Predestinated Days: Promotional Videos!

I am hoping to put together some promotional videos for my upcoming release of Predestinated Days, the second module of The Scroll Campaign. Here is the first. If I manage to some more, I will add other links to this post:-

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO #1

 

EE MP RELOAD FIX

I finally managed to get to the bottom of what is causing the MP reload from desktop crash in the Enhanced Edition of the game. I released this information on the Vault, but felt it worth its own blog post here too. Therefore, until Aspyr release an "official fix", this information will allow you to reload your MP games without having to reload another game first.

[PSA / FIX] Found the definitive fix for the Multiplayer Reload Crash in NWN2:EE

If you have been struggling with the intermittent Multiplayer Reload Crash in Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition (where the game completely locks up or crashes to desktop the moment you try to reload a multiplayer save or co-op session), I finally found the absolute root cause and the fix.

The issue stems from how the engine handles streaming compressed assets dynamically. Under certain hardware configurations, the loading routine simply chokes on the zipped data files, triggering a memory/state allocation crash.

Decompressing these archives into normal folders resolves the problem, though the exact fix is subject to your individual system specifications.

How to Fix It:

1. Close the game and navigate to your main installation directory:
   ...\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\NWN2 Enhanced Edition\enhanced\data\
2. Look at the compressed data files inside this folder and sort them by file size.
3. You need to manually decompress/extract the largest files into normal, uncompressed folders right there inside the directory.

Scaling Based on Your Hardware:

• High-End Desktop / Main Rig: You will likely only need to decompress the single largest file in that folder to stabilize the reload.
• Laptops / Mid-to-Low Specs: Your system will need a bit more help. You will likely need to decompress the top three largest files (or more) into normal folders prior to launching the game.

Once these files are unpacked, the engine no longer struggles to stream the data, and multiplayer saves will reload seamlessly without a hitch.

Hope this helps anyone else trying to enjoy co-op campaigns! Let me know if this works for your specific setup.

Old Alternative Workaround:

1) Start a NEW game from the options. (Can be a SP game.)
2) Drop back to Main Menu before selecting a character.
3) Reload the MP game that was crashing.

Episode 111: On The Horizon!

The day of release for Predestinated Days draws ever nearer and the final tests are underway and any last bugs and typos are being fixed as they are found. Interestingly, I first started reporting about this module back in May 2019, but the module itself had already had some time spent on it, with its original conception going back much further than this date suggests. Read on for more info...

A Campaign In The Making

Indeed, the earliest PDF note file I have illustrating the areas being built for the campaign is called "Area Information 12-10-10", which shows the areas for all three modules I had planned for the campaign were being constructed as far back as October 2010. For the second module specifically, it listed 20 areas, three of which were never used, but many more have been added since. The point being, I believe I can easily say that this second module has easily had more than a decade of work in its making.

This same document records some of the area designers at the time, who I remain thankful for all their help in bringing this second module to life: HOSA (two areas used), Hoegbo (four areas used), and Eguintir (two areas used). Some of Hoegbo's work (three areas) have currently not been used in the second module, but I do hope to use what I have in a later update, or maybe even the third module. Other areas for the second module, I have managed to rework from some I have found online, or have built afresh myself. Out of interest, the same document mentions Hoegbo for a couple of areas in module 3, and works of SGK73 currently making the lion's share of those areas for the third module. So, once again, if I am blessed with the time, I will be starting the third and final module of the campaign with many of the area designs already in place.

Predestinated Days

Without doubt, this second module is of a much larger scope than the first module I made in NWN2. Furthermore, with the advent of NWN2:EE, I hope it will be a welcomed addition to those custom modules offered to potential newer fans to play who may have only just acquired NWN2 in its latest edition for the first time. Note, however, the first module of the campaign, The First Day, has also recently been updated to be compatible with the Enhanced Edition, and so if you like to play the full campaign (currently available), then you will be able to do so regardless of the NWN2 edition you choose to play in.

