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Can builders make *and share* improvements to the OCs?

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  • CerabelusCerabelus Member Posts: 385
    edited January 2018
    Jidokwon said:

    I'm obviously not a lawyer or anything, but I'm curious now why I've never found improvements made to the OCs online. I've heard that the Vault bans builders for sharing these improvements. If that is the case, it's just not making sense to me. I've seen, downloaded, and played modules and campaigns that are based off of or are total rebuilds of other games and other forms of literature. Why would making and sharing improvements to the OCs be any different than these?

    Last time I played NWN 1 & 2 I was bored of the enemies and started modding them, they have poor stats and mini bosses like a guy in the OC Peninsula District Fighter / Rouge Lvl 7 with a STR 12
    DEX 10 ??
    CON 18
    And 137 or so HP
    He's best assets are overly high HP and sneak attack.
    What kind of Rouge has 10 DEX and almost all the enemies don't even have basic gear equipped and on NWN 2 the bigger problem was most mobs in Chapters 1 & 2 didn't even have a proper class, "Commoner" class for most Orcs and Bugbears so I changed that in both games and gave most of them basic gear and adjusted stats and classes so mobs would consist of Fighters, Clerics, Mages and on NWN 2 I added more Warlocks and Bosses like Dragons on NWN 1 I upgraded their innate abilities like Stoneskin And Spell Absorption and even gave them a Lvl 6 Heal spell.

    Also I changed the enemy Mages spell books so if I was in a room with 3 Mages, 1 would be Evocation, 1 Necromancy, and 1 Abjuration so they would be varied and the Abjurer would try dispelling me while the other 2 attacked.

    They don't have to be overpowered to be a challenge, for most enemies I gave them basic gear and 2 Lvl ups and adjusted classes and stats to supplement the class and Spell books when necessary and the mobs where better without being overpowered, the Dragons need to be better because well they're Dragons and most bosses such as Intellect Devourer & Gulnan in OC I didn't change as they where already a pain at low Lvl's.

    After the changes I waited a couple of months because I didn't want to remember everything I did and I found that I did make a couple of mini bosses a bit too good for that Lvl but most mobs where better at fighting but on NWN 2 I noticed the Skeleton Clerics I made would try to heal there allies with Positive energy lol imagine your fighting 5 Skeletons and 1 gets killed by his ally from a Cure Serious Wounds spell lol, so next time ill change them to Mages and Warlocks.
    Post edited by Cerabelus on
    DerpCity
  • HunterRayder93HunterRayder93 Member Posts: 266

    If you wanted to do a remix of the OC, go for it. We should really come up with a name for the OC. Any thoughts on a good name for it that doesn't give away the last chapters?

    and if we called it "the dark conspiracy" or "the dark secret conquest"? for those who played.

    Trent, please know that you hate OC and a campaign created by tea but like campaigns like Ailmun Saga or others can be improved and "updated" I hope you consider the idea of ​​updating the system of Followers and doing it as in HoTU (same also in SoU), in such a way at least to have a feeling of renewal, the code of change of that function for many years and to say the least frustrating many are using the help of Hack or mod's specifications but does not fully solve the problem creating conflicts, since you "have the power" to change that at least do that, we are not asking you to remove the OC and replace it with another thing (which would be nothing short of absurd and impossible, since even in good or bad NWN: OC was able to tell stories of characters (not all) who then became famous in many of us and held a place in our hearts, also considering the idea of ​​adding new followers to cover discrepancies ( Range r, cleric, druid etc ...) that are missing among those already presneti in the OC, I know you can do it because the same treatment you did with the BG series and it would be nice to have something similar in NWN: EE, maybe the multiclass characters as in SoU here it would not be bad, 2-4 multi-class characters with different combinations to adapt to the type of character you play ... then it is up to you BG to decide at the end how to proceed (maybe a poll for add new classmates in the OC).

    Then just complete those threads unfinished storyline that many users say to find in HoTU, SoU and OC ... but that and another story and it's always up to you to decide if I do not have but after your last streaming this has me lost a glimmer of hope for a consideration, I never did but being a game that I love madly and we hi played so much, I "messed up" with the editor be ... I would like so much Trent reconsider this thing .. I implore you I beg you from a huge fan of NWN.
    Cerabelus
  • pscythepscythe Member Posts: 116

    If you wanted to do a remix of the OC, go for it. We should really come up with a name for the OC. Any thoughts on a good name for it that doesn't give away the last chapters?

