Persistent World a No Go in NWN

[Zorro]

So, here's the bad news...

Apparently, if you want to create a world that is truly persistent in NWN it can never be changed once players start playing on it... Here's why... When you create a module, it is a single file that includes all the information about the world; a template, if you will. Once you load it on a server and start playing it, its saved game state is stored in another file. If you change the module file, the saved game template no longer jives with the module and all the saved game information accumulated to that point is toast...

So my grand notion of an AK persistent world server is a pipe dream at best unless we build the entire module and never change it again... Likely? I would think not...

So here's what I propose instead... I would ask that anyone who has a mind to create a module that has a couple of key areas including a newbie zone and a few advanced areas that have enough detail to keep people occupied for about a week. Once the week is up and/or we collectively decide it's time for a change, we'll load up the next guys module and unleash it on the populace... This gives us the flexibility to do a persistent world-type of thing and, while linear, it could still be a good bit of fun...

Here's a few off the top of my head guidelines for a creating a module that would likely meet these criteria...

Basic Guidelines for AK Weekly Mods:

1. Should consist of at least 4 "adventure areas", by which I mean areas where NPC Mobs can be found, fought, and eliminated. Other areas like the inside of an inn would not count as an adventure area.
2. Should consist of a few balanced quests, including at least one for players leveled 1-5, one for 6-10, etc. You may also include a few class/race/faction-specific quests.
3. All creatures and encounters should be set to respawn, though the regularity is entirely up to the module designer. This will allow later-comers to the module to be able to start from the beginning and still have stuff to kill...
4. Should comply with yet to be established guidelines on XP and loot caps. I'm sure we'll figure those out soon, but I don't even know where to begin suggesting numbers right now...

Other ideas that I'm tossing around is the concept of a trial period of a module on a test server (EPZ or something else?) so that people can log in and give the module a whirl before it's put on the production server. This will give the opportunity for player feedback to address issues and balance problems before the module is deployed and we're "stuck with it" fir a week. I'm sure there's other stuff that I haven't thought of yet, but it's all, of course, open for discussion... I just wanted to get things rolling...

[Garrett]

I bought a book on the worldbuilder. and ill only have time to read it next week. but ill do what i can to make a module with the guidelines.

what i do know is their is a random encounter area option, so every time a party enters that area, a random encounter spawns, now this can be good or bad, since i think their based on challenge rating for the party. ill let you know more when i do. otherwise...weekend next week at best.

[Hale]

I haven't tried anything close to this, but I believe you could link the different areas by portal, thus making them mostly independant. That way, you could take things offline section by section for updates.

You could set up a central 'town' area that would be relatively static as the hub, and then portals radiating off of that to different adventure areas of various degrees of difficulty.

<Edit> You can run multiple nwservers on the same system on different ports I believe.