Home For Builders An Introduction to the Plot Wizard

An Introduction to the Plot Wizard

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by Don Moar- Lead Programmer- Tools,
Neil Flynn- Tools Programmer,
Sydney Tang- Tools Programmer

Note: This utility is only available with the 1.27 patch (or higher).

What Is It?

The BioWare Aurora Neverwinter Nights Toolset is about to undergo its biggest change since the game was released in June. You will be able to create or add plots to your modules with no scripting at all.

As of the 1.27 update of Neverwinter Nights, the Toolset will include the amazing new Plot Wizard that allows you to quickly and easily add simple or complex plots to your modules without having to write a single script or conversation.

In addition to a manual and tutorial on this new wizard, the 1.27 update will include several pre-built plot blueprints that can be dropped immediately into any existing module. If the given blueprints are not sufficient, you can customize them, import new blueprints made by other members of the community and, of course, create your own exciting and unique blueprints from scratch.

With the Plot Wizard you will be free to focus on telling the story instead of struggling with the mechanics of how to make it work in the game.

 

How Does It Work?

How easy is it, really, to get your own story into the game?

The Plot Wizard creates the appropriate blueprints, conversations and scripts based on the information you provide about your story. The more details of your plot you have worked out in advance, the easier it will be to use the Plot Wizard.

Like the other wizards available in the Toolset this one will take you step by step through the process of creating a plot for use in Neverwinter Nights by having you fill in, or choose specific information. The Plot Wizard will create the correct dialogue exchanges, placeholder characters such as the Plot Giver, Villain and so on and even create appropriate journal entries all of which can be altered and embellished by the user. All you are required to do is place the creatures, NPCs, doors and items generated by the Plot Wizard in your module.

The only difficult part is turning a great story idea into a Neverwinter Nights module.

The best place to start when creating a plot is with something very basic like "a man has lost something very important and wants it back." To use the Plot Wizard you will need to add more details to this basic idea. For example, as a basic starting point:

1. Who lost the item?
2. What is the item?
3. When was the item lost?
4. Where was it before, where is it now?
5. Why was it lost?

These are the sort of details that you would need to know or be able to create while using the Plot Wizard.

 

Interview with Don Moar, Lead Programmer Tools:

Q: Where did the idea for the Plot Wizard come from?

A: The Plot Wizard was part of the original design intent for the Toolset. After the Plot Wizard was postponed from the initial release, our immediate thought was to include it as part of some hypothetical expansion, but when it became clear how useful the community would find this feature we decided to release it as part of an update.

Q: Why was it not included with the release of NWN?

A: We didn't include the Plot Wizard in the initial release so that we could focus on the core systems, such as conversation and script editing, all of which are required by the Plot Wizard.

Q: What sort of person would want to use the Plot Wizard?

A: Anyone who has an idea for a story can use the Plot Wizard regardless of their level of comfort with writing conversations or scripts. The Plot Wizard is intended to eliminate the more tedious aspects of plot construction and allow the module designer to focus on telling the story. People who have little experience beyond painting an area can use the Plot Wizard to create fully functional plots without any scripting at all. Experienced scripters can use the Plot Wizard to create the first draft of a plot upon which they can build. No matter what your experience level with the toolset, you can take advantage of plots created by other members of the community using the export / import facility.

Q: You say that I do not need any scripting in order to create a plot. That's seems a little hard to believe. How is this possible?

A: Details aside, most plots are composed of a number of events (things that drive the plot forward) that happen in a particular order. Regardless of what happens in each event, the transition between them can always be scripted in the same way or in a similar fashion. The Plot Wizard asks for the specific details of the events in your plot and builds the scripting framework that connects them together.

Q: What is a plot template/ blueprint?

A: Basically, a plot blueprint is a description of a plot. It is also a means by which you can quickly add a plot to a module. In addition to creating your own plot blueprints from scratch, you can also share them between modules using the Toolset's standard export and import functions.

Q: How many plot templates will be included with the 1.27 patch?

A: The 1.27 update will include 3 plot blueprints: Fetch and Retrieve, Deliver, and Assassination.

Q: Is the Plot Wizard hard to learn how to use? Will there be some instructions?

A: The Plot Wizard is easy to learn. The update will include both a tutorial and a more detailed reference manual.

Q: How did you test the Plot Wizard? What sort of feedback did you get?

A: Jay was able to find several members of the community from here in Edmonton, who were willing to participate in some focus groups. In addition, Jay was also able to find some other community members to help conduct a broader, closed beta. The participants gave us very valuable feedback, which we used to provide you, the community, with a better product. In particular, they commented on the general concept, some user interface and workflow issues and, of course, identified some bugs.

Q: Are there any plans for the future of the Toolset in the works?

A: There are plans for additional features and continued improvements based on community feedback. However, none of them are quite as big as the Plot Wizard.