Sword Coast

[thaelis]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/32...snr=1_4_4__100

Aside from the huge amount of work it would take, would it be possible to import Sundren into this?

[Doubtful]

Afaik, no. It's not like NWN In terms of scope or ability, yes you can have DMs but only in pre existing areas, DMs have to earn DM points in order to spawn traps and monsters.

Unreal or even Unity would be a better option for replacing Sundren with a dynamic and interesting multiplayer world. More work up front but a better end result.

Plus, using Unreal or something you'd be able to liberate yourself from the D&D mechanics that cause most of the problems and create a really enjoyable new IP for people to play in.

[Mournas]

I know, I was thinking the same thing Thaelis, I think I brought this up a few months ago. But in a thread not about the game. Pretty big bummer.

[Fateful Encounter]

Yeah ... this game seems to want to put DMs and players in adversarial positions, in some kind of competition. No focus on storytelling ... I was pretty disappointed.

[thaelis]

Boo! Also I was pretty excited to see a Pathfinder Online game, before seeing there is no free/trial option...just $35+ for a NWN2-esque graphics game in the (Alpha?) stage. Not to mention they have $1000 and $5000 tiers ha! You would have to have some serious money to waste to purchase that.

I wouldn't even pay that for a Sundren revamp! (I would pay about ~$100-200, but I think even that probably wouldn't suffice right?)

How much does it cost to buy Unity anyway?

[kovah]

I throw (small amounts of) money at Saulus every time he asks. I haven't actually "played" this game in forever, beyond logging in and running around to check-out the physical changes like flying cities and shit.

That said, I, for one, would save and throw even more for an update beyond the current NWN2 Engine. I suck at RolePlaying but I LOVE this world and community that you all have built and will support the shit out of it for as long as I am able. While still likely not playing due to the aforementioned suckage.

Also, stop locking the drama threads!

/back to lurk mode

[Doubtful]

It's a bummer. The DM client just looks dire, you're a twinkling little light that the players can always see. Nice, a big FUCK YOU! to immersion, great start. the DM has to earn DM points by setting players challenges that the players then overcome, your spawns/traps are limited by the Threat points available to you. Much of the DM/Player interaction seems to be real-time, so no hours of pre-setup to tweak the dungeon for maximum flavour and RP goodness, just a flurry of action as you try to keep ahead of players.

The DM client in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm8r05oOiKA

But hey, you can possess boss class monsters.. Woooooo! Fuck, that really deserves the First-Of-A-Kind stuff they're shouting about. Limited creature set per dungeon, random zone generation,



Toolset? Maybe, though there's been NO screenshots, leaks or conformation of any kind. Things such as 'Pre-order and get X monster and Tileset' don't inspire much confidence. A few vague hints (the first steam Video makes mention of "Randomly created dungeons or a campaign of your own creation") are all you've got. Though, we'll see - The Video I linked above says the Campaign Creation will be demonstrated in the coming months, maybe I'm wrong. With E3 just a few days away it's possible we'll see more news filtering out.

Personally, I've pretty much had it with hanging out for a future NWN though. Honestly, we already have things far, far more powerful at our fingertips.

Unreal 4 - 4.8's just been released and it's stonking. It's a personal preference, but I find Unreal much easier and friendlier to use than Unity, plus Unreal comes with a lot of handy extra's for higher-tek folk that you don't need to fork out an extra $75 a month for. Unreal Engine 4.8 and the basic Unity option are both free.

Asset creation would be a hurdle, but the internet is full of stuff you can get legitimately for free and if you want to make your own stuff then you're spoiled for choice with free (Blender) or low cost (Maya LT, Houdini Indie, Modo Indie.

The trick would be in getting a capable enough team together of volunteers to work on a coherent project, ideally something you could roll out in coherent stages, without dancing on the coattails of anyone's existing IP (unless you can afford licencing or enjoy being in court)

[Mournas]

Don't forget you have to preorder the 60 dollar digital delux version to have access to ... of all things ... Beholders? I'm assuming that they're assuming that Beholders are the most iconic to D&D. I haven't given it much thought but I suppose Beholders could take that cake.

[Taintedglory]

Well, Beholders and Mindflayers are copyrighted by WoTC so.. I guess that makes beholders iconic, because they cant be used in any other game system legally

[gamestarmike]

The game design makes dm side seem like it just encourages the mindset of wiping the players which is really troll, even though that guy in the video trys to state otherwise.

[Doubtful]

Beholders and a Tileset, which makes me suspect tilesets and so on will be microtransactions/DLC based going forward.

[nezzerscape]

what about http://shardsonline.com/ ?

[Doubtful]

I wasn't convinced about it during the kickstarter and I remain unconvinced now.

That said, if it can live up to its own hype and loose the Unity Look (the gaming version of the Innsmouth Look) then it could have potential. It's in the very early stages of development though so who knows what may happen between now and launch, or how their schedule will shift.

Ultimately though, would you rather wait a year or two to buy a product in the hope it's suitable, or spend that time building something utterly tailored to your own needs?

[nezzerscape]

While building tailored to our needs would be awesome, using a platform that such as shards or D&D, would enable for more new players to find out about Sundren.

[Doubtful]

There are pros and cons to any approach.

Something like SC, NWN and Shards would give you a pote tial userbase, but you'd only be a single server amongst the many servers being developed on those platforms.

Going it alone means you'd have to work harder and do the legwork yourself or develop a fanbase solid enough to spread the word. Potentially though you could reach more people directly if your project made the news sheets or managed to get the Steam Greenlight.

There is a huge difference in workload of course, pre-made solutions such as NWN and the like come with a vast amount of pre-made content, models, textures, music and sound effects the value of which is hard to over sell. Developing something independently of an existing game means a lot more work, while their are free-to-use licences for many models out there relying on that stuff to provide a comprehensive and cohesive look isn't going to work. That isn't to undersell the amount of effort required to get something like an NWN server up and running, back at the start the servers initial team were putting 20-30+ hours a week into the setup in addition to having full-time jobs and families. There comes a point where you need to ask yourself, would I rather invest all this time, money and effort into something for someone else's product, or would I like to invest it in my own product?

Mechanics, someone else's setup will inevitably come with mechanics that aren't what you need or want, so you'll end up forced into accepting something you don't want or have to come up with often complicated workrou Ds. Of course the payoff is that you'll also have loads of systems in place that you don't need to worry about.

Liscensing is another issue, SC would mean you could use the FR setting and D&D brand for your server without issue, always a crowd pleaser and a well known symbol. Shards and anything you develop independently however could not use either lest you rouse Hasbro and incure the wrath of their IP and liscensing departments.

This touches on money. A contetious issue if ever there were one. Running a mod, be it NWN, SC or Shards will means using someone else's platform and the licences that go with it, this means essentially giving up control of your IP and no making money (though you can ask for donations for sever upkeep, though even that is a bit of a grey area), it'll only ever be a hobby for the modders to invest in. Of course, as the debarcle on Steam showed recently only disgustingly scummy and black souled sellouts would want to dare charge people for their work, even if it was legal. If people want to play on your server they need to pay someone else.

Your own product is a different matter, for a start the internet views Indie developers with some enthusiasm and tends to support them, unlike those outrageously demanding modders who fancy reimbursement. If its a product and IP you've developed yourself you can take full advantage of it, perhaps even merchandise it (t-shirts and alike. Fairly common but a simple way of raising funds with tangible returns for the buyer. If people want to play on your server they pay you, money that you can then use to fund further development. I know if I could afford to take a 50% contact at work to develop games as more than a hobby I'd do it, I can't see that ever happening as a modder.