84 replies to this topic

[Riviera]

be accurate with spolers!)
-Gort

Oh yeah, I just always refer to dual class in the same context as multiclass.

IE, I'll call Anomen a Fighter/Cleric, not a cleric, and Nalia/Imoen a thief/mage, not a mage.

Sorry if I misled anyone.

[Bookwyrme]

What about the possibility of taking one of the 3 or all 3 with you as soon as you get the mage stronghold?

Or do you have to wait until all the stronghold quests are complete...that would be pain imo.

We're working on making them joinable before the entire set of quests is completed.

And that is probably enough of our derailing this thread to talk about another mod

Keldon, I'm with Riviera--it isn't class that matters so much as personality & I look forward to seeing your evil PC, whatever profession she decides to take up.

[GeN1e]

As long as female isn't barbaric enough to rush into combat screaming like Minsc or Sarevok I'll be pleased. It means - if she's not barbarian/halforc/dwarf.

[Keldon]

We're working on making them joinable before the entire set of quests is completed.

And that is probably enough of our derailing this thread to talk about another mod

Keldon, I'm with Riviera--it isn't class that matters so much as personality & I look forward to seeing your evil PC, whatever profession she decides to take up.

Hi BookWyrme,

Thank you for respecting the intention of this thread. I really appreciate that.

I am happy to hear that so many people are looking forward to seeing my bad girl! It really makes creating her a lot more fun!
I am sure that everyone will enjoy her personality as "the girl everyone loves to hate"!

Keldon

[Keldon]

As long as female isn't barbaric enough to rush into combat screaming like Minsc or Sarevok I'll be pleased. It means - if she's not barbarian/halforc/dwarf.

Hi Gen1e

I am sure you will enjoy this NPC.
She has a very strong, evil personality....but at the same time she realizes that she is not Korgan. Therefore, she will not be "rush(ing) into combat screaming like Minsc or Sarevok" anytime soon!
After all, that's what Minsc and Sarevok are there for...to be meatshields!

Seriously though, thank you for your input. It was greatly appreciated.

Peace
Keldon

[Kellen]

And some people are evil enough to live with that and let them meatshield 'til death do us part'. Unfortunately they rush the death parting a bit.

Um anyways good luck with your lass here. And do good de... nevermind. Just good luck.

[Keldon]

Hi Kael,

Thank you for your many comments in this thread. They have all been appreciated.

Keldon

[Kellen]

Hi Kael,

Thank you for your many comments in this thread. They have all been appreciated.

Keldon

Uh, not a problem.

Anyways what was the final decision? Was it fully decided she'd be a mage?

[Keldon]

Anyways what was the final decision? Was it fully decided she'd be a mage?

Hi Kael,

Umm, let me just say that I believe the decision that was made will make her a more complete and fun character to have in your party!


Peace
Keldon

[Minarvia]

Anyways what was the final decision? Was it fully decided she'd be a mage?

Hi Kael,

Umm, let me just say that I believe the decision that was made will make her a more complete and fun character to have in your party!


Peace
Keldon

I'm sure I'll find her fun no matter what her class is. Oh, and if she is easy to pick up early on. You won't stick her in Firkraag's Lair, will you?

[Keldon]

I'm sure I'll find her fun no matter what her class is. Oh, and if she is easy to pick up early on. You won't stick her in Firkraag's Lair, will you?

No, she definitely will not be found in Firkraag's lair!
She will indeed be found early on, and in a place that I don't believe any other Non-Bioware NPC is found. (Don't you just love these vague hints? lol)

In creating my own BAMs, I have come to a fork in the road, and so have decided to ask everyone's opinion once again.

How important is it to you to be able to change the gear of an NPC? Does it matter at all (as long as her gear is good enough to support her throughout the game) or does it really irritate you when you try to change gear and get the message "This item cannot be removed"?

Peace
Keldon

Edited by Azkyroth, 12 March 2007 - 04:47 PM.
Mismatched quote tags; how did you get that past the board software? ;/ Let me know if this bothers you.

[berelinde]

Kindrek took a fair amount of heat because his inventory items couldn't be moved.

I would avoid unmovable items unless they were absolutely plot essential, and even then, I would keep it to one or two. If you want to fill up her inventory with *movable* custom items, usable only by her, that would be your choice, and I don't think anyone could complain, since they can just go ahead and equip something else if they don't like what she has.

[Keldon]

I would avoid unmovable items unless they were absolutely plot essential, and even then, I would keep it to one or two. If you want to fill up her inventory with *movable* custom items, usable only by her, that would be your choice, and I don't think anyone could complain, since they can just go ahead and equip something else if they don't like what she has.

