tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57674791668342833812023-11-16T04:13:03.213-08:00The Dark Brotherhood ResurrectionThe Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-73871298419725623712013-06-20T18:28:00.002-07:002013-06-20T18:28:25.033-07:00I'mmmm baaaack!!!!For those wondering why I haven't posted anything in a while, its because I got a new job and had to move to a new city. Only recently did I get internet back, yay!!!<br />
I'm real sensitive about my privacy. This is the only known picture of me that exists on the internet:<br />
<a href="http://www.stevensherrod.com/portfolio/img/cgec/CGEC%20Awards%20011.jpg">http://www.stevensherrod.com/portfolio/img/cgec/CGEC%20Awards%20011.jpg</a><br />
<br />
And I'm really happy about that. I'll be happy if that is the only known picture of me for the rest of my life.The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-7723694297219148432013-04-24T10:53:00.004-07:002013-04-24T10:53:57.054-07:00Secret Keys<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Several players wrote in to ask me about the secret keys in The Rabbit
Hole. Where are they? What are they good for? So I made a video that
explains the whole thing:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6Yt3ZxlPrJ4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
As always, a text version of this walkthrough is available on the zoywiki:<br />
<a href="http://zoywiki.com/TRH/Secrets">http://zoywiki.com/TRH/Secrets</a>The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-86876070717710679152013-04-15T20:25:00.000-07:002013-04-15T20:25:54.115-07:00Bug Fixes!Moar bugs Nom Nom Nom!!!<br />
Just spent last weekend fixing a load of bugs that where reported and collated on this wiki:<br />
<a href="http://zoywiki.com/DBR">http://zoywiki.com/DBR</a><br />
<br />
If you aren't subscribed using the nexus mod manager, be sure to download the latest update:<br />
<a href="http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25941">http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25941</a><br />
<br />
If you subscribed in the steam workshop, you should automatically get the latest version.<br />
<br />
I've been watching <a href="http://youtu.be/Tg2pDpiwOsg?t=34m35s" target="_blank">this guys playthroughs</a>, which are honestly a little to long, and can be boring at times (he REALLY needs to edit out all the loading screens) but some moments are just golden! The link below should jump you to the best part: <br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/Tg2pDpiwOsg?t=34m35s">http://youtu.be/Tg2pDpiwOsg?t=34m35s</a><br />
<br />
Also: Thanks to everyone for your feedback on part 2! If you haven't made a comment yet, please do! The voting is still open <br />
<br />
<br />The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-24294242323736408142013-04-08T22:12:00.003-07:002013-04-08T22:12:54.757-07:00Need SuggestionsSo this weekend I will be turning my attention back to <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=104263475" target="_blank">The Dark Brotherhood Resurrection</a>, since <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=135300521" target="_blank">The Rabbit Hole</a> has shipped, and is pretty much bug-free at this point.<br />
<br />
I already have some ideas for what Averna and Stabby will be doing in part 2, the quests they will ask you to undertake. What's not certain is what the Listener's focus will be, so i'm asking for some input.<br />
I had originally intended to tell the tale of the Listener establishing outposts and new sanctuaries around Tamriel, but the mod "<a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=133685064" target="_blank">The Black Hand Embassy</a>" seems to be covering that (of course I could still tell the same story but from my vision)<br />
<br />
<br />So i'm asking anyone who still reads this blog for input. What should the main focus of part 2 be?<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The Dark Brotherhood restoring to their full glory</li>
<li>The Dark Brotherhood vs. The Morag Tong</li>
<li>The Dark Brotherhood vs. a New, unforeseen enemy</li>
<li>More evil goldsmiths to kill, ala Part 1?</li>
</ol>
Leave your suggestions in the comments! Or email me at TheDarkBrotherhoodResurrection@gmail.com <br />
<br />
