chevalier
Thu, 25th Jan '07, 3:02am
Here are today's Neverwinter Nights 2 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">Rob McGinnis</font>
Stuck at the beginning of Act II (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543345&post=4752782&forum=116&highlight=)
Is that video card a typo?
I don't believe the Radeon 2600 is not on our list of supported video cards.
Arcnearcher (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543219&post=4752829&forum=110&highlight=)
It's important to remember though that the "ability to cast level 1 arcane spells" requires the intelligence or charisma to cast a lvl 1 arcane spell, not just having a level in Bard, Sorceror or Wizard.
Can't export my character! Help! (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543435&post=4752837&forum=110&highlight=)
The server you are trying to join probably requires you to have a character on the server vault and does not allow you to play characters on your local hard drive.
HEEEEELP...... (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543453&post=4752852&forum=109&highlight=)
This should probably go in the self-help forum but....
Try right clicking to bring up the Broadcast Commands menu. Then tell all your companions to either follow or guard you.
Obsidian plz give "Community Rep" threads an Icon (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543176&post=4753794&forum=109&highlight=)
<hr /><hr />I'd be more open to Portraits...I write some drivel on these forums (which) I don't think many people would be reading.....<hr />Good point.
Then, how about THIS ??.....
When a Rep has read thru a typical "We Request This---" Thread, how about putting a "Rep" Icon on that Thread??
It would be a clear signal to ALL ... "This Thread has been read by a Rep and notes taken".
Such an Icon would give Gamers a solid feeling ("wow, someone here ACTUALLY CONSIDERS our suggestions!!").<hr />After all the posts we have made and reassurances we have given and player-driven patches we have released in only two months of the game being out, I don't think a little icon will suddenly open people's eyes http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
More: <hr />You dare doubt the power of the five by five pixilated image!?
More on topic, I totally agree with the portraits. I really have no idea when a CR posts.<hr />I agree and I hope its something we can do. I wouldn't mind the icon either, but then we would have icon wars and we would have to figure out who wins - dev posts or CR posts. My money would be on the devs.
Naomi Novik & Peter Jackson (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543551&post=4753804&forum=109&highlight=)
I am actually a big fan of Naomi Novik's work. I was able to meet her at last year's ComicCon in San Diego.
I really enjoyed her Temeraire series and can't wait for the next book.
Custom Community Chat 1/18/07 (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543028&post=4754450&forum=115&highlight=)
Here's the Chatlog. Thanks to Mortis for cleaning it up:
<hr />[OEI]Rob: Hello everyone and welcome to the NWN2 Custom Content Community Chat.
We thought we would hold this chat because there seems to be a lot of concern out there about the future of the CCC.
Most of you know me, but we have two other Obsidian reps in here to help answer your questions, I'll let them introduce themselves.
[OEI]nchap: Hi, I'm Nathaniel Chapman, Assistant Producer on NWN2.
* [OEI]Rob pokes Rich
[OEI]RTaylor: Good evening (or morning, depending), I am Rich Taylor, lead programmer of all things NWN2 as of a couple months ago. I worked on NWN2 for most of that project, and touched a lot of different systems, though I can't claim credit for any of them specifically.
[REP]Khaveen: Let's get started then with the advance questions:
[REP]Khaveen: Question #1: <Jasperre> Will you be adding your information to the NWN2 Wiki custom content section pretty please wish sugar on top?
[OEI]RTaylor: Sorry about the delay. Still working out some logistics of this chat. Yeah, writing up more information is something I'm hoping to start working on soon.
I plan on writing up documentation for the GUI stuff first, including information on the UI objects and their attributes, as well as documenting all of the GUI callbacks and their parameters.
[OEI]Rob: We are also setting up a "blog" to centralize the many questions and answers that come up.. perhaps a little more will go there too
[OEI]RTaylor: After documenting the GUI, I'd move into other areas where it's hard to get information, like what the various idx parameters are when querying data from Effects, and things like that. Places where you can't know what it does without seeing the code or trying over and over.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #2: <GrinningFool> Any chance of getting creatures to have an additional field added to track which package was used for class levels?
[OEI]RTaylor: Off hand, I can't think of any reason why that couldn't be implemented. I've jotted it down on my list of things to investigate.
[OEI]Rob: Send me a message after this explaining how you would like to use this.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #3: <Snakebane> Is any info going to be released for applying new animations to new creature models (e.g., how many frames for each animation in the set)?
[OEI]nchap: I'm not sure about that specific issue, but in general we are working on communicating how these things work and are supposed to work to you guys.
