Legacy: Dark Age of Britain

More screens, reminder of site address change

2010-06-28T12:36:00.001-07:00

Just a reminder to all, progress can be followed at our site.

Here are some more screens of the work we've done these past few months.

Stone Henge (where the demons dwell)

2010-05-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

For those non-pw players who follow this blog, here's some screens of our recently completed stone henge map. We took some creative liberties with the surrounding area (an empty field doesn't quite have the same effect as a beautiful forest), but structurally it's pretty close to spot on.

Enjoy!

Blog integrated into site

2010-04-27T00:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all who've followed this blog. You can now follow our progress by clicking on the news link at http://www.legacydarkage.com

Preview Module is Out, It's Magical

2010-04-11T23:19:00.001-07:00

Hey all.

So the preview module is up and running with magic and legacy systems all abuzz.

Take a run through when you get a chance. Gamespy, roleplay tab, Legacy:Dark Age of Britain - Preview.

Here's a screen of our magic system and legacy character sheets in action:

Johnny Autodownloader....

2010-04-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

So wow. I just spent the last 6 hours in a crash course of how to get a nwn2 server up and running on a remote server and getting the autodownloader to function. With nwn2, Murphy's law is already in extreme effect, but this was simply ridiculous.

The net result however? The preview module is up and functioning with full auto download support. The fun times begin in this small sneak peek at things to come.

Weblink here

OL Map With Encounters (almost)

2010-04-07T02:20:00.000-07:00

So we've got a version of ol map up and running with encounters, the encopunters do not move however. SOZ is written ground up for single player, so we've had to reconstruct something - a process that continues.

Nonetheless here's screens from the map for the preview module, which we hope to have up for multiplayer consumption (think of it as an alpha) this weekend.

Screens:

Full size screens here.

Preview Module Building: Almost there........Almost there.........

2010-04-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

So we're right on the cusp of releasing the preview module, we just need to get the overland map system straight, connect the transitions, and set the thing up for autodownload. Should be this week, just a question of how many days.

In the mean time, screens!

In the first, you'll see our armor movement speed reduction scripts at work:

(Full Size Screen Here). Any time you equip armor or dequip it, you'll know exactly what your armor speed reduction is just like you'll know your spell failure, etc.

In the second, you'll see our legacy character sheet in the right (with legacy score being reflected instead of alignment) and to the left you'll see the character's spell points (the pc in there is a warrior/knight, so no spell points for her).

Full size screen Here.

[Insert April Fool's Joke Headline Here]

2010-04-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

[April fool's joke here, something re: how we're cancelling development, or how we're changing themes to instead be a starcraft themed nw2 pw with all custom machinegun damage and regenerating space suit systems.]

[Funny mockup of proposed project]

[Sign off message]

Word of the Day: Cromlech

2010-03-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Cromlech. Say it, krom-lek. Release the cromlech!

So just what is a cromlech? Well ladies and gentlemen, a Cromlech was a Brythonic word (Breton/Welsh) used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archæology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument:

In English it usually refers to dolmens, the remains of prehistoric stone chamber tombs. However, it is widely used in French to describe stone circles (silly french).

Will there be Cromlechs in legacy you ask? You bet your bottom dollar there will!

(Wikipedia ftw)

The more you know...

Creating a Preview Module

2010-03-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

So we're working to prep this preview module, hopefully we can get it out this weekend.

We're going to use a few select ares - most likely a sparsely populated caerleon east, our OL map with encoutners, and a prefab from the vault called tourney grounds. We'll do a mini event in the last of these areas, allowing players a chance to battle out their different builds in a fun 'doesnt matter' pvp setting, then we'll close with a bit of a story lead in.

The amount of minutiae work really hits you as you prep something for launch. Creating item stores - getting the gold buyback right, realizing you didnt put appropriate armor icons in for the armors you created, etc.

Screenshots - The New Core of Caerleon and more!

2010-03-26T01:03:00.001-07:00

So we've got a near finished version of central caerleon (the new core to you TFR vets) built by none other than MagicChicken. Amazing work. Here's screens:

And here's a manual gallery to click through.

