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.

WORKAROUND: Thankfully, I did find 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!

Episode 106: Avoiding The Gaps!

I was having a discussion about D&D and other RPGs with one of my long-time D&D players and how pen and paper (PnP) differs from the modern computer based role-playing games we have today. It led to a discussion about design and mechanics for both formats, and we both came to the same conclusion... Read on to hear what we concluded and why it has an impact on the design of my NWN2 modules that are based upon my PnP campaign, and especially the latest Predestinated Days...

The Discussion!

It was while my friend and I were looking over the original "Temple of Elemental Evil" PnP module, when we both observed that the module had maps showing three levels of an inn. We both recognised that neither of us (as DMs) would have made our players role-play every "room" as laid out within the module... and I guess no other DM would do so either. Arguably, there was too much detail of "emptiness" that would not make for exciting gameplay. To their defence, PnP modules are designed in such a way to give the DM an overall picture for them to work with in relation to any events and actions that the players may take during a gaming session. Therefore, a DM only takes what they need from the module design, and only plays the parts the players are interested in. This is a major difference compared to a computer game! While playing PnP, the story remains focussed on the player's actions rather than what the players are being "forced" to work through within a computer designed module maps or setup. Consider this...

In PnP, maps and module details are used to setup an environment for the players to explore and play their story in their own way, at their own pace, and they can ignore parts that serve no immediate purpose. E.g. If an inn has 20 rooms, and the players explore one, the DM can describe one such room, and, if need be, add that exploring the other 19 gave the same result (taking next to no time and so not disrupting the flow of the game)... unless the DM had other plans for one of the rooms, of course.

Within a computer environment, however, such reinterpreted maps and module details can overcrowd its design with potential "emptiness" that can quickly affect the pace and enjoyment of an equivalent game. There is no DM to inform the players that the remaining rooms are "the same as the first explored" and so a PC gamer would have to explore every "empty" room just to reach the conclusion that there is nothing else to be found. This is a forced "gap" or "break" in the flow of the gameplay that a player should not have to experience in a story based RPG. 

This fundamental difference between the two formats means that when designing an area in a computer environment, I believe designers should not have the same leeway or feel the need to include the "empty" spaces to anywhere near the same extent as any PnP module does, which has been prepared and provided for different gaming possibilities. If, for example, we designed an inn similar to the one above for a computer game, with three levels and 90% of it was empty, my friend and I concluded that it would make for rather boring play: to simply go through every room and find nothing after ten minutes of searching. 

If it is not clear from above, my friend and I concluded that 

• Modules and campaigns designed for PnP worked because a DM could manage the module material to work according to the player's story expectations, and avoid repetitive boredom.

• Computer designed story-based modules and campaigns are weakened if incorporating "empty" spaces originally designed to "flesh out" the game, and can create boredom. If left out, the pace of the story would improve, and focus the gameplay on what matters for the story. 

Removing The Unwarranted Gaps! 

The problem is, I believe some computer RPGs (even some mainstream ones) have suffered from this kind of "empty" design because of trying to imitate historical PnP designs in an attempt to replicate the same gaming experience as PnP provides. Large open world designs have been built to allow a player to explore and find quests, but as these worlds have grown in size, they have become less story focussed or had their pace affected due to such areas of "emptiness". I have found myself playing such games, which had sounded excellent when reading about them, but later found myself somewhat deflated and even bored when running all over the world with little focus or only to find yet another item that just gets heaped in with the rest to sell.