As Rob mentioned, we'll be working on some more formalized and efficient ways to get information from you guys and then back to you. In addition, addressing the animation issue generally - we understand the importance of being able to create custom animations for the CC community
[OEI]nchap: and we are working to find the best way to provide you guys with the tools you will need to make awesome custom content.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #4: <Talgrath> Any chance that trees will be tintable sometime soon?
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll have to double check with the programmer that integrated our Speed Tree support, but I suspect off hand that it won't be possible. I've made a note to myself to ask him about it as he's not here at the moment.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #5: <weby> Can we get the campaign overrides, the hakpacks and the .tlk files to be loaded before character creation in multiplayer?
[OEI]RTaylor: That's something we plan on doing. I can't give an estimate as to which patch to expect it in at this time, but it's definitely one of the higher priority items I will be evaluating for one of the upcoming patches.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #6: <Talgrath> Any chance of seeing basic white clothing and armor that we can tint to whatever color we want?
[OEI]Rob: Unfortunately we don't have any art people in the chat tonight, but I do know that a perfectly white skin is not possible.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #7: <GrinningFool> Any chance of getting script-modifable list controls in the gui (i.e., adding, removing items and determining selection)?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes. That has already been on my plans. I can say it will definitely be going in soon. Script control over list boxes and progress bars are both things that will not be in the patch coming up after 1.04, but probably the patch after that, 1.06.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #8: Can we get documentation on what the different lighting settings are and what they mean (will be a big help in creating an area creation and lighting wizard)?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes. We will probably be redesigning the lighting interfaces on our end, as well as exploring adding our own wizard possibly. Our own team finds the lighting difficult to use, so we will be looking to make improvements there. We'll try to get some information about what all the parameters and options for lighting actually mean.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #9: Any hope of getting modified nwn2deities to work in multiplayer without being in an override?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes, the fix for that is in the code and will go out with the 1.05 patch we hope to release near early Feb.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #10: Is it possible to get a toolset stub (small fast loading executable that can load plugins, so there's no 10-30 second wait for testing of each little change) to ease the testing of plugins?
[OEI]Rob: little pause while Rich answers some questions internally real quick
[OEI]Rob: A toolset "Stub" isn't currently in the plan and probably wouldn't be something that would get addressed in the near future
[REP]Khaveen: Question #11: Can we get the client to log xml errors in custom GUIs into the clienterror log as it finds them?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yeah. I had hoped to improve UI Debugging support for some time now. At the very least, we can log the errors in a LOG. But I'd like to provide even better support than that eventually for debugging UI issues.
I will probably provide better error feedback while I go through the callbacks to document them for everyone, so expect major improvements in being able to customize the GUI to come around at the same time.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #12: Can we get the automatic name generation available in-game to be exposed to plugins?
[OEI]RTaylor: I don't know the answer off the top of my head as I've never had to work with the random name generator. I've added it to my list of things to look into.
[OEI]Rob: We'll get the answers posted up on the forums once we get done with the research
[REP]Khaveen: Question #13: <Vaen> There is currently a bug where if a player uses a potion or a scroll, there is a possibility that the effects from the potion or scroll will last until the next rest. Will this be fixed in 1.04, or will we have to look for a later patch for this fix?
[OEI]nchap: We have not yet reproduced this issue internally and as such a fix is not currently in 1.04.
If you can, please provide Rob with detailed information as to how to get the bug to occur, what specific situation was going on at the time, whether the issue was in SP or MP, etc. so we can reproduce and fix it internally.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #14: <Morikahn> Can we get custom spell books (allowing custom spellcasting classes that aren't wiz,sorc,etc) and can we specify spells as unavailable at level up for things to be disallowed or limited.
[OEI]nchap: We are working on extending support for custom spellbooks in the future, though we aren't currently certain whether we'll be able to do it or what form it will take. But it is definitely on our radar and we would like to do it.
[OEI]RTaylor: We have an idea of how to implement something that would allow the creation of custom spell casting classes and providing them with their own spell list in seperate spell list .2das, instead of the current system in spells.2da. We're still evaluating the plans and it hasn't been scheduled for a specific patch yet.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #15: <[GSC]Devon> Any chance of seeing any further additions to armor models, heads, voicesets and the like?
[OEI]nchap: We would definitely like to include more content in the future. I am not sure what form it will take, and there are of course bug fixes and critical features that are prioritized above it, but I would be surprised if we didn't release more content in some form.
