Episode 88: Delving Deeper!

The biggest difficulty to making improvements and additions to the campaign code, is that there is always a risk to alter break something that was working fine for months! I must be the number one 'Guilty Guy' for this sort of thing, as, once again, I have had to release yet another version of the campaign (v1.13) to address some new issues due to changes made. However, what this also means, of course, is that I have been making reasonable progress on the second module, Predestinated Days ...

Latest Alpha Four Testing

My wife recently finished testing Stage One of the second module for the fourth time, finishing in a similar time to previous test runs, at around 30 hours. This was (as to be expected), the most stable test to date, but there were a couple of module changes I needed to make that means there will be a fifth alpha run.

However, due to the changes made of late, I asked my wife if she could test the first module again... just to be on the safe side. This is when I discovered the impact of the latest alterations to the campaign code had made. Frustratingly, even though the changes were extremely small, it just so happened that while these additions fixed one issue (for the second module), they broke aspects of the first.

I hasten to add that these alterations are/will become fewer and fewer as time goes by and as the core code becomes adequate for the newer second module to run alongside the original first. As an example of the kind of thing I mean: An animation in the second module was causing NPCs to shuffle their legs without ceasing... very annoying! So, I added a small "cancel animation" command to the area of code that was causing it, only to find it would cancel a rare animation I had been using in the first module, which I did not want to cancel. Only play-testing the first module in its entirety with the latest campaign files revealed the issue.

I have to confess that recently there were also some blatant mistakes by me when adjusting some code to be more efficient to handle bigger loops required for the second module. A bad variable check caused a whole condition check to always return an invalid object and so stop the correct object from doing what it was supposed to do. Again, it affected only one object, but nonetheless, it was broken because I had altered the function to work more efficiently with objects of the second module.

Yet, it is also during the latest alpha testing of the second module that previously unaddressed problems come to light. When this happens, I fix them and then schedule a new update for the campaign files as a whole. When that is released to fix these issues (which have normally been fully tested for both modules), that is when some of the newer issues mentioned above, sneak in at the same time as I am repairing those issues that should be addressed.

So, where am I going with this? Basically, there are two things that are happening, which should help moving forward: First, I am starting to write more unique scripts for the code I am needing for the second module, which means I am no longer having to adjust "core" code to accommodate some of the newer second module events. Secondly, I believe I should have fewer "old" scripts left to have to alter due to them not being up to the task to support the second module. In brief, I am reaching a point where I am now able to break away from core code alterations and concentrate on new scripts only, which will have no impact on the first module at all. As an example of addressing some old core files, the 'scaling' function should now be stable (which was one such broken in v1.10), the 'enemy detection' function should now be fixed properly, (which was also broken around v1.10), and most (if not all) inventory management systems have been fully tested in both modules.

The code for the new second module (Alpha) and older first module, should now be a lot closer to completion and apart from some "old" bug that comes to light, should not need to be opened and altered again.

Closed Beta Testing

To help alleviate any issues moving forward, I have also invited Dustin_Offal to a closed Beta Testing of the second module (Stage One). He is someone who has already offered great feedback that helped me iron out some issues with the first module, and I hope his input will help me to address any final lingering issues that remain in the code between the two modules. He has a good understanding of how the campaign is designed to be played and so I hope will be able to notice any issues that come to light as soon as he finds them.

Stage Two Development

I find myself still working on the Bloodstone College scenario. In particular, a "simple" comment in my own pen and paper notes, regarding a part of the adventure that in one sentence requires of me an extremely unique area design and adds a degree of complexity to the design and coding that I had not at first given much thought to. Without giving any spoilers, this section of the adventure allows multiple players... or a single player with multiple companions... or even a single player to enter an area and carry out a task that can vary according to who of these variations is present. I certainly have had to delve deep into the design and coding aspects to accommodate this aspect of the story, that's for sure!

Thankfully, I believe I have broken the back of the design now, and the code is working well in first testing (all new scripts that do not touch module one I hasten to add), and it should be fairly straightforward from now on. Although, an accompanying conversation (already up to 3000 words), is also quite cumbersome with numerous variables. Once again, however, I have written the largest portion now, I believe, and so should be reasonably straightforward to finish off now.

Considering this is a relatively small part of the overall scenario, I am hoping I can finish it next week, and allow myself to get my teeth into the rest of the areas involved. There are still a number of events to finish designing and write up, but I am already pleased with what has been accomplished so far, and I think will be one of the more exciting adventures for players when the time comes.

A Strange Dusty Room!

Episode 87: Bloodstone College (Stage Two)

While my wife continues alpha testing Stage One of the second module, Predestinated days, I have been focussing on its continued development of its second stage. Basically, the third alpha test has just been completed, and my wife is about to undergo a potentially "final" fourth alpha test. For more information, on the latest third alpha result and the stage two latest development of the second module, read on...

Alpha Three Results

Even during the third alpha run, we still had a few minor issues, which were immediately sorted. There were, however, a couple of module fixes too, which means there needs to be at least one more alpha test for the first stage. Interestingly, it was during this alpha test stage of the second module that my wife spotted the latest animation and companion fixes required for the first module as well, and so they will be in the next v1.11.

This third run through came in at just under 30 hours gameplay, but that was after I had asked my wife not to do any crafting to be able to give a time of play where a player may not do such activity with their PCs. This also ended up having quite a large impact on how difficult the game became for her, as her equipment was not as "complete" as she normally likes it to be. More than once, she had to drop the difficulty to be able to proceed with combat. Note, my wife would confess that she is not the most tactical when it comes to combat, but, the important thing to recognise is that: (a) Crafting does have an impact on how well your PCs can prepare themselves for combat and (b) The difficulty settings do have an immediate impact to be able to make the combat easier if you lack either the crafted items or skills that challenging combats may require.

As there were a couple of module changes, there will be at least one more alpha test for this first stage, which my wife intends to do after she finishes some further module one testing of the latest v1.11 release, which is being finalised today.

Stage Two Development: Bloodstone College

The screenshot this week is of the infamous Bloodstone College, situated in the southern "sunny" city of Southstrong. (You'll have to play the module to learn the reasons why this college has such a reputation.) This college of "learning for clerics", dedicated to the god Narmor, has been the focus of my module two development for the last month. As I may have mentioned previously, this is one of my original pen and paper (PnP) scenarios for my campaign, and it is turning out to be surprisingly more complex to develop than I first thought it would be.

The problem lies in the tasks that the players are expected to complete to progress their adventure. In PnP, a series of tasks (in a specific order) can be more easily tracked compared to keeping the same in a computer environment. Therefore, a more complex task in PnP turns into something of a "monster" to track inside NWN2. I could, in theory, make things easier by slim-lining the number of items or events involved, but that would be doing the original PnP design a disservice, and that is something I do not want to compromise on, if possible.

The bottom line is that even "one" task, such as being able to acquire something for the heroes to be able to proceed, in this current example I am working on, requires around three event stages (depending upon how you consider events), as well as the acquisition of a number of items, which can be found in any order. This is no simple objective of "find one item and use it" (even if it sounds like it at the start)... but a cascade of events that can impact one another when dealing with certain events involved. The bottom line is, it is complex, and my poor concentration means I have to pace myself when trying to sort this and spend longer on the problem than most do. However, I am determined to do this if I can, and the end result should be something quite fun to play if it works out. And that's just one aspect of this scenario, which has a number of specific scripting requirements. As I say, this should be a fun one to play if I get it right, and so will need quite a bit of testing when the time comes.

