Neversummer 5

I did a NWN2 area a few months back for use in a Persistent World (PW) that’ll be launching this winter. Its Neversummer5. They’ve had a long run with NWN1 and wanted to have a solid offering before going live with their NWN2 entry.

My area is a rugged, crater wall.. a lot of fun to design. I started with my knowledge of Utah’s canyon country then added a big slope. It should be a lot of fun to fight from different levels.

You can fire spells down to someone below.. far below.

Anyway, they’ve contacted me again about working on a more permanent basis. They’ve mentioned it a few times but time always seems against me in this. What with the Podcast, Treasure Island, Jack, Wizard of Oz and now I’m writing some for Misery Stone.. and that’s just to mention the things I’ve actually started with NWN2.. But if would be very cool to work with a team on a PW.

So.. I guess I’ll find out how much of a time commitment we’re talkin’ about. I don’t wanna be one of those guys that joins teams and leaves them on a whim.

Here are some screen shots of that area I made for the project… look for the PW soon!

It was a BouncyRock Halloween!

If you listen the the Neverwinter Nights Podcast then you’ve seen our link to the BouncyRock Halloween 2008 project. The project started on a whim over in the BouncyRock forums… and thanks to the hard work of dirtywick and jclef the NWN2 community got to trick or treat in a town like no other.

I am honored to have been a part of this project. I’m honored not because I was chosen to build.. because I wasn’t chosen.. any NWN2 builder that said they could get a “house” for this NWN2 module built in time could sign up. I’m honored because the final product was soooo cool… and that my part didn’t pull the whole project down.

I guess that was my fear.. that I’d build something that would suck so bad when in a collection of modules built by the best in the community… It’s gone public.. and nobody said that it would have been good except that Eat2surf ruined it.. so.. from that standpoint.. I’m relieved.

But.. psychosis aside.. I knew the project was a winner from the start. Halloween. NWN2. BouncyRock’s ability to connect with awesome builders and then piece the thing together into one bitchin’ looking neighborhood.

And then to load the beta version to test and to see the intro movie with cool music and my name in lights.. stellar… then the Pumpkin Beholder.. how freakin’ cool was that.

Then downloading the finished product.. and playing it.. what a great, eclectic mix of things to do! No matter what your vision of “twisted” is.. you’ll probably find something to label with that moniker… and about any other adjective you’d label something you enjoy.. truly something for everyone.

If you have NWN2 installed.. GO PLAY!

If you’ve moved on to other games… go re-install it.. and GO PLAY!

and if your computer still won’t run NWN2.. I hear ya.. let’s do something for NWN1.. say.. maybe a multiplayer NWN1 thing.. hmm.. .. but.. when you get NWN2 (because you will.. eventually.. someday).. well.. go download the thing and save it for then.. and when the time comes.. GO PLAY!

Enjoy!

Dave

You want to know what it’s like?

So.. ya think being a Stay-At-Home Parent is all Bon Bons and Soap Operas?..

Well.. today I’ve cleaned up.. uh.. I’ve lost count.. 8 different puke events?.. and counting.. you see a 2.5 year old doesn’t necesarrily puke their whole load in one nicely contained spot.

Time number one is probably most dramatic.. as she was napping. I hear a non-napping noise (you get tuned into this stuff) followed by a non-normal cry.. the cry that says, “Oh no.. Daddy?!! Something isn’t right.”… not the scream of fear.. and not sobbing.. kinda a mix.. anyway.. I hurry up to the bed (she was napping on Mommy and Daddy’s bed) to find her laying in a puddle of puke.. puke on her face.. covering her shirt.. soaking through our mattress pad (not to mention the down comforter).. and in her long-yet-to-be-cut hair.

Well.. a lot goes through your head at that point. I guess if she was kid number one I’d have just jumped in and pulled her to me.. but kid number 2 gets a bit different treatment.. I leaned in to avoid the puke and used one hand to pat her back and clean her face.. doin’ the normal verbal comforting.

I survey the situation.. she’s fine.. sick.. but fine.. the mess.. well.. it’s a mess.. but I can keep from spreading it. I now have some skills. I get a towel (with my clean hand) and cover her with it. I can now see we’re gonna need to be in the shower to clean the hair.. so I go turn on the shower, strip down, wrap her up and in we go.

Now.. I’m very aware that every second I’m spending means the mess is sinking into the mattress.. I hope the matress pad does its job and continue to gently clean my poor sick kid… when all the chunks that I can see are out of her long hair I set things up for her to do her normal sit and play in the shower while I go to contain the hazardous waste spill.

The sheet has contained the solids of the spill. I can tell this because I was using the sheet to wrap up the mess. However, the mattress pad looks very wet so I drop the sheet and use the mattress pad as the wrap. This reveals a wet spot on the mattress itself. Joy.. of course it’s on my side.. and our mattress doesn’t flip. Hmm.. it does rotate.. but that thought is fleeting.

I carry the mass outside and toss it in the yard. I can deal with the ants that’ll invade the scene during the hosing stage. For now, it’s back up to the kid. She’s ready to come out. During drying off I notice she still has puke on her chin. Man.. that stuff can cling. Wipe. Ok.. hmm.. yup.. puke in the ears. I can’t find any kid-safe q-tips.. I carefully use the adult ones.

I’ve now wrapped my poor, little, sick, hazardous-waste-maker, in a towel and laid her on the kid-sized bed. I leave her there reclined on the pillow in her towel cocoon… just for a minute to go get something to halt the progress of the mattress disaster. A solution of diluted laundry detergent (we make our own) should work. Plenty of baking soda in it to deal with odor.

I get the 5-cup measuring glass/pot and hear gurgly coughing upstairs. I stride up and she’s puking without raising her head off the pillow.. so the pillow is covered with slimey goop (we were still a few pukes from what my older boy calls the “bubbly spit” puke). I make a quick, bucketless decision and carry her to the bathtub where she continues to puke on her towel and in the tub.

I console her and quickly return to keep the drips of goop off the sheets. I manage to save the toddler bed from further harm. I cover the bed in towels.. cover the pillows in towels… I go back.. wet washcloth to clean her up again.. I put her hair in a pony tail to keep it clean..cleaner anyway.. and back to the bed.

I manage to fill up the previously mentioned 5-cup pot with water and cleaning solution (non-toxic!) and return to the room. My angel has shuffled off the bed to the floor. I can empathyze.. I mean.. I remember the nice, cool floor during a drunken puke fest. But this isn’t good for the hazardous waste containment.

Back into bed with a fan on… and now to the mopping up of my mattress. I accomplish what can be accomplished.. lord knows I’ll always be able to smell this day if I try but hopefully guests won’t. Good thing I’m done. She’s trying to goop up the pillow again. But it’s covered in a towel.. and soon to be covered with a cloth diaper too…

But.. ya know.. I don’t have time to tell you any more of this story.. because it is just one part of my job.. and right now since my wife is back from work (Gods be praised) I have time to help out my bored boy who did such a good job during this whole on-going thing.

I’m sure it’s up to 12 urps by now.. probably more.. but they are short bursts.. but anyway.. it’s just a small part of the job. Small as in just the tip of the iceberg.

Now.. if you are reading this at work. Go home and hug your spouse and thank them for all they do… or if you’re a man start wearing briefs.

Briefs kill sperm.