There and back again; a Neverending Tale. Neverending Nights

[Tawmis]

Episode 19: This episode introduces Daniel the Destructive (a role, that was originally intended for Alan the Astounding, however the actor was unable to commit to finishing the series; so Daniel the Destructive was created to replace him). This episode immediately establishes the kind of personality that Daniel the Destructive has (which is quite different than Alan the Astounding!), and the episode also focuses on Andrea the Assassin. We are given a clue as to why she’s hunting down Peter and Grayson – and more particularly the sword that they have. We also meet Andrea’s “mother” – and get wind of something called ‘The Crimson Draco Legion.’ This episode is essentially setting up Season 2. As a side note, I really enjoyed writing (and re-filming) this episodes, since it takes the focus off of our main heroes; and gave me a chance to develop the "villains" of the series.

[Rath Darkblade]

LOL!

He won't talk... *creak* Just sit there and not talk. Yes siree-bob, Daniel the Destructive knows how to keep his trap shut.

I wonder who Andrea's "mother" could be. A hellish creature of some kind? Or would the red surroundings and flaming shortswords simply be a red herring?

If I were Andrea, I'd gag Daniel until he promised not to talk so much. Annoying? Yes...

That ending was rather unexpected, but I liked it. "Lame!"

[Tawmis]

LOL!
He won't talk... *creak* Just sit there and not talk. Yes siree-bob, Daniel the Destructive knows how to keep his trap shut.
I wonder who Andrea's "mother" could be. A hellish creature of some kind? Or would the red surroundings and flaming shortswords simply be a red herring?
If I were Andrea, I'd gag Daniel until he promised not to talk so much. Annoying? Yes...
That ending was rather unexpected, but I liked it. "Lame!"

Heh! Well, Daniel the Destructive is the replacement character for Alan the Astounding. Original plans were that Alan the Astounding would be joining Andrea (motive being that Peter and Grayson stole his pouch of money - which there's more to it). But when the actor couldn't commit to reading the lines that had been written - I created Daniel the Destructive. The original trait that was going to annoy Andrea the Assassin would be Alan always being drunk and passing out. I didn't want to just reskin Alan's personality with Daniel's - so I created a new personality for Daniel (based off the person who voices him) - and that is rambling. Mario, who plays Daniel, loves everything - every movie he sees is - and I kid you not - "epic." So I wanted this overly excited character to be Daniel's main characteristic that would annoy Andrea.

As for the truth about Andrea's "mother" - it's revealed all the way at the end of Season 2, but more hints are dropped along the way.

I really like this episode because it gave me a chance to focus on the "villains" - which, like in most comics (and even movies) - you don't get that chances. Villains show up, fight the heroes, and lose, with no real back story to them. Andrea and Daniel will continue to have a pretty big role throughout Season 2 (with a lot of episodes being split between what Peter & Grayson are doing and then cutting to Andrea & Daniel) - and some solely focusing on Andrea & Daniel (with quick glimpses to Peter & Grayson) to develop the characters and show off more of their backstory.

[Rath Darkblade]

YES! Yes, yes, yes. Why are the villains there at all? It's never made clear. They're villains because they're villains.

Did something happen to piss them off? Did they go off to war and not get the recognition they thought they deserved? (Benedict Arnold and original Rambo, I'm looking at you two!) Are they just in it for the lolz? (Thank you, Joker). And so on.

Villains need motivation too. A villain without motivation will just sit there and do nothing (like the Sloth Demon in the DAO).

[Tawmis]

YES! Yes, yes, yes. Why are the villains there at all? It's never made clear. They're villains because they're villains.
Did something happen to piss them off? Did they go off to war and not get the recognition they thought they deserved? (Benedict Arnold and original Rambo, I'm looking at you two!) Are they just in it for the lolz? (Thank you, Joker). And so on.
Villains need motivation too. A villain without motivation will just sit there and do nothing (like the Sloth Demon in the DAO).

Andrea's intentions as to why she's doing what she's doing - will be revealed.

And for Daniel - well, he's just being absolutely misled - and thinks that no "maiden" could ever be evil - and that the evil ones are the ones who "stole" her sword (Peter and Grayson).

And the reason Andrea's "mother" wants the blade will also become clear.

[Tawmis]

Episode 20 - HD - This episode goes over everyone - we see Peter and Grayson discussing their plans - and their next move - to tackle the dragon! We also cut over to Andrea the Assassin and Daniel the Destructive as they take a short cut through the Plains of Desolation... and finally, cut over to Pawl the Dorf who meets some rather unique looking "Mountain Dwarves"...

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmmm... fun as usual.

