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Emma's sleeping next to me, being very nice a...
May 31, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Emma's sleeping next to me, being very nice and letting me work. I just finished uploading the latest patch to Dreamcatcher 4, which should hopefully fix most of the problems people are experiencing. The delay in uploading on the Vault is hard at times, as most of the bugs were from the original version. The last patch I put up a couple days ago still hadn't made it there yet.
I did more work on the interiors yesterday. I gave up on the shadows for the arches. They looked neat, but I could never get them to work right. I think I'd have to add some geometry to cast the right shadows and I decided it was better to move on. My next project is a small circular room. It looks good, except for the missing door part. I'll get around to adding that shortly.
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Amazingly, I got some work done today
May 30, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Amazingly, I got some work done today. I think it's because Emma was surprisingly easy to take care of. Mostly she slept in her front carrier, warming me up like a hot water bottle.
I expanded on my initial test yesterday, creating models and adding scripting. You can now apply a variety of "skins" to your keep, changing the main room to look like anything from a forest to a stone fortress. The music and background sounds make a big difference in the illusion that you're changing out tiles. There are some drawbacks, however. They all share a common walkmesh, so you can't walk everywhere you'd think you could. The corners are especially problematic as there's so much variation. Still, it looks good enough for my purposes.
The other aspect of the keep is a series of task-specific rooms, such as a workshop or library. Because of that, I've decided to add on to the Interior tileset that Danmar and Velmar are working on. I massaged some of the unused tiles in the existing game, hopefully creating some small house interiors that could be used in other projects as well as mine.
Finally, I posted my first Dreamcatcher 4 patch. Expect more as I get time. I've been trying to balance bug fixing and messing around so that I don't burn myself out. Fixing bugs isn't exactly my favorite task.
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I feel like the Red Queen from Alice in Wonde...
May 29, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I feel like the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland - running as fast as she can just to stay in one place. I spent over an hour answering e-mails this morning. Many thanks for all your congratulations. I've been hiding from the main module forum, as I'm afraid how many responses may be there already. I have also been getting bug reports, though I've mostly just cataloged them for later.
I had about a half hour today when I wanted to do something soothing, so I ended up working instead on things for my next module. I have a wacky idea that should let you dynamically change the appearance of your "keep". So far, it looks pretty good, and I just need to create more options. You can now have it look like a crypt, though I want to add other options such as stars, stone walls, and possibly more wacky things like a forest.
Emma and my wife are back home and doing wonderfully. She seems a great baby so far, quite easily pleased. She's also quite an avid eater and will make pig noises on random occasions.
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Emma was born just over an hour ago
May 27, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Emma was born just over an hour ago. Both mom and daughter are doing just great. It was an amazingly short labor and we're all feeling surprisingly energetic. Due to the modern miracle of painkillers, the tail end was almost pleasant for my wife.
Emma is quite squirmy and strong, weighing in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce. We're all immensely happy.
So, hope everyone is enjoying the module (which should be posted today or tomorrow). Don't expect any responses back from me for awhile.
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We're going into the hospital in a few minute...
May 27, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
We're going into the hospital in a few minutes to get this daughter thing started. Also, the module should appear on the Vault today. All my babies being born at the same time.
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I got a huge amount of feedback yesterday and...
May 26, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I got a huge amount of feedback yesterday and this morning. It's been great having such a dedicated team of testers. All their detailed reports should make it a much better game for all.
I ran through the module one more time this morning, finding a couple minor bugs along the way. I tweaked a few combats as well, hopefully making them a bit more challenging. I'm feeling it's basically ready to go. I uploaded the movie and the hak pack to the vault this morning. With luck, they'll show up on the main Vault page shortly. I'm going to wait until this evening for any final bug reports, then post the main module as well.
My next project has been on hold a bit during this testing process, but I have been doing more thinking about it. I think I have a mechanism that allows the player's keep to be dynamic and change appearance to suit their demenor. It involves very large placeables and tiles with only a walkmesh. I'll hopefully get a chance to fiddle with it during the post-baby time a bit.
