Neverwinter Nights Forum News

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(Originally posted by Veldrin)

Here are today's 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.

David Gaider, Designer

Scripting Functions In SoU: I was talking to Brent today about a certain scripting function which will be available in SoU that has some... interesting implications. Gold star to the first person who figures out just how cool this is:

string Get2DAString(string s2DA, string sColumn, int nRow)

Hmm. Well, let me be a bit more specific on what the command does, exactly. It will actively look in any 2DA file at the specified row and column and return whatever is in there in string form (you can always use the StringTo# functions to change that data, of course). And when I say any 2DA file I mean any .2da file.

Quote: I don't think this has anything to do with persistent data storage.

No, this has nothing to do with data storage. There is no Set2DAString function... Get only. The persistent variable storage stuff is comepletely seperate from this.

Quote: This is extremely nice. Two major implications: First is the creation of custom 2das with data that you want in it, to allow data to be stored both more easily, and in a form that's customizable. The people who make custom packs, such as the trade skill people should be ALL over this, since they could use this to make custom recipes in a list format, that could be easily modified. The second implication is that a large amount of data that people have wanted will become available. You want GetAppearance? No problem, just query the race, and get the race 2da at that point, with the appearance number (column eight) and you have the appearance they should have. If this is actually put in, it will be extremely big.

Halfelf gets the gold star! That's exactly it. Customizeable wandering monster lists, summoning lists, treasure lists, trade skills... anything you need a table for in an easy-to-use fashion, there you go, no more need to fake arrays or any nonsense like that. And, like he said, you can also look up any information on the .2da's that currently exist... not to mention adding new columns to them, if you find a need for it. And somebody will, I'm sure.

Quote: It just didn't seem like THAT big a deal... since you can fake it with a list of constants in the scripting...

I suppose it's true that there are many things this function does that are currently possible... but you try creating a wandering monster table or a random treasure table via regular scripting and then try it with a .2da and then tell me how big a deal it is.

Waypoints: You know... I'm not really sure if this is an XP1 feature or if the Live boys did it, but I do know that it used to be impossible to spawn in a new Waypoint object on the fly with scripting. You can, now, and that may have some interesting possibilities insofar as teleportation goes, no? Personally, I've always thought that the Morrowind method was the best way to do teleportation in a game. There you lay down an anchor... and that's where you teleport to. That means you can only teleport somewhere where you've already been. The fact that D&D's teleportation spells do it otherwise is the real rub where design is concerned. The trigger thing we may just have to get over eventually. It won't be easy, but I suppose we'll have to at some point, eh?

Brent Knowles, Co Lead Designer

Feats: For XP1, class feat-spell abilities *will* show up dynamically, though there is a cap of 7 active abilities on the radial, if I remember correctly. So this means you could add Feat X which calls Spell X for your new prestige class and it would show up on the radial menu in game if you set the data up correctly.

Jay Watamaniuk, Community Manager

Patch 1.30: No info on 1.30 at this point folks. I can tell you that it will not be for a bit as we are really crunching hard on Shadows right now to devote much attention to anything else. Never fear fixes, features and fan-fugu-tastic bits and pieces are adding up to make 1.30 very cool when it is ready to go. A caution however: it will be a while before it is released.

Finesse Fighter: I'm all about the finesse fighter as I do not go for the tank types. The recommendation of a bit of Ranger to get the duel fighting bonuses are great but to really maximize your feats (if it matters to you) sticking to one weapon and specializing the whole nine yards with it. The weapon of choice is not really that important as long as its included in the Weapon Finesse feat (even dual daggers can be scary when you add the fighter feats to them). If you choose two different weapons you will end up spending a lot of feats to make them even. Pick one and go crazy with it. The feats you need as a finesse guy:

Dodge, Mobility, Toughness (focus on Dex not con). Weap Finesse, Weap Focus, Weap Spec, Improve Crit. Say you have 12 Str, 16 Dex to start thats a bonus of +4 to hit, and +3 dam (with double the Crit Threat range). Very cool. Add a magic weapon, higher Dex and you're off to the races.

Romance: The idea of having a romance in a RPG is, not surprisingly , one of the core elements when the story is being written. Polls aside, we receive an enormous amount of mail about the importance of romance in a long story arc. It is one of the most basic story elements to really involve people. Hack and slash is great but hack and slash where your paladin saves the kidnapped princess or the captured pirate lord is better for motivation. It requires great care and some excellent writing to make such a thing appealing to people. You also need to always have the option of completely ignoring the romance angle for those who want to get back to defeating evil/good. Human relationships are the reason for a lot of heroic moments. Collecting gold and magic is great but saving the life of your sweetheart is better in my opinion.

Don Moar, Tools Programmer

NPCs Walking Waypoints: If you place three waypoints, A-B-C, then by default, the NPC will walk A-B-C-B-A and then repeat.