- Finished Dildo the Gnome at the University. You will be able to get a fetch quest from him.
- I had a lot of conversations from Thirdpress still that I wanted to use, so many sexual encounters can be had by Pisces & Tylr if romancing them. Also Pussah the Drow, and a group of gladiators in the arena in the Entertainment District. I'm still working on the gladiators part though. It's quite long so it may be rough/incomplete in the final alpha.
- Dirty Bum in the Slums finally got some love.
- Look for a Noblewoman in The Dock Ward for a new job.
- Kate can be set free from her slave cage after rescuing Tylr and talking to his dad about her release. You have options as to what you can do with her based on your alignment, and your feelings about her.
- Spells Summon Creature I, II, III and IV as well as Shelgarn's Persistent Blade have been slightly altered to summon things more in line with the sex theme of the game.
- I've added items to vendors and loot here and there.
- Greatly expanded the final areas, namely Red Reign's lair.
- Big spoilery part here so stop reading if you care. Endings. I read one review online about the ending of my mod that described it as "Weird, but awesome." Which maybe is what I was initially going for. I just always wanted it to be a Sopranos-esque abrupt fade to black, imagining Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" playing in my head. I wanted to leave it ambiguous so the player can draw his or her own conclusions. But after getting feedback, I think people pretty much want some closure. So the next release will be having endings based on which romances you choose to pursue, or not pursue. I may be even be considering more ways to end it, by passing the whole dragon's lair ending. But I may be still working on that.
- By the way, people may have noticed a link to an online walk through I started working on linked on the download page over at the vault. It only covers the main plot, and doesn't go into any side quests yet. I'll detail it more when the game is finished or maybe some time during beta.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Progress report.
No screenshots this time, but I wanted to drop a line to let folks know who care how it's going with Part 2. I haven't been keeping close track of what will be new since the last update. But I have been working on it. A lot. What you will have soon will be my final Alpha version, and I'll be ready to start working on beta. Meaning almost all of the content I want to include in the mod will be there next release, but perhaps not in a completed state. I will begin the process of polishing up existing content for beta. Any future additions will just be one off quests, minor cosmetic things, or just things another builder submits to me that I like. New items that I can think of will be as follows, which I will try to keep spoiler free but can't guarantee.
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Thanks for the update! Looking forward to all the changes, particularly to see what direction you're going in with the ending for the main story and further interactions with main NPCs.
ReplyDeleteLove to hear we can help Kate, now. Just one thought: please don't gate the decision options based on alignment! Alignment is a very crude measure of overall morality and should just serve as an immersion aid for players to follow, but morality is complex enough to allow for 'bad people' to do 'good things' on occasion for a multitude of reasons. I think it's also more interesting to allow for character evolution rather than be locked into a playthrough due to something that got picked at character creation.
Yeah maybe I wasn't accurate. What you said is more the way it is. You're not restricted by alignment.
DeleteYou could also drop those tokens you receive at start as they do exactly the same: take freedom from the player. In fact, I suggest dropping the whole preparation dialogue with Sune - let player decide everything, especially, when the initial setup matters so little. Finally, you could make an option to skip the super long initial scene - it would make it easier to test the module or characters.
DeleteI'm afraid at this point, of removing the tokens. They don't restrict, they simply change the things the player reads. It would mean deleting a lot of dialogue out. If she doesn't like women for instance she wouldn't have dirty thoughts about them ect... That doesn't mean though that she is restricted from that ever happening. Perhaps though I can add some way to change them later on. Ultimately the player does decide what token to take. I always thought the multiple token thing was a good reason to replay the mod. Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it?
DeleteThanks for reply. The thing is that players should have as much freedom as possible, especially with "cheap" things like dialogue, and those tokens lock them out right at the beginning. Replaying from start is not often feasible when you have to redo the same linear segments multiple times. Some like to save, play all possible outcomes of one scenario and then choose outcome they like or what lines they want to read. Tokens prevent that. They are also totally OOC.
