Releasing your scenario
The last file you need to add to your scenario folder is the all-important README.txt. This file should contain important information about your scenario that may not be found elsewhere:
- Your contact information -- at a minimum, your name and e-mail address. This is how players will be able to contact you if they find bugs or have questions about your scenario. If you have your own website, it's a good idea to link it here.
- The scenario's version history -- at a minimum, the current version and the date it was last modified. It's possible that your scenario will need to be fixed after it's released. Updating the version number and listing any changes made will help players make sure they have the latest version.
- Any extra information players should know before playing, or any message you want to pass along to your players. Some scenarios are designed with specific parties in mind (singleton only, or no magic, or so on), or they give special items or abilities to characters that need extra explanation. Note that not every player is going to read this file before playing the scenario, so it's a good idea to display a message at the beginning of the scenario telling them to read it.
- Longer scenarios might benefit from a Frequently Asked Questions list, or a walkthrough, especially if it has difficult fights or puzzles. If you're worried about spoilers, put this information in a separate walkthrough.txt file.
- Finally, provide credit for everything your scenario uses that wasn't written by you, or part of default Blades of Avernum. If your scenario uses any custom graphics or scripts, list them and note who made them. Thank all your beta testers, as well as the person who did your graphics conversion (more on that later).
This is what I wrote for this scenario's README.txt:
Pesky Goblins ============= by Dintiradan (dintiradan@gmail.com) Version 1.0.0, released August 8, 2017 (Find up-to-date versions of my scenarios at http://dintiradan.ermarian.net/boa_scenarios/) Recommended for level 1 parties. Description ----------- 'Pesky Goblins' is a very simple scenario about retrieving a necklace from the goblins that stole it. It is also the product of my Design Tutorial (which you can find at http://dintiradan.ermarian.net/boa_tutorial/index). Be sure to check it out if you want to see how this scenario was made, and more importantly, if you want to learn how to make scenarios of your own. Credits ------- G500.bmp: Nethergate Thank you to Tyranicus for doing the Macintosh graphics conversion.
Graphics conversion is a necessary step for any scenario that uses custom graphics. Blades of Avernum is designed for two platforms — Windows and Macintosh — and each platform deals with graphics files differently. Once beta testing is complete and every file in your scenario folder is finalized, ask for a Macintosh user to do the conversion for you (use the forums if need be). You'll have to e-mail them a .zip file of your scenario (make a .zip like you did here). Again, you only need to do this if your scenario has custom graphics.
Now you have everything you need. Make a topic on the Blades of Avernum forum announcing the release of your scenario. If you have your own webspace provide a link to the .zip files. Otherwise, ask for someone to host your scenario for you. Note that in either case your scenario will probably be mirrored on other websites, to preserve them in case your website ever goes down. Unless you ask otherwise, expect a mod to make a review thread for your scenario. Keep an eye on the forums after you release a scenario: chances are you'll have players asking for help or reporting bugs.
And that's it for Pesky Goblins! But this tutorial is not quite over...
