Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
August 31, 2007
For this edition of the Community Update, we are going to start off with a note from Nathaniel Chapman. He is one of the Assistant Producers on NWN2 and MoTB and is now leading the effort for ongoing support with the game. This is in the patch notes, but I thought it would be good to post here as well. We will also take a look at the Invisible Blade prestige class and some great spears made by community member, Feydakin.


Mask of The Betrayer
Prestige Class Preview: Invisible Blade

Invisible Blades are deadly fighters who prefer to use daggers and related weapons in combat. Their training and techniques with these weapons make them just as lethal as any well-armed fighter. Invisible Blades enjoy cultivating misconceptions about the level of danger they present, and they relish any chance to demonstrate that the most unimposing weapons can be the most lethal.

Requirements:
Skills: Bluff 8 ranks.
Feats: Feint, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (Dagger or Kukri).
Class Features:
Hit Die: d6
Base Attack Bonus: High
High Saves: Reflex
Weapon Proficiencies: Invisible Blades gain no weapon proficiencies.
Armor Proficiencies: Invisible Blades gain no armor proficiencies.
Skill Points: 4 + Int Modifier.
Class Skills: Bluff, Craft Alchemy, Craft Armor, Craft Weapon, Craft Trap, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Parry, Perform, Spot and Tumble.
Bleeding Wound: At 1st level, when an Invisible Blade hits with a successful sneak attack, he inflicts a bleeding wound that deals 2 points of damage per round for 3 rounds. This damage stacks with previous damage caused by a Bleeding Wound attack. He must be either unarmed or wielding only light weapons in order to inflict a Bleeding Wound. At 3rd level, the damage increases to 4 per round, and at 5th level, it increases to 6 points per round. Each level of Bleeding Wound counts as one die of sneak attack damage for purposes of class and feat prerequisites.

Unfettered Defense: An Invisible Blade benefits from an increased survival instinct during combat. Because of this sixth sense, he adds 1 point of his Intelligence bonus (if any) per Invisible Blade level to his Armor Class in addition to any other modifiers he would normally receive. If the Invisible Blade is caught flat-footed, or is otherwise denied his Dexterity modifier to Armor Class, he also loses this bonus. Unfettered Defense functions only when an Invisible Blade is not wearing armor and is not wielding a ranged weapon.

Feint Mastery: At 5th level, an Invisible Blade armed with a light weapon becomes so sure of his ability to mislead opponents that he cannot roll less than 5 on his Bluff check when using the Feint feat.
Brandon Adler, one of our QA testers was integral to the development of the Invisible Blade class, so I asked him to give me some thoughts on the class. Here's what he had to say:

Community Works

Custom Spears

NWVault user Feydakin has created a great set of custom spears. You can download them from the NWVault here.


NWN2 Questionnaires and Polls

If you scroll down you will see a poll asking what kind of NWN2 player you are. This is the first of many polls we will be posting here. Please take a moment to give an answer in the polls. It will only help to make this Blog more interesting, and will help us make NWN2 a better game for you.

Premonition - 1.07 Beta Patch Notes

The patch is not released yet, but to tease you a bit more, here's the beta patch notes. At the beginning is a note from Nathaniel Chapman, Assistant Producer on NWN2 & MoTB.


Well, that's the end to this week's update. See you all next week. Keep checking back here for new polls and new articles through the week





Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
September 7, 2007

Today's Community Update brings us a look at the Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep prestige class in the upcoming Mask of The Betrayer expansion. We will also get a look at some community-made Visual Effects packs and the Persistent World Spotlight is here again. Also, in case you didn't know, the 1.07 beta patch has been released, so we talk about that a very little bit.

Beta Patch 1.07 "Premonition" Released!

The 1.07 Beta patch, which we are calling "Premonition," was released on Wednesday this week. There are a lot of great features in this patch and, being a beta, those features need testing. We would especially appreciate it if some Persistent Worlds could check it out and let us know how things go. You can find the beta patch and the thread for reporting issues here.


Mask of The Betrayer

Today we will take a look at another one of the Prestige Classes for Mask of The Betrayer.

Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep

Arcane Scholars seek to raise the study of magic to the level of an academic discipline. Their interest is not in researching new spells or finding more specialized uses for their craft, but in understanding the fundamental processes of magic and the inner workings of the Weave, which is the fabric that underlies all magic.

The first Arcane Scholars emerged from the dusty libraries of Candlekeep, where they pored through the writings of a thousand long-dead mages, seeking the unifying principles that underlie all magic. But even the archives of Candlekeep have their limits, and not all practitioners of magic have the means or desire to record their experiences with the Art. So Arcane Scholars dispersed into the wider world, observing and recording all the various expressions of magic they could find. Their tradition has gradually spread, and some mages who have never set foot in Candlekeep have adopted their disciplined and systematic approach to magic.

By gaining a deeper understanding of magic, and by discerning its underlying principles, arcane scholars become specialists in metamagic. Their spells are more powerful, last longer and can be cast more quickly than those of their peers. Arcane Scholars have also become especially adept at explaining the workings of magic to ordinary folk. Those who travel with Arcane Scholars gain the benefit of their considerable knowledge and are better able to avoid hostile magic.

Arcane Scholars do not limit themselves to studying particular sorts of arcane magic. To truly understand the Art, they believe that one must understand all its expressions. Thus all arcane casters are equally welcome to join their fellowship. Indeed, the insights of sorcerers and bards are particularly prized by Arcane Scholars, as such casters rarely have the patience to discuss the deeper workings of magic.

Requirements
Skills: Spellcraft 8 ranks.
Feats: Empower Spell, Skill Focus (Concentration), and Skill Focus (Spellcraft).
Spellcasting: Able to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.
Class Features
Hit Die: d4.
Base Attack Bonus: Low.
High Saves: Will.
Weapon Proficiencies: Arcane Scholars gain no weapon proficiencies.
Armor Proficiencies: Arcane Scholars gain no armor proficiencies.
Skill Points: 2 + Int Modifier.
Class Skills: Appraise, Concentration, Craft Alchemy, Diplomacy, Lore, Search and Spellcraft.
Spells Per Day/Spells Known: When a new Arcane Scholar level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as though he had gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class gave him access to 3rd-level arcane spells. If the character has more than one applicable arcane spellcasting class, he must pick one to improve.
Bonus Metamagic Feats: At 1st level, the Arcane Scholar gains the Maximize Spell feat. At 5th level, he gains the Quicken Spell feat.
Spell Knowledge: At 2nd Level, the Arcane Scholar and any party members gain a +1 bonus to their saves versus spells. This bonus increases to +2 at 8th level.
Improved Empower Spell: At 3rd level, the Arcane Scholar becomes especially adept at empowering spells. Empowered spells now only use a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.
Improved Maximize Spell: At 7th level, the Arcane Scholar becomes especially adept at maximizing spells. Maximized spells now only use up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell's actual level.
Improved Quicken Spell: At 10th level, the Arcane Scholar becomes especially adept at quickening spells. Quickened spells now only use up a spell slot three levels higher than the spell's actual level.
Custom Content Contest

As many of you know, we have a contest underway for the Custom Content creators. If you are a modeller and would like to try your hand at creating buildings, clothing or whatever for the NWN2 Community, now's the time to jump in. Submissions to the contest do not need to be elaborate and there is a category for all levels of expertise.

