On September 23, 2003, Neverwinter Stratics hosted the sixth Neverwinter Stratics House of Commons chat with BioWare, the developers of Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. The chat ran nearly ninety minutes with BioWare answering fourty-four questions by the end!!
Attendees from BioWare:
Jay Watamaniuk, Community Manager (BioJay)
Darcy Pajak, Assistant Producer (BioDarcy)
Tom Ohle, Communications (BioTom)
Trent Oster, Producer on NWN (BioTrent)
Derek French, (DerekF in log; masquerading as BioJay during parts of the HoC)
Also in attendence, the always welcome humor and comraderie of the BioWare team!
The log may be edited for continuity regarding the questions and responses as needed.
attriel
Greetings and thank you for attending tonight's House of Commons Chat.
Tonight's chat is focusing on the Neverwinter Nights' Expansion: Hordes of the Underdark
I will be our moderator for this evening. In order to submit questions please /msg or /query [QT]Elm, [QT]Chance, or [QT]Zorban. Please /msg different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load and speed this process up. Do not msg anyone from Dev. Team or myself. These questions will be ignored.
Remember that the Dev. Team may not have the opportunity to answer all of your questions. In addition, some questions may not be answered if the Dev Team feel that it is not appropriate or that it has been better answered through some other question.
Please note that this chat is copyrighted and cannot be republished without the expressed consent of Neverwinter Stratics and the Stratics Network. A log will be posted on http://nwn.stratics.com/ tonight/tomorrow, feel free to link to it!
Thanks for coming, everyone. We will now begin accepting questions.
BioTrent
Woot!
attriel
And now, the Developers will introduce themselves and tell us who they really are :)
BioTrent
I'm Trent. I'm Project Director of NWN and NWN related stuff
BioDarcy
Hello everyone, I’m the assistant producer for Hordes. and I’m glad to be here.
BioTom
And since neither of them remembers they have LAST NAMES... they are Trent Oster and Darcy Pajak
BioJay
Howdy- I'm Jay Watamaniuk, BioWare's Community Manager.
BioTom
<-- Tom Ohle, Public Relations lead for NWN... I'm the guy who decides when you get info about the game. muaha.
BioJay
But you still don't get the chicks. :)
attriel
And now, the questions begin ;)
Question from *JoshuaKalis*
Are there any changes planned to the main programs UI or the editor? One thing I would like in is an extra tab on the character sheet where you can view/edit the history blurb you enter when you create the character. also i would like to be able to edit a description of the character. are those things in hotu or do you think you might be able to accomplish them in expansions 3 or 4?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
We have made a few minor changes to the UI, but we haven't made the change you mention
We will continue to add to the game as we go forward
and it is important to remember every feature doesn't have to wait for an expansion
Question from *RAFSoft*
what is Hordes of the Underdark about?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
The story of Hordes of the Underdark is about an uprising of Drow into the city of Waterdeep. The player is hired to find out what the Drow are doing, and to stop them any way they can.
Question from *h2orat*
question for BIO: will we ever see a fix for the 13 creature alpha channel bug?
BioWare Response
BioTom
Drow and all sorts of other mangy creatures, that is.
BioTrent
We cooked some time into it a while back and it was a lot more involoved than we first thought.
I would have to say no, there is no plan for a Hordes fix to the alhpa bug
Question from *Xel*
My question is this: When creating a new engine, such as with the first title, it is obvious that the toughest challenges would be involved with creating the engine itself. Given that there is little to no engine work done on an expansion, what would you(any of you) say the largest challenge of getting these projects finished is?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
The largest challenge in completing an expansion is keeping the feature list to a manageable length
We didn't do that this time out ;-)
I forget how many new feats we added, but it's truly shocking
BioJay
Is that why Brent is always screaming. :)
BioTrent
yup
BioJay
Your a harsh guy Trent.
BioDarcy
The toughest challenge with creating an expansion pack especially one for Neverwinter is meeting community expectations throughout the whole cycle we are always wondering if the community will like that feature, or if some other mod builder did it better we have to go back and re do it so it’s the best.
