A Night at the Gala (Undercover)

The Masked Ball is...well, not nearly complete (as obvious by the clusters of similar-looking people wearing the same colour, and the single butler wandering around). I'm adding in more movement, more NPCs...some of whom are ambassadors from beloved FR locations.

This section's going to be a bit of fun, really. You're sneaking into the ball under the guise of the Waterdhavian Ambassador- but you can either hurry on and throw away your disguise as quickly as possible, or, if you're feeling cheeky, hang around the ball hob-nobbing with the emissaries, insulting powerful states and baiting Vaxis, the antagonist. Being 'undercover' is also a great way for you to encounter the villain, trade a few (verbal) blows, without it having to end with him/her teleporting away rather than fight.

Also a shot (still messing around with height/distance) of another cutscene from the top of Vaxis' tower. It will be tidier.

Almost forgot...congratulations to the Golden Dragon winners!

Back in town

Returning to the toolset for the first time in ages...I wanted to go for something epic...so I began work on the Forlorn Tower endsequence. I've cut most of the cutscene bars out to avoid spoilers, but I liked the feel of the area already too much not to share!

The mountain on the right-hand side in the second screenshot is going to be Shadowfall...once I can summon the patience to make a 0.1 replica of all the buildings. Creating a 'tower' outside area was fraught with problems, number one among which was the stretched textures. Obviously building the cliffs up a bit, changing angles etc can help towards that...but tbh...it's a tower, it has to be pretty vertical. I was pleasantly surprised with the last screenshot, because the stretching actually gives an impression of speed and falling when the static camera's at that angle. Yeah....deliberate artistic decision...hmm...

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

Few more shots...

Screenshots-Underground Stair

Bit of work on the Underground Stair and an antagonist cutscene to keep Vaxis in the PC's mind; tomorrow I'm planning to get a decent bit of the Stair done and hopefully some NPC conversation for Trent (that troubled past!) and Crow (tricky, considering she speaks half-gibberish).

Old Gil

When you're at that difficult 2/3 stage of a module...sometimes it's nice to add a dash of impromptu daftness. Old Gil is petitioning Andrey, the aide for Archmancer Vaxis, on account of a borrowed quill. Well...that's my sense of humour for you, I guess.

On a more serious note...

-Banter list added to

-Gaping Maw Cellar created

-Ready to begin on the Underground Stair

There are a thousand and one things to polish and refine in Shadowfall proper but I really do want to push ahead, get a coherent main plot going right up to the climax, and then focus on ironing everything out.

The Underground Stair

Certain slavers, the oldest and wiliest, claim to know of a route for their charges that avoids the rickety cliff elevators from Shadowfall Harbour to the Dregs above, a route that descends deep into the heart of the volcano. But it is a brave man who will venture down into the hidden tunnels of the Underground Stair, where more frightening creatures than drow or duergar are to be found...

The credulous whisper that Shardleish's magic has soaked into the firmament of the mountain, raising monstrous spirits from a prehistoric age, 'Ancestors', who stalk the dark corridors of the Stair. Whatever the truth, no slaver's party that takes the underground route ever comes back with as many as it set out with, and it is a lucky merchant who can count his heads and sigh, contentedly, that he has only lost one life to the depths below...