[Modding] The Quest Editor

from Elemental Forums

Frogboy has spoken at length about the power of the quest system, and has even mentioned adding a quest editor to the included mod tools. I really hope this will happen. The quests included in Elemental are very simple and, well, dull, for the most part. There are lots of talented, creative people that would likely create amazing quests for Elemental, but they lack an easy way to do this. A quest editor would take much of the pain out of making new quests, and allow modders to focus their efforts on actually writing and designing quests. I believe that a good quest editor will really unlock the creativity of the community and allow for some amazing things to be created.

 

The purpose of this thread is to build support for an official, quality, fully-functional quest editor, but also for us to suggest features for inclusion. I am going to go ahead and list a few things, but I'm sure others will have some great ideas also.

 

Of course, if Stardock can't give us one, maybe some amazing modder can...

 

Desired Features

1) Determine origin of quest.

  • Allow for it to be created like a normal quest, through technology, or also through other means.
  • Building a particular building.
  • Recruiting / meeting an NPC.
  • Reaching a milestone (total population, wealth, etc)
  • Elapsed turns
  • Completely random
  • Placed at start of game
  • Determine level (if any) for the quest.
2) Determine placement of quest locations.
  • Random
  • Random in world
  • Random in player territory
  • Tied to player building
  • Tied to existing notable location

3) Create multiple paths

  • Dialogue Trees
  • Choose Your Own Adventure selections

4) Check stats

  • Check the stats of a Champion to determine success of a sub-task, ie: trying to avoid a trap, check Dexterity or Combat Speed
  • Allow player to select Champion from participating stack that will attempt a stat check.

5) Check NPCs

  • Check to see if a particular NPC is present in stack. This will allow for story-focused quests, ie: did you bring the NPC that is the sister of a slain warrior, when you confront the murderer? If yes, the quest will branch one way and display dialogue / actions for sister. If not, it will branch a second way where she is not present.
  • Allow the quest designer to limit participants to Champions or whole armies. This will allow a quest designer to limit the quest to an adventuring party, or allow an entire army to participate in battles. This will allow for tighter balancing since the designer can focus encounters on a small group of Champions instead of worrying about the Kingdom's entire army possibly joining in.

6) Load other maps (battlefield, dungeons, etc) and determine placement of NPCs, enemies, etc.

7) Determine outcomes

  • Gold / Resources
  • Experience
  • Items
  • Special events (launch another quest, change diplomatic relations, etc.)

 

So that is what I have come up with so far. Please add to the list because I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of. Bottom line is that the Quest Editor needs to be as powerful as possible to allow for maximum creativity. Let us use the Quest Editor to add depth, immersion, storytelling, and other things to the game.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

3,909 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I look forward to a quest utility, but the modding community is supposed to be getting a lot of things that it hasn't received yet, including examples of XML in action, "cool tools by the end of the week" (told to us about three weeks ago), content packs, amongst other crucial things. I am so very reluctant to dive headlong into a conversion/heavy mod project (even though I have initiated one) without knowing for certain that there is a commitment to support the modding community.

I have very guarded optimism at this point...  I fear we may not see much substance from Stardock for us modders until the new year.  It's pure speculation, of course.  But so far, they have posted to get our interests piqued along with things that are coming very soon, then it's nothing but crickets and they don't even revisit the thread with any updates.  It's starting to get close to "Boy Who Cried Wolf" status.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I lot of us are kind of holding off on any serious modding until after 1.1 is released due to the huge change in the mana system.

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Jharii, I'm hopeful that Stardock will support the mod community, and so far I fully believe that they will. Maybe we won't get what we want as fast as we want, but I think it is coming, and I hope a Quest Editor is among the support we receive.

 

Aerion, I'm not sure what that has to do with Stardock or anyone else creating a Quest Editor. I've also been hesitant to really dive in since so much will change with 1.1. However, the more tools we have now, the better. People could start creating quests that won't really be impacted much by the change to a GMP.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm really surprised that more people aren't interested (or at least interested enough to discuss) in this. I honestly think that a good Quest Editor would go a long way towards arming the community with the tools to really make Elemental come alive, both with more interesting versions of the quests in vanilla, and also by allowing us to do new things like special events, storylines, etc.

 

So...what do you say community? Do you think this should be a high priority?

 

How about Stardock? Any more thoughts on providing us with something like this?

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Its mostly due to people doing other stuff while waiting for 1.1 I guess. I had high hopes about modding this game a while back, but now I am not so sure. The game needs maturing first.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

I've been looking at this, but to be honest, it is hard to start a project when you don't know what the correct schema/format for quests are.   We are close to having something work, but right now it is hard to code something that you are guessing at.   

 

In any case, I don't think we've given up, but are just waiting...:)

 

I have been working on random events (i.e. events that happen when cities reach a certain population, wealth, etc.)    

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Don't know if it is possible but I'd like to see quest-completion criteria other than going to a certain location or clearing a tactical battle.  I'd like to see things like: Diplomacy outcomes:  create a treaty with a certain faction, or forge an alliance; Crafting outcomes: build and bring a certain piece or armor or magical weaponry; Other things like researching and casting a particular spell, building a squad of a certain composition of troops, or maybe build a city with certain buildings at a particular location.  Clearly, the more out of the way you go, down a research tree that maybe you were thinking of skipping this game--the better the reward needs to be.

I'd like to see choosing between different rewards: i.e. gold vs. materials vs. equipment/items vs. a map to a secret food node.  I think quests would be more desireable if you know you have a good chance of getting something you need rather than something you have a bunch of already.  Already I find adventuring to augment my economy nicely, and the farther that can go, the more quests become a vital part of the game.

Call me old school but I like my quest-givers to be human (or animal) figures standing there with a question mark over their heads. 

It would also be nice to know the composition of the tactical battle we would be facing before we commit to it, or a way to retreat and get a better army before being pulled into a tactical battle you can't win.  To create some sense of urgency there could always be a timer on certain quests.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Fearzone, good points and exactly what I am looking for too!

 

For the composition of a battle, I like the way King Arthur did it. You had some quests that were battles, and you used your entire army. Some were just CYOA and focused on the hero. I would like to do something similar in Elemental, and break down things between Armies and Adventuring Parties. An Army would work the way we use stacks now. An Adventuring Party would be limited to Champions and maybe individual 'normal' units, but no squads, big monsters, etc. This would really help quest designers balance encounters. Right now, you can do a quest with a few heroes or with a big army, so it is impossible to really balance. Plus, an adventuring party makes more sense for questing (you can't take an army into a dungeon!) and is very thematic, and would give heroes a real important use.

 

It would be nice to get a better idea of what you will be facing in an encounter, maybe the enemy army strength or something, but I want to keep the details a secret.