Simply layo heaven. All of these fixes are going to be great, some of these ideas sound terrific
This kind of thing can only breathe life into the forgotten corners of the world.
and
this puts exploration right back where it belongs!
I am inspired Sir.
I am behind any development of a dynamic quest generator or system. Its good for downtime when player numbers are small due to a lack of things to do outside of RP/XP/CXP. It's also pretty good for people in the area to group together and travel, as well as providing some material to RP over; not to mention it makes use of NPCs that are scattered about Layonara but really serve no valuable purpose. Huzzah!
Just an update as things progress.
I lost a bit of time fixing some bugs and improving some features with storage so we're going to be delayed a bit longer, but not too much longer. With that being said at least many of the quirks with storage are gone. These include:
There are many fixes and features coming that will hopefully improve performance all around. I'm really excited about these particular fixes/enhancements but they are not as sexy. These include:
Anyway I half wrote all those just as something for easy cutting and pasting into the changelog, but thought you might want a sneak peek of how things are hopefully going to perform better especially when death is on the line!!
In terms of giving a timeline for the update, it's still going to be sooner than later but I can't guarantee any dates or times, but we're close. I'm sure there'll be a couple issues here and there so we will probably have a couple quick updates right after too.
Good times!
orth
Rock on. =D
This all sounds amazing. I'm so glad there are still being strides made to improve this decade old game.
Players can set their character's description any time they want. Title any parchment "My Description" then write on it and use =c setmydesc and your player's description will change to what's on the parchment.
Finally! I can redescribe Shiff and Tyra to something that actually resembles them after soooooo maaaaaaaany years!
Another update!
I'm now down to the finishing touches and some final testing. I thought I'd give you the low down on the second big system addition in this update, the Random NPC Quest system.
The Random NPC Quest system is a perpetual chat based system that involves delivery of goods from one NPC in one town/village/fort/city to another (there are 46 in total). Players are asked to help the NPC complete his shipment by gathering the components for a random CNR recipe. Here's a run down of how it works.
Ask a pawn broker if there are any jobs around and she'll randomly mention one of the six that are currently running.
Find the NPC in the location that the pawn broker mentioned and greet her by name (First, Last or Full Name) however you choose. This won't be the first time I tell you but you must always use the NPC's name when you're talking to them! The NPC will ask you if you're interested in a job and you can reply with yes or no (or many variants, i.e. nods, nope, nay, aye). Again, you must use their name! If you reply with an affirmative the NPC will then give you a scroll detailing the goods she requires and to whom and where she wishes the delivery be made. The NPC always wishes the components (not the final product!) of a craftable item. She will also detail which tradeskill the recipes is refering to as some recipes can be made via different trades.
At this point players may need to even decide if the quest is worth it. If an NPC wants you to gather the goods for a Mithil Emerald Amulet to deliver to Fieroz City you may decide it just isn't worth it. If you do decide to fetch the components required to craft the item the NPC wishes then return to the NPC again once they're fetched and greet them again (use their name!) and tell them yes (use their name!) that you have the items now.
When the NPC confirms that you are indeed carrying all the requirements to craft what she's asked then she will load you up with the rest of the shipment. WARNING: HEAVY LOAD. Yes, you'll have to carry any where between 100-500 lbs of goods (random 1-5 100lb items). These goods can be placed in magic bags or on an ox or of course you can give them to the meat shield or just divvy them up in your party if you have one. At this point the quest is no longer available to any other players, so if they're out looking for the crafting components and another player/party beats them then they're out of luck.
Once you're all loaded up then it's time to trek to your destination and find the NPC in that town. Once he's found greet him by name, when he asks if you have the goods reply with the affirmative and he'll check for everything. Once everything is in order he'll ask if everyone who has helped you is nearby, reply with an affirmative and the reward is given to each member of the party in the area, the quest is completed and a new quest is added somewhere!
If a quest is not complete within two weeks it is expired a new one is put in its place.
Players will have a random time limit anywhere between 72-96 real life hours to deliver the goods to the recipient once they are loaded up. The delivery deadline in Layonara date will be printed on the description of the shipment items.
If an NPC attempts to validate your items and you have forgotten to get them from your ox, or retrieve them from another party member etc. and they tell you to come back then you'll have to greet them again when you have all the items.
Point form summary
It may seem like a lot to understand but once the system is in place and you try it out I think you'll get it quite easily. In general all you really need to remember is to say "Hello NPCName", "Yes NPCName" or "No NPCName" - We hope you'll of course make it more diverse, especially when doing these quests with other players around so as to keep the chat fun and IC.
-orth
A question after looking this over. How many quests will be available at a given point in time? The way I read it... 1 NPC quest will be available until it is completed, or two weeks has passed before another NPC quest is offered by any other NPC. Multiple people / parties can be atempting to complet the only offered NPC quest, and whomever completes it first is rewarded. Example... John Smith in Center offers the NPC quest.
So this is the only NPC offereing a quest untill it is completed or two weeks has passed? Or could another person / party be offered a completely different NPC to speak to with a totally different quest at the same time as John Smiths NPC quest?
Thanks
G-452
A question after looking this over. How many quests will be available at a given point in time? The way I read it... 1 NPC quest will be available until it is completed, or two weeks has passed before another NPC quest is offered by any other NPC. Multiple people / parties can be atempting to complet the only offered NPC quest, and whomever completes it first is rewarded. Example... John Smith in Center offers the NPC quest.So this is the only NPC offereing a quest untill it is completed or two weeks has passed? Or could another person / party be offered a completely different NPC to speak to with a totally different quest?
So this is the only NPC offereing a quest untill it is completed or two weeks has passed? Or could another person / party be offered a completely different NPC to speak to with a totally different quest?
There's always 6 running and Shiff beat me!
A quick addendum as it was asked, the shipped goods that weigh 100lbs take up 2x2 inventory slots.
Very important note for the next update:
The linux NWN server is case sensitive when it comes to your Bioware name. You must use the same upper/lowercase characters for your Bioware login that you did when you created your first character on Layonara. You can't login as Orth for example when you created your first character as orth. If you do you'll see no characters in your vault.
If you're unsure the exact case sensitivity you used for your first character and you see an empty vault, Dorg or I can let you know.
"When the NPC confirms that you are indeed carrying all the requirements to craft what she's asked then she will load you up with the rest of the shipment. WARNING: HEAVY LOAD. Yes, you'll have to carry any where between 100-500 lbs of goods (random 1-5 100lb items)"
I foresee Kurn's popularity rising significantly with this update!
Quenton completed a dynamic quest! Two questons:
1. I still have the sroll that lists the thing I needed to get, can I throw it away?
B: Never mind on the second question the reward is awesome!
Quenton completed a dynamic quest! Two questons:1. I still have the sroll that lists the thing I needed to get, can I throw it away?B: Never mind on the second question the reward is awesome!
Yes you can throw it away, they also fit into parchment folders too if you use one of those.
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