chevalier
Sun, 17th Sep '06, 3:19pm
Here are today's Neverwinter Nights forum highlights, collected by NWVault (http://nwvault.ign.com). 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">Chris Priestly, Quality Assurance</font>
Don't have Visa or Mastercard (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497240&post=4317207&forum=87&highlight=)
Sorry, the store only accepts Visa or Mastercard.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Georg Zoeller, Designer</font>
13 Sep 2006 - New Premium Neverwinter Nights Module Released! (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=496916&post=4316618&forum=41&highlight=)
<hr />Is the content such as new creatures, two new tile-sets and an enhanced version of the Tir Nan'Og tile-set (a massive 1200+ tile rural/castle/village set)
and the Purple Dragon Knight part of a hak pack? If I buy this module? Can I use that content to create my own things. Or is that content already available as part of 1.68 and Wyverns just uses that?<hr />Yes, it's in a hakpak, an unencrypted one. We have no problem with you using TNO & stuff for your own creations.
Premium modules check (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=487274&post=4316650&forum=86&highlight=)
I said this a couple of times already.
The game uses the multiplayer auth for the premium modules because
a) we are required to use a copy protection scheme and there is evidence that it makes sense to have one
b) the system has been in place and tested for 4 years, meaning it was relatively inexpensive to develop. Developing a system from scratch wouldn't have made sense financially and would have meant no premium modules at all.
We chose to have premium modules using this system at the cost of some potential buyers who we knew would object to the system. The sales number we have indicate that this was the right decision, even if excluding people as "not the target audience" is never an easy decision.
Since it's using the multiplayer auth, we know at least that
a) it works and has been tested on a wide range of systems and configurations
b) it's relatively secure
c) people who play NWN multiplayer (a large part of the people still sticking with a 4 year old game) know how it works (master server) and won't feel this is some weird thing spying on them (All that happens is the module asks the master server if it can play with the CDkey it is running under and the master server confirms or denies, just like multiplayer).
d) It's integrated with our IT systems already, making it easy to setup the store, etc.
Are we happy with the system?
No, we aren't, we would like to provide a system that doesn't require auth on savegame load, but it wasn't (for reasons cited above) not possible for the premium modules.
Future DD projects would certainly incorporate lessons learned from the premium modules and hopefully provide a more refined solution (rather than a tacked on solution based on multiplayer auth).
WCoC Bugs/Problems (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497056&post=4316790&forum=86&highlight=)
<hr />
Poor Godfory looks like he's going to be screwed forever, with a Hide and Move Silently of -49.<hr />I think the DLA guys are working on a script you can run to fix that.
13 Sep 2006 - New Premium Neverwinter Nights Module Released! (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=496916&post=4317289&forum=41&highlight=)
<hr />Are there any issues in distributing just the hak pak content so that players on a custom mod using it do not have to purchase the premium mod?
Personnally I would encourage then to just buy it, as even if they do not like solo gaming, the haks in this one are worth the purchase price even if you never play the mod.<hr />Let me get back to you on the question of distribution, I don't know the answer to that one.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Stanley Woo, Quality Assurance</font>
My Wyvern Crown Review (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497217&post=4316574&forum=86&highlight=)
Only 102%? http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
Great review. My experiences with the module while testing it were very similar. It was very easy to get very involved in the story.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Brian Chung - Technical Artist</font>
How was ridable horses solved??? (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=496951&post=4316754&forum=46&highlight=)
I made a tile-based worldmap in under 3hrs - most of it was done cleaning up the map image itself, the actual modeling work took like, half an hour to create and output. DL1 has an overland map too, complete with an invisible PC and a drop red particle VFX for the "Indiana Jones travel" effect.
<hr />Thank you so much for the links and info! Wow, who would have thought you could create a whole horse out of a tail! http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif I would *never* have thought of that. Again, kudos, kudos, kudos!<hr />Well, the trick is not to consider the Wing/Tail system to be wings or tails, but models that get attached to the player model. In the case of wings and tails, they're linked to the Wings or Tail dummy node in the model, and robes and cloaks are attached at the model's origin.
But who's to say the dummy node has to be attached to your back or pelvis? And why must it also use the same animation supermodels as the player's? When a "Play Animation X" event message is sent to both objects at the same time, so when you bend over to pick something up, both your PC and the robe plays the same "get low" animation. Yet they don't necesssarily have to be the same movements, so you can have a horse fidgetting while the (raised up) rider bends over.