Fealty Screens (work in progress)

2010-03-23T12:08:00.001-07:00

Well our plans for the fealty/legacy system just keep getting grander and grander.

Have a look:

Movement in Armor, Fealty System

2010-03-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

We just keep on churning out better and better stuff.

Our resident Apep built us a handy dandy armor movement speed script that adds a much needed movement speed reduction based on armor type. Now those wearing heavy armor will experience a reduced speed compared to those wearing, medium, and again compared to those wearing light or none at all. You can check the system out here, as apep put it on the vault for all to use.

We've also got the blueprint laid out for our fealty/vassalage system. This is potentially one of the coolest and most defining systems for our pw. PT is building it. Essentially, it will allow players to swear fealty to npc kings, swear fealty to eachother, own lands/holdings, and determine who these posessions will pass on to (a steward).

This will be based on legacy score. And this very much will be our way to drive guild/group RP and make a 'C&D' system that works and actually encourages/rewards/reinforces group RP. We'll announce more on this once we've built it and we know exactly what it does and doesn't do, but this should be pretty cool.

Also - we are quickly moving into the full blown 'content-generating' mode. We could use area and quest builders to help populate the world. For those of you excited about this project with such skills, the contribution of a single area or set of areas is helpful. We've used some prefabs where appropriate, but custom built stuff is always preferable. So send me a pm at legacydarkage.com if you're interested.

Progress

2010-03-20T23:39:00.001-07:00

Progress continues. All but 4 capstone classes are done, so we'll soon have our entire character selection process finished and ready for mass testing (and you thought this was just a preview module for you!).

Also, area building has ramped up into near full blown construction mode. Caerleon east/crossroads is finished. Caerleon core continues to be iterated upon, with teh western ampitheatre next.

Other miscellaneous areas have also been finished. Here's the caerleon feast hall:

Good times.

Screens

2010-03-19T23:46:00.001-07:00

Awesome New Video Made By YMD

2010-03-18T17:10:00.001-07:00

YMD was awesome enough to make this preview video for our little pw here. I thnk we can all agree it's a little ridiculous, but hey way to go!

Note: YMD did not actually make this video. It's a trailer for a 1980's movie. Which should have already been clear.

Gods, Faiths, and Pantheons Wiki Writeups Are Up

2010-03-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

For all those itching to work out your character concepts in advance, head on over to the wiki. We have writeups for each of the faiths/gods/beliefs in the world of Legacy: Dark Age of Britain.

Check them out here.

Overland Map Encounter/Battle Areas Taking Shape

2010-03-16T14:08:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

So I only need to complete the Priest and Magician classes and we'll have a full set of all base classes built and ready to be played.

We're on track for the preview module release.

We nearly have Caerleon (Core) complete, with Caerleon (east) already done. Only Caerleon (west) remains and we'll have our starting city. Many other surrounding cities are already complete.

Anrilor has done a great job building the overland map encounter/battle areas players will be ported into upon encountering an enemy on the overland map. Here's a taste of the forest areas he's built:

Full gallery here.

In inventory Lore Item

2010-03-11T14:35:00.001-08:00

While some other pw's out there have these, one of our very own has stepped up and created a custom in game lore/rule/whatever we want item to be stuck in inventory on every pc.

Upon logging into the server and creating a pc, the player will immediately have access to this item. By clicking and using it, a conversation tree pops up that includes everything and anything the player needs to know to play: server rules, lore, classes, legacies, etc. All right there. This, combined with the wiki - is all designed to improve players' awareness of the world they're roleplaying in, and thereby improve the quality of roleplay for the server as a whole.

Big thanks to Apep for making it. Link to the system on the vault for anyone interested:

http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2PrefabPlaceables.Detail&id=151

And More Work

2010-03-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Work continues on. Still aiming to release the preview module this month (and time is moving quickly!)

We have several of the base classes built and undergoing testing. PT and I will next build the caster classes and spell lists. I'm currently trying to resolve some snags with making higher level feats selectable via the e8 feat system...hopefully I can get this resolved so more feats will be available and hence - more customization.

Legacy system and legacy point feedback are looking good.