[OEI]nchap: And with that, I am afraid I must go. Glad I could answer some questions for you all, and I hope to talk to you guys more in the future.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #16: <Chaszmyr> As it stands, overrides don't want to load on remote modules until you fully login. Are there any plans to get overrides to read better during character creation for those that change deities, race names, etc?
[OEI]RTaylor: When we fix the problem with .hak data not loading before character creation, we would also fix this issue. All override content, regardless of source, should be loaded by the time the player reaches the character creation process.
That is to say, custom content would be loaded, allowing custom rules, etc., to be in place for character creation.<hr />
Custom Community Chat 1/18/07 (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543028&post=4754454&forum=115&highlight=)
<hr />[DLA]Syrsnein: Any news on getting Granny support for custom animations? A lot of community artists seem to be on the verge of giving up on NWN2, if they haven't already, and we'd like to stop that from happening.
[OEI]RTaylor: We are trying to work out a deal between Granny and Atari that will allow us to distribute our tools to the community. There are still negotiations going on for that. If I could make it go any faster, I would.
[DLA]ragnarok_mr4: I've noticed that many animations use the concept of "stances" - is it possible to define and use our own stances?
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll have to look into that. I'm not familiar enough with the animation stances to speak on them right now. Rob will note the question and we'll get back to you on that.
[OEI]Rob: Granny Support: I believe Feargus has some things in the works for this. Not sure where he stands on it but he said he would give news soon
[GSC]Devon: Thanks first of all, I'm just curious about clothing as it pertains to a possible toggle switch to add to servers. I'd like to see an ability to switch off clothing in favor of tasteful underpants.
[OEI]RTaylor: Unfortunately, having the 'base' clothing was something we were required to do and we don't have permission to go around it. I don't want to belabor the point, but it's a legal matter. Any 'undressed' state characters will have to be community made.
[REP]Steel_Wind: Is Obsidian going to release a nwn2hak.exe creator for hak files?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes, releasing a nwn2hak.exe is in the pipeline. It will not be 1.05, as 1.05 is intended to be a smaller patch released not long after 1.04 goes live to address a number of small issues. However, it will be a priority for a patch after 1.05.
Chaszmyr: Mmkay, Vaen is somewhat AFK, and asked that I relay information about the buffs getting jammed on.
Long story short, some of the potions (and spells on items, like we have boots with 3/day haste) that when used, just get stuck on. Beyond persistent even; it is jammed on until rest.
[OEI]RTaylor: As soon as we can reproduce that bug, we'll work on fixing it. I'm afraid this is the first I've heard about buffs persisting too long.
[TNT]Morikahn: This isn't a CC question, but its a big one. Could you add a server setting to disallow players from healing when they relog into a multiplayer server?
[OEI]Rob: Morikhan: I have seen this handled through script on many NWN1 PWs. Though to be truly persistent would require something like NWNx.
[TNT]Morikahn: Its not handled well Rob. I have been devving for PWs for years. It requires a lot of scripting, especially for spells. HP are no biggy.
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll look into adding a flag to keep players from being restored to full health when logging in. It may or may not be non-fixable, so I can't promise anything, but I can understand the need for such a flag. We'll see what we can do.
Monty: Custom TLK support, is it hand-in-hand with the hak.exe?
[OEI]RTaylor: Regarding the custom .tlk table support: I'll be looking into it. I'm not satisfied with the current implementation and want to provide a solution that supports multiple, co-operative custom .tlk tables at the same time, but I don't know when it will get done.
[DLA]Longhornn: Will there be a list posted, of proposed monsters, items etc, that will be in the next expansion, so duplication of custom content,will not be repeated. Even a rough list on monsters at this time?
[PRC]BainIthron: Question seconded... if Rich is hanging around a bit longer.
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll see what we can do. I can't promise anything there, but I will bring it up. I think that's a fair request.
[OEI]Rob: I can tell you we probably won't do a tarrask creature ever, so you can do that.
Chaszmyr: oh, im sure this is another common one, are DMs going to be able to open players inventories and manipulate them soon, and/or be able to trade untradeable (cursed) items outright?
[OEI]RTaylor: That issue is on our radar. It's one of the more time consuming fixes in the pipeline for the DM Client, so has to be evaluated against other DM Client fixes, to make sure we address the highest priority ones first.
[THE]K: Any information on New Animations or Fixes would be greatly appreciated, as well as any fixes on Stealth or Cleave as well.
