Kulharin
Game Owner
 NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
Registrato il: 08 gen 2008 |
 Inviato: domenica, 30 novembre 2008 06:00 |
I was curious. I don't know a heck of a lot about the toolset beyond the basics... But I think I am interesting in creating an average sized module with a few areas. maybe a town or two, a few outdoor areas and a few dungeons ... With a bit of custom 2DA content and monsters.
Once I can the hang of things in terms of 2DA editing and creating areas, npc's, quests. etc... How long roughly would it take to create a basicly average module.
Is it a one man project or is it basicly required you to have an immense ammount of freetime or a team to create anything decent? |
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Maesse Qkrch
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Registrato il: 25 set 2003
Da: Iberia |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 12:41 |
Bloody time.
Depends on your quality view and your knowledge but... be sure you're gonna spend more than 6 months.
For nwn2 yes, gather a builder group or you can get desperate between designing, custom content and script all together.
Good luck 
_________________
European NWN2 Community Rep -
Hail the spanish community at Neverwinteros.com |
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BrianMeyer
Game Owner
 NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
Registrato il: 17 giu 2003 |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 04:11 |
About 2 weeks per area, in your off time ( 3 hours a night ). An area in NWN2 is relative to NWN1 usually done with 3-4 areas in that older version, they actually are bigger.
This assumes you use YATT without which you likely are going to double that time.
Scripting focus on the areas and your quests. The areas are how you measure how much you get done.
Leave the 2da edits to custom content folks, or work with them on what you want to add. Players will want to use Kaedrins 2da's for example and if you mod yours, they won't be able to use his classes in your module.
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DungeonEternal PVP PW | Joining a PW |
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Kulharin
Game Owner
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
Registrato il: 08 gen 2008 |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 05:35 |
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YATT? |
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BrianMeyer
Game Owner
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
Registrato il: 17 giu 2003 |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 05:42 |
http://nwn2yatt.sourceforge.net/
It makes it so you can use height maps, which you can make in things like bryce, or just use photoshop.
It opens up things like scanning a real map, and importing it to use it as an area. There is a learning curve, but once you master this program you really can crank out areas a lot faster, and make things a lot more subtle.
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DungeonEternal PVP PW | Joining a PW |
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Rob McGinnis
Assistant Producer
Registrato il: 02 nov 2006 |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 05:52 |
Here is how we plan...
For the layout of areas (art only, including props)
Exteriors:
Tiny - 3 days
Small - 5 days
Medium - 8 days
Large - 15 days
Interiors:
Tiny - 1 day
Small - 2 days
Medium - 4 days
Large - 6 days
For Design (writing the story, working out encounters), here are our numbers for Mask of The Betrayer.
Module A (The Barrow)
Avg. Gameplay (minutes) - 75
Implementation Time - 59 man days
# Tiny Areas - 0
# Small Areas - 3
# Medium Areas - 2
# Large Areas - 0
# Designers - 1
Module B (Mulsantir)
Avg. Gameplay (minutes) - 240
Implementation Time - 112 man days
# Tiny Areas - 6
# Small Areas - 4
# Medium Areas - 2
# Large Areas - 2
# Designers - 3
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Don't let your life be about the donuts! |
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loudent2
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
SW: KotOR Xbox
Jade Empire
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Registrato il: 11 feb 2003 |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 11:56 |
Keep in mind with Rob's numbers that they are professional game designers working a full work day (sometimes more). Multiply those days by 8 to get the rough number of hours.
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Lost Dungeons of Adventure - NWN2 Action PWEdited By loudent2 on 12/02/08 00:09 |
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Rob McGinnis
Assistant Producer
Registrato il: 02 nov 2006 |
Inviato: lunedì, 01 dicembre 2008 11:59 |
Quote: Posted 12/01/08 23:56 (GMT) by loudent2
Keep in mind with Rob's numbers that they are professionaly game designers working a full work day (sometimes more). Multiply those days by 8 to get the rough number of hours.
Yes, but we all have ADHD and are easily distract- ooooh! Shiny!
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Don't let your life be about the donuts! |
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nicethugbert
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Registrato il: 25 mar 2004
Da: The Presidency |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 02:58 |
YATT is Shiny! Can't do without the YATT. Check the siggy.
