Bug Testing- Seamless ATs

AcadiusLost · Post by **AcadiusLost** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:23 am

A nifty system I wrote back before NWN2 came out, handy for when you have adjacent, tiled areas like Rick's highways.

For now, I've got it set up to provide an off-road alternative while traversing the highway region between High Hold and Rauvinwatch keep. This means:
-6c Highway 3
-6d Highway 1
-6d Highway 2

Feel free to check them out- they give you a message about which direction you're being taken, and give you a window of time in which you can back out of them again if you don't really want to AT. If you're on with another player, see if it plays a VFX at their destination ahead of their arrival when they're coming across a seamless AT- that's a trick I put in to avoid the dreaded cross-ATs.

If they work well, I'll see about dropping them in on some of the other highway areas where appropriate.

Curmudgeon · Post by **Curmudgeon** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:24 pm

Tried a few trips from 6C Highway 3 to 6D Highway 1 and back:

From a short distance N of the road, going East, the AT dropped me at the conventional AT right on the road. From a bit further N on the return to 6CH3, functioned properly. Moved further N to the ruined barn, and AT E went fine, however the barn ruins were not visible from the far side, and there was a large unwalkable area I had to move around to the E & S before I could AT back to the West.

AcadiusLost · Post by **AcadiusLost** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:13 pm

Not all the areas line up well across AT boundries, especially if they weren't build with seamless ATs in mind. With one area, I had to limit the seamless to areas north of the road, lest they transition PCs to the river bottom. I've left the standard Obsidian ATs lined up from road to road (via waypoints), but it's going to be a bit odd using seamless nearby, since the road doesn't line up like it's supposed it.

Technical problems with the ATs, though? Do we need floatover text above the PC to make it clear, or is the server message enough?

Curmudgeon · Post by **Curmudgeon** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:48 pm

AcadiusLost wrote:Technical problems with the ATs, though? Do we need floatover text above the PC to make it clear, or is the server message enough?

To anyone who's used the ALFA seamless ATs in NWN1, it should be crystal clear - I immediately understood. No observed glitches of the system, but I was only testing solo.

AcadiusLost · Post by **AcadiusLost** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:06 am

Since these seemed to be working well, I've added them to the rivermoot to high hold stretch of areas.

Known limitations:
-You can only transition east/west with these currently- the northern areas aren't built currently.
-Some of the areas are different sizes, so you may not be able to AT from the corners across. Try more central and they should work.
-Terrain in areas does not always line up 1:1. I've tried to make things work better in most cases, but it's only worth reporting as a bug if the Seamless ATs transition you to someplace you get stuck at/unwalkable. The visible road ATs allow you to stay on the road, seamless are for the wanderers.
-Transitioning at the corners may give you an "area not found", just try a little more central.
-You can back out of an AT to abort a transition.
-To double back through a seamless AT, step forward a bit, then head back (leave the trigger, then reenter).
-Test in parties- you should see a green VFX before a PC emerges from a seamless AT (unless they are stealthed). You should also see server messages reporting which way your party members have travelled.
-If there are no more seamless ATs along an edge, chances are the next area wasn't built to be contiguous (Rivermoot, High Hold, Rauvinwatch), so a seamless transition would be nonsensical. When possible, I tried to use the terrain to make this more IC.

Areas with seamless ATs now:
6b highway 1
6b highway 2
6b highway 3
6c highway 1
6c highway 2

6c highway 3
6d highway 1
6d highway 2