[OEI]RTaylor: I'm aware of the Stealth/Invis problem. I'm hoping to address that after 1.05. 1.05 is going to be a quick turn around patch ( A couple weeks as opposed to the month+ that 1.04 has been), so it is going to focus on issues that are quicker to fix.
[DLA]Syrsnein: How about expanding the description boxes in properties, in th toolset so we can see the entire description as we type it?
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll look into that issue. It may be a limitation of the 3rd-party tool being used for those
edit fields, so may not be fixable. But if not, I would imagine that is fixable.
[REP]GrinningFool: Any plans to correct the recompile-toolset = broken plugins?
[OEI]Rob: I think that is the nature of the beast, as we make changes to the toolset and the game.
[PRC]BainIthron: I haven't checked this yet... is there chat logging in NWN2 yet? and if not, is this on the "To-do" list?
[OEI]RTaylor: There's no chat logging at the moment, it might be something that can go in quickly in a future patch.
[REP]OIOOOIO: In general docs that list out all possible console/debug commands and all possible settings and usable values in the ini files would be nice.
[OEI]RTaylor: I agree. I am a big proponent of having as much documentation as possible. As soon as I get
time to start cranking out .docs, I'll write up as much as I can.
Thoronen: what about getting some other body-types in...fat, tall, skinny, short?
[OEI]RTaylor: Probably not other body types any time soon. You can adjust the default body type a little at character creation as of 1.04 via the height/girth scaling, but I know that's not exactly the same thing.
[REP]GrinningFool: Non custom content question: any definitive news on the 1.67+ scripting functions?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes, we intend to integrate the 1.67 features.
1.05 News
[OEI]RTaylor: We have a few things already lined up for 1.05: The toolset will respect the LABEL field when the STRREF field is blank for the .2da's where that's not happening yet. We've also started work on extending some of the 255-row capped .2da's.
The weird bugs with NWN2_Deities.2da should be fixed (Now overriding correctly, as well as female drow clerics will not be forced to change from Lolth upon level up).
Also, the area/module transitions will no longer wipe your chat windows.
And another big thing we're adding in 1.05 is support for multi-select, both as a DM, but also as a normal player, to make it easier to control your party.<hr />
More: There were about 60 people in the chat, so we didn't get to all the questions. I am gathering them up from the Community Reps then I will get those posted with answers within the next few days.
Thanks to everyone that attended.
What's with all the people... (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543572&post=4754547&forum=109&highlight=)
We asked for people to post what is important to them. By far, the majority of players of the NWN series are single players. Most people play the OC a few times then move on to another game. Some come back for single player custom modules.
Granted there is a large part of the community that plays multiplayer and even a part of the community that builds and/or plays on their custom-created mini MMOs (Persistent Worlds). But, overall, the majority of the market is single player.
More: <hr />Taken to it's logical conclusion, there's very little incentive to fix anything that's not related to the OC then. Maybe add in some fixes that make building SP modules more reliable, even a nod or two to MP. But if MP/PW play is as niche as this implies, why even bother? Where's the cost recovery for you (Obsidian and Atari) for the time invested?
I was going to add a sarcastic comment about fixing certain elements of the OC's storyline that bothered me, but since this is a no-spoiler's forum, and I know that's not an option anyway, I figured why bother, eh?
Every time I get geared up for MP/PW play in NWN2, something comes along to take the wind out of my sails.
J
[this space reserved for someone to invite me to leave the NWN2 forums if I'm so down on the game]<hr />I think if you are looking for the bad in things, it is easy to think that it only makes sense to fix the OC and leave multiplayer to rot.
But multiplayer and the PW community play a huge part in the game's life overall. The fact that there are more single player game sessions than multiplayer game sessions are also a result of those multiplayer players playing the OC.
The issues with multiplayer are two-fold: The drive for MP happens later than the drive for the OC and they are much larger issues and take longer to fix than the OC issues. Also, when you think about it, things we are doing to fix the gameplay overall, affect multiplayer. So, we could have done the PWC download right up front, but then you would still be waiting on control and camera fixes and server stability fixes. We have to take a big picture look at the issues with the game and fix the things that will benefit the most people right away.
Just because your issue isn't being fixed in the timeline you would like, doesn't mean it's being kicked to the curb. We have a lot of things underway, they just take a while to fix and QA.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Rich Taylor, Programmer</font>
Cleric of Lloth problem (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=542353&post=4753463&forum=115&highlight=)
The fix is in place for 1.05 for the level up issue with Lolth.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Rob McGinnis</font>
Stuck at the beginning of Act II (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543345&post=4752782&forum=116&highlight=)
Is that video card a typo?
