Neverwinter Nights Forum News

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(Originally posted by Veldrin)

Here are today's Neverwinter Nights forum highlights. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.

Georg Zoeller, Lead Designer

Toolset: See, the Toolset you have is the same Toolset we are using to create our game and the expansions, and there have been several occasions where features that would have been very cool for us to have could not be included because they would make the toolset more powerful, more dangerous to use for the end user, and more complicated (because those features would allow you to break something if used in the wrong way - and creating the appropriate checks to prevent the end user from using a certain feature in the wrong way would cost time and manpower we could not spare). This kind of trade-off hurts us, because those "complex" features help to create cool single player experience. In a way I (as former member of the community not involved in the creation of the NWN OC) blame this for the not too exciting parts of the Official NWN campaign.

You need to understand that the Toolset feature in NWN was only possible because the Toolset was also be used internally, thus time put into the Toolset was not "wasted". Compared to the overall sales number of NWN copies, the number of people that would use a toolset, regardless how easy it is to use, would be too small to justify putting the man-years into the toolset development that are required to make it as accessible as it is right now. NWScript shares lots of things with C, and there is a reason for it - its a "programming/scripting" language. There is not much you can make to make it more accessible. Even if it had a syntax like Visual Basic, people who got problems with C would not understand it any better - because its a programming language. In a way, setting up plots and quests IS like programming. Developing them in your mind is one thing - putting them into a computer game another. Its *much* like programming because these things share common structures.

There can be things like the Plot Wizard and Lilac's scripting tools that make scripting easier and more accessible, but they are never as flexible as You can be and want to be if you *understand* how to use NWScript as opposed to just using. There is one point I am agreeing with you: Basic tasks are too hard to do for the non programmer in NWN. But I don't think that's because you have to script them - its because there is no really good sorted scripting repository on the web, and in the Toolset. There are so many scripts/ideas that have already been coded and that could, if they would be easy to find, help a lot of people with their mods. I know NWVault has a large library of scripts, as have many other sites and the NWN Data files - but they are a pain to navigate and even if you find the scripts, they are often documented in a way that you need scripting knowledge to use them.

Children: See, that children thing is not a big deal when it comes to Hordes - after all there are not many children running around in the Underdark, right. I don't think we ever had children in this Campaign, so the question whether to remove them or not is not interesting.

Dragon Shape: I don't see a problem with Wis 30 (or whatever the feat requires). Its a very high level feat and very very powerful. Plus you can always buy the Great Wisdom Feat multiple times to get it earlier.

Dragon Form: Dragon Form is a high end ability, the form is very powerful. We could give you a dragon form early on without having it cost feats, but it would be something far weaker and less useful - its a tradeoff. Also I think you can get Dragon Form a bit earlier than 30 because of the Great Ability Feats...

Epic Feats: Items do not raise your prerequistes when it comes to calculate if you are allowed to take a feat when you level up. The Great (Ability) Feats do raise your natural ability scores and allow you to qualify for prerequisites, but you can not put them on items.

plus, if you somehow get feats you can not get by the rules, your character would be rendered invalid through ELC.

No scrolls could not grant feats.

No there are other feats you can pick meanwhile. Dragon Shape is high end and it is powerful enough to justify it. If you really want it as early as possible, you have to pay feats, buts that is ok. It all boils down to choise and its part of D&D that you have to make choises about your character's career ... you just can't have it all. If you multiclass you sacrifice raw power for flexibility - getting later access to certain powers is part of the price to pay for that flexibility.

If Dragon Form would be more accessible - it would be weaker - you can't get it earlier and have the same power as it has now. Plus, if we would make Dragon From more accessible, we would have to move another feat (i.e. Undead Form) higher up the line - what would be the difference? Dragons are the "signature" monsters of D&D and being able to transform yourself into a Great Old Wyrm seems a good conclusion to your shapeshifting abilities in higher levels.