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I think I finally got the cannons working pro...
June 30, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I think I finally got the cannons working properly. There were some amusing bugs along the way, such as all the enemies suddenly firing multiple shots at once, or sometimes endlessly. My wee lil' cannon didn't stand a chance.
Still, I just finished with some fixes in the last few minutes and it seems pretty close to done. I might add a few sound effects, but that's about it.
I'm going to see if I can find the time to work on the socket system today. I've been saying that every day for awhile now, but this time I really mean it. Really.
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I'm working on a third puzzle for the Proctor...
June 29, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I'm working on a third puzzle for the Proctor area. This one's kind of fun, involving cute tiny cannons that you fire at your tiny foes. For some reason it makes me want to break into a Scottish accent and start talking about "me wee lil' cannon".
It still needs tweaking - you can't blow anything up and the animation's a bit wonky. Still, I was impressed that I got the math behind the projectile physics right the first time.
Sunjammer's finished with the beta of the infamous gem system which drives most of the magic items. Hopefully today I can find some time to work it into the game.
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I had fun putting in the astronomy puzzle
June 28, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I had fun putting in the astronomy puzzle. It's very visual and not particularly difficult. The coding behind it ended up being fairly elegant and entertaining to make. Of course, now I have seven more puzzles for the Proctor, so I think I'll stay busy for awhile.
The team organization push continues. I think we're going to have our first ever realtime chat this weekend. I'm still struggling with the balance between being a developer and a captain/visionary. Fortunately my crew hasn't made me walk the plank quite yet.
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I finally wrapped up my problematic cutscene
June 27, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I finally wrapped up my problematic cutscene. I think I have two more left in the module, which makes me quite happy. Now I'm turning my attention to the fourth level, starting in on another of the puzzles. This one is more spatial than most, as well as being a little tricky to set up. The things I do in my attempt to be different . . .
I've also been having fun digging up some old pirate paintings that have fallen into the public domain. Folks like N. C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle were painting scenes of high adventure long before I was born. Some of them may make their way into the new Pirate Cards game.
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I've been taking the first steps to convert t...
June 26, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I've been taking the first steps to convert the Demon Cards game into the Pirate Cards game. Some things are simple, such as renaming the module and hak name. Other things are much more difficult, such as renaming some of the spells. For example, I changed Higher Calling to Siren's Call. It involved finding new art, updating the card model, and searching and replacing a dozen references in the script. Still, I think it's something that needs to be done to get the feel I'm shooting for.
Part of the reason I switched over to the card game for a bit was my frustration with yet another cutscene. I didn't expect for there to be quite so many cutscenes in this first module, something that worries me a bit. I don't like taking control away from the player, so I'm trying to make them skippable where I can. The problem is that I've got so much information to present to the player and cutscenes seem the best way. Hopefully I can make them visually appealing and interesting, avoiding players snoozing away at their keyboard.
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I was sick as a dog yesterday, spending most ...
June 24, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I was sick as a dog yesterday, spending most of the time in bed or feeling miserable. So, instead of showing off all the things I didn't do, I'll talk about other things.
Pirates of the Sword Coast is out. For those of you who have to get some piratey goodness right away, you might give it a try. I haven't played it yet, so I can't give a recommendation one way or another. Still, Bioware has kindly made the hak pack available to all. There's a slight problem, unfortunately, as it's missing some critical files. The first is here, though you won't be able to see the tilesets just yet. I thought I'd show off a pretty parrot just for fun. I'm sure some of these things will make it into our prototype.
The team continues to work away without me. There's a list of bugs for me to work on, Razvan did a face for the first time, and assorted scripting systems are becoming finalized. Hopefully I'll be up to doing some more work today as well.
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I spent way too much time yesterday working o...
June 23, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I spent way too much time yesterday working on another flintlock pistol. Like most of the time I do modeling, I started running into an assortment of little issues. It's close, but not quite finished. For some odd reason some of the parts decide to move around when I actually get it into the game.
I finished up one of the Proctor's dialogs and got it into the game. The exam actually works as well, which is a good sign. I've got about seven or eight more like it to do.
Unfortunately today I'm still feeling the effects of cough syrup as I'm getting over a cold. It makes doing anything requiring concentraction a bit of a challenge.
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Yesterday was a mishmash of tasks for me
June 22, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
Yesterday was a mishmash of tasks for me. EvilMulder put together some nice tunes for the piano I had made earlier, so I got those into the game. Before you could only play "Rain, rain, go away" on it. Now a talented Bard can play several rousing tunes.
