After Aielund 1.1

After Aielund 1.1 – Current version: 1.1 [11/01/24]

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// AFTER AIELUND 1.1 

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I would like to start by thanking everyone who contributed feedback towards this project, which has allowed the possibilty of this large update. Updating this module, would not be possible without your continual feeback and support!

Patch 1.1 Is based upon the huge amounts of feedback on previous versions for which I'm very grateful for. All feedback, every single post, was read, noted and taken into consideration when planning and executing this update. Some additional improvements, not based on feedback, have also been implemented.

Patch 1.1 includes the most improvements yet across the entire game. These are listed in detail below. The reason/s it has taken so long to update this module is in part due to commitments, limited available time, but also in working out the best way to approach a release.

This patch was originally going to be designated as Patch 1.04. As time went on and the number of necessary fixes, updates, revisions and additions increased, the more apparent it became that a 1.04 patch, would be inadequate. It was decided therefore, to work towards a more complete version.

After Aielund 1.1 seems an appropriate solution, given the progress of the module, since the original 1.0 release.

If you are upgrading from a verison earlier than 1.1, please make sure to re-download all of the seperate required files as described in the 'Installation' section.

DESIGNER NOTES ON AFTER AIELUND 1.1 : MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

There has been a focus to make the gameplay more streamlined, with improved pacing. Given that most of this module features the player character at level 40, it was felt that it was nessecary to 'cut down' on repetitive 'hack and slash' sections of the module, which despite being popular in the early 2000's could be boring for modern gaming experiences and added nothing of value to the overal experience. The scale of Dragonia was cut back to three encounters. The Hydra caves maintain a optional shortcut at the expense of losing the chance to craft a powerful item and an option to skip the invasion of 3 citadels was implemented, at the expense of the player facing a more challenging battle later. These changes give the player the option to choose 'hack and slash', or while retaining an option for a more concise gameplay experience .

Tony K's "Henchman Inventory and Battle AI Mod" Has been implemented into the module. Some new conflicts were presented as a result, so it has been required to add some work around items into the module to get desirable behaviour. Most notably, a new item was created that allows party members, to be teleported to the player, which is useful in some areas, particularly with automaticity opening and closing doors, where henchmen get stuck. The new AI also stops Henchmen from being automatically warped to the player when at distance. Despite these setbacks, it is thought that the overall improvements in Henchman AI, outweigh any negative affects of installing the AI system. Henchman rarely fail to attack and exhibit far more swift and immediate responses to their environment. Thanks to Tony K, for this excellent piece of work!

Apart from fixes, other improvements have included minor cosmetic details to increase immersion. Any additions to the game have been minimal and usually counteracted with removal of unnecessary clutter. Cosmetic improvement for this release has been down listed so that the main focus can be on debugging rather than additional content.

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Updates, patches and fixes for Version 1.1 [Non Exhaustive]