In general terms, stage two progression is going a bit "uphill" at the moment, in that each current step feels like a hard one. However, I hope these will become less as I progress, and allow me to pass stage two onto alpha testing as soon as it's ready. In total, around four scenarios (including Bloodstone College) are incomplete and require more work, accounting for about 20% of stage two. Some material will be easier (quicker) to complete than others.

Campaign Update

I am feeling more confident that the latest v1.11 that is to be released later today is going to be the last update for a while now. The only reason issues have come along in recent updates is because of really unusual bugs that are hard to predict until the game is played. i.e. Some basic code is changed, and somehow that impacts a situation that had not been foreseen. As an example: the "spacing of PCs" after jumping or moving to allow for smoother play had one such impact. On the surface of it, what could possibly be wrong with just giving the PCs a slightly wider spacing after a jump? Well, that piece of code also spaced PCs after a jump, where larger parties could be spaced in such a way that some of those members could fall on the wrong side of a door or wall from other members... and that door could be locked or mean PCs could not reach each other!

Admittedly, some of the bug fixes this time around also addressed previous fixes that also broke a line of events that affected animations, or even a companion conversation. However, these areas of code are now redressed, and now proven to be working, and I have no intention of passing that way again unless a further fix is demanding.

The bottom line is, many of the latest updates have been a result of module two preparation and updating in readiness for situations where the same module one code needed condition checks for new module two additions. As far as I am aware, I have covered all of these now, but also recognise that it is possible some minor alterations and updates still remain that I have not yet foreseen. However, if there are no reports of any issues requiring fixes in v1.11, any later updates after this version will not be uploaded until module two is ready - and then only uploaded after ensuring module one has not been affected adversely by them.

I remind readers (who may also be playing the first module), that if you should find any issue with the first module, then to let me know. My wife and I will try to continue to monitor any aspects of our testing module two that may also impact module one, and, if need be, add it to a v1.12 that will be available form next month, but only if required. I am especially conscious of any bugs that may affect a Coop MP gaming, as that has been tested the least. Therefore, if this includes you, then any feedback you have is welcome, as that helps me out a lot.

Bloodstone College

Episode 86: (α3) Latest Alpha Feedback

Alpha three testing of the first stage of module two is currently underway as I continue to work on the second stage (of the three in total) of the second module. The second alpha testing has been completed, and results are in this month's blog, as below...

Alpha Two Results

In my last report, my wife had completed 15 hours of her alpha 2 testing. By the time she finished the fixed alpha 2 version (now with its previously broken areas repaired and made accessible), her final play time came in at just under 35 hours. That was a fair increase considering her first alpha test had come in at just under 25 hours. A ten hour increase, even based on her second play test.

My wife reported that she was very satisfied with the fixed NPC conversations, and apart from a couple of tweaks for logical flow, they allowed her to complete a few tasks that had come to an abrupt end previously. The biggest difference and the most entertaining for her, however, was now being able to enter a couple of new areas that had not been fully completed previously. My wife remarked that she had not expected the areas to be as involved as they turned out to be (due to where they were located on the area map), and was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the story that came from it, and some of the new mechanics that in included.

As this was the first test for these new areas, there still remained a couple of misplaced items, which I had to fix "live" to allow her to finish. Overall, however, my wife reported that this "new" section of stage one was probably her favourite section to date, because of who it involved and how the story played out. I cannot say more to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say, all the initial issues for this section have now been addressed, and my wife is currently in her third alpha test of the entire stage one, which should now be, to all intents and purposes, complete. Once she has finished this third alpha test, that will probably be her last until I have finished stage two to allow her to move forward.

A final point about the latest alpha testing, is to say that new creature AI all worked well, and latest creature balancing appears to be working as expected now.

Stage Two Development

There is certainly more work involved in getting the second stage up and running, and I can recall at least three "largish" scenarios I need to finish. Sadly, we have had some real life issues that have had a bit of an impact on me, but rest assured, I am still progressing as and when I can.

Currently, I remain working on a conversion of a favourite scenario I wrote many years ago for my PnP (Pen and Paper) campaign. Like another I converted (which my wife has now already play tested in the first alpha), it requires quite a bit of revision to remind myself of how it was supposed to play as well as consider any adjustments required for its translation from paper to computer.

This is one of those scenarios which my own players have already played in this campaign, but I have been able to adapt it to work in this later time frame so that new players will also benefit from it. Furthermore, as my own players played it over 30 years ago now, they have said they have no qualms about replaying these older scenarios in the new computer NWN format.

Only in the last week, I was able to convert the original PnP handouts required for this scenario into my "readable" books and scrolls content where required; at the same time fixing some minor points of logical flow, or altering the same to work in the slightly altered design. This also allowed me to refresh my own memory on how the scenario played out, and remind myself of the other items required... I discovered that there are a fair few, which all require careful journal/task handling, as well has some new scripted events related to them. Some, I hasten to add, I have already done, as I knew they would be required before I read over my notes. However, it's the smaller steps that remain to be done. It looks like it should be fun for me to translate their implementation, and I hope that also means it will translate as fun for the player.

Campaign Update

The current latest version available is v1.10, which, hopefully, covers the last of any alterations and updates (including fixing these alterations) made for some Module 2 updates. Although, just yesterday a small scaling issue (to do with a book dropped) has been discovered, which will be part of v1.11 when it becomes available. It's nothing major, and just requires the player to look a little closer at the screen to pick up the book (if dropped), due to the book rescaling to around a tenth of its size on the drop. I am still strongly recommending v1.10 as the latest update to have installed, as this version fixes a few location issues that could place PCs in a wrong position, as well as a missing texture for a readable book. It also addresses a number of quality of play issues.

Therefore, v1.11 is currently rescheduled for next month, around 10th August, to allow time for any other issues that may have not yet been discovered to be reported and included. Again, if anything major turns up, then this will expedite the release.

The College Mausoleum (Stage Two)

New Readable GUIs (Stage Two)

Episode 85: (α2) Second Alpha Underway!

The first alpha testing of stage one was finished last month, coming in at just under 25 hours play time ... Except that two largish regions had had to be skipped due to some unfinished module sections on my part. That code was completed last month too, and the second alpha run is now well underway. Read on for the latest update ...

Missing Regions

My wife, who is the only current alpha tester, had to avoid completing three quests on her first alpha run, which had been expected to finish in the initial test. However, soon after she started, it soon became obvious that two NPCs were missing for one of the quests, one was missing a conversation section for another, and the last quest had some missing quest details required for finishing. The last one I advised my wife just to ignore exploring the region, which she did, and the other two quests she just played as far as she could take them. Along with other fixes required for the first testing, all these areas and conversations are now completed too.

