Hidden Gimp & Other Tales

TarotRedhand

As you may know I have a blog on the same platform as @Symphony. The first entry on it was Hidden Gimp. This began life as a series of posts on the last EA/Bioware forums. As a result it wasn’t really designed for a full page blog and so the layout leaves something to be desired. Having said that I think the information contained in it is well worth a look.

I now have a second entry in my blog. This one is called So you want to make a module for NwN EE Part 1. In it I encourage newbies to use the old Bioware module building tutorial by using it myself, commenting on it and pointing out a few things that are missing from that tutorial. This is planned to be the first of 10 parts.

I would appreciate it if people could take a look and then leave any comments here as constructive criticism will help me to improve it and continue to make more.

Thanks

TR

raz651

I will read it later and follow the directions. But at first glance, I am not keen on the two column layout. I would rather have the same layout as the Hidden Gimp post.

TarotRedhand

Thanks.

TR

TarotRedhand

OK, I was debating whether or not to continue with the making a module blog series given the amount of feedback I'd received. Then I went on twitter... Thank you @JuliusBorisov and @beamdog for that tweet. Looks like I've now got no choice... Cest la vie.

TR

TarotRedhand

OK. I'm about 3/4 of the way through and there's a power cut. Only about a minute but enough to lose a bit of the work. Sort of takes the wind out of your sails. Hopefully will have Part 2 finished, uploaded and available to view sometime tomorrow. But for now I'll take a break.

One question though. These blogs are really designed to be viewed on either a laptop or a desktop. Is anyone actually trying to read them on a phone? I would have said that really there are too many words to make that enjoyable. So is anyone really using a phone to view these?

TR

MrDamage

I use my phone to read them. They’re ok to view in my opinion. I’ve seen a lot worse. Someone posted earlier about double column layout but you must of changed it? Cause I’m not seeing that. I use my phone to read a lot when I’m out and about during the day though to break the monotony so I’m pretty used to and have become accustomed to this method.
Here’s a screenie of what I see

TarotRedhand

No, it's still in 2 column. Here's a reduced (from 1920pix wide to 800pix) screeny (shrunk for forum posting) -



Surprisingly you can still read most of it.

I did it that way because I thought it looked better and didn't think anyone would try to read it on their phones.

TR

MrDamage

Hmm. Interesting. The phone clips the columns but the content remains far as I can see. For some reason phone doesn’t like the docked ship graphic, but is fine with the map.
Conclusion, no brainer but yeah, looks a lot better with pc with no missing graphics

TarotRedhand

Could it be the size of the images? They are both reduced to 1024pix wide for the blog. Is that too big for your phone?

From what you have told me, I may well go with 2 columns again for part 2 then.

TR

MrDamage

TarotRedhand said:

Could it be the size of the images? They are both reduced to 1024pix wide for the blog. Is that too big for your phone?

From what you have told me, I may well go with 2 columns again for part 2 then.

TR

Yeah looks ok to me!
Not sure what it is about the ship graphic. If I click the box where it is supposed be it loads a black screen of death. But other then that it’s definately readable!

TarotRedhand

Thanks for that feedback on the layout and readability.

TR

tgx

Well, I've also looked at this blog, and the top picture is also missing for me. It looks like it can't find it.

Anyway, I've just completed this tutorial for myself. It's pretty good at explaining itself, so I'm not sure a "let's play" version of it is really that essential. Unless you intend to extend it a lot. I liked how you put the ship in there. And how you have the roads leading off to places unknown. I've heard someone else start with this tutorial, and fill in the world from there, building Hyatt Castle and whatnot.

I'd be interested in more examples like this, since they're educational. Hopefully you'll add more nifty things as you go along, and not just stick with the format of the pdf. But, it was fun just playing with the toolset. Making this and that. Maybe this will encourage others to play with it too.

Oh, and here's how my initial area turned out. I'd done this before you put your blog up, but if I'd seen your version first, I probably would have done that ship thing. That was neat to see.

TarotRedhand

@tgx thanks. Actually I'm hoping my comments make it even easier for people to use that tutorial to try their hand at module building.

Part 2 finally done and up there.

Any comments, typos discovered, heck even a review if you're that way inclined, etc. Please post here.

TR

TarotRedhand

Part 3 is now available.

TR

DerpCity

Just a question, but are those images from the original tutorial? For the interior, I would recommend telling the reader to use the "Door Transition" tile instead of the standard doorway. That way it doesn't create a small room behind your exits.

TarotRedhand

They are from my implementation of the original tutorial in EE. I think I actually need to tell them more than that such as to make interior areas 1 tile bigger along the side with a door so that that tile will fit. But that's not the only thing I could tell them. The trouble is not deciding what to tell them but what not to tell them so as to avoid information overload at this stage in their first attempt at building a module. Also what can I leave out until part 10 and any subsequent parts. Parts 1 to 9 will reflect what the Bioware tutorial teaches as there are 9 chapters in it. Parts 10 and up are where I fill in any gaps left.

I also may be beginning to get cross-eyed syndrome from writing this blog but that's another matter. (follow instructions, review instructions, find stuff to give value+ to the tutorial, pull out hair, bang head against desk, repeat until sanity shredded...)

If you ever overhear me say "How hard can it be, I've played with that toolset loads of times..." again, shoot me.

TR

TarotRedhand

Currently on hold due to possible bug in EE.

TR

TarotRedhand

While we wait for that bug to be fixed I thought I would tell you about a series of tutorials that I have written and released in pdf format. They all deal with the basics of scripting in NwN. They are -

• TR's Basics - Boolean Algebra
  
• TR's Basics - Decisions
  
• TR's Basics - Mostly Operators
  
• TR's Basics - Variables, Types and Functions (TBC)
  

One thing. If you should download these, please use a dedicated standalone pdf reading program. Each one has bookmarks which enable you to jump straight to certain sections in them. You do not gain access to these in an internet browser.

TR