Here's an example of one of the entries:

Legion Blade, by joeboy



You can find this model http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2Models.Detail&id=69 at NWVault
Community Works

These placed effects are inspired by the Moongates from the old Ultima game series. They were originally intended for use in Ultima based worlds but may be of interest to anyone else looking for a different kind of portal.

Here is a little ultima lore from MokahTGS describing the significance of the different colors:

Blue - These will transport one across the world. Moongates appear in places where moonstones are buried (traditionally, there are eight moongate locations near each of the major cities), and the destination of the travel is based on the phases of Trammel and Felucca, planet Britannia's moons. One moon determines when the moongate will be visible, while the other determines the target moongate. It should be noted that the behavior of blue moongates isn't consistent in games; For example, in Ultima VII, all moongates are constantly visible.

Red - Requires an Orb of the Moons. Only two Orbs are known to exist, one carried by Lord British and the other sent to the Avatar by the gargoyles. Activation allowed for travel to any destination, which was determined by where the Orb was used. These allow the traveller to travel across worlds, most notably between Earth and Britannia. A red moongate was also used to exile Lord Blackthorn to Serpent Isle at the end of Ultima V.

Silver - A rare form of moongate. It allows time travel. The Time Lord was able to create them and they were involved in the pursuit of Minax in Ultima II. It is also possible to create them with the Orb of the Moons, as done in Martian Dreams

Black - Black Gates allows travel through space and dimensions. They can be produced by electrically charging blackrock. These moongates were needed by Guardian in order to invade other worlds.

Special thanks:

To Hellcow, whose Cobweb effects I used as an example to figure out how to package these.
To MokahTGS who encouraged me to get these on the vault, and for reminding me of the silver and black moongates
[/QUOTE]
you can find tthis VFX pack http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2V...ts.Detail&id=38
Character VFX Pack

This pack of "equippable weapons and other objects was created by SilkD. You can find the VFX pack here, on NWVault.




Persistent World Spotlight: Moonlight & Shadows
- By Soulfiend

Darkness descends, falling night
Walk with me in the pale moonlight.

From humble beginnings to tales of great
It is yours to discover, your blood written fate.

Over the lands above, or in the darkness below
Follow your path through moonlight and shadow.

[IMG]nwn2patch.obsidian.net/files/Update/Sept7/MomentsPeace.jpg[/IMG]
Silver Marches: (formerly known as Luruar) The confederation of the Silver Marches consists of it’s capital city Silverymoon as well as Everlund, Sundabar, Mithril Hall, Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbarr and some minor towns and villages, including Quaervarr in the Moonwood, Deadsnows and Newfort. It is bordered by the Anauroch desert to the east, the High Forest to the south, the Savage Frontier to the west and the Spine of the World mountain range to the north.The heart of the Silver Marches is the upper and lower valley of the River Rauvin. Winding for hundreds of miles in the shadow of the Nether Mountains and the Evermoors, the Rauvin marks a narrow ribbon of civilizations and security in an otherwise inhospitable land. Along the Rauvin lie the farmsteads and settlements that feed Silverymoon and Everlund, and its swift cold waters carry trade from Sundabar all the way to Waterdeep

We use the PnP book The Silver Marches and it’s map to build against, our plan is to add as much as possible of the the towns, cities and dungeons, as well as The Underdark with Menzoberranzan in all it’s somewhat dark glory, a convenient foil for Silverymoon.


Features
DMFI 1.4
NWNX 4 (Database)
Persistent Banking.
Persistent Storage vault
PC tools implemented so you can pitch tents, start campfires, use many emotes like sitting on ground drinking beer, playing a lute and many more
A Player Guild System. Create your own guild, private guild housing available
custom spawn system to reduce lag and make spawns random location as well as type
Jasperre's NWN 1 AI semi updated to NWN2 and implemented
Lots of quests
Most, if not all of our staff are themselves roleplayers, our goal is to make a PW that brings The Forgotten Realms to life on the player’s computer, as if they were writing their own hero’s story. Despite the relatively short time Neverwinter Nights 2 has been available, Moonlight and Shadows has amassed a number of genuinely excellent roleplayers.

We have rules and regulations, but are always willing to listen to players suggestions on possible improvements on subjects we may have missed.

Moonlight and Shadows is a mature server, but we expect players to stay within the guidelines set within the server rules
When it comes to building, our goal is to produce areas that players will want to stay in rather than run through quickly to get from A to B.
Player quotes
I am but a simple player, thus I have no genuine “dog in this fight” so to speak other than this is a server I have grown to love. I once was; however, a lead DM on an NWN1 server, so I have quite a bit of experience in module building and management under my belt to draw from when evaluating this or any other module. The following is my personal review of Moonlight and Shadows:

1. This server is definitely a role-playing server. By this I mean if one wishes to simply make a character without putting a lot of thought in him or her, this is not the server one should choose. On the other hand, if one wishes to craft a story about a character using the in game happenings of Moonlight and Shadows in conjunction with a well thought out character background, then this is definitely a server worth checking into.

2. Moonlight and Shadows is indeed a “rule heavy” server. However, each rule has been put in place to enhance the tone and feel of the module, instead of simply creating rules to “control” player behavior. As an ex-server leader, I know first hand that any DM Team has to set some sort of ground rules at the forefront. Otherwise, one ends up with a server filled with juvenile acting players concerned only with l33t loot and roxxoring stats. Also, without at least a modicum of basic race and class rules, the server will quickly fill itself with Leet Drow Red Dragon Disciples built strictly for power-gaming instead of genuine role-play.

That is not to say that I personally agree with every single rule. The rule of five, for instance, is not a rule that I personally care for. My personal opinion and past experience has led me to believe that a rule of three would grant players with more personal liberty, while still stifling power-builders and power-gamers. Alas, it is not my call to make, and I am willing to abide by the rules set forth by the administration.

3. The builders, scripters, and DM’s here are constantly working to improve the overall form, function, and playability of the server. Issues such as creating a new spawn system to protect lower level characters from spawns left over from higher level characters is but one example. Another excellent example of the willingness of the team to listen to its players is the simple fact that the message board associated with Moonlight and Shadows has a Rants Section, and Raves Section, and an Other Section in plain view to all comers to give feedback and suggestions for improvement. Each post is answered in a timely manner, and explained thoroughly to the player community.

Even the loudest and most obnoxious complainers are treaded with respect and dignity by the staff when it comes to complaints. No, a player does not always get his or her way, but the player is at least guaranteed the opportunity to state his or her case. Evidence of this can even be seen on this rating session. Nay Sayers here are given frank answers to their gripes, and in most cases the staff member does so in a polite way. Most cases at least.

