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ixfd64

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Posts posted by ixfd64

  1. It would be great if there was a tool (or built-in feature) for inserting custom graphics (monsters, items and tiles) into the graphics sheets. This could save the hassle of matching the images to the grid, as well as avoid possible mistakes.

     

    Similarly, the native ability to convert between .bmp and .meg would also be quite heplful.

  2. I've got a few more ideas for the editor, although some of them may have already been mentioned by others:

     

    1. The ability to undo the most recent change, particularly for terrain editing.

     

    2. An option to import or export monsters and items.

     

    3. It would probably be better if we switch to a standard versioning scheme as the date format could be confusing. For example, version 09.01.2011 refers to January 9, 2011, but others may see it as September 1. As the original binaries use 1.x, I think it would be a good idea for the open source versions to start at 2.x.

     

    4. A more convenient way to pick towns and dungeons, rather than entering numbers.

     

    5. The ability to delete any town, not just the last one.

     

    6. Raise the limit on the number of different items, as well as the number of signs and NPCs in towns. I'm aware that this may break compatibility.

     

    7. The ability to change the size of the outdoor area after scenario creation.

  3. Originally Posted By: Sylae
    1) I believe the 3D editor can do that, although it may or may not be buggy, so backup before you do it.


    There's a 3D editor for BoE? I know there's one for BoA, but I'm not aware of any such editor for BoE. The only BoE editors I know of are the official one and those by Harehunter and Ormus.

    Quote:
    3. You don't have to worry about SP, the game does it for you.


    I see. Do you know how the SP is calculated, though? I imagine it'd likely be a function of the NPC's level, but I could be wrong.
  4. I have a couple of questions regarding the scenario editor. Some of them may be stupid questions, so please bear with me.

     

    1. Is there a way to change the size of the outdoor area after creating a scenario? For example, someone might create a 3 x 3 area but later want to expand it. I couldn't find any option for doing so.

     

    2. Certain terrain types have a fixed marker regardless of their properties. For example, terrains 82 has a "C" (for cave walkways) that never changes. Are these hard-coded into the game engine?

     

    3. How do I set how much SP an NPC has? I could easily change the HP, but I couldn't find a similar option for SP.

     

    4. For new scenarios, the Brew of Lethe has "(delete)" next to the name. Is there any reason for this peculiarity?

  5. For some items, the editor won't let me set their special abilities unless I change certain properties first.

     

    Here are a few examples:

     

    1. Certain non-equipable items, such as uranium bars and lodestones, affect the party just by being in the inventory. However, I cannot change their effects without temporarily marking the items as equipable.

     

    2. Lightning rods do electrical damage and have an ability strength (AS) of 20. But the editor won't let me change the type of damage (or anything else for that matter) unless the AS is in the range of [0, 10]. I have to change the AS in order to modify the abilities, yet the game won't complain when I change it back to 20.

     

    It seems a little awkward that the user has to temporarily change something in order to edit something else. Could it be a bug?

     

  6. It would be nice if there was an option to import and export custom NPCs and items. Suppose someone makes a scenario with many custom monsters. If that person decides to reuse those monsters in another scenario, he or she would have to recreate all of them.

     

    The ability to import and export NPCs would make this a lot easier. In a nutshell, exporting an NPC (or item) would create an external file containing all the data for said NPC, or even multiple NPCs. When the user imports a file, it would check if the monsters already exist in the scenario; if not, they would be added.

     

    This feature would also allow people to share easily their custom monsters. Any thoughts?

  7. Sorry for casting Resurrect on an old thread, but I have a few things to add.

     

    Selling a game and releasing its source code are not mutually exclusive. There are indeed games that have remained a commercial success even after they were made open source.

     

    Consider id Software, whose flagship product is the Doom series. The source code for the original Doom was released (under a semi-free license) three years after the game was launched, and was relicensed under the GPL two years after that. In fact, the company's philosophy is to open source their game engines a few years after they're released. For example, they just open sourced the id Tech 4 engine last November.

     

    Despite that, id Software is still going strong. 3D Realms is another company that does something like this, with their releasing the source code for Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior.

     

    In all of these cases, only the engine is released as free software. The actual game content, such as graphics and sounds, are still commercial products.

     

    The older games have virtually no copy protection. Spiderweb's registration codes adds at least some protection, and I certainly don't see anything wrong with releasing the other game engines (Avernum, Geneforge, etc.) under a free license as long as the code for processing registration is omitted and the appropriate restrictions placed on the content.

     

    That having been said, I do hope Jeff will open source more of his games in the future.

  8. A couple of bugs I've found (I'm using Windows XP):

     

    * The action log outputs certain lines in the incorrect order:

     

    combat_typo.png

     

    * Some dialog boxes have incorrect sizes (notice the button being cut off):

     

    editor_dialog.png

     

    * The splash screen doesn't redraw properly. If you switch to another window while the sound is playing and then switch back, it will be blank.

     

    * The "About this menu" option under the Monsters menu stops working after some point during a scenario.

     

    * The default window size for "Small Window" doesn't have the correct size; part of the edge gets cropped.

     

    On the subject of which, it seems rather wasteful to have an "unsused" option on the main menu. One suggestion would be to make that a link to the Google Code page, while the bottom-right button could take the user to Spiderweb Software's home page.

  9. So far, all of Spiderweb's games are fantasy/medieval-themed RPGs. However, Encyclopedia Ermariana mentions a major space battle that occurred in the Alxus star system.

     

    This gave me an idea: what if Jeff designed a space-based RPG? I think a deviation from the traditional medieval-themed games could bring in more customers. Thoughts?

  10. Those of you who play Doom probably know about the "official" template for describing custom WAD files. I was wondering if a similar thing for Bo* would be a good idea.

     

    I'm thinking of something that looks like this:

     

    Code:
    ===========================================================================Title                   : The Greatest Scenario EverFile name               : Awesome.exsRelease date            : 12/21/2012Author                  : Chuck NorrisContact info            : name@example.comOther files by author   : [other scenarios, etc.]Misc. author info       : [a blurb]Description             : Something bad happened, and you must find out why.Additional Credits to   : ===========================================================================* Play Information *Game                    : Blades of Exile / AvernumCustom graphics         : Yes / NoCustom sounds           : Yes / NoCustom items            : Yes / NoCustom spells           : Yes / NoTowns and dungeons      : Recommended party size  : Recommended avg. level  : Pre-made party          : Yes / NoContent rating          : G / PG / R / NC-17Scenario password       : [optional]* Construction *Base                    : New scenario from scratch / Built from [scenario name]Build Time              : AgesKnown issues            : * Copyright / Permissions *Authors (MAY/may NOT) use this scenario as a base to build other scenarios.(One of the following)You MAY distribute this scenario, provided you include this file, with no modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (forums, FTP, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.You MAY not distribute this scenario file in any format.You may do whatever you want with this file.* Where to get this scenario *Websites: [the usual stuff, etc.]FTP:Other:

     

    Thoughts?

  11. I know there's a healing scepter in one part of the School of Magery. From what I gather, it is requested by Mayor Broder in Marralis. However, I couldn't get him to mention the scepter no matter what I ask him.

     

    The other thing is that the room that supposed to contain the scepter is locked, and picking the lock, bashing the door and using the Unlock spell all fail. Do I need to be a certain level? Or is there another way to get into the room?

     

    Thanks.

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