First - apologies for not being on the server recently. I still haven't been able to get NWN working again, despite reinstalling it. I'm still trying!
Anyway, for those of you who remember our brief test of the Seviss Isles module, the designer has released a Beta of CHAINMAIL, the next version of the module. It's still not ready for use (in my opinion), but those interested in the progress of the module may find this interesting. Following is a update list from Seviss -> CHAINMAIL (if you're familiar with Seviss Isles, you'll remember that the module has loads of other features, too):
Anyway, for those of you who remember our brief test of the Seviss Isles module, the designer has released a Beta of CHAINMAIL, the next version of the module. It's still not ready for use (in my opinion), but those interested in the progress of the module may find this interesting. Following is a update list from Seviss -> CHAINMAIL (if you're familiar with Seviss Isles, you'll remember that the module has loads of other features, too):
CHAINMAIL BETA 2
INTRODUCTION:
This document is meant to provide a brief overview of those features added / changed between the “Seviss Isles R4b” release and its successor “CHAINMAIL”. The additional features may be changed depending upon the results of beta testing.
For information on the different options available in CHAINMAIL reference the "ka_i_defines" & "ka_mod_load" files to turn on/off/adjust those features that you wish to have in your PVW. If you are interested in how that feature works, search the module's files for that particular variable-name.
Please do not report any bugs on this release; I have a long list of known bugs that I am moving through. Once I believe that I have all, or most, the known issues fixed is when I will request bug reports.
This Beta 2 does not have the story in it; it has certain elements of it but it is far from being complete. Some sections of the world are unfinished, these are few and far between, but they exist. Future development will first address completing the world and fixing known issues, followed by adding the story. I plan to put out further beta releases during CHAINMAIL's development, so as new benchmarks are achieved, a new beta is released/refreshed...
WARNING: As this is a "Beta", it is recommended that any existing world is saved, backed-up, etc. before replacing with the CHAINMAIL module. This would included databases and such.
FEATURES:
The following features are available / under-development in CHAINMAIL. There are known bugs with some of these features and players should be aware of this; if CHAINMAIL is used for a PVW, it is likely a DM will have to occasionally intervene because of a bug (i.e. the PC looses an item via the Magical Forge). Otherwise, the PVW should be stable and mostly-playable:
* First and foremost; the CEP version 1.50 is required to play. CHAINMAIL now incorporates most of the CEP’s additional content, including its crafting system.
* Sub-races are now supported and may be selected by the player upon logging into the PVW. Once the player selects either to use a subrace or to dismiss the selection, they are not asked again.
* Trolls must be killed with fire. If a PC kills a troll, and has a torch within their inventory, the torch is implicitly used, setting the troll’s corpse afire; trolls are apparently very combustible. If the PC does not have a torch, then the troll shall get back up, continuing to fight. A PC may use a fire/acid-based magic spell also to permanently destroy a troll.
* Torches last for 1 hour of game time before burning out. Upon burning out the torch is destroyed and the PC must use another torch with a number of rounds remaining; if they require a torch’s light.
* When a PC is killed by a 'wraith' type creature, a new wraith spawns upon their location of death, simulating that PC turning into a wraith/undead themself (close approximation of the D&D rules).
* The module now supports a 3rd party database; such as MySQL, as an alternative to Bioware’s default campaign database.
* Some spells have been modified to more closely match those in the D&D 3rd Edition rules, these include; Animate Dead, Timestop, Summon Slaad, Slaad Egg Infection, Gate, Earthquake, Summon Tanarri, and Summon Baatzeu. However, the exception to this rule is Petrifaction. As the module is meant to be played upon the ‘Hard Core’ difficulty setting, making petrification permanent, this has been modified such that Hard Core difficulty doubles the length of time of the petrifaction effect opposed to the lower difficulty settings. Also, now timestop only affects those within its range of effect (not the entire module).
* All NPCs use custom AI, replacing Bioware’s default AI, through the redirection of their nw_* scripts assigned to NPC’s events to the corresponding ka_c_* scripts. This AI replacement includes virtually all functionality originally provided by Bioware, including the combat AI functions.
* The PVW’s time is persisted between instances. Time is now used to calculate the cost increases associated with purchasing certain goods within the world; cost-inflation.
