test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
My Foray into the Foundry - A Journal!
vertigale
Member Posts: 8 Arc User
I've been messing around in the Foundry for about two weeks now. I'd consider myself still an amateur, but I'm learning things every day and have been enjoying building maps! I've been able to set up some simple quests as well. I thought it might be helpful to others (and myself) to keep an ongoing series of notes about my time spent in the Foundry. As I discover things and post them, maybe other newbies can learn from my trial and error 
INDEX:
Setting up a Map, and Changing Your Mind
Positioning Things in Complex, Multi-Level Maps
Friendly NPCs Who Participate in Combat.
Entry 1: Setting up a Map, and Changing Your Mind.
I've put my previous "starter" project on the back-burner to move onto something a little more ambitious, now that I've learned some basics and some tricks. I don't want to share too much about the campaign and story, but it will involve several maps, several characters, a dashing pirate captain, and adventure.
I wanted to start with the beginning scene, which will be set at a swanky and lavish wedding, attended by the wealthy and elite. At first I took the Royal Crypt indoor map (it is spacious, two levels, and features a huge staircase) and thought I'd spruce it up by overlaying the walls and floors with different tiles, as well as adding lighting and such. This was way too time consuming and there were elements built into the map that I couldn't delete or change, so I gave up on that.
My next idea was to try and build a venue from scratch. I didn't really have a good idea of what I wanted to do, so I chose a medium flat outdoor map. It's just a plain and flat expanse of green ground. I started by pulling out any asset I thought looked like it might work well for my plan and just dropping it on the map. A lot of it I didn't end up using in the end, but for me it was easier to have all my pieces in the box. I grouped up things by type: walls and fences, flooring, parts of buildings, plants, lighting, etc.
Spent some time in the map just cobbling things together. I took some human building elements and created a gazebo with the altar inside. I'm new to Neverwinter lore, but would a Priest or Priestess of Chauntea be the appropriate person to conduct a marriage, or would it be the devotee of a different god?
In any case, after awhile I had something pretty cool! I learned how to line up elements perfectly. For example, I have a row of benches on each side of the aisle. I lined up the first bench while in play-mode, then switched to the map-mode. Duplicating an item gives the produced item the same Y axis as the copied item, whereas copy/paste just plunks down the copied item somewhere nearby with arbitrary XYZ settings.
I determined I wanted all my benches to be a set amount of feet spaced away from each other. I duplicated the first bench that I'd perfectly arranged in play-mode, then added 15 to it's Z axis. Repeat several times to achieve a row of perfectly aligned benches
After I had a pretty good construction set up, I decided that I really disliked the map I'd chosen. I couldn't figure out how to change the map around the contents I'd set up in it, so I tried to figure out how to move all the contents to a new map. I really didn't want to rebuild everything I'd just set up!
I discovered that as long as you don't select things like spawn points, you can copy and paste entire selections from one map to another map. Sadly, I still had to go in and adjust the Y axis of every item, because the new map I'd chosen had different terrain.
My setting includes a lot of lighting and fireflies, because I wanted it to be an evening/night event. I figured out how to change the sky, but even doing that, my world was just too bright. The sky looked like it was night but on the ground it still looked like day. Looking around in my assets, I discovered Skyfade. I plopped a medium black skyfade onto my map and it gave my setting the perfect night-time look. But now I had a new problem--not many of my lighting elements really cast that much light, and everything was a little too dark. I looked around some more and found some Dynamic Lighting elements. The ones with a glow look like just that--a glowing ball that is casting light in a modest radius. However, you can add dynamic lighting sans glow, and it is just an area that looks lit compared to the surrounding area.
I added dynamic lighting to logical places, such as between lanterns and inside the building structures. Because the venue was placed up on a high jut of land, I added fencing and invisible walls behind those fences so that no one could jump over them and fall down to the land below, or they wouldn't be able to get back up to the venue again.
In the end, I ended up with this:
More:
http://i.imgur.com/ze5cghN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MNZpPMf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uUHSJ4I.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/92PVTdD.jpg
Things I Learned
The next thing I'll be working on is adding NPCs to this map. However, I'm thinking of saving this map as a 'template' and keeping it free of NPCs and dialogue. I could use it as the base map to duplicate, in case the players ever need to return to the venue in the campaign.
