Thanked Posts

1

General Discussion / Re: NWN Enhanced Edition Information Compilation

« on: February 03, 2019, 04:43:48 pm »

(I've updated the OP with more current links/info, but it somehow did not get any shorter.)

2

Rumour Has It / Re: Gotta See A Tree About A Guy

« on: January 26, 2019, 06:53:20 pm »

Sorry for the lack of updates, I had to run to town  while stuff was running and even after returning it's hard to use these forums on my phone.

It seems like I've got so many different issues that it is just whack-a-mole trying to get going, heh. Unfortunately the dicey drive failed me and I lost a lot of stuff. NWN 1.69 is still alive, but not the haks (because the folder it pointed to for all my user files didn't make it), so I have to download them anyway... and my internal hard drive is giving me @#$%, too...

Anyway, I'm looking at shooting for 7pm PST at this point. Sorry to anyone who was planning on attending for the bouncing around :/ If something else explodes, you'll just have to go on a less tree-friendly trip without me!

3

Rumour Has It / Re: Gotta See A Tree About A Guy

« on: January 26, 2019, 10:56:53 am »

FYI I'd mentioned computer problems on Discord but was pretty sure I could get going. It's at least running right now, I have some things partitioning and then a reinstall and a restore, so I am looking nervously checking the time I'm hoping it's done by 10. I don't know who was planning on attending but fingers crossed heh.

4

Rumour Has It / Gotta See A Tree About A Guy

« on: January 21, 2019, 01:47:12 pm »

Word gets around between this circle and that that a halfling is looking for a "tree-friendly" group to help escort a friend to and through the Great Forest for some manner of healing. "We've been to see the druids of the desert, we've been to a cradle of forgotten wilderness, and our only recourse seems to be the Great Oak!" Apparently ships are out of the question for some reason, making it potentially a year-long journey overland all the way from Arnax at the opposite end of the continent.

An oft-repeated addendum is that a mage who can levitate things is apparently high priority.  "Trust me, I've got it all figured out." There's a promise that everyone can keep anything found, but also the occasional odd "I will try to scrounge a lot of backup food for us, but I've been gathering feed for so long that my sleeves are fair bursting! At least I will never lack a bed..." remark.

PS no horses, please!

// Escort Mission From Arnax to Great Oak
// NPC is squishy, ill-tempered, and subject to sudden attacks of suicide
// Magic will occasionally be needed for some obstacles.
// I'd assume that any wizard of high enough level to be traveling on Belinara could have a Levitate banging around his spellbook somewhere.
// Looking at Saturday Jan 26 in the PST AM, maybe around 10, but could be shuffled around if needed.

5

Ask A Gamemaster / Re: New Character Submissions

« on: October 29, 2018, 09:25:47 pm »

Yep, we are. I try to get them the same day, but sometimes when I'm in a different environment (OS/browser/device) I totally forget to check since it doesn't come up much... hehe.

I think you're probably best judge on the age! For the most part the general world and public facing writing aims to be family friendly, but obviously we've had quests/series/stories in the past that have sometimes dealt with more mature themes/plots as long as they kept within the lines. There's not a lot of DM activity lately (although WeepingLily ran a quest last week), so you generally always know who you are going adventuring with and can talk to your friends about which dwarven swears are not appropriate for an 8 year old, I guess

Usually I think everyone's pretty happy to see young spawnlings picking up the torch, though

6

Layonara Server / Re: NWN on Mac?

« on: October 03, 2018, 11:38:03 pm »

I've never used a mac; the last I heard running 1.69 on one needed Wine. (Since it's Not an Emulator, I guess that technically counts? )

7

Layonara Server / Re: NWN on Mac?

« on: October 03, 2018, 11:24:10 am »

Yep, you can see here some of the info I was compiling for it when during beta. A lot of that is outdated, there have been further developments and new things, eg toolset works again in Linux with Wine. I meant to update later, but there was still a weekly dev patch at the time so I couldn't keep up

You can't use it to play on Layo, which is not running on EE and is still on version 1.69. I think this is still true:

I'd encourage anyone that wants to support NWN's future to buy EE (it's worth noting that Steam takes a big bite out of that if you get it from there), though obviously if you are only interested in NWN insofar as it involves Layo, don't rush to the bank because I think you'll be alright until further notice

I'm not a big fan of the OC, so if I were someone whose only interest in NWN was Layo and the OC, I would not buy it or recommend it -- provided I could actually run 1.69, which is of course not true for a lot of people on modern systems. I love NWN though, so I'm happy it was picked up and is being actively developed, again - especially by people pulled from the modding community.

