Gavin's progress

[berelinde]

Damn it. *I'm* having problems getting past it, and I'm the one doing the writing. I'm old enough to remember.

 

I don't want to scare anybody away from a romance, since I'm putting a lot of time into it. Alright, then. It won't be Fife, it won't be Muir, and I'll keep looking.

 

He's got to have a family name of some sort, though. It just makes my head do funny things if he doesn't have one.

[berelinde]

Gavin will henceforth be known as Gavin Mor.

 

Mor is Scottish Gaelic for tall. I picked a Celtic first name at random. May as well go with it.

 

At this point, if somebody else had the name, I don't want to hear it. I am weary, and my time would be better spent writing dialog than trying to find a name that no one else has ever used.

 

Coincidentally: I was able to complete 3 LTs this weekend. Moving right along.

[Kaeloree]

With my characters, I take the safe route and make up something, generally. And then ignore any complaints that it is an existing name - otherwise, you get distracted. As you know. ;P

 

Sounds like Gavin is coming along well - would you mind giving us a y lovetalks written out of x, or a percentage or something, or would you rather keep that to yourself?

[berelinde]

Sure, I'm easy.

 

Completed to date:

 

Chapter dialog: 3 out of 6 (none for Prologue or Chapter 1, since he's in Beregost)

Scenery: 75%

Banter: 100%

Quest (finally fixed the AI): 100%

Interjections: 100%

Timed random flirts: 100%

Scripted flirts (more like romantic interjections: one or two lines only under specific conditions): 10%

Bonus flirts: 5%

PID:100%

Voice: 100%

Music: 100%

Documentation: 75% (been writing as I go)

Friendtalks: 7 out of 7

Lovetalks: 21 out of 30.

 

Edit: got another 2 LT done today, so now I'm up to 21.

 

Overal estimate of completion: 75%

[Andyr]

Sounds like everything's going well; the name works for me too.

[cmorgan]

Cool! Quick (and dedicated) work. Gavin Mor sounds great.

[BigRob]

Speedy indeed! Mor works well as a name, I doubt there's going to be anything significant using that.

 

 

*waits to be proved instantly wrong*

[Domi]

Heya, it looks like you are nigh there!

[Kitana]

Hey, I just figure I should say something - I'm really impressed, both by your determination to teach yourself to mod (which I've always wanted to do but never really had the time) and Gavin, who sounds great - I rarely take clerics but I think it might be worth giving him a try. Keep up the good work!

[berelinde]

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

Having a long weekend is great for getting some writing done. But from the beginning, I had a clear idea where this NPC was going, so writing has been easy.

 

As it is now, teaching yourself to code is not as bad as it used to be. WeiDU is fairly flexible, the CHAIN structure makes life much easier, and lots of very patient people are willing to help, provided the questions are specific. I wouldn not have wanted to try it back in the early days of IE modding.

[berelinde]

I've hit the 90% mark. The first post is edited to reflect current completion status.

 

Done this week:

 

4 LTs

A few flirts

Added options to reevaluate the qualifications for romance or friendship to the PID

 

 

Still to do:

 

5 LTs

Bonus flirts

A few scripted flirty interjections

3 chapter talks

a few scenery comments

2 items (the items are done, the bmps are done, I just have to figure out how to turn the bmps into bams)

[Domi]

All sounds as very good additions! Flirty interjections and scenery are great. Love doing it myself, it really makes for a nice surprise, as opposite to the scheduled flirts!

[berelinde]

I liked the idea of flirty interjections. IRL, when we first fall in love with someone, we think about them all the time. Just about everything anyone says reminds us of some attribute of our loved one. This doesn't translate all that well in game terms, because the loved one is always there, but it works for stuff like:

 

"What diamond can compare with the sparkle of your eyes?"

 

Not saying I'd use that line, because it's tacky, but you get the idea.

[BigRob]

Good stuff, Berelinde. Looks like Gavin will soon be available for downloading.

[berelinde]

Gavin is 98% done. The first post is edited to reflect current completion status.

 

Done this week:

 

5 LTs

Fixed the combat AI *again*

I conceded defeat and turned to an expert

Optimized the scripting to reduce lag

1 chapter talk

2 items

Miloch did the BAMs for 4 items

 

 

Still to do:

 

Most of the bonus flirts (8 of 10 still to go, but they're quick and spontaneous)

A few scripted flirty interjections

2 chapter talks

a few scenery comments

 

Regarding the flirts, bonus or otherwise: they are entirely optional, are installed as an optional component, and can be turned on or off at will, so they are rated slightly higher on the maturity scale. Overall, the romance is PG-13. The flirts, for the most part, also fall into that category, but there are some obvious dialog choices that will lead to material that is firmly rated R. All I can say is: if you see it on the screen, you knew it was coming, and picked the dialog choices to get there yourself.

 

The last 2% is on hold until I play through what I've already written.

 

What's left is all quick and easy stuff I'd be inclined to write on my lunch break, which is when I'll probably do it.

 

I want to offer my most sincere and heart-felt thanks to the Gibberlings 3 community for their support, advice, and participation in this process.

 

I estimate that a public alpha will be available in 2-3 weeks.

 

If anyone is curious, I started working on the mod 4 months ago today.