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Ruby and the Last Unicorn
A Children's Story.
UPDATE 8/9/22 - Updated module to Version 5 in light of useful comments from players.
UPDATE 13/5/22 - I've updated the original Ruby module to version 4. Changes include:
* a new Ruby .bic file with Ruby's quickbar better spaced out to allow players to keep the tent and R of Resurrection there.
* a new version of the module itself with some errors fixed, minor changes involving removing a couple of not very kid friendly graves (!) and a new area added. I've also increased the feline companion's AC as Ruby (my granddaughter) herself became upset at the cat being killed.
* the use of the Beamdog HD pack. If you don't have it, it won't matter and will play anyway. If you do, you can spot some improvements, notably Grandad's clothing and the guards outside the Inn look better.
* the 3rd party haks download is unchanged so no need to download it if you've downloaded this module before.
UPDATE 18/7/21 - Having just discovered NIT (Neverwinter Nights Mod installer tool) I contacted the author @Surazal and asked if he would make a download rule to help folk by selecting all the correct files needed automatically. This he has done and if you use this tool it should download all that you need to play the module automatically. A great resource - even though I know I'm late to the party ! You can get NIT here. In case anyone isnt sure about what to do with NIT I've made a short YT video outlining the basic steps. I'd STRONGLY recommend it for anyone downloading this module - either to make it easier or even to just save you time!
Lockdown is a double edged sword. For me, it gave me the chance to build a module and then, once I saw Ruby was enjoying it, to turn it into a story. So, I have added a new file below "Ruby and the Last Unicorn.pdf" which is the story version of the module. For illustrations I have used screenshots from a playthrough of the module. I thought others with an 8/9 year old on their hands might fancy either reading it to them or better still, getting them to read it on ipad or any other device capable of displaying pdfs. There is deliberately pretty toned down violence in the story.
Background to the Module
Time passes quickly !
A few of you may know me if you’ve followed our attempts to use the toolset with our Games Design class in school. However, this, my first and maybe only project, building a module, was originally begun in March as a surprise for my 8 year old granddaughter to play as she went into lockdown. It was never intended for public viewing! I figured it would only take me a few weeks comprising just one or two areas. Here we are, nine months later and it’s finally finished. Probably just in time for us to go back into lockdown after our five days of freedom here in the UK for Christmas. You will notice that there are quite a few required projects and new material. This was the teacher in me, I’m afraid. As we pursued our course last year I came across all sorts of wonderful assets made by the community and quickly made the decision I would use these where possible to enable it to look as good as it could visually, given my limited building skills.
The story
As it’s for my young granddaughter, it is a children’s story about the search for a lost unicorn. Ruby, who turns out to have some magic powers, and her error prone wizard grandad ( sometimes life mirrors art too closely! ) set off on a quest to find Barbie, their lost unicorn. On the way they encounter a few hostiles, some crazy people and pick up a feline companion.
Who is it for?
The module changed quite a bit as it went on. To begin with there was very little violence possible and only at an elementary level. However, by summer I was appraised by my son of the fact that Ruby had taken to games and was now a level 20 sorceress on Diablo 2 ( although with his help). So, I beefed up the combat slightly to accommodate that but compensated by making grandad more powerful so he can deal with most issues and giving them another companion who can heal. This allowed Ruby when testing to run behind them and wait if she was scared ! Be aware though, that all these characters CAN be killed and they do dish out just desserts to the baddies! I may never get over Ruby being more upset at the cat being killed than Grandad... Probably better, though, if an adult plays with the youngster just to enable quick movements. It isn't very long by module standards but might take a few hours. If you want to avoid violence entirely, best not to play this just in case.
How to install
Nothing unusual here apart from the number of required projects. Just decompress the .7z file and you will find a number of folders. Haks go into your game's Hak folder, local Vault into Local Vault etc. You will also need all the required projects to which there are links below. Apologies for the number of them but you may have some already and I wanted it to look good for Ruby. Remember when playing the first time to choose "Ruby" from your list of premade characters. There are also two screenshots in the README folder of the order in which I had my haks - which works.