Thanks for reading!
INDEX:
Setting up a Map, and Changing Your Mind
Positioning Things in Complex, Multi-Level Maps
Friendly NPCs Who Participate in Combat.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Entry 1: Setting up a Map, and Changing Your Mind.
I've put my previous "starter" project on the back-burner to move onto something a little more ambitious, now that I've learned some basics and some tricks. I don't want to share too much about the campaign and story, but it will involve several maps, several characters, a dashing pirate captain, and adventure.
I wanted to start with the beginning scene, which will be set at a swanky and lavish wedding, attended by the wealthy and elite. At first I took the Royal Crypt indoor map (it is spacious, two levels, and features a huge staircase) and thought I'd spruce it up by overlaying the walls and floors with different tiles, as well as adding lighting and such. This was way too time consuming and there were elements built into the map that I couldn't delete or change, so I gave up on that.
My next idea was to try and build a venue from scratch. I didn't really have a good idea of what I wanted to do, so I chose a medium flat outdoor map. It's just a plain and flat expanse of green ground. I started by pulling out any asset I thought looked like it might work well for my plan and just dropping it on the map. A lot of it I didn't end up using in the end, but for me it was easier to have all my pieces in the box. I grouped up things by type: walls and fences, flooring, parts of buildings, plants, lighting, etc.
Spent some time in the map just cobbling things together. I took some human building elements and created a gazebo with the altar inside. I'm new to Neverwinter lore, but would a Priest or Priestess of Chauntea be the appropriate person to conduct a marriage, or would it be the devotee of a different god?
In any case, after awhile I had something pretty cool! I learned how to line up elements perfectly. For example, I have a row of benches on each side of the aisle. I lined up the first bench while in play-mode, then switched to the map-mode. Duplicating an item gives the produced item the same Y axis as the copied item, whereas copy/paste just plunks down the copied item somewhere nearby with arbitrary XYZ settings.
I determined I wanted all my benches to be a set amount of feet spaced away from each other. I duplicated the first bench that I'd perfectly arranged in play-mode, then added 15 to it's Z axis. Repeat several times to achieve a row of perfectly aligned benches
After I had a pretty good construction set up, I decided that I really disliked the map I'd chosen. I couldn't figure out how to change the map around the contents I'd set up in it, so I tried to figure out how to move all the contents to a new map. I really didn't want to rebuild everything I'd just set up!
I discovered that as long as you don't select things like spawn points, you can copy and paste entire selections from one map to another map. Sadly, I still had to go in and adjust the Y axis of every item, because the new map I'd chosen had different terrain.
My setting includes a lot of lighting and fireflies, because I wanted it to be an evening/night event. I figured out how to change the sky, but even doing that, my world was just too bright. The sky looked like it was night but on the ground it still looked like day. Looking around in my assets, I discovered Skyfade. I plopped a medium black skyfade onto my map and it gave my setting the perfect night-time look. But now I had a new problem--not many of my lighting elements really cast that much light, and everything was a little too dark. I looked around some more and found some Dynamic Lighting elements. The ones with a glow look like just that--a glowing ball that is casting light in a modest radius. However, you can add dynamic lighting sans glow, and it is just an area that looks lit compared to the surrounding area.
I added dynamic lighting to logical places, such as between lanterns and inside the building structures. Because the venue was placed up on a high jut of land, I added fencing and invisible walls behind those fences so that no one could jump over them and fall down to the land below, or they wouldn't be able to get back up to the venue again.
In the end, I ended up with this:
More:
http://i.imgur.com/ze5cghN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MNZpPMf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uUHSJ4I.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/92PVTdD.jpg
Things I Learned
- For positioning, X measures how far east and west your element is placed. Y measures how far up and down (height). Z measures how far north and south.
- You can copy selections of elements from one map to a different map, so long as you don't have things like spawn points selected.
- You can change how the sky looks by clicking Edit Backdrop in your map tab. You can also change the music and ambiance via that button.
- You can change the lighting by using combinations of Skyfade and Dynamic Lighting.
- You can take separate building elements and jam them together into pretty cool structures.
- If you have a building element that is 'floating' due to terrain, you can use rock or slab elements to provide a solid 'foundation' for your building structure.
- If you're using fencing, don't use both A and B types. Stick to one letter so that the fencing looks uniform.
- Use invisible walls to keep your players from getting stuck in places, or exploring outside of the bounds of what you want them to see.
- Use Duplicate instead of copy/paste when you want to clone something that is perfectly positioned.
- When building a map from scratch, it's easier (for me) to drop all of your assets onto the map and group them by type, then use play-mode to move and fine tune things.
The next thing I'll be working on is adding NPCs to this map. However, I'm thinking of saving this map as a 'template' and keeping it free of NPCs and dialogue. I could use it as the base map to duplicate, in case the players ever need to return to the venue in the campaign.
Thanks for reading!
Post edited by vertigale on
0
Comments
The Cursed Emerald:
Entry 2: Positioning Things in Complex, Multi-Level Maps
I populated my Swanky Noble Wedding with the needed NPCs. A bit time consuming but not difficult, but I wish we could change the colors on the costumes of "pre-made" NPCs. For example, the "Merchant Human." Why can't I change the color of his hat, for instance? I would also LOVE to see the fashion items available for the NPCs, like the Jester or Courtesan stuff.
Anyway. I have saved this Swanky Noble Wedding + NPCs as a template. When I'm ready to add dialogue and stuff, I will duplicate this map and change/edit the DUPLICATE and not the template. That way I can fall back on something sound if I mess up too badly, lol.
So! I have moved on to map #2. I have a sort of 'story board' in my mind about how things move and where the players will go. I decided the first thing to do is just build all the maps.
This time I decided to go with a pre-made interior map. I chose the Large Sea Caves interior map. However, I wanted to change the spawn point so that the default 'entrance' is my 'exit.'
This proved INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING as this cave system is tiered. Like a derp, the first time I tried to move the spawn point, I just click and dragged it to where I wanted to appear on the map. THIS IS A BAD IDEA. When I spawned, I was on top of the map. So I messed with the Y-axis and moved the point a little. This time I ended up in a stalactite. I trial-and-errored for awhile, dying a few times in the process before I got a BRILLIANT IDEA.
I reset the map so that the spawn point was in the default area, then dropped a display item (I chose a dwarven banner) right on top of it. Then I went in game, entered 3-D mode, copied that banner, and ran aaaaaaall the way to the other end of the map and pasted it on the spot I wanted my custom spawn point to be.
Now, I went back to the foundry to look at my birds-eye map. Using the coordinates and settings on the banner I'd pasted, I was able to judge how to set the coordinates for my spawn point. I noticed something interesting, though. Above the coordinates are the options 'zero point' and 'room platform' in a dropdown menu. I didn't mess with this too much, but I suspect that the room platform setting would be good for flat, multi-leveled areas.
In any case, to prevent this from happening ever again, I ran all around my cave map, dropping dwarf banners in any area I thought I may want to set an encounter or an object. I am so smart!
Banners!
Things I Learned:
My story involves some of the wedding party following your character into the next scene, and lending a hand with the adventuring. Thanks to some of the wonderful information I've been browsing through in this subforum, I already knew that I could set up friendly NPCs who will fight with me by using a party of guards from the Encounters library.
Positioning them was hard, even with my banners set up as place markers. When I'd test out my map, 2 out of the 5 guards in my party wouldn't appear. Eventually after some tweaking, I figured it out. In the properties of the encounter, I was able to specify aspects of this group of guards. I indicated that they should follow me! They're totally good at that and stay right up all around me like a mini-mosh-pit, but that's alright.
There is just one problem:
They get stuck on terrain. You can see my entire party just chilling out on the ramp, unable to make it to the second level. And my poor halfling didn't even make it to the ramp.
What I did to circumvent this is to set up a place marker on the ramp and copy/paste my guard party at the top of the ramp. I set up some conditions. Now, guard party #1 will disappear as soon as my character reaches that place marker, and reappear (guard party #2, a copy) at the top of the ramp.
I think I'll probably do this one or two more times through the map, in case the player loses guard members along the way. A "reset" of sorts.
My best buddies.
Things I Learned:
Keep up the posts, and thanks for the useful information. I look forward to seeing this story you are creating.