DeleteThe best approach is to use hidden counters. Then make separate dialogue branches for different situations. For example: she doesn't like women, but she does it anyway - branch X. She does like, but declines for whatever reason - branch Y. She's suddenly really into it, but has no experience - branch Z. She can also lie. Look how it works well in ADWR, even though I don't like the "experience" stat.
Now, regarding token removal. Removing them shouldn't cause any problems with dialogue. All you need to do is make their conditional scripts always return TRUE. I don't see why it should work well.
Glad to use you're alive. Good luck and try your best!
ReplyDeleteincredible!
ReplyDeleteYou have been busy, haven't you? :) Wow, that's a lot of new content. Can't wait to play through it once the additions are made! Thanks for your continued hard work. Glad you are still wanting to add new content to your fine module. Thanks for the update!
ReplyDeleteHere are some assorted suggestions. I played the module last year, so I may not remember everything correctly.
ReplyDelete1. Fix the wizard tower: now it is a boring chore (cleaning / fighting) with pretty much no reward. Make it also smaller. Three floors max, add some extra rooms (labs, bedrooms, cells, etc). And make the quest better. For example, have him polymorph the player or something.
2. Fix the protesters - they just stand there and cause lag. Have them move around after player progresses a little. Have them setup a booth where they give out pamphlets or something. They also shouldn't shout at PC who doesn't wear her working uniform (read: looks "normal"). Maybe add a quest to get rid of them?
3. Instead of initial customization, make a beauty shop where PC can shave, get piercings or a haircut (there is this one head with same face and multiple hair variations). Have NPCs react to it.
4. Why entrance to VIP suite and the vault require going out the building? This is counter-productive and is a security nightmare.
5. Allow player to choose their nickname. I *really* dislike "Willie". You can store it with GetPCChatMessage() and SetDeity(). They could also do it during character creation. It makes it easier to associate with the character.
6. Why PC has to go buy new clothes, which look worse than her default uniform? Also, add more clothes and items just for flavor. Like the boots of spreading. Maybe borrow some models (and animations) from Teen Bloom?
7. Fix those aneurism-inducing underdark caverns, so they are actually fun. I just DebugModed the heck out of them.
8. Fix large, empty maps. This is a lot of work, but cramped but lively map is better than a boring desert.
9. I could never escape the stalker drow's house. Seems like a bug to me. Also, when he fights the elf guy, the elf tends to cancel combat and just take it (ClearAllActions()?). I had to DebugMode-kill the drow to progress.
10. Don't overdo the "romances". Especially Melanie. Too fast and too forced for me. Also, why they have a separate apartment when there's so much place for everyone in the main building?
11. I didn't like the island quest and I found it's resolution unfunny and lacking player's input (it just resolves itself). Also, why they couldn't sell the ship to fix all their money problems?
12. There is a disproportion in training quest length. Some (melee fighting) are well-done, while others are just convos. Maybe have the satyr girl show to PC some dagger backstabbing or hiding techniques? Appraise could include getting better price on something from the bar. Dancing is OK, even thoug you never dance in the module... X_x
13. I suggest changing checks for Perform with Tumble (ie. when dancing). Perform is POINTLESS, since NPCs here are immortal and need no boost, while PC is too underpowered to even benefit from it. On the other hand, Tumble is universally beneficial. It would also allow playing any class (which usually means Rogue).
14. Follow-up to above. PC is trained in unarmed combat, yet there's little combat when she's alone. Shouldn't she learn how to hide instead? But then you give her a Hide +20 item, so sneaking becomes a walk in the park.
15. Like in ADWR, maybe guards should stop you when spotted in wrong areas in wrong clothes? Getting arrested could lead to another quest or you-know-what or both.
16. There are some unifinshed quest signs. I saw a gladiator-bang - this looks promising. There are different actions during it, so maybe player could choose what to do next. Adding more group action elsewhere wouldn't hurt either. Too bad there are no actual animations for it.
17. Watch out for infinite loops slowing down the game (Action List Overflow warnings in DebugMode).
18. Make death permanent? It should lower then number of game-breaking points.
Sorry if this looks like a list of complains, but they are only to make your module better. All the best and thanks for your work. Looking forward for the next release.