The only slight issue might be that Zwerkules' medievalrual tileset seems to have more names than Jason Bourne! I think I've got the right one but it should be "medruralcomp" when it is downloaded.
Finally, some acknowledgements . . .
This might not have happened at all, and would certainly have been a lot poorer, had it not been for the continued support of a number of people so forgive me for mentioning just some of them. First of all, @TarotRedhand has been an absolute rock of support from start to finish. His patience knows no bounds - you really don’t want to know how much time he has spent playtesting, expertly spotting and helping eliminate faults and he has my thanks. He also produced the nifty little puzzle for the basement area.
Secondly, @BlackRider is just so talented and seems to find many more than 24 hours in each day, combining work, play . . . and helping me ! He produced the models for Ruby (based on a texture from Witcher 1) and Grandad as well as bits of Barbie tweaked from @shadguy which, in turn stemmed from @TheBarbarian's "More Ponies" work, I think, as well as fixes when things wouldn't work together,like the Witcher area used for the village and Zwerkules' placeables.
A special mention here for Ruby (aged 8) who had the common sense to ask me why her character wasn't speaking when she could say her lines as she could read now!!! That started me off experimenting with voicovers in Audacity ( the toolset wasn't happy with two separate audio files for one dialogue screen)and I eventually came up with the way of combining the audio file to include statement and response in the one screen which you see in the module. That led to Grandad and Grandma also voicing their lines so it become a lovely family task in lockdown. Number one son is still miffed he didn't get to voice the baddie. Maybe in a later version . . .
I need to mention the rogue who got me interested when I first popped up on the Vault looking for help to start our Games Design class project and who attempted to teach me Blender ( a superhuman effort given that I was an ex English language teacher who hated numbers), @TheBarbarian himself. One of the most genuinely nice people I’ve come across online and a big miss for me since he left the Vault.
Finally, I used some short audio sounds of laughter from Freesounds.org which are free to use, along with a pipe band playing the bagpipes from Pitlochry and special mention to "Darkspriteangel" from that site for his line used by the villain at the end.
I hope you and your youngsters enjoy it in the run up to Christmas and I'm happy to help with any problems regarding files, or issues ingame or in the downloads. My son suggested to me that I produce a short walkthrough to help "busy" parents so I've included that in the Readme folder !
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 3rd_party_haks_v.3.7z (335) | 10.8 MB |
 The module turned into story form! (273) | 22.32 MB |
| last_unicorn_v5.7z (192) | 172.65 MB |
Hope I removed the right one!
Proleric
Moderator
Was it that close a decision ?
No, not at all, I just get anxious messing with other people's stuff...
I’d say, that it’s not only for children, but also interesting for builders, because the module implemented custom content techs, which not too many have: Besides the henchmen system, there are custom sounds, implemented self spoken words within a conversation, cut scenes, “placing riddles”, an IG tutorial approach and probably more. Much time went into this. Good job, JimDad!
And don't forget the opening and closing movies too.
TR
Thanks for the comments, guys. It was fun to do on those long lockdown days - and my granddaughter enjoyed it which was the main thing !
Cool
Thanks.
I'm looking forward to trying this module, and I love that you used so much custom content for it - as my preference is mostly single player modules, I'm always a bit disappointed that so few of the excellent custom content available for NWN finds its way into those. But I have to admit, it is indeed quite a challenge to manually install it all (I am aware of NIT but don't feel comfortable using it yet).
With some projects it's easy to grasp what is needed, but others are more tricky. In particular, I wonder about:
1. Neverwinter facelift haks: Did you use every single file on that page or just some (if so which ones)?
2. The Witcher 1 creature conversion project - Skinmeshed Corpulent Commoners: Do I need to download both of these files or just one of them?
3. Community Skybox Pack (CSP) v2.1: There are two different downloads containing a file with the same name - which one is needed for your module, the one called "Hak Pak" or the one called "2da Hak"?
4. Placeables from the game The Witcher 1: Same question, there seem to be different versions, which one did you use?
5. Lisa's Clothes Horse HotU Padded: Is the optional portrait pack opt_portraits.rar required, too?
I also found it a bit confusing what you wrote about hak order with the screenshots in the readme folder - isn't that important only for the module creator, not the player? Or does it refer to patch haks, in case someone wants to use those instead of just unzipping the override content into the override folder?
