The Dink Network

I am hereby announcing my return to the Dink Network!

And with my return, I have started working on a new (but not really new) D-Mod. I am reviving my old project, The Quest for Death, the sequel to my decently successful 2009 D-Mod Dink and the Bonca.

*******************************************D-Mod Info******************************

The Quest for Death starts immediately after DatB. Dink decides to hunt down his new arch-nemesis Luke on a far away island, where a new devious plot is beginning to emerge. Dink must stop Luke at any cost.

Features I plan to include:
-A Mass Effect inspired paragon/renegade system based on how you choose to help the people and towns of the island. This can change how people react towards you, and can change the ending of the game.
-Several puzzles and weapons/spells to take advantage of new graphics.
-Quests involving a very mature and dark, twisted sense of humor. I'm a horrible person.
-A brand new weapon that takes advantage of the Paragon/Renegade system.
-A Journal, so you can keep track of the ridiculous amount of quests in the D-Mod!
-Bad jokes. Tons and tons of bad jokes
-Other features to be determined.

***********************************************************************************

Current Progress: (Updated 7/15/13 2:35 AM) PROJECT ON HOLD
Current Number of Working Scripts: 133 - Using the Improved Scripts Pack
Current Number of Map Squares used: 216
Area 1 Mapped and Scripted: ~90% - Polish, bug fixes, and detail mapping needed, need to redo dungeon
Area 2 Mapped: ~0%
Area 2 Quests: ~0%
Estimated D-Mod Completion: ~25%
Total Number of Areas to be Included: 3, possibly a 4th for a major side questline
Estimated Size: Small Epic
Estimated Release Date: TBA

More updates to come.

Cool, welcome back.

Do you remember the never-ending story? Man.

lol those were the days.

Welcome back! I've missed you! Your encouraging review on hte bomb was a big reason I kept dmodding, and probably a big reason why I still do programming and 3d modelling today! Thanks

You're quite welcome!

So today I've actually been working on updating Dink and the Bonca, fixing a few bugs and hardness errors, fixing the ice sword, as well as adding new dialogue/side story, and fixing minor errors with old dialogue. I'll be done with it by tomorrow, and then I'll resume work on the Quest for Death.

Welcome back my friend.

I wish you the best. I should really get back my scripting.

So I wanted to do a quick update.

The Quest for Death is progressing fairly smoothly. I'm almost done with the main quest-line in the first area of the game. I have a side quest I need to do which introduces a powerful, unique new weapon, and I need to finish mapping out the last couple squares of the first area, as well as the first dungeon(s). The game is around 15% done at this point.

I have the ending figured out in my head as well as how I want to finish off Area #1, and bits and pieces of the quests for the other two areas. I mostly just make it up as I go.

Honestly, the last two days have been slow because I really dislike mapping. It's tedious, dull, and I can't focus on it for very long.

Stay tuned for more updates. Also check my first post in this thread, I put random progress info up there

Man, I must be like the only person who thinks mapping is the best part.

Wow, already estimating 15% completion? That's impressive. I hope to see continued hard work.

Mapping is tedious and dull to me. It just doesn't compare to when you finally make a script work perfectly and you're treated to a beautiful cutscene that you created

Ah, you're comparing results. I was thinking you meant the actions.

I actually meant both.

A new DMOD, can,t wait to see it. Really glad you came back. I am new here, but I've seen your name loads of times on old files and posts

Weekly Update #2:

I have completed scripting of all main and side quests in the first area of my D-Mod Which means the game is nearly 30% done! All that's left is some polish on the scripts (bug fixes) and detail mapping to make the area look purty First mini-dungeon is also completed and fully detailed.
Fun Fact: Area 1 of the map is roughly the same size as the entire map of my first D-Mod, "Dink and the Bonca," with roughly the same length of gameplay.

As for the first actual dungeon, I have started on that today and have mapped as far as the "hub" room. The gimmick I have planned is to have 4 entirely different puzzles to solve to advance in the dungeon. As to what those 4 puzzles are, I have ideas for 2 of them, and I need to figure out exactly how to do one of them. I'll figure out the other 2 puzzles later.

I've introduced a new weapon with a concept I don't think has been done before. It ties in to my Paragon/Renegade Quest system. Initial tests of the weapon are good, but I forsee a specific complication in the near future, and I look forward to squashing that bug into pieces

I've come up with even more ideas for side quests and other stuff for the later areas of the D-Mod. Once I finish up my first dungeon, I get to start on a lot more mapping and scripting

Check my first post for other updates, stay tuned for more!

Very nice progress. It reminds me that I should probably get back to work on my DMOD too!

Looking forward to The Quest for Death! In the meantime I should probably play through Dink and the Bonca.

Please do! Dink and the Bonca got an update recently so it's even better than it was

I see you are using my improved scripts pack, hope you enjoy it and let me know if you ever notice anything wrong.

