Tiling the Floor

From Neverwinter Pedia

Choosing The Floor Tiles

If you recall from the game (come on, you have play the game before you start building right?) Part of the reason to play the game is to look around and see how the developers build the world using the very Toolset you are using right now. So when you play NWN2, play it as a journalist/tourist and participant observer, don't just rush into killing the monsters. Even the placement of the monsters should be some thing you take note of.... (having fun yet?)

Part of the strength of NWN2 Toolset is the many choice in terms of placeable objects. Look in Section F: Blueprints, Tiles, Terrains and select the tab for "TILES". In the list of Tiles, choose the tile set for Standard_Interior. As you shall see, there are many floor tiles to choose from. Even in "Standard_Interior", you will get many choices.

From Blueprint to Real Estate

Do you remember the tutorial where you did a Field Testing of "Fransk"? Recalled that the Rural Inn model we picked for Frans' Inn — was a two-storey building with a protruding welcome area, and a back door.

[Tips: To make thing feel more realistic, you should try to create an interior of the building to resemble the outside appearance of the building. Meaning, if on the outside we have a two-storey (i.e. two-level) building in an L-shape, then the interior of the house should be L-shape with an upward staircase. Imagine walking into a tiny house with a door, only to find an enormous space with 3 doors leading outside... it is not very realistic, is it?]

So, let start building Frans' Inn (within the 5 x 5 tile space). To make the next steps easier, I have also numbered the working grids from 1 to 13.

Tiling the Floor Area

First we will begin by placing the doors. There are two doors for Frans' Inn, located at grid #4 and #13.

Scroll down the list of tile and select the Tile called 2_Walls_(1_door). Click on the Tile once (it will get stuck on your cursor just like the rest of the placeables). Place it on Grid #4.
Similarly, choose Door{1_Door_Room} and place it on Grid #5. This is the kitchen area.
Choose Door{2_Door_Room} and place it on Grid #13, this is the Entrance to the Inn as well as a room all by itself, Frans likes to lock it up at night.

Spinning the Tile Around

Sometimes you will need to spin the tiles around. For example, some tiles have doorways facing north-side. And if your doorway is on the south-side, you will need to spin it around 180^o. Use Right/Left Arrow key to spin the tile 90^o right/left, instead of the "Rotate Object 45^o Left/Right" button. (Corresponding points between the thumbnail and the 3D model is shown below.)

The Up/Down Arrow keys are reserved for Tile Variations. Sometimes, a tile may have more than 1 variations. Use the Up/Down Arrow to cycle through the different variations.

Pillars / No Pillars

As we continue with the floor plan of the Inn, there is one thing you need to watch out for: Pillars. Some of the Tiles contain Pillar (represented by a blue dot at the corner of the thumbnail). When you position the Tile sets, you will need to make sure the pillars align with one another. Meaning you should try your best to put pillars together.

Think about it: A complete pillar in the middle of the room would take 4 Tiles each with a blue dot at the appropriate cornet to make one complete pillar. If you missed a pillar, the corner of the pillar will look "black" or empty (missing a section of the pillar).

The Floor Plan

Can you try and figure out how I created the following floor plan for Frans?

Now that Frans has a place of his own, he can finally move in. To make the place more hospitable, he has ordered some furniture from a local carpenter. While Frans wait on the furniture to arrive, let's see if we can help him get the doors into working condition.

Continue to » Doors