1. Neverwinter facelift haks: Did you use every single file on that page or just some (if so which ones)?
The bit in brackets after that tells you which tileset it refers to so "Neverwinter facelift haks (Interior), refers to the interior tileset on that page whereas the "(mines" ) one, although linking to the same page refers to the Mines facelift.
2. Do I need to download both of these files or just one of them?
I think the Dafena one ( I don't remember there being a choice! ). However, Dafena's corresponds almost exactly to the size of the hak I used.
3. which one is needed for your module
The larger one.
4. Placeables from the game The Witcher 1
The one showing 86.mgbs - first in list.
5. Lisa's Clothes Horse HotU Padded: Is the optional portrait pack opt_portraits.rar required, too?
No, just the large one.
Thanks for the interest. As I said it was my first attempt so I realise I should have been clearer which haks I was using where there were more than one on a page. If I had been allowed I would just have bundled all the 3rd party haks into another file and put them up here as well which would have been easier but I wasn't sure if that was allowed - especially as one of the mods had kindly agreed to playtest it
If I am allowed, given the acknowledgements made and links to original pages I'll update the project with another file containing them all. Having just started the Aielund saga I notice there is a 3rd party haks file there although I'm not sure that it what it means.
Please ask if there are any more questions. I realise there were a lot of reqired projects but I feel they make such a difference, especially to kids. My granddaughter loved the look of it - not so much the goblins !
"Or does it refer to patch haks, in case someone wants to use those instead of just unzipping the override content into the override folder?"
You've got me here. I had a problem with Zwerkules' placeables not working with @BlackRider's Witcher area tileset so BR helpfully created a fix for me in the form of a small hak. I had a similar problem with the Unicorn. @TheBarbarian's original work was modified by BR ( the sparkly horn I think although i could be wrong!) and needed another small fix. Both those little haks are included in the download on this page but I felt that because there were so many ( and because I really don't understand the ins and outs ) I'd put up my eventual order of all the haks just in case it mattered. It may not -I don't know but the order in the screenshots works.
"The bit in brackets after that tells you which tileset it refers to so "Neverwinter facelift haks (Interior), refers to the interior tileset on that page whereas the "(mines" ) one, although linking to the same page refers to the Mines facelift."
Oh, woops, you're right, I missed that. Still, it looks like there are two different versions for "(mines)". I downloaded the (757) one with 13.67 MB, not (318) with 18.93 MB, is that correct? And it seems like you forgot to mention the "(forest)" tileset; there is a link to Zwerkules' Bio_Forest Update, but that's only a Forest_B.hak and the module still asks for a bioforest.hak, too.
Some more observations:
1. Mountains and more (2020 compiled) seems to link to the wrong page (a legacy PW page). It think it should be this one instead, to avoid confusion: https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/tileset/mountains-and-more
2. Is it possible that you put all the files from override projects into hak paks and named them yourself? After installing everything as best as I could, the module is still missing these hakpaks:
"commoners.hak" (this sounds like Corpulent Commoners files put into a hak pak?)
"tent.hak" (this might be Stonehammer's Portable Camp files put into a hak pak?)
"ancarionlighted.hak"(this sounds like Lighted Witcher Tiles files put into a hak pak?)
"placeables2da.hak"(are these Placeables from Witcher 1 files put into a hak pak?)
EDIT: Oh, wait, no, Placeables from Witcher 1 already is a hak pak. So where does the placeables2.da.hak come from?
Thanks for the quick replies!
I downloaded the (757) one with 13.67 MB, not (318) with 18.93 MB, is that correct?
Yes.
it seems like you forgot to mention the "(forest)" tileset
Yeah, link changed in projects above. It is the forest facelift from the same page as mines and interior.
Mountains and more (2020 compiled) seems to link to the wrong page (a legacy PW page). It think it should be this one instead, to avoid confusion:
Yes, but I'm not sure how that happened. I thought I'd taken the link from the newer page. Anyway, sorted in links above.
Is it possible that you put all the files from override projects into hak paks and named them yourself?