The couple scripts that I've used so far seem to work just fine, once I got them working. If I catch a bug related to them I'll let you know

I've also been using the scripts in my DMOD with no problems so far but it's good to have a second set of eyes.

Weekly Update #3

To be perfectly honest I've made little progress this last week. After I hit a creative block I started playing other things for a few days. Plus my laptop mouse crapped out on me and I only just replaced it today.

A friend helped me come up with a couple good ideas for the first dungeon and I've started mapping it out, but again, I hate mapping. And it's even worse for me figuring out a layout of this dungeon. It's not a terribly complicated puzzle, but I just suck horribly at creating dungeons. The dungeon is inspired by a classic RPG handheld game series, and so far I've got 50% of it mapped out.

I also ironed out a couple more bugs and polished a few more things on cutscene scripts and other quest related things. I added a simple Journal system to keep track on the progress of all of the main and side quests, and point you in the right direction if you get stuck or just haven't worked on that quest in a while. I also encountered my new weapon bug a little sooner that I thought I would, and the only solution I have at the moment is to forcibly disarm the weapon if it's equipped, so it doesn't screw up your stats. And right now it works, so I'm gonna leave it alone.

I will try my best to finish up this first dungeon and mostly polish off Area 1, and maybe get started mapping Area 2 by my next update.

Sounds interesting!

Have you tried my D-Mod "Three Amulets", or was it released just after you left? In that dmod I tried to do kind of Zelda-inspired dungeons puzzles and zeldaesque bosses.. It turned out ok, considering I knew nothing of programing and all the graphics were made in paint

I'm pretty sure it came out before I left, because I vaguely remember playing it back then. Don't really remember it now though, but I think it's on my list of D-mods to replay.

I'm horrible at dungeon making, especially the puzzles. The one I'm (sort of) working on right now is inspired by Pokémon, instead of the usual Zelda. It was the best idea that came up between me and a friend of mine. It won't be difficult to script, but I just need to go make myself do it. Haven't progressed as much as I'd like in the last week and a half

It's that time again! Weekly Update #4:

Progress has still been slow because of lack of motivation, but the last two days I started getting back into gear. Dungeon #1 is now complete, boss fight and everything! There are still some bugs I need to fix, but they're not game breaking so I'll do that later. Other than polish and detail, the game is now 30% done!!

In the meantime, I started mapping Area 2 of the D-Mod, the desert area! I have some big plans and good quest ideas that I'll finally get to work on. And because I've started to accept the fact that I have no life and no friends, I think progress on the D-Mod will start to go more smoothly and more consistently.

Something else I haven't mentioned yet, is that I'm going for more classic, Dinkish sounding music compared to DatB, and various MIDIs from other video games, remixed in a way that sound like they fit in Dink (made by other people, of course.) I'm trying to not use all those rock song MIDIs like I did in DatB, which were awesome, but didn't really fit Dink all too well. I have a lot of great music files and most of them won't even make it into the game, even though I'm already using nearly 20

I'm also considering changing the name of the D-Mod to something more catchy. "The Quest for Death" is just kind of bland.

Quick Game Info So Far:
Scripts: 153 and counting
Map tiles used: 248/768, nearly 1/3 of the entire map
Overall Completion: 30%
Currently bigger than Dink and the Bonca by over 70 scripts and more map tiles than I care to count.

I'm just as excited to see this thing finished as you are I'll continue posting updates on a weekly basis as well as smaller updates in the original post.

Very nice. Keep up the good work.

Friends are still a nice thing to have though...

Very interesting following the development of a DMOD by reading your weekly report. Not just the technical aspects but the reflection on the problems and difficulties faced by a developer, coping with everyday life while fitting in the work.The acknowledgement of help is a nice touch.
I have your projected finish date circled on my calendar and look forward to playing it.
Keep up the good work. What's the saying? "Slow and steady wins the race".

Oh and speaking of puzzles, one of the best IMO is the one in The Cast where I (ok Dink lol) had to open a screen lock. The 12 (I think) red and blue knights were lined up in two rows and because they chopped with their axes when hit, the problem was figuring out which one to hit first. The first one hit the next, he chopped and turned to the next. But often they hit empty air because the next one had moved out of range. I figured it out on paper, noting the directions which knights turned and whether they could be hit or not. The object was to get them all facing the right way. It took a couple of days. And I was so pleased when it worked out.
Not saying you need to copy that one. Maybe the idea is good though, to be the base for a similar puzzle you might create.

Mike

Yeah, that was a good puzzle. I always used a guide to do it because I'm too lazy to figure out something that complicated. As for me, my creativeness is quite limited, and I couldn't ever come up with an original puzzle as great as that one .

