Together with Neverwinter nights 2 comes a wonderful map editor (its full name is Obsidian Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset). In it, you can not only create full-fledged levels and modules, but also modify all game components: from global (location size, number of monsters) to the smallest (direction of opening doors, locks on chests). In a couple of months, a completely new game can be made on the NWN 2 engine. At the same time, mind you, you practically do not need programming skills - just the ability to write basic sets of scripts.

Today we will take a look at the editor's interface, as well as tell you how to create a simple level and import it into the game.

On the approaches

Start the editor. You will see several toolbars, an object properties field, a 3D view window and a number of smaller components. The upper area of \u200b\u200bthe program is occupied by the main menu. Below it there are two toolbars with components for setting the display of objects in the 3D view window, as well as buttons that activate various modes of working with scene objects. The central part of the main working area is occupied by the 3D view window, in which levels are created and edited.

Scaling in the perspective window is done with the mouse wheel. To change the angle of the camera, just move the mouse to a new place with the middle button held down. On the left side of the program, there are two panels, which are so-called lists - Areas and Area Contents... IN Areas game locations, dialogs and scripts that make up your module are displayed. Area Contents contains a large list of components used on the map: elements of the environment, characters, weapons, triggers, cameras.

The right side of the window consists of two panels: the property inspector ( Properties) and a special window, which contains the contents of the menu in the lower right corner of the editor (if you select another menu, the contents of the window will also change). By activating the tab Blueprints, you will see that a large library of components appeared in the window (environment objects, NPCs, waypoints, weapons). If you activate the menu Tiles, then interior decoration elements will appear in the window. Finally, by going to the bookmark Terrain, you will find a number of special tools for shaping and texturing the terrain of the map.

Modulation

Before telling you about the basic principles of working in the editor, let's take a look at what the new module is. The official toolkit does not allow recording maps, scripts, dialogues and other important information separately to disk. All this is put together and saved into a single file, which is called a module. In fact, this is a complete mod, it does not use content wired into the engine, not even fonts.

That is, on the English version of the game, you can install, for example, a Russian or French modification and play peacefully, because the game takes fonts not from the engine, but directly from the module. It also follows that the module will only consist of those components that you put into it. If you create a flat steppe with one single hero, then only they will be in the addon. Make a complete big world - all its filling will be in the final file. Today we will analyze the algorithm for making a module containing one external game location and test it in the game.

Landscaping

Let's start the work on creating a level by creating base location... To do this, first of all, select the menu item File / New / Area or right-click on a blank panel field Area (it lists all the levels that make up the module), in the context menu, select Add... You will see a window in which you need to specify the basic attributes: name ( Area tag), type (exterior or interior - Interior, Exterior), dimensions. Set the parameters of all attributes, Area Type set the value Exterior (Terrain), since we will be making an open play space (we will talk about creating interiors in the next article). After clicking the button Finish you will see that the map template is added to the list of zones ( Areas) and displayed in the 3D View window.

Before us is a pancake-flat surface - the so-called frame. Let's modify the landscape: add a couple of mountains, dig a dozen ravines and pits for lakes, lay river beds, and also add small hills to the level. To do this, we will have to resort to using the modifiers on the toolbar. Terrain... To activate it, you need to go to the tab Terrain at the bottom right of the editor.

Let's start the terraforming process. On the panel Terrain in field Environment Toolsclick on the red button Terrain... After that in the field Brush adjust the brush parameters - grab radius, as well as the speed of the hill / lowland creation. Now you can start changing the relief. Pull down the scroll bar on the panel Terrain... You will see that there are eight different terraformers in this field. Let's consider the action of each of them. To form an elevation on the map, select the tool Raise, go to the 3D-view window, left-click on a certain area of \u200b\u200bthe terrain and, without releasing the button, change the height on the selected fragment of the location.

Working with the rest of the modifiers is the same. Tool Lower designed to create lowlands - gorges and ravines, river beds and lake pits, simple pits and bumps. Terraformer Noise serves for the so-called noise of the selected areas of the level; it randomly places alternating shallow heights and depressions on the level. For smoothing or blurring of pronounced hills or lowlands, a special modifier is built into the editor Smooth.

The next two tools, Walk and Non Walk, allow you to designate the so-called passability zones for the main character on the map. When these modifiers are used, the button is activated on the toolbar Surface Mesh, which displays the playing area as separate polygons. After using the tools Walk and Non Walk it is better to disable this option: it is very inconvenient to create relief in this mode. Make sure that when working with terraformers on the toolbar, the button is activated. Paint terrain, otherwise none of the instruments in the box Terrain will not function.

Let's go back to the modifiers. If you need to convert bumps to flat terrain, use the tool Flatten... If you need to paint the selected part of the location in a specific color, use the modifier Color, having previously selected the color opposite the label of the same name.

Cosmetic transformations

The landscape is ready, but it is completely monochromatic. It's time to texture the surface. On the panel Terrain on the right side of the window in the field Environment Tools left-click on the button Texturing and adjust the brush options. Find the scroll Terrain Texturingand select the most suitable texture from the list of images provided. After that, left-click on an arbitrary place on the map in the 3D-view window - the selected area will be textured. To completely cover the map with one texture, click on the button Fill in the terrain texturing field.

