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Larger Parties, Garrisons! [Now with Drawings!]

WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
edited January 2015 in BG:EE Mods
I have this idea:

-Larger party option with more difficultly / scaled encounters for revisited play-throughs (after beating the game once).
-Garrison Management for settlements and fortified areas. (Think inventory and side quests but for the town's garrison).
Joe Bob the Fighter staring in: Garrison 'Management' Interface sketch that I made on the 2014 holidays (Post Christmas):
image
[Yes I know, Bad quality Image and messy writing.. (Notorious with Teachers)]

What do you think? (I have also created an [in-depth] algorithm for Garrison N.P.C. generation).
Post edited by WithinAmnesia on
lolienStradlin

Comments

  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited January 2015
    @AstroBryGuy‌ So it can be done? One just has to recreate the Infinity engine to do it? So it is more of a 'needs professional assets in order to accomplish'?

    What do you think of Garrisons though hey @AstroBryGuy‌ ?

    Thank you very much for your time and bandwidth.
    lolien
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437

    What do you think of Garrisons though hey @AstroBryGuy‌ ?

    Thank you very much for your time and bandwidth.

    Not my cup of tea, but it would appeal to some, I'm sure.
    jackjacklolienCrevsDaak
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited January 2015

    What do you think of Garrisons though hey @AstroBryGuy‌ ?

    Thank you very much for your time and bandwidth.

    Not my cup of tea, but it would appeal to some, I'm sure.
    My plan is to eventually implement: A scaling adversity with greater party member maximum allowance.

    Play-Through One:
    -Six Party Members Maximum.
    V
    Completion Unlocks: 'Fury of the Sword Coast' Adversity Level
    -Nine Party Members Maximum.
    V
    Play-through Two:
    -Six Party Members Maximum
    -Optional: 'Fury of the Sword Coast' Adversity Level
    ~Nine Party Members Maximum.
    V
    Completion Unlocked: 'Fury of Bhaal'
    -Twelve Party Members Maximum.
    V
    Play-through Three:
    -Six Party Members Maximum
    -Optional: 'Fury of the Sword Coast Difficulty' Adversity Level
    ~Nine Party Members Maximum.
    -Optional: 'Fury of Bhaal' Adversity Level
    ~Twelve Party Members Maximum.

    Each Adversity Level has new rewards and encounters. (New Items, Monsters, Quests and Areas etc.) So as to keep something new for the passionate fans with more complex battles and more party members rather than just having more party members for encounters and quests designed around a six member party; also it rewards the hardcore and passionate players with the 'full game' and gives a more satisfying level of accomplishment to those few. All it takes is knowing that one has a very hard to earn item that they have never seen or were ever able to obtain before; but now they have it. Or even an encounter that really delivered a massively satisfying and challenging fight that they never experienced.
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited January 2015
    Belanos said:


    -Nine Party Members Maximum.
    ~Nine Party Members Maximum.
    -Twelve Party Members Maximum.
    ~Nine Party Members Maximum.
    ~Twelve Party Members Maximum.

    Did you read Astro's post at all? It can't done without hacking/rewriting the entire game engine. Which, not only do I doubt you have the skills for, but would be against copyright regulations. If you want to come up with new game ideas, you should probably stick with what's realistic and actually doable.

    I do have a 'secret project' titled "Daggerford Saga" that I started in 2009 or 2010.. If I cannot find a place or a way for the highly demanded larger party feature than I will include it on my own I.P. Although I will try my 'damnedest' to include it in the Original Baldur's Gate First.

    "It can't done without hacking/rewriting the entire game engine."
    If it can be done than It can be done. One has to earn their life's achievements in some form or another.
    If I can breath I will be working, scheming and plotting on how to create great games, I always loved and still love the Original Baldur's Gate. I want to do this as something that is hard beyond sanity but when it is done or exploded in a fantastical explosion of effort and abject failure; one thing will be changed: my boundaries and definition of what I can and cannot be do. Even if I fail, I will still learn and work a new engine for a new game series. I think that is worth it in the end. Although for the time being, don't worry about it in recent news, for I have it planned as feature with 'The Second Version of "Baldur's Gate: Path of the Lost Odyssey". Yes I alone most likely cannot do it by myself but I plan to have a 'Two Thrust' approach. Where 'Thrust One' is being a free 'mega mod' that I am working on and it gradually gets done as I work along side others projects: for example other game titles, other learning projects (3D Modeling), my personal business etc. 'Thrust Two' is where I muster personal experience and professional help and do the 'impossible' features (e.g. 12 Party Member Mode) that I and perhaps much of the community will enjoy.

    What are your and everyone else's Opinions are on my comment? I would Love Greatly to hear them!
    Bladesjackjack
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968

    What are your and everyone else's Opinions are on my comment? I would Love Greatly to hear them!

    No, I don't think you do.

    GodKaiserHellWithinAmnesialolien
  • AsthnerAsthner Member Posts: 83
    I’ll give you the benefit of doubt and believe for a moment that you are actually sane.
    But mind, I’m one of those players who recruit Xzar only for safer passage to the Friendly Arm Inn and then ditch him immediately for being too much of a lunatic.