No need for apologies, in fact I always wished I saw more of this kind of honesty. I'll try to reply to each thing if I can think of a way to answer or expand on my motivations.
Delete1. Fix the wizard tower...
I might consider reducing it's size. What specifically did you not enjoy? The monsters? The cleaning part? I thought the cleaning thing was a sexist bit and intentionally so because of the theme of the game. The wizard does threaten to turn Willie into a toad in the dialogue at one point, maybe I could pull that off script wise. The tower was initially a way to add more fighting/action into the game. I wanted to have an optional dungeon attached to each district. Keep in mind, the tower is completely optional, but once you enter, you need to solve the quest to leave. As far as reward goes, there's about a dozen chests with potions, some gold, and a booty. I think I added a magic item in for the next update.
2. Fix the protesters... I'm with you on this. I tried to script so they all disappeared at once, but the sound globes stayed and I couldn't figure out how to destroy them. Maybe I can have them dwindle away as the PC progresses the story.
Delete3. Make a beauty shop... The beauty shop is there, I just haven't had it on top of priority to update yet. There's the Palace, and Peg-Legs, which I will probably consolidate into one thing. I have the body sculptor, because there were some heads I wanted to use on chars, but couldn't access them on char creation. And I didn't want to wait until I was done training to get to them.
Delete4. Entrance to VIP suite and the vault... There were doors there, and I wanted to put things there. I didn't want to just rehash the same old back rooms area from part one, so I went a different direction.
Delete5. Allow player to choose their nickname... Frankly sounds like a lot of work I don't want to do. If I did implement that, It will be a long time from now.
Delete6. Why PC has to go buy new clothes/more flavor items... Because your client (Pisces) specifically asks you to go get something from that store. It's like a "brand" he likes I guess. Like a fantasy version of Victoria's Secret. It was really just an excuse to give a fetch and deliver quest. As for new flavor items, I seem to add more each time I update. I haven't played Teen Bloom yet, but I did like the author's stuff from Selena's Secrets. I'll check it out some time.
Delete7. Fix those aneurism-inducing underdark caverns... Need more info. What specifically is wrong with it? Music? Sky Box? Not enough fights? Too small/big? What gave you the aneurysm?
Delete8. Fix large, empty maps... Agreed, but also I feel I add to them each update. I put merchants in the Dock Ward and things here and there almost daily really.
Delete9. I could never escape the stalker drow's house... Look behind Pussah's Bed.
DeleteCombat bugs out... I've seen it too when Rutting Doe attacks Kate at the Docks. Any help is appreciated there. Not sure how to fix. If it's any help, I'm usually able to beat the Stalker alone if you have a little gear by then.
10. Don't overdo the "romances"... Can't agree there. They end up being half of the erotic content in the game, and motivation for the main character as well. The PC and Melanie have a little more bonding moments in part one I'll admit. But that part was initially supposed to be in part two. I guess all I can say is, if you don't want to pursue them, don't.
DeleteAlso, why they have a separate apartment... Never really thought about that. I don't live at my job. Maybe it's a status thing for them. Melanie doesn't want to live in a place where sex is constantly going on?
Delete11. Island quest... Sorry you don't like it. I did try to add a little humor element in the dialogues with the Wemic, and the Pirate. At least one person said they enjoyed it. I thought it was a nice vacation from all the dark things going on in Waterdeep. I tried to explain the selling the ship part when they get back to town. It would take a long time to find a buyer. The market for pirate war ships is pretty exclusive I would think.
Delete12. Training quest length... Agree, and that is some of the oldest content I did, so I just haven't been back to revisit it yet. I do plan to revamp them at some point.
Delete13. Changing checks for Perform with Tumble... These are really good thoughts. I'm pretty bad at this I admit. This is just a case of me having an idea of how I wanted it to be, then changing my direction over time. I didn't want to be class restrictive, but the perform checks kind of suggest otherwise. Instead of removing perform checks, maybe I'll put tumble as an option too.