After you finish painting, you can add various objects to the map. Go to bookmark Blueprints in the lower right corner of the editor. You will see that the terraformer panel will change its name to Blueprints; this tool contains many items in a list (only the items of the selected group are displayed in the window).

Let's learn how to add objects to the map. Click the button Creatures on the panel Blueprints and select the required object from the list Creatures \\ Animals \\ Dire \\ Dire Badger... To place the selected item in the game location, left-click anywhere on the level. The tool can be canceled by pressing Esc.

To move any object along the axes X and Y you just need to click on it with the left mouse button (the object will be highlighted with a green frame) and, without releasing it, move the manipulator. in order to change Z- the coordinate of the model, you must select it, hold down (and do not release) the key on the keyboard Shift and scroll the mouse wheel. The object is rotated by moving the mouse with the right button pressed and the Shift key on the keyboard. To remove any element from the scene, left-click on it, and then press the Delete.

To copy an already created object (if you need to copy several objects, hold down on the keyboard Shift), place it on the clipboard using the hotkey combination Ctrl + C, and then load the clone onto the map ( Ctrl + V). Please note that all the above actions can be performed only when the button is activated on the toolbar. Select Objects.

We have told you about all the intricacies of forming a landscape and working with objects. In order to import the module into the game, it remains only to place the player's starting position on the map. In fact, it is already on the map (it is automatically added to any map in the very center) - it is a round symbol with a directional arrow inside.

To move the starting point, click on the button Set Start Location on the toolbar, then click on the point on the map where you want to move the respawn. After that, you can activate the button on the toolbar Select Objects and change the Z-coordinate. Save the module via the menu File \\ Save As and test it in the game.

* * *

In the next Obsidian Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset article likely to be published in the February issue of "Igromania" , we will tell you how to write dialogues for characters, work with scripts, create unique weapon and characters, and also consider some of the subtleties of mapping.

External characteristics

When creating a module, you probably more than once encountered a problem when there are not enough unique characters. Either you need to get a bear the size of a house, then you need to tame the dragon's temper, then make an army of mutant rats, with which the hero must fight according to the plot ...

Since such animals are not on the list, then there is no choice but to create them yourself. Modules for generating new characters are not built into the game editor, there is no way to make them manually from scratch either, so you will have to make mutants from the creatures already built into the game.

Place one of the NWN 2 base characters on the level and select it in the perspective window. Then right-click on it and select Properties (New Window) from the context menu. Before you is a window in which almost all parameters of the selected creature are edited - from height / length / width to gender and class. Let's look at the purpose of the main attributes and start with the large Appearance category.

The Scale parameter is responsible for the dimensions of the NPC along three axes - X (width), Y (length) and Z (height). By changing the values, it is easy to decrease or increase, say, dragons, turning them into a kind of bats. Or, conversely, make an elephant out of a fly - from small rodents into huge saber-toothed creatures. In addition to resizing, you can additionally "revive" the animals by making the so-called fluid textures. Expand the UV Scroll in the character properties window, set the Scroll attribute to True and enter arbitrary numerical values \u200b\u200bin the U and V. You will see that the texture covering the model has started to move a little: from a distance it seems that the animal's fur is standing on end.

To change the appearance (models) of the character, but at the same time retain the rest of the characteristics, select any element from the Appearance list and double-click on it with the left mouse button. To change the color of the hair, eyes and the main color of the skin, find the fields with the base word Tint, go to any of them and click on the list button. A special form will open, where you need to choose a specific color scheme.

The Sound Set attribute defines the sounds that the character will make. The last important characteristic from the Appearance group is Appearance (visual effect). This is a list of visual effects that can be played around a character. Here you can choose, for example, a storm effect (particles fly from the hero and a glow emanates).

Meet the mutant monsters! On the stage are giant rats and tame dwarf dragons.

Inner essence

We figured out how to change the appearance of characters, but there are also characteristics that are hidden from the eyes of the gamer, but have a significant impact on the game balance. Pull down the scroll bar in the NPC properties box to the Attributes rollout. By modifying the parameters of this category, you can change the character's strength (Strength parameter), his charisma (Charisma), intelligence (Intelligence) and a number of other properties.

The Attributes parameters are immediately followed by the Behavior category. This is a group of characteristics that determine the behavior of a creature. We will not consider all the parameters of this category (what this or that attribute is responsible for is almost always clear from the name), we will only talk about the Faction ID characteristic - it is the most important in the Behavior block. This parameter determines the attitude of the character towards all the inhabitants of the world of NWN 2. We will talk about editing the factions themselves a little later.

Let's skip the General, Misc, Miscellaneous, Saving Throws, Scripts groups (you won't need them at the initial stage of mod development) and immediately proceed to editing the last two blocks - Shadows and Statistics. The first one contains two attributes: Cast Shadow? and Receive Shadow ?, which determine whether a shadow will be cast from the object and from various sources lighting, respectively. Statistics contains information about various unchangeable characteristics, such as the gender of the character, the number of points at the beginning of the game and a number of others.