As for that calendar date, you probably should hold off on the excitement. For one thing, my laptop crapped out yesterday, so I can't work on the D-Mod right now, even if I wanted to. Second, I haven't even worked on it for 5 or 6 days because I hit a huge Motivation barrier. It's because the quality of my game sucks compared to all the great epics, and I just can't make a game of that quality on my own. I'm not that creative. The one puzzle I made already is pretty shootty. As proud as I am of what I've accomplished so far, it's just not as awesome as I would want my game to be. If my laptop starts working again, I might get a friend to work on this project with me to raise the quality of the D-Mod, so that it won't be as bland as my first D-Mod. So it can be more original, more creative, more unique. It just won't happen on my own.

And since I didn't actually do my weekly update, here it is.

Weekly Update #5:

Project is on hold.

See that's what I meant by 'life getting in the way'.
I think that the fact you make it back here to update is a kind of motivation. Not getting you far with the game's development but it's all part of the process.

I applaud anyone who can make these games.

My advice is not to worry too much about other's achievements in making great DMODS. Just do the best you can.

When I play I think...wow! that was a great problem to solve. Or I think of how I might have done it differently. Or that joke was so lame! Or OMG that grammar in the dialogue was so bad!Actually, I've found that bad grammar (and let's put the 'goblin speak' to one side) often means the message is lost because it's gone so fast).
Good luck with getting your PC up and running again.

So, my friend attempted to fix what was wrong with my laptop, and in doing so, he accidentally wiped it. The good news is I had a backup of my D-mod in Dropbox. The bad news is I have to completely rescript my dungeon. At least the backup is only a loss of about 2 days of work. But I don't intend to work on it for a while, I just need a break.

This project isn't dead just yet.

I've been doing some brainstorming the last two days, and I've come up with some more cool ideas for the D-Mod. The major one being a revamp of my first dungeon. I plan to remake it more how I first envisioned it. It will be slightly more complicated and hopefully less bland than it was originally. It was too simple the first time, so I guess it's a good thing I have to rescript the entire thing anyway. I may also include another gimmick to make it an even bigger rip-off of the game I took the idea from, but could potentially make the dungeon even better. I hope I won't have to remap too much.

Another idea I came up with was a mini-game type thing based off of a popular movie that came out last year and I only just saw like a week ago. It's an interesting idea that as far as I know hasn't been done yet, and if I can pull it off, will be really fun and challenging. But the downside is it will be a scripting nightmare. All the more fun for me! I'm not sure where I could put this into the D-mod, or if I'd even have room for it, as it would need to take up a decent portion of the map. If nothing else, it could be released as its own file. We'll see what happens.

And finally, an idea taken from a game I just beat a couple days ago, and many other games like it. Sneaking past guards. Sounds simple enough, right? Nah. My idea, in theory, is far more complicated than what has been done before in D-mods, because I want to do a lot more than just line of sight. I have a theory on how to make the script work, but most of my theories so far have been incorrect in some way, so making this idea work will be fun. This will probably be first featured as part of a side quest in Area 2, and depending on its success, might make it into a major quest for Area 3 or the final dungeon.

Now, you may be wondering whether I've actually started working on the D-mod again. The answer is yes, kind of. I've started on reworking my dungeon to incorporate more complexity, placing sprites and all that. Scripting will come later. As far as working on this full time again, we'll see. My motivation is still low, but at least I finally have some good ideas to work with again

Magicman and I talked about a way to do a LOS for enemies once. It was a very small discussion though. What other elements of stealth were you thinking of including?

I don't think you just try to do too much in one dmod. Otherwise you'll never finish it. (A problem I'm having with mine) Anyways, I do think it'd be pretty cool to have a stealth game. I just think that stealth elements would take up a lot of time to create.

"Sounds simple enough, right? Nah. My idea, in theory, is far more complicated than what has been done before in D-mods, because I want to do a lot more than just line of sight"

"I just think that stealth elements would take up a lot of time to create"

I've made an advanced stealth system for TDA, and it was tedius indeed. You have to sneak past the guards and hitting things will distract them and stuff, and you can creep up and stab them in the back... but man it was annoying fixing all the bugs. But it's now fully functional, and I've even improved on it a lot. So yes, a stealth system is time consuming to develop, but the pay off is worth it when you see it working, bug-free.
Looking forward to your Dmod!

My idea was of having to sneak past patrolling guards, meaning their line of sight is constantly changing. I'd like to incorporate hiding behind objects as well, but for that, I have absolutely no idea how to script it. Maybe you could help me out when I get around to that part of my game, Mr. Robj?

Edit: As for doing too much, so far I'm not doing enough. Right now, all I've really put major effort into is my Paragon/Renegade quest system, a sweet enchanted sword that compliments said quest system, and a pretty in depth quest journal. My quests so far aren't bad but could probably be refined considerably. What I have completed right now is pretty meh. So I need more cool shoot in the game

Do you guys borrow (steal) ideas from other DMOD authors? Maybe 'share' is a better word.
I can think of fireball as one idea that is in almost all DMODS.
I've seen some cool things lately. I am thinking of the Invisibility magic. While I am not suggesting you borrow that idea; in fact what you propose with your LOS and Dink being visible trying to sneak past the guards is a great move.

