Blog 4.0

[Logan23 205]

Developer?s Blog 4.0

 

In this developer?s blog we will look at the struggles in building a large mod like Revenge of Revan.

 

When taking on a project which not only adds a new story but also involves new planets can be a bit over whelming at first. To build something like this you first have to understand the game?s mechanics and understand what the limitations are for the game engine. I can not over stress this since many times we get caught up with non game mechanic details. The end goal is to make the Mod work with little to no bugs.

 

When I started to build this mod I had to learn how to connect modules, skin them so you can reuse the same module again if you wish to and get my head around the world of scripting. My brother is a programmer so I had a academic understanding of code but writing it is something totally different since one little mistake can cause you to spend 10 minutes trying to figure out why the script will not fire like you wanted.

 

There is a learning curve. This is something you always think will be a few weeks but it ends up longer. I discovered that it took me about 8 months get past mine. Those were 8 hard months of making mistakes and breaking down how the game is put together in the mechanics. After awhile you will get the hang of it.

 

What I did to limit bugs and issues was to not re-invent the wheel. I focus on simple basic scripts which help out a lot. I say unless you are a natural at scripting, keep it simple.

 

Examples from my RoR?s production?.

 

Everyone knows that Malachor V is in RoR and when building the planet and placing the quests into the planet I had a major issue. I had two slight versions of Malachor V since you can choose if kotor2 ended with light side or dark side endings. I first tried to script the planet so I can have it fire spawns of certain NPCs depending of the ending of kotor2 but then there were some bugs plus if I wanted to try to push both versions to be a bit more different from each other that created more scripting issues. The conclusion was to create 2 versions of certain modules. One version was for light side kotor2 ending and the other was dark side kotor2 ending. This may have added more modules to the size of the mod but it also removed any issues of bugs related to this problem.

 

Be flexible in your production of the Mod. There will be cut content just because of the limited resources. Have a core plot and allow planets to develop as you build them, don?t lock yourself in a corner due to your writing.

 

As a former construction manager and a back ground in graphic design I knew that when building a project this size you have to have a project schedule. This is not a schedule in the form of a dead line but a schedule to know that certain things will hold up the production of other areas like VOs.

 

Now I will go into how you can build most of the mod all at the same time without waiting for one area to be done before another. This is all part of production meaning you already decided on which modules will represent which planets and the core plot is done even if the script/dialogues are not finalized.

 

You can start NPC placement by taking the module which you are going to use even if it?s not re-skinned and get the location of the core NPCs. These would be merchants, quest givers, and any other important characters or place able.

 

You can even place dummy dlg in them stating if they are selling something or they want to give you a quest or even play pazzak.

 

One thing I have learned it means a lot to have moving NPCs. You can select a few to either have random walking and random re-walking after you talk to them or you can have the waypoints setup.

 

While you?re doing this you can be connecting and building the actual real in-game modules. You change the waypoints and transitions to match the way you want the planet to be connected.

 

I do agree when building the game to build from the first module when it comes to content but you can jump around to another planet for things like NPC placement and skinning. This is good to do in case you get bogged down or feel like you need a fresh new area to play with to increase your drive in the project.

 

Take a lot of notes! I have notepads filled with notes and the XYZ locations of just about every NPC or place able there is that was new. Note pads are also great to plan out quests and you can then make a list of waypoints needed as well as script to use to make the quest active. Again don?t worry about final dialogue or lip-sync. You can place in dlg with the scripts that will fire when the PC decides on a choice in the dlg. By doing this you can test it and see if it fires correctly. Later you can place in the final dialogue and then the lips.

 

After all this is done you can then merge them into the in-game module to test where you can play the module and check for early balance issues. This is also where you can place in the proper dialogue. Once all of this is working?..then comes what I call pre-beta.

 

Pre-beta is where you have someone play through the modules and give feed back. Now remember there is still more NPC fillers need to be put into the modules as well as any re-skinning of the module if you have not done it already.

 

Once the pre-beta of that section is done and tested you can then finalize dialogue and move to placing lip syncs and get VOs created. This is also where you might tweak scenes and quests. Plus the feed back can be great in having them suggest ideas for quests or NPCs that would be fun to see in the module.

 

Then after this comes Polishing and then Beta testing of all the sections of the Pre-betas as a whole game. After looking at the feedback for the testers you can do the proper tweaking plus game balancing?..which leads you can move to final polishing.

 

Game assets like new skinned armors, light saber hilts, and weapons can be introduced as late as Beta testing as well as Final Polishing. Tweaking the module?s skins can also be done late since they will not affect the game?s mechanics.

 

As for Bink movies these can even be done during the final Polish or after since all you need is a dummy movie to run when you want one to play just to make sure the game runs proper. Once the Bink movie is ready it can easily be slipped into the game causing no issues since you had a marker placed in the scripting till the proper asset is finished.

 

One last note on scripting, create a word document in place any scripting that was using in your mod so you can always jump back to the word document to find the script that you wish to tweak and re-use. Also search Lucas forums for scripting issues and when you come across a script that you know you will be using or will need for reference, copy and paste it into your word document so you have a library of scripts to look at to help you build the script you will need for your quest building, cut scene. Etc.

 

If you have any questions on this Blog or wish to hear more detail on a certain part of it feel free to ask in the Forum and I will see if I can help answer or clear anything up.

 

 

 

MORE TO COME.....

 

Logan