Most of my crazy ideas don't really work out

June 27, 2004 by Adam in NWN1

Most of my crazy ideas don't really work out. I wondered if it was possible to handle a large number of creatures on the screen if I changed their 3D models to 2D models, then redid their AI to keep it really simple.

While I found it possible to put 400 or so units on the screen at once, it simply didn't look good enough to pursue that course of action. The 3D models look much better, even when zoomed out considerably. The pathfinding for such a huge number of units breaks down pretty fast, causing all sorts of weird looking formation movements.

I might end up making a single NWN creature that looks like it's a group of units. That might let me cheat a bit more. I may not give up quite yet.

Demon testing continues. I've signed up some more testers, trying to get this thing finished. Danmar reported some new bugs, one of which is somewhat annoying. Hopefully it won't be too much longer.