<br />The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-54457798855921171792013-04-02T21:29:00.000-07:002013-04-02T21:29:02.553-07:00Bug ScrubSo now that the <a href="http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34106" target="_blank">Rabbit Hole</a> has shipped (which has been getting pretty positive feeback BTW)<br />
I am turning my attention back to the <a href="http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25941" target="_blank">Dark Brotherhood Resurrection</a>. I went through all my old emails, answered all the ones I had failed to answer (sorry about the delays guys) and all the old comments I hadn't read. I collated all the bug reports into one single page:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://zoywiki.com/DBR/Bugs">http://zoywiki.com/DBR/Bugs</a><br />
<br />
This is my TODO list for the next few weeks. Will be working on this and bug fixes for the Rabbit Hole, so progress may be slow.<br />
<br />
In addition, at work I am busy shipping an ALPHA for our new game. Should be announced next Monday. Wish I could tell you more, but unfortunately I can't say any more than what Dan Shoe has already said:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/DanShoeHsu/status/317399189204107264">https://twitter.com/DanShoeHsu/status/317399189204107264</a><br />
<br />
<br />The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-864031613765268962013-03-29T22:56:00.006-07:002013-04-08T22:15:46.323-07:00The Rabbit Hole Shipped!It's always a great sigh of relief when I ship another Mod. And then the horror kicks in as I wonder if people will hate it. So far though, feedback has been positive. (admittedly, as of this post, it has only been live for an hour)<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
YES! finally, i have been waiting for this since the first screenshots,
and i see just randomly under new, this is my day- gamecreatorjj</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You're a genius.- Xillante</blockquote>
<br />
See what I mean? Only up for an hour and it already has raving reviews! This really makes me feel like all the long hours working late where worth it!<br />
Special thanks has to go to dan.sherlock and kaylax87 for their help and encouragement!<br />
<br />
You can grab the mod now at the Skyrim Nexus:<br />
<a href="http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34106/">http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34106/</a><br />
<br />
or Subscribe to it via the Steam Workshop:<br />
<a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=135300521" target="_blank">http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=135300521</a>The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-87350302715019907142013-03-24T16:51:00.001-07:002013-03-24T16:51:26.717-07:00One WeekExactly One week until my next mod: "The Rabbit Hole" is released, just in time for Easter!<br />
<br />
I know a lot of people wanted me to move straight on to Part II of the Dark Brotherhood Resurrection, but I needed a break.<br />
<br />
Also: I have learned SO very very much working on the Rabbit Hole. You may not realize this, because DBR was so good, but it was my very first mod for an Elder Scrolls game. There where a lot of newb mistakes. I had a bunch of ideas for part II that I wanted to do, but wasn't sure how to make it happen. Now that I've worked on the Rabbit Hole, I've learned how to make some of these ideas come to life.<br />
<br />
Also, The Rabbit Hole is related, although very indirectly, to the DBR. You will find some of Stabby's writings in the Rabbit Hole linking the to mods together narratively.<br />
<br />
So stay tuned, and I hope you'll all enjoy my next mod when it comes out!The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-89660930859682018972013-02-20T21:25:00.002-08:002013-02-20T21:25:58.312-08:00The Bechdel Test and Tomb RaiderThe Bechdel test is used to determine if a work of fiction fairly represents women. It has three simple rules<br />
1) The work of fiction must feature at least two female characters<br />
2) who have a conversation between them<br />
3) about something other than a man or men.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheBechdelTest?from=Main.TheBechdelTest" target="_blank">TVTropes</a> has an excellent article on the subject (i actually prefer it to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test" target="_blank">the wikipedia article</a>)<br />