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I got an amazing amount of feedback from the ...
May 25, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I got an amazing amount of feedback from the testers yesterday, filling up a lengthy page of notes. They did a really good job and I'm very thankful for their help.
I think I've fixed all the typos and general weirdness at this point. I've also snuck in some special items for monks, as I'm afraid I neglected the class earlier on. The plan is to wait another day, check e-mail again tonight, then post it on the vault tomorrow. With luck, I really will have finished before my daughter is born, something I doubted I could pull off.
I didn't have much chance to work on my next project, so no fancy pictures for the day. Hopefully getting your hands on the module itself in a few days will make up for it.
I played a little bit of Twilight yesterday. Unfortunately, it opened with my least-favorite type of gameplay. I had to find keys to open doors while fighting monsters, all with a time limit. Based on the reviews, I suspect there's an excellent game if I just get through the initial boring part. It just seemed odd to lead in with that.
Sam and I have been playing a little Return of Mikaila, which has been quite entertaining so far. It's been fun yelling out "Stop! Stop!" when my cleric finds a trap. Only once did poor Sam get impailed upon the evil spikes. I suspect we'll finish the module over the next couple weeks, as I'm off work and my primary duty will be watching Sam. The trick these days is to combine as many tasks as possible.
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Well, virtually all of my testers got back to...
May 24, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Well, virtually all of my testers got back to me yesterday (note to self: whining is an effective communication tool). I spent the day yesterday and this morning fixing bugs and adding a few extra touches. I also checked every module board yesterday, taking about three hours to read and respond to every comment. It was pretty exhausing, but I think I have a solid bug list when I have time for another round of patches. With luck, Dreamcatcher 4 should be out very soon.
I put a little more work into my next project, creating some custom effects for the potions. Nothing fancy, but they work fairly well. I've tried to cram all of them into a screenshot, though it didn't turn out very well.
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I spent yesterday working on custom potions, ...
May 23, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I spent yesterday working on custom potions, getting them into the game. I set up a special effect for one of them this morning, which turned out nicely. I have five of the eight already done, and four of the recipies for the potions. Hopefully it'll be a fun thing to do in game.
I didn't hear a peep from the testers yesterday. I'm hoping that it's a sign that everything is going well and not that it's so incredibly bad that they've decided to shun me. I had one person do a very quick run through the game, but that's about it. I suspect it's just so long that it's taking everyone awhile to finish.
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I spent most of yesterday getting initial bug...
May 22, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I spent most of yesterday getting initial bug reports, sending out e-mails to testers, and trying to fix things as best I can. I think I have the issues I know about taken care of and passed along the latest version of the module.
The weird bug of the day happened when I was trying to fix an area. I had increased the difficulty of a certain creature, updated the instances, and later went into the area. It turns out that as soon as I hit a certain trigger, the creatures in the area (myself included) started swapping bodies. Fortunately I managed to fix it by deleting all the creatures and recreating them.
 I spent a bunch of time yesterday working on unique spells. It takes awhile to crank out each 2D image, but it's fairly fun and relaxing to do. I'll update the lengthy design document with a new spell/recipie/blueprint description, then whip up an accompanying icon for it. This morning I tested it all in game and after a few tweaks, it looks pretty good. I suppose every new module starts a little bit at a time.
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I think that most or all of the testers got t...
May 21, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I think that most or all of the testers got their files yesterday. It's a big module, so I don't expect people to have a chance to get into it for a few days. Odds are, I won't get reports until Emma's born, which could be any day now.
I've been puttering around on my next project, having fun working with 2D art and making some new inventory items. It's nice not to have this pressure to finish things up. I'm working on a fat design document still, though I'm not sure I'll be able to do it all. Imagining cool things to do is far easier than actually doing them.