Inventory

The character (or even several characters) has been created, it's time to take care of his inventory. Go to the Inventory tab on the character properties panel and click the Edit button. A new Inventory window will open, in which you can delete or add various gizmos to the backpack (even monsters without clothes have) of the character. Replenishment of inventory takes place in three consecutive stages. First, select an object from the Items list (it occupies the entire bottom left of the Inventory form) and click the Add Item button to add the item to the bag. After that, you need to figure out which category the element belongs to, and drag it with the left mouse button held down to one of the slots on the right side of the Inventory window. Let's look at a specific example of how this is done.

Suppose we put on game card female character Kana. By default, this warlike girl is dressed in light armor. Let's add some effective weapon to her inventory, say an ax. To do this, select the heroine, go to the Inventory tab in the properties panel and click the Edit button. In the window that appears in the Items table, select the Weapons \\ Axes \\ One-Handed \\ Woodcutter's Ax element and click on the Add Item button to add the weapon to your inventory.

Let's think about where to place the ax. It is illogical in the head slot, in place of the shoes it will also look ridiculous ... yeah, the ax is in the hand (Right Hand / Left Hand). Drag the weapon to the Right Hand slot in the right margin of the Inventory window. Note: If necessary, you can add items to the Equipment slots directly from the Items list. To remove an item from your personal belongings, drag it back to the temporary storage, select it and click the Remove Item button.

After the death of a character, various objects spill out of it: armor, weapons, flasks. If you want the inventory to drop out of the hero or monster you created after the death, check the box in the Droppable column of the selected item. After that, click Ok in the Inventory window - the form will close, and the character will be updated (all changes can be visually tracked in the 3D view window).

Finally, we modify all the standard skills of the new creation. In the properties window, switch to the Skills tab and configure the creature's skills. Just imagine what results can be achieved by increasing the dragon's skills to the maximum (concentration, search, installation and neutralization of traps).

We replenish the inventory of the warlike girl Cana. A miniature hatchet for self-defense will come in handy.

Creators of unseen creatures

We analyzed in detail the process of modifying various creatures - we learned how to change the appearance of characters and modify the attributes that affect behavior. It's time to practice creating new heroes.

Go to the Blueprints tab in the lower right corner of the editor. Click on the Creatures button in the Blueprints panel. Right-click on the list and select Create Blueprint / Module from the context menu. You will see that the character field has been added new item with the name Creature 1, it can be immediately placed on the map, because this is the blank of a new hero. The parameters of the new character are edited in the same way as described above.

Fractions

Let's take a look at fine-tuning the various characters. We said earlier that any character can be attributed to one of the factions, and as a result he will become peaceful or, on the contrary, hostile towards other factions. Let's see how to configure the parameters responsible for this.

To call the faction editor, select the View / Factions menu item. You will see that the 3D View is gone and replaced with the Faction table and some additional parameters. Let's consider editing a faction using a specific example. Select an arbitrary line in the table, for example, Hostile. By changing the value in the cell at the intersection of the Player column and the Hostile line, we can determine the type of character's relationship with the player. If the value of the attribute is 0, everyone will be hostile towards the main character, but if the number 50 is written in this cell, then the members of the group will try to maintain neutrality towards the player. If you write 100, then the relationship will be friendly.

By adjusting the value at the junction of the Hostile row and the Hostile column, you can establish relationships within the clan. Got the point? Editing relations between other factions is carried out in a similar way.

To create a new faction, click on the Add Faction button at the top of the Faction window; to change the name and status of a group, go to the bottom area of \u200b\u200bthe factions window, select the Faction element from the Faction list and set the name of the new clan in the Name field. To remove an unnecessary grouping from the list, select it and click the Remove Faction button at the top of the working window.

New factions are created in the Factions Editor.

New items

We have populated our level with unique creatures: giant rats, mutant dragons, killer bears. Let's move on to the second part of the global redistribution of the NWN2 world - the development of new weapons, armor and other useful gizmos.

Make sure the Blueprints tab is active in the lower right corner of the editor. In the Blueprints panel, click on the Items button, right-click on the list of objects and select Create Blueprint / Module from the context menu. The editor will create a new element and immediately offer to place it on the map. Discard by pressing Esc.

Consider basic principles editing objects. Select the newly created template and go to the Properties panel, the name of which corresponds to the name of the modified object, that is, in our case Item1. As with characters, all the properties of gizmos are scattered in special categories (Appearance, Armor, Behavior), the names are almost identical to the names of groups of living beings. Let's take a quick look at the contents of each such category.

Appearance - parameters are set in this group appearance inventory, such as, for example, an item icon (Icon), a special effect (Appearance (special effect)), model coloring (Tint).

Behavior - this category contains a number of characteristics that determine how the object works in game world... Here you can set the cost of things (Additional Cost), the base type of the item (Base Item), the ability to steal an object (Stolen), set the special properties of the item (Item Properties).

