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Another Day, Another Build
April 29, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
I packaged up the latest build and sent it off to PJJ. I'm also trying to get a comments system together for this site in order to help with the beta testing. It's fairly informal, but hopefully it'll do the trick.
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Sweet Vengeance
April 29, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 My adventures in Demon continue. Like before, it's been quite instructive to go back and play through my old modules. There are a lot of lessons learned buried in there.
First off, I ran into some bugs, a few that were serious. Sam became invulnerable after a cutscene, but fortunately returned to normal the next session. He also got stuck in the walkmesh of his spirit gem, but I was able to push him to freedom with a possessed familiar. Finally, a couple cutscenes didn't work with two players, so I ended up staying out of it. All of these could probably be fixed with more testing and effort, but it does point to the challenges of debugging something that is both multiplayer and large. With Dragon Age, I'm hoping that smaller, single-player games are easier to polish.
The other big thing I noticed was the sense of despair at the beginning of the module. I was once again very weak and all my equipment was taken away. This is a very frustrating place to put players in, and should be done carefully. What's interesting, though, is once I started gaining levels and getting my equipment back, there was a huge rush of excitement. I felt far more powerful than if I had simply remained a high level throughout.
Finally, the card game continues to be one of my bigger successes. Sam spent big chunks of our time playing the card game and earning jink. When I was broke and wanting every piece of gold, I got horribly excited when I'd win against the little girl.
We've started in on the main plot in Demon and will likely wrap things up in a week or so. It makes me a little sad to come to the end of an era.
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Home Stretch
April 28, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
 I woke up early and looked at the crash bug that PJJ was reporting. It was weird and frustrating and I kept trying different things to no avail. At the end of a key dialog, the game would crash.
I finally went back and rebaked a couple of the key areas and miraculously it started working again. It seems that the game didn't like me moving an NPC to a place they couldn't be. Anyway, it seems to be working again and I ran through the scene twice just to make sure.
There were some other bug fixes and improvements along the way. The areas now have music and I added some voice over to a dialog I had previously missed.
Not much further, almost there.
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Flight Delays
April 27, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
I should just expect problems at this point. PJJ ran across a show-stopper over the weekend, so I'll be back to testing the grand finale tonight. I swear that it was working great at one point, but perhaps it was just my imagination.
On the plus side, Chris popped in with an offer to record any missing voices. Of course I wrote a few more dialogs after he did his recordings, but I felt a little guilty about asking for yet more after all his hard work. Fortunately he asked, so I cheerfully sent him several dozen more lines.
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Demon
April 26, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 My son and I continued our co-op adventures in the last of my NWN1 modules. We hit a couple significant bugs, both due to cutscenes, but managed to work around them. Multiplayer testing was always a challenge for me, and was one reason I ended up with Dark Waters being single player. Sam and I have been having so much fun, though, that it makes me wish Dragon Age were multiplayer. Though few people play co-op games, they completely change the style and enjoyment of a game.
It's also fun seeing the game through someone else's eyes, as Sam was about four years old when I made the module. The first time he saw the main city with the Sigil tileset, he oohed and aahed and just wanted to look around.
We haven't gotten far with the main quest, but we've been enjoying ourself with Gate Diving and the card game. Demon Cards sucked up nearly all our play time today and he's done really well while I kept getting defeated by the little girl.
Since the plan is to have a card game in my Dragon Age module, it's a good sign that it's still so fun to play.
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The End of a Voyage
April 24, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
 It seems like we're approaching the end of the Dark Waters project. I'm hopeful this weekend is the last of the alpha tests. The most important of Drake's dialogs are voiced now and in the game. With luck, PJJ will give me the green light to start the beta testing.
It seems that nearly all my computer hobby time has been focused on Dark Waters for several years now, one of my bigger gaming projects ever. I've had the opportunity to get many people's help along the way, which I'm very grateful for. Still, endings are often new beginnings. I'm still planning on working on Dragon Age next and trying to get everything ready to go.
It is nice to have a little more time to do other gaming things for a change. I'm actually getting some time to play through the Witcher, which is something I wanted to do for a long while.
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Tea and Crumpets
April 23, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
I chopped up and attached the sound clips Derek made for Drake.
I love hearing my writing come to life, with just the right mix of insanity and villainy.
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The Villain Has a Voice
April 22, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
A quick update today. Derek sent along Drake's lines for me to work into the game. As usual, they sound wonderful and I'm excited to get them in. They'll take a bit of work to edit as appropriate, but I think it will be time well spent.
If all goes well, I can get these clips into the module by the weekend and have PJJ give them a whirl along with a (hopefully) final test before the beta.
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You Can't Get To Somewhere That Isn't There
April 19, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
Well, I figured out the problem with the latest version of Dark Waters. PJJ was reporting that it was impossible to get to Vault Island, though it worked great for me. After a bit of pondering, I realized that the installer was made before I made the final module and it simply wasn't included.
I just uploaded the new version that actually has the ending. With luck, a public beta is right around the corner.
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Death From Above
April 14, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 Sam and I continued on our march across Faerûn to save the world. The conclusion of Dreamcatcher 3 was just as much fun as I remembered, though Sam's health actually got down a little low towards the end. Still, there were few really hard fights after I recovered my spells. Few foes can survive six fireballs in a row.
Now we're about to lead the troops across Evermeet. I remember having lots of challenges with getting the soldiers to work properly, but I liked the overall concept.
