JUNE 2008

It just doesn't get any more specific than that.

Now that that's out of the way, we can move on to the meat of WarCry's recent visit to California to meet Ossian Studios developers. Ossian, in case you've been away from Neverwinter Nights 2 for awhile, is developing the first premium module, now called an 'adventure pack', for Neverwinter Nights 2. The module, entitled "Mysteries of Westgate" is a city adventure and takes place in the well-known D&D location of Westgate. Up to this point in time, most of the available media and information about MoW has come via the official forums and Ossian developers. This was a first chance to get a hands on look at Mysteries of Westgate.

The day began with a 'tour' of Mysteries of Westgate. Our small group spent 45 minutes or so being shown the highlights of Westgate and were given an opportunity to ask developers Alan Miranda and Russ Davis questions covering a wide variety of topics. After this we were turned loose on the game for 2+ hours of hands on "work".

Click below to read the rest including sections about assets, maps & movement and much more!

Suzie Ford had a chance to talk to Alan Miranda, the CEO of Ossian Studios, who is at work on the Mysteries of Westgate adventure pack for Neverwinter Nights 2. The former BioWare dev answered a slew of questions on the add-on.

WarCry: Have Ossian Studios developers had much contact with Obsidian Entertainment developers? If so, with whom and covering what topics?

Alan Miranda: We talk with Obsidian every once in a while, and our relationship focuses mainly on NWN2 technical support. When we started working with the NWN2 toolset in September 2006, there were quite a few quirks that made development of a module difficult. So we sent Obsidian plenty of feedback about this and over the course of MoW's development they implemented fixes for us, as well as sent us internal builds of the game to test things out.

Read more after the leap.

Suzie Ford had a chance to talk to Alan Miranda, the CEO of Ossian Studios, who is at work on the Mysteries of Westgate adventure pack for Neverwinter Nights 2. The former BioWare dev answered a slew of questions on the add-on.

WarCry: Have Ossian Studios developers had much contact with Obsidian Entertainment developers? If so, with whom and covering what topics?

Alan Miranda: We talk with Obsidian every once in a while, and our relationship focuses mainly on NWN2 technical support. When we started working with the NWN2 toolset in September 2006, there were quite a few quirks that made development of a module difficult. So we sent Obsidian plenty of feedback about this and over the course of MoW's development they implemented fixes for us, as well as sent us internal builds of the game to test things out.

Read more after the leap.

Recently, WarCry took the chance to interview the people behind the Dragonlance animated movie, which comes to DVD on January 15th. The interview gave us the chance to hear from Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the famed authors and creators of the Dragonlance series. We also heard from the film's Co-Executive Producer John Frank Rosenblum and Paramount Pictures Product Manager Chris Dreyer.

In addition, we also have an exclusive clip from the film that features Sturm Brightblade.

WarCry: You two did not directly write the script, but as the authors of the original works can you talk a bit about how it turned out and why you believe it is a good representation of your work?

Tracy Hickman: Adaptation of a novel into a screenplay is a tough act especially when you're dealing with fans of a well-know work. It isn't a question of simply portraying scenes from the novel - as I think most people assume - but rather of capturing the emotional core of the original work and being able to portray that in a new medium. Both Margaret and I were granted an unprecedented level of input on the script but in the end it was hardly needed: George Strayton's magnificent screenplay captured the essence of our vision beautifully realized in a new medium.

Read it all and check out a short trailer after the jump.

Following up Neverwinter Vault's Part I interview with Ossian Studios, NWN 2 WarCry is proud to present Part II.

