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Neverwinter Nights 2 Officially Announced
An anonymous reader writes "Looks like Atari has just announced Neverwinter Nights 2, to be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the same ex-Black Isle folks who are making Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic 2 in conjunction with BioWare. However, it's 'scheduled for release in 2006', so we've got a while to wait." A post on the Obsidian forums has a single piece of concept art, and it's confirmed that "[Original developers] BioWare will provide tools, technology, and game assets from the original Neverwinter Nights as well as lend creative input and oversight to the development process."
I have mixed feelings about this. I loved the concept of NWN but it never seemed to work out quite right. And it seemed to me that the community took FOREVER to get any good standalone mods out. I hope NWN2 has better support and modeling for persistent worlds, because thats what most people wanted and NWN really didn't work out well for it.
I have high hopes though.
Moo.
This makes me wonder if by 2006, Linux versions of games will be commonly released along with or even before windows versions.
That's good to hear. It's amazing that Bioware just got around to releasing the expansions for NWN1 for Mac. It's also amazing that they did such a poor job publicizing the release. I found out from my friends who only found out because Amazon recommended the expansions to them out of the blue one day.
Hopefully, it won't take as long for expansions to NWN2 to come to the mac.
... turning to the 3-D map, we see an unmistakable con
I already started begging for a Linux client.s howtopic= 2499
http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?
The software industry is becoming more and more like the hardware industry nowadays with the paper launches extremely premature. 2006 - That is a heck of a way off... Think that ATARI is lookign to stimulate its trailing stock price? http://www.stockhouse.ca/comp_info.asp?symbol=ATAR &table=LIST.... It wouldn't surprise me...
I didn't enjoy the single player original NWN, I did like the expansion packs though.
The concept was great, the tools worked pretty well, and the community is awesome (so many great hacks)
The biggest thing lacking about NWN has been the engine is old, it already looked a bit dated at launch. Hopefully the designers put more focus on an engine that can expand into the future, since it is one of those games that can reside on your computer for years. Also persistant world support would be awesome. For everybody who hates paying MMO subscriptions, NWN2 could be the answer (I hope)
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With the lengthy delivery date, NWN2 seems to be allowing for design into one or more of the future game consoles.
Or they just got the storyline done now.
If it is the former then there is a huge risk in console delivery delays. If it is the latter: 'Get Crackin, dammit!!!'
They should be using XNA - they'd be done by now!!!
That Bioware will take this opportunity to design the script engine better.
I mean, I do think that Bioware made a *wonderful* job with this game. However, the scripting engine is far from perfect. As a developer, coding NWNscripts makes you feel you'd finish your game faster and easier if you'd just screw NWN and make it from the ground up in Delphi. Well, this is true if your ambition is big enough. Of course it is quick to make a hacknslash campaign, but when you try to go deeper, that's another thing.
Anyway, I didn't play nor script NWN for ages now...
Use python or something like that for NWN2. I saw that RPGMaker XP uses Ruby for it's scripting language. I didn't remotely try it or read further about it, but if RPG Maker made this, it must be possible for Bioware to make the same. Just create, huh... I don't know, a NWN API for python. Screw the idea of having your own scripting language...
perception is reality
I can't help but wonder if Atari will continue and possibly expand upon Bioware's 'vision' of the intended purpose of the game engine itself.
Think about it.
Basically all BW did with NWN was release a set of tools for people/groups to create their OWN worlds/adventures/environments. From the looks of things, Dragon Age is going to be similarly engineered and even enhanced for the same use.
Granted, the single player campaigns sucked, (although HotU wasn't too bad comparitively speaking) but look at it from an Id standpoint. Come out with a great set of tools/engine and let the mod community do what they WANT to do with the game, rather than forcing them to adhere to the developers vision.
I personally think we're going to soon see a company release a set of tools only. Tileset editors, weapon/clothing/misc editors, environment. This wouldn't be a GAME release, but something for the mod community to use as they see fit to create from scratch rather than modifying an existing game. Think d20 in general without the limitations of being set firmly in a fantasy realm. Hell, there's even a mod underway to create a contemporary NWN mod!
I think things like this have the potential to change things in the gaming world far more than the advent of new rendering techniques. Changing the game experience for the end user is one thing, allowing US to change the way we play those games is another entirely.
Don't park drunk, accidents cause people.
Ok. So Obsidian is doing KOTOR II, and now also Neverwinter Nights 2. Besides finishing up Jade Empire, what is it exactly Bioware is doing for Bioware?
I'm more than a little leery of this announcement. Obsidian Entertainment has been in existence for less than a year, yet they are already trying to develop sequels to two of the best games to come out in the last three years. This seems to me at least as another instance of publishers demanding sequels to known brands and outsourcing the work when the original developer is occupied with other titles.
Moreover, NWN2 is scheduled to be released in late 2006. That's less than half of the time Bioware had to develop the original title, and Bioware had both more expertise and more manpower.
~Tirinal
I just hoping that they flesh out the single-player game better, and allow for more than one party member. I was really disappointed with the gameply when I played the 1p version of NWN#1, however, the graphics kick Icewind Dale's clean elven arse, and make Diablo I & II look like Mario Brothers on SuperNES.
