Well, as of late, I have just felt the need to really starting closing out all the issues, which is a good thing!  One of these things was the simple task of creating new level 6 blueprints for all party members.  Currently, Aramus would get to level 6 when I am done testing, yet the party members would still be at level 5, and very much weak compared to all other enemies.  In fact, the only annoying thing is picking out which new spells the casters get.  I'm sure these will change as I do more testing, but I am currently happy with what I picked out.

Another issue was even weirder.  So, I have this area with cannons that will fire on you when you are within view.  Well, while I was in a totally unrelated area (Dematol), I was shot!  I had no idea why, until I came to a realization.  I was only making a check to see if the PC was with 25 meters of the cannon.  Apparantly, the method, GetDistanceBetween() doesn't differentiate between areas.  So, if the coordinates of the cannon in one area are 80, 80, 0 and the coordinates of the PC are 80, 60, 0, it will think the 2 objects are 20 meters from each other.  A simple check to make sure the 2 objects are in the same area fixed this.

Another accomplishment was finally getting a new custom ability for Clopon.  It was a long time coming, and even though it is not overpowering, it comes in handy in a tight spot.  Trust, I must have tested the damn thing 6 times day!

I once heard some game designers talk about it, but I didn't think it was true.  They claimed that they had come to a point in their life where they just couldn't enjoy games on the same level that they used to be able to.  Well, I sort of feel the same way, and have been for quite some time, even before I started developing Rose Of Eternity.  Oh well, such is life...I still have my memories:)

So, I played through Cry The Beloved again today.  This time, it took about 5 hours.  Again, this is very good considering I know where everything is, AND I am not done with it.  Add in the replayability factors, and I think I have something good going right now.

If I may contradict myself a bit, I did actually have fun playing one fight sequence today in the game.  I hadn't done it with Clopon yet, but I figured it would be easy.  I was wrong...It was one hell of a fight, and I had to use every tactic I could think of, and finally came out triumph.  This battle sort of reminded me of some of the earlier ones they had in The Coming, like when fighting the Worg Riders in East Shinkara Forest.  I might have to tone down the damage output of the enemies involved however, because I don't want to scare away too many people with the difficulty:)

Then there's my library of utility scripts.  As it continues to grow, I just have to smile when I am constantly using some script from my util.nss file that I created a year ago.  Add to this the fact that I will be able to import all of my scripts to NWN2, and you can see where I am going.  When I start making modules for NWN2, I will already have a history in using the toolset, and hopefully won't go through the same type of growing pains I went through 2 years ago.  I really feel blessed to be where I am.  I can still remember getting my 1st script to actually work.  It was the script that would have the guards in town use torches at night time, and make them put them away during the day.  Now, it seems silly to me to spend so much time on such a trivial thing, but it really was a good way of getting used to NWScript.  Okay, enough memories from me:)

Tomorrow, I will put the finishing touches on the sequence I created, and wipe my hands clean of it.  I will then yet again go through the module, but this time, pick out every little thing.  I want to spend this entire week fixing little bugs/issues, and finally hand off the next version of the ALPHA to the testers (yeah, I know I promised it last week...).  As a general note, going through the module is getting to be a bigger task than it used to be.  I used to be able to whiz through The Coming in 3 hours (hey, I made the game, I know all of the loopholes:)).  Going through Cry The Beloved has been taking like 5-6 hours, and that is without doing everything...I need to come up with a new method of testing...

I am at a stopping point right now, because I am not exactly positive on how I want to continue.  In my head, I know how this sequence should play out, but I need a little more time to design how it actually will work.  It is times like this when I should just think of something that needs to be scripted, and do that.  When all else fails, there is always some scripts to write:)

Now, if I stick to a low XP rate, the player might not gain a level until after completing Dungeon A & Dungeon B.  With this, I will can predict what types of abilities (that are level based) that the player will have.  Again, it isn't a big deal, but it is just another reason why I want to go with a low XP rate.

