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Community Foundry Manual

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  • raphaeldisantoraphaeldisanto Member Posts: 402 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    ireniicus wrote: »
    Is there a way to connect two maps within the same quest? I would like to create a small outdoor map as prelude to entering a cave/or dungeon. Just not sure how to create the appropriate connections.

    Area Transitions like this are generally handled by the Story Planner. Add the two maps in sequence to the Story tab and then then toolset will ask you to set up the transitions by putting the doors/transition placeables into the maps (Unless you have them already, in which case it will ask you to select which ones you want to use)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • sevargathsevargath Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    guys i have a problem, I wanted to transformare an encounter in a solta companion that helps the player seems to me that it was doing follow but when I do I attack
    6iscnm.jpg
  • konop1konop1 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Hello there. It seems I cannot start a new thread with my question, so maybe this is the place to ask.

    1. How do I make a hostile NPC? There are only friendly or neutral behaviors possible for NPC in the pop-up menu. I want to make a dialog with an npc creature, which will attack at the end of it. Also, when killed, the creature should drop an item. I tried making the friendly creature dissapear after the dialog (worked), and then spawned a hostile "encounter" tab creature whose model has been exchanged into the NPC (worked). "Encounter" tab creatures however cannot drop items. Also, when the creature dissapears and the hostile one appears, it is visible. I would like to arrange some effect which would cloak the exchange (the fade to black effect spawned as a solid black giant block). Any suggestions of alternative ways to achieve this?

    2. What is more, I find placing single objects highly tedious and the existing clusters are few. Is there a way to create additional clusters and saving them in the database?

    Thanks in advance for any responses. I hope I'll be able to create my first Quest with your help!
  • auricklemtauricklemt Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 27 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    konop1 wrote: »
    Hello there. It seems I cannot start a new thread with my question, so maybe this is the place to ask.

    1. How do I make a hostile NPC? There are only friendly or neutral behaviors possible for NPC in the pop-up menu. I want to make a dialog with an npc creature, which will attack at the end of it. Also, when killed, the creature should drop an item. I tried making the friendly creature dissapear after the dialog (worked), and then spawned a hostile "encounter" tab creature whose model has been exchanged into the NPC (worked). "Encounter" tab creatures however cannot drop items. Also, when the creature dissapears and the hostile one appears, it is visible. I would like to arrange some effect which would cloak the exchange (the fade to black effect spawned as a solid black giant block). Any suggestions of alternative ways to achieve this?

    2. What is more, I find placing single objects highly tedious and the existing clusters are few. Is there a way to create additional clusters and saving them in the database?

    Thanks in advance for any responses. I hope I'll be able to create my first Quest with your help!

    You can't make an NPC hostile but you can put a costume on an encounter. So to accomplish what you want you will need two separate items: the NPC that the characters talk to and then an encounter that has been given the same costume. The player will initially talk to the NPC. When the dialogue is complete, the NPC will be made invisible at the same time that the encounter is made visible.

    As for getting the dropped item, simply create a container with that item and place it in the area where the encounter should die. It starts invisible but then becomes visible when the encounter is complete.
    Foundry Campaign: The Stars of Desolation
    Adapted from "The Desert of Desolation" by Tracy and Laura Hickman
  • mortisperpetuamortisperpetua Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Interesting, would you reverse the process to do hostile to friendly - for example, a crazy man fight to subdue, then when giving him his meds, he becomes ok? In other words, start with a costumed encounter that you fight to subdue, then make the npc appear?

    Also, is there a way to avoid the subdue fight entirely (who would want to beat a crazy old man to submission just cause he forgot his meds). In that case, the fight would begin, but rather than subduing him, you would interact (press f to administer medication) while he beats on you, and when the interaction completes, the crazy old man becomes friendly?
  • mike3183mike3183 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Is there a way for two people to create an adventure together?
  • coanunncoanunn Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 368 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Ok, so I have put together a narrative leading into my quest that has the player visit a building in the Protector's Enclave. I have it set so that when the player uses the door as a transition they go back to the enclave in order to exit via a city gate but on every attempt to do this when the player uses the door it spawns the player at the Hall of Justice rather than at the door they went to earlier. It also will not allow me to modify the enclave map in anyway so I can't place a new spawn location.

