Known for their ruthless crusading, fervent devotion to the Wyrm Dragon and the Blood Moon that rises on the eve of their conquests. Surrounding lands recognize the rising of the Blood Moon as a sign of the Raiders' insatiable blood lust coming into focus on their precarious hold on life and freedom. Their history long lost and only known by the Raiders themselves, only myth, legend and rumor inform the doomed defenders of the Raiders' choosen victim nations.
After downloading the CEP and installing it, Collin has been hounding me to find a way to let him try to play one of the new races (Brownie or Wemic). So, of course, this meant I needed to do more investigation work. It doesn't appear to be a straight-forward thing to just create a new character and select a Brownie or a Wemic race as a player. These steps would seem to be the natural assumption (but are not):
1) According to the CEP Forum, copy the OC (Original Campaign) module files from the NWN/NWM directory to the NWN/MODULES directory.
2) Rename them all from *.nwm to *_CEP.mod
3) Open each up in the toolset and go to Edit menu and Custom Content tab and add the CEP libraries to each module.
4) Save the new CEP modified module.
5) To be thorough, we should probably edit the ending scripts of each module to load the next CEP modified module, instead of the next OC module. I'm still learning how to do this.
These steps, once done, would lead one to believe that if a player created a new game, and loaded it from Other Modules, selecting one of the CEP modified OC modules, then created a new character and went thru the Races tab, that Brownie and Wemic should be available for selection. But this is not true.
So, my next investigation step was to post a question to the CEP Forum on nwn.bioware.com on how to do this from a players perspective, and the response I got was to go to the PRC.
Ok, what is the PRC? Well, it is the Player Resource Consortium. Looks to be a VERY up to date (weekly) of downloadable features, and such. A quick read shows a whole slew of new classes, races, etc. a character editor, and a bunch of other resources.
So, my next question is: "If I download and use the PRC, and create a module, am I introducing resources into the module that requires everybody else that plays that module to also have the PRC downloaded and installed?"
Ok!!! Whew, it's been a full day. Here's the latest update. Alright, I downloaded the first PRC executable installer. I'm thinking it might have been a better idea to download the (I think it is the third one in the list down on the install page) PRC Companion (CEP).
Anyway, what I did was d'loaded and installed it, and then used the accompanied Module Updater. It allows you to select modules and then update them with the PRC. I chose the copies of the OC modules that I had already made in the NWN/Modules directory and had updated them with the CEP. This is where I think it might have been a better idea to use the PRC Companion. I can always restart this process, though, once I learn this whole thing more/better.
Once I installed and updated the modules, then I wanted to somehow create a character/race that the PRC and/or CEP provides. To do this I downloaded the PRC Character Creator (I think it is the fourth link on the downloads page). It is a JAVA .jar file, but if you have the java .JRE installed on your computer, all you should have to do to run the Character Creator is double-click it. If you have trouble with this, call me and I can help. It is also not in a .ZIP file, but in a .RAR file. You can unRAR it using a program like WinRAR, but I can just email you the file unRAR'd if you want. Let me know.
Ok, so once I got the Character Creator running, I had to point it to the NWN install directory, and then select the .HAK files I wanted it to allow me to use. I selected everything in the NWN/HAK directory. This is done in the settings button in the Character Creator.
I'm not entirely sure I did things exactly right, but my end result seems to be working, you can see I got a Wemic character working by the pic's I posted:
The reason I say I'm not entirely sure I did this exactly "right" is, I ran into a few quirks while using the Character Creator.
1) When I started, and set up the .HAK files, I could see two additional RACES to choose from in the RACE list, but they don't have any names or text description on them.
2) At first, each time I would get to the Portrait step, it would error out (crash) with a dialog box stating it could not find a Portraits directory in my NWN directory. I read a little on the NWVault download Q&A, and found someone saying to just create the directory by hand. So I did, and it worked. Go figure.
I selected one of the two blank addional RACES, and in the Portraits step, I deselected Lock Gender, and it would show a bunch of Wemic pic's. So I assumed this was a Wemic race.
I then went back up and chose the other blank race (just for kicks) and it did not have any portraits specific to it. I didn't carry on with this one (I'm betting it is a Brownie) but you can deselect Lock Race, and choose any other pic for the portrait.
As I went further into the Character Creator, I found that all the Classes from the PRC list are there, and a bunch of other stuff. You can see in the Wemic pic's I uploaded that his human body skin is funny looking. The reason for this is when in the Character Creator, I was choosing his skin color, and I selected what I thought was a striped looking color. There was no picture along side the color selector for me to see what my Character would look like. I don't know if this is because I was creating a Wemic (non-standard race) or that is the way the Character Creator works always.
So, now Collin wants to create a Brownie. I'll let him do so and we'll update you guys with what if anything new we find out. :-)
Also, I wanted to mention. In the Character Creator, I used the special features it provides to add Wings to my Wemic :-) That is why he has them.
