Being Good
v1.1
written and composed by Christian Mayr
You recently graduated at the academy of tear-avoiders and now need to fulfill a mission where you spread the teachings you acquired in countless lessons:
Avoid the tears
Burst their fears
Make them smile
All the while
And all that to get prepared for your destiny: Becoming a fairy godmother!
Playable with any character of any level and any class
A little note on design: I know this module is short. But you need to understand that creating something imaginative that keeps in the player's mind and raise it to a level of quality which won't disappoint yourself takes its time. Also I could have made it longer, but I decided to use more or less a way of indirect characterization (like for instance the explanation of the wolf's fear of water) to introduce the characters and their connections to the environment. This makes the game much shorter but is aiming at increasing the intensity of the experience.
As a few (or a lot?) of you know I'm not a native speaker. So if you notice a case of serious language-abuse I'd be grateful if you could point that out (always eagerly working on my english ;)).
Posted by Allplayandnowork at 2011-03-10 23:28:01 Voted 8.75 on 03/10/11
Neat !
Posted by Luinel at 2008-07-07 04:43:53 Voted 7.00 on 07/07/08
It was bug-less for me.
There isn't any typical NwN 2 gameplay as such. Basically, it is a very funny and inventive story, a variation on the contest theme, with some witty asides on contemporary issues, and the player is along for the ride. But what a ride it is! Original music, original load-screens and some very creative design. I was captivated from the beginning to the end and laughed out loud a couple of times. I would have rated it higher if it hadn't been so short. Well, that's the drawback of being a contest module.
Posted by RolandGR at 2008-04-16 20:23:51 Voted 8.00 on 04/16/08
I did not enjoy this mod. It is not to my taste in modules, however, it is original and creative and I cannot rate it any lower than this. Not my style, but well done anyway.
Posted by Excellentium at 2008-03-31 12:04:34 Voted 6.75 on 03/31/08
Character: Lvl 1, female bard...
Twisted module with a lot of mood from the old story tales. Some details stuck me a bit in the eyes, but that's my personal opinion, so I wont bother ranting them here. Every opinion is unique, and not all can like everything. I had fun though, even if I prefer the ordinary above the twisted...
Thank you very much for this contribution! _________________________ "That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die".
- Necronomicon by Abdul Alhazrad
Posted by erthule at 2008-03-21 15:16:41 Voted 2.00 on 03/21/08
Please allow me to assure TheNaq that the Academy for Modding Excellence is, indeed, giving awards for NWN2 modules this year. The AME is checking out all the modules and discussing them - no fear! _________________________ KotOR Heads FR Deity and Faction Cloaks Fall-from-Grace Soundset
woohooo! a fan! :)
you're welcome - check out "a corpse, a vote" and you're done with all my modules ;) _________________________ A Bet, A Corpse A Corpse, A Vote
Posted by TheNaq at 2008-02-03 06:15:38 Voted 9.00 on 02/03/08
One more great mod by Christian Mayr ! A pity there's no Academy Awards for NwN 2 mods, you should have won !
Thank you, buddy ! _________________________ Ooooppppsss, I've mistaken your pocket and mine, no big deal, buddy... Hey, man, could you stop punching me when I'm talking to you ? Ooooch !
Posted by FredFreehand at 2007-12-23 22:47:04 Voted 7.50 on 12/23/07
Very entertaining. I loved the novel music. great work.
Posted by BlueEyesAustin at 2007-07-08 21:48:08 Voted 6.75 on 07/08/07
Overview
While clearly from the same madcap mind that produced "Asylum," "Being Good" is rougher, less ambitious, and shorter than its predecessor. Beyond these basic limitations, there has also been a lot less emphasis placed on the "look" of the locations, particularly the wide pasture/town where most of the action takes place. As a result the sense of otherness that was so strong in "Asylum" does not come through as strongly here.
Now, I will say this: balanced against the limitations of the module, there is one particularly brilliant sequence involving a wolf and deer that is one of the most surreal things I have ever seen visualized by an artist. And the final twist--two choice that are literally about "Being Good"--is fabulous.
The mod currently suffers from a couple of potentially game breaking bugs (detailed below) that will force a restart--an unwelcome diversion for an amusing trifle such as this.
As always, the question is how to score these things. Since the module is definitely one for a limited audience, a sic is its lower bound...but instead of the 10 as an upper bound I gave "Asylum," I'll give this a 8. That averages to a 7, which I will then ding another .25 points for bugs (as of 7/8/2007).
Suggestions for improvement **SPOILERS**
The sequence started by approaching the prone wolf will fire again after healing him the PC goes to that area of the office. If you use the pendant, you are now stuck forever in that pocket world with nothing to do but bust up the rocks.
Make the houses in the village unable to be damaged by bashing. If you choose the "good path" and smash one, you're stuck.
I had a couple of reboots caused by being petrified while my avatar (either the wolf or the woman) got stuck. Not sure how this can be fixed, but a save and reboot didn't help.
The business card. I spent about ten minutes trying to figure out what to do with it. If its just color, maybe remove the reference to it from the bell.
It's a little thing, but the music loop at the beginning has an audible gaps as it loops which I found very distracting.
Posted by PaulBlay at 2007-06-24 09:53:23 Voted 8.25 on 06/24/07
Updating vote to reflect update.
As always I appreciate authors who continue to support their work ;-)
Posted by The Ridge at 2007-06-21 15:51:50 Voted 7.75 on 06/21/07
Another bizarre tale spun by the master of the bizarre. :) Some pretty funny stuff mixed in there as well, Christian, like when the tear crystal finally hit 100% when threatened with replacement lol. Keep up the great work and looking forward to the rest of your Asylum series!
