Darkness fades. . . 
| Fate of the Auren | 12.20.08 |
| Fester's Creations | 10.14.08 |
Readme Screens Haks Module
It's been over a month since Shadewood was released to the public and it's been doing well, with over 900+ downloads since September 4, 2008.
Almraiven has also seen a surge in downloads, perhaps from players who were waiting for Shadewood to be released, to even those who played Almraiven but returned to enjoy the latest update. Almraiven has seen over 700+ downloads since Shadewood was released.
In other news, Project Q was announced, a collection of new content from some very high ended and talented individuals. You can learn as well as see what's in development here.
Finally, after releasing Shadewood and updating to the lastest patch, which has offered builders a whole slew of new additions to play with, I started playing around myself. The following screens are from using 1.69 content as well as a few placeable HAK additions and a city reskin which adds different colored illumination on windows, even when using the alley hak.
Just for fun of course.
| Shadewood | 09.04.08 |
"The creak of branches catch your ear as you come to the boundary of the wood. Known to many as the Forest of Mir, the wood has grown out of control over the past few months.
The trail left behind in Almraiven has brought you here; a foul wood that has been attacking those along the Western Passage, or so the locals of Almraiven have said. Branches reaching a little too far, roots curling upward to entangle the passer-by and wandering spirits have been on the tongues of many.
It is here your investigation continues. What started as a simple investigation will end with the Auren Society of Weavers closing the pages of old and opening up a new chapter in the arts of the arcane.
Bring your skills Weaver, for you will need them all."
| The final stretch | 09.02.08 |
What's that approaching?
These past few moments, for anyone who has built a module before, are the worst moments for myself. It's the little things you need to do and tie up before the big public release. Such as typing up the information file, preparing the screens that will go along with the module and knocking down those last minute bugs that just like to creep up at this time.
To start off September, Almraiven has had a large update. I'm trying to anticipate a mad rush to download and play Almraiven for anyone who becomes interested in Shadewood, as well as offer a very tidy adventure with as little bugs as possible for those who go to replay the city adventure. See Almraiven Latest Patch for what's been updated.
That brings us straight to Shadewood. The last beta tester is still going through the final stages of the module, so I'm holding back from releasing for a few more days, which has also given me more of an opportunity to play through with Annex, Falis Goodmane and Shayla Shay. That's where I happen to be finding those last minute bugs but better that I find them now instead of a player down the road.
Catch the bind soon.
| Almraiven updated! | 08.27.08 |
A tweak here, a tweak there.
With the release of Shadewood on the horizon, I've taken the time to update Almraiven and fix a few reported issues. This small update will be uploaded to the vault shortly and includes the following:
! Fixed Tale of the Ruby Red side-quest on Loom Avenue.
[reported by a number of players over the years]
! Fixed an issue with experience sink on Ulip, which allowed the player to continue to receive experience by saying Farewell in the conversation.
[reported by Calgach]
! Fixed Sorcerer's Friend on Caster's Claim 3rd Level inventory.
Offered Wisdom +1 instead of Charisma +1.
* if player has bugged version going into Shadewood, item is stripped on entering Shadewood and proper amulet is provided in player's inventory.
[reported by Mizar]
! Fixed a bug with Lamu always respawning on Horseshoe Lane even if already robbed by player.
[found while preparing for Shadewood release]
! Fixed a bug with chest in basement of Springwine Jones Estate that would continue to give a journal entry.
[reported by Azarr Kul]
! Fixed Rotting Boards blocking Abandoned House on Horseshoe Lane. Variable would only be set when boards were physically attacked. Now takes into account any damage.
[reported by Atlas]
! Fixed "man" on Domon Bin to
[reported by Faramac]
! Fixed an issue with Darwien's Dissapearance quest where Annex could not be found if player saved Wundra instead. Conversation options are now available to tell Annex that Darwien could not be saved.
[reported by Grylock]
! Fixed an issue with Domon Bin not taking player if they happen to be wearing an Evelyn Society of Thinkers robe. Captain of the Blood Runner also does this, so Domon Bin was fixed to allow player, otherwise if player spoke to both captains, they had no way of getting to the Forest of Mir.
[reported by Silvius]
! Fixed an issue with Tin quest that would break if the player spoke with NPC while not wearing street-side clothing even though player met required NPC. By doing so, option to speak and complete quest with the NPC became broken.
[reported by Paradoxical]
! Fixed an issue with potion brewing, which allowed player to place in multiple reagents and brew potions. Problem was, it would leave reagents behind, allowing the player to brew more potions over and over again. A large experience sink tank for doing nothing.
[found while preparing for Shadewood release]
+ Added more Bird Seed in Almraiven due to player requests on finding it difficult to locate the only Bird Seed in the city.