I am reasonably certain that not everyone will agree with my conclusion about "empty" spaces, and I do agree that some "emptiness" is not unreasonable and sometimes can be expected. Personally, however, I believe such a design is probably more suited to a "sandbox" type environment rather than a story focussed campaign. However, if what I describe above about "emptiness" sounds familiar to you, then I hope to reassure you that I am doing my best to ensure no such large "gaps" will remain within my campaign. To be clear: exploration and secrets remain, but traversing over large landscapes (or walking through empty buildings) trying to locate a certain path or item will not be time-consuming... for the player at least. Furthermore, my aim is to fill any gaps that might otherwise appear somewhat eventless and/or serve little purpose within my areas. I am not saying every corridor, nook and cranny will have something to do within it, but I am saying I am trying to avoid the "empty" spaces that are often added just because a place is expected to exist. E.g. A city has many dwellings and potential places to visit, but you will not be expected to enter and explore every building, but may be directed to a specific building in the course of an adventure instead.

My D&D design goal, if I can achieve it, is to keep the player focussed on one area of the story at a time. Note, the player will still be able to hear of and pick up a number of leads to various tasks at any time, but my goal is to hopefully encourage the player to focus on just one such quest to investigate, and then see it through to its end, wherever possible. In this sense, my quests or tasks are not designed in the "sandbox" style, (only to be handled as they are found or become accessible), but, instead, work as solid leads to an adventure that the player can do there and then. The decision of which lead to follow (of a potential few), is left to the player to make... where opting to follow one path instead of another may possibly affect the remaining quests.

My aim is to initiate a task or quest that offers something immediately available to the player and, wherever possible, provide an "on the spot" objective as a current goal. Such tasks or quests can vary in length, of course, but the aim is to allow the player to achieve something by following the task without having to park it as a "to do" quest: one that is only available if and when the heroes happen to discover its location. I believe this is what sets a NWN story adventure aside from other RPGs as they try to remain focussed on a particular story line, leading from one quest to another as the story unfolds. That said, it is not unreasonable for rumours of a place, or an event, or even an item that can be discovered to be added as quests set in the near future. However, I would suggest that such quests are not too far removed from the main story and are not of little substance, such as finding a hidden item that is just going to be sold at the next vendor's establishment! In my own gaming experience, such unfocussed "quests" can have a detrimental affect on the pace of the game. I also believe such incidental "quests" should not be given the status of a "quest" at all, as they distract from the game at hand.

Older Areas Revised!

In latest build news, I am continuing to optimise some of my original area designs being used for this final stage of the module; to consider a multi-player (MP) co-op environment as well as a single-player (SP) one. The areas I am talking about were originally designed many years ago, prior this post I made in September 2021, which mentions when I learned more about area load times for a MP game.

Basically, prior this date, I designed areas with no real thought about how an area's contents may affect its loading time, especially when playing a MP game. All my area designs and testing prior this date were mostly done in a SP environment, which, when compared to a MP game, load much faster (up to ten times faster) subject to the area content involved. Note, I am not talking about loading times based upon just an area's size, but more about its actual content, such as lights, visual effects, useable objects, creatures, etc. As an example, a designed area may load in 5 seconds for a SP game (not too long), but that can be closer to 50 seconds in a MP gamer if care is not given to the area contents included. 

When I released my first module, I did notice a couple of its areas were taking longer to load than others, but lack of MP testing at the time did not highlight this issue sufficiently compared to when I was working and testing larger areas (with more content) of the second module. This is what led to the post I made above, and I started making a conscious effort from that time to optimise areas as required to try to keep loading times to below 30 seconds for a MP game, if possible. Such redesigns have included breaking a single area into two, to reconsider lighting and visual effects, and generally trying to design areas more "intelligently" with respect to interactable objects. 

Other Updates

Alongside reworking the areas, I have also been writing conversations that move the main quest forward. I had to look back over other conversations related to the same quest to ensure every worked logically, and was able to finish off some of these others too. It concluded a quest line that I am glad to finish as it was preventing me from focussing on events later in the adventure. It was a matter of three areas of the module (conversations, area designs and items) that I needed to work on at once to complete the quest state and refocus my attention on a later stage.

I still have some areas that need optimising, but I hope to address these as I move to them with each remaining quest I finish. Currently, I believe I have only around two side quests to complete (although there is a slim possibility this can increase), and then just the final quest for the main story.

