9 & 12 weeks : III

» Tue May 08, 2012 1:54 pm

This is not a wip thread nor is it a release thread - its more of a what am I up too thread and gives me the opportunity to get some feedback on ideas and quite frankly I would rather be brave and have my own thread to see if it lives or dies than be buried in the 'Show us what you are working on' thread

For the past 2 years - coming up for 3 I've been working on a story mod called Veloth's Child - apart from not having a clue what I was getting into when I started - I recall thinking this will take 6 months (mutters darkly at the memory) - however with a cast of over 100 to write dialogue for and a plot that can vary depending on your choices I've come to understand why so many developers stick to linear games or have a cast of hundreds producing them.

Anyway - I reached a halfway point where I needed to test some of the scripts that have been written for me or that I have mashed together - Melian in particular had written me a very elegant light version of a companion script - which works a little differently with how I want my companions to behave. The companions I do have in Veloth's Child tend to only come along on very specific quests and then push off home - they have their own lives to lead and quite frankly I wasn't interested in doing around the towns type conversations.

So I decided to write a single story mod and use it to test out my scripts - hmm - one thing led to another and I couldn't help writing some more dialogue as the story developed and finally I was able to connect it back into Veloth's Child with some hooks in the dialogue so if I ever manage to launch that behemoth the two mods will not only play nicely together but if anyone apart from myself ever plays 9 & 1/2 weeks they will have an added incentive to continue Fleur's story in Veloth's Child.

9 & 1/2 weeks is a testing ground for me with scripts, but it will also be a testing ground for me in terms of whether anyone enjoys the way I tell a story - which is a bit different from the norm, very much in the choose your own adventure style which the text driven form of playing Morrowind lends itself to.

There is a link to my WIP thread on this mod in my sig - for pics, vids and general frustration rants when things wouldn't work - but I thought I might post a few links here for anyone interested.

I like experimenting with bik files and using occasional cutscenes when appropriate to drive the story along - often as dreams or visions - this link is for one I am working on that combines the two stories and can be viewed by the player towards the end of the story - the music is by the very talented Roger Subriana Mata who provides licence free music - http://www.mediafire.com/file/rff6rngo181bc9p/Silent%20Tears.wmv

Here's a trailer for 9 & 1/2 weeks - which will be released as http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2263/file28397.mp4

Fleur does dress quite different from the rest of Vvardenfell - but then she's just a recent arrival and has a story wrapped around her profession and why she wears what she does - apart from her clothes her story is very lore friendly and she is designed for players who are nostalgic for Morrowind and just feel like a romp (so to speak) around the Island once more, or for someone who just wants a new quest - there are some unique lines for those who have achieved Nevarine status or Archmagister of the Telvanni but it can pretty much be done by someone of a lower level.

It is a mature mod - in the sense that I write advlt themes - um... because despite my sometimes childish petulance on the forums at times I too happen to be an advlt and have had a varied life to draw experiences from

The player can engage in a romance with Fleur, but they have plenty of opportunities to opt out, depending on the player's relationship with her there are several - I think I counted 9 - different variations on the way the story concludes (as I'm still writing the end I can't be definite)

The romance itself is a test to see if she is an engaging character as Veloth's Child has a number of different romance options and this gives me an opportunity to maybe get some feedback on what works and what doesn't

While it has advlt themes it is not an explicit mod and even though the working title gives a nod to rapidly trying new experience in a very short time - the themes are to do with what you would be willing to do for someone you love

If you have a definition of what makes a mod mature I'd enjoy reading it.

When will it be ready? I have about 3 weeks of dialogue left to do then some end to end testing which should be about 2 or 3 more weeks depending on how broken it is by then.

Oh and of course if you really don't care about any of this but do enjoy a good french maid uniform well....

» Tue May 08, 2012 8:24 am

I've always been intrigued by little snippets of your work, whether descriptions, screenshots, or videos (it is rare to see someone developing BIKs for Morrowind, at least, as far as I've ever seen), and I'll be following this thread as you post updates. Your style seems very appealing and I'll be excited to see more!

