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NWN MODULES

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Title  Sanctum of the Archmage 2: The Miracle Worker - Act I
Author  Andarian
Submitted / Updated  09-30-2007 / 05-23-2011
Category  Dramatic
Expansions  CEP-2.00 Requires Community Expansion Project
Setting  Custom
Gameplay Length  About 4-5 hours (including reading dialogue and journals).
Number Players  1
Language  English
Level Range  7-9
Races  Human recommended
Tricks & Traps  Light
Roleplay  Heavy
Hack & Slash  Medium
Classes  Class: There are no restrictions on class, but a character with good mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) is strongly recommended.
Scope  Part of Series
DMNeeded  No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer  Single Player
Max Character Level  09
Max # Players  01
Min # Players  01
Min Character Level  07
Forums  Link
Content Rating  Teen
Alignments  The module is designed for a good character, with little in the way of dialogue and plot options for evil roleplaying choices.
Gameplay Hours  05
Description
"Sanctum of the Archmage, Chapter 2: The Miracle Worker - Act I" is the sequel to my 2006 HOF module, "Sanctum of the Archmage, Chapter 1: The Sight." The saga will be told in three parts:

Part One: The Sight
Part Two: The Miracle Worker
Part Three: The Alliance

My current plan is to complete Part Two ("The Miracle Worker") in Neverwinter Nights 1, and to develop Part Three ("The Alliance") in Dragon Age. "The Miracle Worker" will be developed in three acts (of which this is Act I), and "The Alliance" will be developed in two acts. Each act will be built as a separate module or chapter in the series.

Act I of "The Miracle Worker" is a bit different in style from the first chapter, "The Sight." It is very heavy on drama and cinematic storytelling, and on roleplaying and companion dialogue (including romance). There are relatively few combats, but a few of them can be very challenging.

Although the sequel can be started and played through as a new module, I strongly recommend transferring to Chapter 2 from a saved game at the end of version 3.4 of Chapter 1. If you start Chapter 2 as a new game (either with a new character, or even a saved character from Chapter 1), then some of the game variables from the first chapter will not be carried over to the sequel. This will affect the romances in particular, since the defaults for these are likely to be lower that what you would have reached by playing through Chapter 1.

NOTE ON IMPORTANT ITEMS: The module includes two important custom items (the Control Rod and the Horn of Rallying from Chapter 1) that it is important for the player to become familiar with, and to be willing to use at times. Otherwise, some of the combats may be more difficult to beat, and some important plot-related information could be missed. The Control Rod must be equipped in the off-hand in order to be used.

NOTE TO PLAYERS WHO PREFER 2-HANDED WEAPONS: In some situations, it may be advantageous for you to temporarily unequip your preferred weapon in order to equip and use the powers of the Control Rod. Most of these should be apparent from the circumstances.

Chapter Two opens with you and your companions finally making your way through the passage to Mount Cassandra. The resistance is under heavy attack, and thanks to intelligence provided by the traitorous Duke Karrik, it is being systematically decimated by Zomoran's army. And also thanks to the Duke's treachery, the Warlord now controls the strategically important Stonegate Keep, and is moving to extend his empire to include the neighboring Kingdom of Rayche.

In the rebellion's most desperate hour, the princess turns to you and your Sight for guidance. And together, you conceive a bold plan to defeat the Magus, the only one that your talent tells you can succeed: to forge an alliance among the nations of the eastern continent, and lead them in an apocalyptic war against the Warlord and his demon allies.

Updates:

4/13/08 - Fixed spelling/grammar errors in dialogue; edited module description.

8/24/08 - Version 3.1 now available for patch 1.69 and CEP 2.1 compatability.

9/24/08 - Updated file description for 1.68 version to include url for CSP v2.0.

9/1/2009 - Version 3.2 released.

12/31/2009 - Version 3.3 released (current version).

May 2010: Added/updated screenshots.

September 2010: Updated to version 3.4.

