-CORIC
For all those fans of the Dark Sun world, these pieces of art should do nicely. Along with an older up-load (sorry, I forget the artist's name) these pics should round out this AD&D alternative world. The pics are all high quality, and done in moody blacks, blues, and earth tones, perfectly reflect the harsh environment of Dark Sun.
The combat icons, in particular, are very well done. Included are a buzzard, huge frog, scorpion, and more. Ermeac Red has consistantly shown himself to be a leading artist of combat icons (check out the assorted c-icons selection) and these are no exception. The pics have been cropped right - there is no overhang or gaps. In short, this is a necessary addition to any UA collection. Now, about those Dragon-lance and Ravenloft pics....
Combat Icons: A+
Big Pics: A
Distinctness (not blurry): B+
Overall: A-
- CORIC
As a long-time fan of AD&D (both paper and computer versions), I had eagerly awaited the introduction of UA. I was one of the first people to pull it from the shelves, and yes, I created a mod. for the contest (not in time, though). Since then, I have been hard at work on two other modules. And since then, I have seen the modules radically change. The first modules that came out were rushed jobs, lacking art (there wasn't much of an art base to choose from) and originality. But they came out fast, real fast.
Months passed, the authors maturing. They learned the tricks and secrets to make the code as tight as possible, stopped rushing and focussed on play-testing, and created deeper, more involved plots. The art folder blossomed with well-done pics and icons, which we, the authors, greedily grabbed up. Now, about a year since its release, some people are beginning to fortell the death of UA. They argue that there ain't many mods. being posted, that SSI has forsaken us.
I am here to tell them otherwise. UA is far from dead - so long as there are people out there, like me, who love AD&D and creating things that others can enjoy, it will continue to thrive. Yes, the mods. trickled off for a while, but they're coming back full-force. As we mature, our mods grow in scope and size, requiring more and more time to produce. I know that I have been working on a mod. since December that I planned on having U'led by the end of February. Obviously, I have not finished it. The mod. grew on me - I was drawn into the world that I created. I had unleashed a monster; I could not stop. The history of my world, Alancia boomed into an epic. The plot grew convulted (and yes, even confusing) and my art files burgeoned (about 140 items now).
In short, the UA world is not dying. It is merely growing (like my mod) into something grander. And yes, SSI may have given up on us, the hopless would-be hackers that don't want to go buy Dungeon Hack (ick). But other rogue programmers have come up with upgrades: expect to see an item editor, wall editor, module translator, and sound editor in the next few months. The horizon is looking bright, so keep on writing - and playing!
- CORIC
So, what DOES make a module good? Having played many RPG's, both UA and commerical, I have come up with my own theory. A good game has to have things:
Now, for an explaination:
A game needs (1) for a simple, single reason: without an engaging plot the player is bored. A module should provide a unique and new experience that can be found no where else. A gamer can only play so many "save the world from a bad evil by finding an ancient artifact" modules before he looses intererest. It is the designer's job to find out what a player wants: usually, it can be found in his own heart. He has to ask himself: "If I was playing this mod., what would I want for a plot?"
A good game also needs (2) for the same reason. A player will not stand for a mod. that is riddled with bugs, typos, and, of course, the dreaded 'lock-up' (e.g. forgetting that last transfer module, that teleporter, the password to the thieve's den). I have played too many modules that start off with a good idea, then die a quick death from bugs.
(3) is just something I like. I expect to see something new; yes, my imagination is good, but you can only strech that kobold into a gold dragon for so long before the mind snaps. It's simple: to keep things interesting, a mod. has to have some sort of hook. If the graphics are the standard, I've-seen-em-a-thousand-times fare, well, there isn't that much to look forward to. Again, it is that anticipation of the unkown: players love to wonder what that last monster will look like, who that evil mage is, etc. And if that monster turns out to be, say, a red dragon, there is something lost.
"A red dragon?" the player asks. "I've seen this a thousand times, who cares?"
(4) too much combat kills a mod. quicker than anything else. The UA engine was not designed for the quick and dirty combat that random c. requires. Even the simplest battles drag on, and on. This is fun for the set encounters, but when confronted by 12 guards every ten steps, the player looses interest fast. The story may be good, but if he has to fight through all those guards every ten steps, it isn't worth it. Try to space out combats, and make sure that they are not too difficult. Delayed-blast fireballs are a quick way to end a mods. hd life...
(5) Maps are a necessity. And if these maps have flaws, the sense of suspended reality that the designer is striving for is lost. Think: do walls in real life have only one side? When I turn a corner, does the wall turn into a line (looks like | )? Do wooden-fire places belong in a stone-room? The answer to all these questions is a resounding 'no!"
Always design corners square -
_______ | ______ | |_| __ |____|__|
and NEVER mix walls sets in one room unless they go together (the two tree sets, two stone-walls, etc.) Never loose the fantasy!
(6) even if a plot is good, if the rest of the execution is poor, the player will not stick around to see the outcome. Starting off with a grand, epic plot, then dropping the pc into a world that is designed only to challenge him with combats and puzzles until he reaches the main goal is not fun! Make the plot fit the world, not the other way around. Keep the player interested with side quests, humorous interludes, fun explorations, etc. Be sure to keep the plot consistent - this is not a video-game! If you want the party to find the sage, then make sure that everything relates to that. Dropping them onto an island ruled by the minotaurs may be a cool idea, but if it does not add to the main plot, drop it (or turn it into a different module later).
