Mask of the Betrayer Redux

[Morgoth]

There was some buzz before and during NWN2 release, so that certainly has something to do with it. New (full) game, more marketing, more buzz, more..eh journalism attention.

Quite contrary, when MOTB hit the shelves, there was no significant marketing campaign whatsoever.

[kgambit]

Everytime I try to use the DebugMode in the console lately, I get this:

 

Action List Overflow (92>75) OID: 82000ae0 Tag:

b02_berserker_04

 

It keeps repeating endlessly until I enter DebugMode 0 and exit the console.

 

I first noticed after talking to the witches after defeating but not killing Okku.

It reoccurs every time I open the console and enter the debugmode.

 

Anyone have any suggestions as to what is happening?

[Gromnir]

Everytime I try to use the DebugMode in the console lately, I get this:

 

Action List Overflow (92>75) OID: 82000ae0 Tag:

b02_berserker_04

 

It keeps repeating endlessly until I enter DebugMode 0 and exit the console.

 

I first noticed after talking to the witches after defeating but not killing Okku.

It reoccurs every time I open the console and enter the debugmode.

 

Anyone have any suggestions as to what is happening?

 

this happened to Gromnir in nwn2, but it only happened in one place. after one of those qara battles outside the pub in nwn city we would get a similar overflow issue. however, were only an issue on that particular map... went elsewhere and no overflow. even so, that map were forever screwed.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Atreides]

I'm getting slow performance in

Muslantir's town areas

, though I'm not sure if it's an overflow issue.

[kgambit]

Everytime I try to use the DebugMode in the console lately, I get this:

 

Action List Overflow (92>75) OID: 82000ae0 Tag:

b02_berserker_04

 

It keeps repeating endlessly until I enter DebugMode 0 and exit the console.

 

I first noticed after talking to the witches after defeating but not killing Okku.

It reoccurs every time I open the console and enter the debugmode.

 

Anyone have any suggestions as to what is happening?

 

this happened to Gromnir in nwn2, but it only happened in one place. after one of those qara battles outside the pub in nwn city we would get a similar overflow issue. however, were only an issue on that particular map... went elsewhere and no overflow. even so, that map were forever screwed.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

Oh thanks ever for the cheery news. LOL

 

I'll have to see if it's popping up on other maps. Sounds like a re-install is in order then.

[Aegeri]

I've made a comment about how much I love this game before, but I really must say that Obsidian have absolutely hit the nail on the head. No dumb orc warehouse massacreathons and instead brilliantly weighted and thought out encounters that truly are challenging without being absurdly bull****. It's like someone at Obsidian realised that an expansion should build upon the previous game and this doesn't treat the player like a moron. It has actual consequences for your actions, you don't just get awesome new powers with l33+ lewt and not pay some sort of price for abusing it. I'm incredibly impressed at how minor things you do impact the story and how later encounters can play out.

 

This is the best RPG in a long time.

[taks]

There was some buzz before and during NWN2 release, so that certainly has something to do with it. New (full) game, more marketing, more buzz, more..eh journalism attention.

Quite contrary, when MOTB hit the shelves, there was no significant marketing campaign whatsoever.

even ve3d didn't mention it though they did mention when the game went gold. i never saw a "MOTB IN STORES NOW!" posting.

 

taks

[Deraldin]

In case someone didn't notice in the news, there is a MotB contest held by the Codex. It's all about those little things that make the game world feel real. Here is the link (the examples presented are obviously spoilers). Since I am about to replay this game, I will be on the lookout.

 

P.S.: I would have sounded like some kind of silly advertisement without the P.S.

 

I wonder if I can struggle through sub 5FPS to get screenshots for this...

[MLMarkland]

I've been super busy with Purgatorio the past month so I finally got a chance this week to play through MotB and I was blown away. Easily the best game of the year and probably one of the top ten crpgs ever made. We're going to have our work cut out for us to get Purgatorio to the standard that MotB sets for NWN2.

[Gorgon]

I just finished it and I thougth the story was strong, except at the end when the supporting cast of NPCs becomes rather large and unwieldy, you don't have to add characters just because you can you know.

 

Unfortunately the aforementioned problems with the camera and the spirit eater mechanism killed much of my enjoyment of the gameplay. Not the best game I have ever played, not even a contender, but a strong story all the same and miles better than NWN2. Take

the skain

as a for instance, you can't see where you're going at all unless you use the area map to walk around. The inventory is pretty bad too, I can't count the times i've had to move things around in several windows just to be able to manipulate them. Why not show all the inventory segments together instead of one at a time.

 

 

I did not always enjoy the dialouge, although it was certainly more thought out than NWN2 there were still those times when you just wondered how you got out of a dialouge loop without actually reading all that stuff. In NWN you could just walk away.

 

No forced NPCs though, except in very specific contexts, the devs took that message to heart, which is good.

Edited November 6, 2007 by Gorgon

[Tigranes]

Why not show all the inventory segments together instead of one at a time.

