Wendersnaven.com (a resource for nwn2 builders)

by E.C.Patterson

I don’t mean to say of course that building for NWN2 isn’t fun. As an act of creation, I enjoy it tremendously and don’t see myself quitting any time soon. At this point, I believe I’ll go on as long as there is sufficient interest in NWN2 mods and the community is vibrant.

No, but sometimes, there are things I’d rather do with my 60 minutes-a-day free computer time than building. And well, since my heart and soul is firmly with NWN2, that often means just playing the game. (I thought sometime ago that Bioshock might steal me away for a bit, but it hasn’t. After a couple of nights playing, it was put back on the shelf.)

So last week I had a couple of good runs on MotB taking me all the way to the City of Judgment. As with any good thing, I wasn’t eager to end the game right away, so I’ve put MotB on hold for now, and decided to finally play the last chapter of Pool of Radiance Remastered. While RP’ing does feel quite limited in PORR, the mod has fun gameplay and well-crafted areas. Because of its general look and feel and its length, I consider it the most professional-grade NWN2 community mod out there right now (for better and for worse ;) )

Nonetheless, Into the Forgotten Realms has progressed somewhat in the past days. Xandurpein (author of Shadow of the Underdark and Tanithiel’s maker) and I have been having some great discussions on plot for the Cormanthor section of the mod. You’ll have to deal with the drow presence in the area, and while wiping them out will be an option (expect tough, monumental fights if you decide to go this way), it will not be the only course of action. Xandurpein, a drow expert of sorts, will be writing much of the drow convos for that part of the story. I’m glad of that because if there’s anything bogging down ItFR somewhat right now, it’s all the writing that has to be done.

Besides that, there’s been a bit of area building happening, including this catacomb, which makes me feel somewhat productive.

So, Joyeuse belated Saint-Jean-Baptiste to Quebecers reading this (if any!) and Happy Canada Day too. This is the heart of summer here with two national holidays within 7 days of each other. This, and the nice weather, isn't helping building on ItFR much either... :)

I haven't posted anything in awhile. It's about time. I just wanted to show a shot of the head I've been working on.

Honestly, I was never completely satisfied with the original Baphitaur/Minotaur head I originally did for LadyE. I knew I could do better. I added a couple of new programs to my arsenal, and have a few more months of experience. So, I decided to take another crack at the head.

List of improvements:

1) The head and horns are one mesh, and separately tintable. Less faces than a typical half-orc head. The eyes are not tintable.

2) The mohawk/mane is a hair option, tintable via hair tints. Original OEI, and modified to fit.

3)The beard is a facial hair option, tintable via hair tints. Original OEI, modified.

4) The nose/earring jewelry, and the horn tips are separate helmet options, and are tintable. I made a new custom armor category for this and all future custom armor I make.

Well, I hope some will find this a suitable improvement. I hope to have it packaged up very soon once it goes through the final bit of testing.

By E.C.Patterson

Has it been two weeks already since last post? Time sure flies by quickly. If it wasn’t for my fancy spreadsheet I could think that not much has been accomplished since then on Into the Forgotten Realms. But it proves me wrong: ItFR is now 45% complete. I’m excited about that since it means I was able to meet the target I recently set of 10% progress per month. The mod is nearing the top of the hill, and hopefully it’ll be a smooth and speedy run down to the finish line.

To celebrate this forthcoming 50th (percentile) anniversary, I’m planning to release a short teaser tailer. I’m gradually thinking up the storyboard and filming in-game footage. I like making videos, so this should be fun. Another fun part of mod making, which for me is not only about building a mod and uploading it to the Vault.

I’ve edited some early footage just for practice into the following 15 seconds clip, which I’ll call a video screenshot. It shows a part of the Cormanthor forest area and some ruins, which players will have to go through to reach Soloria, one of the abandoned schools of wizardry around Myth Drannor. Some of the shots in there will probably end up in the teaser.

Download larger size version (1mb)

Thanks for reading. I hope to be back sooner next time.