Peter is still as obsessed with salt, I see. I wonder what he'll do when faced with a real, live dragon. Maybe he'll blow the pepper-flavoured salt into the dragon's nostrils, make it sneeze - and we have flame-broiled "heroes"!

Andrea the Assassin against a Beholder! Awww - but you cut away before the battle bit. No fair.

Finally, Pawl the Dorf against a bunch of duergar. Only one way that can work out. Hold on - didn't those caves have goblins and hobgoblins before? What are duergar doing on the surface? I'm confused.

Good fun, Tawm!

[Tawmis]

Hmmm... fun as usual.
Peter is still as obsessed with salt, I see. I wonder what he'll do when faced with a real, live dragon. Maybe he'll blow the pepper-flavoured salt into the dragon's nostrils, make it sneeze - and we have flame-broiled "heroes"!
Andrea the Assassin against a Beholder! Awww - but you cut away before the battle bit. No fair.
Finally, Pawl the Dorf against a bunch of duergar. Only one way that can work out. Hold on - didn't those caves have goblins and hobgoblins before? What are duergar doing on the surface? I'm confused.
Good fun, Tawm!

The Pepper Flavored Salt thing will come into play later...

And yes, I cut away from the battle with Andrea and the Beholder because when Daniel cast some spell (I just had it running on it's own), it apparently hit Andrea as well - which caused Andrea to break combat with the Beholder and go after Daniel.

As for the Duergar - what makes you think they're on the surface? Pawl the Dorf has been wandering in those caves for DAYS by this point - and with no direction sense - he could have ventured pretty deep into those caves...

[Rath Darkblade]

As for the Duergar - what makes you think they're on the surface? Pawl the Dorf has been wandering in those caves for DAYS by this point - and with no direction sense - he could have ventured pretty deep into those caves...

Because those caves had goblins and hobgoblins before. The look and feel of the caves is also "surface-like" - the Underdark (where duergar usually dwell) looks quite different, from what I remember.

BTW, does anyone else feel that the Underdark in Hordes of the Underdark was very undeveloped? Particularly for drow society. There were only 5 or 6 places you could go in the beginning "Drow City" or wher-ever you ended up when Halaster sent you down there: the hall of the Illistrae (or however she spells it), the blacksmith, two houses, a bar, and a magic store. Not a lot of fun.

Other than that, the Upside Down City was interesting, and the Undead/Beholder/Illithid thing was nice. But the climax of the whole thing was anti-climactic. Fight the Valsharess, one on one. Yeah, like I haven't seen that before about a million times. Thanks, EA.

On the other hand, Deekin livened things up a lot.

[Tawmis]

As for the Duergar - what makes you think they're on the surface? Pawl the Dorf has been wandering in those caves for DAYS by this point - and with no direction sense - he could have ventured pretty deep into those caves...

Because those caves had goblins and hobgoblins before. The look and feel of the caves is also "surface-like" - the Underdark (where duergar usually dwell) looks quite different, from what I remember.

Ah! I see what you're saying. You are correct. The "Underdark" template caves ARE different. They're also MUCH darker (it is after all, in the name UnderDARK ), so it makes it very difficult to film in it.

But this isn't the last we will see of the Duegar... or even Drow... And when I get to that, I will probably use the Underdark template, to give it that creepy vibe...

BTW, does anyone else feel that the Underdark in Hordes of the Underdark was very undeveloped? Particularly for drow society. There were only 5 or 6 places you could go in the beginning "Drow City" or wher-ever you ended up when Halaster sent you down there: the hall of the Illistrae (or however she spells it), the blacksmith, two houses, a bar, and a magic store. Not a lot of fun.
Other than that, the Upside Down City was interesting, and the Undead/Beholder/Illithid thing was nice. But the climax of the whole thing was anti-climactic. Fight the Valsharess, one on one. Yeah, like I haven't seen that before about a million times. Thanks, EA.
On the other hand, Deekin livened things up a lot.

Actually back then, it was simply Bioware. EA hadn't gotten their fingers into Bioware yet.

[Rath Darkblade]

Whoops! OK, well, Bioware or EA, some parts were nice and some not so much. I especially liked the undead cave - tension building up as you're fighting undead, bone golems, vampires - and eventually a Dracolich. Very nice there! And the rewards were certainly worth it.

Deekin was also a highlight. He always had amusing or silly things to say, which made the whole trudging through cave after cave (and eventually through the 8th Circle of Hell) much easier to bear. Would you agree?

I also liked how Deekin gradually found his own courage/self-respect/whatever. I thought it was nice.

On the negative side, the graphics are a trifle primitive, and have certainly come a long long way since the time of NWN: HOTU. But hey, that was in 2003. I can roll with it.

