Category Archives: The Miracle Worker

Posts related to the Sanctum of the Archmage, Part 2: The Miracle Worker

Sanctum 3 Designed

3 - Mission to Rayche

I just wanted to post a quick update on the progress of Sanctum 3. I’ve been alternating between design work and technical integration to make the module compatible with Project Q, and I’m pleased to be able to report that both of those tasks are basically done now.

A lot of basic 2DA and Hak work was needed to make the new module compatible with both its previously existing custom content (including CEP 2.2), and Project Q. This was a big job, and while it had several very tedious parts to it, it turned out not to be as bad as I’d feared. The worst part was moving some of the conflicting phenotypes to new numbers, which required a lot of editing and renaming of individual files. Now that it’s done, I’ll be able to combine features from Sanctum Chapters 1-2, CEP, and Project Q.

I’ve also been working feverishly for the past month or so to complete a comprehensive design write-up for the module’s quests, areas, and custom content. With that done, I now have a clearer idea of what the scope of Sanctum 3 will be, as well as some material that I can give to collaborators. To give a hint at the scope, the current design comes out at:

  • twenty-two quests
  • sixty-six areas
  • three companions
  • five henchmen
  • five romances

I’m also happy to report that I now have two confirmed members of the Sanctum Team, one of whom is the very talented Estelindis. You may know her from her NWN1 CC work, and as the creator of the new custom heads for Orion, Diana and Robin in Sanctum v3.2. She’s going to be helping with some very special custom content for the next chapter, which if it works out as we hope should be really terrific. Aderyn has agreed to join the playtesting team, and several others have expressed interest in helping as well.

So barring complications, the pace of development on the saga should be ramping up substantially in the near future. I’ll keep you all posted. 😉

An Update on Sanctum 3

3 - Mission to Rayche

It’s been a while since my last blog post, so I just wanted to take a few minutes to say “Hi” and to give everyone a quick update on the progress of Sanctum 3.

I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can spend most of my spare time working on the next chapter, and I’m having a great time at it. It’s coming along so well that it’s actually exceeding my expectations, which I’d set pretty high for the project. I’m still aiming for a release sometime this summer, although it’ll be a couple of months yet before I know how well my progress is matching that goal.

One of the things I’ve done to help expedite the next release is to scale back the scope of Chapter 3, which as I’m now planning it will only cover the quest to ally with Rayche. I’d always intended the Rayche mission to be the most extensive and elaborate of the quests to form the alliance, and I think that will give the module a good starting point as well as a good point of closure. Now that I have most of the quests written out in detail I’m also realizing that it’s going to make a sizable module in its own right (and will certainly be much longer than Chapter 2 was).

It’ll also have a somewhat different design from my previous work. Chapter 1 and especially Chapter 2 were very linear, and had what I think was an unusual quest structure compared to most other modules. In Chapter 3, though, I’m planning a more non-linear plot with a more familiar adventuring quest style — but without compromising any of the story-driven focus that players have come to expect from the saga. The different quest threads will be thoroughly interwoven with the main plot, but they will also offer a lot more choice regarding which quests to do, in what order, and how they can be resolved. Indeed, I expect that it will be difficult to complete all of the available quests on any one playthrough (and impossible to see all the outcomes), which I hope will make Sanctum 3 an especially good module for replayability.

Add the Rayche Quest to the End of Sanctum 2?

2 - The Quest, 3 - Mission to Rayche

I posted this to the Sanctum 2 module page, and thought I’d post it on my blog as well.

Here’s a question for players. I’ve seen a number of criticisms and downvotes on Sanctum 2 recently for its short length and ending in the middle of a quest. I was planning to release Sanctum 3 as a new module with a new architecture using project Q, but setting all of that up is understandably taking some time. I could get the “Mission to Rayche” quest out much more quickly if I added it to the end of Sanctum 2, where most of the necessary infrastrucure is already in place. I did the same thing for the Wind-Walking / Flying scenes, since the first version of the module actually ended with leaving the peak to start on the mission to Rayche. (I thought that players would appreciate the added content, and that the price of having to stop in mid-quest to continue my graduate work would be worth it.)

Adding the rest of the Mission to Rayche at the end of Sanctum 2 would make the module longer, and allow me to once again end it at the end of a quest. This could help address the criticisms and downvotes of those who are objecting to the module’s current length and ending, and to get some sequel content out faster. I could probably even rig up the necessary scripts to allow players with a savegame at the end of Sanctum 2 v3.2 to jump right to the continuing point in the new module, so re-playing the whole thing might not even be necessary.

The price, though, is that the quality of the Rayche quest wouldn’t be as good, partly because it would be missing some of the new features and the new Q-based infrastructure. Those seem to be particularly well suited to the Mission to Rayche quest, which is one reason why I’ve resisted adding the quest to the end of Sanctum 2 in the past.

So what do players think? Should I continue with my current plans (which would probably get Sanctum 3 out in Spring ’10), or add the Rayche quest to the end of Sanctum 2?

Sanctum Version 3.2 Released!

1 - The Sight, 2 - The Quest

The v3.2 update to Sanctum of the Archmage Chapters 1 – 2 has finally been released!