Blueprint - the parameters of this block serve as a kind of reference for the editor. The Comment attribute is required to enter the author's comments about the created item, the Template Resref parameter is a unique identifier for the item (you can come up with the name yourself).

General - this group contains parameters that allow you to classify and describe the subject.

Scripts - script slots. The block is empty by default.

Statistics - Damage Reductions and Material characteristics determine the properties of the material from which the item is made.

Creating new weapons is much easier than creating a new monster. You can do it in two or three minutes.

Module properties

Unique creatures have been created and distributed among special factions, new murder weapons and other useful objects have been developed. It's not a shame to place such a module on the Internet, but let's still give it a presentation.

Select the View / Module Properties menu item and on the Module Properties property panel go to the Properties tab. You will see that all the properties of the module are categorized into four different categories. The first one, Misc, contains basic characteristics module. Most of all in this category we are interested in the Description and Name parameters, which allow us to set a description of the modification and its name. The second group - Scripts - contains slots for scripts. Attributes of the third category - Starting Area - describe the starting area. Here you can change the name of the map (Entry Area), coordinates of the player's starting position (Entry Position) and even specify a movie that will be played when the module is started (Start Movie).

Please note that to play the intro video at the beginning of the game, you need to place your movie (* .bik format) into the / Movies directory and write the file name (without extension) in the Start Movie field. The last group of parameters (Time) is responsible for the time conditions in the module: day, hour, month, year.

How to install?

1. First, install the Russian language into the game. This can be done through the Workshop.
2. Download the module you like using the links below.
3. Open the My Documents / Neverwinter Nights folder and place the specific files in the desired folders:

• The modules themselves (.mod) to folder modules;
• Hack files (.hak) to folder hak;
• Soundtrack (.bmu) to folder music;
• Video files (.bik) to folder movies.

4. Start the game, select "New Game" and click the "More Modules" button. Then launch the module you need.

Curse of Levor

Saga action Curse of Levor does not intersect with the plot of the official companies. The authors tried to get rid of all the attributes of Neverwinter Nights, from books, of which there are more than 60 in the module, to the description of weapons and items. The first part begins in 1388 DR in the southern part of Vast. The city of Prokampur is the starting point for the game. In the first part you will also find the following places: Tsurlagol, Sevenecho, Arbonna, Maerstar, Brynwood Forest, Adhe Wood, High Haspur, Sarbrinar (Sarbreenar). The first part of "The Curse of Levor" also covers the young city of Andra-Dun (from the elf "Andra" - long wall, "Dun" - to exalt), built on the rocky island of Lone Rock during the period from 1368 to 1385DR. It was not included by Ed Greenwood (the developer of the world Forgotten Realms) in the description of Vasta because Andhra-Dun is the only city entirely and completely fictional by the authors of the campaign.

You do not have to save the whole world, but it is in your power to prevent a great EVIL from happening. So, you are your uncle's nephew, with whom you live because of the loss of your parents ...
_______
UPD:
Not so long ago a modmaker named Victorxxx released a remaster of this wonderful module. Through his efforts, the transitions between parts of the modules were corrected, and the introductory video began to play. for which many thanks to him!

So, the story of your hero or heroine begins in a small village called Chistye Prudy, in a house that belongs to your parents (or friends for non-human heroes). After an annoying fall from the roof, you wake up in your own room and try to remember what happened the day before ... What will happen next is now up to you. Alas, your hero won't have to save the worlds and fight the gods. But how his fate and the fate of his loved ones will turn out depends only on you ...

Actions in a group of modules Order of Time take place in different territories, with different participants and do not intersect at all in the plot, however, they contain a general concept on which the entire project is built. The main task was to realize what each of us wanted for a long time, but failed for various reasons. Initially, about six short parts were outlined, according to the number of team members. But real life has put everything in its place. As a result, two modules remained, and it was decided to expand them a little in order to somehow compensate for the losses.

Attention! The module is not easy, as it contains strong enemies and requires skillful distribution of skill points. Recommended for experienced players.

The Neverwinter Nights series has become one of the most popular in the genre, not because it has an ingenious plot - the first part had nothing of the kind, not for the merit of the role-playing system and not for the graphics. The secret of her success is well known: the most powerful script editor in existence.

Editors of other popular role-playing games are capable of adding a new task, location, subject, conversation threads to their favorite game, some allow you to slightly modify the rules; but only NWN and NWN 2 make it possible to make a full-fledged new game.

You don't have to connect your work to the baseline scenario. You can have your own world, built from scratch - or one of the famous, for example, Forgotten Kingdoms, Krynn, Ravenloft, Azeroth, finally ...

You can create your own scripts pretty quickly: working on a large project containing 50 or more hours of game time sometimes takes a couple of months, and only one person works!

Therefore, it is not surprising that many hundreds of modules - new scripts for the first NWN - have been written. However, among them there is practically nothing in Russian. There are apparently two reasons: the lack of an official localization of the game (and without it, writing scripts was very inconvenient: conversational scripts could not work correctly with the Russian letter "I") and the lack of editor's manuals in Russian.

