I'm fixin' to get a fixing.

With my list of bugs in one hand, and a list of places to gloss in the other, tonight should see some good progress. I went through the module beta v4 and made note of quite a few areas of dialogue that need work. Commas are my best friend and worst enemy with some of these complex structures. Good thing MS Word doesn't do a stellar job of grammar checking them, heh.

I also aim to expand a few avenues, like expanding the story on the Catch of the Day quest. I want to put some cameras in the wagon to have a bit more visual control over the subtext, as well as add a few sounds in the conversation to better convey the feeling of being ambushed.

I seem to have located where Lip Flappers begins to break down. If you play straight through, things seem to work fine. If you save a game and load it, then the conversation wavs that are stored in the MOD file seem to stay unloaded and have them fly by. I guess we will have to play it safe and include these for the override folder instead.

Well, the holiday season (opposed to the shopping season) has kicked off. I'm staring down the barrel of a week of vacation with only the minor tripup of New Years Eve as a distraction. Things look really good for a Leap Year Release as long as I get good feedback from the beta tests that I release. Warp Speed, Mr. Sulu.

On the 13th day of Christmas

13 Screenshots from my own personal beta run. Don't let these fool you, I found quite a few errors to add to my naughty list.

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Finally, one day of the daily grind left before a week of vacation. Aside from the Holiday running, I should have plenty of time to get some development work done. I can't wait to get back to the toolset and continue the drive toward the finish line.

The beta results are coming in and I must say I am a bit upset that it appears the Lip Flappers will have to be placed in the override folder, since the ones contained within the module file seem to take a dive after a while. Small price to pay I suppose, but I still wanted to keep things as nice and clean as possible.

There have been numerous reports of some places where gender pronouns were hard-coded toward the masculine, so I will have to go through the conversations and place in some switches to circumvent my character bias.

As the end of the year draws to a close, it is a time of both reflection and new beginnings. While I am having a blast developing this independent series, I cannot help but think back to the good old days of PW development. With that thought in mind, I figured I'd post an image that I threw together back when Cormyr and NWN2 were still on the table together.

Beta Test Released

From the recently posted thread on the NWN2 Forums:

Solvheil II: Beneath the Hearleforne Beta Test
Here is a link to download a beta module of the upcoming installment of the series: Download Beta

While this isn't the complete adventure, it does take you rather far into the story. It is designed for a human character and will set your experience to the non-ecl level of 6. I am trying to discover bugs, hang-ups, confusion, weak dialogue, or other elements that need work before I continue on with the remaining areas.

Feel free to do your worse in trying to buck the system. Tell me if a line of dialogue is too ambiguous, or if you notice something that needs further development.
This module uses Lip Flappers to enable NPCs to lipsync the dialogue. If this isn't working properly and conversations are flying by at an alarming rate, please let me know. I tried to include the wav files within the module file and while it has worked well for me, I want to make sure it is consistent for everyone.

This is a direct continuation of the first module in the series:
Sands of Solvheil I: Ruins of Kazatharis

While completion of the first module isn't required, there are several elements from it mentioned within this story.

Many thanks to anyone who gives this a whirl and provides me with their feedback. Only though beta tests such as this can I deliver the best possible end result.

Feedback can be provided either via PM on the NWN2 Forums, or within the above linked forum thread.

Beta Release Soon

Another productive weekend behind me, and I see a good possibility of releasing an at least partial beta-test very soon. I want to go ahead and finish the core path all the way to juuuust about the end before doing so. During the beta, I can finish up some of the more ancillary items such as companion casual dialogue, commoner banter, and other side items.

I am so very thankful for the walkmesh helper that has really made so much possible. From guards posted atop walls, to actually using the dirt mounds as a dias, it's really handy to be able to manipulate your NPC placement. I've done more baking this weekend then a grandmother on thanksgiving morning.

I did quite a bit of area light tweaking as well. It all started with adjustment of fog levels to get the correct visibilty in the forest areas. I then started to play around with the ground and skylight values as well to create, what I think, are more realistic looking areas. I may just go back and do some additional adjustments in the city areas of Evertide as well, but I will shelf for that later.

This Mother Walks!

Alright, allow me one indulgence and reprieve from the rigors of the NWN2 Toolset (which I love). Behold Maya, my new favorite 3D Package (Sorry Max, we had a good run...let's stay friends). This is a little chicken-walker robot I threw together to test out Inverse Kinematics, or the basics of physics and animation playing nice. I got this thing to walk after adding in the bones/joints/etc and basically setting up a virtual stop-motion model that can be manipulated along a timeline.



Very cool stuff, but a bit different from the biped method of 3D Studio Max's Character Studio which I am more familiar. However, I do think that I will sway my favor toward Maya overall. The ease with which I modeled this, slapped some hull textures on, set up materials and lights for the spotlight effect, and rendered an animation, it's just sick.

With that somewhat out of my system, I suppose getting back to the Solvheil modules is in order.

What's that you say? Does it REALLY walk? Would I lie to you? I feel called out here...the gauntlet is down. Fine, have it your way:
Click here to download a 12 second avi.