From what I understand, the encounters are premade by the developers. Thats all well and good , to avoid someone creating easy modules for power levelling. HOWEVER ... I would like to name the NPC's or special enemies in the encounters for flavor and story.
Also I do hope we will have at least the basic kind of monsters and animals to play with. The well know badger, wolf, dire badger, dire wolf, rat , dire rat. The classics for low levelling and stuff. The biggest power Aurora had was the huge library of monsters and possibility to create your own (although difficult). It's understandable you can't do this in the new Neverwinter considering it's a PW but if it isn't ... At least give us a huge choice of creatures ...
You can classify encounter difficulty - easy normal hard or elite
You can set them up as an ambush - to appear suddenly
You can make "First form" "Second form" of monster appear like sephiroth in FF (Not really, but you can do it by using a trick as explained in STO foundry tutorials)
So all encounters are premade and I can't make my own? I don't see why they would do it like that especially if my mod has to pass their playtest of five players checking it out or whatever and thenthey should be able to see if the encounter I design is so I can power level or if it is just a cool encounter...
Having taken a sabbatical from the forums for several months, while waiting for more to be released about the game and especially the Foundry... I make my appearance again....
After seeing the video about the Foundry, I am jonesing more than ever to get my hands on it and create some killer adventures.
It is 2013, so the release should be any time now...
0
ranncoreMember, Moderators, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 2,508
As far as humanoid monsters, zombies etc go - they are completely customizable. You can also make a zombieman with a gnoll nose and a wolf-face and a very thin neck (according to andy in first foundry video).
As for critters, rats etc., I see no reason why they won't be at launch. Even if they are not, you can always take a humanoid wererat and make its height smaller - like 1' and that will do as makeshift rat.
However these are costumes and as videos show, they will not have their own power but will use the power of the mob you dressed with costume.
0
iamtruthseekerMember, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited January 2013
Before I continue, I have to publicly do this again *Moderator Hat On*
If anybody has agreed to an NDA, they are forbidden to post publicly about any details it is linked to, without the permission of PWE, no exceptions. Even a person claiming to break an NDA (true or not) therefore will have their post removed.
No public discussion about disciplinary action administered to members.
If you have any questions regarding rules, disciplinary actions, user bans, or even a thread move, please use the Customer Support Ticketing System or PM function of the board to contact us.
You are not allowed to publicly comment on actions that involve moderation no matter how minor or severe the disciplinary action is as noted in the Neverwinter Rules of Conduct. If you have any questions, PM us or create a ticket, and we will privately discuss the decision with you.
You are not to discuss the decisions with anybody else and if others do find out in any way, they also are never allowed to publicly discuss any other person's moderation (including if/why somebody was suspended or banned from the forums/game.) Period.
*Moderator Hat Off*
Back to the discussion:
There's a LOT of misinformation starting with the first post so I'll try to clear up the confusion. Please ask about something in the future instead of assuming it so it doesn't get to this state.
When we make a Foundry mission, we make one mission per foundry slot. The objective is up to the author; it is not pre-selected from any list or crafted missions by developers. This can be to kill a boss to a branching dialog path, puzzles, and a whole lot of stuff combining this or in between. But (as listed from development posts,) XP in Foundry missions are only (at this time of development) gained from killing placed enemies to combat. If enemies are attacked and killed (which most to all missions will have you do in some form as required and not optional, but you can place optional creatures that are not required to engage,) what coin and items they drop are determined by the Foundry coding for enemies and difficulty and not by the author to prevent cheating This (and no scripting) is what is not alterable, not "pre-selected" missions.
No matter what, a Rewards Chest is given at the successful completion of a mission. The "level" of item is based on some proprietary amount of creatures killed and the level of each creature plus the possible active time (not waiting still for hours for example) spent in the mission.
Scaling up your mission with a group also scales the creatures difficulty and their overall XP. However the actual difficulty of placed creatures is listed by three types: Easy, medium and hard. A group of easy creatures (minions) will be easier to defeat than a group or even a solo hard creature.
The foundry has COMPONENTS that are pre-made from the self-contained (like an NPC a piece of furniture or even an entire multi-room building,) to a wall or modular unit that can be combined with other units. This has repeatedly been shown on STO's Foundry and the videos show the exact same setup for Neverwinter's creation.
Finally, some thing about costumes.
Creatures will always attack the way their base creature type was coded for the game, and appearance for things like clothing can be done with sliders and drop down menus that are simple for the novice user.
