While my wife continues alpha testing Stage One of the second module, Predestinated days, I have been focussing on its continued development of its second stage. Basically, the third alpha test has just been completed, and my wife is about to undergo a potentially "final" fourth alpha test. For more information, on the latest third alpha result and the stage two latest development of the second module, read on...
Alpha Three Results
Even during the third alpha run, we still had a few minor issues, which were immediately sorted. There were, however, a couple of module fixes too, which means there needs to be at least one more alpha test for the first stage. Interestingly, it was during this alpha test stage of the second module that my wife spotted the latest animation and companion fixes required for the first module as well, and so they will be in the next v1.11.
This third run through came in at just under 30 hours gameplay, but that was after I had asked my wife not to do any crafting to be able to give a time of play where a player may not do such activity with their PCs. This also ended up having quite a large impact on how difficult the game became for her, as her equipment was not as "complete" as she normally likes it to be. More than once, she had to drop the difficulty to be able to proceed with combat. Note, my wife would confess that she is not the most tactical when it comes to combat, but, the important thing to recognise is that: (a) Crafting does have an impact on how well your PCs can prepare themselves for combat and (b) The difficulty settings do have an immediate impact to be able to make the combat easier if you lack either the crafted items or skills that challenging combats may require.
As there were a couple of module changes, there will be at least one more alpha test for this first stage, which my wife intends to do after she finishes some further module one testing of the latest v1.11 release, which is being finalised today.
Stage Two Development: Bloodstone College
The screenshot this week is of the infamous Bloodstone College, situated in the southern "sunny" city of Southstrong. (You'll have to play the module to learn the reasons why this college has such a reputation.) This college of "learning for clerics", dedicated to the god Narmor, has been the focus of my module two development for the last month. As I may have mentioned previously, this is one of my original pen and paper (PnP) scenarios for my campaign, and it is turning out to be surprisingly more complex to develop than I first thought it would be.
The problem lies in the tasks that the players are expected to complete to progress their adventure. In PnP, a series of tasks (in a specific order) can be more easily tracked compared to keeping the same in a computer environment. Therefore, a more complex task in PnP turns into something of a "monster" to track inside NWN2. I could, in theory, make things easier by slim-lining the number of items or events involved, but that would be doing the original PnP design a disservice, and that is something I do not want to compromise on, if possible.
The bottom line is that even "one" task, such as being able to acquire something for the heroes to be able to proceed, in this current example I am working on, requires around three event stages (depending upon how you consider events), as well as the acquisition of a number of items, which can be found in any order. This is no simple objective of "find one item and use it" (even if it sounds like it at the start)... but a cascade of events that can impact one another when dealing with certain events involved. The bottom line is, it is complex, and my poor concentration means I have to pace myself when trying to sort this and spend longer on the problem than most do. However, I am determined to do this if I can, and the end result should be something quite fun to play if it works out. And that's just one aspect of this scenario, which has a number of specific scripting requirements. As I say, this should be a fun one to play if I get it right, and so will need quite a bit of testing when the time comes.
In general terms, stage two progression is going a bit "uphill" at the moment, in that each current step feels like a hard one. However, I hope these will become less as I progress, and allow me to pass stage two onto alpha testing as soon as it's ready. In total, around four scenarios (including Bloodstone College) are incomplete and require more work, accounting for about 20% of stage two. Some material will be easier (quicker) to complete than others.
Campaign Update
I am feeling more confident that the latest v1.11 that is to be released later today is going to be the last update for a while now. The only reason issues have come along in recent updates is because of really unusual bugs that are hard to predict until the game is played. i.e. Some basic code is changed, and somehow that impacts a situation that had not been foreseen. As an example: the "spacing of PCs" after jumping or moving to allow for smoother play had one such impact. On the surface of it, what could possibly be wrong with just giving the PCs a slightly wider spacing after a jump? Well, that piece of code also spaced PCs after a jump, where larger parties could be spaced in such a way that some of those members could fall on the wrong side of a door or wall from other members... and that door could be locked or mean PCs could not reach each other!
Admittedly, some of the bug fixes this time around also addressed previous fixes that also broke a line of events that affected animations, or even a companion conversation. However, these areas of code are now redressed, and now proven to be working, and I have no intention of passing that way again unless a further fix is demanding.
The bottom line is, many of the latest updates have been a result of module two preparation and updating in readiness for situations where the same module one code needed condition checks for new module two additions. As far as I am aware, I have covered all of these now, but also recognise that it is possible some minor alterations and updates still remain that I have not yet foreseen. However, if there are no reports of any issues requiring fixes in v1.11, any later updates after this version will not be uploaded until module two is ready - and then only uploaded after ensuring module one has not been affected adversely by them.
I remind readers (who may also be playing the first module), that if you should find any issue with the first module, then to let me know. My wife and I will try to continue to monitor any aspects of our testing module two that may also impact module one, and, if need be, add it to a v1.12 that will be available form next month, but only if required. I am especially conscious of any bugs that may affect a Coop MP gaming, as that has been tested the least. Therefore, if this includes you, then any feedback you have is welcome, as that helps me out a lot.
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| Bloodstone College |
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