A Land Far Away

Howdy Folks,

This will be an ongoing thread to keep interested parties up to date with what your devoted DMs, Builders, and Developers are up to in bringing you wonderfully devoted blackhearts a fully canonised, fun, and operational version of the Moonsea.

So here it goes.

Update of a post I made on the ALFA General Forums (grammatical errors fixed and new info added, thanks KalevD Wink):
Thangorn wrote:

To give folks a basic idea of where we are:
I've made 10 builds of the exterior of Zhentil Keep (that's what I cut my nwn2 toolset teeth on) and have now settled on the configuration I am most happy with.

Blackwill has made a tonne of placeables for the basemod and has also spent a lot of time learning how to build awesome interiors.

We have worked on a truckload of canon research and resolution - so many ambiguities obviously need to have resolution in a build such as this. We've written bios for dozens upon dozens of NPCs and fully worked out the next 60 exteriors we need to build, several of which have team members cutting their own toolset teeth on. We know where our starting area is going to be and we are working on the special type of induction experience system we want to implement (stay tuned on this, its going to be a blast!)

As soon as I get my new computer in a few weeks (my current one has had serious technical issues with the NWN2 toolset since the patch :/)
I'll be going full-force to finalize my exterior build. After that I will be a full-time script/spawn monkey for the Moonsea team until we get things patched in.

I'll be focussing my attention a bit in the coming months on the 13 Moonsea scripting projects the 006 team have been discussing.
These scripting projects should ensure that the Moonsea is living, breathing digital entity, even when the DMs arent around. They will deal with faction reputation management, static content, ambient content and some special features for our players which I'll remain tight-lipped about for now.


More instalments to come. We'll do our best to make sure we keep people updated with our blow-by-blow progress as often as possible.

Bless your black souls..

Thangs - OUT
_



Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:33 am

Well its been an eventful week for me outside of Moonsea development..

We've still managed to get a fair bit done however.

KalevD has been spearheading development of our opening campaigns for Moonsea live. Knowing what our opening campaigns will be assists us in determining what we are going to build first.

We as a team have been bedding down interaction with player groups aswell.

In addition we've spent a bit of time working over our builds. Here's just a little taste

Lathander breaks over the Zhentarim Compund including the Halls of Rulership and the newly refitted Church of Bane..



I'll be posting a little more often on this thread now as we move toward a live build.

Take care everyone

- Thangs
_________________


Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:15 am

Well we've been putting in quite a few hours of development on the project lately..

I just thought I make an update on mod content and size since we've settled on a final format for our first live offering.

The first Moonsea build will contain -:
* Zhentil Keep (including completely fleshed out populated sections of Zhentil Keep and no fewer than 5 reasonable sized adventuring locations within the city).
* 3 canonical adventuring locations outside the city gates.
* A few wilderness areas to cater to the wilds-wanderers among you and to showcase the vistas of the Moonsea.

Technically right now we are aiming for our first live offering to bring you -:
* 15 exteriors to explore
* 70+ interiors
* 35+ merchants
* 100+ NPCs including your canonised favourites
* Several player factions
* Static content which offer the opportunity to earn small rewards and through which you will be able to boost your faction reputation even while DMs are offline.

More news to come.. stay tuned

- Thangs
_________________


Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:17 am

This week has been a hive of activity on the forums here.. Just so you have an idea of who's on the team and what we've been up to..

* We've welcomed Bane over from his home on the Grey Wastes (Zhentil Keep: Tales of Heroes and Villains). Now that his former project has concluded, he's working on finalising all our Zhentil Keep NPC bios (after all, who knows them better then the Black Lord).

* Daeftan has returned from his holidays (/me is jealous Smile ) and is back in full flight, contributing to the interior building and static writing frenzy.

* Blackwill (aka the Boss Man) has had his cantankerous computer fixed and has similarly returned to building some fabulous looking interiors. He has also agreed to work on some of our wilderness and adventuring zone exteriors. Yay!

* Teh Slavelord (aka Me) has been working profusely on ensuring everyone is clear on their tasks and cracking the proverbial whip. Oh and theres been several hours of building and writing stuff for the module in there.

