Game News NWN2 updates continue apace

[Texas Red]

Those were not rogues(I played for the thieves). They had no sneak attacks. They did not appear directly behind me so they could sneak me. Instead they materialised some short distance before my character, all of them together in a bunch, heavy armor wearing fighters and clerics. I enter some room, nobody. Make a step and boom, an enemy party is standing in on the other side.

Same thing with orcs and others.

I could have scouted the rooms with my companions and nobody appeared. Then when my character passed everybody started spawning right and left. The problem was because, I think, only your main character can trigger spawns.

In short, no, they were not rogues. And those dungeons will always have a warm and fuzzy place in my heart as the element which ruined the OC of NWN 2.

 

[suibhne]

Sorry, but you're mistaken: they had Sneak Attacks. I know how to read the in-game rolls.

If you don't believe me, heed the higher authorities. JE actually called them "rogues" in the NWN2 forums and suggested ways of dealing with their Sneak Attacks. (I'm referring here to the "informer" level that Elwro referenced.)

In any case, at least we can agree those levels were shoddily designed. The same "monster closet" approach was used in the Orc outdoor areas, too, and it drove me up the wall.

 

[Elwro]

I could have scouted the rooms with my companions and nobody appeared.

Strange. I did something else: I just waited in the middle of the main corridor of the bottom floor, not far from the entrance. After about a minute the black guys began attacking. I thought they had scripted movement around the floor and just bumped into my party.
As to scouting with your companions, only to see your main char triggering spawns, well this is one of the lamest things ever. I'll have to check this myself.

 

[Volourn]

They were easy. You all suck like shit.

 

[aVENGER]

I made all the necessary Spot checks and the rogues were visible, but they still got Sneak Attacks on me even when I'd attacked them first (and therefore was not flat-footed).

Perhaps they rolled higher Initiative and thus actually attacked you first (rules-wise) despite the misleading on-screen presentation. I've seen that happen a few times too, mainly when I was playing a low DEX character.

BTW, enemies spawning out of thin air was a big turn-off for me as well, but I heard it was done that way for technical reasons (i.e. to save memory). It still sucks though, and I'd much rather see an area filled with fewer but tougher pre-placed enemies than a dozen of weak spawn-ins.

 

[bat_boro]

I asked this once in a similar thread for earlier patch and I'm gonna ask again - do you STILL need so fuckin' much space on disc C: to save your game?
Is it fixed or not?
And if not, should I expect it to be fixed sometime in the not-so-distant future or not?

 

[suibhne]

bat, here's your answer: Yes, NWN2 still saves its player files to "My Documents", and yes, saved games are quite large (much bigger than for Gothic 3, Oblivion, etc.).

However, you can easily move your "My Docs" folder to any other partition or hard drive. Here is MS's support doc outlining how to do so. Even if NWN2 weren't so damn big, it would still be a good idea to do this for data security/reliability, since many problems can end up affecting your boot partition but leaving other partitions untouched.

 

[bat_boro]

Ah, thanks, didn't know that.
Now I could finally give it a try .

 

[suibhne]

NWN2 was the game that finally forced me to move "My Docs", and I never looked back. :wink:

 

[AlanC9]

bat, here's your answer: Yes, NWN2 still saves its player files to "My Documents", and yes, saved games are quite large (much bigger than for Gothic 3, Oblivion, etc.).

Specifically, an NWN save is a copy of every module in the current campaign that you've actually visited. So a late save is about the size of the entire campaign, minus some fraction for the stuff you've killed. It's more a design decision than something to be fixed.

 

[bat_boro]

Specifically, an NWN save is a copy of every module in the current campaign that you've actually visited. So a late save is about the size of the entire campaign, minus some fraction for the stuff you've killed. It's more a design decision than something to be fixed.

So what are the advantages of this method over the traditional save method?
I think this sucks and I think it sucks even more because of the fact they intended it to be so, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Elwro]

One of the advantages is that if you reach a screwed up area and they fix it in a patch, you won't benefit from the changes as the bad version firmly resides in your savegame.

Uh.

 

[cutterjohn]

NWN2 was the game that finally forced me to move "My Docs", and I never looked back. :wink:

If necessary, he should be able to turn on folder compression too... I'm not sure how well it works, or how much it would slow down file access, but it might help if he's especially short of disk space.

(I've never been that hard up for disk space myself, and know people who had some pretty major disasters with earlier drive compression software(Stac and M$' ripoff copy), so I've never used it. It's alot less of a headache(and probaly cheaper in the long run) just to buy another drive, or a larger one to replace a smaller one...)