But you can change the appearance of creatures by either changing their template appearances with other creatures, swap out items skins and their color for other skins in regards to "slots" of their body very similar to a "paper doll" that might make them not look like they really are (imagined a creature completely armored and helmeted and not visible then it being "revealed" in game as the creature you thought was a basic common human or demi-human,) or even customize parts of the creature in an "advanced mode" in regards to the head; torso; neck; legs; feet; etc. by way of even more advanced sliders and drop-down menus.
This means that if the animal you are looking for is not there, you can use a template to make a creature look like that animal or custom design its appearance to do so.
While the devs can't give me details to post here (that will be up to them,) I can say there are a LOT more than simply "spiders" and "rats" for low-level foundry adventures. If any of you've watched any of the Neverwinter Foundry videos, you'd know this to be true. Even if I were privy to any pre-release Foundry knowledge, I would we under NDA agreement to keep it confidential and not allowed to speak of its details, sorry in advance, proactively speaking.
If users here have more questions about the Foundry for Neverwinter, they may click on my FAQ in my banner and read about the Foundry there (at the time of the post the bottom part of the second entry, but it may move as we get more information.) Also, try going back a few pages or search for the Foundry. You'd be surprised what's already been discussed.
My question about creature encounters, is will you be able to give some of them certain attack preferences/styles or bonuses.
For instance, can you make a Hard Final Encounter between a Boss and his three trusted henchmen, so that, having heard the sounds of combat with their peon minions, and the rogue listening at the door for your arrival:
The Cleric casts certain spells/powers ahead of time (Buffs for instance) on himself, the Wizard boss, the Warrior henchman and the Rogue Henchman?
The Warrior has already engaged his temporary powers prior to the party getting there, and has his Crossbow aimed to fire off before he charges with sword and shield.
The Necromancer Wizard Boss has already summoned his Undead Assistant, and has cast what buffs he has on who needs them.
and
The Rogue has not only gotten into position for a sneak attack, but has placed a poison that will temporarily paralyze a victim on a successful hit and failed save, on his weapon in preparation.
You know, like the party usually does just prior to entering a room with baddies they know are there.
You are thinking in terms of turn based combat. It is an active combat game and , even if it is possible, to actually pull that off your team would require tremendous synchronization.
You can set the patrols and your rogue can stand near the door in sneak mode probably - but all that may not be required and may not pay off at all in terms of damage.
Basically, foundry is the DM side of screen but only in design, not on how player will react in combat. Hence what foundry can do is set up a patrol as soon as you reach the room (making the boss walk to you) or boss can appear in ambush out of thin air when you do something - any trigger.
What you do with your team, or if you play solo - is all up to you and not DM.
0
iamtruthseekerMember, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
You are thinking in terms of turn based combat. It is an active combat game and , even if it is possible, to actually pull that off your team would require tremendous synchronization.
You can set the patrols and your rogue can stand near the door in sneak mode probably - but all that may not be required and may not pay off at all in terms of damage.
Basically, foundry is the DM side of screen but only in design, not on how player will react in combat. Hence what foundry can do is set up a patrol as soon as you reach the room (making the boss walk to you) or boss can appear in ambush out of thin air when you do something - any trigger.
What you do with your team, or if you play solo - is all up to you and not DM.
Either you both misunderstand and think I am talking about the party, or you accept that the Monsters are always surprised and never able to make preparations for the final battle that the party does.
Let me put it into perspective...
A force of bandits tries to raid a local keep... They get into the courtyard, killing several guards, in the process, but the alarm is sounded shortly after the first contact.
The remaining guards gather arms and armor and rush to the fray, while the lord and his personal guards take a few extra minutes to put on all their armor, grab their weapons, and get into defensive positions to await the arrival of the bandits who get through the guards.
In your argument, the Lord and his personal guards would be rudely awakened as the bandits enter the room, and at best able to grab their sword and shield, but be in their all others....
Now, do you get what I am trying to account for? (And yes, I would have triggers designed into the game, making it completely possible for a super stealthy and lucky group to catch the boss and his retinue completely unaware, and ill equipped.) (Combinations of stealth and silence spells in old D&D) for each group encountered on the way to the bosses.
Well seeing as I joined the day I posted that, you may be able to see why I seemed so clueless...I hope to do much better in the future though!
Don't take it to heart. Its just that these things have been discussed a lot in many threads over and over while waiting for the game over a span of two years. However, do check @bitterwinter and @iamtruthseeker's signatures and the links below them. They have info about foundry and FAQs respectively. They will be helpful to get you started on what we already know.
0
iamtruthseekerMember, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited January 2013
The Foundry will use the same real-time game engine so reactions will have to be based on simultaneous actions, not if-then possibilities from player characters by engines that look live action but are unpausable sped up and turn based. This is what Gil and I were trying to mention, even beyond NWN. Speaking of...a lot of mod making stuff for NWN is based off of turn-based building and it simply won't work in true real time live action MMO games.
