Neverwinter Nights 2 Forum News (Sep. 16, 04)

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Here are today's Neverwinter Nights 2 forum highlights, collected by NWVault from Obsidian Forums. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.

Marc Taro, Lead Artist

BioWares Nils Asks for Consistent Armor
Since I answerd this dude, might as well share:

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Hi Marc, Just a minor thing: Please don't mix up scale + chain armor like Bioware did Thanks, - Nils

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You mean - "Like *you* did last time?" (Nils points finger of blame) - hahahah Well, you have to keep in mind a 'scale' suit is not ENTIRELY made of scales - there are going to be buckles, belts, pouches, boots...bla bla... and probably some small plates or leather padding = I mean, we want some cool designs, so you can't just go with a scale shirt and leave it at that...even LoTR (the movie), which is generally held to be pretty realistic, mixes the material on the suits of armor. The way I see it D&D gives an approximate label to a suit that indicates it's *average* protective value over the exchange of blows that is represented by a combat round....(I seem to remember that NWN tools calculate that aggregate value from whatever set of parts you bash together...) That being said - there will be armor of each class (well each class we decide is necessary) that looks exactly like it's supposed to...what you (or our designers) do with it after that in the item editor is up to you/them....so you can go for one solid armor type, or you can mix it up..

DDOnline Screenshot Comparision
um...all I'll say on this matter is: That IS a real in game engine shot...That particular skeleton character is not normal mapped - but many Turbine engine creatures are, and I'm sure they'll do so by the time DDO ships...and...Of *course* NWN2 will look as good! I don't really understand the purpose of this thread...I mean, what else are we going to say?? lol...but seriously - I've worked with great artists at both companies - and they're all multi-talented professionals making top class games.

There are a lot of amusing theories in this thread - (what was that about action vs rpg have more or less artists? Hunh? Where did that come from?) Lets not get all apples and oranges about this - play the games because they're fun, or because you like the style - or play them ALL because you love D&D...it's not like you aren't going to play all the RPG's you can get your hands on...you wouldn't be here reading this if you weren't a total fan... *grin*

Erik Novales, Programmer

Portraits
It's true that game developers use themselves, friends, or family pretty frequently for cameos or other little roles.

What is your favorite class in 3.5
I think I'd have to go with a human ranger, partly out of nostalgia. I played through the entire Baldur's Gate series with a ranger (whose gimpiness increased as the series progressed). Although right now my test character is a barbarian, so who knows what I'll play once the campaign is actually playable.

Haks via Plug-ins
It sounds like you're asking for a more formalized way of dealing with the override directory. One problem with allowing a lot of this kind of stuff is that there's the potential to break saves if you're allowed to change anything and everything (and enable/disable plugins whenever you choose).

<P class="quote">From what I'm getting, it sounds like the plugins are essentially a way to append module data, and though some things might break a save, seems like others wouldn't, things like adding a new playable race, or adding an NPC that can transition you to a new area, adding new monsters, or quests. Personally I don't seem much more difficulty in removing a file from an active folder and putting it in an inactive one, but I suppose an interface for the more casual user would be nice.

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Ah, but if you installed a new plugin, saved your game, and then removed the plugin, your saved game would be kind of invalid (in the case of your example, the race would no longer be defined). If I recall, Morrowind would mark saved games as requiring plugins (and then tell you if they weren't active), but I can't verify this at the moment since I don't have it at work...