To take that a little further, I'd like to see Dink trying to get past a variety of objects in his way without knocking them over and alerting the guards to his presence (a penalty could be loss of 'life'. Knock too many things over and Dink COULD die - or have to fight the guard each time.)
I think I am just saying that some ideas bear reusing (shamelessly, but with maybe some attribution: thank the original scripter in the credits) in some situations in other games.

I borrow a lot of graphics from other D-Mods As for borrowing ideas, I use whatever I come up with, and sometimes it's something that was in another D-Mod. Fireball magic is just the standard spell, everyone likes using it. But in this project, the fireball won't be required in the D-mod to complete it, but you can get it pretty early, and it can be helpful. I remember I had the idea to try to incorporate a lightning magic or something which probably would be required for a later dungeon or something, I don't really remember. Knocking objects over? A cool idea. But I don't think I'd be capable of scripting such a thing.

I was reading until weekly update #5, which was small, so sorry if I mess up anything.

1. Do any of the puzzles involve blocks like LoZ?
2. If I could work on my dmod more, I wouldn't quite have to worry about daily life, except on Tuesday since I'm on the computer or TV about all day. Or when school starts, but that's half the day.
3. If you have no friends, what about us and le said friend helping you?
4. When did you leave?
5. What about Dink's Vengeance for the name, since he's trying to kill Luke?
6. So Mass Effect has Side quests like Skyrim and that's what your doing?

1.) My first dungeon features having to move certain things to solve the puzzle. It's a dungeon that's more inspired by Pokemon than Zelda.
2.) I didn't see a question in there. Just put in whatever time you can into making your D-mod and you'll get it done
3.) It was a joke. I do have friends, I just don't get chances to hang out with them very often.
4.) I don't understand exactly what your asking, or what I said that you're referencing.
5.) The current title of the D-mod relates to how the game is going to end. I'd need a name with a similar theme to fit the ending of the D-mod. And I won't say how it ends, because that would be a spoiler, and all the fun of the game would be ruined.
6.) Yes, Mass Effect is a very story driven game that features near countless places to explore and side missions you can do to help, or screw over, random people. Elder Scrolls is the same way. While I won't have endless side quests in my D-mod, there will be a good amount. Area 1 has a total of 4 side quests, all completely optional, and let you experience my twisted sense of humor or unlock new weapons/magic. As for the later 2 areas, I only have 3 or 4 ideas for side quests so far that I'm going to use, but I would like to have a minimum of 4 per area, if I can manage it.

I am going to respond to 6, to let you know.

So can you give us details about any of the quests and do any involve islands and meat{reference to the original game}? Also can there be one kind of endless quest that respawns so we can get gold?

A dungeon inspired by Pokemon? Let me guess, lots of enemies and an annoying guard who won't let you pass until you defeat a certain person?

The quests so far are pretty standard. One of them you can help a trader recover gold stolen by bandits, or keep the gold for yourself. Another lets you get that fancy sword I've been working on. I won't have repeating quests because if you could get a reward as many times as you want, that would break the game in some way and make it less fun. The D-mod is going to be challenging (I hope) so I don't want to make it too easy. You'll have to get gold the old fashioned way: Killing the hell out of everything. Though I will try to balance it so constant grinding for money won't be necessary. (There will be a good number of hidden goodies for gold and potions of course, so exploring everywhere will be beneficial )

@Kris, no. Not even close. While there will be a good number of enemies, I'm trying to focus it more on the puzzle(s). So basically the dungeon is a mix of Pokemon and Dink.

One question, can you keep spiders and maybe other bugs out of the dmod, I hate spiders?

I'll be using only the standard Dink enemies, plus a handful "borrowed" from other D-mods (scorpions, possibly something else.) Don't worry about spiders. You're looking at one of the biggest aracnaphobes out there.

One of the things I really hate about most RPGs is the giant spiders. The only thing I don't like about Skyrim.

Giant spiders are just so cliche`, man.

I think I have 11 enemies in my dmod. Only four of which are standard Dink enemies. Though I'm not sure they should be considered standard as they're all twisted and construed into something unique. While I'm on the subject of my dmod, I think I finally built the map I'm going to use for it(This one being the 7th map I've made for it).

For skyrim I can stand the spiders, killing them is key, they still are a little scary though, the only Dink spider so far I've seen is in forest of doom and one other though it's not much. What are the other 7 enemies Leprochaun.

Some from Legends Tale. I'm giving the Blonca some love. And a few others.

Giant Spiders are indeed cliche, and seriously, they look so ducking scary in Skyrim I have to look away and spam fireballs and hope I kill them. >.> There was also this one huge boss spider in World of Warcraft that the instant I saw it, I flew the other direction, and asked someone else to kill it for me.

