Neverwinter Nights Forum Update

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(Originally posted by Tiamat)

Trent Oster, Producer:

CD Number: We're not sure. At the moment it is looking to be two or three CD's. We are still in development, so we haven't begun planning the resource layout on CD's.

Don Moar, Lead Programmer, Tools:

Activating teleportation: You could write a conversation where upon selecting the correct response, a script would run and the player's character would be moved to the new location.
Without going into too much detail, anything that can have a script uses some CPU time. If items could have scripts, that's a lot of time when you consider the number of items in the game.
What this means is that these teleportation tricks require something other than two items to work. You can use an item as the anchor (just like you could use any other game object that has a script tag). The player then has to activate the script through some action such as crossing a trigger, talking with an NPC, using a lever, etc.
There is one other way. Modules have an OnAcquireItem event that could be used in this fashion. When a PC picks up an item and places it in his or her inventory, the OnAcquireItem event occurs which could call a script that moves the PC to a new location.

...And Teleport Cubes: Hey, the problem with a project this big is that if you miss one meeting, you're out of the loop! ;^) Yes, there is a module event called OnActivateItem. There is also a special item property that can trigger this event when the player uses the item. Therefore, it is possible achieve the 'teleportation' effect through an item on player demand. My apologies about any confusion my previous statements may have caused.

RPG Terminology: Item: sword, ring, boots, amulet, etc. Basically, anything that can be equipped or put in your inventory. You can assign effects to items (+1 to AC, cast magic missile once per day, etc.) but you cannot attach a script to an item.
Place-able object: crate, chest, lever, sign, etc. Basically, anything that isn't a creature or item that the player characters can interact with. You can attach scripts to place-able objects.

Nathan Frederick, Quality Assurance

Camera Angles: We are currently looking at different view systems, which use differing zoom ranges, pitch ranges, and methods of camera rotation (chase cameras vs manually rotating cameras).
Different modes have different limits on their respective pitch and zoom ranges, which result in being able to see the same distance (roughly, some views may get a wee bit more/less).
I find I tend to switch my camera views depending on what sort of map I am exploring. A more "BG-ish" view works nicely on more open areas, while an "over-the-shoulder" style makes dungeons seem much more immersive.

David Gaider, Designer:

"Constructive Criticism": While the complaining can seem a bit venemous at times, keep in mind that criticism can be valuable... so long as it's constructive. We do come here and read these posts... and if there's something that you want to see in the game or don't want to see, this is really the only place for you to let us know.
We may not be able to accomodate everyone, but the idea is that we're making the game for you. It's not quite made-to-order, but we value your input and are open to having our minds changed.
This is a very passionate and personal topic for many people...including us. Heck, for us it's not only a game...it also happens to be our livelihood and something we're pouring a bunch of our lives into. We take it very personally and understand if people go a bit over the top at times... we can read between the lines.
I'll tell you what, though... views that are expressed rationally, calmly and convincingly will always be listened to more carefully that ranting hysteria. Like the old saying goes: you catch more flies with honey than sandpaper.

Complicated Scripting: (Quote: 1. When a character of race X enters the module a script is put on him +2 to ability scores Y and Z, and -2 to Save A?
2. Transport the characters to different areas as the campaign begins? For instance, Elves are transported to a forest, Dwarves to the mines, etc.
3. Cause a character of a certain race/alignment/class to take XdX damage every (insert time period here) when they are wielding a certain weapon? For instance, making it so if most characters wielded a certain two-handed sword, they were all right, but if a Half-Orc wielded it, they took 2d4 damage/day?
4. Give an item bonuses if a character of a certain race/alignment/class were to use it?
Like if the sword above was used by a Half-Orc, it acts as a Sword +3, whereas if anyone else used it it acted as if it were a common sword?)

That all sounds fairly feasible. Some of it I'm not sure how I would go about scripting... but I've seen the scripting commands that I would probably start with and go from there. My specialty is in scripting dialogue... but I bet Preston or Brent could give you a more specific answer.

Cantrips: I know there is an array of cantrips that are in the game... personally, I don't know the list, so I can't answer your question as to whether or not a gnome has these spells implemented. Dancing Lights is a possibility, but I doubt that there are many in-game applications possible for Ghost Sound or Prestidigation.