Alpha Two To Date

So far, my wife has covered almost an identical time span for her Alpha Two test as she had the last time I blogged about it with respect to her Alpha One test... that is around 15 and a half hours so far. Only this time the story has opened up a fair number of different branches to what she had experienced in her first play through. Partly because I had fixed a section that allowed her to play the first dungeon to completion (as opposed to in two parts) and secondly, because of fixes I had made to those conversations I spoke about earlier. Important to note, however, that both her Alpha One and latest Alpha Two tests were both valid paths, irrespective of the updated conversations. (She had just had no choice the first time.)

The story has unfolded in a different way for her, and she was caught a little by surprise once or twice when she noticed certain aspects had changed. I cannot go into details, to avoid spoilers, but an area she unlocked early in her first play did not unlock until later in her second play through ... and by a different means due to choices made.

I am hoping the fix to the previous broken areas will add a few more hours. I will report in the next blog how many we hit with the fixes in place.

Encounter Balancing

As you may recall, creature encounters was an area I wanted to look at balancing. Changes made this time around have certainly improved things greatly. There is still one encounter that required my wife to drop her settings to "EASY", but I am not sure if this does need adjusting or not, as one time I tested it on "D&D Core Rules" I managed to beat it. So, if anyone has any thoughts about this, please leave a comment.

Further Development

I have been concentrating on ensuring Stage One runs as expected, and addressing issues as soon as anything turns up with the current alpha tests. However, as these are starting to become fewer and fewer, my mind is starting to turn towards finishing Stage Two of the second module, and making it ready for my wife to alpha test as well. As soon as this happens, I will be sure to update you all. I am hoping to report on that as soon as the next blog if all continues to go as planned.

Campaign Update

After some feedback from three current players, I have managed to fix a number of small issues, including some typos, which have gone under the radar for some time. I have also included some "quality of play" updates to help the player in general. As an example, Ooze Oil can now target a PC to apply to all valid items, as opposed to applying to individual items. One fix that missed this month, but will be in v1.7, is the "collision" of the Main PC on initial entry. Basically, from v1.7, the Main PC will get less caught up on other party members when trying to move. This was supposed to be in place already, but I only noticed the issue myself when testing movement in a tight spot.

12 JUNE 2024: I have released v1.7 earlier than expected, as there was a critical error that could cause the game to crash in a couple of situations. Neither are game-breaking, but one causes a side-quest to not be completed. The problem was introduced in v1.4 released on 07 May 2024. Latest v1.7 fixes these crashes.

One of the New Areas Yet to be Explored!

Episode 84: (α1) The First Alpha Feedback

Sorry for the slight delay of this latest blog release, but I was tied up fixing code for my wife's first alpha play-through... well, I guess that gives you a slight heads up on how things went. However, the overall first testing was not as bad as this introduction may imply. Read on to learn how things went... I have tried to avoid giving away any spoilers, but keen-eyed readers may pick up on one or two titbits.

The First Feedback

My wife is the first person to play the second module as a player, albeit, as an alpha tester. Before she actually started, I gave her the heads up that she was likely to encounter a number of issues, as not everything was still fully "complete" with respect to all potential paths and final details. However, as it turned out, I had also not anticipated the path that she would end up taking ... interesting results, to say the least.

To help present this feedback in an unbiased way as possible, I asked my wife to give some feedback in her own words, which I then comment on. (Her comments are presented in italic and blue text.) I made slight alterations to their presentation below, so that they read more clearly in the current context of this blog. For neutrality, in my comments, I will refer to the comments as coming from the "Tester".

Tester Comments

First Impressions

"In contrast to the first module, this one feels more expansive with the various locations popping up on the overland map creating a sense of a larger scale."

"I have been to a series of locations already and you can take different paths and have different outcomes based on choices that you make, which allows player agency and a less linear approach to the game."

Having finally escaped New Edgeton and let free to explore, I was quite surprised to find the tester immediately going off the beaten track to explore regions of the overland map that I thought they would have left to later. As they had a cleric in the party that could provide food and water via a prayer, then long distance travel was no obstruction to them, and they took full advantage of it.

This was not strictly a problem, as I do anticipate some exploration like this, but it did start to open up paths that had had less logical testing right from the get-go. Thankfully, all overland encounters worked fine, and even the first areas to be reached all worked as expected. I accidentally managed to introduce one glitch when trying to fix something else, which prevented the encounters going hostile, but this was quickly remedied and the encounters provided their threatening hostilities once more.

"There is a nice mix of serious and more light-hearted tasks depending upon which NPCs you are dealing with. There has also been a lot of detail put into NPCs and the interaction that you have with them..."

The number of tasks I could write for each stage of the module was one of my biggest concerns to get right. Too few and the world would feel empty and without meaning. Too many, and it might start to feel like every man and his dog wanted help in some way. I was also trying to cut-down on Fed-Ex tasks (those go fetch and return with an item type), which, if overdone, can make a game lose impetus. To this end, my aim is to try to ensure that any such tasks which do fall into this category are simply small additional tasks that can be completed while carrying out a main or side mission.

As the tester points out, I also try to mix the style of quests, not only to work together, but differ in style, with respect to their nature of importance... from what may appear trivial or humorous, to the essential ones. No matter who the player ends up receiving a task from, I hope that character remains memorable in some way.

"The conversations are in the same style with lots of different options. This time, however, also with the addition of different responses based on a person's background i.e troublemaker, leader, flirt etc. This makes for more interesting conversations, which again, can affect alignment and/or whether you gain or lose influence with the person you are conversing with."

Role-playing conversations is one of the biggest differences that players will come across when playing Predestinated Days. The PC Background system I ended up developing for deeper conversations came out too late to be fully employed in the first module, but I have taken as much opportunity to include its usage as possible in this module... and hope to continue to do so moving forward. Therefore, be sure to choose different background types for your party of PCs to be ready to take advantage of this when the time comes. It is an area where I can introduce potential humorous responses based on PC background choice, as well as maintain the normal character behavioural responses.

Gaming Mechanics

"If you bring characters through from mod. 1 they retain all of their items, levels, abilities and feats which is good so you can benefit from this and continue to build and advance your party skills further."

If you have been following my blog, then you will know that I have gone to great pains to try to ensure the party you know and love can continue their adventures from where they left off at the end of the first module. This is the way the tester started their first run through, straight from an end game save of the first module, transitioning into the second. However, when released, the game will also support starting afresh at the start of the second module, and makes assumptions of the items you would have recovered and kept as if played the first module. In this second option, you can import any PCs that you have previously exported from any other play through.

"There has been a whole variety of different creatures that you can encounter with some new and some familiar creatures."

Indeed, I have tried to up the number of creature types the heroes can encounter, from standard Monster Manual types not yet encountered in the first module, to one or two more unusual. Where I believe improved AI code will help, I have added it. I won't go into details as that would be a spoiler... suffice to say, however, I try to make good use of any potential special attacks if I can.

One aspect regarding creatures that has come to light is the difficulty of a challenge. As the heroes are now around level ten, finding a worthy opponent can be difficult to balance, and this is one of those area that is undergoing some close inspection at this stage of testing. Currently, some encounters are easier than I would have liked, and one has turned out far more challenging than I thought it would be. I am learning quite a bit about what properties affect a party than I have previously.