The other thing on my agenda is to read every since message board on the Vault for every module I've put out there. It'll be a long read, I'm sure, as I haven't taken a look in a long while. Then it's collating every bug report I've received over the last few months. Finally, I should actually fix the things, trying to get the new module verions up some time after Dreamcatcher 4.
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Unless the baby arrives, I'm going to start s...
May 20, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
Unless the baby arrives, I'm going to start sending out the module to testers. I contacted many of them yesterday and it looks like I'll have a pretty big crew to run through them. Hopefully reports will come in fairly soon and I can start in on the bug fixing that I'm sure will ensue.
I'm feeling a sense of relief these days with the campaign coming to a completion. It's been about 10 months since the first Shadowlords module was released, and almost three years since I started planning the entire campaign. It's been quite the long road, but far more interesting than I would have expected.
 I have been scheming about my next project already. The story begun in Shadowlords and Dreamcatcher continues, though with a fairly different take on things. I made my first piece of custom content for the game as well - a coin used in the city where much of the story takes place. I also spent a bunch of time yesterday working on back story. I have about 5 pages of notes at this point, with more to follow.
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More milestones yesterday
May 19, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 More milestones yesterday. Sam (my four-year-old) and I together played through from the beginning. There were no show-stoppers and we managed to play through in about 3 hours, not really reading any dialog. I did catch a huge number of bugs, filling up the margins of my earlier bug list page. I've since fixed all I could find, though I haven't retested again. I am hoping that it's to the point where testers could start hammering away at it, so I'll probably send out e-mails to folks today.
The odd thing about all of this is that the baby is coming really soon, with a decent chance that it could be today, slowly growing more sure until it's 100% likely at the beginning of next week (we have an induction appointment). That means that testing will almost certainly be interrupted, but at least I'll get it out into people's hands. There's the smallest chance that the testers will test it and all bugs will be fixed by the time the baby comes, but I'm not holding my breath.
All-in-all, I've been pleasantly surprised that I hit my target date for the module so well. The last few weeks have been a little grueling, but the relief of finishing the module and the campaign makes it worthwhile. Soon I shall have blissful time to play with my family, care for a new daughter, and plan for my next project.
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Still more testing
May 18, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Still more testing. I finally played through the entire game in chunks, stopping each time I hit a problem moving to the next area, fixing it, and moving the start location to that point. I'll eventually need to test it going all the way through, but at least this is a start. I made a page-long list yesterday of all the problems I found, starting to write in really small letters towards the end. This morning I woke up and spent a couple hours fixing them. Now I'm down to two bugs and a desire to tweak the final combat a bit.
I'm having a hard time with balance, especially against some of the high-level mages. A few of them will either turn you into a burnt paste almost instantly, or easily go down after a few blows. It depends a lot on whether or not they get those spells off, which is a bit random, but also the way the game works. I've tried to put in items and such that make life easier, but we'll see what the testers have to say.
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I've been going through the entire game, test...
May 17, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I've been going through the entire game, testing out all the areas in preparation for a bigger test by others. I'm finding that the game is simply huge. After two hours, I barely got halfway through the game, even though I knew what to do and ignored much of the dialog. I have about a half a page of things to fix, from balance issues to show-stoppers where the player isn't moved to the next area properly.
I've fixed some of them already, jumping back and forth to take care of problems as I find them. Some were easy and mostly cosmetic. A few may take some research on my part. The hardest thing is that it's getting to the point where I'm not sure it'll be fun for others to play. I'm so immersed in getting it working that the "cool" effect has long since faded. I did chuckle at a few lines of dialog I'd forgotten, so I suppose it's not all bad.
I'm basically done with development at this point. Yesterday I fleshed out a few areas that were otherwise boring, putting in some treasure, tricks, and traps. I also spent a bunch of time testing the Summer Palace assault map, fixing a game-crashing bug that was fairly annoying.
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I'm guessing I'm in the last few days of seri...
