Neverwinter Nights 2: Chat Log: May 31, 2006

metalllix|rpgplanet-ru: What are the social skills and what is their impact on the interaction with NPCs? Do NPCs dialog scripts keep track of failed attempts to prevent clickfests?

[OEI]Jhusges: Diplomacy/Bluff/Intimidate are the standard skills, though there are cases where Sleight of Hand, Perform, Lore, Spellcraft and a few others are also used. The checks are set up as once-only, so if you fail, there's no retry and you get to deal with the consequences.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: and we're often using rank checks rather than rolls, so reloading is futile.

metalllix|rpgplanet-ru: Will the game graphic options be extensive enough to accomodate for lower-end systems? Like, switching off pixel shaders, or substituting 2.0 with 1.xx?

[OEI]BrianLawson: No, we decided early on that 2.0 cards would be our min spec. At the time the game ships, 3.0 cards will arguably be mainstream and within another year, they will certainly be the norm.

[OEI]AdamB: Meaning there is no support for 1.xx

Lord_Niah: What are some examples of trees that will come with the game? Are there seasonal variants?

[OEI]Joseph> We have oaks, willows, firs, as well as various shrubs and whatnot. As far as seasonal variants, many of our trees have a model for each season.

metalllix|rpgplanet-ru: What is the world map like? What games have a similar approach? Will there be special/random encounters?

[OEI]nchap: The world map is most like that from the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series of games. That is to say, you select the destination you would like to travel to, and then hit a travel button, at which point you arrive in that area. You are free to script your own random or special encounters through script - essentially each destination on the minimap calls a script when selected, so scripters will have a lot of power and flexibility with how they want to use the world map in their campaigns.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: The OC has a bunch of special encounters in there.

[OEI]nchap> You can also use your own background graphics (.tga I believe) and icons, and you are not restricted to a single world-map per campaign.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker> You'll click on a hotspot on the map and be redirected to the encounters.

metalllix|rpgplanet-ru: Will the toolset allow for cardinal changes in gameplay mechanics -- for instance, changing/removing alignment system, creating new attributes, classes?

[OEI]TonyEvans: Nein!
[OEI]EricFenstermaker: Yes.
[OEI]AnthonyD: Nix!
[OEI]Novales: It's similar in flexibility to NWN1.
[OEI]EricFenstermaker: I mean no.
[OEI]TonyEvans: ???
[OEI]AnthonyD: All signs point to no.
[OEI]nchap: This will be handled essentially as it was in NWN1 - some of this can be changed in 2DAs, some in script, but not directly in the toolset.

mykael22000: Can you ask about the size of exterior areas in meters? We've heard 1280x1280, which sounds great and 320x320, which doesn't...

[OEI]AdamB: OK... the maximum playable size is 320x320 for exteriors. We add border tiles... so the areas are much larger in appearance. So the largest exterior you can make is 480mx480m.

Volourn: Are there any plans to release lists (spells, feats, skills) prior to release? I love using them to pre plan characters.

MaverickShane: We don't know about releasing lists per say but over the course of the next few months prior to release we will be releasing more and more information of that nature.

[Beth]Llyranor: What approaches have you taken to ensure that the main campaign will provide a satisfactory sense of closure (in terms of a complete conclusion and roleplaying opportunities within)?

[OEI]TonyEvans: The entire NWN2 campaign is designed to build up to a thrilling finale. In addition, we have two different major endings, one tailor made for evil-doers. And at the very end of the game is a denouement sequence that is reactive to many of the decisions the player made in the game. To explain what I mean by denouement: It is basically similar to the end of certain movies where they give you a glimpse of what happened to certain characters after the events of the movie.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: You are pretty much roleplaying up to the very end of the game -- we don't "take the reins" from the player and force an ending on them.

[OEI]nchap: If you've played the Fallout games, it's similar to what was done in those.

__OvO__: What if you don't want to use a world map in your mod, can there still be a long travel route?

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: Sure. Just hook up the area transitions like you would in NWN1.

[OE]CharlesM: Absolutely - the world map is strictly opotional

[OEI]TonyEvans: optional too!

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: It is a cool map though. You can even open up other maps from your world map...like a zoomed in city map or some such. Very flexible -- there's just a script attached to the OnClicked event of the world map buttons.

metalllix|rpgplanet-ru: Will side-quests be interconnected? Will my actions in one quest have repercussions on the others?

[OEI]nchap: Yes! There are many quests in the game that are "either-or" type scenarios, and there are quests that require you to make choices that will come back to haunt you later... or can send you down very different paths in terms of who you're working with/for.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: You are specifically taken to task on many decisions you made -- some of them even seeming incidental at the time.
BigBottom: What would you say NWN2 does that no other CRPG has done?

[OEI]TonyEvans: The Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset will offer an unprecedented amount of flexibility and power for fans to create their own RPG adventures.

Lord_Niah> How will making cutscenes differ from NWN1? What additional goodies will we get?

[OEI]AdamB: We have placeable cameras with a preview in the toolset

[OEI]AnthonyD: We have a new and improved camera bump and camera shake. We have cinematic camera shots

[OEI]nchap: Basically, each dialogue node can have a camera specified, and the game will put the camera at that angle on that dialogue node.

[OEI]Novales: There are also some more script functions to make it easier to synchronize cutscenes.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: No more turning the PC invisible just to have a cutscene in a "different area" :)

[OEI]AdamB: And some nifty stuff for multiplayer cutscenes.

[OEI]BenM: The server can allow multiple PCs in the same area to view a conversation from the same camera

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: The ability to input scripts with parameters on a per-dialogue-node basis also makes cutscenes much, much easier and more organized.

[OEI]nchap: The dramatic possibilties are really neat, we have parts of the game with lots of crosscutting as you're moving through an area. I think you guys will have a lot of fun with what you can do with cutscenes in NWN2.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: I am expecting some awesome machinima from the community

[OEI]nchap: And, of course, the procedurally generated lipsynch, if you happen to have VO, makes those cutscenes look a lot nicer :)

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: Imagine having a close up on a character that is normal-mapped and doesn't look like its head is a block with a face painted on it.

Joltfan: What item slots will be available? Cloaks boots, rings, a glasses/goggles slot?

[OEI]Jhusges: Head/chest/boots/arms/hands/rings/neck/belt/cloak And your cloak actually shows up in-game now

[OEI]AnthonyD: yeah!

[OEI]TonyEvans: And cloaks are tintable!

RaDSaM: The new VFX creating capability, can the custom VFXs be attached to armor, shields, weapons and helms? and how easy is it to create your own VFX, is there a wizard?

[OEI]Novales: No wizard, but the effects editor is WYSIWYG.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: The VFX editor is really powerful. It's easy to play with the numbers and dials and end up with some really amazing things.

[OEI]AdamB: We have several different types of effects as well - it's not limited to particles.

[OEI]nchap: Also, all the VFX you see in game were created in the toolset's VFX editor, so you'll get an idea of what you can do with it by loading up the game.

[OEI]Joseph: Any many types can be built into one overall effect.

[OEI]AdamB: We also have attachments on weapons for VFX to attach to for flaming weapons and stuff like that.

[OEI]EricFenstermaker: So when you make Drizzt and give him his ice sword, it will look icy.

[OEI]AnthonyD: or his twin wands, burn and hurt and you will rue it, rue it HARD.