New to designing - advise and help, please.
| Author | Topic: New to designing - advise and help, please. |
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Apprentice
Member # 8410
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 08:45
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Hello everyone. I've just registered BoA and I want to try to make some scenarios myself. But I have no experience except for an invader game I made in 8. grade.. So I was wondering if anyone could take the time to give me some advise about every aspect of designing. Which applications should I download, what should I read, and so on. [ Sunday, April 01, 2007 08:46: Message edited by: Lokiron ] Posts: 15 | Registered: Friday, March 30 2007 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 3442
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 09:03
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Firstly, well done!! The community loves designers. It really depends if you are using Mac or PC with regards to applications, but all you really need are the BoA editor and a text editor. I would recommend the 3D editor though - it certainly helps. Also, reading the BoA docs is a MUST. The first chapter in particular will be invalubale. Also, START SMALL. Seriously. Download and play "Settlers" by TM to see what I mean here - this scenario also has a quick guide to creating scenarios that even new designers can follow. And finally, don;t be afraid to ask questions - WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU. -------------------- And when you want to Live How do you start? Where do you go? Who do you need to know? *Name by Slarty Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00 |
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Master
Member # 5977
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 10:44
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Okay, now let me see... Firstly, get the 3Deditor , as Morricone suggested. It is a very good program and an absolute must for a designer. If you use a Mac, I recommend to you Textwrangel, which is a free, powerfull text editor. I recommend it to all designers. I also recommend Alint, which is a script-checking program. It can check your scripts for any mistakes before you load it into BoA to test your scenario, and that way saves you loads of time. Get it here. So far for programs which I really recommend. There are others, but I don't think they will be very usefull for a new designer. Now for the scripting (the 3DEditor you will have to figure out for yourself, I'm afraid, but don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand something.): First things first: With the normal editor you can get from the Blades of Avernum Editor site at SW: scenario workshop, comes a very handy manual, written by Jeff, listing all calls in BoA. if you want to see if a certain call exists. You can also look at the script reference. I also recommend Erik Westra's Cookbook, which explains how to code basic stuff. It is really very handy and it helped me a lot when I started WtRM. There are a couple of handy articles for designers at the Lyceum, Kelandon's page, and, not to forget, the relevant SW page. So, I hope that's enough to get you started. If you have any questions, we will be only to pleased to answer them. -------------------- Play and rate my scenarios: Where the rivers meet View my upcoming scenario: The Nephil Search: Escape. Give us your drek! Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 8410
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 10:57
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I am on a regular, mundane WindowsXP PC. Thralni, I can't find the 3D Editor for windows on the page you linked. [ Sunday, April 01, 2007 11:05: Message edited by: Lokiron ] Posts: 15 | Registered: Friday, March 30 2007 07:00 |
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Master
Member # 5977
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 10:59
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quote:Ah, that's a shame... I can't recommend you any text editor for that, I'm afraid... other programs will work, though I don't think there is any updated Windows 3DEditor yet. I think you will have to use either the old one, or the 2D thing by Jeff. -------------------- Play and rate my scenarios: Where the rivers meet View my upcoming scenario: The Nephil Search: Escape. Give us your drek! Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 5814
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 11:34
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quote:It's not where he linked. It can be found for Windows at its Sourceforge site. -------------------- quote: Posts: 1115 | Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 8030
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 13:22
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Sweet, another scenario designer. When I first started creating my scenario (which isn't finished), it proved useful to compare to the scripts of other scenarios. Scripts need to be free of typos (or the computer rejects it), but using the "go to line" feature of some text editors help. Drakefyre has some good advice at his website: http://www.sitemouse.com/users/drakefyre/boa.html -------------------- WWJD? Posts: 1384 | Registered: Tuesday, February 6 2007 08:00 |
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Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
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written Sunday, April 1 2007 19:48
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My links page can guide you to stuff that you need. -------------------- 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 |
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Master
Member # 5977
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written Monday, April 2 2007 00:36
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quote:Yeah, I sort of almost assumed you used Mac, and the Windows editor is not the editor improved by niemand, so there. -------------------- Play and rate my scenarios: Where the rivers meet View my upcoming scenario: The Nephil Search: Escape. Give us your drek! Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7472
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written Monday, April 2 2007 09:31
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Try Programmer's Notepad. It works fairly well when set to C/C++ mode. EDIT: Last I heard, he is working on a Windows version of the Improved 3D Editor. [ Monday, April 02, 2007 09:33: Message edited by: Nioca ] -------------------- I tried to think of something witty to put here. Needless to say, I failed. Posts: 2686 | Registered: Friday, September 8 2006 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Monday, April 2 2007 10:19
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Edit - Try EditPad Lite. Free and sexy. -------------------- quote: Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 3442
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written Monday, April 2 2007 10:32
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I like Crimson Editor, although I don't recall where I got it from. -------------------- And when you want to Live How do you start? Where do you go? Who do you need to know? *Name by Slarty Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Monday, April 2 2007 12:23
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You can find the link for Crimson Editor (and EditPad Lite) at SpidWeb's Scenario Workshop. Like Nioca, I use PN2. I should look at creating an AvernumScript .scheme file for it one day... the lack of docs makes it difficult. -------------------- George is a radio announcer, and when he walks under a bridge you can't hear him talk. - Steven Wright Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 7662
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written Monday, April 2 2007 16:11
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Alint is really good but it is not perfect, there a few things wrong with it. But in between it and the error messages coming from the game itself, you should be well placed to spot errors. It fails to detect some errors, illegal numbers for items&. Then it refuses to accept the sanctification state for some weird reason. Posts: 292 | Registered: Monday, November 13 2006 08:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 8410
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written Tuesday, April 3 2007 05:11
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Thanks everyone. I'll take a look at all this when I've gotten some more inspiration (=played more scenarios :P ). Posts: 15 | Registered: Friday, March 30 2007 07:00 |