Choose Your Own Questline

adran07 · October 2016

EDIT: Before anyone else assumes the same, I know the Foundry by default does not support this type of Quest. I have worked out a method of "cheating the system" so to speak that allows it to work. It's a bit of a brute force trick, but it does allow for the freedom of choice I need for the Questline series.

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So, what I have here is the beginnings of a brand new idea that I hope to make into an amazing series of quests. My first one is fairly short and simple (in concept at least, not necessarily in duration), though I have not yet made it as I had to redownload and reinstall Neverwinter, and it's currently slowed to a crawl at 93%......

The idea behind this is basically a Choose Your Own Adventure book in the form of a Quest in Neverwinter. I am NOT taking an actual CYOA book and converting it, merely taking the concept and converting it. Now, as I want to keep this mostly to myself for the moment, I won't be giving out any details of how I'll manage the Choice mechanic, or too much detail on the first Questline, but I will give a brief overview of the quest. What I'm posting here for though, is to get feedback on the CONCEPT of a CYOQ. Do you guys think it would be interesting? Would any of you actually play this kind of thing? Let me know!

On to the first Questline.

An old man has asked you for help. A magic ring that belongs to him is missing, and he is far too old to go on an adventure now to retrieve it. He asks you to go in his place. While he doesn't know who or where, he is a Wizard, and casts a teleport spell on you that will get you to roughly the same area. While it won't be exact, you should be in at least the right town/area, wherever the ring itself may be. How you find it, and what you do along the way, is entirely your choice. How will you build your own Questline?

iandarksword · October 2016

The story system is set up to only arrive at a solitary conclusion. It's not designed to make multiple solutions and branching questlines. It's been requested, but so far what you see is what you get. @kreatyve @zebular can we move this to the Questions and Mechanics section? Why are all the new posts ending up in here?

zebular · October 2016

iandarksword said:
@kreatyve @zebular can we move this to the Questions and Mechanics section? Why are all the new posts ending up in here?

Done. They must have been in the wrong subforum. There's two in the Foundry Section.

iandarksword · October 2016

@zebular Thanks!

adran07 · October 2016

iandarksword said:
The story system is set up to only arrive at a solitary conclusion. It's not designed to make multiple solutions and branching questlines. It's been requested, but so far what you see is what you get. @kreatyve @zebular can we move this to the Questions and Mechanics section? Why are all the new posts ending up in here?

I'm well aware of the limits of the system if used as designed. I have already come up with a method to work around this issue for this. That's why I posted about it. I know for sure it will work too. I'm not asking about the mechanics behind it or anything like that. I'm simply saying I'm going to do it.

adran07 · October 2016

zebular said:

iandarksword said:
@kreatyve @zebular can we move this to the Questions and Mechanics section? Why are all the new posts ending up in here?
Done. They must have been in the wrong subforum. There's two in the Foundry Section.

@zebular As I said in the other post, this wasn't in the wrong section. I wasn't asking a question about the mechanics or anything of the sort. I already know I can do what I want. I'm manipulating the mechanics in a way they weren't meant to be used, but because the creators of this game kind of don't give a HAMSTER about the only good thing about their game, I don't have much of a choice there.

zebular · October 2016

adran07 said:

zebular said:

iandarksword said:
@kreatyve @zebular can we move this to the Questions and Mechanics section? Why are all the new posts ending up in here?
Done. They must have been in the wrong subforum. There's two in the Foundry Section.

@zebular As I said in the other post, this wasn't in the wrong section. I wasn't asking a question about the mechanics or anything of the sort. I already know I can do what I want. I'm manipulating the mechanics in a way they weren't meant to be used, but because the creators of this game kind of don't give a HAMSTER about the only good thing about their game, I don't have much of a choice there.

Yes... it was... You posted this in the Quest Database forum. Ian requested it moved to the proper forum for its topic, hence my reply. Your thread is not a quest listing, it is a question to the community. If you'd like instead, it could fit into Foundry General Discussion, but it is not a quest listing.

adran07 · October 2016

zebular said:

adran07 said:

zebular said:

iandarksword said:
@kreatyve @zebular can we move this to the Questions and Mechanics section? Why are all the new posts ending up in here?
Done. They must have been in the wrong subforum. There's two in the Foundry Section.

@zebular As I said in the other post, this wasn't in the wrong section. I wasn't asking a question about the mechanics or anything of the sort. I already know I can do what I want. I'm manipulating the mechanics in a way they weren't meant to be used, but because the creators of this game kind of don't give a HAMSTER about the only good thing about their game, I don't have much of a choice there.
Yes... it was... You posted this in the Quest Database forum. Ian requested it moved to the proper forum for its topic, hence my reply. Your thread is not a quest listing, it is a question to the community. If you'd like instead, it could fit into Foundry General Discussion, but it is not a quest listing.

