NWN2 TOOLSET HOWTO � PLACING OBJECTS
This HowTo will teach you the basics of placing creatures, placeables, and
items into the areas of your module. In addition to basic placement, you�ll
explore some basic settings to modify the actors and props of your world
without complicated scripting. By the end of the HowTo, you will know how to
populate your area with allies, villains, scenery, and loot.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What Are Objects?
- Blueprints and Instances
- Creatures
- Placing Creatures
- Modifying Creatures
- Factions
- Dungeons & Dragons Statistics
- Conversations
- Scripts
- Placeables
- Placing Placeables
- Modifying Placeables
- Items
- Placing Items on Creatures and Placeables
- Conclusion
WHAT ARE OBJECTS?
An object is something that can be placed in your module. The most common
objects you�ll probably use are creatures, placeables, and items, which are the
meat and potatoes of fantasy adventure. These are the actors and props that
will populate your areas with challenge and flavor.
Scripts and conversations interact with these elements to make epic quests
and branching puzzles� but all that will come later � you can still make a
simple adventure from just these easy-to-place and easy-to-tweak game
objects.
Creatures are monsters, villagers, beasts, ghosts, rival adventurers, and
any manner of non-player characters (NPCs) in the game (and they can even
be made into companions that the player could control, though for now, it�s
best to just view them as always computer-controlled).
Creatures can engage in combat and conversations, move around the
game world, use doors and other objects, cast spells and invoke special
abilities, and perform complex behaviors through the use of scripting.
Placeables are the name for props and environmental objects in
Neverwinter Nights 2. Like creatures, placeables can have scripts, inventories,
and conversations, though they lack any sort of behavior.
Items are the weapons, armor, potions, keys, quest objects, and other portable
props of the game. Items are rarely placed directly into the game world the
same way as creatures and placeables. Instead, items are usually attached to
creatures and placeables.
BLUEPRINTS AND INSTANCES
Creatures, Placeables, and Items are created as blueprints � a sort of template
or mold from which identical copies can be sewn (all objects have blueprints).
Once a creature, placeable, or item is placed into a level from a blueprint, that
unique actor or prop becomes an instance.
Advanced Topic: Instances
Changes to one instance have no effect on the blueprint or another instance
that came from the same blueprint. Furthermore, an instance is not affected by
changes to its parent blueprint after it is placed.
If you place down five goblins from the same blueprint and make one a
wizard, the other four do not automatically change to wizards as well. If you
place down five goblins of the same blueprint and then add armor to the
blueprint, the five instances of goblins placed would not automatically gain
armor (though any placed down after the blueprint changed would be
armored).
The creatures, placeables, and items discussed in this HowTo are already
in the Toolset. Another HowTo discusses how to create your own items and a
similar procedure applies to creating new creature or placeable blueprints.
CREATURES
While the name �creature� may evoke images monsters and vermin, this
generic term applies to all mobile actors in the game, even kind old ladies and
children who need to be rescued from wolves. Creatures fill a wide variety of
roles: monsters, conversation encounters, merchants, and background traffic
are the most common.
Placing Creatures
Creatures can be placed into the level with the toolset. To do this, locate the
�Blueprints� window in your Toolset. In the default setup, you�ll see this
window in the lower-right corner. Press the �Creatures� button (the dragon
symbol) to view all creature blueprints. You�ll see several entries with a �+�
sign next to the name, click the �+� to expand the list.
Look for Humanoid Lizardfolk Lizardfolk Warrior
Click on the Lizardfolk Warrior entry and you will now be able to place
Lizardfolk Warriors. Move your cursor into the Area Viewer and click on the
map wherever you�d like to place an instance of the Lizardfolk Warrior.
Advanced Topic: Spawning and Encounters
Creatures can also be spawned in. In this case, you don�t actually �paint� the
creature into the level in the Toolset. Instead, scripts are used to create, in
real-time, X number of instances of Y blueprint. In this way, you could create a
scenario where enemies flood in through a trapdoor but only when a certain
condition has been met (an alarm raised, for instance).
The enemies aren�t actually in the level until the script calls them in, so a
crafty player can�t detect them or interact with them until certain conditions
have been met. A more automated method of spawning in creatures is through
encounters.
Spawning in creatures is an advanced technique that won�t be covered in
this HowTo, but it�s important to know that placing creatures directly into the
level is not the only method for populating your module. When you are more
comfortable with the toolset, you should experiment with encounter blueprints.
Once placed in the level, you can freely change a creature�s properties.
Press the �Select Objects� button on the Toolbar at the top of the toolset to
make sure your cursor is in selection mode. Click on the creature in the Area
Viewer to select it and look at the Property Panel (located in the upper-right
corner of the screen by default).
Modifying Creatures
You can alter a creature�s appearance in many ways. The �Properties� tab has
entries for overall appearance type, hair, head, body bag, options to make
helmets or armor invisible on a creature, and many other such features.