First off, I'm super happy that The Dark Brotherhood Resurrection Passes! Both babette and Averna discuss killing people, sometimes men, sometimes women. <br />
<br />
Lately I've been playing the Tomb Raider games. Steam had a sale and I got every TR game ever made for $15, which I consider a fantastic deal.<br />
<br />
I've been playing the most recent titles, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider:_Legend" target="_blank">Tomb Raider Legend</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider:_Anniversary" target="_blank">TR: Aniversary</a> (which is a great remake of the original Tomb Raider 1), and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider:_Underworld" target="_blank">TR: Underworld</a>. These three titles form a trilogy of sorts. I was in awe of how many strong empowered female characters there are in these games. The <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheAntagonist" target="_blank">antagonists</a> of all three titles are females. In fact, the primary antagonist of all TR games is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Natla#Jacqueline_Natla" target="_blank">ancient imortal female ruler of Atlantis</a>. <br />
<br />
In the Tomb Raider games men are always secondary characters. They are either hired guns of the female antagonists, which relegates them to mini-boss status or just plain <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mooks" target="_blank">mooks</a>, or they are hired by Laura. The men hired by laura either A) clean her mansion, or B) support her with technology/research and all three of them are rescued by laura on multiple occasions. The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-83685202025935316542013-02-01T17:45:00.003-08:002013-02-01T17:45:30.406-08:00I'm a terrible person.I've been neglecting both my mods. It's been months since I last updated. I'm really sorry, but I've just been really busy with things in my personal life lately. I still plan on pushing out the 'Rabbit Hole' by March (In time for Easter). And then after that I will be busy supporting the Rabbit Hole with bug fixes.<br />
<br />
At some point, I really do want to go back and fix some of the remaining bugs in the DB Resurrection. With the technology I have, and my Voice Actresses enthusiasm, I could very well release additional content without releasing a second mod. It wouldn't be a part 2 per se, but I could wrap up the ending of part 1 a little better.<br />
<br />
My apologies to those who have been trying to contact me via E-mail, I just haven't had time or mental energy to read and reply lately. I'm even more sorry to the Nexus community, I from time to time make posts on Steam Workshop because I use Steam for development at work every day, but I haven't visited the Nexus since last year.<br />
<br />
Don't worry, the Dark Brotherhood Resurrection Creator shall Rise Again!The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-22894414848379168332012-12-13T19:11:00.003-08:002012-12-13T19:14:53.232-08:00My Players Rock<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I absolutely love my players. I won't call them 'fans' because the root word comes from the latin for 'fanatic'. But I love them. After I come home from a hard day at work and there are comments like this in my inbox:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>You created the greatest mod I've ever had the joy of playing. I don't know what to do with my life now that I've completed it.</i>
- DarthJanine420</span><br />
<br />
<i>I just have to say this is a beautifully done mod, good voice acting, and even the conversations your NPC's had with Nazir and Babette. The murders that had to be commited and the ways to do them were just original, WAY better than Bethesda. But I can't complete this mod, because I just can't bring myself to... You know.... With the female NPC... I'm sorry, but I just can't. I have to stop with this mod as soon as I get to that part.</i><br />
<i>But I just want to say you are a GREAT modder.</i> - Torok551<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>This is one mod I felt obliged to come back and comment on. I LOVE
Averna's outlook on things. The whole mod was very well put together.</i> - gogrick</span><br />
<br />
