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AuthorTopic: Rookie Aboard
Rogue
Apprentice
Member # 4553
 written Wednesday, June 16 2004 23:56 Profile #0
Okay, this topic is for all those rookies out there (and for me, of course) so, any advice on where to get started?

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The monster was as surprising as the limbo dancer that appears under the bathroom door of life.
- Terry Pratchett, Equal rites
Posts: 2 | Registered: Wednesday, June 16 2004 07:00
Drakefyre
Triad Mage
Member # 7
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 01:04 Profile Homepage #1
Just dive in, head-first. After reading the manual and appendices, of course.

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"At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool." - Menander
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Drakefyre's Demesne - Happy Happy Joy Joy
Encyclopedia Ermariana - Trapped in the Closet
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You can take my Mac when you pry my cold, dead fingers off the mouse!
Posts: 9436 | Registered: Wednesday, September 19 2001 07:00
Huntsman
Apprentice
Member # 2119
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 06:19 Profile #2
Rookie question:

Is it possible to include premade characters/party and force the player to use them?

TIA
Posts: 39 | Registered: Monday, October 21 2002 07:00
demonslay3r
Guardian
Member # 2238
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 07:34 Profile Homepage #3
Force: No. But if you want to include a pre-made party, go ahead. You'll just need to let the user know that the scenario will not be enjoyable without using the supplied character. You could do what I like to do, and look over the player's inventory. If they aren't carrying a certain item (meaing they aren't using your characters), kill them instantly! Good way to 'force' usage.

[ Thursday, June 17, 2004 07:44: Message edited by: The Demonslayer ]

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DEMON PLAY,
DEMON OUT!
Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00
Huntsman
Apprentice
Member # 2119
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 07:40 Profile #4
quote:
Originally written by The Demonslayer:

Force: No. But if you want to include a pre-made party, go ahead. You'll just need to let the user know that the scenario will not be enjoyable without using the supplied character. You could do what I like to do, and look over the player's inventory. If they are carrying a certain item (meaing they aren't using your characters), kill them instantly! Good way to 'force' usage.
Ooh, yeah, that's one way to enforce it. :) Reminds me of my D&D DM'ing days when dealing with unruly/uncompromising/cheating! players.

But seriously, a scenario I've got in mind just wouldn't be nearly as fun (or make much sense) without playing with very specific characters.

Thx
Posts: 39 | Registered: Monday, October 21 2002 07:00
UA
Infiltrator
Member # 154
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 07:58 Profile #5
quote:
Originally written by GuildBoss:

Rookie question:

Is it possible to include premade characters/party and force the player to use them?

TIA
If I meet a scenario telling me to do that I totally ignore the advice.

If the scenario kills me as a result, then I can easily edit the script files and edit it out.

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Apparently still annoying.
Posts: 612 | Registered: Saturday, October 13 2001 07:00
Huntsman
Apprentice
Member # 2119
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 08:01 Profile #6
quote:
Originally written by Grey-Eyed Stranger:

quote:
Originally written by GuildBoss:

Rookie question:

Is it possible to include premade characters/party and force the player to use them?

TIA
If I meet a scenario telling me to do that I totally ignore the advice.

If the scenario kills me as a result, then I can easily edit the script files and edit it out.
Even if the scenario wouldn't be as enjoyable or make sense?
Posts: 39 | Registered: Monday, October 21 2002 07:00
Imban
Shake Before Using
Member # 75
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 08:39 Profile #7
It depends. I really don't believe that a lot of scenarios stand to gain from using a premade party.

In any case, I wouldn't force the players to play as your characters. I'd suggest it and include that party, but it should be up to them to actually take your advice and use it.

Most players will, really, and you won't alienate the ones who won't.
Posts: 3234 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Huntsman
Apprentice
Member # 2119
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 10:10 Profile #8
quote:
Originally written by Imban:

It depends. I really don't believe that a lot of scenarios stand to gain from using a premade party.
Maybe not the average scenario but for a good storyteller/designer I'd imagine it'd be quite useful to know ahead of time who/what the characters/party will be.

But then again I'm not familiar with the BoA Editor so maybe it wouldn't make a lick of difference!
Posts: 39 | Registered: Monday, October 21 2002 07:00
The Creator
BoE Posse
Member # 112
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 15:47 Profile #9
I think it's a very good technique, which I and many other designers use. Go for it. Don't sweat too much if you can't make it foolproof, just let them know that it's important for storyline/combat balance.

[ Thursday, June 17, 2004 19:32: Message edited by: The Creator ]

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Rate my scenarios!

Areni
Revenge
To Live in Fear
Deadly Goblins
Ugantan Nightmare
Isle of Boredom
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sunday, October 7 2001 07:00
Kelandon
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
 written Thursday, June 17 2004 22:35 Profile Homepage #10
There are some wonderful calls for checking exactly what the party consists of (like get_level, append_char_name, species_in_party, party_size, etc). You can use these either to enforce your pre-fab party or to make your scenario vary depending on what kind of party is in it.

There is a group of Blades players who loathe pre-fab parties, although I don't really understand what the big deal is.

One piece of advice for rookies: as you design, read all of the old threads in this forum, especially the articles. Once you're done here, head over to the Lyceum (the link is in the BoA forum's header) and look around there. There's lots of ideas and answered questions lying around.

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Imban
Shake Before Using
Member # 75
 written Friday, June 18 2004 05:44 Profile #11
Well, let's say I just played through your prefab-party scenario with your prefab party. I was going to go rate it on CSR or something, but then realized that I missed a part of the scenario.

Rather than go back and play it all over again with a prefab party, I'd want to take in a god singleton just so I could breeze through to the part I missed.

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Also, regarding an earlier comment - most scenario players will suspend their disbelief in order to accept the premise of a scenario. The heroes of Babysitting are "forced" to have a sister, for example.

Unless the balance of a scenario relies on you having a very specific set of stats, Areni, NTH, and Emulations being BoE examples, I'd really rather disrecommend a prefabricated party.
Posts: 3234 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00