I tried NWN2 and wasn't too impressed. It took far too long to move between scenes, and the "Save Game" function also took way too long. I also found that I had far too many followers to know what to do with! *shrug* I gave up halfway through Act I, simply because it was taking so %*@&ing long.

What are your thoughts on all this, hmm?

[Tawmis]

Whoops! OK, well, Bioware or EA, some parts were nice and some not so much. I especially liked the undead cave - tension building up as you're fighting undead, bone golems, vampires - and eventually a Dracolich. Very nice there! And the rewards were certainly worth it.
Deekin was also a highlight. He always had amusing or silly things to say, which made the whole trudging through cave after cave (and eventually through the 8th Circle of Hell) much easier to bear. Would you agree?
I also liked how Deekin gradually found his own courage/self-respect/whatever. I thought it was nice.
On the negative side, the graphics are a trifle primitive, and have certainly come a long long way since the time of NWN: HOTU. But hey, that was in 2003. I can roll with it.
I tried NWN2 and wasn't too impressed. It took far too long to move between scenes, and the "Save Game" function also took way too long. I also found that I had far too many followers to know what to do with! *shrug* I gave up halfway through Act I, simply because it was taking so %*@&ing long.
What are your thoughts on all this, hmm?

I think my favorite NPC was the Halfling... (though his name slips my mind)... but he always shouted, "Here comes Halfling death!" and then always had a funny message when he "died" and got resurrected ("I had the strangest dream...")

NWN2 was rough - because when I first tried it out, it was riddled with little bugs, that made load screens, as you said, take forever. Supposedly, that's been addressed, but I have never gone back to finish NWN2. (I count myself fortunate to have been a part of the bug finding team by default, when Atari/Obsidian hired us to do Machinima pieces to promote the game, before it was out - we were using Alpha copies of the game).

[Rath Darkblade]

Whoops! OK, well, Bioware or EA, some parts were nice and some not so much. I especially liked the undead cave - tension building up as you're fighting undead, bone golems, vampires - and eventually a Dracolich. Very nice there! And the rewards were certainly worth it.
Deekin was also a highlight. He always had amusing or silly things to say, which made the whole trudging through cave after cave (and eventually through the 8th Circle of Hell) much easier to bear. Would you agree?
I also liked how Deekin gradually found his own courage/self-respect/whatever. I thought it was nice.
On the negative side, the graphics are a trifle primitive, and have certainly come a long long way since the time of NWN: HOTU. But hey, that was in 2003. I can roll with it.
I tried NWN2 and wasn't too impressed. It took far too long to move between scenes, and the "Save Game" function also took way too long. I also found that I had far too many followers to know what to do with! *shrug* I gave up halfway through Act I, simply because it was taking so %*@&ing long.
What are your thoughts on all this, hmm?

I think my favorite NPC was the Halfling... (though his name slips my mind)... but he always shouted, "Here comes Halfling death!" and then always had a funny message when he "died" and got resurrected ("I had the strangest dream...")

NWN2 was rough - because when I first tried it out, it was riddled with little bugs, that made load screens, as you said, take forever. Supposedly, that's been addressed, but I have never gone back to finish NWN2. (I count myself fortunate to have been a part of the bug finding team by default, when Atari/Obsidian hired us to do Machinima pieces to promote the game, before it was out - we were using Alpha copies of the game).

You're thinking about Tomi Undergallows. I found him annoying... you couldn't tell him not to attack people, and he would try to tank even though he's a rogue.

I'm sure NWN2 is a fine game, but I don't know... I never got past part 1 because of all those bugs. Hopefully they've been fixed now? Maybe I should give it another chance?

[Tawmis]

Episode 21 of Neverending Nights can bite me. This is single-handedly the most insanely difficult episode to film because of all the events - and a specific scene to get all the camera shots right. Still not 100% happy with it, but I am done fiddling with it, trying to make it work. So... it's rendering now. Will be done sometime tonight, and I'll begin uploading it to the intranets!

[Tawmis]

At long last ... Episode 21, which back when we did this was the Season Finale for Season 1.

EPISODE 21: ACCUMULATION: Peter and Grayson finally build up the courage to face the Dragon of Ator! But not before they decide they need to solidify their courage with a little bit of Liquid Courage… However, when Peter and Grayson arrive – they take notice to the two heroes in the Yellow and Blue armor that they saw back at the City of Neverending – and ponder if these two heroes are here to kill the dragon that they’re going to slay, to become rich and famous! Things unfold quickly, and we get to see several other characters – including the fate of Pawl the Dorf after meeting his mysterious (and extremely violent) “Mountain Cousins.”