Files

NameTypeSizeDownloads
28701.html28701.html
Submitted: 09-30-2007 / Last Updated:
html--614
The Romantic Animations Suite (RAS) by NinjaWeaselMan. External Website Beyond Our Control
FAKE_NWNCQ.7zFAKE_NWNCQ.7z
Submitted: 09-30-2007 / Last Updated:
7z--129
"Fake NWNCQ" Hak. NOTE: You only need to download this if you do NOT want to play the modules with Chico400's NWNCQ upgrade. External Website Beyond Our Control
Sanctum_v34.7zSanctum_v34.7z
Submitted: 09-30-2007 / Last Updated:
7z--4139
Current version (v3.4) of Sanctum of the Archmage Chapters 1-2, in .7z compressed format. Custom Modules, Haks, Music, Tlk, Documentation and Spoilers. This version is patch 1.69 and CEP 2.2 compatible. External Website Beyond Our Control
Download.php?id=150738Download.php?id=150738
Submitted: 09-30-2007 / Last Updated:
php?--261
NWNCQ Hak by Chico400.
Download.php?id=153251Download.php?id=153251
Submitted: 09-30-2007 / Last Updated:
php?--244
Patch to NWNCQ Hak by Chico400. Note: you only need to install the file nwncq_patch.hak.
Sanctumpatch_v34a.7zSanctumpatch_v34a.7z
Submitted: 09-30-2007 / Last Updated:
7z--333
Sanctum of the Archmage v3.4a Patch Hak, dated May 23, 2011. This (required) file contains the current hotfixes for Sanctum of the Archmage v3.4. External Website Beyond Our Control

Required Hakpaks

NameAuthorSubmittedLast UpdatedDescription
CEP v2.2 (Commu...ck 2.2)CEP Team2008-12-01--Fixed Torch/Flags/HolySymbols item properties Fixed - moved loadscreen 2da to cep2_add_sb.hak fixe
Community Skybo...P) v2.1Chaos_Theocrat2007-01-28--Welcome to the CSP: Inspired by the CEP, the CTP, the CMP and the CCP, this is my contribution to t
CTP Generic DoorsCTP Team2005-11-24--A collection of 68 generic doors. These are the ones that, technically, will fit in any standard-siz
CTP Release(s)CTP Team2006-09-24--Community Tileset Project Release(s) Contains a total of 10 FULL tilesets and one Bioware Dungeon
Elfahiar's Cust...sic HakElfahiar2005-07-08--Did you ever dream of a "Conan-sounding" Tavern in your favorite module? So this is it! My first ha
JXP_MountainsJDPuffnStuff2004-01-04--This hak adds 4 new tilesets to NWN! In all they provide a fairly good transition from foothills to
Sanctum CMP Music HakAndarian2008-04-04--Selected Community Music Pack tracks for Sanctum of the Archmage, Chapters 1 and 2, v3.0 and higher.
Sanctum HakpackAndarian2008-04-04--Required Hak Files for the Sanctum of the Archmage modules, version 3.3.
Space TilesetNinjaweaselMan2007-09-05--This is a simple modification of the Bioware microset tilset. The flat ground geometry has been mad
SCORE OUT OF 10
9.8
86 votes
View Stats
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AWARDS





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SCREENS

The World of Glorn


Demons Attack!


The Elven Gate


Wind-Walking


The Pegasi (Ridable Pegasi added in v3.2)


Mount Cassandra Peak


A Lake in the Mountains





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Comments (525):

  1  2  3  4  5  6 .. 11 .. 18 Next>

Posted by Aspire at 2012-06-23 13:26:24    Voted 10.00
hehe yea will be playing ur mod again soon hehe its awsome to see u still here and working at it!!! thanks alot in advance!

Posted by Andarian at 2012-06-22 03:34:39    Voted 10.00
Aspire, thanks for dropping by! I'm still plugging away as fast as RL will allow. I'm pretty close to being able to release the Sanctum 1 v4 update for beta testing; right now I'm aiming for July. Keep an eye on my blog for updates (see the link in my .sig). :)
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Aspire at 2012-06-20 04:36:03    Voted 10.00
still waiting :D hope its all going good!!!

