NWN2 Developer Diary: Crafting Cinematic Worlds

Darren Monahan, Executive Producer at Obsidian Entertainment, talks about the processes involved in the making of Neverwinter Nights 2 in this piece over at GameSpot. The piece mainly concentrates on the new tools for people interested in creating their own modules for others to play in (as opposed to simply playing the extensive single-player campaign)... more specifically, the tools designed to create gorgeous and cinematic locations.

"One of these systems is a fully dynamic day/night cycle. In designing this system, we identified all the key components: Yep, you need a sun, and you need a moon. You need clouds, a sky, some settings for fog, and stars for your nighttime sky. With the next-generation renderer we created, we decided we really needed to go all-out and provide a whole slew of other options. Let's start with what we've done with the skies. In NWN2, you can control the color of both the upper atmosphere (also known as the zenith) as well as the horizon. This allows for beautiful sunrises and sunsets, with mixes of purples and oranges. You can vary cloud density anywhere from sparse clouds to thick overhead cover. You can control the velocity at which clouds move. You can also control the wind, which causes trees in the game to shake. Imagine creating your own module where the skies are dark, clouds roll by with tremendous speed, and the wind blows heavily. You can really set up some dramatic and epic moments with these tools."

It's worth a read, so you should schlep on over to GameSpot and check it out.