Question from *Skyler*
Are you going to be making any changes on the DM side of things? Many thought it was quite poor in the original NWN, will there be improvements or any new features etc?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Poor, ouch
We've gone back and adressed some issues in the DM Client and we have some more plans going forward
But it won't be substantially changed by the expansion
Question from *ikkis*
Will more creatures be added to the polymorph.2da files standard to the game, making more POLYMORPH_TYPE_ constants available to scripters? Also to this end, will druid's wild shape be added to, there are a lot of spaces on the radial not used?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
You’ll be happy to hear one of the new classes we are adding is a shifter. All they do is change into other things. Bears, medusa, basilisks, etc so players can experience life as a monster for a bit.
so yes
Question from Unknown
Regarding the new campaign, will the gameplay be more like the one in SoU or will it be action based like in regular NWN?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
The gameplay in HotU will encompass both examples of gameplay
Expect huge battles and some strong story based sections
Question from *kerec*
If or when you make NWN2 would you consider going turn based for combat? Alot of things seem to be ignored by the realtime pseudo turn engine thats inplace now. For example, reach weapons and ranged weaponry are MUCH more effective in a turnbased combat system. I also ask the answer to not be,"It doesn't suit multiplay" because, simply, I don't buy it.
BioWare Response
BioTrent
No
As a company we've chosen to go in another direction
Our implementation is based on what we think makes the game enjoyable to play on the PC
We believe that the phased combat system brings the heart if the rules to the game while allowing it to be more action oriented
Question from *ikkis*
What additions, if any, will be made to existing classes.. For example more fighting animations for monks, more wildshape abilities for druids ?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
Each class will have added feats into the epic levels. All characters are getting addition skills and we have added a new animation for the whirlwind feat. It’s very cool looking.
BioTom
VERY
BioDarcy
and druids will have more wildshapes
Question from *BrainShard*
I really loved the attention to cinematic details (like cutscenes and special lighting effects and the sort) that we saw in SoU. Can we expect some new tricks that can provide that kind of rich atmosphere in HotU?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
we've added a great deal of additional support for the in-game cutscenes you saw in SoU
Our designers wouldn't let some work in that area go to waste, so expect more in-game cutscenes
and more interesting effects
In fact, I've seen a few things which I couldn't figure out how they were done.
BioDarcy
cool stuff with a Beholder
Question from *Prime-G1*
Will the new expansion feature more pretiege classes or more player races?
BioWare Response
BioTom
Hordes of the Underdark will feature lots of new ways to customize your character, actually... We've got 6 new prestige classes: The Dwarven Defender, Champion of Torm, Weapon Master, Red Dragon Disciple, Shifter, and Pale Master.
we've also got a bunch of new player heads going into the game, new portraits, wings for the red dragon disciple, and even a "Customize Character" button that lets you edit your characters after you've created your character
so you can go in and edit your bio and such
Question from *Blacksting*
Is the animation queue of sitting and standing fixed so that the animations fire first instead of at the location of the click?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
We've gone in and modified some of the animations and some of the timing on the replay.
this may have fixed the issue you mention.
BioDarcy
Hey! Tom just leaked the 6th prestige class.
BioJay
Shot to the kidney!
BioTom
DOH
BioTrent
If not, I'll keep an eye out and then hurl flaming death at the programmers until it is fixed
Question from *IAmTheVoid*
Are there any plans/intentions to implement an internal voice chat system into the game? Right now my group uses teamspeak for our chatting. I'd like to see a chatting interface that takes into account the listen skill and proximity of one player to another.
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
Nope. Sorry.
Question from *Astorax*
Any chance for us to get custom animation slots, so we don't have to override existing ones?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
With regards to custom animation slots, we've added some new animation overriding code
but it doesn't offer more animations.
I'll dump that idea on the live team for consideration
Jay, consider it dumped
BioJay
Thanks :)
Question from *BrainShard*
Will we be meeting some of the celebrities of Waterdeep as the story progresses? I know a few personalities I wouldn't mind saying hello to...
BioWare Response
BioTrent
they're kinda similar
BioTom
Well, we really don't want to give away too many details of the story... I can say you'll run into Durnan at his crazy inn, though
Question from *Barhug*
Though probably unrelated to the Underdark, I know many were hoping to see things like moving boats and carriages, more z-axis control, and some of the things that made mods like Dreamcatcher so popular. Any new additions like that?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Our designers have been playing with some scripted moving objects
and I think you'll like the results.
Chapter Three in HotU is very cool
Question from *X-Death*
Will alignment play a much bigger role this time around? Also, are there any plans to have a Diety system in which certain game actions are tied to the diety you worship ?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
The alignment system will be much as it was for Shadows, where the player’s action can shift their alignment even to the point where they can lose a class.