I don't believe the Radeon 2600 is not on our list of supported video cards.
Arcnearcher (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543219&post=4752829&forum=110&highlight=)
It's important to remember though that the "ability to cast level 1 arcane spells" requires the intelligence or charisma to cast a lvl 1 arcane spell, not just having a level in Bard, Sorceror or Wizard.
Can't export my character! Help! (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543435&post=4752837&forum=110&highlight=)
The server you are trying to join probably requires you to have a character on the server vault and does not allow you to play characters on your local hard drive.
HEEEEELP...... (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543453&post=4752852&forum=109&highlight=)
This should probably go in the self-help forum but....
Try right clicking to bring up the Broadcast Commands menu. Then tell all your companions to either follow or guard you.
Obsidian plz give "Community Rep" threads an Icon (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543176&post=4753794&forum=109&highlight=)
<hr /><hr />I'd be more open to Portraits...I write some drivel on these forums (which) I don't think many people would be reading.....<hr />Good point.
Then, how about THIS ??.....
When a Rep has read thru a typical "We Request This---" Thread, how about putting a "Rep" Icon on that Thread??
It would be a clear signal to ALL ... "This Thread has been read by a Rep and notes taken".
Such an Icon would give Gamers a solid feeling ("wow, someone here ACTUALLY CONSIDERS our suggestions!!").<hr />After all the posts we have made and reassurances we have given and player-driven patches we have released in only two months of the game being out, I don't think a little icon will suddenly open people's eyes http://forums.bioware.com/_commonext/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
More: <hr />You dare doubt the power of the five by five pixilated image!?
More on topic, I totally agree with the portraits. I really have no idea when a CR posts.<hr />I agree and I hope its something we can do. I wouldn't mind the icon either, but then we would have icon wars and we would have to figure out who wins - dev posts or CR posts. My money would be on the devs.
Naomi Novik & Peter Jackson (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543551&post=4753804&forum=109&highlight=)
I am actually a big fan of Naomi Novik's work. I was able to meet her at last year's ComicCon in San Diego.
I really enjoyed her Temeraire series and can't wait for the next book.
Custom Community Chat 1/18/07 (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543028&post=4754450&forum=115&highlight=)
Here's the Chatlog. Thanks to Mortis for cleaning it up:
<hr />[OEI]Rob: Hello everyone and welcome to the NWN2 Custom Content Community Chat.
We thought we would hold this chat because there seems to be a lot of concern out there about the future of the CCC.
Most of you know me, but we have two other Obsidian reps in here to help answer your questions, I'll let them introduce themselves.
[OEI]nchap: Hi, I'm Nathaniel Chapman, Assistant Producer on NWN2.
* [OEI]Rob pokes Rich
[OEI]RTaylor: Good evening (or morning, depending), I am Rich Taylor, lead programmer of all things NWN2 as of a couple months ago. I worked on NWN2 for most of that project, and touched a lot of different systems, though I can't claim credit for any of them specifically.
[REP]Khaveen: Let's get started then with the advance questions:
[REP]Khaveen: Question #1: <Jasperre> Will you be adding your information to the NWN2 Wiki custom content section pretty please wish sugar on top?
[OEI]RTaylor: Sorry about the delay. Still working out some logistics of this chat. Yeah, writing up more information is something I'm hoping to start working on soon.
I plan on writing up documentation for the GUI stuff first, including information on the UI objects and their attributes, as well as documenting all of the GUI callbacks and their parameters.
[OEI]Rob: We are also setting up a "blog" to centralize the many questions and answers that come up.. perhaps a little more will go there too
[OEI]RTaylor: After documenting the GUI, I'd move into other areas where it's hard to get information, like what the various idx parameters are when querying data from Effects, and things like that. Places where you can't know what it does without seeing the code or trying over and over.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #2: <GrinningFool> Any chance of getting creatures to have an additional field added to track which package was used for class levels?
[OEI]RTaylor: Off hand, I can't think of any reason why that couldn't be implemented. I've jotted it down on my list of things to investigate.
[OEI]Rob: Send me a message after this explaining how you would like to use this.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #3: <Snakebane> Is any info going to be released for applying new animations to new creature models (e.g., how many frames for each animation in the set)?
[OEI]nchap: I'm not sure about that specific issue, but in general we are working on communicating how these things work and are supposed to work to you guys.
