The Dink Network

a work in progress: "All that GLITTERS"

December 12th 2017, 04:14 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
I've been working on a new dmod for a few months now. As the title suggests, it is a tale of great wealth. It also includes a few great deeds of heroism and a generally good time in Dink game play. Further, it is also a tale of right versus wrong and good versus evil in (what I hope) are some surprising ways to tell that sort of story.

I've included a few new (well, I think they are relatively new for Dink) ideas in scripting and game play.

I'm about 15% to 20% done with the development effort, with about 60 scripts and 20% of the screens done. If things go smoothly, I may have a release ready before the middle of next year.

Though I've already outlined the basic plot, much of the dialogue as well as a good portion of the design; I'm open to any making use of the ideas of others that seem particularly worthy to me. Other elements that are well under way include the bulk of custom (done by me) and found (from the internet) graphics and sound. Based on what you saw of my work in [THE LAST QUEST (part 1): The Oraculum] and [THE LAST QUEST (part 2): The Iron Ring of Destiny] please feel free to offer some suggestions of what kind of things might you like to see more (or less) of.

In related news, I heard a rumor that someone else was working on a sequel to another dink module , but I'll let him make that announcement when he is ready .

December 13th 2017, 05:47 AM
wizardb.gif
Bluedy
Peasant He/Him Romania bloop rumble
I like Frutti Fresh 
Sounds cool!
December 16th 2017, 11:24 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Well, doesn't anyone have any preferences or suggestions?

Oh well, if not, I'll just "press on" as planned.

December 16th 2017, 11:37 AM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
ponies.
December 16th 2017, 12:17 PM
wizardb.gif
Bluedy
Peasant He/Him Romania bloop rumble
I like Frutti Fresh 
I think we just need some more info on the game after you've done some progress and maybe even some screenshots
December 16th 2017, 06:34 PM
duck.gif
Toof
Peasant He/Him
I disagree. 
There is a funny little mod with the same name for age of empires 2. Is this one somehow related?
Edit:
Suggestions...? Id like to see james bond cameo (medieval style) losing at backarrat, with some funny dialog.
December 17th 2017, 10:59 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
The "All that GLITTERS" dmod I am working on has nothing to do with Age of Empires. I know next to nothing about that game or even that it somehow allows for "mods".

I'm not sure how I could fit the idea of a "james bond cameo (medieval style) losing at backarrat" into a story (ostensibly) about a hunt for treasure, but I assure you that (in general) I'm working on including lots of funny dialogue.

But, I'll think about it. Hmmmm. Maybe...


December 17th 2017, 11:00 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Is that a serious suggestion? Or are you just trying to make a joke?

It's hard to tell because, after all, Dink Smallwood is hardly serious all the time anyway.
December 17th 2017, 11:22 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
I barely believe it myself, but I think I just came up with a way to include both "my little ponies" and a casino.

RPG life is full of surprises and RL(Real Life) even more so.

December 17th 2017, 11:27 AM
anon.gif
toof
Ghost They/Them
 
Yeah, it is serious suggestion .
I cannot possibly know what is that you plan with the story, but...

I'm not sure how I could fit the idea of a "james bond cameo (medieval style) losing at backarrat" into a story
The name of the mod is "All that Glitters", so I'm guessing it's about a secret treasure. Money can give you power, power can be abused, evil people are real, and someone has to stop them. Martridge senses that someone evil will try to find the treasure, so he sends Dink to prevent him. King Daniel, on the other hand, sends a member of his own super-secret organisation, which name is, naturally, known throughout the kingdom as the Omnipresent Order, hence the 00 naming convention. It just happens that they decide to send their member who got number seven as his locker number, for storing his weapons.
December 17th 2017, 12:00 PM
anon.gif
toof
Ghost They/Them
 
Oh, and he is also the most lucky, least competent spy, and you have to steal some of his documents that contain information on the bad guy. And then Dink finds out that he is supposed to send the documents to his order, but he forgot how to encrypt the message, so he will have to attend the Annual secret system of encryption seminar, or in short, Asses.
December 18th 2017, 09:50 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
What an amusing story toof! I hope you will be making a dmod for us some day.