* Drow crafted equipment armor and weapons may now be purchased from Drow merchants. If a PC is equipped with Drow crafted equipment and transitions from an underground area to a surface area; the equipment is destroyed, leaving behind only dust within the PC’s inventory. However, if a PC unequips this equipment prior to transitioning to a surface area, it is assumed that the equipment is concealed from sunlight and may be used again upon the PC transitioning into an underground area.
* Shops are now separated into the following: General, Blacksmith, Bowyer, Tanner / Tailor, Arcane, Music, Divine, Drow Blacksmith, Nature, Tavern / Inn. Some areas’ stores have not yet been converted to this new format/categories.
* Recall stones, which provided PCs to recall themselves to the nearest Recall Portal in the area, are no longer functional. Only the Party Leader Recall Rune is supported.
* A new spawning system is in place. This new spawning system also replaces the encounter system. This new spawning system incorporates an estimated 1500+ NPCs/creatures.
* The treasure system used in the PVW has been replaced with one that provides a server operator containers in the “Seviss Isles, Stores Plane” to provide unique, high-level, medium and low level items. The chance of either a Bioware default item, selected from an extensive list of those items provided by Bioware, or one of the sever operator’s placed items (within the appropriate container) is controlled using a percent chance selection between the two. This replaces R4b’s use of the 2da treasure generation system, which did not function correctly.
* Experience is now awarded at 10% for creatures vanquished and is completely controlled through the included scripts. This control is to prevent abuse of the XP system, requiring a PC with ample XP to level before gaining any more XP.
* If a PC dies and is considered low level, level 5 and below by default, they are penalized 25 XP/level + gold and shall not lose a level if the penalty is less than what is required for their current level. If the PC is not low level, upon dying, they are penalized 50 XP/level and if they are reduced to less XP than what is required for their current level, they shall lose a level of experience. If a PC is listed on the “Most Wanted” list and dies, and then selects to respawn, regardless if they are considered low level or not, they are penalized 50 XP/level and may lose a level.
* The “Most Wanted” list’s functionality is slightly different than that of R4b’s. When a PC is listed upon the Most Wanted list and is killed, their killer is not awarded any gold unless that Most Wanted PC selects to respawn into Fugue, suffering their unrestricted death penalties. PENDING DEVELOPMENT: When a PC kills a Most Wanted PC, and that PC chooses to respawn, the PC who killed them receives a ‘head’, which they must turn in to an official of the Royal Court, located within the “Fontessa City, Docks District”.
* Weapons and armor available from merchants, excluding Drow merchants, is not enchanted. The highest quality weapons and armor that may be purchased from a merchant are “Masterwork” items. For a PC to obtain an enchanted item, they must either find one during their normal course of adventure, or use a Magical Forge, providing the required gems and Soul Stone, to enchant their selected item. (NOTE: There are some issues with the magical forges)
* There is a new mine, “The Kimberlight Mine”, located in the “Underdark, Dwarven Delve”, located within the Dwarven settlement there, which is functionally different than the other mines available within the module. A Dwarven Miner Merchant within the Dwarven settlement provides the sale of rock hammers, which may be used within the mine’s area, upon any location, to mine for valuable minerals. A PC uses this rock hammer and selects a target for it used-location, resulting in the chance of finding valuable minerals. However, each time the rock hammer is used there is a chance it may break, destroying it. The percent chance of a rock hammer breaking for a Dwarven PC is reduced comparatively to a non-Dwarven PC, due to the Dwarf’s innate understanding of geology.
* The NPC scaling system has been replaced, only providing additional hitpoints to boss type NPCs. Boss NPCs possess special powers along with increased abilities.
* A number of significant performance enhancements have been made to virtually all aspects of the module to accommodate the large amount of content added since R4b. These performance enhancements also have the added benefit of increased responsiveness for NPCs, including henchpersons, due to the new AI routines.
* Magical Forges now provide PCs a wider range of possible enhancements that they may choose to apply to their items. The maximum enchantment bonus is +5. Prior to adding other enhancements to an item, the item must first be enchanted to at least +1 (per D&D rules). PENDING DEVELOPMENT: A hellish blacksmith located within Cania provides the opportunity for PCs to enchant an item to an epic level of +6, after listening to the blacksmith’s request for the enchantment. (NOTE: There are some issues with the magical forges and the "Hellish Blacksmith" does not currently provide enhancements; he is not fully-scripted yet.)
