The Black Hound

[crakkie]

I still do intend to finish it, but don't expect it (or updates on it) anytime soon.

 

Is it still going to be a NWN2 module?

[taks]

You know, you should finish it before Ramza finds a woman, gets married and sacrifices his first born to "Project Jefferson" to speed things up.

when JE releases TBH as a sims expansion, there will be a sacrifice by ramza, but i don't think it will be his first born and quite certainly there won't be any more borne of ramza's seed after that point unless he's saved off some in a freezer somewhere.

 

taks

[ramza]

On the occasion of this article http://deadpcgames.blogspot.com/ I have decided to necro this thread.

 

However, I guess we shouldn't be expecting any updates on these module.

It was an ambitious project and I salute Sawyer for his efforts. Nice try!

[Stephen Amber]

He should have out sourced some of the work to Ossian or something. One guy working with that bear of a toolset just isn't going to get it done. Of course it couldn't have been a true expansion but no reason it couldn't have been a downloadable adventure pack.

[Lysen]

On the occasion of this article http://deadpcgames.blogspot.com/ I have decided to necro this thread.

 

However, I guess we shouldn't be expecting any updates on these module.

It was an ambitious project and I salute Sawyer for his efforts. Nice try!

 

Wow I didn't know there were screenshots of the original Black Hound! And it looks much better than the NWN2 engine

[ramza]

From http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer

 

Are you still working on The Black Hound? If not, WHY?? If you are, how's it coming along?

 

No. The Black Hound project took up too much of my free time. It felt like working two full time+ jobs and I think it impacted the quality of everything I was doing.

 

The end.

[Magister Lajciak]

I think this was expected. While it would have been nice module to have, it was never really realistic for a person with a fulltime job to do something of this sort, so I really cannot blame the guy for giving up on it. What is a pity is that he cannot leverage the work into something else, such as NWN 2 Expansion 3.

[ramza]

I would have certainly bought this if it was released as a NWN2 expansion and I am sure I wouldn't be the only one. Maybe Feargus should think about it...

[Humodour]

Yeah, I gave it a 50/50 survival rate.

 

It's not like it's a wasted effort. The story, plot, character assets are probably quite re-usable.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Krezack

[Magister Lajciak]

The story, plot, character assets are probably quite re-usable.

 

Maybe as inspiration, but I doubt that are reusable beyond that...

[WorstUsernameEver]

I don't know, the story didn't seem particularly tied to the FR setting from what I remember of it (very little) so, while I don't believe they will re-use it entirely they could use idea, characters etc., like they're doing for New Vegas with Van Buren.

[Blarghagh]

I respect Sawyer for trying to attempt such a huge project on his own in his spare time, anyway. Despite it's "cancellation".

[Magister Lajciak]

I don't know, the story didn't seem particularly tied to the FR setting from what I remember of it (very little) so, while I don't believe they will re-use it entirely they could use idea, characters etc., like they're doing for New Vegas with Van Buren.

 

Coding was done in the NWN 2 engine, as were scripts, dialogues, character models and so on. The story might be detachable from the FR setting if you get rid of the names, placenames and FR or D&D specific concepts, but doing all that work and then making it fit into a new game they might be making - well it might be more viable to just start from scratch. Some ideas can serve as inspiration, but it seems unlikely to go beyond that.

[Magister Lajciak]

I would have certainly bought this if it was released as a NWN2 expansion and I am sure I wouldn't be the only one. Maybe Feargus should think about it...

 

Although I too wouldn't mind seeing another high-quality, story-oriented NWN 2 expansion, I think it is unrealistic to expect it for several reasons:

 

1) NWN 2 has been out for a while now and game is ageing while the fanbase is probably shrinking.

2) Atari is, I believe, in a legal dispute over the D&D electronic license, so it might not want to risk new games or expansions based on D&D - notice how there haven't been any new D&D games even announced since then.

3) WotC would be unhappy to see another non-4E D&D game (though I would be happy to see another 3.5E game)

4) There were supposed to be major changes to the ruleset, so even if WotC and Atari were willing to allow another 3.5E expansion, they might not approve of the non-canonical rule changes in an official product.

5) There were supposed to be more mature elements in the game, if I remember correctly, which would raise its rating and decrease the audience and likely lead to non-approval by WotC and/or Atari.

[Humodour]

I don't know, the story didn't seem particularly tied to the FR setting from what I remember of it (very little) so, while I don't believe they will re-use it entirely they could use idea, characters etc., like they're doing for New Vegas with Van Buren.

