Children of Dragons

Discussion and development of scenarios and campaigns for the game.

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MarkP
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Children of Dragons

Post by MarkP »

Hello all,

This is my first post on the forums, though I've visited from time to time - usually when I've had problems. :-)

I've been playing Wesnoth for a couple of years now, and decided that like those who have gone before me, it was about time I tried my hand at writing my own campaign. I also have been wishing that there were more campaigns for the drakes - so I figured I'd write one.

It is set pretty early on in Wesnoth's history I think. Basically the premise is that the dragons used to be plentiful, but their numbers have dwindled (for some unexplored reason - that could be another campaign...). Their descendants (the drakes) have been scratching out an existence underground, but have decided it's time to move above ground. So no one except the other underground races have seen them before. That's the theory I'm currently working on, anyway. ;-)

At the moment I've got 2 complete scenarios (one is dialogue only), and am testing/fixing the third. I'll post the files once I've got the third scenario working properly, hopefully in the next couple of days.

No doubt it needs some serious balancing - the third scenario in particular - but so far it works, and ... it's the drakes, so it's gotta be good, right? ;-)

I'm planning to create at least one new unit, but not sure at this stage whether I'll get a chance to do that before I post the first version. Also, I'm pretty useless artistically, so it probably won't look very good even if I do. If anyone is interested in helping on that front, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw it out there - if anyone has any suggestions etc., please feel free to share.

BTW: As far as posting the campaign - do I just attach a zipped archive of the files here, or do I need to upload it to the campaign server?

Thanks,

Mark
Last edited by MarkP on March 23rd, 2008, 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Fiach Dubh
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Post by Fiach Dubh »

The best way to post it is on the campaign server, it is possible to attach it in the forums but less people will see it.

Getting people to do art for your campaign is an absolute nightmare, do not expect anybody to draw sprites for you. If a competent artist sees your campaign and likes it, or the idea of it, they might volunteer to help, but you are highly unlikely to get anywhere by directly asking people to help you.

You may want to look at the campaign 'Flight to Freedom' (if it's available for the current version), as it also features the Drakes and has information about their origins, culture and psychology which you might find helpful.
Jetryl wrote:Normal people are like candy ravers. You look away for a moment and next thing you know they're spreading vaseline on your nipples and cooing like a pigeon.
Sangel
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Post by Sangel »

I'd recommend both. Attach a .zip file here - that works well even with very early progress - and then possibly upload once it gets a little more fleshed out, so you get a good first impression. On the whole though, I think people are very welcoming of new work in the Wesnoth community.

I'd also advise following Dave's strategy when it comes to designing stuff - release early, release often.
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Taurus
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Post by Taurus »

Just a suggestion, in wesnoth, drakes are ill suited to underground, as they are loyalists. They are usually more associated with remote mountains, or volcanic tropical islands. I like the background to your story but I would reccomend not having them living underground. Perhaps they could have been only living in small isolated mountain communities, but overpopulation has caused them to start expanding and comming in contact with other races.
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MarkP
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Post by MarkP »

Getting people to do art for your campaign is an absolute nightmare, do not expect anybody to draw sprites for you. If a competent artist sees your campaign and likes it, or the idea of it, they might volunteer to help, but you are highly unlikely to get anywhere by directly asking people to help you.
Fair enough. I'll do what I can myself. I saw a suggestion in another thread to try modifying/combining existing images, so I think I'll start there.
You may want to look at the campaign 'Flight to Freedom' (if it's available for the current version), as it also features the Drakes and has information about their origins, culture and psychology which you might find helpful.
I'm pretty sure I've played it, but will check it out again with that in mind, thanks.
I'd also advise following Dave's strategy when it comes to designing stuff - release early, release often.
I'll keep that in mind. In fact, once I've finished testing the third scenario, I'll release an initial version. It's probably just about ready for that anyway.
Just a suggestion, in wesnoth, drakes are ill suited to underground, as they are loyalists. They are usually more associated with remote mountains, or volcanic tropical islands. I like the background to your story but I would reccomend not having them living underground. Perhaps they could have been only living in small isolated mountain communities, but overpopulation has caused them to start expanding and comming in contact with other races.
That's a fair point, and one I have actually considered. ;-) In fact at the moment their lack of ability underground is one of the reasons for their leaving. They've paved the caves where they live, allowing them to move about freely, but they still don't fight well, and can't move very well outside their own caves. I will have to have another think about that.

