Any thoughts on showing sheathed weapons on character when out of combat?
This is an idea that I wanted to write it in a post that I did yesterday but then for the bad arguments that I wrote I thought not to put it, but it was still an idea that I thought too, always see the characters with weapons in hand and so unrealistic, yes I would like if when I'm out of combat inguainasse weapons my character, as indeed should be in my opinion ... but it is still a problem that then occurs in the 2 even there the characters always have weapons in hand also out of combat.
Any thoughts on showing sheathed weapons on character when out of combat?
This would be great! And important for role-play servers. Big weapons should always be visible instead of appearing out of nowhere. Conversely, small weapons could be properly hidden.
Would be great, but needs to be controllable in detail from the scripts. We tried something similar on one server, not unlike this:
but the problem was that player inventories are huge, and they often carry a ton of weapons on them. And it just looks silly if you have a PC with three crossbows, two shields, four swords, a hammer and a greataxe. And when you try to limit what gets shown, you still get the issue of someone pulling a greatsword out of nowhere, because the algorithm decided not to render it.
We ended up deciding to only show items that have their own quickslots, and just use a generic backpack for the inventory, but it still didn't look that nice, so we scrapped it. If I were doing it again, I'd just limit the players' inventory to one page..
Maybe show the last unequipped weapon or something.
The alternative would be to have a certain amount of new inventory slots for equipping X amount of gear that would be visualized and that could be quickly swapped in combat. This would give the slots a function outside the visual as well. If you would use a weapon that isn't equipped in a slot , you would lose a round getting it from inventory.
I would like a system like this but it would require more work from the devs. Quick draw feat could also give you extra equipment slots since it's rather useless otherwise.
Could this be something that could be done with the UI overhaul? Ping @JuliusBorisov
Put a variable on each equippable item, something like "Location", and assign it "worn", or "stored", or whatnot. Only weapons that aren't 'in a sack, bag, chest, backpack, whatever' can be immediately equipped, and that can be limited to x number of items (those are the ones in sheaths, tucked in a belt, or otherwise immediately accessible). Those could be displayed as worn. OnEquip can get this variable, and decide what to do: equip it, which will show the draw animation or other animation), or send message "you don't have that accessible", or even have the PC drop their storage container and GetLow or whatever to 'rummage through it', and draw the item forth. Or something . . . Spitballing.
I was thinking a system that would display equipped weapons as sheathed when out of combat. I really like those pictures and agree it would need to be controlled.
I was thinking a system that would display equipped weapons as sheathed when out of combat. I really like those pictures and agree it would need to be controlled.
I can imagine this done by adding new "ready" animations for when the character is in combat, showing them in a battle stance with weapons drawn. The out of combat animations would then be changed to have the rhand, lhand, and lforearm nodes repositioned to appropriate locations at the sides and back.
I think though that this would require adding new nodes for rhandweapon and lhandweapon, so characters could still carry things other than weapons while not in combat. Also, two-handed weapons would need their own node as well, if they are to be carried on the back.
Suggestion for portraits and voice sets: It would be nice to be able to use them in other games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, so if the team could just leave the portraits and voice sets in a folder where they can be easily copied to the other games, that would be awesome. Ditto with the assets from BG and ID.
Another welcome change ... let's say that in the end NWN has a problem similar to BG1-2 and IWD, a few portrate's among which some are a bit ugly and badly, from a certain point of view the portrate of BG1-2 and IWD are much more beautiful than those of NWN (not all are bad some are done well, others are not).
The pack of Portrate's that is present in the Deluxe version for example I really like the images are beautiful and captivating, I hope in the future to make new ones made like this ... HEI! would not even be bad to create a monthly contest to choose the best 4 images to be officially included in the game ... it would be a good initiative .
But @JuliusBorisov Thank you for these nice updates you gave us is great news.
Additional colouring options for dynamic models together with ability to add opacity to them would be greeat. Second is separation of hair from head. It would open lots of customization options.
Additional colouring options for dynamic models together with ability to add opacity to them would be greeat. Second is separation of hair from head. It would open lots of customization options.
Suggestion: system that would display equipped weapons as sheathed when out of combat. How to get this idea on the input board?
