As far as development goes, I had a pretty standard day today. I did a bit more work on a cut-scene. Even though the cut-scene is only about 10-20 seconds long, I have to get just the right camera angles to get the effect I am looking for. Right after this cut-scene, there is some dialog, via the standard NWN conversation system. I have a good idea what I want to be said in this dialog, so I will try to mock it up as good as possible, so that perhaps one of the writers can take a crack at it to spruce it up. However, I hope to write it good enough so that if no one can get to it, it will be fine.

Finally, I have a revised piece of art from Jonathan. If you look at this piece, and then the piece from yesterday, you can see how he defined the ocean, mountains, and land with more detail. Man, I really can't wait to have a finished map of Dantiras!

As of now, the wireless card on my laptop isn't configured correctly, so when I do want to go on the internet, I have to go into the nearby computer room, and use one of the Ethernet cables. Not a big deal, but enough of a nuisance that I only really went on 4-5 times today, which is pretty good for me. Actually, the lack of internet most likely allowed me to get more work done:)

So when I began to work today, I actually had to take a little bit to clear my mind, and make sure I was okay with where I wanted to go. As you all know, I don't have the luxury of taking time to make design documents, and since I have more or less known what the content of the game will be like for the past 7 years, I just usually go ahead with something, and change things as I go.

I also took a look at the new scripting commands (besides SetName()), and I came across something very interesting. There is a new function called SetPortrait(), which takes a portrait name as a parameter. I obviously got very happy after seeing this, because I had high hopes of allowing old fans of The Coming to come into Cry The Beloved with their old saved version of Aramus (with the old portrait), and setting it to the new one I will be packaging. I also thought I could use this same functionality with some of the party members, but for whatever reason, it just didn't work. I made a note to make a post at the scripting forums.

I was also very surprised and thrilled to find I had a new dialog sitting in my mailbox, compliments of Phil Carter. I did not have a chance to add it to the game, but it is high on my list. I also have to redo another one he sent me a week ago, as I lost a week's worth of work.

Finally, the piece of art above is some concept art for a map of Dantiras, by Jonathan. In the middle of doing work on a portrait of Challseus, he mentioned that he liked creating maps, and since I didn't have anything like it yet, I was very happy to see him put all of his focus into it. That's not to say his work on Challseus won't continue. However, the map is definitely high priority, and as always, I can't wait to see what he comes up with!

It was also good to actually get back in the groove of using the toolset. I actually received a little scare this morning, because the 1st time I booted up the toolset, it took a little while to start. And, I have been very paranoid about it being slow as it is, so when it happened (which it turns out it always does when I open it for the 1st time), my heart stopped a bit. After a while however, it ended up running even faster than before, which obviously made me happy.

As if things couldn't get any better, with the help of a co-worker, I was able to successfully squash a bug (work related!) I had been working on for the past few days. After that, I could breathe, and enjoy the rest of the day.

As for the screenshot of the day, this was actually done by David Timmons. Among the other things he does during the day (he is a real like jack of all trades), I guess he decided it would be interesting to see what our names were like in Japanese. Not sure how they get Rena-do from Leonard, but oh well...

Tomorrow, I will most likely spend a bit of time getting some other apps back on my machine, most importantly, Adobe Photoshop. Once I feel everything is back in working order, I will begin working on the particular cut-scene I have been talking about the past few days...Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong.

Oh yeah, and yes, I am now backing up daily, instead of weekly!

So, as I mentioned a few days ago, I lost a weeks worth of work, so I think that should be the 1st thing to take care of tomorrow morning. Luckily, the only thing I did last week was fix little big/issues here and there that I discovered while ALPHA testing, and since I still have all of them written down in my notebook, it shouldn't be much of a problem knocking them out again.

Once I finish up with those, I will start doing what I wanted to do on Monday...Making a particularly emotional cut-scene, with a new piece of music I recently converted to BMU format.

