "short and sweet."

A Fantastic Christmas

I'll be brief; I've had a simply superb day. I got tons of good stuff and had a relaxing, fun, lazy day around the house with my family. All we did was play, read, and eat all day. :)

I broke the 100 d/l mark on TLS by a good margin sometime around noon, which was also nice. I packaged up two new submissions to the Vault: the recolored visual effects being used in The Lynncairen Saga as a standalone download, and an in-depth guide on recoloring such visual effects from start to finish. Both should be available on the Vault tomorrow; they, along with A Taste of Lynncair, represent my "holiday gift" to the community. ;)

In between trying out all sorts of new things to play with, I did some great work on TLS; I scripted an entire cutscene, handled the lighting and music and sounds in the area that cutscene takes place in, and dealt with a few henchman scripts and conversation bits. Overall, a productive, yet wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable day! :)

Good Progress on TLS

I just spent a good deal of time making progress on TLS. It was mostly story/scene development, which is always fun, along with several conversations that will add a lot to the immersion factor and will get the player better acquainted with Lynncair. I also did some scripting and decorating, but to a lesser extent. Tomorrow, I hope to do a major cutscene...after celebrating CHRISTMAS, of course!!!!!!! :D

RESURRECTION

I admit it. I'm a fickle person, prone to succumbing to whims and acting on impulse.


Now that we've got that out of the way, allow me to announce that The Lynncairen Saga is still in development for NWN1...and that I have no idea what I was thinking when I cancelled it. This story's awesome, and if I have to go out of my way to get all this custom stuff into the game, so be it. I owe it to myself and all y'alls to finish what I've started, and I've been enjoying myself...I blame college apps, which I've been doing for the past week LITERALLY non-stop, on the brain-messing-with that has occurred.
So, it's official; TLS will be finished. At the very least, I'll release the first mod on NWN1...after that, the series may migrate to NWN2, but we'll see. The Star Mounts is also still planned for NWN2, as soon as I get a chance to start on it. Working on both in parallel will slow down development, but it's fun and I enjoy it, and that's all that matters. Anyhow, just thought I'd say it, "officially". Treat A Taste of Lynncair more like a sneak-peak of great things to come than an abandoned project, 'cuz it 'taint abandoned no more! :)

A Taste of Lynncair = Not a Complete Failure

Well, "A Taste of Lynncair" doesn't seem to be doing as badly as I thought it might. :) I'm just a few d/l's over 50, which (with no spotlight yet and no promo ads or screenshot promotions) isn't half bad. The few comments I've gotten back on the Vault and via chatting and email have been positive, which is nice. Who knows--maybe I will come back and finish this up sometime. I just want to move on to "The Star Mounts" and NWN2 in general right now, but the way my mind changes on a dime, you never know. ;)In any event, happy holidays to everyone; hope you have a safe and joyous end of the year. I'll be submitting my college applications as a gift to the colleges ;) , and then pigging out on holiday food. Cheers all!

Wow.

Well...it's been a few hours...and I have officially 0 downloads on A Taste of Lynncair. At least so my download counter tells me (it registers 2, and both are mine [sanity tests]). So I know the download counter's working...I guess people just aren't playing NWN tonight...

I know it's unrealistic to expect a lot of folks to even find the darn link without the Vault leading there (which it will tomorrow), but my StatCounters have informed me that people have visited the TLS page...just that they haven't downloaded the game. :P I must admit I'm somewhat dismayed. If you've downloaded the game, in the past few hours, let me know via email--I'd appreciate it. Just as a sanity check, yaknow.

In any event, I've asked Maximus for a spotlight for it...so hopefully that'll get it a bit of attention. I know that it probably will never even hit 500 d/l's, but I'd still like people sticking with NWN1 to at least notice its release.

So, on a different note, I've started a more in-depth write-up for The Star Mounts, which is coming along nicely and which is pretty motivational...if only I had NWN2. :/ Ah well...

Did I say a few days? I mean NOW. :)

"A Taste of Lynncair" is now officially available as an all-in-one downoad package from HugieGames.com. Check the premise page (http://www.hugiegames.com/tls1_premise.htm ) for the download link. Note that you'll need to create a new character of level 1, and that you'll have to take the Adventurer class. I don't have a readme included, but I'll update with credits for hak content and music on the site itself soon. A Vault entry for it should be up by tomorrow. The mod is about a half-hour in length, and is a very short prelude of sorts that begins the actual journey to Kranomyrr only barely.