Hmm, great suggestion Berelinde!
After more consideration, I may revisit this option so that everyone can have their cake and eat it too, so to speak.

Peace
Keldon

[Kellen]

It also depends a bit on what it is. Edwin has a nice amulet, and Nalia a pretty good ring, and I find neither of those annoying considering how helpful they are. Anomen's shield is removable and I'm glad of that, because there are a lot of better shields in the game. And then you get other little things, like Anomen's ring or the necklace for Jaheira, and I just wish that they could be irremovable.

[berelinde]

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have unmovable items! Heck, Gavin's got one. I'm just saying that you should think about it. If you're curious, I made Gavin's unmovable item a ring because he's still got one ring slot open if the player finds something they'd like him to have.

[Keldon]

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have unmovable items! Heck, Gavin's got one. I'm just saying that you should think about it. If you're curious, I made Gavin's unmovable item a ring because he's still got one ring slot open if the player finds something they'd like him to have.

I understand what you are saying Berelinde, and agree that having one unmovable item is probably not going to upset anyone too much.
I think I may have been going a little overboard with my items because I had her almost completely geared up with items that were not movable. This is what got me to thinking, "hmm, if I downloaded an NPC and couldn't move any of her items, it may cause me to not be able to enjoy her as much as if I had the option of moving her gear".
Your suggestion made a lot of sense in just having the gear be specific to her, but movable. As well, because the gear is not quest specific, and really only there to enhance her as a character, perhaps she may be better off without all that stuff (in terms of playability).
What I am currently thinking is of redoing her gear. Making her so that she has 1 item to enhance her, and the leaving the rest of the slots open to the PC's discretion.
It's kind of funny how these NPCs take on a life of their own, become your little babies, and you get so tempted to want to give them everything you can before sending them out into the big scary world! lol! (Heh, geuss I am quilty of being an overprotective modder!)

Peace
Keldon

[berelinde]

Oh, Keldon, that is so funny, and so true!

You get to writing, and you start thinking "Hmmm, this would be cool, but I'd like to do this, too, and this, and what about this?" Next thing you know, you've gone way overboard. It's easy to do this with the dialogue, too (especially interjections), which is why some NPC mods are accused of stealing the show. It's just so tempting to give them that one extra line, which turns into a couple dozen.

What is that Japanese truism? "The secret to painting bamboo is to know when it is time to stop painting bamboo"?

[Keldon]

Oh, Keldon, that is so funny, and so true!

You get to writing, and you start thinking "Hmmm, this would be cool, but I'd like to do this, too, and this, and what about this?" Next thing you know, you've gone way overboard. It's easy to do this with the dialogue, too (especially interjections), which is why some NPC mods are accused of stealing the show. It's just so tempting to give them that one extra line, which turns into a couple dozen.

What is that Japanese truism? "The secret to painting bamboo is to know when it is time to stop painting bamboo"?

Actually, you know what? this is a very good point.
How does a modder know when to draw the line in as far as banters and interjections go?
For me, I am currently planning 3 banters (5 with one character in particular) with each of Bioware-16, plus interjections, plus conversations with PC, plus PC initiated conversations. When I break it down like this, it sure seems to be one heck of a lot of conversations my NPC is involved in. Would you say this is the norm as far as number of conversations or am I overboard here as well?

[berelinde]

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about that sort of thing, or even any firm guidelines.

1000 interjections is probably too many, but 50 might be too many, too, if they are all in Chateau Irenicus. I guess the trick is spacing them properly.

I would think one interjection per quest would be a desirable minimum, unless the quest is a ridiculously short fed-ex quest. Or unless the quest really has nothing to do with the NPC. And there are some places where interjections are expected, like the Tree of Life, or, for a romanced female, for the Phaere seduction. You're probably going to want somewhere between 50 and 300 interjections.

Interjections fall into several categories. There's the direct dialogue interjection, where the NPC interrupts someone else's dialogue. And then there's the item-related interjection, where the NPC comments on something in the inventory. And then there are scenery comments, where the NPC comments on a specific location. And chapter talks, when the NPC comments on current events. These can all be considered interjections, or they might be considered something else. Nomenclature is imprecise.

As for NPC/PC dialogue, again, there is nothing carved in stone. For a friendship, I'd want 8-20 talks. For a romance, 15-30.

For NPC/NPC banters, mod NPCs typically have 2-5 for SoA and 1-3 for ToB. Having more is never a bad thing ™, because it adds to replayability and accomodates those (like me) that play with a finger poised over CTRL-I.

[Keldon]

Hi Berelinde,

Thank you for this info, I have found it very helpful indeed and will do my best to not tempt your trigger happy CTRl-I finger to go nuts on you!

Peace
Keldon