OL Map Encounter scripts are built - we need to create 2da files to control the creature spawns.

TJ continues work on the creature menagerie. This will tie into the OL Map Encounters and also give us the list of creatures to populate the world areas.

Anrilor continues work on building the 'encounter zones' players will jump into upon encountering an enemy on the OL Map.

The wiki becomes more complete and polished by the day. Still have errant and 'non-final' entries, but it is getting there as we in turn get there.

PMilk is building Caerleon West for us, and made some revisions to Caerleon East (the two maps together forming our starting town).

Our stonehenge map is still in the pipe from NWN2 Community man DunniteOwl.

No screenies this week - hopefully we'll have some shots of Caerleon.

Work work work work....

2010-03-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

Tons of work continues.

Today I built our minstrel, rogue, warrior, and woodsman base classes. Will keep working on getting them all done.

PT showed us a UI mod that will display the player's legacy score and 'status' (i.e. a rough rank approximated to their actual legacy score) on their character page where they would otherwise see their alignment (our war against the stupidities of D&D alignments continues).

Ah and the new website is damaned amazing and impressive. Hope it's impressive to players, cause from teh admin side it's feature set is vastly superior.
Check it out: here

More and more getting done, this preview module should be good to go by the end of the month, with content loading being done from there until launch.

New Site Up...

2010-02-27T17:54:00.001-08:00

*sniff*

Well folks...it looks like this thing is really happening. The new site is up at www.legacydarkage.com

Yes sir TFR's days are numbered.

Let's Give Them Something To Talk About...

2010-02-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

Updates:

Areas:
Work continues on the starting city of Caerleon. The eastern map is in its second draft, with a third draft coming to incorporate it better into the OL Map. The OL Map is also being revised. Our man Pmilk is currently building Cearleon (center). After that, Caerleon (southwest) - which will have the amphitheatre, inn, and outlying farm lands will be next.

Classes:
We have spent the majority of this week as a staff nailing down the exact progressions and builds for our many custom classes and 'capstone classes' (prestige classes that one can only take after level 7 and reaching a legacy score of 100 or more).

Legacy System GUI:

Legacy is meant to reflect RP skill, boldness, and in-world acclaim. To that end, we're working on an in game, custom gui player-to-player legacy granting system which will allow for RP that occurs while DM's aren't around to be rewarded all the same.

The general idea is this:

* Player A witnesses Player B doing some awesome RP.
* Player A targets Player B and uses either a context menu button or a wand or something on them. (I prefer the interface since the wand option shows them "casting" and this lets it be anonymous)
* Window pops up. Player A describes Player B's actions and chooses (the ticker box to choose isn't in the screenshot) whether it constitutes a Legacy gain or legacy loss(say, a knight lying through his teeth)
* It goes into a database queue system
* The next DM who logs on has the queue pop up (screen 2). They then click on a row, and approve or deny the request.
* If denied, it just goes into the log file and "disappears" until someone does a log audit.
* If approved, it goes into queue 2, where all unhandled awards are kept.
* The next time Player B logs in, they receive the award (or penalty, as the case may be)

This system will also incentivize the reporting of in game events to DMs - this way, DMs can remain informed in a timely fashion of events going on in game when they are not online. Lastly, it has the distinct advantage of not having to leave the game to report it on the forums. By remaining in game, it is much more likely to be reported.

=============
The obvious issue this system raises is abuse. But we have several security measures:

-First and foremost: DM APPROVAL IS NEEDED EVERY TIME. A recommendation for legacy addition or subtraction from a player will do nothing without approval of a DM.
-No reciprocal granting. If Player A grants a point, neither A nor B can grant points to each other for 7 days.
-Player A cannot grant a second point to anyone else while they have a request in the queue.
-Awards are progressive with the granter's current legacy, and regressive with the recipient's recent rewards and current legacy. (Translation: If you have a lot of legacy, and you give a recommendation, it is worth more. But if you have a lot of legacy, or if you receive more than 5 points in a week's time, and someone gives you a recommendation, it is worth less.)

