22 replies to this topic

[Vigdis]

Another great mod. Damn, your characters are really likeable.
Auren is strong - willed, brave and has a sense of humour: these three components make a very fine female warrior NPC. Her sword was a good idea, too. It made her more 'real': things that have sentimental value don't need to be heavily enchanted or beautiful.
The voicing was perfect, again. She sounds very self - assured. Damn, where do you get them grand soundsets from, eh? Both Auren and Sarah really sound themselves. If those NPCs were quiet ones, that's the way I would imagine them speak.
I'd like to see more detailed reply options for the player, but hey, it's very good anyway!

[theacefes]

Thanks for the feedback. It's nice to know that people are still taking Auren with them for their playthroughs.

I would love to see more player replies, however, I know that if I try to open up my Auren project folder, I might give in to this terrible urge to redo the entire mod (It *is* my first mod after all)

As for the soundsets, the talented Feuille, who has done mods like Nathanial and the Luxley Family over at SHS, did the voice for Auren. (I did the voicing for Sarah, and were it not for my procrastination, her ToB version would be released already, as the only thing left to do is the voicing!!)

I am very happy that someone finally mentioned her sword. The idea was to give her something more sentimental as opposed to something super power that was stuck to her forever.

Anyway, thanks, you pretty much made this day start out as a very happy one for me.

[Shaitan]

You know Auren is mandatory - she should be part of the fixpack

[Moongaze II]

I tried Sarah in my game, though I've yet to give Auren a try.
That's the problem...so many NPC's to try that I end up with 5 mod NPC's and a protagonist (no banters except Crossmod ). Just as well she isn't a romance (my protagonist weeps...).

This is going to sound wrong, but I wonder what her interaction with Nalia will be like. I'm all for showing different sides of existing NPC's (I'm doing a similar thing with my Aerie Relationship mod), and more homosexual romances.

Secretly I'm hoping it's a little different from the Sarah/Charname romance. Variety is the spice of life!

[Moongaze II]

That's good.
Sarah and the protagonist can make some pretty quick progress.
Glad to see this is different, heh.

[strayshift]

In terms of mod's I think Auren is:
1. Pitched about right in terms of power (she can become powerful but requires you to think about her development, party balance and items, etc - but it is not a given though.)
2. Has a likeable character that is distinct from other npc's (not just because of her sexuality). There is a nice mix of ballsy and vulnerable, experienced but niave, feminine but tough, etc
3. Engages believably with the other NPC's (especially Minsc- 'little Auren') and makes Nalia worth keeping on occasion (Nalia being too much like a poor version of Imoen for me). This is a key point here, with some mod's I get the sense of the writers character 'dominating' in the sense of their profile with the other Bioware NPC's. This could be down to too many dialogues or them being written with a bias towards one character or another, I like the 'NPC dialogue balance' with Auren.
4. Has a good story arc - not as epic as the PC's but thats the way it should be.

I am curious to know though as to how Acefes would see any future development/changes to the mod developing?
G

[theacefes]

With Sarah ToB still needing to be released (even though it's pretty much done) and LOTA still waiting on more progress updates, it's difficult to say if there will ever be more updates to Auren content wise that aren't just bug fixes. She was my first mod, so I am certain there is much to improve with her but I still get surprised when people download her and enjoy the mod.

So...maybe...but we'll see?

[strayshift]

It's like everyone's 'early work' we see a naive charm but feel we have become more refined, fluent and proficient - what perhaps we lose when we learn 'technique' is to follow our instinct's as much? Also we are often 'too close' to the journey of its creation to be objective - we know what we set out to create and where the work (we feel) falls short?
As someone who looks at the mod's as stories mainly Auren to me is one of the best told and balanced within the context of the game.
If you do re-look at Auren (and time away from working on her will help you do this) my only suggestion is - 'make it fun for yourself.'
G

Edited by strayshift, 29 October 2008 - 03:11 AM.

[Gabrielle]

She is grand eh. I watched this mod grow from an idea to full grown and beloved mod.

[theacefes]

It's nice when you can watch that happen. I see too many awesome ideas not make it to their full potential.

More mods, yay!

[Athos]

Just thought I'd say something here. Though I've been posting a lot on Sarah's forum, I must tell you I really liked Auren She had a strong personality and through the whole game I felt she was a worthy companion to have around. When I first got her I was kind of hoping she would be more a 'classic' fighter with sword and shield, but duel-wielding was great for her (especially after I gave her the short sword of mask and the arguvadal ).

The romance with Nalia was really fun. I thought it was a great idea to have Nalia teach her to read. And her enconters with the mercenaries were pretty good too. I just thought the battles from her enconter in ToB were too easy... I mean, either those people had to be stronger, or they'd have to be smarter and come to us earlier...

[-JR-]

I loved the ties to Beregost and Taerom Fuiruim, it was pulled off very well. You were very successful in conveying the sentimental value of the sword; her decision with it in regards to Imoen stood out in my mind as a particularly nice touch. My Bondari-like liberalness with reload makes it easy to forget that the characters are in such a harsh situation.

[theacefes]

Thank you.

I had originally intended to make her sword upgradable in ToB or have some other quest connected to it but in the end it just never made it in the mod. Honestly, if I had the time and motivation, I would go back and rewrite and recode most of this mod, but it's nice to see that people still play it and enjoy it.