"The overland map also has opportunities to find treasure and items for alchemy that are always useful."

I have tried to retain as much flavour as people will be used to with respect to the overland map. That said, I have also added many new features that offer greater feedback on the current travel, such as skill and time feedback. This tester has not yet experienced the overland map in the official campaign, and so would not be able to make any clear distinction on what is new or not.

Other Information

IN GAME FEEDBACK: I have also been trying to provide more feedback on various new systems along the way, so that players have a full understanding of what is happening in the game. This can be simple chat comments, notice texts, or even a full blown GUI update if required. During testing, I did note that one or two of these styles of feedback was not quite giving enough detail (like a specific PC name missing) and so have rectified this now.

WALKMESH: There were a couple of areas where the walkmesh had broken. One was easier to fix than the other. Something that I discovered that was rather frustrating was even a backup of the area in question did not retain the old walkmesh that had worked. i.e. Even though I replaced all five area files from a backup that had once worked, when opened again in the toolset, the area still showed a broken walkmesh. I have no idea why this was the case. Bottom line, I had to redo the walkmesh, and it has finally been fixed. I also learned that you should not replace certain files (as a patch) or they break objects in the saved game area.

GAMEPLAY DURATION: The current first alpha testing is still being played, as I have been "patching" any difficulties encountered along the way. This has included such things as the bad walkmesh (as mentioned above), items with the wrong tag, etc. Simple, but important fixes that I knew may well come to light. So far, the gameplay recorded by the built-in timer records just over 15 hours gameplay. In this time, the tester has finished a couple of smaller side quests and is making headway into the main quest. There are still a number of quests that have been started and can still be finished.

WORST CASE SCENARIOS: I am breaking tradition and saving the worst to last. Now, bear in mind that these were not all entirely unexpected, but the odd one was. (a) There was a conversation that was unfinished that the tester found. (I had not expected them to take that path at this stage.) (b) There was a complete quest path broken due to two missing NPCs. (I did not realise I had not finished this quest.)

Campaign Update

The campaign has recently been updated to v1.5 after I addressed a few conversation issues related to excessive skill checks. The function causing the problem has now been fixed and related conversations no longer suffer from its potentially bad results. The update also addressed one or two AI adjustments and overall core efficiency.

And here is a screenshot from the latest alpha testing ....

Nathan Helps Out The Heroes!

Episode 83: Alpha Testing (Stage One)

I have, at last, reached a position where proper alpha testing of stage one of the second module, Predestinated Days, can begin! This is a huge milestone for the development cycle, and one I feel great relief in reaching. This first stage (of three stages) for the second module is the largest in many aspects. As the module currently stands, it has the "lion share" of the number of overall areas that can be explored and the quests that can be done. It is comparable to an estimated 70% of the size of the first module. Read on for more information.

Alpha Testing

As this is only the first part of the module, as well as being the very first time that it is going to put to a proper gaming test, the testing is going to happen in-house only. This means at the hands of my wife, who probably knows my first module and what to expect in campaign play more than anyone else anyway. However, that is not where I want to end testing, as fresh eyes and unfamiliarity are also always a good thing to have to give feedback too. Therefore, once all three stages of this module have been alpha-tested, I hope to be able to find beta-testers who can brave the testing period for me when the time comes.

Hopefully, in the next blog, I will be able to give some feedback on how well (or not) the overall alpha testing is going. I will obviously try not to give away any spoilers, but, at the same time, give you some honest feedback on how my wife's experience of the testing is going, and if there were any major issues discovered during her experience. I can safely say now, she will not be able to test every path that is available, simply because there are too many potential ways for her to cover in the time. Furthermore, as this is only the first stage, any testing she does do, effectively ends and would require a restart by the time stage two becomes available for testing.

Cutscenes

One of the delays of the last month was taking time to cover a few cutscenes I wanted to put together for a section of the first stage. However, I believe the time spent on them has been worthwhile, as the outcome of the last one I tested was exciting for me to see the end result. I believe I have covered the majority of the cutscenes for this stage now, apart from maybe one or two minor party conversations.

One aspect I have been working on, and is part of the initial testing, are cutscenes around various party builds, and need to work subject to various party conditions and states. Accounting for the many options that the party can be in by the time the cutscene starts can require some thinking out to ensure logical flow works in every situation, especially for journal entries. As an example, I am dealing with variables that could have been set many gaming sessions earlier, and even then subject to backgrounds selected and race of PC played. I can often sit making notes and pathway diagrams to ensure I have all the logic correct. Again, I hope much of this will be part of the initial testing.

Puzzles

In the latest quest I was working on to have stage one ready, I found there was an ideal situation for a cutscene I had in mind, which, as mentioned above, played out well. However, due to the nature of this cutscene, I felt that as it was quite a dramatic moment, that it also required some build up before the player was rewarded with the scene. To this end, I designed a multi-stage puzzle with new GUIs, and items. The end result, I believe, will be a fun and rewarding exercise for all who play it. In this case, there is a possibility that a player could miss out on this section altogether if they make a different choice and end up on a different path. Hopefully, however, the adventurous spirit will win out and most, if not all, players will discover this section of the adventure and enjoy the fun of the puzzles and the end cutscene for it.

Campaign Update

As I continue working on the second module, I cannot help but discover occasional areas of code that require a minor alteration or fix due to new situations that coding module two brings. In the latest building, these issues have been relatively minor, and will be available for v1.2 of the campaign in the near future.

As most of these issues can be avoided by mindful play, or can simply be ignored for the time being, then I am holding back any newer patch until after I receive any further feedback from current play testers. In this case, I would rather only add a new patch after I believe the new code is stable. I am trying to reduce the number of patches with this newer system. Priority fixes, if required, will continue to be responded to with an immediate fix and updated as soon as possible.

At this time of writing, there are currently no further module build updates for the first module. The 30th March 2024 is still the latest module build. Neither, currently, do the TLK or UI need any newer files. If these are altered, the latest versions are always included in the latest campaign file download anyway.

Anyway, that's all the latest for now, and so I leave you with a couple of screenshots from the latest Stage One of Predestinated Days. If you have any questions, or would like to hear more about anything specific with the campaign, just add a comment and ask.

The heroes investigate a cavern...

...And discover a strange machine!

Episode 82: March Big Update!

If you have been following of late, you will have seen that The Scroll campaign has currently been withdrawn from downloading. Basically, I had to make some big decisions about where the campaign was heading with module two on the horizon, and how I was going to manage multiple modules moving forward. I concluded that I needed to make some big changes to some of the core files for the campaign and so rather than prolong the agony, I took the steps required. Hopefully, I will have the latest version of the campaign ready to download by the end of the month. It's still only the first module at this stage, but even that will come with a grand facelift with the changes made. Read on to hear about the big changes I have made ...

The Enhanced Is Dead! Long Live The New!

To mark these big changes, I made the decision to end the "Enhanced" version series of the campaign, and replace it with a new straightforward version system. (The enhancements will remain, of course, it's just the version tag that will be going.) Importantly, the new version system is now no longer limited to 100 iterations before having to move up its first digit. Now, it allows thousands of increments, allowing me to keep the primary digit to relate to the current module release. Therefore, I will start at v1.1, where the first digit before the period represents the modules currently available and supported, and the digit after the period is the campaign version release. When module two is released, for example, it may go to v2.162, if we are on the 162nd version of campaign updates by then.