<i>I love this mod! Stabby is THE BEST! Very immersive. It was wonderful to have the same WTF? moment that the character would be experiencing the first time my health got low. I won't give away any spoilers so I'll just say the name of the place cracked me up. Averna is wonderful too- so dry. All of the writing and voice acting is superb. I'm not even done with the quests yet but I just had to drop by and give you major props. Thanks so much for this mod!</i> - Nitro1a <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thanks so much guys for making all my hard work feel worth the effort. Ya'll are the best!</span>The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-8028774191289364732012-12-06T23:38:00.001-08:002012-12-06T23:38:38.925-08:00New Review... in frenchSomeone made a video review of my mod... in french. I have no clue what he's saying it could be a terrible review but I choose to believe it's a fantastic glowing review worth sharing<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dAS52Buu4iI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-75990319006643479312012-12-05T19:02:00.002-08:002012-12-05T19:14:13.477-08:00The Rabbit HoleSo I made a video preview of one of the levels from my next mod, 'The Rabbit Hole'.<br />
I play through the video with stabby, and it shows off all his powers so check it out!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w_0bzcAoOBA/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w_0bzcAoOBA?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w_0bzcAoOBA?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-83068763736321445532012-11-16T00:58:00.001-08:002012-11-16T01:00:03.911-08:00ScreenShots<div style="text-align: center;">
From my next upcoming mod:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh7YA0462X9ooHTq1EGkCUq9dPL7euWoDroofjCF3AmqC9aEwm0JiWh1KKhb84ss6FDB7xnIdExQ-OYKJF7kJMAXscMNTaGJ0W3y00CQrPJ-0nG_lR7WAZQl25Ou-9Lp7XI1XFD_trXw/s1600/2012-11-16_00007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh7YA0462X9ooHTq1EGkCUq9dPL7euWoDroofjCF3AmqC9aEwm0JiWh1KKhb84ss6FDB7xnIdExQ-OYKJF7kJMAXscMNTaGJ0W3y00CQrPJ-0nG_lR7WAZQl25Ou-9Lp7XI1XFD_trXw/s320/2012-11-16_00007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love Dwarven Ruins. Their enemies are fun to fight as well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjh284t1CzMB8WTxwYcnJrwvKu76cAJKP_1MrYG5t5L-bdw7XZXri2zHDXlrw2tQZZgect_L3_1FDELYGjDqX6vC0xELA9FbqqQKMI6eJ5SoA_ys0wv2_5uwsCwKRNCeyzoanirB6fktc/s1600/2012-11-16_00003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjh284t1CzMB8WTxwYcnJrwvKu76cAJKP_1MrYG5t5L-bdw7XZXri2zHDXlrw2tQZZgect_L3_1FDELYGjDqX6vC0xELA9FbqqQKMI6eJ5SoA_ys0wv2_5uwsCwKRNCeyzoanirB6fktc/s320/2012-11-16_00003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had fun experimenting with the Dynamic Lighting in Skyrim</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircV76y4if9BzBgIXKMbai16uB4i-FeypnUtJKtZlmCNfKbIymwUxkMqTg_eiAZEEbpaxWVOSpdrgrl_G1-cLd2b4UsJQfUG0LQ11EwDJYw9ItxLYzIL03OkX111Q-e67b3RnLK5KMmPE/s1600/2012-11-16_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircV76y4if9BzBgIXKMbai16uB4i-FeypnUtJKtZlmCNfKbIymwUxkMqTg_eiAZEEbpaxWVOSpdrgrl_G1-cLd2b4UsJQfUG0LQ11EwDJYw9ItxLYzIL03OkX111Q-e67b3RnLK5KMmPE/s320/2012-11-16_00001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, those are vicious killer goats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-81146122479667069112012-11-15T22:10:00.000-08:002012-11-15T23:20:19.502-08:00Kickstarter project cancelledMy kickstarter project for the sequel was cancelled. You can <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1806959651/the-dark-brotherhood-resurrection-part-2/posts/350185">read the post</a> for more details.<br />
<br />
Honestly, a part of me knew the project would never succeed. But we live in a world where independent developers are getting funding every day to create games. Even super small niche games with very little mass appeal get lots of funding on kickstarter. Apparently a mod for an existing game is in a total different ball-park.<br />
<br />
What surprised me the most was some of the hostility I read on the internet. Some people seemed genuinely offended that I was asking for money to create a mod. Many comments started out hurtful, with me being accused of generating a shitty mod and then 'having the gall' to ask for money to do what others do for free.<br />
<br />
This I don't understand. What is so offensive about asking for money? People ask for money every day. Some provide soup for free (Volunteers at a soup kitchen) and some provide soup for a fee (Souper Salad anyone?)
