[Community Contest] Foundry Design - "The Portal"

eldarth

Let's go for a really quick foundry slugfest!

The Portal

Portals take us on any number of untold, unknown adventures.

This contest you will create a portal that transports the player to an alternate plane, dimension, or reality.
Overall goal is the discovery, activation, and destination environment for an unknown portal.
Bring out your best ambience, environment, visuals and imaginations!


Contest Rules

1. Foundry Quest Name
   • Name must begin with "Contest:Portal -" to allow easy searching by players
2. Entry Portal
   • "Lore" describing the portal/dimension can be provided thru an advanced dialog of either an interacted object or talking to an NPC
   • Can be located anywhere - an old ruin, a forest, a dungeon,
   • Portal must start in a "dormant" or inactive state
   • Player start location must be within a few hundred feet of and facing the portal
   • Player must trigger activating or powering-up the portal, either by moving into it's proximity, or interacting with an object or some sort of portal guardian npc
   • Portal active state must be visually distinguishable from inactive state
   • Player must interact (map-transition) thru portal
3. Alternate Plane, Dimension or Reality
   • Some form of portal-exit must be behind player (could be as simple as a glowing point, or a complete counterpart to the entry portal)
   • No combat, but wandering non-contact NPC's are okay
   • Single "area" - limited to smaller than a few hundred feet or so in size
     • Must have visual boundaries - fog/darkness/trees/rocks/cave/walls/whatever
     • If portraying something like outer space or vast astral/etherel plane, visual boundaries aren't really necessary - but PC movement should be limited to the small area.
   • Must have a completion/treasure chest to allow players to review/vote
4. Contest Timeframe
   • Entries must be published by April 3rd at 11:59pm PST.
   • Judging will be calculated on June 1st at 11:59pm PST by "actual calculated average" stars of all reviews.
5. Contest Prize
   1. Grand prize.... 1 MILLION AD
   2. Runner Up... 250,000 AD

Good Luck.

-Eldarth

angrysprite

So, to be clear, I understand these aspects:

No combat at all.
Small areas - both the landing point and "through the portal area" are small vicinities.
This is just a short exploration quest: all about eye-candy/Foundry tricks to "wow" the player.
Time-to-play does not matter (in essence, a player can go in and then exit in three minutes - doesn't matter)
The idea is to simply make a "quick-view" show-off experience that is memorable, no story required.
"Lore" is optional (you say Lore "can" be placed...)

With these basic requirements:
Player lands and must be facing the (inactive) portal without moving or turning.
Player must do something to activate the portal - with obvious visual cues indicating inactive/active state.
Player must transition to a second map (the other side of the portal) - with a "return" portal immediately accessible.
No contact with objects or NPCs inside the portal area are allowed - it is a stand and look around only kind of thing (except for super-chest).


Is this all correct?
(I know: I may be reading into this, but I like to be absolutely sure of the requirements and restrictions.)

eldarth

angrysprite wrote: »

So, to be clear, I understand these aspects:

No combat at all.
Small areas - both the landing point and "through the portal area" are small vicinities.
This is just a short exploration quest: all about eye-candy/Foundry tricks to "wow" the player.
Time-to-play does not matter (in essence, a player can go in and then exit in three minutes - doesn't matter)
The idea is to simply make a "quick-view" show-off experience that is memorable, no story required.
"Lore" is optional (you say Lore "can" be placed...)

With these basic requirements:
Player lands and must be facing the (inactive) portal without moving or turning.
Player must do something to activate the portal - with obvious visual cues indicating inactive/active state.
Player must transition to a second map (the other side of the portal) - with a "return" portal [non-functional] immediately accessible.
No contact with objects or NPCs inside the portal area are allowed - it is a stand and look around only kind of thing (except for super-chest [and lore object/npc and portal activator and portal transition]).


Is this all correct?
(I know: I may be reading into this, but I like to be absolutely sure of the requirements and restrictions.)

Yep, 99.9% nailed it. See teeny-tiny clarifications in [red] above.