 

I enjoy the fact that inventory screens are small actually, didn't bother me much. There are mods out there to let you see them all at once though, if you like. I'm sure somebody's made them MOTB compatible by now.

[Azure79]

I just finished playing it last night, and it is a great game.

 

I played as a fighter(23) and weapon master(7) and didn't have too much trouble with any major battles. But combat aside, I really enjoyed the choices you could make and the consequences and abilities that followed.

 

I also liked the one reference I found to a BG1/BG2 NPC. It was a small thing, but made me smile.

 

I wish they'd have given you a more concrete ending to the OC companions. I had grown quite fond of them during my second playthrough and was wondering what happened to all of them. You do get to find out, but for most of them, its vague and pretty unsatisfying. The option to magically teleport to the scene of the final battle to help save your former companions would have been nice. I think thats the first thing my goody-good selfless hero character would have done. I didn't grow quite as attached to the XP companions. I wish there had been more banter between them.

 

I don't remember if it was Fallout 2 or Fallout that gave you the option (both maybe) but you could run around the game world after you had beaten the main antagonist. I wish they had given you that option too. I want praise and accolades from the people whose doom I averted!

 

But seriously, this has been the one of the most satisfying game experiences in a long time. I hope Obsidian gets an ok for another expansion pack for NWN2. I loved way the story was told and the choices that were presented to you.

 

Maybe the next expansion could be about the Sword of Gith itself. A huge inter-planar war is about to erupt between the Githyanki and the Githzerai over the teachings of Gith and Zerthimon. The Githyanki are out to get you(again) to reclaim the sword of Gith and use its power to destroy their rivals. You are thrust into a plane-hopping adventure trying to discover the what happened to Gith in the lower planes, because only she has the power and authority to stop the Githyanki. Along they way you can discover the teachings to Zerthimon and Gith and how you applied such teachings would shape the outcome of the story.

[Volourn]

Just entered Ashenwood after dealing with other stuff. Used satiate after just leveling because I was down to 5 in the spirirt meter. Lost 5k xp; but R00fles!

 

Am level 23 (9 Wiz/7 AS/ 7 RW) with Safiya, One of Many, and Gann in the party. Safiya is loveable, One is cool, and Gann is a whiny punk.

 

Story is good thus far.

 

I only have one major "bug", and that's the expansion crashing nearly non stop on loads creens on the world map/boat travel. I had to attempt repeatedly to reach the Coven, and Ashenwood. And, when I say repeatedly, I mean 10+.

 

GAGGLESZ!

Edited November 7, 2007 by Volourn

[Big Bottom]

Well, I've just made a monk out of Khelgar for the very first time...enjoying my first playthrough of NWN2 and looking forward to MotB.

[Gromnir]

Just entered Ashenwood after dealing with other stuff. Used satiate after just leveling because I was down to 5 in the spirirt meter. Lost 5k xp; but R00fles!

 

Am level 23 (9 Wiz/7 AS/ 7 RW) with Safiya, One of Many, and Gann in the party. Safiya is loveable, One is cool, and Gann is a whiny punk.

 

Story is good thus far.

 

I only have one major "bug", and that's the expansion crashing nearly non stop on loads creens on the world map/boat travel. I had to attempt repeatedly to reach the Coven, and Ashenwood. And, when I say repeatedly, I mean 10+.

 

GAGGLESZ!

 

unsummon kaji... if that not work, rest and have all spell effects end before using world map. had same problem.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Colrom]

I finished a couple of days ago. Played as an asimar palidan. Started at level 20 from the original campaign.

 

Since I started with a strong character the combats were generally easy throughout. That's how I like it. I dislike really restarting over and over because I can't beat a boss.

 

No problems with hunger. I satiated once and helped the dead to rest alot. I did clean out too many dead at one point so that they were in short supply. But it wasn't a big problem since there were places to find them. But if the game had gone on much longer I might used them all up and had a problem.

 

Adding pluses to weapons was a breeze.

 

The story was really fine. At the end I was eager to go on another crusade.

 

Criticisms.

 

The camera control was still crap.

 

Somebody please push me out the doors!

 

This wasn't the planes, so why is the garbage man level 20?

 

And he is well equipped - perhaps because he regularly finds 1500 gold pieces or so in the garbage he collects.

 

Nobody minded my picking the garbage too, so I sucked up some nice cash that way myself.

 

Did almost as well digging in dirt piles in the Shadow world.

 

Could't find much to buy in spells. You would think some of those witches would have had a good supply but they didn't.

 

Too bad arrows and bows and stuff can't be enhanced.

 

I hate those long conversations that go on and on - and then require a decision between choices - and, damn, I forgot to take notes - and now I can't remember half the important facts - because I was given no clue I was going to have to make a critical choice - and not be able to review the facts.

 

Why can't I make the map bigger or smaller? The little map in the top left is pretty useless.

 

More redundancy about the riddle would have been nice. I know there was alot. But even more would have been even better.

 

The shadow world was too empty.

[Colrom]

Oh yeah, I really liked the distinction between easy healing and very difficult curing that the spirit hunger mechanic/plot provided.

