Travel: Final Fantasy vs. Baldur's Gate

White Warlock · Post by **White Warlock** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 3:12 pm

/me smacks darrenhfx.

Of course it's interesting, you friggin' nooblet!

HEEGZ · Post by **HEEGZ** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:30 pm

By the way, the 32x32 overmap weighed in at 62MB with few placeables. The PWC file is 5MB rar'd. Once Ronan has done his magic I can put it up for people to try out.

Also, I have quite a few ideas for encounters, though most of them involve DMs. I don't know enough about the scripts to speculate on what is possible there, other than that we have more options available with this method than with the world map OE gave us. Basically it would rely on template areas set in the different types of terrain, I've already got a huge list going.

- HEEGZ

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:08 pm

AlmightyTDawg wrote:How I hate people with ironic self-loathing.

Technically it's hypocrisy, not irony.

Took me awhile to warm up to this idea. I keep imagining toons with fast moving feet slowly progressing across a cartoonish map (yes I played the old FF games too). Now, I know it won't look like that, but I can't get the image out of my head.

I guess compared to oodles of empty map tiles like we now have, it makes sense given NWN2 limitations, and it will have much more control than the campaign map. *Shrugs* in the absence of a better system, it looks like a good idea. The only real alternative would be to avoid travel altogether by having it all happen by boat/caravan/instant AT, which isn't a palatable option to the "travel must require effort and time" crowd.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:27 pm

Mulu wrote:... which isn't a palatable option to the "travel must require effort and time" crowd.

I think you will find we are the "travel must require effort or time" crowd.

Ronan · Post by **Ronan** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:49 pm

Alright, I put some very simple travel scripts with HEEGZ's area up on the DM FTP at /modules/overlandmap_test.7z. As you can see, the file is not RARed. It was compressed with a better compression utility you can get here: http://www.7-zip.org/ Given the size of module files, people need to get used to using this utility (20% better compression than a RAR), and I won't upload a RAR file. My upstream bandwidth is very limited and it lags the people on Sembia when I do so.

If you want to try it out with your own area, import your area into the above mod, and follow the directions here: http://www.alandfaraway.org/docs/Technical/ACR2Areas (you can probably ignore the seamless ATs, most people are just going to use one travel area which means no seamless ATing with it, and they don't work now anyways)

On a less technical note, I think these things could look really uber, and really give players a sense of where they are in Faerun and how the world looks outside of the areas builders have chosen to build (actually, *gasp*, seeing the miles and miles of farmlands not present in ALFA mods is nice).

HEEGZ · Post by **HEEGZ** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:23 pm

Absolutely fantastic. I honestly can't see doing travel any other way now. Next step is filling map with placeables. Should be as realistic as the regular areas as far as appearance. BTW, the scale is work in progress and dynamic.

- HEEGZ

Post by **paazin** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:38 pm

I hate to say this, but overall my feeling about this is very mixed. I know it's really the only option for most servers, but I'd suggest using a system of actual travel wherever possible (e.g. something akin to DF where the only areas implemented fully are the roads between point A and point B). As it stands the travel module feels much too artificial, at least to me.

HEEGZ · Post by **HEEGZ** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:07 am

Oh ye of little faith. This is still an early concept. It will look nearly as realistic as any of the regular sized modules once it is populated with placeables and more time is put into the textures. My pics are on a 32x32 exterior made in about 4 hours with no placeables, trust me it will look fantastic. Just the addition of trees and buildings will do wonders, not to mention adding rocks, lakes, caves, and a host of other things that will make it fun to travel on for it's own sake, visually. Now that I've got the mod back with scripts I'm going to give it a good once over and really flesh it out. Should take me about 20 hours or so.

- HEEGZ

Leareth · Post by **Leareth** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:25 am

Actualy I love this concept. Given what the other option is I'll take it. I'd prefer just to walk tile to tile but I realize that isn't practicle at all and if want servers to cover lots this looks to give DM's the best option to show that ground and have a chance of interacting with that terrain. The OC map the encounters look to be set before you travel which is hard to do with a live DM. Having a miniaturized world to walk across isn't ideal but I think it's an option that'll give us more flexibility to build and to DM.

Leareth

Zekal · Post by **Zekal** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:03 pm

Wow, now THIS is an innovative way to do things. With enough attention to detail, and making sure that it's not too Final Fantasy (we can do without the fading to battle music

) This will be a great way to handle the travel issue.

White Warlock · Post by **White Warlock** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:35 pm

As i previously indicated, i like the idea... but to tell you the truth, i don't know what the idea entails. I mean, i like 'my' version of the idea, it's just that i don't know if you guys are thinking along the same lines. So, i'll pose what i think you guys are planning, and you tell me if i'm way off base:

We are able to traverse a miniaturized version of the region map. Mountains are impassable, as are large rivers (unless there is a bridge). The likelihood of ending up with an encounter is increased at night, and if we travel someplace 'other' than the roads. If an encounter occurs, there is a chance that the encounter can be avoided (depending on the party's surprise value, or some other value). This chance is by 'choice.' If an encounter does occur (or is chosen to occur), the party is pulled into a small, non-miniaturized area resembling the terrain in which the encounter occurred. The battle is fought, or the party can opt to try to run away. Leaving the area throws you back into the region map. If you are being pursued and you leave the area, you are thrust back into 'another' area of similar construct. << thinking about this, there will need to be a good handful of each type of encounter area, so that one group having an encounter in one place doesn't end up in the same encounter area as another group that also ends up in an encounter, but at a completely different place. This part seems a bit messy...>>

The region map contains various 'locations' where things are fleshed out. Locations are delineated in some fashion, so people travelling along the region map can beehive to a location if they so wish (bypassing roads and increasing the likelihood of an encounter). A location is merely a fleshed out, non-miniaturized area... such as a town, cavern, encampment, or any other 'place of interest.' If you step onto a 'location,' you are portaled to the edge a life-size area. If you travel on the roads all the way to the edge of the region map, you encounter a server portal that allows you to travel to the edge of some other server's region map.

Is this about right?

Fionn · Post by **Fionn** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:50 pm

paaz - I actually hate the hub & roads. I spend a lot of time trying to explore the edges (worse if they use seamless ATs), as the builders don't bother to put IC baricades. This means a LOT of time that feels wasted trying to find any hidden areas.

Worse, is where you actually have a new roadless area dropped in, but you can only get there from one direction, as the areas in the other 7 weren't made.

Given the size restrictions we have now, I see the choice of the World Map, or this. Honestly, I like this better as it allows us to hide things you have to stumble across. If you choose to move up to the ford, rather than trying use the nearby bridge, you get different encounters. With the World Map, I have no way to determine your intent, so you only get one.

Additionally, it serves as a built-in dynamic map of the server :)

fluffmonster · Post by **fluffmonster** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:14 pm

this is some good innovation here. I am very hopeful for this. if you all can get it to work and package it up nice, i bet such a system could make a decent splash in the broader PW community.

Ronan · Post by **Ronan** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:41 pm

WW: Yes, thats basically it. Much of the stuff you say is going to be build-defined though (like encounter likelyhood), and not something I as tech admin am going to decide on. I do hope to provide a mechanic for detecting/avoiding encounters using the 3.5 skillset (tracking, etc), a mechanic for hussling and other "fast" travel, and other things from the 3.5 ruleset.

HEEGZ · Post by **HEEGZ** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:44 pm

Ronan beat me to it, heh. That is correct WW. I'm not sure how much of those scripted encounters will be in place as I don't know all that is possible to do. As a DM though I would definitely be doing encounters in that manner, just not sure about script possibilities, though there seem to be many.

- HEEGZ