Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update #7

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Shane K. DeFreest, the Neverwinter Nights 2 PR guy, has posted Community Update #7 with some answers from Chris Avellone, one of the five founders of Obsidian. Here's the post:

Hey Everyone,

So the big news of the week that we remind everyone of our developer chat that our friends over at Warcry are hosting. We can at this point confirm the following members of the Obsidian design team will be in attendance: J.E. Sawyer, Chris Avellone, Nathaniel Chapman, Darren Monahan, Brian Fox, Charles Mead, Adam Brennecke and Frank Kowalkowski.

For those of you who might have missed the details on the chat here they are again for your convenience:

When: April 13, 2006 at 9pm EST.
Where: irc.warcry.com::6667 (irc.chatspike.net::6667) #nwn2

Or if you don't have an IRC client? You can use their Java client.

Click Here

Lastly, before we get to your questions expect some big news later in the week that all of you have been wanting to hear and thanks again for your patience and support.

-Shane


1) Will crafting an object - such as armor - take time? Something as simple as 1 day per 20gp of cost for armor. Then if you stop to craft a suit of chainmail while you are on a quest to rescue a town, you might find that the 5 days it takes to cost the armor (assuming it costs 100gp), means that you arrive too late to save it.

Chris Avelone: No, the idea of time in relation to crafting isn't part of the crafting system - the effects of crafting an item in Neverwinter Nights 2 is almost immediate. We have to cater to the immediate gratification aspect of players when possible.

2) Will you be able to give crafted items custom names? Ex: I could craft a scythe with the vorpal property, and a +10 enhancement bonus vs. cuddly little bunnies, and name it, "Necromas's Vicous Vorpal Bunnyslayer"

Chris Avelone: That's our intention - the player will be provided with an input box where they can type in the name of the item they have just fashioned (or simply leave the name as is for players who don't want to bother). So, yes, if you want an item called "Necromas's Vicious Vorpal Bunnyslayer," then it can be done with the power of crafting.

3) Will all of the materials and items necessary for crafting be randomly generated in my module by default? Along those lines, will module authors just have to create some sort of 'laboratory' space to allow players the ability to craft their items.

Chris Avelone & Charles Mead: Some of the items can be generated through random loot tables, especially since crafting also allows for breaking down certain components (such as Fire Beetle Bellies, Ghoul Claws, Fairy Dust, etc.) you find in your travels. Other pieces of crafting will have to be manually placed in the environment. The actual laboratory space isn’t really necessary, but a placeable object (such as an alchemist workbench, Wizard’s Workbench, etc.) will need to be placed in the environment for crafting to work.

4) Will crafting be restricted to appropriate areas/locales or require access to certain placeables to work? With appropriate I mean a flag/indicator or equivalent on the Area meaning that crafting is permitted/possible in it.

Chris Avelone & Charles Mead: Yes, there will be alchemy workbenches, forges, and a wizard's workbench - and each one also requires either an item to activate it (mortar and pestle, smith's hammer, etc.) or a magic spell.

5) Can crafting in NWN2 be disabled completely?

Chris Avelone : You can choose not to implement it in your modules, and it's not critical path for the campaign included in Neverwinter Nights 2. The system does require you place objects in the environment (the equivalent of workbenches), so without those objects, crafting cannot be done.

Trace the ensuing discussion on the official boards.