Regarding the inclusion of some of these elements into "All that GLITTERS": Well, at this point I'll proceed with the main plot I've developed thus far. But I may surprise myself again. Heck, I *did* include a casino, so maybe later I'll incorporate some of the elements of your tale into mine.
December 18th 2017, 11:14 AM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
ponies.
December 18th 2017, 07:46 PM
anon.gif
toof
Ghost They/Them
 
Well, at this point I'll proceed with the main plot I've developed thus far

No obligations. I was just trying to put an example to assist some possibly unrelated ideas to go in motion.The creativity is at its best when it has freedom.

ponies
Midget horses
December 19th 2017, 01:55 PM
burntree.gif
Striker
Noble She/Her United States
Daniel, there are clowns. 
I had a friend who believed ponies were just baby horses. It wasn't until he was 29 that he discovered otherwise.
December 24th 2017, 08:05 AM
duckdie.gif
liquid141
Peasant They/Them
Sons of liberty 
Oh god avoid adding anything related to ponies . However i have been playing a lot of simulators recently was wondering if anything can be added to dink based on that...hmm maybe i am saying it wrong...

have you played this game called stardew valley http://store.steampowered.com/app/413150/ i was simply thinking this can easily be a dink smallwood game or have a lot of ideas from it.
December 24th 2017, 11:51 AM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
add ponies.
December 26th 2017, 10:42 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
See [December 17th, 11:22] entry from me above.

Note that just because I included ponies does not mean that they would be included in the same way that others might include them.

January 10th 2018, 09:43 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
So, progress continues... with "All that GLITTERS".

As per the request of SlipDink fans (well, Dink fans anyway), I have included
some urls to a few images from the game thus far, along with some matching
dialogue. I look forward to your comments.

WhatAmIThinking
Early in his adventure, Dink begins to doubt his resolve.

WhereIsTheRiver.png
Arriving in a wondrous new land as a passenger on a familiar ship,
Dink notes that the treasure map he was sold does not seem
to be as accurate as he had hoped.

ScenicGardens.png
On his way to the capital of this new land, Dink enjoys local horticulture.

DinkIsDissolvedInTheMagicOfLapisTenebris.png
In conversation with a mage, Dink learns that the (now deceased) great
grandfather of this magician gave, "us forms of magical protection still used
today." Intrigued, Dink asks, "What kinds of magical protection still used
today are we talking about?". Replying, the magician tells him, "Try attacking
one of our shop merchants and you might find out."

Later, Dink tries attacking someone in their shop and then this (see the image
link above) happened to him.

DinksBirthCertificate.png
Dink makes some new friends, and shows them his birth certificate (that Dink
carries with him at all times?!). One of his new friends asks, "I find myself
wondering, how is it that your society could be advanced enough to have birth
certificates but is still so primitive such that you need scribes to write
upon official documents for you?".

Dink replies with, "Well, I can tell you that literacy is a spotty and
imperfect thing throughout King Daniel's domain. <Sigh...> Other than that,
let's just say some questions about our universe are best left unasked."

KnowYeTheFaceOfOhGone.png
While in this distant land (that a treasure map has lead him to) Dink becomes a
guest of the mayor of the capital city and eventually decides to get some much
needed rest in his guest quarters. But as he sleeps, he dreams of a face
meeting his gaze from a wall of Stone! Dink trembles as the face speaks,
shouting these words ---> "IF YOU ARE TRULY THE SON OF MUD
THEN I BEGIN BY ASKING THIS QUESTION ...
KNOW YE THE FACE OF *OHGONE*? HEAR THE DIVINE VOICE
SPEAKING FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE RIVER OF MUD!".
January 10th 2018, 06:01 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
where da ponnies
January 11th 2018, 09:21 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
There will be a "my-little-pony", I promise. Code and imagery for it is already part of the dmod. I admit it is only a sideshow to the real plot, but I had fun adding it anyway.