To date, there are only two issues I have found with the Enhanced Edition that I have been unable to fully "fix" to my own satisfaction: 

1)  The Multiplayer (MP) Reload Crash (EE ONLY): This crash occurs when a MP game is saved and the player then tries to reload the saved game from a desktop start. I have had reports that this does not occur with every computer setup, but I have had the issue on three computers I have tested it on, and it only appears to affect custom campaigns in MP. Therefore, if you only intend to play in Single-player (SP) mode, then this will not affect you anyway.

UPDATE: I found a more permanent fix for this problem. See this post for more information. 

ALTERNATIVE OLDER WORKAROUND: I had also a workaround if you do play a MP game and encounter the issue. If you load a SP game (it can be any) and then drop back to the Multiplayer menu (without exiting to desktop), you can then load the MP game that previously crashed when loading. Unless Aspyr fix this issue, I have been unable to avoid this crashing loading a MP saved game the normal way to date.

2) The TBCombat Scripted Pause, Unpaused (EE ONLY): This is only a cosmetic nuisance rather than any kind of game-breaker. However, if you like to use the Turn-Based Combat system I have included within my campaign, which automatically pauses the game for a combat encounter, then the Enhanced Edition has an issue where the game would unpause if you hover over any creature in the game. I found a way to ensure this unwanted unpausing was immediately paused again, however, all the while the pause and unpause error occurs, you get that message spammed to the chat window. You can reduce the amount of spamming by trying to avoid hovering over creatures while the game is paused, but it can still be annoying when you do. Unless Aspyr fix this issue, I have been unable to avoid this spamming to date. (NOTE: This only affects a scripted pause and NOT a manual space bar pause.)

These two Enhanced Editions aside, I am pleased to say that with the help of those like Travus, I have been able to fix all tile set issues that also manifested in the Enhanced Edition. As long as you play with the latest files I have available to date, then the Enhanced Edition should now display meta tiles (those with the problems) correctly.

The Final Testing

As you may be aware from my previous blog reports, I am now going through the final testing stages for the new module. I have alpha testers concentrating on the third and currently least tested stage of the module, while a couple of beta testers are playing the module from the start. There were one or two important discoveries in the third stage by the alpha testers, but I was able to update the patch files quickly to ensure the beta testers did not encounter the same issues by the time they got there. Furthermore, both beta testers ended up starting from the latest Beta 7 and Beta 8 versions of the second module, which means they have 100% of the content, with the only difference being some visually blocking of some rooms that openly show before they should do, and a walkmesh fix.

Indeed, the latest files released today are the same as they are testing with, which means anything they find and report as a problem will require fixing for v1.49. However, the likelihood is that this version will not be required until 1st October, when Predestinated Days is due for release. At that time, all fixes will then be prefixed with a "2" marking it as supporting up to the release of the second module. Therefore, the next release is likely to be v2.49, or I may jump to 2.50 to mark the new patch number signifying the start of supporting the second module. At this time, I will likely also remove earlier patch notes from the download page as a new start for this current stage of the campaign as a whole.

Importantly, and especially for players using the Enhanced Edition, I also updated the Althéa_Other download today, which contains the haks for the campaign. It is this latest download that contains the updated tile fixes for the Enhanced Edition, and so it is important to ensure you have this newer version if you intend to play in the Enhanced Edition.

The Moment Before

It is a strange time for me now, as we draw close to the release date. Prior this time, much of my life has been about building this second module, and supporting the first, of course. However, now that the date of release draws ever closer, I recognise the time in my life as changing from that of "before I released the module" to what I hope in a month's time will be that of "after the release" of this huge undertaking. A real era change for me and my wife. My hope is that the module brings as much joy and happiness as it has us in its making. Yes, there's been frustration and stress too, but I am happy with the final result, and it ends at a place where I can begin to consider the final module, that will bring us to The Last Day.

Until then, all is relatively quiet for me at the moment, and while I have apprehension about certain aspects, I now leave it to see what will come of it... and for now, just a couple of screenshots I took along the way this last month showing some of the last stage of this upcoming module, Predestinated Days... may they help instil an interest for a new adventure for you to pass some time with...

Hoodoo: A Man of Mystery!

The Hero, Kennith, Attends A Meeting!