As Rob mentioned, we'll be working on some more formalized and efficient ways to get information from you guys and then back to you. In addition, addressing the animation issue generally - we understand the importance of being able to create custom animations for the CC community
[OEI]nchap: and we are working to find the best way to provide you guys with the tools you will need to make awesome custom content.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #4: <Talgrath> Any chance that trees will be tintable sometime soon?
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll have to double check with the programmer that integrated our Speed Tree support, but I suspect off hand that it won't be possible. I've made a note to myself to ask him about it as he's not here at the moment.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #5: <weby> Can we get the campaign overrides, the hakpacks and the .tlk files to be loaded before character creation in multiplayer?
[OEI]RTaylor: That's something we plan on doing. I can't give an estimate as to which patch to expect it in at this time, but it's definitely one of the higher priority items I will be evaluating for one of the upcoming patches.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #6: <Talgrath> Any chance of seeing basic white clothing and armor that we can tint to whatever color we want?
[OEI]Rob: Unfortunately we don't have any art people in the chat tonight, but I do know that a perfectly white skin is not possible.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #7: <GrinningFool> Any chance of getting script-modifable list controls in the gui (i.e., adding, removing items and determining selection)?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes. That has already been on my plans. I can say it will definitely be going in soon. Script control over list boxes and progress bars are both things that will not be in the patch coming up after 1.04, but probably the patch after that, 1.06.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #8: Can we get documentation on what the different lighting settings are and what they mean (will be a big help in creating an area creation and lighting wizard)?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes. We will probably be redesigning the lighting interfaces on our end, as well as exploring adding our own wizard possibly. Our own team finds the lighting difficult to use, so we will be looking to make improvements there. We'll try to get some information about what all the parameters and options for lighting actually mean.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #9: Any hope of getting modified nwn2deities to work in multiplayer without being in an override?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes, the fix for that is in the code and will go out with the 1.05 patch we hope to release near early Feb.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #10: Is it possible to get a toolset stub (small fast loading executable that can load plugins, so there's no 10-30 second wait for testing of each little change) to ease the testing of plugins?
[OEI]Rob: little pause while Rich answers some questions internally real quick
[OEI]Rob: A toolset "Stub" isn't currently in the plan and probably wouldn't be something that would get addressed in the near future
[REP]Khaveen: Question #11: Can we get the client to log xml errors in custom GUIs into the clienterror log as it finds them?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yeah. I had hoped to improve UI Debugging support for some time now. At the very least, we can log the errors in a LOG. But I'd like to provide even better support than that eventually for debugging UI issues.
I will probably provide better error feedback while I go through the callbacks to document them for everyone, so expect major improvements in being able to customize the GUI to come around at the same time.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #12: Can we get the automatic name generation available in-game to be exposed to plugins?
[OEI]RTaylor: I don't know the answer off the top of my head as I've never had to work with the random name generator. I've added it to my list of things to look into.
[OEI]Rob: We'll get the answers posted up on the forums once we get done with the research
[REP]Khaveen: Question #13: <Vaen> There is currently a bug where if a player uses a potion or a scroll, there is a possibility that the effects from the potion or scroll will last until the next rest. Will this be fixed in 1.04, or will we have to look for a later patch for this fix?
[OEI]nchap: We have not yet reproduced this issue internally and as such a fix is not currently in 1.04.
If you can, please provide Rob with detailed information as to how to get the bug to occur, what specific situation was going on at the time, whether the issue was in SP or MP, etc. so we can reproduce and fix it internally.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #14: <Morikahn> Can we get custom spell books (allowing custom spellcasting classes that aren't wiz,sorc,etc) and can we specify spells as unavailable at level up for things to be disallowed or limited.
[OEI]nchap: We are working on extending support for custom spellbooks in the future, though we aren't currently certain whether we'll be able to do it or what form it will take. But it is definitely on our radar and we would like to do it.
[OEI]RTaylor: We have an idea of how to implement something that would allow the creation of custom spell casting classes and providing them with their own spell list in seperate spell list .2das, instead of the current system in spells.2da. We're still evaluating the plans and it hasn't been scheduled for a specific patch yet.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #15: <[GSC]Devon> Any chance of seeing any further additions to armor models, heads, voicesets and the like?
[OEI]nchap: We would definitely like to include more content in the future. I am not sure what form it will take, and there are of course bug fixes and critical features that are prioritized above it, but I would be surprised if we didn't release more content in some form.
[OEI]nchap: And with that, I am afraid I must go. Glad I could answer some questions for you all, and I hope to talk to you guys more in the future.
