[WIP][Beta] Huleeya Companion

Post » Sat May 28, 2011 7:03 pm

I always thought Huleeya was one of the most interesting characters in Morrowind, being an Argonian Morag Tong assassin, a historian, and in some ways a philosopher. I always wanted take him along on my travels and enjoy his perspective during other missions, but not until recently did I start working on forging all that into a mod.

The mod is well under development, and most of the hard stuff and scripting is done (although to be honest it could bear some more testing). I used MWSE to achieve some of the cooler features of this mod. I've taken a lot of companion script conventions established by brilliant modders out there, and added some stuff that I like to think is new.

Below is a list of what Huleeya can do at the moment, but I'm sure I'm leaving some things out:

Spoiler
While following you he will warp to your location if you get too far from him or leave him in another cell. (This includes all kinds of teleportation and scripted travel.)

He'll step out of your way if you stand close to him. (Or at the very least he will try to.)

His attributes, skills, and health improve through combat. After each fight he has a 33% chance to level up, but only if he's below your level.

Takes initiative in battles. Kagoutis do not need to hit you for him to react.

Prefers ranged weapons but switches to melee if his opponent gets too close.

He's auto-supplied with steel bolts or arrows (depending on what type of weapon he has equipped).

He'll sneak, breath water, and walk on water when you do.

He can also levitate, and the algorithm that sets the altitude has been improved. I think it has a pretty cool 3D-follow feel now.

Advanced attribute damaging: you'll get notified after a fight if any of Huleeya's attributes have been damaged. You can also ask him to give you detailed info on which of his attributes are damaged and by what amount. He'll automatically use restore attribute potions from his inventory when needed. He is even smart enough to decide which potion to drink depending on how much restoration is needed.


What's missing is the dialog. Almost all of it. I'm not a very talented writer and I'm having some trouble portraying him in a way that would show his vast knowledge and not make him sound like a smart-ass.

If anyone is interested in writing dialog for him, I'd appreciate the help. I'd mostly like him to comment on the main quest and locations you might visit, and maybe some of the Morag Tong tasks (the latter being as dull as they are). Perhaps we could throw in a quest or two as well. There's no need to hurry with any of that, I'll take it slow with this mod. Let me know if you'd like to write for him.

Anyway, if you'd like to playtest this, http://adul.net/file/hc_v081b.zip to grab the beta. I'd appreciate the feedback, and ideas too. MWSE and both expansions required.

Current version: v0.81b
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Jennifer Munroe
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 6:16 pm

Thanks for this, he seems very interesting, downloaded!
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Sophie Payne
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 8:12 pm

Ooh, interesting - a modder who can do complex scripting but needs someone to write dialogue - I'm completely the opposite. I'd be happy to write some (probably quite alot of, actually) dialogue for Huleeya. I might ask for some scripting help with a few other mods I have in the pipeline in return, if you'd be okay with that?
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Brandon Wilson
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 9:43 am

@Adul: I wrote Huleeya's dialog for LGNPC Foreign Quarter. I had been reviewing those lines to see how well it fit your vision for him before offering my services. You might check it out yourself - it will help anyone trying to understand what you intend for Huleeya if you describe it in comparison to that any of us can read. In any case I defer to Von Djangos' first offer of help.

@Von Djangos: You will want to pay attention to your insertion points (and load order) if you do not want LGNPC dialog to supercede the dialog you create for Huleeya on existing topics.
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Alkira rose Nankivell
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 10:12 pm

I forgot to mention that the Huleeya companion is a new NPC that the original Huleeya gets swapped to when you recruit him. He tells you he has a few loose ends to tie up and he would meet you at the top of the Arena, where he awaits you - this time as a different NPC. This means that the new dialog lines can replace his original ones without issues.

@Von Djangos: Thank you for the offer, I'd be glad to have you work on Huleeya's dialog. I like to script for Morrowind, and I'll be glad to help you out and write scripts that you need made.

@cyran0: I loved Huleeya's LGNPC dialog, in fact, your writing was one of the things that urged me to start working on this mod more seriously. I like to think of Huleeya as an assassin who is more of a thinker than a judge, who makes observations about society and informs thoroughly before forming an opinion. But that's just my own vision and by no means is it an obligation for the character's direction. I'd be quite honored if you'd work on this mod.