Also, in the skin color, he looks strange. The reason is, his skin color is metallic (reflective). When I was choosing the skin color, I thought I was choosing a striped color, but it wasn't very clear in the Creator.
And yes, he also added Wings and a Tail to his character, AND he also selected his skin color to a GOLD metallic.
Just as an FYI, when I added the CEP to the Chapter One of NWN OC (Original Campaign) it took my P4 2.8GHz about an hour to rebuild the module. So be prepared.
If you guys are interested in playing or experimenting with either of the two new races the CEP adds (Wemic or Brownie), Collin and I have made a few of them. I can copy them into your login accounts on the server and load up Chapter 1 OC (rebuilt w/ CEP and PRC). If you have already installed the CEP, you will then have to install the PRC from the downloads section at the link I posted at the top of this thread. You won't have to do anything else, just install it, and then you can log into the Wyrm_Raider server and play around with the characters we've goofed around with.
Let me know if you are interested, and I'll start the server.
Oh, and additionally, Collin multi-classed one of the Brownies and one of the Wemics with Werewolf :-) So you can also mess around with a little of the new class aspects. I created a Wemic as a Brawler. Collin made a Brownie as a Brawler, and another Brownie as a Druid/Werewolf. And finally Collin made a Wemic as a Brawler/Werewolf. Heheh... They're fun.
To address Dad's question about what all is in the PRC, here are some links. This first one is a list of all the races that is supposed to be available in it. I'm assuming these are specific to NPC's:
I was looking thru the PRC forums, for help on using the PRC and CEP together (I am still not exactly clear on what and how I exactly need to include in what order to make those two things work together). Anyway, I stumbled across this, and thought, wow, Dad and Daniel would find this REALLY interesting. It is a post a guy wrote on how to set up a Conversational Character Creator. From what I gather, it basically allows your module (or PW) to have a method of allowing users to log in and interact with the thing and automate creating their characters, based on the interactions. Anyway, in the process, the author was a beginner, he realized he had to set up a WHOLE bunch of stuff to make this work, and so he just compiled all the steps here all together. Pretty nifty post.
Here is a pretty good post explaining the basics on how to add both the CEP & PRC to a module, and then dealing with the subsequent merge files (hak, tlk). There are also two links at the top of the post which speak to file types and how to edit them.
10 comments:
After downloading the CEP and installing it, Collin has been hounding me to find a way to let him try to play one of the new races (Brownie or Wemic). So, of course, this meant I needed to do more investigation work. It doesn't appear to be a straight-forward thing to just create a new character and select a Brownie or a Wemic race as a player. These steps would seem to be the natural assumption (but are not):
1) According to the CEP Forum, copy the OC (Original Campaign) module files from the NWN/NWM directory to the NWN/MODULES directory.
2) Rename them all from *.nwm to *_CEP.mod
3) Open each up in the toolset and go to Edit menu and Custom Content tab and add the CEP libraries to each module.
4) Save the new CEP modified module.
5) To be thorough, we should probably edit the ending scripts of each module to load the next CEP modified module, instead of the next OC module. I'm still learning how to do this.
These steps, once done, would lead one to believe that if a player created a new game, and loaded it from Other Modules, selecting one of the CEP modified OC modules, then created a new character and went thru the Races tab, that Brownie and Wemic should be available for selection. But this is not true.
So, my next investigation step was to post a question to the CEP Forum on nwn.bioware.com on how to do this from a players perspective, and the response I got was to go to the PRC.
Creating CEP Races for Players
Ok, what is the PRC? Well, it is the Player Resource Consortium. Looks to be a VERY up to date (weekly) of downloadable features, and such. A quick read shows a whole slew of new classes, races, etc. a character editor, and a bunch of other resources.
So, my next question is: "If I download and use the PRC, and create a module, am I introducing resources into the module that requires everybody else that plays that module to also have the PRC downloaded and installed?"
To Be Continued....
Ok!!! Whew, it's been a full day. Here's the latest update. Alright, I downloaded the first PRC executable installer. I'm thinking it might have been a better idea to download the (I think it is the third one in the list down on the install page) PRC Companion (CEP).
Anyway, what I did was d'loaded and installed it, and then used the accompanied Module Updater. It allows you to select modules and then update them with the PRC. I chose the copies of the OC modules that I had already made in the NWN/Modules directory and had updated them with the CEP. This is where I think it might have been a better idea to use the PRC Companion. I can always restart this process, though, once I learn this whole thing more/better.
Once I installed and updated the modules, then I wanted to somehow create a character/race that the PRC and/or CEP provides. To do this I downloaded the PRC Character Creator (I think it is the fourth link on the downloads page). It is a JAVA .jar file, but if you have the java .JRE installed on your computer, all you should have to do to run the Character Creator is double-click it. If you have trouble with this, call me and I can help. It is also not in a .ZIP file, but in a .RAR file. You can unRAR it using a program like WinRAR, but I can just email you the file unRAR'd if you want. Let me know.
