How hard is it *really* to create new module with ToEE engine?

Curious about opinions from the modders how hard it would be to create the basics of a new module using the ToEE engine assuming one had intermediate programming skills?

For example, if i wanted to re-create the first level floorplan of G1 "Steading of Hill Giant Chief"?

More details to potentially help answer:

• Assume you were not going to do the absolute basics for floor/wall textures (sim city style)
• Use the monsters already existing in ToEE engine (hill giant, orcs, and ogres mostly
• Keeping game states to a minimum (maybe re-create the sleeping hill giants at beginning, but other than that, the critters just are where they are, don't interact with PCs

As for coding skills, assume one (me) has done programming in some higher level GLs in the past (Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, Actionscript, Java, TADs for Interactive Fiction game) but no lower level coding (C or C++) - have done some Perl but still mostly thinks that Regular Expressions look like hieroglyphics. No Python experience, but I'm assuming I might be able to get by.

I would assume I would need to:

• Somehow draw the basics of a map
• populate the correct monsters in those locations
• Figure out that G1 map on the world map

Curious if anyone has done it thinks, "yeah, you could probably get somewhere..." or if it's more, "Don't even try unless you've done 3-d modeling..."

 

Hi
The one huge challenge that so far has not been mentioned ( assuming you are creating a CRPG of "Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" ) is character creation. How do you go about creating 8th - 9th Level characters from scratch, in such a way that the average player of TOEE doesn't have to use the console to create his or her PC's ?? I certainly wouldn't want to try running a group of 1st Level characters through the steading, as they wouldn't stand a chance.
The Royal Canadian

 

Hi Manosfate
I just had a thought. What you could do to avoid the "how do I create 9th Level characters from scratch" dilemma, would be to build the adventure as an add-on to either "Keep on the Borderlands" or ToEE itself. One word of warning though: If you are serious about doing this, plan on spending a LOT of time (as in months and years, not days) doing it. If you don't believe me, ask Shinning Ted how much time he and his crew have spent on KoTB.
The Royal Canadian

 

You can do a lot of stuff with exsisting files. ProtoEd, Notepad, etc. You can make Spugnoir a Conan, change names, portraits, stats. You can edit dlg files, create quests, etc. 2 Years and I haven't got to mapping/sectoring, etc. I'm old(64) and slow, but don't get in a big hurry. Learn and master stuff a little at a time. It's tedious and boring, but it can be fun and interesting. Go for it.

 

Thanks all for the pointers. Between all the info above and reading _the post recommended_ by Gaear I have a much better sense of how all the pieces of the engine work together.

I suspect I would not have have the time/wherewithal to recreate G1 in its entirety, and the Royal Canadian has a good point about character generation.

What I thought would have been interesting from a nostalgia perspective was just recreate the map of the first level of G1, for I re-read the "Against the Giants" modules the other day for fun and was struck by how spartan that setting really is (few different types of giants, some orcs, and some ogres). In a perfect world I would put the setting somewhere on the ToEE map that player's could attempt to bite off/explore once they'd reached 9th level or so (perhaps with not quite so many giants as encountered in the module.)

Still, despite the _map for G1_ seeming relatively straightforward on paper, I presume given my relatively nonexistent photoshopping skills that might be pretty difficult.

Either way, I thank you all again for your thoughtful responses. I will start small to see how hard it is just to get a brand new location on the world map with one monster in it and go from there.

 

Hi Manosfate
In regards to your trial monster, why don't you use the sleeping Hill Giants in the entry area ? This way you could practice your dungeon building skills, and if you decide to press on with creating the whole thing, you have a room or two already done.
The Royal Canadian

 

Good advice. I was actually just pouring through some of Ted's tutorials. Should be an interesting exercise.

 

I was going to avoid the dungeon level for that reason, the map challenges, and that it has other beasties that I don't think appear in toee (carrion crawlers, etc.)

 

Re. the starting level,
it could be scripted to give the party the required XP at the start of the module.

 

There is a Carrion Crawler in the Temple of Elemental Evil dungeon level 2 (to the north of the Air Temple). The Proto ID for the Carrion Crawler is 14190. What are the other monsters in G1 that you believe aren't in ToEE?

 

Hi Gazra
Two monsters I can think of right off the top of my head are Stone Giants and a Cloud Giant, both of which are actually on the "ground floor". I'm not 100% certain, but isn't there a Fire Giant "armorer" in the lower level ??
The Royal Canadian

 

So, I just did a quick scan of the module and here's the summarized monster breakdown for G1 (the version I have is the old ochre-brown covered standalone version):
Level 1

• Hill Giants (figures, eh?)
• Young Hill Giants
• Female Hill Giants
• Cave Bear
• Chief Hill Giants (who fights as Frost Giant)
• Cloud Giant
• Stone Giants
• Cave Bears
• Orc Slaves
• Ogres
• Dire Wolves

If one were to bite off the 2nd Level, they'd also encounter:

• Hill Giants
• Carnivorous Apes
• Bugbear guards
• prisoners (human, elf)
• skeletons
• Orc Rebels
• orc slaves
• Orc laborers
• fire giants
• dwarf slaves
• troglodytes
• subterreanean lizards
• carrion crawlers
• insane manticores
• stone giant miners