A Taste of Lynncair

So the more I've thought about it, the more I like the idea of releasing what I have so far of TLS - The Prophecy of Revelation for NWN1. It would be a shame to waste the work I've done so far. If I do a bit of coding and wrapping-up, I can have it at a decent "stopping point" in the next few days, and maybe release on Christmas or something. It'll feel good to move on from NWN1.

There's only about 30mins to an hour of content in there so far, but what's there isn't bad. It's just that this really isn't the right platform to be using.

The Lynncairen Saga = Postponed Indefinitely. DON'T PANIC THOUGH...Just read on. ;)

Goooood morning faithful readers. First of all don't panic by the title; I'll explain all in good time. PS: Todd, this is a lot like the email. ;)

I think I am approaching burnout, of sorts. I have been modding NWN for two years basically non-stop, if you think about (started Uvudry Threat earlier than it was released, obviously)...I'm needin' a break.

I'm not done with TLS as a story or a setting; I like it too much to abandon. I'm just encountering a lot of nasty resistance at the hands of the toolset...nothing really preventable, but just annoying stuff, you know? I have three custom classes, over a dozen custom spells, four custom tilesets and plenty more of placeables, vfx's, items and the like...I'm practically giving NWN a makeover, and it's frankly really a lot of work, considering that if I were given a blank slate, I wouldn't have to fight all the DnD rules that are put in place. It puts a lot of strain on the toolset to deal with all the custom stuff...and I just don't feel the end product is doing justice to my vision and ideas.

TLS belongs on a console engine with no rules or "d6's"...know what I mean? The way I imagine things working in TLS, fighting against the whole DnD ruleset embedded in these toolsets seems like a real waste. So, I think I'm going to work *with* the toolsets and rulesets instead of against them for my NWN2 endeavor(s); I had a ton of great ideas for "The Star Mounts" last night (obviously DnD based), and it'll be a lot easier and more fun to implement, since the software will be on my side this time around. I don't want to try to redesign the magic system for NWN/NWN2 (what I'm doing in TLS); I'd rather use an engine that lets me just instate my own and not fight against an old, preestablished system. So what I'm trying to say here is that it's not so much a burnout as much as a gaining-of-wisdom. ;) TLS will be made(/written?)...just probably not for NWN1 or NWN2. You'll still see NWN2 mods from me though, as I said, so no worries. :) "The Star Mounts" will be an instant classic, I promise!

Now, a bit more on those ideas for The Star Mounts. The plot is obviously for a high level character d'apres the description, but I'm hesitent now about limiting it to spellcasters only. I mean, I guess a module *can* be popular if it's class-specific--just look at Rick Burton's Paladin Trilogy--but I'd rather make one that appeals to a lot of different players. OK, OK, here's a hint. :) I'm thinking to limiting the plot to all Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards. Bards should *theoretically* be part of that group, but bards frankly stink, so I'm not letting a stinking bard into my module. ;)

If you have any guesses EMAIL ME!!! :) I want to see what people get from this. Remember it's an epic-level adventure set in the Forgotten Realms, and it involves the Spellcasting classes (except bards who stink). *This* is going to be one *fun* adventure to make in the toolset. :) Time to start writing writing writing...! :)

(PS: Now that TLS is indefinitely on hold, I'm just going to keep posting screenshots from the game to "prettify" this page and to make sure I don't forget about it in lieu of all the other ideas I have. ;) )

A Productive Day...

Today was spent finalizing the supplemental essays for my applications; I woke up, made edits on each and every one of them, then took a break and went on a 4-mile run. When I got back, I had to go to a dentist appointment (oh joy), after which I had my vengeance on the tooth gods by consuming pizza and a coffee milkshake. I ordered Domino's for dinner (parents went out), which in hindsight was probably not such a hot idea considering that pizza more than once a day is bound to be bad for me, and then I did some work on the major essay for the common app. Overall, a lot of work got done, so that was nice.

