Help Wanted

This is a general open discussion for all ALFA, Neverwinter Nights, and Dungeons & Dragons topics.

Moderator: ALFA Administrators

Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
Posts: 6139
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Help Wanted

Post by Zelknolf »

So, a number of things have come up and just aren't getting done because the various project leads don't have time, talent, and inclination to tackle them themselves. It's a fickle combination and such. I also note that we don't really have a central place for eager people to look to see if there's a want for something.

If You Have Something You Need Help With -- post asking. Some admin (prolly me) will edit the first post and clear yours out. Examples should ideally be targeted and easily farmed out. Something like "I need help getting the world server live!" would be less likely to get help on it than a collection of 20 achievable goals that would be needed to bring the world server up. Err on the granular; it's easy for people to pick up more small tasks, but harder for people to divide up large or nebulous tasks.

If You're Going to Work on Something -- post here and I'll put your name on it. If we don't hear about it for a while or you have to give it up, I'll take your name off. No big whoop.


Things Tech Could Use
(Contact the Tech Admin: Zelknolf)
Better Visual Effects for Traps
Summary: The current implementation of ACR Traps is pretty hamhanded in its selection of VFX, and many things that could look better or be more flavorful just blow up when triggered, because that's the default appearance. We could use some VFXes for different damage type themed area effects, and some beams, bolts, orbs, or other shootey things to represent traps that make attack rolls.
Proficiency Needed: The toolset comes with VFX-editing software, though familiarity with existing VFX may help too.
Helpful Proficiency: Knowledge of C#. A person who can figure out VFX and make the edits to ACR_Traps.TrapTrigger.GetTrapVFX would be pretty sweet.

A Loading Screen for Last Year
Summary: We have loading screens for 10 years of in-character history, but don't have anything for last year.
Proficiency Needed: None. We can work off of a list of events, but someone needs to compile and prioritize that list.
Helpful Proficiency: The loading screens exist as layer-separated photoshop files before they exist as tgas, and someone with some basic ability to work with photoshop could produce finished products.

A Loading Screen for Traps
Summary: ACR v1.90 is coming with spanking new traps. We could use a snappy few words that try to cover that our spanking new traps are a thing, and new players should be aware of them.
Proficiency Needed: Image editing

A Loading Screen for Non-Member Playing
Summary: Moonshaes and Baldur's Gate are (presumably permanently) open to non-members. We could use a couple loading screens that explain the portaling restrictions and level cap.
Proficiency Needed: Image editing

Loading Screens for Common Knowledge of Older Times
Summary: Most players come into games like D&D not knowing things that their characters would just know. Like anyone with martial weapon proficiency knows that "blood grooves" are in fact called a fuller, and they're there for structural integrity, not bodily fluids. Anyone with armor proficiency knows cuisses from culet. They're not really necessary for RP, but tidbits of the sort seem to interest people and richen worlds.
Proficiency Needed: Image editing

Subdual Damage Rewrite
Summary: Nonlethal combat is a mess. We need to do it again, but with less suck. Also with merciful weapons.
Proficiency Needed: NWScript, 2DA, Item Properties

AI Testers
Summary: The ACR NPC behavior and tactics system is stable, but it is not very well tested, and we thus don't know what parts of its behavior could use the most work or if it's time to work on enhancements. We could use people who are willing to carefully observe NPCs on the new AI and provide reports on misbehavior based on tangible observation.
Proficiency Needed: none, but you'll need to learn about the new AI if you don't already know.
Helpful Proficiency: basic toolsetting will allow such a person to set up NPCs without help.

DM Creator Testers
Summary: The volunteer testers for the DM Creator in v1.90 haven't actually done any testing, meaning that the tool has only had one tester (who is also the tool's developer), so we will need someone (or a couple someones) to put new eyes on the tool when it hits live servers, so that if hotfixing is required, we can find out quickly and roll out the necessary changes.
Proficiency Needed: None
Access Needed: Any DM of a live or hosted beta server.

