Wednesday 4 June 2008

Final post for a while...




If these last few days have seemed like a blitz of action...well, that's because they have been. I've got some decent looking stuff down in preparation for at least a fortnight away from the toolset or NWN2; but before I went, I did get a chance to test-play the majority of the mod up until the Stair with a full party (excluding Char, so it's a total of 7 including the PC). I had a hell of a lot of fun, though obviously it affects gameplay and difficulty!
Anyway, accounting for the rest of the Stair-puzzles will take a while- and the Forlorn Tower, plus polishing off some combat for the 'Tale of Two Gangs' sidequest, perhaps a few mini-quests (I'm thinking of giving Char a 'hitlist' evil or neutral characters can help him complete)..well, I don't want to talk about release dates for the alpha yet. Major concern at the moment is the 'Masked Ball'- I'm torn as to whether to keep it a nice, crowded 'chatting' static event or to horribly complicate things by trying to have actual dancing, probably slowing game speed by who knows what...any good scripters out there have suggestions on the subject?
Cheers,
Nick

7 comments:

AmstradHero said...

You've got some great looking screenshots in those recent posts! The areas look interesting, as do the characters and dialog! Keep up the good work!

EC said...

Enjoy your break! I agree with Amstradhero: the screens look great (haven't had the chance to read the posts fully, but I'm sure they're promising too :) ). I like the lighting and general mood of them. Nice job!

Phoenixus said...

I've been watching your updates in this little flurry, but I have to say I am still strangely fascinated by your concept and style.

This is a good thing when it comes down to it because if it has that effect, then it will most likely be successful.

Amraphael said...

Good looking screenies! I haven't seen you blog before, But I find your work promising and will follow it with interest.

mooncalf165 said...

amstradhero, e.c., phoenixus, amraphael...thanks! Especially glad to hear that the mod seems to have a 'style' as is instead of...well, a mess is how I generally see it.

EC said...

Regarding the Ball sequence: I don't know what type of "dancing" you had in mind, but I'm not sure if the dancing anims would be appropriate for a high-brow ball.

Otherwise, what could be the options? Having the NPCs walk and turn around in a syncronized fashion along walkwaypoints? That should be easily manageable through scripting. But I wonder if it would look at all convincing.

Might be better to simply have the NPCs talk in small groups while some musicians perform. Maybe have some servants and some guests move from group to group.

mooncalf165 said...

That's actually what I went for in the end, E.C.- 'noble' guests chatting and butler-types weaving their way through the crowds. Having an actual dance would've been wrong for the situation, I guess, but the possibilities of even having the PC 'dance' with a romanceable companion were too tempting to pass up at first!