Neverwinter Nights 2
by Matt Huston · in General Discussion · 11/06/2006 (2:27 am) · 15 replies
Anton had been making a thread when new RPG/Action-RPGs have come out so I thought I'd make my own thread. I purchased the game last Friday and according to XFire, spent 15 hours playing it over the weekend, my girlfriend luckily was supportive of this.
If you liked Knights of the Old Republic, you will be at home with Neverwinter Nights 2, unlike the first game, it is very dialog heavy with a lot of different options to choose from, including Persuasion, Bluff/Lie, and Intimidation if that is how you play. Some liberties have been taken to ease the game into those that aren't hardcore pen & paper players. You can rest for 5 seconds and it restores the parties health and I believe spells, unlike in the p&p RPG where you would only get the spells 1x or 2x per day and would need to rest 8 hours. Combat is real-time but you recieve all the dice rolls. Personally I like turn-based combat so I rely on the pause button most of the time to give orders to all of my NPCs. As opposed to the first game, you can now completely control your NPCs, from inventory to the occasional dialog options they may have. The NPCs stories are much stronger, again reminiscient of Knights of the Old Republic games. Depending on your actions you influence them to get them to like your reputation alignment for better or worse.
All-in-all, gameplay wise the single player campaign is leaps ahead of Neverwinter Nights 1. I played the originals campaign less than 5 hours, which is why I wasn't to big a fan of the first game, I could never get into its staightforward and linear style gameplay.
On the technical side, the game runs okay, though considering the requirements, it should probably run better. When there are a lot of people in the world, the game tends to chug, especially in interior levels. And I am running AMD Dual-Core 2.2ghz machine with a decent graphics card.
All in all, the single player game is leaps and bounds ahead of the original. The modding community will support the multiplayer side and I hope they don't forget about the single player side either though.
If you liked Knights of the Old Republic, you will be at home with Neverwinter Nights 2, unlike the first game, it is very dialog heavy with a lot of different options to choose from, including Persuasion, Bluff/Lie, and Intimidation if that is how you play. Some liberties have been taken to ease the game into those that aren't hardcore pen & paper players. You can rest for 5 seconds and it restores the parties health and I believe spells, unlike in the p&p RPG where you would only get the spells 1x or 2x per day and would need to rest 8 hours. Combat is real-time but you recieve all the dice rolls. Personally I like turn-based combat so I rely on the pause button most of the time to give orders to all of my NPCs. As opposed to the first game, you can now completely control your NPCs, from inventory to the occasional dialog options they may have. The NPCs stories are much stronger, again reminiscient of Knights of the Old Republic games. Depending on your actions you influence them to get them to like your reputation alignment for better or worse.
All-in-all, gameplay wise the single player campaign is leaps ahead of Neverwinter Nights 1. I played the originals campaign less than 5 hours, which is why I wasn't to big a fan of the first game, I could never get into its staightforward and linear style gameplay.
On the technical side, the game runs okay, though considering the requirements, it should probably run better. When there are a lot of people in the world, the game tends to chug, especially in interior levels. And I am running AMD Dual-Core 2.2ghz machine with a decent graphics card.
All in all, the single player game is leaps and bounds ahead of the original. The modding community will support the multiplayer side and I hope they don't forget about the single player side either though.
About the author
www.atomicbanzai.com
#2
11/06/2006 (2:16 pm)
I did not like the camera or the new interface. But I've been enjoying the game so far.
#3
11/06/2006 (2:41 pm)
I was addicted to the first. Not so much the single player but the multiplayer. The sence of community was awesome once you found a good server. I have no time to play at the moment though, so I'm resisting NWN2! I'll probably get into the modding again at some point. 
#4
NWN2 on the other hand has managed to keep my attention so far(after 20 hours I just now got to chapter 2!). There are a lot of little problems like completely brain dead NPC's, having to turn modes back on after every dialog, area change, etc. and some performance issues; but overall I enjoy playing it more than I did the original. Although, as brain dead as the NPC's are I'm tempted to start over as a sorcerer and just have a bunch of fighters for companions so that I can use spells to good effect rather than letting the NPC's keep wasting Cone of Cold on a single enemy.
I'm looking forward to trying out some multiplayer, though. And hopefully the majority of the NWN1 community will switch over to NWN2 and keep making content.
11/06/2006 (3:24 pm)
I was not a big fan of NWN1. After all the hype, it just wasn't anywhere near the complete digital translation of D&D that was promised. I also thought the graphics were a little bland and the story was fairly weak.NWN2 on the other hand has managed to keep my attention so far(after 20 hours I just now got to chapter 2!). There are a lot of little problems like completely brain dead NPC's, having to turn modes back on after every dialog, area change, etc. and some performance issues; but overall I enjoy playing it more than I did the original. Although, as brain dead as the NPC's are I'm tempted to start over as a sorcerer and just have a bunch of fighters for companions so that I can use spells to good effect rather than letting the NPC's keep wasting Cone of Cold on a single enemy.
I'm looking forward to trying out some multiplayer, though. And hopefully the majority of the NWN1 community will switch over to NWN2 and keep making content.
#5
BTW, from some of the screenshots I"ve seen on the website, it looks like some of the things were done in Torque. Does anyone know if Torque was used to build the game.