* KalevD has been working hard on mapping out our starting quests as well as working on a slew of interior builds.

* Grey Pilgrim has been about, chomping at the bit to get his teeth into the build. As is his wont, he'll probably log on tomorrow and tell us he's already built half the module and we all need to hurry up!
Any one who has had the priveledge of seeing any of his building work before, will be looking forward to seeing what sort of wonderful eyecandy he brings us on the Moonsea.

* The rest of the team have been in and out, contributing their two Zhents worth here and there and generally being dark and mysterious as all good Zhents are....

Thanks for dropping by Moonsea lovers.. you stay classy

- THANGS.... OUT!
_________________

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:38 pm

A quick news post as I have to log very soon -:

I've had a very busy week of building and I've done v10, and hopefully the final draft of the 3 areas of Zhentil Keep's old city. Its looking really good at the moment only scenery tweaks to go until I'm ready to bring it all to life.

I've also done an alpha version of the Holy Hall of Good Fortune and Casino which I'm reasonably happy with..

Blackwill has been working on the Grass Sea areas and a few interiors for the mod.

Daeftan progresses with his monster build of the Tower of Art..

here are some screenies as a brief taste

The Holy Hall of Good Fortune..



and Casino..



a view of Zhentil Keep's old city from the guard outpost atop the River Trail gate..



All Hail the Black Lord!

THANGS ... OUT!!
_________________

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:05 am

Well met all!!

The build progresses smoothly.. we are well on course to a beta release.

I have been working over Zhentil Keeps old city areas.. here's a brief peek

The Black Lord's Altar and Zhentarim Compound



The Palace of Sweet Pain



Blackwill has been creating amazing exteriors for you black-hearted souls to explore.. here's a sneaky peek at some of his work..

The Lone Tower



Daeftan has also been working on some fabulous interiors.. Behold the Tower of Art



and the Crypts, where Scyllua and her ilk purge Zhentil Keep of criminals, interlopers and heretics



I'm sure you'll agree, things are coming along and it wont be long until you black-hearts find yourself a new home (and you goodly diamonds in the rough face your greatest and most fulfilling challenges).

Plenty of behind the scenes writing and development going on aswell.

Submit before the Black Lord and all shall be as he intends.

THANGS.. OUT!!
_________________


Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:17 am

The build continues as we progress to our beta 1 build..

I have been working on Zhentil Keep exteriors and have figured out my walkmesh issues. I would go so far as to say I have finally mastered this aspect of the toolset.



We welcomed a new builder to our team of scurrilous villians. Lets have a big round of applause for EL CADAVER. El Cadaver is currently working on building the "secured" section of Zhentil Keep's ruins. Here's a little sample of his work



Kalev D has also been progressing with his parts of the build most recently, the Zhentarim Armoury and Barracks. He's also been weighing in on the discussion of some of the Key Factions of the Moonsea.. The plot thickens...

Blackwill has thrown in a monster effort, and has now not only completed the interactive placeables for the ALFA ABR but has found the time to build some more aswell. He has been working on all things Fzoul, namely THE TEMPLE OF BANE.

Here's a shot of the Black Lord's altar for your perusal..



So, Beta 1 looks to be not too far away.. It's looking like a month at latest. Soon, my black-hearted rogues, you will be able to explore the back-alleys of the City of Darkness..
_________________


Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:36 am

Howdy avid Moonsea followers..

my apologies for my brief absence but my real life work has been consuming most of my time and energy..

Quick update -:

* We welcomed Easter_Bunny to the team. He is a wonderfully prolific builder and has completed builds of the Temple of Umberlee, The House of the High Hunt and the Calishite Bath House. These really look amazing from what I have seen so far.. Well met Easter_Bunny

* I have been mainly working on final dressing for Zhentil Keep's exteriors. Patching and baking the walkmesh is proving to be a tedious task but the build is looking good and on track for a beta 1 release not too far down the track.

* KalevD has been working on his Zhentarim buildings. These also look wonderful.

* Blackwill has been finalising the very important Temple of Bane build and is now putting together our beta mod offering.

so onwards and upwards good folk of the Moonsea..

we look forward to seeing you wandering aimlessly around the Moonsea lands very soon.