I resized the flintlock and piano, both of which were a bit too massive. I continued writing and scripting some of the proctor's dialog.
Finally, I'm continuing to put together a useful collection of tools for the team. With the size of the team so large, there's plenty of room for even more of them.
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Sunjammer is slowly approaching the end of th...
June 21, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 Sunjammer is slowly approaching the end of the socket system. I got to try out a little demo last night and it seemed nearly finished. I have a number of places throughout the game where I've been waiting to put in magic items, so I'll get to do that soon.
I've been doing more team coordination efforts. Yesterday I created a way for people to quickly see updates to bugs, new files, and get to a team roster. The plan is to integrate it with the discussion board today.
I also turned to a bit of writing this morning. I'm working on the Proctor dialogs, which is sometimes challenging. The fun part is letting the player be a smart aleck student, which produces some fairly amusing lines.
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I got the first of the flintlocks in the game
June 20, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I got the first of the flintlocks in the game. I spent a long while getting things just right. Smoke and a burst of flame is ejected from the front while it's firing. I thought about animating the lock mechanism, but that's likely something that most people couldn't properly see.
The next step is to work in the scripting. As it is right now, it's quite powerful and I'd like to have some lengthy reload times in between. I'm thinking I want to have a powder horn item to used during the reload process. Early in the campaign, gunpowder is fairly hard to get and the quality of the shot is poor. Later on, things will improve.
I've also been thinking about the AI aspect of flintlocks. I'm thinking that if an NPC is given a flintlock, I'd like them to reload and equip it as needed, then switch to an appropriate melee weapon. We'll see if I can get that working too.
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Well, the flintlock pistol is textured
June 19, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 Well, the flintlock pistol is textured. It took way too long, working last night and this morning, but I'm fairly happy with the result. Matching up the wood grain was a pain, and it could use some more work, but this is good enough for the moment.
Hopefully I can get it in the game and working next. I've been studying the other pistol/firearm hacks out there and think I can make it work reasonably well in the prototype - sounds, muzzle flash, and so on. If I were really brave, I'd redo the animations as well, but that's likely something I'll wait for NWN2.
I've been a bit sick as well, so I haven't been keeping up with the team over the last day. Since it's Father's Day, I'll probably do family things. Don't expect too many fancy things by tomorrow.
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I got the piano in game, one of the other set...
June 18, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I got the piano in game, one of the other set pieces that gives the third level the proper ambiance. Bards can even strut their stuff, using their perform skill to try and play it. For everyone else, well, I made a short sound file of someone mangling the keys. It's vaguely amusing.
It seems that the big war scene somehow broke along the way, so I'm trying to fix that this morning. I also worked on the grand bug tracking application. I think I've got the main issues worked out. The great team organization push continues, with sakita e-mailing everyone and making sure they're still alive and interested.
Razvan continues to work on weapons. Yesterday he made four blunderbusses. I'll probably get the first of the ready-for-texturing pistols today. After a quick texture, I'd like to see if I can get it in game and try it out.
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It was another chatty day yesterday, continui...
June 17, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 It was another chatty day yesterday, continuing to work on team coherence. I whipped up a little application that should help better track who everyone is. I'm also hoping to update the issue tracking system when I get a chance.
Razvan continues to go crazy with modeling. Yesterday he cranked out four beautifully modeled flintlock pistols. Here's one of my favorites for your viewing pleasure. My hope is to get them in-game for the prototype after some preliminary texturing.
I did a tiny bit of work on the module itself, mostly so I don't get rusty. I'm to a particularly tricky part that requires a fair bit of writing and creativity.
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It was a productive day yesterday, though not...
June 16, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 It was a productive day yesterday, though not in the usual sense. In terms of the module itself, I did a quick test of a proposed world map system. I think we're leaning towards a 2D map with 3D touches. It's a stylized approach, but hopefully one that people appreciate.
Our new project manager has been going full-tilt, staying up far too late and getting things organized. I've been trying to keep up my end of the bargain. I polished off my issue tracking system and got it ready for the new module. There's bugs apleanty to sort through. Right now they're in fairly confusing discussion threads.
It's bound to be another interesting day today. Hopefully we can QA the QA tool, get yet more project management stuff organized, and who knows, maybe even work on the module some more.
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I was very productive yesterday
June 15, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I was very productive yesterday. I added a couple dialogs to fill in a few gaps. I tweaked some models and got another one into the game. Work has started in earnest on the fourth level. Of course, now I'm facing a huge number of dialogs to write, so I'm fortifying myself with strong tea before I begin.
