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Topic: More news on the DM Client (Read 50 times) |
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Kalia D'Malen
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Last On: 05/04/09
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If you haven't seen it yet, Maximus at The Vault has posted the first of his preview articles. There is a LONG section about the DM client.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=28
I then moved on to ask about the DM client. One of the things that actually attracted me to NWN so many years ago was the fact that there would be a DM, which I really enjoyed playing with pen and paper. Also while only a few people actually use the DM client in NWN, it's a key aspect when playing in small groups and persistent worlds. Just like there are only a fraction of people working on modules, imagine how poor the community would be without them.
Josh explained that because the recent work of integrating multiplayer and GameSpy matching was more complicated than expected, it made the work on the DM client get delayed to the point now where they will offer it as a free download on release to make sure that it's a full package. One thing that Feargus stressed is that there will be a DM client and there is a thread on the official forums where people are offering suggestions on what improvements they'd like to see.
Josh did outline briefly how the interface for the DM client would work which also gets to the new user interface. As you may or may not know, the radial menu in NWN is longer being used. Instead there is now a context menu system, where if you right click on any object, it will bring up a vertical menu (think BioWare website menu) that makes sense for that object, with a possible addition of one sub menu. The DM client options will be the last option in the menu, though since the whole interface is now XML driven, it will be possible to change it around to suit your tastes.
For casters there is now a "Quick Cast" menu, where hitting a single key brings up all the spells you can cast in the form of icons near the top of the screen. You then just pick one, which causes the menu to disappear and you then target what you want to cast it on. Coming back from NWN is the Quickbar system which will offer 12 rows of 12 slots to put whatever you want. The next new interface option, in the bottom right, is called the "Modal Menu" which allow actions like stealth, search mode, rapid shot, power attack, all depending on your situation. To the far left bottom corner is the Neverwinter Eye where you can access your character sheet, inventory, options, journal and more. Just above that is a smaller closed eye which triggers resting.
In the top left corner, will be the mini-map but it's changed quite a bit from the original game. It now shows you your field of vision as well as a more detailed view of your surrounding. This higher quality view also helps display additional info. For example, Josh confirmed that the tracking skill is still in the game and is tied into the mini-map, where it's now color-coded and will show you where the monsters are in your immediate area based on your skill level.
Apart from those changes, how you do things in NWN2 will be very similar to NWN so it should feel very familiar, though there are some really new gameplay differences when using the Companions. |
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Festivus
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Last On: 08/16/07
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Wow, I really want to get my hands on that toolset after watching / reading that.
So many possibilities now my mind is reeling.
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