And as for the enemies I'm using, I'm using mostly the original Dink enemies because I want this to feel like a Dink game. I don't want to use too many fancy graphics, though there are already a good amount. So far the only unique enemies I'm using are a scorpion, taken from SoB for my desert area, and the spiker, which was in the original files but not used. There's also a new graphics I "borrowed" for one of my bosses, which I will not say what it is, but it's an original sprite with a different coat of paint. I'm sure I'll find other new graphics I'll want to use for later areas of my game, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I don't necessarily use new graphics because they fit better. I mean they might, but that's not the whole point. I like using graphics other people have made because they've made them. It makes me feel like I'm giving the graphics a home, and a reason for the author/artist/creator to continue making things.

The ones from Legend's Tale aren't really *from* Legend's Tale SimonK made them for it, but because of my childish nature at the time I didn't realize how fortunate I was to get them and then not finish the dang d-mod

It's always fun to see different enemies in a d-mod I think everyone's gotten somewhat tired of pillbugs and slimes in various sizes

I' not yet sick of the original enemies, maybe after more years, and why didn't Seth use the spike thing?

Maybe he just didn't find a use for it. He also didn't use the graphics for Dink morphing into a duck, or the ones for Dink falling. He might have had plans to use them, but I believe he had a deadline and was rushing to finish it.

Yep, the goddang deadline! Hadn't it been for that, we would have seen so much more amazing stuff in the original game. Such as shame.

I think he started rushing right around Windermere. Everything moves along much faster around that time.

Maybe he could add the rest now, then upload it, I want to know whats with the Icelands and the meat and the frost castle and the wizard. I also want to know when lepochaun will give anyone his gold.

You can get to the frost castle.

Thank you for sending a development thread off-topic

Anyway, I'll try to finish redoing my dungeon this week. We'll see what happens.

It didn't get too off-topic.

Ah right, dungeons. Dungeons are so dreadful to design. I still have to figure out how I want to do mine. Or even how many I'll have to do.

I have the layout done and the puzzle sprites in place. I just need to actually script everything, as well as find an awesome riddle.

I don't look forward to designing the other two dungeons.

You could ask the guy who made cast initiation, he had good riddles, and some when you found out the answer you felt like an idiot. Also leprochaun, I have no problem getting to the ice castle, but I don't know what happens to the wizard after you talk to him, he just disappears.

He's a wizard. He does a magic trick.

it's kinda disappointing to go there then, except the gold heart.

The guy who made Cast Initiation was Redink1. He's not around anymore, so that wouldn't go anywhere. I was just gonna Google some good riddles.

If you google the riddles, now we know where to find the answers, then ask Sabre, hes a good Dmoder, though I'm not sure if hes a riddler.

You could Google the answer to any riddle. That'd take away the fun of it.

Only if it's a text based riddle. And text based riddles in games are kind of boring.

A text based riddle is one where the answer is in a certain text right? Also for me when I Google an answer it doesn't make it boring, cause usually it might not make much sense or if I Google it I get unrelated stuff or different answers.

it's kinda disappointing to go there then, except the gold heart.

If I'm not mistaken you can also go back to talk to him after you beat the game for some extra text. Then again, it might just be in the script but not actually work in the game.

Well, you can always check out his script then for some extra dialogue.

or I can just put in here....

if (&story > 14)
 {
  say_stop("`6Good job on winning.", &current_sprite);
  wait(250);
  say_stop("`6Bye.", &current_sprite);
  int &mcrap = create_sprite(&wherex, &wherey, 7, 167, 1);
  sp_seq(&mcrap, 167);
  playsound(24, 22052, 0, 0, 0);
  unfreeze(1);
  unfreeze(&current_sprite);
  &snowc = 1;
  sp_active(&current_sprite, 0);  
  return;
 }

hahaha, that's it? That's so pointless.

Hehehe, It's never pointless. =)

Yes, but you can only see that if you didn't visit him before, because otherwise he isn't there anymore.

so he's kind of just a pointless man in a pointless area?

Well, no real progress on this has been made in the last week and a half. A few days ago I modified a couple scripts that may or may not have taken care of a few small bugs. I still haven't gotten to work on finishing off my dungeon. Also, I came up with a few new ideas, the first being a side quest I can include probably in area 3 that may or may not feature a dinker or two, and will have a super awesome reward! Another idea is a slightly different version of the ending I had in mind, which will be an even better cliffhanger than before, and will be a much better set up for the ideas I have for part 3. Part 3 will feature an idea inspired by Mr. Tim Maurer, aka cocomonkey, which will feature a constantly evolving and changing environment, caused by a (Spoiler for The Quest for Death here.)

I start school next week, and thanks to Runescape's new skill, most of my free time will not be going into this, at least not for a few weeks. Unless I manage to get my good friend to help me work on it while we're both at school. I promise that as soon as said new skill in Runescape has been thoroughly destroyed be me, I will work on this once again. I really want this to come out this year, and I'll make sure it happens.

