Improved "Examine" coming in NWN 1.67

[SquareKnot]

I just stumbled across this good news about the next NWN release (NWN One 1.67, not NWN2, just to be clear). It sounds to me like the server will have the option to NOT show what magical effects are active on an examined creature, and to NOT show the challenge rating. I know a lot of people in the greater NWN community have been asking for this. It just always seemed odd to me to be able to look at a strange, bizarre, completely foreign creature and see that they are really hard to kill, especially since they are immune to the spell I was about to cast. It's nice to see that NWN One hasn't been completely neglected even with NWN2 coming in September.  I imagine that Layo will be turning these off, though maybe someone on the staff can say for sure.     A small part of the beta release notes, for your reading pleasure:  # Added a new setting to the nwnplayer.ini file under [Server Options] "Examine Effects On Creatures=1". If this option is turned off then any magical effects on a creature will not appear in the creature description when you examine a creature in the game (Note: DMs will still see the effects on the creature).  # Added a new setting to the nwnplayer.ini file under [Server Options] "Examine CR On Creatures=1". If this option is turned off then the challenge rating of a creature will not appear in the creature description when you examine a creature in the game.

[XL Prime]

If the change has to be done in the nwnplayer.ini file doesn't it have to be turned on or off by each individual user?  Is there a way that the server can change these settings for all users on the server?  Interesting stuff.

[SquareKnot]

Well, settings like the maximum number of players allowed on the server, the server port number, etc. are also defined in the same, misnamed "nwnplayer.ini" file. So it looks like things in the [Server Options] area really apply to the server, not the player/client. Confusing, since the name of the file has the word "player" in it.

[orth]

No decision on this has been made yet.

[LoganGrimnar]

i brought this up to Lanther and i belive i introduced him to another person that used this system. If i recall the issue was that to make this work you have to go though and change EVERY discription. All it really is, is a black box covering the challange rating, and another covering the spells, it hink that was how it worked anyways. And i also recall something about it being easyly removed playerside. If the player knows anything about alter HAK files i was told it was very easy to just remove the black boxes. So its alot of work, and for thosue that really want to see the challange rating, there just going to remove it anyways.

Keep in mind i could be very wrong, brought this to Leanther over a year ago now i think, and ive a horried memory.

[orth]

This is not the same thing... that was a hack.  This is a Bioware programmed option, not hackable.

Either way I don't think we will be using this setting.

[LoganGrimnar]

i dont think its needed myself. What the game lacks in graphic and such this challange rating helps with. you look at a goblin... it looks just like any other, but whats this.. it killed me in one hit? well if the came had the ablity, that goblin would look noticably stronger or somthing. So a challange rating just helps fill in the gap that graphics and the limits of the system has.

What would be interesting is if we could make a system that, when you examin something/someone with spells on them, a spellcraft roll is mode. depending on what you roll you can ID what spells the enemy has cast on themselves. though i dont know if that could be added.

[Talan Va'lash]

I've played on servers that used the hack that accomplish the same thing.  Its acctually quite annoying when your character can't tell if he's a match for a bear or something or not.

There are also a large number of spells and effects that visually you should be able to tell if they're on a creature or not, some of which aren't represented well with VFX (plus, the list is a good way to tell what spells you see without having to scrutinize vfx.)  by the same point, theres at least some that give no visual sign that you would be able to discern.  But theres no option to turn them off only for certain spells.

There's really a bunch of cool features in 1.67, but this is one that I don't think is particularly good for a PW (or any game that gives players the freedom to go to places inappropriate for them levelwise.  For a singleplayer game where spawns and such are tailored for the level the PC(s) will be when they encounter them, this might be appropriate.)

[osxmallard]

The rating isn't always exactly how hard the creature is anyway.

I have gotten whipped up on by things marked as Effortless and Easy just as
I have killed things marked Impossible with not as much effort as I thought
it would take to kill.

EDIT: Actually, the Gloom earned every bit of the Impossible rating.  It should
say "You are absolutely insane to go anywhere near this creature and should
be killed for just looking at it."

Either way, I think if the decision to remove the examine was made, it would
not change the game or my playing style significantly.

[LoganGrimnar]

osxmallard - 4/21/2006  4:39 PM
EDIT: Actually, the Gloom earned every bit of the Impossible rating.  It should
say "You are absolutely insane to go anywhere near this creature and should
be killed for just looking at it."

...lol

[PsychicToaster]

I have to agree with Talan.  At best its annoying, at worst needlessly dangerous.  Challenge rating isn't a guarantee you will win, but is is a decent measure.

What is missing from NWN is personalized encounters, tailored to the current level and make-up of the party that you get with a DM running a single campaign.  In lieu of that players need a way of guaging themselves against the monsters of the world since the DM isn't around to develop specific challenges.  

What would be nice is if the spell effects were revealed by spellcraft, but that would be impossible to code and an item-use method is cumbersome.  I'd rather leave things the way they are now.  Having some idea of what you're up against is important for the same reason as above since now it falls to the player to make the choice about whether or not they will engage the enemy.

[lonnarin]

Heheh, any chance we can have a custom script where glooms make you roll fort save vs. 50 or die every time you try to examine them?