Let�s try experimenting with a creature�s scale and color.
Find the entry for �Scale� and click on the text field to the right that currently
has �1, 1, 1� in it. When you click on this field, you�ll see a flashing cursor
prompting you to input new values for the creature�s scale. This scale of this
creature is currently 1 x width, 1 x length, and 1 x height. Try typing in �1.5,
1.5, 1.5� Press Enter when done and watch as your Lizardfolk Warrior
increases 50% in every dimension.
To change the color, scroll down to the properties below scale and look
for �Tint (Skin).� Click on the adjacent field (which should show a white box
and the numbers �255, 255, 255�). Clicking will bring up a color selection tool.
Try picking some colors and note that creature�s appearance in your editing
window. When you�ve found a color you like, click �OK� to set that color for the
Lizardfolk Warrior.
Factions
Faction is an important property for creatures as it determines who a creature
likes and dislikes. A creature is friendly with creatures of its own faction and
neutral or hostile to creatures of other factions. To set a faction, just click on
the �Faction� field (scroll down, it�s below the fields for scale and tint and under
the �Behavior� subset of properties) and click on the info field. You can then
assign that faction to the creature.
How do you know if one faction is friend or foe to another? In the
Dropdown Menu, select View Factions and you�ll see the Faction
table for your module. This grid shows how Factions interrelate with 0�s
representing hostility, 50 representing a neutral relationship, and 100
representing friendly.
You can Add and Remove factions and click on their entries in the grid to
alter names and relationship numbers. The PC faction is the player character�s
faction. Note that the Lizardfolk Warrior is part of the Hostile faction which has
a �0� rating with the PC faction � the Lizardfolk Warrior hates the PC and will
attack the player on sight. By changing the numbers in the relationship matrix,
you can influence the overall behavior of creatures without complicated
scripting.
When you�re done looking at the Factions window, click the �X� in the upper
right corner to close it and return to the regular editing view.
Dungeons & Dragons Statistics
Dungeons & Dragons statistics are easy to modify on creatures, though the
Toolset does assume you know what classes, skills, feats, and spells do. Look
at the Lizardfolk Warrior�s properties info again (in the upper right corner �
make sure the Lizardfolk Warrior is selected) and click on the �Basics� tab.
Here you can modify the Lizardfolk Warrior�s basic properties like name,
race, and class. Try adding a level of fighter to the Lizardfolk Warrior. Click the
�Add� button and notice that a new class appears in its Classes information.
Click the Dropdown Menu to change the barbarian class to fighter. If you wish,
assign a level using the up/down buttons to the right of the class name.
Using the properties window, you can switch between the tabs for Statistics,
Feats, Skills, etc. to tinker with a creature�s various abilities.
Conversations
Conversations are placed on any object that will �talk� to the player. Creating
new conversations is covered in a different HowTo but learning to place them
is very easy. Select the creature and, in that creature�s property window, look
for the �Conversation� field. Click on the field next to Conversation and click
the dropdown button. A list of conversations available in this module will
appear and you may select the one to apply to the creature. Now, when the
player tries to talk to this creature, the conversation event will take place.
Scripts
Scripts can be placed on creatures to expand their functionality and behavior.
Scripts are listed in the �Properties� tab and you can attach a script to various
events of the creature�s existence. A script placed in the �On Death� slot will
take place when the creature is killed, and �On Inventory Disturbed� script
would trigger when someone tries to pick its pockets and so forth. Creatures
made with the basic blueprints will have default scripts in all of these various
slots, so you don�t need to know any scripting to have creatures do things like
move to a target, attack, use abilities, etc. As you become familiar with the
Toolset, you may wish to return to these fields later and try using new scripts�
but for now, you can safely ignore them.
Placeables
Placeables are the non-portable props of Neverwinter Nights 2. Placeables, like
creatures, have many settings and variables and can accept scripts and
conversations. Placeables are generally used as dynamic props which the
player can manipulate or destroy, or as static objects that exist as cosmetic
features in the game world.
Placing Placeables
As with creatures, placeables can be placed or spawned into a level, though
spawning placeables is rarely necessary. To place a placeable, locate the
�Blueprints� window in your Toolset. In the default setup, you�ll see this
window in the lower-right corner of the screen. Press the �Placeables� button
(the table symbol) to view all placeable blueprints. You�ll see several entries
with a �+� sign next to the name, click the �+� to expand the list.
Try placing a cooking pot Look for 02 � MANMADE PROPS POTS
{03}
Click on the Pots {03} entry and you will now be able to place a cooking pot
into the area. Move your cursor into the editing window and left click on the
map wherever you�d like to stamp down an instance of the cooking pot.
Advanced Topic: Text in braces
Text that appears in {braces} will appear in the toolset but not in the game.