4. The death system, in my opinion, is one of the best I have seen in a NWN persistent world. It is based on the amount of times you have died; therefore, it deters characters blindly rushing into situation without forethought and careful planning. Combat is essential to any genuine role-playing environment, and the current death system gives a player and his or her character a healthy respect for death and dying. It is by no means a perfect system, and it probably could use a little tweaking, but all in all it is one of the best I have seen in a long while without implementing hard core rules and permanent death. With the server still in Beta; however, I fully expect this death system to be modified to work even better in the future.


5. The over all landscape of the module and its building and scripting team is excellent. It is obvious that the building team has gone though great efforts to make the tone and feel of the server as close has possible to pen and paper as possible though an online medium. It is not perfect, of course, but as previously mentioned the server is still in beta status. Improvements are being worked on daily.

6. The player base at Moonlight and Shadows is one of the better I have ever role-played with. Unfortunately, as of right now the player base is not enormous or consistent. There are evenings in which I see the player count into the teens, and there are other evenings that I am the lone player on the server. This; however, can be attributed to several different factors. Persistent worlds are in their infancy in NWN2. The vast majority of players are in a “try and see” phase right now. Players are playing on several different servers looking for the best fit for their own personal play style. I have done this, and am still doing so. I spend the majority of my playtime with Moonlight and Shadows, but if I see another server that I think may be interesting I give it a try. Thus far, I have always returned to Moonlight and Shadows. I have yet to find a better role-playing server to date.

One observation I have noticed; however, while trying other servers is that bigger is definitely not always better. There are several servers that routinely have thirty plus players. Yet the quality of role-play is very much lacking to put it politely. I prefer for the community to grow slowly if it will continue to recruit only well mannered people who can role-play their characters with forethought, talent, and realism.

If you are looking for a world set in the Forgotten Realms and are a fan of The Silver Marches, Moonlight and Shadows is the PW for you.

Moonlight and Shadows is sponsored by Scratch telecom : http://www.scratchtelecom.com/

For PWCs and HAKs visit our site. ( Be sure to register before trying to download anything.)
http://www.moonlightandshadows.com/portal

Roleplay section
Mod name Moonlight and Shadows
IP: 69.42.48.41:5121



That's the end of this Community Update. See you again next week!


Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
September 14, 2007

It's that time again. This week we look at the Sacred Fist prestige class, a couple great community mods and the Sundren Persistent World.

Mask of The Betrayer

Sacred Fist
Sacred Fists are independent organizations found within many temples. Their ascetic members have turned their divine magic inward, bringing their bodies and wills into harmony. Sacred Fists have forsworn the use of weapons and heavy armor. They consider their bodies and minds gifts from their deity, and they believe that not developing those gifts to their fullest potential is a sin. Spellcasting does not dishonor them or their deity. Sacred Fists are strong in faith, will and body.

Clerics are excellent candidates for Sacred Fist orders. Paladins may also choose to join them, but are seldom comfortable surrendering the trappings of their calling. Fighters, rogues, bards and even ex-monks may make good candidates, provided they have enough levels in a class that grants divine spells. Druids occasionally find the class's combat skills useful, but sorcerers and wizards find little to interest them.

Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Combat Casting.
Skills: Lore 8 ranks
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 1st level divine spells.
Class Features:
Hit Die: d8
Base Attack Bonus: High.
High Saves: Fortitude and Reflex.
Proficiencies: Sacred Fists gain no proficiency with any weapons, armor or shields.
Skill Points: 4 + Int Modifier.
Class Skills: Concentration, Heal, Lore, Spellcraft and Tumble.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: When a new Sacred Fist level is gained (except levels 4 and 8 ), the character gains new spells per day as though he had gained a level in whatever divine spellcasting class gave him access to 1st-level divine spells. If the caster had more than one applicable divine spellcasting class, he must pick one to improve.
AC Bonus: When unencumbered and wearing light or no armor, a 1st level Sacred Fist gains a +1 AC bonus. This bonus increases to +2 at 5th level, and +3 at 10th level.
Unarmed Damage: A Sacred Fist deals unarmed combat as a monk of equal level. A Sacred Fist's monk level (if any) stacks with his class level for the purposes of determining unarmed damage.
Fast Movement: If the Sacred Fist has levels of Monk, his Sacred Fist level stacks with his monk level for purposes of determining Monk Speed. Otherwise he gets the equivalent of Monk Speed at 3rd level, and it progresses identically to the 3rd level monk ability Monk Speed.
Sacred Flames: At 4th level the Sacred Fist can invoke sacred flames around his fists. These flames add to the Sacred Fist's unarmed damage. The additional damage is equal to the Sacred Fist's class level plus Wisdom modifier. This lasts 10 combat rounds. This ability initially can only be used once per day, increasing to twice per day at 8th level.
Uncanny Dodge: At 6th level, the Sacred Fist retains any Dexterity bonus to AC when flat-footed or when struck by an invisible attacker.
Inner Armor: At 10th level, the Sacred Fist can protect himself from harm once per day. He gets a +4 sacred bonus to AC, a +4 sacred bonus on all saves, and a spell resistance equal to 25 for a number of rounds equal to his Wisdom modifier.
Community Works

Bastard Sword Override by Riuthamus


It looks as though Riuthamus has started a series of custom weapon models. The goal looks to be to make more accurate, and less fantastic weapons. His first weapon pack, Bastard Swords, can be found here on NWVault.


RWS Bridge Pack by Robinson Workshop

The guys at Robinson Workshop have released their bridge pack. You can have a look here on NWVault.


Persistent World Spotlight: Sundren
by Saulus Mursadus

What is Sundren?
Allow me to introduce Sundren. Sundren is a low magic Neverwinter Nights 2 persistent world, in the heavy roleplaying category. We are constantly improving our module, as well as the extensive backend we provide for the server. We also provide a community portal with forums and a photo gallery which our users can submit images to. The website is hosted on a dedicated server, as is our in-house client updater and our development server. What this means for you as a player, is that our uptime is nothing short of excellent, and that you will be able to be online when you please, independent of what time zone you just might happen to live in. Our development server and bug tracking system allows us to replicate and respond to the bugs you report much, much faster.

Storyline
Sundren is set in the Forgotten Realms, using a timeline only slightly altered from the material provided by Wizards of the Coast. The land of Sundren is located south of Icewind Dale, near the spine of the world. Encircled by imposing mountain ranges and treacherous reefs, Sundren is a very recent land in the Forgotten Realms timeline. Having never been plagued by the wars and territory disputes of older kingdoms, Sundren has recently become the focus of several organizations interested in the vast amount of precious minerals the country’s rocky soil provides. Ruthless merchant organizations converge on the ripe land, as does several much more nefarious organizations. The black hand of Bane threatens the peace of the Vale by their sheer presence, as does the terrible and powerful Bloodmaim orcs, and the Mossclaw Alliance; Kobolds and Gnolls under a common banner.

