Terra Nocturna - the 1880s of an alternate reality of our world
Number Players
Definitely single player
Language
English
Races
Any (but you will always be treated as a human - see ReadMe)
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Heavy
Hack & Slash
Non-existent
Classes
Any
Scope
Small
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
01
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Any alignment
Gameplay Hours
<1
Description
Plenilunium, North American east coast, 1883. Except it's not really North America, because in *this* world, things went... differently. In this world, the Roman Empire never fell and a large part of the world - including your little corner of it - still answers to the Emperor. This was partly due to the fact that not only do Hell, Heaven and everything in them really exist, but plenty of the residents have also chosen Earth as their personal playground.
Little of this matters in Plenilunium's poorer district, the Faerie Pit, where the people are tough and can chase away lesser demons with one hand while not stopping work with the other, where survival isn't a guarantee so much as a daily challenge - where, in fact, you grew up. For the past twenty-odd years it hasn't been a terrible life as such, but it is soon going to change drastically. For better or worse - well, that remains to be seen...
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This is a quick little adventure set in a custom world. It's a demonstration module meant to show off my writing skills to potential employers, which means it's a) short and b) based more on dialogue than on action. There is no custom content (not even CEP), so it's quick and easy to set up. For more information, please see the ReadMe.
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If you liked the setting and the story, you might be interested in the short story I put up on my blog:
It's set in Terra Nocturna and features he who will eventually be the protagonist of Science Macabre the Novel.
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Updated September 30, 2009: Version 1.2 is largely the same as the original version, but a few minor issues have been resolved (a few lines of dialogue have been modified and corrected, minor tech glitches have been resolved). Many thanks to everyone that reported back with issues.
Updated again October 1, 2009: Fixed another few dialogue issues, including a rather substantial update of the optional chat with the sister in the Church. Don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that one originally... Now you can actually have a coherent conversation with her - no more branches ending the conversation randomly. Current version is 1.3.
Updated to version 1.4 on October 13, 2009: Nothing substantial, just fixed a few dialogue issues, and added descriptions and a little something to say to the people hanging out in the Church.
Update to version 1.41 (November 17, 2009): Minor bugfix. Hopefully without introducing a new one this time.
Posted by Epona at 2011-12-01 06:17:55 Voted 9.75 on 12/01/11
Captivating story, well written and a good atmosphere. Like mentioned before; a shame that is is this short, because I would love to see the story unfold. I'll keep checking, and I truly hope you're new project will be released soon! _________________________ "By believing, one can see"
Posted by QSW at 2011-09-17 16:16:58 Voted 9.00 on 02/28/10
That is good news and I can't wait to play your next module TM :) _________________________ QSW -NWVault Reviewers Forum
Posted by Berliad at 2011-08-19 11:34:34 Voted 9.00 on 08/13/11
Beg your pardon! :) I'm excited to hear that more is in the works. I'll be watching for it. _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
Ta very much to the latest two comments and votes! So glad you appreciate my efforts. A note to Berliad, though: I'm a she. ;)
I'm currently working on a larger, more substantial mod, set in the same world. There will be demons! There will be love interests! There will be actual playing and fighting and puzzling! And to make sure I'll have something coming out, ever, I'm splitting it into three parts - hopefully the first one will be out before the end of the year. Stay tuned!
Posted by atikamarie at 2011-08-13 14:55:47 Voted 10.00 on 08/13/11
Fantastic. The dialogue is wonderful.
Posted by Berliad at 2011-08-13 10:25:04 Voted 9.00 on 08/13/11
My Vote: 9 (Very good, deserves a look)
Character: lv. 1 Human Bard
I largely want to echo the comments of QSW, who said it more eloquently than I will be able to. This is a very nice little module, and works great as a showcase for the author's writing skills as he stated. The characters all have their own voice, and their own personalities, which is impressive given the relatively small amount of time you have with them. Kell, in particular, was impressive. Romance interests are very difficult to write convincingly, and almost every attempt I've seen in-module (including almost all of the official Bioware/Obsidian products) typically fall flat. And somehow, in one short conversation, I was completely on board with it. Furthermore, the three choices of response provided for the player during most dialogues allow one to portray a wide variety of characters. The roleplaying is very good here.