NWN 2 received official localization from Akella. And, although this localization still needs to be edited and corrected (work on this is underway), technical problems in making your own scripts no longer exist.

Isn't it time to get down to business?

The NWN 2 editor boasts flexibility, speed and many other benefits. There is only one advantage in this list not and is not expected: the intuitiveness of the interface.

The first feeling that occurs when you press the "Toolbox" button in the loading menu of the game: "Where did I get and how to deal with all this?" The editor immediately proudly showcases dozens of buttons, panels, settings, and so on, and it seems like you can spend half your life studying them. In fact, it is worth creating, step by step, the first couple of scenes of your module - the simplest, combat one - as most of the buttons and panels will become familiar to you. And the rest can be made out calmly and slowly. Most of the design solutions in this editor are very convenient, although not obvious at first glance.

Most likely, there will remain only one problem: there is barely enough monitor area for all the windows and panels of the editor. Alas, there is little you can do about it, but you can get used to it.

It is interesting:i was once intrigued by the question: if it was in this editor that the basic campaign of the game was made, how did the "cartographers" manage to place everything they needed on their monitor? A small journalistic investigation revealed the terrible truth: they all had two monitors per computer. As it turns out, the toolkit is just superbly optimized for two screens; if it suddenly happens that you have two of them, it will become not only convenient to work, but very convenient. If you, like me, get by with one thing, you will have to endure a few minor inconveniences.

Despite all these shortcomings, NWN 2 remains the most convenient and easiest way to create your own role-playing game.Nothing similar to it in terms of capabilities, convenience and scope has been created to date and is not expected in the near future. In my opinion, this is a good reason to start studying it for anyone who would like to create a game with their own hands.

• in the first chapter-it is in front of you - we will learn how to work with relief and textures, arrange objects on the map, manage their appearance and characteristics. This is enough for us to create a simple combat module - say, a wolf hunt or a trip to an orc dungeon;
• in the second chapter we will discuss the organization of conversations and scripts, and also solve one urgently important question: how to make the player have to think during the game not only about what spell to throw away the enemy? Making the script smart is not easy: this is a weakness not only in NWN 2, but in most modern RPGs. Perhaps due to the volume of the scripting topic, we will split this part into several articles;
• in the third chapterwe will add to the game components made by ourselves or taken from external sources: models, textures, sounds, speech, and so on. This is the only part of working on modules where you need to be able to do something other than coming up with a script and balancing it; Fortunately, for making your own modules, additional graphics beyond the one offered in the game are completely optional.

First step

What is what on the screen

So, we opened the editor window (by the way, immediately stretch it to full screen: space is unnecessary exactly will not be!).

Center there is a large white panel: this is the viewport. Our map will be shown there, with objects and creatures standing on it. In the same window, we will be able to edit the landscape, arrange objects and select them to work with their properties. So far, this is empty: we have not yet created or selected a single area.

Left side divided into two sections. The top one is a list of areas in the current module, and the tabs below it allow you to switch to other lists (conversations, scripts, etc.). Lower - lists of items, creatures, etc., which are already included in our module. We can say that on the left side of the screen there is information about what we have in the module has already.

Right part- these are settings and adding new entities. Its upper half contains a set of settings for the currently selected object (this can be the area itself). The bottom one is a set of editable object templates, we'll talk about it later. You can switch this lower part to the mode of the landscape editor or the cells of the room: for this, the Blueprints (object templates), Tiles (cells), Terrain (terrain) tabs are hidden at the very bottom.

On a note:at most monitor resolutions, the scroll bar in the right pane is just a little too large. I will fight, eliminate it, the benefit is not difficult - just narrow the central part a little!

Above all this disgrace - a few pages of the menu, you can not carefully study them yet. We'll deal with them later.

Create area

The first thing to do is to create a module and save it (the habit of saving here more often must be mastered by all means). This is done quite traditionally: through the Flie - New and File - Save main menu items.

Now you need to create a starting area. Right click on the area window (top left panel) and select Add. We are prompted to choose the name of the area ( do not recommenduse names like Area1 - you will never figure it out later, it is better to immediately give meaningful names) and its type: room (Interior) or open area (Exterior). First, let's choose an open area.

The next window is for setting the size ... First, let's set Small. In general, I advise you to just take a closer look at what real size of the map corresponds to which settings, this is the easiest to learn at an intuitive level.

In the list of areas, the one we added has appeared: select it, and the coordinate grid and texture will appear on the central panel.

General view of the editor.

And in the upper right panel there are properties of the area. I will not describe them in detail; there you can, for example, set the mode of day and night (they can change naturally or be "squeezed": for example, if you remember, night always reigns in the cemetery near Fort Locke); define a picture that is shown when loading an area; prohibit or permit rest; for premises - determine if it is a dungeon; and many more pleasant little things that we don't need for now.

The main thing to consider here at the first stage of work is the lighting settings: after all, they determine how everything that you put at stake will look like. Fortunately, everything is quite transparent here.