Not all is bleak, however. The paladins of Helm have recently arrived, and are taking the fight back to the Banites and lawbreakers that threaten Sundren.

The Triumvirate, those who serve Tyr, Torm and Illmater, rally even today on the battlefield, and ready to take the fight back to the enemy.

Be you from faraway Thay, or a simple Waterdhavian merchant, Sundren welcomes you.

Features
One of the first things you will notice when you log onto Sundren, is the quality and craftsmanship of our Areas. We take great pride in them, and always try to perfect them even further. They have been painstakingly created to immerse the player into the world. They convey their level of detail in a manner never seen before using the Neverwinter Nights 2 platform, and in addition to this, follow very stringent performance requirements, to make the most of every inch of your monitor, while not grinding your PC to a halt.

Sundren employs use of a completely custom loot drop system using a DB backend that allows detailed implementation of random loot generation down to ¼ billionths of a percent. Associated tables make specific drops for creatures easier, and the system also features random magic item generation. Overall this system gives much more detail to random loot method. The system is also very efficient with very little overhead.

We are currently developing one of the best and most robust quest systems possible in any CRPG, allowing us to create anything from the simple “fetch this” quests, to the multi-subquest epically scoped quests provided in the endgame phase, in the most resource effective manner possible.

Not only that, but you will also be seeing a lot of unique and onetime quests in the world, that follow one of the overarching storylines. We always maintain a high DM-to-Player ratio, in order to be able to provide you with an excellent experience, even if you just log in for a chat over the campfire. Who would not like it if the local guard joined the casual chat in a relaxed and natural manner?

This brings us to the matter of experience and leveling, a major stumbling block of many major persistent worlds. We genuinely have you and your characters best interest at heart, and thus have implemented a very soft cap on the experience you can achieve. In the beginning you will face a level restriction, which will increase as your character ages. As well as this, we know very well that grinding bores you, and thus, it is not a viable option for attaining high levels in unheard of spans of time. Instead, we encourage team play by actively increasing the amount of experience you gain when you are part of a group.

The world not only seems and looks alike, it also feels alike. We implement a very carefully managed and balanced economy, which is driven as much by our players as the seasons and the way the harvest was this year. In other words, the local village smith will not suddenly be buying or selling major magical items of any kind, but one of the highly specialized vendors in the major city of Sundren will.

This is of course also combined with a crafting system. We utilize a heavily modified and balanced version of the crafting system made by Obsidian Entertainment for the official Neverwinter Nights 2 Campaign, simply because we believe it is the best way to implement crafting in a CRPG environment while still maintaining a good balance of magical item distribution.

You have, of course, made mistakes during character creation, or simply disliked a character that you previously created. While we do not cap the amount of characters you can create in any way, we understand that you will want to avoid cluttering your character selection screen. Therefore, we provide you with an easy to use ingame context menu option for deleting the currently logged on character. We of course provide multiple layers of security for this, to avoid mistaken deletions. This is just one of the many plug-in’s we provide to you, to make the experience even more seamless and immersing.

Of course, what we provide for you does not stop there. We are constantly adding and refining a large amount of high quality content, and we are fiercely determined to be the very best at what we do.
This means that we also have to look ahead. In that vein, we are already working on ways to implement and make the most of the systems and additional options that the coming expansion for NWN2 will provide us with. Early adoption is paramount to us when Mask of The Betrayer is launched.

In par with our commitment to be the best, we listen to what our players have to say. Every comment and suggestion is much appreciated by the team behind Sundren. Our forums are very active, and we are very much looking forward to seeing your first posts there as well!

Sincerely,
The Sundren Development Team
http://www.sundren.org/
Special Thanks
Before ending this week's Blog, I wanted to make a couple notes of thanks here. First, to the players and staff of two great Persistent Worlds - Dragon Coast: Shores of Haldun and Sundren (this week's PW Spotlight). Both of these two PWs have been especially helpful in testing out the 1.07 patch. So, my thanks to you and the appreciation of the entire NWN2 team as well.

Second, We had a press event here this week to show off Mask of The Betrayer. We were able to sneak the guys from Robinson Workshop in and a couple guys from Rogue Dao Studios were able to infiltrate the event as well. All of us at Obsidian appreciate what you are doing for the community and have been greatly impressed by your work.

Now, being the vindictive gamers we are, once we caught the Rogue Dao guys, we tied them to a chair and made them watch old episodes of Manimal until they showed us Purgatorio. All I can say is I can't wait to get my hands on this mod. You guys should be proud of what you have achieved. As a note to the Community: even if you don't normally like Single Player modules, you should play this mod.

Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the event and that you had the chance to chat with all the developers you wanted. The pictures came out great and, don't worry, we won't tell anyone your secrets.


That's about it for this week's update. See you all next week.


Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
September 29, 2007

We have had a busy week with the release of Mask of The Betrayer and the 1.10 patch. As such, the update had to be pushed back slightly, hence the Saturday update this week. For this update we will talk a bit about the 1.10 patch, Mask of The Betrayer and take a look at a veritable cornucopia of community-made custom content.

1.10 Patch
The 1.10 patch was released this week. It is the 1.07 patch with only data fixes, to cut down on any issues that could arise with MoTB since MoTB went to the manufacturer and distributor before 1.10 could be released. As always, we would love to hear your constructive comments on it and we have a thread going in the NWN2 general form on the Bioware site for you to report any bugs you may encounter with the patch.

As a general rule though, for this patch, if you are having any issues, particularly with performance or graphics anomalies, take a couple moments to rename the Neverwinter Nights 2 folder in your My Documents directory and start the game again to see if the issue is still happening. This often clears out any conflicts you have with files, hacks and overrides and will fix most issues.

Mask of The Betrayer
Mask of The Betrayer has been released in Europe and our friends over the pond seem to be enjoying it! The story in Mask is quite a bit darker than the previous NWN titles and introduces a new mechanic to the game: your character is cursed! We have also ratcheted up the difficulty in the game and I am hearing that many feel it is the most difficult D&D game yet: they really have to think through their encounters - no more breezing your way through.

It won't be long before it is released in America and Australia shortly thereafter. I know it's difficult, but we will have to put up with the European's teasing just a little while longer.

MoTB Missing Text Fix
Many are reporting an issue with missing text in MoTB. Please see this post in the Bioware forums for a hot fix.

Coming Soon!
So many of you have seen we have talked about the ability to use custom portraits instead of the default 3d portraits of NWN2. For those with MoTB installed, you can see that we have used this for the companions and other creatures.

Right now, there is no easy way to set the portraits for characters as you could during character creation in NWN1, so we started work on a system to allow this. But, after some discussions we felt that Persistent World Players needed something more. For those of you that don't play on PWs, it's important to understand that characters evolve on PWs, as well as the world around them. As such, we felt it would be great if you could actually change your portrait during play. So, once the feature is released in a patch you will be able to double-click on your portrait in the character screen and a portrait selection dialog (shown below) will appear. You will be able to change your portrait as often as you like and, as long as other players have your portrait in their portraits folder (My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\Portraits), they will be able to see the change as well. If you ever want to go back to your 3d game-generated portrait, just click the clear button.