 

Yep, easily.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I don't know, the story didn't seem particularly tied to the FR setting from what I remember of it (very little) so, while I don't believe they will re-use it entirely they could use idea, characters etc., like they're doing for New Vegas with Van Buren.

 

Coding was done in the NWN 2 engine, as were scripts, dialogues, character models and so on. The story might be detachable from the FR setting if you get rid of the names, placenames and FR or D&D specific concepts, but doing all that work and then making it fit into a new game they might be making - well it might be more viable to just start from scratch. Some ideas can serve as inspiration, but it seems unlikely to go beyond that.

 

Designing requires time too, if you have good designs that just need tweaking before implementation, why not use it?

It'd seem like a waste if the material really is as strong as Josh implied.

[aries101]

I would have certainly bought this if it was released as a NWN2 expansion and I am sure I wouldn't be the only one. Maybe Feargus should think about it...

 

Although I too wouldn't mind seeing another high-quality, story-oriented NWN 2 expansion, I think it is unrealistic to expect it for several reasons:

 

1) NWN 2 has been out for a while now and game is ageing while the fanbase is probably shrinking.

2) Atari is, I believe, in a legal dispute over the D&D electronic license, so it might not want to risk new games or expansions based on D&D - notice how there haven't been any new D&D games even announced since then.

3) WotC would be unhappy to see another non-4E D&D game (though I would be happy to see another 3.5E game)

4) There were supposed to be major changes to the ruleset, so even if WotC and Atari were willing to allow another 3.5E expansion, they might not approve of the non-canonical rule changes in an official product.

5) There were supposed to be more mature elements in the game, if I remember correctly, which would raise its rating and decrease the audience and likely lead to non-approval by WotC and/or Atari.

 

As for the mature content, WoTC/Atari seems to be forgetting that games are not just for children anymore. There's a huge crowd of gamers that are over 40+ or even 30+ that would like mature games with good stories to play. The success of DA: Origins, MW2, and other Mature rated games prove this by far, I find.

[Magister Lajciak]

I would have certainly bought this if it was released as a NWN2 expansion and I am sure I wouldn't be the only one. Maybe Feargus should think about it...

 

Although I too wouldn't mind seeing another high-quality, story-oriented NWN 2 expansion, I think it is unrealistic to expect it for several reasons:

 

1) NWN 2 has been out for a while now and game is ageing while the fanbase is probably shrinking.

2) Atari is, I believe, in a legal dispute over the D&D electronic license, so it might not want to risk new games or expansions based on D&D - notice how there haven't been any new D&D games even announced since then.

3) WotC would be unhappy to see another non-4E D&D game (though I would be happy to see another 3.5E game)

4) There were supposed to be major changes to the ruleset, so even if WotC and Atari were willing to allow another 3.5E expansion, they might not approve of the non-canonical rule changes in an official product.

5) There were supposed to be more mature elements in the game, if I remember correctly, which would raise its rating and decrease the audience and likely lead to non-approval by WotC and/or Atari.

 

As for the mature content, WoTC/Atari seems to be forgetting that games are not just for children anymore. There's a huge crowd of gamers that are over 40+ or even 30+ that would like mature games with good stories to play. The success of DA: Origins, MW2, and other Mature rated games prove this by far, I find.

 

I agree that games are not played just by children anymore, but I think their logic goes along the lines of that if the game has a lower rating than it can be played by both 'mature' gamers and by teenagers, while if the rating is higher, it might still be successful, but you are limiting the size of your market.

[Magister Lajciak]

I don't know, the story didn't seem particularly tied to the FR setting from what I remember of it (very little) so, while I don't believe they will re-use it entirely they could use idea, characters etc., like they're doing for New Vegas with Van Buren.

 

Coding was done in the NWN 2 engine, as were scripts, dialogues, character models and so on. The story might be detachable from the FR setting if you get rid of the names, placenames and FR or D&D specific concepts, but doing all that work and then making it fit into a new game they might be making - well it might be more viable to just start from scratch. Some ideas can serve as inspiration, but it seems unlikely to go beyond that.

 

Designing requires time too, if you have good designs that just need tweaking before implementation, why not use it?

It'd seem like a waste if the material really is as strong as Josh implied.

 

You are correct, designing takes time, but best designs are those not ported from somewhere else, but those that take the holistic picture into account from the get go. Good design is therefore impacted by the idiosyncracies of the setting, the engine and so on. It is possible Obsidian might be able to reuse some isolated elements of the work, but I am pretty sceptical that a significant amount will be reused (though I certainly wouldn't mind seeing TBH appear as another NWN 2 expansion, I doubt it is feasible). Inspiration and using it as a learning experience is another matter of course.