That view is what DLA thought when developing the horse system. Had it been an official company implementation, it would have meant a "proper" horse system, meaning attaching an actual creature to the player, then having to deal with keeping the two linked and facing the same direction without the 6 second heartbeat updates, targetting, making sure they don't block each other with personal space, but do block other people, etc., etc.
We would have liked to handle a proper OnHit() event for PCs, but we don't have that luxury in the engine (we had some hacks, but none of the worked to our satisfaction).
A lot of what you see going into games is really all smoke and mirrors, pixel pushing anyway.
With the model attachment system, you can pull off:
- dragon mounts.
- chariots
- wagons
- create bald heads and attach facial hair or hair styles using the wing/tail nodes
- open face helms (!!!)
- instead of cloaks, have backpacks, quivers and scabbards (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=hakpaks.Detail&id=6948)
- fake having arrows sticking all over the NPC to give the illusion he's been hit really badly and needs medical attention
- attach a halo for angels
- annoying gnomes piggybacking on your barbarian
- Have your arms out as if you're carrying something, and place the dummy node in front with models representing barrels, stacks of scrolls, a giant turkey, a crystal orb, a body, a flag...
You get the idea.
I just have to get Craig to up the index datatype from a byte to an unsigned long int so we're not limited to 255 models. http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
WCoC Bugs/Problems (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497056&post=4316773&forum=86&highlight=)
<hr />You guys sure? I scoured the whole barrow top to bottom and haven't found any such thing. Perhaps I'd given it to my bro before he ran off? Though that wouldn't make much sense.<hr />Treasure drops are random, so there's no real guarantee you'll always get a Raise Dead scroll. In fact, one playthrough, I got a Rod of Resurrection. http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
(SPOILER) WCoC Forest Folk... (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497094&post=4317400&forum=86&highlight=)
Someone of noble birth might be familiar with the other nobles in the area and their hobbies...
Stuck with the blades *spoiler* (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497301&post=4317516&forum=86&highlight=)
It sounds like there's a timer on the blades... but you're just too slow. Might need another pair of legs (or two). http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Chris Priestly, Quality Assurance</font>
Don't have Visa or Mastercard (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497240&post=4317207&forum=87&highlight=)
Sorry, the store only accepts Visa or Mastercard.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Georg Zoeller, Designer</font>
13 Sep 2006 - New Premium Neverwinter Nights Module Released! (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=496916&post=4316618&forum=41&highlight=)
<hr />Is the content such as new creatures, two new tile-sets and an enhanced version of the Tir Nan'Og tile-set (a massive 1200+ tile rural/castle/village set)
and the Purple Dragon Knight part of a hak pack? If I buy this module? Can I use that content to create my own things. Or is that content already available as part of 1.68 and Wyverns just uses that?<hr />Yes, it's in a hakpak, an unencrypted one. We have no problem with you using TNO & stuff for your own creations.
Premium modules check (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=487274&post=4316650&forum=86&highlight=)
I said this a couple of times already.
The game uses the multiplayer auth for the premium modules because
a) we are required to use a copy protection scheme and there is evidence that it makes sense to have one
b) the system has been in place and tested for 4 years, meaning it was relatively inexpensive to develop. Developing a system from scratch wouldn't have made sense financially and would have meant no premium modules at all.
We chose to have premium modules using this system at the cost of some potential buyers who we knew would object to the system. The sales number we have indicate that this was the right decision, even if excluding people as "not the target audience" is never an easy decision.
Since it's using the multiplayer auth, we know at least that
a) it works and has been tested on a wide range of systems and configurations
b) it's relatively secure
c) people who play NWN multiplayer (a large part of the people still sticking with a 4 year old game) know how it works (master server) and won't feel this is some weird thing spying on them (All that happens is the module asks the master server if it can play with the CDkey it is running under and the master server confirms or denies, just like multiplayer).
d) It's integrated with our IT systems already, making it easy to setup the store, etc.
Are we happy with the system?
No, we aren't, we would like to provide a system that doesn't require auth on savegame load, but it wasn't (for reasons cited above) not possible for the premium modules.
Future DD projects would certainly incorporate lessons learned from the premium modules and hopefully provide a more refined solution (rather than a tacked on solution based on multiplayer auth).
