Santhworld - The Lorehold Project

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About Masterplans
Santhworld: Program
SW.: Game Designer
SW.: Treasure Shoals
SW.: Lorehold
SW.: Nepris
SW.: Trivia
Santharia: Manthria
Nybelmar: Zhunite Pl.
Sarvonia: Icelands

World Map Overview
Distances in Caelereth
Climate Map of Sarvonia
Continent: Aeruillin
Continent: Akdor
Continent: Cyhalloi
Continent: Nybelmar
Continent: +Details NE
Continent: +Details NW
Continent: +Details SE
Continent: +Details SW
Continent: +Politics
Continent: Sarvonia
Lands: Icelands
Lands: +Tribes
Lands: Caael'heroth
Lands: Iol Peninsula
Lands: Kanapans
Lands: Kuglim Lands
Kingdom: Santharia
Kingdom: +Ancient
Kingdom: +Provinces
Kingdom: +Rivers
Kingdom: +Routes
Details: Manthria
Details: Vardýnn
Details: Ráhaz-Dáth
Details: Silvermarshes

Create Beasts
Create Plants
Create Races/Tribes
Create People
People Nomenclature
Create Places
Create Gods, Myths...
Create Spells/Magic
Create Library Entries
Create Misc. Stuff

Reserving Resources
Arbaon Pictures
Bard Judith Pictures
Eratin Pictures
Faugar Pictures
Grunok's Pictures
Ingeborg Pictures
Isilhir Pictures
Koldar Pictures
Linda Tso Pictures
Quellion Pictures
Quellion Pictures II
Shayan's Pictures
Seeker Pictures
Sheil Pictures
Sheil Pictures II

Proverbs & Sayings
Styrásh (Elvish)
Thergerim (Dwarvish)
Kuglimz'Seitre
Kh'omchr'om (Orcish)
Trollish

[Artimidor Federkiel]

A nice job you did, Alysse, and on the site the room already I uploaded! Master Yoda is also pleased with your language...

But seriously: Very nice interactivity now, very enjoyable - the east side of the Lorehold really has some life in it already - love it!

[Alysse the Likely]

Thank you!  It's so nice to be appreciated...

Shall I start thinking about another room?  I know I shouldn't be greedy here, but there ARE quite a few available.  Perhaps the central rooms (along the corridor where Artimidor is located) should all be large study halls, similar to the one he's in.  This would be a good place to locate more people--possibly Faugar sketching by a window, maybe a half-orc worker (there's a larger population of them in Lorehaven) carrying some heavy boxes of books for somebody, a couple of Avenorrian merchants studying a map to determine trade routes (we could post the Nybelmar map there even!) That sort of thing.  We really should have an artist in there, maybe he/she could be the person to explain the Lorehold coat of arms?   


Just some thoughts,

Alysse

[Artimidor Federkiel]

I'd be happy if you do another one, Alysse! We can't have enough - should we really have too many people developing rooms (no worries at the moment ), the Lorehold can be expanded endlessly to harbour lots of more ideas.

Concerning the central rooms: The thing with the central rooms perhaps is that we should give the player some walking space as well. If you look at the Nepris region for example, this is built like a journey. Room - room - sign - room - room - Pinn character - etc. Most text adventures are built that way that you have to go through a few rooms in order to discover something, which you can examine and use etc. Or the single rooms don't contain that much. So what we should try to avoid a bit is to put in something major in every room, it doesn't hurt that there are relatively uninteresting connection rooms or rooms that contain little to examine - actually it helps the game to keep the flow.

So if we'd go for more large study halls in the center we risk to fill the center and the border rooms together too much. Due to the design of the hall this is partly our own fault as you cannot explore it in a more adventurous way as you can Nepris for example. But that's why I made that ladder e.g. I would recommend to make a little passageway (not much description when you go down) to a cellar room. There a gnome could make experiments (we have two gnome pics) - plus Nolan, the Svaq inventor. Don't know where Arceon is, he wanted to do Nolan.

