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The Plot thread


brethren

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I don't think there's any way I can make a mansion which would be considered "small sized," so I'm switching my mission type at this point. Thinking of doing a Lost City or Crypt theme now, as long as that doesn't conflict with anyone else's plans.

 

really I wouldn't worry about fitting your mission to the plot. leave the plot person/people to fit story around the missions. Nothing is set in stone yet regarding story.

 

I think to keep better track of whats going on with everybody, we should have a sticky thread that contains all project members names, their mission type, where the mission goes in campaign sequence, primary objectives, and progress to completion or something like:

 

1. Canetoad - pagan village - 20%

objectives: ?????

??. Ungoliant - subterranean - 5%

objectives: Sneak through caves, obtain gold crown

3. fllood - ?????? - ??

objectives: ????

 

fill in question marks as more info becomes available. Useful for multiple reasons, like a member can more easily coordinate closing their mission with the opening of the next members FM because everyone knows what everyone is doing and what comes before/after each FM

Edited by ungoliant
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I just figured it would be more of a summary of what's being said in all the other threads. It'll be a new thread; I won't be closing any of these existing ones.

Guess everyone will start it's own thread sooner or later for the mission he does for screens, progess info, questions, get feedback, whatever... . I will once there is really something to say about my mission and then will post progess in that FM thread. Breathen can take infos from there into the sticky.

I expect many chances for the setting of most peoples' maps in the beginning phase (mine included) ;)

 

regards ungolinat other thought: It don't make much sense for me already thinking about a map sequence before we have a rough main story. As well as a decision if we do hub some or most all missions or have them all in sequence.

 

Have we made up our mind about one person directing main plot?

And if yes if it's ok for everybody having ungoliant writing the main plot once we agree on a general idea??

What's your oppionion guys?

"To rush is without doubt the most important enemy of joy" ~ Thieves Saying

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Well we've had a couple of OK plot ideas so far, but I think at this point the plot is mainly going to be the glue between a disparate set of desired mission plans (pagan village, subterranean, lost city, mansion, w/e). Map - Not necessary, just try to use references to in-universe locations as applicable - unless you're doing a city map in which case you might want a bit more integration with established universe locations. It's fine if one person / ungoliant takes lead on the plot, as long as we can agree on how integrated the plot will be with our missions (e.g. do several missions need to eventually add in a particular "artifact" objective, or some sort of information gathering). A large amount of the plot could actually exist as cutscenes or briefings in between the missions, although having missions that are cohesive to the plot is obviously a plus. I wouldn't mind rehashing parts of my map or adding in new areas or NPCs to incorporate someone else's plot direction, my biggest challenge is just going to be making the thing.

 

I will definitely be making an individual thread as soon as I have individual experiences, ideas, screenshots and questions to fill it with, aka when I have started working B), and I'm guessing everyone else will be doing the same, so just title it something like "[name]'s mapping thread".

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Alright well in the interest of getting things moving, as brethren is the director of this project, (and likely the most active member), all major decisions should fall on him instead of waiting up to 2 weeks to get a majority vote from most members. Most important thing right now is for the story to get rolling, and for EVERYONE to chime in and say what type of mission they intend to make (can be changed, of course).

 

flood: map sequence should come last. first everyone declares type of map. then overall story can be written. then map sequence can be declared based on story and map types. The sooner that gets done, the less re-dos and objective changes etc etc will need to be made by mappers, because they'll know what they'll need to make things fit into the story of the campaign. Or at least, thats how I see it.

 

Then again, we could all just say "screw it" and build whatever we want and try to hack out some kind of story based on what everyone made. Somehow that doesn't seem like a recipe for success though.

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We also should agree what season we aim for. Or in other words: would be strange someone use snow while some other go for some summer feel / setting ;)

"To rush is without doubt the most important enemy of joy" ~ Thieves Saying

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I'm thinking no snow (more complexity in getting it to look right, such as snow piles, footsteps, and making sure snow doesn't go through ceilings, as far as I can tell from betatesting Rake Off). Autumn if we want distinct seasonal visuals, or maybe even some Halloween themed stuff if we release in Oct. Spring/Summer = no actual "seasonal" elements. It's kind of hard to distinguish the two at night.

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I wanted to give everyone a chance to offer their services for being the "plot" person, but it appears everyone is agreed so far that it should be ungoliant. So there it is, it's all yours pal. B)

 

The seasons point is interesting, hadn't thought of that. I'd say let's go the simpler route and not have any season elements to any of our misisons (I guess that would make them spring/summer by default). On that note, it would be cool if one of our missions was a daytime mission, but we can tackle that later.

 

I mentioned this before, but I think since this is everyone's first mission, they should do the kind of mission that they want to do, and we'll design the plot around that. I think most campaigns are probably done the opposite of that, but so what. If the noob patrol here are going to actually finish their missions, it's gotta be something they're personally interested in. At least that's the way I see it.