Posted by alyzzia at 2012-02-28 01:05:42    Voted 10.00 on 02/27/12
Thank you for the quick response. I'll just skip it then.

Oh and I forgot to mention when I voted, I REALLY appreciate the fact that you can choose to make the fights easier. For me the roleplaying part is the important one and this way I can play the module like it's intended by the author and not with som higher level superherocaracter that isn't making any sense in the story. Just wanted to add that.

Now back to snooping around in the palace.

Posted by Andarian at 2012-02-27 16:22:31    Voted 10.00
Hi Alyzzia,

You're very welcome, and thank you for the kind words! You can skip taking the Lionheart Flower if you want -- it's useful, but not a plot item. (*MILD SPOILER* I put it there because some players were having trouble with the fear attacks in a battle that happens shortly afterward. It's helpful for that, but by no means necessary to win that fight. *END MILD SPOILER*)

I'm not sure why the game would be breaking when you try to take it, but my guess would be a graphics engine issue with the flower model or something in your override folder that's causing a conflict. Has anyone else seen this problem? I'm working on the Version 4 update right now and can take a look at trying to fix it.
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by alyzzia at 2012-02-27 05:27:18    Voted 10.00 on 02/27/12
Hi
Love this module so far but I have a problem.

In the second passage near the end there's an unusual flower and each time I try to pick it up the game breaks and I have to reload the game. I've tried to ask Orion to pick it up and I get the entry that he picked up a Lionheart Flower but I can't find it in his inventory and if I save the game and then reload it all items in his inventory are gone.
I'm wondering if this might be a problem for me in the future if I can't bring this flower with me, since my sight tells me it's important. Any help would be appreciated.

Also I have to say that the Robin romance is great, I haven't enjoyed a romance this much since Vico in ADWR.

Thank you Andarian for many entertaining hours so far and hopefully more to come.

Posted by Andarian at 2011-11-01 21:18:59    Voted 10.00
Hi Aderyn,

Sorry about the posting problem on my blog -- it should be fixed now. I had to disable unregistered comments because of a massive amount of spam that I was getting, but forgot to enable account registration for real folks instead of spambots. You should be able to create a login and post comments there now if you want. If you have any trouble, let me know here. :)

The Drow and Deep Gnomes will be replaced by a pair of custom races that I had developed when I was working on writing the Sanctum saga novels. I don't want to spoil too much of it, but they'll be called the "Hellmen" and "Earthen," respectively. Like many custom races that'll appear in the saga, they're humans that were genetically enhanced by the Ancients to add various extraordinary and magical properties. They'll basically fit into the same roles in the story, although there'll be notable differences in their characterization. The Hellmen, for example, are more closely allied with and linked to the culture and religion of the demons, and some of that will definitely come through in their behavior.
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Aderyn at 2011-11-01 18:33:05    Voted 10.00
Couldn't post a comment on your blog, so I decide to leave comment here instead. Hope you don't mind.

Congratulations on the new position! I hope everything will keep getting better and better for you.

I'm curious about how you will handle the drow and deep gnome encounters if you're planning to remove the reference to D&D in SOA. If the drow and deep gnomes doesn't exist in this setting, what races would take their place?

Probably just rambling now, so I'm gonna just say I'm still waiting eagerly for SOA Chapter 3 to come out! I miss my Robin > o

Posted by Andarian at 2011-10-31 20:54:06    Voted 10.00
OK, it looks like the Vault software is now blocking posts with links in them, so I'm reposting my last comment to Aspire with the links removed. You can find a link to my blog in the signature line under my posts.

---------------------------------------------

Aspire, thanks for the kind words! You can find some recent posts about my upcoming plans and releases for the saga on my blog here:

(link removed)

My blog is the best place to find news about my plans for the Sanctum saga, which is definitely still in development. I did have to take a break for a while to work on some changes to my career, but that's coming along well and I expect to be getting back to building very soon. :)

The Sanctum Blog: (link removed)
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Aspire at 2011-10-31 05:30:00    Voted 10.00
hey Andarian been awhile, just wondering if there is a release date for chapter 3 yet :D i loved your work it was pretty awesome :D !

