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I sat down and typed up all my dialog I'd scr...
September 30, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I sat down and typed up all my dialog I'd scribbled down the other day, working it into the final module. The conversations are short, but poingnant, so I'm fairly satisfied with the quick pace.
I have run into a few issues with turning people into monsters. The most amusing ended up wrapping the gargoyle model around my PC in weird ways, which looked very amusing. It should be pretty easy to fix if I switch to another approach.
PJJ is already getting some initial QA feedback to me. Hopefully I can get to it soon.
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I have all these scraps of paper from yesterd...
September 28, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I have all these scraps of paper from yesterday, covered in dialog and item descriptions. I think they take care of most of the framework for the final battle. I'm so much happier with the way it's turning out, seeming much more epic while still touching on the campaign's main themes.
As for today, I have lots of little details to take care of, from scripting to item creation, to typing up all my scribbles. Slowly getting there.
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I had fun coming up with assorted pictures to...
September 26, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I had fun coming up with assorted pictures to display during the credits. Some are pretty, some are amusing bugs, and some show off aspects of the game for the player to wistfully think about at the end of the game.
I also came to a realization last night that I've been avoiding the final battle. What I'd been thinking about was too routine, a very typical boss battle where you wear down your foe until he dies. I was so uninspired that I kept fiddling around with other things, my subconscious working away at the problem.
I finally figured out what I need to do. There are still details to work out, but I'm much more excited and hope the end will be far more memorable.
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After a fair bit of fiddling and swearing, I ...
September 24, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 After a fair bit of fiddling and swearing, I finally got the credits to scroll smoothly across the page. It still needs some tweaking, but I think I'm on the right track.
My next plan is to create areas on either side of the screen where I can show pictures and words. The plan is to tell the aftermath of the adventure, documenting the player's decisions throughout the adventure and the consequences they had. Ever since the ending of the first Fallout game, I've been partial to that approach.
In any case, I spent some time last night writing down various endings. Most involve telling what happened at the different islands and the people there. Hopefully it gives the player a sense of how they changed the world.
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I typed up some of my written dialog, though ...
September 23, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I typed up some of my written dialog, though I still need to flesh it out more.
More exciting is that I recently finished coding the main part of a "credits" screen. Of course, that likely means that it's horribly bug-ridden, but hopefully I can put it together soon.
In all of the interviews I give, I try to emphasize that Dark Waters is a team effort. Putting together a nice credits section is the least I can do.
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I've been making pretty good progress over th...
September 22, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I've been making pretty good progress over the last few days. The biggest was getting the installer all put together properly. It should now install and uninstall all the proper files. I also fixed my silly mistake that made it impossible to start a new campaign and jump to the final act.
I continue to line things up for the final module. I managed some more writing, giving Drake some more great lines. For some reason, scoundrels get all the fun. I'm also getting some of the big confrontations ready, putting folks like Lord Brighton and Spider side by side.
Hopefully today I can continue those trends, and perhaps work on a "movie credit" scripting thing that's been bouncing around my brain for awhile. Fun, fun.
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I stayed up relatively late last night, insta...
September 21, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I stayed up relatively late last night, installing and uninstalling the full campaign. The installer is close to 500 MB and it requires 1.5 GB of drive space to install. I still have to add lots of voice actor files, so it'll probably grow even more. I'm certainly going to have a "Lite" version without the music, voice acting, and load screens, which will probably be around half the size. It's amazing how big modules are these days.
I also got my passport today, which was the last of the obstacles for my Canada trip. I'm getting excited.
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Of all the weird things to get excited about,...
September 19, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
Of all the weird things to get excited about, I got excited about the new installer for Dark Waters. I'm trying to get a new, full installer to PJJ for testing. Of course, it's not working properly. To top it off, he brought up some of the failings of the current installer, which typically gets the job done, but nothing else.
I spent some time today reading the documentation for NSIS, whipping up a splash screen, and generally getting things polished up. Hopefully this weekend I can test out the installer and figure out the other problems PJJ is running into.
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I'm sick at home today, but I managed a bit o...
September 18, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I'm sick at home today, but I managed a bit of time on the final module. I wanted to give players a chance to see and purchase any of the special set items they might have missed along the way. Basically I check the player for a long list of items and create them in the store if they don't have them. It makes for a good way to have a final spending spree before the end.
I've typed up what dialog I have, discovering a dozen lines for Drake that I wrote months ago along the way. They were pretty amusing, so I'm definitely keeping them. The first of the big confrontation dialogs still need to be finished, and I'm bound to require some scripting as well. Still, it feels like I'm in the final push before the end.
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Writing, writing, writing
September 17, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
Writing, writing, writing. I've put some of this off for quite some time, so it feels good to finally get around to it. This morning I finished up the dialog that players get if they jump into DW3 from a new campaign. Basically it lets players report what they did, who they killed, and other things that make a difference in the final module.
Now I'm working on dialog for Vault Island. I have an initial merchant-type character finished, offering equipment and setting the stage for further events. Next up is the first of the exciting end battles, which I'm trying to turn into a duel roughly similar to the one in DW2. Should be fun.
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I've been working very hard, though I don't h...
