Golden Dragon Interview: BM Productions

[BenWH]

Continuing on the multiplayer theme of our interviews, we catch up with BM Productions to discuss Tomb of Horrors Revisited, winner of the NWN2 Best Multiplayer award. Below you can find Ocanthus & Muv's views on building for NWN2 and what they would have done differently if they could...

What made you start building modules for NWN2?
We decided to build a module because we were having trouble finding modules that suited our tastes. At the time we started Tomb of Horrors Revisited, the Vault had very few multi-player modules, and those are the only kinds of modules we enjoy. We are both old time PnP D&D players from the heady days of 1980. We consider D&D to be a fundamentally social event. In our minds, you can't play D&D by yourself, so it seems unnatural to us to play NWN by yourself. Neither of us actually ever played NWN1 or NWN2 in Single Player mode. We wanted a D&D computer game that was like D&D PnP game: multiple players who work together to solve puzzles and defeat monsters.

What would you do differently if you could?
First, we would plan the quests and journal entries much earlier. The ones on ToHR were added near the end, and some were added due to requests from the community. Second, we would reduce the amount of loot by a large amount. The loot got out of hand due to scope creep. Some plans for some of the loot were never realized, and we needed to provide a lot of valuable gems and other expensive items to allow for crafting magic items. In the end, it's far more loot than is needed. Finally, we would also revamp some of the encounters. Apparently it's way too easy to defeat Acererak the Demi-Lich, who isn't supposed to be a push-over.

What is the 'best bit' in your module for you?
We have two best bits. One, we like the 5 or 6 statues spread throughout the Tomb that take all your gear and teleport you to the beginning of the Tomb. All of your gear is then placed on a blade golem that spawns inside Acererak's true tomb. We enjoy the challenge of trying to complete the module after having all our stuff taken away. It is truly an accomplishment if you can make it through this module after losing all your stuff. But from a scripting standpoint and a coolness factor, that feature is the best bit of the Tomb. And two, we like the Broken Statue that eats gems and creates Smoky Quartz crystals. It's also a nice piece of scripting, and has a cool visual/auditory effect that is almost a reward in itself.

What did you think when you first heard about the Golden Dragon Awards?
We were thrilled that there was a group of folks out there who cared enough to put it together. We have nothing but respect for anyone who has the patience and broad array of skills required to produce content for NWN2. Receiving a nomination was icing on the cake for us, and we'd like to thank whoever nominated ToHR for consideration.

Have you ever tried the other finalists in your category?
Yes. We eagerly play every multi-player module that comes along, usually a few times. One of our favourite multiplayer modules was Keep on the Borderlands. We both remembered the PnP module, and the NWN2 version was done very well. We hope to play the DMFI version next if we can get enough interested folks together on NeverwinterConnections.

What are you up to currently?
We're working on several projects for NWN2. We're pitching in to help Rogue Dao Studios' excellent Purgatorio project. There are some really impressive things in that module, so we're thrilled and honored to be helping out. On our own, BM Productions is about 75% done with a remake of Pharaoh, an old Pen-n-Paper module by Tracy & Laura Hickman. We've approached it like we did Tomb of Horrors Revisited, with a design philosophy of not trying to precisely copy the PnP module, but instead we're trying to make a fun NWN2 game while using the basic story elements and atmosphere of the PnP module. On a side project, we're slowly working to create a DMFI version of ToHR that will incorporate some of the plot that never made it into the final Tomb of Horrors Revisited. We've got some ideas about how to streamline the module so it can be played through in one or two sessions. We also have fully mapped Castle Ravenloft from the Ravenloft PnP module, but we are debating what to do with it. We've talked about donating it to the Vault as a pre-fab, but we may modify it and use it in our mega-project. The BM Productions mega-project is only in the planning stages now. It's an NWN2 treatment of a PnP campaign, based in the Forgotten Realms, of our own creation from some years ago. It may be too massive for us BM Productions to take on by ourselves, but we're looking carefully at it.

We'd like to say thank you to those who offered comments and votes on ToHR. No module will suit everyone's tastes, but only those with the best intentions would bother making one.

For more Golden Dragon winner interviews, go here.