[requested by Elhanan]
+ Added new and improved Spell Conversation scripts from Shadewood to Almraiven for Scare and Charm Person. Said options would appear even if player did not memorize them.
+ Updated Auren Society Robe script from Shadewood to add consistency between both modules. Now when player levels up, script will auto fire instead of previous versions of Almraiven that required player to unequip and equip robe to gain the new level bonus.
+ Added some variables to store to Database file. Nothing major that will ruin the experience of previously played versions of Almraiven.
| Release is near! | 08.24.08 |
Is your Weave ready?
Shadewood has reached Private Beta 6 and quite quickly since PVB5 was announced. The final days of testing are coming to an end as I begin to feel much more comfortable releasing a public version of Shadewood. Already two testers have completed the module from start to finish and sent in their comments, issues and bug reports.
On another note, I'm now able to really do a lot with Neverwinter Nights 2, especially in the toolset, which was not possible with the old machine.
| PBV5 | 08.18.08 |
Testing 1 ... 2 ... 3
After a month of being out of the Neverwinter Nights loop, Shadewood has moved forward to Private Beta v5. It would have happened a lot sooner if my old computer had not decided to die but that's how it goes in the hobby business when you need your hobby the most.
As for the new system, it's doing just fine, except that I have no sound. Installing SoundMax and the drivers for the onboard sound card crashes Windows XP during the boot sequence, returning with a blue screen of death. So for now, I have no sound.
I'm feeling confident enough to say that Shadewood will be released in September now, two months behind schedule. Better late then never I suppose.
| It's alive! | 08.17.08 |
Reborn
I'm up and running, finally, although there are still a few odds and ends that need to be taken care of, the new machine is doing well. First process is to get everything working program wise with updates, software installations and the like. I've been unable to get any of the two new SATA drives recognized during the boot sequence, so I had to use an old IDE drive to get the OS installed.
So, for those who are computer lovers, here's the new system that will hopefully, last another seven to eight years.
Motherboard - Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe 780a SLI
CPU - AMD A64 X2 6400+ 3.20GHz
Memory - OCZ Dual Channel XTC 4096MB PC8000 DDR2 1000MHz
Graphics - XFX GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB DDR3 SLI
Power - OCZ / GameXStream / 850-Watt SLI
Well, I'm off. Have to reboot and continue installing required software.
| Fried Fester | 08.07.08 |
R.I.P
On my return from a vacation to the United States, I booted up the Neverwinter Nights build machine, a 7 year old box that has done me very well, only to watch it die five minutes later. In the seven years I've had the box, all that's been upgraded is the graphic card so I could play Neverwinter Nights 2. From a GeForce 4200 to a GeForce 7800. The pocket book was very happy.
With the death of the motherboard, an Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 powered by the old AMD Athlon XP CPU, it's as good as spent. No bios, no beeps, just a black screen when the power goes on.
Is there good news to this? I suppose. Now I get to build a new system. A long time has gone by for new nForce boards to be designed and new CPUs. I'll need memory too. Not even the old 450watt power supply is strong enough these days. Sigh ... what happened to that good news vibe I was feeling just moments before?
Is there bad news? Sure is. It's the second week since my return home and I've not been able to tweak the bug reports coming in from the Shadewood beta testers.
There are two "strange" bugs that I know are all variable based, keeping two side quests incomplete, even though they've clearly been completed. Spelling and grammar mistakes are quick to chew threw, so are the general suggestions to the improvement of the adventure but I don't like leaving bugged quests.
Until a new machine is up and running, Shadewood is grounded at Private Beta 4, the last update sent to testers on July 17, 2008.
After four years of building in Neverwinter Nights, I really miss it.
| Aribeth's Farewell | 07.11.08 |
1.69 Released! 
So the end all of all Neverwinter Nights patches has arrived, clocking in at over 400 MB, provides a slew of new content that comes from the previous released Premium Modules. New Tilesets, placeables, monsters, music and much more, now gives builders around the world the opportunity to create new places to explore.
I almost forgot, it now adds Horses to the mix for players and NPCs alike to ride and enjoy.
Not bad for a game that's five years old and you can get it all here!
Shadewood Teaser
Sure, why not, right? The Private Beta that's in the hands of millions of testers is just around the corner and there have been lots of little fixes, suggestions and balancing in the past few weeks.
Highlight between the quotes if you'd like a slight teaser for this image.
"There are members of the Auren Society of Weavers in many places and this just happens to be one of them. Slinging magic is never easy, especially when dealing with binds created in the Land of the Dead."
| Hugie ... back? | 07.08.08 |
Thoughts from Hugie
What's this you say? Another update to an otherwise quiet place?
