Pescua [title work in progress!]

Post by **slowdive** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:54 pm

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

Post by **Dorateen** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:05 pm

Definitely, having time to think about your project and plan quests/encounters/plot ideas is still important development time.

Post by **Pongo** » Wed Nov 03, 2021 10:35 am

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.

Post by **Dorateen** » Wed Nov 03, 2021 2:10 pm

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.

Post by **slowdive** » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:09 am

Sounds like some great progress and more focused scope. I'm looking forward to this one very much.

Post by **Pongo** » 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...

Post by **slowdive** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:48 pm

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

Happy to hear about the progress and focused rewrites. Looking forward to this one.

Post by **Dorateen** » 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. 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!

Post by **slowdive** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 4:25 pm

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

. Another town further away may have a different set of mannerisms all together.

Post by **Pongo** » Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:08 pm

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!

Post by **slowdive** » Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:57 pm

This is great and I love hard to find quests because I am always trying to find them and I very much appreciate them

Most of the great RPGs have lots of content that many (the ones who play fast and are not thorough) never see, but the "true" RPG players appreciate

Chapters 1 and 2 in first half of next year sounds great! I should have my IB and IBbasic bug/feature list done by then

(side note: I'm working on my IB to IBbasic import tool and will be using Hearkenwold as a test to make sure it works well).

Post by **Dorateen** » Fri Dec 03, 2021 2:56 pm

Yes, I like the way this adventure is shaping up. A good amount of optional content, and secrets for players to explore. The development process, working through various concepts, is also very interesting to read about. I look forward to seeing more as we get closer to the new year. Unless I'm mistaken, 2022 will mark the ten year anniversary of IceBlink.

Post by **Pongo** » Fri Jan 07, 2022 9:23 pm

I had a good night of building yesterday - family were away, so I got to spend a good chunk of hours alternating building and slowly progressing my Hearkenwold playthrough

A good Iceblink night.

I'm building chapter 2, which has three main quests and a conclusion quest:
- the lizardman camp I mentioned earlier, which now has maps but little content;
- the town of Culcheth and in particular it's graveyard, which I built ages back. The town is populated but the journey to it needs a bit of work (the maps are all there, but some content is missing or bugged), and I need to add the graveyard content;
- a journey to a new town to the south of the coast, which I haven't started at all and will probably take the most time (it's 8 new maps I think);
- the "conclusion quest", for want of a better phrase, which has been planned for ages - I've got a very clear idea of how things end up at the end of Chapter 2! There's no content yet, but it's a contained quest within an existing area so won't need new maps or anything.

This month I'm still working on the lizardmen camp for the most part I think.

Post by **Dorateen** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:40 am

Good to hear. I'm looking forward to meeting these lizardmen. And the graveyard sounds appropriately intriguing. Do you have a master world map that you use when connecting all the areas?

Post by **Pongo** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:36 am

Yes, I have a master world map on excel. It helps me keep track of things like rivers and coastlines that cross multiple maps. Each map has a grid ID - A1, B2 etc - and all the convo, encounter, and container names begin with that ID so I can find them easily. It felt like overkill when I started, but I'm very glad I did it now - I always have the spreadsheet open in the background when I'm building.

Post by **Pongo** » Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:57 pm

Some progress over the last month. Mainly I've been developing the swamp area around the lizardmen camp. I'm aiming for it to feel unpleasant, so there are lots of creatures with poison attacks and plants that release noxious fumes etc. Its an area you can actually get to quite quickly from the start of the module if you know the way, but its aimed at a level 3/4 party really.

: swamp.png (537.51 KiB) Viewed 93652 times

These swamp dragons might look like simple crocodiles (ahem!), but they have a nasty attack and breathe deadly poison gas clouds - avoiding them is sometimes an option worth taking...

: swamp2.png (295.79 KiB) Viewed 93652 times

I've been tweaking the end of Chapter One a lot. Its still not quite right but its getting there. The final part of the chapter is set in the city of Bastion and more specifically its castle, and introduces characters who are going to play a key part in chapter 2. I'm still using free images from the internet (usually freeimages.com) for the portraits, so Bastion came out looking like this:

: Bastion.png (388 KiB) Viewed 93652 times

Finally, this is the tileset I've pulled together for the inside of the castle - works quite well I think!