@Von Djangos and cyran0: I certainly wouldn't mind if both of you worked on Huleeya's dialog for this mod, but I don't know your preferences. If any of you prefer to work alone that's perfectly fine as well. I think I can start and host a work chart of some kind if you guys think that's a good idea.

In any case, I'm quite excited that I received replies so soon. :dance:
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Mrs Pooh
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 5:28 pm

Since Huleeya's dialouge is started in the main quest and I've a quest in mind if you're interested.

IMHO I think that's an excellent idea for a companion mod. I'm looking forward to see how this mod takes shape and good luck. :thumbsup:
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JUan Martinez
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 10:23 am

This is pretty awesome Adul, I'll be watching patiently for a dialogue complete version, but I'll play with this incomplete version and will let you know if I find any bugs, pretty excited about this! :D
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rebecca moody
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:10 am

@cyran0: I loved Huleeya's LGNPC dialog...

I am gratified that you approve of my portrait of Huleeya. Most of my less generic NPCs may be too understated for the community's taste in general. At least that can be a starting point to flesh him out for your mod.

@Von Djangos and cyran0: I certainly wouldn't mind if both of you worked on Huleeya's dialog for this mod, but I don't know your preferences.

I was hoping Von Djangos would have posted again to clarify his interest - I am afraid of giving the appearance of forcing myself upon the two of you - that is not my intention. I was writing while he was posting, and I only mentioned the LGNPC dialog as a way of discussion one possible interpretation of Huleeya's character and not as a recommendation of it or myself. Von Djangos have been working together on LGNPC Ebonheart. I have great respect for him and his work and I have no wish to jeopardize our relationship. While ideas from several people can be beneficial it is better that Huleeya is written with a single voice. I am perfectly easy with that honor falling to another.

I have been thinking about some of the subjects of conversation a companion Huleeya might have with the player. Since I am not in the habit of developing mods publicly it is the sort of thing I will pass along to you in a personal message when it seems appropriate. Of course, it is your project so if you want to maintain a work-in-progress thread it is not for me to object.

I forgot to mention that the Huleeya companion is a new NPC that the original Huleeya gets swapped to when you recruit him.

I should have anticipated that you would create a clone of Huleeya for the companion - it is better in so many ways. I should mention that merely disabling the original when the clone makes his appearance will not be enough. LGNPC Foreign Quarter disables and enables Huleeya randomly after the player escorts him to Jobasha's Rare Books to make the world feel more dynamic. Even after your mod disables him ours might enable him anew. Better will be to move him to a test cell when the time comes. I suppose at some point I should download your beta, but if it is dependent on Morrowind Script Extender I may not be able to do much with it.
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BaNK.RoLL
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 4:00 pm

Since Huleeya's dialouge is started in the main quest and I've a quest in mind if you're interested.

IMHO I think that's an excellent idea for a companion mod. I'm looking forward to see how this mod takes shape and good luck. :thumbsup:

Thank you and of course I'm interested. Let me know about that quest in a PM, if you would. :whisper:

This is pretty awesome Adul, I'll be watching patiently for a dialogue complete version, but I'll play with this incomplete version and will let you know if I find any bugs, pretty excited about this! :D

I'm very grateful, with this many functions involved it often becomes difficult to test everything myself. But I hope still that I could do away with all those pesky bugs in the past few days.

I am gratified that you approve of my portrait of Huleeya. Most of my less generic NPCs may be too understated for the community's taste in general. At least that can be a starting point to flesh him out for your mod.

I was hoping Von Djangos would have posted again to clarify his interest - I am afraid of giving the appearance of forcing myself upon the two of you - that is not my intention. I was writing while he was posting, and I only mentioned the LGNPC dialog as a way of discussion one possible interpretation of Huleeya's character and not as a recommendation of it or myself. Von Djangos have been working together on LGNPC Ebonheart. I have great respect for him and his work and I have no wish to jeopardize our relationship. While ideas from several people can be beneficial it is better that Huleeya is written with a single voice. I am perfectly easy with that honor falling to another.

I have been thinking about some of the subjects of conversation a companion Huleeya might have with the player. Since I am not in the habit of developing mods publicly it is the sort of thing I will pass along to you in a personal message when it seems appropriate. Of course, it is your project so if you want to maintain a work-in-progress thread it is not for me to object.

