Shadowrun Shadowrun modules

[Major_Blackhart]

Yeah, well Arcanum was all hex based too, remember.

 

[Zetor]

Crap, it's all hex based?

Right now you need to hexedit, so yeah. Basically those files are just a binary-encoded serialization of the JSON(-esque) description of guns, spells, etc.

See what I linked earlier for some examples on how it should look:
http://pastebin.com/xTcXUJxd (attack spell)
http://pastebin.com/hNvY2B38 (weapon)
http://pastebin.com/x6EtK3Ni (utility spell)

 

[sea]

TL;DR Lighting is a clusterfuck, point lights cant be used to create sort-of directed lighting but with lots of tweaking.

That is some amazing work, really well done.

That said I feel the lighting would be way, way better if there was a 1:1 or similar relationship between editor and game. Right now most time is consumed just by making tiny tweaks and wasting a minute every time to check it.

 

[Zetor]

I'm looking forward to people releasing high-quality map packs. I'm not much of an artist, so my maps are pretty utilitarian (euphemism for 'ugly') and I don't particularly enjoy the mapping process itself.

 

[made]

Reddit on another forum:

Well I wouldn't get your hopes up, the editor is abysmal to work with. Only SR diehards are going to work with this in the longterm.

You can paint maps easily but in the end you have dumb restrictions all over the place, all of which make the editor a nightmare to work with.
A map can only be a few screenwidths in size before the tile renderer falls apart, these guys don't seem to understand basics of culling and streaming textures. Tile engines from a decade ago can do a much better job.

The game can only save very select variables. When you move between areas, it actually doesn't remember anything AT ALL. No NPCs, no items on the ground, no combat states, nothing. The game is physically incapable of storing active data between scenes.
Every time you want to create a connected area, you have to go out of your way to save each and every change via a manual variable with this fucking elementary script system which is so lovingly put into comboboxes instead of an actual script you can write within seconds.
My only hope for this shit is that someone can create an external script editor to reduce some of the tedium, but it won't alleviate the fact the scripting language is missing dozens of key features.

The editor is fine if you want to travel in a straight line, but god forbid you walk off the beaten path... which I tried, and found out wasn't worth the effort. I'm not putting much stock in things changing in the future given they're moving right onto DLC/Mobiles after absorbing 1.5 million.. and still can't figure out how to save their own gamestate.

Doesn't bode well for future content.

 

[J_C]

Wow, reading this topic almost makes me giggle like a little girl. I'm not much of a modder, but you guys are making some pretty sweat stuff already. Looking forward for these maps and campaings.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

Reddit on another forum:

Exactly my thoughts as well after dicking with it for an hour or so. Too much stuff hardcoded to deliever anything even remotely different from OC gameplay-wise.

 

[Drowed]

Reddit on another forum:

[BAD STUFF]​

Doesn't bode well for future content.

That's... Sad to read. Can we have any hope for a better editor when they release Berlin campaign? Or the chances are that this is really all that we got?

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

Its possible they will upgrade save state and variable storing since they promise Berlin to be more open-world and these are the culprits (unless all they plan to do is give you more static bitmaps they call areas with NPC thrown in every here and there.)
i don't have much hopes for having an actual script editor, though.

 

[Bobbles]

That's... Sad to read. Can we have any hope for a better editor when they release Berlin campaign? Or the chances are that this is really all that we got?

The average player will just be interested in the campaign, so I really doubt they'd tie its release to a new editor. It's not impossible that they'd do significant engine and editor updates down the line, but my guess is that they're saving that sort of stuff for the sequel/paid DLC.

Its possible they will upgrade save state and variable storing since they promise Berlin to be more open-world and these are the culprits (unless all they plan to do is give you more static bitmaps they call areas with NPC thrown in every here and there.)

They're not going to radically overhaul the game with its first DLC. Whatever they promise about Berlin is likely smoke and mirrors to appease the backers.