This has also allowed me to start afresh with "backward compatibility" support, which the current version series had been covering games as far back as v1.50E (March 2022). A lot has changed in the last two years, alongside many fixes, and I believe the enhancements made are now in a far better place than when first released, and so I feel happy about starting the release version anew. This new series will only be guaranteed backward compatible with v1.41E and up to v2.60E, the last release number of the Enhanced edition. (Older versions will have varying results.) That said, this latest v1.1 does come with some module improvements too. They are minor and have less of an impact, but the cleanest experience would be starting afresh from v1.1.

Now, let me cover some of the major changes coming in v1.1, and how module two made an impact.

Even The Start Screens Have Been Updated!

DM Client Support Removed

When I first designed the campaign, I thought there would be a need for me (and others who played the campaign in a coop multiplayer style) to have to "do stuff" as the players made progress. The idea being that I could still play in the same fashion as we, as pen and paper players, had done in the past. However, the beauty of being able to script events meant that my role actually became less as a DM, whose only role was more about in-game fixing if need be. The monster AI was working well for our needs, and all I ended up doing was following the heroes around as an invisible side-kick. Put simply, the module design had no need for a DM. 

In fact, the campaign design has changed so much over the years since its first incarnation, that certain events, such as area transitions, are actually hampered by the presence of a DM. Trying to accommodate the presence of a DM, especially with the up and coming module two, that comes with more advanced events, became such a burden that I could not see any reason to continue to support the DM Client system. Instead, I decided to concentrate on making coop multiplayer a much more stable and protected way of playing. Once I pulled out the DM client code, I was able to improve the efficiency and stability of player clients joining the host's game. Furthermore, I added a number of "safety checks" to help players setup their game without running into connection issues due to joining timing errors.

Moving forward, I realised that I, (who once played as the DM), can now, instead, share their gaming experience by playing alongside them as a PC of the party too. I also recognised that it was easy enough to add a DM tool if I ever wanted to reacquire some of those gaming elements that the client once provided.

A final great benefit to this change was that it helped alleviate the multiplayer area transition times, which I appreciate, especially as module two comes with one or two slightly more involved areas than the first module. However, on the subject of loading times, it was the next update/fix that really helped here.

Database Handling Improved

I have had an "unknown" issue with the module sometimes crashing upon entering the second area after a module fresh start. This never happened on my computer, but always did on my wife's. I knew it had been related to the database somehow, but only recently did I figure out the problem. It seems that the game does not like to "destroy" a database and set one up shortly after, especially if using the same name. It turned out that somehow, this action upset the game, which then went on to cause the game to randomly crash on some computers. The solution was to, rather than destroy an existing database, to simply "reset" all the variables it contained by overwriting any existing. The end result amounts to the same as destroying and creating a new one, but the process does not cause the game to crash shortly afterwards. I was greatly relieved to have this issue (ever since first release) finally resolved.

UPDATE: The game WILL still crash shortly after the first time a new database is written. However, as the new database only happens at the start of the game, a player is encouraged to reload the auto-save made at the start of the game to prevent the risk of a crash. If the player is updating an existing database, then the game does not crash.

On the back of solving this issue, I looked closer at the way the database was handling data, and concluded that some of its operations were not required for multiplayer gaming, and so switched their operations off for such. It turned out this helped improve area transitions by a significant amount; around 3-8% for multiplayer gaming. The bottom line, when module two is finally out, it will be working from a fixed database system.

Fast Travel System Overhaul

I'm not sure how many people are aware of this system I implemented, but it's one that can be put to good use when it comes to moving around the World of Althéa. Whether your PC is encumbered or not, if you have a valid waypoint available (and you can set your own too), you can use the system to move rapidly to the waypoint you choose. No more slowly dragging your party back to a location to do something, as it's as simple as left-clicking on the map and selecting the way point to move to. It's the closest thing I can achieve to the likes of clicking on a map and have the party to move rapidly to that location.

There were some teething issues with the initial system, as sometimes the PC could be left in an unusually fast speed even after the fast travel had finished. However, I am hoping they have all been sorted now. If any others are discovered, they should be reasonably straightforward to fix now too.

However, one of the things I have wanted to address with it for some time now, was to incorporate the Fast Travel GUI into the area map GUI itself. The system prior this latest would open a second GUI that opened somewhere else on the screen, from which the player made their selection. However, this latest version now keeps the Map Pin selection incorporated into the Area Map GUI itself, making the whole system feel more natural and intuitive. Take a look at the image below. A player need only left click on the area map to bring out (or close) the list of waypoints, and then select a waypoint to move rapidly to it. The player can leave the pop-in panel open if they wish to (in case they change the current waypoint in mind), of left click on the area map again to close this pop-in to watch their PC icons move rapidly across the map to the waypoint in question. To cancel any rapid movement, the player simply closes the area map, either by clicking on the area map exit cross, or pressing escape. The rapid movement has been designed to auto-stop if required, such as a conversation starting, or combat encountered. Basically, play is unaffected apart from the speed at which the party moves to the selected location.

Area Map With Fast Travel Pop-In Open

Persistent Skill Bonus Fix

For some time now, as long as the Adventure Skills system has been in place, a bug has been lurking in plain sight, basically going unnoticed. Thankfully, its impact has been relatively "minor", albeit frustratingly unfair when required by the PC. The problem is associated with Skill Bonuses gained by items that sit in a PCs inventory, which fail to reinitiate their bonuses on a game reload if they had been stowed away in a container the PC carried, such as a Bounty Bag. As PCs had the potential to gain campaign feats that awarded such Skill Bonuses, which were then stowed in their Adventuring Skills Book, then it meant any such benefits would have disappeared on a reload, and likely gone unnoticed.

Addressing this particular bug has been one of the issues that has contributed to the longer delay of the campaign's next release.I wanted to make sure this bug was also made backward compatible, alongside the other final list of bug fixes for the Enhanced version releases. The upside to this latest fix, is that some good has come from it, in that I have improved the operation of party feats that can be acquired in the campaign, as well as fix the Skill Bonus container issue.

First and foremost, new campaign feats now alter skills in a permanent manner. They no longer rely on Adventure Skill pages. I could have still done it this way, but now wanted to reserve the Adventure Skills book to bonuses from items carried by the PC only. So, campaign feats with skill bonuses are handled via script rather than items, and are permanent alterations either way. The new fun changes come with the skill bonuses that are benefitted from items that sit in a PCs inventory. For now, the Adventure Skills Book keeps an overview of all the benefits gained from such items, and is the item that ensures these benefits are not lost between reloads. Importantly, these skill bonus items can now be stowed away in containers and their benefits will no longer be lost between reloads!

