So Much Polishing...

The Maimed God's Saga
Sorry for the lack of updates. The truth is that there's been nothing interesting to report. More polishing is all, and there's not a lot of excitement there.

I will say that I've been dismayed at how slow the process has been. Using the NWN2-style dialog boxes has presented some unique problems that weren't there in NWN1. It took me a while to figure out why all the animations I had put in weren't firing correctly (the 'owner' was actually the dialog owner, not the line owner... obvious, now that I know!) I also had a bit of trouble figuring out why some of my scripted companion movements weren't working (and, in fact, breaking the module at times!), but I managed to figure that out as well. If I had used all NWN1-style dialogs, I'd be done by now... food for thought for the future.

During play-throughs, I also realized I needed to add a couple journal entries to clarify things, and I added an additional dialog and three interjections to each of the companions that came to roughly 1400 words each (2800 total). That, troubleshooting, and real life have kept me busy.

The long and the short of it is that I think I'm done with Tancred's polishing now with the exception of a single elaborate cutscene that is moderately close. Then I need to change PC gender and work on Verona's path. Luckily, I've been updating her dialog quite a bit as I learn on Tancred's. Nevertheless, I expect there to be several surprises that will slow me down.

I'm actually chomping at the bit to start on Act II, but I'm managing to maintain discipline to finish this one first before proceeding. When I do start Act II, I'll no doubt fly through the initial stages.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post an official "done" for Act I soon, but for now I'll leave you with an action shot of Tancred and the PC taking on some guards in The Mountain King's throne room. Note that all the guards look different, are slightly different heights, and all wield different weapons. This is yet another example of how I'm looking for every fight to be a unique encounter - not just a fight against three of the exact same blueprint all just named "Guard."

Ossian... uh, Secret Stuff
I haven't worked on Ossian much for a couple weeks, which is good as I've had other stuff going on. Luke says there'll be an announcement soon. If he says so...

I admit it could be any day now, but I've been wondering why no announcement was made weeks or months ago. Oh well, those decisions are why other people are making the big bucks. Suffice it to say that this entire process has been quite an eye-opener into the world of game studios. I'm not even that much "in the loop" with Ossian, but even what I've seen has been very enlightening.

Sorry I can't say more, but I really don't think the wait will be long now.