IGN Vault Chat (June 8, 2001)

Attendees from Bioware:

Bob McCabe, Brad Grier, Derek French, Don Moar, Luke Kristjanson, Marc Holmes, Mark Brockington, Ray Muzyka, Rob Bartel, Robin Mayne

Thanks to our own Blackthorne for logging the chat and thanks to me for editing it and making a few corrections here and there. ;)

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<Maximus_NwVault> Ok, we will now start the chat. Please address your questions to Jonric or myself. I'd like to thank the team from BioWare for taking the time to chat with us tonight. Maybe you can all introduce yourselves. :)

<Bio_DerekF> Derek French, Assistant Producer and Apprentice Monkey Boy

<bio_ray> I'm Ray Muzyka, Joint CEO of BioWare and co-executive producer

<Bio_Brad-AWAY> I'm Brad Grier, BioWare PR... and I'm really not away...

<Bio_Robin> Robin Mayne, web monkey

<Bio_Robin> ... and I am not really here...

<bio_marc> And he does have a mane. Big hair - roadie style

<Maximus_NwVault> Heh... Ok, ready for the first question. Please use GA for Go ahead.

<Jonric> Please message me or Maximus with your questions. One per person, and no begging for your question to be asked pls. 8-)

<Bio_Bob> bob mccabe - writing & design - no hair (sorry, I'm always late)

Q: <barjin_modulefactory> Are there going to be more than one water/river tiles like fast moving, slow moving, and is there going to be a possibility to chose a color for the water? (dark tainted water)

<bio_marc> Hi - re the water - we are working on an effect for moving water that will look good in all weather conditions, but that does mean that right now you cannot change the water color. It will be set by the choice of tile set.

Q: <paradigm> In what ways does Neverwinter Nights stray from the D&D rules?

<bio_marc> Combat is a lot faster... he he

<bio_Rob>  Actually, it's always a balancing act when converting from the pen-and-paper rules to the computer. With NWN, I think we've done a tighter job of integrating the two than had been possible with the BG series. I guess you'll have to be the judge once we release. =)

Q: It has been stated that one can create an "intelligent sword". Could that be a creature that uses a sword model, and move around on its own? Can one create an object that uses a creature model?

<bio_Rob> Hmm. Not sure where you heard that but you will probably be able to *script* an intelligent sword like the one found in BG2. We've discussed floating swords in relation to Lord Never's tomb beneath Neverwinter (see Volo's Guide to the North) but I don't know if a final decision has been made.

Q: <Cain> I want to know about importing custom tilesets and textures. Will that be possible and how easy?

<bio_marc> Hi Cain - ok, custom stuff- big question... let's see. We can't really support user created stuff in any real sense - there are too many things that could go wrong. But we are not doing anything to make it difficult to create your own art and we are helping where we can, by making the tools available. Tilesets are created in 3ds max, and have to be exported into the game - we can make those max scripts available after release.

Making custom creatures is also possible, but you will have to understand how to make low poly creatures and you'll have to stick to the skeletons we provide so for instance, you can make a new minotaur by modeling over top of the minotaur skeleton, and then all the animation will automatically work. So, basically, doing your own content is not too difficult, providing you have the software and the skills - and we will do everything we can do to help, short of QA'ing your content.

<Bio_DonM> A nifty little editor has been added to the NWToolset already... and we'll be evaluating it over the next while.

Q: Fame and Reputation -- is the scale for fame and reputation established yet so we can set these?

<Bio_DonM> We're working on the faction / reputation system...

Q: <squeaker> Who does their QA testing, do they have a team (can I apply:), and I mean their technical QA, not playtesting 

<bio_Rob> Over the course of BG2 development, we've built up an internal testing division here at BioWare. They do a lot of hard work and pull a lot of long hours in order to bring you a quality A-grade title. In the past, we've also relied on Interplay's testing staff (a small team usually comes up to Edmonton to suffer through a good Canadian winter on your behalf... ;o). I'm not sure if they'll be involved in NWN testing or not. We'll have to see. As for applying for a testing position, I can't speak for Interplay but we're always interested in seeing a solid, well-presented job application.

Q: <Sarramark> What information will be recorded in the log file? Could a DM determine that player A cast fireball in tile A6 level 2 (e.g.the second story of a merchant's house) at 10AM on Marpenoth 15?