11/06/2006 (4:58 pm)
I just purchased NWN2 last night, but couldn't get it to run on my machine. I keep getting a 'cannot find Direct3D compatible device' error.BTW, from some of the screenshots I"ve seen on the website, it looks like some of the things were done in Torque. Does anyone know if Torque was used to build the game.
#6
As far as the game being built on Torque, no where close. The engine was written in-house by Obsidian Entertainment.
11/06/2006 (5:26 pm)
You probably need to upgrade your video card to play. Make sure it can support DirectX 9.0c and shader version 3.0. Personally, I picked a BFG Tech GeForce 6800GS OC 256MB and it is doing the job just right. As far as the game being built on Torque, no where close. The engine was written in-house by Obsidian Entertainment.
#7
Temple of Elemental Evil also had a really in depth radial menu but I like NWN2s interface.
11/07/2006 (1:49 pm)
The camera definately could have used a bit more work, but it is better than the first game. Knights of the Old Republic's camera was good (used same engine), don't know why they didn't adopt that.Temple of Elemental Evil also had a really in depth radial menu but I like NWN2s interface.
#9
11/07/2006 (3:18 pm)
Has anyone had a chance to play with the toolset yet? I remember there was alot of work involved in it but was wondering how it panned out.
#10
The toolset is hands down the best toolset for making a 3d rpg period. Period. I got the game just to use the toolset. I am not kidding. It's a dream toolset.
11/07/2006 (7:31 pm)
@Eric ClausingThe toolset is hands down the best toolset for making a 3d rpg period. Period. I got the game just to use the toolset. I am not kidding. It's a dream toolset.
#11
11/07/2006 (8:26 pm)
I agree with Anton on the toolset. It is great. The developers knew what would keep their game on the map well after the single-player of official multiplayer content died.
#12
11/09/2006 (6:36 pm)
As far as I can remember, NWN used modified MDK engine. They upgraded that engine for NWN2 to support more features. Personally, after Baldur's Gate 2 (and TOB expansion) I haven't played a single game that comes close to defeating the awesomeness of children of bhaal :P
#13
The toolset is amazing, and within an hour i had a beautiful little scene done. I wish they would provde better tools for 3rd part object format conversions,as im not adept at using command line tools.
Graphically i didnt enjoy the game as much as i thought - for me, the game looks a few years old, rather than a new release. Also, on my amd 64 duel core 4400 with nvidia 7800, the game at full settings runs a little jerky.
To my delight, i am actually finding the default game enjoyable and worth playing, but more than ever i look forward to using the toolkit and making custom content.
www.arteria-gaming.com
11/10/2006 (8:41 am)
My reasons for buying NN2 was exactly the same as Anton - i wanted the toolset far more than the game, altough i truly wanted to enjoy and love the game too.The toolset is amazing, and within an hour i had a beautiful little scene done. I wish they would provde better tools for 3rd part object format conversions,as im not adept at using command line tools.
Graphically i didnt enjoy the game as much as i thought - for me, the game looks a few years old, rather than a new release. Also, on my amd 64 duel core 4400 with nvidia 7800, the game at full settings runs a little jerky.
To my delight, i am actually finding the default game enjoyable and worth playing, but more than ever i look forward to using the toolkit and making custom content.
www.arteria-gaming.com
#14
The toolset this time is actually a little better. It's no longer tile based. You paint the terrain with different size brushes of different types (raise,lower,smooth,texture brushes).
They seem to have made a move to accepting plugins. One of their plugins that I haven't had time to look into involves source control. If I had one complaint about the original is that teams working together had the hardest time communicating changes. A nice plugin to source control would be huge...no more saying, "I added portal_001 on my side, you need to add portal_dest_001 in your file." You could just nab the file, make the change in and check it back in.
I expect to see this toolset take off even more than the previous one as it will be modded to help the modders mod their mods.
If you like building stuff or if you just appreciate how something can be done well, check out this toolset.
11/10/2006 (9:09 am)
With NWN1, I played the game for 2 hours and played the toolset for about 200 hours.The toolset this time is actually a little better. It's no longer tile based. You paint the terrain with different size brushes of different types (raise,lower,smooth,texture brushes).
They seem to have made a move to accepting plugins. One of their plugins that I haven't had time to look into involves source control. If I had one complaint about the original is that teams working together had the hardest time communicating changes. A nice plugin to source control would be huge...no more saying, "I added portal_001 on my side, you need to add portal_dest_001 in your file." You could just nab the file, make the change in and check it back in.
I expect to see this toolset take off even more than the previous one as it will be modded to help the modders mod their mods.
If you like building stuff or if you just appreciate how something can be done well, check out this toolset.
#15
Lol, isn't it always funny that programmers are like :
=/
11/10/2006 (9:12 am)
Quote:I wish they would provde better tools for 3rd part object format conversions,as im not adept at using command line tools.
Lol, isn't it always funny that programmers are like :
Quote:Programmer0000_3 Walks up and says:: "This is the best tool ever (1) , artists are going to love this thing, it does everything, it has an algorithm that writes and algorithm that reads your mind and makes what you think real!!!1!!!!........ Its easy, just use this command line.....and type in: -t j4598 sqbla squiggle 99969996-4 -sanity"
=/
Aaron Weingartner
I've had a few graphical errors, but it might be due to the fact I have a laptop running on top of my pc and it's kinda heating up the case...
I also think the camera could do with a bit of work. o.0
Guess that's just personal preference though.