The 3rd one was from Todd Harrell, who had a very cool idea for a little Easter Egg that only certain players would get at the end of the game. How this Easter Egg would be unlocked wasn't designed, only the end result of it. I am very much interested in this idea, and will hopefully pursue it once I am back up and running.

Finally, the picture above was the next iteration of concept art from Jonathan. I was surprised that he was moving away from the standard portrait picture, and heading towards something bigger than that, and as always, I am very supportive. I am always eager to see finished work, and I can't wait to see what he comes up as a finished product.

So, yesterday morning, I was busy trying to figure out how to get custom loading screens for the various areas in the game. As always, trying to make the entire game feel unique. Nothing different from the norm...Anyway, that didn't work out that well, so before I passed out, I converted the piece of music that I was raving about a couple of weeks ago. It will be used in the cut-scene I wanted to start working on yesterday.

After getting off the train, I proceeded to walk to 5th and 42nd street to hail a cab.  Oh yeah, it was raining like hell! That's very important to this story. Anyway, after I got a cab, I accidentally dropped my briefcase in a very small puddle. I didn't drop it from no more than half a foot off the ground, so I didn't worry about it too much. It should go without saying that my laptop was in said briefcase...

Since I have absolutely no patience, and I really need to get back to developing, I will be copying all essential files to an external hard drive, and reformatting my hard drive. Perhaps it is not the solution, but I am not about to just sit around and waste time figuring it out. I don't want to list everything, but myself and LOTS of people at the office today tried all sorts of things, and nothing works. ANYTIME I load up some application, the CPU% goes up to 100%, without fail. Okay, just talking about this is pissing me off...Moving on...

So, the picture I am showing you today was the 2nd version of Challseus that I received from Jonathan. If I am not mistaken, I believe he modeled this from the famous sculpture of David, from David & Goliath lore. As you can tell from the picture, he is really into getting the anatomy looking as realistic as possible. Also, if I remember correctly, the left arm is arched up like that, because the finished version will have a staff in it. And for the easily offended, don't worry, he will have clothes on:)

As far as game development, I cannot really do any actual implementation. However, I can still design some things, so don't think that I have stopped development. After the emotional cut-scene that I wanted to code yesterday is finished, I will begin work on what will undoubtedly be the hardest thing I have ever done with the Aurora Toolset. I actually came up with a less intensive version, but seeing as I have a little more time to breathe, concerning the release date of NWN2, I will go full balls, and do it the way it should be done. As always, I won't go into specifics, but this section of the game is the climax of Cry The Beloved. It's funny how this sequence has evolved, and I want to share some key things that helped mold it to what it will be...

So, when I first started developing the game way back, I never ever thought it would be broken up into many small modules as a mod for NWN. Everyone pretty much knows this...I have learned that even if you are going to have many mods work as one, each mod itself must have the specific things a story needs, such as a climax, and whatnot. Well, the particular scene wasn't the climax of the entire story, and was designed to be a significantly smaller event. However, since it happens to occur towards the end of Cry The Beloved, I have to make it very grand. It should be the thing people think about when they have finished the game, among other things. This is another one of the reasons why I like the fact that I get to test out my game, which will be commercial one day, for free. I get to see what works, and what doesn't work. A Lot of things have changed for the good, and this particular sequence is one of them. Now, I just have to reformat my hard drive, and hope everything works out. Just writing about this is making me more eager to implement it:)

Till tomorrow...

So, as you can see to your left, I have some new concept to show you. I have actually had this for some time, but I just decided last night to start rolling out a lot of the content I have gotten from various people over the past few months.

At any rate, this work is done by Jonathan. I met this gentleman from an anonymous contributor to Cry The Beloved. This particular anonymous person was already doing excellent work for me, so when they suggested I send Jonathan an e-mail, I jumped at the opportunity. What is it they say? Brilliant people stick together? Okay, maybe I just made that up:)

Since I already had a portrait for Clopon, and Aloia was already working on Aramus at the time, I told him he could take a crack at Challseus. 