Though life is always seeming busier and I can only work on my own mod here and there, when you start publishing releases for this I'll definitely be making time to give this a try. Something tells me that the writing will be quite good. Best of luck!

» Tue May 08, 2012 8:20 am

I to have been following the little bits that you have shown us and will be keeping an eye on this thread. Looking forward to seeing what's next. :clap:

» Tue May 08, 2012 9:34 am

Fleur is relatively finished and is now in Final Testing

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/4200/illyfleur.jpg

» Tue May 08, 2012 5:09 am

Illy, this wasn't inspired in any way by the movie 9 1/2 Weeks, was it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bNCMcQ_moo

This new BB code system is annoying. I can't get the [url=] stuff to work right.

» Tue May 08, 2012 12:13 am

Illy, this wasn't inspired in any way by the movie 9 1/2 Weeks, was it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bNCMcQ_moo

This new BB code system is annoying. I can't get the stuff to work right.

Hmm... I can't see the trailer as it is not available for NZ

However Fleur's story is not the same as the original 9 & 1/2 weeks (the film itself was based on a memoir) though there are similar mature themes in this mod and one or two homages.

Fleur explains early on that she has just 9 & 1/2 weeks to find what she is looking for in Vvardenfell - it is up to the player to see how far they are willing to take her.

It is a romance mod with hopefully a good enough twist to make you want to try the multiple options available - she has over 11 different endings written depending on your choices and I find in testing she is very replayable.

Along the way you might find others interested in you as well.

Yesterday as we strode to Pelagiad I was http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/4531/nels.png he had much to tell me about kissing when I met him again at the Halfway Tavern

» Tue May 08, 2012 12:50 pm

Don't you love testing?

I discovered that setatstart has the most amazing effect on NPC's bodies by blowing them out of proportion, moving heads to where necks should be - sometimes what should be simple - just isn't

Just as well Helviane and the girls wanted to http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5576/suran.jpg with Fleur and I

Fleur should be ready end of Feb

The mod is finished am just testing the dialogue and scripts - looking for missing states - the script which never ends or dialogue loops - doing some polishing along the way

I've decided she is an anti-companion in that she is everything a companion shouldn't be - she won't carry your stuff, can't fight, can't throw spells, has no idea what's going on in Morrowind, and instead of levelling up with you she gets harder to look after.

That said she is not an easy romance either - I personally don't like games where you have a companion you have to bribe with gifts to get them to love you - Fleur is more complicated than that - and it isn't until later on in her quest you suddenly can put together all the pieces as to why she is interested in you - and that's when hopefully the story gets interesting in what choices you make.

I haven't timed the actual game time of the mod yet - but I've tried to design it for mature gamers who like me enjoy Morrowind and dialogue mods but don't necessarily want to do the whole main quest again. Its the type of mod you might play when you just want to load up with the latest graphic replacers and have a walk around the Island with an attractive... um... Breton Maid who's looking for romance.

Apart from her uniform looking out of place in Vvardenfel she is very lore friendly - and those who like mysticism will probably enjoy the story line.

I've just completed a tour of Gnisis and Suran with her and am pretty happy with the romance so far - the dialogue has many choices which lead to different outcomes and I'm satisfied to find that even in testing I'm finding myself wanting to try out the different options just to see what she says.

As I mentioned in the OP this thread isn't really a WIP thread - as I have one of those going at another site - but rather just a thread for me to get feedback on romance ideas and later on when it is finished on the style of play whether it works well or not.

Anyway Fleur and I are off to see a Telvanni - thanks for reading

» Mon May 07, 2012 11:46 pm

Nice.

» Tue May 08, 2012 2:00 am

And sometimes it all http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6012/bathu.jpg

(Personally I can feel just like Fleur sometimes when testing scripts)

» Tue May 08, 2012 1:57 am

And sometimes it all http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6012/bathu.jpg

(Personally I can feel just like Fleur sometimes when testing scripts)

sometimes i cry in the bathtub too.

» Tue May 08, 2012 1:02 am

sometimes i cry in the bathtub too.

and who doesn't? it's the only way to fill it up or did i miss something?