It's a fair cop here ! I did exactly that. No excuse but you need to remember I had no intention of anyone seeing this other than my granddaughter so I changed a name here and there . . .
"commoners.hak" (this sounds like Corpulent Commoners files put into a hak pak?)
"tent.hak" (this might be Stonehammer's Portable Camp files put into a hak pak?)
"ancarionlighted.hak"(this sounds like Lighted Witcher Tiles files put into a hak pak?)
Correct on all counts.
no, Placeables from Witcher 1 already required project. That is the hak of placeables from Witcher.
So where does the placeables2.da.hak come from?
That's my actual updated 2da (text) file with all the extra lines entered for the various models. I put it into a hak. Not sure if that was the correct way to go about it.
Thanks for all of this, Olivier. We might just get there in the end ! (Hope it's worth it.) I learned a huge amount building it, then a lot more when someone playtested it and now a lot more about keeping version control and putting up a project properly. Apologies for the errors. Tomorrow, I'll set about putting the hak names back to their original ones and saving them into the module and will put up a new file with the module in it so that'll be more consistent.
Hope it works now. If not, come back at me with a longsword (+3 at least).
"Tomorrow, I'll set about putting the hak names back to their original ones"
Oh, the names weren't wrong, there just weren't any named haks to begin with! The according projects only have the raw files to be put into the override folder, and you put them into hak paks instead and integrated them into your module, which is perfectly fine, much cleaner that way. Only now your module requires that players do the same - unless you can somehow get the permission to upload your new hak paks instead. Anyway, I re-created those hak paks myself and was able to start the module, and so far it looks like it was totally worth it. The intro movie was quite nice already! Thanks for helping me this readily so I can now play it. :)
One more thing that I noticed and fixed in my installed version:
The Ruby character from localvault uses portrait files called "ruby_", but the portrait files included in your downloads are named "rubynew", that's why the portrait does not show up in game. I renamed them to "ruby_" and that did the trick, now I can see the portrait in-game too.
Would you still be interested in any other feedback, even just typos in case I still find some?
Would you still be interested in any other feedback, even just typos in case I still find some?
Absolutely !!! This sort of stuff is gold dust for me. It's not so much for downloads as such. I'd like to be able to put a link in the Education forum to this module so I can point to it for classes or educators to come for examples of custom assets/cutscenes/titles/voicing dialogue and how to go about it.
Already you've added a new section to that post about post production and version control ! I'm thinking about a tips section along the lines of don't do what I did . . .
Any help/comments would be great. I'm also not precious about this so "negative waves" are also welcome. I've created a partition on my iMac and am just about to load the project from scratch into that to sort the issues with haks etc. As the required downloads are haks already ( and I changed their name) I'm gonna return them to their original names. Apparently changes like this can screw NIT as well so better to do it properly.
As the required downloads are haks already ( and I changed their name)
Unless I'm misunderstanding you here: Not in my experience, they weren't. You did not change names, you created hak paks from loose override files. Renaming them won't help, just cause more confusion, probably. The problematic ones were:
"commoners.hak" (from Corpulent Commoners)
"tent.hak" (from Stonehammer's Portable Camp)
"ancarionlighted.hak"(from Lighted Witcher Tiles)
These three projects do not come with hak files, they only offer the raw, unpackaged .tga/.nl./.wok files etc. The only solutions I can see for this problem at the moment (as someone not too familiar with the building process, i have to add), are:
A) Leave it like it is, but tell players they need to use nwhak to create hak paks from these raw files and name them like you did.
B) Try to contact dafena, Stonehammer and Ancarion and ask them for permission to include your newly created hak paks containing their override files in your module download package.
C) Possibly remove these three hak paks from your module and instead trust that users will put the required files from the three projects into their override folder.
B would be the ideal solution for players, C a natural but somewhat messy one, A a roundabout but ultimately cleaner one, and the easiest for you to implement (since it would only require you to add a sentence to your description).
The issue with "placeables2da.hak" is much easier to solve; just replace placeables.2da in the hak folder of your download package with a placeables2da.hak that contains it.
I hope that helps!