    @TrentOster are there any restrictions to distributing those remixes? For DoD we were told we're free to "remix" but not free to distribute those remixes.
  • DerpCityDerpCity Member, Moderator Posts: 303
    edited June 2018
    @pscythe There pobably aren't any restrictions on the OC, as it, alongside Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark, are available to anyone who owns EE. The reason DoD would be restricted while they aren't is that DoD is a premium module you need to pay extra for, and if you released a remix you'd be basically giving the same package plus and/or minus a few things for free.
    pscythe
  • pscythepscythe Member Posts: 116
    @DerpCity That's my thinking too. Just thought I should get some clarifications.
    DerpCity
  • JidokwonJidokwon Member Posts: 395
    edited June 2020
    If it wouldn't be a daunting task, could anyone walk me through how to update all of the OCs and premium modules to everything that is available in the current EE version, please? To be more specific, I'm asking for how I would go about making all of this content universal.
  • AndarianAndarian Member Posts: 185
    Jidokwon wrote: »
    If it wouldn't be a daunting task, could anyone walk me through how to update all of the OCs and premium modules to everything that is available in the current EE version, please? To be more specific, I'm asking for how I would go about making all of this content universal.

    I'm not sure I understand the question. The OCs in the EE release already use EE, don't they?
  • JidokwonJidokwon Member Posts: 395
    I could have worded that better. They all use the same engine and patch, but none of them have properly been "enhanced" since their initial release. That's something that Beamdog really should have done before NWNEE launched, but they've abandoned them. I'm hoping that in this day of age it will be a fairly simple process to update all of the OCs and premium modules so that they're uniform with each other. Inventory control and advanced henchmen commands, universal random drops and spell and ability selection, unique items that work properly in all official content, etc. are just some of the very basic things that should be included in the EE version. They're leaving it up to unpaid modders, though, so I'm asking how to do it.
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    Well, implementing the modern inventory system and better A.I and the like can already be done with mods, but you could make it innate to the OC if you want. One of the most popular Steam workshop mods does just that. That's probably the reason why it hasn't been done, really. The results you want you can get already.

    If I were to adjust the OC I would simply upgrade the leveled spawn list a bit. Make the higher level spawns more challenging and give better variety and tactics to the lower leveled ones. Maybe add a few more RP options are certain points and an extra quest or two. You gotta appreciate the toolset and how easy it is to work with.
  • MelkiorMelkior Member Posts: 179
    I discovered that the OC has at least one bug built-in to a module which would make upgrading the module difficult. It's only one bug but it's a big one and if it exists in one spot, it might exist elsewhere and it de-motivates me, at least, in any endeavour to upgrade the OC.

    The bug is with the quest where you have to "swim underwater" between two wells. The problem is that if you edit that module and then look at the conversation which is activated when the PC interacts with the well, there are no action scripts on the conversation branches. In fact, I can't find any scripts in the module which cause the PC to move between the two wells.

    Now, obviously the compiled scripts must be in the module since the module works and the transfer between wells works, but it looks like the plaintext uncompiled scripts have somehow been deleted from the module before it was released. This makes it impossible to know exactly what is being checked for as the criteria to allow the PC to make it across, or under what circumstances the attempt should fail. (Although it appears that the check is only done for the "outward" journey, not for the journey back)

    If I were replacing the scripts, I'd probably make it that the PC needs full Hit Points in order to get across, but that's only a guess based on something I saw in a "let's play" video. It would be better to be able to see the actual scripts.

    And if this area of the game is missing scripts, what other areas of the game might be missing scripts? Was this an attempt at copyright protection, based on the idea that if someone ever recompiled all scripts, they'd break part of the game? I have only guesses.

    I've occasionally considered attempting to re-write the OC to be a bit more interesting and to allow multi-player, but things like this are disincentives to that attempt.

    (Yes, I realise that the OC is in multiple modules, not a single module, but nowadays it would be quite possible to run all episodes of the OC on a single PC running multiple copies of the standalone server.)
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