NPCs

[Kaeloree]

What will the scope of the NPCs be, in terms of (basic) numbers, and will there be non-romantic PC tracks with NPCs?

[theacefes]

We plan to have three of the NPCs with romances or romance-like subplots. The others are planned to have a separate track for each of them.

 

And sorry, can you please be a little more specific with the first question? I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly. Do you mean number of talks or stats or something different entirely?

 

 

I feel that there is a lot of room for screwing up here. On one hand, I don't want to put out these deep intricate NPCs and have the the main quest and subquests be crappy. On the other hand, we don't want pure packhorses, though BG1 did get away with it as it had in my opinion, a very good main quest. It would be awesome to have the best of both worlds, but all I can really say is that we'll do our best.

 

EDIT: Had to add my two cents about something.

[Domi]

Yep, I deal with the same dilemma in NWN2 mods. On one hand you want to develop the non-joinables in more than a name tag with 3 quest lines attached, on another hand, you don't want joinables to be mules, and yeah, it's a huge workload. Good luck!

[DavidW]

Yep, I deal with the same dilemma in NWN2 mods. On one hand you want to develop the non-joinables in more than a name tag with 3 quest lines attached, on another hand, you don't want joinables to be mules, and yeah, it's a huge workload. Good luck!

 

My suggestion is, at least don't develop the NPCs until you've basically got the core quest-and-plot framework in place. Partly that's because - as Domi says - you'll want to have enough of the game present to give a space to develop the NPCs, and partly it's because if you run out of energy and underdevelop the NPCs you'll still have a playable game. But mostly it's because writing NPCs is relatively more interesting (I suspect) than coding quests, and there's a lot to be said for getting the more boring bits of large projects out of the way up front.

[Kaeloree]

We plan to have three of the NPCs with romances or romance-like subplots. The others are planned to have a separate track for each of them.

 

And sorry, can you please be a little more specific with the first question? I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly. Do you mean number of talks or stats or something different entirely?

 

 

I feel that there is a lot of room for screwing up here. On one hand, I don't want to put out these deep intricate NPCs and have the the main quest and subquests be crappy. On the other hand, we don't want pure packhorses, though BG1 did get away with it as it had in my opinion, a very good main quest. It would be awesome to have the best of both worlds, but all I can really say is that we'll do our best.

 

EDIT: Had to add my two cents about something.

Numbers of dialogues etc. Glad to hear there'll be some "non-romance" content!

 

I'd be inclined to agree with DavidW--the core quests are probably more "important" in terms of completion, and I imagine you'll enjoy writing the NPCs more than the main quest. Either way, I'm very interested to see how this goes--the best of luck to you guys! I'm around if you need a couple of lines for a minor non-joinable or anything.

[theacefes]

Oh, I honestly could not tell you number of dialogues, mainly because I don't know myself! . For a few reasons, one being that since this is a four chapter thing not a seven chapter game, it's hard to predict or estimate those kinds of numbers. Not to mention, as we all know, that with banters, quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality.

 

The main quest is planned and a large part of it is written and coded. As we said earlier, the mod is playable, in terms of the main quest, up to right after the beginning of Chapter 3. Mike and I are splitting and sharing work, so to me, I think the toughest part will not be doing the main quest or the NPCs, but coming up with enough semi interesting sub quests to help fill the rest of the game, so to speak.

 

Oh, and thanks for the offer Kaeloree. I'll keep that in mind.

[Jarin]

How about the 'old' NPC's, Like, say, imoen. Will some of them return as well?

[theacefes]

There will be no one from the BG series who will join your party, but you will see some familiar faces from the games.

[Beetle]

Will there be any violent conflicts/incompatibilites between NPCs (like Aerie and Korgan or Keldorn and Viconia)?

 

If you're undecided, I would encourage you to be careful with this, at least with Cal. Any non-mage PC is going to need Cal despite her alignment. Having her storm off after a fight with Loren, for example, will leave the party up the proverbial creek. This would be less of a problem with Argal, since Jen and Loren could be replacements.

 

An alternative thought would be to have the break be based on lawful/chaotic rather than good/evil. Maybe Jen and Loren really get on each other's nerves.

[Guest Guest_Lord-Jyssev_*]

Ooh, could have one of Keldorn's daughters all grown up and adventuring! Could be a nice tie-in from the old game. Just a thought.

[theacefes]

Ooh, could have one of Keldorn's daughters all grown up and adventuring! Could be a nice tie-in from the old game. Just a thought.

 

Hehe maybe! I honestly haven't thought so far into it regarding old faces and fun things like that. Currently I am trying to finish up the main plot so that I can get back to the NPCs- the joinable ones- and then work on the background NPCs, subquests (the mod has a few of them but needs more), and monster stuff.

[Zavrian]

Now, normally, I love evil NPCs. But am I the only one getting a frighteningly familiar vibe from Cal's portrait, here? I assume it's deliberate.

[theacefes]

I've noticed you stated the same thing twice. Truth be told, we *don't* know what you mean , but if you are curious, Cal's portrait was created by Plasmocat as an alternative to Melissan in ToB.