8

Ask A Gamemaster / Re: Server access / Character submission required?

« on: September 26, 2018, 11:27:35 am »

davidhoff's got it right Your old characters will still be there under whatever Bioware login you used back in the day. I've PMed you the server info and a link to a timeline. Welcome back!

9

General Discussion / Re: ok got a problem

« on: April 27, 2018, 11:02:37 pm »

Hey Rainstorff, I've sent you a PM with the server info. Feel free to ask here or there with any further questions!

(PS welcome back.)

10

General Discussion / Re: Deleting Characters

« on: April 01, 2018, 11:53:25 pm »

Those requests go here. Dorg or orth are the only ones who can handle the deletions, somebody should see it after while (Don't forget your Bioware nick.)

11

General Discussion / Re: NWN Enhanced Edition Information Compilation

« on: March 13, 2018, 01:17:31 am »

EE is will be released out of beta on Steam before the end of this month - March 27.

While this FAQ could probably get a couple updates, it's a pretty good summary of what will be included at release. Mainly, it's the EE itself: works on modern systems and resolutions, lots of  old bugs fixed and exploits closed, performance improvements, some glitter (the default shaders, with the exception of the SSAO shader, are pretty filtery), Steam Workshop support, NAT punching, etc. I hate to etc all of that, because it's easy to overlook, but for NWN veterans that aren't going to be all "aw, I haven't thought of this game in years", some of the most fingers-crossed parts are still in development (ie still a lot of hardcoding, can't add new shaders without replacing old ones or do anything scriptable with them yet, UI is an eternity away and toolset is still Windows only and doesn't work in wine_{Acacea 2019 update, this was fixed a couple patches from the time I wrote that, toolset works well with wine now}).

They seem pretty committed to the longevity of NWN though, and they've been patching BG for 5 years, now. They see NWN's future more as a platform for people to make their own stories and content for, so I'm happy with this. They're also responsive to feedback; while I wasn't keen on them tackling a refresh of core assets (there's just so many things I'd rather them prioritize, I don't play NWN for the eyecandy), it was one of the most requested features, so that seems to be a long-term project they're doing.

(This was a WIP and still needs work, but does demonstrate the addition of normal/spec maps. PC model has also "had work done". I think things like this will be released on Workshop - and Vault, I'd assume - for now, so they'd be optional overrides. There are a LOT of objects/tiles/creatures in this game...)

Normal maps are in, which is pretty sweet. When you look at surfaces in games, whether objects or characters or whatever, most of the grooves and wrinkles and rivets and, well, "bumpiness" comes from bump/normal maps, not actual modeled geometry. Being able to fake detail on custom NWN models will be great. Specular maps, which define your highlight color and how glossy something is and where, could also make for some interesting changes. Both of these can also have some downsides in that they are new ways to overdo things, hah, and also that it will be awhile before there are many things taking advantage of this (so mixed quality additions).

Player and server-wise, I expect it will still be some time before most PWs migrate, and thus most of their players, etc, especially because a good chunk of that will be dependent on NWNX progress (currently Linux only, several plug-ins not yet ported, others merged into core, etc), which is a separate thing. I'd guess that most initial activity would be on nostalgia plays of the OC and downloading modules from the Workshop (of which there won't be too many to start), but I could be wrong. Mostly, I'm just really excited for NWN to have been adopted for the long haul. There are changes coming down the road that will make PW players lives easier, if nothing else - autodownloads are nice, and so is killing resource duplication wherever possible, like how every robe needs to be duplicated for every phenotype, blowing up hak sizes.

Once some kind of material system is in and proper shader-script communication, you could tackle seasons with the ability to change textures on the fly, or apply shaders to make leaves disappear or snow accumulate on roofs/ground, making skyboxes with moving sun/moon/stars, plus being able to properly scale PCs and objects ... my brain hurts. It'll probably be awhile before unhardcoding some of the deeply entangled things happen, but there's a whole lot of people waiting on it

I'd encourage anyone that wants to support NWN's future to buy EE (it's worth noting that Steam takes a big bite out of that if you get it from there), though obviously if you are only interested in NWN insofar as it involves Layo, don't rush to the bank because I think you'll be alright until further notice

12

Layonara Server / Right-click, Save Image As ?