The team itself has been busy. Deadman's sketched another character and has started looking into the issue of flags for our lovely ship models. Our new potential project manager is getting familiar with the scope of the project. Fortunately she hasn't yet jumped ship and started swimming for the nearest island.
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The burning scripts become yet more refined
June 14, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
The burning scripts become yet more refined. Candles and torches now have a "set on fire" ability that lets them set fire to things. When barrels and chests are hit by fire damage, there's a chance that they catch on fire. I'd also like to fiddle with the spell hooks to allow for items to catch on fire, though I'm not sure I'll get quite that far.
I'm also doing some technical things to prepare for translators. I took the first steps at creating a TLK file, which contains all those pesky text strings that people see in the game. The theory is that translators can simply update a single file and the game becomes regionalized for a particular language.
Finally, I had a couple new members added to the crew, including an American living in Sweden who made the mistake of volunteering as a project manager. As this motley crew approaches thirty in size, I'm finding it difficult to use my limited time to manage the scurvy dogs. Hopefully this new person can hold the whip for awhile. Wish her luck.
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Okay, I admit it, I'm a pyromaniac
June 13, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 Okay, I admit it, I'm a pyromaniac. I spent hours last night and this morning perfecting the burning system. It now will set fire to all manner of things, including items. The burn rate seems fairly reasonable, with large fires quickly spreading and small fires taking a little more time. Things can also be marked to explode, causing fires to quickly spread.
The most fun was working with items. You can lay down a line of gunpowder to something explosive, then light the end and stand back to watch. Needless to say, it opens up a number of gameplay options.
I'm going to need some better ways to set things on fire. I'll likely need to create a "Set Fire" spell that lets torches and candles initiate the burning process. I'd also like to tie into the spell system, making fire spells also start things burning out of control.
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I mostly spent last night and this morning tw...
June 12, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I mostly spent last night and this morning tweaking the burning system and trying to find a place where I could use it for non-combat purposes. Right now the fire spreads fairly quickly, but not too quickly (I hope). I kept tweaking the chance of spreading. Sometimes it would spread nearly instantaneously. Sometimes it took a little while.
Actually, in the middle of typing this I had to run off and make another improvement and test some new things. What I really needed was a slight delay before nearby things can catch on fire, otherwise you'd get very rapid spreading which didn't look realistic.
Razvan has also been cranking out models left and right. Last night it was a piano, which I'm excited to get in-game. I also have a wall-mounted gem holder and some excellent Victorian lights. It's nice getting the ambiance just right.
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We made some really good progress yesterday
June 11, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 We made some really good progress yesterday. The modelers were in top form, cranking out models left and right. I managed to get one of them skinned and in the game last night, including whipping up a new texture for it. You can see it peeking out from behind the explosion in the screenshot.
The petrol bomb works as well now. It required fiddling with .2da files and .tlk files, not to mention a fair bit of scripting. The only thing that I haven't tested yet is the constant burning script. In theory it can even spread to other creatures and flammable objects, which could prove entertaining.
I'm halfway through getting the Proctor's gem in the game, so I best get back to work.
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I finally got around to making a broken door ...
June 10, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I finally got around to making a broken door lock, one of those plot critical things that I'd left out before. Modeling is something that you can spend endless hours on, but I finally called it quits and switched to other things.
The main plot can now progress to level four. Lots of work is required for level three, so I'm not abandoning it yet. There's vast empty rooms and the cutscenes are quite clunky. Still, it feels good to make progress.
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Today I'm going to show off Razvan's work, a ...
June 09, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 Today I'm going to show off Razvan's work, a couple nice looking lights for me to sprinkle about the levels. He sweated blood to get the polycounts down as Victorian-style furnishings are typically quite elaborate.
I worked more on the prototype. In theory the player can get to the fourth level now. Well, I haven't made it and there's no door leading to it, but the critical path to get there has been scripted, if not tested. Hopefully today I can give them a place to go, along with beginning writing for the mysterious Proctor character.
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I was stuck in ten hours of meetings yesterda...
June 08, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I was stuck in ten hours of meetings yesterday, along with lots of kid wrangling in the evening, so I didn't touch the toolset once.
Fortunately, this is a great opportunity to praise all the work the team is doing. We're well over 20 people now, from modelers to scripters to writers and testers. I wouldn't claim that I run the most efficient crew on the high seas, but they seem to do fairly well with the bumbling and distracted captain that I am.
 Deadman is our new portrait artist and he did a nice sketch of this rugged lass. She struck me as a kindly seafaring wench, able to change a diaper or load a cannon, whatever the situation called for.
