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I've been working away at the psionics, now m...
June 30, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I've been working away at the psionics, now moving on to the GUI that's used to view and increase the skills. The problems with tlk files and 2da files have all been resolved, so I think it's mostly just making things look pretty.
Assuming I can find some time today, I also want to sink some time into writing more dialog. That's constantly in need of work.
On a complete lark, I was playing around with getting my Guitar Hero Wii guitar so that I could play Lute Hero. I plugged in a Bluetooth adapter, downloaded GlovePIE, installed BlueSoleil, and followed the rough instructions here. My first wiimote didn't work, but the second did. I ended up modifying the Frets on Fire PIE script so that it pressed the 1-4 keys. It's not perfect, but it was good enough for a demonstration.
I was originally going to post a dry "how to" video, but after some prompting from my son, I ended up making an extremely silly one instead. Just to prove that I'm not above making a complete fool of myself for the enjoyment of others, you can watch it here.
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I ran into a very frustrating problem the oth...
June 29, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I ran into a very frustrating problem the other day. Evidently the main tlk file got corrupted somewhere along the way. Instead of causing immediate problems, suddenly the descriptions of certain things stopped showing up properly. I ended up having to revert to a slightly older version that I'm hoping isn't missing anything. I'm also hoping I didn't accidentally roll it out into the latest patch, as I'm not sure when the problem started.
I also ran into some interesting design problems with Teleportation. It turns out I can get to places I'm not supposed to be able to get to, so I'm going to have to carefully block things off. On the other hand, I still want to give players the ability to sneak into "forbidden" areas and make them feel they're getting away with something.
Finally, I managed to get the Teleportation power into the game like the other psionic skills. Before, players used a book, which didn't quite seem right.
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As a game developer, I think I'm required to ...
June 28, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 As a game developer, I think I'm required to make crate puzzles. Fortunately this one is fairly painless and the plan is to have lots of hints pointing the player into the right direction. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to save the world and being stopped by a bunch of crates in the wrong place.
I have lots of bugs and issues that are popping up in this extremely rough and early version of the finale. Still, it's fun seeing it finally take shape.
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I think I've got the tileset work essentially...
June 27, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I think I've got the tileset work essentially finished, though it was surprisingly hard to wrangle into shape. I still need to make a "beautification" pass and make it all pretty, but the main structure is there. I've even started in on the scripting, which will probably be fairly tricky. I just barely started in on the dialog, which will take another big chunk of time.
Endings to big efforts are always challenging. I'd like to offer up multiple versions so that the player feels like their actions made a difference in the outcome of the game. Some people are looking for the traditional "save the world" ending, while others look for other rewards, be it romance, promise of continued adventure, treasure, revenge, or some bittersweet self-knowlege like the endings of Fallout and Planescape: Torment. While I'm not egotistical enough to think I can satisfy everyone, my goal is to let the player make big choices that impact the ending significantly.
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I really hope this tileset effort is worth it...
June 27, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I really hope this tileset effort is worth it, as it's quite slow going. I'm having fun making secret doors and such, but it's taking a bit longer than expected.
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I don't have a lot to report today
June 26, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I don't have a lot to report today. I continue work on the Vault area, wrestling with that difficult yet rewarding tileset. It's slow going, but hopefully the result will be well worth it.
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I was deathly ill this morning, only really b...
June 24, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I was deathly ill this morning, only really becoming a functional human being sometime after noon. Fortunately that means that I took the day off work, and got some time puttering around with the final area in the game.
I have a love/hate relationship with the Shadow Fortress tileset. It's the only one that has different levels, which lends itself to interesting perspectives and gameplay. Still, I think I'm going to have to create some specific placeables to fill in holes in walls and such, as the tiles don't go together very well. I'm shooting for a "forced coop" experience, where you and a key NPC have to complete tasks together. I suppose it's the classic Prisoner's Dilemma game with a D&D twist.
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I've been doing non-stop childcare for the la...
June 23, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I've been doing non-stop childcare for the last few days, so sadly I haven't been able to touch the Campaign. Today will likely be a busy catch up day, but I'll see if I can beg, borrow, or steal a few moments.
It looks like Dark Waters won an award for Best Adventure Module and I picked one up for Veteran Author. Many thanks to the folks at the Academy of Modding Excellence, who made a movie for the occasion. I'd like to also thank everyone who helped make Dark Waters what it is, and all you folks who enjoyed playing it.
It looks like the Mac version of Dark Waters is nearly ready to go. I've gotten some great feedback from the testers and can hopefully get something ready soon.
Vicki also sent along some more sound files, which I need to work into the module. I'm getting horribly excited about the final act in the campaign and am itching to write the conclusion. There's a key scene with Robert that popped into my head after I made an area. My favorite dialogs are the ones that must be done, that it's a logical conclusion as to who the character is and they can finally fulfill their purpose in the story.
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I've been doing run-throughs of the exterior,...