Technically the post was going to become my Quest Listing once I got the stupid Patcher to work. Only reason I hadn't gotten anything done is because I literally can't get in the game. This first questline is really simple enough I could probably get it made in a month or so tops. But fine. Not like I'm going to really get any response anyway, the Foundry community seems dead.

iandarksword · October 2016

If you've figured a work around for such a quest, then by all means go for it. Such mechanics have been requested in the past, for purposes of exploring alignments and more. People in the future will also want to know of such methods, as the development team hasn't expressed interest in improving the editor due to budgets, both monetary and manpower in nature.

I requested it moved because it was the second "What do you think if I did..." post in the section intended for published quests in 3 days. It seemed you were exploring an unknown or previously discussed but incapable mechanic, which is why I requested the move to this section. Hypothetical posts and questions are best made in General Discussion, as that section receives the most traffic. If you decide to post your method for making your quest, then this section seems most appropriate since you'd be discussing new mechanics and work arounds. When you finish your quest and publish it, then make a listing in the Database section. It makes searching for aspects of the community much easier for the masses. It was for organizing purposes, nothing more.

adran07 · October 2016

iandarksword said:
If you've figured a work around for such a quest, then by all means go for it. Such mechanics have been requested in the past, for purposes of exploring alignments and more. People in the future will also want to know of such methods, as the development team hasn't expressed interest in improving the editor due to budgets, both monetary and manpower in nature.

I requested it moved because it was the second "What do you think if I did..." post in the section intended for published quests in 3 days. It seemed you were exploring an unknown or previously discussed but incapable mechanic, which is why I requested the move to this section. Hypothetical posts and questions are best made in General Discussion, as that section receives the most traffic. If you decide to post your method for making your quest, then this section seems most appropriate since you'd be discussing new mechanics and work arounds. When you finish your quest and publish it, then make a listing in the Database section. It makes searching for aspects of the community much easier for the masses. It was for organizing purposes, nothing more.

I see. That makes sense I suppose, and is different from how I was thinking of it. The method of my work around will be obvious by the end of the very first part of the questline, so I don't think it will take much explaining XD

josephskyrim · October 2016

As long as you have a good story, and memorable characters I'll play it. Ideally throw in some morally gray choices too where there is no "right" answer because those are always fun.

Tech wise: If you are going with choices at the end of each adventure like "If you kill the little girl, play [I killed the little girl] quest otherwise play [I'm not a monster] quest" and linking them together that way, remember you can copy maps/adventures to save yourself some time and effort with maps and costumes. The only catch is, make sure your original is pristine or you'll be copying the flaws across too. Also, the first map will have the most hits, most plays, and most reviews. Keep that in mind. This means you'll need 5 plays on every optional path to get them into live.

I had once toyed with doing choices that way. Never went through with it though since the mechanisms were still too restrictive for me. Whatever way you are going for, good luck! Let me know when I can play it!

Heh, after just typing that up I have that itch to make more foundries again. Lol.

adran07 · October 2016

josephskyrim said:
As long as you have a good story, and memorable characters I'll play it. Ideally throw in some morally gray choices too where there is no "right" answer because those are always fun.

Tech wise: If you are going with choices at the end of each adventure like "If you kill the little girl, play [I killed the little girl] quest otherwise play [I'm not a monster] quest" and linking them together that way, remember you can copy maps/adventures to save yourself some time and effort with maps and costumes. The only catch is, make sure your original is pristine or you'll be copying the flaws across too. Also, the first map will have the most hits, most plays, and most reviews. Keep that in mind. This means you'll need 5 plays on every optional path to get them into live.

I had once toyed with doing choices that way. Never went through with it though since the mechanisms were still too restrictive for me. Whatever way you are going for, good luck! Let me know when I can play it!

Heh, after just typing that up I have that itch to make more foundries again. Lol.

I guess the way I'm going is pretty obvious XD

It's a bit more than just that though. You'll make choices throughout the quests (if it works as I want it to at least). At the end of each major split point though, you'll have to choose which way to go. Also, the way you get to certain maps, and the order you complete them in, can influence the entire quest. I'll be using Key Items a lot, and at the beginning of each quest you'll need to "remind" the quest what your last choices were, since a few of the maps are reused with most of it the same, the only difference being how you got there and what impact that might have on your story. Don't know if I'll be able to do what i want, but I am pretty confident I can.

