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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 ;)
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.
:) ) if that wasn't the case.
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
"As a fan of pen-n-paper, without the geekiness, Neverwinter Nights solves my dilemma!"
;)
Aaaarggh... we've been invaded by jocks!!
Since the release is expected to run on Windows, Mac and Linux, be sure to tick the Operating Systems selection when you register the game. Stand up and be counted!
From the FAQ (which seems to have vanished..):
Here's hoping...
No, I did not read the f***ing article!
Go for the eyes Boo, Go For The Eyes!!!
Yep, I've heard some bad things.
1) No swimming.
2) No climbing.
I can't get over when an RPG takes out some very basic physical actions in order to make the game just a little easier to code. Simply put, I think those two actions add/take a great deal to/from the game, depending on if they are in the game or not, or if they are implemented well.
When I'm in a game, I want to be completely surrounded by the fantasy. I don't want to remember that it's just a game, and not being able to do simple actions like swimming and climbing rip me right out of the fantasy, and plop me down in reality.
They have had ample time for this project; they should have done it right. Don't get me wrong - I'm excited about the game - I'll finally be able to bring my old campaign to life again, but I am slightly disappointed in the engine.
Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.
To: Mr. Hemos
From: The Beta Test Department
We regret to inform you that you have not been selected for our beta test pool *again*. We require beta testers to use spell checkers, as they are freely available.
Regards,
The Beta Test Department
And I immediately started putting a group togethor to start in July (to give me enough time to write the campaign). Some people from my pen & paper group want me to tranfer my current campaign to this new system, but I told them that we should continue the pen and paper stuff since nothing beats eating chips and watching pewter figures hump each other while I frantically try to find the AC of an orc.
Oh, give me a break. None of us computer game players could swim or climb if we wanted to in the real world anyway, so the game is actually very realistic.
Dammit, I dropped my Doritos. I am screwed! Help!!
-Kevin
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.
-Styopa
One: I love them for supporting Linux and releasing the game for it at the same time as the windos version.
Two: Don't forget that the toolkit, i.e. the parts that you need to create your own campaign, are currently windos only.
Reasons are some missing tool (C++ Builder or something, currently in beta for Linux).
For me, the toolkit is the only reason to buy NWN. I don't like (A)D&D, but I'd swallow it if it means I can run online campaigns.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
I believe that the release date was achieved via the game stores, and trust me they don't know as much as they seems to suggest:
"BioWare's new publishing partner, Infogrames, has just announced in their press release that Neverwinter Nights will be launched worldwide in Summer, 2002. We apologize for the delay in getting back to you during the day today - we want to try to clarify this date announcement since so many people have been posting about it on the message boards.
Please understand that we are committed to releasing games when they are finished, polished and ready for the world. For a game as complex, epic and multifaceted as Neverwinter Nights, this is especially the case. The massive scope and flexibility intrinsic in the Toolset, the DM Client and the Official Campaign will be unprecedented in the gaming world and, as a result, we must carefully test every aspect of Neverwinter Nights. With a new publisher, there is a new plan for marketing, QA, localization and distribution.
To that end, BioWare and Infogrames now feel that Summer 2002 (which could mean as early as May or June) is a good conservative estimate of the distribution date - guaranteeing a game worthy of the quality inherent under the titles of Dungeons and Dragons, Infogrames and BioWare. We are still aiming for the same development completion targets that we were aiming for in the past, but Infogrames and BioWare both want to provide a safe target window for the game to be ready in terms of the things that are covered by the publisher working in conjunction with the development team - distribution, localization, marketing and testing.
Thanks - as always as we get more information we'll update you. Our fans are very important to us.
Ray Muzyka Greg Zeschuk
Joint CEO's BioWare Corp. "
Please clarify your sources as Bioware have always firmly stated that it will shoot for a release when ready, and to them Summer is the best guess.
MAtt
NWN is fun, even without the swimming and climbing. Really, I haven't found a game where those things really added any depth. Frankly, in all the games I've played, I've kind of wished that they'd REMOVE the climbing, instead of having the poor imitation that they have (climbing ladders in Deus Ex was a pain. It was way too easy to fall off, and it was too hard to get off at the top. Gimme an elevator any day.)
I'm not on the Neverwinter team, so I can't say anything about how hard they've worked on the game, except from an outside-in view. These guys have seriously busted tail to make sure that the game is cool and fun and exciting. Trust me. When you get it, it'll be cool and fun and exciting. Building levels and dropping monsters in and watching them fight (they do it on their own! It's so cool!) is so damn much fun, I did it for a couple hours, just to see how the fights would go.
So, despite my clearly biased opinion, I think that they DID do it right. I'm constantly impressed by the NWN team. In fact, I'm so impressed, and so behind this, I'm willing to sign my name to it.
Jan Sacharuk
Programmer
BioWare Corp.