The general rule of thumb is simple: If you enjoy playing the module (again, play-testing is key), then we here on AOL will too. Until next time,
-CORIC
The translator works on the assumption that while the .dat files will work from platform to platform, the art files will not. My assumption as to why the .dat files do (though I have not tested this yet) is that the .dat files are written as a string of bytes, while the art files have imbedded integers and short integers in them.
The reason this causes problems is that not all processor types represent datatypes the same way. Bytes are almost always the same (8 bits, left to right, least significant bit on the right.) However, integers and short integers rarely are. Some machines use 16 bit integers, some use 32 bit integers. The Cray supercomputer uses a 64 bit integer. In addition, some architectures swap the bytes within the type, so while the Motorola 680X0 family uses 32 bit integers, and the bytes are arranged most significant byte first (the Mac uses the Motorola line), the PC long integers (32 bits) order them least significant byte first. So, for the two architectures, the number 2, expressed as an int (4 bytes) would look like this on the two machines:
byte: 1 2 3 4 Motorola: 0 0 0 2 Intel: 2 0 0 0So, you see the problem. If the Mac attempts to read the integer 2 that was written on the PC an int, it will interpret it as 16,777,218, not as 2. And, if it's part of a loop, or intended as a counter in a for loop to set a number of bytes to zero... you get the idea.
Anyway, my reasoning was, if the reason it couldn't read the art files was because of such byte translations, all I had to do was swap the bytes in the art files in the appropriate places, and viola! translation.
To use the translator, you would copy down the files, unpack the archive into the .dsn directory under your frua directory, and then run the translator on that module. The translator would pick out the art files (leaving all of the other files alone), create the corrosponding art file for your specific machine, and remove the non-useful art files. Pretty straight forward: I'd get my 15 minutes of limited fame, people would be able to play a wider variety of modules, and all would be right with the world.
(You might ask why the programmer didn't write the data files out as bytes instead of using other datatypes as well. I can only guess. Maybe he/she didn't know there'd be more than one architecture the game would be ported to. Maybe they didn't think Mac and PC people would share modules. Maybe there was more than one person working on it. It's certainly harder to do the architecture independant thing.)
As it turns out, the problem is a little more complicated than that.
In addition to the different data types, some of the values differ between the two architectures. But they are consistent between like art types (pics, combat icons, etc) for the same machine type, so I'm guessing at least some are some sort of imbedded machine dependant constants. Why they would use such a thing, I can't say. Maybe the Mac port was done later, and they saw no reason to use the same constants. Could have been that they had parallel development teams that didn't communicate the values. Could be the person intended to make it cross-platform independant, but never got around to it.
- JKochmar
Ed. note: If you didn't quite understand his complicated programmer-talk (oh, we envy him so :>), let me paraphrase. Basically, the people at SSI did not create the FRUA under the same architecture. So, in doing the MAC conversion, the art files were compromised - try importing an IBM mod to the apple machine and see what I mean. JKochmar plans to over-come this by writing a code that will effectivily convert the two different architectures to the same format. Thus, the mods. will be universal, JKochmar will become famous, and hey, I'll have more fun playing those MAC mods that I always wanted to try.
- CORIC
Through the six modules your beginning level characters are thrust in a variety of situations. There is a bit too much random combat (every 3 steps there is a 33% chance that you will fight), that while easy, do become a pain. However, with a bit of deleting, the mod. moves at a good clip, and the set encounters are well balanced.
The graphics are mostly new, drawn by Troubador himself. The icons are better-than-average, if a bit cartoony at places. The monsters are inovative, and the npc's well thought out. For a short, one night fight, you can't find a more enjoyable module.
Story Execution: A
Graphics: B+
Encounters: A-
Bug control: A+ (none that I could find)
Innovativity: B- (standard plot)
Overall: A-
-CORIC
Seto provides an interesting, thought-provoking essay on the nature of UA and role-playing in general. He tells us what makes a good module, and I have to agree with him. Yes, combat is good, but too much is over-kill (no pun intended). As for a story, it should be fresh and original, putting a new twist on the RPG world that we have come to love - Forgotten Realms. Yet Seto himself admits that at times, his module falls into the old pattern of find the ancient artifact, destroy the invader, live happily ever-after.
Yet in an other-wise unremarkable mod. is a nice story, that, though muddled at times (Seto is not a native English-speaker, and his grammer is not perfect) comes across well. It is long (I have yet to finish it), and fairly challenging. Combats can be rough - once, I fought over 20 Ogres with a level 3 party! And while he stays away from random combat, the set encounters are plentiful. I would recommend importing a high-level party. S&R has several innovations, too. There are multipile introductions and endings, as well as some cool dungeons (although it has been done before, I enjoyed the Thieve's camp). Be ready for a very challenging fight (maybe too challenging) - and BTW, the imported art (from the Savage Frontier series) is very nice and fitting.
Story Execution: C+
Combat: C+
Graphics: A
Bug Control: C-
Plot: A
Fun: B
Overall: B-
-CORIC