"You did not change names, you created hak paks from loose override files"
Yes, you're right. I was wondering why I'd changed the names. That makes sense now. With regard to options :
A is probably too much to ask a casual player to do. If it's intended for folks to play with their kids they dont want to be creating their own Haks.
B is possible but Tarot reminded me that putting them into another hak means they arent counted in someone's downloads total. That doesn't seem fair as I'm using them because they looked good to me but I will try to contact them and see if that's possible. It would be , as you say, the better solution. I would leave links to the original projects up.
C again is possible but messy. Not sure folk could be bothered doing that.
In the meantime, I've played through the module and enjoyed it very much. I'll definitely try to have it added to the list of child-friendly NWN modules (https://neverwintervault.org/article/reference/nwn-kids-rough-copy-nwn1).
I was most impressed by the custom intro and outro videos you created for it and the introduction of custom voiceovers, which all were a delight to listen to and partially of very professional quality, too. I've never seen them implemented in such a way before either, what with Ruby also voicing the player character lines, that was quite original. The writing was also highly polished, as well as sweet and amusing. Combat and puzzles are rather trivial for adults of course, but adults are not the target audience after all, and even as an adult I could appreciate the ideas and implementation and still had fun with them. The areas were quite beautiful and a nice showcase for great custom content that is rarely seen in other single player modules.
With regards to the technical side and quest design, I noticed that it is very easy to slightly mess things up - maybe not exactly break the game but make dialogues confusing - if you stray off the intended path and don't do everything in the exact order the module expects you to. I tend to explore on my own and follow orders in games only once I've made sure I won't miss any optional stuff in the environments if I go ahead with the main quest too quickly, which might not be what the average players would do, but I'd imagine that to a certain extent kids would look around and try things on their own as well rather than just follow a strictly linear path. If this wasn't a problem with your core audience Ruby - perfect! :) I also adapted to it once I figured out the module was not foolproof in this regard, tried to keep my usual playstyle in check and painstakingly made sure not to wander off on my own or do anything I wasn't explicitly told to do. Just saying that this is an area that would still have room for improvement, to create better safeguards to protect the correct order of event, so that characters are not able to talk about events that haven't happened or weren't mentioned yet because the player did not go to certain parts or went there too early, or that e.g. in the first wizard training/trial you can't just take the required item out of the barrel containers without casting anything at them and still have granddad congratulate you for your use of magic etc. If these things were fixed, allowing for free exploration without any worry of messing anything up, I think the module would have greater appeal to other players, children and adults alike.
In the last part I was a bit surprised to hear that the castle of the villain is surrounded by dead bodies and then actually see them as placeables, including the corpses of unarmed women with blank open eyes no less. Of course it always depends on the child in question, but for a child-friendly module to me that seemed a tad graphic and shocking in its cruel brutality. How did Ruby react to it? Or did she not pay that much attention to it, being more worried about the cat companion than dead bodies? ;)
Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing this module even though it was not your initial plan! I found it quite interesting and I'm glad I got to play it. As a children's module, I'd rate it 9/10 for its originality and the polished writing and puzzles, but in its current state when recommending it to others I'd substract one point for the rigidity of the quest design (and the potential issues that other parents and children might have with the inclusion of the dead bodies in the module).
Thanks for the positive comments.
"what with Ruby also voicing the player character lines, that was quite original".
I'd love to claim credit but it was Ruby who suggested she read her lines and that I do mine. The toolset didn't seem to like it so I came up with this idea which I think works once the player gets the hang of it.
With regards to the technical side and quest design, I noticed that it is very easy to slightly mess things up
Believe me, it was a lot more messed up before Tarot's expert eye got a hold of it ! I think I've cut down on the opportunities for going astray but more could be done - I hadn't ever thought about the barrel you mention. I was aware that outside the castle the smaller guard has a slight issue with a choice of statements, nothing game breaking but I couldnt figure a way with the voicing to get round an already used option being reused.
In the last part I was a bit surprised to hear that the castle of the villain is surrounded by dead bodies.
I'm surprised myself ! I really hadn't noticed they were graphic. Thankfully, nor did Ruby or I would have heard from my son in no uncertain terms. They will go to be replaced by something less obvious, as will the graves which I did think about. They really don't need to be there, though.