Posted by Fortiscue at 2011-09-17 13:58:58    Voted 8.50 on 09/17/11
An excellent series, though I found that this chapter was somewhat disappointing given the length and quality of Sanctum 1. There are a few things, though, that I found very frustrating.

Installation: One word... nightmare. A flaw shared with the first module, but even more so with this one, is the horrendous array of HAKs that have to be installed to play. CEP2 is something of a standard and one can expect most people to have it installed. But the huge host of other haks should have had the content they used siphoned off into a single module-specific HAK. That way one can keep track of what HAKs are used for what modules and get rid of unneeded ones at the end of the day. Please make future chapters easier to install. If unwilling to repackage into a single HAK, please consider using NSIS to automate the installation (and uninstallation) process.

Game Mechanics: Rods have been made to require equipping before use. ARGH! While technically correct that I would have to put a rod in my hand to use it, I don't feel like I should have take the time to pause the game all the time to swap out weapons for rods and back again. The idea in the original NWN game mechanics (where you don't need to equip a rod to use it) wasn't that you weren't putting a rod in your hand to use, but that it was being done behind-the-scenes without requiring the micro managing. It's such a pain that the author had to make a meta-object. A control rod for the control rod, just so the player could have a macro to equip and use the control rod. Which is bordering on the insane. It contributes to the inventory heavy sense of having tons of little "fiddly bits" in my inventory for every little thing. Nothing is stackable (herb, potion bottles, gems, etc). In short, for being a plot-driven module, there are way too many added irrelevant game mechanics. Like food. I'm not really sure what purpose food serves, but to make another annoying thing I have to carry. It's not stackable either, so it just makes for more juggling of my inventory. Food isn't scarce in the game, so the added mechanic does nothing for the plot. It all seems to be an effort to make the game take longer to play not by there being more actual game to play, but by being more things to micromanage. I was half surprised that I didn't get messages telling me I had to go to the bathroom (though it's nice to see there are commodes set up if I feel the need to do that anyway).

Writing: Excellent quality, though Diana's repeat of Orion's "carpe diem" motif made her feel a little like a female copy of him. I loved the walk, talk, and camp idea. Made the distance seem greater, and gave an overall feel that I really was travelling. As nicely as that worked, though, it would have been nice to spread it out over larger areas. I'm not sure why the decision was made to break up Sanctum 2 into three chapters, because the first chapter seems really, really tiny. Maybe it was just having to download a gazillion haks in order to play that made me feel like "really... this is the end?". Was just a release strategy to give people something to play while the rest of the module is being worked on? All three "chapters" are eventually going to be a single module, right? As it it it's sort of like the Shadowlords/Dreamchatcher series. Each module barely has time to load before it's over and the next one is loading.

Anyway, I hope my comments above don't make it seem I didn't like it. If I didn't like it so much I wouldn't spend the time. The module is too well written to have things like that detract from it. So technical and pet peeves aside, I love the writing. There are just too few plot-driven modules out there.

Posted by Nelson The Geek at 2011-05-29 04:29:05    Voted 10.00 on 05/29/11
I really enjoyed this plot-driven module. It is linear in nature, so if you're not into that, you are warned. Deal with it. Linearity is fine with me as long as there is a strong story to give a sense of purpose and good features (like romance, cutscenes, special effects).
There was great use of Journal and near flawless dialogue, some really good cutscenes, plus riding pegasi and fighting in mid-air too!
Fun - 10, Layout/Design - 10, Dialogue - 10, Originality/Creativity - 10, Quality Control - 10, Overall - 10

Posted by Andarian at 2011-05-23 08:10:45    Voted 10.00
I just posted an update to the "patch hak" for Sanctum 1 & 2. This adds a couple of very minor playability features, and fixes the following bugs:
- Problem with Len and Robin frequently not engaging in combat in the North Forest (Sanctum 1).
- Pegasi gaining an extra pair of wings when played with CEP 2.4 installed, due to a bug in CEP 2.4 (Sanctum 2).

