Long time no post

It would seem that I only sits home complaining about our shrinking privacy sphere here in Sweden. Nothing could be more wrong. Sure I've joined the underground freedom movement :) but most of the time I've been working on the module. My wife and I are play-testing as maniacs. And faster than she finds bugs I fix them. My issue report system crashed last week and it took a while to re-construct the database by playing and finding the problems a second time.
I think I've mentioned the problem with torches and other hand-held light sources that when they have been in a container don't have any light or visual effect anymore. This is a problem with the original game too. This is my conclusion on the topic.

• PC's can only have one light source at the time. The different levels of dark vision is the base of this priority system.
• Because of the only one light per PC, torches for example have their own light effect attached to them as an item appearance effect.
• When using the CopyItem fuction this effect is not copied and the item don't have the light, flame or whatever effect is attached to it.

That sucks because there's a lot of copying in the game. So I have struggled with making my own copy item function that checks if the item is a light source before copying it. If it find a light source it does a CreateItemOnObject instead. Not to hard to make when I found out why those damn things went black. The hard thing was to find out all scripts where I needed to replace the function.

My Thursday night issue list was 244 entries long (strange how it keeps growing) but this morning it's down to 75. The great thing now is that the fun-to-have and it-would-be-nice entries are the most common ones.

You know I like bullet lists so heres some of the categorized issues:

• 10 Area Issues, mainly black squares due to bad light placing and some walkmesh problems
• 3 Creature related bugs
• 8 Dialouge problems. Missing links and such
• 2 Door bugs (I'm sure there must be more of them)
• 3 Icons are missing
• 10 Models has to be fixed in 3dsMax
• 4 Bugged usable placeables
• 3 Script bugs. Long live the module verify.
• 6 Sound Issues. Most of them are wrong sound level and strange stereo image
• 3 Visual Effects are messed up.

I have also started to flesh out some of the conversations. I'm playing Zork I in a DOS-box close to the toolset and are cursing the DOS cut and paste. I'll shout out for a proofreader soon so if you are interested, drop me a line and I might send you a couple of text files to read trough. The text are quite stiff and I sometimes want to make it more literary but I'm afraid it will be a too large step from the original.

As I have been bug chasing there's not any new screen shots so i throw in these in-toolset shot from one of the more hot underground areas.

No more time for writing. I'm a toolset slave, and my wife is reaching for the whip. Khatash!!!

/Amraphael

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It was great to see that several of my favorite module makers won the Golden Dragon Awards.
Here's the complete list:

Best PnP Conversion Module:
Tomoachan by Enoa4
Enoa4 has added a great deal of polish to the original PnP classic; with a strengthened backstory, excellent area design and smart use of custom content. Whether you have played the original or not, Tomoachan offers an excellent gameplay experience.

Best Roleplaying Module:
Dark Avenger by Wyrin
Dark Avenger takes the 2007 Golden Dragon award for Best Roleplay module, because roleplaying is really central to the concept behind this superb module. You play the story character, but you define your role, your character and your background, and this impacts the world around you.

Debut Author Award:
Zach Holbrook
Zach Holbrook (aka Maerduin) produced one of the defining modules of 2007 with Harp & Chrysanthemum. His attention to detail; from landscapes to music, character writing to story, makes him this year’s Debut Award winner.

Community Contribution Award:
Grinning Fool
From beta testing until today, Grinning Fool has continued to support the community and NWN2 tirelessly. He has worked as a Community Rep on the toolset, answering questions and gathering up bugs on behalf of the community and making sure they reach the ears and eyes of Obsidian Entertainment. He’s also enhanced and added to the toolset’s features through a number of very useful plugins.

Veteran Author Award:
Adam Miller
Adam Miller wins the Veteran Author Golden Dragon Award for his consistenly top quality modules, produced across both NWN and NWN2. With the Dark Waters campaign, he continues to innovate and stretch the engine to the very limits.

Best Multiplayer Module:
Tomb of Horrors revisited by BM Productions
Tomb of Horrors is a devilishly difficult module based on the old PnP classic that really comes into its own in multiplayer mode, where strong thinking and team play will see you succeed… or fall.

Best Action Module:
Moonshadows Chapter 1 by Alex Hugon
Hugie’s Moonshadows is a blend of high action and gorgeous landscapes, set in the Forgotten Realms. With excellent polish, and varying difficulty, it offers an exciting journey for all players.

Best Adventure Module:
Dark Waters Chapter 1 by Adam Miller
Dark Waters sets a compelling mood, tells an interesting story set in a world with a well-developed history, includes extremely well-developed companions with richly drawn personalities, and exhibits extraordinary attention to detail.

Most Re-playable Module:
Pool of Radiance Remastered by Markus ‘Wayne’ Schlegel
This remake of the SSI classic captures the Most Replayable Golden Dragon Award. A strong story is enhanced with a plethora of choice on gear, companions and class options, and topped off with a variety of combat situations.

Best Sound/Music:
New Music Tracks for Harp & Chrysanthemum by Zach Holbrook
This year’s Best Sound/Music Golden Dragon Award goes to the new music tracks produced for Harp & Chrysanthemum, by Zach Holbrook. They combine interesting use of voice and backing with an excellent fit to the module itself.

Best Tileset:
RWS Deep Halls by RWS
The Best Tileset Golden Dragon Award goes to Robinson Workshop’s Deep Halls tileset, a new and deeply atmospheric interior for Neverwinter Nights 2.

Best Custom Content:
Sorceress Ashura VFX Pack
This VFX pack includes an astonishing array of weird, practical and beautiful visual effects: from ship wakes to the sparkles on a pile of treasure. The sheer depth and wonder of this pack makes it this year’s Custom Content Golden Dragon award winner.