Thanks all for your comments. :-D
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MarkP
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Post by MarkP »

OK, I've just uploaded a version to the campaign server, and attached it to this post as well (edit: I've taken it down temporarily as some files were missing - it's still available from the campaign server though). As I said before, the first 3 scenarios are complete, but need balancing. I'm not particularly happy with the 3rd scenario - it's basically just a dogfight, and seems to drag on too long - but maybe that's just because I've played it so many times already. :-)

There are no custom units yet, but the idea is that the 3 leaders in the first scenario (including the main character) will be some sort of Drake nobility or something - who will have leadership once they advance.

I'm particularly interested in opinions on the underground setting, which Taurus has already questioned - does it work for you?

This is my first foray into campaign development so I'm bound to have made some mistakes, but it's at least playable. ;-)

I'm off to do some more research on the Drakes. :-)
Last edited by MarkP on December 13th, 2006, 2:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper »

I haven't tried this yet myself, but wanted to give some input on this underground thingy.

Personally I see drakes as simply building their nests in caves. Hatchlings live in them until they're old/big enough to venture outside, and adult drakes maybe sleep inside as well (at least occasionally, I don't think it matters much). They don't need to be able to move well in caves for this to make sense - many animals just dig a hole and cram in there to sleep, for shelter and to tend to their young, without being especially agile while doing so.

Besides, the "underground setting" doesn't have to mean only "narrow tunnels". You can potentially have relatively big open spaces underground, with openings to the surface. Just imagine, for example, your typical "lost world" tropical island with a huge (inactive) volcano crater in the middle leading to underground, where there be dragons, etc.
Fiach Dubh
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Post by Fiach Dubh »

If you really wanted them to live in caves (maybe a lost tribe?) you could get around the mobility problem by defining most floor areas as dirt (counts as grassland). Just use actual cave terrain for places that are difficult for them to move through (narrow, low tunnels with no space for wings, areas with lots of stalagmites, etc)
Jetryl wrote:Normal people are like candy ravers. You look away for a moment and next thing you know they're spreading vaseline on your nipples and cooing like a pigeon.
Elvis Dillinger
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Post by Elvis Dillinger »

Personally I see drakes as simply building their nests in caves. Hatchlings live in them until they're old/big enough to venture outside, and adult drakes maybe sleep inside as well


Sleestaks!


:lol:
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turin
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Post by turin »

Heh.. drakes. :roll:

Best of luck to ya. You'll need it, methinks...
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JW
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Post by JW »

turin wrote:Heh.. drakes. :roll:

Best of luck to ya. You'll need it, methinks...
Well, you're the one always complaining that they don't have a story.....he's trying to write one.
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turin
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Post by turin »

Um... I don't complain that they don't have a story. (That bugs me, but that's not why I despise them.) I complain that they exist. ;)
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maliciouskorean
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Post by maliciouskorean »

actually, although it is usually extremely hard to get custom art for new campaigns, the drakes are a different story. thats because neorice has drawn many drakes that did not make it into the mainline :wink:
Attachments
just some of my favorite unused drakes
just some of my favorite unused drakes
unused drakes.png (17.1 KiB) Viewed 17789 times
Fiach Dubh
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Post by Fiach Dubh »

maliciouskorean wrote:neorice has drawn many drakes that did not make it into the mainline
All of which are bloody brilliant, as usual. How is he so good?!?
Jetryl wrote:Normal people are like candy ravers. You look away for a moment and next thing you know they're spreading vaseline on your nipples and cooing like a pigeon.
MarkP
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Post by MarkP »

Fiach Dubh wrote:you could get around the mobility problem by defining most floor areas as dirt (counts as grassland).
This is basically what I have done. As I mentioned before, within the Drake community, they have paved the cave floors (road) - this accounts for the first 2 scenarios.

The third scenario is primarily dirt, with some small areas of cave. At the end of this scenario they emerge from underground, so it won't be an issue from there on.
maliciouskorean wrote:thats because neorice has drawn many drakes that did not make it into the mainline
That's absolutely brilliant! I'll take any more of those you care to throw my way. :-D
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