« on: December 14, 2017, 12:29:00 am »

Right-click, Save Image As ? Or equivalent for your OS/Browser The maps are all just images, so they can be saved like any other one. I've copied and edited them a lot, heh. See here and here for examples of experiments! Coastlines (among other things) still needed a lot of work, but I pretty much carved them as exactly as I could from the original map as a starting point. (And yeah, the other one is terrible for readability but I was just trying to jam a lot of text where it shouldn't go :| ) 

13

Layonara Server / Some features from the CPP

« on: November 09, 2017, 11:23:00 am »

Some features from the CPP have already been incorporated into Layo a few updates ago. The cooler things for nwn(c)x are Windows-only, and as far as I know are not likely to be ported. All the Linux devs I've seen that might have worked on that object to not being able to release as open source. It doesn't hurt anything to download it for yourself, though. I think I'm currently running the beta.

Edit - if you were asking if any fixes were worth players downloading to play on Layo, I'm not sure there's much point just a few GUI changes (eg colorized icons, if one didn't already use them), because the server is on 1.69

14

General Discussion / Re: Patch 1.69 (need smarter folks than me!)

« on: July 09, 2011, 04:35:53 pm »

File

Google Chrome Stuff

15

General Discussion / NWN Enhanced Edition Information Compilation

« on: November 24, 2017, 03:58:47 pm »

Whew, okay, I've redone this post with more up-to-date information. I think it's shorter overall because of more links available and the removal of NWNX:EE info. There is no freed space I cannot fill.

Beamdog has released Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition! It's $19.99 through Beamdog, Steam, or GOG. (Note that if you buy from BD, you will also get a Steam key!)

There's a FAQ here with good info, check here first if you have a question.
Here's the Roadmap, which notes what is currently in development as well as what has already shipped.

Cumulative patch notes so far

Greatest hits -

• Master server is back
• properly cross-platform again (toolset is Windows only but works with Wine)
• works on modern hardware
• UI scaling
• shader support
• fancymaps
• toolset QoL, eg clicking a placeable in the area view no longer resets its position on the z axis, hold key to scale along z, etc
• new scripting functions
• area instancing
• Steam/Galaxy "join friend" support,
• workshop support (not that great for anything but overrides and modules, but still nice to signal NWN is a game for modders)
• nwsync option which autodownloads and deduplicates PW custom content (so a nwsyncable server changes a single file, you only download that one file!)
• completed language support (1.69 was English-only)
• general performance/stability
• new ini options like StickyCombatModes, customizable NWN theme, camera settings, limits to various bonuses/penalties, upping max texture memory
• also selling on Android (iOS "coming soon" ? after 64bit update most likely)
  
• The primary NWN dev at Beamdog was/is a member of the existing NWN community and an nwnx maintainer, plus a few other members of the NWN community are volunteering their time and have been given source access or are otherwise working with BD

I didn't include things there were some rumors of that we haven't seen yet, or even things we know they're working on but haven't shipped, and some of those entries are reaaaally packing a lot in one sentence, like "fancymaps" could go on for quite some time, hah. Same with "new scripting functions", which includes being able to translate/rotate/scale objects/creatures/etc. (Though engine-wise, they are still in the same place, so it can be tricky to use in some instances.)

For single-player fans on the fence, I'm not sure - if you do zero modding, don't like the stock shaders, and 1.69 already worked fine for you, I'd take a look at what's there and decide if it's worth it to you. Same goes for people who play exclusively on a pw that has not migrated. For anyone that hits even one of those fields though, it's a good investment and goes on sale often. Your favourite old modules will still work on EE, and even your OC saves will still be compatible. As time goes on, more servers and players will migrate, more content will be made that takes advantage of EE capabilities that 1.69 doesn't have, while 1.69 things will continue to work on EE.