I'm still trying to install NWN on my new partition and, being Steam, nothing is straightforward so it may be some time before I can check the whole project from scratch. However, once those three sets of loose files are sorted, either into haks or whatever that should be it.
I'm surprised myself ! I really hadn't noticed they were graphic.
Maybe graphic isn't quite the right word? I'm not a native speaker of English and might not be aware of all the implications, but they are corpses of women with open eyes staring into the void and they might be bloodied and unarmed, too, and I thought even though there is combat and killing in the game, the idea and mention alone that there are human corpses lying on the hill because the villain killed so many people (even civilians) is on another level still ...
Both bodies and Reverend's mention of bodies are now officially gone ! You were right. No need for it.
I added a burning house to the scene and it was much more satisfying. ..
Also, made some of the smaller changes.
Thanks again.
I found hardly any typos in the module, just these very minor ones:
- Granddad says to Ruby in his first dialogue: "What I don't get is why she tried to used you for the dream rather than me." (used -> use)
- Cooking pot in tent: "If you have ingredients you can cook then into something useful" (then -> them?, and fullstop at the end of the sentence is missing)
- Reverend: "Oh, thank you, young lady. don't worry" (don't -> Don't) (And I also found something like this in the dialogue of the elder by the cave when he talked about the animals, I think, but I forgot to write it down.)
As I said, very minor, the dialogues were already highly polished.
***
A few more things I've noticed:
- When Hannah came out of the cave, she was spawned at the same spot the elder was in and their models overlapped each other, which looked weird.
- When Granddad cast the spell to return home, after freeing Barbie, the new area was loaded long before he could finish his countdown. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but on other occasions when he cast that spell, it would only be triggered once he reached 0, perfectly timed.
- I completed the Villagers' Savings quest and got a completed entry in the journal for it, but in the unfinished section of the journal there still was an entry for it, too, reading "ERROR, blank journal entry".
Other than that, everything seemed to work fine.
Thanks. The spawning issue has just happened recently depending on where the player is standing when the convo with the Keeper of the Cave starts. I can move it well away.
When Granddad cast the spell to return home, after freeing Barbie, the new area was loaded long before he could finish his countdown.
This was intentional .The thought throughout was to to portray Grandad as a loveable grandad but a less than wonderful wizard. You may have also noticed a short "Ooooh" of surprise from grandad just as his count gets to 1 in his previous attempts to teleport into the basement etc. Just meant as a little humorous touch to indicate even he was surprised it worked. .
I completed the Villagers' Savings quest and got a completed entry in the journal for it, but in the unfinished section of the journal there still was an entry for it, too, reading "ERROR, blank journal entry".
I noticed this but have no idea why. I had quite a problem with the journal losing the titles of quests leaving a flashing line. Even after typing in a whole new quest I was left in game with the error you describe.
definitely going to try to get this for Rose. The corpses would only bother her if she couldn't wreak vengeance on those resposible! Hopefully Oliver's suggestions have made it into the latest version. Over the years I have come to gather that Oliver Leroux is a keen oberver of what makes a good module.
Thanks. Bodies are now all gone although my granddaughter, in the time I took to build this, started playing Diablo2 and was a level 20 sorceress by the time I finished it ! Still , the bodies didnt really add anything. The latest version incorporates most of what Olivier suggested.
If you hit any problems, please contact me. The only real problems Ruby, my granddaughter encountered was when she had to use the right click for the radial menu as for the tent. She found that very difficult, especially as she couldn't see half the options due to transparency. I'd love a way to have those options more visible. Also, remember, there is a walkthrough with suggestions and things to think about to save you running about aimlessly.
The only real problems Ruby, my granddaughter encountered was when she had to use the right click for the radial menu as for the tent. She found that very difficult, especially as she couldn't see half the options due to transparency.
You don't even have to use the radial, you can just drag the tent item into a quickslot and then click on it. :)
By the way, it looks like the current zip file still has the wrong names for the portraits. The game seems to look for "ruby_t" not "rubynewt" etc. (at least that was the case for me).