Community Works

Glacier's Edge Sword by Freeloader

This sword model from Freeloader is one of the entries into the Custom Content contest. You can download it http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2M...etail&id=79 from http://nwvault.ign.com/

New Armor by barrelofmonkeyzz and Runnerduck

This armor set by barrelofmonkeyzz and Runnerduck, while it is still only a work in progress, will also be an entry in the Custom Content contest. As it is a work in progress, no download link can be provided, but you can discuss it in this thread, in the NWN2 forums

Both of the entries - sword and armor - look great! Good job guys.

Nytir's Building Construction Kit: Oriental Expansion

Nytir continues work on his Building Construction Kit by adding this Oriental buildings expansion. You can download it here on NWVault.

This package contains 107 parts suitable for oriental adventures. (Or Kara-Tur adventures in the Forgotten Realms)


With that, I bring this week's Blog to a close. As always, I will try to answer any questions or comments you may have. See you next week and Happy MoTB, for those of you that have it.




Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
October 19, 2007
Hello everyone! It has been a while since the last Community Update. Things have been pretty busy here, with the release of Mask of The Betrayer in Europe and America - with Australia not too far away. The forums are super busy everyone seems to be enjoying the game.

This week we are going to take a quick look at some of the community works. Robinson Workshops is close to releasing a treasure chest full of builder goodness and There are some great placeable objects hitting the vault as well. We are also going to take a look at the Neverwinter Citadel community site.

A Look at NWCitadel
By: dunniteowl


Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
November 2, 2007

Hello everyone. It's update time again. For this issue we will be taking a look at a mod by Chimneyfish that makes the NPC heads available for playable characters. We will also look at an area prefab by SGK73 and we have a small interview of Kaedrin, author of some great Prestige Classes and some expanded spell books for some of the NWN2 Prestige Classes. But first, before we go too much further, please take a moment to answer http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?au...=2&showentry=96
Playable NPC Heads
Immagine

Looking for some more diversity in your characters? Chimneyfish has made the NWN2 NPC heads available to players during character creation.

This mod can be viewed http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2H...l.Detail&id=246 on NWVault
Area Prefab: Ritual Sites - Just Add Encounters
Immagine 2
SGK73 has created another Area Prefab. His prefabs, always tagged with "Just add encounters," allow builders to create modules quickly and easily by providing high-quality, pre-made areas that can just be inserted into your module.

You can find out more here.


Kaedrin: Custom Classes for the Masses

In case you haven't been watching the forums, there has been a great effort underway by Kaedrin to create some Custom Prestige Classes. What started as a wish to improve one of his favorite classes, has turned into him becoming a one-man powerhouse of custom content creation. So far Kaedrin's work has contributed about 50 new spells, some new feats, a handful of prestige classes, spellbooks for Blackguards and Assassins, ammo crafting and ranged combat enchantment upgrades and new and revised spell domains.

As community members ourselves, many of us at OEI have been watching his progress with great interest, and enjoying the results of his creations, too. It's always great to see what community members can do in NWN2. So, with all of this in mind, I asked Kaedrin if he would be willing to share his experiences with us.


I followed this up with some additional questions for Kaedrin:

Q: Do you have experience modding in other games?


QUOTE
Not really. I'm usually too busy playing the games to work in the SDKs they provide on new content. Very few games have had the lifespan and community interest and support that NWN has so it's usually been a matter of moving on to a new game and replaying favorites after a couple years. I did some work in NWN1 though very little of it was released to the public. The content was for a module I ended up not releasing due to terminal feature creep.

Q: What is the most difficult thing for you, when it comes to creating custom PrCs, spells, etc.?


QUOTE
The hardest thing to do is to decide what would be a fair and reasonable substitute ability for a feat or spell that doesn't translate well (or at all) from PnP to a CRPG, NWN2 in particular. I try to come up with a solution that meets the spirit or intent of the original content without making it too weak or too strong. Not an easy task!

Q: Is there anything that makes creating custom classes, etc. easier for you?


QUOTE
I've taken a number of lessons I've learned as a software developer professionally and applied them to how I generate custom content. Before I start working a specific set of content I come up with a feature list that I try to stick to since I have a habit of jumping around content areas. I keep a set of modules for testing the different ways I distribute content (single player and two different methods for multiplayer/module developers) that I try to use for the development of each release. Inside the single player test module I keep a few scripts representative of areas of content (AE spells, persistent feats, buffs) for easy reference along with the magic altar for leveling up test characters. I use the script editor and the Toolset -> Run module option a LOT to speed up development. In order to keep track of everything I have done, I keep a master module saved in directory mode that is the repository for all of my scripts, blueprints, and conversations to make it easy to do a complete rebuild.

When it's time to work on new content, I create a copy of the single player test module and begin working inside that module for all of the new scripts. The first step is to complete all of the scripting work. Second I develop the 2DA entries for the scripts. Then I go back to the source and type up the TLK entries. Once those steps are done I begin testing it with a new character until I'm satisified the content is working and then create the other versions for distribution.

Q: Is there anything we could do to make things easier for you?


QUOTE
There are a few 2DAs that I could use some better documentation on and a few areas of functionality hidden behind the engine that would be nice to have exposed. The ReqType column of the CLS_Pres_*.2da file being one area we have limited information on. In the feats.2da file, I was wondering if the "GAINMULTIPLE" and "EFFECTSSTACK" column were working? I haven't had time to test it myself yet though I will soon to see if I can stack sneak attack dice instead of coming up with a total between multiple PrCs and granting all the feats up to that one.

New functionality I'd love to see would be the ability to have a feat instant like Divine Shield. I believe there was a column added late in NWN1 that would tell the engine to fire off the script instantly. There are a lot of spells and feats that benefit from this without needing to change them to last for a few rounds to make up for the lost round activating the ability.

There are some areas of functionality that would be nice to have exposed from the engine but these are also the areas I expect the least amount of changes in. There are a few abilities in the game (Death Attack, Stunning Fist, Smite) that a CC developer has no access to. If we could set a local variable on a character that added to certain abilities and the engine pick that up it would go a long way to "customizing" key abilities without requiring they be moved out of the engine. For example, a localint on a character named "DC_Mod_Death_Attack" that the engine would add to it's calculated total would solve any custom class abilities that we might want to tweak. Bonus_Damage_Smite for Smite. This could be used as a way to do "stacking" bonuses for class or racial abilities and would be the icing on the cake. If Obsidian came up with a dozen or two local variables that the community could modify (each of the stats, each of the AC types, a few abilitity DC's that we can't change the scripts on, etc) we would be able to implement just about anything we might want. An alternative might be for Obsidian to add some feats that accomplish the same thing behind the scenes like the RDD feats. One for +1 Dex, one for +2 Dex, etc. A few of the feats could really use this for the number of uses a day as well (Smite, Stunning Fist, Bard Song) since we can't really add new versions of the feat.