May 16, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I'm guessing I'm in the last few days of serious development. Yesterday I wrote out an extensive readme file, complete with hints, technical issues, and so on. I learned my lesson early with those, as a good help file really cuts down on the e-mail I get. I've also been polishing areas, putting down treasure, flavor text, and fixing known bugs in certain areas.
I finally got my sahaugin scout script to work right, for example. It turns out I had a parenthesis in the wrong place (silly )me. I'm also trying to get some good camera movement for the cinematic scenes.
Hopefully this weekend I can play the whole module through, which I've never done. I'd like to play through with at least a couple of the henchmen, as well as a multiplayer test, assuming my four-year-old is up for it. With luck, I'll be able to get the modules to testers next week. Of course, that baby thing is hanging over my head, so there may be some delays here or there.
Oh - a quick note about post-Dreamcatcher plans, since people have been asking about them. I do hope to continue the story, and have already been taking notes on the next campaign. I probably won't start seriously for awhile, as I want to go back and fix a number of bugs that have popped up in the other modules. I'll also have a baby to take care of fairly soon, so that will take priority over everything. Still, in another three or four months, you may see another module out of me, hopefully quite different and interesting.
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No fancy pictures today, though much work was...
May 15, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
No fancy pictures today, though much work was done. I got the epilogue area basically finished. I kept running through testing last night, making sure things looked just right. I even added a silly little outtakes area if you can find it.
The main module is also approaching completion. The dialog has been sent off to a helpful volunteer who offered to edit it, which I am very grateful for. Yesterday I started my "polishing" pass, putting in flavor text and making sure the transition images and area sounds were all appropriate. Today I'll continue with more of the same.
I finished the intro movie as well. It's short, but looks fairly nice. If I had more time, I could probably make it even better, but time is pretty precious. Still no baby yet, though it could happen any day.
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I finally have all the dialog in place
May 14, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I finally have all the dialog in place. Every henchmen has their situation-specific dialog as well as their general dialog. I haven't proofread it yet, but at least it's there. Nice to scratch that one off my list.
I worked a bit more on the epilogue area. I'm try to flesh it out enough so that it's a fun little place for the players to hang out after the main adventure. I have some elven dancers doing their thing in this screenshot. There's still one more super-secret thing I need to do for the area, but it shouldn't be too hard.
I also put together the bulk of the movie, expanding it to a three-second clip. I'm going to try today to put some fade ins and outs, as well as some titles. Slowly getting there.
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I worked endlessly on dialog yesterday, reali...
May 13, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I worked endlessly on dialog yesterday, realizing just how much there was going to be in this game. I'm still not done, though I'm slowly getting closer. I've got three more conversations to write, then the entire epilogue area. That'll be fun.
I started in on a movie this morning, just a quick 2-second clip that I'll combine with some titles for the module introduction.
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I got an amazing amount of things done yester...
May 12, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I got an amazing amount of things done yesterday, from new custom content to dialog and scripting. I started testing out different henchmen, going through the first part of the module. I'm starting to realize that I have quite a bit to do yet, but I can feel it starting to reach completion. I even worked on the epilogue area, making some custom tiles and placeables to try and get the idylic look down.
Hopefully today I can work even more on dialog, which I found to be a bit lacking yesterday. The henchmen dialog is especially lengthy, with lots of general and situation-specific dialog to go. Fortunately I have someone volunteering their time as an editor, as all the spelling and grammar checking would drive me mad.
Finally, still no baby. Could be any time.
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I finally made it - the final battle
May 11, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I finally made it - the final battle. I realize that final battles are cliché, but there's a certain expectation for them. Somehow I don't think you and your foe will settle it all over a nice cup of tea. The trick is to make the final battle interesting and varied, which can be difficult. Plus I'm trying to come up with ways for a clever person to make a battle easier.
I have made a ton of progress yesterday, scripting out more areas and sequences. I have one henchman's dialog to write, as well as tweaking his stats. Soon it may be time to start the polishing passes (sounds, transitions, flavor text, and so on). It's nice to approach the end of this massive module.