As far as getting the 5 reviews to make them visible, I'll provide the code for the next quest you should get at the end of each section, rather than the names. I don't want people accidentally starting from the middle after all, and it's unlikely they will all get enough reviews to be visible by name. Unless it's insanely popular. I'm already making good progress, just gotta figure out how to make the Tutorial section that will explain the CYOQ-specific stuff, and then I can start on the "main" map (such as it is).

josephskyrim · October 2016

adran07 said:

You'll make choices throughout the quests (if it works as I want it to at least). At the end of each major split point though, you'll have to choose which way to go. Also, the way you get to certain maps, and the order you complete them in, can influence the entire quest. I'll be using Key Items a lot, and at the beginning of each quest you'll need to "remind" the quest what your last choices were, since a few of the maps are reused with most of it the same, the only difference being how you got there and what impact that might have on your story. Don't know if I'll be able to do what i want, but I am pretty confident I can.

If you can work out how to send key items from one quest to another and have them as usable items please let me know.

I know you can retain quest items if you exit the quest via the door icon near the minimap, but getting the subsequent quest to look for the same item... needs testing. I don't think it's just using item name and item description. May want to do all that limit/boundary testing before getting into your quest production proper.

adran07 · October 2016

josephskyrim said:

adran07 said:

You'll make choices throughout the quests (if it works as I want it to at least). At the end of each major split point though, you'll have to choose which way to go. Also, the way you get to certain maps, and the order you complete them in, can influence the entire quest. I'll be using Key Items a lot, and at the beginning of each quest you'll need to "remind" the quest what your last choices were, since a few of the maps are reused with most of it the same, the only difference being how you got there and what impact that might have on your story. Don't know if I'll be able to do what i want, but I am pretty confident I can.
If you can work out how to send key items from one quest to another and have them as usable items please let me know. I know you can retain quest items if you exit the quest via the door icon near the minimap, but getting the subsequent quest to look for the same item... needs testing. I don't think it's just using item name and item description. May want to do all that limit/boundary testing before getting into your quest production proper.

I wasn't even aware you could do that. My method is simple, if unsatisfying. When you start the quest, it will ask you a series of questions and give you items based on your answers. I'm on the Foundry right now if you'd like to talk about the quest btw.

iandarksword · October 2016

You could just have a chest, NPC, bookshelf or other container that you interact with at the beginning of the consecutive quest. From these you could bestow the necessary items and then continue with your story.

josephskyrim · October 2016

iandarksword said:
You could just have a chest, NPC, bookshelf or other container that you interact with at the beginning of the consecutive quest. From these you could bestow the necessary items and then continue with your story.

Heh, indeed - and adran07's method of asking questions of what a player did last adventure to give the correct items is probably the only way currently to get a varied set too. Must admit I never thought of doing that!

Make sure you know the limits of the items though adran07. I get conniptions when I can do things like: make objects appear/vanish if you have x item but can't do the same for encounter spawns. You can still get around it with carefully planned maps and heavy tunnel use but that was just driving me up the wall.

demonmonger · October 2016

I created a few foundry quests that allow for different outcomes based on what the user does. It's pretty simple to work around it.

I have not made any new ones since mod 6. If you need help let me know.

I have one quest where you have to bring a tonic to heal the people from lycathropy. If you give them the tonic they remain human.. if you don't heal them they turn to werewolves and attack you, they also turn other humans they bite into werewolves making the quest more difficult as you go.

In the end you rid the area of werewolves by killing silverfang the leader of the pack.

Simple mechanic to make this work is already built into our options.

sameriker · October 2016

@iandarksword @adran07

Dr. Simon Tomoko was in fact working on a quest with 3 separate story arcs and 2 sub plots. He abandon the work because of massive Foundry outages and networking issues. He no longer plays Neverwinter, but I did get to see his working unfinished product. It was produced in a massive custom dungeon. Dialog choices opened doors and pathways in the dungeons. All he was lacking to finish was his detailed dialog. I remember the 3 quests were to 1) save the Elven Royal Family 2) Free Prisoners 3) Kill a Lich;

I chose the to free the prisoners and a door was unlocked by my choice. Then later I was given 2 choices a shortcut route with tough monsters or a longer route with easy monsters and traps. At the end all three converged on the chest room which looked like you had come full circle. Going back in the second time, I also did the Elven Prince and after a fight with trolls, you meet his wife who explains her daughter took one passage and her husband the prince took another. You choose to follow the daughter or the prince, sadly both choices ended in tragedy. If you went after the prince the wife and daughter were found dead. If you went after the daughter the prince and princess are found dead.

I never tried the Lich. One quest, one map, and 3 stories and each with a unique outcome. Dr. Tomoko had it figured out without the use of much of a timeline, just using dialog gates to open doors. I don't know if his Foundry still exists on his account, but it was never published.

Choose Your Own Questline

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