In general, things are coming along quite good, and fast.  I did not expect to finish the current cut-scene I worked on today until Sunday, so I am ahead of the game a bit.  Once I finish up another area, I will yet again be back to Dematol for some more building.  This really just includes new NPC's and their respective dialogs.  There is also another side quest that I really wanted to work on, and since I haven't been worked on anything Dematol related in quite some time, I think I might try to knock that out by the middle of next week.  We'll see.

Till tomorrow... 

Finally, I think I have come to a decision on what I want to show in the opening sequence of the game.  Now, I have known for the past 6-7 months that it has to be something that will be a lot better than the current intro you see when you play The Coming.  In fact, I had an idea for the past 5-6 months, but lately, I have been moving towards a new one.  I currently have the music picked out, so all that is left is actually getting around to implementing it.  Honestly, it is something that I would want to put my all into, since this cut-scene will set the tone for the rest of the game.  As always, my philosophy is, I have to hook the player in the beginning, and hopefully, not let them go until the ending credits.  That said, I think I will work on it while I am in San Jose.  I anticipate that just being around people in the game industry will give me TONS of motivation that week.   And, if I win the award, whatever I create the next day will probably be the best thing I have ever created:)  Here's hoping...

Till tomorrow...

Long story short, some variable that is supposed to control conversations wasn't set, so when I talked to a specific NPC, that should have started a cut-scene, nothing happened.  I wasn't really surprised, and wasn't that mad that I spent 4 hours of my time rushing through the game.  Maybe because I am just used to it now.

I don't think this was too much of a problem in The Coming.  I believe most people finished the game very close to level 4, or a bit over (hmm, perhaps I should a poll...).  In Cry The Beloved however, it seems that the XP rate has been the same, if not faster, and that is something I am changing.  I am not sure how DnD is (I will check my handy guide later tonight), but in console games, the higher you were in level, the longer it took to gain another level.  In this one area lone, some monsters were giving 196 XP a pop, and you fought at least 10 of them.  So, as I was testing today, I made a note about all enemies that I feel were giving out too much XP, and made a note to lower their CR.  Speaking of CR, this just doesn't work with me at all.  I adjust it only to change XP payout, but the way my enemies are made, it is hard to measure their strength through the DnD system.  So, someone might check the CR of an enemy, and see that it is low (because I don't want it to give out that much XP), but end up getting their ass handed to them if they choose to fight it.  No one has complained so far about it in The Coming, so I won't worry about it too much...

Finally, I have to start making some decisions on how to further implement the various custom abilities (Last Resorts, Unison Abilities, etc.).  Again, I don't want to overwhelm the player and give them too much to choose from.  Then again, I want to still have a lot of new content.  One thing I am STAYING away from is giving somebody a new ability just for the hell of it.  For one, it has to make sense within the context of who is using it. Secondly, it has to have a real custom effect that makes it unique.  In other words, I won't give someone 2 Last Resorts, where one deals fire damage, and the other, ice damage.  It's hard to put in words, but everyone really has to be unique.  Fortunately, over at the forums, we have at least 50+ new ideas for special abilities.  So, if things get less hectic at work this week, I should be able to sift through all of them, and choose what will/won't work.

The same thing goes for special items.  I want the player to feel as if they really accomplished something when they get a new magic item/weapon.  I want it to be so special, that I can create a nice shiny moment, like when Aramus gets his Left Ring Of Galladoran in The Coming.  As always, I really just have to walk that fine line.

My plan is to continue to read through this book, but not because I want to change who I am, and what Rose Of Eternity is.  I want to better understand the people who will play my game.  I want to know the common things that tick them off.  Now, I will never compromise my beliefs in how I want my game to turn out, but if I knew the very easy concept that giving Aramus an intelligence of 8 would make him retarded in DnD terms, I wouldn't have done it.  This is just a small example, but it is the type of thing I want to learn more about.

Well, I am talking about a game called Street Fighter 2.  It was the most popular arcade game of the early 90's, and spawned the entire fighting game craze we have today.  Mere words cannot express my feelings for this game.  Yes, RPG's are my true heart when it comes to video games, but fighting games are a close 2nd.  I have so many fond memories of going to the arcade as a kid, and wasting tons of money over many hours.  It felt so good being 11-13 years old, beating some 20 year old.  The thrill of having 20 people watching you was so good.  Perhaps it is the same thrill kids get when they play Dance Dance Revolution, and a crowd is watching them.