Episode 110: A Release Date Has Been Set!

Today, I can report that I have set a release date for Predestinated Days, the second module for my campaign, The Scroll. If all goes to plan, the Lord willing, I will upload it to the Vault for public download on 1st October 2026. To find out more about the last few weeks and the schedule I am trying to work to, read on...

A Frantic Month

The last month turned out to be a lot more frantic than I had thought it would be. I had outlined what I needed to do and was slowly working through it and was on schedule. I had contacted my beta-testers, Thierry (4760) and Sebastion (raymondsebas) and gave them a heads up on when I had hoped to be ready by. Then, around the middle of the month, my wife hit a few bugs that spiralled into bigger issues as the days went by, including some item duplications, strange encounters (in EE), along with combat and transition crashing. Once again, I had to park the final sections I was working on to ensure these bugs were sorted for the latest campaign release this August.

Indeed, if you check the list of updates and fixes for the last month, it is the largest since I updated the campaign to be compatible with NWN2:EE back in June. This latest release also fixes some strange behaviour of some fighter types (in EE only) who had suddenly acquired the ability to summon creatures! It is fixed with the latest files and if you start the module afresh. However, if you don't mind a slightly harder challenge (*), the game still functions, and the additional foes are only affected in three combat situations. Then apart from some XML text tidying, all other fixes applied to both editions of the game. (*) Although, sometimes, these have also been witnessed to be asleep too, and so may be easier.

The Combat Crash!

I am not sure how many people will have been affected by the main issue I have spent the last few days trying to resolve for this v1.47 release, but I believe I have made some progress towards reducing it. It is a random crash during combat that has become more noticeable as my wife has been having more intense combat situations. From trying to be more attentive to the action prior a crash, it appeared to be related to some summoning or dismissal (at death) of creatures. It was hard to tell for sure, as a crash to desktop does not give you much warning to look.

One thought (which may still be the case) was regarding a common sound file that would play just before the crash. This was the sfx_conj_Abjeration.wav, which fires quite a bit during combat, and so I took a closer look at it. It turned out that the file was actually an mp3 file, and so I converted it back to another wav format, and this did appear to help. However, it was what happened next that may be an indication of where the problem may also lay...

Not only did my wife's latest party of adventurers have more summons during combat, but they remained around after combat, due to the extra duration and strength these had at the higher levels. (This may be why the first module did not experience the issue as much previously.) It turned out that a party full of summons also contributed towards some transition crashes of a similar nature to the combat crash mentioned above.

To cut a long story short, it turned out that there were some duplicated VFX (visual effects) being played when an associate creature was being dismissed for one reason or another. For example, a summons would be dismissed, playing an effect, and at the point of being removed, play the effect again, which I believe contributed towards the crash. Basically, a double run of some code was being applied just before a complex area exit script, which was probably too much for the game to handle, causing it to crash. Thankfully, I have now altered/improved this area of the code, and put in place some checks to prevent such double VFX from playing moving forwards. 

In testing to date, two previous saved games that had crashed at a transition no longer do so, and there have been far fewer combat crashes to date... even when multiple summons by both party and foe were being made. (My wife often ends up with up to 12 in her party portrait list when all are out! And her foe has had 9+ enemies against her, making a total of over 20 creatures in combat at once onscreen!) That said, we have still witnessed one or two combats that caused a crash, but there was a lot more going on than usual, and maybe it was just one of those things. Two repeated plays of these same combats ran fine! However, if a common pattern for a crash is discovered, then I can look at it again at a later date.

Release Timeline!

If all goes smoothly over the next few weeks, then, Lord willing, the 1st October 2026 looks to be a realistic date for release! I am very excited to have reached this point, but I am also aware that the final third stage of this second module has not had any proper testing or feedback yet, and neither have I done any final balancing to it.

There is one last conversation I have to finish off, and I would like to look over and check the balance of loot and encounters before I am fully content, although I believe the latter points are mostly about right now. Actual alpha and beta testing feedback should help me here too.

