Neverwinter Nights Forum News

Remove all ads!

(Originally posted by Z-Layrex)

Here are today's official Neverwinter Nights forum highlights. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context.

Derek French, Assistant Producer

Linux: Sorry that we weren't able to answer your questions on your schedule, but we do try and keep track of things. The team has been working really hard for the last month on the Linux and Mac Clients and its just been in our best interests to keep our heads down and keep working away.

Quote: can you please provide us with some information about the development of the GNU/Linux client?

We have been doing that on the Linux Client page, but I gather that you are looking for something different.

Quote: Can you please tell us what you think of GNU/Linux development in general?

For NWN, the process hasn't been too painful Since the game was designed to be crossplatform from the start, there wasn't too much re-writing that was required to make things work.

Quote: Are there specific strengths or weaknesses compared to MS Windows or Apple Macintosh development? What has been the biggest hurdle in the development of the GNU/Linux client? What was the biggest surprise (positive or negative)?

The above questions are simply far too involved to be answered here in this thread. Maybe at a later date, in another format.

Quote: See, I'm _genuinely_ interested in these things. I'd like to know what the developer(s) think. What's your GNU/Linux development workstation specification?

Dual PIII-1000, 512 Meg, GeForce 4Ti, Red Hat 7.3

Quote: GNOME or KDE or other?

KDE

Quote: vi or emacs or other?

Pico! But Andrew uses Emacs.

Quote: Debian or Red Hat or Mandrake or Gentoo or Slackware or other?

We use Red Hat here at BioWare, but I am a Slackware man myself. It just feels more like Unix.

Quote: Dedicated GNU/Linux or dual-boot?

Dedicated.

Quote: Do you use GNU/Linux at home, or just at work?

Andrew only here at work, but I have a Slackware server at home for my own projects.

Quote: How long have you been working with GNU/Linux?

Anderew has been programming under Linux for the last 5 years and before that, 4 years under Unix.

Quote: Do you think it _should_ be called GNU/Linux as RMS asks us?

No comment.

Quote: What do you think of the GPL?

It has produced some of the best software out there. The BioWare Community Site runs almost completely under software that is covered under the GPL.

Quote: Do you read Slashdot at -1?

0 for me.

Quote: Does Bioware have any plans to release any code under a Free Software or Open Source license?

Not at this time.

Quote: I find it interesting that some developers participate in some discussions, but not this one. We've yet to hear from anyone who is actually _working on_ the GNU/Linux code. Why is that? Would anyone mind sharing with us what that reason is? I know you're all busy. I know that you have jobs, and those jobs have certain responsibilities that need to be met. I have a job, too, and my job requires that I do things. I'm not asking for anyone to go out of their way to have a heart-to-heart with me. I'd just like a few answers to get a glimpse into commercial GNU/Linux development. *sigh*

Well, once the Linux Client Public Beta gets going, I am sure we will have more to say then. Although, if you have been in the Server forum and have talked with Andrew, then you have spoken to someone working on the Client.

More:

Quote: Bink. Miles.

Miles exists for Linux. Of the 2, its the only critical one. Works great!

Quote: SecuRom.

What about SecureROM? We aren't using it for Linux, nor the Mac version. It is a Windows-only requirement. Thankfully, the 'not implimenting' of something is extremely cross-platform.

Quote: I learned to code at school. And from what I learned there, real crossplatform means you can just copy the source to another system, and recompile with no changes at all.

Ah, yes, the endless battle between school and reality. I love that one.

And More:

Quote: I am not talking about BioWare's blessing or not of OpenKnights, but the fact that Don Moar had mentionned unofficially that there was a possibility to provide us with some libs and headers, and/or information to help in the effort, which BioWare hasn't made any comments on ever since. At least not to my knowledge, since we haven't had a meeting in about two weeks (Ras K'cir, our meeting moderator, being away and all). If as you state BioWare has no plans of releasing any code to the open source community, then am I wrong to assume that this also includes to OpenKnights?

We are still working away to find the best way to properly support OpenKnights. We haven't finalized our level of support at this time. Now onto the completely separate issue of source code... The majority of the questions asked about source code are asked about the game engine itself. My statement stands, as that is the code that most people want. We have no plans on releasing that code. What you are talking about, is Tools code, which is different in this specific case. If (and I am speaking completely hypothetically) we provided you with documentation and/or libraries to support the proper creation of all the files that make up a single module file, and you used it to create a module editor, I think we can say that we have supported your efforts while at the same time, not released any of our source code. And you would have created a NWN Module editor. Again, this is hypothetical and we are still figuring out the best way to support OpenKnights.

