DarkRider's Dimension

Hail and Fair Greetings Blades Fans,

Thought I'd pop in for another log update. This seems like the best way to keep information extended as I work my way through the RST questbuilding. My most recent plan of doing all non essential NPCs first basically flopped. I found myself in this weird limbo where, to place NPCs and get their AI going I needed queststages, but to create quest stages, I need NPCs in place. Quite a conundrum.

I finally took a deep breath and plunged in, starting at the beginning. I downloaded a MQ Complete savegame and created a clean save for testing purposes, then began building in earnest. As I build, I add the characters, AI, creatures, etc in as I go, filling RST's world in around her quests. Today I finished the first leg of RST's Main Quest and actually made my way to reclaimed Sancre Tor for the first time as part of the running quest.

This screen shows Blade Captain Steffan and I as we travel to Sancre Tor. As the teaser storylines in the RST thread reveal, the initiation to the main quest is a simple escort mission. Captain Steffan asks you to follow along as second blade when he escorts a group of holy brother to the compound at Sancre Tor. It seems bandits and would be thieves have taken to watching the roads, interested in the Blades caravans that have been hauling goods to the growing castle fortress. This is not as easy as it might first appear. One of the things I wanted to capture in RST is immersion. I love to play this game like I am living it. For me, that means not always being in control. On this mission, you can't fast travel away, as that would leave Steffan alone to defend the four brothers. You can't order Steffan to stop or follow, he is leading the march. The player must follow and guard. The player can also scout ahead, but be certain the road behind the party is clear or they may come to harm after you leave them.

I've made this trip with Steffan and the monks a few times today and every time, there were moments where the scenery just captured me and I forgot for an instant that it was just a game. You can't rush through, you have to live the moment and take in your surroundings. You must be mindful of where the brothers are and what dangers might spring out. If you fail, you have to begin again, because in allowing one of the brothers to die, the Blades will lose confidence in you and the quest cannot proceed, It is very challenging, but elegant and I think you are all in for a wonderful treat as this expansion begins.

This is sadly the only bit of the quest I can openly reveal in such details, since this part of the story has been public for over a year. Even now though, I think there will still be surprises for you on the road to Sancre Tor.

It hasn't been all smooth sailing; Captain Steffan gave me quite the run for my money the last 2 days. Just getting him to lead the trek from Cloud Ruler to Sancre Tor has been one headache after another. He is now the star of a comedic "In Dev" video that will be available on the RST home site after release. In the end, my old standby "less is more" proved to be the key once again and I straightened him out. He now leads steadily and is quite an asset to have when the going gets tough. Radiant AI is always fun for a few laughs and the occasional headache!

That's it for this entry, but I will post again soon when I've made more progress. Finally I feel things moving forward with vigor! It's going to be worth it all in the end. Keep checking in here for the latest news and information. I will continue to post current project images on the Projects page here, though not in the gallery. All new photos are being uploaded at RST's future home.

Cheers, and Happy Modding,

DarkRider