ALPHA TESTING: As soon as I have the final conversation written, I intend to post the files to my alpha testers (one being my wife, and Dustin Offal the other) to start testing as soon as they can. I hope they may have the time to do as much testing of the third stage as possible before the 10th August. Note, however, that the alpha testers will be starting from a saved game at the end of the second stage, and so will not have to replay the first two stages, which accounts for 30-40 hours of this second module. My wife will be testing using the NWN2:EE and Dustin will be testing in the Original.

BETA TESTING: The beta testers have been contacted with a view of receiving the files from Monday 10th August, and are already replaying the first module to get ready for the second. Whether they choose to play to the end and jump into the second module from the end of module one, or stop and jump in at the beginning of the second module, I leave up to them. Both options should be ready to go. The beta testers have told me that they will be testing using the ORIGINAL game.

That's all I have to say about the campaign today, as I want to concentrate on the final steps for the testers so that they have the fewest problems. For now, I am not even going to show a screenshot from the new module, but a familiar one from the first only. Maybe I will have something new next month?

A Quiet Evening In New Edgeton!

Episode 109: The End Is In Sight!

First and foremost, while I have now posted my "The End Is In Sight" blog post, I do not want to give a wrong impression and need to put this into perspective. What this basically means is that the plans for the final areas that needed finishing has now been finalised and I now need to implement this. However, it is still possible for these outlines to change slightly and additional design to be added, but, importantly, no longer to any great degree. I have now "filled in the blanks" and have a coherent run of events from start to finish, allowing me to make this "end in sight" post. Read on for what else this means and other news...

The Final Areas Ecology

While basic exploring of areas, finding loot and combating evil hordes can be fun by itself, I personally prefer to play my games in an environment where its areas have an established ecology and a logical explanation for their existence. This includes areas that have a reason for me wanting to explore them, be it to locate a certain treasure or item of interest perhaps, or maybe defeat a known adversary or villain of the region, or even progress the story in some way. For the same reason, the more details I can include about areas and the environment they represent, the more satisfied I am with their final build. This aspect of design is important to me, and I hope that for each new area the player finds themselves in within Predestinated Days, that they also have an added enjoyment from this style of design and how it relates to them and the quests they may have to follow while within each region they explore. This is about a depth of design, which translates to how the player perceives their environment and how memorable the experience may be for the player.

Aiming for this style of design for each of my module's areas, however, is what costs me the greatest amount of time to implement. I spend much of my time going over notes, and processing thoughts and ideas, trying to ensure an area has a believable reason to exist in the first place, as well being an interesting place for interactions when carrying out any tasks there, or while just exploring in general. While considering each area, I look at various approaches, different puzzle types I may need, as well as the various quest lines and NPCs involved, and always with a view to create a new experience that I hope the player will enjoy and encourage them to explore the area more. As I say, however, this takes me a lot of time, and I would argue it to be the lion's share of the time I take in any module I have built to date! The story, for me, is as much about the local one for each area as it is the main quest. Therefore, every area has to be both coherent and interesting before I am satisfied with it.

So, the good news is, I believe I have reached the point where every area in the module has now been given this design goal treatment and now passes my own personal satisfaction requirement. For myself, this module has now (in my head at least) been completed! Only in the last week, I finally understood what I needed for the last few areas I have been working on to make them 'complete'. Hence, I can now report that the final release of this module is definitely in sight for me. Indeed, the latest idea that came to me actually manages to tie together a number of loose ends that I had previously put to one side as I worked on other areas. Now, I can focus on bringing together the final areas along with others with which they relate. When such ideas come to me like this, is when I gain the most satisfaction as a builder, knowing progress has been made. Next, however, comes the practical part, and I must now implement this new idea (and accompanying events) to complete the module. This should be relatively straightforward, but I have had enough experience now to say to readers to 'hang on in there' just a little while longer to allow me the time to reach the end of this final stage. (See screenshots below for latest areas work.)

I have already been in touch with a few people about moving on to beta-testing and have had two confirm they are in a position to help. Therefore, as soon as I can, they will be contacted and updated with the files, and after I have addressed any fixes required from their feedback, I will be announcing a release date.