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Back From the Dead
April 14, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
 It turns out my ISP made some changes over the weekend, causing this site to be down for three days. I was clueless about most of it, as my site works great from my house, even though the rest of the world couldn't see it. Ah well, it's back up and running again.
PJJ passed along a new set of bug notes, which were most promising. I think every obstacle to getting to the final island has been lifted and the game might actually be playable. I'm under no illusion that it's ready for general release, but the magical beta release may be fairly soon. It's been a long road.
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Weighted Companion Cube
April 14, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 Sam and I made it to Dreamcatcher 3, which is probably my personal favorite of all my modules. For some reason, there's something immensely fun about being knocked way back in power, barely alive. Running around eating mushrooms and hunting frogs for a few hit points is quite the contrast from the usual flashy spells.
Sam had a great time with the one trap/puzzle where you can push a crate in front of you, setting off spike traps. Of course, he decided to keep it with him at all times, pushing it onward through the dungeon.
We burst into laughter as the indestructible crate was repeatedly crushed by the wall trap. Later on, it got stuck in a saw trap and we risked life and limb to get it safely out.
Little did I know that the crate would be one of my more memorable NPCs.
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More Spelling
April 11, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
 PJJ reported better results with his quick tests from yesterday. I verified that one bug fix worked, and strangely couldn't replicate another bug.
I'm strangely enamored with the letter combat mini-game. I was especially proud that I won the final battle with the word "pants".
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Into the Dreaming
April 10, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 We've moved on to the second module and had a great time wandering around the void and under the sea. Part of what makes Dreamcatcher special is the large amount of custom content. Around every corner is something unique that catches the eye. Even though the length of the modules are short, every section holds some surprise.
I'm trying to keep that in mind when working on my new projects. Quality over quantity is what counts the most.
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Dreamcatcher
April 09, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 My son and I started in on Dreamcatcher, finishing up the first module. It's been really fun to go back and play through my old modules, in part because Sam's reactions are so enthusiastic.
From a design standpoint, there are a number of things that work well, from the custom content, occasional humor, and unique situations. Though the modules are short, each area is packed with all sorts of treats to discover. Hopefully I can replicate that magic in my future projects.
In any case, we're now in the second module. It's highly entertaining to walk around, leaving flaming footprints as we go.
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Like An Ultra-Violent Spelling Bee
April 07, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
 PJJ pointed out that a couple doors didn't work with the Alphabet Assault mini-game, an embarrassing newbie sort of mistake. That was quickly fixed, as well as adding "rest altars" where players could heal up before heading into the next big battle. Some of the fights in this area are immensely difficult, mostly to encourage players to use the word-spelling attack system.
In terms of the system itself, I personally enjoy reading a particularly verbose assault adjective and then bursting through the door like a crazed librarian. It's mostly optional, like many of the mini-games, and people can simply use brute force to make their way to their goal.
I've sent along the latest beta to PJJ, and hopefully this is the magic version with no show-stopping bugs. I mostly worry that he hasn't gotten to the final area yet, as that's bound to have an issue or two (if I'm lucky).
I'm still struggling to find a good place to post files, as 4shared ended up being painfully slow to download. I may end up posting open betas on the Vault, which is a fairly public way to show off my embarrassing mistakes. We'll see how it goes.
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Another Test, Another Show-Stopping Bug
April 06, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
PJJ dutifully tested again last weekend, unfortunately reporting another show-stopping bug. The good news is that it should be pretty easy to fix, so I'll get cracking on that right away.
I'm also working on finding a better place to host files, as the current one took days. Fortunately I have a new batch that I want to try out.
Slowly getting there.
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Saving the World . . . As Usual
April 06, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 Sam and I finished up the Shadowlords campaign last night. Co-op is a very different experience than the typical single player style. At times, Sam was wanting to rush through while I went at a more leisurely pace. There was also the fun of dividing up loot, though fortunately our classes were different enough.
The adventure itself went well, with only a couple really tough fights. I keep hoping that Dreamcatcher handles the combat balance issues better. I'm also excited to show off some of the custom content from that module.
All-in-all, the campaign was a success. There's nothing like a little father-son bonding while slaying hordes of monsters.
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Onward, to Evil!
April 03, 2009 by Adam in NWN1
 My son and I continue in our quest to rid the world of evil, one dank cave at a time.
Yesterday we worked through Skull Gorge, where I learned that players will fiddle with everything, even when a sign clearly states that bad things will happen when you do so. Sometimes the bizarre and unexpected are more fun than following the main storyline.
The toughest fights were again the auto-balanced ones. A pack of beetles nearly wiped us out. There was another fight that was so hard that we resorted to invisibility to sneak in and grab the treasure. It's strange how getting combat experience modifies behavior, as I felt cheated by not being able to kill everything I possibly could.
Finally my mage got to fifth level and I excitedly started blasting everything with fireballs. Tonight we head into the Battle of the Bones, hanging out with undead and goblin bone miners. Should be fun.
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That's The Second Biggest Brain I've Ever Seen
April 01, 2009 by Adam in NWN2
 I dutifully went through the Isle of Flesh quest and to my happy surprise, everything seemed to work. I'm hoping that's a sign that I've come a few steps closer to an open beta, but my hopes have been dashed so many times in the past that I no longer expect anything.
I'd like to think I've reached a Zen-like state of bug fixing where the goal is not to actually release a working module, but to gracefully fix one bug after the other. But I'd probably be lying.
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About Me
I've won multiple awards for my Neverwinter Nights modules, which I've been working on since the year 2000.
In the real world, I'm a web developer for a healthcare organization. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
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