<Bio_MarkB> Sarramark, with a little bit of creative scripting, that is entirely possible. :-)

Q: <Ollopa> How will portals work between large amounts of interlinked servers? Will it be set up like a web, with portals going every which way, kind of like Baldur's Gate when you reach the edge of a zone you go to a overland map... or will it be like a quilt, how only "adjacent" servers can be connected, so it forces you to go to a certain server if you exit the old one in a certain place? Or maybe a choice between the two?

<bio_Rob> Ollopa - Yes, it's a web. You can have have inter-server portals (and in-module area transitions) going to and from wherever you want. If you want to set it up as a quilt, you can do so but we won't limit you to only that.

Q: I wonder how and if these things are handled in the game. Can I take my thief character, attack a merchant, steal his money and run away only to come back the next day and have him treat me as a valued customer? 

<Bio_MarkB> We've been working on the reputation system over the last week. If you don't script your merchant, you could =] The default will probably be that the merchant will have forgotten most of the earlier transgression, but a lot of NPCs are like elephants. They never forget the really bad things that happen.

<Bio_Luke> In a persistent setting you could have that merchant have as long a memory as you want. Within the few hours of a module though, we may be a little more forgiving.

Q: <Cat-Herder> What has been, in your collective opinions, the most challenging aspect of working on Neverwinter?

<Bio_DonM> Everyone, line forms on me... ;^)  Personally, in terms of the NWToolset, I find keeping track of all the things we have to do and then taking into account how we want to do something and how the end-user will want to do something is a big juggling act - and I'm not that coordinated.

Q: <Troublez> When making new creatures, is there any way to add on and take away different sorts of attacks? EA: magic instead of melee?

<bio_Rob> Absolutely. There's a special abilities tab in the creature editor that lets you assign things like "Firebreath," etc. We're hoping to have a robust default script that uses all of that stuff in an intelligent fashion. You can also custom script specific use of it. Spellcasting and melee combat will be integrated into that as well.

Q: <rjs3> I know that when you paint down cave tiles that it sets all the lights for you. I know you can change them in the module. Can you change them on the fly? What if you want all the light in a room to be turned off while a game is in session?

<bio_marc> hi rjs3 - there's two kinds of light in the engine, and most tile lighting is done with 'static' lighting which is pre-calculated. There are also dynamic lights, like your shadow casting torch. If you set up your area with torchlight, then you will be able to douse it via a script in which the lights go out at your pre-determined event.

Q: <Cael_MacBane> If storms are possible will there be the possibility of lightning and thunder?

<bio_marc> hey cael - yes we have thunder and lighting, you can dial up whatever storm you want from gentle rain and mist, to heavy story with ground shaking lightning.

Q: <Troublez> I would like to know what NWN plans to do with taking chars from other games such as BG and implementing them into NWN

<Bio_Luke> If you mean, what are we doing for PCs you played in the BG series, you can import them into Neverwinter. They will be adapted to third edition, of course, which will alter a number of things. Also, Vault approved characters will have to start at first level... As for the various NPCs, such as other party members or major villains you might have liked to see make a return appearance, some will be popping up in the new story in a small way, though most will be used very sparingly...The histories of a few items might make reference to events that were big in our other games, for example... If that's not enough of a return for someone you really liked, well, you can always feel free to make a version of them for your own custom module :) 

Q: <knighthawk> Is there a maximum number of enchantments per item?

<bio_Rob> We currently support 256 different properties on any given item. There will be a few sub-restrictions on that as well (while you can have your sword do both lightning and poison damage, you can't have both visual effects active on the same item). There will be some other sub-restrictions as well but we're trying to keep it as open as possible.

Q: <Loraque> Rogue Skills- Some seem like they would be tough to implement well in an online way. How are those coming together? BG2 style, or something new? Is the SET traps skill from BG2 making a comeback? Thanks.

<bio_preston> The thieving skills in general are more robust in NWN. We wanted to give thieves more of chance to be thieves instead of stealthy fighters. Traps and stealth will provide for some interesting strategies.

<bio_marc> preston is a big thief fan... he's soloing bg2 with a thief right now....

Q: <Rogue Joe> After last weekend's D&D campaign I got to thinking about my Paladin and his tower shield. There's four different covers that you can use (1/4 1/2 3/4 full) each giving you a different AC bonus and/or cover bonus. How will BioWare be handling this? Will there be different animations for each of the different covers, or will there be only 1? Will I be able to even choose different covers? If not, then will scripting it be possible? Without the ability to use the different covers the tower shield could become just a Bigger Large Shield. 

<bio_marc> Re: Shields - we are not really done working on shields yet. We started with the weapons first, and have not got there quite yet.

Q: <Orion> Has there been any discussion recently on a beta release? If not for the NWN program itself, but for the toolset. I know many projects, including our Greyhawk Adventures project, would benefit greatly from a pre-release of the world design software. We are committed to brining the best possible Greyhawk to our players and this would sure help.

<bio_Rob> While we don't have any specific beta plans in place yet, we do intend to host a limited beta of both the game and the toolset prior to release. We'll be trying to get a beta out to all of the major community leaders and fan projects so cross your fingers - we'd certainly like to have you. =o)

<Bio_DerekF> The toolset cannot be separated from the game, so there will be no early release of the toolset.

Q: <Ratbert #CP#> If the PCs are in more than one area, will the DM client be able to load and display the different tilesets? I'd be happy with top-down maps of each area I was watching, rather than multiple cameras in different areas.

<Bio_DonM> We're still developing the DM Client and can't really comment too much about it right now.

Q: <Issachar> We'd like to reward intelligent combat, so that in a contest between a PC and a monster, it isn't a matter of "Frontal assault, and whoever is tougher wins". What tactical advantages are handled automatically by NWN, such as attack from the rear/flank, etc.?

<bio_Rob> D&D is a tactical game and we want to represent that as much as possible. I believe flanking is still in and there are all of the special combat maneuvers, spells, etc. While I can't promise what will and won't be in the final release, we promise that it won't be a "Whoever has the most hit points wins" situation.

Q: <NeoJoe> How hard will scripting the NPCs/whatevers be?

<Bio_MarkB> NeoJoe, it depends on your problem-solving skill levels. For someone who has never programmed before, jumping into the scripting language can be difficult. However, for those who have programmed before... most of the designers are finding it relatively easy. It's the little differences from familiar languages that are catching them off-guard.

Q: <Grimwinder-8d> Ok we know we can use the subrace check box to script against for most anything. So, can we possibly get more blank hooks to use for other things ala the old placeholder for unsupported skills/feats debate?

<bio_Rob> We've discussed adding a couple more hooks but I don't know if it will be anything robust enough to hang a custom skills/feats system on. You're probably better off using an item-based work-around. Time will tell.

Q: <Cain> Will a playable demo be released, or must we wait for the full release?

<bio_Rob> As mentioned earlier, we're hoping to do a limited beta prior to release and that would include both game and toolset. Unfortunately, that won't be available to everyone. As for a cover mount on a magazine, that might happen but it's really too early to tell.

Q: <NWNO_Vyric> Will the special abilities granted by deities be accepted and created in the game? As well as cleric domains? Will all the gods from Faerun, Dragonlance, etc. be in the game? or it will be an add-on?

<bio_Rob> We're implementing all of the cleric domains present in the PHB. While we don't have the necessary dev time to implement each of the domain-specific special abilities, each one will have a full spell list of 9 spells for you to choose from. We're not sure exactly which gods we'll be including in the list of prefabs but if there's one we don't include, you'll be able to create them yourselves using the core domains (and a fully customizable name.) Add-ons may include more deity and domain options.

Q: <Cael_MacBane> As players are awared exp for roleplaying through a situation correctly, will DMs be able to give XP for rp situations? Can they give XP on the fly if they feel a player did something really well, again on the RP side?

<Bio_DonM> Yes, the DM will have the ability to award XP during play.

Q: <Shadowhunter> For the communities that plan on running their own set of servers, to create their own world, is it possible for them to run their own system of "The Vault" to allow more security from character tampering and also preventing non community players from importing their own characters onto those servers?

<Bio_MarkB> Shadowhunter, we intend on having what we call "server characters".
These characters are created on the server, and never actually leave the server. Thus, it would be extremely difficult for characters to be tampered with, unless you were the server administrator.

Q: If a paladin's alignment changes from lawful good, will the game convert him to a fighter or will the DM have to edit the character?

<Bio_MarkB> Quick answer: No. It is automatic.

Q: <Carnom> Will single player modules regularly be released by BioWare, or will this be left up to the mod community?

<bio_Rob> It's hard to say what form the expansions will take. It could be a content pack (new creatures, tilesets, suits of armor, item properties, etc), or it could be all tied together with a story. This is a good topic for the message board, actually. Tell us which format you'd prefer.
A story-oriented one will probably take more time and testing than a pure content pack.

