POLL: TSotSoFS - to Hak or not to Hak?

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Right, for the upcoming module, The Shadows of the Sea of Fallen Stars, I was debating including some new Tileset's for you to play on.
Now the question is; would you bother downloading a 7MB HakPak just to be able to play the module, or would you like me to make the most of what the Toolset has?

ie. Would you want to play in Winter/Deserts/Swamps/ Rural Castles etc? Or not?

Poll Information
This poll contains 5 question(s). 21 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: TSotSoFS - to Hak or not to Hak? (21 votes.)

Would you be happy about downloading at least 10MB just to play TSotSoFS? (Choose 1)
* Yes, i would download it. - 48% (10)
* No, it's not worth it for one Module. - 10% (2)
* Maybe, if I thought the module was good enough. - 43% (9)

Which three of these tilesets would you especially like to see? (Choose 3)
* Winter - (Forest, Rural, City with snow instead of Grass) - 76% (16)
* Swamp - (Rural/Forest mix with Sludgey water) - 33% (7)
* Desert - (Rural/City with Sand instead of Grass) - 38% (8)
* Jungle - (Forest with Jungley trees and floor plants) - 57% (12)
* Caverns - (Rural/City underground in caves) - 19% (4)
* Town - (Rural/City mixed to make a City on Grass type thing) - 33% (7)

Do you think a Hak-Pak improves a module or not? (Choose 1)
* Yes, Hak-Paks improve a module. - 33% (7)
* No, they're a waste of memory. - 10% (2)
* Possibly, if the Module needs it (like an IWD mod) - 57% (12)

Would you play TSotSoFS even if had exactly the same tilesets as other modules? (Choose 1)
* Yes, I would play it even if it didn't have any new Tiles. - 29% (6)
* No, I would only play it if it had original area's. - 0% (0)
* Maybe, if it sounds good, i'll play it based on it's goal: Story. - 71% (15)

Ultimately, would you like to see Tileset Hak-Pak's in the module? (Choose 1)
* Yes, included in the Zip, so it all comes in one go. (BIG file size) - 52% (11)
* Yes, but i would download the Hak's seperately. - 24% (5)
* No, I'd play it without them, though i wouldn't mind them. - 14% (3)
* No, i find it bothersome to download them, leave them out! - 10% (2)

 

I personally believe that a hak-pack is only needed if the story line needs it. If you just want snow, because you can, then you really do not need the hak-pack. But if your story line is based around an evil mage that has cast a spell of forever winter on a town, then I can see the use of a hak-pak.

Just remember that there are people still on dialup

 

I'm aware of that, actually the main reason I wanted to know was because I have a Dial-Up and wanted to know if it would be worth ME having to download them all!

 

On the flip side of that argument, remember that people have seen every tileset that's already included in the game. Variations are great fun, but I would say, keep it simple. Don't use 5 different tilets if they're not needed. If something will just be used for an area or two, don't bother. If you want to, say, set a large portion of an area in an dessert or snowcapped peaks, then sure. If you just want to use a villiage tilset that has a mage tower, I'd say not Don't include too much little stuff either. Cloaks and "jigglies" do not add much to a mod. However, a couple of custom monsters would add something new. I know I'm somewhat rambling here, but I suppose what I'm trying to say is this: if you are to include a hackpack in your module, be a minimalist with it and get the most out of the least.

 

Well, Gopher, I think you got your answer. It seems that we'll download it if the module is good enough and requires them.

On the flipside though, I seem to remember you recommending against me using hakpaks in that Interplanar module. Why the change of heart?

 

Simply because it seems every module which recieves good ratings nowadays needs a custom Tile-Set/Monster Set/Models to make it. I'm just briefly wondering if I decided to include a Hak-Pak (not included 'jigglies' etc) then would anyone bother to download it?
Because with a 16k Dial-Up, I wouldn't ever even think of downloading one normally, but if people want them, then I guess it could be worth it.

 

I think if used rightly a hakpack can be very useful and therefore I will happly download one if you decide to make it.

 

If you decide to go with the HAK pac I would see if one of the ones already up will do what you want. As you say more and more mods seem to require them, but how many are new HAKs? If you go with one of the more popular ones, chances are people will already have it.

 

Actually, there's some rather cool hak packs out there, one that can remove your minimap in dungeons, skies for those who use the hacked camera, riddable horses and stuff like that. I've only tried the skies but am thinking of including some of them in my module.

 

Righty ho!

Firstly after scanning through lots of them, there'a few that i'd like to include. These will all be included with the module via a .Exe file.
Ie. When downloaded, you get an .Exe file which will send all Movies/Hak-Paks/Sounds/Modules to their respective places, so that all you have to do is Double-Click, then play!

So far these are included (with average size):

Interior City/Castle (15kb)
Is a hak which allows you to place City Interior and Castle Interior tiles in the same Area, so that you don't have to do area transitions between doorways.
This allows you to have Storage Rooms (castle) in an Inn (city) for example.

Rocks (150kb)
This hak-pak inserts 19 new Rock Placables, including standing, lying, broken, shattered, cracked and lichen rocks and boulders. These rocks will allow you to build arches, mounds and even Stonehenge's out of them.

Fences (3kb)
Extremely small Hak which contains ripped fences. This basically allows you to place down individual fence parts, and not only in a 2x2 square as before.

Some i'd really like to include, but are slightly big.

Grass City/Rural Town (7-10MB)
Is a brilliant hak which removes the Cobbles in the City Tileset and replaces it with Grass from the Rural, which allowes you to build a large town, on grass and not cobbles.
there is a problem here in that the module will then essentially be around 15MB, and that's just the Prelude! Aaagh.

Swamp Tileset (350kb)
Allows you to place down Swampwater, Streams, and Swampy Tree's in the Forest/Rural tileset. Could be used for swamps, or simply dirty water.

Skies
Gives the landscape a Sky! Includes Cloudy/Sunny/Moon etc. You can only see them if you have the Camera Angle Hack.

SO?

If there are any other hak-paks you would like to see, please say what, and for what reason.
What do you think of these so far?

[ November 12, 2002, 19:05: Message edited by: Gopher ]

 

I like the idea of including

• Rocks
• Fences
• Interior City/Castle
• Skies

They seem that they could improve the quality of the module without largely increasing the size of it. The other hak-paks sound good, but may not be needed, but that decision is up to you.

[ November 13, 2002, 05:58: Message edited by: Thorin ]