Friday, October 24, 2008

'Tis the season

Summer and its lingering warmth are behind us. The trees are bare, their leaves cover the ground. The wind and rain batter the few pale flowers that remain. It is cold. The sky is gray.

Yay!

This means it's modding season in Canada! Let the games be built!

Mod building might be a bit like professional hockey. There's much more happening between October and May. There's less reason to spend much time outdoors (at least for those that hate the cold, like me), and less reason to feel guilty about it.

So I now expect building on Trinity to pick-up.

Still I'm pretty pleased with progress lately. The mod's now about 60% done. Conversations represent one of the big chunks that account for the remainder. Progress on that front is sss-loooowww. I really am rarely able to write fast. And have my fill of it after 90 minutes or so. Add to that the fact that I don't often have 90 minutes-worth of quiet time where my mind is rested and cooperative, and you get the picture.


Wife is taking the kids away for a full 36 hours this weekend. This means one Vin Diesel movie pumped out of the surround sound, and some good quality time with the TS. If I can get in 3-4 90 minutes writing sessions I'll be pleased.

Besides writing, I've been working lately on scripting and gameplay mechanics for a corpse cremation puzzl-ish sequence, some light/ambiance scripts, area design (one has been chalked up in the Completed column), and some custom item blueprints, including a very rare 300-year old bottle of Elverquisst, amongst other odds and ends.

(EDIT: I just realized that Trinity has been in development for exactly one year... Is that cause for celebration, or is it depressing? Not sure... :) My first backup is dated Oct 20 2007 - yes, I have one year worth of backups...)

And this would be the ideal time too for the community Halloween beta mod to go up. I really can't wait for this.

And now for some very interesting NWN2 building community news.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heh, the same kind of chilly season enshrouds northern Europe now! :)

I agree. Ice hockey and modding are both very fitting for this part of the year. And of course X-mas too!

But first off is Halloween, a holiday that has reached these parts only in the last 20 years. When I grew up there was nobody even mentioning Halloween. Instead we solemnly visited our dead relatives in cemeteries amazingly lit with thousands and thousands of candles! Now, we get to have both - fun and paying the respects to the spirits - and I think it's just fine.

E.C, your progress is very solid, especially given the high quality that you apparently invest in Trinity. Only these dwarven statues and belts, and a pretty fantastic tiefling head, they already tell the tale of someone loving this, and love will always shine thru a module. At least in my book, it will!

:)

Lariam said...

One year of development? A cause for celebration, for sure - assuming it's been fun! Glad to see an update. :)

EC said...

Hi guys. Always appreciate when you poke your head in and say hi! :)

You're right. I love this stuff, and I'm having a whole lot of fun doing it. I just wish I enjoyed the writing part a bit more. :)

EC said...

Indi: I forgot to clarify that the Tielfing head and the dwarf belt are not for Trinity.

The head is for Daronas' avatar in our Halloween mod contribution, and the belt is for Sirchet's dwarf in the Dawn of Time PW with which he is very involved. Both were done by Daronas, who beside that ­*is* doing a lot of custom content for Trinity.