While it's still being built, we're excited about it. Here's a few screens:

Eastern Caerleon (Starting City) Finished

2010-02-23T23:05:00.001-08:00

Hey all,

Have a look at the recently completed (absent npc's) Eastern Caerleon. This will be one of three maps for the starting city.

Pretty much the entire staff is also currently at work hammering down the details of our base and 'capstone' classes (think prestige classes only with condensed bonuses due to E8 level restriction). Lively debates going on - they're a blast to be a part of. This custom magic system is outstanding.

Can't wait to start content filling the world.

More Screens of OL Map

2010-02-20T00:35:00.001-08:00

Here are some more screens of our first (of three) OL Maps, with starting city Caerleone upon usk right there.

Do you believe in Magic?

2010-02-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Alright friends and folks,

We got ourselves a custom magic system we're working on.

Firstly, it's based around magic points. A caster gets a certain pool of magic points to draw from in casting spells. Level 0 spells, cantrips, cost zero magic points (and thus can be cast freely to infinity). Level 1 spells (first circle) cost 1 magic point to cost, level 2 spells (second circle) cost 2 magic points and so on and so forth. So let's say we have a caster with 7 magic points - he could cast 7 magic missiles (7 X 1 = 7), or two hastes and a magic missile (3 X 2 + 1 = 7), etc.

Second aspect, and this we love. The system frees casters of the traditional spontaneous caster way of learning spells (you select a limited number upon levelups regularly). Instead, here we have the freedom to automatically grant spells to players - so that they'll always know it. OR OR OR, we can tie the learning of spells to players going to certain areas. So if a pc wants to learn how to cast 'call lightning' - we can make it so he'd have to travel to stone henge to learn it.

Third aspect - we can control which spells can be cast in what areas. So if we want, we could make it so raise dead can only be cause inside a holy shrine, or call lightning can only be cast in a circle of power, etc.

Fourth Aspect - we can make it so players can teach spells to one another. This is a mechanical thing that we hope will spawn rp (technically players could just learn it mechanically and do no rp, but if they do that that's their choice and they're missing out).

Excited? Tantalized? I know I am. PT already has this magical magic system built. We need only implement it into our pw. Here's hoping it works out.

WE GOT DEATHSTAR (actually it's an overland map, but ya...)

2010-02-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Alright kids,

Thanks to the wonderful man Pmilk, we've got our first of 3 overland maps. Rather than having one giant OLMap of all lower england, we are having 3 smaller OL Maps. Here's the first below:

(note - OL Maps don't look too pretty in screenshots due to lack of filter/proper perspective)

I'll now work on revising the map to reflect the city/fort areas we have. World is coming together folks.

Webdomain and Creature Spawn System

2010-02-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

Okay so we have our new webdomain (don't go there yet, it's not setup with forums, etc.) The name?

http://www.legacydarkage.com

Oddly enough, legacypw.com is already taken.
Nevertheless, through the fire and the flames we carry on.

Creature spawning system being looked at by TG this week. Should allow for us to permanently change/alter spawns in areas on the fly using just the DM client (i.e. we don't have to issue a new version of the module every time we want to change the area spawns). This is a HUGE asset for the pw going forward and should vastly improve our ability to tell dynamic plots. As anyone who played TFR could tell you, the difficulties/amount of work it took to change spawns/create new dynamic spawns led to the stagnation of the server's plots. (For instance, the orcs were still at that orc fort more than 9 months after the players had 'destroyed' them). TG believes he's got it figured out, so this should be a go and stagnant spawns should be a thing of the past.

Tentative Wiki / Forum Banner.

2010-01-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

So here's what our kind friend YMD whipped up for a web banner (see Above). We'll see if we put this on the forums or the wiki or both.

Death System

2010-01-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

So we're finalizing the death system's implementation now, thanks to great work again by Tinygiant and Jitur, our two scripting gods.

How it works:

This system is straight from World of Charun (and is really just a modified version of what was on TFR).