It's not that quiet, you just have to learn how to listen. Each and every hour a member of the Auren Society of Weavers passes through these halls, their spirit floating through closed doors and over dusty floors.
But now there are footsteps that twirl up winding stairs and through grand chambers. Could it really be Hugie, author of the Tale of a Mage series, Shelter from the Storm, The Island, The Art of Death - Back in Black and Perchance to Dream for Neverwinter nights?
It is!
Recently, recent to me because I only troll places now and then, Hugie made an update that he's reinstalled Neverwinter Nights, downloaded his old modules and has considered building once again.
"The truth is, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to build, yet. But I know it's going to be NWN1, and it's going to be low-mid level (I'm thinking 6-8), and it's going to deal more with character development than my past works have."
You can read the rest here.
Of course, there's no mention of Shadewood on Hugie's blog *sigh*. Instead, here's another advertisement image a member of the Auren Society of Weavers put together for you.
| AME Interview | 07.02.08 |
An interview with grumpy Fester Pot!
There's an interview that the Academy for Modding Excellence (AME) sent ages ago that I took the time to respond to. The interview responds to questions about Almraiven, Shadewood and history on building modules.
Take a look if you've got the time here.
| Beware the Beta | 07.01.08 |
Now my nerves perpare for a workout!
This is the moment in which I come to learn if all the work put toward building a continuation to Almraiven is received as well as my first module was received. So many expectations. Bigger, badder, more.
Now I know how Britney Spears feels.
I'm happy to announce that today, July 1, 2008, the Private Beta of Shadewood has been delivered to the first beta tester. I'm still going through a list of folks who offered after Almraiven was released and a few still haven't responded. I guess two years is a long time for anyone to be part of the Neverwinter Nights Community once said player has gotten all they've wanted from it.
I'll troll around for new prospects if required.
QSW is back too and I finally heard from her regarding a review for Shadewood. It's only fair that the one who reviewed Almraiven should get first crack at reviewing Shadewood.
Happy Canada Day too! Almost forgot that. Canada is 141 years old and that's about as old as I feel after four years of building in the toolset!
It's sunny outside today and after all the years that have gone by, I need to get some sun. People are looking at me funny because I'm wearing my Auren Society of Weavers robe all the time.
| A New Weave | 05.16.08 |
Mother of Mouthmuck!
I'm not a good blogger if the last update I put together was in January. I'm also not a good builder to interview, still having to put together the answers to the questions I was asked by the AME Crew. One day, I promise!
So, let's get right to the meat. Shadewood.
It's going beta very shortly and by that I don't mean a private beta. The final hakpak and music pack should be up on the Vault by the end of the weekend (May 18, 2008) and those who have offered to help do some testing will be notified where they can download the module.
A six minute cutscene ending was completed today. I'm not very good at doing cutscenes, so much of what's available are static camera shots while dialog is read and a few flashy things happen on screen. It takes place at the end of the events that surround Shadewood and I'm very happy with how it's turned out.
Patch 1.69 is now at Beta #10 and Craig was quoted as saying if all goes well, 1.69 Beta #10 will become the FINAL!
Great news for those of us still lingering in the Neverwinter Nights Community.
Put on your robes, fiddle with your ring and grasp your staff.
The Auren Society of Weavers and your continued adventure is about to begin.
| New Year | 01.27.08 |
Happy New Year!
Yeah, so I'm twenty-seven days late. :) It's always the thought that counts. Since this is the first post for 2008, I think it's fine to wish anyone reading this a Happy New Year.
So what's left? That's why you're here, right.
Bug tweaking, bug tweaking and more bug tweaking. No more building because that's all done. No more side quests as they're all done. No more major plot for that's all done too.
Small additions are being added though, little notes I wrote down over the building of Shadewood that I'd like to put into the module. These include such things as area descriptions, flavor text and conversation modifications. There's nothing worse than a builder who makes an NPC spill all the beans.
I'm very happy with the results thus far and have played Shadewood from start to finish with Falis Goodmane, Annex and Shayla Shay, the three companions you can pick up in Almraiven. That's what is taking me so long with my own internal testing. What works for one companion may be a bug in another.
The hakpak has been final for awhile but I'll be adding one more addition to it that just works with what's going on in the module plot wise. I have yet to get to that. It's just a placeable, for any wondering.
Also, the music collection is final. I did my best to include new tracks for Shadewood but also made use of the older tracks from Almraiven. That is, the tracks that fit. You'll not hear any tavern music while exploring the wood.
On another note, v1.69 is in Beta 4 stage, which means that sucker is just around the corner from final (fingers crossed). I'm really curious how many new single player modules or builders will come forth.
I'll be looking for beta testers soon, so keep an eye out.
Cheers!
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