    I have played several foundry quests that were able to do this, so someone enlighten me.. WHAT AM I MISSING.. :)
    Do you crave a good old fashioned dungeon crawl? One where the dungeon tells it's own story? The Dungeon Delves campaign is just for you! Start with my first release: NW-DQF4T7QYH Any cave can lead to adventure!
  • giggliatogiggliato Member Posts: 446 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    mike3183 wrote: »
    Is there a way for two people to create an adventure together?

    Not yet, but I think the devs are working on it. It seems to me that the Foundry is in early beta. Use it often and more resources will be put into its development, as it goes.

    The sharing of accounts would allow two people to work on an adventure together, perhaps one could design the costumes while the other could develop dialogs. The DM's would not be able to work on the adventure simultaneously however.
  • hyttehanshyttehans Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 61
    edited May 2013
    yay nice manual!
  • themastergimpthemastergimp Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    thanks for the manuals, but i'm struggling getting the "or" part of the example adventure! I've set up the greycloak contact OK, but having the alternative option of searching the barrels for the legal documents won't work for me! When i test the quest, it assumes the barrels have been searched but doesn't drop the documents! any suggestions?

    cheers

    nickc aka TheGimp
  • bootmuttbootmutt Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Can't post new thread.

    Just published a quest but can't find it any where in the game.

    Edit: Never mind, found it.
  • akaerronakaerron Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Sup guys. Is there a way to work on the same quest with my friend? Google-docs alike or something like that. Or at least a way to share unpublished quest for him to view and edit it?
  • foundrymakerfoundrymaker Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 253 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    akaerron wrote: »
    Sup guys. Is there a way to work on the same quest with my friend? Google-docs alike or something like that. Or at least a way to share unpublished quest for him to view and edit it?

    All the missions you create are saved on Cryptic's Secure Servers under the users account, there is no way to save them to your own computer. The only way a friend could help out is to login on the account that holds the mission (not recommended) and most likely would trigger the "new computer detected" email to input a access code.

    I would love to be able to have my testers, test my map before its published, but there seems no way to do this.
  • elvinatombenderelvinatombender Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    This has been asked twice before but yet noone answered (afaik). Now I stumbled into the same issue:

    The OR quest mechanic from the tutorial quest of chapter 1 seems to be missing something. If you start the game the objective to pick up the legal papers from the barrel is already set to "completed" thus you cannot finish the quest.

    How do we fix this, please? Thanks....
  • crypticbuxomcrypticbuxom Member Posts: 4,408 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I'm still working on figuring out chaining objectives and setting up NPCs and encounters based on what objective complete messages are selected. So I haven't had the chance to find out if fly by cut scenes can be done. If so will it be included in the manual?
  • whisperofthemoonwhisperofthemoon Member Posts: 105 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Hi there. I need to know few things - maybe they are in manual, but they are really small questions, and i don't have a time to read manual right now, so maybe you will help me so i can finish my quest when i return home, and then i will read full manual when i will have time for that? Its just:

    1) How i can make portal that leads to another map appear after talking with npc?
    2) How can i make that player need to use 4 items on 1 object at once? For now i can use only 1 object in the "interact with an object" part, and if i try to create 3 same events for same object it will not work at all, so i must use 4 different cups to create potion from 4 ingredients, and that is not cool( Also that 4 items must disappear from inventory after using them.
    3) How can i make boss entrance movie?

    Oh, if only i could edit my in-game gear the way i can do it in editor (changing parts and colors of each part), even if that was for zen, it would be great...
  • zovyazovya Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Cutscenes aren't possible just yet.

    Portals cannot appear or disappear yet. Hopefully this feature will be added soon.

    Check the FAQ thread in my signature. There are a lot of video tutorials listed there that may help with some of your questions.
  • zandra81zandra81 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I search in the forum but I couldn't find the answer to my question, so... ...there I'am.