• Visual and cosmetic Improvements.
• various Continuality improvements.
• Removed a trigger in the derelict fortress that bypassed the mission 2 quest.
• Made the Gen 2 armor lootable.
• Added Cutscene Replay Prevention Measures to 3 known areas.
• Added missing transitions.
• Redone some area transitions.
• Fixed the enchanters, including mass enchanter so that they work with Monk Gloves.
• Fixed wrongly assigned scripts on the super weapon.
• Fixed wrongly assigned scripts that caused Aaqaarin to attack when destroying enemy using super weapon
• Bile Workbench has now been remade.
• Big Friendly Poo has resigned from it's role as a henchman, now just a novelty NPC!
• Fixed Scar's conversation that incorrectly referred to the PC as a Class which was incorrect.
• Fixed instances where wedding bands were removed from the players Inventory.
• Added Cold resistance to the Titan's.
• Changed some items so that they are Identified.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Tablet of Teleportation to Function Incorrectly.
• Tony K's "Henchman Inventory and Battle AI Mod" Has been implemented in the module, improving Henchmen AI.
• Fixed an issue where the Titans would not warp to the pre-battle area.
• Attempted to fix conversations which were likely to cause disruption to the progress of the module.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the continuation of Mission 2, if siding with the Evil choice.
• Added in game prompts to aid the player during some specific areas of the game.
• Removed an unused script from the Final Battle.
• Changes some items to unlimited uses per day.
• Added a script that allows the Pre-final bosses weapon to be transformed into a gauntlet - aimed at monk's who could previously not use the weapon.
• Scar's appearance required changing to the original due to hitbox issues.
• Fixed various contradictory text.
• Minor changes to various map tiles.
• Readded a missing variable that allowed enchanting without the required item.
• Significantly cut back the scale of Dragonia.
• Changed some NPC head models.
• corrected the height and positions of the camera for some cutscenes.
• Changed some inconvenient NPC behaviours.
• Fixed Titan, repeating dialogue that caused respawns.
• Reworked some scripts related to Mission 2, giving better resulting behaviours.
• Fixed repeating Dialogue when a Henchman is resurrected in part 2.
• Fixed another Dragon's hitbox issues by changing out the model.
• The elemental type summonables, now use the corresponding elemental spells.
• A special summonable was buffed with various immunities and damage reductions.
• Various improvements to boss combat.
• Reduced the HP of some placeables which were too high.
• Added an item that allows all Henchmen to warp to the oPC in response to new issues caused by the new Henchmen AI.
• Fixed a cutscene issue where cutscene mode cut out too early.
• Battle allies now work correctly.
• Cutback on static objects for spacing improvements. Movement should feel less clunky in certain areas.
• Added environmental sound effects to various areas in the game.
• Added some more clutter in various areas.
• Gold provided for inexperienced players, now takes equipment, potions and scrolls into consideration.
• Vender at the beginning of the game now sells potions, scrolls, rings and amulets.
• Fixed an exploit where the player could get infinite gold but not levelling up and starting new conversations with savant.
• Fixed a few various repeating dialogues,
• Fixed the rope object in mission 2 that is meant to be destroyed after a certain point in the plot.
• Minor changes and improvements to dialogue.
• Removed an unnecessary trap from mission 3.
• Fixed an issue that caused an NPC in mission 4, to walk behind an area transition door.
• Fixed an issue with the hitbox of the creatures at the beginning of part 2.
• Changed some of the music in part 2.
• Fixed an issue where a helper for the big battle could be raised. Now they can't as should be.
• Some of the foes in the big battle, now have the appropriate respective damage immunities.
• Added a failsafe that prevented a Henchman from being added back into the party, breaking the game.
• Rebalanced the NPC numbers for the final battle so that the player encounters more variety on enemies.
• Strengthened the visual effects of a healing potion to make it appear more powerful.
• reduced the sized of one of the foes from the big battle to improve the hitbox.
• Fixed an issue that caused henchman to attack a PLOT NPC after the big battle.
• Reduced the hits per round of a boss battle that caused performance issues.
• Changed some of the enemies in some of the last few areas.
• Super weapon now works as intended including cutscenes.
• Reduced the HP of the semi final boss [second stage by half for a quicker finish.
• Added some missing models into the After Aielund HAK file
• Corrected and issue that caused incorrect NPC response to player's super weapon target choice.
• Teleportation now disabled in power core.
• Music corrected in containment facility.
• Phase 2 of FB now clearer to the player
• Added 3 new fail safes to ensure Henchmen do not follow the player beyond the final battle.
• Enhanced backdrop of semi final scene.
• Adjusted Volume of Credits BGM.

Future patches/releases

After Aielund 1.1 is not the end. With an interest of working towards future patches and versions, continuing feedback across all aspects of the game is very much appreciated. In particular, Gsilent would like to hear feedback concerning:

• Any remaining conversations that repeat, particularly those that have an affect on the progress of the module.
• Any areas of the game where the player feels that they want more guidance.
• Any feedback regards to the gameplay of classes such as bards, and non mainstream classes/races.
• Feedback on whether older versions (1.03) should be removed from the Vault as they are now essentailly defunct.

But to reiterate, ANY specific feedback that helps to contribute to the improvement of the game is welcome!

Future projections:

Now that the 1.1 milestone has been reached, a version '1.2' if so needed, would be released in the far future, as 1.1 has been. Gsilent needs to focus on other projects after the release of 1.1. However, urgent fixes will be patched as patches, for example. 1.11, 1.12 and so on.

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// MODULE INFORMATION

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Levels: 37-40+

Gameplay: 10-20 hours

Starting Level: Designed for characters who have completed The Aielund Saga Act IV Part 3

System Requirements*:

CPU: Ryzen 7 5800 3.80Ghz
RAM: 16GB Vengance Pro
GPU: RTX 6800 XT 16GB

*This module is designed specifically with new computational power and the improved NWN EE in mind. For this reasons please consider the specifications of the PC, for which which this module was built, designed and tested.

Version requirement :

NWN EE v88.8193.36-13 [Febuary 2024]

Current Version: Release 1.1

The module may is an ongoing, improving project, any constructive and detailed feedback that helps to improve the module is much appreciated and will contribute to long term plans to improve and update the module.

NWN DE Compatability:

Unfortunately, there are no plans or technical possibility for compatibility with NWN 1.69

Installation:

1. Required Projects:

YOU MUST HAVE THE REQUIRED PROJECTS AS LINKED BELOW AND THE CEP VERSION MUST BE 3.03
Just encase you missed it, the required projects are:

• Community Expansion Pack 3.03 (Must be 3.03, newer versions are currently not known to be compatible)
• Aielund Hakpack
• Henchman Inventoryh & Battle AI Mod    (Thanks to Kreedmoore for pointing this out!)