But the rest of the things you mentioned is great - there are many pictures we can use as well. Maybe Dalá can give autgraphs somewhere... The pic would fit nicely to the Lorehold. And where's Gean? We have a nice illustrated bard, so he should be around! Faugar of course as well. Putting a second person into the central room studying the Manthrian map would also be possible... The Avennorian merchant from the tribe entry also has no name yet and could be around. Don't worry about picture backgrounds, that's easy to adjust. Well, we have lots of options and various pics to integrate.

Feel free to pick something you think could do, Alysse, and I'd be happy to integrate it!

P.S. More people helping out are still needed!

Small updates regarding the Santhworld program:

- Preliminary work (export from editor) regarding maps has been completed. The Flash part (how the map is actually interpreted by the program) still needs to be done. This is a bit more complicated, but overall shouldn't be tremendously difficult methinks. Will last a while till I can get to that.

- Quellion made some progress with the interface design, but other important commission stuff got in the way, so it will last a bit until we can add more graphics to the interface.

- Improved the parser a bit, so that it now ignores redundant data (like "the", "at", "for", more such words to be added to the parser code). This was not in the first versions and might sound a bit useless, but actually makes the program much more accessible. The program basically interprets only two words like "EXAMINE STATUE", now it can also interpret "EXAMINE THE STATUE" or "GO TO THE NORTH", "GO TO THE LOREHOLD". Even more important is that certain two word commands the user might type unintentionally like "LOOK AT STATUE" can be intepreted correctly. "LOOK AT THE PORTAL" is possible now, "CALL FOR MAID" equivalents "CALL MAID" and makes sense to the program. Or you can now use "TALK WITH ALYSSE" instead "TALK TO ALYSSE", and "TALK ALYSSE" is also understood. And so on. This still needs a bit more fine tuning, but in general it is very helpful.

[Gean Firefeet]

You don't know how hard it is to just sit and watch... and not being able to plunge into it... oh dear holidays where art thou?

But what I read of it everytime is 

[Alysse the Likely]

Here's a room for the gnome picture.  Any suggestions?

Southwestern Hallway  (I don't think there's anything here yet--it's Room 23 that I have in mind for this, though you can always change that.

You are in a wide hallway. The walls are inlaid with mosaics of attractive buildings, on a large scale. As you admire them, you notice that something seems odd about one of the doors depicted.  Perhaps you should look more closely…

EXAMINE DOOR

You move closer and discover that this is an actual door, cleverly integrated into the artwork.  You turn the handle to discover that it is unlocked.  A small stairway descends here.  You can see light coming from below but hear nothing.

DOWN

You descend the stairway.   The door in front of you is partly open.

Cellar  (or Alchemistry Room, depending on how many cellar rooms we end up having, I guess)

NORTH

You are in a long, low room, barely two peds high. From a couple of small windows closer to the ceiling you can see a small courtyard within the Library.
One corner of the room is particularly well lit, with glass sconces.  The rest of the room is rather dark.  There is a door on the darker side of the room.  A table on the far side of the room contains a complex arrangement of alembics, phials, retorts and other alchemical equipment, connected by narrow tubing of some sort.  A sweetish heavy scent is in the air here.

LOOK DOOR

The door is locked.  However, you see an archway near it that you hadn't noticed earlier, to the east.

LOOK ARCHWAY

Through the archway you can see a narrow corridor, which turns a corner after a few steps.

(If you go EAST) You are in a narrow corridor. To the east,  it slopes upwards and you can see an exit outside into the courtyard.  To the west is the Alchemy room.

(Here, typing EAST or UP should get you into the garden)

COURTYARD  (or ALCHEMIST GARDEN)

You are in a small enclosed courtyard.  There is a garden here, growing various herbs and flowers in lush profusion.  A stone bench is located along one wall, ivy curling up behind it and twining coyly around the legs.  There is an entrance to the building west of here, sloping down into the cellar (Perhaps other rooms might connect to this as well, later.)