Finally, I should have mentioned it yesterday, but this week will be a week of custom work people have been doing for me these past few months. So, come on over to this journal every day to see some one of the newest, and greatest custom content that has been created for me!

Till tomorrow..

P.S. I had a VERY bad day in terms of development. I actually wrote this update on my lunch break, as I was so enthusiastic about it. However, when I got on the train to go home, I noticed that everything was running slowly. And when I say slow, I mean SLOW. As in, I would never attempt to develop at that speed.

Anyways, while talking about these games, I started to go through my usual thoughts of "Hmm, what really made these games special?" I go through this about 2 times a month, and I can never really come to a real conclusion. There are so many factors to their success, that it couldn't be pinpointed. However, another factor came to me today...One of those things could be that I was a child. More specifically, when I was a child, I wasn't too picky on certain things, such as grade A writing, or if the character I was playing did something that I wouldn't have done (i.e. roleplaying, I think:) ). All that I needed was stirring music, a good story, great gameplay, and fun, strategic combat. 

It really got me thinking because, perhaps the type of games I want to create commercially, in the future, would be games geared toward younger kids. Or, maybe younger kids are so used to the complex RPG's of today that it wouldn't sell too well. Or perhaps, I am looking too deeply into this, as I always seem to do 2 times a month:) It's just so damn hard to really know how to bring back that magic I felt as a kid. I mean, I know it is not impossible. Look at what Disney has been doing for the past 60 years or so. Sorry for the ramblings, but these are the things that go through my head when I think about how to make the best game possible...

What I do have to say is that I am GLAD that I have had my experience with computer RPG's, as I sort of see things from the other side. It really has helped me in the long run in my quest to become a complete RPG designer. Especially the hardcore NWN DnD fans. They know what they want, and will let you know if you messed up:) Maybe I should look at the past year or so as a hazing session, like I was joining a fraternity, or something. Also, the debates that I see going on in the various forums is incredible. From "what is the best build for wizards", to "how come this bone spider's INT is 26?",  to "Obsidian are fools! That new zombie model is way off. It looks nothing like what it did in the 3.5 edition book", it is so apparent how serious they take their stuff. That really shows how much they were inspired by DnD, much like how I was with Final Fantasy. At times, I really feel like I am over my head. Like, when I get comments on my download page about how come Aramus' INT is only 8, making him retarded in DnD terms, I just have to laugh. That stuff really doesn't mean anything to me, which is why I don't pay as much attention to it. When I play through the current version of the ALPHA, I don't worry about what things to pick when I level up...I only care about the custom things I put into the game. It's so weird, because I am really going against the grain. I now realize that me trying to come in with something that is different from a style of play that someone has been accustomed to for many years must just seem annoying...At the same time, I want to appease those same player's, but I just don't have the time to really get up to speed on what is normal. Oh well, nothing to do but just keep doing what I do best...

All of that said, I must say, after sitting and watching Jason play through my Final Fantasy 12 demo today, seeing the joy that came to his face, was great. It brought back the memories of playing Secret Of Mana with 3 people, using our other best friend's multi-tap, which allowed 4 controllers to be plugged into the SNES at the time. I really felt at home. After watching him play, I realized that this fall will be a great time for games for me. You see, by that time, Cry The Beloved will have been released, and I will have started to do what I wanted to for the past 2 years. Play some games I DIDN'T MAKE:) Of course, you all know how I am, and if NWN2 comes out sooner than later, well...

...And that folks, is how you go off on a stupid tangent:) I really just started writing this with the intent on saying that after seeing Jason, I was left feeling very much inspired to do that best job that I could with Cry The Beloved. That's not to say I wasn't already, but you get the point. In fact, I know the exact scene I will work on tomorrow morning on the train ride home. As always, no spoilers, but lets just say that it is a very emotional sequence between some key people in the game. I hope that when people see this scene, they will come away really feeling for these characters. As always, I have the music picked out. It was a track I mentioned a few weeks ago...One that I had on repeat for 3 days straight. One that I am playing right now as I type...