As to the game, combat play exactly like NWN1 comat did to me. AI is a little better as I don't have to babysit NPCs, or leave them behind. I used to leave the NPCs standing around in corridors alot in NWN1 when dealing with casters ow the NPC usually bought it...

The part that drove me the most nuts so far was the first orc caves, and the canyons that you had to go through first to get to the main point of that "dungeon". The freaking camera would swing all over the place, zooming in and out, sometimes not appropriately such that I would have to manually move the camera again. I've tried every single camera option, but ended back at the default setting as the least annoying IIRC. (I haven't touched NWN2 since I finished off the first orc, as I never got around to playing around Christmas and have had other items occupying my time since then.)

Balance is kind of funny at times too, IMO. e.g. in the first orc encounter, my party had more trouble with the orcs in the canyons than those in the caverns... or the "boss". (I've kept the druid, as I didn't care for the sorceress. I'm not puppeting my NPCs and don't micromanage them in combat, so the sorceress was doing alot of dying and useless spells on her own...)

I did take the time to patch the game the other day. 39M download followed by several minutes while it goes through the patching process.

BTW, it IS an ACTION RPG. Real time frenetic combat is the primary focus of the OC. The story is so-so at best, or at least as far as I've gotten, and they inserted WAY too many useless cut scenes in this sequel, which detracts from the flow of the game. It's still a better RPG than pretty much anything else released last year, other than Gothic 3, maybe.

 

[bat_boro]

One of the advantages is that if you reach a screwed up area and they fix it in a patch, you won't benefit from the changes as the bad version firmly resides in your savegame.

Uh.

Got it.

 

[elander_]

I wonder how much this will increase the size of a save game.

 

[Surgey]

• All combat modes can now be triggered instantly, except for Parry, Rapid Shot, and Flurry of Blows, which are deferred until the beginning of the next round.

Thank GOD. Understandably, it's not possible (or really fair) to be able to toggle those listed modes during combat, but I'm glad they're shown on the queue, so now you don't accidently turn it on then back off because you're not sure it's coming. There were so many times when I turned Parry and Flurry off and on (monks still suck, though :\).

Also, power attack was just plain frustrating sometimes. That and your teammates were so stupid they never used Flurry or Power Attack ("Yes, Khelgar, with your 18 strength you'll never hit anything if you take a -6!... moron."). They even turned it OFF when I forced them to use it.

Also, one time with a level 3 Rogue, I got 4 damage on my Sneak Attack with a rapier. That's right. 1d6+2d6+1 (Strength mod). You can figure out what I rolled on your own, right? And there's, what, a 1 in... 216 chance? 6^3. Yeah... imagine playing GURPS and finding out that that's your critical chance if you're not really good with something. Fun times.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

(monks still suck, though :\).

Monks suck, period.

 

[suibhne]

Also, power attack was just plain frustrating sometimes. That and your teammates were so stupid they never used Flurry or Power Attack ("Yes, Khelgar, with your 18 strength you'll never hit anything if you take a -6!... moron."). They even turned it OFF when I forced them to use it.

One of the other fixes I didn't quote dealt with companion AI no longer turning off those modal states. It may be exactly the fix you're looking for. :wink:

 

[One Wolf]

one thing i noticed about nwn 2 for the brief period i played it before uninstalling is the incredible slow movement of the camera, even on its fastest setting. has anything changed in regards to that?

 

[Greatatlantic]

(monks still suck, though :\).

Monks suck, period.

Are you kidding? Monks are the best tanks in the game! Hmmm... sort of boring to play a tank, though. Anyways, monks advantages come later in their development. Early on, yeah, they stink.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

(monks still suck, though :\).

Monks suck, period.

Are you kidding? Monks are the best tanks in the game! Hmmm... sort of boring to play a tank, though. Anyways, monks advantages come later in their development. Early on, yeah, they stink.

No, I don't mean power-wise. Power-wise, they're pretty good. I mean the whole "being staggeringly idiotic" thing. Kung-fu fists-of-fury glowing-eyes oh-dear...

 

[Kraszu]

Yes I recall discussion I think on bioware forums, where most through that in reality kung fu fighter whit bare hands is as good as trained swordsman in armor.

 

[Texas Red]

Most of the people want that Asian monk shit out of Forgotten Realms, from what I read. I think there havent even been any new material released for years, so unpopular it is. At least they could have avoided making the monk in the idiotic Hollywood Chinese superman version, but no...

That whose asiaphile crap is annoying me. I never willingly chose the best weapon type in BG, which is the katana, since of the ridiculous stats and the description, which goes basically something like "Teh katana r the betterest weapan evah zomg!!!1"

 

[Jasede]

The bastard sword is just as good.

 

[JrK]

Not in BG2 it isn't. Celestial Fury owns almost all the weapons in the game.