Well atleast your making a sequel to a cliffhanger ending which is good unlike some D-mods(Cough)CC2(Cough)

Dink and the Bonca didn't even end with much of a cliffhanger, even though back then I knew it was to be the first part of a trilogy. What I hope to do with this D-mod though is to make a really awesome cliffhanger that will make you all want to hunt me down and force me to work on part three 24/7 until it's done. Or if I can make something at least half that awesome I'll be okay with it.

If you do make a cliffhanger with tons of question we may just hunt you down.

What will be in the cliffhanger is TBD. Also, part three is probably going to be a smaller D-mod than this one is going to be. Since I'm putting a lot of effort into tQfD, all of my good ideas will be used up, so part three will probably be more focused, and an overall shorter game.

So kind of like an ultimate boss fight area? Also you could ask your friends for some ideas or put wolves in.

By shorter, I mean it'll be between 1 1/2-2 hours in length, and probably a lot more linear/less open world. Not an epic, but a good sized Quest. TQfD is going to be an estimated 3-4 hours in length with all the side quests. Thanks to cocomonkey I have the basic premise of part three down, and when I actually start to work on it, I'm sure ideas will spawn from that basic concept.

Ok then, keep us updated and maybe get beta testers.

Yeah, beta testers is definitely in my game plan, once the D-mod is nearly complete. I probably won't post an update until I do some real work on this again, which probably won't be for a while.

Why is That!?

I posted a update that wasn't an update 2 nights ago. Scroll up and read it.

ok, but you better hurry back into work.

So, I've been working on small bits and pieces of this again, and I've also come up with a new title that I hope will stick, as I'm not 100% on it yet. When I know for sure I might just make a new thread to avoid all the clutter. The new title still relates to how the D-mod ends, but it also gave me an idea that I will incorporate into other parts of the D-mod for a story arc/theme that appears throughout the entire D-mod. This way, there is more of a point to the entire journey of the D-mod rather than a collection of loosely connected quests and dialogue.

As for what progress I've made, I played through everything and fixed a couple bugs, added more dialogue, clarified a few journal entries, and worked on my first dungeon a little bit. I've hit a major block with one of the puzzle ideas, where, for one, my scripts don't work like I hoped so I need to come up with a new approach on how to get it working, and two, I need to fix being able to walk diagonally between the sprites. I might finally have my work cut out for me.

Release date is still aiming for 2013, but there's still a lot of work for me to do and I don't have a lot of time during the week to work on it. So, the release date will be tomorrow. I'll post an update again when I've made a good bit more progress.

I think the new title is a good idea. There are enough "Quests for" things as it is, don't you think?

I'm making a DMOD right now as well, so I really sympathize with your sprite hardness problems. It's a pain.

Anything that ends with "of Death" is rather unoriginal though.

"Death" relates to the overall story of the D-mod and the ending, which is why it has it in the title. As for my puzzle, I've figured out how to move the sprites around, one to two times. Now I need to figure out how to move them when they're next to hard sprites or you accidentally push them into other sprites without a game breaking bug. I have an idea on how to do it and hopefully it works, but it might mean having to make like 10-20 different scripts. Fun, fun, fun.

Why can't you just set the object to be unable to move through hardness?

Well I hope that the d-mod comes out, if I can download it I'll play it.

Why can't you just set the object to be unable to move through hardness?

Right now, that's exactly what I have the sprites set to. But one problem I've encountered so far is that if you push the sprite into another sprite when they're already next to each other, it causes a bug where Dink can't move. And if I remove the freeze/unfreeze commands, a quick player could potentially break the puzzle and zoom around the moving rock or something and either trap themselves or skip the most of puzzle entirely. So it's a matter of finding the right commands for the script to work while still having the puzzle intact. I might have to try experiment with different ways of having the sprites move to get this to work the way I want it to. (I'm not a good programmer.) I'll figure this out in good time. And if I continue to struggle with it I can just come back to it at a later time and start working on the next area.

@Dack, this will be released eventually, but I still have over 2/3 of the game left to make.

when they're already next to each other, it causes a bug where Dink can't move.

Use move and a sufficiently lengthy wait command (however long it takes for the stone to move. Wait(250)?) instead of move_stop. That way the script won't hang if the stone hits something.

If it took a couple of months to make 1/3, it better be a good D-mod that will make we want to play again, but not because it's so darn long that I don't want to do it all over again.

Didn't even think of that, thanks Scratcher. Guess I shouldn't take 2 months off of scripting.

It took me 4 weeks to make 1/3 of the D-mod. Then I got burnt out on motivation and I haven't really worked on it the last 2 months.

C'mon Dack, don't be so demanding. It takes a lot of time to do this stuff right. Be glad anybody's working on mods for a 16-year-old game with nothing but their own desire to motivate them.

I mean, yes, we hope a given DMOD will be good, but you shouldn't expect anything based on how long it took to make. There aren't any deadlines here.

