Debugging

Getting the debug messages to print to the log or the screen can really help when trying to track down a problem in your module. Following up on some leads from jackyo123 and a few frustrating google searches, here's how I got it to work:

1. Set the Toolset to compile with Debugging

I'm not entirely sure this is needed or how this affects module, but it's also useful for using the ScriptDebuggerServer, so I have it on.

• Go to view > options
• Click on the script link
• Set GenerateDebugInformation to TRUE

2. Edit nwnplayer.ini

This one took me a while to find, partly because the documentation for DebugPostString() says you need to edit nwn.ini instead of nwnplayer.ini.

• Open nwnplayer.ini with notepad. Most people will find it at C:\Documents and Settings\Sean\My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\nwnplayer.ini
• Near the bottom of the file, under [Server Options], find the two lines that say "Scripts Print To Log=0" and "Scripts Print To Screen=0". Change these both of these values to "1" to get messages to print out to both the log and the screen. Change only one if you like.

3. Add PrettyDegug messages

Add your PrettyDebug messages where you want them. You'll notice that you'll get a lot of messages from the regular scripts, as well. These are great when you trying to figure out why the script that seems to be saying it should do something, isn't doing what you want.

4. Turn the Debug Messages On

You can do this in the game or you can do this via the ini file.

In game:

• Press the "`" (teldah) key to get to the console.
• Type "DebugMode 1"
• Type "debugtext"
• Press the "`" key again to return to the game.

In the nwnplayer.ini:

• Open C:\Documents and Settings\Sean\My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\nwnplayer.ini with notepad.
• Under[Game Options] add "Debug Text=1"
• Note that you can always override this in the game.

If you are sending debug information to your logs, they will appear at:

C:\Documents and Settings\Sean\Local Settings\Temp\NWN2\LOGS\nwclientLog1.txt

If you are sending debug information to the screen, they will appear up by the mini-map.

The logscriptrun command

Thanks to jackyo123 for pointing this out. If you type in "logscriptrun" in the console while in debug mode, your log will fill up with all the scripts that are being called. It can be a bit much to wade through, but sometimes it's good to see if something was run.

Using the ScriptDebugger

The debug server is a way to walk through your scipts step by step. It creates a debug window that let's you see the path your script is taking, and is useful for figuring out why something is happening, or how something works. In programming, this is similar to breakpoints. Here's how I got it set up:

1. In the Toolset, go to View > Options. In the options window, go to the Script page and change the "Generate debug information" field to TRUE. If you don't do this, the debugger has nothing to work with and will stop immediately after it starts.
2. In the script you want to debug, add the line SpawnScriptDebugger();
3. Optionally, compile all scripts in module, just in case.
4. Go to the utilities folder inside your NWN2 program directory. This is C:\Program Files\Atari\Neverwinter Nights 2\Utils by default. Find the program DebugServer.exe and launch it.
5. If you are running Windows XP, the firewall will ask you to unblock this program. Click unblock and you will see the small window.
6. Now launch NWN2 and go to the options menu in the game.
7. Find the "Full Screen" checkbox (it's small and at the top of a list of other options), and uncheck it. You need to do this in order to see the debug window. Failure to do so could leave you stuck, while the debug windows waits for you to tell it to continue executing the script.
8. Now with both windows next to each other, run your module.

When it gets to where you placed the SpawnScriptDebugger(), the game will freeze and wait for you to tell the debugger to continue. Keep clicking "Step Into" until you have finished the script. At this point play will continue as normal.

There are some other options in the debug window that I didn't play with, so experiment.

GameFAQs: Debug Commands

TweakGuides: Debug Commands

Tweak guides has a full list of debug commands posted on their fantastic NWN2 TweakGuide section.

The command console in Neverwinter Nights 2 allows users to apply various tweaks or changes to the game 'on the fly' while playing. To open and close the console, press the '~' key (or the key above TAB and/or below ESC) on your keyboard. To implement a console command, simply type its name along with any parameters required. Importantly, for many commands to work, you will need to first enable debug mode by entering the following into the console then pressing ENTER:

DebugMode 1

Note that console commands are case sensitive, so entering debugmode 1 for example won't work, it needs to be exactly as shown, i.e. DebugMode 1. The full list of console commands is provided further below in alphabetical order, however I provide full descriptions for the most useful commands first:

showfps - Toggles the frames per second (fps) display on/off.

trees - Toggles the rendering of all trees on/off. Useful for temporarily improving FPS in outdoor areas.

renderwater - Toggles the rendering of water on/off. Useful for temporary FPS boost in areas with water.

rain [0,1] - Toggles rain effects on if set to 1, off if set to 0.

daynight - Toggles the day/night cycle.

wireframe - Toggles wireframe mode on/off, useful for seeing the amount of detail actually being rendered/calculated in any area, even if it's not directly visible on screen.

gfxoptions - Brings up a special Graphics Options dialog box with a multitude of graphics-related settings you can change, including shadow intensity, toggling the day/night cycle, toggling rain on/off and altering the Bloom lighting parameters.

rs kr_roster_edit - Opens the NWN2 Companion Roster Editor, with a proper interface for adding, removing and altering various parameters for companions.