NWN2 Enhanced Update 

For those of you following the campaign, you may have spotted that v1.45 was released early on 17th June due to a "bug" discovered that the EE introduced related to how DestroyObject works and the tag-based unacquire event. Others may argue this is not a "bug", but as it does not add anything new, but only serves to break certain aspects of the unacquire event, I count it as not required and inefficient, and so do consider it a bug. I wrote a fix for my own campaign to prevent its undesired results (duplicating destroyed plot items), which was the main reason for the v1.45 release. There were also a couple of minor XML fixes for the EE, including the ability to unpause a cutscene, but further testing has since shown other issues remain. 

In particular, a cutscene between two NPCs with sound files associated with each node can have problems in EE that otherwise remain working in the Original: the first sound file node played can distort (sound slowed down), and lip syncing no longer works on the second NPC in the cutscene. While I cannot with absolute certainty say these are a general problem (rather than only affecting my campaign), I have nevertheless, reported the issue to Aspyr to be looked at. The broken conversation can be seen in the first cutscene between Morcoss and General Korakus when the PC leaves the Shoreline area to head towards New Edgeton.

On another note, and because my wife has now finished testing the whole campaign in a true MP environment in the Original game (see next), we decided to buy another copy of EE for her to be able to start testing the campaign using this version of the game. This means there may be further updates for the campaign to accommodate the differences between the Original and EE, and any additional "problems" that the EE may bring up. We have already spotted a couple of XML alterations that were required to work within the EE again (E.g. The large journal and cypher display) , but they are minor and I am NOT going to update the campaign files today, as I would prefer more testing before doing another release. If, however, I find another EE difference as severe as the duplication of plot items bug (or another in general), I will provide an update sooner.

Latest MP Testing (Original Only)

Latest testing of the campaign in a MP environment in the Original is now completed. This was a "true" MP test, as the test was carried out on two computers connected via a LAN to ensure proper independent PC objects was observed. No further problems were found with the first module, The First Day (already released), including no more "gold" issues found or reported, and henchmen continued to work as expected between transitions. i.e. The latest release on 17th June (v1.45) should be stable and without issue for MP play on the Original game. My only personal disappointment, is that the area load times still remain higher than I would have liked on some areas in a MP game. However, as one of the tester's computers was a laptop, this may help explain some of the extra time involved when loading them.

Moving forward, as I now own a second copy of NWN2:EE, I am hoping to do some full MP testing of the campaign in EE at a later date and after the current SP tests have been completed in EE. As soon as I have further feedback on EE testing in either SP or MP, I will update you.

Campaign Latest

The latest release (v1.45), recently uploaded on the 17th June, remains the current release for the campaign. There are a few minor alterations made to the code that will be in v1.46, but I am putting that through further testing and looking out for any other bigger problems that may need to be covered before releasing it. If nothing comes up, I will look at releasing v1.46 in August. At the moment, v1.46 addresses a few minor XML glitches within EE, and improves efficiency of a load script for both game editions. If, however, I discover anything serious, or someone else reports a problem, I will treat it as a priority and release a fix as soon as possible.

A Light Shines Ahead!

A Disturbing View!

Preparing The Way!

Episode 108: The Scroll - Enhanced Compatibility!

This months blog is going to be a little different. For a start, it comes with news of a milestone update, as I have finally been able to bring The Scroll up to date and make it compatible with NWN2, the Enhanced Edition. This latest update is still undergoing some testing, but from what I have experienced so far, I believe I have a working campaign, which can only continue to improve as long as Aspyr continue to patch the EE software. For more news on this and other development, read on...

NWN2 Enhanced Compatible

I am keen to underline the fact that The Scroll Campaign has been made compatible with the Enhanced Edition, as I did not want to suggest that support for the Original edition has been abandoned. Indeed, I currently still build as if for the 32-bit Original edition, using the Original toolset, to ensure backward compatibility with the original game. However, over the last month, I have also been working through the differences that now allow the campaign to also work if being played on the 64-bit Enhanced Edition. 