Besides, "more open world" doesn't necessarily imply paying more attention to story variables or save states. It could just be NWN-style "here are four areas arranged in a cross around the hub, get one item from each area and return to the hub to finish the mission (P.S. no backtracking or re-entering areas)" design.

 

[Drowed]

I can easily forgive them for a small/weak campaign if we have a good promise of nice community-made content down the line. But if the editor is indeed weak, that will be a major letdown. I am somewhat "dependent" of MODs in games where such a possibility exists. To find that it may not come to happen by the fault of a crippled editor is so sad. It's really a deal-breaker to me.

 

[Zetor]

Some more info on how to change/add weapons, spells, skills, items, cyberware, etc here.

 

[Trash]

What it means is that 'open' is out of the question unless they really go to work on the engine. However branching is still very much in. And even now modders are already constantly coming up with new stuff. Skill check for the character actually interacting, dice based skill checks, starting equipment tied to skills, random encounters, lots of triggers and so forth.

Glad to see people also already finding out how to add stuff. I'm expecting lots of content packs. For ideas anyone can consult the sourcebooks.

 

[RedScum]

Would love to see a nightclub with a neon sign featuring this with a fitting name:

Spoiler

 

[Wulfstand]

I was wondering, there has to be a spellbook compendium for each class' available spells per wi/cha, right? What if you could implement skill checks during dialogue (of any kind, be it caused by talking with someone else, or by interacting with an object), that would allow you to levitate for example, or mind-control the person to whom you're talking to, or to have the first shot before the combat starts. I imagine it would make interactive objects way more interesting, and the campaign itself way more engaging, making you feel rewarded for each karma point invested in above-mentioned skills.

 

[Machine]

Messed around bit more with my backalley scene, added 2 more vendors (one for each type) and some simple dialogue branches and variable check (talking to target actor unlocks more dialogue options with another actor , standard stuff).

Wanted to add bit more life to dialogues so I started experimenting with triggers to change animations of NPCs, it worked out pretty well for drone :

I planned to have hooded woman crouching / cowering and only standing up/turning to face PC when you convo her, but animation transitions are pretty crude and look really skippy. I did it with kind of hackjob with 3 different triggers checking the state of conversation, pretty sure there's more elegant way to do it.

Here's the scene if anybody is interested in this scripting. Please excuse my writing skills, English isn't my native language.

On a side note, anybody figured how to make functional ley-lines? Wanted to have special conversation options for a mage that would involve ley line infront of the magic dealer but they dont show up ingame.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

They seem to show up only in combat.

 

[DalekFlay]

The editor is very good if you want to make more stuff like the main game with a few twists. If you want to turn the thing into a different kind of game then it sucks, at least for now. We knew all this already, it didnt take a reddit post to make it clear.

 

[tuluse]

I haven't looked at the editor yet, but is it possible to change props based on triggers? As a simple example, say have an alarm light start flashing if the runners are seen?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Entirely possible, I'd say. Looting Jake's stash at the beginning probably relied on prop switching.

 

[Zetor]

I haven't looked at the editor yet, but is it possible to change props based on triggers? As a simple example, say have an alarm light start flashing if the runners are seen?

Yep. The usual way to do it is to delete the prop and move in another prop from offscreen.

 

[SwiftCrack]

The drekpit

The editor is very good if you want to make more stuff like the main game with a few twists. If you want to turn the thing into a different kind of game then it sucks, at least for now. We knew all this already, it didnt take a reddit post to make it clear.

Didn't you hear bro, Reddit tells the internet what to think

 

[Machine]

Starting to regret choosing nightclub as starting point for my module. This will take alot of tweaking and nudging to look decent. Made a rough draft with few key locations and actors so I can start scripting. Also tried to add paths to matrix-ball on the dancefloor just to use it as prop but so far no sucess, need to recheck scripts I guess.

 

[SwiftCrack]

sick map though

 

[Darth Roxor]

Yeah, that looks really good.