Only problem with this is the scripted check to see if weapon is in hand. The npcs in the OC tell me not to brandish a weapon at them. If it is displaying as sheathed it might confuse people. (they would still have to unequip the weapon.
For the half elf race I would likento sugest that they could get there own model sets instead of the human look.
yes this is true and another problem present in NWN the half-elves do not have a unique model compared to other races, they have the same model of the human, here comes the "realisticity" of the aesthetic characteristics of D & d 3.0-3.5, in the manual even if read in passing, there are very precise indications on the estimated height of a character of a certain race, I could also speak of the age limit of the racial characteristics etc ...
but returning to the subject be yes ... it would be nice if the half-elves had a unique model that is different from the current one.
I dunno if this would fall under art, but it would be cool if there were phenotypes available to players to swap a character between Male and Female idle animations and fat variants of them. I thought of this because the female Vampire model uses the male idle animation, and I prefer it to the default female one. Most other female animations are fine though, so I don't think they should be swapped over unless they start from the idle. The same options should go for male characters.
I think that makes a good stream question, whether that's now their new art style set in stone for all future content, or a tech demo showing an intermediate step of graphics enhancements.
Got a suggestion: How about expanding the color options for weapons in the toolset? Right now when you make a custom weapon you can basically choose between silver, bronze, gold, and a darker gray color for the weapons. I'm suggesting that color customization of weapons be opened up like armor, which has a plethora of color options. That way if I want a sword with a red, metallic hilt for example, I can make it.
EDIT: Also, how about being able to choose your character's height after scaling is done. Just a range of lore friendly heights for characters of different races would be cool.
Got a suggestion: How about expanding the color options for weapons in the toolset? Right now when you make a custom weapon you can basically choose between silver, bronze, gold, and a darker gray color for the weapons. I'm suggesting that color customization of weapons be opened up like armor, which has a plethora of color options. That way if I want a sword with a red, metallic hilt for example, I can make it.
This is already possible, provided you have weapon models and inventory icons made with additional colors. You can have up to 10 colors per "weapon part" (colors 0 to 9).
Technically each color is a completely different model, not just a different color applied to the same model. So you can even go as far as making totally different appearances using those other color spots.
When looking at the filenames themselves, you can tell the part number and color number. As an example, the model for the blade of a longsword with part 1, color 3 is wswls_t_013.mdl (weapon, sword, longsword, top section, part 01, color 3). The inventory icon is the same filename but starting with the letter i.
You have to add color models+icons for the additional colors to part 1 of a weapon before you can use them for higher part numbers for some reason.
Edit: Nevermind. Just reread your post, and you're looking more for turning model-based weapon colors into plt-colored items, rather than actually building in various colors. Leaving this here though for those that might want to work with current method and didn't already know how.
Alright, got another suggestion to go with my weapons request above. Since higher quality models are now becoming a thing, I think this is a good suggestion to get out early: as new models are made for monsters, make it possible to edit different color parts for it. So for example, let's say they make a new goblin model. I'm asking that we can change things like it's skin color, clothing color, tattoos, etc within the toolset. That way we can make some variety in new modules.
EDIT: Also make it possible to change colors for objects like crates, doors, chests, etc.
EDIT 2: Alright one more, and I'll be done for now. Give us new/better tattoos. Let us make our own custom tattoos to put on our characters. If possible, let us choose where the tattoos go. Make them overlays onto the existing skins instead of alternate skins.
I'd love to have NWN2 style Racial color palettes for the custom races. Nothing more immersion breaking than someone making metallic elves in a setting with no metallic elves. lol.
According to the livestream recap, they confirmed they'll be facelifting the entire game to modern standards, and I'm thankful they aren't going to do just Aribeth and future content. However, I'm hoping this includes adding more animations to monsters. Some monsters, like the Minotaur, do not animate when using a bow or longbow due to a lack of animations for them. Slings animate fine, but don't visually appear. If it is possible, I'd like them to look back at these creatures and finish up their animations. Also, for creatures that would logically be able to use a weapon but can't (a troll doesn't visually wield or animate with a club, IIRC), I'd like them to add animations so they can use them. As others have suggested, making dynamic versions of some of the creature races would be good too.