ACR Traps Spawn Testers
Summary: While ACR Traps have been put through their paces, their integration with the spawn system has not gotten as-exhaustive testing. We need a volunteer server to try them out as spawns, and help us debug any issues that arise when they're used in the less-controlled environments of live servers.
Proficiency Needed: Basic Toolset, Literacy and More Literacy

Static Builder/ Documentation Reviewer
Summary: The volunteer who had offered to use our ACR Quest System Tutorial to create static content never actually got back to us about it, so we don't really know if it's any good, if we should expand it on the same pattern and/or if we need to address meaningful deficiencies. We could use someone to build a simple quest or two with that information, and tell us about challenges had on the way.
Proficiency Needed: Basic Toolset -- preferably while not already being proficient with ACR Quests.

Things Infra Could Use
(Contact the Infra Admin: FoamBats4All)
A Style Update for the Website
Summary: Website fashions change every few years, and ours hasn't been keeping up. We could use someone with proficiency in website styling to update the look of the website.
Proficiency Needed: HTML and CSS
Helpful Proficiency: Familiarity with phpBB and Drupal

General Documentation Work
Summary: We have more information in and about ALFA than current people working can ever hope to document. Anyone who is willing to click through the ALFA wiki (http://www.alandfaraway.org/wiki) and put pages on the end of red links or create pages/structures around topics we've just not handled would be appreciated.
Proficiency Needed: Writing.
Helpful Proficiency: Wiki features (e.g. templates).

Things ALFA-009 Moonshaes Could Use
(Contact Moonshaes' HDM: Castano)
Generic Living Spaces
Summary: Moonshaes has a shortage of modest lower and middle class homes. These would be people who largely live where they work, either agrarian or simple artisan work. 1x2 dimensions, some artisans living over their workshops or over a storefront.
Proficiency Needed: Toolset

A Pirate Mansion
Current Owner: Mr. Duncan
Summary: Two 3x6 tile floors with the look of living space for not-very-fancy people who have come across fancy amenities, likely by underhanded means.
Proficiency Needed: Toolset

Interiors for Cantrev Kingsbay
Current Owner: Galadorn
Summary: Cantrev Kingsbay has a pretty sparse build, and lacks interiors for most of the buildings (except the inn). It is still a place that gets a lot of traffic, and could use some fleshing out
Proficiency Needed: Toolset

Low-Level Delivery Quests for Cantrev Corwell and/or Lowhill
Summary: Could use some low-reward quests with little reward that serve mostly as a distraction and a means to learn the lay of the land around MS's low-level area.
Proficiency Needed: Toolset, ACR Quests

Low-Level Task-Oriented Quests for Cantrev Corwell and/or Lowhill
Summary: Could use some low-reward quests that focus on completing simple tasks or low-to-moderate DC skill checks, ideally low risk and completeable by starting PCs
Proficiency Needed: Toolset, ACR Quests

Low-Level Assault-Type Quests for Cantrev Corwell and/or Lowhill
Summary: Could use some quests that focus on defeating low-CR threats in and around MS's low-level areas.
Proficiency Needed: Toolset, ACR Quests
Last edited by Zelknolf on Sun Jun 16, 2013 6:03 pm, edited 6 times in total.
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Re: Help Wanted

Post by mr duncan »

Zelknolf wrote: A Pirate Mansion
Summary: Two 3x6 tile floors with the look of living space for not-very-fancy people who have come across fancy amenities, likely by underhanded means.
Proficiency Needed: Toolset
I will do this
User avatar
Galadorn
Haste Bear
Posts: 2483
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Hefei, China

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Galadorn »

Thanks to you Z and several others my toolset is ALFA ready and I will be building Moonshae interiors. The above suggestions are exactly what I want to build for MS, including any requests from the HDM or DMs if they need it (I.e. homes, taverns, vendors, inns, boathouses, gatehouses, or outhouses)...whatever.

I will start with "King's Bay" interiors, all interiors to flesh out that area.

If no requests ever come for custom areas, I'll then ask Castano to pick another "Cantrev" or town somewhere on MS that he would like to see fleshed out similarly. And so on.

I hope this helps.
Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
Posts: 6139
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Zelknolf »

Added Duncan as currently doing the pirate mansion

Added the Kingsbay project and noted Galadorn as doing it.
User avatar
CloudDancing
Ancient Red Dragon
Posts: 2847
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:31 am
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Help Wanted

Post by CloudDancing »

I'd like to add a job to this list:

Wanted:

Corwell Town and Lowhill (perhaps Calidyrr):

I'd like to see a series of creative level 1-2 quests set up so MS has a start area like Rivermoot and BG has.