2. Download Content:

IMPORTANT: As of 1.1, Hak, Music, TLK and Module are seperate files. You need them all!

The reason for this change is to save you time and space on your system when you need to download a patch!

If you are upgrading from a version earlier than 1.1, you must download and replace any old versions of files you have!

Downloading versions below 1.1:

Each version contains all the files you need in the zip file

Where to place each file

After Aielund HAK 1 - All contents to Documents/NWN/HAK (contains all required haks for easy installation)
After Aielund Music - All contents to NWN/MUS (Use game directory i.e Steam/SteamApps/Common/NWN/Data)
TLK - All contents to Documents/NWN/TLK
After Aielund Module - Module goes into Documents/NWN/Modules

Optional Content:

GUIDES: Part III Map [Spoilers]
PNG Optional Download that contains a Guide map of Part III, Contains major spoilers

About the module:

• A new 10-20 hour, fan fiction epic, featuring the most 'epic' creatures, monsters, lore and more, inspired by dnd.
• Discover extremely powerful items beyond anything you've ever known in a NWN module.
• Built on CEP 3.03 and inclusions of some of the best content, thoroughly scouted from the NWN Vault.
• Exclusive custom content including, Expanded 2da.s, TLK, models, sound effects, visual effects, portraits, loadscreens and over 10 original soundtracks by Gsilent.
• Designed exclusively for the vastly more efficient NWN EE and the huge leap in computation power of the 2020's.
• Bosses with Custom AI and many other custom built systems.
• Completes the 1-40 levelling cycle, if played after the original Aielund Saga.
• Includes inspiration from the persistent world Higher Ground.
• Module play refined for the needs of post 2020 gamers, while retaining more traditional qualities.
• Backward compatibility for items from the original The Aielund Saga.

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Designer notes [MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]
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This module is particularly designed with NWN EE in mind, in pushing the limitations of the engine and the game to the maximum possible development. Player's starting this module should first consider playing Savant's complete The Aielund Saga Acts 1 – 4 part 3, in preparing their player characters for this module.

As players embark through the module, they will discover some of the most epic D&D lore, supported by The Aielund Saga's setting (with Savant's kind permission) and extremely powerful loot, some of it so powerful, that it required new TLK and 2da to be created. Some loot circumnavigates the hardcode of the game itself, to deliver the most powerful, game breaking loot ever created for NWN.

The module also features what I believe to be, the biggest battle ever scripted for NWN. Featuring over 1000 NPC's, including over 250 henchmen. This combined with two immense final bosses will surely leave you feeling ecstatic, far beyond the end.

I don't believe there is any other module that will give your PC so much power and thus, this in many ways, feels like my final say on everything NWN has ever been to me in the last 14 years I've played the game.

Thank you also especially to Savant for granting permission to publish this module and use his Aielund setting, under Fan Fiction.

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End of POTENTIAL SPOILERS
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I love this game. It pains me so much, that life has demanded that I leave behind a title that since my teenage years and now in my early 30's, has given me a shoulder of rest bite and comfort when times were tough, thousands of hours of enjoyment. I've accepted though, that the time has come.

Perhaps in the future, I'll find that the game is still very much alive and that there are as ever, endless adventures, tales and legends waiting to be forged. That can happen in real life if you believe it strongly enough and that is where my tale goes now. I'm excited for where this community is going and that there are still so many people that love this game so much. The quality of vault uploads is staggering to a point where NWN1 is almost a NWN3 of a kind.

Permissions of use:

Gsilent would like to make it clear that this module is NOT endorsed by Savant or representative of any official canon to the original 'The Aielund Saga'. Savant has granted written permission for me to use the setting and assets under the premise of fan fiction only. Please find the email correspondence in the pictures of this project as evidence that we have had this conversation and the correct permissions and use have been granted and agreed.

Module permissions are as standard, but be aware that reuse of content from this module may fall outside of the IP permissions granted by Savant, if in doubt contact Savant.

[DEFUNCT]

Patch Notes:

1.03 - 15/01/2024

Note: If you are upgrading from an older version, make sure to overwrite the After Aielund HAK 1 with the 1.03 version.

Fixed missing head models by updating After_Aielund Hak.
Fixed an missing int check.
Revised and reworked some mechanics.
Fixed missing visual effects.
Fixed some incomplete item descriptions.
Improvements to some conversations.

1.02 - 14/01/2024

Fixed an issue with Savant's dialogue that wrongly referred to final act of the module.
Fixed an issue that caused the X3133 Strator to keep giving the player Co-ordinates.
Fixed an issue that caused The Siege of Hidden Valley Cutscene to replay on each reload.
Item upgrade facilities now support Monk Gauntlet's.

1.01 - 12/01/2024
Fixed gamebreaking error in starting location.
Fixed gamebreaking issue with plot character locations.
Removed debug testing tools.
Version 1.0 removed as it's broken - if you have version 1.0, delete it and download Version 1.01.