In a single sentence: You�re an outsider passing through town on your
way east to catch a boat home, and you need to come up with 100g to pay for
the ride.
I�ve intentionally left a blank slate for the player to work with concerning the main protagonist�s
background. I did, however, include a specific character for them to play with, because
certain plot points reference them being non-human (the included character is Drow). Too
much provided background would influence the player, and I wanted the player to make their
own decisions on how to approach certain tasks. Travelling nuns don�t stab people in the
back, and escaped lunatics aren�t likely to lend a hand at bake sales. By letting the player fill
in their own story they can feel like there isn�t a �correct� path to take at any given moment.
The intro and ending movies are pre-rendered clips that show the protagonist as pictured
to the right, as well, so if you rolled Frodo it would be awkward. Given that your character is a
female Drow, on her way to the harbor, how do you proceed to come up with the cost of a
ticket?
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There are 11 separate endings to the module. It�s not a horribly long play; I actually kept it rather short on
purpose. The main point is the replayability offered by the multiple branching plot paths.
The full manual outlining the module's creation and introductions to its cast and characters. The last page contains spoilers on how to achieve the eleven different endings. It's my hope you'll play it through once or twice before reading that page ;)
It *IS* a very short playthrough, and there are a few reasons why the skills are set up the way they are... If you choose to pickpocket something, the pickpocket will "land". If you choose to attack something, you will (usually) win without too much of a struggle. If you get in a hairy combat situation, there are pots in your bag to help you survive the encounter.
The module is set up in a way that you can explore the moral ramifications of your choices. There are 11 endings, so after you've played through it once, you can go back and try it a different way without the 'investment' for doing so be such a huge ordeal. It's basically very accelerated for that reason. The module itself was a demonstration of scripting, dialog writing, and area creation to be used in my portfolio. As such, studios don't have time to pore over a 5 hour epic. They'd play it once or twice, and can get a feel how it works (and if it works at all... to which I can happily say it does).
The file size is large because of the ending movies (all 11 of them). The module itself is about 160 MB, with the rendered cut scenes being the largest chunk of the pie. Again, this is delivered on a CD along with my resume in most cases, but I thought I'd throw it up here on the Vault for community feedback as well.
The adventure looks good but Sleight of Hand 45? Why?
I'm somewhat confused as to why the provided character has to have such an obscenely high skill (way beyond the bounds of the level provided).
Posted by Vidal at 2010-04-14 16:35:34 Voted 7.75 on 04/14/10
Actually, it is a nice mod with some interesting ideas... and the writing is also very good. But it can be very short... the first time I played it I just choose to help the village and didn't follow the odd jobs option. As a result, the mod ended pretty soon. My second attempt was the opposite: I tried to gather money by accepting the odd jobs... and the experience was more involving and last a bit longer.
The main thing about this mod is this ability to play differently just to see the optional conclusions. But I must admit I felt it played as an introduction rather than a complete mod... not that it is a bad thing, but I think it could be much better if the situation were developed a little further... perhaps going on to your immediate destination only to discover that the disease had struck there too and then finding out the origin of the problem... something like that, just a way to give the gamer a feeling of accomplishment.
Naturally those are only suggestions. I enjoyed the mod as it is - a short tale with many endings.
Posted by Vidal at 2010-04-13 18:50:37 Voted 7.75 on 04/14/10
Well it really seems a big download for such a small mod... but I am willing to give it a try, it looks interesting.
One hour of gameplay from a 460Mb download? Is this a misprint? It would take me longer to download it than it would to play it. _________________________ Been a long day. I could use a drink.
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 2010-04-16 10:16:02