» Tue May 08, 2012 2:08 am

and who doesn't? it's the only way to fill it up or did i miss something?

...urinating? but who'd want that.

» Tue May 08, 2012 2:20 am

Eeeeeuuuw - wolli that sort of comment belongs in the man vs. wild forums

Anyway sometimes it doesn't end in tears but http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/8624/doyouloveme.jpg

The story has multiple endings and I've now tested 4 of them

Just a couple more to go before it is released as Beta - I know my eyes can't pick all the errors but this will have had over 2 months vigorous testing before being let into the wild so I'm fairly confident it will be fine

Have managed to do the whole quest as level 2 - and been most of the way around the Island - as I've said earlier it is designed for mature players who don't really want to do the whole main quest of Morrowind over again but would like something new to motivate them to pick up the game for an evening or two.

I'll post some excerpts from the readme here later.

» Tue May 08, 2012 1:56 am

So, this 9 & 1/2 weeks mod is a kind of premise or prequel to the Veloth's Child mod?

» Tue May 08, 2012 12:35 pm

So, this 9 & 1/2 weeks mod is a kind of premise or prequel to the Veloth's Child mod?

i think it's a companion mod about someone called Fleur who wears the french maid suit.

i won, right?

» Tue May 08, 2012 1:02 pm

I know what the mod is about. I read the first post. Sorry, you didn't win. :sadvaultboy:

» Tue May 08, 2012 2:08 pm

So, this 9 & 1/2 weeks mod is a kind of premise or prequel to the Veloth's Child mod?

Premise is a good way of putting it - I wanted to be able to release something that shows off a taste of what Veloth's Child is intended to be like

Fleur's entire reason for being in Morrowind is tied directly to Veloth's Child story and she will refer to some of that depending on dialogue choices - I have written a unique end for her in 9 1/2 weeks that will only be activated by also playing Veloth's Child and that will trigger another quest if the player wants to meet her again

But she's not really a prequel as her timeline runs concurrent with Veloth's Child and both can be played at the same time or just one or the other - they are not dependent on each other unless the player decides they want to have more of Fleur's story.

Wolli - she's more of an anti-companion - instead of helping the player the player has to help her - and while she does wear a maid outfit - it is Breton not French

But at least you got another post to help you along the way to masterdom

Am currently doing the last bit of testing before writing up the readme - I'll post that here once done for anyone who is interested and that should explain the mod better

» Tue May 08, 2012 7:46 am

Premise is a good way of putting it - I wanted to be able to release something that shows off a taste of what Veloth's Child is intended to be like

Fleur's entire reason for being in Morrowind is tied directly to Veloth's Child story and she will refer to some of that depending on dialogue choices - I have written a unique end for her in 9 1/2 weeks that will only be activated by also playing Veloth's Child and that will trigger another quest if the player wants to meet her again

But she's not really a prequel as her timeline runs concurrent with Veloth's Child and both can be played at the same time or just one or the other - they are not dependent on each other unless the player decides they want to have more of Fleur's story.

Wolli - she's more of an anti-companion - instead of helping the player the player has to help her - and while she does wear a maid outfit - it is Breton not French :smile:

But at least you got another post to help you along the way to masterdom :smile:

Am currently doing the last bit of testing before writing up the readme - I'll post that here once done for anyone who is interested and that should explain the mod better

damn, i was kinda close? haha, ofc, breton not french.

sounds interesting how you've made fleur's quest tie in so well with velothi's child and how the end's go together so well. even if i play this mod before VC atleast i won't have to ignore all the spoilers

. although i'll probably do them at the same time, so that i can play along to the two POV's in the same timeline.

(one more post to masterdom!

)

» Tue May 08, 2012 1:16 am

that's great. I was hoping it wouldn't break continuity by having the same charater in both mods at the same time or something. Now I can wait and play both.

» Mon May 07, 2012 11:33 pm

Thanks Chainy

The mod has been released for beta-testing if you have lurked at PS forum then you will know where to go - due to the mod having advlt themes it is in the members section of that forum for download by beta-testers - it has been thoroughly tested by myself for the past 3 months but due to the many different paths I may have missed something.