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Quote: Posted 11/07/08 06:38 (GMT) by Rob McGinnis
We know nicethugbert loves us. He's president of our fan club.
NTB's Terraced Hills and Valleys Vol. 10 |
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slowdive_fan
Game Owner
 NWN: HotU
NWN 2
Registrato il: 25 mar 2006
Da: Arizona |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 03:12 |
For me, I usually spend roughly 30-40 hours for 1 hour of game play. I usually give myself 8 hours to create an exterior area and 4 hours to create an interior area (I am fairly proficient due to lots of practice and I use YATT extensively). For details, conversations, story aspects, scripting, journal entries, side quests, encounters, combat balancing, etc., I usually multiply the area creation time by 3. I suspect others spend even more time than me to create their modules so maybe 40-80 hours for 1 hour of game play might be more realistic.
Good luck and have fun.
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The Exile (NWN2)
Lanterna (NWN2) |
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Kulharin
Game Owner
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
Registrato il: 08 gen 2008 |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 07:23 |
wow, 2 months fulltime to create 5 small/medium areas with a little over an hour of gameplay... And that's for an experienced user who knows the toolset well?
Ok, so much for that idea... I really don't have that kind of time to invest if that's the best I can hope for... *sigh* oh well... |
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slowdive_fan
Game Owner
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
Registrato il: 25 mar 2006
Da: Arizona |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 12:39 |
Quote: Posted 12/02/08 07:23 (GMT) by Kulharin
wow, 2 months fulltime to create 5 small/medium areas with a little over an hour of gameplay... And that's for an experienced user who knows the toolset well?
Ok, so much for that idea... I really don't have that kind of time to invest if that's the best I can hope for... *sigh* oh well...
Actually, I created "The Exile" (5+ hours) in about 120 hours over a couple of months. I have been spending about 150 hours on each chapter of "Lanterna" (5+ hours each).
I would still give it a try. What I suggest to those who are working on their first module is to start small. Try something similar to IWD prolouge. One small town with a few small quests and one small area outside town with some baddies or other quest/mystery. That way you actually finish something and increase your confidence level with the toolset. You'll gain valuable experience for that bigger project. To create this type of small module I would say takes maybe 40 hours. If you gear it towards higher levels and make it a stop on some heros journey to somewhere people will like it (stay in the popular settings).
Go for it, we can always use more builders in the community.
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The Exile (NWN2)
Lanterna (NWN2) Edited By slowdive_fan on 12/02/08 12:44 |
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JasonNH
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Registrato il: 24 gen 2007
Da: New Hampshire |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 03:46 |
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I would also say to keep in mind that Obsidian must design to a certain level of expectation for an extremely diverse community where everyone is hoping for some love for his or her style of gameplay. A community member can get away with a narrower set of goals as long as they are clearly stated up front, which will save you some time. You also have a pretty substantial number of prefab areas at your disposal now, which Obsidian does not. Make use of them and they could save you a lot of time. |
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Quilistan
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Registrato il: 29 lug 2002 |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 05:51 |
I wouldn't let the time you think it is going to take to keep you from giving it a shot. A more experienced builder is also going to be a much more detailed one, and the time is really in the details.
I had a player on my PW that knocked out a mod in about 2-3 weeks with about 10 exterior areas, and about the same amount of indoor areas. His work wasn't the most detailed but it was by no means bad work either.
If you are interested just start with a very short quest. Maybe two exteriors (town, and adventure area), with a few interiors. You might find that you love designing, or you might find you just want to login and play leaving the building to others.
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http://www.balarand.info Balarand: Frontiers of the Horde Lands
A PW set in a custom world, continued from our NWN1 server. Location: PW Action |
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AlanC9
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Mass Effect PC
Registrato il: 09 ott 2002 |
Inviato: martedì, 02 dicembre 2008 06:33 |
Quote: Posted 12/01/08 17:42 (GMT) by BrianMeyer http://nwn2yatt.sourceforge.net/It makes it so you can use height maps, which you can make in things like bryce, or just use photoshop. It opens up things like scanning a real map, and importing it to use it as an area. There is a learning curve, but once you master this program you really can crank out areas a lot faster, and make things a lot more subtle.
What if you don't have any Bryce or Photoshop skills? I've fooled with YATT a bit, but I haven't seen where the ROI is going to come from. |
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