Now all that's well and good, but you're here to hear about videogame design (or you're stalking me, which is ok too I guess...). Well, I was able to make one area in the toolset; the cutscene that's supposed to take place in this area is what I imagine to be one of the distinctive and memorable moments of the module, but I'm honestly not sure if what I've done so far "cuts it". I'm just finding it hard to get really motivated about finishing this module for NWN1 with no players left; I mean, The Island has almost exactly 2500 downloads, PtD will never get there judging by the player base...and if I release this, which is probably my best work, it'll barely get any d/l's. Heck, TLS just is a very cinematic, story-driven tale...I'm starting to doubt whether I'm using the right development platform here. I mean, it belongs on a console...not on a PC. It's more of a fantasy-adventure game than a roleplaying game, if you know what I mean; it would ideally use a pregenerated character, and it uses preset stats, background and all that. It's just that at the moment, the NWN1 (and soon NWN2) toolset is all I've got at my disposal, so I can't really make exactly the adventure I've envisioned...which, for a story I'm so excited about, is sort of a disappointment. If only every game would release an accompanying toolkit... :)
Perhaps this lack of motivation has to do with the enormous amounts of writing I've been doing every day; college apps sack the energy out of you pretty good. We'll see if after everything's submitted, I have another burst of creative energy. :) I would be bummed to abandon TLS in NWN1...I mean, heck, it's so purty... ;) ...but still, it may be time to drop it and move on to better, fresher adventures. I'm not sure...time will tell. Let me just say that TLS *will* come to live, in some form or another...NWN1/NWN2 just may not be the right platform. I'm excited about "The Star Mounts" though, for a first project for NWN2. I already have some great ideas for plot twists and cool features to add that should spice things up, and hopefully make it an "instant classic". :) While I don't plan on limiting it to spellcasters only, let it be known that taking a spellcaster into the adventure is probably going to make it a lot more fun and up-close-and-personal... ;)

College Applications are fun!

Ok, for the record, I've been working on college applications since the morning of the 16th literally non-stop, with breaks only to eat, sleep, and run (this is the making of a new line of t-shirts for high-schoolers, I can feel it!). I've finished all of my supplementary essays as of about 9:00pm on the 20th, which, considering how much writing and revising that has entailed, is a pretty significant accomplishment, if you ask me. I'm proud of myself.

Oh--I've also mentioned doing some music composition stuff. Well, I've got a finished piece...it's kind of short, but I sorta like it. It's probably the musical equivalent of dung in a bag, but it was a good learning experience using the student edition of the Sibelius software (as opposed to the full-fledged version I'm used to from school). I may post it if I end up converting it to mp3 format any time soon, for your torment--er, I mean, enjoyment.

So, let's see...today the butt-imprint in my chair got even deeper; I'm not sure it's going to ever go away, now. ;) See, I'm set up so that my laptop is in front of me and my electric piano/keyboard is propped to my left, so that I can stay in my chair and simply pivot from one to the next. It's kinda nice. Of course, I don't eat meals here. At least, not many. Ok, ok...I eat some meals here. But not all of them. Just some. Ahem. I AM NOT A COUCH POTATO.

Far from it, actually; I'm really excited for indoor track season to be starting again. I have a base time of 1:24 on the 600yrd dash, which is fastest for our team...I hope to be able to go 1:20 by the end of the season, as well as claiming a permanent spot on the 4x400 relay (I hope I go first or last).
(Note: Image = Why I run fast.)

Videogame-wise, I did absolutely zilch today, honestly; it's crunch time college-apps wise. Starting Friday, I should be able to devote a lot more time to finishing up the first chapter of TLS. I'm not sure how it will be received...it's visually high-quality, but I feel like it's a lot more of an interactive movie than a lot of people will like. All well...I'm enjoying making it, which is all that really matters. I just wish I could be developing my own commercial game from scratch (or, perhaps with a licensed engine or something); TLS is really a console-style game, and it belongs on a platform like the PS2 or something. I'll get there eventually, I hope...I wonder how much licensing a gaming engine costs... ;)

Hugie's Blarg has undergone a makeover (duh!).

Hello to everyone; as you have probably realized, my blarg has undergone a makeover. Here's the scoop; I got jealous of how all my fellow NWN'ers had such fancy-looking blogs (Berliad with his new one, Challseus with his kick-butt one)--it was very depressing to be stuck with my clunky-looking, boring, pictureless one while everyone else rose to new heights (feel free to interpret this as a metaphor for my not owning NWN2 yet).

So, I decided to upgrade. Now, I'll be able to use all sorts of fancy-shmancy pictures inset all over the place, and it'll be alot easier on your poor viewing eyes to behold this blarg of mine. Take margins, for example, which are a new, extremely-welcome addition to my blarg. ;)

So, in any event, I'm glad I finally managed to make this work. I've set it up (as you can see) to still be hosted from HugieGames.com and to not have changed address, so hopefully the transition has been a seamless one. I know I'm excited about the new format, and I hope you all are too. It goes without saying that henceforth, Hugie's Blarg shall be a neat and lovely place for all of you faithful viewers to waste time reading my ramblings. :)