Hello. Have a few questions
| Author | Topic: Hello. Have a few questions |
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Apprentice
Member # 3175
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 06:00
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First allow me to thank Spiderweb Softwarre for creating what truly is, in my mind, the only viable ' Old School ' RPG's being created for the Mac and PC today. Perhaps the use of the term ' Old School ' is a misnomer. I mean to say that in this day and age of ' Action / RPG hybrids ' (Namely The recend Baldur's Gate, and Final Fantasy / Platform RPG) playing your game is like settling into a warm embrace after a hellish day. Now, I am registering the product ( first shareware game ever registered for me ) and looking at Blades of Exile to finally create that game that has been in teh back of my mind all these years. that leads me to my questions: 1) Can teh Avernum engine be fully liscensed in order to avoid the limitations that Blades of Exile proposes? 2) Many of the Blades of Exile sites for graphics and information are broken or outdated, are there any current areas you could point me too? 3) I haven't been able to find any 'game makers' out there except for a plethera of tile based platform makers. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time and keep up the awesome work! Posts: 19 | Registered: Saturday, July 5 2003 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 06:57
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Welcome! It's nice to have someone so effusive in their praise for Spidweb. Questions: 1) I have to confess I didn't completely understand that. If you're asking about the possibility of a Blades of Avernum, there is one coming out right now. If you've got a specific query about it, there is a specific BoA forum. 2) The Blades of Exile Webring is mostly compposed of sites that are still solvent. Most of said sites have BoE graphics on them. 3) The only way to make a game that's not either very specific to the game maker you use or a simplistic platform/puzzle one, is to learn a programming language. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 08:38
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No. 2: Let me guess, you looked up Motrax's Archive? And saw that long list on links, of which about 3 work?  Or did you mean another link list?There are plenty of custom graphics around here, and if half the links are broken because of tripod and geocities acting up, that doesn't matter because most sites contain the same graphics anyway. -------------------- "And all should cry, Beware, Beware! His Flashing eyes, his Floating hair!" S. T. Coleridge --- "It is as if everyone had lost their sense Consigned themselves to downfall and decadence And a wisp it is they have chosen as their beacon." Reinhard Mey. --- Quote of the Week: "I have a high opinion of myself, which makes up for my total lack of intelligence." Anon. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2476
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 10:40
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For monster graphics try this link: graphics -------------------- Polaris Posts: 1828 | Registered: Saturday, January 11 2003 08:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 3175
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 10:48
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Thanks everyone! Very helpful indeed. In regards to the software lisence. Blades of Avernum will not, as I understand it, be a fully maluable product in the sense that all the 'mods' for it are intended to be set in the world of Avernum. If the Engine itself could be lisenced 'via a fee of course' I would be able to sidestep the limitation. Unless of course I'm not clear 100% on the Blades of Avernum limitations. Posts: 19 | Registered: Saturday, July 5 2003 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 12:18
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Not all scenarios made with BoE were set in Exile, and it's almost certain that not all BoA scenarios will be in Avernum. You get the engine and you're free to do whatever you want. —Alorael, who would in fact say that many of the best scenarios are unrelated to Exile/Avernum. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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BANNED
Member # 4
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written Saturday, July 5 2003 13:34
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http://geocities.com/terrorsmartyr/ Plenty of unique graphics. Knock yourself out. -------------------- We're all amazed but not amused By all the things that you said you'd do. You're much concerned but not involved by Decisions that are made by you But we are sick and tired of hearing your song, Telling us how you are going to change right from wrong, 'Cause if you really want to hear our views, You haven't done nothin'. Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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Master Jeweller
Member # 409
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written Monday, July 7 2003 04:18
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1. I don't fully understand you but I believe that BoA will have similar restrictions as BoE (assuming you mean legal ones; obviously it will allow for larger worlds etc). 2. There are tons of graphics available on the web; try google, or see question 3. 3. Actually quite a lot of RPG makers exist (I assume that was what you meant). And many come with free-ish graphics that could be converted to Bo*. Try this link. http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=game+maker&ei=UTF-8 -------------------- Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heilighthum! Deine Zauber binden wieder, was die Mode streng getheilt, Alle Menschen werden Brüder, wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. Pieter Simoons aka Radiant Official Crystal Shard and SubTerra webpage Posts: 798 | Registered: Monday, December 17 2001 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 3026
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written Monday, July 7 2003 06:33
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Check out Khoth's database. Over five hundred graphics there, best site I've found so far. On a completely different hand, Milla has very few graphics on her site but the ones she does have are exquisite and all are by her. There's a link in her sig. -------------------- And this was very odd because It was the middle of the night - Lewis Carrol well well well aren't we resilient Oh the fun Most generalizations are, unfortunately, true. Posts: 212 | Registered: Sunday, May 25 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 3084
