Wendersnaven.com (a resource for nwn2 builders)

Here are some basic questions I had when I first started. For now these are just listed in FAQ form, but will be organized into the book later:

How do you delete a blueprint (a creature, an item, etc.) after you have created it in the toolset?

Click on the item in the blueprints window and just press the DEL key on your keyboard. Make sure the properties windows is not open. otherwise nothing will happen. You can minimize the properties window by clicking on the little pin.

How do you stack placeables in the toolset?

Set the Stackable property to True on both of the placeables, then raise the placeable you want to stack on top using ALT-LeftMouse and press Spacebar to have it drop to the bottom placeable. If you don't enable stacking, objects just fall to the ground when hitting spacebar. (thanks Miserere from the forums) The "s" key is a hotkey for turning the stacking flag on. You can also set the height of the placeable and then lock the height. (thanks to knightsubzero from the forums)

What's the difference between scroll direction and scroll angle for water layers

It seems the scroll direction x,y is either off (zero), or on (greater than zero), and this defines what angle of zero is. So if scroll direction is y = -1, and x=0 then angle zero is north. you can then use the scroll angle to control direction, so 90 would be east, 180 would be south, etc. (thanks to evalcarcel from the forums)

How do people create those screenshots where you can see the whole area without that foggy limit?

Look under Vew > Options > Graphics for an entry under FarPlane. Change this to something higher (like 500 or 1000 instead of 100).

How do I create an area that is always night?

MuLmbo has a great answer in the Toolset Q&A thread:

# Fire up the editor.
# Open your module.
# Open the area you want to make eternally night.
# Highlight the area in the areas pane to see its properties.
# Under environment:
* Set the 'Day/Night Cycle' value to false.
* Set the 'Is Always Night?' value to true.
# Under Appearance:
* Expand '7' (Default)
* Customize the colour/lighting however you wish

Why won't my creatures equip or wear items.

Make sure the creature has the appropriate feats to wear the armor or use the weapon you want them to have. If not, they won't be able to equip the item in the game.

How do I use scripting when a PC first enters and leaves my module?

EPOlson has a good answer from this thread in the forums: http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=528278&forum=1...

When a PC logins in, the first events to fire are the OnAcquireItem and OnPlayerEquipItem events. At that point, the PC object exists and can have inventory. But it has no location.

Then OnClientEnter fires. The PC object is complete, but still has no location. (the lack of location is what causes most scripting issues)
Once the PC has been assigned an area, OnPCLoaded is called.

Then OnEnter and OnClientEnter are called for the area the PC ends up in. (OnEnter is called for all creatures entering an area - including NPC right after onModuleLoad, OnClientEnter is just for PCs)

A trigger would be called last.

Similarly, when the PC logs out OnClientLeave gets called. At that time, the client information is no longer associated with the object, just the physical characteristics. (which is another scripting issue) Then OnExit for the area is called (unless the PC logs out dead, then it is not called)

One more thing I noticed: when you transition to a new module in a campaign (StartNewModule and LoadNewModule), OnPCLoaded is not called. OnClientEnter is called, and so are the area's OnEnter and OnClientEnter. (onClientLeave is also not called)

OnPCLoaded is called when a PC logs out and back in.

Do heartbeats fire when the PC is not around?

Abby_ suggested in a post on the forums (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=531431&forum=114) that there is an option on the creature properties called "Disable AI while hidden" that might cause heartbeats to fire when a PC is not around.