-R _________________________ NWN2 Voting Standards
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking
9 - Outstanding, a Must Have
8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone
7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look
6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation
5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable
4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements
3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized
2 - Very Little Appeal
1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
Posted by sad_eyed at 2007-06-19 06:27:06 Voted 8.00 on 06/19/07
Well, that certainly was...something.
Oh, I actually liked the music.
Posted by shaughn at 2007-06-19 06:17:41 Voted 5.75 on 06/19/07
The great visual areas and effects as well as the music definately brought this mod to life. The draw back that I found was how all the answer to the puzzles were given to you in conversation, telling the character what to do takes away the challange and some of the fun of playing.
Posted by theobeau at 2007-06-06 00:38:12 Voted 8.00 on 06/06/07
An interesting module that showed what can be done with the toolset to help tell the story.
I liked the "mood lighting" and didn't mind the R&B music.
BTW: what type of snow was was Mother Huba shovelling?
updated to v1.1:
- fixed game breaking bug with blow-downs
- fixed a few typos (thanks to PaulBlay!) _________________________ A Bet, A Corpse A Corpse, A Vote
You guys can actually go ahead and make changes to your entires now. We have all of your mods downloaded, so any changes you make will not be counted in the contest.
Posted by gaoneng at 2007-05-18 20:58:16 Voted 8.50 on 05/18/07
This is one crazy module! Hahaha. And it gets an 8.5 from me. I'm giving extra points for this module being refreshingly different.
Interesting use of lighting. Often hilarious dialogues. Amusing NPC design concepts. Even the music is irritatingly funny. (That loop is going to be stuck in my head for a while now. And I don't think I'll forget that goat scene for some time.)
Posted by GreasyDogMeat at 2007-05-13 02:28:47 Voted 8.00 on 05/13/07
Hilarious mod with some excellent tricks and lighting. Loved playing the wolf, the snow lady and the unique twist on the three pigs. The cry detector was great. Overall the module just put a huge grin on my face.
I can only think of two complaints.
The module could have been a bit longer... maybe the openning could have had a few things to do or something.
Some of the humor falls flat. Of course, when the entire module is about humor, that is bound to happen.
Posted by Berliad at 2007-05-09 21:25:55 Voted 7.00 on 05/09/07
My vote: 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look
Character: lv. 1 Human Female Illusionist Wizard (with the elderly fairy godmother face and hair, of course!)
Christian Mayr's first module release, the delightfully bizarre Asylum: A Bet, A Corpse, put him on the map as one of the more ...non-traditional builders in our community. This module does nothing to change that perception, though instead of the dark foreboding of Asylum, the mood of Being Good is decidedly light and fun. If I was going to try to describe this module via comparisons, it would probably be something like a blend of Grimm's Fairy Tales, Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, Looney Toons, and...Batman. It's extremely funny, particularly near the beginning, when I literally was laughing so hard I had to rest my head on my keyboard wrist support. Mayr continues his use of extreme lighting and tinting in places, though it wasn't so severe in this module as in his other module, and actually makes for an appropriate effect early on. In addition to the bizarre concept, what really made this module stand out the use of custom sounds and music, which set a tone completely unlike anything you could get using stock nwn2 content.
The module plays out well and is fun, even though it's pretty short and is essentially an "adventure"-style game (there isn't any real combat) with very little in the way of challenging puzzles. The story is creative, and everything makes sense in a twisted and absurd kind of way. The one possible critique I might have would be that the writing is still a bit awkward at times, though it's actually quite good for a non-native English speaker and seems to be substantially improved from the (somewhat early) version of Asylum that I played. Thanks again to the author for a fun little module, and I continue to look forward to the next Asylum module! _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
@paul: i usually write most of my conversations with word and copy + paste them into the toolset. unfortunately i don't have an english word, so there's no full support for grammar.
@others: thanks for playing and for your votes! :)
uhmm... and as you encountered: please don't blow down houses unless your are being told to do so - this is a serious bug i'll fix once the contest is over. sorry for any inconveniences! :( _________________________ A Bet, A Corpse A Corpse, A Vote
Posted by barefoot at 2007-05-07 13:00:33 Voted 8.00 on 05/07/07
A delightful small module. I particularly enjoyed the music. I am getting very tired of the music that came with NWN2. It took me one try before I figured out that I could just click on the houses to blow them down; I started by "bash"ing them, they would disappear and the pigs wouldn't give me credit. The second time around I clicked on a house before talking to the mayor and thus didn't get credit for that one either. Oh well...
Posted by BlindSkull at 2007-05-07 06:18:00 Voted 7.25 on 05/07/07
Fun distraction from standart modules. Interesting and expressive. Had a nice time with this module, though I've managed to break my game twice...
Posted by PaulBlay at 2007-05-04 09:37:31 Voted 8.25 on 06/24/07
"i'll update und bugfix once the contest is over."
Incidentally I have a general tip for text checking. There's a tool somewhere that extracts the entire text content of a module (descriptions, names, conversations etc.) and can re-import it.
What you could do is extract the text, paste into Microsoft Word, check the spell/grammar highlights shown then re-import it.
I think it was an NWN1 tool but it's worth trying to see if it works in NWN2.
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking 9 - Outstanding, a Must Have 8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation 5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements 3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized 2 - Very Little Appeal 1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
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at 2011-09-18 20:51:09