Then, there was the music.  ***Drools*** The music was one of the best parts of it.  I mean, the developers just got everything right.  I remember being upset when the Genesis version of it came out, as I was a Nintendo fan boy at the time (still am!!!).  Anyways, for whatever reason, even though the SNES had better sound capabilities than the Genesis, the Genesis was able to get the exact soundtrack from the arcade, whereas the SNES had a slight remix.  Well, let me tell you, I traded systems with a friend for a week, just to listen to the music.  They even had a section in the options where you could listen to the music.  It was awesome.

People, Street Fighter 2 was one of the best, and most memorable games of my entire life.  I just don't know how else to say it.  I have now found a reason to get back in the next generation of consoles.  XBOX 360 is releasing Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting Edition, which will have online play. There are already thousands of people forming clans, getting ready to try to be the best team.  It would be so cool if after a hard night of work, or game development, I could pop the game in, and play tons of real players anywhere in the world.  You see, the story I just told you could be repeated by thousands of people around the world.  Now, we will have a chance to relive the best times of our lives, only now, from the comfort of our homes.  In fact, the only reason I have not bought even fighting games is because I don't have any brothers/sisters, or anyone to play with.  Now that they are finally getting this online thing working, all of that will change.  

So in short, I am buying an XBOX 360 in the coming months, not for Halo 3 (couldn't really give a damn about this series), but for Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting Edition.

Till tomorrow...

P.S. I did a LOT of development today.  Unfortunately, it was stuff I can't talk about...

Now, I don't really know why I am scared.  Granted, I haven't been on a plane is damn near 10 years, but that isn't any reason why I should be nervous.  Anyways, I attempted to see how long it would take by train.  Boy, I can tell you I was very pissed off to see 70 HOURS!  Damn near 3 days to get to San Jose?  At this point, I realized I would HAVE to take a plane.  Well, at least I have a month to worry about it now:)

Tomorrow, I will start the scripting of a new event that occurs.  I don't expect it to be difficult, so I might be able to start on another boss fight, and in particular, the custom special abilities they will have.  Again, I don't expect it to be difficult, just time consuming.

All of that said, I don't have anything new to report.  Sorry.

Well, as everyone knows, I no about .0001% about DnD, so I am always asking lots of questions, and in general, trying to understand how 90% of the people who play my games think.  Well, Todd was hinting at one time that I had a "gift" that should be arriving in the mail.  When I finally got the "gift", I was amazed to find a Advanced Dungeon & Dragons Guide:)  Now, perhaps everyone else out there is used to this, but I have never seen anything like this.  This book is HUGE, and I honestly don't ever think I will be able to soak in all that knowledge...Well, I would just like to publicly thank Todd & Cameron for everything they have done for me.  You guys are the best:)

Till tomorrow...

As I have been mentioning for the past months, it has been increasingly more difficult to talk about what I have worked on, without giving away any spoilers.  Hell, even my screenshot selection takes a bit longer now:)  So, here goes my very vague update...

I implemented a new boss fight, along with some new music, a short cut scene (short as in 10 seconds), and some dialog.  Once I am done with that, I will start working on some conversations, which will really move the plot along.  I don't actually want to write the conversations cough*writers*cough, but we'll see.

I also created 2 new custom items that I have been thinking of doing for quite some time.  As always, there were some tricky scripts attached to them, and I have to admit, I had to ask a question or 2 at the Bioware Scripting Forums.  Oh well, can't figure out everything on my own:)  Lastly, I put in the new custom music for the area.  Barring whatever issues come up during polish time, this area is now complete.

Anyways, I made the finishing touches on the 2 new enemies today.  I even more or less finished the layout of the new area.  All I have to do now is get the right music in, and it should be more or less complete.

Till tomorrow...

I have to admit that the first couple of times this happened to me, I was scared that I was losing my drive.  Fortunately, it has happened enough times for me to realize that this feeling will simply pass.  

However, I did find a new track that I can use as the main theme for a particular character in the game.  I probably won't convert it until I need it, as I may find something else later.