It will be a surprise. No advance showings will be made for this element. That way the excitement will continue to build.
January 11th 2018, 02:09 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
plot
January 13th 2018, 03:58 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
What?
January 13th 2018, 08:36 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
January 14th 2018, 03:44 PM
custom_marpro.png
Marpro
Peasant He/Him bloop
 
Impressive screenshots, SlipDink!
January 15th 2018, 08:56 PM
anon.gif
toof
Ghost They/Them
 
What exactly do you mean by new ideas in gameplay? Can we get a glimpse of that?
January 16th 2018, 09:11 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@Marpro (regarding screenshots): Thank you for your kind words. I hope you enjoy the game too.

@toof (regarding new ideas in gameplay): First, let me say that for much of the dmod, I borrow generously from other dmods and the Dev section of the Dink Network. Aside from that though, I think that I have added one or two ideas that are (at least a little) unique in dmod history. I don't want to give away too much, but the short answers would be... (1) an intelligent weapon that Dink must contend with, (2) moral questions of a significant nature (dealt with in the superficial manner that role playing games really require) and (3) the realization that being in a dangerous location at night will require special precautions and some careful planning.
January 16th 2018, 01:35 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
scary nighttime!
January 17th 2018, 12:09 PM
duck.gif
Toof
Peasant He/Him
I disagree. 
An intelligent weapon sounds hilarious (similar to GREEN VOICE). Especially if you make it allergic to blood . Moral choices are always a big + in my opinion. Maybe you can spice it up a bit, although I don't know how exactly are you gonna implement that. But let say, if you keep a score based on your actions (so it goes + for heroic, or negative for villainous behavior), if it is above zero you get bonus defense stats, while if it is below, you get attack bonus. Magic bonus for how many points you are away from zero...
January 17th 2018, 06:11 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
I really enjoyed the GREEN VOICE too!

Those are certainly some great ideas, though much of them don't fit the story arc as I am developing it. I'll give some serious thought to see what I can do to change the effect of good and evil actions throughout this dmod though, since I like your ideas. On the other hand, I may save that kind of approach for another dmod.

Thanks very much for your input.
January 17th 2018, 09:21 PM
anon.gif
Toof
Ghost They/Them
 
what I can do to change the effect of good and evil actions

Hey, I'm not demanding anything , far from it. That would be just my lazy a** solution if I were making a dmod. If the good/bad choices would affect the gameplay and interaction with NPC, that would mean that every script would be at least twice as large, which could get very confusing, very quickly.

But doing it my way, I would just state that those actions would affect the gameplay, an in some minor way they would. So, the forum members expectations are high, but then, when they actually play my dmod, they get what was promised to them, although not in a way they were hoping for... Hence, when they write a review for it, as honest souls as they are, they won't have a heart to lower the score of the DMOD as much as it deserves to be lowered, because I didn't technically lie to them. That way, I get the best (optimum) score for my dmod, that actually doesn't deserve that much. It's all about the ratings.

God, I am horrible person, but you created me that way, so now, live with it.
January 21st 2018, 11:20 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
You were right in that I was not planning to make every script "at least twice as large" to accommodate the idea of a running score of moral choices and their impact on game play. I'm focusing more on the story itself.

On the other hand, it should become apparent to the player early on that there are a few key moral dimensions to some of the player decisions, and all of those decisions have substantial consequences. In fact, I would not be surprised to learn that players play through one way and then "go back" to an earlier saved game in order to profit from learning about the consequences of a decision.

Anyway, it is not as if I'm attempting to impart a serious ethical lesson. I'm just trying to add an interesting aspect to the game play that takes advantage of the fact that moral decisions are often complex in their consequences and that life is full of surprises.

Oh, and of course, I hope members of the DN enjoy it.

Thanks very much for your comments on the game!
February 2nd 2018, 09:37 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
So, I'm up to 160 scripts and about 50% of the screens that I plan to use are complete.

I was wondering about making the dmod too hard for some to complete. I have added some dangerous elements, borrowing liberally from the DN and spicing it up with a few ideas and variations of my own. Also, I've constructed things such that making the right key moral decision can make a significant difference in game difficulty and how well informed the player is to meet game challenges.