Finally, I hope you enjoy the old school art drawings, courtesy of David Timmons, a team member who has helped me out with finding me some cool hakpaks, as well as getting his hands dirty when it comes to dialog writing. It REALLY should go without saying, but clockwise from the top left, we have Aramus, Clopon, Challseus, Kain, Mathewin, & Auden. Again, it should REALLY go without saying, but these are in the style of the characters from Final Fantasy 1, which was released on the NES back in the 80's. I would really love to see these guys in a FF type, old school RPG, just for the hell of it. Perhaps I could code it up some time, as it shouldn't be too hard. Again, I am constantly amazed at the stuff that people from this wonderful community produce for me. Sometimes, it really is the small things that count:)

Finally, I don't think I will release the current version of the ALPHA since I don't want to overwork the testers. I would rather give them more content in a few weeks. However, if you do want to test it out now, just shoot me an e-mail.

Anyway, towards the end of the train ride into work, I got to what I want to call, the midway section of the game. As I got to the end, the unexpected happened...A show stopping bug...I can't even begin to tell you how pissed I was. Not because of the bug really, as I knew the solution to it, but where is occurred. It happened right at the place in the game where all the new stuff I had been working on for the past month was. So, I was not able to even get a chance to test the new stuff I had worked on:( I mean, there were ways around it, but I like to have full run throughs, not little hacks with changing the start position of the game to test everything. Oh well, it happens...

So, here we are, 7 years later...And, I don't have much to say, as I am very tired...Perhaps I will reflect on everything tomorrow...Yeah, that sounds like a good idea...

Not much to report really...I went through another huge part of the game today, though I probably have a few hours more to go. It really amazes me how long the game has become. Also, there are some difficulty situations I have to readjust. When I have to reload the same fight 8 times in a row, while on easy, there is something wrong...Let's not forget the little fact that I created the damn game!

I have to admit, I had a lot of fun playing the game. There are so many different types of options available to the player, and their party members, and it was fun trying to pick what will work best for me. I only made it through about 2 hours of playing, but I literally had to tear myself from the computer, as it was nearing midnight, and I have to be up at 5:00am:( Another thing I am beginning to realize more than ever is that these testing sessions will start to become less and less of an option for me. The game is getting so big, and I can't spend as much time as I used to be able to when testing The Coming, which I could play through in about 3 hours. Another one of the issues with trying to make a game many times bigger than it's predecessor...

Finally, I know I have said this so many time, but I really found a GREAT piece of music to use in the game. I am not sure how I missed it before, but it is actually a variation of another track I just implemented a month or so ago. I am not sure if I am going to replace the current one with this new one, or just use both. I will probably end up using both, however, I need to figure out which one to use in which place. I had only planned on using this melody 2-3 times, so I have to choose carefully. As always, music is always first on my mind when it comes to this game...I also anticipate that I will be listening to this piece of repeat for the 2-3 days or so, so it can be permanently burned into my brain. Man, I really love music...

I have to admit, I was a bit distracted by some stuff going on at work, but I promised myself to get back on track tomorrow...Here's hoping...

All in all, today was a very solid day of development, and I am planning on going to sleep early again, to hopefully repeat the success I had today.

With the TV off, I was able to really focus on the matters at hand, and get into the groove of development again. I had a new dialog to get in the game, compliments of my newest writer, editor, and overall idea guy, Phil Carter. To say I was very pleased with his first piece of work is an understatement. Hell, it was so good, it had me laughing out loud. I am sure I will get some player comments about this particular NPC after they complete the game.