Also, I hate to gloss over so many things that take so much time and $$, that are easy for players to take for granted. When "enhanced" versions of anything get released, I generally have fairly low expectations on the user end - lots of bug fixes, maybe some quality-of-life and translations, works on Mac and at higher resolutions, that kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, sky-high hopes and dreams, but it's a small company and stuff takes time and money. So I'm excited about what's already been done and for things to come.

At the same time, I think when anyone reads "enhanced", every person thinks of something different - the amount of people that clamoured for a full-blown redo of every asset in the game surprised me almost as much as Trent of Beamdog doing a 180 on his "let's not waste time/money revamping old content when we could focus on making new" stance. There have been some experimental overrides releasing every now and again that you can check out on the vault or the workshop.

It sounds like they may have signed up for a long-term refresh, which seems crazy to me - there are so many models in NWN. It will take a lot of time and a lot of money, and people really forget how small a company they are and how few people they have working on NWN. It sounds like they've gotten Ossian working on it, so we'll see. I can understand being concerned that new things would clash with the old, and I can reluctantly agree that a graphical refresh may be more likely to pull people back in off the street, in addition to being cool in general. I just hope it pulls enough, because in the meantime I've got a lot of other things on my wishlist

Meanwhile, there are some things just about anyone who has ever tinkered with NWN is hungry for, like unhardcoding certain class features, allowing custom spellbooks, and other things that are really complicated/entangled changes which may also rely on very long-term possibilities, like a UI overhaul. Scriptable GUI is the dream, but so far they've had a lot on their plate already.

Right now, there's a bit of a lull as Beamdog's cofounder is apparently ripping out the rendering engine and redoing it, so while there's a lot of awesome things that may come from it, there's also some trepidation in the custom content community about how that will impact things they are already working on. There are also some fixes/changes which have been gated behind the 64bit update for some time, so while it's mainly Apple users that will care about that particular change in the short-term, there's also a lot of desk-slapping waiting for it to come out so other things can be gotten on with 

Overall, I'm personally really happy that NWN was adopted and brought back to life, and I think it will be in a much better place as a platform once they are done with it. (Assuming they become done with it, at some point.)

16

General Discussion / Testers Needed

« on: May 08, 2017, 06:46:24 pm »

I need a few people to help me test a "quest-like" concept and make it worth doing for others, for no reward but the uh satisfaction of doing a good deed (or something) ? Looking for a group of three that can all make the same general timeslot. You can also separate yourself into multiple groups of three in different timeslots and we'll just go through them if the first works out, but at least one group to start You'd need... 

• Patience - The reason we need to work this out together is that as it is right now, I don't know how many people would enjoy it... and what the best way is to make it easily accessible so it's a "show up and go" kind of thing. That means it's not a show up kind of thing right now, hehe. I think it could be fun, but it needs work.
• Honesty/Communication - We want to make it better for people who come after, so we need to able to communicate what doesn't work. It's also possible that no one sees it working at all and it's not worth pursuing, so you need to be able to call it like you see it ! Constructive is best - what would work bettter? - but anything is good.
• New Character - You won't have to write a submission, and it won't count against your cap, but you'd need to be willing to make a testing character to provided specs, even the name. This is only for mechanical reasons. We can talk about it more if you end up helping.
• Bonus: Sense of humor. Something will probably go wrong. Best case scenario is that it goes wrong in a really entertaining way. An interest in the lore and stories in the world is good but not required. 

We'd get together IG in a few weeks, so general timeslot agreement is better than very specific dates for me. Volunteering in this thread as a group with timeslots already worked out is ideal, but if schedule-wrangling is the only option we can do that, too. If, after getting more information, you're no longer interested in participating, you can of course say never mind and we'll figure it out!

17

Leringard Arms Inn and Tavern / Storyteller's Night: Stories about Stories

« on: March 02, 2017, 12:34:46 pm »

Word spreads through the usual channels of another event for talespinners at the Leringard Arms Inn & Tavern. Founded by Dragoncalled, with stewards that are bards and mercenaries, it has seen all manner of tales firsthand, from visitations by Queen Allurial and pit masters to being attacked by demons from Xandrial's army or burned down by the Blackwatch... And in its time, it has, of course, sponsored and hosted many a talespinner... some that became stories in their own right. Do you know any stories about stories and their tellers? I can think of many!Some are straight from life -- the song that tamed Corash. The child at the Hold, who absorbed so much power that her stories came to life. The Bard, an influence inseparable from the era of the Dragoncalled. The Voice, that recorded the consolidation of power in Rael and prodded, mocked, and shamed the powerful sellswords that stood by in an attempt to awaken them. An old scribe with a secret in Katia's greatest forest, that summoned opposition to Bloodstone and told the tale of his return to every soul that stood before the dragon.Others are imagined only, or else so distant that none live that could untangle what is true. Saquan, whose grief at the slaughter of the merfolk became an unbridled song that transformed the corals. Thousand-tale Johnny that charmed the fairy queen, only to bore her with the wrong melody after centuries being her consort. The sage of Iliariel, so terrified by his own premonitions that he betrayed the kingdom to creatures that whispered from the Pits. Dragons that hoarded stories and riddles. Songs that launched ships. The Harpers. Halfling legends say Prunilla told a dragon a tale that shamed him into remembering his discarded creations and freed her to travel with Deliar, and the clan mothers of the nomads are still called Storytellers. A thousand songs of disasters unraveling or the world breaking because of the right words in the right ears, from the gnome that could whisper the perfect joke in any ear and see them dead from laughter, to the T'oleflor themselves, who in some tellings sang the world and all its shadows into being. [/i]

Tell your tales at the Leringard Arms! 

((This event is outside of plague-time due to the multiple characters still in plague-limbo (particularly the host, ha!); to avoid any wormholes opening up and swallowing us whole, please skirt around it for a few hours!))

18

General Discussion / PSA: Pathfinder Comic/RPG Humble Bundle

« on: January 12, 2017, 05:40:09 pm »

Hey, just in case there's anyone that'd be interested, there's a Humble Bundle up right now that's a Paizo + Dynamite deal, featuring the Pathfinder RPG and Dynamite's comic adaptations, crossovers, and maps. If nothing else, you could get the (digital) core rulebook and some extras for a dollar... though as the bundles are meant to benefit charities and non-profits, there are other things locked to higher donations in hopes of attracting more. I would list them all, but why, when there is a page for that. Keywords Pathfinder, Red Sonja, Tarzan, cheap stuff, that is probably enough to target potentially interested parties, hehe. This bundle's beneficiaries of choice are Camden's Concert and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, but you can add your own from a pretty big list if you like. 

>> I am the link to all of the things <<

19

The Silver Buckle / Rare Auction

« on: December 13, 2016, 04:41:14 pm »

News arrives to Sagewald of a rare auction occurring in Port Hempstead's future. The first notice to arrive at the Silver Buckle is elegantly penned on silk and reads:

Coveted treasures await your eyes! From peace to war, fortune to misfortune, their blood endures as it has over one thousand years. The Duke. Sons of Kieran. Scholars of antiquities have attempted to view the family holdings and were repeatedly rebuffed - until now. 

Announcing now, that not only is there to be an auction, but experts and scholars are invited to inspect the items before they change owners. 

Prized objects, never before revealed to recorders of history. The very blade with which Calum Elf-Friend struck down his elvish brother in the second century.

Ebony figurines of creatures unknown, made from hardwoods now extinct on the peninsula.

Reservations for exclusive access will not be arranged; all would-be buyers or inspectors will be expected at the auction. 

 *a time and day far enough in the future to allow a great deal of travel time is here*

20

General Discussion / NWN Free on GOG + Raffle for other games

« on: December 01, 2016, 09:38:41 pm »

Hey guys, just wanted to give you a heads up that there's still another day left in GOG's giving away of our long-time friend, Neverwinter Nights! If you have any friends you have ever wanted to try it out, now is the time to claim a key, because what was already cheap is temporarily gratis. Since this was done in conjunction with the neverwintervault community, they've also supplied keys to some other D&D games for the vault's raffle. While the main entries are for fan works (art or written), leftover keys will go to ANYONE who posts in that thread expressing interest. Even a "Me, too!" could net you a NWN2 key to keep or give away. It's worth noting that the neverwintervault community (well, Rolo) smelled trouble at IGN before the bomb dropped and worked in overdrive backing up and migrating the years worth of content the community had made, including the works Layonara makes use of... so even if you've never endorsed a modder's work, this is an easy (and potentially beneficial to you) way to support them by showing that people are still here and can handle a forum registration