Pescua [title work in progress!]

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slowdive
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by slowdive »

Well, you know our motto around here, “any progress is progress” and “we have no deadlines and we like it that way”. But it does sound like the note taking on the trains will come in handy, I like simplifying, it helps me avoid scope creep :P
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Dorateen
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by Dorateen »

Definitely, having time to think about your project and plan quests/encounters/plot ideas is still important development time.
Pongo
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by Pongo »

I've had more time to put into it this month. I've mainly been revisiting convos and updating them to line up with the new, simplified story. I think its better - there's less exposition and random political stuff to remember, so it cuts along at a faster pace and feels more fun. There's a clearer overall villain too. Might not be the last time I do this, it's been quite useful.
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Dorateen
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by Dorateen »

Interesting to hear about the design development, and how ideas or narratives evolve. From everything you have described so far, it sounds like it will be a fun adventure.
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slowdive
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by slowdive »

Sounds like some great progress and more focused scope. I'm looking forward to this one very much.
Pongo
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by Pongo »

I've finished the rewrite and gotten stuck into making some new areas and quests. I'm working on a lizardmen camp at the minute and having fun pulling it together.

One thing I noticed when redoing the convos is how often my NPCs sigh after saying something. They do it all the time, all of them! There definitely needs to be less sighing involved. And sitting back/forward in chairs as well...
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slowdive
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by slowdive »

Pongo wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:15 pm I've finished the rewrite and gotten stuck into making some new areas and quests. I'm working on a lizardmen camp at the minute and having fun pulling it together.

One thing I noticed when redoing the convos is how often my NPCs sigh after saying something. They do it all the time, all of them! There definitely needs to be less sighing involved. And sitting back/forward in chairs as well...
Haha, these NPCs need some more action in their lives I suspect that will be happening soon enough :lol: Happy to hear about the progress and focused rewrites. Looking forward to this one.
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Dorateen
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by Dorateen »

It's funny how certain mannerisms will creep into descriptive text. A little repetition/exaggeration is OK I think especially where most of the "action" takes place in a text window, it helps the reader visualize the scene. Camp of lizardmen sounds great, I wonder if they will be immediately hostile, or neutral and the party has to explore carefully. Keep up the good work, Pongo!
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slowdive
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by slowdive »

Dorateen wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:28 pm It's funny how certain mannerisms will creep into descriptive text. A little repetition/exaggeration is OK I think especially where most of the "action" takes place in a text window, it helps the reader visualize the scene.
Also, it is possible that a group of people in a small town will start having similar mannerisms and jargon. That's just what happens to people who are around each other long enough :lol: . Another town further away may have a different set of mannerisms all together.
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Re: Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by Pongo »

Wish I could claim it was part of the plan, but it's just lazy writing on my part! :) I've now think I've cut all references to sighing, but there were so many I've probably missed some.

The module is now onto its twelth name change. I briefly had a great name for it which I later realised was the title of an 80s gamebook literally sat in front of my pc on a bookshelf. I'll probably only settle on the proper name for this mod the day I upload it!

I've spent much of the last two weeks on a Tull sidequest it would be very easy to miss. Basically, you need to go to the Castle Grimtol dungeons (easily overlooked), get access to the cells (you don't have permission) and then talk to a prisoner who claims to be wrongly imprisoned. Worse, there's a cut off point in the mod where all the prisoners are shipped off to the bigger town of Culcheth and hanged, so if you don't speak to her relatively early on you miss the chance. Two weeks is a big investment for a quest lots of people won't see, but I really enjoy building in optional content like that. Whether or not the pcs find the quest or succeed at it (it's also possible to fail it!), some NPCs will reference the outcome in conversation.

Aside from that, I've built the lizardman camp and surrounding area (good question Dorateen about their alignment - they are slightly ambiguous. They have a non-aggression agreement with Tull and largely keep to themselves, but the finger of blame appears to point at them for something that happens in the town and the player is asked to investigate...). But a lot of work left to finish the quest itself.

The lizardmen camp is the "fourth" core quest in the mod. Quests four-six become available from the knights at Castle Grimtol only when quests one-three are completed. I'm still aiming to get a build out that covers quests one to six (basically chapters one and two) before finishing the rest of it. First half of next year is the plan!
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