* Empty Soul Stones may be found upon occasion that can be converted into a Soul Stone only after the owning PC slays a good-aligned NPC, magically trapping their soul within the Soul Stone.
* The “Vivec, Marrow Crypts” and the outlying areas around the nine-mapped areas in Cania are randomly selected and linked together. Transition links between areas in Cania are re-established after a period of 5 minutes, while the Marrow Crypts establishes a link lasting for 1 hour of time. This provides PCs with a dynamically changing environment, where the areas selected are from 20 or more available areas within the ‘pooled’ areas.
* Stronghold building is now supported. The merchant who sells stronghold deeds resides in “Fontessa Valley Heights”, providing up to 16 available strongholds for PCs to purchase deeds to. The requirements for purchasing a deed are; the PC must be Level 20+ and provide 3.0 Million gold + cost-inflation over time. PRE-BETA NOTE: For testing purposes the cost has been reduced to 25000 gold). A stronghold offers the owner the following benefits:
o A stronghold control statue within that allows the PC to; rotate their stronghold to a desired orientation; determine the stronghold’s current market value, allowing the PC to sell their stronghold; the ability to convert the stronghold back into a deed so that it may be placed within another location; duplicate the stronghold’s keys, providing the PC to grant access to other trusted PCs. NOTE: Only the owner of the stronghold may successfully interact with the stronghold’s control statue.
o A combat training area.
o A Magical Forge.
o Spawnpoints for the occasional spawning of weapon and armor racks; simulating the PC’s armory associated with the stronghold, and the taxes paid to them from the surrounding area’s residents.
o A portal that allows the PC to bind onto and use to travel to selected locations.
o A library that contains spawnpoints for bookshelves that may contain useful books.
o A couple of spawnpoints within the available living rooms that spawn in interior furniture, which may contain some semi-valuable items.
o A Realm Stone that allows PCs access to their Realm Repository.
o Special ‘stacked’ soldiers. Randomly ranked soldiers are spawned upon spawnpoints in the stronghold, unlike those soldiers that may be hired from within the Royal Barracks; each soldier hired from within the stronghold represents 5 soldiers. Stacked soldiers represent the PC’s virtual army associated with their stronghold without impacting the performance of many NPC henchpersons being processed for a particular PC. Each time one of the virtual soldiers is killed another spawns from their commanding PC’s location until all 5 soldiers have expired.
* Soldiers are now grouped into ‘ranks’, which is respective of the NPC's level. A PC must exceed the level of the soldier before they may command them, unless they hire a "0" type soldier, which allows any level PC to command (to help starting PC's survivability).
* The “Mirror of Reputation Reflection”, available from General Merchants, now functions by the user selecting a target in an attempt to scry their reputation from; this may be used 1/day.
* A “Hand of Nimble Fingers”, which may be purchased, now allows PCs who do not have the Unlock skill to unlock simple-locked items 2/day; to facilitate PC’s who adventure without such-skilled companions.
* The handling of cross-factional reputations has been adjusted.
* Familiars, upon death, now more-closely follow the 3rd edition D&D rules, providing an experience penalty upon their PC master.
* Hostile NPCs now remember their initial encounter with a PC and may seek out the PC at a later time, tracking that PC through the world.
* Persistent locations - The location that the PC was last located at is persisted between instances of the PVW, so that when the PC logs back in, after the PVW has been re-started, they shall appear at the location where they were last.
* Resting is only allowed every 2 hours of game time; once every ~8 minutes.
* NPCs become shaken and then route if they fail a morale save.
* Drow equipment is either unequipped (default behavior) or destroyed (optional setting) if a PC wearing this equipment transitions from an underground/unlit area to a surface area.
* PCs die after losing -10 HP; they will lose 1 hp per round unless they either stabilize (10% chance), are healed, or die.
* Skyboxes are now programmatically assigned to area types, depending upon that area's current weather.
* PC's damage state is persisted between server instances.
* Optionally (off by default) PCs are exported to their character files on a periodic basis during their adventure through the PVW.
There may be other changes/features that I forgot to mention, but the above should cover most, if not all, of them.