SetSTR, SetDEX, SetCON, SetINT, SetWIS, SetCHA [Value] - Right-click select a target, and use these commands to alter the relevant attribute to the value you wish. For example, right-click select your own character and use SetSTR 18 to give him/her 18 Strength.

givefeat [ID or all] - Select a character then use this command with the appropriate feat ID/name to give them that feat, or use 'all' to give them every feat.

giveitem [ID] [Number of items] - Select a character then use this command to give a particular item to the character, along with how many of that item to give. The list of ID tags for items can be found by launching the NWN2 Toolset, going to the Plugins menu item, selecting 'Universal Blueprint Changer', then selecting Items in the new dialog box and finding the appropriate name under the Tag column.

givespell [iD] - Select a character then use this command to give a particular spell to the character. The spell IDs can be found by launching the NWN2 Toolset, going to the View>2DA File menu option, then selecting the Spells file and using the number under the Name column.

givexp [value] - Select a character then use this command to give them the specified number of experience points.

dm_givegold [value] - Right-click select a character then use this command to give them the specified amount in gold pieces.

dm_god - Enables God mode, meaning you can't be killed.

The following are all the 181 console commands for Neverwinter Nights 2. Aside from DebugMode needing to be enabled for most of them to work, remember that many of them require you to either be the active character, or right-click select a particular character to apply a command successfully.

aabboxes

ambient

anim_blend

animation

animglod

animlod

anims

attachcamera

auditfeats

auditspells

automemorize

axes

base

blurradius

border

bugreport

c2

c3

camera_debug

camera_debug_full

camera_debug_los

capsules

clientstats

creatures

cutscene

cutscene_override

daynight

daynightscale

daytime

debugcam

DebugMode

debugtext

depthbatch

depthbatchindex

diffuse

DirShadowDepthBias

DirShadowSlopeScaleDepthBias

dm_givegold

dm_god

dm_jumptopoint

dropshadows

dumpmemory

dumptextures

emo_blend

EnableCombatDebugging

envshadows

exportchar

ffxbase

flicker_lights

fog

frecam

frusta

full

gfxoptions

givefeat

giveitem

givespell

givexp

glowintens

glows

hiliteintens

hilitethresh

hookpoints

irolltwenties

island

killgui

lights

loadgame

loc

loggameeffects

logrunscript

logserverai

lokkat

memstats

minimapsave

mipfilter

mousepick

mousepos

NetProfile

NetProfileReport

normals

obb_all

obb_cdoor

obb_sdoor

obb_water

obboxes

occlusion

partyadd

partyremove

paths

pbn

perception

physics

playbyname

PointShadowDepthBias

pointshadows

PointShadowSlopeScaleDepthBias

polymorph

portraitsave

possesscompanion

printactions

printcombatdata

printcreatures

printeffects

printfactiontable

printfeats

printglobalvars

printlevelstats

printlistenexpressions

printlocalvars

printperception

printrepository

printreputation

printscripts

profiling

rain

ReigidPointShadowZBias

removefeat

renderpc

renderwater

resetlevels

resetpackage

resetstats

resourcestats

RigidDirShadowZBias

rosteradd

rs

runscript

savedaynightstage

savegame

sceneintens

scriptprofiling

SelfDirShadowDepthBias

SelfDirShadowSlopeScaleDepthBias

SelfPointShadowDepthBias

SelfPointShadowSlopeScaleDepthBias

serverstats

SetCHA

SetCON

SetDEX

SetINT

setstatsdepth

SetSTR

SetWIS

shadowmap

shadows

showattacks

showcomments

showfps

showscriptcalls

showstats

showtriggerevents

skels

SkinDirShadowZBias

SkinPointShadowBias

sky

snow

softshadows

solid

specular

spheres

stats

surface

surfaceonly

takedamage

TerrainDirShadowDepthBias

TerrainDirShadowSlopeScaleDepthBias

TerrainDirShadowZBias

texfilter

textborder

tint

toggleserver

trees

unpolymorph

usebehavior

usescriptset

verifymemory

voiceover

wami

waterreflections

wireframe

Head over to the Tweak Guide for more information: http://www.tweakguides.com/NWN2_1.html