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Hordes of the Underdark Revisited


rjshae

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This is a project that I've been working on for nearly a year now; actually much longer when you consider the various custom tilesets and placeables I put together for it to use. The goal is to re-create the much touted NWN Hordes of the Underdark (HotU) campaign so that it can be run in the NWN2 engine. It won't be an exact duplicate, but will be close enough so that players who have previously completed the NWN campaign will recognize many of the elements. Thus far I'm working on the first chapter and I'm perhaps 30-40% of the way through. The introductory areas of Waterdeep have been completed, along with the cut scenes, encounters, shops, conversations, and opening battles. The player can now enter the underground landing and make their way into dungeon.

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/rjh405/NWN2_SS_031116_175940_zpsx4jk1vsz.jpg

The build will be replete with custom content. In addition to placeables from hak packs on this site, I'm adding in many new models as needed. For example, I've been taking Callisters very nice Dungeon tileset and adding in my own tile variants to reproduce some of the unique landscape elements. 4760 has been very helpful in supplying new creatures that appeared in HotU, and I'll be using those throughout. I've also gained a lot more familiarity with the visual effects editor so that I can add custom effects as needed.

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/rjh405/NWN2_SS_070316_091524_zps4glwz5tf.jpg

All told this is going to take a while to complete, but progress thus far has been good and I have high hopes for completing at least the first chapter of the campaign within the next couple of years. Maybe. :smile:

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Will this be the main discussion board for your continued development now that the Bioware forums are going away at the end of the month? I am really excited about this project and want to follow it closely. I might even learn a thing or three.

Edited by Sabranic
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Will this be the main discussion board for your continued development now that the Bioware forums are going away at the end of the month? I am really excited about this project and want to follow it closely. I might even learn a thing or three.

 

Thanks. I'll post here and on the NWN Forums. It is interesting to see how they built the original campaign by looking through their scripts and conversations. I'm seeing several initial branches of their plot tree that they later cut back, such as how the main PC gets treated if he or she behaves in an evil manner. Perhaps I'll see more such later.

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  • 2 weeks later...

More vicious-looking but pointless spikey bits for the dungeon tileset:

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/rjh405/spikey_bits_zpsyvyikd0y.jpg

The original NWN Undermountain tile set is full of spikey parts along the walls, so I need to come up with a few more designs to provide variety. Any suggestions?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Where am I at? Mmm, well I've been distracted lately with tilesets and playing D:OS/PoE/IWD2/W2, but I have got some work done on this project.

 

I've been completely rebuilding the 1st level central area as the old one got corrupted. This time I make sure I keep 2-3 copies of the area around in earlier stages. It still takes a while to load, but I'm not seeing the same performance issues. Rather than building out room by room, this time I'm doing it component by component. At the moment I'm busy adding light sources in the same locations as the original NWN area. I switched to wall sconces with continual light spells. I'm a little concerned that the general gloom may put off some players, but hey it's a dungeon. Waddayawant?

 

I'm also building out the surrounding north and south areas, initially by setting up the NPCs and by creating the basic area tile layout. I'm also working on additional placeables for dungeon dressing. There's a couple of creatures I plan to add in when they become available: the harpy and the cockatrice. Meanwhile I'm using substitute models. I think I've just about got everything else now. Maybe just a few more visual effects...

 

In short, nothing exciting to report. Work continues apace...

 

For a little added decoration, here's a shot of a few new placeables I put together:

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/rjh405/hanging_cage_zpskmepat7c.jpg

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Undermountain is described as the biggest grave in the Realms, so naturally it has a few skellies. I think I've acquired enough now to provide some variety, as shown below. Some of these are NWN ports; others are from the Cornucopia. The one with the crown is for use with the seated kings; I'm going with a static placeable rather than fiddling with the sitting animation.

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/rjh405/skelies_zpsfd5cv51y.jpg

I'm still busy building out the first area of Undermountain. Right now I'm creating the conversations for Daelan and Enserric. The latter is an intelligent sword that I've given a somewhat bloody visual effect, as shown above.

Edited by rjshae
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