Unfortunately, I have not done much at the moment, as I discovered that some of the tiles and metatiles that I wanted to use, did not work in the toolset. At first, I thought I may have messed up the 2da's, but after reloading a toolset with the additions from scratch, I was still unable to access them. After some investigative work, I managed to track down the problem to 23 missing files and a different setting in the tiles.2da. Now, at this stage I have made the assumption that this is an error, but it may be that RWS have updated their Deep Sewers tileset to disable these particular tiles and metatiles on purpose, but I doubt it. I have contacted them already to let them know and am now posting the solution here for others who may be interested. (Although, by the time you read this, RWS will have probably already sorted the problem.)
UPDATE: RWS Response : "To be honest I'm not sure our All-in-one is really up to date, I stopped supporting it and rather we just put up links to our master 2da files here - then people can just download the various packs from their individual inks. Occasionally we do not include a tile into a set even if it appears in the hak, sometimes this is because we find the tile to not always work as intended or for whatever reason we never just finished the tile in time for release. In your case you are quite correct and it appears that the sewer set was updated after the release of the all-in one and it never got carried over for some reason - most likely laziness on my part :)"
After comparing an older ds.hak (from the Deep Environment hak) and the hak that comes with the All In One, I was able to determine that the following 23 files were absent from the newer hak. (See screenshot.) As far as being able to access the narrower passageways that were also available from the older hak and absent in the new, I was able to increase the variation count for the hallway tile from 3 to 8 in the tiles.2da, which then allowed me to access the other variants of the passageway. (See screenshot.)
In the process of my checking, I did not notice any other files missing from the other Deep Environments, and in quick testing these appeared to work as described. (I will report back if I find anything to the contrary.)
What About This Crafting?
The latest poll has not had much feedback and I am left wondering why? After all, there are options to say a person won't craft, so it's not as if a person cannot say they won't be crafting at all. Is it because I ask for suggestions in the same poll? Or have I not made myself clear in the alterations I have made that will (hopefully) enhance the experience? Maybe it's just too soon after the winter break? Whatever the reason, please let me know ... or just vote and don't give any feedback. I know there has been traffic (stats feedback), so it's not due to lack of readers.
Latest
I feel like the first module is finally coming together and that an end is in sight. Or, to put it another way: I feel like I have found all the borders of a jigsaw puzzle and have constructed the outer frame, and that now I am left with just filling in the middle bits. There are still a number of conversations to write, and some quests to put together, but these remaining ones should ... I repeat, should, be easier to do. However, having just spent some time working out a problem with a tileset, it is easy to find oneself having to resolve other issues along the way.
Islander
After an annoying incident where I lost my NWN saved games, I decided to start a new adventure rather than walk the path of those I had played again. (I will try playing them at a later time when they feel fresh again.) As I had been in touch with Eguintir Eligard (who is also in the process of designing some areas for my module), and who has just released his Islander - The Dagger Forged module, I decided to take a look. I don't get the time to play much, but this module does seem to hold up reasonably well from the amount I have played to date. There were one or two things that suggested it was not "polished" (I have already spoken with Eguintir about them), but, overall, the module leaves me with a feeling of wanting to continue to play to learn more about the story, which is a good thing! Furthermore, I was especially impressed with the music in Merchant Island (composed by Hoegbo of Demon Melody), which reminded me of the music from Monkey Island.
That's all for now .... please vote on the crafting poll. (Left pane.) Original poll post.
2 comments:
Sorry, I'm not a big fan of crafting in nwn. I've always found a bit boring all the wandering around you have to do in order to find all the ingredients you need to built something.
Probably the fact that in the main campaigns the objects you could create were also weaker compared to the ones you could find didn't help either. Why create a +4 sword enchanted with ice damage when you could have [insert cool name in nwn style]?
Probably in a no magic setting crafting would acquire a new fondamental meaning but otherwise is difficult (for me) to find that activity appealing.
I admit that all the improvement you have made help a lot: first the "all in one" recipe book then the bag that automatically carries all the components and lastly all the info you can get from the description surely are a big improvement. That said, even if I chose the "hell no!" answer in the poll, I'll try your implementation, at least once, to see if they can sparkle some interest in that skills I always neglected, probably you won't make a blacksmith out of me but who knows, maybe I'll finally use that simple sword with the ice damage!
[whoa, I cannot belive I have written that much in english! Sorry for any mistakes I have made!]
Hi Shatiel,
Thank you for an excellent and honest post!
I believe you summed up my precise feelings about crafting prior to my own improvements. And it's great to see you have recognised all those points that I have made to try to make crafting both easier and more fun!
To add to comments I have already made about crafting, I have also made sure that items *can* be made without having to spend too much time "searching". The idea is that crafting items will be more readily available, with the main "puzzle" being that the player is left to put the parts together in a way that appeals to them. As the world of Althéa is considered a low level magik environment, then the items created can quickly better any found (in theory). I aim to place enough crafting components within an immediate area to enable crafting to be possible according to the player's current abilities at crafting.
There are quite an amount of random factors involved too, which means it may be possible to craft some items earlier than even I realise. :)
Your English is very well written, and I thank you for the time you took to write the post. I hope after playing the module that you feel crafting becomes more interesting ... most of all though, I hope you enjoy the module anyway. ;)
Lance.
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