Furthermore, as Alazander noted, the setting is extremely interesting. Angels vs. Demons vs. Vampires in an alternate-1800's world is wicked cool, and has huge potential. As many others have said, I'd love to see more from the author on this front. Thanks! _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
Whoa... Didn't see that coming. I've never been nominated for anything before. :D
Posted by carlsfrog at 2010-04-15 21:20:35 Voted 9.25 on 04/15/10
An interesting beginning - too bad you aren't following it up somehow! _________________________ Myth: we have to save the earth. Frankly, the earth doesn't need to be saved. Nature doesn't give a hoot if human beings are here or not. The planet has survived cataclysmic and catastrophic changes for millions upon millions of years. Over that time, it is widely believed, 99 percent of all species have come and gone while the planet has remained. Saving the environment is really about saving our environment - making it safe for ourselves, our children, and the world as we know it. If more people saw the issue as one of saving themselves, we would probably see increased motivation and commitment to actually do so.
- Robert M. Lilienfeld, management consultant and William L. Rathje, archaeologist.
Posted by wrathra at 2010-04-13 16:52:27 Voted 10.00 on 04/13/10
This was fantastic. I'm actually disappointed it was over so soon. I would love to see more from you.
Thanks awfully for the last few votes, and particularly for QSW's lovely comments. :)
I've taken a break from all creative work as I've just relocated to a brand new country and started a new job, but as I'm starting to settle in here in Dublin I think I'll very soon pick up both Science Macabre the novel and my other module, Death and Who Comes Next Redux.
(Actually, work hasn't been completely down. I've been taking notes and scribbling a few scenes for SM while I was supposed to be learning my new job. *cough* Well, I'm female, I can do two things at the same time.)
Posted by QSW at 2010-02-28 14:01:59 Voted 9.00 on 02/28/10
I found this module a delightful surprise. Your characters have a definite personality, and you managed to both enthral me and frustrate me all at the same time. Kell was a delight, a diamond in the rough. You managed to touch upon real life fears, the general public hysteria and the varying reactions to those threats.
In short *looks up* well, short for me!) this is a novel I would love to buy/download or *borrow* just to read the rest of the story. Thank you very much for sharing your imagination and talent with us. _________________________ QSW -NWVault Reviewers Forum
Posted by DSenset at 2010-02-07 07:34:59 Voted 9.50 on 02/07/10
Excellent, if a bit short. Yeah, we're craving for more... _________________________ Five Flagons Inn: Link - ds-tl Theater Scripting Language: Link - dstl NWN2: Link - NWN2 one-click GUI away (except chat-windows): Link - NWN1 small file extensions for SP (and General MIDI): Link - Suggested Naming Conventions: Link - DS Sneaking: Link - DS Base (Pseudo-)Maze: Link
Posted by Alazander at 2009-12-11 13:16:22 Voted 8.50 on 12/11/09
This module does an excellent job of providing a taste of a setting that is ripe with potential: Heaven versus Hell versus Vampires in 19th-century America? I like it!
The module itself is well-written with some good camera work and cutscene direction. Some of the lines *were* a little long for my tastes and the humour at the start felt slightly off compared with the much darker turn the story takes, but overall the writing demonstrates considerable potential. I look forward to your next creative endeavour!
As I've mentioned in earlier comments, I'm continuing the story of Science Macabre in a novel and the protagonist there is a man (see the comment just before yours), but he has a very prominent female sidekick (if you ask her - if you ask him she's just this friend who occasionally helps him out).
Tiny spoiler
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Two vampires, huh? That's a new one... Will look into that. Thanks for the report and the vote. :)
Posted by Coverta at 2009-11-09 18:52:27 Voted 9.00 on 11/09/09
This really was a great 'prelude' that could be a fantastic mod if you continued on, will surely be a crying shame if you do not.
Spoiler
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I encountered a bug in the jail. The same vampire flies down from the rafters twice to kill the (scientist?). The only way he will go is if you talk through the same conversation with him as the first.
Spolier end.
With reference to your male/female lead..Personally I will always vote for a female lead, there a far too many male orientated stoy/mods out there. But it's your story and only you know whrere it's going. Happy writing.
Yeah, typical, I figured if I set the poll to be open to "All" it'd be, well, open to all. No matter. :)
The main character of Science Macabre the Novel will be Lucius Grimley (the guy starring in the short story I linked to here and there), but the protagonist from Science Macabre the Mod will, rest assured, also be in there. For now I have no idea how big their role will be, but I have decided that it will be a male character and consequently Kell will be female. Romance will indeed not be a big part of the story: Lucius has a female best friend who he's rather fond of, but when she starts talking marriage he tends to fake acute deafness (and she mostly threatens him with marriage to see him freak out anyway).
Rest assured, though, that I have not given up on creating mods for NWN. DaWCN will be finished, sooner or later, I'm sure I'll want to do other stuff set in Terra Nocturna, and since the NWN community doesn't seem to be in any imminent danger of dying, you can count on seeing more of me around here. :)
Posted by Menelcar at 2009-11-06 12:53:57 Voted 10.00 on 11/04/09
It seems that nobody would vote because you need to be registered.
Anyway I think you're just brilliant, the main character should be a male in my opinion (just think of old fantasy tales where male characters were just more common, and by the way males are best seen as heroes because they're simply stronger, with more physical strengh without impling they're more stupid, the average male will most likely be stronger than the average woman,(if it's not by these days then it was in middleage or back in time roman time).
Thus the romance should be with a girl (kell should be a girl). But I wouldn't focus on romance, I think that romance as seen in the modern age really doesn't suit a fantasy tale, unless you can master the art of writing so that the romance like if it was written centuries ago.
Wish you all the luck with your future project and I hope you would also consider making project for us players and not only for your future possible readers (well I don't actually care because I will surely be either of them :)
Posted by Menelcar at 2009-11-04 12:43:06 Voted 10.00 on 11/04/09
Wish you good luck with your writing.
Posted by deathangel at 2009-10-31 23:35:49 Voted 9.75 on 10/31/09
I liked an I have to agree with gadflybite that it left me wanting more. What happens? does Kell die? become your new vampire lover? What? I'll defiantly be checking in on this one. _________________________ Dying's easy Living's hard
"Don't fear the dark...fear what's in it."
"Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one's desires, but by the removal of desire." -Epictetus
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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into
(")_(") your signature to help him gain world domination.
Well, there will be haks. But certainly not CEP (I don't like other people telling me what the "best of the Vault" is - I like to decide that for myself, thanks very much). I am trying to keep the haks to a minimum, though, and hopefully the mod will be just as polished as an un-haked mod. I actually rather enjoy the challenge of finding solutions to creating a mod without using any haks, but in the case of Death and Who Comes Next (my next project, in case anyone has managed to miss that) I'm using haks to create a very different sort of city. If I ever manage to finish the damn thing... Thanks for the vote!
Posted by Menelcar at 2009-10-23 14:35:44 Voted 10.00 on 11/04/09
Wow, just loving it.
I hope you won't add haks to your next project because vanilla mods are way more polished than those with the horrible cep.
Posted by amers1015 at 2009-10-20 14:33:41 Voted 10.00 on 10/20/09
Excellent work! My only gripe is that you left me wanting more. Guess I'll just have to wait for your next project. *Sighs*
At any rate, thanks for making this, it was great! :) _________________________ The less you know, the more you believe.
Posted by jp33 at 2009-10-13 02:27:16 Voted 10.00 on 10/13/09
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