The player has three chances to respawn before permadeath. So if you get 'killed' you don't die, instead it's treated in character as your pc having a close brush with death. We're talking about how to indicate this to the player, and whether to put certain rp spin on it (i.e. on last life do we tell your pc he's getting paranoid/losing it or some other kind of RP instruction, but I digress). Each time your pc dies, you must respawn and thereby lose one of your three 'respawns' or retire the pc. After respawning 3 times, the next time your pc dies, it's for good. Unlike Forgotten Realms, resurrection is an extremely profound/rare thing - so much so that there's an entire religion based on the only guy alleged to have done it (Mr. JC Carpenter). With this in mind, resurections will not be possible. "repawns" are not resurrections, rather it's treated as your character having survived a close brush with death.

Right now we are also working on granting a Legacy Point BONUS of 5 points after each respawn. The notion being that your guy has survived close brushes with death, he must be favored by the gods/god or at the very least one tough/mean sonofabitch. Either way, that's an increase to the mystique/respect (i.e. Legacy) of your character.

65 Screenshots of Glory

2010-01-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

Alright,

I've gone through most of the areas I think we'll be using and took some screens to show everyone the area design vibe we're going for (and thus the setting vibe). Some of these areas are pretty sweet.

Click here to see a gallery and browse for yourself.

Also, click here to see a prefab ringwalled fort/village we're using.

2010-01-21T09:25:00.001-08:00

Here's a link to a stone circle/henge site area I'm hoping to use. It's a bit high magic looking, but it might work.

More and more areas...

2010-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

So while my mum was in town I had to take a break from hardcore 2da editing (i.e. the custom classes were put on hold), but I was able to incorporate and tweak about 12 areas for use in the module.

To date we have 14 areas, with more to come:

4 circles areas
1 Hilltop Fort (Brecon)
1 plains village with fortress (Dryslwynn)
1 plains/stream bridge map
1 wooded tournament grounds map
1 plains former Roman/hut village
1 mountain/winter village (Carolhaise) with 2 surrounding areas and 1 cave area (4 total)
1 Saxon Warcamp (Arthos)

Most of these are tweaked/altered prefabs, but hey you use what you can get.

Two New Areas: Hilltop Fort and the Start of StoneHenge

2010-01-14T01:11:00.001-08:00

The hilltop fort is pretty much perfect as is. The other screen is the start of what will become stonehenge.

Work work

2010-01-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

Work continues this week. The custom prestige class, complete with custom trigger feat (like the shadowthieves feat) are complete and ready for testing.

We've gained two new team members: TheAlmightRed and Tipsgraph. Looking forward to their contributions.

Stonehenge area is now unclaimed, hopefully tipsgraph or another aspiring builder can take it on and do it justice.

Several vault prefabs have been reworked and rebuilt for the server. Most notably a forest clearing with circle as well as a dark forest - possibly the domain of the Green Knight? We'll see.

More work continues to be done on the wiki as well, with the starting legacies now complete: http://www.nwn2thefrontier.com/wiki/index.php?title=Player_legacies

Poleeko will hopefully have the new domain up this weekend. Still waiting on the revised page (i.e. one that says Legacy: Dark Age of Britain from Set).

Preview of AI Combat System

2010-01-07T12:56:00.001-08:00

The folks over at Khalidine have agreed to let us (and anybody else who wants to) use their combat AI scripts. We'll have to take a look at them, but the system looks promising, especially for our SOZ Overland Map encounter areas.

Sexy Saxon Village / Warcamp

2010-01-06T16:31:00.001-08:00

And our first custom area is complete. Witness here, our moody saxon village/warcamp.

Still to come: Starting City CaerLeone, Stone Henge, overland map, happyland, and more! yay!

Custom Legacies Completed

2010-01-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

Our first piece of the custom content pie was finished last night. Legacy will have only two 'races' - Humans and Changelings. Available to both Humans and Changelings however are several starting 'legacies.' Legacies replace neverwinter nights 2's 'subraces' options. They are a combination of your pc's lineage, upbringing, and social status. They affect your pc's starting attributes, gold, level, standing in the world, and favored classes. Your character's starting lineage will have prolonged and profound effects on your play experience.

Humans may choose from the following Legacies:

Vagabond, Barbarian, Serf, Middle Class, Peerage

Changelings may choose from the following Legacies:

Feyborn, Fiendborn.

Some screens of the system in game: