Author Topic: NWN Vault Restoration  (Read 3914 times)

Legacy_MannyJabrielle

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« Reply #90 on: July 03, 2014, 01:43:26 pm »


               


and you should "...try Dragon Age, which has all the features of that game (NWN) and more."




I love both games, but that IS a steaming pile sprinkled with sugar.... it's like saying a helicopter is the same as an airplane but with more features.... two entirely different machines despite their similarities.


               
               

               
            

Legacy_Pstemarie

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« Reply #91 on: July 03, 2014, 01:45:27 pm »


               

Yeah, I love to PLAY Dragon Age - Skyrim even more, but when it comes to creation, well...I think my affections are well known.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_MannyJabrielle

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« Reply #92 on: July 03, 2014, 02:20:47 pm »


               

Yes, I only opened the DA toolset once or twice... it's learning curve makes NWN's toolset look like a bucket of link-n-logs, and that complexity doesn't lend to even novices creating a decently enjoyable adventure.  Not sure what was more frustrating, NWN2's toolset or DA's toolset!


The two games are just so entirely different gameplay wise... unless I missed something and there's DA:O PW's out there lol



               
               

               
            

Legacy_MerricksDad

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« Reply #93 on: July 03, 2014, 03:11:07 pm »


               

It is seriously 10 years past time to pool our collective knowledge and grab one of these open source NWN engine clones out there and finish it. I can think of nothing better than offering a clone for free, of which already has millions of content additions ready to go. There is absolutely no reason at all to initially +1 the NWN engine, just simply recreate it in its entirety. THEN go from there with new updates to the open source code. The few people we have already working on stuff here and there can certainly modify a few lines of code here and there to improve the source.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_roachtbp

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« Reply #94 on: July 03, 2014, 03:25:24 pm »


               

I wish I could help with the NWN Vault Restoration, but alas I am useless, as my computer skills are that of a noob.


 


One thing I'm currently desperately looking for is the fix for the Nimbre quest in NWN2:SOZ that corrects the spot check on the Loremaster from 100 to 10.


 


I recently downloaded both NWN and NWN2 from GOG.  I've beaten NWM, NWN:SOU, NWN:HOD, NWN2, and NWN2:MotB.  Now I'm on NWN2:SOZ.


 


For RP reasons I don't want to allow the innocent villagers in Nimbre to be arrested, nor do I want to kill the guards who are merely following orders to arrest them (while the villagers are ultimately innocent, the guards have no knowledge of this and are only following orders).  The best option to resolve this quest is unavailable due to a bug that was never fixed by the developers.


 


Someone created a mod that fixes this bug, but unfortunately I can't download it now that the NWN Vault is down.


 


If anyone could provide me a link to where I could download the Nimbre fix, I would greatly appreciate it.  Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Pstemarie

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« Reply #95 on: July 03, 2014, 04:32:21 pm »


               

Rolo, I think this is what Roachtbp is looking for.


 


SOZ: Accusation in Nimbre and the Inquisitive Pig by HS_Tri. The file is named nimbre.rar and should be stored in your archive backup. Below is the description of the entry from the old vault:


 


 


I made an attempt at restoring the Nimbre situation in Obsidian's expansion Storm of Zehir. 
 

Now you can convince the captain to let the villagers go if you find evidence that there is a traitor living in their village. 

 

Additionally this restores the Inquisitive Pig. 

 

Installation: Extract the folder "nimbre" into your override folder. You can leave the folder structure intact. 

You *may* have to start a new game if you've been to Nimbre before. You *must* start a new game if you've been in the loremaster's house before. 

 

Spoilers: 

 

Spot 8 will let you notice the loremaster's snake tattoo. He then proceeds to attack you. Two cultists will join the battle (not terribly difficult). 

On the loremaster's body you will find a certain scroll which you can show to the captain outside. 

The villagers won't be terribly thankful, though... 

As far as the pig is concerned, just speak to it.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_roachtbp

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« Reply #96 on: July 03, 2014, 05:06:18 pm »


               

Thanks Pstemarie, that's exactly what I'm looking for.


 


It would be great for everyone (I'm sure I won't be the only person looking for this fix) if someone could provide a link in this thread to where this could be downloaded.


 


If no such link exists anymore due to the NWN Vault being taken down, maybe someone will have to host a new link??  (does that make sense?  I don't know what I'm talking about - I just want to be able to click a link, download the file, move the file to the override folder, and viola!!! - somehow the problem is solved)


 


I have requested to join the new Neverwinter Vault to see if I can find the fix on there, but my request is still awaiting approval.


 


Of course, I'd also love it if someone who currently has the file on there computer could just email it to me, but that wouldn't help others looking for it (I don't know how to host a link or whatever, so sending me the file wouldn't help others, but I'd sure be happy to have it!!!!!!!!!!!).


               
               

               
            

Legacy_Bannor Bloodfist

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« Reply #97 on: July 03, 2014, 05:16:37 pm »


               


It is seriously 10 years past time to pool our collective knowledge and grab one of these open source NWN engine clones out there and finish it. I can think of nothing better than offering a clone for free, of which already has millions of content additions ready to go. There is absolutely no reason at all to initially +1 the NWN engine, just simply recreate it in its entirety. THEN go from there with new updates to the open source code. The few people we have already working on stuff here and there can certainly modify a few lines of code here and there to improve the source.




 


There is simply one, and unfortunately MAJOR issue with this.  You would have to gain the approval of WotC to release it.  For pay or not, they still have strict control and have taken multiple folks to court to prevent just what you mention attempting to do.  They have left us alone here as modders, simply because we are all working within the license already paid for by Bioware.  To create a clone engine etc, would threaten them again.  Even though at present they have nothing actively in the works, they have stopped multiple game companies from even considering creating and releasing games within their copyrights.  Those copyrights include just about everything that folks have created custom content for as well. Dragonlance, Neverwinter, and on and on.  They are why Bioware walked away and then attempted their pwm IP with DA, but found folks kept wanting things related to D&D as recorded by WotC and WotC required huge licensing fees and direct control/approval of everything related to said games. 



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Shadooow

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« Reply #98 on: July 03, 2014, 06:39:41 pm »


               


There is simply one, and unfortunately MAJOR issue with this.  You would have to gain the approval of WotC to release it.  For pay or not, they still have strict control and have taken multiple folks to court to prevent just what you mention attempting to do.  They have left us alone here as modders, simply because we are all working within the license already paid for by Bioware.  To create a clone engine etc, would threaten them again.  Even though at present they have nothing actively in the works, they have stopped multiple game companies from even considering creating and releasing games within their copyrights.  Those copyrights include just about everything that folks have created custom content for as well. Dragonlance, Neverwinter, and on and on.  They are why Bioware walked away and then attempted their pwm IP with DA, but found folks kept wanting things related to D&D as recorded by WotC and WotC required huge licensing fees and direct control/approval of everything related to said games. 




Wait isnt DnD 3.5 open? Or this applies only for a paper version? What about Pathfinder then?


 


Also - if it would still needed the NWN1 to be installed - wouldnt that count only as a fan mod rather than new game?


 


There must be way around that...


               
               

               
            

Legacy_3RavensMore

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« Reply #99 on: July 03, 2014, 06:50:40 pm »


               

Thinking out loud...


 


Perhaps the best idea, would be to not use any WotC content in this hypothetical open source RP game engine.  After playing modules and watching the CC develop since the very start of NW, I think there is well enough creativity here to envision something like that.  There is one possibly/probably insurmountable barrier to that, and it has nothing to do with copyrights.  That barrier is time and dedication to the literal mountain of work that such a project would entail.  It really would require a large number of committed designers, developers, and some good project managers to see this endeavor to the end.  Is it possible?  Perhaps, but how many hours does it take to create something of the caliber or NW?  Would people put in that much work without being payed to do so?  I know there are some people that live and breathe NW--they are talented, creative, and put in countless hours building and modding.  You know who you are.  '<img'>   That's the crux of the problem; when it's no longer a hobby, and instead of working on a killer model, or creating a jaw dropping tileset, you now have to spend your time coding...and coding...and coding...when you really want to work on something that's fun and fulfilling.  I know, I'm rambling.  If this project ever gets beyond the wouldn't it be great if stage, there needs to be a way to keep people working on it for the long haul.  Dedication to the project aside, money usually is required for something like this.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_MerricksDad

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« Reply #100 on: July 03, 2014, 07:36:47 pm »


               


Wait isnt DnD 3.5 open? Or this applies only for a paper version? What about Pathfinder then?


 


Also - if it would still needed the NWN1 to be installed - wouldnt that count only as a fan mod rather than new game?


 


There must be way around that...




 


The big obvious thing with this engine clone idea is that you are only cloning the engine. If you don't release it as a dnd-based engine, and you don't actually release the original NWN content with it, then it is not actually within their ability and rights to claim you can't do it.


 


As an example, say you take everything we know about aurora engine from the outside, without any of us but maybe two people having any knowledge of the actual code inside the engine. Since we are not actually using their protected code (engine code, not script in game), then we are safe because it has to be entirely written from scratch. Furthermore, we don't have access to their exact engine specs, so for like Xoreos, the graphics engine has to be build from scratch and no matter how close it looks to NWN, they can't own it or get you for it.


 


So then what you do is release one of our custom content modules with the open source so it can be used, or alternately, offer no out of the box module at all.


 


What I would also suggest doing is offer multiple engine specs that could be modified, and those specs alone could correct some of the various variants NWN has in relation to DND 3.0/3.5. Also, by offering a set of specs you can choose from, some being similar to Steve Jackson games, or some being similar to d20, or some custom stuff similar to old Final Fantasy engine specs, you could very easily avoid the entire possibility that you might step on WoTC/Hasbro toes.


 


Since bioware released the file specs for their own file formats, there is nothing that says we can't have a 3rd party program that can open their files. Nor did they ever specify that we could not write their file types. Furthermore, there is nothing that says we cannot modify and improve their file types by adding a footer, or header extension, instantly making their file type into our custom file type, removing it from speculation.


 


As 3RavensMore has mentioned, a big hurdle may be finding the set of people who can actually stomach putting work into a clone of an old engine. I know of at least one who has attempted to tackle that very thing before. Others apparently did the same around the same time and I never knew them. Had we simply shared resources during that time, we'd already have been done.


 


Back in early 2000's, I used the Aurora file type descriptions to further chop away at the inner workings of their old Infinity engine. Some of the file types were almost exactly the same. What I did was then create a duplicate of the infinity engine, in nothing more than visual basic 6, with no better graphics assist than directX. It had a few +1's to the infinity engine, in that I could scale BAM animations, and as long as they started as images of even integer sizes, and ended the same, everything was fine. I also improved the conversations a bit, and made some modifications to how equipable items worked in relation to applied effects. After I got bored with that final, but not quite perfect engine, I moved onto trying to duplicate the Aurora, but didn't get as far as the guys working on Xoreos.


 


I am not certain Xoreos is the best choice, but as anybody looking at it can see, it is basically finished minus animation sequences and scripting(er...well...the engine graphics could be much smoother and shaded properly). I know of quite a few people that could get a c# script engine going fairly quickly by simply absorbing those in other open source projects. The NwScript library is fully documented, so duplicating its base functions should be very easy. I would go so far as to change the entire script set and then duplicate NW's functions as secondary calls. Many prefer a more object oriented approach, where you simply ask for data via object.subclass.variable and have set/get methods build for everything, with certain exceptions where needed to prevent misconduct during play. Actually, the work they put into the NwScript engine was actually made harder many fold by dumbing it down and locking certain aspects away from the user (like crit hooks, and direct access to object collections).


 


Edit: oh and network solutions are missing, as well as code to handle object ghosts


 


In all seriousness, I find writing code to produce a larger product more personally rewarding than I do making a 3D model, and doing models gets me pretty happy.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Carcerian

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« Reply #101 on: July 03, 2014, 09:51:49 pm »


               

id love to see a zDoom/WinQuake type client (were they ported over linux improvements to dos/win platforms)


 


there are 2 major hurdles:


 


Source code: they still haven't released nwn's source code (and probably wont, since many major modern  3d games are actually based on the evolution of Aurora the bioware nwn engine, using same/similar style of mdls, tga/dds, armor/body slots, vfx, tilesets, etc.)


 


Programming:  The most successful attempt of a nwn client stalled out when they couldn't find a descent Directx/OpenGl gfx programmer.


Also, new code should be multi-core-friendly/multi-threaded (esp server code) so someone experienced there is a must as well.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_MerricksDad

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« Reply #102 on: July 03, 2014, 11:01:02 pm »


               

My concern was that anything I wrote for it would not be usable on all platforms. And I don't know how to go about that. I also know jack about openGL. I thought directX was convoluted but easy in the end. Newer sdk versions are probably better.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_MannyJabrielle

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« Reply #103 on: July 04, 2014, 02:21:37 am »


               

As far as I recall, the d20 open game license restricts primarily things inherently "wotc dungeons&dragons", that is official campaign settings, names, logos, ect.  For example, such a project couldn't be called "Neverwinter Nights Rebirth" or such... and PrCs like "Purple Dragon Knights" would be out due to it being propriety of the forgotten realms campaign setting.


 


Here's a copy of the open game license page I found on d20srd.org:



OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.

Definitions:
"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content;
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"Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute;
"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity.
"Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content;
"Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor
"Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content.
"You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
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Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

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Swords of Our Fathers Copyright 2003, The Game Mechanics.

Mutants & Masterminds Copyright 2002, Green Ronin Publishing.

Unearthed Arcana Copyright 2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Andy Collins, Jesse Decker, David Noonan, Rich Redman.

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Legacy_Lazarus Magni

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« Reply #104 on: July 04, 2014, 04:07:07 am »


               

Bless you Rolo.