Faithless: The Making of an NWN2 Module

Over the weekend, I saw the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . Having read the book previously, I wanted to see how the story was adapted for the wide screen. I am well aware that anything longer (or shorter) than a novella will not survive the transition to a movie version without serious changes. This is a situation that I accept, and I appreciate clever adaptations of written works such as that of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust . With the Half-Blood Prince , however, I was disappointed with the extra screen time devoted to some scenes and the inadequate time spent on others. While I do not intend to write a full review of the movie, I want to set down my thoughts on why I felt that certain scenes could have been written better. This blog post may serve as a guide on keeping one’s stories tight without making them feel rushed. Shifting the Balance of Power In the movie version of Half-Blood Prince , a couple of Death Eaters launched an attack on the Weasley family home...

I haven’t been working much on my 3D models these past several days, having been instructed by Dirtywick to design a puzzle for our module, Shattered Dreams. While trying to come up with a good one, I pondered quite a bit on the difference between good and bad puzzles as well as what principles go into designing different types of puzzles. I’m writing my thoughts here, partly as an aid for other game designers and modders who want to make their own puzzles, but mostly so I can refer to my own notes when the need arises. None of these ideas are written in stone, of course, and I may change or refine my opinions at any time in the future. Please note that the puzzles I’m referring to here are the ones that may be used in adventure or role-playing games. Puzzles to Avoid There are various kinds of puzzles, some of which are so bad that they deserve special mention. The following are the ones that I feel deserve to be in the Puzzles’ Hall of Shame. Mazes . Seriously, mazes are not fun at a...