I meant the super epically tough overpowered bosses that takes an army of players to defeat

that's what made it feel like world of warcraft again, since I'm playing it nowadays

Out of curiousity, this would be for builders and scripters, are you running an external database for resources etc?

Some things are handled via the NWN-database-system eg. the housing. Why?
Greetz!

Hiya,

Firstly, thanks for replying.

Secondly, I have experience with both the NWN and external database systems thus I am naturally curious.

Thirdly, if someone wanted to whirl out some NPC quests or the like, who would they need to send them to and is there a "global-module-specific-sandbox" to use? (wow there is a mouthful)

the server isn't really designed for NPC driven quests, not that there is a rule against them but as of now I don't think there are any in the server. a few could be interesting, low level quests for new players but mostly the design of the mod is towards dm run quests of all sizes, most of which would be much like npc quests on other servers, and the seige server methodology.

there are changes that need to be made to the mod in order to bring back the seige server ideals fully but basically any pc can take over a town or city, there used to be roll systems for seige weapons and army sizes and we are working to bring that system back. at this point to seige a town you need dm interaction and help but in the future it should be something that players can do on their own and with teams....but of course it is always better with a dm since you can roll up some seige weapons and such....

I think that, ideally, a dm-run server with events is all the rage, but, unfortuantely reality dictates that this cannot always be the case.

Options within the nwn engine are very limited when it comes to creating conversations. You could have mundane static npc quests - but is it really any different than monster bashing?

To answer my own question, yes and no.

Yes - when it comes to a character whom may not be the monster-bashing-type. No - because it still has that one major issue - it's static.

Now, running an external database with nwnx2 opens up entirely new possibilites. All npc quests can be dynamic. A dm is enabled to run any event without even being online and all progress of the quest can be tracked via the database.

Meaning, if you have to find an item, once the item is found the databse will show which player has it and when they got it etc. You can set conversations for npc's to interact with one another and players on_enter of an area, luring players into the quest. what about fancy effects? No problem those can be set into sequence as well and triggered by an object etc.

The reason this is so helpful is corresponding schedules are often a problem. This enables a dm, who may have an awesome quest idea to set the quest on his/her own time and allow the players to experience the quest on their own time as well. This also works for seiges.

Dynamic quests can be as elaborate or simple as you want them to be. Only your imagination is the limit with an external database - not the engine.

Something to think about.

when i hosted the server in the old days i always ran it with nwnx2, so long as it is all updated to cep 2.2 and such then that is definately the way to run the server...

i thought you were saying that you wanted there to be more static npc quests, which i don't really like to see either, how many times can you save the farmers wife from goblins for instance.....but what you say is true, we never got fully into the DB tools or tracking tools but found it useful for knowing items locations and following a log...especially if there was a crash...

if i remember it correctly it was super easy to set up and use....used way less resources on your comp to run the game....basically like a real server.....

we will get back to that and thanks for the info and reminder

"when i hosted the server in the old days i always ran it with nwnx2, so long as it is all updated to cep 2.2 and such then that is definately the way to run the server..."

Yep, nwnx2 is probably the most stable program for nwn.


"i thought you were saying that you wanted there to be more static npc quests, which i don't really like to see either, how many times can you save the farmers wife from goblins for instance....."

I know - right? NPC quests that are dynamic solve this issue.

"but what you say is true, we never got fully into the DB tools or tracking tools but found it useful for knowing items locations and following a log...especially if there was a crash..."

Yes. The logs have proven to be server-savers time and time again. There are so many tables that can be added to a database, it all depends on what the server you set it up for needed.

Everything from encounters and spawn rates to adding placeables, creatures and items right from the dm client, the difference being, using an external database what you add does not disappear on a server reset or crash - unless you want it to disappear.

How many times have dm's suffered a crash while dming on any server?

Also treasure tables and banking features, persistant chests in houses are big on the plus list.

That is only listing a few.

"if i remember it correctly it was super easy to set up and use....used way less resources on your comp to run the game....basically like a real server....."

Are you talking about nwnx2? I agree it vastly improves server stability, I also believe external databases do to, if ran correctly. The more resources that can be saved outisde of the module the better.

The combination of Talus, nwnx2 and a database (mysql seems to work best for nwn) is superb.

I highly recommend all three! Thanks for hearing me out - you all are great.

-Dragonology101.

all good points,

this is why i want to find a way for us all to run the mod on my companies servers cause i have native sql DB's with that and that extends that use even more....

and of course quad dual core server towers to run and a monthly bandwidth in the terrabytes....it is not set yet and it is something that has to be agreed to by all cause as you will find community is the biggest thing here, but it is a good idea and i can't even imagine how useful nwnx2 would be then, cause of the control i have over my site to begin with....

samm

im sure glad you guys know what the hell you are talking about because this is all greek to me, lol. sounds good though

~Des

p.s. I'm down for whatever so long as we still have the run of things (i.e. not disowning the server )

no no, ive talked to sith about this breifly and no need to speak of it until i actually get some things figured out on my end, but if it were to come to pass there wouldbe remote access for staff....so that we could all reload the mod, or add things or monitor it , use the data bases, etc...

but no one is trying to take the mod away, just figure a way to ease the burden on sith, and advance its success.....

samm

As I told des, TAKE THE BURDEN... PLEASE!!!! lol. I am just waiting on samm to let me know something, and then we might go in a different direction. Who knows though.