Tomas: Thanks for the kind words and vote!
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by TomaszTrapczynski at 2011-04-11 10:09:26    Voted 10.00 on 04/11/11
Very promising is the mod, I can not wait for further części.No and vote for him

Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2011-04-11 05:20:00    Voted 10.00
Is there going to be a part 3?
_________________________
Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.

Thanks,
Steve

Posted by Andarian at 2011-04-10 15:16:17    Voted 10.00
Note: I just updated the module page to correct an error in the module description text. Unfortunately, there's no way to do that without causing it to appear on the "updated modules" list, but there's no new update to the module (the current version is still v3.4).
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Apotre at 2011-03-23 05:51:57    Voted 10.00 on 03/23/11
(French user, excuse me for my english)

Love this module ^^. Pegasus are a very good idea, as for romances.

I'm waiting for the next part ^^


Posted by greenriceman at 2011-02-15 14:29:37    Voted 10.00 on 02/14/11
@Andarian
I understand. The underwater combat wasn't a necessary suggestion. It wasn't like I'm going to say, "NO UNDERWATER COMBAT!!!!!???? That bites!!!!!!!" It was just me trying to get my creativity for myself. In the end, what you do with your mods and your stories is your prerogative. I apologize if I might have been too forceful with the suggestion.

Posted by greenriceman at 2011-02-14 07:49:13    Voted 10.00 on 02/14/11
Nice to see consistent quality with modules. Unfortunately, I was playing this in places where I was forced to mute my computer so, I couldn't judge the music. But, here's what I know...

SPOILERS:
I love the wind-walking/riding pegasus segment/cutscenes. It's the first for me and I hope to, at least, see something similar in future projects. Perhaps underwater combat?

As for the characters themselves, not much has changed for Orion, but I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was more focused on my favorite little happy/vengeful bard Robin. ;P Speaking of, the duality of her vengeful and caring/loving side becomes more apparent for me, but I might be over reacting. It's like her heart still closed off, but it still feels like I am making getting through. Loved the scene where you find a list of potential suitors for her. It made me laugh. Also, she's the first romance-able companion that tries to redirect the PC to another companion.

Diana is, obviously, more straight-forward than Robin is. She's fun and is not shy about speaking her mind, like mentioned in your guide. Also, the fact that her father was all too eager to ally with the Warlord, it would seem interesting if she and her father go head to head in a module down the line. No suggestion intended. It's just my two cents.
In the end, the module was short, but not in a bad way. It just made me wanting more. Can't wait for part 2

Posted by Aspire at 2011-01-11 10:21:06    Voted 10.00
im still waiting for chapter 3 :P nice to hear ur still working on it, good job!

Posted by Andarian at 2010-10-02 15:38:39    Voted 10.00
David, thanks for your feedback! A few comments (warning: *spoilers*):

You're not supposed to be able to approach the gate in the foothills until after all the demons have been defeated and you've had your conversation with Ferna. The gate is locked and you don't get the key to open it until you've finished the dialog with her and the chase music starts. The conversation with Ferna triggers once all of the creatures spawned in the Demon encounter are dead -- so if you haven't gotten it yet, that means that some of them are still alive somewhere in the area and need to be dealt with. Until Ferna gives you the key, the gate is guarded by a defense field that will push away and deliver lightning damage to anyone who tries to approach it. The trigger by the gate will active the lightning field against you if you enter it without the key, and start the Diana encounter cutscene if you enter it with the key.

