In Auvers Cathedral, South France, a monk called Jacob was responsible for a massacre. The victims were all fellow monks, knifed with their guts spilled out onto the floor. Moreover it is also reported that from a while back then there was news of people going missing from villages in the surrounding area. ...Massacre and missing persons... You, a member of the Knights Hospitaller, head to the cathedral to investigate the relationship between these two cases but ...
* Single play only.
* Restricted to human fighter, level one.
* Module is set in medieval Europe.
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NOTE: This module uses a tlk file (DarkAges.tlk) which should be placed in the tlk subdirectory of your NWN installation (e.g. C:\NeverwinterNights\NWN\tlk )
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Created by Loveichi
Translated from the Japanese by HotondoNaNashi (aka Taltos)
Posted by werelynx2 at 2011-03-21 09:03:49 Voted 7.75 on 03/21/11
nice atmosphere, but little short. Although if I wanted to gain 4 lvls in one time I would play module designed to that specially. _________________________ Thanks Rolo:)
Posted by Mirgalen at 2011-03-06 05:03:45 Voted 6.50 on 03/06/11
This could have been a masterpiece.
The story is very good, the atmosphere dark, visuals and sounds properly used. The investigation was interesting to some extent.
On the other hand, combats were very tedious (multiple reloads) and non rewarding, the story was too linear almost like reading a book, the player had little if any choice. A full documentation could have helped. Gaining 4 levels at a time felt a bit odd (in that case the author could have simply made a lvl 3-4 module or a lvl 1 with adequate quests+kill XP). The module may be better with a pre-gen character since there is "no exit".
Started lvl 1 fighter, finished fighter 1/paladin 4 or should he be Fighter 1/BG 4? Death can be honorable but if we serve some higher power it would be interesting to know on what side they are (Good or Evil?).
5-6: A good effort that fans of the style will find worth the download.
Posted by Cain Maris at 2010-11-07 09:59:08 Voted 8.50 on 11/07/10
Very nice little horror story. Short, but some genuinely creepy moments, and some restraint. Too bad the rest of it never appeared, but this works on its own. Thanks for the translation.
Posted by gustave154 at 2010-11-06 09:38:47 Voted 9.50 on 11/06/10
short and linear but i liked it. it was engaging =)
Posted by olivier_leroux at 2010-10-30 17:09:12 Voted 9.00 on 10/30/10
I enjoyed this short and linear story-telling module: Good atmosphere and pacing and a thrilling story, well told! Makes me curious if Loveichi ever did another module for the Japanese NWN community...
Here and there the translation could still use a little more polishing but everything is perfectly understandable and quite well written. Overall it's also an excellent effort from translator HotondoNaNashi for which I'm most grateful.
Posted by Karlf at 2008-08-18 03:23:27 Voted 9.00 on 08/18/08
Are there... others? _________________________ -Asid Mjolnir
Posted by Menelcar at 2007-11-27 13:19:15 Voted 9.50 on 11/27/07
Is there any other end then being killed by the Demon to this game?
Posted by hyaduckj at 2006-07-17 08:21:54 Voted 9.75 on 07/17/06
Great sound effects and music.
Great premise and drama
Posted by hmdai at 2006-04-17 07:31:59 Voted 9.00 on 04/17/06
The atmosphere is great...and the story is somewhat...twist, it does not look likes what it seems at the beginning...It is a good module that cannot not be missed...
Posted by Blatob at 2006-02-13 16:15:34 Voted 9.00 on 02/13/06
nice and short mystery module.
Posted by ctair at 2006-01-28 18:28:10 Voted 9.00 on 01/28/06
Not really anything to add that wasn't previously said. This fine module is definitly worth the time. It could very well have done without the NWN mini map and the journal. If you want to puzzle a bit yourself, deactivate/ignore these.
Looking foreward to the next chapters.
Posted by Armin at 2005-12-18 14:33:21 Voted 9.00 on 12/18/05
10 out of 10 for incredible atmosphere, suspense and the first mod in a long time that managed to make me jump at some sudden ocurence.
The wonderful story does, however, get a bit too railroadish at times. The only choice the player really has once is between death (=end of game) and something a knight probably wouldn't choose... _________________________ With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince...
With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D....
... and still keep the frog you started with.
Posted by philty ( 200.179.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-10-07 06:32:01
What a good work... Atmosphere of a mysterious plot well implemented.
You know when you've done a good work, when the main issue regards grammar and vocabulary (which I agree with). I have not yet finished, because...
SPOILER
... I kind of fooled that crazed Monk and managed to go down to the basement again, where I killed the bizarre crit. If I kill the Monk, he becomes TOO powerful to beat. Now, what do I have to do? I thought of going back to the Old Church basement and face those undead (as I have the holy dagger), but the Monk follows me. Do I HAVE to fight the Monk at this stage?
Posted by Magnar at 2005-09-13 18:43:19 Voted 9.00 on 09/13/05
The mod had a very different feel from others in the vault. Thanks a great tale. Looking for the next chapter.
Posted by Jamine at 2005-09-13 05:12:40 Voted 9.75 on 09/13/05
How many parts are there to this series? It's rather too short for me to give a fair rating right now. (Feels more like a demo minor quest from a complete mod...) But if the rest of series are as good in design as those seen in this mod, I'd give it a really good score.
At some point into the game, I'm really reminded of Hellsing. I hope the rest of the series blows up into something as good as that.
Posted by Orpheus ( 83.235.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-08-25 08:21:36
Indeed a very nice Module, and indeed with an atmosphere-spoiling text.
I liked this module -and disliked the textual atmosphere- so much that I thought about working on an alternate version of *all* dialogues. I'll have a look at them now and try it out.
I have some negative comments (well, that's me...):
***************** S P O I L E R S * F O L L O W ***************
I. Timing
a) Cutscenes: There seems to be a problem with the text in the cuscenes; it sometimes disappears too quickly and there is always too much time between each phrase - even if you read it out-loud (that is, slowest reading speed), you have to pause at every turn.
+edit: I just read the comments about cutscene text timing; it seems there are several options:
1) expand (thus altering) the english text;
2) simply reduce the timing (if the Japanese text is readable at a faster pace, which I guess is not the case);
3) make two seperate versions available (which I understand you do not want to do);
4) leave the thing as is (although it is one of the main flaws of the mod')
It seems to me that, following the guidlines you spoke of above, the best option might be the first (1). Then again, I may be wrong... I'm just trying to help!
b) Strange book text: The text that you read when you 'use' the strange book found in the Old Church's basement floats away too fast - I had to pause at every turn to read it 'in time'. No real *problem*, but I would be happy if I could read the text in time without pausing.
II. Freedom.
a) 'World-roaming': What I would have very much liked in this module is an exterior inviroment - a village with its taverns and inns, its terrified people barring their doors at night, its perpetual rain - a land for the PC to roam, so as to give this solid, realistic feel to the Mod'.
Of course, this would probably invole a *lot* of modding (although I know nothing of these things - could it perhaps be taken from the already prepared stuff in the vault?), so I cannot even consider asking. Then again� this, in my opinion, would make this an even greater module; thus, I ask it (knowing how tough the chances are :P)
b) Roleplaying(this is just a personal comment, not a request): I felt at times that I had no real choice in the course of things. Well, I didn�t at any time, but sometimes it became annoyingly evident� I don�t know if something could be done about this, but I assume the worst. Anyway, the mod� is so good work that I really can�t complain!
III. Texts.
I'll work on this, probably today. Some issues (for me at least):
a) Names: In my opinion, since this is a French monastery, it would add to the realism (and thus in-game player 'immersion') to give the monks French or at least French-like names; while Luc is fine (and quite French as well?), Gregory could in no way be a French name (or so I think - a quick search in Google leads me to think Grégoir is the French equivalent).
b) Wording: Your vocabulary is too casual, as has been pointed out. Spelling errors can be corrected and will not concern me in this post, but some things could be said in better ways.
e.g. from the first time I read it, I had the feeling that the 'Old Church' was a bit of an awkward name. Perhaps 'the Old Chapel' might serve better? I would even search for a scholarly synonym of 'misused' and replace 'old' with that (oh well).
As I said, I will try to prepare a new version of the texts (since I do have a mania with 'old-fashioned' things) and send it to you - if you so want, that is.
The Muses be with you,
-Orpheus
PS: Oh, I also had this weird idea: I thought of voicing (and I could do some of it) and then I thought that perhaps, just perhaps, it would add much to the atmoshpere if the voicing of at least the characters were in French, no matter the language of the text.
In any case, what do you think about voicing this module? Is it too much in size? Impossible for some other reason? I'd love to do some of it, although I have no equipment for that at the moment...