I also have around three areas to finish, with one that currently only has one room! Two other areas have the rooms outlined (nothing else at all yet), and the "purpose" of them and what the PCs are to gain from exploring them is yet to be finalised. Once fully furnished, they need to go under the "gap" test (not boring to play) before I am satisfied with them for the final testing.

I am not quite at the point of saying "the end is in sight", but I do feel I have taken a large step forward over the last month. Look out for the blog title when I make such a claim, as it may well be closer to final testing and release by then. In the meantime, here are some screenshots from the new area and an area my wife recently play tested from stage 2. For the record, my wife is currently replaying module one again, and helping to find any last minute points that need addressing there. This is why there has been a v1.42 update for this April. I am hoping she will finish her latest play through this month and any last minute changes required will come in May if necessary.

A Stage 2 Encounter!

 

Stage 3 Area Testing!

More Stage 3 Area Testing!

Episode 105: The Secret of the Kiri-Dor Crystals!

For the last month or so I have been continuing to work on the third stage of my second module, Predestinated days. I have to admit that after a month's hiatus, restarting was harder than I thought it would be. However, it turned out the problem was as much to do with my own dissatisfaction of the current design of the area I had returned to working on more than anything else. Once I decided a redesign was in order, things started to fall into place. Read on to hear more about this and other news...

Area Redesign 

So, as my introduction points out, I found myself returning to building an area that is to be played in stage three of the module. However, I was struggling to find satisfaction in what I was continuing to add to its design. Put bluntly, I was finding the area to be somewhat plain and lacking character. In all fairness, this was the first time I had returned to working on this particular area in years, and I have had a lot of experience of working on other areas since then. Initially, when I came back to continue working with this area, I found myself struggling to be happy with the additions I was making and could not see why. I liked the ideas I was adding to the area, but something still felt wrong about it. It was only after I made the decision to remove and/or redesign some of the rooms within the area and change the way some of its transitions worked that "unlocked" the stagnation of design for me.

Now, alongside the new gaming mechanic system I mention next, I am having a much more enjoyable time putting the area together, which I hope will translate to an equally enjoyable experience for the player. Hopefully, by next month, I will have some new screenshots of this stage three area and/or maybe other areas to show you. In the meantime, here is a little "secret" for you...

A Secret Revealed

As this month's title alludes to, I want to "reveal a secret" with respect to a new gameplay mechanic that I have designed to work in this third stage of the module. It is to do with a citadel called Kiri-Dor, (a main bastion the heroes find themselves exploring on the isle of Tarn-Kiri), and some crystals that can be found here.

I had this new gameplay mechanic idea (and started work on it) years ago, but have only now just returned to finalise it. It involves some careful handling as it enables a whole new layer of gaming choices for the player, allowing them to choose how they would like to develop new abilities, and enable them to move forward in their quest. I will provide a couple of screenshots of the new mechanic, which I hope will help present the idea more clearly. This could be considered a minor spoiler, I guess, but I have done my best not to give-away too many details, but, hopefully, just enough to whet the appetite...

The Secret of the Crystals 

The new gaming mechanic relies upon the PCs learning of unique powers locked away in some special crystals that can be acquired within the areas of Kiri-Dor. Once acquired, the PC can activate them to unlock the potential of the powers that they can bestow upon the heroes. The heroes first have to unlock the BASIC path, which when completed, unlocks the ADVANCED path. Both paths require working with crystals of four different colours: white, green, blue and red:-

Heroes Begin To Unlock The Secret of The Crystals!

Eventually, as the heroes continue to make progress in their acquisition and study of the crystals, they can unlock the ADVANCED powers, which will, hopefully, aid them in overcoming the problems they currently face while within Kiri-Dor:- 

Heroes Have Managed To Reach Advanced Crystal Usage!