After amalgamating all the important files (especially the XML differences), I believe I now have a setup that addresses all the differences between the two editions. There were a number of pre-game files that needed setting up, including the fontfamily.xml and especially the stylesheet.xml, along with ensuring any missing textures were added where required. (There were 25 at the latest count.) There were also some XML code changes that meant I had to revise how I "hid" certain XML panes, but I eventually found solutions for all these differences. Furthermore, as the EE appeared to no longer use the Custom UI folder, I changed to using the Override folder instead for pre-game, and some other files.

At the end of the update, I was left with only two real differences between the two editions with respect to gameplay mechanics:-

1)  Turn-based Combat Auto-Pause System: Due to what I believe to be a bug in the EE, a game can be momentarily unpaused by a player hovering over one of their character portraits or an on-screen creature, but only if the game had been paused by scripting (rather than a player using the space bar). To fix this, I had to write a system that ensured the game remained paused until a player now uses a button on the TB Combat system to unpause the round again. This only affects the EE version of the campaign, and I believe only a SP game. i.e. The space bar can still be used by the Original game and appears to work in a MP game in either edition if I recall correctly. I have reported this "bug" to Aspyr and hope they may address this, although at the moment, latest testing has not shown any other issues coming to light with it.

2) Map Pins Info Within The Area Map: The EE has removed some old code from NWN2 that was once used by NWN1 and had not been taken out of the Original NWN2. I had made use of this old code to allow Map Pins to update between area loads, but which now the EE cannot do. As a workaround, I have made it so the smaller temporary Map Pins (upon first setting) at least remain for the EE on an area reload, whereas they are still updated to proper Map Pins for the Original game. Strictly speaking, if a player labels their pins carefully, this minor difference should not impact their game too badly anyway. Again, I have reported this "issue", but as we are talking about the removal of "old" code, I suspect this difference will remain.

New File Distribution & Setup

As I mention above, the EE no longer refers to the Custom UI folder. However, I believe most players (if not all) recognise how to employ files to an override folder instead, which is what I have switched to using moving forward. From my perspective, this file location makes no difference, and, if anything, makes for some simplifying of the files distribution. Now, instead of there being a custom UI folder to place in the NWN2 folders, there will be an override folder instead. This new supplementary folder will be included in the download folder in the same way the Custom UI was before.

To highlight this latest big change for the campaign, I will also be removing all previous information regarding the patches made since v1.28 (from 3rd March 2025), and the download page will now post patches from v1.44, which is this latest release marking The Scroll being EE compatible.

Latest MP Testing

As you will know if you have read my last month's blog, The Scroll Campaign has been undergoing some desperately needed MP testing. For the first time in a long while, I have been able to set my wife up with a two computer system where she can play the game as if two players were each controlling their own characters in-game. At this point in time, the testing is within the Original 32-bit version of the game only, but I hope EE 64-bit testing will come at some point, from either herself or another tester.

The latest results have proven this to be an extremely worthwhile endeavour, as we have already uncovered a number of discrete bugs that required squashing. Even after addressing a few last month, a number of other issues have also been dealt with this month, discovered by this two-client approach. In particular, another gold transfer bug was discovered, as well as a client grouping issue and a client enter and leaving areas with henchmen.

New Inventory & Store GUIs

There is also a significant GUI change regarding the inventory and shop displays that I need to mention. While working with the campaign to bring EE compatibility, I happened to spot a memory leak with how the inventory and store item information panels worked. In short, the system I was using, while actually working fine for these two GUIs would, however, cause a memory leak when the examine GUI was used outside of my two GUIs. Thankfully, I believe the new system that replaces this "all-in-one" style of GUI works very well in its stead. Now, items within an inventory or store work in a similar way, in that left clicking an item (or hovering over an equipped item) will immediately open and update information about the item within an independent examine GUI instead. Thereafter, simply left-clicking or hovering over equipped items will update this now open examine GUI. As long as the player recognises this opened examine GUI is open to give item information, then they simply leave it open until it automatically closes when the inventory is also closed. 