BioTom
lose their ability to advance in that class, rather
BioDarcy
But there are no plans to implement a deity system. The closest we have is the champion of Torm
yeah, what Tom said.
Question from *Don-XXX*
Are there any chances to make a custom module made with XP2 but without new content playable with similar versions of NWN (regular or XP1)?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
We are trying to keep support in for the people who don't have HotU, and it looks good, but man is it getting complicated!
We had a hard time keeping the system working of SoU and is hasn't got any easier
If I could make a recommendation, I'd say buy Hordes, it adds so much you'll be glad you did.
Question from *Ice_Dragon*
how many new placeable objects were added to the toolsets, and what can we expect from these objects?
BioWare Response
BioJay
I have been working with some of the new placeables for the last few weeks and they are looking very nice.
I haven't counted how many we have so far but I would say...lots. :)
And yes there is a bar placeable. There is a great deal of Drow stuff to be found as well.
Question from *Skyler*
Will you actually be able to play a Drow this time around? if so, what if any, effect will there be on the ECL
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
Hello Ldyshayna!
xt q
lol tom :o
xt q
lol tom :o
whoops
BioTom
whoa darcy, simmer down boy.
attriel
and that would b e the wrong button, folks :o
BioDarcy
We have not added sub races to Hordes, but the player can modify the look of their character to appear like as Drow Elf.
BioTom
And a slightly diminutive medulla oblongata.
BioTrent
Darcy's whacked
BioDarcy
I like ham.
BioTom
and pie!
BioTrent
pie man, get it straight
Question from *OldScratch*
Little things that bug DM's... You can't name a quickslot that has something from the "creator" in it.. any chance of getting an "edit label" or tagging the name of the Creature/Item on the Quickslot?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Good idea
Right now, no plans to add that, but the Live team needs work, right Jay?
Heh. I love my job
BioJay
Maaaan- do I do everything. :)
BioTrent
We'll look into adding it
BioTom
No. and I'm VERY disappointed with that.
Question from *Xel*
With regards to epic levels; what will the new maximum level be, and what is the reasoning for this particular cap?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
We've raised the cap to 40 for Hordes, however the toolset will support up to 60th.
BioTrent
60th level, bloody hell man
BioJay
60? Really? Cripes.
BioTom
almost me-like.
BioDarcy
The reasoning is that in a 20-35 hour game we couldn't hope to get the player to anything close to 60th, so we developed the skills and feats for 40th
BioTom
I kid. I'm only around level 40 or so in real life.
BioDarcy
but dm's can go nuts after that.
Question from *Pat*
Are there plans for a sequel of some kind to NWN in the near or far future?
BioWare Response
BioJay
40th level Weasel Lord maybe :)
BioTrent
Heh
BioTom
It's a possibility... but we haven't announced anything yet. You'll know if/when it happens, though.
Question from *JoshuaKalis*
i saw you have no plans to do a 3rd expansion. so HotU will be the LAST expansion for NWN??? :( say it ain't so!!!
BioWare Response
BioTom
Again, additional expansions are a possibility. It would really depend on how well Hordes sells and whether it warrants yet another expansion
But no announcements on that front at this time
BioTrent
we never try to do more than two expansions at a time
heh
Question from *Tahmurath*
In terms of alignment, is there any plan to reduce the penalties for playing an evil character, or perhaps make it more worthwhile to be of evil alignment
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Given the setting of the expansion (the Underdark) there will be a fairly hard lean towards roleplaying an evil character. You will make a number of choices throughout the plot and in the end, you will define the ending based on the choices you make.
BioDarcy
Trent likes the dark path
BioTrent
yup. It's the only way to be sure
Dead things don't cause problems
Question from *Xel*
One thing from the actual pen and paper game that makes epic levels interesting for spellcasters is the 'epic spellcasting' feat where you can 'create' your own spells by spending money and experience. Will we be seeing anything similar to this in the expansion?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
somebody please help me!
BioTrent
Sadly, no
We didn't have time to implement a new system to handle the creation of your own spells
BioDarcy
Also in the PnP rules is the time and experience needed to create epic level spells. In the interest of time we are picking some cool ones to add and that will be it.
BioTrent
With that said, the spells you will have access to are pretty sweet.
BioDarcy
Hellball is amazing
BioTom
you're amazing.
BioDarcy
Tom, I thought we talked about that.
BioTrent
Hellball is the stuff dreams are made of!
BioTom
YOU talked about that.
BioJay
Hellball does indeed rock.