    There is a way to place a treasure chest with an object inside like a "key" to open the next door?
  • zovyazovya Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    zandra81 wrote: »
    I search in the forum but I couldn't find the answer to my question, so... ...there I'am.

    There is a way to place a treasure chest with an object inside like a "key" to open the next door?

    Yes, there is a opened chest item in details that you can place. You can have it drop item "key" that will be required to open an interactable door.
  • whisperofthemoonwhisperofthemoon Member Posts: 105 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Portals cannot appear or disappear yet.

    But i played some foundry quest about fire elementals in the dwarf mines, and there was mage opening a portal for me in the end of the quest... They did it somehow?
    Well, if there is no way to to id, how can i make player travel to another location after talking to npc without pressing any buttons?
  • flamepointflamepoint Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I was going to post this as a thread, but I can't make threads yet apparently. If you feel I left something out, feel free to add.

    Guide - Designing good looking maps

    In my opinion, a detailed and well thought out map is one of the most important tools for telling a good story. A story can be as elaborate and deep as it wants, but if the environments are bland, empty and unrealistic, it is likely that the overall enjoyment a player gets from the quest will not be as good as it could have been.

    Some of the must-have basics:
    - Make sure objects don't clip into the ground. This has a few exceptions, such as a barrel in sand etc.
    - Make sure objects don't float above ground.
    - Make sure houses are facing directly upright. Houses aren't built at an angle, unless it is a collapsing house.
    - Make sure that players can't see undetailed (out of playable area) parts of the map. For example, when making an island map, and there is mainland in the distance, it is important that the mainland is decorated with objects, otherwise the map will feel empty and unreal.
    - Trees shouldn't grow through pavement roads/bricks.
    - Place objects in the right context. It is unlikely that a cave room will have a merchant's tent, fern etc. Or someone's home with a 5 foot tall spider web in the corner.
    - Avoid empty rooms/walls/hallways. Put plenty (not too much) of detail into every area. Certain hallways are more decorated than others. For example, a dungeon hallway has mostly plain grey walls, as opposed to a cave wall which has support beams, different textures and an uneven surface.


    First point I'll cover is environment logic (it sounds more complicated than it is)

    When designing a house interior, think about what the people living there will need... to live there. And if someone specific is living in a house, for example a blacksmith, then it also makes sense to add objects related to his profession.

    Most obvious things are:
    Beds
    Kitchen/dining area
    Lighting
    Some form of heating (fireplace or fire pit, with a pile of wood next to it for example)
    Storage (chests, wardrobes, closets, barrels, crates)

    and some decorative elements such as

    Plants
    Bookcases
    Tables
    Chairs
    Wall mounted animals
    Paintings
    Armor stands
    Carpets

    2vbo4s8.png

    Same logic applies for other environments such as mines (which would need more industrial decorations, tools etc etc.) or even designing a whole city, which would require an insane list of details to look even remotely realistic. Again, it can be populated with a little logical thinking (what are the must-have features to make a city function as a whole), much in the same way as a house interior, just on a bigger scale.

    Mines and dungeons generally allow more freedom than living spaces. For example, you could put a cloud of fog on the surface, or you can make water drip from the ceiling, or pebbles fall, or even have tree roots come from the wall.

    Second point is lighting, as in the light sources.

    In most cases, the best lighting effects are acheived in a scenario where instead of having the whole room evenly lit, certain areas of it have custom light sources. This is why I recommend having completely unlit dungeons, and then adding lighting manually where it feels appropriate.