I heard from NinjaWeaselMan today and got his OK to host the Romantic Animations Suite on my website, so I decided not to delay releasing the Sanctum v3.2 update after all. I just finished updating the module pages and I think I’ve got everything set up OK, but if anyone has any problems downloading, installing or running it, please let me know. 🙂

Sanctum v3.2 Update Delayed

1 - The Sight, 2 - The Quest

Since it’s now been nearly two weeks since I announced that I was about to release the Sanctum of the Archmage v3.2 update, I feel that I owe the community an explanation regarding why it has been delayed.

Since the Sanctum update uses NinjaWeasel’s Romantic Animations Suite (which I have been helping him to beta test), I have been waiting for him to make that publicly available before releasing it. I last heard from him on August 15th, in an email which said that he was submitting the RAS and that it would be available in a couple of days once it cleared the Vault. That should have been around August 18th or so. It was on the basis of that information that I posted my announcement that the long-delayed Sanctum update would be uploaded shortly, and prepared it for release.

The RAS hasn’t become available as I expected, either on NinjaWeasel’s website or on the Vault. I’ve emailed him several times over the last two weeks to inquire about the matter, but with no response. I’ve also tried to reach him through others in the community who know him, but no one seems to have seen him around recently. I hope nothing’s happened to him.

My only choices right now are to cancel my plans to release the Sanctum update until further notice, to release a version that doesn’t include the RAS, or to temporarily host the RAS hak on my own website. I’m not comfortable acting on that last choice without his stated permission, though, since I know that he wants to control the distribution of his work.

As I said in a previous post, I have a lot of RL related issues to take care of in the immediate future. So since I no longer have time to properly support a module release right now anyway, I’ve decided to postpone the Sanctum update until I do. I’m not sure exactly when that will be, but it will likely be in late September. Hopefully by then the unexpected confusion about the release of the RAS will be resolved, the Sanctum update can finally be posted, and I can get started in earnest on the next chapter. 🙂

Sanctum of the Archmage v3.2 to be Released Shortly

1 - The Sight, 2 - The Quest

Just a quick note to say that the v3.2 update to Sanctum of the Archmage Chapters 1-2 should be ready to upload shortly, and hopefully by this weekend. I’ve finally had the time to finish the remaining work I needed to, which included updating the documentation and credits and helping to prepare and package some of the new custom content. I just finished my final playtest of Sanctum 1, and expect to be done with Sanctum 2 by tomorrow. 🙂

A Quick Update

1 - The Sight, 2 - The Quest, Dragon Age, Sanctum: The Modules

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the status of the Sanctum v3.2 update, as well as some news that may be of interest to readers of my blog.

Between the demands of my job, vacation, managing the AME, and some other projects (see below), my schedule has gotten very busy in recent weeks — and that has unfortunately delayed my efforts to get the Sanctum update posted for general release. I have only a few remaining tasks to finish before I can upload it, but unfortunately my available time is still going to be very limited for the next few weeks. Hopefully when some of the smoke clears from my “real life,” I should be able to finally get it completed and online by the end of the month.

The very talented Estelindis has graciously offered to develop some high quality custom NWN head models for the Sanctum update. We’ve been collaborating for a few weeks now on how to get the look just right for the various characters, and the results are truly amazing (if I do say so myself). Robin (both genders) and Orion are basically done, and Diana is currently in development as well. Here’s a link to a screenshot featuring (female) Robin’s new head and the use of the Romantic Animations Suite. Este, thank you very much for your fantastic work on this!

Although sworn to secrecy until recently, I can now also reveal that I’ve been a participant in the beta test for the Dragon Age Toolset since early this year — and I was invited to travel to Bioware HQ in Edmonton last week to participate in the Dragon Age Toolset Builder’s Event. I plan to blog at more length about that amazing experience when I have time — but for now, to see what it was all about check out the posts on the Bioware Blog here and here. I’ll only say for now that from what I’ve seen, the tools that Bioware is making available for Dragon Age are going to change the landscape of RPG modding. I’m very excited about it. Although I’m still committed to finishing “The Miracle Worker” in NWN1, I’m now giving serious consideration to completing Part III of the Sanctum Saga — The Alliance — in Dragon Age.

Thanks again to everyone for your patience and interest!

Cheers,

Andarian

One More Round of Testing

1 - The Sight, 2 - The Quest

I finished my playtest run a couple of days ago, and I’m making the rest of the required changes now. Unfortunately, though, the list is too long (and in some cases the fixes are too substantive) for me to just finish them and upload the beta test. Some of the new changes (such as the new shopping system and modifications to some of the items) also have the potential to alter the play balance, so I’ll need to make one more playtest pass through the modules after finishing to make sure nothing serious is broken. Unfortunately, that’ll take at least a few more days.

Shop Till You Drop

1 - The Sight, 2 - The Quest

I took a detour from playtesting today to add something that I’ve been thinking about for a very long time: a complete re-write of the merchant appraisal system. I’m a big fan of shopping and of using the appraise skill, but the NWN1 implementation of it was really awful. Here are my criticisms of it:

  • Appraise rolls encourage players to save and re-try to get better shopping statistics, especially since they are remembered from visit to visit until your appraise skill improves.
  • An unlucky second roll can actually cause your shopping adjustment to get worse when your appraise skill improves, which makes no sense.
  • Characters with a very high appraise skill can actually sell items back to the merchant for more than they paid for them.
  • Characters don’t get a charisma-based shopping adjustment, which I always thought would have been appropriate.

I’ve just finished testing the changes that I’ve made to Sanctum v3.2 to address these issues, and I think you’ll like the results. 🙂