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written Monday, July 7 2003 19:37
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Regarding game creation software, here is a link which seems to have reasonably current information about the major packages that are on the market now. Currently Spiderweb doesn’t seem to wish to license Avernum’s engine for the creation of wholly independent works, if by “independent” one means “salable/distributable as original products.” In other words, Blades of Avernum will support a (hopefully powerful) scripting language, but there won’t be an SDK with C++/Java/VB/etc. programming interfaces, and your scenarios won’t run outside of BoA. As Alorael wrote, your adventures can be set in completely new (non-Exile/Avernum) worlds, and I believe that you can give them entirely new graphics if you wish, but they must always run within BoA. Personally, I can’t wait to see what everyone creates. From one relative newcomer to another, welcome, Ouxe! P.S. If others with greater knowledge about BoA spot glaring errors in my statements, please correct me. Posts: 37 | Registered: Monday, June 9 2003 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, July 8 2003 13:01
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The scripts seem like C++ to me, but it's probably limited to only a few of the basic libraries. —Alorael, who believes one could create a scenario with a password that requires payment. It would be very difficult to keep that password a secret in the face of any determined scenario pirates, and many people would be highly annoyed, but he can't remember anything in the license against it. Keep in mind that he hasn't read the license very closely or very recently, though. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Tuesday, July 8 2003 13:18
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Well, concerning BoE, Jeff doesn't allow us to make commercial scenarios. I don't know about BoA. And it's not possible to make scenarios which can be played without the BoA game, ie. separate programs which use the engine, but not the interface. There are some good game maker sites linked in some thread in this board, I think it's in General, you practically can't miss it. With those programs, it's possible to design separate program files, but afaik, it requires good programming skills. -------------------- "And all should cry, Beware, Beware! His Flashing eyes, his Floating hair!" S. T. Coleridge --- "It is as if everyone had lost their sense Consigned themselves to downfall and decadence And a wisp it is they have chosen as their beacon." Reinhard Mey. --- Quote of the Week: "I have a high opinion of myself, which makes up for my total lack of intelligence." Anon. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 3175
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written Tuesday, July 8 2003 17:33
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I have no intention of selling a game at all. I guess I've always been on the lookout for a product that would enable me alot of versatility. For Example, the ability to create new spells, new npc's, new character classes and races. My brief research on BoA leads me to believe that this will not be possible. I do see the conundrum SW software is in, however. By requiring that all the scenarios run from BoA, they are requiring a purchase or download of BoA. ( Or is it just Avernum? ) The one thing I find hard to understand is the restricition on Character Classes and spells, so that anyone can 'import' their characters into a BoA player made scenario. I'll be honest with everyone, I keep extremely busy and haven't yet explored BoE. ( WTB 48 hours in each day ) So if these questions seem repetitive or too generalized, I apologize. *Note* i've looked at other engines and rpg makers but the majority of them are all Nintendo esque. That's all well and good, but honestly, the tactical elements in Avernum3 are what really stick with me. That's why I'm excited about the possibility of this new tool called BoA Posts: 19 | Registered: Saturday, July 5 2003 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 463
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written Wednesday, July 9 2003 06:46
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quote:To have new spells and races, one would have to add code to BoA(unless, of course, the feature would come built in which I highly doubt). You should be able to create NPC's, as you will be able to create many types of creatures. They will just be a "monster" that you only use once. What exactly do you mean by "character classes"? Do you mean the predefined set of skill points one can use when creating a character? -------------------- Let the soul trading begin. Posts: 431 | Registered: Monday, December 31 2001 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 3124
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written Wednesday, July 9 2003 07:07
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quote:The "class" is typically what the character is, i.e. warrior, archer, mage, farmer, merchant, ranger. Think of it as their "main job" which gives a broad idea of their skill set. -------------------- The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'. Larry Hardiman Posts: 110 | Registered: Thursday, June 19 2003 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, July 9 2003 13:05
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New spells: requires additional programming to allow space for it, graphics to handle it, ways for designers to make them, etc. And they wouldn't be transferrable between scenarios anyway. Special spells, already used in BoE, should suffice in most cases. NPC's: I don't know what Jeff is thinking either. Oh well. New classes: Why? The only time class matters is in the very beginning, and most experiences players use custom anyway. Avernum is not class-based. New races: Races have only minimal effect, couldn't be transferred, and would require quite a bit of coding. There are easier ways to handle most aspects of race. —Alorael, who would bet a lot of money that BoA scenarios require BoA to run. Jeff wants to turn a profit, the Avernum games aren't set up for it, and BoE was like that. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |