Third Generation Banner

A slight twist on the concept yields this.

A Bit of Pirate History!

On the PotBS front, I haven’t done much. It was a busy weekend and I didn’t touch anything on the banner or on the flag that I still need to submit.

The only thing I did do was purchase “The Republic of Pirates”. It is a historical account of the Age of Pirates that ran from 1715 – 1725 and therefore coincides with the age of the Burning Sea quite nicely. I’m hoping that it will give me a little more insight into that era. I’m pretty ignorant of that time and the history around the game, so I am looking forward to reading this as an introduction of sorts.

I’m not a big reader so it may be a while before I get anywhere but certainly the game has struck my interest.

An Elven View of Middle Earth

Prior to the official launch of the game, I rolled up a elf on the Landroval server.

The intro region for the elves is really nice. A completely different look from the Shire, which it should be, but worthy of a few pretty pictures. The engine really does look nice and the atmosphere has a nice artistic slant which yields it very playable but pretty. Lighting wise I think you can see where the NWN2 engine is fancier but there is no doubt NWN2 suffers a performance knock for that call. Anyway, here are some elven photos from a small little region showing off the grandness of this environment in contrast to the hobbit pictures shown previously. (Note: they are not that high in quality – compressed for the site. Just an FYI)

DMFI Apparent Fix!

After a private message, I put together a merged context file using the OEI 1.05 as a base. I was hoping someone would do it, but after a few days, I posted one. I’m not sure if I missed something or if something else changed but it didn’t fix the DM side of the menu. Luckily, FireballNWN has come through and posted a link to a file that apparently fixes whatever changed.

1.05 Context Menu Link

If I can get a few replies that show this really works, I will upload it to the vault as the main fix. I need to get in contact with FireballNWN and make sure that is all-right. Anyway, it is a busy time in RL and likely won’t slow down here for the next 10 days so updates maybe a little sparse. Maybe not, but maybe.

I’m working with Carlo One about possibily transferring the DMFI ownership but I’m around enough to keep it in shape. Still hoping others will step in and grab the reigns.

Highland Confederacy Banner

I’ve started messing around with Photoshop trying to make a banner for our PotBS guild.

I’m not an artist and really not that good with Photoshop, but I’m willing to tinker and try. This first one isn’t that bad until you consider the height of the thing. I think the second comment is that it is pretty dark and I think that caught people a little off guard. I think it does have a bit of pirate feel, but we are outlanders and rebels and so I kind of like that tilt. I need to get it trimmed down in height. I think if I can get down to a size where the flags sit basically on top of each other with little extra space, it will be close.

My next concept will be simpler. I’m looking at simply creating a banner of the flags. I’ve got an early version but I can’t figure out how to get the text onto it. We will see. Maybe later this week I will get a break and get a chance to sit down and do a little work on it. In the end, it might not even have text but rather just be a sequence of flags.

1.05 Patch Apparently Broke the DMFI

I checked on the Vault the other day and was sad to see that with Obsidian’s patch 1.05, something broke for at least some players in the DMFI package. (I headed development and wrote probably 95% of the code for that package. It was a supplemental add-on aimed at making the MP environment more PnP like.)

I worked hard to get that thing polished up and I actually did a lot of work on a “next version” of the DMFI that enhanced the system another couple of steps. I decided NOT to upload it because 1.04 was so stable. Realistically, I would need to stick around for a month or 6 weeks and follow up with bug reports etc. to get it back to where 1.04 was prior to the patch.

I still doubt that I will go back and do anything. I’m hoping someone will be excited and contact me or go forward themselves with work. Anyway, a little sad to see it break with an official update but the number of patches and the number of changes with each patch was part of the constant work load that made me consider continuing in the first place.

DLA has left the building

I stopped by the DLA forums and saw an interesting post where Robert (Steelwind) stated that DLA isn’t developing for NWN2.

I’m honestly a little surprised. Not that much but a little in that it hasn’t been announced or touched upon that I have seen. As of last week, I had access to the Community Representative forum and there were 3 or 4?? (I forget) members of DLA on that panel and there was not a peep.

Now realistically, although they were on the CR panel, they pretty much didn’t show up or participate on the board but it looks like they signed the NDA a while back and if that is the case, I would have expected them to withdraw or at least hear something. I guess they don’t “have to” but they are pretty forward with the fact that essentially all their free-time will be put towards DLA and if that is accounted for, then they obviously won’t produce that much content for NWN2.

So certainly another segment of the community that saw something missing and has moved on. I hope that they and OEI have been and continue to be on good terms and that they’ve been open behind the scenes for everyone involved. I just want everything to end on happy notes.

A Prettier View

Here is a really nice screenshot from the game that I think shows off the artistic flare of the game.

*Edited Original Post*

I’ve removed the name of the guild that I recently joined. After entry it was far too OOC for my tastes on the Kinship channel. The last two evenings I actually turned off the kinship channel and therefore, I need to go someplace different.

I’ve made a second character on the Landroval server. It’s the “unofficial” RP server. I stayed away from this server first time around because the online forums looked like pretty strong opinions and a little “my way or the highway”.

But last night, I had a good experience – More RP, better use of the channels etc. I’m thinking I need an RP heavy guild. After all, in game, I want to escape the real world, not see rambling OOC chatter on how bad things are outside my window.

I edited the post to keep the guild name private, no need for bad press, I just didn’t fit.

From Middle Earth!

Today, a vacation and a patch day hit at the same time leaving me with little to do. So I thought I’d drop off a couple of images of my relatively ugly little hobbit. (I kind of like the fact they are dumpy and hobbit-like. I think I’d be seriously disappointed if that were not the case.)

The second is a little shot from inside a hunter lodge near the opening town.

Cheers from Middle Earth!

Ramblings from Middle Earth

So last night, I downloaded the beta of LOTR and entered my pre-order key. Overall, first impressions on the game are pretty good. Install and update and character creation were fun. Coming from NWN2, I think I noticed a few things – 1) Better polished product with really no issues compared to NWN2 which required a tweak feast on initial loading for me to ever run it and 2) NWN2 has a pretty fancy graphics engine that I think will support it well for the next couple of years.

Within the game, the world is pretty and looks nice. It is my first go into a “classic” MMORPG. Last night I was able to log in and find my way around pretty well with no manual. Maps and quests are easy to follow. Skills regenerate similiar to Guild Wars with battles being pretty straightforward.

I am a little shocked at just how barren the top of line MMORPG remains. Monsters magically appearing at a point. The lack of voices from the NPCs. The lack of typing by the community at large. Pretty funny in many ways. Certainly a vastly different feel from story-based RPGs like NWN2 and KOTR series. It even made Oblivion feel like an amazing detailed, story-driven game. I’m not saying that is bad, but that is just what it is.

I think that is in part why behavior is often less than ideal – people get bored and the environment lends itself towards that type of response.

Me, the only one walking around the newbie town, smoking my pipeweed and taking frequent meal breaks for my ugly little hobbit enjoyed the evening – even though I think I was responsible for about 80% of the entire chat I saw on the server in the two hours last night.

Overall though, it is good to see Middle Earth and I think I will be able to enjoy myself for a while. I’m hopeful I can find a little group and the game can become a little deeper and slower than how the majority will approach it.