All's Fair in Love and War - NW-DJ5BFT52F

oortexplorer · June 2013

Working on an epic quest, but thought I'd start off with something a little simpler first. That did not happen lol, as this one got more and more involved and took quite a while to do, but I definitely know the Foundry much better now. Should make the next one a lot easier.

Title: All's Fair in Love and War
Code: NW-DJ5BFT52F
Author: @oortexplorer

Explore the lighter side of Neverwinter. Your choices determine the outcome.

"You've just received a letter from Megan, an old friend you haven't seen in years. Her letter states that an elf and a dwarf, who hate each other, have each asked her to marry them. She is confused, and would like your advice."

A somewhat silly and lighthearted dialogue-driven comic adventure, I think it's got some pretty funny bits. Also has combat and easter eggs as well. Hopefully people will check it out.

- 15-20 minutes
- Solo

#story #humor

oortexplorer · June 2013

First quest comment mentioned a couple of bugs with traps, I have now fixed them (I hope). Does anyone know if we need to click "Publish" again after making changes, or just the first time?

Edit: I guess you'd have to click Publish every time.

meedacthunist · June 2013

This is actually pretty enjoyable and fun quest. There were only minor shortcomings with details, none of them even remotely game breaking.

oortexplorer · June 2013

Thank you! If you have any suggestions let me know. I noticed that a couple of the wandering npc's get hung up or wind up in odd places, I may need to tighten their "rotations" a little bit. I see a quest listed in your sig meedacthunist, I will play it tonight.

I think the comedy genre is somewhat under-represented in this game so far, so I am hoping people will give this one a chance.

oortexplorer · June 2013

I have fixed a couple of glitches and made a few minor changes.

Still don't have a lot of plays but the reviews have been quite positive, so I am hoping to get a few more people to check it out. If you want to trade reviews, I would be happy to do so.

Also last time I checked the average time was 14 minutes (just under the magic 15-min mark), so please feel free to explore the area for a couple of extra minutes, lol.

meysa · June 2013

Sleepwalking and Up To no good are stacked on eachother on a railing outside the tavern.

Near the beginning of the Gilby conversation: "my daddy used to say, son, he'd say" needs to be fixed. Pick a place to say "say". :-)

Another one "What would be truly weird, would be for" should be changed to "What would be truly weird, is for".

Should consider moving Gilby's crypt to be closer in town. (Of course, I hate it when I have to run a long way for nothing.)

oortexplorer · June 2013

Thanks for playing it! I agree on those 2 dialogue points, always felt they were a bit weak, I will tighten them up. Will also take a look at the patrols for those 2 characters, they are set on different paths so I don't know why that happened.

Looks like I am averaging 14 minutes per play, hopefully future players can just take an extra minute or two to explore to try and get it up to 15. I will also look into adding an extra element or two.

voivodak · June 2013

oortexplorer, I just played your quest. The thing that is most noticeable is the humor of the dialogues. I sometimes skip some part of text, but in your quest this is not happened. It was a pleasure to read the texts. The idea then is original. There are a bunch of quests marked on undead and cemeteries, while yours is lighter and focused on unusual themes.
The encounters are pretty easy (I played with a TR lvl 26) while the final battle is tough and challenging but doable.

I gave 5 stars for the humor, the dialogues and battles. Put more details in the dungeon and you'll get a looot of stars from so many others.

This evening I'll give the name of the quest to 2 friends of mine, so they too will play it

drakesigar · June 2013

Top notch dialogue. My favourite bit was when the NPCs asked the player questions about his/her personal life. That happens nowhere near as often as it should in RPGs.

The quest kinda goes downhill during the second half (exactly like mine) where we leave the dialogue behind and go pure combat. I was a little confused as to where it was going, the situation seemed like it was setting up a big joke (possibly a twist too), but there was no punchline. And in the crypt there was a random assortment of animals dumped around for no discernable reason. I have been wracking my brain trying to find the joke.

One more thing. This is more of a general thought than a critcisim of your quest, but is anyone else getting annoyed when you've killed dozens of people then get to the boss and let him go because... chivalry?

oortexplorer · June 2013

Thanks for playing. I just thought the random animals were funny, but it has definitely confused a number of people. I have added a couple of (very minor) lines of dialogue to help explain this. Hopefully it works a little better this way. I also considered taking them out but have resisted up to this point. I decided to go for the ending I went with rather than a punchline and I am quite happy with it (there is a "fake" punchline there, though, the "I have I surprise for you ..." part.)

I added a new (and very minor) character, and cleaned up a few things, including additions to the crypt design. So I guess we'll call this version 1.2 (although I have made minor changes a couple of times before).

Also, it is now eligible for Daily Foundry!

drakesigar · June 2013

Congratulations! Good luck contending with those crazy speed runners.

oortexplorer · June 2013

Yeah, that is going to be an ongoing problem. One reason why I just added a minor npc, lol.

mirimero · June 2013

I made myself a sandwich and wandered around as requested when I played this quest.