Let's wait for Von Djangos' response, we might be able to work something out once more details of the mod's form solidifies. Either way, I believe we can handle this like advlts without losing good terms with anyone.

I should have anticipated that you would create a clone of Huleeya for the companion - it is better in so many ways. I should mention that merely disabling the original when the clone makes his appearance will not be enough. LGNPC Foreign Quarter disables and enables Huleeya randomly after the player escorts him to Jobasha's Rare Books to make the world feel more dynamic. Even after your mod disables him ours might enable him anew. Better will be to move him to a test cell when the time comes.

It took me some time, but I did figure out it was LGNPC FQ that did that. ;) So what I did was add an activator to Jobasha's Rare Books that overrides the enabling/disabling features in LGNPC. So right now he's always enabled until you recruit him, and always disabled afterward.

I suppose at some point I should download your beta, but if it is dependent on Morrowind Script Extender I may not be able to do much with it.

Yes, it is depedent on MWSE, but only the scripts are affected. You could still edit other parts of the mod using the TESCS.
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Stefanny Cardona
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 7:49 pm

Right, I had to do an update because I forgot to remove a test message box from the warping script in the original beta. :facepalm:

But I took this chance to also improve Huleeya's combat script a little bit, because previously if he had attacked a charging enemy from afar and that enemy died, he would put away his weapon and just stand still for a few moments regardless of whether there was still a fight around him. Now he will pick his next target almost immediately.

The new version is v0.81b, and I've updated the link in the first post to point to the new file.
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mishionary
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 4:13 pm

Interesting idea. I wish you luck with it. :)
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trisha punch
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:55 pm

Ah cyran0, always the gentleman in your posting! No offence was taken, its always good to bounce ideas around with someone who loves dialogue as much as I do. I have plenty of mods in the pipeline at the moment, so if you have the itch to take a crack at this instead, then go for it :) I agree that one modder with one voice should always tackle a character - however I would love to brainstorm concepts here or via pm about directions the mod could take - whether its you or I who ends up actually writing the dialogue.
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Jarrett Willis
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 8:59 pm

I agree that one modder with one voice should always tackle a character - however I would love to brainstorm concepts here or via pm about directions the mod could take - whether its you or I who ends up actually writing the dialogue.

I did that earlier today with Adul. :whisper:
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Chrissie Pillinger
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 9:45 am

Looking forward to trying out the final version. I'm always on the lookout for more interesting male companions. So far though my characters have been satisfied with those available I'm always left wanting something else :D
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SHAWNNA-KAY
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 10:34 am

Interesting idea. I wish you luck with it. :)

Thank you, Jac.

Ah cyran0, always the gentleman in your posting! No offence was taken, its always good to bounce ideas around with someone who loves dialogue as much as I do. I have plenty of mods in the pipeline at the moment, so if you have the itch to take a crack at this instead, then go for it :) I agree that one modder with one voice should always tackle a character - however I would love to brainstorm concepts here or via pm about directions the mod could take - whether its you or I who ends up actually writing the dialogue.

You're right, a pool for ideas would be beneficial, and I think this thread is perfect for that function.

I don't feel like it's my place to decide who writes the dialog, given I just want to take the role of the advisor and give the writer free hand with the story and character. But of course if you need my help making the choice, you can ask. :icecream:

Looking forward to trying out the final version. I'm always on the lookout for more interesting male companions. So far though my characters have been satisfied with those available I'm always left wanting something else :D

Oh, I know what you mean. Humanoid companions with an upright stance can only go so far. :hehe:
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Loane
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:29 pm

More like they're far too clingy. Everyone wants to drop everything and hang out with my characters 24/7 even though they've just met? Even when they have something else to do it's usually a tag along quest instead of an 'I've got to take care of this this and that, I'll meet you at home/tavern/town later' type, which is just weird imho. My PC's don't seem to mind but man it seems really weird to me :sweat:
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Laura Simmonds
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 11:03 pm

Any progress? I'm excited about that mod.
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barbara belmonte
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 8:39 am

Agreed, any progress on this?
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Neko Jenny
 
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Post » Sat May 28, 2011 8:31 am

Sorry, not much. I haven't talked to Cyran0 regarding this mod in quite a while. That said this project is in the back of my mind a lot of times and I do intend to complete or at least work on it sometime. I'm also fairly certain I won't make any real progress on it this month.
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lolli
 
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