Another very useful set of tweaks is Sky Rings, which determine how the map will appear on this map. horizon... There are several options: mountains, hills, forest ... Why surround the map with real objects when you can just hang the backdrop?

Map flights

Before moving on to editing, let's say a few words about the camera. Control it with a button Ctrl... When Ctrl is pressed, we can, by holding down the left mouse button, "grab" the ground on the screen by the point at which the mouse is pointing, and drag the map to the desired place. Well, the right mouse button with the same Ctrl allows you to rotate the map.

The mouse wheel without any buttons or keys zooms in and out. Another way to zoom in and out is Ctrl + Shift + Left Mouse Button. By moving the mouse up and down, we achieve the desired "flight altitude".

As you move the camera, you will probably notice the white border that delimits the center of the map. The fact that inside the white frame is the "play" part of the territory, you can walk on it and somehow act within it. What is outside is a decoration, this "frame" is only needed so that the map does not break off, going nowhere.

On a note:it is advisable to border the edges of the map with natural obstacles or put a sign of the territory transition in front of the edge: it is necessary to clearly show the player where the meaningful part of the map ends, but not so that the player has the feeling of a "concrete wall" (unless, of course, this is happening indoors - there the boundaries are extremely natural).

Landscape

Heights

Now let's get to the relief. To do this, open the Terrain tab in the lower right corner of the screen.

We have a menu instead of lists of objects. True, if you are not one of the happy owners of a two-monitor system, then most likely you only see the top of it. You can drag the menu up by squeezing the properties window. Not very convenient, but you won't often need to alternate between working with objects and working with relief.

The first button is responsible for the relief. Having selected it, we can, by pressing the mouse button, gradually raise the surface of the earth.

It is important:relief work cannot be undone by the Undo command in the menu! So save after every significant result. Option: with the Duplicate command (in the menu that appears when you right-click on the area), make a copy of the edited area.

This operation has three numeric parameters, they are presented in the window: size topselevated area ( size) and size foot(outer), and lifting speed (pressure).

With the last parameter, everything is obvious: the larger it is, the faster the terrain will rise. Outer determines how large the area will be processed. And the ratio between outer and size is like the "sharpness" of the vigura. If, say, size and outer are approximately the same, we will get a gentle hill, perhaps even a plateau; and if size is much smaller, there will be a spiky peak. An example is in the picture.

The relief can not only be raised; below, under the numeric parameters, there are buttons Raise (climb), Lower (lowering), Flatten(align to a given height, which can be taken from the existing map using Eyedropper). You can level all the ground under the selected building - for this, the button Flatten under... You generally don't want a building to stand on a slope.

On a note:most of the hills in NWN 2 are made in a "stepwise" technology: first you make a low gentle hill, then on top of it - another one, higher and narrower, and so on. Or a little differently - the hill is assembled from several almost flat elements, like a Lego construction set. Stepped reliefs look very natural.

Noise generates bumps on the surface, pits - in general, small irregularities to make it look more natural. Smoothon the contrary, it smoothes. Where the surface, according to the author's intention, is not smoothed by anything, the use of Noise is highly recommended.

Finally, Walk and Non-Walk are not directly related to the relief: they determine where the character can walk and where not. When you select any of these options, the map is colored with a blue and black grid; blue - passable. By default, too steep slopes are marked as impassable, and I would not recommend fixing this.

Textures

By default, our entire region is covered with greenery, absolutely the whole. At the same time, the game has many textures: yellowed grass, clay, sand, rock, gravel, various types of pavements ...

Responsible for them, as you might guess, the button Texturing... The drop-down menu contains the same parameters as the relief: size, outer, pressure.

Outer means the same as always. But the other two settings are related to the fact that textures can not only be superimposed, but mixwith already superimposed. Let's say we put a pavement on top of the grass - a little greenery makes its way through the tiles.

In this case, Pressure controls how strong this bleed-through effect is. If you want to get rid of it, set the slider to the maximum. And Size controls the decay of the texture intensity along the edges of the area; if you make it much larger than outer, the texture will not fade away.

With paving slabs, neither fade nor texture blending is usually needed. With a rock - more often not needed than needed. But, let's say, clay may well at first gradually show through the grass, then reveal itself in all its ugliness.

Button Fill allows you to fill the entire area with texture at once. This is in case you don't need greens at all. Button Swapperallows you to replace one texture with another throughout the map. You can view the list of involved textures in the window Selected Terrain at the bottom (you may need to scroll).

It is important:too many textures, especially overlapping ones, slow down the player's computer a lot. It is recommended to do within one card 3-4, no more.

Vegetation

Grass and netting.

The map is very lively with herbs; there is a button to arrange them Grass.

Working with it is extremely simple: you select the type of grass from a long list, the width of the brush - and the grass, when you click on the mouse button, scatters random clumps, which looks quite natural. Do not be discouraged by the view of this grass from the same height at which you usually edit the relief; it looks great up close.

Runners Blade Size and Blade Size Variation They "manage" the growth of grass: the first determines the overall height, the second - the spread.