Today in general was a very busy day, in which I don't think I touched the toolset once. Now, don't look at this as a bad thing...I spent most of the day dealing with various people, who are making various pieces of content for me, whether it be art related, or dialog related. So, even though I wasn't in the toolset doing anything, the work of others will be put in there tomorrow morning, which will actually be more than what I would have accomplished today. I am almost getting the hand of this project manager thing:)

In fact, the biggest thing that happened was, I received a new physics processing card, called Physx by Ageia. I guess besides winning a nice plaque, and $2500, the IGF also planned on giving me this card. I totally had no idea what it was, nor did I know I was supposed to win anything else at all. Nothing better than getting an unexpected gift:)

To my credit, I did implement a small sequence, and started on the dialog for it. Sometimes, I can write good dialog, and sometimes, I can't...This time, I could:) In fact, it is dialog for a certain NPC that got little exposure in The Coming, yet people always seemed to mention that they like him/her. I will definitely finish the dialogue tomorrow morning...

By the way, my latest interview by Bioware community manager Jay Watamaniuk is available. Check it out here.

So, Back in September of 2005, I started work on a new side quest for Dematol. At the time, everything seemed fine. I knew what I wanted, and the implementation was going to be easy. I even went so far as to implement the main mechanics of it, including a rather detailed cut-scene. Then, for whatever reason, I shelved the idea, as I didn't think it made sense to have it anymore.

Well, since I had things to move on to this week, I figured this quest was just as good as anything else. Now, remember, I had implemented a lot of the core scripts of this quest over the past 8 months. So, when I began glue the pieces together today, everything just fell into place. To be honest, all I need is the dialogue, and this quest will be done. Thank god I took the 4-5 days to script the damn thing 8 months ago:) Now, I just have to get in contact with Rick...

After this, there is yet another quest that the kind folks over at the forums took it upon themselves to design. I have to say, this team thing is really starting to work out great:)

After I verify everything works tomorrow, I will need to make the decision if I will go through the module, compile a list of issues to fix for the week, or move on to the next thing I want to implement. I have a feeling I am going to go with adding this new side quest that I initially started last October. Depends on how I feel I guess...More info on that stuff later.

Finally, I have still been listening to this new piece of music all day. And I still don't know how I will use it. I just know that I will...Decisions, decisions...

As far as development goes, I finally finished up everything that I wanted to. All the different small paths the player can take during the sequence are handled correctly. All transitions are working correctly. All the music is in place. There is one more part of it I might add at a later point, but it isn't worth it as of now. It will end up being a nice to have that I may get to before I release the game.

Finally, I just have to publicly shout out one of my ALPHA testers, although he really can't just be called that anymore. This particular individual (yes, I forgot to ask him if he cared if I mentioned his/her name...) has been in contact with me, via IM, for the better part of the past 2 weeks. We have been conspiring together to get some new, fresh content into the game. After showing me various screenshots of things they could make in the toolset, I asked if they could put together some haks for me. Not only did they put together some haks, they actually put together an entire damn demo module. I actually just got done playing it, and it really served its purpose. Again, the demo module in itself isn't that big, but the fact that this person took time out of their life to do something for little old me says a lot. So, if you are reading this entry, thanks again!

As far as other things, I received a very nice new convo from someone yesterday, which I still need to put in game. As a matter of fact, I will just do it right after I am done writing this update, as it isn't really a big task. I am also in the design process of yet another portrait of another character from Rose Of Eternity. I won't give any secrets away, except that I think this one will be the best so far!

So, I mentioned as a small teaser that I wouldn't be going into work today. The reason was something that meant a lot to me.

All in all, it was a fun experience, and I am glad I got to go through it. I will post more when the interview is actually put in the paper next week. I am not sure if this will get me any more exposure than normal, but hey, you never know. I figure that at the very least, it can't hurt me, which is a good thing:)

On the way back, I was able to stay awake the entire time. So, there were lots of lingering issues over the past few days, and tonight, I bit the bullet, and fixed them. However, something that happened that I should have expected. I had an epiphany about how the sequence could end, and more or less thought up an entire new scenario. Not all players will experience it, but I think it is something that will give the game variety. As always, it doesn't seem like it would be a difficult thing to implement, but you all know how that goes...