Should I be offended that a restaurant charges for soup, just because others give it away for free? Some seem to think that the profit motive is a sin, I honestly don't think a volunteer at a Soup Kitchen is any better or worse than a Waitress at a restaurant. Both are providing a valuable service. I guess some think the Volunteer is more admirable because she's not motivated by money, just compassion for other humans.<br />
<br />
Was I motivated by money to make a Kickstarter? HELL NO. The kickstarter was an attempt to make a mod I could never do in my free time. If I did it to make money, I woulda started a project to launch a Business; Never once did I have the allusion that I could make a profit from developing mods. I just wanted to break even.<br />
<br />
It was an experiment; a failed experiment. But as the Mythbuster's say, 'Failure is ALWAYS an option'
At this point, I just want to put the whole thing behind me, and focus on my next mod coming out.
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-88709805204831196842012-10-31T10:38:00.003-07:002012-10-31T10:38:27.999-07:00Kickstarter!I really, really hope this works. There is nothing I would like better than to work on the sequel full-time. Please check out this link and help me make <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1806959651/the-dark-brotherhood-resurrection-part-2" target="_blank">The Dark Brotherhood Resurrection: Part 2</a>The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-46502954070355458442012-10-28T16:04:00.002-07:002012-10-28T16:04:48.085-07:00OMG Switches!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
They have these
pressure-plate switches in Skyrim. Often there will be like a potion
on a pedestal, you pick up the potion and OH MY GOD POISON SPIKES IN
MY EYES!!!! If you try to put the potion back in vanilla Skyrim you
get an exercise in frustration trying to precisely place the item
back onto the switch, and hoping it doesn't fall back off.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because a puzzle I
designed was going to rely on such switches, I spent a lot of time
developing custom scripts so the switches would be 'sticky' It makes
them so much easier to use!</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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I know it's a
silly little thing to get excited about, but it's minor victories in
Human-Machine interfaces like this that make life worth living for
me.</div>
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The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-14369589150712414592012-10-27T02:41:00.001-07:002012-10-27T02:45:32.877-07:00PerforceI want to write about something very near and dear to me today: <a href="http://www.perforce.com/" target="_blank">Perforce</a>. It's a tool probably very few modder's know about, and boy should they ever! Perforce is the most used Source Control system in the Video Gaming industry. When I first started working on this mod, I was using <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a> to sync my script files between my computer at home and my computer at work. As my mod became more complex, it became clear I needed something more powerful. I needed my own perforce server.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bT2Fnx7gSCHWZOzeRCiaatSrHgIqSaMsvnjDuWtI7JLjvlruj76uQeJPQiL0UyLY2jzGNqEOfE5zoS84ibkQduM7Hz5d7Gh0YD8MDB4pUCMP1_2CLjvW1WTC54i77WAt4NOd3FxnQNc/s1600/p4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bT2Fnx7gSCHWZOzeRCiaatSrHgIqSaMsvnjDuWtI7JLjvlruj76uQeJPQiL0UyLY2jzGNqEOfE5zoS84ibkQduM7Hz5d7Gh0YD8MDB4pUCMP1_2CLjvW1WTC54i77WAt4NOd3FxnQNc/s320/p4a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a picture of my perforce client connected to my server</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A lot of the files are named 'BetterDarkBrotherhood' or use the prefix 'BDB'. This was my code name for the mod during development. I eventually decided to name it something less arrogant. <br />
On the left side of the image, you can see the branches I maintain. Each branch contains all the files I need to create the mod. I maintain three branches, one for Skyrim Nexus, one for the Steam Workshop, and the last is my Main branch. My main branch is where I develop and test all the new code. When I tested and verified that my changes fixed the final boss being unkillable, I integrated the changes to the branches, and then I create an Archive (The Skyrim engine packs all its assets in to archives with the extension '.bsa') the archive is what is eventually uploaded to Steam and Skyrim Nexus.<br />
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On the right side of the picture you will see a list of my most recent changelists. See, every time I update the mod, I then 'submit' the changes to the server. This change gets saved, so If i ever want to go back and play an older version of my mod, even if it was the version 4 months ago, I can!<br />
