The Q and A Thread

[zeus9860]

I would like to see older series being finished first rather than start on a new part of the lore. Or easier to accomplish maps should be aimed at first, more complex ones might require more man power to finish them.

There is a transition for a world walker 4, for example, i think that transition should be used for a last map that will finish the series with a bang. Or the last map in the isles of dread gauntlet, while being epic, i'm pretty sure by the time the map got to see daylight, level 50+ cap would be out. Or the_wall, it's 4 maps. Two of them are out, missing the other half... Caluminium was working on a 3rd map but he probably gave up on that since his last contest entry was his main focus.

I really hope Thunder plains comes to existance and turns out to be epic and not too straight forward (would be nice if it followed the pattern of hunderswamp), it's the thing i want most from that WIP world map. I like lightning related stuff, and being in a place called "thunder plains" would be like "home sweet home" for me.

 

[Thothie]

Eh, that was intended to be the end of the World Walker series, and return you to the source mission area (Hall of Deralia). If someone wants to do a WWIV, it might be best to clear it with Crow, but once you've slain Geric and acquired the scroll, that was supposed to be it, allowing access to Lodagond-1. Though Crow, at one time, was considering making three separate World Walker series, and requiring three scrolls.

Cal was expanding The_Wall... But yeah, given the intended length, it could certainly use expansion, and would be good for filling the lacking high end maps. The conjoined fortress format is also *fairly* easy to work with, and the in and outs let you get creative, and we have plenty of the sort of mobs ya'd likely be using.

Thunderplains is kind of tricky, as the engine is really bad at large outdoor areas. It'd take an advanced mapper to pull it off, but if someone wanted to show off, it has that same level range advantage. Downside is I don't think we have a lot of appropriate mobs, so it might involve model editing and/or scripting.

Neither The Wall nor Thunderplains offer much room for self adjustment or a very wide range of players though. Adel has the advantage of having actual lore behind it, while the Thunderplains, are just, kinda there.

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

Neither The Wall nor Thunderplains offer much room for self adjustment or a very wide range of players though. Adel has the advantage of having actual lore behind it, while Thunderplains, are just, kinda there.

What you are calling Adel is actually called Weldar. Weldar was the coastal city that was destroyed when Malgoriand summoned a Tsunami, and Adel is the human capital that was burnt to the ground the same night Beldagar/Guldacor was killed by a child with a knife.

 

[Thothie]

As stated in the concept map's description, the name and nature of the city changes from iteration to iteration of the lore, and even between documents apparently written at roughly the same time, so we merged the various conflicts into one that made the most sense in regards to the motivations behind Jiro's initial rampages and the lay of the land at the time.

 

[Red Cell]

MS: Lore Wars

 

[Regorty]

So is this sunken city completely under water, or partially submerged where you can see parts of the old city sticking out of the water?

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

So is this sunken city completely under water, or partially submerged where you can see parts of the old city sticking out of the water?

Yes let's make Venice the game


edit: Wait, that's not a horrible idea.... it'd be interesting to have a section of the map where you must stay on a boat, down this river through the city...

 

[Thothie]

So is this sunken city completely under water, or partially submerged where you can see parts of the old city sticking out of the water?

I'd expect there'd be buildings of various heights, many above water level, so you'd have some place to breath and/or dock your boat - though I maybe able to work up a water breathing potion. Likely all the street levels would be underwater, at least, but it has been a long time since the place was drowned, so you're not too restricted.

Yes let's make Venice the game

edit: Wait, that's not a horrible idea.... it'd be interesting to have a section of the map where you must stay on a boat, down this river through the city...

Heh, you'd have to be a bit careful with your water and vista placements, but while there's no lore-specific Venice, I suppose boats running through artificial canals in Kray Eldorad would work, as they would with any remake of Deralia. (Not that I really want to *think* about the amount of scripting that would be involved with Kray Eldorad - though the project would certainly peek my interest.)

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

Heh, you'd have to be a bit careful with your water and vista placements, but while there's no lore-specific Venice, I suppose boats running through artificial canals in Kray Eldorad would work, as they would with any remake of Deralia. (Not that I really want to *think* about the amount of scripting that would be involved with Kray Eldorad - though the project would certainly peek my interest.)

Hmm... what about a clock map, where you take a shrink potion/spell to go inside of a grandfather clock in underkeep to fix it? I've already several ideas and scenarios for bosses written out... would that give you any interest on working on the underkeep series?

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

As stated in the concept map's description, the name and nature of the city changes from iteration to iteration of the lore, and even between documents apparently written at roughly the same time, so we merged the various conflicts into one that made the most sense in regards to the motivations behind Jiro's initial rampages and the lay of the land at the time.

While I agree with this train of thought I am pretty sure there is nothing in the lore that confuses Weldar with Adel. The confusion over Adel has always been whether or not it was the human capital I just mentioned, or if it was the port city on the continent Valen.

 

[Thothie]

While I agree with this train of thought I am pretty sure there is nothing in the lore that confuses Weldar with Adel. The confusion over Adel has always been whether or not it was the human capital I just mentioned, or if it was the port city on the continent Valen.

Nah, I have Adel as the name for the city sunk by Jiro where he first got the "Lor Malgoriand" label in three instances here, and once as the place his undead brother ate it, hence my eventual simplification/untangling/"f*ck it" response to this among other issues. It is the human capital at some point in the history as well, and what caused it to move Selan isn't well covered, but can be inferred given the age, thus, the ruins will likely be an elven pile on top of a human pile (or human structures with elven veneers). Weldar's state is iffy with the final story, and we're not dealing with Valen at all, so it works out nicely.

Hmm... what about a clock map, where you take a shrink potion/spell to go inside of a grandfather clock in underkeep to fix it? I've already several ideas and scenarios for bosses written out... would that give you any interest on working on the underkeep series?