Delete15. Guards Like in ADWR... I never really wanted Guards to be like the ones in ADWR. I sort of portray them as a puppet/figurehead organization in my version of Waterdeep. They help who ever has the gold to benefit them. The guards are there for show and pomp. They don't really enforce any laws, because there aren't really any laws? Or maybe more accurately Willie isn't breaking any. Prostitution is legal there. Maybe I could add something where they react to the PC being nude.
Delete14. I couldn't think of an in character reason to train her to hide. She only needs to use it when rescuing Tylr.
Delete17. Watch out for infinite loops slowing down the game... I am admittedly not very good at that kind of thing. The module is starting to feel bloated and slow.
Delete18. Make death permanent?... It actually was initially. I changed for testing purposes, my character was dieing, and I wanted to respawn. Also the immortal henchman are an annoying thing i don't want being permanent for the final version.
DeleteAgain, thanks for replies. Same numbers:
Delete1. Well, I found it too big for an optional place - just floors and floors. Maybe shrink it vertically, but expand horizotally? Too much combat with overwhelming monsters. Too hard to sneak by. Cleaning is cool, but there's way too much of it. Once you realize what you have to do, you start to hate yourself for coming to that place. It's too far away from most areas and the reward is simply not worth your time (and I'm not talking about loot). Maybe make less monsters and have them patrol corridors? Then make her clean the place up: cellar, attic, cells, constructs..?
2. Maybe add quest to embarass their leader(s) so they will disperse quickly? Never worked with sound, but isn't SoundObjectStop() your function?
5. Open all conversations in toolset, replace all "Willie" instance with "<deity%gt;". Done. For backward-compatibility, call SetDeity() on module load. Should be doable in an hour, no?
6. Sure, I know it's a fetch quest. Thing is, her default outfit looks much better than the other clothes. Why a brothel has so few working clothes? Teen Bloom is worth playing just to see how much can be achieved with scripts and for the static content. Its author is a skilled programmer. The rest (story, game system) - well... you'll find out yourself.
7. I found fights to be impossible: weakling PC has higher agro than immortal NPCs with bad pathfinding, and she needs to lead them, so I was just dying there. DebugMode'd all monsters. Then went to search for exit, which took a while on a large, hard to navigate map. I also couldn't open some doors. May be a bug or problem on my side.
8. The government/temple district is the biggest offender. Please be generous with map pins and ExploreAreaForPlayer().
9. I was looking for a hidden door. My bad. I also couldn't progress further with his dialogue. It always ended up badly. Another bug: when he's locked in the thing, he turns every time you talk to him. There's way to prevent that, but I can't find it right now. It's the same with petrified creatures. When I have time, I may look into the combat system. Probably an OnHeartbeat() issue.
10. What I meant is that maybe NPCs shouldn't fall too fast for PC. Take Melanie for example: you screw the dwarf at home during first 20% of the game and BAM - you get a ring and an eternal love. Tylr seems to be done well in his department. Pisces is OK, although he hangs around without his pants in the bar. Choosing one of them at the end would be fine. Or maye all of them? LMAO.
13. Thing is that very specialized and therefore mostly unused skills shoudn't be checked against, so player doesn't waste points on them. This means Perform, Discipline, Concentration. Perform is for singing and is used in-game for one thing: bard song. Same with Discipline - to prevent Knockdown & Co. They can be easily replaced with saving throws. Tumble makes more sense for a fragile character.
14. But you will want to avoid combat more often than go melee, no?
15. OK, but I thought it was confined to entertainment district and docks. It doesn't make a good impression when whores run around goverment buildings. I also suggest making a quest based on trying to get out of jail. NPCs should definitely react to PC being nude.
17. The thieves' den also lags hard. I think it is because of too many creatures or that the whole tileset is not optimized. Maybe both.
Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to point out several story-wise issues, if I may (sorry for my poor English).
ReplyDelete1. The tax money at the start of the game is only 25k and Willie alone can easily earn a major portion of this sum in just a few days, so if the other girls are not slacking it should be no problem to acquire the money very quickly (and stupid Don still says that there's no way Heidi has the needed amount by the time he kidnaps her).