...and I just added to OP:

• If portraying something like outer space or vast astral/etherel plane, visual boundaries aren't really necessary - but PC movement should be limited to the small area.

...kinda hard to convey emptiness/space/astral/ethereal in a small visual area.

angrysprite

eldarth wrote: »

Yep, 99.9% nailed it. See teeny-tiny clarifications in [red] above.

...and I just added to OP:

• If portraying something like outer space or vast astral/etherel plane, visual boundaries aren't really necessary - but PC movement should be limited to the small area.

...kinda hard to convey emptiness/space/astral/ethereal in a small visual area.

This is an awesome idea. Count me in for tossing-in another 200,000 AD for third runner-up (though I'll likely play along, too) - please PM me with best way to send that AD to you so you can add it to the pot.

torontodave

Argh. How am I gonna get any work done on my campaign? ;D

I've already got a few ideas brewing. Expect a bunch of questions from me in the mechanics thread. OoooooOOOoooo Fancy! ;D

gornonthecob

Oh this could be fun!
Ideas are forming!!!

orangefiree

Is it ok if the portal, instead of being a map transition portal, is an actual teleporter portal? I have an idea, but both would be on indoor maps so having two maps seems pointless.

eldarth

orangefiree wrote: »

Is it ok if the portal, instead of being a map transition portal, is an actual teleporter portal? I have an idea, but both would be on indoor maps so having two maps seems pointless.

Sure teleporter is okay too. problem is teleporters are always "active" unless you can disquise it somehow - you really want that initial, inactive, ancient discovery vibe before activating it. A teleporter without "noise" would probably be hidable somehow.

orangefiree

Oh, yeah, that's true. Probably would be hard to disable using the idea I was thinking of. I'll play around with it though. It's possible I'll end up doing something completely different anyways.

torontodave

Worked all day on it. Not gonna spoil the surprise by adding a screenshot just yet.

NW-DIVGRN7SJ - "Contest:Portal - Stahgate"

Now, time to get back to my own campaign!


edit: I went for a HUGE portal and used phylacterys of course. ;D

torontodave

This is a great little starter challenge for those who have never used the Foundry before. All you have to do is create a portal with two states, on and off!

If you've never tried the Foundry before, now's your chance to use the coolest thing in Neverwinter!

Here are Akro's foundry livestreams to get you started. Stream 1 (Beginner), Stream 2 (Intermediate)

Go create something!! Win a million AD!

eldarth

Reminder -- final week for submissions!


Contest Timeframe

• Entries must be published by April 3rd at 11:59pm PST.
• Judging will be calculated on April 12th at 11:59am PST by "actual calculated average" stars of all reviews.

Contest Prize

1. Grand prize.... 1 MILLION AD
2. Runner Up... 250,000 AD

torontodave

eldarth wrote: »

Reminder -- final week for submissions!

I was away for a week and expected more submissions by now! Mine only took a day to make. There's a WEEK left!

Come on people! This is an easy million AD! Create some cool portals!

waryur

Finished, but need clarification.

"Non functional return portal" ... so... they go to the other side of the portal. and stay there? End chest has to be on the other side of the portal? i.e. stuck on the other side of the portal, quest ends?
Or can they then return to the entry point, end chest there? A third map.

eldarth

waryur wrote: »

Finished, but need clarification.

"Non functional return portal" ... so... they go to the other side of the portal. and stay there? End chest has to be on the other side of the portal? i.e. stuck on the other side of the portal, quest ends?
Or can they then return to the entry point, end chest there? A third map.

Yep -- one way portal (i.e. only 1 map transition). End chest on other side of portal.
If using a teleporter to use only one map - you can do something like seal the exit-teleporter behind an invisible wall or raise it up so use can't activate it, etc. To make it act more like a one-way map transition and a one way journey.

waryur

Cool beans thanks for clearing that up! Now to go delete that third map lol. ��

torontodave

so far I've played 2 of the other entries.. really fun stuff guys! =D

eldarth - love the creativity of this event. Maybe we can get this thread moved to the general forum for some more attention? I've been pointing people towards the thread both ingame and in foundry chat. =D

orangefiree

Almost got mine ready. Is it ok if I use the inactive portal in the pocket plane as the exit door for leaving after the quest is complete?

orangefiree

Ready. Not sure if I'm allowed to use the portal as the exit door, so there currently is no exit door. ((You just press f anywhere after taking the chest when you want to leave.)) Once I find out the rules on that I'll make an edit.

