Neverwinter Nights Coming in June

dextr0us writes "The apocalypse has come. Neverwinter Nights beat Duke Nukem Forever to the release floor. According to Neverwinter Nights Official Site it seems that they are taking pre orders, and the official date for the pre orders is 6/25/02. As a fan of pen-n-paper, without the geekiness, Neverwinter Nights solves my dilemma!" Update: 03/25 12:38 GMT by Hemos :Just a small note: I'm still available for beta-testing. *grin* CT: Hemos is not available for beta-testing. He has work to do first ;)

Comments

Release dates say nothing at all

[_Ash_]

The 25th of June? I'm sorry to say so, but if the gaming industry has proved one thing, it is that they almost never release games in time. No, this isn't a troll, it's just a fact.

Take for instance the example used in this topic: Duke Nukem Forever. I don't know it exactly but it must be in production for more than FIVE years. And in those five years many release dates (or periods, like the end of 2002) have been set. Although DNF is maybe a bit of an extreme example, I know of almost no games that have been released in time.

Only when release dates are set within a month or so, you can be reasonably sure the game will be released in time.
June is (for the gaming industry) still a long time away, my bet is that it will get postponed. I'd be truly suprised (and happy :) ) if that wasn't the case.

Re:Release dates say nothing at all

[Anonymous Coward]

Well if ya kept up with the hype you would know this game has been delayed for more then a year already. And they never realesed an offical date either, so we will see. Besides the even said that there will be updates later to cover some things they can't get to now. Like scpirt editing and module designing in linux.

The answer to our prayers?

[El Jynx]

I've been drooling for NWN to come out for ages now. I think this will blow unsurpassed life into D&D again: - Dicerolling is all done by the poor computer. - Getting people to be able to come over on the same day as well as longer term reliability is much easier. - No more arguments about "I was behind 90% cover, honest!" What fireballs you is what you sweat. - The unique semi-P2P setup of the game will allow for a vast realm to come into existence. Based on the screenshots and the other facts they gave us I think NWN will be one of the greatest games to come out for the coming five years; the sheer scope of the conept (D&D and nead-limitless creativity) allows for immense replay value. Come to think of it, has anyone heard anything BAD about NWN? - Jynx

Re:The answer to our prayers?

[argStyopa]

While I understand at a gut level that you might be disappointed in the engine, I'd disagree that it's a big deal.
To implement "swimming" sounds simple, but realize that they have MILLIONS of combinations of body types (you will be able to mix & match to make a new creature out of an orc with long draggy arms f'rinstance). Swimming (like horseback riding also not included) would entail a HUGE investment in new models, motions, AI programming for relatively limited gamevalue return. Remember, every monster would have to constantly make the calculation 'can i get there quicker by cutting across the stream rather than use the footbridge?' along with commensurate risk evaluations.
Ditto climbing, and in fact probably WORSE.
So it was a matter of resources. And yes, they've been doing it a long time, but it's a HUGE project.

To dash a little more cold water on the subject of swimming (ha ha, sorry) IMO swimming is very much one of those categories of events that DM's fudge, and that is going to be an area where NWN is weak - especially for those of us running persistent 24/7 servers ala [shameless plug/]www.alandfaraway.net. [/shameless plug] Look, in a PnP game, you (as the DM) are constantly tweaking and managing NPC and environmental changes in response to all the unexpected crap PC's come up with. While NWN is implementing everything they can to allow DM's to deal with this, the nature of the beast is such that players can play while you're NOT THERE, meaning every dialogue, every event, every potential NPC reaction will have to be scripted or risk 'breaking' your precious scenario. In the case of swimming, I can't for a moment think of a published module in which making a swimming check is indispensable; failing it is simply too save-or-die for most DM's and players. Usually it's more like "the ship sinks in a storm and you get washed ashore - make a swim check to see how much of your stuff you could save" - which obviously could be handled in a variety of other ways.
Climbing, being more critical to a specific class, is somewhat more missed. But the various forum boards have already pretty much addressed the issue, and AFAIK Bioware IS contemplating adding both of these to an expansion/sequel....but people now just want the darn game in their sweaty paws and would rather omit these than wait longer!

The critical VALUE to NWN that makes it so much better than BG or IWD is 1) the implementation of D&D 3e rules set, meaning a HUGE player base familiar with the rules and system, 2) a distinct and major effort by Bioware to make the game customizeable and usable by anyone to build anything they want...paralleling the value of RPG's in general, and addressing the main weakness of CRPGs.

Wasted money at that

[HanzoSan]

First they used some 2d engine back in 96, Then they used the Quake Engine, Then on to the Quake2 Engine, The Quake 3 Engine, and Unreal Tournament Engine.

Because they were too lazy or stupid to develop their own Engine they wasted all this money and time switching throuugh other peoples Engines.

This game better be surperior to Doom 3 or else this is the END and I mean absolute END of whatever company makes Duke Nukem.

I dont care if Max Payne makes them money, let Duke fail and no one will believe in their ability to write a decent game after almost 10 years working on it.