June 20, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I've been doing run-throughs of the exterior, testing things out. I had an amusing little adventure where Death appeared, caught on fire, and things were generally unfortunate from there. It did give me a bit of a chuckle.
I think we have a fix to the Mac crash problem, passing along fixed sound files to the Mac testers. Hopefully I can get a solid version fairly soon and post it to the Vault after that.
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Progress has been coming along nicely
June 19, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 Progress has been coming along nicely. This morning I tested the various scripts for the more dramatic parts of the area. They worked nicely, even the part where I caught on fire and ran around, flailing about.
A brave tester has found the issue with the DW1 module not working on the Mac. It turns out that some of the sound files aren't quite in the right format, which is causing crashes. DW2 shouldn't have the same problem (I used a different technique by then). With luck I can do some investigating today and get a new version of the package that hopefully works better.
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I delved more into scripting today, working o...
June 18, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I delved more into scripting today, working on cannons and avalanches of all things. I've also moved into creating interiors, trying to continue my icy ambiance. Fortunately I made some snow and ice placeables that work wonders. I find having the area created, the story elements fall more easily into place.
With the Mac version of NWN2 out for awhile now, more people are trying to play Dark Waters. Unfortunately I'm still having problems getting it all to work properly. There are issues with getting files in the right places and I think we may have issues with the format of certain sound files. Hopefully we can sort out the issues soon.
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I continue to crank up the look of the snowy ...
June 17, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I continue to crank up the look of the snowy island, hopefully up to that special "awesome" setting. I added swirling snow flurries and lightning to give the place an appropriately ominous feel. I'll continue to work on it today, as area creation is one of those things that it's easy to spend countless hours on.
As a side project, I'm trying to get Dark Waters working on the Mac. I keep thinking we're getting close, and I have a brave volunteer helping me out due to my lack of Macintoshes about the house. You can play part of the game now, but it's crashing in weird places. My theory is that it's related to sound file formats, and we'll see how the next round of testing goes.
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I needed a particularly ominous set of stairs...
June 16, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I needed a particularly ominous set of stairs, so I dug out Danmar's dungeon set from NWN1 and tediously converted them over to a NWN2 placeable. I like the look, and hope to have an appropriately tense confrontation at the top. Already visions of dialog branches are dancing in my head.
Lute Hero is evidently gaining notoriety. Josh Sawyer from Obsidian is going to GDC in Paris to speak about user generated content. He asked for a high resolution version of the Lute Hero video for the presentation. I tried to make sure all the folks who were involved got credit, from the Oriental construction kit folks to James who's voice shows up at the end.
As for me, I'll be hunkering down with Dark Waters some more, trying to get the critical path somewhat functional. I still have endless dialog to write too, so we'll see what I get to today.
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I'm having way too much fun with the snowy an...
June 15, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I'm having way too much fun with the snowy and icy island. Today I created a neat ice pond, complete with slipping for players who want to rush across. Yesterday I scribbled down plans for other areas, trying to come up with winter hazards that I can pull off in the game.
I think I also have a plan for Serpent Isle. It's primarily focused on Daniel/Sheridan, though it'll be a completely optional side quest. I suspect it'll have one of the toughest fights in the game too. Fun, fun.
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I made about ten different placeables this mo...
June 14, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I made about ten different placeables this morning, mostly retextures to make it look appropriately snowy. It looks pretty good, though there's endless work to do yet. I also adjusted the lightning and added the first parts of a storm-like effect. I think I want to add in lightning, as it looked quite nice in the other area. I have fun adding extra touches and I'm hoping I can work in footsteps for the various characters.
My kids are climbing all over me, so I have to run off. Perhaps I can sneak in more time later today.
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I decided to try the "If you build it, they w...
June 13, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I decided to try the "If you build it, they will come" approach to getting the final module in place. Sometimes the ideas seem to flow more freely when I have a place to put them. Since I generally know the shape and feel of the place, I decided to start working on that this morning.
I ended up using RWS' snow textures, along with my own snowflake particle effects. I just barely started working on the area creation. So far it's mostly just a test of ideas to see if my ideas actually look good in the game. I can tell already I'm going to need to adjust the lighting quite a bit, otherwise there will be a huge amount of whiteout and glare.
My two goals for the day are to get Lord Brighton's new dialog in the game and work on the new area. Fun, fun.
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Nothing too exciting to report
June 12, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
Nothing too exciting to report. Mostly I worked on Lord Brighton dialog today.
I see that Lute Hero is the top module at the moment. Perhaps it's all those votes that go to eleven (apologies for the obscure Spinal Tap joke).
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I made a ton of progress yesterday, writing a...
June 11, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I made a ton of progress yesterday, writing and scripting and creating areas. The simple side quest is leading to some interesting conclusions, and it seems as if I'll be writing some more dialog for Lord Brighton. It's amazing what a simple question like "Say, what happened to your parrot?" can bring you. Essentially the point of the quest is to shed some light on Lord Brighton's background. He remains a mysterious figure throughout much of the second act. In this final one, hopefully players will get to know him a little better, good and bad.