I don't think you are getting why that's on perpetual hold. Adding another map to the series, especially one that'd require that level of scripting, would make me less likely to work on it, rather than more, as it'd just mean putting the game on hold that much longer. It's not fair to put everyone else's work on hold for that series, and I doubt the game would survive the resulting hiatus.

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

So much for wanting something unusual, eh? :roll:

 

[Thothie]

Well, if you release it as a stand alone, I'd prioritize it, but holding the map hostage in hopes of getting me to put the game on hold for years for another series isn't going to work.

Granted, I could say the same about any individual map in the Underkeep series. I'd have no issue releasing one underkeep map and one of someone else's work with each patch, but it's too monumental a clog to the workflow to possibly get the whole thing done in a single patch, so long as there are other contributors ready to go.

 

[zeus9860]

I actually support the fact that long series should be released in portions since it will require alot of time to work it out.
Like having a gauntlet of 4 maps, release one map each patch along with something else if possible, there you go.
I just hope that it won't turn out to be like sorc_vila and it's currently unfinished quest for ages

Pretty much you start working on a project, you should aim to finish that first over anything else, it's the word around here when people create content, right? "Finish what you start instead of making multiple projects that might not get finished".

I wish some of the mappers followed that path too, start a quest series, try to finish it before jumping onto a new project, leaving the other one hanging in the dark.

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

It wouldn't make sense to release -some- of the maps alone, though.... Maybe in small groups of 3? Underkeep is a gauntlet map, needs to be transitioned too... so release all the other maps, and work on the Underkeep patch last? Could work out well.

 

[Thothie]

Yeah, he almost made some similar offer once and then withdrew it. Seems to be all eight at once or nothing. And well... At this rate it'll probably be the latter. *sigh*

Three is the most maps I've ever managed to process in one go go, and in that case, they were fully populated and I only needed to do one new script. (Specifically, Lodagond 2-4 w/Maldora).

Crow did everything else on that map with existing tools. World Walker and Curse of the Bear Gods were simply converted, and originally released piecemeal in ye old MS. So, yeah... Nothing like this has ever been done. Even the full initial upgrade of MS to MSC, some two years in the making, only involved four new maps.

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

Yeah, he almost made some similar offer once and then withdrew it. Seems to be all eight at once or nothing. And well... At this rate it'll probably be the latter. *sigh*

Since when did I withdraw that offer? I got the impression from you that it was either one at a time, or never.

I'm okay with releasing things in small groups, but you have to be willing to actually communicate with me and not just write off all of my ideas as pointless or unnecessary.

Three is the most maps I've ever managed to process in one go go, and in that case, they were fully populated and I only needed to do one new script. (Specifically, Lodagond 2-4 w/Maldora).

I might remind you that three is the number of maps I completely populated, albeit with placeholder spawns. Actually, it's four if you count frediklis map which I recently (mostly) populated. Although, I expanded that since we last spoke, so it needs more populating again.

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

I desperately want to see these maps ingame.... there's -so- many, it'd be stupid not to work something out... In fact, let me do a little experiment...

 

[Thothie]

Since when did I withdraw that offer? I got the impression from you that it was either one at a time, or never.

When I asked which ones, you said, "Sorry to get your hopes up." To which I said, "oh well..." So, I'll ask again - which BSP's of those you sent can be released?

I'm okay with releasing things in small groups, but you have to be willing to actually communicate with me and not just write off all of my ideas as pointless or unnecessary.

I don't care if someone's ideas are the most pointless and unnecessary things of all time, so long as they can be applied to stay within the scopes of their maps, without messing with the rest of the game in anyway, folks can do whatever the hell they want.

I might remind you that three is the number of maps I completely populated, albeit with placeholder spawns. Actually, it's four if you count frediklis map which I recently (mostly) populated. Although, I expanded that since we last spoke, so it needs more populating again.

Placeholders aren't populated - it just tells me where to put the monster that I'm still going to have to script up, and doesn't actually save any production time (just gives tests a context). Populated means that it uses existing scripts, as intended, and functions.

I have, against my better judgement, already written up several scripts for this series, some of which have yet to be used anywhere else, and they appear in the changelogs, in addition to having been sent to you directly, complete with sources, but alas...

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

When I asked which ones, you said "Sorry to get your hopes up." To which I said "oh well..." So, I'll ask again - which BSP's of those you sent can be released?

No, you said

Okay... >_> Which maps, among those you have laid claim to, are and are not releasable as stand alones- as designated by RMF/BSP name.

to which I said "none of them" because I don't want these maps released one at a time. Releasing them a few at a time is a different story.

 

[Thothie]

*sigh*

Which ones... Plural... Give me a set. Three or less.

 

[Echo717]

You are just angry because zeus

 

[Thothie]

Oh gawds, what did he do now? :|

 

[zeus9860]

Any word on the contest? Like anyone working on something or planning to? Kinda clueless if people are joining this one or even know there is a contest going again, i could try and add some games again later this year, but yeah i need to be safe first before acting/spending more money into games...

Not sure what games i would add, but i would aim towards a good selection of popular/most-wanted games of 2012/2013/2014. Things like bioshock infinite, borderlands 2, dishonored, assassins creed 4, metro last light, skyrim and so on... Perhaps with some games for origin too.

You are just angry because zeus

For some reason I only saw this now, it'll be a pleasure to make your edana runs become a nightmare now.

 

[Red Cell]

To answer some of your questions, yes, people are working on content for this contest. We always appreciate the help, but if you don't feel comfortable donating games there is no pressure to do so. I'm working with my team to figure out better ways to advertise, any ideas are welcome on this subject!

Thanks for stopping by!