Regarding the Skeletal Devourer: that encounter is intended to be much easier for a magic wielder. However, while difficult, it should also be winnable for a melee-oriented character, and you're correct that you neglected to consider a number of weapons and abilities other than Len's Wand that should be at your disposal to help dispatch it. Like most of the other creatures in this area of the ruins, it is undead (a Skeletal Devourer is an undead Intellect Devourer), and undead creatures are harmed by Holy Water and healing spells. Using the Healing Circle power (1x/day) of the Ring of Healing will simultaneously heal you and your nearby team members, and damage any nearby undead enemies. The Holy Water power (3x/day) of Orion's Chalice of Holy Water will also hurt it. Thrown Alchemist's Fire will damage it, and a thrown Firebomb (from your Beastman Moonshine or Mage Fire items) will damage it significantly if you make your ranged touch attack. Using the Mage Fire's "Flame Weapon" power or Alchemist's Fire on your weapon will let it overcome a fair amount of the creature's damage resistance. If you cleared the upper level before going to the lower level, the "Sonic Pick" temporarily enchanted to +1 by the Magic Sheath will give you a better weapon to fight with (the creature is vulnerable to sonic damage). Robin and Orion both also have offensive spells that they can use against it if you toggle their spellcasting from their radial menu (right click on them, pick "Other Actions" at 10:30, then "Toggle Spell-Casting" at 7:30, or use the tactics menu from their character conversation). If you're playing as a Paladin, using your "Lay On Hands" power will damage it if you make a melee touch attack, and Bless Weapon and Smite Evil can each help you to overcome its damage resistance.

I'm glad you like the new CC and how the romances are progressing. It's natural (and quite deliberate on my part) for some players to start to feel conflicted about the romance with Robin once they meet Orion or Diana. There's a fairly complex "romantic triangle" written into the plot with Robin and the other companions that you'll be able to play for quite some time before you have to make a final choice.

Regarding the conversation with the Beastmen and the question of animal cognition: that dialogue reflects my philosophic and scientific convictions, which for the record differ from the claims of the research to which you refer. So we'll just have to agree to disagree on that subject. :)

Thanks again for your feedback!

Andarian
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by DavidtheGnome at 2010-10-02 10:27:06    Voted 10.00
Just finished the new version with a Paladin / DC.

I encountered one possible bug in Ch.2... After the fight w/ three demons I proceeded down to towards the gate... Ferna (sp?) didn't initiate her conversation about where we should go until we were already inside the gate. Then had to leave the gated area again which triggered the scene with Diana ... I'm not sure if I just broke the conversation somehow or if a trigger is in the wrong place... I think I'm going to play again with a different character so I'll see if it happens again.

I really love this module series. I have only a couple of minor quibbles:

(1) In the Ancient Ruins I found the skeletal devourer to be overpowered- This fight might be a cakewalk for a mage, but the damage reduction, concealment / high AC made him nigh impossible for my Paladin (who had only a +1 sword) at the time to damage and Robin / Orion didn't last long. Perhaps I overlooked some item in my inventory but the only offensive spells I had at my disposal were the ones in Len's wand which wasn't enough to make the fight winable. I enjoy challenging fights but this one was nigh impossible and too difficult for a wandering monster.

(2) A minor detail, but the conversation with the Beastman King bothers me. When explaining their origins he says "Once we were animals, unable to think..." This is anthropocentrism and I don't believe a creature who was once a normal boar or goat / whatever would say this... Sure, their language is not as complex as human language, they may not be capable of certain complex cognitive fucntions, but there's ample scientific evidence that nonhuman animals do think and feel emotions. But regardless of what we may personally believe about an animal's mental processes, a creature who was once an animal would know better. Slightly altering this conversation to something like "once we were normal animals unable to speak like men" would make it more believable IMHO.
It will be interesting to see how this progres
I like the new custom content added since I last played, especially the pegasai!

I like the way the romance has developed in this series... Once Diana comes into the picture I felt conflicted about whether to keep pursuing Robin or go with the less complicated Diana. progresses in the next chapter.

Posted by MackyMac at 2010-09-13 14:48:33    Voted 10.00 on 09/08/10
**** Blerg! SPOILERS! *****


++ "And about the smell: there's a journal entry at the beginning of chapter 2 called "Len's Body" that actually addresses that. :) "

Then I will go back and check that out. That smiley face you punctuated that thought with implies that I may be amused, which I look forward to.