Thanks, Olivier. I'm on it!
Ok, I've made sure the new portraits are included this time and I've also updated the .bic file for Ruby. If you get a chance could you check that it's working now, Olivier? I'm a little confused as to why it didnt before . . .
Btw, thanks for the tip about avoiding the radial menu.
I've deleted the character and portrait files on my harddisk and used the one from your new zip file, and it worked. All good!
Thanks for that and the link on your kid friendly modules page !
Hello, I am having trouble getting this mod to work. After I downloaded the mod and all required content, I still get an error that says "missing placeables.tlk.hak file". In the Unicornhaks folder of the download it has a placeables.tlk, but no hak version. In the comments above you mention that you made it into a hak, but I can't find it anywhere. Where do I get the placeables.tlk.hak that the mod is looking for?
Hi. Sorry you're having trouble. I'll look into it now and get back to you.
Hi Violet Moon, don't you mean 'placeables2da.hak' (not 'placeables.tlk.hak')? At least that's what was missing in my case, and this is how I fixed it:
1. Start nwhak.exe in your Documents/Neverwinter Nights folder.
2. Click, hold and drag the placeables.2da file from last_unicorn_v2.7z into the nwhak window.
3. Save as 'placeables2da.hak', into your Documents/Neverwinter Nights hak folder.
Hi. finally spotted the problem, thanks to Olivier, above. . The placeables2da file in the download wasnt actually a hak ! My fault. I've now tested it and it works. I've put up a new file for download containing only the new 2da hak so you dont have to download everything again. Just decompress and put into your hak folder ( throw the other one away!)
I've also amended the two main files up to version 3 and the new placeables hak is now in there so any new downloader just needs the two main files.
Sorry for the confusion caused. Any other issues let me know.
Ok, short thing to try first. There is no file with the name you mention but it does probably narrow down the culprit. Having a look, this could be entirely my fault and a simple name of file problem. Can you try changing the file in your hak folder from
"placeables2da" to "Placeables2da" ( in other words making the first letter a capital) ? Looking at the 2 screenshots I put into the READ ME FIRST folder I see that it is down as "placeables2da" whereas in my own hak folder the file has a capital at the start. It could be as simple as that.
However, if that doesn't sort it, use those two screenshots to check that you have all the files required and that they all have names exactly the same as in the screenshots and that you sort your haks in the same order (although I'm not sure if that's necessary or causing this problem).
If none of this works, please accept my apology, colour me intrigued and get back to me and I'll see if i can replicate the issue.
Thanks for trying the module, btw.
"that you sort your haks in the same order"
A player can't do that without opening the module in the toolset.
TR
You're right, of course. Daft answer !
Updated Ruby and the Last Unicorn to version 4. You can see changes above. Please let me know if there are any new ( or old!) issues with the module.
The latest version won't load on my machine. The NWN log says that placeables.hak and ruby original.hak are missing. I notice that placeables2da.hak and Ruby.hak exist.
Am I doing something wrong?
Many thanks for any help.
Will have a look now.
Ok, those two haks you mention are necessary but were missing - not sure how that happened.
Anyway, I've now added them and re-uploaded the "Latest version of unique files " to the page above. If you re-download that and just add those two files that should fix it.
Please let me know if it doesn't.
Thanks for taking time to let me know.,
Loads without any issues now. Many thanks for fixing.
Thematically, this is not the type of module I would normally play. I'm more the "kill it all with fire" type of player.
Still, Jimdad55's write up about how he created it for and with his granddaughter intrigued me. I tried it and I'm glad I did.
It's well done and quite entertaining, with lots of (grand)dad jokes and humor. It is also a really good example of combining custom content from here on the Vault to create a compelling and attractive module.
The story and challenge are appropriate for a child and the pregenerated character, Ruby, is pretty powerful. Still, the final epic battle is well balanced. By the time Ruby and her companions defeated the evil boss at the end, she had used up most of her spells and items.
It is also just immeasureably cool to co-create an adventure with your granddaughter. If you're looking for a nifty module for yourself or as a way to introduce youngsters to NWN, this is a good choice.
Thanks for the kind words.