Now, whenever a PC acquires a skill bonus item that sits in their inventory to gain the benefit (as opposed to an item that can be equipped for such), the Adventure Skill Book tracks the benefit by adding it to its own list of beneficial skill properties, as well as keeping a page copy of the real benefitting item within its contents. So, if a player wanted to see what benefits they were gaining from items in their inventory, they need only check the Adventure Skills Book properties for a full list. If they wanted a breakdown of which items were providing these benefits, then they need only open the Adventure Skills Book and examine each page therein to learn where the benefit is coming from. This new approach actually gives the Adventure Skills Book a more active role for feedback in the game than previously. Take a look at the image below for a quick overview of the kind of thing I am talking about here.

• 1 - 3: These are the three real items collected by the PC that are giving them skill bonuses.
• 4: The Adventure Skills Book (ASB), the current description is up and showing all benefits.
• 5: The ASB contents. Each page can be clicked to see its own description instead of the ASB.
  

The New Adventure Skills Book Information

There's A Lot More!

The above differences are just some of the bigger ones that impact the campaign and module two moving forward. However, there are also a lot of other fixes and updates coming to address some niggly problems and gameplay from previous versions. From logical flow issues, combat activation (including auto-pause), creature issues, launder bench usage to name just a few. Take a look at the full list here.

TLK & UI Updated!

With all these updates, and being a NEW version, starting from v1.1, there will also come new TLK and UI folders that will need to replace any existing Althéa versions that you have. If starting afresh, you will also need to grab the latest module folder, which now also starts to be noted by release date rather than version number release. This is done to help prevent players downloading a newer module than campaign in error, which can lead to a broken game. There is also additional file checks in the new code to help prevent this, and a "silent" version number will be kept with any module upload to help maintain this. As far as the player is concerned though, the release date for the module folder should be the governing guideline for them now as to whether there is anything significant about its changes that affects them.

I recognise that this month's blog is a lot to take in, but I wanted to let you all know that I have been busy preparing the campaign for the second module, and this is the result. My wife is currently play-testing all these changes, and still helping to find any remaining bugs that can be fixed prior release, and as soon as she is done, I'll upload for all to benefit from.

Episode 81: New Year Progress!

I took a hiatus in January, which means this is the first blog for the campaign this year. Prior to my break, I released v2.60E of the campaign, which has been relatively stable. That said, I have picked up on a couple of minor issues, which will be covered in the next release. Also, I have picked up building module two where I had left off at the beginning of January, and making progress once again. Read on for more details and the screenshot of the month.

More Area Work

At the beginning of this year, I am focussing on finishing off the final couple of areas that Stage One of module two requires to be ready for alpha testing. To this end, I have completed another section of an area that serves as multiple locations. That is, the area being worked on, actually serves three locations, with this section being the last (I believe) that I needed to add. I have some scripting left to do for events related to this area section, but I had managed to do the hardest parts just before I took the break.

The time-draining section for me is the tidying up of an area to make sure it looks good in-game. This potentially involves adding blocks and events that allow the area to "unfold" as the player explores it without having sections of the area showing due to existing VFX (visual effects). Unfortunately, some visual effects can show up in sections of an area that the player has not yet reached, which can spoil the immersion. Some are more easily hidden than others, but one or two have required extra work to help maintain the quality I am after.

Another Henchman

The latest module work also gave me the opportunity to introduce the possibility of another henchman. (NB: I am not talking about a companion that a player control, but an additional party member along the lines of Scraps or Sebastion in module one. Although, there will also be the possibility for a couple more companions in the second module as well.) However, this also means I have to examine the logistics of the total number of henchmen that a party may have in it. If a party is already quite large, or is a MP game, I need a fair way of handling how this new henchman is going to respond to such. However, as there are also plot implications involved with some henchmen, I am going to have to see how handling this goes in testing. Note, players can already bring the existing two henchmen from the first module along with them to the second.

Moving Forward

I am hoping that progress will continue as normal this year, although I am conscious that my health is not what it was, and I have to consider more appointments to deal with that alongside module building time. Module one has very few issues now, and any I find are usually as I am testing aspects of module two that I recognise also have an impact on the first module. Therefore, I am spending less time addressing fixes there, which is allowing me the time to focus on the second module. My wife is still testing various aspects of the campaign as a whole (both modules), but has not found anything major in the last few areas of testing. I also have another tester who is quite thorough, and has not yet had any other issues to report other than confirmation of old issues being fixed, which is encouraging.

As I allude to, I have already returned to the toolset and started to familiarise with where I was last at, and hope to be in a better position to be underway as normal next week. In the meantime, I will leave you will a screenshot from the latest area I am working on.

Episode 80: Preliminary Stage One Alpha Testing!

My wife has, at last, had the opportunity to do some first ever alpha testing on the second module, Predestinated Days. It's only some very basic testing at the moment, such as party module-to-module transfers and checking the overland map features, but it's a start. Also, I'll mention now, the next blog post will not be until February! It's nothing to do with the time of year, but simply a case that I find myself being offline in January. In the meantime, if you want to catch up with this month's progress, a couple of screenshots, and other latest campaign news, read on.

Preliminary Stage One Alpha

I don't want to get ahead of myself, nor mislead readers... so, to be clear, this is really only the very first stages of testing. It is using the latest build of the second module, but even that build has not yet been completed enough for continued Stage One testing. In other words, this was mainly about checking if the PC (and party) transferred from the first module worked, and if the Overland Map that the player first enters played as expected. As it happens, even this early preliminary testing highlighted some issues that I needed to address:

1) TRANSFERRED PCs NOT EQUIPPED: The second module can be started in one of two ways: (a) Continued play direct from the first module, or (b) Started afresh from the opening menu options. The latter method also allows the player to import various PCs from any other PCs they may have finished playing and exported from the first module. So, it's possible to create quite a mix of PCs from various end games of the first module. This meant having to ensure certain items could maintain their variables if brought in from an exported PC. (This second method of starting the game, where the player starts in a lobby, a room of the Bloated Buckle Inn, has yet to be alpha tested.)

With respect to continuing direct from the first module, the first issue I encountered and fixed was that the code being used to handle variable consistency for exported PCs (via the alternative means of starting the module) turned out to be not required when PCs moved directly from one module to another. The problem was, when this extra code was executed, the PC companions would not re-equip their weapons upon entering the overland map starting area, which meant they would be unprepared for any map encounter they may later have. Thankfully, after removing the function that handled the weapon variables, all worked as it should. The function that caused the problem remains in place for starting afresh with potential exported PCs, and I will keep an eye to see if this has any other impact with more testing.

2) ENCOUNTER AREA TRANSITIONS: Another problem discovered at this stage was that when leaving a conversation to start an encounter, the game would sometimes fail to transition to the encounter area. It turned out to be a simple timing issue where the Overland Map creature that initiates the conversation was being destroyed just slightly before the transition it handled took place. It took me a while to track down, but once discovered, I simply gave the map creature an extra 0.5 sec lifespan and the transitions worked as they should.

3) ENCOUNTER NUMBERS: I use my own encounter.2da files to determine which creatures and their numbers are encountered, subject to the terrain the PCs find themselves in. My original tables had allowed for fewer numbers than the conversations suggested (*), and so required updating to accommodate this; as well as for the more powerful parties that will start with module two. (*) If the conversation talks about a "gang" of trolls, you don't expect to meet just one in the encounter area, as it had originally stood.