I'm already starting to take notes for my next project. I think I'm going to take the next one a bit slower. It's going to be pretty different, and I'll have to create some new systems from scratch. Could be a bit of a challenge.
On a personal note, my stepfather's funeral service was yesterday. It was nice, with lots of friends and family gathered.
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Lots of work yesterday and today
May 10, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Lots of work yesterday and today. I did a bunch of playtesting of the Summer Palace assault and I think it's working basically the way I want. I did have a little excitement when I caught one of the elves in the blast radius of a spell, turning them all against me. A little scripting later and it seems to be taken care of.
I have more work to do on the Temple area, though I like what I've done so far. Nothing super fancy, but some interesting surprises. I have a couple areas that I need to flesh out some more, as I'm not quite sure what to put there. I try to give myself room for creative ideas later, but when they don't come right away, I tend to scratch my head a bit.
I also tested some of the transitions out, making sure you could get from area A to area B. These weren't normal transitions, but rather dialog off of a placeable, through a cutscene, then off to a particular position. After some tweaking, it seems to work okay.
No baby yet, though the time is approaching. Sam's been swept away for the weekend by the grandparents, so I may actually get quite a bit of time to code today.
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I've been working on the Summer Palace area, ...
May 09, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I've been working on the Summer Palace area, getting the attacking elves to start from their boats and work their way to the center. Reinforcements come when they die, so I ended up combining testing of that and the cannon by shooting them as they emerged from their leaf boat. It had me laughing out loud, though I did feel vaguely guilty.
The assault is going pretty well. When it works, it works beautifully, with the elves doing some complex pathfinding and behaviors. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced it always works. More testing required.
I'm also working on the defenders, hoping to get some of their AI done today. I'm thinking of giving the attackers and defenders a limited number of respawns, each time going to the right place to continue the fight. We'll see how it goes.
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Big deal, you say
May 08, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Big deal, you say. It's just a gnome holding a sword. Ah, but it's a gnome wizard holding a sword. Big difference.
I spent about an hour yesterday trying to make a weapon that could be used by all. After much fiddling with .2da files, models, and graphics, I finally got it working. Basically, it looks and acts just like a longsword, but anyone can use it. Why that's important, I'll save as a secret for later.
More scripting and dialog yesterday, fleshing out the final area in more detail. I was also working on a custom spawn script, balancing some of the battles a bit to make sure it wasn't too easy or too hard. I have more of the same today. Hopefully I'll have the chance to work on some pseudo-AI for the Summer Palace area.
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I've been moving along, working on the last o...
May 07, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I've been moving along, working on the last of the siege weapons yesterday. I got the cannon working and it's admittedly lots of fun. The scripting is reasonably effective, though I'm thinking about tweaking the model a bit (it doesn't rotate well). Still, I like what I have so far, so I think I may just keep it.
The final areas of the game are coming along nicely, slowly filling out details. I'm still not close to testing yet, as there's lots of blank spots, dialog to write, and so on. There's also a very final scene I need to make that I haven't started on at all.
Still, I'm hopeful it'll wrap up within a few weeks, depending on how baby things go. We could end up with a quiet, easy-going baby, in which case my time at home may feel more like a vacation. Or Emma could be more like Sam was as a baby, endlessly fussy and crying. I'll cross my fingers.
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Though life is hectic, I did manage to find a...
May 06, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Though life is hectic, I did manage to find a little time yesterday, whipping up some new placeables such as these little lava walls. I also worked on mapping issues, some dialog, and a bit of scripting. Basically I just need to get the details of the final assault down. I'm trying hard to reduce the hack-n-slash for the final area, with a bit more mystery and suspense. The middle section of the module is very combat heavy, so I'm trying to balance it out if I can.
I had a thought when waking up this morning that I'll work into the game. Expect a little surprise visit from a familiar face.
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I worked on the module a bit more yesterday m...
