Working on Chapter 2

After evaluating what needs to be done for the next module and what is already done, I have come to the conclusion that there is a LOT of work left. I'm going to have to slave away on this thing if I want it done in a few months (it's safe to assume that it will take another 2 months to release it after I deem it "almost done"). Some things that I wanted to stuff in Ravage but are around 0% completed, I will have to move to another city, and even so, there is a lot to do for what seems like a short module.

Back when I thought about releasing chapters 1&2 together, I guess C2 was supposed to have less content. It definitely takes more than a year for me to finish making one of these chapters if I start from nothing, but a lot of things are already half-done, so the wait for C2 shouldn't be *that* big, but then again, who knows.

Not to ask for any Valine comparison, but I always found it fascinating how she made those huge modules in less than a lifetime. o.o I wouldn't want to make any big updates content-wise, unless it's something I've written before and forgotten to add in.

I also want to play other modules, but feel like it's no time to play when I should be creating.

Now, if I keep posting spoilers, there will be nothing left in C2 to see, so no screenshot. :)

Brash and Sin... [C1 spoilers!]

*** This post is full of spoilers if you haven't played Chapter 1. ***


I'm still not back home, but after some more work on the second chapter and an argument with my boyfriend who says Raze is completely despicable and that the players will hate him even more than they hate Brash (lol), I decided to move some things around. (Boyfriend has only read Raze's dialogs from the released module, btw.) Men!!!

I'm not changing Raze's personality, but instead, adding an alternative to the main quest of Chapter 2, the old version of which involves the abominable, corrupt, perverted cultists whom not all players will find so adorable. (I need to consult with Good aligned people more often before developing...) As for Raze, I will *consider* implementing PC options to send him to hell every once in a while, after which he wouldn't feel so inclined to talk to the girl again. Maybe.

Anyway, I have a big announcement to make... Sinallion the bard will make an appearance in Chapter 2!

Behold his booties!

Could it be possible for the heroine to finally meet a nice man, for a change? It remains to be seen, but if she does, I guess the bandits and farmers (the most popular "romance" option!) will have to try even harder...

I think developing Chapter 2 will be a lot more fun for me now. I have to change things once in a while, or come up with something new to keep me going.

Now, as you may know, I have been meditating on the saved variables from Chapter1.

I want to give the player a choice when it comes to keeping or killing any companion, but I decided to make the available choices correspond to the player's previous behavior. Except you should be able to stab any companion for no reason at all, but not at any time (some railroading has to be there). And by the way, the demonspawn will be stuck with you for a while... take it or leave it.

Only one character has had enough time with the demonheart girl in Chapter 1 to have the relationship tracked reliably. The most important decisions about Arana and Raze relationships have yet to happen.

**** Brash spoilers!!! ****

Since I listed him as one of the main "romances" and everyone expects to see him again, I suppose it's not a huge spoiler to say they will meet again, though it's not certain when.

I decided that if you treated him like trash (in his opinion!) he won't blindly fight all the other characters for your attention, and might want to fight you, instead... violently. I have a set of different possible outcomes planned. Some of you might be surprised with Brash's reaction to your character.

In addition to the characters sent to me, I playtested the relationship with 2 very different characters who were not all over him, but who I imagined liked him a lot. (I played both of them in ways that I knew wouldn't irritate Brash, though!) I don't want any of the demonheart girls who really liked him to fail the relationship check, but I want a different outcome if she hated the guy. Avoiding to talk to him counts as being disinterested, btw, since the conversations are where you get the relationship points.

******** /Brash spoilers ********

Updated Chapter 1

I uploaded the new version to the old vault (tried to update on the new vault too, but was having connectivity problems).

It's on the same address, just without the "beta" in its name when you open it. v1.00: http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=6392  (The changes are listed in a txt file there.)

* Old beta version 0.767 is still here: http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/demonheart-chapter-i

It would be nice if someone confirmed that the module v1.00 is playable. It requires an updated hak from the haks page, so take care. I played 2 days ago, but have made new changes since and only partially tested (it turns out I am a slowpoke, I need more than 5 hours for the entire module o.O).

I'm preparing for a holiday and won't be updating in a while.

I probably couldn't remember to list everything. There isn't any special new content, only that some things that didn't work before should now work, and the characters sometimes say something slightly different (you'd need a looking glass to find it, except Raze probably says 3 whole new sentences :P).

Edit: The variables on the exported characters are working, so I'll be taking the information received until now with me on holiday to study in detail. o.O

Call for Help :)

I've been working on the character relationships in the modules and decided that I need to play Chapter 1 with at least 3 different characters now (I'm testing my bug corrections)... and it might take a while and still not be enough information. I've played the module many times and don't find it quite as fun anymore. :/

As you may know, I would like to be able to predict whether your character liked an NPC from those variables tracked, so a non-rapist character could decide to make a move on PC or not. I don't know if it's going to work or if I should even try, since my main character would be playing hard to get all the time. Still, I am interested in those variable values.

So, I'll ask you to mail me your characters exported from the end of Chapter 1, if you want. They are in the folder localvault and you probably have more than one character with the same name, since the game automatically saves them when you create them, so try to send me the right ones or all of them, and I'll figure it out. Send a description including the character's name (if you send more than one) and how she felt about Brash, Arana and Raze. (Liked someone, but she was shy? Liked someone and tried to jump all over him/her? Was she respectful or rude to them?) Then I can take those characters and extract their variables from their special inventory item, which I hope saved correctly. o.O

demonheartlamb @ gmail . com  (without spaces)

By the way, I have been working on chapters 1, 2 and 3, a little bit of each.

Chapter 2 Update

I'm working on the character interactions in C2, mostly just writing dialogs and taking a break from scripting. It bugs me that I didn't make a final version of C1, so it's still the beta with some issues, but it's better to see if I didn't forget something that will be important for C2, first.

In C2, I added a fortune teller. I hope she's being vague enough and that she doesn't spoil too much. :D Below is the (romanced) demonspawn's reaction if you tell him about your reading (you don't have to).

Censored his name for those who haven't played Chapter 1!

The red woman in the shack is the fortune teller. :)