Ok, so once I got the Character Creator running, I had to point it to the NWN install directory, and then select the .HAK files I wanted it to allow me to use. I selected everything in the NWN/HAK directory. This is done in the settings button in the Character Creator.
I'm not entirely sure I did things exactly right, but my end result seems to be working, you can see I got a Wemic character working by the pic's I posted:
My Wemic (Felinarz Mainz) #1
My Wemic (Felinarz Mainz) #2
The reason I say I'm not entirely sure I did this exactly "right" is, I ran into a few quirks while using the Character Creator.
1) When I started, and set up the .HAK files, I could see two additional RACES to choose from in the RACE list, but they don't have any names or text description on them.
2) At first, each time I would get to the Portrait step, it would error out (crash) with a dialog box stating it could not find a Portraits directory in my NWN directory. I read a little on the NWVault download Q&A, and found someone saying to just create the directory by hand. So I did, and it worked. Go figure.
I selected one of the two blank addional RACES, and in the Portraits step, I deselected Lock Gender, and it would show a bunch of Wemic pic's. So I assumed this was a Wemic race.
I then went back up and chose the other blank race (just for kicks) and it did not have any portraits specific to it. I didn't carry on with this one (I'm betting it is a Brownie) but you can deselect Lock Race, and choose any other pic for the portrait.
As I went further into the Character Creator, I found that all the Classes from the PRC list are there, and a bunch of other stuff. You can see in the Wemic pic's I uploaded that his human body skin is funny looking. The reason for this is when in the Character Creator, I was choosing his skin color, and I selected what I thought was a striped looking color. There was no picture along side the color selector for me to see what my Character would look like. I don't know if this is because I was creating a Wemic (non-standard race) or that is the way the Character Creator works always.
So, now Collin wants to create a Brownie. I'll let him do so and we'll update you guys with what if anything new we find out. :-)
I had to update the number 2 link above. Here is the new post:
My Wemic (Felinarz Mainz) #2
Also, I wanted to mention. In the Character Creator, I used the special features it provides to add Wings to my Wemic :-) That is why he has them.
Also, in the skin color, he looks strange. The reason is, his skin color is metallic (reflective). When I was choosing the skin color, I thought I was choosing a striped color, but it wasn't very clear in the Creator.
Ok, let me try this one more time. Here is the link to the second picture, hopefully. This one is closer zoomed in:
My Wemic (Felinarz Mainz) #2
Cross your fingers...
As mentioned, Collin created his Brownie. Here are some captures of him:
Collin's Brownie (Tinya Smalla)
Collin's Brownie (Tinya Smalla) #2
And yes, he also added Wings and a Tail to his character, AND he also selected his skin color to a GOLD metallic.
Just as an FYI, when I added the CEP to the Chapter One of NWN OC (Original Campaign) it took my P4 2.8GHz about an hour to rebuild the module. So be prepared.
If you guys are interested in playing or experimenting with either of the two new races the CEP adds (Wemic or Brownie), Collin and I have made a few of them. I can copy them into your login accounts on the server and load up Chapter 1 OC (rebuilt w/ CEP and PRC). If you have already installed the CEP, you will then have to install the PRC from the downloads section at the link I posted at the top of this thread. You won't have to do anything else, just install it, and then you can log into the Wyrm_Raider server and play around with the characters we've goofed around with.
Let me know if you are interested, and I'll start the server.
Oh, and additionally, Collin multi-classed one of the Brownies and one of the Wemics with Werewolf :-) So you can also mess around with a little of the new class aspects. I created a Wemic as a Brawler. Collin made a Brownie as a Brawler, and another Brownie as a Druid/Werewolf. And finally Collin made a Wemic as a Brawler/Werewolf. Heheh... They're fun.
To address Dad's question about what all is in the PRC, here are some links. This first one is a list of all the races that is supposed to be available in it. I'm assuming these are specific to NPC's:
PRC-Races.pdf
And here is the online manual to the PRC:
PRC-Manual
I was looking thru the PRC forums, for help on using the PRC and CEP together (I am still not exactly clear on what and how I exactly need to include in what order to make those two things work together). Anyway, I stumbled across this, and thought, wow, Dad and Daniel would find this REALLY interesting. It is a post a guy wrote on how to set up a Conversational Character Creator. From what I gather, it basically allows your module (or PW) to have a method of allowing users to log in and interact with the thing and automate creating their characters, based on the interactions. Anyway, in the process, the author was a beginner, he realized he had to set up a WHOLE bunch of stuff to make this work, and so he just compiled all the steps here all together. Pretty nifty post.
http://forums.netgamers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4604
The forums may require you to create a user account (it is free) in order to log in and read stuff, not sure.
Here is a pretty good post explaining the basics on how to add both the CEP & PRC to a module, and then dealing with the subsequent merge files (hak, tlk). There are also two links at the top of the post which speak to file types and how to edit them.
http://forums.netgamers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=61201&postcount=11
Post a Comment