It has been cleaned with TESAME and a full read me is available on the download thread

Here's a snippet:

Spoiler

##### advlt THEME WARNING #####

This mod contains advlt themes and concepts that may offend. It is rated by myself as suitable for Mature audiences only.

The advlt themes of this mod can only be activated by player choice, for instance when a romance option is available in dialogue there will also be an option to close the conversation down... however, if you continue to pursue the romance options the dialogue will reduce your options until there is no turning back.

If you are looking for an explicit "advlt" mod, then this mod will not satisfy you. There is often a misunderstanding between entertainment labelled "advlt" which primarily focuses on sixual gratification and "advlt themes". advlt themes explore emotions that we may not prefer, lust instead of love, concepts that are complex instead of simple such as suicide versus euthanasia, and the darker aspects of humanity, addiction, abusive relationships, violation.

If you are in any doubt of this mod and cannot find advice from the modding community as to its suitability for you then do not play it.

______________________________________________________

##### INTENSIVE DIALOGUE WARNING #####
1 ) This is a dialogue intensive mod, it operates very much like a choose your own adventure story. The mod is written to give you a 'voice' in the game, in many of the conversations you will have multiple choices in how to respond to Fleur, some will help you progress the story, others will help you exit the story.
For example when Fleur asks if you are interested in her you will have multiple choices in how to reply, such as:
"I know I don't want to hurt your feelings." or "I know I feel nervous when you make advances at me Fleur." or "I want to be your friend Fleur, I don't know how to be more than that." or "Yes I do." or "I should be honest Fleur and say no."
This form of storytelling is intended for those who would like to roleplay characters who have some speechcraft ability and in the end whether you keep Fleur alive or not will often depend more on your speechcraft skills than your fighting skills.

2 ) Maid in Morrowind has dialogue written for over 9 different endings. However if you have open quests with Fleur and she dies before her main quest is concluded or if you abandon her before her time is up then those quests will unfortunately be left open.

3 ) Due to the multiple endings and various story paths the player can choose I have relied heavily on using the Journal to keep track of what is happening. I do not recommend using mods that remove all Journal entries and allow you to write your own with this mod.

4 ) While Fleur has her own unique dialogue topics which are heavily filtered there can always be issues with other mods that change dialogue. I have cleaned the dialogue as per recognised modding practice but can make no guarantee for how well this mod will play with other dialogue intensive mods that may or may not have been cleaned using the same methods.

5 ) Mods which change Nels Llendo's dialogue may be impacted by this mod as he has some unique dialogue and animation for any player who is accompanied by Fleur when meeting him for the first time. This dialogue is carefully filtered for very specific situations however there is no guarantee it will merge well with other modders dialogue.

6 ) There is no coarse language or profanity in this mod. If you are so inclined you can do that yourself depending on the situations you come across playing this mod.
______________________________________________________

##### ANTI-COMPANION WARNING #####
Fleur is an anti-companion.

That is, she is everything a companion shouldn't be. She will not carry your loot nor level up with you, she cannot cast spells and as you progress through the story she becomes increasingly harder to keep alive. Rather than being a meat shield as some companions are if you are not willing to shield her with your own body then she will not last long as she is defenceless and will not fight even if attacked.

In this mod she is not the companion - you are!

However, Fleur is very sociable and desperately needs a unique guide.

Fleur will not choose Beast Races, Orcs or Bosmer males to be her Guide. This is primarily a romance mod and she is not attracted to Khajiit, Argonian or Orcs. She has had a bad experience with a Bosmer male and doesn't feel safe around them.

If you want to keep her alive for the entire nine and a half weeks I recommend talking to her often and being prepared to take some risks.

If you bring other companions on the road with you Fleur will not be aware of their presence. This won't matter unless you are roleplaying the romance.

If you want romance with Fleur then I recommend you leave other companions behind while looking after Fleur. Due to scripts involved in Suran and Balmora you may find they break if you have another companion with you or who may want to teleport to your side.

Trailer http://www.mediafire.com/?nfcswoi0u5jpafn - hopefully you can prevent the blood bath

The mod's release name is Maid in Morrowind