On a note:as strange as it may seem, most often the spread of 0 (the same height everywhere) is the right decision. Otherwise, it is worth doing mainly in a swamp and in a very hilly area.

As with textures, keep in mind that there are too many herbs, in the first place - differentwill cause the player's computer to slow down. For an average map, 1-3 types of grass are quite enough; you should not make a botanical garden out of a meadow or village.

The grass does not affect the passability and generally the game functions. This is a purely decorative element.

Water

Textures and water.

And finally, the fourth menu button: Water.

She either floods the territory with water, or, conversely, removes water. Water is poured at a certain height; and here it is more appropriate than ever to define it directly on the map using Eyedropper.

The next part of the settings is the shine of the water, ripples on it, and so on; the easiest way to "comprehend" them is by simple experiment, you will see the result immediately. And in the submenu of levels (Layer) we need the direction and speed of the waves (Scroll Direction X, Scroll Direction Y, Scroll Speed).

Premises

All dungeons, rooms inside houses, and so on are arranged a little differently than open areas. For them, you need to create an area of \u200b\u200bthe "Room" type ( Interior).

We collect the interior of the room from cells. There is no external part, like an open landscape: all created cells can be used by characters.

To edit a room, go to the tab Tiles (bottom right corner of the screen). Immediately we are offered to choose a set of cells: an ordinary house, a castle, a cave, a mine, a burial ground ... There is no point in combining sets, and the editor does the right thing to resist such an idea.

We are offered a wide range of cells - empty, with walls, doors, stairs. On the diagrams of these cells, blue dots are a wall, red dots are a door. Most often, the cage still needs to be rotated correctly; to do this, select the desired scheme, move (for simplicity) the mouse to the editing window and rotate the cell arrow keys.

In the case of symmetrical cells (eg empty, no walls or corners), arrows can provide, for example, a pattern on the floor. I don't know how to determine this in advance, I think, only by trial and error.

It is important:as with open terrain, cell editing is not subject to the Undo function. Check in on time ...

Objects

Template concept

Before you start arranging doors, chests, trees and living creatures, you need to understand an important concept for work template(blueprint).

In the NWN 2 editor, working with objects is organized as follows. First, you create a template and edit its properties. Then place on the map copiesthis template; later, by editing the template, you can change all its instances on the map at once. For example, if you have a "regular goblin" creature template, you are free to increase all common goblins' agility by 2 with one movement of your hand, or, say, tint them all red.

To work with templates, switch to the tab in the lower right corner of the screen Blueprints; here you will probably need a panel Propertiesthat we collapsed to work with the landscape, it should be immediately expanded to about half the height of the column or a little more.

So, when placing an object on the map, you must first select its template. It can be one of the predefined templates (you have many different tabs in the lower right window), or it can be a newly created one.

Most often, you will not need to create templates from scratch, but copy them (by right-clicking on a template from the standard set or one created by you, select Copy Blueprint). This will avoid setting up many parameters from scratch.

It is possible (and often necessary) to edit the properties of an individual object. To do this, select it with the left mouse button, after switching the screen from the mode Paint Objectsinto mode Select Objects(menu above the central panel); there is another way - to select it in the list of objects on the map (bottom left panel, it is organized in the same way as the templates panel).

And you can change the properties of all such objects at once by adjusting the template;

In what cases is one better and in what cases the other?

According to my observations, monsters, magic items and other objects with many game characteristics it is almost always better to edit at the template level. Inactive objects (trees, etc.) and non-locking doors are at the instance level. The only exception is objects that are supposed to be not quite ordinary, but the same in their group, like a set of street lamps. With lockable doors and chests, it's best to start with a template to set a base level of hack difficulty, and then customize the type of trap (if any) and content.

How to understand that you are in this moment editing - template or instance? Very simple: if the object about which in question, highlighted with a green "box" - then you are working with an instance, if not - with a template. If there are "protected from editing" fields - this is definitely a template, and not specified by you, the basic one.

Template settings

The vast majority of the template has several general settings. Among them are the scale (Scale, set separately along three axes), appearance (Appearance) coloring (Tint), name and description (Localized Name, Localized Description), behavior (Behavior).

Object coordinates and rotation to properties notare included. You set the coordinates by simply positioning the object to the desired point (or by dragging it when the Select Object mode is on). To rotate, select the object and either use the commands Rotateabove the central panel, or holding Ctrl, rotate the object with the arrows.

Scaledoes not need special comments; I will only note that you should know very well what you are doing when you set a different scale on different axes. And in general, it should not be changed too often, except for the trees.

Appearancealso rarely changed: this setting selects a 3D model of the item. If you have any reason to make an orc look like a gnoll, then this is right here. But when we start adding new models - in the third chapter of this story - we will actively need Appearance.

Monsters, however, have a number of useful appearance settings, in addition to the main model - especially for humanoids: face, hairstyle, beard, even wings and tail (it would seem, why would they, for example, halfling? What if you come up with a race of flying halflings - then everything is ready for them!).

When coming up with another NPC, you should take care of his appearance. Alas, the choice will have to be made simply by switching the digits of the options - there is no more convenient way.