I'd also like it if they didn't trample the original creature designs. I'm going to be super sad if they go for any of the PnP balor designs instead of the NWN design. Aribeth looks spot on except for her weird dress thing that was in a bunch of the artwork, so I'm sure I'll be happy with the rest of their work.
Also, I feel this should be a no brainer, but some of the creatures are going to need to need updated portraits. Any portrait that is painted/drawn digitally is fine, but some seem to be the models drawn over (Goblins, Blue Orcs, etc), or literally just the model (the Dragons). I'd like to see modern renditions of these portraits - as in the same portrait but freshly drawn to represent the new model better. It'd be great.
Comments
but the problem was that player inventories are huge, and they often carry a ton of weapons on them. And it just looks silly if you have a PC with three crossbows, two shields, four swords, a hammer and a greataxe. And when you try to limit what gets shown, you still get the issue of someone pulling a greatsword out of nowhere, because the algorithm decided not to render it.
We ended up deciding to only show items that have their own quickslots, and just use a generic backpack for the inventory, but it still didn't look that nice, so we scrapped it. If I were doing it again, I'd just limit the players' inventory to one page..
The alternative would be to have a certain amount of new inventory slots for equipping X amount of gear that would be visualized and that could be quickly swapped in combat. This would give the slots a function outside the visual as well. If you would use a weapon that isn't equipped in a slot , you would lose a round getting it from inventory.
I would like a system like this but it would require more work from the devs. Quick draw feat could also give you extra equipment slots since it's rather useless otherwise.
Could this be something that could be done with the UI overhaul? Ping @JuliusBorisov
Or something . . .
Spitballing.
-JFK
I think though that this would require adding new nodes for rhandweapon and lhandweapon, so characters could still carry things other than weapons while not in combat. Also, two-handed weapons would need their own node as well, if they are to be carried on the back.
The pack of Portrate's that is present in the Deluxe version for example I really like the images are beautiful and captivating, I hope in the future to make new ones made like this ... HEI! would not even be bad to create a monthly contest to choose the best 4 images to be officially included in the game ... it would be a good initiative
But @JuliusBorisov Thank you for these nice updates you gave us is great news.
Second is separation of hair from head. It would open lots of customization options.
but returning to the subject be yes ... it would be nice if the half-elves had a unique model that is different from the current one.
Something simple and elegant. I made a quick mock up what it could be.
Not to mention, a new system for head customization.
EDIT: Also, how about being able to choose your character's height after scaling is done. Just a range of lore friendly heights for characters of different races would be cool.
Technically each color is a completely different model, not just a different color applied to the same model. So you can even go as far as making totally different appearances using those other color spots.
When looking at the filenames themselves, you can tell the part number and color number. As an example, the model for the blade of a longsword with part 1, color 3 is wswls_t_013.mdl (weapon, sword, longsword, top section, part 01, color 3). The inventory icon is the same filename but starting with the letter i.
You have to add color models+icons for the additional colors to part 1 of a weapon before you can use them for higher part numbers for some reason.
Edit: Nevermind. Just reread your post, and you're looking more for turning model-based weapon colors into plt-colored items, rather than actually building in various colors. Leaving this here though for those that might want to work with current method and didn't already know how.
EDIT: Also make it possible to change colors for objects like crates, doors, chests, etc.
EDIT 2: Alright one more, and I'll be done for now. Give us new/better tattoos. Let us make our own custom tattoos to put on our characters. If possible, let us choose where the tattoos go. Make them overlays onto the existing skins instead of alternate skins.
I'd also like it if they didn't trample the original creature designs. I'm going to be super sad if they go for any of the PnP balor designs instead of the NWN design. Aribeth looks spot on except for her weird dress thing that was in a bunch of the artwork, so I'm sure I'll be happy with the rest of their work.
Also, I feel this should be a no brainer, but some of the creatures are going to need to need updated portraits. Any portrait that is painted/drawn digitally is fine, but some seem to be the models drawn over (Goblins, Blue Orcs, etc), or literally just the model (the Dragons). I'd like to see modern renditions of these portraits - as in the same portrait but freshly drawn to represent the new model better. It'd be great.