Rick Ernst, Lead Designer (Floodgate Entertainment)

Shadow Jump: I don't want to give away any more information than you all have wrestled from us already this week. (Damnable Tom!) But I want to nip this in the bud... there will be no player teleportation mechanic like 'shadow jump' in SoU. But you'll just have to wait and see what we replaced it with.

David Gaider, Designer

Custom Skills:

Quote: Was this an oversight or was it done to purposely stop us from creating custom content relating to skills?

Ha!

"We better stop them bastards before they make any custom content, you know!"

"Yeah! Arrr!"

"Arr!"

Hehh... and no, it isn't an oversight. 20 is the practical maximum until and unless epic levels are included. Checking to see if a character has an appropriate level of skills is part of the character validation system for servers.

Cloaks:

Quote: Now wait just a minute here... how come you suddenly start making up a bunch of rules for cloaks that don't apply to any of the other stuff you decided was professional enough, or whatever, to include in the game?

Making up rules, eh? Why is that? Because everything else we did in the game is so unprofessional, I suppose? You've got a lot of nerve.

Quote: Wait... what other items work like that? There's a boots slot, but putting things in that slot does not add boots to your character... boots are entirely determined by the armor. The same goes for gloves and belts, so why couldn't cloaks be done like that?

Do we have visible boots or gloves or belts that are seperate from the armor? No, we don't, last I checked. If we did make boots or gloves or belts that had their own appearance, like cloaks would be, then it'd be a given that their inventory slot would be tied into their appearance. Enough said.

Quote: Lets see.. first of all, clipping is a pretty major problem in game at the moment. Create practically any character with the "large" body type and then give them some armor and a shield... the armor will poke right through the shield, fairly substantially in some cases. If you do many animations, such as salute, with a weapon in your hand, you stick it right through your own head! That does a lot more to ruin the immersion for me than a cloak sticking through the floor. Characters and their items clip through themselves, each other, and the environment constantly, so why suddenly say that cloaks should never clip anything?

I rather think that having your cloak sink into the floor or through the back of any chair would bring clipping problems to a whole new level of unrealism beyond those you mention.

Quote: In addition, can you sit or kneel by default in the game anyway? As far as I was aware, that had to be added in with scripting as a static part in the module, or with the great wand of emoting that allows such things. I think the only time you normally sit is when you rest.

And, gee, you don't rest very often in the game, do you? If stiff cloaks were the only possible issue, it wouldn't be such a big issue, but it's not. Despite what this poster petulantly calls excuses and unprofessionalism, we will only do it right if we do it. And here I said I wouldn't comment on cloaks any more. Man, I'm so easily baited.

More:

Quote: Please correct me if you guys have actual data on this, but the impression you get from reading the threads is that the great majority of players would be happier with dumb-looking robes and cloaks than with the status quo, which is dumb-looking jumpsuits.

So what are you saying? That we should knowingly endeavour to make dumb-looking robes and cloaks? If they had been in the game to start, maybe I could see that. But I have a hard time imagining us parading dumb-looking robes and cloaks as one of the great few additions we spent our limited time on with the expansion.

Caster Prestige Classes:

Quote: So, let me see if I've got this straight. When BioWare was setting up the way to code spellcasters, it never occurred to anyone that they might someday want to do a PrC which adds to an existing class' level? Ye gods.

Well, as mentioned above, at the time the class implementation was being designed I don't even think we had any information on Prestige Classes at all... never mind that they might implement them in a way that adds to an existing class's abilities. If anything, we might have known that they were including some version of the 2nd edition class kits, but even in that case putting together an implementation of the spellcasting and class system in such a way as to allow easy future expansion is a luxury that limited time doesn't always allow. Not to mention that hindsight always tells you that maybeeee you should have done this part just a little bit differently... You think there isn't a programmer or designer who doesn't wish he could jump back a couple of years and nudge himself/herself in the shoulder?

"Ummm... you might want to leave that part a LOT more expandable, there."

"But I don't have the time!"

"Believe me, you'll thank me for it later."

"Okay. Gee, thanks!"

Heh... it's like a Freedom55 commercial. Wouldn't that be great?