SIT BENCH

You sit on the bench.  It's nice to have a chance to rest your legs.  The air is warm and a light breeze brings the many sweet flower scents to you.  It's very pleasant here.

(You just retrace your steps then, the reverse commands should bring you back to the Alchemy room.  Either WEST or DOWN should work here.)

LOOK TABLE

The tangle of equipment on the table is emitting faint hissing and bubbling sounds. Beneath the table is something resembling a tiny stove, with the stove pipe going up through the table to end beneath a large glass flask about half full of gently bubbling dark liquid.  It seems to be a distillation of some sort.


LOOK CORNER

You move towards the corner.  A gnome is seated at a small circular desk, inspecting a variety of glass alembics, which contain several different potions or elixirs of some sort.  He seems to be making some sort of tests, holding the containers up against the light and examining them closely.  As you watch he takes a hearty swig from one, smacks his lips, and smiles.

LOOK GAMOREN

The gnome is typical of his race, bald but with a short dark beard and dark eyes.  Liberal wrinkles surround his eyes and lightly furrow his forehead.

TALK TO GAMOREN
The gnome sets down his flask hastily and glances up, saying,  “Did you bring those…Oh! You’re not my apprentice…”  His voices trails off as he stares at you, looking rather befuddled.

GREET

“Hello,” you say. " Uh, I’m just exploring the Library.”  You introduce yourself.

NAME

“I’m Gamoren Brewer. Is there anything I can help you with?  Because I’m rather busy, you see.”

JOB

You say, “I was wondering what you do here.”
“Oh, I make various preparations.  This, for instance, ” he indicates an alembic, “is a fever brew, made from Tareptail leaves. Aside from medicines, I also produce flavouring mixtures for the Lorehold cooks, special beverages,” he winks at you, “and so on. Plenty to do here, all the time!”  He smiles at you, apparently believing this to be a subtle hint.

ASK DOOR (I'm not sure how to phrase this, maybe it should just be DOOR?)

"What about that door over there, where does it go?"  you inquire.
Gamoren looks cross.  "That is my pharmacopoeia.  I don't allow people in there," he adds quickly, in case you should ask.

BYE

You decide to let him be and bid him farewell.
“Goodbye,” he says with evident relief and bends industriously over his alembics, examining them ostentatiously.  As you move away, he surreptitiously takes another drink from his flask.

UP

You ascend the staircase, taking care to shut the door as you leave.


Gotta go now , see you later!

[Artimidor Federkiel]

@Gean: Well, I hope that we can plan your character in, we could use him!

@Alysse: This looks cool as well, Alysse, and makes things a bit more interesting exploration-wise, don't you think? Could use some more keywords here and there and perhaps some stuff in the room to examine. And a room name. But the rest is fine So maybe if you have a minute or two to spare you might still add a bit, and then it's ready to go, along with the gnome picture.

In the meantime I made some further works regarding the automap, and I guess it's safe to say that with a bit of additional time put into it, the map should be integrated by the weekend in a basic form. It won't win a beauty contest as the rooms will be represented in standard squares (3x3, visited room in the center, connections to rooms from all these 9 shown rooms) and the connections will be done with simple lines, but it will be functional. Artistic touches can wait. You'll get a much better idea then where you're going and the directions won't occupy topic space. Most likely old and new topics will be shown in one topics list only, the old ones being moved to the bottom, seperated with a line. Something like that. At any rate, I guess we can look forward to seeing the mini-map integrated

[Alysse the Likely]

That sounds great, Art--we could use some sort of map so as not to get lost

And I've added a couple of things to the room.  Some alchemical apparatus, a bit more dialogue--see what you think.

