It's been a long five months

I think I'm ready to upload to the vault.
I have implemented a simple death system. No more re spawns, just load game or main menu.
I couldn't get the 'On client enter' script to work so I went back to the generic trigger. The on Client Enter script kept setting the variables back to there original setting. I guess I need more scripting lessons! ha! The pc will load into the trigger, I hope this doesn't cause any problems. It works on my computer anyways! :)

I changed the clerics alignment to lawful good, he used to be chaotic evil and worshipped Try. LOL.
I worked on the Moonwatch hills a little more. I'm going to try to smooth out a few jagged edges first.

I think I have it set up, so towards the end the player should have a good enough idea on what to do and where to go.

After a few minor adjustments, I'm going to upload to the vault as a beta and see what happens.

Moonwatch Hills

I was messing around with the color pallette. I still have alot of jaggad edges. And some things really don't look right. But I'm still working on it :)

Almost there

Last night I worked on an on client enter script thats sets some variables and adds the first journal entry (Instead of using a trigger) I just need to set a conditional so it only fires once. I was loosing my sanity because a conversation (all of a sudden) quit working! LOL I think I finally got it working.

I also modified a companions conversation slightly.

I'm getting close (hopefully) to taking out all the debug messages. Removing DeBug man or make him "script hidden". And then putting on the vault.

Oh yeah! Almost forgot. I did some work on an Exterior area. (Moonwatch Hills) Now whether I improved it or made it worse, I do not know. I will test it out tonight and see.

I got a few things done tonight. I should have a lot more time tomorrow night. Otso had some suggestions that I wanted to impliment.

*Mild spoilers**
Fixed trigger in Thar Underground (arithel convo) to only fire once.
Fixed trigger in Elton (for end game) to only fire once.
Fixed Greel's end conversation so it doesn't loop
Fixed duergar's (in mines) convo so it doesn't loop
****

Now I'm going to carefully go thru my emails and make a punch list.

The Feedback

I am so fortunate that some people were willing to set there personal time aside and test my module. The feedback that I recieved is awsome! They found some bugs and gave me suggestions. This gives me time to fix the bugs, add a little more polish. The thought of it being on the vault with a lot of bugs while people are steadily downloading and voting, ect . . . LOL well, not good.

The actual bug list is pretty short too. Theres two triggers that start conversations that loop. I just need to set the variable that fires the script to keep it from doing it twice. eg. "MarkAsDone"

Three people said that the interiors are really good but the exteriors need some work. This I expected. Exterior are still not exactly my not my area of expertise, but I'm still going to practice making them.

Depending how soon I can go in and make the fixes, I should be ready to release in about a week or two.

The people that tested this mod are Heroes!! They should have a holiday named after em, and free beer for life!

Testing

I posted a request on the NWN2 forums to test the mod. Hoegbo, jackkel dragon99 and dwarvendervish were kind enough to try it out. I certainly can't thank them enough. Now I get to be nervous and excited at the same time.

Edit: Otso and Thasic also took up the challenge and gave the mod a test drive!

Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

Please no show stoppers . . .
Please no show stoppers . . . .
Please no show stoppers . . . . .

Last night I did a very quick run through and didnt have any problems. I also figured out why two of the companions were not getting any xp. It turns out you have to have the "Designer Xp Mod" set to 1. I would have never figured that out in a million years. Thank God for Google and the NWN2 Forums :D

I also have some ideas for chapter 2. I think I'm going to start working on a campaign. Just a little one, to learn how all that works.

Anyways, back to my day job!

I got the very last conversation to fire today. Unless I decide to add a side quest or something, I'm pretty much done. Tonight I'll do another quick run through and take some notes. Hopefuly I'll notice some things.

I might put it up on the vault as a beta and not allow voting or comments. Maybe I'll get some feedback. From what I'm reading on the forums and other peoples blogs, It might be harder to find a tester then I thought.