    Regarding a mega mod: sounds interesting, but I think I prefer the way things are, where each author is able to update and develop their piece of cake. If you had your way, it would become inevitable that one would have to choose between installing separate updated mods, or your, under-updated compilation.
    If you’re interested in helping out the mega mod community, try contributing to the Big World Project or write unofficial patches for content mods, making them work better together.
    http://www.shsforums.net/forum/193-mega-mod-help/

    Regarding upgrading the infinity engine with larger party size: if you were to achieve this you would become my personal god. However, things being as they are, I’m pretty confident I will remain an atheist.
    Take a look at GemRB and contribute to that. I’ve linked it in my previous post.
    lolienWithinAmnesiaTJ_Hooker
  • lolienlolien Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,108
    Please, if you make this, do a max. 15 party member maximum. I'd like to play with 13 dwarf, a halfling and a mage party ; )
    AstroBryGuyjackjackJuliusBorisov
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited January 2015
    @Asthner - Everything starts as a what if, then a ridicule, then a doubt, then a possibility, then a long road, then an obstacle, then another obstacle, and then a far distant light, then a tease, then a last push, then an explosion of events, then pure emotionally overwhelming chaos, from then din a of peace, and then from peace it is one with the universe. Afterwards it becomes history, then it becomes legend, then it turns into myth and then from myth to fantasy and from fantasy it becomes mundane and then it becomes obscure: life goes on until all is forgotten and lost. But we my friends live now and breath still with air in are moral lungs to cling for the question: why are we here?


    It is what we do now that counts, even if we are to be nothing more.. but dust. Even if we are to become a long dead echo within an inevitable future that will become a forgotten ancient past and we will be nothing more than a ghost among the past memories of the eternally fading chapters of life. We can still live now and can be remembered for what we did tomorrow in the dawn that we will never see. Even when we are gone beneath the thin veil of the living we can still speak. It is just a matter of the language that you choice to use.

    Matthew Roulston 8:00 PM 10/01/2015
  • kotekokoteko Member Posts: 179
    edited January 2015
    Sure, it can be done. Start a kickstarter campaign for at least, say, 50k dollars, and be ready to put in a few of your own if we run out or simply don't reach the goal. That should be enough to dedicate my time to learn GemRB and apply the modifications you require, in addition to making it go a stable release (it's not 1.0 yet).

    After a couple of years, or more if I have to work less than full time, we should have a decent new Infinity Engine clone with increased party size, compatible with the BG1 assets at least. Sadly we won't be able to sell it for copyright reasons, and if we run out of funds the project's done. But hey, what is life without risk?

    More seriously, nobody is going to make your dream come true, unless you pay them. Period. And mega-projects/ideas always turn out to be just that: ideas. A project requires sweat.

    Of course, if your intention is not to recruit people but do it yourself, then please go ahead. Reverse engineering the BG executables is going to take years of your life, even just to understand what they do, but hey, you'll have learned a lot of assembly.
    TJ_HookerWithinAmnesiaSionIV
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    @koteko I agree with the scale and the realities that you portray within your words and I feel the same on many common grounds with the understanding that money drives and inspires many areas and people of the world.

    I am keeping this as a 'back burning project' as I work upon other projects in my personal life so that I can one day.. *pause* find the required investment to which payout, work through and problem-solve the obstacles in my way to creating the 'large party' er, 'addition' to the Original Baldur's Gate.

    I do agree that it will take most likely many years and as well as the understanding that I will be losing money to make it a reality. Although I am fine with though things for some people build cars, some people create model trains, boats and even airplanes as they grow into being elderly, and I plan to work on and hopefully improve the videos games the I have a passion for like: the Original Baldur's Gate. This kind of project will take lots of time and lots of money, but if one looks at 'the end it all'; our time and our money are eventually gone and our actions 'invested into the future' (whether we like it or not) although 'at the end of it all' the question still remains for all of us: was it worth it? - I hope that I can say with a steady and calm voice "Yes it was worth it all".
    -What say you?
  • kotekokoteko Member Posts: 179
    If having BG with more than 6 player characters is worth such a big life investment, or money if you want someone else involved, then I can relate - although, on the purely subjective and judgemental side, it seems foolish to me.

    What was really the point of my post was giving a slight hint into exactly what kind of effort this is. I don't know your technical knowledge so I can't be sure if you truly understand what the required modifications are.

    I also deeply respect other people's ambitions and far-fetched goals - I know that often, even if you "fail", you gain much more than if you hadn't ever started. However I strongly dislike when such big ambitions are not backed by at least a general knowledge of the field they belong to.

    So, do you have a (detailed) plan? Have you started? Have you decompiled the Baldur.exe executable and started learning x86 assembly, or have you gone the other way and started learning how GemRB is implemented?

    If you haven't started anything apart sketching the general idea, doesn't imply you'll not succeed - it just strongly suggests it. Very simply, successful people have "Guiding Idea" but then quickly get into the practical work.

    And the practical work here is huge. Even more so if you decide to patch the original binaries instead of learning GemRB. But even in the latter case, it takes time and effort to be a good C++ programmer, so it's still not a simple task.

    I'd imagine you'll need at least a year doing programming exercises, studying algorithms and data structures and slowly advancing your knowledge. If you haven't started, maybe you don't value this BG extension so much are your words imply, after all.
    jobbyWithinAmnesia
  • SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
    I applaud you for your enthusiasm, but i have to tell you that if you were in my country they would ask you to walk in a straight line and then take some blood samples.
    CrevsDaakjobbyWithinAmnesia
  • jobbyjobby Member Posts: 181
    Sorry @WithinAmnesia I do love your enthusiasm but there is a reason the pro modders who have been about for over a decade (no offense guys!) haven't gone down this route.

    Seriously if you start small, perhaps release an interesting and fairly balanced weapons mod then go from there you will find people more willing to listen.

    Again I adore your desire and enthusiasm but what you are proposing is an entirely different kettle of fish to weidu or near-infinity mods.

    Good luck with your future endeavors anyway :)
    WithinAmnesia
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