[REP]Khaveen: Question #16: <Chaszmyr> As it stands, overrides don't want to load on remote modules until you fully login. Are there any plans to get overrides to read better during character creation for those that change deities, race names, etc?
[OEI]RTaylor: When we fix the problem with .hak data not loading before character creation, we would also fix this issue. All override content, regardless of source, should be loaded by the time the player reaches the character creation process.
That is to say, custom content would be loaded, allowing custom rules, etc., to be in place for character creation.<hr />
Custom Community Chat 1/18/07 (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543028&post=4754454&forum=115&highlight=)
<hr />[DLA]Syrsnein: Any news on getting Granny support for custom animations? A lot of community artists seem to be on the verge of giving up on NWN2, if they haven't already, and we'd like to stop that from happening.
[OEI]RTaylor: We are trying to work out a deal between Granny and Atari that will allow us to distribute our tools to the community. There are still negotiations going on for that. If I could make it go any faster, I would.
[DLA]ragnarok_mr4: I've noticed that many animations use the concept of "stances" - is it possible to define and use our own stances?
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll have to look into that. I'm not familiar enough with the animation stances to speak on them right now. Rob will note the question and we'll get back to you on that.
[OEI]Rob: Granny Support: I believe Feargus has some things in the works for this. Not sure where he stands on it but he said he would give news soon
[GSC]Devon: Thanks first of all, I'm just curious about clothing as it pertains to a possible toggle switch to add to servers. I'd like to see an ability to switch off clothing in favor of tasteful underpants.
[OEI]RTaylor: Unfortunately, having the 'base' clothing was something we were required to do and we don't have permission to go around it. I don't want to belabor the point, but it's a legal matter. Any 'undressed' state characters will have to be community made.
[REP]Steel_Wind: Is Obsidian going to release a nwn2hak.exe creator for hak files?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes, releasing a nwn2hak.exe is in the pipeline. It will not be 1.05, as 1.05 is intended to be a smaller patch released not long after 1.04 goes live to address a number of small issues. However, it will be a priority for a patch after 1.05.
Chaszmyr: Mmkay, Vaen is somewhat AFK, and asked that I relay information about the buffs getting jammed on.
Long story short, some of the potions (and spells on items, like we have boots with 3/day haste) that when used, just get stuck on. Beyond persistent even; it is jammed on until rest.
[OEI]RTaylor: As soon as we can reproduce that bug, we'll work on fixing it. I'm afraid this is the first I've heard about buffs persisting too long.
[TNT]Morikahn: This isn't a CC question, but its a big one. Could you add a server setting to disallow players from healing when they relog into a multiplayer server?
[OEI]Rob: Morikhan: I have seen this handled through script on many NWN1 PWs. Though to be truly persistent would require something like NWNx.
[TNT]Morikahn: Its not handled well Rob. I have been devving for PWs for years. It requires a lot of scripting, especially for spells. HP are no biggy.
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll look into adding a flag to keep players from being restored to full health when logging in. It may or may not be non-fixable, so I can't promise anything, but I can understand the need for such a flag. We'll see what we can do.
Monty: Custom TLK support, is it hand-in-hand with the hak.exe?
[OEI]RTaylor: Regarding the custom .tlk table support: I'll be looking into it. I'm not satisfied with the current implementation and want to provide a solution that supports multiple, co-operative custom .tlk tables at the same time, but I don't know when it will get done.
[DLA]Longhornn: Will there be a list posted, of proposed monsters, items etc, that will be in the next expansion, so duplication of custom content,will not be repeated. Even a rough list on monsters at this time?
[PRC]BainIthron: Question seconded... if Rich is hanging around a bit longer.
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll see what we can do. I can't promise anything there, but I will bring it up. I think that's a fair request.
[OEI]Rob: I can tell you we probably won't do a tarrask creature ever, so you can do that.
Chaszmyr: oh, im sure this is another common one, are DMs going to be able to open players inventories and manipulate them soon, and/or be able to trade untradeable (cursed) items outright?
[OEI]RTaylor: That issue is on our radar. It's one of the more time consuming fixes in the pipeline for the DM Client, so has to be evaluated against other DM Client fixes, to make sure we address the highest priority ones first.
[THE]K: Any information on New Animations or Fixes would be greatly appreciated, as well as any fixes on Stealth or Cleave as well.