I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I'm finishing up the background dialogs of the companions and NPC's. I'm still working on the end fight and a few bugs. I'm getting very close to beta testing. I wonder how that will go. I wonder how I will go about it? It's 4 hours + long so it has to be tested before releasing to the vault. I really don't want to have to scramble at the last minute to fix bugs.

I wonder if anyone will even be interested in testing this creation of mine? One can only hope. Now! Back to more important matters! Alas! My tankard of ale grows warm with each passing moment! Onward, I say, to the hang over that awaits me on the morrow!

Mondays at work are always the best! :D Goodnight!

Another run through the Dungeon

I got the final fight close to being done, so I decided to do another run through. Got to the same place where the last show stopper was and BLAM!!!! Cutscene didnt start! I almost cried in my beer.
So today, I went in and started to look at it. Turns out, after adding a journal entry, That particular node of the convo wouldnt fire because the entry it was looking for had already progressed.

Well, another frightening episode has concluded. Just getting that far produced a long 'to do' list. Mostly conversation spelling and re wording.

So until next time . . .

Getting Closer

Monday I did a test run through but found a show stopper about half way through. This was a little un-nerving and bothered me all the next day at work. I was afraid it was going to take for ever to find bug. Fortunately, it was a waypoint with a duplicate tag in another area that was keeping a cutscene from firing.

So now, All I have left to do is dream up the final battle, then start testing for polish, and spelling, ect. I need to review and probably add some journal entries, so no one is standing around going, "what am I supposed to do again?"

Then I get to look for a beta tester. The final mod should be at least 4 to 5 hours.

On a side note

My son and I went to see Star Trek tonight at the Movie Tavern. This place is pretty cool. Instead of regular seating you have an office 'compfy' chair and a little bar with a small light. They give you a menu and you can order drinks and food.

The tickets are $2 more then the regular theater and the food and drinks are a little high. I don't go the movies very often so this didn't bother me. I'm more of a "wait till the DVD comes out" kinda guy. But this is Star Trek! :D

Now, on to the movie! *Spoilers Alert*

Zachary Quinto (from heroes) does a remarkable performance of Spock! I really liked Scotty! Remember the guy who does Shaun of the Dead! he he.

But. What is with Star Trek and time travel? That's the only problem that I had. It was done to death with the Tv series Enterprise (which I liked very much) But geeze, what is it with Star Trek and time travel?

Other then that, great movie! Awesome effects, great acting, nice one liners that bring you back to the old days of the original tv series.

I really cant wait for the sequel that they better make!

I havn't posted in a long time. It's not due to lack of progress on my module. I think it's safe to say that I'm about 2/3 the way done.



In other news, Star Treks comming out today! I might have to stop by the Movie Tavern tonight and check it out! :D

I finally finished up the ogre lair last night. And devised a way to transport to the next area. Also, I have created a few more Npc's, cut scenes and story driven conversations.

I'm getting close to looking at how I'm going to do the End Fight. Right now I have know idea what so ever on how I'm going to do this.

This weekend I will pray to the God of Beer for guidance!

Finishing up Thar.

I changed the texture of Thar to a gray cliff texture. The black moon rock stuff really didn't look right. I think I'm on the right path now. It's a 16 X 16 area so filling is going to take some time. So far, so good, though.

I'm starting work on a new area. Thar. I used the texture that looks like moon rock. I got the bare bones done last night. Just need to add placeables and encounters. I don't have to worry about color too much, it's called the Great Gray Lands. A lot of rocks, boulders and fallen trees though.

I think after that, I'll just need one more interior with a Big Boss fight.

Maybe only a month to go? I hope.

Whew!

Yesterday the power went off for about 2 seconds and then came back on. I had the toolset open and an area open at the time. I said my prayers and hit the power button on the box. Whew! I lost about 5 minutes of work on a convo but nothing else.

That was scary!

I went through all the conversations that referenced location and changed them. It didnt take as long as I had thought.