I'm sure a lot of people did too. Congratulations on making it to the dailies!

I liked the story you planned out for this. It was an excellent concept, and I was for serious torn between the elf and the dwarf. They both had such good points and bad points! I would have loved to discuss the issue with some girl friends over a chick flick while we gave each other manicures (I can totally see this for comedic effect: except instead of girl friends, you'd have a couple of mind flayers, a deathlock wight, and a half-orc courtesan maybe), but alas, this option was not given.

I was a little confused as to why the suitor's respective home-bases would be filled with the other faction's allies, though. I could imagine that the elves, say, attacked Gilby's crypt and overwhelmed all the defenders. But I would have liked to see the evidence of a big fight. It sounds a little morbid, but I think it would go a long way towards believability.

For me, the streets of the town area could have done with a little added flavor. Maybe add shops, animals, chat bubbles? Gilby's crypt too. On the other hand, Elesil's guild hall was well-populated with details. And have I already mentioned how much your NPC names amused me? Because they seriously did.

I was a little disappointed with how linear all the dialogue was, but it served the flow of the main story, so I guess it's fine the way it is. All in all, this was a nice, little quest with a pretty unique premise. And it gave the player a real choice. Which still bothers me, by the way.

Do you have any idea who other people chose? I went with Gilby the dwarf, personally, since I felt that his personality meshed better with Megan's. And he sounds like he'd make a great dad. Elesil the elf seemed a little cold to me. Or maybe it's just my prejudice against arrogant people? Darnit, I have to go consult with my girls, now. Excuse me.

oortexplorer · June 2013

Thanks for playing, appreciate your comments.

Re: the home bases, without giving up the spoiler there is a line of dialogue plus an NPC that basically explains it. Several people have mentioned adding some decoration to the maps, and it's a great point. I may try to work on that. It's unfortunate that everything takes so long to do in the Foundry (I suppose I will get more proficient with time). I really want to work on quest # 2 but I keep going back to tweak this one, lol. Maybe I should add a Chick Flicks & Manicures shop! I am planning to add a few extra chat bubbles this weekend.

I would love to know what people are choosing. Would be cool if the Foundry had a "counter" or something that could be utilized to keep track of things like that.

What did you think of Gaston? That part was just added, and I'm curious what people think.

eskarine · June 2013

Ok, so you left a post on my thread about wanting to trade, so here it is.

I love that kind of quests. Full-on dungeon crawlers are not for me, so this story suited me just fine. I sided with the dwarf, but that's mainly becuase I love dwarves

Loved the NPC names. But some of the wandering ones ended up on building and stair ledges, looking awkward and stuck (wanderer, Up to no good, Sleepwalking).

Your locations are a little empty.

Very nice campfire locations, not too far to heal up in between fights.

Something that's a pet peeve of mine - re-skinning an ogre into smaller opponent (elf) gives a false idea about opponent range. Sometimes you think you dodged far enough and then end up smacked to the ground.

oortexplorer · June 2013

Thanks for your review. I have noticed that issue with the wandering NPC's, and have already made 2 or 3 different attempts at "fixing" the problem. Not sure what's causing it but I'll try again on Sunday to modify their rotations and see if I can stop them from getting stuck.

I apologize for the delay in reviewing yours, it's on my list and I should get to it tonight or tomorrow.

mllebean · June 2013

Happy to trade reviews with you. My quest is a roughly 45 minute single person spoof adventure.

NW-DUTKDLBYI

Info and comments at http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?326671-My-first-quest!-Kind-hearted-reviewers-wanted-)&p=4198891#post4198891

mirimero · June 2013

Oooh, I keep playing quests before the authors make big changes to them! I'll give it another play and be on the lookout for Gaston.

Maybe I should add a Chick Flicks & Manicures shop!

Go for it!

oortexplorer · June 2013

It's actually a very minor addition, just curious if it fits or not.

visigoth18 · June 2013

oortexplorer wrote: »

I'll try again on Sunday to modify their rotations and see if I can stop them from getting stuck.

just a suggestion, but it seems like your using "Wandering NPCs?" maybe replace them with patrolling NPC's? then you can set the exact path they walk.

oortexplorer wrote: »

I would love to know what people are choosing. Would be cool if the Foundry had a "counter" or something that could be utilized to keep track of things like that.

you can make a Poll.

-Visigoth

My Video Review is encoding now, I'll upload it once it's done

I hope it doesn't come off as being too harsh

oortexplorer · June 2013

That's the weird thing, they are on patrols. I do have one idea as to what the problem may be, so I may take another look into it on Sunday.

visigoth18 · June 2013

Are you trying to make them walk up & down inclines? from my experience the don't like that O_O
are you of the Feminine persuasion? that would go a long way towards explaining why I had trouble identifying with this quest :] lol

oortexplorer · June 2013

I am male. I actually started a different quest first, but wanted something simple and had an idea for a comedy about an elf and dwarf at war with each other, that evolved into this. I actually think it turned out pretty good, but the next one will be quite different.