1. Fed-ex quests to meet the various personages in town (drop off mushrooms to the priest in the temple of Tyr, deliver a pig, )

2. Helping quests (Kill the rats in the basement, pick the cabbages, gather apples for a pie)

3. Small encounter quests (like goblins in the fields of the local cantrevs, patrolling Corwell, patrolling Caer Calidyrr)

Really anything that would teach players the game functions and still provide them dm-less opportunities to share together when MS becomes an open server.
Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
Posts: 6139
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Zelknolf »

Added Cloud's things a while back; forgot to bump.

Added a few items to the tech section.
User avatar
Adanu
Head Dungeon Master
Posts: 1640
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2010 4:52 am

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Adanu »

I've been meaning to look at the creator testing, but I've been a bit busy. What's the current IP?
First Character: Zyrus Meynolt, the serene Water Genasi berserker. "I am the embodiment of the oceans; serene until you summon the storm." Zyrus: http://tinyurl.com/9emdbnd

Second Character: Damien Collins, the atypical druid. "What? Being a stick in the mud is boring. No pun intended grins"

Western Heartlands HDM: On break. PM for emergencies
Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
Posts: 6139
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Zelknolf »

bump

More loading screens stuff that tech could use.
Rumple C
Bard
Posts: 3561
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: The ceiling.

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Rumple C »

I'm going to start experimenting with static quest writing.
12.August.2015: Never forget.
Rumple C
Bard
Posts: 3561
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: The ceiling.

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Rumple C »

Static quest 1 done. I followed the ACR quest guide, and it was all fairly intuitive once I got familiar with the tools. I was able to create a attribute based static reward conversation (an arm wrestle), with journal updates for both failure (You suck!) and completion (You don't suck!).

I would like to do some further statics as per here...

Low-Level Assault-Type Quests for Cantrev Corwell and/or Lowhill
Summary: Could use some quests that focus on defeating low-CR threats in and around MS's low-level areas.
Proficiency Needed: Toolset, ACR Quests

But could use a little more help (via expansion of the ACR quest tutorial) on how to relate quest states to spawning and killing critters and so on.
12.August.2015: Never forget.
Rumple C
Bard
Posts: 3561
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: The ceiling.

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Rumple C »

Oh, one thing I did find (as a review of the ACR quest thing). Assuming I am building in a separate mod (in this case the builders mod)... exporting conversations and npcs is easy enough. How can I export the work i have done on the journal to be folded in with the destination module?
12.August.2015: Never forget.
Rumple C
Bard
Posts: 3561
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: The ceiling.

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Rumple C »

And expanding below in the ACR quest guide would be awesome as well. I have a great many ideas just waiting to be enabled! (thanks tech team!)

Trigger Challenges

TODO: Describe how to set up a trigger-based quest challenge
12.August.2015: Never forget.
Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
Posts: 6139
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Zelknolf »

Rumple C wrote:Oh, one thing I did find (as a review of the ACR quest thing). Assuming I am building in a separate mod (in this case the builders mod)... exporting conversations and npcs is easy enough. How can I export the work i have done on the journal to be folded in with the destination module?
This is a pretty-bothersome limitation of our existing journal stuff; I'm not aware of any tools that are able to handle issues of multiple contributors on a module's journal, though it should be possible to write one (as they're saved in as GFFs [even though the file extension says ".jrl" -- it's a GFF], for which we do have .NET libraries to edit; it's not something we'd be able to hammer out in 15 minutes, though, so it's not in the category of "shit I fix because it takes less time to fix than to convince you that it's lower priority than the other stuff I'm doing"). For the moment, you're stuck either manually writing it into the live module's journal or writing it on a copy of the live module's journal and then exporting that.


I'll see about adding triggers to the quest tutorial.
Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
Posts: 6139
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Zelknolf »

Zelknolf wrote:I'll see about adding triggers to the quest tutorial.
Done
http://www.alandfaraway.org/node/2579
Rumple C
Bard
Posts: 3561
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: The ceiling.

Re: Help Wanted

Post by Rumple C »

Zelknolf wrote:
Zelknolf wrote:I'll see about adding triggers to the quest tutorial.
Done
http://www.alandfaraway.org/node/2579
:wtg:
12.August.2015: Never forget.
Post Reply