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The two branches are different in important ways. The skyrim branch has all the Audio I had to cut in order to make the mod meet the workshops 100MB limit. It also contains revisions of the audio before I cut their bitrate in half. Soon, i'll be going through and adding all the missing lip files as well.<br />
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By Sithis, look at the time! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORYKKNoRcDc" target="_blank">It's 4am in the morning</a> and I'm still blogging!<br />
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-47074613397440271852012-10-26T13:17:00.001-07:002012-10-26T13:17:34.160-07:00Updates!Just finished uploading two major bug fixes to the mod. The first update on the Nexus was hudge, but that's because version 1.0 had more bugs than the workshop version! Because of a bad archive, users where crashing to desktop when using Averna's shouts, and none of the actors where moving their lips when talking!<br />
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<ul>
<li>Version 1.1 update fixed the Nexus bugs, but it also featured improvements to the quest <a href="http://zoywiki.com/index.php/DBR/Quests/Averna#Bring_out_your_Virgins" target="_blank">Bring out your virgins</a> (Some users were not getting credit for killing virgins)</li>
<li>Version 1.2 fixed a bug that was preventing Stabby from following some players, also prevented the mod from starting.</li>
<li>Version 1.3 fixed players not being able to kill the final boss.</li>
</ul>
So far I have only fixed the major bugs, ones that prevent players from finishing the game. There is a much bigger list of minor bugs I hope to fix this weekend:<br />
- Mod adds a broken new 'Breton' race, causes an extra floating head in character creation screen<br />
- The quest marker after Yuvon is killed points to the wrong place<br />
- The Nexus version still does not have lip files for all Audio <br />
<br />
Some might be wondering 'Why haven't you fixed the minor bugs yet?' the truth is, every single update I make has the possibility of introducing new bugs. Even Bethesda fell into this trap when their Xbox 360 patch <a href="http://kotaku.com/5864324/say-goodbye-to-skyrims-backwards-flying-dragons" target="_blank">caused dragons to start flying backwards! </a><br />
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So now that I have confirmed all the NPB's (non-playable bugs) have been fixed, I plan on turning my attention this weekend to the minor bugs.<br />
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Also, have I mentioned we now have a <a href="http://zoywiki.com/index.php/DBR" target="_blank">Wiki?</a> It features a full walkthrough for the mod. It's not quite complete yet, I also plan on finishing it this weekend.The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-358302216055665272012-10-24T13:21:00.003-07:002012-10-24T13:21:56.131-07:00Bugs, bugs, BUGS!Ugh. Bug fixing. I'm writing this blog at work right now, I'm supposed to be fixing bugs for our build system but I really just want to fix bugs in my Mod!<br />
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Right now there are two main bugs people are experiancing:<br />
1) Averna's shouts cause CTD<br />
2) Some people can't start the quest <br />
I have not experienced the averna crash yet, i'm gonna try it tonight, If anyone has this problem can you please email me TheDarkBrotherhoodResurrection@gmail.com<br />
<br />With detailed steps about what you where doing when the game crashed.<br />
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The Second one is very disturbing. Apparently a few people who have finished the DB questline cannot start the DBR questline. I'm asking anyone with this problem to please send me their save file.<br />
By default your save games are stored in /My Documents/My Games/Skyrim/Saves<br />
Please zip your save file and email them to me.<br />
<br />
During the entire production of the mod I tested it with a save file that had completed the Dark Brotherhood quest. It wasn't until the last several months I started testing it with new save files, and found I had bugs to fix. If anyone was having problems starting my mod, i figured it would be people who started a new character, not those who had already finished the quest!<br />
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So, I have these two bugs to fix, and then I have to focus on my Nexus branch. I keep my mod in two branches, one for the Steam Workshop, and one for Skyrim Nexus. My mod has a few missing .lip files (these let the actors lipsync to the dialogue, so it looks like they are actually talking) I can't put these .lip files in the Workshop branch, because then i'll go over the upload limit. But nexus has plenty of room for me to add!<br />
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Tommorow i'll probably make a post about Perforce, and how AWESOME it is for Mod development, or any game development actually.<br />