: castleBastion.png (294.51 KiB) Viewed 93652 times

And finally - I think I've actually settled on a name! The module will be called Lords of Skaule. I've gotten through quite a few abandoned names in the last six months so maybe it'll change again, but this one seems to be sticking.

Post by **slowdive** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:54 am

Lords of Skaule, sounds great. I wonder if these Lords will become my friends or enemies...

The swamps sound very inviting and cozy

The map tiles, portraits and UI are coming together very nicely.

I may try and clean up the way toggle buttons work, maybe have a single "settings" button that pulls up a selection box with all the toggle buttons on it (similar to how IBbasic does it now). That may make sense since you don't usually change the toggles much throughout your play session.

It is a lot of work to track down all the artwork for a cohesive module, but you have always done an excellent job in that area.

Post by **Dorateen** » Thu Feb 10, 2022 12:50 pm

Very, very nice! I love the screenshots, I was looking forward these. Environmental hazards on a map are always a fun thing to throw at the player. And those swamp dragons should be a worthy challenge.

I'll say it again, the technique you use to give walls some depth on that map is outstanding. Everything looks solid. When can we play?

Post by **Pongo** » Sat Feb 12, 2022 12:07 pm

Thanks! Slowdive, yeah the "settings" option would be a nice addition and would clean up the interface a bit. Dorateen, my plans for putting something out keep changing. I was going to wait until I finished chapter 2, but realistically that's going to take most of this year which feels too long. I do want to at least finish some of the interconnecting areas though so it feels less linear, and I'm enjoying building the lizardman quest as well - I'll take stock after finishing them and probably release a work in progress build. Late spring hopefully!

Post by **Pongo** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:13 am

Continuing to make good progress, but I'm going to focus now on just getting a build ready to publish. I'm cutting all the Chp2 content for the minute and focussing on making Chp1 a better experience - finishing a few side quests and unexplored areas, and expanding the ending a bit, revisiting some of the stuff that doesn't work quite how I wanted. Maybe ready for April, more likely May. Then a little break and some quality time with Hearkenwold before picking up Chp2 again!

Post by **Dorateen** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:48 pm

Pongo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:13 am I'm going to focus now on just getting a build ready to publish. I'm cutting all the Chp2 content for the minute and focussing on making Chp1 a better experience

Sounds like a good plan. The Chapter 2 content, you will then add back in after the build is published? In other words, not scrapping completely, but just separating for now so you can release Chapter 1. I'm looking forward to trying this one out.

Post by **slowdive** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 6:08 pm

Sounds like a great plan, Pongo! It'll give us a chance to try out the first chapter and make a few playthroughs. Looking forward to it.

Post by **Pongo** » Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:28 am

Thanks! Yes, that's right Dorateen - I'm not binning Chp2 content, but I'm being more ruthless at gating it off from this build. There will still be plenty of content to explore in Chp1.

Post by **Dorateen** » Wed May 04, 2022 2:08 pm

How is your project coming along? I look forward to playing another IceBlink module, and it's a great chance to learn from other builders. This one sounds like exactly what I enjoy in an RPG. No pressure!

Post by **Pongo** » Thu Jun 09, 2022 4:49 pm

I've gone totally off-track in the last couple of months - I had an unexpected work deadline that kind of took over my life for a while. Its now done though

, so I can turn my attention back to my more enjoyable hobbies!

I think I'm into that final 10% of development that can take 90% of the delivery time. The mod is full of content, but there are still lots of bits that just aren't quite right. I'm going to run through it again with a few parties and continue fixing it for a while. There is also some content I want to go back and change as well to make it more interesting and fun and to improve the overall flow.

It really is getting there, and I'll post a more interesting update in a few weeks! But I'll avoid giving an estimate for completion because I'm continually wrong with those...

Post by **slowdive** » Thu Jun 16, 2022 12:19 am

Yeah, estimating completion time is pointless for me too since I'm always way off, haha. Sounds like you have made some good progress and that is great. The last 10% taking 90% of the time sounds about right to me

Post by **Pongo** » Tue Jul 19, 2022 3:03 pm

Made lots of progress over the last few weeks. I'm basically playing the module repeatedly to pick up broken convos (more than I expected), broken global integers (far fewer than I expected), and issues of flow (level development, items, story etc - all of which need work).