Finally, anyone who read my daily updates when I was at the Game Developers Conference a few weeks ago should have remembered me talking about this reporter that asked me a lot of questions regarding music. Well, you can imagine how surprised I was to come across this article. It is a VERY interesting article regarding sound/music in video games...And we all know where I stand with this subject:) Anyway, my name is brought up at the beginning of the 2nd page. Nothing major really, but interesting nonetheless.

Till tomorrow...

When I got home, I knocked out all but one bug, and this bug isn't really a bug, it is more of an addition I need to make tomorrow. I know I have been talking about how I should have finished this already, but sometimes things just don't work out the way I expect them. Such is life...

Another thing that has slowed things down is the fact that I have been getting out of work a lot later than usual. Hopefully, I will be able to start getting out of work at the normal time tomorrow...

I did a bit more work with a combat scene, but the AI is a little off, as the enemy is attacking the wrong person in the party. Also, a key NPC keeps going hostile on me. *Sigh* Just one of those days, I guess...

Towards the end of the day at work, I was in a bit of a foul mood, so when I got on the train, I just opted to sleep, instead of doing work. No point in rushing things anymore than I have already. Hopefully, I can just put an end to this current debacle, and move on in life:)

I even went on a little development tangent, and began creating content that I wasn't even planning on putting in this game. Now, this usually happens, but this new part is something quite major. It will introduce a major protagonist to the player that they wouldn't have seen for another 1-2 chapters. Again, this is an example of having a general idea, and then when implementation comes, that idea changing a bit. Nothing wrong with that at all, considering the same thing happened in The Coming.

However, this little idea I had pushed back the finishing of the sequence I have been working on by a day or so. Not a big deal, but it happened nonetheless...I think if I concentrate, and not watch as much TV, I can finish it all up by the end of tomorrow night. That would be perfect, as I like to finish up major things on the weekends. That could give me another week go through the game, to make sure nothing is broken, and that I successfully glued all of the various pieces of sequences together correctly. In other words, no plot killing bugs, broken transitions, etc.

In terms of what I did today, I listened to the main theme that I was going to use for this particular character in a subsequent chapter. Since he/she will be making an introduction in this module, I have to get this track in as well. I think it might only be heard once or twice, but who cares. It's the little things that matter:)

I also created a new enemy, complete with custom armor, and animations. I had never created an enemy like this before, so it took a little bit longer than usual to get things the way I wanted them. This of course included play testing fights over and over again...As always, I will have to wait until the ALPHA testers get their hands on it to make the definitive decision to be happy with it:) As for everything else, well, it was just little stuff here and there. You know, a placeable here, a script fix here, just the normal. Nothing too exciting...

Speaking of which, this art has inspired me to share something with everyone. This is an idea that I am not sure would fly in the current RPG community, but something I would want to try nonetheless...One day, I want to make a commercial RPG, that has...singing...Not just the type of singing you hear during the opening cut-scene for The Coming. No, I mean a full fledged, singing sequence, a la the standard Disney movie. Now, let me explain before I lose half of my fan base:)

I wouldn't want any hokey songs, such as Hakuna Mutata from The Lion King. However, I wouldn't mind putting some of the more serious type songs in there, such as God Help The Outcasts from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. I know everyone thinks I am mad when I say this, but you know how I am. I want to be known as one of those people that continually push the envelope. Now, I wouldn't use these songs as much as I used cut-scenes in The Coming, but they would definitely be used for sequences like the opening intro. Also, not every major character would know how to sing. There would be one however, who could sing very well, that would get the chance to show off her skills via a singing sequence. *Shrug* I don't know, maybe I am thinking too much out of the box. However, when I get the chance to do this commercially, and have the available talent, I will do it...If only I had someone who knew how to sing and write songs right now:)

So tomorrow, as I mentioned earlier, I will hopefully put the final touches on the sequence I have been working on for the last week, ever since getting back from the Game Development Conference. Also, community member Enigmalice sent me some weapon/armor packs that I think I will make use of. There is a demo module for it, so I will either check it out after writing this update, or early tomorrow morning. Either way, I am looking forward to it.