The last thing I can think of (shooting for the moon with everything of course ) is probably a solution for the need to override the dialog.tlk file. If the OC/MotB modules had a blank custom.tlk associated with them (and they worked from the override) the community would never need to alter the Dialog.tlk file again. Content developers would only need to do one version of their projects instead of two (one with the Dialog.tlk values for single player, one with Custom.tlk values for Module/PW developers) which would save an INSANE amount of time and testing. I plan to experiment with my install directory a bit the weekend after next and see if this would work by adding a blank tlk to one of the OC modules in it's campaign directory and then dropping my custom.tlk in an override without a dialog.tlk and see if the string table values are found.

Oh yeah, one more! Heh. How about adding more domain slots to the character bic file and a script function to add a domain to the character via a id from the domains.2da file? There are a lot of divine PrCs with bonus domains I'm looking at doing with the subradial spell-feats (though I'd need 1-2 per domain) that are going to be deeply time consuming if I go this route. I'm not opposed to it, but there might be an easier way!

Q: Is there any PrC you especially look forward to implementing?


QUOTE
That's a pretty difficult question to answer. Since I got into NWN2 CC in order to upgrade the Paladin, the Annointed Knight is probably the one PrC I most look forward to. The idea of a Paladin wielding an ancestral blade with a thirst for knowledge seeking to stop evil and better themself? Very hard to pass up! That said, I'm really looking forward to working on (and playing) the Seeker of the Song as well since bards are my second favorite class behind Paladins (followed distantly by the Favored Soul, many thanks for the class!).

That's a lot of great information. Thanks for taking the time, Kaedrin.

For more information on Kaedrin's work, you can visit his website here.
Kaedrin's PrC pack with new PrCs, feats, and spells: Click Here
Kaedrin's Crafting mod with enchanted ranged/thrown weapons and craftable ammo: Click Here


That wraps up this edition of the Community Update. As always, questions and comments are always welcome. Also, you can contact me via PM here, or on the NWN2 forums.

Edited by Cattaneo R - 20/2/2008, 18:27

Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
November 21, 2007

This week we will take a look at some community content, a single player module and a return of the PW Spotlight. I have also started things off with a look at the 3C project - Something everyone should be interested in contributing to.

Community Content Compilation (3C)

Follow this link to download http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2H...l.Detail&id=186
for the 3C Forums, and additional information, just follow this link: http://planewalker.eamped.com/community-co...ion-3c-vc6.html

Community Works

Script: Creatures follow through transitions
Ever have trouble getting creatures to chase players through transitions? Take a look at this script by ArPharazon:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2S...s.Detail&id=174
Tourney Field: Just add encounters
Clicca quì per vedere l'immagine
SGK73 has created another great prefab area for builders to drop into their modules. This time he brings us a tournament and jousting field.

You can download the Prefab here http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2P...s.Detail&id=252 on Vault
Module Spotlight: Sands of Solvheil II: Beneath the Hearleforne
by Raith Veldrin
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine

To download http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2M...h.Detail&id=188
http://solvheil.blogspot.com/

Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
December 7, 2007
Hello again! For this update we will talk about some changes, a custom mod and some community works.

Monty is Assimilated!
Well, more like he has come to the Dark Side.

Monty Markland has come to work for Obsidian Entertainment. "Who is this Markland guy," you ask? He was the head of the Community Modding group Rogue Dao Studios - the makers of that great Purgatorio mod we have all been watching so closely. So, to ease your fears about this change, while we fit him for his cybernetic eye and re-designate him as 110 of 110, I held Monty at gunpoint to get him to write this little message to you all:

That really seems like his writing, right? Cool.

We welcome Monty to the hive and look forward to the food he brings us.

Harp & Chrysanthemum - A Custom Module by Maerduin

Harp & Chrysanthemum is a custom mod created by Maerduin. While you are reading his summary below, you can start downloading the mod http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2M...h.Detail&id=206

Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
December 21, 2007
This is the last Blog for 2007. As we bring a busy year to a close, we'll take a look at a cool product, some shuffling in the Purgatorio team, an excellent modification to the game, another great tileset from the RWS guys and an update on the 1.12 patch progress.

An Interesting Product

Normally, I wouldn't be on here talking about other products, but we have been having some fun with this one, so I thought I'd share.

Matrox has created a hardware device that allows you to connect three monitors to combine them into one big monitor. Here's a shot of our test system showing what it's like:
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
You can find out more by visiting Matrox's website here
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/surroundgaming/en/home/
Additions to the Purgatorio Team

So, with Monty coming over to Obsidian Entertainment, they apparently needed to bring on a herd of new people to fill his shoes on the Purgatorio Team. The folks at Rogue Dao have assimilated Baron and Hellfire and have started putting them to the whip to help finish up their Planescape mod. I know all of these guys will be great additions to the team.


Crafting Mod in Progress For NWNX4

Carter DC has created a great system for crafting in NWN2 - much like the old NWN1 Crafting System that was made available in one of the expansions. This system will allow you to change and re-color your armor/clothing and much more! You can check it out here on Neverwinter Nights 2 Vault.

New Concept from Robinson Workshops

The guys at Robinson Workshops have come up with a new concept for their tileset work: Pocket Tilesets. Their newest entry on NWVault, Pocket Citadel, includes an explanation of this new concept:

Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagineAlong with this new concept, the guys at RWS have released their first pocket tileset - the Pocket Citadel. "Originally envisioned as an expansion to the Deep Halls Tileset but it gre to the point where it seemed to make more sense to release it on its own. It follows a more dwarven feel than the Deep halls set."

You can find this great tileset http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2H...l.Detail&id=278 on the NWVault.

1.12 Progress

Just a little update on the 1.12 patch.

As you know we are attempting to move forward with a new patch process. Some of those changes are a shorter development cycle to allow us to get the patches out to you faster, and a closed beta period where some community members can get a sneak peek at the patch and provide some feedback for fixes and changes. As we release more patches, the process will continue to evolve and improve.

The patches themselves will evolve along the way as well. Today, I will bring you the first changes to the 1.12 patch as we remove some items from the list to make room for some other, more urgent fixes.

Looking at this list, I still feel it is extremely ambitious, so it may get cut down a bit more. We are also still gathering feedback from the 1.11 patch and Hotfix, ,which will probably alter the list a little more. We are still finalizing things and development on this patch should be starting around mid-January.


Well, that brings this Blog to an end. From all of us at Obsidian: Happy holidays to all of you and best wishes in the new year!

See you next year!



Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
January 11, 2008
Quick update today as things are pretty busy with 1.12 getting underway...

3d Model Contest
Just a quick update on the model contest. We received a lot of great entries. Unfortunately, many of those entries also came with the accusation of plagiarism. That means the entries have to be reviewed for authenticity, unfortunately this is proving difficult. I am now planning to announce the winners in February to give us time to review all the entries.


