Castano's Build tips
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:09 pm
Since I'm a little gray now I get to pontificate:
1. Interior areas - make one large 24x24 area and cram all the shops for the city into this one area. This should the mod run easier by reducing the number of areas the mod needs to load. Keep the inns to separate areas if you are concerned about people resting in stores etc.
2. Interior areas - Link an entire room of placeables and copy paste it to new areas. then go in and make changes to randomize the setting.
3. Tile sets with known issues - ilefarm tiles - must only use the ilefarn door or they won't open.
4. Docks - avoid building these as the walkmesh invariably will fail when you bake the area. -- Remember most medieval villages woudl have used a beach - docks are for towns/canon settings. If you must build these, use as few dock pieces as possible - the problem on the walkmesh is when joinign the pieces. Lengthen existing pieces by 1.5 instead of using 2-3, differ the heights a bit and overlap by 1-2 planks. The walkmesh helper has been of little use to me - you may try it, but it failed on my areas.
5. Placeables - Convert as many of these to environment objects as possible. Good build rule - if PC could walk over it, it should be an environmental object (e.g. sacks, rope coils) too many placeables will create large nonwalkable areas (even if the placeables are small like coin piles, goblets, small chests etc.) - learned this the hard way when I did the loot room for my pirates.
6. NPC conversations - open the conversation, check properties - set to NWN1 style or you get that annoying cutscene that stops all action.
7. Check the builder forums as these and many other tips are in there. the above are what I found/learned was most useful.
1. Interior areas - make one large 24x24 area and cram all the shops for the city into this one area. This should the mod run easier by reducing the number of areas the mod needs to load. Keep the inns to separate areas if you are concerned about people resting in stores etc.
2. Interior areas - Link an entire room of placeables and copy paste it to new areas. then go in and make changes to randomize the setting.
3. Tile sets with known issues - ilefarm tiles - must only use the ilefarn door or they won't open.
4. Docks - avoid building these as the walkmesh invariably will fail when you bake the area. -- Remember most medieval villages woudl have used a beach - docks are for towns/canon settings. If you must build these, use as few dock pieces as possible - the problem on the walkmesh is when joinign the pieces. Lengthen existing pieces by 1.5 instead of using 2-3, differ the heights a bit and overlap by 1-2 planks. The walkmesh helper has been of little use to me - you may try it, but it failed on my areas.
5. Placeables - Convert as many of these to environment objects as possible. Good build rule - if PC could walk over it, it should be an environmental object (e.g. sacks, rope coils) too many placeables will create large nonwalkable areas (even if the placeables are small like coin piles, goblets, small chests etc.) - learned this the hard way when I did the loot room for my pirates.
6. NPC conversations - open the conversation, check properties - set to NWN1 style or you get that annoying cutscene that stops all action.
7. Check the builder forums as these and many other tips are in there. the above are what I found/learned was most useful.