Now, some of you maybe be wondering how I could say I am not that good, but it is true.  Yes, I have scripted some things for Rose Of Eternity that still to this day make me smile.  But if a conversation comes up about what is the best technology to use to properly scale line drawn images so that the lines don't break up, I have no clue, nor do I care (this is an actual project I am working on).  

I guess the point to all of this ranting is, I really need to be in an environment surrounded by people who like video games.  Don't get me wrong, I love to program.  Long term however, well, I don't know if I could make it.  If there is one thing I wish I could just scream out loud, it would be (excuse the following curses...), "I am not a Video Game Programmer goddammit, I am a Video Game Designer".  I guess in the field I am in, they wouldn't care anyways...

...And don't get me started on the haters who don't think I have a chance in hell of achieving my dreams (yeah, you know who you all are).  Well, in fact, I won't get started on it, as my blood pressure is rising by the second.

As always, I have had ideas in my mind for quite a while regarding what enemies I wanted to create.  Well, on the train ride this morning, I began to bring those ideas to life.  It is always interesting when I am creating new enemies, as I am always trying to come up with things that are unique, so much to the point, where people will know they haven't seen it in a game before.  

By the end of the train ride, I had successfully created 1 new custom enemy, although I didn't refine everything, like the CR, and other such stats.  But, it was a beginning:)  On the train ride home, I began to work on another custom enemy that would accompany the 1st one I created in the morning.  Sadly, sleep overtook me, and I did not get as much done as I wanted to...

After eating dinner at home, I got back to work trying to finish up the 2nd enemy.  Once I was happy with what I had, I began to go through my rigorous testing, which essentially comes down to fighting different combinations of the enemy, over and over again, until I felt like things were balanced.  I didn't do it too much however, because I know tomorrow, I will be adding a Unison Ability for these 2 enemies.

This will mark the 1st time (that I can remember that is...) that the player will face enemies that perform Unison Abilities.  Hopefully, this will spice up the combat a bit, and make things more interesting.

Once I am done with these 2 enemies, I think I will continue the layout work of the new area, by adding placeables, and making it large enough to seem vast, but small enough so it doesn't slow down the game play.  As always, it is a fine line I am treading.

Lastly, to your left, you will see another sketch of Aramus.  It's funny, because this is how I always envisioned Aramus, yet it was always so hard for me to explain it to people.  I mean, the NWN model could never do him justice:)  So, just like Bruno did with Kain, Olaia really took my descriptions, and made them come to life.

So, just to bring everyone up to speed, we now have concept art for Aramus, Clopon, & Kain.  I hope I can someday get some work of Challseus, and possibly Castias...

Till tomorrow...

It's so funny, because on the train ride into work this morning, I began to put together a new Concept Art page.  I stopped about half way through, as I didn't think I had enough.  Well, factor in the stuff that Olaia just sent me, and I think I can finally give it a go.  I am not sure what the format will be, but I think Bruno's & Olaia's beautiful work should be known to the public.  If I get their permission, I will also provide links to their respective website where they host more of their work.

Needless to say, the picture to the left is of Aramus.  On this sketch, and the other ones she sent me, there were various sword models used, to get an idea of what we can make the Sword Of Galladoran look like.  Right now, I like the one that is shown in the bottom picture.  As this is all concept stuff that probably took her 30 minutes to do, I am sure the final product will have changed a bit.  *Shrug*  I am no art critic, but this stuff already looks good.  In fact, every time I think something already looks good, the artists goes and makes it look 5 times as good:)  So, who knows what we will get out of this...

Finally, I want to talk about a poll I set up a couple of weeks ago.  Basically, I wanted to gauge how long it took people to complete The Coming.  I have to admit that I thought more people would have voted by now (there are only 47...), but from those that did, it seems that (at the moment), 34% finished it in 5 hours.  That number actually seems about right, although with only 47 votes, I would need a lot more to have a more concrete analysis.  You can view the results here.  If you want to vote *cough*cough*, you can find the poll along the left border of the website.  In fact, if you are reading this update on Tuesday, 2/7/2005, you can most likely see it as you are reading this:)

Well, tomorrow, I hope to get back into the swing of things, as I more or less took today off.  I mean, I did create a new area, and fiddle with some new music, but I didn't do anything substantial.