[Gorgon]

And he is well equipped - perhaps because he regularly finds 1500 gold pieces or so in the garbage he collects.

 

Which reminds me, in the inn you get into a brawl with some pirates and the door orc charges you a gold fine, enough ostensibly to make a whole dinner set of GOLD chairs.

 

I hate those long conversations that go on and on - and then require a decision between choices - and, damn, I forgot to take notes - and now I can't remember half the important facts - because I was given no clue I was going to have to make a critical choice - and not be able to review the facts.

Yup, enourmous petitum of reading material for a computer game, and presented in a little dialouge box so you can't see more than a couple of sentences at a time. Brevity is virtue. If you have something important to chose, give me voice acting or at least a cutscene.

 

You invariably just start pressing numbers blindly in the vain hope of getting out of the dialouge loop, perhaps glimpsing at your replies to guage where all the drivel is headed.

Edited November 7, 2007 by Gorgon

[Kaftan Barlast]

Im contemplating buying it, but I cant stand that P.O.S engine from hell, so Im a bit reluctant...

[MLMarkland]

Im contemplating buying it, but I cant stand that P.O.S engine from hell, so Im a bit reluctant...

 

I think you'll find MotB to run very smooth on any reasonable system, almost all of the kinks in the engine are worked out. Strategy camera mode is the best way to operate, alternating between the standard "focused on character" setting and switching to the completely free cam option of the strategy camera mode for complex, tactical battles.

 

Character mode is good for getting views of some compelling environments in the game and for generally wandering around outside. In interiors stick with strat mode.

 

Just as a side note, I disagree vehemently that the engine is a "pos". There is a reason there was no big Planescape module for NWN1 full of all of the custom content necessary for such a thing, and there is a reason there -will- be a big Planescape module for NWN2. The reason is the engine. It is emminently moddable, very modular and flexible, and strikes a great balance between the utilitarian and everyman nature of Aurora and the stringent technical challenge of Source or the UE engines. As I've said for 12 straight months and will continue to say, the value of the electron engine will be recognized in hindsight after folks take advantage of it for 5 years.

Edited November 8, 2007 by MLMarkland

[Pop]

And he is well equipped - perhaps because he regularly finds 1500 gold pieces or so in the garbage he collects.

 

Which reminds me, in the inn you get into a brawl with some pirates and the door orc charges you a gold fine, enough ostensibly to make a whole dinner set of GOLD chairs.

One day, when you go out into the world and interact with people like you would in a game, you will encounter people who, when put in a position in which they stand to gain money, will demand more than reason would dictate. We call this strange and wonderful phenomenon "greed". I know it's hard to believe, but there are large numbers of people who operate this way.

 

You invariably just start pressing numbers blindly in the vain hope of getting out of the dialouge loop, perhaps glimpsing at your replies to guage where all the drivel is headed.

In this case, the fault lies with the player, not the game. If you don't like dialogue, you can play Halo 3. Or Oblivion. But whatever you do, don't complain about a lack of character development, 'cause that would be funny.

[MLMarkland]

You invariably just start pressing numbers blindly in the vain hope of getting out of the dialouge loop, perhaps glimpsing at your replies to guage where all the drivel is headed.

In this case, the fault lies with the player, not the game. If you don't like dialogue, you can play Halo 3. Or Oblivion. But whatever you do, don't complain about a lack of character development, 'cause that would be funny.

 

Word. I think MotB is the most well-written game ever made, aside from perhaps Torment (scintillating economy vs. baroque excess, take your pick, both are fun).

[Volourn]

"There is a reason there was no big Planescape module for NWN1 full of all of the custom content necessary for such a thing, and there is a reason there -will- be a big Planescape module for NWN2. The reason is the engine. It is emminently moddable, very modular and flexible, and strikes a great balance between the utilitarian and everyman nature of Aurora and the stringent technical challenge of Source or the UE engines. As I've said for 12 straight months and will continue to say, the value of the electron engine will be recognized in hindsight after folks take advantage of it for 5 years."

 

The Aurora engine is moddable hence the reason why the Electron (graphics) engine even exists. People have done a lot of weird crap with it, and continue to do so. The reason why there was no 'big' PS module actually released it wa sbecuase nobody finished it. It ha snothing to do with the modability of the engine. Same, one way or another, of NWN2's version.

 

I do agree that it is no POS. It's a good, solid engine.

[Gorgon]

If the audience loses patience it's because they're morons.

 

I bet thats what all the would be Stephen Kings' say when they get their rejection letters.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Gorgon

[Gorgon]

The biggest problem is that the dialouge box can't fit more than 50 characters or so, that ain't a lot. In any case you would'nt feel trapped if you could just walk away and do something else instead. Not enough of those boxes have a 'hello I was just passing by, nevermind me' option.

 

Why not have all the talking heads stuff in 'movie mode' with the exception of the merchants and and short conversations. It worked just fine in KOTOR. Theres some cameras to place and a few standard animations, but thats not a whole lot of work.

 

If thats too much voice acting just throw on some music or something

Edited November 8, 2007 by Gorgon