I've revamped level progression and made it much slower, and rebalanced the combat so its a bit easier. I think the pace works much better now. The current content would take 5hrs to get through I think (although its hard to predict), and would leave the player at around level 3 which feels about right. I've removed some enemies that were too hard, and I'll add them into later missions where the player will be higher level.

Story pace is a challenge. I've made it simpler (again!), which helps. I've also made the quests a bit less specific. They were basically "go there and kill that" type things, which on reflection didn't encourage exploration - which was a shame given there is "off path" stuff to find. So now they're more in the "go somewhere around there and work out what's going on" style. It hasn't actually taken too much input to change the style - the actual content broadly stayed the same, just now reveals itself more slowly. I feel it makes a big difference though. I've also gone back over convos to add in more race/class/trait stuff.

I'm trying to avoid adding too much completely new content at this point, but there are few areas that sagged and needed it. This is the opening combat in a three-level tomb I've just completed:

: skels.png (332.06 KiB) Viewed 92371 times

Its a bit of a maze, and there are some fun encounters and puzzles. I've gone a bit "Pools of Radiancey" with monster numbers in this fight - skeletons are fairly weak enemies and the party are well equipped/second level, so they would have no problem with a smaller group, but they could still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Its a war of attrition!

Finally, I've been playing with ways to introduce a "bandage" skill or spell that stabilises a bleeding character. Haven't quite worked out the best way of doing this yet, but will get there!

Post by **Dorateen** » Tue Jul 19, 2022 6:17 pm

Looks great! That tileset works so perfect for a skeleton infested tomb.

I also like the idea of slowly revealing information to the player, letting them "work out what's going on", as you put it. This will be a lot of fun.

Post by **slowdive** » Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:12 pm

Looks Anna sounds great! I have a bandage system that is built in to IBbasic that can be used or not by builders. It is a trait that needs to acquired. It basically sets the hp to zero. I had to make a number of changes to the code to make things work so IB would also need code changes, I don’t think a trait with the existing v203 would work correctly.

Post by **Pongo** » Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:10 am

Thanks both! OK no worries about bandage, it was just an idea because I was getting annoyed with my characters bleeding out when I ran out of healing potions.

Its not a big issue though, can work around it.

Had an amusing panic this morning. My ancient laptop appeared to have died on me, which it has been threatening to do for a long time, and I had a horrible, sinking realisation that I hadn't gotten round to backing up my Iceblink files in months. Fortunately I've now got it running again (turned out the power brick had become unplugged lol so nothing actually wrong with the laptop this time...) and I've now rectified that on cloud and memory stick. Phew!

Post by **slowdive** » Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:13 am

Pongo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:10 am Fortunately I've now got it running again and I've now rectified that on cloud and memory stick. Phew!

Something to think about would be to use GitHub desktop for your projects. It works great for having a free online backup and tracks all changes made to your module's folder so you can easily revert to older versions of a file if needed (Zach uses it for his IB module). I've always used GitHub for the IceBlink code, but Unity does not have a built-in GitHub system like Visual Studio has. So most Unity coders use GitHub Desktop for their Unity projects.

Post by **zach_holbrook** » Mon Aug 01, 2022 4:25 pm

Yes, GitHub has saved my life several times -- or my sanity anyway!

Post by **Pongo** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 8:05 am

My "to-do" list is rapidly decreasing - I'm definitely in the final stages.

I've started using Craiyon, the AI art thing, for some of the module art. Its actually pretty good! Here are some that have made it into the mod:

: craiyon_124229_scary_demon.png (504.05 KiB) Viewed 91788 times

: craiyon_085114_spooky_old_room_with_a_big_window.png (649.82 KiB) Viewed 91788 times

: craiyon_083522_family_crest_black_dragon.png (840.37 KiB) Viewed 91788 times

They don't all turn out great though. Its particularly awful with people:

: craiyon_085228_female_wizard.png (679.08 KiB) Viewed 91788 times

: craiyon_090012_dwarf_fighter_with_an_axe.png (525.03 KiB) Viewed 91788 times

...is that a dwarf or a gerbil? But overall its speeded up the process for finding art quite a lot. For inanimate objects like books, or environments like rooms, its generally pretty useful - I'd recommend it if you're struggling to find a particular resource.