Question from *Merek|-W-*
what is Bio's drink of choice?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Scotch on the rocks!
BioTom
oof. depends. if it's free... anything. if I have to pay for it, Colt 45 or Lucky Lager Extra. Sad, yes... but y'know.
BioDarcy
lots of coffee.
or redbull and vodka
BioTom
oooh, that one's good too
BioJay
Something that has you wake up in some small town in Mexico with a shotgun and a girl's phone number and no memory of what happened..
BioTom
Darcy, didn't that happen to you in Cabo?
BioDarcy
I don't remember
BioTom
well, Juanita certainly does. and she won't stop calling the office.
I kid.
Question from *JoshuaKalis*
one suggestion i have is to split the left and right shift/ctrl keys up to make more quickbars. so there would be 5 quick slot rows: default, left shift, left ctrl, right shift and right ctrl. is this idea feasible, easy to accomplish in expansions 2-3 or 4?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Good idea, but there is often an issue with the PC and trapping multiple function key presses at the same time.
we tried something similar and it often didn't work 100%
You'd sometimes drop the cntrl key, sometimes drop the shift key
sorry
Question from *Eliason*
question Camera angles,will fps perspective ever be a possibilty?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
hmm NWN fps
BioDarcy
Yes, we have changed the default camera so it's fully unlocked. You can drop it down behind the player and just over their head.
It changes the way the game looks. One of the guys here was looking over my shoulder and asked me what I was playing.
BioTom
But it's not quite first-person
BioDarcy
He was very shocked to find out it was Hordes of the Underdark
BioTom
it really does add a lot to the game, though
Question from *ikkis*
currently when something is polymorphed it retains its own voiceset, druids using wildshape, wizards using polymorph self, stuff like that. Will this be being fixed so that you get the soundset of the creature you change to ? At present the soundset column in polymorph.2da doesnt seem to work.
BioWare Response
BioTrent
at the moment, no that isn't fixed, but you know those Live team guys are always looking for work!
When we built NWN I don't think we were even aware of the complexity.
BioJay
You're making me cry over here. :)
BioTrent
We have to focus our efforts on the bigger issues and sadly some issues like this one don't get much attention
BioTom
Dust mites make you cry, Jay. this should have you hiding in the corner sucking your thumb.
Question from *DaJeff*
Hi all. Can we expect some graphic engine improvements in HoTU ?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Yes
the engine has had a few new features added
We've also doubled the polygone counts on the tilesets
It looks much better
BioJay
The difference is pretty amazing actually.
BioTrent
We're also playing with some other new graphics features, but I don't want to talk about them until they are 100%
BioTom
exactly. no talky about graphic stuff anymore.
Question from *Blacksting*
I read that SetFogDistance will become an area property... am I to assume that with Hordes it is scriptable and the parameter now works both in and out?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
Not only is it scriptable we are trying to add it as a feature of the toolset. Things are currently looking good for it to be an environmental option.
BioTrent
Woot!
Question from *polishhappycow*
Are there a sufficient number of epic spells picked out to ensure some diversity among epic spellcasters? Or will they all be the same?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
We've tried to give the greatest variety possible.
I think we've done a good job, but it will be up to you to decide when you play the expansion.
BioJay
Hellball man, Hellball. Aint nothin' you need after Hellball.
BioTrent
Amen Bubba
Question from *OldScratch*
In HoU are you going to include some sort of protection for DM posessed creatures... Example: A creature is posessed.. and another DM goes to limbo them... the posessing DM must log out to continue play.. as his avatar and the creature he was posessing is now in Limbo. Any chance at some protection on this? Like a warning that is given when you try to posess and already posessed creature.
BioWare Response
BioTrent
This is something we could look at down the line, but for right now it isn't a priority
BioJay
We are planning to continue to patch after Hordes ships of course and this issue may get some attention in that process but I can't say for sure.
Question from *Astorax*
Darcy: How close can you set the fog distance? Is it possible to make "pea soup" environments where the fog is so thick, the players run the risk of getting lost?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
We cannot set it too close otherwise you will lose the player and that can cause huge problems with camera control and actually rendering the player.
Question from *Scarmiglion*
There has been talk a bit about a user-defined talk table for community content. how is that coming along, and do you have any info on how it would work?
BioWare Response
DerekF (as BioJay)
Heya, its Derek French here, possesing Jay for a moment - I will answer that one
We are hoping to have user defined talk tables for the 1.33/HotU release
They way it would work is on a per-module basis, you would be allowed to define a custom talk table in addition to the default dialog.tlk file.