- Thangs OUT
_________________



PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:31 pm

Pardon our poor old Thangorn. He's stuck to his neck in it, and will probably still be stuck until the end of next week. So without further ado, here's a sneak peak of what's going down at the Keep building grounds.

Thangorn - build guru, has progressed to a very close Full Draft for the old city. Here's some new eye candy from the master.

Once you bumped into the wrong person, this is where your corpse will be thrown... to the undead living on the unhallowed ground desecrated to Bane.



Praise to the bitchqueen!



We say goodbye to ElCadaver. If time permits, there will always be a place for you here. His work carries on to our local bunny rabbit... the easter_bunny!

Easter_Bunny has now completed the Temple of Tempus too, and is making progress on ElCadavers exterior ruins of Zhentil Keep. As we move forward the city really is comming together.

As for me, well here's a flavor of one of the best *cough* yeah really Inns in Zhentil Keep.


"Da wine is ou', and the ale's as stale as a desert breeze. What can I get cha'?"
"Let me think... tough choice this."



"Here's ya food, no cough up da coin ya owe me boy!"
"Charming"



"Fancy some company love?... Oh my, is that a kobold in your pants or are you just happy to see me?"
"Help... mother! *swallows*"



Enjoy your stay at the Pride of Zhentil Keep.


Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:08 pm

Gday folks,

Just an update. Blackwill and I have both been snowed under with RL concerns for a short period of time.

I expect to get my build mojo back on in the next couple weeks once I buy a new rig which I intend to be my Moonsea Foundry and backup host for the module.

Blackwill may take a little longer to become more active again but in the meantime I'll be holding the fort and kicking things along.

As the mod gets bigger I find my laptop increasingly slows down on simple operations therefore I look forward to building on my new dual core rig in the not too distant future.

Keep checking in as the advent of Beta 1 is not far away..

Until next.. watch your backs

- Dez
_________________

Good morning Blackhearts,

Today is a sad day.

Tis the day our Fearless, Evil leader was swallowed up by the beast called "Real Life".
Blackwill has been a prolific builder, developer and leader on this project since its inception over 12 months ago.
Mayhaps he can find his way out of its gullet and find his way home...

With Blackwill's current circumstances... the mantle of Moonsea team leadership now falls to me.

so here is the order of events over the coming months -:
* I have a new computer being built right now which I have bought to be a building engine and back-up host. My laptop is struggling with the details on the Moonsea so the inevitable upgrade has finally come.
* Once the computer arrives I will finalise our beta 1 draft of the mod, tying together all the content our team have created over the last 9 or so months.
* I am eagerly recruiting new builders to our project so if anyone reading this has any interest in getting involved in building anything, please dont hesitate to PM me immediately.
* If you dont have a nwn2 compatible machine yet, you can still assist with the module by writing NPC bios and developing faction activities, designing static or DMed quests, researching and making lists of canon items and creatures, etc. I have plenty of work for anyone.

Thank you if you have been following this project eagerly. I am very glad to say things are getting back on track and I look forward to playing, building or developing with you soon..

- THANGS OUT!

Progress.. and more progress..

I've been acquainting several helpful people with our stage of development. Thank you to Jodyhamilton, Arkan Bladesinger, Spiderjones and Inaubryn for putting your hands up to chip in in whatever way you can to make ALFA 006 - The Moonsea a spectacular roleplaying experience.

I've bought a new computer and I'm well back into building..
After ongoing walkmesh problems and looking at the wonderful functionality of some of the plugins on NWvault.. I've decided some remodelling is in order utilising YATT and PowerBar.. Unfortunately.. I'm waiting on a 1.06 update of these tools which shouldnt be too far away.

Due to the plethora of buildings on slopes in Zhentil Keep, I must admit I have found it quite difficult to make things do exactly as I want.. the eyecandy all looks good. Unfortunately, in terms of practical usage it needs some work..

In the meantime I'm prefabbing as much as possible to paste into the new landscape I'll create in case YATT turns out to be my tool of choice for Zhentil Keep. I believe 1.06 YATT comes out tomorrow.

So in Zhentil Keep, inexorable progress is the order of the day..

- THANGS OUT