Be glad anybody's working on mods for a 16-year-old game with nothing but their own desire to motivate them.

I've found that the more people talk about their mods, the more I feel like working on mine. Which I hadn't touched for like a month, but then you posted a thread, and dinkkiller bumped his and I just instantaneously got motivated.

There aren't any deadlines here.

Thank god or I'd be way overdue (again).

What about the contests, those are kind of deadlines, and I just thought it took a while to make a portion thus it better be an epic or some perfect quest, I could work dmods when I come home from school if the problem didn't get worse with scripts.

The contests rarely happen, and when they do, few participate in them. The length of my D-mod will be an epic, as the first third of the game, what I've completed so far, is over an hour of gameplay in total, (though much less if you don't do any side quests.) I'm trying to avoid as much needless running around as possible, though unavoidable with the side quests really. Hopefully I can come up with a way to make the main quests longer in later parts of the game. I have a long break at school today so I'll probably do a lot more work on this while I'm there. I'd like to solve all the remaining issues with my puzzle in the next few days.

Your DMOD sounds really cool, DK. Can I call you DK? Because that is really fun to do.

Donkey Kong?

Donkey Kong is a Dinker, sweet.

Also I just hope that the main quest is at least a quest size at least, though I always try to do as many side-quests as possible. Also can some Side Quests cancel another out, like a moral path?

If it's an epic the main quest is probably pretty dang long.

Well I'm just saying if it's only an epic when you do some side quests then I don't care as long as it is fun, or at least better then ABC and most of the other horrible d-mods put together.

DK's finally back to kick some tail.

The main quest line as it stands, what I have planned out in my head, will be an hour and a half long maybe, so that will be quest sized. I don't want pointless running around just to artificially increase playtime, because that's never fun. I don't have all the side quests for the other two areas planned out yet, so quests that cancel each other out in some way might be possible if I come up with a good idea. Or I might do something like if you go paragon, you get a good version of a side quest, and if you go renegade, you get a darker, more evil quest. I have something like this already, where your actions during certain quests changes the world in some way, and may make the end game/final boss easier/harder, depending on what you do. But I'll figure more stuff out as I progress into the other two areas.

As for another minor progress update, I have scripts for my puzzle mostly functioning. I still have a couple more bugs to work out, but the core of the puzzle works...ish. Once I get the last couple problems worked out, all I have to do is re-script the first boss and then I can once again start working on the desert area, where I have to re-borrow a couple sprites and scripts for enemies and stuff.

Also, it's fine to abbreviate my name DK, as long as you acknowledge that I am not a giant ape that throws barrels. Otherwise, Dink won't be the only one to be killed

If you wanted to lengthen the main quest line, you could just add more depth into the characters and story. Who needs more running around when you can have more dialogue?

I don't want pointless running around just to artificially increase playtime, because that's never fun.

Yes, yes, yes. Thank you. As somebody who just played the first 54 DMODs ever made in a row, this statement is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

I don't want pointless running around just to artificially increase playtime, because that's never fun.

But that's the entire fun of Moon Child. (Speaking of which, I should probably rewrite the story of that.) I mean c'mon, there's practically something interactive on every screen. It's kinda like Dry except slightly more coherent and less funny.

There is already a good amount of dialogue. I go a little too in depth in some cases, but I try to fully explain stuff as best as I can. I always hate having to run around aimlessly for quests in games, so that's why I'm trying to avoid doing it. And I have a thing planned where if you want to try to go back to a different area to do side quests you skipped or something, you can unlock a portal system to teleport between major towns. I didn't really care for Moon Child. Sorry

Haha no worries, man. To be honest I don't even have it on my computer anymore. That dmod is just a giant pointless joke.

I don't want pointless running around just to artificially increase playtime, because that's never fun.

Man, have I been on the wrong track all that time?

Also, when I think of an alternative title for 'The Quest for Death' it would be 'Trying to die'.

World changes depending on actions I take? That certainly gave you a lot more scripting to deal with. It also means that the dmod will be good for playing it twice.

PS
I wanna change my name back to 'Tooth'. To many of us coco's around here.

Also, when I think of an alternative title for 'The Quest for Death' it would be 'Trying to die'.

Yes! This D-Mod needs to be renamed into "Dink Smallwood tries to die".

That would be so funny.

It wouldn't fit the story of the D-mod, nor my interpretation of Dink's personality.

"Death" in this case is referring to the Grim Reaper then?

Or the Sword Goddess? Also would killing random npcs be implemented to add evil, like in Fable?

I will not spoil why the title is important to the D-mod. Just wait and play the game when I release it. I might eventually add being able to kill certain NPC's to add to renegade or something. The problem will be coming up with a way to do a similar thing to help with paragon so that it balances out the special sword I created with the quest system. I wouldn't want one version of the sword to be more overpowered than the other.

"Death" in this case is referring to the Grim Reaper then?

"Dink Smallwood & The Palaver With Death"?