WCoC Bugs/Problems (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497056&post=4316790&forum=86&highlight=)
<hr />
Poor Godfory looks like he's going to be screwed forever, with a Hide and Move Silently of -49.<hr />I think the DLA guys are working on a script you can run to fix that.
13 Sep 2006 - New Premium Neverwinter Nights Module Released! (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=496916&post=4317289&forum=41&highlight=)
<hr />Are there any issues in distributing just the hak pak content so that players on a custom mod using it do not have to purchase the premium mod?
Personnally I would encourage then to just buy it, as even if they do not like solo gaming, the haks in this one are worth the purchase price even if you never play the mod.<hr />Let me get back to you on the question of distribution, I don't know the answer to that one.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Stanley Woo, Quality Assurance</font>
My Wyvern Crown Review (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497217&post=4316574&forum=86&highlight=)
Only 102%? http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
Great review. My experiences with the module while testing it were very similar. It was very easy to get very involved in the story.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Brian Chung - Technical Artist</font>
How was ridable horses solved??? (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=496951&post=4316754&forum=46&highlight=)
I made a tile-based worldmap in under 3hrs - most of it was done cleaning up the map image itself, the actual modeling work took like, half an hour to create and output. DL1 has an overland map too, complete with an invisible PC and a drop red particle VFX for the "Indiana Jones travel" effect.
<hr />Thank you so much for the links and info! Wow, who would have thought you could create a whole horse out of a tail! http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif I would *never* have thought of that. Again, kudos, kudos, kudos!<hr />Well, the trick is not to consider the Wing/Tail system to be wings or tails, but models that get attached to the player model. In the case of wings and tails, they're linked to the Wings or Tail dummy node in the model, and robes and cloaks are attached at the model's origin.
But who's to say the dummy node has to be attached to your back or pelvis? And why must it also use the same animation supermodels as the player's? When a "Play Animation X" event message is sent to both objects at the same time, so when you bend over to pick something up, both your PC and the robe plays the same "get low" animation. Yet they don't necesssarily have to be the same movements, so you can have a horse fidgetting while the (raised up) rider bends over.
That view is what DLA thought when developing the horse system. Had it been an official company implementation, it would have meant a "proper" horse system, meaning attaching an actual creature to the player, then having to deal with keeping the two linked and facing the same direction without the 6 second heartbeat updates, targetting, making sure they don't block each other with personal space, but do block other people, etc., etc.
We would have liked to handle a proper OnHit() event for PCs, but we don't have that luxury in the engine (we had some hacks, but none of the worked to our satisfaction).
A lot of what you see going into games is really all smoke and mirrors, pixel pushing anyway.
With the model attachment system, you can pull off:
- dragon mounts.
- chariots
- wagons
- create bald heads and attach facial hair or hair styles using the wing/tail nodes
- open face helms (!!!)
- instead of cloaks, have backpacks, quivers and scabbards (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=hakpaks.Detail&id=6948)
- fake having arrows sticking all over the NPC to give the illusion he's been hit really badly and needs medical attention
- attach a halo for angels
- annoying gnomes piggybacking on your barbarian
- Have your arms out as if you're carrying something, and place the dummy node in front with models representing barrels, stacks of scrolls, a giant turkey, a crystal orb, a body, a flag...
You get the idea.
I just have to get Craig to up the index datatype from a byte to an unsigned long int so we're not limited to 255 models. http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
WCoC Bugs/Problems (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497056&post=4316773&forum=86&highlight=)
<hr />You guys sure? I scoured the whole barrow top to bottom and haven't found any such thing. Perhaps I'd given it to my bro before he ran off? Though that wouldn't make much sense.<hr />Treasure drops are random, so there's no real guarantee you'll always get a Raise Dead scroll. In fact, one playthrough, I got a Rod of Resurrection. http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
(SPOILER) WCoC Forest Folk... (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497094&post=4317400&forum=86&highlight=)
Someone of noble birth might be familiar with the other nobles in the area and their hobbies...
Stuck with the blades *spoiler* (http://nwn.bioware.com//forums/viewpost.html?topic=497301&post=4317516&forum=86&highlight=)
It sounds like there's a timer on the blades... but you're just too slow. Might need another pair of legs (or two). http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif