chevalier
Fri, 3rd Sep '04, 10:47am
Here are today's Neverwinter Nights 2 forum highlights, collected by NWVault (http://nwvault.ign.com) from Obsidian Forums (http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showforum=21). Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Erik Novales, Programmer</font>
CD-Rom or DVD? ('http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=6061&hl=')
<hr />Aren't most console games now on DVD-Format, pretty much?<hr />Yep. Speaking personally (and not in any official capacity, do not take this as any kind of indication of any decision being made about media, do not pass Go, do not collect $200), I would prefer a DVD. There would be less disc-swapping during installation, and fewer discs to lose on my big shelf o' games.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">FrankK, Programmer</font>
Appropriate Clothing ('http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=12865&hl=')
I suppose it's not too late to tell the artists to stop developing the chainmail speedos...The way armor is applied to the base mesh will be much different in NWN2 and one of the reasons we are rewriting the model formats and rendering pipeline. It will allow for chainmail bikinis to be applied to the base mesh but will also allow much more appropriate fare for those who like to play the game with both hands.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Jason Keeney, Programmer</font>
Technology Questions ('http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=12460&hl=')
<hr />I would like to ask developers what kind of technology they intend to use in the engine:
1. As I know NWN uses octet tree for space partition and that is why its maps are so "rectangular" in order to be efficient. Do you plan BSP ot k-d trees, so we can have any kind of map.
2. Do you plan any real time globall illumination algorithm, e.g. photon mapping?
3. The shadows in NWN were very good - as I know they are all stencil buffer based. Do you plan to use other shadow algorithms, e.g. shadow volumes?
4. Will it be OGL 2.0 based?<hr />Actually, NWN1 doesnt use oct-tree's at all... the game is "rectangular" because of the tile system they employ. For qustions 2 and 3, I cant really comment at this time... suffice to say that we're working on all kinds of spiffy techniques to make NWN2 look great. Maybe once we put out some screen shots we'll be able to talk about some of the details of what we're doing, but until that time, we've got to keep our lips sealed. Our competitors read these forums too. Like Ender said, we are currently developing in DriectX 9.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Erik Novales, Programmer</font>
CD-Rom or DVD? ('http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=6061&hl=')
<hr />Aren't most console games now on DVD-Format, pretty much?<hr />Yep. Speaking personally (and not in any official capacity, do not take this as any kind of indication of any decision being made about media, do not pass Go, do not collect $200), I would prefer a DVD. There would be less disc-swapping during installation, and fewer discs to lose on my big shelf o' games.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">FrankK, Programmer</font>
Appropriate Clothing ('http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=12865&hl=')
I suppose it's not too late to tell the artists to stop developing the chainmail speedos...The way armor is applied to the base mesh will be much different in NWN2 and one of the reasons we are rewriting the model formats and rendering pipeline. It will allow for chainmail bikinis to be applied to the base mesh but will also allow much more appropriate fare for those who like to play the game with both hands.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Jason Keeney, Programmer</font>
Technology Questions ('http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=12460&hl=')
<hr />I would like to ask developers what kind of technology they intend to use in the engine:
1. As I know NWN uses octet tree for space partition and that is why its maps are so "rectangular" in order to be efficient. Do you plan BSP ot k-d trees, so we can have any kind of map.
2. Do you plan any real time globall illumination algorithm, e.g. photon mapping?
3. The shadows in NWN were very good - as I know they are all stencil buffer based. Do you plan to use other shadow algorithms, e.g. shadow volumes?
4. Will it be OGL 2.0 based?<hr />Actually, NWN1 doesnt use oct-tree's at all... the game is "rectangular" because of the tile system they employ. For qustions 2 and 3, I cant really comment at this time... suffice to say that we're working on all kinds of spiffy techniques to make NWN2 look great. Maybe once we put out some screen shots we'll be able to talk about some of the details of what we're doing, but until that time, we've got to keep our lips sealed. Our competitors read these forums too. Like Ender said, we are currently developing in DriectX 9.