4 replies to this topic

[kimmuryiel]

I know that about 30 talks is good for SOA+TOB, but I wonder how to divide them? I'm thinking 20/10 (obviously with most going into SOA).

 

Also, about how many "lines" is standard for a lovetalk? I'm thinking 4 including the first one. (but I know 10 would probably be way too many).

 

Not related to love talks, but if there's anyone available to help me script (particularly that Bodhinap)....I would be appreciative.

 

[jastey]

Keep in mind that ToB is awfully short, especially if you are planning your NPC to comment on the happenings, it is difficult to space the dialogues as so much happens one after the other. It is nice to have lot of dialogues in ToB, of course, but I'd say 8 dialogues are plenty (mere interjections not counted) and prefer more dialogues in SoA (preferably in a way that it is not important when to go to Spellhold).
As for the Bodhi abduction, did you have a look at Kulyok's Branwen mod which is coded as a tutorial? I was also told once that my Ajantis mod lists the Bodhi abduction files quite useful, if you have some experience with tp2.

EDIT: I didn't quite get your question about the numbers of lines. I'd say, chose one topic for a lovetalk (do not try to cover several in one), let the PC have all replay optional you can think of (that do not violate morale, I guess), let your NPC react accordingly to all of them, make sure you transfer the lovetalk's message (because you wrote the dialogue for a reason: you want the player to experience something) in every of these dialogue paths (preferably by reuniting the paths, or you'll get insane) and you have the lines you need. If it makes sense.

Edited by jastey, 06 August 2015 - 11:37 PM.

[kimmuryiel]

so 22/8 or should I do 30/8?

 

I was not aware there were any mods coded as tutorials...I'll have to look into that...but about all I've done with actually creating a working mod (keep in mind it was awhile ago) was to get the character in the game and able to join the group. Can't even remember if I got it to use the Drow Female soundset from IWD2.

[cmorgan]

I have a whole forum as a "blogging the code" exploration here: http://gibberlings3....p?showforum=159 but it turns out I should probably put up some kind of index if it is going to be useful other than through standard googling for specific issues. There are also tons of specific topic tutorials here, at www.gibberlings3.net, and at pocketplane.net.

 

Branwen (Kulyok's, not Wounded Lion's) is coded with comments in the code that explain what is going on. Several other mods use the same kind of detailed commenting, but hers gives simple clear comments aimed at beginning modders; not all of them do. Mine tend to be overly wordy; aVENGER_RR's Rogue Rebalancing has very detailed commenting, but not expanded on - basically labels what is changing, not necessarily why/what. Jastey's has comments that can help, but they tend to be in German

 

Numbers are way less important than you are weighting. Keto has no real romance track, and I think less than the number of friend talks you are talking about, and she is incredibly memorable. If you have a story arc for your romance that makes sense, that will give you a sense of how many talks you want to write. Chances are, "less is more, then expand" will be more helpful to you. (Most mod NPCs have significantly more talks and ith much more content than either the Canonical BioWare™ or BeamDog™ characters).

 

Example (plot points) :

 

Lady Chatterly and PC Romance Track

[INITIAL INTEREST] 1. you are interesting.

[DEVELOPMENT]    2. I wonder why you are interesting... you are not my usual type.

                                3. Hey, do you find me interesting?

                                4. Why do you find me interesting?

[CHOICE TO COMMIT TO ROMANCE] 5. Who else do you find interesting, and can I chop them up into little pieces and feed them to the fishes?

{beak point if npc is not interested in multiromance or pc says no then exit plot}

[DEVELOPMENT]     6. So, we are together. What do you think of things?

                                 7. I think I love you.

[RESOLUTION]         8. I am going to rock your world now.

[CODA]                     9. That was fun. I am glad we are together.

 

 

Some folks write the story, then try to turn it into a mod - others see a series of conversations (either sequential or non-sequential) with a goal of exploring either the NPC's or PC's backstory - but the closest kind of writing that I have found is basically a big "choose your own adventure" book, where the story has plot points like a screenplay, but at the end of the scene the reader is asked to do somehthing that sends them to a different series of plot points.

 

 

I run down the basics of The Great Vampire Caper in http://gibberlings3....showtopic=17039 . But to tell you the truth, the best way to really learn what is going on is to look at how several (not 1 - you want 5 or 6) mods handle it, starting with NI or DLCTEP and the Anomen or Jaheira files.

Edited by cmorgan, 07 August 2015 - 11:02 AM.

[kimmuryiel]

thank you very much, cmorgan now if I could just get an at least half-way decent writer (that doesn't just give me excuses *glares at sister*), I'd be all set ...I can do backstories, but not always conversations....(got plenty of material to show me how to code conversations)