> I get the impression that HotondoNaNashi
> is a Japanese-speaker who has a good grasp
> of English, but not a native English-
> speaker.
Exactly the wrong way round, but like I said this was for the practise. One problem is that you can't work well with Japanese text in the toolset directly (unless you have the Japanese NWN) and you can't play the game in Japanese (ditto). I extracted it all first with NWNN Tool and worked on it in a separate text file. This led to lots of problems knowing what the context was.
> "book store" -- you mean library.
No I don't. It's more of a warehouse for books not referred to anymore.
> "Your predecessor messed up." --
Yeah, I plead guilty to that one. The translation I had there first was too literal and stilted, I went too far in the other direction trying to fix it.
> If magic is new, why hasn't anything been
> said about that in the rest of the module?
Looking back on that bit I think I should at least drop the "a" from "a new power" and think about it from then.
Posted by rawbee at 2005-08-22 17:40:59 Voted 8.00 on 08/22/05
A nice job.
Minor spoiler
Cut-scenes and lighting were very well done and add to the atmosphere. While some thought there was too much reading (what?) I feel the books and back-ground were a nice touch and added to the the story. The journal was simply a copy of what has been already read. The best part for me was running away from the (spoiler "monk") through the first floor near the end, a great feeling of tension. Well done and thanks for the effort.
Posted by Andiri at 2005-08-21 13:42:35 Voted 8.25 on 08/21/05
Very good use of lighting, sound, atmosphere, and cutscenes to create a mood. Nice balance of problem-solving and combat. The story has some holes, however, and is excessively linear.
Posted by Andiri at 2005-08-21 13:33:24 Voted 8.25 on 08/21/05
Pretty good. Like everyone else here, I thought the atmosphere was very good but the plot a bit too linear and restrictive.
One oddness is that so few are willing to accept the possibility of a supernatural occurance. This is the Dark Ages, after all, not the Enlightenment. The phrase "mental imbalance" seems far too clinical and modern for the setting.
I get the impression that HotondoNaNashi is a Japanese-speaker who has a good grasp of English, but not a native English-speaker. There are some grammatical mistakes, but of course native speakers make grammatical errors all the time. More seriously, there are phrasings and usage errors that are jarring or confusing to a native speaker and tend to damage the mood. A few off the top of my head:
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
"book store" -- you mean library.
"Your predecessor messed up." -- this is too casual to fit the rest the conversation.
"A new power! That which humans call magic, that which they call miracles, choose freely." -- Is the new power magic? Are you *permitted* to choose magic or *required* to? If magic is new, why hasn't anything been said about that in the rest of the module? I suspect the average medieval knight believed that magic was not a new power at all, but had always been there.
Posted by Tai_Chi at 2005-08-21 09:46:31 Voted 8.00 on 08/21/05
Very atmospheric. The plot may be too linear but strong enough to hold you till the end. It's worth playing if you can stand the lame text.
Well I'm not a professional translator - I'm dong this for practise, and one of the things I need most practise with is not being over literal with my translations.
I would appreciate, and act on if I consder appropriate, specific comments on parts of conversations. However I don't intend to go over the whole of the text again at this point as I have other projects underway.
Posted by lebowski at 2005-08-21 09:21:11 Voted 9.25
Good to know the original japanese author is workiing on continuing the series. It is a bit strange to change the character from one part to another, still in a three years old game strange things are mostly appreciated. _________________________ The hottest new modules you can't miss - player suggested
Contributor to Overlooked Module Reports
An interview with me about NWN mods
Posted by Tai_Chi at 2005-08-21 09:20:09 Voted 8.00 on 08/21/05
I played the initial version of this module. It successfully created both dark and twisted atmosphere. Its effective use of cut scenes is very impressive. It's hard to believe they don't require any hackpacks.
This module is definitely one of the best short module on the vault, but still it can be improved in many ways. And the point most concerns me is its text. I'm not an English teacher, but the grammar, vocabulary, choice of words. . . the style isn't accomplished and ruins the atmosphere pretty badly. You should revise it much more carefully.
PS. Some people ignore modules in RAR. So you should consider providing it in ZIP. Well, that's just my two cents.
I've just heard that there will be four chapter in total - the last one will feature the same character as the first.
In the event that your character was not exported with the xp that can be gained in Chapter 1 it seems that he/she will be granted an equivalent amount of XP at the start of Chapter 2.
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