Can I get some feedback on how many people who visit this website completed these and how difficult or easy they thought they were? I figured they were both pretty easy since I distributed walk-through instructions with both, but castman in particular had a lot of criticism that he offered (in his review). Some aspects of the game might be worse in this "All that GLITTERS" dmod, just because of who I am. But I am hoping to make many aspects of this 3rd dmod more enjoyable for all than my first two dmods.

The Last Quest Part 1: The Oraculum
THE LAST QUEST (part 2): The Iron Ring of Destiny
February 24th 2018, 11:12 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@liquid141:

Hmmm, based on your interest in StarDew Valley, it occurs to me that there was a Dink Smallwood game I downloaded form the DN and enjoyed that included a new romance and growing vegetables in a garden, moving in with a new lady, etc. It had a some nice mapping in it and an interesting plot. I'm embarrassed to say that I cannot recall the title of it at the moment, but I seem to recall it was entered for some kind of competition here at the DN.

Maybe someone else on the DN can think of the dmod title I'm thinking of. :-}

Anyway, you might enjoy that (if you have not done so already).
February 24th 2018, 11:20 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Now, I've just about reached 200 scripts and am in the process of adding assorted "points of interest" along the path of the quest. I will soon be populating the place with a lot more monsters.

I'm also having a good deal of fun making interesting scripts that should add to the depth of play.

The next thing I have planned is an period of intense testing (on my own). But the beta release may be as early as end of April and possibly even before April.

Anyway, I am still interested in how many players finished either or both of my first two dmods, listed below.

The Last Quest Part 1: The Oraculum
THE LAST QUEST (part 2): The Iron Ring of Destiny
February 24th 2018, 02:41 PM
death.gif
RangerLord
Peasant He/Him Hungary bloop
The nation above all 
The D-Mod you were referring to is called The River. Also, I played and finished both of your D-Mods .
February 24th 2018, 04:35 PM
wizardb.gif
Bluedy
Peasant He/Him Romania bloop rumble
I like Frutti Fresh 
I have your dmods installed but didnt get to play em yet.
February 25th 2018, 10:36 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@Bluedy:

Hurry! There is still time!

February 25th 2018, 10:38 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@RangerLord (and the rest of the DN)

Yes, that's the one I was referring to, "The River". Very good.

BTW, thanks for they update on your progress in my two dmods. Anyone else finish them?

February 25th 2018, 11:17 AM
wizardb.gif
Bluedy
Peasant He/Him Romania bloop rumble
I like Frutti Fresh 
@Slipdink

Its actually a shame cuz I got sick and stayed home the whole week. Coulda done something on that dmod. But, I still got free time, so duck it, ill try to shit some progress in the following days.
February 25th 2018, 07:26 PM
anon.gif
Toof
Ghost They/Them
 
I did play The Oraculum way back. But I crashed my PC, so I've never really finished it. I'm in a mood for a dmod now, sooo....
February 26th 2018, 08:54 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Did you play an early version of "THE LAST QUEST (part 1): The Oraculum" on Dink HD? For various reasons, I tend to only test on Dink version v1.08.

However, I think I fixed something that caused crashes in Dink HD and that fix should be in the current release (1.3a).

If not, then please give me some answers to the below questions and I will try to fix it. OR, try my latest release (1.3a) under v1.08 of the dink executable file.

1) What version of "THE LAST QUEST (part 1): The Oraculum" you were playing.
2) What screen Dink was on when the crash occurred.
3) What Dink was doing when the crash occurred.
4) What version of the dink executable file you were using.

BTW, many on the DN have pointed out that v1.08 is the most stable version.

February 27th 2019, 01:29 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
After I release my "Before..." dmod (currently in late stages of development) I plan to work on a 2.0 version of "All that GLITTERS" so that it will be more playable and get rated better than the current 6.7 score.
March 16th 2019, 12:56 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Today I'm uploading version 2.0 of "All that Glitters!". Several changes were made to make the game more playable and (it is hoped) more fun.

Once redink1 puts it online, I'm hoping someone will give it a better rating than 6.7!