4) OVERLAND MAP MOVEMENT SPEED: My wife's first test was using an over-encumbered Main PC. (I had not been expecting this.) It meant that her normal slower movement for being on an Overland Map was even slower due to the PC's encumbrance. While this was effectively a "correct" interpretation of her proportional overland movement while on the map, I personally found it a little frustrating. Therefore, I added an extra check that would help maintain a consistent map speed whether the Main PC was encountered or not, by effectively doubling the PC speed if encumbered so that it remained consistent when travelling the Overland Map. I made the assumption that party members would share the load (if companions were present), or that the Main PC just handled it more efficiently. Practicality trumped realism here. Besides, normal encumbrance movement rate is suitably restored when entering the normal areas anyway.

Moving Forward

I'll see how the next couple of months of building goes, but my aim is to finish enough to allow my wife to be able to do a more thorough test of Stage One of the second module. It's not an ideal situation, as I intend to keep some of the module options unclear to her, so that when she comes to play it properly, the experience is a better one for her. This means that some parts/paths will go unchecked, but hopefully, the important parts will be tested. Other paths and options, I hope, will be tested by any volunteering beta-testers when the time comes. I am also having to prioritise some home repairs at the moment, and so depending upon how that goes will determine what I can get sorted in the next month or two.

DON'T FORGET! NEXT BLOG: FEBRUARY!

Take a look at the screenshots this month, which show the Main PC on the Overland Map, who represents the whole party. The first shows a nearby encounter with some trolls, narrowly avoided. The second screenshot (representing an hour later) shows where the trolls catch up with the party and begins the conversation pertaining to the encounter.

Campaign Update

There have been some noticeable changes and improvements to the overall campaign code, as I have been making preparations and alterations to tie in better with the needs of the second module. Things like multiple scripts that did similar things have been replaced with a single script. For example, there were around four scripts that handled various faction changes and updates that were quite confusing when to use and how (if at all) they differed. These were some of the first scripts I wrote, and they were altered over the years to try to accommodate various updates with factions that I have made. The single replacement script is much easier to understand and use, and with testing to date, appears to handle the same as every other script did, but more efficiently.

On the back of this, I hope I have also improved when auto-pause kicks in (if used) and the Enemy Counter. There have also been a myriad of other updates and fixes, which while not always obvious or even encountered by every player, will help smooth out the gameplay moving forward. For instance, I have fixed an inventory feedback when handling some items; added a missed VFX beam for a spell that gives the player a more accurate interpretation for a missed spell; and Captured Spell Books have been fixed in one or two places, where a spell was not working or a book that could not be evaluated and sold. There are a few other such minor fixes, which will all be available when I release v2.59E.

Avoiding The Gang of Trolls!

No Avoiding The Trolls Now!

Episode 79: Area By Area (Stage One)

As there was no blog last month, I felt I needed to bring readers up to date with the current progress of the second module. I had hoped this blog entry was to bring news that the first stage (chapter) of the second module was signed off by now and being alpha tested... but I'm not quite there yet. Read on to learn of latest developments.

A Significant Jump

I can report that in the last two months, I have managed to sign-off on a number of areas of development that required some intensive design work. By this, I mean area building, item building, and some conversations. However, in that time, I was unable to finish every important conversation, and until I do finish them, then this first stage of the module cannot be tested to "completion". I remind readers that this Stage One (of three in total) accounts for around 50% of the second module (in my estimation), and so will be a significant step once it moves on to the testing stage.

Area By Area

I won't divulge how many areas are to be found in this first stage (to avoid spoilers), but as a means to help me cover all final content for alpha testing, I have switched back to signing off one area at a time. That is, I am now working through all areas for the first stage and working on the finishing touches for each. This may be as simple as removing test items left in the area, to writing final conversation sections, or adding hostile encounters based upon story requirements. The main point to recognise here, however, is that all design for the first stage areas are now completed. For instance, it was only in the last few days I finished designing the final room to a dungeon that was the last area for this first stage to finish. It involved a puzzle element and some careful attention to effects and sounds, but the end result was as I had hoped.

So far, I have covered around 14% of the areas I need to finalize for this first stage. However, many of the remaining areas need nothing more than test item removal, which takes only a minute or two to do. It takes me longer to double check for any potentially unfinished conversations for an area, or an encounter placement, for example. A final check for each area is whether I feel it lacks enough "interaction potential". Possibly surprising to some, this final stage is what takes more time for me than many other aspect of building. This is the stage when I decide if there is anything else a player may have their PCs discover in the area, be it something as basic as a crafting item, unusual treasure, or just some other point of interest. Depending upon what I finally decide to do, determines whether it is a five minute job, or something that may take me days to implement.

A Design Delay Example: Missile Only!

As an example of how something can cause a delay in development:  I have a situation where I wanted an object to only be targeted by missile weapons. So, if targetted by a melee weapon, then the PC was to stop their attack and report they required a missile weapon. The problem is that NWN2 does not handle any Z (height) axis very well, and so it was allowing an attack on said object even though it was effectively "out of reach". It took some thinking, but I eventually figured out a way to allow this to work, even when the default action for the object was set as an "attack". This was further complicated by the fact that I have an "attack object" button that a player can use to have any companions/cohorts attack any currently targeted object. Therefore, I had to also update that area of code to work with the newly implemented missile only code. Thankfully, that is all done now, and another area of code sorted for the campaign. Testing to date shows it works as intended.

That Which Is Done

I have finally finished all the journal entries for the first stage. This was a reasonably large task, as some of these entries can differ subject to what the player does from the very start of the module, and if they have played the first module. Finishing these also required me to have many items built and conversations written so that I could ensure the entries made sense from what the PCs had already done. Due to the amount of flexibility of play I allow, this coordination between journal entries and conversations (especially), was a big challenge, and one that I had to restrict building to days when I could cope best (with my health) in managing them.

That Which Still Remains

I have two plot lines that still require some conversations, which are currently holding back alpha-testing. It took quite a bit of pre-planning and design (now completed) to reach the point where I can now safely write them without (I hope) causing any potential logical flow in their writing. Sometimes, I can write a conversation ahead of time, because I am reasonably sure at what stage of the game the PCs will be at. At other times, like with these two conversations, I needed to wait until all the gameplay aspect was in place to help me determine what options the conversation should offer.

There also remains some plot items that require considered placement surrounding these two conversations, as well as some of those final area checks (that I mention above) where these conversations take place. Once I have these two sections of gameplay sorted, then alpha testing will begin.

Continued Improvements

Alongside the latest building, I have been continuing to support and improve on the overall campaign code. Some of the key updates and improvements have been some tweaks to the follow routines when switching between PCs and/or AI and Puppet Mode; help avoiding PCs becoming stuck in the environment, as well as general improvements and a few minor fixes. There are currently over 40 amendments and fixes listed for the next v2.56E release, and so it will be a worthwhile download, even if not critical. Some of these updates have been due to preparation of spells and other play for the second module. This latest update will be released after my wife has finished play-testing it for a few hours.

Episode 78: Not Long Now, Maybe!