1.12 Patch News
The patch is technically in a pre-production phase right now. We may need to do some work to prepare for Ossian's Mysteries of Westgate Adventure Pack and that is delaying the shift into full production phase. In the meantime, some progress has been made.

As I said, this update would be short. I plan to do another update next week with a bit more info and our regular community works section.



Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
February 1, 2008
Just a quick update on the patch progress today since I was out of office for a week+. I will be going through the volunteers for the closed beta next week, so you may receive an e-mail or PM from me.

I think next week I will give another update and include some community content and perhaps a PW spotlight, for those of you that have been missing that.

So, without further delay...


Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
February 17, 2008

This week's Blog is dedicated to the fine folks over at the http://neverwinternightspodcast.com/ Apparently Jay has been missing the community content side of things. Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything on that, so today's Blog will focus mostly on that side of the community. We will also feature another Persistent World spotlight and talk a bit about the upcoming patch.

Community Works

RWS Pocket Cathedral

Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine

The guys from Robinson Workshop have released their Pocket Cathedrals product! These guys have been working hard on a lot of architectural packs for NWN2 and this Cathedral pack is just another example of their quality work.

You can find out more on NWVault here.

BTH Shield Pack
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
A great shield pack from Barry the Hatchet. You can find it here on NWVault.

Wicked Leather
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
One of the more difficult items to model for NWN2 is armor and clothing. nzdawghaus brings us some 'wicked leather' armor. You can find it http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2M...s.Detail&id=138

DMFI Bulletin Board

Clicca quì
Qkrch has released a great tool to integrate into your modules and persistent worlds. You can check it out on Neverwinter Nights Vault http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2UI.Detail&id=96

Persistent World Spotlight: The Known Lands
By Deider
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
What is the world known to its inhabitants simply as The Known Lands?

... a world of islands, where continents are myth. These islands dot the Ebon Sea, and are home to mountain ranges with dwarven citadels, forests of elves and fey, and plains occupied by the nations of humans and other races.

… a world of ages, the current one said by sages to be the Third. Legend holds that the Second Age ended in a cataclysm so mighty it wiped out all civilization. Three thousand years into the Third Age, all that remains of the Second are crumbling ruins… and rumors of artifacts and relics of unbridled power.

… a world of revelations, in which not all is as it seems. Forty years ago the people of The Known Lands were shocked to discover that beneath the dwarven citadels lies another realm, a seemingly never-ending labyrinth of tunnels and caverns labeled the Underdark. More recently wild elves, heretofore unknown to the rest of the world, emerged from their desert home
clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
… a world in turmoil. Thirty years ago the drow – the only creatures to have emerged from the Underdark – attacked most of the dwarves in their citadels, almost annihilating the race, only to disappear as quickly as they came. Many people responded by uniting to form nations for collective defense; one of these new nations displaced the halflings from their homeland, causing what some have called genocide. Decades have passed since these events, and at last calm has settled over the land – much as it does before a storm.

… a world of adventure. Will the mysteries and secrets of the Underdark be laid open? Will the drow be found and the dwarves avenged? Will the Third Age continue in peace, or will it end in fire like its predecessor? When The Known Lands are threatened, will heroes rise up to save it?

The History
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
The Known Lands (TKL) gameworld started as a pen and paper (PnP) game in 1998, transitioned into a play-by-e-mail (PBEM) campaign in 2000, and, thanks to Obsidian, morphed into a NWN2 persistent world (PW) which went live in April, 2007. It is a setting rich in detail, further expanded by the actions of player characters (PCs); many of the world’s famous non-player characters (NPCs) were PCs played in the PnP and PBEM games (and some of the players of those characters are now staff members for the TKL PW).

The Philosophy
At TKL we are determined to create a PW that has a PnP feel. The prime example of this philosophy is our party system. PCs are assigned to parties; each party has a weekly session run by its party DM. This ensures that all PCs in TKL interact at least once a week with a DM, and are able to spend time with a stable group of fellow players. The parties take part in plots and adventures in which their PC backgrounds may come to the fore, and where their actions have lasting effects on the gameworld.

PC interaction is not limited to party events. As a PW, TKL is online 24/7, and PCs from various parties can and do meet online all the time. DMs also run free-for-all events, in which any PC can join.

What to do when a DM is not online? While our focus is on roleplay, TKL has its share of bells and whistles – a dynamic loot system, advanced item crafting, enchanting, and customization, automated scripted quests, perilous areas full of traps and monsters, even a custom card game – to enjoy when your party is not trying to save (or take over) the world
Clicca quì per visualizzare l'immagine
more importantly, our PnP philosophy towards TKL extends to our attitude towards players. We pride ourselves on being a small, intimate PW with an extremely friendly community. Players and staff alike treat each other with respect, and issues are discussed maturely and rationally. And while we are serious about roleplay (as can be seen from our relatively detailed player application), we know not to take ourselves too seriously – at the end of the day, TKL is all about people getting together and having fun.

The Call
An established gameworld with detailed lore. An experienced, friendly staff. A mature, respectful community. A beautifully, soundly built (and constantly expanding) module. Guaranteed consistent DM interaction. A world shaped by your input and your character’s actions. If you are looking for these things, then you will find them… in The Known Lands
http://knownlands.com/
Patch 1.12 Update
Well, we have hit the lockdown phase for the 1.12 patch. You can find a discussion and preview of the patch notes here, on the NWN2 forums.

From here we go into the localization and testing phase of production. We have already been testing the fixes and changes as they were implemented - making tweaks along the way. But we will be testing the patch in more depth and we will be starting the closed beta very soon. If you signed up to help, expect that you will be involved. I should either be PMing you or sending you an e-mail this week with instructions. After testing, we will enter the finalization phase where the patch is fully built and released.

Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
February 29th, 2008.

Being that today is the 29th of February, a slightly different day, I thought I would do something slightly different for today's Blog. For about two hours today Khaveen gathered questions from members of the NWN2 community then passed them on to me for answers. For various reasons, I was not able to answer all of them, but the vast majority are answered below. I am also going to announce a new contest for the NWN2 community.

NWN2 Area Design Contest
I am happy to announce the next contest for the Neverwinter Nights 2 Community. This contest will be an area design contest. You do not have to put in creatures or encounters, this is simply a contest for the most beautiful areas.

All work must be your own and the areas must be built and useable in the NWN2 Toolset. No plagiarism will be allowed. You can submit UP TO THREE (3) areas, packaged in a single module. Entries are to be submitted on the NWVault, under Area Prefabs for NWN2. There is a NWN2 Area Contest category you can submit them under. Areas can be any size, but they must be exteriors (larger areas are better, but not necessary). You can use custom content that is currently on the vault, or you can use custom content that is on the vault by the time the contest ends.

Some of the things we will look at would be the best use of space, overall beauty and originality.

The top two winners of the contest will receive a new Matrox TripleHead2Go device. You can start submitting your entries to the vault now and the contest will end on March 31st at midnight, Pacific time.

As for the Custom Content contest, I am afraid that the accusations of plagiarism have made it impossible to judge this contest. As such, no prizes will be awarded for it and no winner will be announced. It is unfortunate, since the entries were all very nice.

