Home For Builders Community Leader Profile - Lilac Soul

Community Leader Profile - Lilac Soul

Profile by Jay Watamaniuk,
Mar 19, 2003

The Aurora Toolset allows for a near endless amount of variation for plucky module builders wanting to create an epic adventure. Laying down the environment, adding tailored monsters and NPCs, creating magic items and even detailing a complex plot are done very easily with the various Wizard helpers that are included in the Toolset. The area of scripting, however, remains a mystery to those who do not have experience in programming. Lilac Soul's NWN Script Generator is the first step in allowing non-scripters to harness some of the power of NWN script to use in their adventures…plus it's just darn cool so go try it out.

What is it?: Application that asks you questions in English and generates the corresponding scripts you can cut and paste into your module.

Where can I get it?: Neverwinter Vault

Fabulous exclusive interview with Lilac Soul the creator of NWN Script Generator:

1. What is your experience in scripting and programming?

I didn't start making scripts for NWN before I had finished the original campaign, and due to hardware problems (I forgot to read the minimum requirements for the game...), that didn't happen until November 2002. I have been programming for a great deal of my life though, and picking up the syntax for the relatively uncomplicated NW script language was pretty easy.

My programming experience in other languages is pretty constricted to what I could afford - I didn't use to have a lot of money, so my 286 computer was all I had for a looong time - all that really made sense programming on that was in Basic, so that's what I did. After I got my new computer, I fiddled around with assembly for a while, as that was the only programming language that didn't require a sort of expensive development environment.

I've finally upgraded to Delphi, and the Script Generator is the first program I've ever released, so I'm glad to see how popular it has become.

2. Can you explain what the NWN Script Generator is and how it works?

Basically, it is an application that allows everybody to script. The way I figure, NW script is just a language, but many people don't know that language, simply because they have no experience with programming. What the Generator does is simply translates what you tell it (in English) into code that is recognizable by NWscript. For instance, there is an option to "give gold, XP, or item to PC". Anybody who understands English can understand this. The Generator just translates that English into something that can be read by NWscript. So the generator just allows people to say 'I want to do so and so', and then turns that into a script, without requiring the user to actually know the NWscript language.

3. Why create an application that is intended for the absolute beginner?

Beginners are the ones who really need this help the most. In fact, this isn't just for beginners - beginners will probably find it useful, though it isn't the best utility to learn from, but so will people who don't even want to script! Scripting is an integral and important part of making modules, but it is not for everybody. With this application, both beginners and "dedicated non-scripters" can turn their ideas into reality without having to constantly ask for help on what is actually quite an easy thing.

It seems to me that this program helps remove the one non-user friendly part of the Toolset, opening it up for just about everybody.

Having said that, I know that some experienced scripters also find this useful, as it can make a lot of the "boring" scripts for them, allowing them to focus on the more complicated scripting they may be doing. I use it that way myself!

4. What has been the reaction to your NWN Script Generator?

Remarkable! I never expected this. I knew it would be popular - I have my own script request forum, and hang out on the scripting forum on the BioWare Community a lot, and I know that a lot of the questions asked deal with the same stuff. So I knew that the Generator would be able to help just about everybody who asked these questions. So I did expect a lot of downloads (and spanning three versions, it has now rounded the 5,000 downloads mark). But the praise and everything totally took me by surprise. It's been nice. People are sending me emails, posting thank you's on the forums. Some people have even made logos for me, and one very nice guy asked if he could send me money (and I didn't decline, heh :P).

5. What were some of the challenges you encountered when creating this application?

The layout of the code was a bit of a challenge, because it needed to work in all cases. I thought about this, and decided that this could best be achieved by sacrificing cleanliness of the code. The generated code only uses a few variables, and reuses them over and over again - not pretty, but it works!

Also, the layout was a bit of a problem. I wanted something that was very easy to use - I could have added a lot more options (and probably will), but I always have to make sure that it doesn't get so complicated that the program just turns into an esoteric development environment itself.

Other than that, all challenges have been with the NWscript code - the code in Delphi for this program is exceedingly simple.

6. Does work continue on the script generator? What are some ways you would like to see it improved?

It does. I am constantly discovering (through people's requests) new functions that can be added. And stuff like OnActivateItem scripts and so on will probably be in version 1.3 (no ETA yet).

Also, I suck completely and 100% with graphical layouts - I am trying to make the generator a little nicer to look at. If I can't, well, this is a free program, and I guess I don't have to worry particularly about eye-catching, but it would still be nice.

One more thing I am currently working on is getting a better understanding of the NWN data file formats (eg the .ITP and .ERF formats). I think this might be very useful, for instance you could be able to save the generated code in an .ERF file, or possibly add it directly into the module. I have no idea how things will fare on this project, so if it never gets added into the program, all I can say is: sorry...

Finally, it has been suggested (by you, Jay lol) that I make a tutorial, with pictures and all, of how to use the generator. I like this idea, and will do so. Hopefully for the next release...

7. Are you working on any other projects for the NWN community?

Module wise, I am working on the A Call For Heroes modules - ACFH3 will be out in a relatively short time, and promises to be infinitely better than ACFH2, which made the top lists.

Other work I'm doing includes the DMFI (Dungeon Master Friendly Initiative) - we seek and strive to make life as easy as possible for Dungeon Masters. To do this, it might look like we are asking too much of module builders - I hope not, as this certainly is not the point. In fact, while we ask module builders to make their modules DM friendly, we at the same time provide them with loads of validated info, etc, on how to do this.

I also contribute to the NWN Lexicon. I guess that doesn't need any further introduction.

Of my own stuff, I have a script requests forum (which I am trying to down-profile due to a severe lack of time), and am working on a few projects of my own (a new type of module is in the idea stage, and I have been working on a very, very nice travel system, which just seems to never get finished. I hope some day it will). And that's about it :).