This would allow custom content creators to use string refs that they have defined themselves
The creator would use a string ref of a very high value and it would then be looked up in the custom talk table instead of the dialog.tlk file.
Let's say 1,000,000 is the start of user strings, so 1,000,001 would actually mean string ref #1 in the custom talk table.
We will have more details on this later as it is finalized.
Done
BioJay
I am not longer Derek French
Question from *Ice_Dragon*
was that the biggest challenge in this expansion pack was compatablity with NWN & SoU
BioWare Response
BioTrent
You must be glad
BioJay
The bursting out of my stomach was the painful bit.
BioDarcy
That is not true at all. The biggest challenge has been to keep mouse that has invaded the office from chewing through wires.
Actually, we ironed out most of the technical issues during the development for Shadows, so it has not been an issue for Hordes… Yet ?
;-)
Question from *BrainShard*
Quick thanks for making an already great game better and better. You guys are awesome. Will there be new familiars or animal companions available?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
yay, we rock
BioDarcy
yes there will be a new familiar. I cannot say at this time what it is, but it has many eyes
BioTom
....
BioJay
--coughing--
BioTom
well, we might as well say it's an Eyeball now. cuz y'know... they have eyes. and yeah. well, fun.
BioJay
Kidney shot for Darcy. :)
BioTom
pink slip, you mean.
:P
Question from *ikkis*
how do you feel the ongoing work on server stability / memory issues is going, also have you considered building in some auto-restart settings for the dedicated server programs (its a bit fiddly to do in windows as i understand)
BioWare Response
BioTrent
We've done a great deal of stability work on the server
and we will continue to work on making it even better going forward
As for auto restart, we haven't put a lot of time into that yet, but we are interested in that area
Question from *Blacksting*
Has there been any refinements of efficiency for the NWNServer.exe? Is it better faster stronger in the expansion?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
we've gone through and done some AI and scripting language optimizations
so the performance in larger encounters should be improved.
Question from *Illustre*
Will the system requirements go up due to the graphical additions/improvements in HotU?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Yes.
attriel
You guys are killing me, here, with these one word answers; FYI
BioTrent
Given the increase in tileset polygon count the minimum system requirement will go up slightly.
We aren't asking for the moon in terms of hardware, but HotU will require slightly better hardware than the original game
Question from *JoshuaKalis*
will any of the following spells be in the expansion? . Lesser Acid Orb, Venom Bolt, Acid Orb, Vitriolic Sphere and Acid Storm?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
Maybe, but after the smackdown tom and Jay gave me you’ll have to wait for a Neverwinter Wednesday where we post new information about the game every week.
BioJay
That's right baby, don' mess wid us man.
Question from *sa1k0u_*
anyt baldurs gate games coming?
BioWare Response
BioDarcy
No really, they came into my office and punched me in the face.
BioTrent
Ahh, yes Baldur's Gate, goota love that game
BioTom
good game
second one was good too
BioJay
Fine, fine game.
BioTrent
not too bad
BioDarcy
and the expansion packs were cool
BioTom
Dark Alliance was pretty cool, too
BioTrent
I liked the throne xp the most
Demogorgon was a good fight
BioTom
And now for the answer to the question: BioWare is not currently developing Baldur's Gate 3.
BioJay
I like the one with Kurt Rusell as Snake Plissken..oh wait that's different.
BioTrent
Sadly, we have no current plans for any BG related titles
Question from Unknown
What is everyone's favorite pie to throw at Tom?
BioWare Response
BioTrent
Rock Pie
BioJay
Brick Pie
Nice
BioDarcy
bullet pie
I bake them in a gun :-)
BioTom
...
BioTrent
feel the love Tom
BioTom
delicious pie.
attriel
That's it for questions, tonight, folks
We'd like to thank BioWare for stopping by (and the liquor and pie companies for keeping them alive to code for us :)
BioTom
Thank ya'll for coming out! As always, fun!
BioTrent
Thanks for coming out everyone. I had a great time insulting Tom and answering question
BioDarcy
Thanks everyone, goodnight!
BioTom
woot
BioJay
Thanks to all who came on by to ask questions.
BioJay
A huge thanks to the fine folks at Stratics for all the work!
attriel
The log will be up tomorrow at http://nwn.stratics.com/
Please note that this chat is copyrighted and cannot be republished without the expressed consent of Neverwinter Stratics and the Stratics Network.
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