2. I also find it very strange that the half-orc girl (don't remember her name) casually gives Willie a Courtesan blade which costs more than 25k, I guess. And she doesn't even demand it back when the PC meets her after the rescue mission like it's no big deal.
3. Kira gives Willie two bags of holding, several thousand worth. Isn't it too generous, considering the tax problem the brothel faces?
4. At the beginning of the module it's made very clear from the dialogue that the deadline for paying the tax is only week away. If I don't hurry with the main quest, explore the game world, do side quests (including new ones like the island adventure) and collect different booties, it will probably take more than a week to get to the point where Don "takes care" of the tax problem.
P.S. Your to-do list looks great, can't wait to see it implemented. Will there be a way to resolve the stalker problem by fulfilling Pussah's request?
Maybe I should adjust for the inflation. The meeting scene where all that is discussed is pretty old, and I didn't have all this content and side quest to do to earn money. As far as items go, I intended for those to be used by the player and not sold mostly. I was careful to nerf vendors around town to only have so much gp to give. Not until you get to the rogues guild do you get a vendor who gives full price and has infinite gold. As for the time deadline, I largely ignore the in game clock, and deal with that in an abstract way. I don't have a clock that sias, "oh a week has passed, game over." or anything like that.
DeleteIt's good to know you're still working on this. I enjoyed part 1 and can't wait to see part 2. The number of hakpacks to download frightens me a bit, I admit
ReplyDeleteThere are a few HAK's to download. And I am also typically avoiding modules that make you download a bunch of them to play. But this module is totally worth it. So I wouldn't let that stop you from playing.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple of suggestions. And I know you have a lot on your plate now. So maybe just keep these on the back burner to think about when you're done with your current revisions.
I like the idea of one (or more) of those protestors following the PC home or maybe into a dark alley. Where he/she/they are tired of being ignored by the PC and attempt to teach her a lesson (usually NC sex would be an option here)....
Glad to hear the Bum in the slums is getting some attention. I also like the idea of NC sex coming from him. Like he gets angry with the player character's insults and/or wants sex from her for free and just attempts to take what he wants. Something erotic for me being taken by someone dirty and grimy and nasty such as him.
Really great to her you are still adding to this fine module! Will be great to play through it once it's updated!
Very happy your still working on this mod :) Looking forward to trying out the new content when you release it. below are just some of my thoughts as I played the game.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Island adventure. Was a little disappointed on 2nd play through that you couldn't end up staying on the beach and being there when the pirates first overran the beach and having to survive by using your social skills and abilities to stop them killing you. Or even agreeing to side with them. I know that would be a lot of work to have two different adventures on the island but would be nice to have such choices so that some parts have alternative events.
Would have been fun to have been invited to a Frat party or be hired as a stripper for a frat party.
The street gang encounter was fun. Would have liked to have had the option so you could run into them more than once. Or the encounter having a possible ending where they decided to force you to perform in some degrading way in a backstreet pub to earn them some money. Just think the gang was interesting enough to deserve more game time.
A repeatable quest where you can sign up for a show in the arena would be fun.
Being able to do something about the picketing crowd would be good, either finding some way to blackmail the leader or even putting an aphrodisiac in some water and tricking them into drinking it, so they get arrested for lewd behavior on the street.
Just want to let people know, I may be pushing the final alpha back to May. I had something else I wanted to finish before releasing it first.
ReplyDeleteHello, I just started playing your module and I found a few bugs, So far when i go to the Colosseum the text starts to get weird and then bugs out and I cannot finish it. Like it says as a response, inset text here. Or at one point i get two options snort and giggle, if i giggle nothing happens, if i snort it moves forward a bit, but it still bugs out, making it unable to finish. Also the stalker quest bugs out when i try to leave, he is locked up but the text keeps looping when i try to open the door to leave.
ReplyDeleteYea, those two areas are still in ALPHA stage, and in incomplete states. They should be cleaned up for the next version.
Delete