The trees have one more parameter immediately after the appearance - Random seed... The fact is that trees are generated randomly, and if for some reason you do not like a specific instance, you can correct it with a random number and somehow change it.

Coloring-very valuable thing: as you know, many games multiply the number of monsters by adding varieties (snake green, blue-green, red ...). Unfortunately, since the base color is usually determined by the texture, often Tint will affect nothing more than the hue of the object. But the color of solid surfaces like human skin changes quite arbitrarily.

In the models, as a rule, the limits in which the color can be changed are "protected": for example, it is predetermined that the gnome's skin can be gray or yellow, but not bright scarlet. Since changes do not always show up clearly, many do not notice this effect; check the property sheet to see if the change has been made. If the chosen coloring is recognized by the editor as illegal, it will remain the same in the coloring table.

Title and Descriptionneed to change always, if you already work with the Russian module (and if you decide to create in English, then too often). Almost nothing has been translated in the toolkit, so everything makes sense to edit here.

Finally, behavioris a whole series of parameters that determine how an object interacts with the outside world. Here are, for example, links to conversations and scripts (we will deal with them in the next chapter), near doors, chests and cupboards - lock parameters, the door also contains a link to the place to which it leads.

Pay attention to the parameter Faction-fraction. By default, there are only four of them: Hostile (enemies), Commoner (civilians who are not affected by any combat interactions), Merchant (merchant), Defender (defender - intervenes in case of a fight). This parameter is present not only for monsters, but also, for example, in chests and doors. What for? But why: if the chest is not included in the Hostile faction, you will not be allowed to attack it and chop it with an ax!

The parameter is very important Plot- "plot". By setting it to True, you will prevent unauthorized destruction of the object. For an object, this means “not to throw away or sell,” for a door, “you cannot open without a key,” and so on.

Sometimes this parameter is necessary, but there are few things as annoying as excessive use of it. In the case of quest items, it is extremely important not to forget to rid the player of them along with the end of the quest: otherwise, the player's bins will be jam-packed with all kinds of junk.

It is important: "plot "can be displayed for items that are needed in side quests; but it will be very correct for the player to destroy the item by script when the quest is hopelessly out of date. In the base campaign, this is done between chapters: well, why does the hero in the second or third chapters need any contraption that he forgot to give in Highcliff or Fort Locke?

Creatures

To learn how to put ordinary aggressive monsters on the map, we just need to figure out the settings of the role parameters. Once again, I highly recommend doing this with a template, not a creature instance.

Oddly enough, setting these parameters is not very automated. By changing stats or levels, you do not get an immediate change to hit and save throws. In general, it must be admitted that the creature role parameters editor is the weakest part tools, and it needs serious improvement.

Here's what you need to edit (preferably in that order):

• characteristics (strength, agility, etc.);
• classes;
• saves, hits, defense;
• skills;
• the degree of danger (Challenge Rating);
• equipment.

If you are not supposed to fight him, then everything is easier, you can overlook almost all of this fluently.

You may ask why there are no skills and spells on the list. The answer is simple: because for some reason, the authors of the toolkit did not provide such an opportunity. All this is generated automatically - "out of customer care" so that you and I don't have to strain too much. As for me, it would be better if they automate the calculation of hits and saves; but there is hope that public opinion will force the Obsidians to correct this nonsense.

But skills have to be handled manually, and - damn it! - if you add, say, a 10th level druid to a creature, you will not get basic druidic abilities at all, you will have to add them yourself.

Don't forget to customize the creature's danger level. This is the level of the team for which the creature poses a moderate threat. From it (and the level of the team), how much experience is required for defeating him is calculated.

It should not be assumed that this parameter is approximately equal to the level of the creature: after all, in the player's team there is usually not one hero, but, say, four characters of the sixth level easily cope with one of the sixth level. How to calculate the degree of danger - the conversation is long and difficult; I can recommend you just search among the standard templates for a creature of "approximately equal" strength and write off the parameters from it. Especially fine tuning is not necessary here, but the approximate order of values \u200b\u200bmust be observed, otherwise the module will be greatly unbalanced.

On a note:from this parameter do not depend fighting qualities - on the contrary, it must be their consequence.

This is quite enough to place a few goblins, wolves and so on on the lawn we made (see the chapter "Landscape"), put trees and, for example, houses; and combine one of the doors of the house with the door of the room we edited.

So we got the simplest module. To be able to test it, there are two more steps left to do ...

Setting the starting point.The module must have an "entry point" - the place where your hero will appear. It would be better if this place was safe!

"Bakery products". The program needs to be compiled before it can be run, so with the NWN 2 module, roughly the same action is required: it is called "baking" ( Bake). You will find this action in the menu.

Usually, after editing a module, it is sufficient to "bake" only those areas where changes were made. Nobody bothers to "bake" all at once (Bake All), but it can take a very long time. For example, “baking” a basic NWN 2 campaign takes about a day!

We discussed the basic functions of the editor and found out how they generally work with it. In the next article we will talk about what allows you to make your module unique: conversations and scripts. See you!