Now I don't want the title of this blog to oversell the point I want to say, but... I believe I am now quite close to passing Stage One of this second module to my wife for alpha testing. To put this into perspective, in one calculation, Stage One accounts for around 50% size of the overall module... a large chunk of its entirety. Importantly, once passed across for alpha testing, that section is considered "locked" to further development, leaving me to concentrate on the second and third stages again. These two later stages still require some work, but are themselves already both reasonably well developed. All in all, I would like to think the completion of this second module is in sight.

How Close To Overall Completion?

I don't want to make promises I cannot keep, but what I can say is both of the remaining stages already have their core quests and outlines in place. Both stages two and three do, however, require a couple of areas added from scratch to complete their adventures. Stage three also requires some further development on a new game system I have developed for that section. The core design is already in place, but it requires some more balancing and tweaking. For those that like stats, I have recently saved my 310 th backup of the module, which currently weighs in at 1GB uncompressed, which compares to 365 MB for my first module. (Module three, The Last Day, currently weighs in at 398 MB.)

Last Month Update

I can say that even the first stage, in its latest build, has required me to add a new area and another NPC to fully realise another potential plot path. Sometimes these sort of things happen, especially when I have an inkling that some players may want to try something different from what I first considered. When I have these thoughts occur, I like to include and implement a means where a player might be able to fulfil any ideas they had in mind, alongside those already available. It's potentially a niche requirement, but if I can include it without adding too much to the build time, I do.

Campaign Update

Starting from this blog entry, I will now cover any first module updates in this section entitled "Campaign Update". Moving forward, and especially after the second module is added, any fixes to the campaign affects every module that the campaign supports. In the meantime, I just want to add that there will be another update in the form of v2.56E in the coming days or weeks to add additional support or fix some minor points in the first module, The First Day, too.

So, please bear with me as I try to move this project forward. I hope the wait will be worth it. In the meantime, here is another screenshot taken from the first Stage of module two. NOTE: Screenshots from this date onwards will be from the new 3440 x 1440 (approx) format.

Access Locked, Until Conditions Met!

Episode 77: Boom or Bust!

Dungeon delving is all about taking risks in a dangerous environment to come back with great rewards! It kind of reminds me of trying to build a module using the NWN2 toolset. Personally, I find it even more fun when the dungeon I am delving into is connected to the main plot, where I am learning something new about the story I am involved with. Then again, the occasional random dungeon with just a load of loot doesn't go unwelcome either, I guess. So, let us welcome the world of dungeon delving, where a PC can either boom or bust!

The Main Plot Dungeon

After giving you an outline of what I hope to achieve in the coming months in the last blog, this month I am able to inform you that I have made some good inroads into the main dungeon for the first stage of the module. That's not to say that it's the only dungeon for this stage... definitely not. When I say "main", I mean that it is a dungeon related to the "main" quest, rather than suggesting it is the largest you may encounter. That said, like most dungeons I design, I do like them to come with a reasonable amount of depth, both figuratively and literally. Therefore, even this dungeon will require the player to be ready for anything.

As I believe I mentioned in a previous post, somewhere, this particular dungeon scenario is an adaptation of one of my original PnP (pen and paper) D&D designs. Now, while players of my campaign will have already played out this scenario in the PnP days, it was some time ago - we are talking early 1980's! Therefore, even those with the best memory for my campaign will likely welcome a refresher run through this scenario and dungeon, as it will help remind them of how this whole campaign began. Interestingly, for them, it will be the first time they can replay the scenario from a visual computer perspective too, but, and here's the twist, for them (and new players alike) from the viewpoint of a return to that dungeon!

To this end, there will be some things familiar to them, but some new things too. (For newcomers to my campaign, playing the second background choice, they will be seeing it all afresh, of course. However, they too will quickly come to learn that they walk behind the steps of "giants". No, not literal giants, I'm talking about... oh, you'll see , if you have not already guessed it.) However, I have taken this opportunity, not only to bring my original PnP work to the computer, but also to "improve" on it. This is some of my earliest work, and I can confess that some of the writing is a little naive, and the gaming a bit twee in places. I am taking this opportunity to bring some gravitas back to the scenario, and have it play like I remembered it did (in my rose-tinted spec memories), rather than how it would do if I tried playing exactly as it is currently written in its old paper note format.

Dungeon Differences

The scenario I am currently working on is just one among many of my original PnP material that I am bringing into the second module, alongside newer material. In every one, I am bringing the same editorial updates as I am to the current one I am working on, so that the story plays with a more considered approach and with stronger characters.

DESIGN: Most of the actual designs and layouts of the areas and dungeons themselves are very close to their original, except where a pencilled in note cannot be easily executed in a computer environment without some extra scripting. In such situations, I have been able to make some interesting additions to the module and exploited some NWN toolset design features, which, in turn, have ended up being more exciting gaming aspects than the original PnP design! Old players probably would not recall this subtle change, and new players will just think it exciting, I hope. Looking back, I can see that some area designs were "weak", and these have either undergone a redesign or have been removed completely, with any pertinent content moved to another location where it works better.

PARTY WIPE-OUT: I must have been a "hard-ass" DM at the time, as in the notes I am currently working my way through, I have at least two or three situations where I expect the players to respond in a few seconds what it is they intend to do to survive a tense situation. If they got it wrong, then it was time to roll a new party and try again. I must admit, I don't recall us ever having to do that, but, back then, with a DM at the helm, you could easily ad-lib hints and give clues to players that would help them in these sorts of situations when the time came. That said, I just don't like the idea of a game effectively "busting" when certain conditions are not met. Sure, in extreme situations, I can see the drama of such moments, but in a computer version of the same where a quick reload fixes the problem, party wipe-out situations no longer have a place. So, this in mind, these situations have also been revised to be challenging if doing something "stupid", but not a game-breaker.

STORY DELIVERY: I add this here now, more to highlight how this will NOT change, apart from rewriting some of the conversations to account for the "revisit" and to add better dialogue as a whole. Books and scrolls, as it happens, were not too bad, compared to some of the other story aspects, and so most of these have been reused in their original format, albeit again with an occasional tweak that made the story feel more immersive and have a greater sense of place. Basically, a tightening of writing where required, without, I hope, removing material that old players will remember, and new players will ponder for the first time. Suffice to say, the current scenario I am converting is very much at the heart of the main story, and is the one that gives the player the reason for their role in this campaign. For this reason alone, I am trying to make sure it starts and sets the scene well.

So Far, So Good!

I am really excited about the way the latest module has been coming along. It's certainly much bigger than I thought it was going to be... in a way that offers some great scope for adventure rather than be considered anything monotonous. The new scenarios and writing sits alongside the original material well, and with the newer systems coming with this second module with respect to background conversation choices, I think there is quite a diverse level of play to be had... and some interesting dungeons in which to delve!

Hopefully, it won't be much longer and I will be passing this first stage off for alpha-testing. Again, I will be sure to let you know when this happens.

On another note, module one appears quite stable at the moment. I have a couple of minor cosmetic changes that will come with v2.55E, but I am waiting for any last minute feedback from play testers before uploading the next version. As cosmetic changes only, they do not affect the actual gameplay, and so will only be done when I am happy that we are at a definitive update stage.

Finally, here is the reason why "bust" had to appear in this month's blog title:

I Was Hoping For More "Boom"!