Illustrating New Item Examination For Inventory & Stores

Campaign Latest

Clearly, updating the campaign to make it compatible with NWN2:EE took up a large chunk of my time for the last month. However, I do not think I have been slack when it comes to adding more material for the next module, Predestinated Days as well.

Between the EE update, the MP fixes and general improving code throughout, I have also been chipping away at the second module, and one area in particular where I have nearly finished the area design, including the puzzles and encounters that go with it. Maybe I have not done as much as I had hoped by now, but I think I have a reasonable excuse this time around. Now, rather than risk giving away spoilers, I will just leave you with a couple of screenshots.

As soon as I have finished checking the final updates for v1.44, I will update the download page. Be sure to read through the changes in file distribution to ensure correct (new) installation method.

An Encounter!

 

A Mysterious Cavern!

 

Episode 107: Join Me In A Game! (MP Updated)

Before I get into the main blog this month, I wanted to quickly recognise that in this 100th blog post (link), I had hoped to be nearing completion by the middle of this month. Well, although I don't think I will hit that estimated target, I do think I have come that much closer over the last month. Furthermore, while I cannot yet post "The End is in Sight" post, I think I can say that I am about to reach the crest of the hill and start the final stages. Other than this, I have also something more to report in general, especially for a MP gamer, who like to play with a friend or two. Read on to find out more...

Proper Co-op MP Testing 

To begin this months post, I want to tell you that I managed to set-up my wife's laptop with a third copy of NWN2, so that she is now able to play two Main PCs (as if two players) from two different computers to properly test the Co-op MP operation (gameplay) of this campaign. This now provides a significant improvement for testing a co-op environment. All such previous co-op testing was being done more intermittently and usually when I was able to use my wife's computer when she was not.

There was some other basic MP testing previously, but only where my wife would play as the only connected client and there were no other players present. While this did help to spot many potential MP code issues, it could not, of course, represent a true MP environment where the scripts could be checked when other players were also present. This latest change means that moving forward co-op testing should be more straightforward and directly accessible than it has ever been before.

Already with this latest setup, my wife and I were able to pinpoint a few MP issues. Some were to do with another client connection, another with item handling between clients, and even another to do with the amount of gold a client would receive on a gold find! These have all been quickly addressed and included in the latest v1.43 release. Furthermore, now that my wife has played a significant section of the first module in this setup, I am hoping that all such MP errors will have been squashed now. However, if any more show up between now and when the module is fully played, I will update as required.

There were a couple of minor issues that I also addressed that would affect the SP game as well, such as a journal entry not closing or some quality of play adjustments. However, all in all, the first module is stable and makes a good foundation for moving onto the second module, Predestinated Days. Speaking of which...

So Where Am I Up To Now?

In short, I had a relatively good month last month and managed to finish a number of aspects that needed doing, including all the final areas main designs, and a few conversations. The conversations I have not yet finished, I have placed templates ready to complete.

I did a lot of pre-design work, which was basically copying the areas involved into an art package to make notes of what was happening where and how the story could unfold and the PCs  develop within the areas involved. With these "maps" and notes added, I was then able to start managing the quests, conversations and mechanics involved... which is probably one of the more complex stages of this second module. I had wanted to show all these area maps to you in images, but that would have clearly been a massive spoiler, and so you will just have to wait until they are likely to appear in a walk-through if I ever get to that stage.

Today, I will mark the module as being 90% complete, but bear in mind that 95% means complete all except Alpha testing. Therefore, when you see me report 95% complete, we are only waiting for the alpha testers to complete their game before I open up to any potential beta testers for very final testing. If, by the way, being a beta tester interests you, then let me know in this forum post (link). If I can keep at my current rate of building, I am hoping that next month's blog post will be the one that reports the end being in sight. However, I also just remembered that I also have to finish off some load-screen images, and so that also has to be considered in the timescale. All in all though, I am very excited about reaching this point, as it feels like a significant step for me.

Finally, I just want to leave you with a couple of screenshots from areas I have been working on, which I hope do not give away too much detail. Until next month, please keep me updated with any ideas, requests or questions you may have and I hope to have some exciting news for you then.

Strange Words From An Even Stranger Situation!

I need to Get Across There!