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I'm thinking no snow (more complexity in getting it to look right, such as snow piles, footsteps, and making sure snow doesn't go through ceilings, as far as I can tell from betatesting Rake Off)

agree.

 

Also I think we see a lot snow FM from the season contest.

 

What about Autumn?! It leaves everything open to the mapper to use rain, fog or no weather effects at all (visuals and sound) ... in outdoor areas. Things to avoid in autumn would probably be too saturated green for nature textures and snow.

Edited by fllood

"To rush is without doubt the most important enemy of joy" ~ Thieves Saying

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One quick addendum on the seasons thing - if our protagonist travels to a remote location, it's possible the season could change. For example, Garrett goes up into the mountains to retrieve an artifact, and it's all snow and ice. Or, a portal takes him to some distant area, where the weather is completely different. Just sayin'.

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I'd say let's go the simpler route and not have any season elements to any of our misisons (I guess that would make them spring/summer by default).

Most people go for indoor missions so there is no problem anyway I guess. But for outdoor areas it's intersting having weather sound/effects if anyone feels doing so. It just should fit with other outdoor missions for the campain.

Canetoad's pagan map seams the only map totally outdoor so far. probably best hecome up with what fits best for his FM. And other maps with outdoor parts make sure it don't violate to that season-like.

"To rush is without doubt the most important enemy of joy" ~ Thieves Saying

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One quick addendum on the seasons thing - if our protagonist travels to a remote location, it's possible the season could change. For example, Garrett goes up into the mountains to retrieve an artifact, and it's all snow and ice. Or, a portal takes him to some distant area, where the weather is completely different. Just sayin'.

good point!

"To rush is without doubt the most important enemy of joy" ~ Thieves Saying

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If anyone WANTS seasonal themes in their maps, please tell me. I could work out snow in the mountains, or falling leaves and dead trees into an area affected by plague or rot or something. Otherwise I think most of the stock TDM assets accommodate spring/summer quite nicely as a sort of universal season. (minus the foliage blossoms for spring, but I've never heard any complaints about that before, let alone for FM's that are not seasonally themed)

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question for canetoad: what type of pagans is your village going to be? TDM universe mostly specifies that pagans are just commoners or outcast type poor people that don't worship the builder. But there allowances for a certain "deep forest" type crazy cult pagans that hate "city manfools" and eat people and sacrifice animals etc etc. Much rarer and not a lot of voice acting/models yet.

 

Summary: wanting to know how hostile your pagans are towards outsiders. Will they be kill-on-sight with the protagonist, and if not, are they kill-on-sight with citywatch / builders / inventors / outsiders-in-general ??

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just an update:

 

Some high inventor member - maybe even the head - ambitious, with too much self-esteem and thus have got careless - sometimes takes his work at home...

 

Plot is currently under construction based on this premise

 

....player need to steal some ingredients for proofing the formular.

 

this will likely play a role as well, but the instructions will be too technical for the thief, so he contracts a member of the hermetic order to make a prototype (or something like that). Haven't got much farther, but if the prototype works, the mage must die before the end of the campaign, as the fire arrow 'recipe' must still be exclusive to the Inventor's Guild at campaigns end.

 

/progressupdate

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Some high inventor member - maybe even the head - ambitious, with too much self-esteem and thus have got careless - sometimes takes his work at home...

 

Relevant information from the wiki:

 

Because so many of the Inventor's creations are still vital to the defense of the city, great care is taken to keep their forumlae and rituals secret. Rival cities have offered to make a prince out of anyone who can bring them the secret of liquid fire, and many would pay handsomely for the secrets of steam-beasts as well. Because of this, Inventors are forbidden to leave the city for any reason. Instructions for creating secret devices are written in a code, as well as using alchemical-like metaphors to describe the process, ensuring that even those that break the code will understand little of what is written if they have never actually participated in the process.

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thanks for the excerpt, very helpful. That should definitely solidify the mage as a translator, (I was figuring the texts would be encoded or in arcane language in any case), and the Inventors residence should be inside city limits. The secrets certainly should be kept inside Invtentor walls, but everyone is suspect to human flaws like vanity or workaholism.

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  • 1 month later...

That new model Nossalk created inspire my imagination...

 

... so what do you guys thing about having the campaign introduce the "Untouchables" - a new fraction playing a major part in our main story theme? - The Untouchables could be folks with an illness or curse that is THAT horrible and contagious these people do wear this mask. Maybe they are the only faction feared enough for that which have no fear to be approached by the city watch or hired thugs to buy this something the protagonist had been stolen. Or maybe they longing for a cure receipt the protagonist may get them or Mandasola to ease their distress (both possibly to be found in my hospital mission). Or maybe they are the main enemy through the missions - for example a feared assassin guilt feared for their infectious touch and paid by the inventors to go after the player.

 

There are many possibilities to come up with such a mysterious new fraction hiding behind a plague mask ...

Edited by fllood

"To rush is without doubt the most important enemy of joy" ~ Thieves Saying

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