As you can see from the edited screenshots above, once the player has unlocked the ADVANCED stage, their choice of abilities opens before them in a tree-like structure. They can choose to concentrate on one particular colour branch of crystal study, or maybe spread their knowledge, bearing in mind how the adventure opens up before them.

As I say, I hope it will add an exciting new level of gameplay for the player, but I still need to address balancing and practicality of the system before I can be happy it is a working gaming option. So far, I have made reasonable progress developing the system, but it will still require some alpha testing before I know for sure.

I like to believe that The Scroll is probably one of the most heavily modded modules in NWN2, with extra care and attention given to a whole host of new XML GUIs and gameplay mechanics that serves to keep it a new and fresh experience for anyone wanting to play a NWN2 module, while staying within the gaming experience they know and love.

Latest Campaign

Meanwhile,  I also released v1.41 today, which addresses some minor issues, but I still believe is worth updating if you are on anything older. It improves maintaining variables on split stacks, fixes a minor Vigour glitch, and a Mapping fix among other things.

Episode 104: The Path Less Travelled

First, a heads up: There will not be a February blog post, as I am taking a month's hiatus. However, before I take the break, I am leaving you with the very latest v1.40 module and campaign files ready to use, after my wife did another test run of the first module using the latest build. A couple of minor issues came to light, but the updated Examine and Hardness systems, which I have now finished, are working well. Read on for more information...

Unconventional?

Regular readers (or players of my campaign) will note that my approach to design for both mechanics and quests does not sit within "normal" expectations for NWN. Instead, I believe my own design sits more closely to the table-top D&D game experience. Or, if we were to place the range of NWN modules available on its own spectrum, The Scroll Campaign (a.k.a. The Althéa Campaign), would probably be considered an extreme "conservative" style, or one that I would suggest plays more akin to a "Traditional" D&D table-top game. Your choice of how you play the module can alter this experience, but the underlying design principal is based upon trying to replicate the table-top experience, whether you choose to play the campaign solo or with a friend or two.

Whether this approach wins the approval of the majority of NWN players or not, I cannot say. However, for those players who like to dive deeply into a traditional style D&D game, with unique lore, quests and gameplay, alongside convenient traditional gameplay mechanics, then I hope the campaign will hit a sweet spot for them. Imagine a table-top session, and then translate that experience to a computer environment, along with all those elements that come with the former: combats, puzzles, crafting, varying NPC conversations and scenarios... and even creating bonds with fellow players as you travel your chosen path within Althéa!

The Trend Continues

This may surprise some, but when I first started writing the campaign using the NWN toolset, I had not planned to release it to the general public. This was because the campaign I was writing with the toolset was already a few years underway from a pen and paper (PnP) table-top campaign. Initially, I did not see any way to introduce years of material to new players when I was trying to continue the existing story for my PnP players. However, because I wanted to bring the campaign to new players, I found a way, by taking the first unconventional step to introduce a "background selection" that allowed new players to start the campaign afresh as if having never experienced the campaign before. As you can imagine, this introduced a lot of additional work, as I had to cater for both items and knowledge that the entering player had of the campaign world, and how their experience differed from someone who had never experienced the campaign before.

This difference of gameplay experience only finally becomes resolved within the second module, which is now nearing completion itself. What I am trying to say is, while it has taken me a long time to ensure a new audience is accommodated for, this first single unconventional approach I took, while prolonging the build, has, I hope, been worth the effort to bring the campaign to more players. Effectively, by the time both old and new players have played the second module, both groups will now be in the same position of background knowledge serving them to complete the campaign within the third module.

The choice of campaign background was, however, just the first of many design decisions I would end up making to help bring the table-top experience to the player. My main focus from the start was then also to support PnP home-brew rules that were familiar to my own group of players, but also incorporate them in such a way that I hoped would not alienate new players not familiar with them. So, over the years that followed, new systems were added and altered until a balance between the more traditional and modern could be accommodated, including: a proper time system with attrition, fog of war, crafting, and various death systems alongside the Life Essence system, to name just a few.