Alysse

[Artimidor Federkiel]

Thanks for the update, Alysse! Maybe I'll add something here or there as well upon integrating, or make the cellar a bit larger, so that there is a bit to investigate - even if there are only locked doors. They could always be opened later - Will integrate our gnome during the weekend, oncé the map thingy is completed.

Actually the basic automap functionality is now already 100% done (basic walking, all directions, all rooms), I can walk around in the Lorehold and in Nepris, and now it's really quite difficult to get lost... What such a little helper can do!

Still to be adjusted is the design - at least a bit, could use help of an artist, though this is not really so important. Up and down indicators are still not included as of yet. Maybe exists could also be marked (where you enter another level/part of a module). But all this is really minor compared to the fact that there is a map now - especially the fact that the directions are now gone from the topics list is a great, making things much more arranged. You just have to look at the map to know where you can go from there. - Much, much later a clickable compass might follow - but right now this is not really a necessity.

Official map version will be uploaded in the next days, so stay tuned.

[Alysse the Likely]

I"ve added some more things to this--you can actually explore a bit more now.  Perhaps we have a garden scene somewhere, that might fit?

Alysse

[Miraran Tehuriden]

Additions in yellow

Room #17 Entrance to the courtyard.

You stand before a closed set of doors, bearing the word "Courtyard" on each door. From the small slit between the doors and the floor you can just make out the faint shimmer of daylight. Is the time fixed on a certain point in the Lorehold? if not we can just remove this line.. The walls and floor of this part of the Lorehold are bare, with no paintings or tapestries as many other halls have, but for a large rugged mat before the gates, probably used to wipe the dirt from your shoes before entering the actual building.

look doors
These doors are looking quite sturdy. The old, dark wood has been reïnforced with steel bands, and a large lock can be used to seal this entrance. Oddly enough, the key is still in the lock. Maybe they are not supposed to keep curious visitors out of the courtyard, but keep something in instead?

Open(enter?) doors
You try the key, and find that the doors are not even locked! A slight pull is enough to cause one to swing open, and you step outside. Move PC to Courtyard


The Lorehold Courtyard
The sound of water splashing in the fountain in front of you creates a serene mood as you look upon this beautiful garden. Various flowers and decorative bushes line the surrounding walls, and four doors can be seen, one in each direction.

Look Fountain
This fountain, made from pure white marble, is truely a work of art! A large basin, shaped like an opened rose over two peds wide holds a pool of crystal clear water. In the center, two life-sized statues of white marble represent the founders of the Lorehold, Eduaros Klinsoran and Shalian of Ximax in their epic battle with the Sea Dragon, who rises above them, carved from a dark grey stone, and with a great stream of water flowing from it's opened maw.

Look Garden
It seems this beautifull place is closely tended. There are no broken twigs or brown leaves anywhere, and flowers from all over Sarvonia fill the air with a sweet perfume. The hum of the malises visiting the flowers ceaselesly surrounds you.

exam Perfume
All kinds of different smells mingle into one haze of sweetnes, strong enough to make you a bit light in the head if you approach some of the flower beds. One kind of rose in particular seems to have a strong perfume.

look rose
This is, as the small label next to the bush explains, the magical R'unorian Rose LINK!, which changes color according to the emotions of those near it. Several Malises cicle the bush, and whenever one lands on a rose, it slightly changes color!

Look Malise
You look closely at one of the Malise as it lands on a rose. It's quite small, and appears to be covered in a soft fur. As you carefully reach out to touch it, the frightened creature turns, and delivers a painfull sting! You jump back, and as the Malise flies after you, you run to the far side of the Courtyard to escape!Move player south.

This malise event will open up aditional dialogues once you can enter the stables too, but that's not going to be available in the verry near future.



Look Doors
Four sets of doors lead from the Courtyard to other parts of the Lorehold in the North, East, West and South. Above each door an inscription can be found, clarifying what lies beyond.

Look West
The western door has a large flower painted on it's center. Above it the words "Lorehold Greenhouses" are chiseled into the stone arch. However, a large wooden beam keeps them tightly shut. Obviously they do not want you to enter.