Conversations With Animals: Speaking with animals depends on its application in any module. Animals can speak as much or as little as you wish. We don't have any animals that speak specifically to gnomes (which answers that question for you, insofar as the official campaign goes), but that doesn't stop someone from putting a burrowing animal in their campaign and allowing them to speak to gnomes.
We do have animals that speak empathically only to Rangers and Druids. The post that mentions one player speaking to a dog and getting 'Woof!' and someone else getting a conversation does, actually, occur. In fact, in a couple of instances, Rangers and Druids can get some excellent information...that stray dog in the city knows things that the humans don't, after all.

Elevated Tilesets (Cliffs & Castles): You can have up to four 'elevation levels' by using the 'raise/lower' terrain function. They can either be used to create impassable areas or, if you add 'ramps', provide different levels within the same map.
On each tileset, these elevated tiles look a little differently. In the city tileset, there's very little natural ground...everything's cobble, and the raised tiles look like walls/stone faces and can pass for several things. In the rural tileset, raised tiles look like cliff faces. So while you can't have a cliff inside of a city, you could have one inside of a town (the rural tileset has a lot of buildings...but it's definitely less urban)... or you could simply use the raised tile available (which looks pretty good).

City landscape surrounded by forest...? Not if you're using the city tileset...there's no 'forest' tile used for bordering. That does exist in the rural tileset, though. One easy way around this, though, would be to border the city with either the generic 'building' tiles or walls (either of which can't be seen past) and, upon exiting via transition, the player is immediately in a forest.
The thing to keep in mind is that, because of the number of tiles in a tileset, you can't have one huge landscape with every terrain type possible. If you have a common terrain, then a large area is certainly possible...otherwise try to break it up into seperate areas with transitions and you should have the same effect.

Fortified Buildings (yes, with cliffs...): Aside from the fact that there's no natural cliff in the city tileset, yes... in the city tileset you can place the generic buildings right next to the walls and elevated tiles. For pre-made buildings (the features), it depends on the buildings position within the 'area' it is created in.

You can only use one tileset at a time - they cannot be mixed? Correct. It might be possible to take elements you want from the rural tileset and replace tiles from the city tileset to make a mix of the two so you had your own unique city tileset...but I'm not sure yet how complex an operation that would be. More than likely you will find a look that you like with the tiles available once you see the selection.

Entrances in a cliff-side: Yes, you can do this. Cave/mine entrances may be placed on the side of the elevation tiles (or cliff-faces, in the case of the rural tileset). You may then place doors and such placeable objects such as merchant shingles, signs and other stuff.

Multi-Tiered entrances in the same cliff-side: It would look something like a rock terrace, but yes...you could do this. The ramps connect each elevation level of the rock...they don't go up to doors, say, in the middle of the rock-face, if that's what you are asking. I call them 'ramps' only because that is what they are named in the tileset. It looks like a natural path that allows you to walk up to the next level. No stairs, tho.

Trees and fountains in a canyon? Yes, again in the rural tileset you'll be able to put all these in a town.

Are stairs and ramps in the game adjustable in length and height? No. They are a placeable tile that only connects one level with the one above it.

Noel Borstad, Programmer

Timed Events: Timed events should be pretty easy to set up through the use of the DelayCommand command. If you want everybody in the city to dance a jig at exactly 6:00 every Friday (I'm not sure if that emote is in the game...) then you simply write that into a User Defined Event. You then check to see how much time is left before you want it to run, and you delay signalling the event for that amount. To make it happen every week you simply signal it to run in 168 game hours.

STACKED Time Events: Stacked events get saved out with game so you won't lose 'em if you save regularly. They are also timed by a game clock, not the computer's world clock so quitting/whatever won't mess them up. Besides, how could it ever crash? All my code is 100% stable and bug-free! (I just hope nobody from QA is reading this thread!)