I'd like to do the same with Spider and Robert. Just having them as quest givers is rather dull.
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Long ago, Razvan made a double-barreled flint...
June 10, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 Long ago, Razvan made a double-barreled flintlock and I've been itching to get it into the game. I spent a bit too much time this morning fiddling about with textures and models. Somewhere along the way, I deleted a tiny triangle face off the model, so I had to put it back. I've yet to put it in the hands of my PC, but I think it'll work smoothly. I should whip up an icon as well, just to get the last detail in place.
I've decided to work on one of the Port Brighton side-quests next. I have all the dialog written and some of the areas built. It just needs some scripts and other assorted fiddling and it should be done. I want to make sure there's value in the player revisiting areas. Shops should have new gear, NPCs should talk about past events, and so on.
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I think I finally have Drake's ship at the ap...
June 09, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I think I finally have Drake's ship at the appropriately ominous size. The big skull and crossbones on the sail always helps, too. Though I haven't tested the most recent set of bug fixes, I think it's roughly ready to go. I could probably fiddle with camera angles some more, but for now it's probably ready for someone else to test.
I have so many things on my "to do next" list, it's hard to know where to start. I'd like to rally the voice actors and try to fill in some of the missing dialog that's in the game. I have a Port Brighton side quest to finish. There are endless tasks, but hopefully it'll be fun getting to them.
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Progress continues, though never as smoothly ...
June 08, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 Progress continues, though never as smoothly as I'd like. Drake's ship seems to have sails and floats above the water now, but it's extremely tiny and not particularly fearsome. There are other bugs in the dialog that ensues. It seems simple at first, with really only a couple significant scripts, but I'm busy adding camera angles, effects, and other things that make it complicated. It would be nice if I could get finished with it today.
I have a bunch of e-mails from last week that I've been ignoring. I best apologize publicly and get to them tomorrow.
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I always thought of Drake as a fairly fearsom...
June 07, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I always thought of Drake as a fairly fearsome pirate. Somehow having your ship mostly submerged shatters the illusion. It's on my list of things to fix.
Yesterday and this morning I've been working on getting the initial meeting with Drake set up for the module. One of the key challenges for a game designer is to find ways to hurt the player. This sounds odd at first, but they've done studies and it turns out games with easy rewards aren't fun. It's only the challenging games, filled with setbacks and slow rewards, that are somehow memorable. In any case, I'm hoping I dish out the appropriate amount of suffering.
I uploaded a patch to DW1 and DW2 to the Vault's servers. Hopefully they'll be posted by now. I've been sitting on assorted fixes for awhile now, but not quite brave enough to call them done. Fortunately I drank enough coffee yesterday to throw caution to the wind and hopefully it fixes assorted issues that people have been running into.
I still have a ton of work for DW3, but it's starting to feel more like a system and less a collection of stand-alone modules. My next writing project is some of the romance stories and quests. I'm still holding off on writing the final showdown, though the details are slowly falling into place.
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Lute hero is out
June 06, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
Lute hero is out. There's also a short interview you can look at. I'm joyous to finally get it out the door, and hope it's something very different and fun. I also finally kicked my Mass Effect habit last night, so I'm planning on jumping back into the DW3 fray. My little notebook of penciled dialog is next to my keyboard, so I'll be doing a fair bit of typing today. It feels good to get back to things.
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I continue to be insanely busy (hence the lac...
June 05, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I continue to be insanely busy (hence the lack of pretty screenshots). Part of it is due to my recent Mass Effect habit, which I'm hoping to kick relatively soon. I rarely get the chance to play computer games myself, so it's a special treat to indulge so deeply for the last few days.
I finished writing up my Lute Hero interview questions and passing them back to the Neverwinter Vault folks. I'm guessing it'll show up tonight if all goes well.
I'd love to find some time to type up all my dialog and get a key life-changing event written into the game. We'll see if can weasel some free time in between the regular insanity.
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I've been insanely busy lately
June 04, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I've been insanely busy lately. I did get some time to work with some Mac folks in getting a Mac version ready. I just threw up this test. It turns out that an earlier version didn't have critical campaign files, so I'm going to give this one a try. For any brave souls who download the file, ignore the readme. I've been instructed that the files should really go in the "My Documents" section. Hopefully my stalwart Mac tester can get it working and then I'll post it officially.
I'm expecting some interview questions for Lute Hero soon, and hopefully we can get this thing finally posted.
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I'm back from my trip, my notebook full of di...
June 03, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I'm back from my trip, my notebook full of dialog and ideas for the grand final battle. I had one "duh" moment when I realized a particular event simply had to happen (or at least I had to present the possibility of the event). Without it, I was ignoring significant themes that I've been building on throughout the campaign. Silly me.
I've contacted the Vault administrators and hopefully Lute Hero will be available very soon. As always, I'm excited and nervous. Hopefully it will be well-received.
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Why We Fight
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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