Area Reservations

[berelinde]

Ran into a situation recently where another modder and I were planning on using the same areas. It is easy enough for me to change my area to avoid conflict, since I'm still writing my quest, but it might be nice to have an area reservation list. I consider mutual compatibility (within reason) a desirable objective.

 

Opinions?

[NiGHTMARE]

I'm not sure whether you're referring to modifications of existing areas, or adding brand news ones.

 

If you mean existing areas, most things these days can be accomplished via patching, so in most cases there shouldn't need to be conflicts.

 

If you mean new areas, they don't actually have to begin with AR*; using your personal prefix instead will work just fine.

[berelinde]

Existing ones.

 

Yes, I know you can do it with patching, and that's great, but sometimes, it doesn't work out. For example, in the instance I'm talking about, the mod that was further toward completion than mine had a nice peaceful puzzle quest going on. Mine is likely to end in violence. They could happen in the same area, so they would not necessarily be incompatible, per se, but it would be really silly.

[jastey]

Example:

BG1 AR3344,

Tutu FW3344,

BGT AR6744: empty house interior, Beregost. slime quest adds a commoner for a quest, more additions in that area would not be useful.

[pro5]

You could add checks to the scripts spawning creatures (or whatever), so that your mod doesn't kick in until the "peaceful" quest is completed. Or vice versa.

[jastey]

pro5: This would be possible in principle, but this much cooperation does not work

a) for all mods (or modders ),

b ) for all stories (in our case, it would have been a (peaceful) family sharing their home with an evil monster of some sort) and

c) if you are not aware of the fact that other modders are planning to use the same area in their mod, too.

[berelinde]

You could add checks to the scripts spawning creatures (or whatever), so that your mod doesn't kick in until the "peaceful" quest is completed. Or vice versa.

 

Yes, but it would be so much easier to just pick a different area.

 

I am not proposing that areas on the list would be off limits. I'm just suggesting that those who don't want to step on toes of others might find it helpful to have a resource they could use to look up areas that are already in use for something else.

 

Example:

 

I want to use a building interior as a site of possible violence. That would not work well with the slime quest, whose story requires that it be self-contained. I also plan to put an actor in a public place, like an inn. There is absolutely no reason I could not put the actor in the Belching Dragon, even though I know that the reputation component of BG1 NPC is using the same tavern.

 

In the example I gave above, I would say that my mod uses the building interior areas, but I would not bother listing the Belching Dragon, since it wouldn't be bothered by another mod taking place there.

[pro5]

pro5: This would be possible in principle, but this much cooperation does not work

a) for all mods (or modders ),

b ) for all stories (in our case, it would have been a (peaceful) family sharing their home with an evil monster of some sort) and

c) if you are not aware of the fact that other modders are planning to use the same area in their mod, too.

Well, there's no universal way to ensure plot-wise compatibility with any past, present or future mod. So I just assumed the question was how to do it with specific existing and known mod.

[Kaeloree]

I think a list would be rather helpful, rather than having to guess at it

[cmorgan]

[pro]

Just a long-term view, here... if we did this with crossreference from BG1, BG2, BGT, and Tutu mods, things sure would be easier to figure out when we have a single platform (especially for what to look for when weird things happen!). I know it would not be 100% participation, but then it might be enough to make sure modders don't *have* to trip over eachother if they don't want to

[/pro]

 

[con]

I have really lived ate breathed slept coded recoded written rewritten contrasted and studied BG1 NPC since last spring, and I couldn't tell you every change to every area without some pretty extensive (War and Peace - length at least) documentation. Even a simple "Yeah, we use AR2700 several times" would be a big project. The big mods would take quite a bit of space, time, and energy to reverse-engineer.

[/con]

[berelinde]

I wasn't talking about BG1 NPC, nor was I talking about any other mods already in existence. Reverse documentation is a pain in the neck, and I would never ask you or anyone else to endure it.

 

I meant "going forward."

 

If people wanted to put areas for older mods out there, especially those that overwrite as opposed to patch, that would be cool, but the information is already available. Modders can download the mod and look. They can't do that for a mod in development.

 

What I want to avoid is someone tailoring a quest for a specific area only to find that another modder uses the area for something completely incompatible.

 

I realize that some mods never reach completion. A potential modder could contact someone on the list and ask them how active the project is.

 

I'm not asking for spoilers, either. Just something simple like

 

Tutu FWxxx1, FWxxx2, FWxxx3 Gavin NPC (quest)

Tutu FWxxx4, FWxxx5, FWxxx6 Gavin NPC (NPC placement - optional)

 

BGT ARxxx1, ARxxx2, ARxxx3 Gavin NPC (quest)

BGT ARxxx4, ARxxx5, ARxxx6 Gavin NPC (NPC placement - optional)

 

That way, other modders know which areas I'm planning to use.

[berelinde]

Another consideration is that finding the right place might be half the quest. It's no fun if all they have to do is look it up on a public forum.

 

Someplace accessible but not necessarily convenient... Wiki?

[BigRob]

I like the idea of having some kind of list. I've got at least one quest in mind where a monster near an NPC would just be insane.

 

The Wiki would probably be a good place for this sort of thing, at least somewhere publicly accessible, but a little out of the way.

 

Spoilers could be generally avoided if desired. All you would have to say is that you were using the area for some general purpose, like: Adding 1 questgiver NPC, no capacity for combat. Or: Adding 1 quest objective NPC. Combat possible.

 

Modders could then get in contact with each other and get the details to see if the ideas are compatible.

[berelinde]

I'd rather leave the purpose out of it and ask people to contact the modder for more info. The quest I'm doing, finding the right house is a significant portion of the quest.

 

But I would certainly agree with something like

 

FWxxxx

 

Other mod NPC placement? Yes, No, or it depends

Other mod quest placement? Yes, No or it depends

Other mod combat location? Yes, No or it dpends

 

contact berelinde via forum pm (or supply other contact info) for additional info.

 

That way, I'm making my preferences known, but leaving the door open to communication.

[Miloch]

Tutu/BGT area map & list