Until then, enjoy this excellent video review of my mod that was created by user SaioTV<br />
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<br />The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-53505461295901505032012-10-23T18:47:00.000-07:002012-10-23T18:50:15.588-07:00Meggers<br />
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There where two main voice actors for
<a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=104263475" target="_blank">The Dark Brotherhood Resurrection: Part 1</a> . I myself did all the male
voices, but my good friend and professional voice actress Meg
McDonald (Lovingly refereed to as 'Meggers') did all the female
voices, including the character Averna.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGN_0Bouqhyezhun_C__fVQCqV0Vgz3BvzlUsa59cjXTXtGsRximjkHXgxL1vXhA-6DCfi7wdCa3uLe89jLhipZgcjFin2EJbt-lTXymCIq5s8ZbVy4DsP10ya1AcJKymMFXAYE3GQEk/s1600/2012-10-23_00021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If the player buys a Torture room, Averna loves to hang out there" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGN_0Bouqhyezhun_C__fVQCqV0Vgz3BvzlUsa59cjXTXtGsRximjkHXgxL1vXhA-6DCfi7wdCa3uLe89jLhipZgcjFin2EJbt-lTXymCIq5s8ZbVy4DsP10ya1AcJKymMFXAYE3GQEk/s400/2012-10-23_00021.jpg" title="If the player buys a Torture room, Averna loves to hang out there" width="400" /></a></div>
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I struggled to give her good notes and
direction with Averna, as her motives where always subtle and I
didn't always take into consideration that Meg has never played an
Elder Scrolls game. She did pretty good with the psychopathic,
sadistic character, and her performance as a dying woman was
fantastic. The part she had the most fun with, and the character I
enjoy killing the most, is Susan Gold-Love</div>
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The only direction I gave her for this
character was: “You are playing a drunk, rich teenager. The
medieval version of a spoiled daddy's girl. I want this character to
be as annoying as possible, I want the player to <i>enjoy</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
killing her</span>”</div>
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The performance she gave me was so
stellar, I spent far too much time making sure the player could hear
Susan's dialogue before even getting the quest to kill her.</div>
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-27738118488302913292012-10-23T18:30:00.003-07:002012-10-23T18:30:53.889-07:00Two Main Questlines
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When I decided that the focus of my mod
would be the introduction of two new characters to the Dark
Brotherhood, I knew my mod was going to have two questlines. I could
have had these two characters working together to achieve a single
goal, but I knew their personalities would be very different. That
would mean they would have very independent objectives. From the
start Averna was designed to be the foil to Stabby's Gib. Stabby
would be the silly one cracking jokes all the time, and Averna was
the serious one who was busy doing creepy voodoo magicka.
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These two characters had their
questlines developed very differently. The philosophy behind <b>S</b>tabby's
questline was 'addition'. Everything in his story is an addition to
the existing world. He has two unique dungeons (not to mention his
'happy place') and every single character you kill in Stabby's
questline is a person I have added to the existing world of Skyrim. (There is just one notable exception, more on that later)</div>
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Averna was developed with a philosophy
of complementing existing assets. Almost all the virgins you kill in
her quests are pre-existing characters. Her quests were an exercise
in Skyrim's Radiant Story system. The first quest picks a random
dungeon with hagravens that you haven't been to, sticks the Quest
Objective in that dungeon and then tells the player to go get it! It
was so much fun to test and debug these quests because they where
different every time! Almost all of Averna's quests are driven by the
Radiant Story System, I really experimented to see what clever
scenarios I could concoct programatically, without having to generate
any new art assets. I am after all, <b>/* just */ </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
programmer. </span>
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I knew these two
questlines would intertwine eventually, but it wasn't until about 4
months into production that I actually started playing both
questlines at once and seeing how they interacted. That's when the
headaches began. I never wanted to force the player to play the mod
in a certain order or another. But I would have to set some
guidelines in order to keep the system sound and my head in one
piece. Fortunately the plots of both stories came to a single knot.
