Let's Talk About Hickory Branch

Well...

To take a map, add walls, doors, portals to other maps etc, and then add a bunch of monsters, can all be done with ToEE World builder. Quite a simple tool to use, and to simply add a map with a bunch of monsters is a very straight-forward thing to do.

To add dialogues is also straight-forward, but it then depends on how long and in-depth you want to make them. I've written a tutorial or two HERE you can read, covers quests and everything.

The only hard part is the map artwork. But everyone knows a graphic designer, don't they...? :eyebrow:

 

Yah, thats a definite possibility - put some of this stuff til the end of the game.

 

Okay, being as The Kaptain hasn't come back in 2-3 months to put this matter to rest, I think we shall take him at his word and assume control of Hickory Branch. To that end, I've already started on adding some dialogue nodes to Brother Smyth and Captain Renton that will lead players to the new and improved Hickory Branch as discussed above.

What will this be? With much appreciation we'll take the liberty of using arkhamresident's 'Mathel' from this thread and put him in HB, lording over the lesser kobold/goblin humanoids as outlined in his backstory. This will, in a nutshell, serve as an alternative to Hommlet fedexing for low level parties and be available pretty much from the get-go.

Overall, this project will hopefully help the balance situation and improve HB (drastically, I hope) from a story perspective.

What it will feature/need:

• A new outdoor map for HB. I think this would be a fine opportunity for HK to take on the challenge of map artwork, which he's apparently been itching to do. (Don't start on it today, HK; get your KotB patch stuff done first.) I would imagine you could either start from scratch, or if you're so inclined you could just retouch the existing map so that all traces of Diablo have been eliminated. Absent a new HK map, we could try to build one from existing ToEE wilderness resources.
  
  Also, what's the situation with the crypt map? Do we have it? If so, can we use it? Or @Ax Thrower, do you want to reclaim it for KotB/your own purposes? That's perfectly fine and understandable if you do. If we don't have it/can't use it, we can either build a new one or do without a crypt.
  
  
• A new soundtrack for the map befitting its story and the fact that HB will grow in significance by becoming a specific story location as opposed to a generic wilderness one. This is already done - I took the liberty of using Troika's soundtrack from the unreleased post-apocolyptic CRPG gameplay demo and retouched/remixed/remastered it for ToEE. I think it fits the new planned HB story theme very well.
  
  
• One new monster, the undead Mathel. (and a portrait for him)
  
  
• A new set of .mobs for HB. (I think I can handle this now.)
  
  
• Probably some other stuff I'm not thinking of right now.

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If any qualified persons would like to volunteer to help with scripting/programming on this, please feel free.

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If krunch comes back later and restates a claim to HB, we'll simply offer the original version as a standalone module.

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It is my hope that this will well and truly put the Hickory Branch matter to bed in a way that best serves the needs of ToEE.

 

I've written him emails and PMs to no avail - he hasn't even been by to read the PMs. A pity, really.

 

Any sign of that crypt map amongst your files, Ted? I think our only hope lies with you. Or maybe VP has it, come to think of it ...

btw, for notification purposes to other active modders, thus far I'm altering the dialogue files for Brother Smyth and Captain Renton for the new HB, as well as the .py files for, um, just Renton I think. I'll also be adding a new proto for Mathel, and I'll probably need a new flag or two.

Incidental question: I plan on making Renton the guy who lays out the quest for HB and provides the backstory (him being the militia captain and all, as well as being unvoiced). Does anybody have any objections to removing the dialect affectation that he seems to currently have? It doesn't square too well with relating arkhamresident's rather dire account of Mathel.

And speaking of that btw, I plan on generally changing the tone of a lot of the stuff I'm modding from lolz-ey to a bit more serious. I suspect that adding a little more gravity to the Hommlet proceedings will help make it more interesting. Troika seemed to want to play it for laughs to a large extent, which I find a bit puzzling. If they didn't take it seriously, how would they expect players to? :shrug:

 

They are supported very inconsistently in KotB: I think its up to the modder whether they want to do the work.

I'm not sure what affectations you mean Gaear, but I don't think Renton is any sort of 'beloved character' that people are going to complain if he is changed.

The crypt map I have is a small one: I am sure VP has the original.