GrogMaker whipped up the geometry for a still, one of the placeables I found a need for. Razvan made a nice wall light, a big improvement over my current odd-looking one.
Sunjammer continues to work on the various scripting systems. The socket system is slowly coming out of beta and will hopefully make it into the prototype shortly. You can also wander over to his web site if you're curious as to what he's up to.
Finally, the writers continue to brainstorm ideas and the testers continue to point out the grevious errors in the prototype. For awhile I accidentally had a "chase the naked man" mini-game, which i promptly fixed. Now they're clamoring for a "chase the naked woman" subquest. It seems pirate crews haven't changed much over the years.
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I've been working on a particularly difficult...
June 07, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
I've been working on a particularly difficult cutscene/encounter. I think most of the big bugs are worked out, though there's plenty of polishing to do.
I also find I'm running into some technical obstacles. While I'd like to do is to be able to let the player control some of the henchmen for periods of time. While it looks like that's possible in NWN2, it's extremely hard to pull off for the prototype in NWN.
I may end up putting in a cutscene with an eye to replacing it for the real game. If I'm really brave, I might try some of the wacky workarounds that give you pseudo henchman control. If only the approach didn't scare me so much.
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I made some good progress yesterday, laying d...
June 06, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I made some good progress yesterday, laying down more scripts and such for the third level. There's a particular confrontation that's halfway scripted, which I can hopefully finish up today. I also added yet more ambiance, which this level seems to not get enough of.
The musicians on the team are also cranking out amazing work, finishing up a bunch of the earlier themes and making some new ones. EvilMulder in particular has a talent for creating songs with a recognizable pirate tune. I'll see if I can delegate collecting, updating, and converting all the music files to one of my motley crew. Yaar.
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My weekend has been filled with kid activitie...
June 05, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
My weekend has been filled with kid activities, so work on the game is a bit slow. I did manage to lay down the basics for the second phase of the third level. I figure if I do a little each day, this thing will eventually get done.
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More bug fixing and additional ambiance
June 04, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
More bug fixing and additional ambiance. Basically I've got a big empty level that needs lots of detail. I'm also doing some technical research into seeing if there's good ways to add direct henchmen control in NWN. We have some crazy ideas, but the emphasis is on crazy at this point. Mostly I want something for the prototype that lets us mock up cooperative gameplay before we get "true" henchman control with NWN2.
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Sunjammer has indeed gone a bit mad with rega...
June 03, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 Sunjammer has indeed gone a bit mad with regards to the ball game. Already it looks far fancier than my original version. I think that for this particular level we're going to keep it fairly simple, though I can almost see the gleam in Sunjammer's eyes when he talks about it. I think there's a reasonable chance it shows up as a PVP arena-style game at some point.
I continue to work on the mood for the third level. Sound effects are everything, so I'm sneaking in a fair number of those. So far I'm pretty happy with how it's coming together. Now to just get the plot progressing to the next level.
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I did a little bit of everything last night, ...
June 02, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 I did a little bit of everything last night, staying up later than I should have to add in some extra creepy ambiance. What's a spooky level without a phonograph playing crackling music?
I spent some time working with a phonograph model. I'm not completely happy with the texture, but it's a good rough beginning. I also added a new hak pack to the colleciton, this one for sounds and voice recording. I found some great old songs at the Library of Congress site and spent some time converting it into something I could use in the toolset. Finally, I wrapped it all up with some scripting to make it all work properly.
It was an awful lot of work for something that will probably only be experienced for a few seconds. Still, my hope is that over a hundred thousand people play through, so every little detail counts.
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One of the team members pointed out that a sc...
June 01, 2005 by Adam in NWN2
 One of the team members pointed out that a scene where a valley was supposed to fill with fire wasn't particularly impressive. I went a little overboard fixing the issue, putting in all sorts of pyrotechnics. It's always fun to set things on fire.
I did a bunch more bug fixing and general cleanup, primarily in the big battle scene. There was a long standing mysterious bug where dialogs would cut out for no apparent reason. It turns out that the NPCs were listening to every silent shout and trying to restart their dialog. On a crowded battlefield, there are endless silent shouts where the AI calls out "I'm dead" or "I'm wounded" in hopes of getting help from allies.
Finally, I did a little more work on camera angles in general. There were a couple scenes where if you were unlucky the camera could completely block the view of what you were looking at.
It's nice to polish things up. I'm still hoping I can work more on level 3 today. It's been calling to me for attention for awhile.
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About Me
I've won multiple awards for my Neverwinter Nights modules, which I've been working on since the year 2000.
In the real world, I'm a web developer for a healthcare organization. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
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