Q: <Arthas> Why aren't weapons in the game which you can make on your own (go to a blacksmith and instruct him to make your preferred weapon). If there are only premade weapons and items, sometime everybody will have the SAME powerful weapon in online games, will they?

<bio_Rob> It's primarily a data-handling issue. But don't worry about there not being enough variety. We're planning to have literally thousands of different magical weapon variations on the game, across a wide range of power levels. On top of that, you have a talented group of DMs and amateur module designers in the community and I can promise you that there'll be plenty of cool items coming form them. And, if you still don't feel you have that *perfect* item for your character, just hop into the toolset and make it for yourself. Trust me, I don't think item variety will be a concern. ;o)

Q: Could you detail the kind of documentation that the game will ship with.

<bio_Rob> We're still working out the details but we're committed to providing a solid documentation basis for the game. Some may take the form of printed manuals, some may take the form of online documentation, a lot of it may even be directly accessible from within the game. We'll have to see what makes most sense where.

Q:  Can you use odd things for weapons? For example myself the great wise and powerful Waddy Of The Waddykins would like to hold fish whamping contests. Will this be possible?

<bio_Rob> I smell a trout...

<Bio_Brad> It's just the fridge...

<Bio_Bob> you can't fool us brad; we know about you and your fish obsession ;)

<Bio_DerekF> oiy

<Bio_Brad> Salmon...or maybe Pike

<Bio_MarkB> Specific types of items can only be equipped in specific inventory slots.
I'm not sure whether the miscellaneous item base type can be equipped in the right hand or not... I don't have my data file viewer handy. If it can be equipped in the right hand, I don't see how you couldn't enjoy a good fish whamping contest. 

<Bio_Brad> ...uh, MarkB..this is a family chat...

Q: <Garlaxel> What Bard Skills will be implemented in the game and how will they be handled in relation to other players i.e Charming / suggestion I guess this also relates to the charm person spell?

<bio_Rob> Bards will have plenty of special bardic abilities to draw from. Off the top of my head, I forget if any are specifically charm-based or not but bards will basically be good backup support for any party.

Q: How will error handling be done? 

<Bio_MarkB> Error handling is something we've put a lot of work into in the virtual machine... we've tried to make it as error-proof as possible. If the operands attempt to access things that are not valid, the functions either return default values... or tell the script to stop execution at that point. There should be nothing (knock on wood) that causes the virtual machine to crash the server.

Q: <nathrock> I have several lady gamers and this is a question they would like answered. How will the romances for women characters differ from BG2 in single player?

<bio_Rob> We really liked how the romances in BG turned out and the fan community seemed to really appreciate them as well (male and female alike). That said, with henchmen not following the player from module to module, a solid BG2-style romance isn't really viable. We don't want to leave you with a one-noght stand, uh... one-night stamd, that is.

<Bio_DerekF> LOL

<bio_Rob> But don't worry, I'm sure there will be romances included in a lot of the fan-created modules.

<bio_Rob> Oh, shoot... one-night sta*n*d... Man, I'm tongue-tied.

<bio_Rob> I'm going to shut up now and go blush in a corner. ;o)

<Bio_Brad> Ok, no more beer for Rob

<bio_Rob> Whoah...

<Bio_Bob> or talk about romance :)

Q: <Alphaks> can we make our own prefab feat and skill packages for players to choose from in our own server/modules or is that fixed?

<bio_Rob> You will be able to customize your own package - I just don't know if there's a way to spit that back into the list of prefabs existing in the character generation process.

Q: <Troublez> On Written descriptions the NVvault FAQ says this "We are also supporting the ability in the "Solstice" Editor to add a description to any object you desire. You can describe NPCs, a section of rope, etc.. " can you explain this in more detail?

<Bio_PatChan> Each item will have a basic default (unidentified) description and an identified description. The user will be able to add in custom text as well to provide more background/story to the item in the custom description field.

Q: <Shadowhunter>  In reference to the answer of my last question - Ok, so if a character created on my server, went to another server that was linked in our persistent world, would the character information now get saved onto THAT new server he went to?

<Bio_MarkB> Yes, the data is usually saved on the server that the character went to.
However, we've been talking about separating some of the character data from the save game... so we could store all of the character data into a "shared" subdirectory for multi-server worlds. We haven't decided if we're going to take that route yet, but there are some definite advantages to the separation of game and characters.

Q: <Carnom> How 'fixed' will the camera be? Can you pan left and right or is it always centered on your character?