May 05, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 I worked on the module a bit more yesterday morning, creating some "horns" for the towers - making them more evil looking as well as providing places to throw grappling hooks. I also tweaked the evil dungeon throne tile a bit, making it so that a human-sized model could actually sit on it. I managed a little more scripting, but that was about it for the day, as personal issues came up about then.
My stepfather passed away early Sunday morning. I spent most of the day with my mom, sitting by her side and talking. Endless friends and family arrived and left. Though events may be inevitable, it doesn't always prepare you for passing through them. My thanks to all of you who sent notes these last few weeks. On the opposite end of the spectrum, my wife is looking extremely pregnant. I'm guessing we have another week to go before Emma arrives. Life seems to be an endless string of hellos and goodbyes.
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In one of those rare conjunctions of free tim...
May 04, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 In one of those rare conjunctions of free time, energy, and creativity, I got a tremendous amount done yesterday. I think I've been saving it up over the week when I didn't have the opportunity do work on things. It was a several hour stretch of new models, tweaks to tilesets, scripting, and even a little dialog.
The Keep area is basically finished, with only a few minor details remaining. I created the "across the Lake of Dreams" cutscene. Remember not to take the boat with the redshirt guy.
I mapped out the final area as well, painting it down with broad strokes as I plan out the details. After a long stretch of combat-oriented gameplay, I'm hoping for some puzzles and roleplaying. We'll see how it goes.
Today I'm hoping to work more on the Summer Palace area. It's mapped, but there are lots of scripting and AI tasks to put in place. Hopefully the player will have fun storming the castle.
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I spent most of this morning trying to figure...
May 03, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
I spent most of this morning trying to figure out why I couldn't shoot straight. There's a key part of the keep defense where it's strongly recommended that you use the ballista. Unfortunately, I kept having problems trying to hit anything. After awhile, I figured out that my model was rotated 90 degrees, which caused the SetFacing to screw up. I rotated it back (fixing animation along the way), then tried again. Still nothing. I began to randomly fire around until I figured out that I could hit what I was shooting at if I shot in the exact opposite direction. With a glimpse of insight, I turned my plus signs to minuses and all was good.
I wrote more dialog yesterday, some pillow talk after a long day fighting the forces of evil. Such is the life that heroes choose.
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Okay, amusing bug of the day
May 02, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 Okay, amusing bug of the day. I have this little guy set to Plot (making him invulnerable) until he does a certain task. Unfortunately, it never got unset in this case, which means that he could never be killed. He merrily stood there and got pelted with arrows by a keep full of elven archers, looking like a red pincushion after a few seconds. I put in a little "just in case" code if something goes wrong with the other script (which it seems to on rare occasions). I love the scripting engine.
More progress on the module itself. I've been rearranging secret keep doors, fixing ballista animations, reworking the ballista code, and getting the main keep plot working. I think you can technically go all the way through the area. It's going to be a lengthy one, as there are several tasks that can be done there.
Yet again, I'm coming to the realization that this module is going to be big. I'm guessing it's somewhere between one and a half to two times as big as the others. It might take around 4 hours to finish, though that's just a guess at this point. I still haven't touched the final area yet. Hopefully the gameplay there will be quite unique.
I also noticed that I've been working on Dreamcatcher 4 for exactly two months now. I'd say I'm well over halfway done. Probably another few weeks of content building and a couple more of testing.
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As suspected, I've had little free time the l...
May 01, 2003 by Adam in NWN1
 As suspected, I've had little free time the last couple days. I managed to sneak in an hour or two here and there. The siege weapons are slowly approaching operational, as well as the primary Keep quest. This morning I was working on the ballista. It's looking good so far, but needs work. The animation is too slow in places and I need to get my hit detection script working better. Still, it should be a fun little sequence of events. I'm also working on a big surprise for the area (emphasis on the big). If I can pull of the scripting right, it should turn out well.
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Older Posts
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Links
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Interviews, etc.
Why We Fight
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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