Out of Server Roleplay Mini-Maps

[Flights of Fantasy]

Recently I was involved in an event that took place in the Woods of the Sharp Teeth. Towards the end of the event, my character and several others chose to stay behind to protect the ruins we had discovered. Unfortunately, we ran into a bit of a problem in that we have no place to continue this roleplay. I asked if we could continue to use the DM area where the event took place while it was not in use by other DMs but was told it wouldn't be possible. So, I got an idea. Why not create mini-maps that can be accessed from the nexus that are just an empty, generic area where PCs can go to roleplay in spots that do not exist on the server?

The maps should be very small and generic, as examples: open field, ship deck, cavern, forest grove, tavern, town square, castle hall, temple, upperdark wilds, underdark wilds, etc. They do not need to be highly detailed. They can just have some foliage, background buildings, tables & chairs, etc. There can also be a placeable shop NPC where players can spend gold to dress it up a bit further. The shop will charge gold and can represent traveling expenses, supply costs, etc. I think using the will-o'-wisp model would suffice for the NPC store as the NPC is not really present.

These mini-maps will not have any spawns. It's just a spot that two or more players can use for dialogue roleplay. They should only be used in situations like with the members in our event party that decided to stay behind at the ruins. It would also allow any DMs online to keep an eye on them and maybe get some ideas for plot hooks. If necessary, a rule can be added that players need to first submit a DM request on the forums and get permission to use these mini-maps. The request could list the specific reason for the roleplay and approximately how long the mini-map will be needed. There should also be a firm rule that the mini-maps can't be used to represent PC homes & similar or as OOC chat rooms. They are only for temporary roleplay when needed.

Some might suggest it would be easier to do forum roleplay, but that's not as immersive as being logged into the server and actively roleplaying with other characters. Plus, it gives us easy access to our character sheets and allows us to make skill rolls and other things. Even PVP would be possible if things turn sour for some reason.

[ILLY]

I wholeheartedly second this idea. Having in-game RP environments is the very basis for immersive roleplay.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

I asked if we could continue to use the DM area where the event took place while it was not in use by other DMs but was told it wouldn't be possible.

NWN2 supports an instancing method in which a clone of a map can be created live without a lot of extra system overhead to enable this opportunity for you.

[Flights of Fantasy]

I asked if we could continue to use the DM area where the event took place while it was not in use by other DMs but was told it wouldn't be possible.

NWN2 supports an instancing method in which a clone of a map can be created live without a lot of extra system overhead to enable this opportunity for you.

You mean set up by staff and still connected to the server, right?

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Easily accomplished, the area uses the same mesh information as the parent area rather than burdening the process with a duplicate of it, but it is an entirely separate object with an assigned tag that some mechanism made, a portal or dialogue tree, can then move the player into. It'd be on the same server that the area was originally made from.

[Flights of Fantasy]

That'd be fine then. They could just be copies of the available DM maps.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Developers

Code: Select all

/** 
* Creates a new area instance based on an existing area. This will
* load a copy of the area from disk, however it will use the same walkmesh
* already loaded from the source area (this keeps the load time faster and
* helps keep memory usage down). Because this loads the new area from disk,
* any dynamically created or destroyed content in the original area will not
* be copied. Local variables on the area will not be copied - although if
* there are variables defined on the original area in the toolset, these will
* be set. 
* 
* THe new area will have the same tag as the original, and should be
* accessible with GetObjectByTag(sAreaTag, 1) after script execution
* completes. The old area is index 2 which means the default area is the new
* area.
* 
* Use DestroyObject on the created area object at your own risk, you cannot
* delete the contents of the area such as triggers so those will be loose in
* memory. Please note that this is EXPERIMENTAL and you should look at recycling 
* usage of areas into a pool of zones you reuse.
* 
* EXPERIMENTAL
* @author MAP 2/14/2009
* @param oArea
* @return 
*/
object CreateInstancedAreaFromSource(object oArea);

[Flights of Fantasy]

No idea how that works, but I hope the staff developers take notice. It would be a very nice feature to get added.

[DaloLorn]

You need to remember that in addition to not yet having an established framework by which this could be supported (an API method does not a fully-integrated system make!), we could only clone the core map itself, without any of the placeables and NPCs the DM might have placed (or removed) during the event. You'd be getting naked instances of DM maps, which you could then pretend were anything you wanted. This might even be acceptable in some cases, but it'll be on the DMs, IMO, to decide whether and how this could be appropriate before there's any chance of seeing it implemented.

[Flights of Fantasy]

You need to remember that in addition to not yet having an established framework by which this could be supported (an API method does not a fully-integrated system make!), we could only clone the core map itself, without any of the placeables and NPCs the DM might have placed (or removed) during the event. You'd be getting naked instances of DM maps, which you could then pretend were anything you wanted. This might even be acceptable in some cases, but it'll be on the DMs, IMO, to decide whether and how this could be appropriate before there's any chance of seeing it implemented.

That's the idea. It doesn't need to be a copy of what the DMs created for the event. Just a low detail map players can use to continue the roleplay in locations that do not permanently exist on the server. And if players want to decorate it more, they can spend gold at the NPC placeable merchant to set things up.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

It fulfills what's asked, a few more lines for transport and you're done. DMs can use the method as well for setting up temporary events within and then port the players into rather than interruptions during setup of existing maps. An integration between it and DaBest's persistency will help DMs with setup within the instanced maps and then spawn them on the production side as an option too.

[Flights of Fantasy]

Giving this a bump as there didn't seem to be a definitive answer and myself & others are still trying to RP in the ruins from the event.