chevalier
Fri, 11th Feb '05, 5:49am
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>
Terrain (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=409671&post=3403216&forum=100&highlight=)
Terrain is being handled quite differently than in the first game...
Missing HakPaks (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411056&post=3403233&forum=95&highlight=)
It would be impossible to allow people to play in a module without the required haks, because of the kinds of changes haks allow for in the game.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Brian D. Lawson, Programmer</font>
Diffuse, normal, and . . . ? (texture mapping) (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410898&post=3402834&forum=99&highlight=)
<hr />And a final question, if you could answer. Are you leaning towards DDS as the image format of choice (similar to NWN). <hr />Yes.
Screenshots - When??? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411124&post=3402918&forum=99&highlight=)
How about when people stop asking. Seriously though...we want to show some shots just as bad as you guys want to see them. It's not up to us, but we're pushing for something pre-E3 if that helps. Although at this point, E3 is really not that far away. But hey, we'll all take what we can get...right?
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer</font>
2 Steps Forward, 1 Backwards? Please No? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411044&post=3402800&forum=95&highlight=)
Many parts of the engine are being rewritten from the ground up. Practically every art asset in the game is getting remade, too. Those combine to make it not feasible for us to include everything that's available in NWN1, SoU, and HotU. No one on the team can say definitively what the final product is going to contain as far as spells, feats, prestige classes, races, and other things go. I know what we have planned - but some of our plans are scaleable based off of developer bandwidth. Some things I can say - all base classes will be in (big shock, I know) and we are planning on having prestige classes out of the box. I love CRPGs, and I know that what we have planned makes me almost sad I'm on the team, because I'd love to just play the final product without all of the fuss of making it. A big emphasis on the almost.
How many people from Black Isle Studios are in Obsidian? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410999&post=3403099&forum=95&highlight=)
There are a lot of Islanders over here. On the design side of the fence Chris Avellone and myself were from BIS. I think Obsidian has a great blend of BIS folks and new folks. There's good chemistry in the office.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Frank Kowalkowski, Lead Programmer</font>
GUI Customizeable? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410187&post=3403301&forum=100&highlight=)
<hr />Perhaps the client-side buttons could send a message to a general purpose request handler event that executes on the server. That way the client can't execute any ol' code, but rather tell the server that it's time to do something interesting. Further server-side checks could be in place to ensure that the command is appropriate (e.g. the client sent the request to kill all orcs when they aren't holding the wand of orc slaying).<hr />This would be the general idea, but as Rich said, it is far removed from the existing system. We'd need to be careful not to allow spamming of the server with script run messages, etc. Lots to think about.
Organizing the scripts (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411009&post=3403551&forum=100&highlight=)
This is certainly something we're discussing.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Anthony Davis, Programmer</font>
How many people from Black Isle Studios are in Obsidian? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410999&post=3403235&forum=95&highlight=)
<hr />There are a lot of Islanders over here. On the design side of the fence Chris Avellone and myself were from BIS. I think Obsidian has a great blend of BIS folks and new folks. There's good chemistry in the office. <hr />I love you too Ferret! aww!
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Erik Novales, Programmer</font>
Terrain (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=409671&post=3403216&forum=100&highlight=)
Terrain is being handled quite differently than in the first game...
Missing HakPaks (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411056&post=3403233&forum=95&highlight=)
It would be impossible to allow people to play in a module without the required haks, because of the kinds of changes haks allow for in the game.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Brian D. Lawson, Programmer</font>
Diffuse, normal, and . . . ? (texture mapping) (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410898&post=3402834&forum=99&highlight=)
<hr />And a final question, if you could answer. Are you leaning towards DDS as the image format of choice (similar to NWN). <hr />Yes.
Screenshots - When??? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411124&post=3402918&forum=99&highlight=)
How about when people stop asking. Seriously though...we want to show some shots just as bad as you guys want to see them. It's not up to us, but we're pushing for something pre-E3 if that helps. Although at this point, E3 is really not that far away. But hey, we'll all take what we can get...right?
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer</font>
2 Steps Forward, 1 Backwards? Please No? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411044&post=3402800&forum=95&highlight=)
Many parts of the engine are being rewritten from the ground up. Practically every art asset in the game is getting remade, too. Those combine to make it not feasible for us to include everything that's available in NWN1, SoU, and HotU. No one on the team can say definitively what the final product is going to contain as far as spells, feats, prestige classes, races, and other things go. I know what we have planned - but some of our plans are scaleable based off of developer bandwidth. Some things I can say - all base classes will be in (big shock, I know) and we are planning on having prestige classes out of the box. I love CRPGs, and I know that what we have planned makes me almost sad I'm on the team, because I'd love to just play the final product without all of the fuss of making it. A big emphasis on the almost.
How many people from Black Isle Studios are in Obsidian? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410999&post=3403099&forum=95&highlight=)
There are a lot of Islanders over here. On the design side of the fence Chris Avellone and myself were from BIS. I think Obsidian has a great blend of BIS folks and new folks. There's good chemistry in the office.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Frank Kowalkowski, Lead Programmer</font>
GUI Customizeable? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410187&post=3403301&forum=100&highlight=)
<hr />Perhaps the client-side buttons could send a message to a general purpose request handler event that executes on the server. That way the client can't execute any ol' code, but rather tell the server that it's time to do something interesting. Further server-side checks could be in place to ensure that the command is appropriate (e.g. the client sent the request to kill all orcs when they aren't holding the wand of orc slaying).<hr />This would be the general idea, but as Rich said, it is far removed from the existing system. We'd need to be careful not to allow spamming of the server with script run messages, etc. Lots to think about.
Organizing the scripts (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=411009&post=3403551&forum=100&highlight=)
This is certainly something we're discussing.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Anthony Davis, Programmer</font>
How many people from Black Isle Studios are in Obsidian? (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=410999&post=3403235&forum=95&highlight=)
<hr />There are a lot of Islanders over here. On the design side of the fence Chris Avellone and myself were from BIS. I think Obsidian has a great blend of BIS folks and new folks. There's good chemistry in the office. <hr />I love you too Ferret! aww!