So, I have to admit, I did not do much today.  It took a while to package up all of the files for the ALPHA, so that's what I did in the morning.  In the afternoon, I went out for Super Bowl parties, and I didn't get back until 10:00 pm.  Speaking of which, I did want the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, but oh well...

While I packaged up the ALPHA however, I was as always, listening to some music.  So, I have a couple pieces by a particular author, and I went searching on iTunes for other tracks from the same soundtrack.  Well, even though I couldn't find the original, I found a new version that was recorded in 2000, by a different orchestra.  After listening to a few tracks, I thought, "What the hell, it's only $9.99.  I'll just buy the damn thing...".  I have to say that I am very impressed by the reworking of a few tracks, and as usual, while listening to a particular piece, I came up with a new scenario in my head.  It already works perfectly with the area I will be creating this coming week.  I'm sure I will have to think it out a bit more, but I think the players will like it.  

Finally, as you can see to your left, I have some concept art of Kain, the leader of the Ministry Of Justice.  So, on Thursday, a very nice gentleman sent me an e-mail inquiring about my need for artists.  He gave me a link to some of his prior work, and I saw a picture that reminded me of Kain.  In the picture, the figure was sitting on a horse, and didn't have a sword, yet the dark black hood immediately made me think of Kain.  So, when I replied to him, I told him that it would be cool if he could do a sketch of Kain.  Interestingly enough, he had never even played The Coming, so all he had to go by was a picture on the Cast page of this website.  I was amazed at how fast he came up with this, and I really cannot wait until I get more versions.  In fact, he said there were about 3 more versions he had to show me, so I am awaiting them with bated breath:)

Well, as the module has been getting bigger, I have been realizing that I need to get rid of some excess stuff.  So, I spent about an hour just deleting old scripts I didn't need, as well as some other blueprints and such.  I also finally put the finishing touches on ALPHA V0.40.  As I had previously mentioned, this release has 3 additional areas, as well as new enemies, abilities, etc.  In other words, I really need to get it to the testers.  I will hopefully either upload it tonight, or tomorrow morning, depending on how tired I am...

Well, by the time I arrived at Grand Central Station in Manhattan, I had already written about half of the new system!  I was really surprised at how fast it came out.  In my head, I was thinking "Sigh, now I have to spend another couple of days writing yet another new system."  So, as you can imagine, I was quite pleased with my results.  It only got better later in the day.

On the train ride home, I more or less finished the system.  When I got home, I put the finishing touches, and went to sleep, very happy.  All in all, it was a very productive day.

So, at this point, Cry The Beloved is longer than The Coming.  This is a good thing.  In my eyes, the pacing of the current parts is very good, with a nice mixture of story telling (SKIPABLE) cut-scene, combat, etc.  I am definitely pushing my own boundaries, as I am doing stuff I would have never imagined possible with The Coming.

Moving on...At the current point in the story, the player has a choice to make, which will at the very least add to the replayability of the game.  This choice is not the biggest choice in the world (hopefully more of those will come), but it will be something the player will think about for at least 4-5 minutes (I hope:)). In general, I can't wait to get the feedback of the ALPHA testers when I finally get it fully implemented.

At some point, I will have to go back to Dematol (yet again) to do some more touch of work.  I mean, I haven't touched a conversation in ages, or even asked Jason to edit anything.  Perhaps he needed a break:)  However, I think for the time being, I will exclusively focus on getting the new abilities and combat area into the game.  Then, I have some of the climax type cut-scenes to think about.  It is almost getting to that point where I will need to create a trailer for the game, as well as compiling a whole set of screenshots (although for screenshots, I guess I could use the ones I post here with everyday!).

I have to admit, things get very tough to juggle, but as everything always works out, I will just try not to worry about it:)

Again, some people might not think that everything I did was a lot, but they must remember, I am very meticulous when creating things, as I am definitely a quality over quantity guy (yeah I know, I sound like a broken record...)