September 15, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I've been working very hard, though I don't have any flashy pictures or amusing sound files today. I think I tracked down the last of the issues with the Mac version of Dark Waters. There was a music file not quite in the right format (it became somewhat obvious in a hex editor). I passed along a new version for my brave Mac testers to look at.
I cleaned up some of Death's dialog, giving an added bonus if you end up doing a certain subquest for him. I attached all my dialog sound files, though it looks like I'll need to record a few more.
Finally, I took a peek at PJJ's QA report. It was, as expected, pretty horrible. The good news is that I think I know the root cause and it shouldn't be too hard to fix. Mostly I need to create a "full install" for the entire campaign. I suspect it'll be around the 600 MB mark. I think my Shadowlords, Dreamcatcher, and Demon installer was about 100 MB. Whew.
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I just wanted to give a quick shout out to th...
September 13, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I just wanted to give a quick shout out to the good folks at the Australian gaming magazine Hyper. I've had my name pop up in five or six magazines, but this is the first time anyone has actually sent me the magazine. I went out and bought a couple of the ones in the US, but Australia is a bit far for me to go just for a magazine.
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I just finished chopping up sound files, resu...
September 12, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I just finished chopping up sound files, resulting in 60 little clips that I've converted and are ready to go. It's Death, who is always amusing, and I saved some choice ones for your listening pleasure.
Otherwise I've been getting my passport ready to go and doing some writing when I get the chance. My life is slowing down a little, so hopefully it won't be quite as crazy as it's been as of late.
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I've been pretty busy these last few days
September 11, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I've been pretty busy these last few days. I managed to write a bit of dialog and get things ready for the final module, along with a bit of scripting to display the appropriate flag at the base camp. I have a QA report on the text adventure module waiting for my attention. The voice actor who did Daniel contacted me, and I sent along a bunch of work for him.
The most exciting thing I can't really talk about. While I technically haven't signed an NDA yet, I can say I spent today rushing around to update my passport as a well-known game developer offered to fly me to their secret lair and show off their upcoming game. We'll see how that turns out.
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Yet another busy day, with little time to do ...
September 09, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
Yet another busy day, with little time to do much with the campaign. I sent along the latest build to PJJ, my stalwart tester. It was fun looking at all the files I'm including: 10 modules for the main quest and three for side quests. Compressed it's 160 MB in size, and I haven't added all the sound and music yet. It's a pretty massive undertaking and hopefully the effort won't kill me. I think the key is to focus on one thing at a time. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and all that. I'm not sure the original speaker had module development in mind.
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I made some good progress over the weekend
September 08, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
I made some good progress over the weekend. My son wanted to see how the mine track module was coming along. I confidently declared it finished, so he wanted to try it out. Sure enough, he quickly proved me wrong and after five or six tries we finally got everything working properly. The biggest issue was that your party wouldn't emerge from the mine cart with you, making fights considerably more difficult.
I also finished the psionic combat battle in the Vault, along with a fun little surprise for players who take the non-violent route.
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I'm working on the Vault this morning
September 06, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I'm working on the Vault this morning. There are a variety of tests of skill for your psionic powers, one of which is an optional psionic combat battle similar to that of Woodhaven.
Of course, my first attempt didn't quite work out. My PC started attacking the psionic projections and I had no actual forms I could turn it into (I especially liked the "Hint: You must obtain more forms or you'll lose" comment at the bottom of the screen). Hopefully I can get those things cleaned up and move one step further to an actual ending to the game.
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This screenshot is a little dark, but it has ...
September 05, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 This screenshot is a little dark, but it has the back of a vent, a gong, and a giant werewolf in the background. That's pretty much how it goes when I'm testing things out. In this case, I was trying to understand why I couldn't dock on the Vault island. I never did figure it out, but I copied an existing placeable blueprint and modified that until it worked.
At this point, a player can theoretically go from the start of the game all the way to the final island. Now it's mostly a matter of finalizing the grant finale. I'm really happy with the ambiance of Vault island, but still waffling on the final confrontations. Fairly soon I'm just going to have to roll up my sleeves and get it done.
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Progress continues slowly
September 03, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 Progress continues slowly. I now have things set up so that the Vault island appears, though the sea is black and you can't land on it. Furthermore, when I was testing this morning, that scoundrel Drake boarded me and did something rather rude. In any case, hopefully I can fix those problems soon.
I have a bunch of sound files I recorded for Death yesterday morning. I'd love to get some time today to chop them up, though I'm not sure when.
I'm also tracking down an annoying issue with the Mac version of the module. There are some sound files that are causing crashes and it's difficult for me to troubleshoot. Fortunately I have some very helpful folks who are offering their time.
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I've been off on a short beach vacation for t...
September 01, 2008 by Adam in NWN2
 I've been off on a short beach vacation for the last few days. In between playing on the beach and watching kids, I managed to write a tremendous amount of dialog for Death. If you happen to die in most dangerous areas in the module, you should get some amusing commentary to reward the occasional failure. I need to put a little more work into it, looking up the tags of various areas and adding them to the dialog scripts, but it shouldn't be too hard.
Today I spent some time working on the world map representation of the Vault. When you get all the map pieces and venture out in your ship, it should magically appear and let you wrap up the campaign. That's the theory, anyway. I still have some work to do before it actually happens.
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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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