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Anyway, my biggest complaint about the original NWN was that the game was far too easy, even with traditionally difficult chars like the wizard. Yes, I know I could have artificially inflated the difficulty by adding HP, but this seems more like being a glutton for punishment than seriously seeking a greater challenge. I like games that are easy to start, but hard to beat!
Anyway, I hope they can speed up that production before it becomes Never-ventured Nights!
2 days ago or so -- I've been on slow saga recently to go revisit RPG's I'd missed (or quit)... First Baldur's Gate II and Throne of Bhaal, then Star Wars KOTOR, and now to NWN...
:) ) the similarities are amazing. The way henchman/party members have stories which expand (and are only accessible as you gain levels), the way dialog is handled, to the engine itself - though KOTOR is certainly prettier and in a few ways cleaner, its obvious its the same thing. While KOTOR has better graphics, and far more voice acting (I am somewhat thankful NWN switches to just reading more often - the sheer amount in KOTOR had me reading and skipping the voice acting shortly into the game anyway - it just took waaay too long to actually listen), both are 3rd edition D&D (KOTOR stripped down to appeal to console gamers), feats and skills to match (although in KOTOR, skills are laughably useless). NWN is certainly a lot more in depth... but really the two games are remarkably similar.
:).
First let me just say those who disparge NWN and praise Star Wars KOTOR just have their Star Wars fanboy blinders on. Having started NWN just a day or two after finishing KOTOR (yes I know, backward Chronologically, but I wanted a switch from fantasy after plowing through BGII+Throne of Bhaal for Weeks
I am only partway into Chapter 2 in NWN and so far have found it to be really good. I don't quite get where people who enjoyed BG I and II are coming from when they say they don't like the game -- you start of rather slow (just as your first level character in BG I was very weak), but things pick up quickly and the loads of quests, dialog is everywhere, and ala KOTOR, your alignment can shift during the game (though to more useful/desirable effect in KOTOR it seems). Anyway just the first of four chapters in NWN took me forever, and I have so far throught it was great. It seems to have at least as much story and oomph as BG II, and I haven't yet dabbled playing online. I imagine that might be a disappointment given I have played pen and paper RPGs forever (though not many recently), but who knows with as much time as people have had to develop modules and develop communities by this point.
Anyway the single player campaign in NWN to me is so far, so good, and I look forward to seeing some "amateur" work once I complete it, as well as begin dabbling in multiplayer. In comparing BGII+Throne of Bhaal, KOTOR, and NWN, so far I'd say NWN is my favorite, though I enjoyed them all... those that find large differences aren't really looking too deeply at the games, though - NWN is far more expandible and multiplayer friendly of the three
Bioware's next big PC game is going to be Dragon Age. What exactly is going to be so great about this game? It will have all of the toolset goodness of NWN and the story telling of a Bioware game, without the clunkiness of attempting to implement D&D on a PC. It also allows Bioware to do what they want without having every piece of content triple-approvded by Hasbro/WOTC.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I've written a number of mods for NWN, including Penultima, Penultima ReRolled, Elegia Eternum, and Excrucio Eternum. And... I'm very leery of NWN2's prospects.
Are they seriously going to support the modding community to the extent NWN1 did? NWN1 was basically a pile of resources for you to build your own adventure; the game that came with it was so-so. Is NWN2 going to do skimp on the resources in favor of the more profitable single player adventure, or will it focus on toolsetting?
Also, regardless of how in-depth the toolset is... you're still saddled with D&D and all the baggage that comes with it. NWN had too many corporate overlords dictating how the game rules must work in order to make them accurate to the pen and paper game -- even when it made no sense on a computer! (Paladins are weak because the game couldn't replace P&P systems with more computer-saavy ones, for instance.) Many of the flaws in NWN arise from all the multi-step lawyer based approval processes to allow for any deviation from the D&D standards. I don't want that mess following me into my next platform.
Frankly, NWN2 does nothing that Dragon Age isn't already doing. DA is going to have massive toolset support, a design philosophy that's learned from NWN1, and Bioware's name behind it -- and it's independent of all the corps watching over the D&D franchise. When it comes to picking a platform to move my game authoring work to, I'd rather go with what feels right.
NWN2 feels like Atari and Hasbro wanting to cash in on the property. Unless new info arises to show why NWN2 is superior for me to develop my own original game worlds within, I'll stick with Dragon Age.
Simultaneous Mac playability to come out in 2015.
That's why I never bought and played NWN. It had been out for over a year and already disposed of by my friends before it was even out for OSX.
Blessed be he who reads this post, Cursed be he who tells my boss.
I have mixed feelings about D&D computer games. The fact of the matter is that PnP RPGs and CRPGs have different strengths and weaknesses. What works for one does not necessarily work for the other.
For example, the strength of PnP RPGs is that you have a human being running them and can handle all the social interactions that a computer simply can't, not until we solve the AI problem anyway. On the other hand, computers laugh at the more bookkeeping heavy PnP RPGs. Computers can handle incredibly complicated mechanics and keep track of thousands of numbers without trouble.
Frankly, I think Bioware is heading in the right direction. They really need to do a game with a ruleset that from the ground up takes advantages of the strengths and avoids the weaknesses of CRPGs, instead of dealing with the legacies of a PnP RPG.