    There are lots of ways to make cool lighting effects, for example:
    - magical orbs (with a 10x10 dynamic light inside it)
    - Lantern on a table
    - Use light rays to create an illusion as if light is coming into the dungeon from the surface
    - Burning fireplace
    - Flooded room with waist deep water and underwater light sources.
    - Lights that can be manually turned on. To acheive this, place an unlit brazier, make it interactable and disappear at the end of interaction. Secondly, place a dynamic light brazier in the exact same spot, and make it appear when the player has finished interacting with the unlit brazier.
    - Lights that activate when the player reaches a place marker
    - For exterior maps, experiment with localised effects and different backdrops besides the default one - foggy, cloudy, rainy, clear, dusk, sunrise

    zyf2g4.png

    Third point is nature. Unfortunately this is very limited due to the 1500 detail budget. Grass and trees simply cost too much to be able to make a decent sized forest. Some details of a forest include:

    - Different types of trees. A forest rarely has only 1 type of tree
    - Bushes (tall ones, small berry bushes etc.)
    - Fallen branches/tree stumps
    - Grass (as much as the budget allows)
    - A walking path
    - Campsite
    - River/small lake
    - Rocks, pebbles
    - Terrain height variations (avoid completely flat terrain)
    - Good mix of forested areas and open fields between them
    - Wild animals
    - Ruins
    - Spider webs (in moderation)
    - Sound effects - birds, wind, trees swaying etc etc. (these contribute a lot to the overall feel of a nature location)

    sbrjet.png

    Finally, to get some ideas for object placement, I would recommend scrolling through every single detail object in the editor. Doing this lets you see everything the editor gives you, and makes it easier to come up with creative decorating solutions later on.
  • zovyazovya Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    flamepoint wrote: »
    ...lots of good stuff...

    Do you have the time to make a video tutorial? If you do I'd love to put it in the FAQ thread.
  • thestoryteller01thestoryteller01 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    something funny going on....24 hours ago I could download part0,1 and 2 and today skydrive says the "item no longer exists" :eek:
    In case you find my grammar or spelling weird ---> native german speaker ;)
  • lunchtimenowlunchtimenow Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 51
    edited May 2013
    something funny going on....24 hours ago I could download part0,1 and 2 and today skydrive says the "item no longer exists" :eek:

    I am having the same problem... Gillrmn has some excellent docs... Does anyone else have new links? (I would totally donate to Gillrmn for these docs. They are truly amazing)
    Y9KrNPv.jpg4MEPTcf.jpg
    NW-DSEGBOHCC & NW-DKSTDEHFF @lunchtimenow
  • zovyazovya Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I am having the same problem... Gillrmn has some excellent docs... Does anyone else have new links? (I would totally donate to Gillrmn for these docs. They are truly amazing)

    Try this link to his site. The links from there seem to work better.
    https://sites.google.com/site/ugcgillrmn/enter-ugc/foundry-manuals
  • yospeckyospeck Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 174 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Anyone know a workaround/fix to when I duplicate my map it makes pretty much everything interact-able? Pretty much had to put a pin in my adventure because I have way too many items to turn it off individually.

    [EDIT] Found post with this mentioned.
  • gillrmngillrmn Member Posts: 7,800 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    something funny going on....24 hours ago I could download part0,1 and 2 and today skydrive says the "item no longer exists" :eek:

    The manuals are still up and will always be up, I am not planning to take them down. If it is not up, it might be some temporary issue with skydrive. Also they are in public domain and should be searchable by name from skydrive's documents.

    Regarding new manuals however, NW is no longer my no. 1 priority so they will come out slow as other projects take precedence (non-NW). There are a few new things I discovered while using foundry last time, so I would like to share a few tricks in next issue of the manual when I can get time for it.


    EDIT:-
    Checked all files after logging out, they all work well. Used the links in this post:-


    http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?116961-Community-Foundry-Manual&p=1728221&viewfull=1#post1728221
  • auzubilahauzubilah Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Hello!
    Well, i bought a foundry pack U$ 59,99. but i can't see any item here.... where is my horse, and direwolf ? how can i use them... thank you
  • foundrymakerfoundrymaker Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 253 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    auzubilah wrote: »
    Hello!
    Well, i bought a foundry pack U$ 59,99. but i can't see any item here.... where is my horse, and direwolf ? how can i use them... thank you

    Err..if you bought a 'foundry' pack..you got ripped because there is no such thing. Do you mean a 'Founders Pack?'
  • arielstarshadowarielstarshadow Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Thanks so much for putting this together. I'm about to read through the entire thing, and give it a try :)
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