Return to the Serpent Isle: September Update
Sergorn Dragon has just posted the September news update for the Ultima project he’s heading up (and for which I am doing worldbuilding), Return to the Serpent Isle.
He makes mention of the character creation video that was news earlier in the month, and of the various other systems that have been developed and/or updated for the project. The team is currently exploring the feasibility of having in-game scripted sequences — of the sort that were so commonplace in Serpent Isle; work is also proceeding on adjustments to the Neverwinter Nights 2 crafting system.
Additionally, their talented musician, Panu Altio, has produced two more excellent pieces for the game’s soundtrack; yours truly has heard them, and they are awesome.
And then there’s this:
I swear I have had this feeling here before...
Which is to say: worldbuilding has begun in earnest! I’ve been working on the overland map of Claw Isle and on a beach with a shipwreck, while team member and coder Loony has been working on a fishing area. The team has even added a Media page to the site, as well as a Team page.
Finally, Sergorn re-iterates that the project is still in need of 3D artists. They are also looking for writers and worldbuilders. So if that describes you, Dragons and Dragonettes, why not sign up?
You know, I always have a REALLY hard time navigating your site. I can never easily figure out which link in the news article actually leads me to the page you are discussing. For instance, in this article, what I REALLY want to do is go straight to Sergorn’s page, so obviously the first link I select is “September news update for the Ultima project”. but that doesn’t take me anywhere useful, in fact it doesn’t take me anywhere at all, I’m right back looking at the same information again. What did that accomplish? It’s like the first link in every one of your articles is just there to trick me. Logically, that link should lead me to the update, but on your site it never does. I wish you’d make the link to the original news article bigger, bolder, more obvious, and at the top of the article.
Actually, I’m going to scrap tag links starting tomorrow. Now that I’m submitting to Reddit, keeping my count of “internal links” down is paramount.
So…check back tomorrow to find the problem, er, gone. (And if I can really feel like monkeying around in the database, I’ll strip the tagging syntax out of previous articles as well.)
Err… sorry for how incredibly rude that sounded.
WtFD says: no worries!
Regarding this news post, it looks to me that Kenneth just did a tiny mistake with the link. The “September news update for the Ultima project” should be leading straight the news update at Ultima Return – that’s how it was working with the other news about Return. I figure he’s gonna correct it as soon as he notice the mistake.
Also there is actually an easy way not to get confused with links in article. Links that lead to an external website are *always* bolded, while links leading to Aiera links or tags are not.
Hope that helps 🙂
Of course, links work moar bettar when you actually fill out the HREF element.
But the tags are still going away. Or, rather, are getting kicked to the bottom of the post, and out of the body text.
I’m glad to hear that. I think that’ll make your page far friendlier to navigate.
Yeah, just tested my crafty plan on another site. Seemed to work, so watch this!
Update: There, how be that?
I’m not sure whether I’m going to keep the bold-face links; I do rather like them. But the tag links are now gone.
All I’m seeing is: seven comments, and no one about Return!
*grumble*
Sergorn, your project looks cool, and I totally want to see more. Keep up a steady stream of screenshots and monthly reports.
Just a word of caution: I found myself in this same dilemma with an Elder Scrolls III mod I was working on forever ago. Any project that requires 3D assets on the scale of an Ultima remake is a shitload of work. I recommend using any means necessary, including the use of free models and textures, to get the assets in-game. Even if the 3D models look crappy the project will at least move forward and there will be something for people to see. They can always be improved or replaced later.
Don’t worry Kevin, we’re already taking steps. Not that we wouldn’t still like a 3D artist, but we are working on backup plans as well.
Actually, NWN2 gives us a pretty generous selection of models…we’ve got about 60%-70% of the monsterforms we need already in the game. If push comes to shove, we could probably just run with those.