Whether monsters who are alerted to the PC's presence can react beyond only attacks and call for reinforcements is not made clear by the Devs. However it's clear based on rogue videos that there IS stealth and you CAN sneak by enemies.
highjusticarMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0
edited January 2013
One thing I would like to know about the Foundry is how big you can make a single mission/module and how multi-layered can you make it.
For example, let say I want the adventure to start out on the way to a mansion where brigands have taken it over from a wealthy merchant. You have several encounters on the way to it. You get to the mansion and enter it and explore its multiple floors and basement. In the basement you find a secret passage that leads you to a tunnel system with caverns and such. after exploring it, you find an ancient temple that you enter and explore its floors.
Can I do that as one adventure or would I have to make it into several parts? If I have to make it into several parts, can I link them together where once the players find the entrance to the next part they can choose either to exit or go to the next part linking all parts into a massive adventure?
These were the budget limits on STO foundry last year (march). They are supposed to be increased for NW due to polygons being quicker (if you follow the news, they got one polygon company in).
They are lot, but expect more objects, buildings in NW if I have to guess, probably 1500 objects+buildings or so (5 times increase is modest with their new engine and polygon thingy).
Comments
No you are wrong. Did you read my post just below? Or see a foundry video yourself. Or check out STO foundry tutorial on how to design encounter.
Check these:
From truth's thread ^ also
MMOHut Walks Through the Foundry September 7, 2012
Well I was only responding to the OP...I used to know a guy named truth in UO btw...truth and shannara were our king and queen in Ultima Online...
Now now ... lets not be mean - we will convert them in a few months.
*surf13 slurps in the background, voices are heard, "more food?"*
After seeing the video about the Foundry, I am jonesing more than ever to get my hands on it and create some killer adventures.
It is 2013, so the release should be any time now...
Psh fighting giant rats? plz this isn't elder scrolls :P
Anyhow bottom line I do hope we get at least a decent selection of models that at least equals the aurora toolset.
As for critters, rats etc., I see no reason why they won't be at launch. Even if they are not, you can always take a humanoid wererat and make its height smaller - like 1' and that will do as makeshift rat.
However these are costumes and as videos show, they will not have their own power but will use the power of the mob you dressed with costume.
If anybody has agreed to an NDA, they are forbidden to post publicly about any details it is linked to, without the permission of PWE, no exceptions. Even a person claiming to break an NDA (true or not) therefore will have their post removed.
You are not allowed to publicly comment on actions that involve moderation no matter how minor or severe the disciplinary action is as noted in the Neverwinter Rules of Conduct. If you have any questions, PM us or create a ticket, and we will privately discuss the decision with you.
You are not to discuss the decisions with anybody else and if others do find out in any way, they also are never allowed to publicly discuss any other person's moderation (including if/why somebody was suspended or banned from the forums/game.) Period.
*Moderator Hat Off*
Back to the discussion:
There's a LOT of misinformation starting with the first post so I'll try to clear up the confusion. Please ask about something in the future instead of assuming it so it doesn't get to this state.
When we make a Foundry mission, we make one mission per foundry slot. The objective is up to the author; it is not pre-selected from any list or crafted missions by developers. This can be to kill a boss to a branching dialog path, puzzles, and a whole lot of stuff combining this or in between. But (as listed from development posts,) XP in Foundry missions are only (at this time of development) gained from killing placed enemies to combat. If enemies are attacked and killed (which most to all missions will have you do in some form as required and not optional, but you can place optional creatures that are not required to engage,) what coin and items they drop are determined by the Foundry coding for enemies and difficulty and not by the author to prevent cheating This (and no scripting) is what is not alterable, not "pre-selected" missions.
No matter what, a Rewards Chest is given at the successful completion of a mission. The "level" of item is based on some proprietary amount of creatures killed and the level of each creature plus the possible active time (not waiting still for hours for example) spent in the mission.
Scaling up your mission with a group also scales the creatures difficulty and their overall XP. However the actual difficulty of placed creatures is listed by three types: Easy, medium and hard. A group of easy creatures (minions) will be easier to defeat than a group or even a solo hard creature.
The foundry has COMPONENTS that are pre-made from the self-contained (like an NPC a piece of furniture or even an entire multi-room building,) to a wall or modular unit that can be combined with other units. This has repeatedly been shown on STO's Foundry and the videos show the exact same setup for Neverwinter's creation.
Finally, some thing about costumes.
Creatures will always attack the way their base creature type was coded for the game, and appearance for things like clothing can be done with sliders and drop down menus that are simple for the novice user.