Look East
This door is heavilly fortified, you doubt even a battering ram could break through the steel plates placed on it's exterior. In the arch above the doors the words "Lorehold Stables" can be found. A large chain holds both halves together tightly, and there does not seem to be a way to remove it.

Look North
The northern door is actually opened. You didn't need the helpfull "Back Exit" from the stone arch to see this way leads out of the actual Lorehold area.

Look South
This is the same door you used to enter the courtyard from the Lorehold halls. It has slowly swung shut again, but you can still use it to get back to the Lorehold.


Room description fo the south part of the courtyard
Courtyard path
Lined with all sorts of pots and containers, this path leads northward to the center of the Courtyard, and back to the Lorehold Halls on it's south end. A faint clatter of water can be heard in the distance from bewind the veil of twigs hanging from a large Weeping Willow that shields the actual courtard from your view.

Look pots
Dozens of flowerpots are lined up along the path, most filled with saplings, although some support fully grown flowers and small bushes. A tiny set of tools is stacked up neatly inside one of the larger ones. Perhaps there are Brownies somewhere in this garden?.

Look willow
This is a very old tree, it's shape carefully adjusted to fill the entire passage to the north with it's dangling twigs. It is in good shape, as are all plants you can see, and the path seems to lead right through the veil of twigs.

search willow
You closely examine the willow, and before long you discover a small wooden plateau secured tightly amongst the upper branches. As you observe it for a while, a small, brown-skinned figure appears on the edge, waves at you, and runs off along a branch, dissapearing within mere moments. This must be where the Lorehold Brownies live!This is a hidden feature, that will have a clue attached to it once the Greenhouses are opened.

[Artimidor Federkiel]

Ok, the automap is now uploaded. As usual you can check it out here.

The map is displayed in the bottom left and will change if you move through the rooms. Just enter a module to view it, e.g. by typing GO TO LOREHOLD or GO TO NEPRIS. Especially if you check out the Nepris area you'll see the advantages of the map, as this area is pretty much spread out (the Lorehold is a building and thus symmetrical). Just move around by typing in direction commands.

Important note: Topics are handled differently now and old and new ones are shown in a single textbox, seperated by a line. The old topics are at the bottom once you ask them. Direction commands have been eliminated completely from the topics list. The automap now dictates what directions are possible, so you have to use the map now for navigation.

Note as well that directions like up and down are displayed in the map. The central diamond changes to an up or down or an up/down icon if you enter such a room. The diamond design and the arrows perhaps should still be changed from the design to vector based graphics, because the resizing of the movie might make these icons look ugly at times. Resize the movie a bit to make them look better for now (the smaller the better)...

@Mira: Yeah, courtyard sounds great Looking forward to additions!

@Alysse: I've started integrating your rooms and added a bit here and there - perhaps we make two rooms out of the gnomish lab? Now that the map is finished I can get back to integrating more.

Anyway: What is a bit strange to me is that the player descends into the cellar and meets the gnome and just below the Lorehold there's a garden according to your room design...  That seems quite impossible unless your Alchemist Garden is some sort of underground thing. But it isn't described that way. Know what I mean?

[Miraran Tehuriden]

No map yet, although the direction commands are gone..

[Artimidor Federkiel]

Refresh your browser cache... Or press Ctrl + F5 when viewing the page (IE) to get the Santhworld movie anew from the server. And make sure to enter a module. The text on the bottom left should read "Area Automap".

[Miraran Tehuriden]

not working.. i tried "refresh" a dozen times as well...

edit-> awww.. "poke Artimidor" doesn't work

[Artimidor Federkiel]

It's uploaded, and works from here. You could delete the santhworld.swf file from your temporary internet files... - Anyone else who doesn't see the map?

Or use the URL http://www.santharia.com/santhworld/santhworld.swf and refresh that.

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