Storing time in objects: Time is represented as integers... these can be stored as LocalInts upon any object which lets you do all sorts of fun stuff! For a lark I made a bridge that would collapse if you walked across it too quickly- it tracked the speed of a creature trying to cross it by checking their position and the current time against a stored position and time to determine the average speed. If the creature was moving too fast they would have to do a reflex save or fall to their death (ie. teleport the creature to a river in another area, and create a 'scorch mark' placeable on the bridge at that location that happened to look like a gaping hole).

Bob McCabe, Writing & Design:

Combat Reflexes: Combat Reflexes simply raises the maximum number of attacks of opportunity you can take advantage of. Opponents still have to put themselves into those situations, however. So while the normal player is entitled to one attack of opportunity within a round, Combat Reflexes allows you to add your dexterity bonus to that one.

Hair Styles: There are plenty of options there, too. i believe one is bald with a pony-tail off of the top of the head, so you should be fine
So far as I know, NWN 1.0 won't have bearded (or breaded) women, or dreadlocks (i'll fight for this one to get in eventually, though!) ... right now, there's a bunch of different hair styles, and hats Like, there's the hooded look, the little cleaning-maid bandana look, the funky tiara look, and so forth...

Shades of White: Heh. Well, there's white like Leslie Nielson or Ric Flair white, and then there's off-shades of it, and even shades of muted green that's more like a white-ish color. As for length of hair, guys can have long hair, too

When NWN Takes Place: ... not even a twinkle in some Drow eye yet. Neverwinter takes place after BG2: Throne of Bhaal. Icewind Dale, by BIS on the other hand, was long before BG (if I am remembering correctly).

NWN for Pacifists: Getting through the solo-game without killing someone will be about as possible as going through BG2 without killing someone. Missions where you have to kill someone may be gotten around by bartering for an item, such as in BG2 and the svirfneblin's helmet as proof that he had been "murdered". Some encounters may be avoided by simply running, or knocking opponents out. However, there are going to be choke points where you can't go on without the villain being dead. Hopefully, we struck a good balance Personally, I think there's a little less death (i.e. more freedom to think your way around an ecounter) here than BG2 or Throne of Bhall, so it's definitely an improvement

Changing the official game: You can go into the toolset and change anything, right? So we make the end boss have an item that cannot be pick-pocketed - forcing you to slay the beast. Nonsense, you say! Click that flag off, and go back to playing. Sneak up, steal the item, and sneak away.

A NWN Character: I'm playing right now... I got my barbarian up to level 5. she's dumb, but charismatic. and she's got a big axe. most of the time, she runs along - happily cleaving her foes in two... sometimes her foes aren't so easily understood. sometimes they're doors that won't open no matter how mnay time she pulls on the handle. sometimes, the chests with glittery stuff inside won't come out. then she realizes that all foes are defeated with axe swing, just as all obstacles are. she splits the door in two, then splits the chest in two. then she's happy. there's not much she can't split in half
I think she's human, actually, which is odd for me since I always make elves and halflings. hmm... but she does have a nice dark green shade of hair Anyway, before anyone asks, she's female and stupid so I can test the dialogue writing skills at play - make sure that people don't talk to her as if she's a male, and make sure that everyone treats her like a dunce, but a cute one. So far, so good

Altering Prices: Alter cost by supplying materials... do you mean to say, for example, can you get a suit of armor cheaper if you supply the smith with the metal or labor? Um... nothing like that in the campaign, but like usual, scripting makes this easy. Basically, you would have the smith have a dialogue option to pick up on the PCs inventory. So, if you had metal, he could say, "Well, it looks like you have something of interest to me, there. I'll tell you what: let me have that metal, and I'll give you a deal on future purchases for a while." If the player accepts, then the smith simply sets a local on the PC to allow the PC to access a different, cheaper inventory. You might even be able to toggle the prices for the current store. I'm not sure.
Same with labor... "You want to help me out for a few days?" Say sure, and then you get a text pop-up of "a few days later" or somesuch. I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to go about it, as well.

Destroying XP: Looking through the script editor, there is a command called "SetXP" that sets the XP value that a creature has. There is also a command that allows you to reward XP. However, I cannot seem to find a script command that allows you to destroy XP. Now, you could write a script that checks the XP a PC has, and then set it accordingly (I'm guessing), but it seems like that would be a potentially large script filled with case statements. However, since a DM could do all of these things easily enough, the DM can just look at the PCs XP total, and then set it to a new value accordingly. Just a tidbit, the stuff I do with the script editor doesn't generally involve stuff like this, so I could be totally missing the ball here.