Post by **Dorateen** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 5:38 pm

Great work, I like the room, very atmospheric and the dragon crest, too. I read about Craiyon last week in a post on the Codex. It's a nifty tool. Definitely can be a time saver, and should generate some memorable art.

Still looking forward to playing your module!

Post by **slowdive** » Thu Sep 08, 2022 3:00 am

That is an interesting idea for a tool. I see how that could help with module building for those that are not doing all of their own custom artwork (like Zach).

Great to hear that the list is slowly getting smaller. That is a good sign because my lists are usually getting bigger, haha.

Post by **zach_holbrook** » Thu Sep 08, 2022 7:25 pm

AI is capable of doing some really interesting things. I can see artists and modders and taking AI images and tweaking/putting their own spin on them as a really efficient way of making art. Spooky old room is really cool!

Post by **Pongo** » Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:05 pm

I've been working on the map of Skaule for a while using Inkarnate. I want to use it in the mod's intro to help set a sense of place. The bit of the mod I'm working on is essentially the whole south-west section - its a pretty large area of about 45 interlocking 20x20 maps (not including specific dungeons etc). I've tried to be generally consistent with map sizes to help mapping, but the towns are a bit larger than that (eg Culcheth is 40x40 and has a separate graveyard map) so its not 100% consistent.

The background is that Skaule is an isolated island that forms a proxy battle for two larger powers elsewhere - the Ustryan Empire in the west, and Skalavic in the east. This occupation is relatively new, and the island is full of ruins that speak of a longer, now lost, civilisation. Bastion is the imperial fort that marks the current divide of the two territories on the island. When the PCs arrive, both sides are living by an uneasy truce that might collapse at any time. The PCs travel to the island as mercenaries to take paid work from the Empire in and around Castle Grimtol - but, ultimately, they owe no allegiance to anyone.

The north of the island was once also occupied but was laid waste in a mysterious event now long forgotten. Only a desolate red wasteland remains. However, some who have braved the bleak wastes tell tales of ruined cities, lost in the red sands, that are still inhabited by deadly creatures. And tucked away in the north-east of the island is a large settlement of orcs in an ancient mountain home - they have their own concerns and internal battles and largely keep to themselves, although some will go ranging to trade or to raid...

(I've just noticed the typo in Gloomwood, ha! Will fix it. I expect I'll keep adding to the map as it develops in any case).

: The Island of Skaule (1).jpg (1.86 MiB) Viewed 91662 times

Post by **Dorateen** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:03 pm

Outstanding! I love seeing fantasy maps, and the background lore that goes with it. Nice sepia tone for the colors, I think. The island and its history appear quite inviting... for trouble.

The section of the game world sounds huge. Should be excellent for exploration.

Post by **slowdive** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:32 pm

This looks and sounds amazing! I love the map and all the lore you have developed so far. I think Glooomwoood would be fine

or Gloomwood, either way is good

.

Post by **Pongo** » Wed Sep 28, 2022 3:54 pm

Thanks both! Yeah I did consider doubling down on Glooomwood and making it a thing - will probably revert to a normal spelling though!

Post by **Dorateen** » Wed Sep 28, 2022 6:03 pm

Pongo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 3:54 pm I did consider doubling down on Glooomwood

I imagine that's how an NPC might say the name, trying to make it sound spooky for dramatic effect:

"Beware the Glooomwood!"

Post by **Pongo** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:20 pm

I haven't updated in ages, but I've still been happily tooling away in the background over the last couple of months.

I'm basically on the final path for critical content now, and then I'll put it out there. There will be a few bugs no doubt, and I won't have fixed all the playable classes as well as I would have liked (I'll include an indication of which ones are most "complete"), but I think its at the stage where its ready to go. I'm basically aiming for April, although it could slip into May.

And then, finally, I'm going to sit down and sink some relaxing hours into a long promised playthrough of Hearkenwold before I go anywhere near chapter two!

Post by **Dorateen** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:17 pm

Sounds good. I have been looking forward to seeing an update about Pescua. Will definitely check out the module when you have it ready.