But you can change the appearance of creatures by either changing their template appearances with other creatures, swap out items skins and their color for other skins in regards to "slots" of their body very similar to a "paper doll" that might make them not look like they really are (imagined a creature completely armored and helmeted and not visible then it being "revealed" in game as the creature you thought was a basic common human or demi-human,) or even customize parts of the creature in an "advanced mode" in regards to the head; torso; neck; legs; feet; etc. by way of even more advanced sliders and drop-down menus.
This means that if the animal you are looking for is not there, you can use a template to make a creature look like that animal or custom design its appearance to do so.
While the devs can't give me details to post here (that will be up to them,) I can say there are a LOT more than simply "spiders" and "rats" for low-level foundry adventures. If any of you've watched any of the Neverwinter Foundry videos, you'd know this to be true. Even if I were privy to any pre-release Foundry knowledge, I would we under NDA agreement to keep it confidential and not allowed to speak of its details, sorry in advance, proactively speaking.
If users here have more questions about the Foundry for Neverwinter, they may click on my FAQ in my banner and read about the Foundry there (at the time of the post the bottom part of the second entry, but it may move as we get more information.) Also, try going back a few pages or search for the Foundry. You'd be surprised what's already been discussed.
Ah! The lovely bosom ... wait! WHATTTT????
*heard muttering smart-<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>
For instance, can you make a Hard Final Encounter between a Boss and his three trusted henchmen, so that, having heard the sounds of combat with their peon minions, and the rogue listening at the door for your arrival:
The Cleric casts certain spells/powers ahead of time (Buffs for instance) on himself, the Wizard boss, the Warrior henchman and the Rogue Henchman?
The Warrior has already engaged his temporary powers prior to the party getting there, and has his Crossbow aimed to fire off before he charges with sword and shield.
The Necromancer Wizard Boss has already summoned his Undead Assistant, and has cast what buffs he has on who needs them.
and
The Rogue has not only gotten into position for a sneak attack, but has placed a poison that will temporarily paralyze a victim on a successful hit and failed save, on his weapon in preparation.
You know, like the party usually does just prior to entering a room with baddies they know are there.
You can set the patrols and your rogue can stand near the door in sneak mode probably - but all that may not be required and may not pay off at all in terms of damage.
Basically, foundry is the DM side of screen but only in design, not on how player will react in combat. Hence what foundry can do is set up a patrol as soon as you reach the room (making the boss walk to you) or boss can appear in ambush out of thin air when you do something - any trigger.
What you do with your team, or if you play solo - is all up to you and not DM.
What he said.
Let me put it into perspective...
A force of bandits tries to raid a local keep... They get into the courtyard, killing several guards, in the process, but the alarm is sounded shortly after the first contact.
The remaining guards gather arms and armor and rush to the fray, while the lord and his personal guards take a few extra minutes to put on all their armor, grab their weapons, and get into defensive positions to await the arrival of the bandits who get through the guards.
In your argument, the Lord and his personal guards would be rudely awakened as the bandits enter the room, and at best able to grab their sword and shield, but be in their all others....
Now, do you get what I am trying to account for? (And yes, I would have triggers designed into the game, making it completely possible for a super stealthy and lucky group to catch the boss and his retinue completely unaware, and ill equipped.) (Combinations of stealth and silence spells in old D&D) for each group encountered on the way to the bosses.
Well seeing as I joined the day I posted that, you may be able to see why I seemed so clueless...I hope to do much better in the future though!
Don't take it to heart. Its just that these things have been discussed a lot in many threads over and over while waiting for the game over a span of two years. However, do check @bitterwinter and @iamtruthseeker's signatures and the links below them. They have info about foundry and FAQs respectively. They will be helpful to get you started on what we already know.
Whether monsters who are alerted to the PC's presence can react beyond only attacks and call for reinforcements is not made clear by the Devs. However it's clear based on rogue videos that there IS stealth and you CAN sneak by enemies.
That's all the public info I can find.
For example, let say I want the adventure to start out on the way to a mansion where brigands have taken it over from a wealthy merchant. You have several encounters on the way to it. You get to the mansion and enter it and explore its multiple floors and basement. In the basement you find a secret passage that leads you to a tunnel system with caverns and such. after exploring it, you find an ancient temple that you enter and explore its floors.
Can I do that as one adventure or would I have to make it into several parts? If I have to make it into several parts, can I link them together where once the players find the entrance to the next part they can choose either to exit or go to the next part linking all parts into a massive adventure?
They are lot, but expect more objects, buildings in NW if I have to guess, probably 1500 objects+buildings or so (5 times increase is modest with their new engine and polygon thingy).