The new premium module program has been reintroduced by Atari and re-branded as the adventure pack program. Using the NWN 2 toolset, Ossian Studios, creators of the NWN 1 module Darkness Over Daggerford, has been slated to create the first NWN 2 adventure pack. Titled "NWN 2: Mysteries of Westgate," it is considered a city-based adventure with a strong slant towards role-playing. Working through The Vault's and WarCry's answers are from:

• Alan Miranda: CEO of Ossian Studios, Producer and Co-Lead Designer on Mysteries of Westgate.
• Luke Scull: Lead Designer on Mysteries of Westgate.
• Larry Liberty: (Senior Producer, Atari)

Having visited Obsidian Entertainment a mere two months prior to last year's release of Neverwinter Nights 2, I found myself looking forward to this year's visit literally weeks before the release of NWN 2: Mask of the Betrayer, or NWX1 as the developers call it. To my great delight, the Obsidian folks did not disappoint.

The day started at ten o'clock with a Rogue Dao Studios tour of the Purgatorio module currently nearing its beta testing stage. Conducted by studio lead Montgomery Markland, press members were treated to a very recent version of Purgatorio. Press members were well-represented but the room was also packed with Obsidian developers anxious for a look at the module. Markland took the assembled crowd on a tour of The Hive, arguably the "star" of Purgatorio.

There is no question that Rogue Dao has raised the bar considerably for other community created modules and custom content creators with Purgatorio. Already sporting twenty custom creature models, the module, if fully explored, will treat players to twenty hours or so in the gorgeous Sigil environs. There is the main quest and over fifty side quests that players can use as an excuse to completely discover Purgatorio in its entirety.

Click below for the fully story.

NWN 2 WarCry hosted a developer chat tonight with over ten Obsidian folks in attendance and over fifty fans. A lot of interesting information came out of the chat.

In attendance:

Andrea Bobick, animator
Andy Woo, programmer
Brandon Adler, production QA
George Ziets, creative lead
Jeff Husges, designer
Rob McGinnis, community mgr
Jean-Eric Khalife, artist

What can you tell us about the new prestige classes? Favored Soul, Spirit Shaman, Invisible Blade, Red Wizard, is this the full list?

For prestige classes we also have Sacred Fist, Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep, and Stormlord
[OEI]Jhusges: yeah, favored soul and spirit shaman are the new base classes
[OEI]BAdler: You forgot Invisible Blade
[OEI]awoo: Invisible Blade and Red Wizard were mentioned in the question.

Click below to read the log.

In another Obsidian developer profile Q&A, we hear from Justin Cherry, the Art Director for Neverwinter Nights 2 and the Lead Artist of Mask of the Betrayer. This article looks at the man himself, is role in development and path to the industry.

WarCry: What's a typical work day like for you?

Justin Chery: Generally, I come in and get caught up on the morning emails, have a quick meeting with the artists, and by then it's time for my favorite part of the day, lunch! Afterwards, it's a combination of working on tasks and making sure the other artists are all good on what they're doing.

Read more after the click.

In another Obsidian developer profile Q&A, we hear from Justin Cherry, the Art Director for Neverwinter Nights 2 and the Lead Artist of Mask of the Betrayer. This article looks at the man himself, is role in development and path to the industry.

WarCry: What's a typical work day like for you?

Justin Chery: Generally, I come in and get caught up on the morning emails, have a quick meeting with the artists, and by then it's time for my favorite part of the day, lunch! Afterwards, it's a combination of working on tasks and making sure the other artists are all good on what they're doing.

Read more after the click.

Feargus Urquhart is the Chief Executive Officer for Obsidian Entertainment and today we have an interview with him where we learn about his job, Obsidian and what his gaming background is.

WarCry: What computer games have been an inspiration in the past?

Feargus Urquhart: Like the number of books I've read, there have been a ton of computer games that I have played and enjoyed over the years. If I had to core it down to the ones that I think influenced me, I would say they would be Wizardry I, Ultima 4, Bard's Tale 1, Wasteland, Baldur's Gate 2 (even though I was involved in making it, it still influences how I think of games to this day), Fallout (similar to BG2), Masters of Orion, Colonization, Pharoah, Battlefield 1942 and EQ.

Read more after you click.