<bio_marc> Hey Carnom... you are always in the center of the screen, you have manual control to rotate the camera or zoom in and out, but you cannot translate away from center. There will also be automatic camera control to some degree. We are polishing that right now, so I cannot say how it will finally work...

Q: <rjs3> Will the Weapons and Armour be limited to the ones in the player’s handbook, or will we have access to exotic weapons such as katanas?

<Bio_Luke> The number of weapons is quite extensive, including many exotic variants. 3rd edition lists many of them in the new PHB, as they have included them in the new exotic weapons proficiency. We've katana, nunchaku, kama, and a number of others from lands far away.

Q: Will the DM code the adventure scaling (for average level, number of characters) or will it be done automatically? If the latter, how will we know it will scale to our intentions (type of monsters, number, hit dice, etc).

<Bio_MarkB> Adventure scaling will be handled through our encounter system. The encounters will have lists of creatures that may be spawned in, and the encounter will choose automatically which monsters to spawn in. It will try to gear the encounter towards the CR of the combatants... so you won't see a baalor up against a 1st level character. :-)

Q: <NWNO_Vyric> Will there be the skill HANDLE ANIMAL? Like if I spend 2 hours each day to train baby wyverns... can they, after a month or two, be on my side or defending my castle?

<bio_Rob> No animal handling, unfortunately. We want you out adventuring rather than hanging around in your living room going "Pet the Vrock... Slap the Vrock..." Basically, if you want a vrock henchman, the DM or module designer will drop one into the module for you. That way everyone's happy... Well, except for the enthralled vrock. =o)

Q: Can you ask if they will have some sort of a system resource meter which will tell the module designer how much ram any particular area will require to run, along with a total for the module being developed?

<Bio_MarkB> That should be relatively straightforward for the toolset to do ... so I'll let a toolset guy answer that. :-)

<Bio_DonM> Wait; I've got it... We hadn't planned on it...

<Bio_Brad> Big Don on tools... I can't wait.

<Bio_DonM> We've got a lot of other cool features, we'd like to get in, first, but if time permits, maybe. How's that for a firm answer?

Q: <Grimwinder-8d> Ok here another one- Will we have a "roll die" function where the DM can make a player roll a d20 say, to decide a DM intervention situation?

<bio_Rob> Not only do we have die rolls in the scripting language, we've actually snuck them right into the radial menu, I think under the Socializations menu.

<bio_marc> Rob's just been WAITING for someone to ask that! Hehe.

<bio_Rob> I seeded the audience.

<bio_marc> HE MADE me do all the icons!!@!! what a dinosaur....

<bio_Rob> A six-sider, Marc! A six-sider!

* Bio_DerekF rolls a die. A 5!

<bio_Rob> Basically, the output would be "Grandfalloon rolls a 5 on a d20."

Q: <Mike_ALFA> Will ghost, invisible stalkers, etc. be able to float through walls in a dungeon?

<Bio_MarkB> Unfortunately, we don't have a walkmesh that can be ignored for specific creatures. The ghosts would have to use the halls and doorways just like the rest of us.

<Bio_Luke> it could be scripted to walk to a point along the wall, destroy itself, then create itself on the other side though. Involved solution, but could be done.

Q: Speaking of inventory slots, how many on person inventory slots will there be? Will it be possible to create items like bags of holding so a character could have a somewhat infinite inventory?

<Bio_PatChan> The PC will have a large number of inventory slots to use for storage. The bag of holding would basically be a container with additional inventory slots but not a infinite amount though, just extra ones. Lots of extra ones =)

Q: <Sylvus> Let's say you're a DM and there are 4 players in your dungeon and you want to separate them. Can you, as a DM, move walls or make teleporters on the fly to separate the party?

<Bio_Luke> You cannot move walls on the fly. You can, however, physically move those players if you want.

Q: <DaBoomer> Are you going to release a type of campaign flowchart either before, with or after release? Basically an organized campaign development document that we can use to model our camps after? (cuz i ain't no Vulcan programmer!) Thx.

<Bio_Luke> There will be simple walkthroughs, as well as pointers for the more complex stuff. We'll do what we can, and make sure the resources are there for those that need them.

<Bio_Brad> Thanks folks, we really appreciate the opportunity...

<Maximus_NwVault> Thanks everyone!!

<Jonric> good night everyone

<Bio_Robin> g'night

<Maximus_NwVault> Good night and see you at the boards. :)

<bio_marc> Thanks All, see ya next time...

<Bio_Luke> Later.

<bio_Rob> Take care all, and thanks for coming out.