"Dink Smallwood plays strip poker with Death and his women"?

I wouldn't want one version of the sword to be more overpowered than the other.

I wouldn't worry about it. If there are several paths you can take, and you're not playing against each other, there is no need for all paths to be equally hard. There are many games which allow you to choose your starting character, and that choice totally influences how hard it is to beat the game. But that's ok; many people will want to beat it (at least) once with each character then.

I wouldn't really care for one side to be better then the other, maybe evil has stronger more demonic weapons while good has some kind of spells.

Well, the current plan right now is that once you get enough paragon/renegade, the sword "levels up" to another tier, where it gets more powerful, and each tiers buffs stack, so that by the end of the game, the sword will be more powerful than any other sword by far. (This is why I had an issue with the sword's script a while back.) The sword will already be ridiculous and as far as I'm concerned, it's already fairly balanced. Each version of the sword will promote different play styles. I may dumb down the stats a little bit when I'm close to finishing the game if it's just game breakingly overpowered, which would ruin the fun.

Also, this sword is optional. You get it from a side quest in the first area which I intentionally made difficult. Though I might ramp up the difficulty a little more so that I encourage the player to go back for it after they get to the second area, using those portals I'm working on, instead of being able to easily get it while still in the first area.

Y'know, though I've never played Mass Effect (that's where this system comes from, right?) my problem with the paragon/renegade thing has always been how binary it is. Moral choice in games seems to be really binary in general. You've got to be good all the time or bad all the time or you're not going to get anything good.

Of course, I'm speaking of games in general. For a DMOD, this is already pretty complicated stuff as it is.

One thing I liked about Dink Smallwood is how it didn't matter whether you alternated being a hero and a jerk, but then, consequences are probably good to have (that was a deliberate understatement).

Mass Effect is an absoultely fantastic series of games, and yeah that's where my quest system is inspired from. Mass Effect actually has a mostly neutral path as well, but for me that'd be a little difficult to pull off. It's hard to be neutral when your choices are to save a town or let it die.

Mass Effect actually did the morality thing well. The paragon/renegade scores are separate, so being nice doesn't just overwrite the fact you walked all over people in the past. I remember having both high paragon scores AND high renegade scores at the end of the game(s), for pretty much playing how I felt like. I think that's the best way to play the game, too, because the paragon and renegade scores don't necessarily apply in the same situations; sometimes being a douche is the way to go, and sometimes you can solve situations by being nice. Just having a high score in either stat doesn't always work. (In Mass Effect, that still works probably a bit too often, but the idea is good.)

Also, it wasn't a good/evil scale, but more of a mediator/bully thing. Technically you're still a good guy saving the universe. It worked in the context of that game, but in an RPG where you can randomly murder townspeople and such, a traditional good/evil scale might make more sense.

For the love of Dink, please play Mass Effect.

@DK, what about telling some guards about the town, wouldn't that be neutral, or saving half the people?

Also I have one more question, if you choose bad, then will monsters and goblins [possibly Tal if hes not hungry] not attack you or will they still try to murder you to death.

That's not a bad idea acutally, I wouldn't have thought of that. But then I have to do even more work and I'm lazy as hell. Plus I don't feel a neutral route would be necessary, and it'd probably end up being pretty boring. And just like in Mass Effect, even if you go the "evil" route, you're still the good guy trying to stop the bad guy from winning, so enemies will still attack you.

It makes sense, when you explain it like that.

I strongly doubt I'll ever play Mass Effect. I'm just nightmarishly awful at... at any sort of "modern" game. The only new games I play are all in some kind of gameplay style that was more prevalent before 2000.

Even Portal 2 was too much for me. The game industry left me behind ages ago - the PC probably in 1998, consoles not until the mid-2000s.

You don't have to be good at games to experience them. You can adjust the difficulty in most games and Mass Effect features, IIRC, the option to focus more on the story and RPG elements while making combat faster and easier.

even if you go the "evil" route, you're still the good guy trying to stop the bad guy from winning

@DK
Sure. But make sure you want to defeat the bad guy for your own selfish reasons. Or at least something like 'the end justify the means' philosophy. Playing as good antihero is just...

What about a way to join him and kill the new only hero left way?

Also to quote something from TV "Why not both?", [now is when we celebrate.]

Nah. There can be only one!

Why not both?

It's hard to be neutral when your choices are to save a town or let it die.

Neutral alignment isn't like being neutral in war (although that sort of neutral makes you a pacifist; it's easy to know what to do in that case). It's tricky sort of thing, where the character believes there should be balance between good and evil. So what he does depends on which side he thinks is stronger in the world. He'll always help the weaker side, so as to support the balance.

I'm not saying you have to implement a neutral quest, just pointing out that it is well possible to fit that personality in any situation and have him make decisions based on his alignment.

I played a True Neutral character in a D&D campaign once. That was fun.

Neutrality can be fun, if the path lets it.

progress