When naming objects, you can include comments in braces that are notes to
yourself but won�t be seen by the players. Goblin{strong} and Goblin{weak}
would both show up as just �Goblin� in the game. Similarly, a container called
{Trapped}Chest would innocently appear as �Chest� in the game.
Modifying Placeables
Conversations and Scripts can be attached to placeables in exactly the same
ways as for creatures. Placeables have a few different ways scripts can trigger
compared to a creature, but the setup is the same and, as with creatures, you
need not bother with scripts just yet.
Conversations may seem an unlikely thing to add to a table, lamp, or
other inanimate object. However, keep in mind that conversations are really
just branching text and a placeable that is a box with three buttons on it could
best be represented with a conversation with four choices (one choice for each
button and one to press nothing). For now, you won�t need to bother with
either conversations or scripts on your placeables.
Advanced Topic: Environmental Objects
Environmental objects are decorative props that do not interact with
creatures in any way. While these objects are non-interactive and aren�t even
solid with respect to other creatures, they take very little CPU power compared
to other, dynamic objects. If you wish to fill an area with lots of props and
would like to make those props completely cosmetic, you can convert them to
environmental objects to streamline the performance of your level.
To change a placeable to environmental, simply select it and right-click on
it in the editing window. You will see a dropdown window appear, select
Convert Placeables to Environmental Objects
You can return an Environmental object back to being a normal placeable by
using the command listed right under the one you just used.
Containers are placeables that have inventory and can be used by a player
to access the items and storage space. To set a placeable as a container, select
the placeable and look at its properties window.
In the Properties tab, make sure that the following fields are set as
follows:
Has Inventory? = True
Inventory Size > 1, though 136 is average for a chest
Static = False
Usable? = True
To change any of these properties, just click on the field next to the name.
These fields set the placeable as being capable of holding items and usable by
creatures. A player can now use this object in the game and take items from
this placeable (as well as store them). If this placeable is destroyed, it will drop
any items it held.
ITEMS
Items are mobile props, including weapons, armor, magic trinkets, keys, and
all manner of objects meant to be transported and not stuck in the
environment.
Weapons, armor, magic tools, and other equipment-style items have
many fields and variables � creating and modifying items is covered in another
HowTo. However, when placing your creatures and placeables in the world,
you will often want to put equipment and loot on them.
Placing Items on Creatures and Placeables
Creatures and placeables have inventories where items are carried. Placing
items into either is roughly the same process. Start by selecting the creature or
placeable (for example, the lizardfolk in Pitney Lannon�s house) in the area and
clicking on the �Inventory� tab of its Properties Panel. There will be an �Edit�
button in the corner of this window, click it to access the creature�s inventory.
Let�s add some more weapons to this Lizardfolk. Look for the Weapons
category in the list of items in the lower-left. Click on the �+� next to Weapons
to expand the categories of weapons.Then expand Bladed and Shortswords.
You may need to use the scroll bar to see all your options as the menus
expand.
Look for entries called �The Icy Blade� and �The Lucky One� in the
lower-left list of items. To equip an item onto a creature, click and drag the
item from the lower-left item list to one of the equipment slots on the
right-hand side. The Icy Blade is a weapon and so will fit in a creature�s left or
right hand � try clicking and dragging it to the left hand slot. If done correctly,
the item�s name will appear in the slot.
To put an item into a creature�s general inventory, click and drag it to the
upper-left area. The name of the item will then appear in the general inventory
section.
Advanced Topic: Item Instances
When you give an item to a creature, you are creating a new instance of it.
As with placing instances of creatures, item instances are not directly linked to
their parent blueprint. So if you edit an item blueprint, the instances of that
item you have already placed will not reflect the changes. Similarly, you can
modify an instance of a item without affecting other items made from the same
blueprint. It is generally best to create items as blueprints instead of modifying
specific instances. Doing so will make it easier for you to later track down
specifics for any given item.
The two boxes next to each item in the inventory/equipment areas can be
checked to make an item droppable or pickpocketable. By default, when a
creature dies, all of its items go with it. An item flagged as �droppable� will be
left on the ground when its owner dies. An item flagged �pickpocketable� can
be lifted from its owner with the Sleight of Hand skill. Try flagging �The Lucky
One� as droppable.
Placing items on containers is done in the same manner as with creatures,
but placeables have only a general inventory. It�s also worth noting that
droppable and pickpocketable flags have no bearing on items in a container �
if a container is destroyed, all items are left on the ground and containers have
no pockets to pick (though they can be pried open and looted).
CONCLUSION
Creatures, placeables, and items are the actors and props of adventure. While
all three of these objects have many variables and parameters, they are simple
to place and the most important settings are easy to tweak. Now that you�ve
completed this HowTo, you should know:
- General facts about creatures, placeables, and items and their
purposes.
- How to place creatures and placeables.
- How to make basic changes to a creature�s appearance, behavior and
stats.
- How to make placeables into containers.
- How to place items into the inventory of a creature or container.
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