++ "About the same-gender romance issue with Robin: unfortunately, offering the player a clear path to a permanent relationship with Robin just won't work unless I fundamentally change the story. I can (and will) write the modules so that a same-gender partner can win Robin's heart in the end, and can play the same romance during the course of the modules that will be available to a different gender partner. Anything more than that I can't say, though, without giving away the plot. :) "

- Thanks for answering that question. It will be interesting to see how that unfolds.

Now all I need to do is find a job so I can afford a platform on which Dragon Age is available...

Thanks again for the response Andarian.


_________________________
I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past

Posted by Andarian at 2010-09-11 17:45:21    Voted 10.00
P.S. About the "Sanctum panetheon" as opposed to the D&D one: you'll see a lot more of that coming out in Chapter 3, which is still under development. :)
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Andarian at 2010-09-11 17:39:41    Voted 10.00
@MackyMac: thanks for your very kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed them so much. You seem to have noticed a number of more subtle aspects of the modules that few players have commented on before, which I especially appreciate.

*SPOILERS FOLLOW*

The connection from Greek philosophy that you're thinking of is the Platonic Theory of Forms (for example, as described by the Parable of the Cave in Plato's Republic). It was a seminal development that set the foundation for the "idealist" tradition, which has had a profound influence on the history of philosophical thought in the more than two thousand years since. Although not exactly identical, the Ancients' form of idealism was very much inspired by the history of idealism in our own history (and is somewhat allegorical about it). So it was very astute of you to notice that. :)

"I really like finding out that in your world Lolth was a Senator among the ancients. Or finding that divine magic was not granted through the gods. I noticed that you used the same pantheon of deities and demons in Forgotten Realms. A first this struck me as odd, but considering the depth and detail with which you created your world, I figured there may have been some reason, otherwise it would look like laziness. Is the story of the ancients then the story of where the gods of other worlds came from?"

That was kind of the idea. Sanctum doesn't take place in a D&D universe, and in the novels it does have it's own non-D&D panetheon. But NWN and its ruleset are based on D&D, which NWN players are already familiar with -- which is why I decided to adapt some familiar D&D elements into the story in the first two chapters. That included things like the Drow and the Svirfneblin (who don't exist in that form in the novels), and using some of the familiar deities D&D deities. I thought that might help add to the player's feeling of his or her understanding of the world being "turned upside down" by the revelations in TRS5.

"There was one bit in Sanctum 2 when the PC has Len's body and Robin chides the PC a bit for bringing it because it could have slowed them down. I think there should have been a dialogue response that says something to the effect of �Hellooooo... bag of holding? You didn't even know I had it all this time� (which is actually a bit odd, I would think the bag of holding would take on an oder on given the time it took to meet up with the rebels)."

Ah, but you didn't have the bag of holding until you went through the door into Len's secret room -- which can't be exited once entered. So you had to have been lugging Len's 150 lb. body around the whole time you were searching Blackwing Lodge for supplies after the Slayer's attack. That's what Robin was referring to. And about the smell: there's a journal entry at the beginning of chapter 2 called "Len's Body" that actually addresses that. :)

About the same-gender romance issue with Robin: unfortunately, offering the player a clear path to a permanent relationship with Robin just won't work unless I fundamentally change the story. I can (and will) write the modules so that a same-gender partner can win Robin's heart in the end, and can play the same romance during the course of the modules that will be available to a different gender partner. Anything more than that I can't say, though, without giving away the plot. :)
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by MackyMac at 2010-09-08 11:09:28    Voted 10.00 on 09/08/10
Hi Andarian.
Wow. Sanctum is a pretty intense series so far. It's a bit difficult to come back to reality after having played the two mods available so far. When players are raving about the writing and the setting, they are not exaggerating in the slightest. Andarian, thank you very much for talking the time to create a fantastic story.

When I first DL's Sanctum I was groaning about all the haks and whatnot I had to install and keep track of, it was a real pain in the butt. However what they added was absolutely worth it. They were put to good use and enriched the world Andarian created.