Thoughts on Scripting: Scripting attacks that can be dodged (I'm refusing to use -able ended adjectives, like placeable!) is something that I am not the best one to ask. As Dave said, I script dialogue for the most part. However, I can envision writing a script that works like a ranged attack. It would simply be fired at a location, and then do a check on everyone in the radius you define to see if any could be hit. As soon as the first person is hit, the "spell" would end. HOWEVER, I'm not sure how you would be able to implement this. Weapons and spells have their own controls, and I don't know that you can override it. I'm thinking that you might have to deal with this being a D&D game and live by their rules - but some people out there are pretty enterprising (look at Team BG), so you can never say never.

As for climbing and swimming, yes, we could have created tilesets that allowed for a user-created climbing script, but really - isn't that kind of silly? It's like 1/4 of the way implementing something, and we're generally an all-or-nothing kind of company. Besides, the DM is only creating a trigger. The trigger has nothing to do with the tile. You can put a trigger in the middle of the plains that says "do you wish to climb up?" You might not think that makes sense, but what about the DM who hid an invisible rope into the invisible castle?

We're trying to give the DM total power. If you want to make a work-around that says this spot is climbable and this one is swimmable, and these spots aren't then who are we to say you're wrong? As to jumping, I'm not sure of the reason. Maybe someone else will "jump in" and explain it for you, or maybe someone around the office will fill me in.

Updates and PR: Generally speaking, it's the publisher that does most of the PR work. And while we try and do as much as we can on our part (more PR is always good, right?), much of our organization goes through the publisher. Since things were JUST announced, I feel it is unfair to expect a sudden eruption of information.

Either way, we hear where you're coming from, and as always, we'll do our best to improve upon what we're doing now. While the great majority of the company isn't posting away daily, a few of us do make frequent visits to the board, and we do our best to answer questions as we can. And when we spot posts with requests, we do our best to filter that information about the company.

Our presence on the boards in a posting facility likely does not suggest at how important these message boards are for us. But back to the point, once things get settled in with the new publisher, and once Neverwinter is closer to being released, you're going to start seeing the results of BioWare putting together an awesome team dedicated to the community.

For now, all I can say is that we all need to be patient a while longer... I know it sounds repetitive, but Neverwinter is infinitely big, and we want to make sure we do it right

Though it is unfair for us to expect that everyone is keeping track of everything that has been said, a lot of the reason that we don't respond to threads is because we've responded at great length many times in the past.

Excellent news gathering sites like the Neverwinter Vault, the Nexus Knowledge Base and Planet Neverwinter (to name but three examples from many) are filled up with quotes that were 100 % made by BioWare employees and moderators. Sure, the information is older, but a lot of the time, much of that information hasn't changed.

Let me elaborate on that last point.

When NWN was in its early stages, there were many arguments and discussions on the interplay-hosted message boards. It's a shame the archives aren't more readily stashed away on the 'net, because there were some violent discussions to be sure! That was where a lot of our design documents were crafted. The fact that this rapport isn't happening as much now with major systems is due to the fact that a lot of those major systems are now finished, and in the stages of being tested.

If we were to go back and change these major systems, the game would be even further away from release. In other words, eventually you get to the point where you say: we can't afford to tweak anymore; it's where we've always wanted it to be, we're happy with it, and the fans have given us their feelings on it. Now, let's move on and get the game out.

If, at that point (when the game is shipped), there are numerous complaints about the way something has been implemented, then we go back in and revise those systems. That's what a patch should be all about, right? Again, I think we've done a good job at divulging as much as we can. Just read through any of Dave or Jay's recent posts and you'll see so much detailed information in there that it's crazy! And this is all occurring while we're trying to get the PR train a-moving again. (to be honest, at many points we've worried that the PR was too much!)

So I am thankful that you are taking the time to voice your concerns and criticisms about us. We can only learn from it. I suppose there isn't much more to say on it than that.