To say this was a big undertaking would be an understatement, but ignorance of this fact at the time helped me to bring you the campaign that you have available to play today. The second module is now only a few months off completion (I believe) with only the third stage (of three) to complete. However, even with this last stage, I am "bucking the trend" in an attempt to bring the player new experiences when playing this D&D adventure. Like all new ideas and additions, however, they take time to implement, but I hope the time spent will be worth it, especially if the player does have a new enjoyable gaming experience.

Stage Three Development!

I have spent the last month going through more optimisation of the new areas of stage three, improving lighting, atmosphere, and general interaction, including the walk path. I have also been going through NPC interaction and conversations, improving lip-synch and animations where required. It was during these general improvements when I decided to also improve the Examine and Hardness interactions of which I speak above, as the new areas required it. I have also gone through the various NPC interactions to remind myself of the course of actions available to the player and been updating/correcting those that need it.

My tester, Dustin Offal (who has my greatest respect and thanks for all his work and feedback over the last couple of years or so), has also finished another play test of the second module (stages one and two), coming in at around 70 hours of gameplay. (This suggests completion of all three stages of the second module will take around 100 hours to complete, subject to gaming style.)  Also, from his feedback, I spent some time focussing on ensuring plot items could be dropped by the PCs when they were no longer required. I began work on this last month, but managed to finish it for both modules in the latest release.

The third stage of the second module is now in a good position for me to continue with it come February.

Latest Campaign & Module

This new year brings both new v1.40 campaign files and new module files. Alongside some minor quest and animation fixes, I also took the plunge to deal with two areas of the campaign files where the code was over 15 years old and required updating to work more smoothly. This new code has also been tested with the first module again to ensure it works as expected. The two areas that have been updated were the Examine GUI code and the Hardness of objects with respect to bashing them.

Prior this latest v1.40, the Examine GUI employed a "mask" to ensure unused official code (OC) was not displayed when not required. However, this mask had a tendency to go out of synch (especially when related to creatures) and could sometimes cover text when not required to do so. It was frustrating me and so I got rid of the official XML entry altogether and updated module creatures with any examine text they required. I suspect many players do not use the Examine GUI anyway, (although I have made it a more useful tool now), and so only those who do use this GUI frequently are likely to notice the changes. The Examine GUI is now "clipped" to show only the information my campaign requires, so that erroneous OC information (faction or incorrect challenge rating) is no longer displayed at all. NB: If you are playing with an older module prior the one released 1st January, this new year, then some creatures will fail to have any description at all if examined.

The latest v1.40 campaign also updates some of my own very old code that handled the broken official hardness code. My old code was convoluted and much was not required. In the worse case, it could misreport when an object was fully bashed and not "clear" the way head. (Another bash would fix this, but it could look "odd" if not done so.) The new replacement code is much more streamlined and works well. NB: If you are updating an existing game (as opposed to starting afresh), then any areas already previously entered having any objects that could still be bashed, will have their hardness changed and will break on the first bash. (A minimal consequence for these levels only for a game that was patched as opposed to a new game where all work as expected.)

Lastly, there were a few very rare bugs that I squashed for this release, related to additional PC creations and/or a player not using the "Companion Protector" feat. They are so rare, I will just point to a description on the download page for more information.

There was one other final "game crash" bug, which is only likely to occur at higher levels, and so was discovered while testing the second module: If a summoned creature was killed (or dispelled) within 1.2 seconds of being summoned, it could crash the game. I believe this bug has also been squashed now.

Next Blog Coming In March!

As I said at the start of this month's blog. There will be no February blog, as I take a month's hiatus. The module and campaign files are in a place to continue with them in February, at the end of which, I will write the March blog to bring you up to date.

In the meantime, I leave you with a few screenshots I took as I was testing some points of the second module:

Discovery of A Secret Chamber!

 

Something Approaches from Behind!

Surprised By Skeletons!