The NPCs are very well developed and well rounded. The Robin romance may be the most well written and dynamic I've enjoyed yet.

****SPOILERS BELOW****

Okay, I could not continue my review without getting into details, so rather than risk letting something slip, I just threw out the spoiler alert.

The approach to gods/demons and magic in the world you created was very interesting. The downfall of the Ancients through their philosophy and belief in an ideal world that exists outside the senses that reflects �ideal� versions of what is in the �real world� reminded me of something I read recently about the Greeks(?) having similar philosophy. (something about all triangles are reflection of a prefect triangle with perfect angles that exists in an ideal realm, or something) I also found it amusing in the way I like to sometimes pick things apart, after all since we can only verify that something is real through our senses, then how could they ever prove this �ideal� realm.

Figuring out TRS5 was fantastic... awesome... amazing, I don't know, pick a word. It's one of those magic moments one always hopes for in a mod that truly instills a sense of magic and wonder; and feeling that something new is around the corner waiting to be discovered.

The idea of an ancient civilization with �future� technology/magic could so easily have be done cheesy or at least in a very mundane way that one would have expected. This was full of surprises. I really like finding out that in your world Lolth was a Senator among the ancients. Or finding that divine magic was not granted through the gods.

I noticed that you used the same pantheon of deities and demons in Forgotten Realms. A first this struck me as odd, but considering the depth and detail with which you created your world, I figured there may have been some reason, otherwise it would look like laziness. Is the story of the ancients then the story of where the gods of other worlds came from?

There was one bit in Sanctum 2 when the PC has Len's body and Robin chides the PC a bit for bringing it because it could have slowed them down. I think there should have been a dialogue response that says something to the effect of �Hellooooo... bag of holding? You didn't even know I had it all this time� (which is actually a bit odd, I would think the bag of holding would take on an oder on given the time it took to meet up with the rebels).

There is one thing, that I need to ask about and it's actually a sore point.

I read through forum on the andarian.net regarding Robin and that her romance dead ends if the PC is also a woman. (actually, dead ends in either same-sex �romance�). The discussion took place a while ago, and I don't know how much you keep up with that forum.

You indicated that you may come up with a way to make it work. Since it's been a while since that discussion took place (2008... yipes I'm getting old) I was wondering if you have come to a decision on that?

After I discovered that thread, it was kinda like a punch in the gut. I was puzzled why such a romance option would be open at all only to have a brick wall thrown up later on.

So yeah, I have a definite preference on what side I'm hoping you'll come down on with that.

I don't mean to be too much of a bother, but doggone it all if you had much more mediocre writing, I wouldn't be anxious about that issue. :P
_________________________
I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past

Posted by Andarian at 2010-09-07 04:27:07    Voted 10.00
Note: I haven't uploaded anything yet; expect that sometime in the next week.
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Andarian at 2010-09-06 21:42:31    Voted 10.00
I've just finished updating chapter 1 to version 3.4, which supports NWNCQ. The visual improvement to the module really is quite striking. While I was at it I added a few new features, including skyboxes to make some of the areas even more awesome, a combat upgrade for some of the enemies, and some new hi-quality PC head models. Once I've done a playtest for chapter 2 and made sure they're both ready, I'll upload the new version.
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by Andarian at 2010-09-01 20:36:43    Voted 10.00
Festerblatz, thanks for your help!

Everyone: The issues Festerblatz had turned out to be caused by a couple of small and easily fixed scripting bugs. I'm a bit busy at work this week, but I'll get a patch hak uploaded this weekend. Hopefully I should be able to get the NWNCQ update (v3.4) that I announced on my blog ready shortly thereafter.
_________________________
Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog
Academy for Modding Excellence

Posted by festerblatz at 2010-09-01 11:43:23    Voted 10.00 on 09/01/10
Success! I got your email with the new hak and both problems have been resolved. Thanks again for the help. Rating 10 both for the outstanding quality of these modules, as well as your dedication to supporting them. I look forward to the new versions, as well as subsequent chapters.

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