I guess there is a bit of an incline there, but it seems to work fine in other spots.

visigoth18 · June 2013

Yeah I just didn't get the whole love crisis setting :] "that's why I was wondering, no insult intended"

Video Review

ovaltine74 · June 2013

I liked this quest. Can use some improvement in the environments, but overall a good quest. Recommended!

oortexplorer · June 2013

visigoth18 wrote: »

Yeah I just didn't get the whole love crisis setting :] "that's why I was wondering, no insult intended"

Video Review

Someone made a point about my quest (sorry, I can't remember who it was, it was in a different thread), that most quests are about this epic event that threatens all of Neverwinter, so it was refreshing to see some people in the neighbourhood dealing with a "crisis" over something much more everyday and mundane. That's basically what I was going for.

oortexplorer · June 2013

visigoth18 wrote: »

Yeah I just didn't get the whole love crisis setting :] "that's why I was wondering, no insult intended"

Video Review

Thanks again for the review. I wish you liked the quest more, but I appreciate the honesty. As you mentioned, everyone likes a certain type of quest more than others. A few jokes and things which you didn't get, which is fine, they're not essential to the plot or anything and I think they're fine as is, but you did give me a couple of ideas for minor tweaks. I really have to work (again) on the walking NPC's, they started off on fairly complicated paths, when I saw they were getting "stuck" I simplified them but it's still an issue. It may simply be the hilly area.

Re: Guild Hall, I may just make the exit door a permanent fixture that becomes interactable at the end. I do agree that the crypt is the weakest map. Will have to think about how to tweak it without spending a huge amount of time re-making the whole thing. People had an issue with the animals, so I added the little walled-off section as a sort of "storage" area for them. It's not meant to be where Gilby lives, but I added a sleeping bag to suggest that he tends to them and may crash there from time to time. Couple of things (torture devices in the guild hall, blood altar in the crypt) are left up to your imagination. Are these guys really evil, and what are they up to? Or were they placed there by other people that use the guild hall & crypt?

I should have used a dungeon. But basically, you enter and are supposed to descend down into the crypt. After trying to add stairs which was not looking good and taking forever, I had the player come out of that doorway which is meant to imply he has walked down stairs and through that doorway into the crypt, but it doesn't work very well. If you have a suggestion for a simpler way for that transition let me know. Your idea of mentioning somewhere that you have descended down into the crypt is a good one I will try to work in there. As for the exit portal, I tried to add a few different doors, but none of them looked right. I may just leave it, but again if you have a better suggestion that I can add quickly I'll look into it.

visigoth18 · June 2013

oortexplorer wrote: »

If you have a suggestion for a simpler way for that transition let me know. Your idea of mentioning somewhere that you have descended down into the crypt is a good one I will try to work in there.

One suggestion I can think of: you could add a crypt building with a small closed in "with fence" graveyard in front and just have that be your destination for "retrieve the lute" I feel like I'm reasonably quick in the foundry editor "when it comes to maps" (so I'll throw together an example in just a sec, after this post) Edit: I just thought it might make more sense to call it the "City Catacombs" instead :Map Tip

oortexplorer wrote: »

I had the player come out of that doorway which is meant to imply he has walked down stairs and through that doorway into the crypt, but it doesn't work very well. If you have a suggestion for a simpler way for that transition let me know.

I'll play around with this for a spell and see what I can come up with "I think the idea of a set of stairs would be great" :]
Edit: Map Tip 2 hope that helps :]

oortexplorer · June 2013

Thanks, I'll check those out later tonight.

mosby1 · June 2013

My playing buddy and I both just played and reviewed this.

Your description is just right - it's a fun, light-hearted romp. Lots of amusing little tidbits sprinkled throughout. A few had me laughing out loud - the "don't pug skirmishes", and the NPC in the wrong quest were great.

Starting at the sewer grate was a little strange, but no big deal.

The traps were kind of buggy (nothing you can do about that). I disarmed them, but they still did damage. The spike trap would not let me move at all, had to use /stuck to get out. You might want to embed the dart traps so they are more flush with the walls.

The decor was a little sparse, and some of it seemed a bit out of place, but it was fine, considering the nature of the quest. The dialogue was great, and the characters were interesting. Hoping for more!

oortexplorer · June 2013

UPDATE: Version 2.0 is here! Added music, some new chat bubbles and a couple of minor characters, extra environment details, modified the crypt, plus a few additional tweaks here and there.

I'm hoping at least a couple of people who played it before will give it a run if they have a minute. Let me know what you think!

All's Fair in Love and War - NW-DJ5BFT52F

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