Community Q&A

Q: What is the current estimated release date for the upcoming NWN2 Adventure Pack: Mysteries of Westgate?
Ossian Studios is working on this project. They would have the best information available to answer this.

Q: Atari's business release seems to have hinted at plans for a second expansion pack to NWN2. Any comment?
We would love to work on a second expansion.

Q: In which patch might we see a fix for the ActionSit() script? Would you consider using existing community hak work in it like Heed's ActionSit()?
We have commented on this in the past. Basically, sitting is a lower priority for us than other functions and features in the game. That doesn't mean we will never fix it. I have just seen Heed's ActionSit on the Vault. I will need to check it out more but, if he is willing and it doesn't cause any issues, I might look into integrating it in a patch.

Q: How far ahead do you plan when it comes to the patches? The 1.12 patch is currently in beta, so do you have plans in general what focus the 1.15 patch will have for example? How does that work?
I have talked about this a bit in the past. I generally plan about three patches out (current patch +2 patches), but the plan stays flexible enough to change things if need be. With the 1.12 patch, there were some things reported by the community that seemed pretty important. We took a look at what we had planned for the patch and realized that we would need to bump some issues from 1.12, so we let community members decide which issues would get bumped.

Q5: How many people are on the team that works on the NWN2 patches?
We have a core team of about 5 people and we pull in any number of other people when we need them.

Q: Was the Mask of the Betrayer expansion a financial success for Obsidian?
MoTB did really well for an expansion. It was in the top ten in Europe for quite a while. Though an expansion will never do as well as the main title, we are pretty satisfied with how MoTB was received.

Q: Are there any plans for further optimization of the NWN2 engine (load times, performance, graphics)?
We are constantly making optimizations to the engine.

Q: With the ability to have 2d player portraits, what are the various portrait sizes we need to have?
128 x 128 TGAs

Q: After having changed the testing process with the 1.12 beta test, do you think the initial plan of targeting 6 weeks per patch cycle is still viable?
Yes. 1.12 was sort of a test to see how much we could do in a given period. Thanks to some delays in the beginning, there is much more content in 1.12 than there will be in later patches - we just kept adding things in while we were waiting for something. After 1.12 is released, I think the smaller six-week patches is very possible.

Q: Are there any cool new scripts planned to be added (or fixed or enhanced) in upcoming patches? Can you share any details?
There's a couple I can tell you about. In 1.12 we will be making the ability to change the scale of an object available through scripting. Additionally, in 1.13, we will be adding a set of Get and Set Custom Heartbeat functions for both creatures and placeables. This is really powerful for things like custom AI and such... watch for more information on this as we get closer to 1.13.

Q: Are you still planning to allow HAKs to load before the character creation? Any timing estimate for this?
Currently we are planning that for the 1.14 patch.

Q: Do you see Obsidian still supporting the NWN2 community in 2010 (patches, forums, etc.)?
Unfortunately I forgot my magic 8 ball at home...

Q: Are you planning on adding any base classes, either in an expansion or an adventure pack?
I believe Ossian is adding a base class in MoW, but I am not 100% sure.

Q: Will weather ever get fixed/fully implemented in the toolset? I want my raging blizzards and torrential rain falls.
It's possible. Right now I am trying to keep us focused on issues that are more core to the game.

Q: Is there any possibility that Hide in Plain Sight could be changed to have creatures hostile to the hider (say within 20m) automatically attempt to spot the hiding creature when he uses this ability? This would prevent creatures using HiPS from getting free sneak attacks against creatures that should be able to detect them during that time interval between their hiding and the creature's natural perception event.
Creatures should automatically be attempting to spot invisible/hidden creatures. If they aren't, that would be a bug.

Q: Is there any possibility that the bug with missile spells shredding spell mantles will be resolved as well as any fixes to the impossible-to-defend-against bigby spells (5 and 6)?
It's always possible. As we go through the spell issues and take care of base functionality, we will be better able to address and add "new" functionality.

Q: Would it be possible to get functions that would return the AB of creature's highest AB attack, as well a function to get the creature's AC by type (e.g., get its dodge AC or natural AC)? These functions would be invaluable to those of us who write custom AI scripts.
I'll see what we can do.

Q: Could we get the option to set a creature's school of specialization as well as its domain in the toolset blueprint editor?
I'll see what we can do.

Q: Will there be officially supported class balances (that is, like giving the Pale Master 9/10 spell progression or making wildshape/polymorph an effective playstyle)?
I think things like this can be seen in the future. We have been talking a bit about changes to the Warlock class to balance it and make it a more interesting class to play. I would like to see changes to the Pale Master and Blackguard classes, myself.

Q: Is retroactive 'tintability' going to happen (like making the brown bear black, for instance)?
Perhaps I am not understanding the question. I believe you can tint a bear that has been instantiated (placed) already.

Q: Will there be expanded functionality in the VFX editor? For instance, having 'locked' effects, like polar, but having the ability to change their angle (like cartesian effects).
I do not think there are any changes planned for the VFX editor in the near future.

Q: Are we going to see new models (placeables and creatures) added in patches, or will they be limited to 'paid products' only?
We have a couple things in the works but, as you can guess, the legalities of including community-made content are difficult at best.

Q: Do you plan to fix the GetNext*() bug with merchants soon?
This is tentatively planned for 1.14, but this item may change as we progress through the patches.

Q: Can we expect more fixes for the toolset?
Yes. Specifically, we should see a fix for the multi-select crash issue in the 1.13 patch.

Q: Are there any plans to add the scripting hooks that were added in later NWN1 patches (1.66 to 1.69 once 1.69 is final)?
Yes.

Q: When a new module is created, it is missing defaults for most of the module events. Could this be fixed to point to new default scripts (that are simple empty mains) for consistent module development?
I'll see what we can do.

Q: Could the Wildshape uses per day be incremented when a cutscene strips the effect off (one line code change for both MotB and the OC)?
This sounds like a bug. I'll see if we can get this into one of the next couple patches.

Q: Can Obsidian provide Tazpn (or anyone else) with any information that would help him with importing animations from .gr2 files? That feature is at a dead end and we could really use it.
If Tazpn contacts me, I'll see what I can get to him.

Q: is OEI aware of the CopyObject() problem when used with creatures? If so, is it on the Fix list? if not, what does OEI need from us to validate the problem?
You would have to be a bit more clear as to what the problem is. Does it not work? Does it copy money and such?

Q: There seems to be an issue creating mystic-theurge type prestige classes (seems to require the replacement of the harper agent PrC). Is OEI planning on addressing this (and other PrC class specific CC defects)?
We would have to know more about this issue to address it properly.

Q: Is OEI planning to implement the ability to create instant action feats (like elephant hide) in the near future?
I was just talking to some people about this this morning. I can't promise that anything will be changed, but I am hopeful.


That will bring an end to another Blog. Stay tuned for patch news next week.

Great Blog!