[OEI]RTaylor: I'm aware of the Stealth/Invis problem. I'm hoping to address that after 1.05. 1.05 is going to be a quick turn around patch ( A couple weeks as opposed to the month+ that 1.04 has been), so it is going to focus on issues that are quicker to fix.
[DLA]Syrsnein: How about expanding the description boxes in properties, in th toolset so we can see the entire description as we type it?
[OEI]RTaylor: I'll look into that issue. It may be a limitation of the 3rd-party tool being used for those
edit fields, so may not be fixable. But if not, I would imagine that is fixable.
[REP]GrinningFool: Any plans to correct the recompile-toolset = broken plugins?
[OEI]Rob: I think that is the nature of the beast, as we make changes to the toolset and the game.
[PRC]BainIthron: I haven't checked this yet... is there chat logging in NWN2 yet? and if not, is this on the "To-do" list?
[OEI]RTaylor: There's no chat logging at the moment, it might be something that can go in quickly in a future patch.
[REP]OIOOOIO: In general docs that list out all possible console/debug commands and all possible settings and usable values in the ini files would be nice.
[OEI]RTaylor: I agree. I am a big proponent of having as much documentation as possible. As soon as I get
time to start cranking out .docs, I'll write up as much as I can.
Thoronen: what about getting some other body-types in...fat, tall, skinny, short?
[OEI]RTaylor: Probably not other body types any time soon. You can adjust the default body type a little at character creation as of 1.04 via the height/girth scaling, but I know that's not exactly the same thing.
[REP]GrinningFool: Non custom content question: any definitive news on the 1.67+ scripting functions?
[OEI]RTaylor: Yes, we intend to integrate the 1.67 features.
1.05 News
[OEI]RTaylor: We have a few things already lined up for 1.05: The toolset will respect the LABEL field when the STRREF field is blank for the .2da's where that's not happening yet. We've also started work on extending some of the 255-row capped .2da's.
The weird bugs with NWN2_Deities.2da should be fixed (Now overriding correctly, as well as female drow clerics will not be forced to change from Lolth upon level up).
Also, the area/module transitions will no longer wipe your chat windows.
And another big thing we're adding in 1.05 is support for multi-select, both as a DM, but also as a normal player, to make it easier to control your party.<hr />
More: There were about 60 people in the chat, so we didn't get to all the questions. I am gathering them up from the Community Reps then I will get those posted with answers within the next few days.
Thanks to everyone that attended.
What's with all the people... (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=543572&post=4754547&forum=109&highlight=)
We asked for people to post what is important to them. By far, the majority of players of the NWN series are single players. Most people play the OC a few times then move on to another game. Some come back for single player custom modules.
Granted there is a large part of the community that plays multiplayer and even a part of the community that builds and/or plays on their custom-created mini MMOs (Persistent Worlds). But, overall, the majority of the market is single player.
More: <hr />Taken to it's logical conclusion, there's very little incentive to fix anything that's not related to the OC then. Maybe add in some fixes that make building SP modules more reliable, even a nod or two to MP. But if MP/PW play is as niche as this implies, why even bother? Where's the cost recovery for you (Obsidian and Atari) for the time invested?
I was going to add a sarcastic comment about fixing certain elements of the OC's storyline that bothered me, but since this is a no-spoiler's forum, and I know that's not an option anyway, I figured why bother, eh?
Every time I get geared up for MP/PW play in NWN2, something comes along to take the wind out of my sails.
J
[this space reserved for someone to invite me to leave the NWN2 forums if I'm so down on the game]<hr />I think if you are looking for the bad in things, it is easy to think that it only makes sense to fix the OC and leave multiplayer to rot.
But multiplayer and the PW community play a huge part in the game's life overall. The fact that there are more single player game sessions than multiplayer game sessions are also a result of those multiplayer players playing the OC.
The issues with multiplayer are two-fold: The drive for MP happens later than the drive for the OC and they are much larger issues and take longer to fix than the OC issues. Also, when you think about it, things we are doing to fix the gameplay overall, affect multiplayer. So, we could have done the PWC download right up front, but then you would still be waiting on control and camera fixes and server stability fixes. We have to take a big picture look at the issues with the game and fix the things that will benefit the most people right away.
Just because your issue isn't being fixed in the timeline you would like, doesn't mean it's being kicked to the curb. We have a lot of things underway, they just take a while to fix and QA.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial" color="#cc6600">Rich Taylor, Programmer</font>
Cleric of Lloth problem (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewpost.html?topic=542353&post=4753463&forum=115&highlight=)
The fix is in place for 1.05 for the level up issue with Lolth.