Contest: Portal of the Planes
Shortcode: NW-DHIS9ZTH3
Author: @orangefiree

gornonthecob

*Looks at clock*


*Minor freak out*


*Goes back to perfecting Foundry quest*

zachariah92

I almost finish the two maps, I hope to deliver in time

torontodave

eldarth wrote: »

[*]Judging will be calculated on April 12th at 11:59am PST by "actual calculated average" stars of all reviews.

Is this the best way to do it? .. Shouldn't it be by someone whose played -all- of the contest entries? I have reviewers of mine who haven't reviewed the other ones for example..

This may be a case where a dictator or oligarchy would be the best form of governance.
One (or two? or three?) judge to play them all and pick the best two. I nominate you Eldarth, seeing as you're not(?) entering your own(Bankrolled by that generous donor?) contest. =D

I have no problem with the star method tho, as long as other authors dont vote mine down.. Also I played an incomplete one already that I'll be unable to update my review for. Doesn't seem fair to that author. (sorry!) or will entrants in the contest be disallowed from voting on other entries? (etc, etc. just potential snafus I can see arising with this method. ;D)

waryur

Confused... is there a larger list of entrants somewhere? In this thread I've only seen torontodaves and orangefiree's. ... maybe after the entry deadline has passed, a single post listing all the entrants?

eldarth

orangefiree wrote: »

Almost got mine ready. Is it ok if I use the inactive portal in the pocket plane as the exit door for leaving after the quest is complete?

Sure -- just don't want people to be able to pop back-and-forth - should be more of a one-way ticket to he... er, adventure.

argrosch

Just search for Foundrys with the title "Contest: Portal".

eldarth

torontodave wrote: »

Is this the best way to do it? .. Shouldn't it be by someone whose played -all- of the contest entries? I have reviewers of mine who haven't reviewed the other ones for example..

This may be a case where a dictator or oligarchy would be the best form of governance.
One (or two? or three?) judge to play them all and pick the best two. I nominate you Eldarth, seeing as you're not(?) entering your own(Bankrolled by that generous donor?) contest. =D

I have no problem with the star method tho, as long as other authors dont vote mine down.. Also I played an incomplete one already that I'll be unable to update my review for. Doesn't seem fair to that author. (sorry!) or will entrants in the contest be disallowed from voting on other entries? (etc, etc. just potential snafus I can see arising with this method. ;D)

Meh. I figured this was the quickest, easiest thing I could do with limited involvement/management on my part freeing me up to further investigate/alpha/beta test other games that will increasingly likely replace NWO for my creativity fix.

eldarth

waryur wrote: »

Confused... is there a larger list of entrants somewhere? In this thread I've only seen torontodaves and orangefiree's. ... maybe after the entry deadline has passed, a single post listing all the entrants?

argrosch wrote: »

Just search for Foundrys with the title "Contest: Portal".

Yep. Figured name requirement would pretty much handle it. Then on the 12th I can average all the points for anything published before the deadline.

waryur

okie dokie.

quest name: Contest: Portal - Space
shortcode: NW-DQJBKTLNF
author: @waryur

Send you a pm, Torontodave, for your question.

gornonthecob

eldarth wrote: »

Sure -- just don't want people to be able to pop back-and-forth - should be more of a one-way ticket to he... er, adventure.

Uh... wait. So the portal is one way, and you're not supposed to be able to come back home?

kaomwannabe

Worked on this since the contest was started so quite a bit of time spent on it. And my first finished foundry quest to boot.

NW-DBHGNXJT4 "Contest: Portal - Ruins"

Hope you enjoy, I went big and didnt hold anything back

eldarth

gornonthecob wrote: »

Uh... wait. So the portal is one way, and you're not supposed to be able to come back home?

Yep - one way trip.