Fixing the SLS, light tag bug

Problem: The SLS lighting system relies on the tags of lights. However, saving and reloading the game causes lights to lose their tags, breaking SLS.

Solution: change of the SLS' ginc_sls2 script to reset the tag of the nearest light object when the action to handle placeable lights is called. Solution a bit below.

potential issue: assumes the nearest light object is the one to be used. This is normally the case, but you may want to make a copy of the scripts and use the altered script where you know the closest light will be the right one, such as for usable placeables like torches.


in ginc_sls2, line 352 is:
string sLightTag = GetLocalString(oFitting,"lightTag");

comment that out and replace it with
            //work around tag bug. kamal
            object oLight = GetNearestObject(OBJECT_TYPE_LIGHT, oFitting, 1);
            string sLightTag = GetLocalString(oFitting,"lightTag");
            SetTag(oLight, sLightTag);

This will change the script that controls turning the light on and off, so that it resets the light's tag automatically when the light is used, and then proceeds normally through the script. It does assume the light you want to turn on is the nearest light, but I believe that will be the case in almost all cases.

As an added bonus: If you make this change to ginc_sls2, and save ginc_sls2 to your override folder, it should fix the problem in every single player module that uses the SLS, thanks to the priority of the override (PWs can ignore the override folder).

Testing the main path

Thanks to my test module, I've got the main paths players can proceed through the module fairly well tested. I've succeeded in two paths. There's the test area in the first screenshot.

Still rebuilding things though. Like getting the pickpocket code working again. Rebuilding script systems is a tough slog.

:\ Some rebuilding required

Somehow my campaign folder got messed up, and the messed up copy was uploaded to my offsite backup before I'd realized. I had to resort to an old archive backup. This has meant spending time recreating campaign level things. It's both annoying and time consuming. While most of my stuff was module level, some key scripts, my journals and many creatures and items were campaign level assets.

Yes, the streetlights in two of these screenshots are not turned on when they should be. Silly bug where lights lose their tag on save/reload, and I'm using SLS, which uses tags. I've already rewritten the portion of SLS that handles that to just use nearest light object. Just don't have screenshots showing that.

I'd like to post some shots of people speaking in Cant, but it's hard to find any that are not spoilerish.

Walk around Crimmor for yourself

Since the last post generated a lot of excitement. Here is the full thing as it stands in it's incomplete and  little tested form.

edited I regularly back up to these locations. Lots of bug fixes, and many placeholder areas now finished/rebuilt. Same links as always

campaign
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3879894/campaign.7z

module
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3879894/shadow.7z
hak file
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3879894/sh_crimmor_hak.7z

You can walk around most of the city by default, all the external areas are open by default and many internal areas are either open or a set of lockpicks away, or just open it in toolset. Some aren't complete, but most are. Most conversations are in place, even if they are relatively linear at this point and there's some placeholders. If you're interested in the plot, just talk to the guy you spawn in front of and you can be on your merry way. It will break on you a couple hours in, but should give you a taste for the gameplay.

Don't bother to report any bugs you find. This isn't a beta or anything like that, just a release of a pre-alpha so interested people can do what I said above, walk around and look around. Some quests already work, some don't, most areas have no sound (I plan on doing custom sound). Commoner npc's just stand there (their ai is disabled while it's being tested). If you open it in toolset there's some extra areas (those not named sh_ or shadow_).

Back online

Since I figured out how to run the toolset when Steam can't connect. I've got screenshots. Sans distraction from the internet for several weeks, I moved a good chunk of stuff from "needs to be implemented" to "complete". The list of "complete" stuff is now longer than the list of "needs to be implemented", yay! Doesn't mean tested or anything.

So much for Steam offline mode and nwn2

My Internet is currently down, and will be for 10 days, thanks to the incompetence of ATT. Unfortunately Steam will not let me launch the toolset or game when Steam starts in offline mode, it thinks it needs to update (ie download more ads as I have no games with updates), so Steam does not launch and generates an error.

At least I can use the flamewind conversation editor to do some writing.

Edit: I discovered that if you launch nwn2toolsetlauncher.exe you can start the toolset without Steam trying to launch. Still can't start the game (including via the toolset), so there's no way to test your toolset work, but you can at least work on things.

The community's worst news in a while.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/172/index/7590413/5#8031598

Hellfire is retiring from NWN2 projects. It was bound to happen eventually, but still.