There is only one spot where you must advance Stabby's questline
before you can advance Averna's. It took a few weeks to untangle the
threads into a single workable knot, but at the end of the project I
was proud of how flexible I had made the game for the player.</div>
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767479166834283381.post-64125928689243178852012-10-23T18:06:00.002-07:002012-10-23T18:49:29.835-07:00Scope<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I first started work on <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=104263475" target="_blank">The Dark Brotherhood Resurrection: </a><a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=104263475" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, I tried from the very beginning to
keep my expectations in check, and my scope narrow. My primary goal
was to design a mod for Skyrim that I could complete in three months.
I decided I would only be adding two new characters to the Dawnstar
Sanctuary. I was going to let these characters have back-stories with
relevant quests, but I wasn't going to let myself do more than 4
quests each.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0LF5CKX3wenrCLZc6Ou_26PAKix7rPHfobm8rCUVmc1dZH-c4TrDcNbAEaBG4oN50Xy5onQzUBfR_Hz0tsjj9ss_oi2A-Wd-Pro_P7XT-NdWne7L1ukFByPDTdlM7Y137FA_87zOmJ14/s1600/Averna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Averna alway's means serious buisness, except when she doesn't" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0LF5CKX3wenrCLZc6Ou_26PAKix7rPHfobm8rCUVmc1dZH-c4TrDcNbAEaBG4oN50Xy5onQzUBfR_Hz0tsjj9ss_oi2A-Wd-Pro_P7XT-NdWne7L1ukFByPDTdlM7Y137FA_87zOmJ14/s400/Averna.jpg" title="Averna alway's means serious buisness, except when she doesn't" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOquTVPGQLW9pz88ke3RDhjMmvv244seyDm5Q9ce5iOhkctJKYf7A7T_3rKg4cgbbAK4f_f5Q0EbGuvwAAEB_Y9h2XuxmmMNI4MAh_nsXbnlXgRqJNclpFeesPFf-_neeOA2NX-u3Yldw/s1600/stabby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Stabby looks so happy in this picture, it always makes me smile" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOquTVPGQLW9pz88ke3RDhjMmvv244seyDm5Q9ce5iOhkctJKYf7A7T_3rKg4cgbbAK4f_f5Q0EbGuvwAAEB_Y9h2XuxmmMNI4MAh_nsXbnlXgRqJNclpFeesPFf-_neeOA2NX-u3Yldw/s400/stabby.jpg" title="Stabby looks so happy in this picture, it always makes me smile" width="400" /></a></div>
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[Averna and Stabby, the only two main
characters I would be making for my mod, and they would only have a
quest or two each]</div>
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I ended up adding several characters to
the story (though only Stabby and Averna would be followers) By the
end of the project, Stabby had 11 quests, and Averna had 8. It took
me half a year to finish TDB Resurrection: Part1. Originally stabby
was just going to give you 4 random guys to kill in interesting ways,
but then I got the bright idea to tie these murders together in a
larger arch. This ended up taking the mod in a whole new direction
about two months in.</div>
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Honestly, what I am most proud of is
the quests that I cut. About once a month I would evaluate my
progress, where the mod was going, and what I was realistically going
to be able to finish. A whole questline involving Stabby's search for
a daedric weapon, and learning of his true parentage, was cut.</div>
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At one point after killing a wealthy
victim and selling his things, stabby was going to invite you to
drink at the bar, pick up some chicks, and bring them back to the
sanctuary. I thought it would be interesting to script random
conversations between the Dark Brotherhood 'groupies' and the actual
members, but obviously the complexity and sheer number of
interactions that would inevitably result was too much for me to
finish in a few months.</div>
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Still, I am proud of sticking to my
main objective: to produce a quality mod for Skyrim in less than a
years time.</div>
The Dark Brotherhood Resurrectionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04546485196772424369noreply@blogger.com0