I am thinking that if I show that I contribute to the cause of NWN:EE maybe in turn my wish for better graphics will gain more weight and reach more ears. And maybe that is just a naive illusion
They alright have your money - why should they work for you anymore? What do you get for paying in advance? PERHAPS an headstart - PERHAPS...
(BTW to say "most users don't like it" is MUCH CHEAPER than to make graphics better.)
Did you see this screenshot from @Ancarion ? NWN has been given new legs and we haven't even started to touch the possibilities of a 64-bit, normal mapped, higher res, higher poly, shader rendered mod yet.
First of all, a significant graphics update can break mod compatibility
BGEE, BG2EE, IWDEE and PSTEE completely broke mod compability. And yet, modders updated their work. I guess they could have done the same for NWNEE...
While true, the scale of the amount of user created content is much much larger than what exists for all four of those games combined. And the work made modeling 3d characters and environments is probably more time consuming as well. Imagine if you favorite game of all time got re-released, but only 1% of it worked. Thats what would have happened if NWN had a graphical overhaul.
Did you see this screenshot from @Ancarion ? NWN has been given new legs and we haven't even started to touch the possibilities of a 64-bit, normal mapped, higher res, higher poly, shader rendered mod yet.
OMG is Fantastic!!!! but what is mod? and really great! how much I would like a graphic like this!
First of all, a significant graphics update can break mod compatibility
BGEE, BG2EE, IWDEE and PSTEE completely broke mod compability. And yet, modders updated their work. I guess they could have done the same for NWNEE...
While true, the scale of the amount of user created content is much much larger than what exists for all four of those games combined. And the work made modeling 3d characters and environments is probably more time consuming as well. Imagine if you favorite game of all time got re-released, but only 1% of it worked. Thats what would have happened if NWN had a graphical overhaul.
I disagree with this justification. It's not impossible to implement a graphical overhaul that's optional, has updated models and textures for all in-game objects, and can be turned on or off from the options. A lot of other games already do this by having multiple levels of model and texture detail available in the in-game options.
Let's say Beamdog had implemented a graphical overhaul into NWN:EE with an optional new detail level for both in-game models and textures. If you played NWN:EE with a lot of mods, and found that the modded stuff clips a lot with the overhauled models, or they had bad texture inconsistencies that bothered you, you could simply go into the menu and revert the enhanced models and textures back to the originals. All of your mods and custom modules could work with it just fine.
@Adul That still doesn't solve the issue of the cost being too high for a small developer like Beamdog. The slider could also act inconsistently with mod content. Toggling it could cause all number of graphical glitches and potential crashes.
Graphics aren't API's: you can't break a game's functionality with them. The way I see it is either one embraces the changes as a modder and updates their work, or they don't, which is where I install my trusty GoG version and play a module that I'm particularly interested in. I have little interest in buying a game that I already own if it is no different.
Most of the NWN modding community has moved on. Even if NWN:EE brings some of them back, only a fraction of the MANY mods out there will be updated. And Diamond only runs on some systems. So I very much appreciate Beamdog's approach of prioritizing NOT breaking the massive corpus of NWN mods out there.
There is this joke that life is like a computer game - the story could be nasty, but the graphics are simply amazing.
When it comes to NWN, I think the original graphics are OK, and the setting and story is what makes the game good. For me, there is no much need for improved graphics in this game, I'd rather enjoy usability improvements. Comparing NWN's UI to that of BG and IWD, I find the former quite less useful. Now that EEs provide good support for high resolutions, it would be great to see some attempt at showing more game data on the screen, just like in BW and IWD.
Oh, and it's great to finally see EE version of a game based on 3e rules!
will you be adding classes? AKA gimmie wild magic!! will we have more companions to play with aswell? or is it going to be less BG:EE and more NWN:HD edition?
To those making feature requests in this thread and in the NWN:EE subforum - I've been passing them on to the team as something the community would like to see in the future. No promises, but keep sharing your feedback!
Oh my. NWN:EE? With the Aurora toolset intact or even better? I remember making a very silly playable mod just to see if I could a long, long time ago, and I recall it being easy to use even then. Now I've logged over 450 hours using the toolset for Shadowrun: Hong Kong and I'm familiar with dabbling into the things I thought were "tough" back in Aurora (scripted events, etc.). It's going to be very tempting to fall into the modding rabbit-hole for this one... and some of those extra campaigns I never played through, so it should be fun to take a whirl gameplay-wise as well.
Also... D&D 3.5(ish)! Hell yeah! It's still the version I use most often.
Looks like they are not adding anything to make the game look better, besides shaders. They will be leaving it to modders it seems is the attitude.
Beamdog, you're in a unique position to really breath some life into the game in terms to looks. Heck, make new graphics optional if backwards compatibility with old user content is so important. Trent keeps saying you're looking forward, but you're tying your hands with the past.
Fine by most of us game was literally dead in the water only thing keeping it afloat were modfders which alot of people had no idea the communityw as still alive so simple fact BD had picked it up and started a ee edition is great and i have all respect for that at least its getting supported again and im sure they have future plans for it now.And its headstart which im assuming is the equivlent of a ea or beta phase who knows what they have plans for.
Looks like I'm late to the party... again. I blame my life for that, given that it has been pure Baator lately.
It is pleasant to see that Beamdog has managed to successfully aquired the rights of the Neverwinter Nights franchise. Especially since I seem to remember a post couple of years back, where Trend was saying something along the lines that the rights of this IP were a true nightmare to behold.
Thinking further, this also means that we'll most likely see NwN2:EE in a couple of years as well. Which would ultimately lead to the continuation of the franchise in form of NwN3. Both outcomes are quite sought after by me personally.
However... at the current look of things I will abstain from getting NwN:EE for the time being. While it was the right call from Beamdog to include *all* of the Premium Modules (including those missing from the Diamond Edition). The lack of enhanced graphics, even in form of simple spell fx overhauls, weights heavily against it. Honestly, I get better graphics when playing the GOG release via PlayOnLinux and the FXAA Injector Tool than what I saw within the trailer of NwN:EE.
That is not to say that it won't get any better, of course. Only that it requires time. Time for more post-release features to flow into NwN:EE. As well as hopefully reanimating the various old modding communities to continuing their works of passion. But again, this won't be a fast process. I estimate in around 2 to 3 years, NwN:EE will become one of my favourite games. So I am looking forward what the future holds until then.
Modders can do pretty much anything to any extent concerning the sprites etc... But the thing is, when you have a team of professional artists paid for doing their job, you can do a lot more, in a much shorter time frame than what a solo modder, or even a team of modder, can do on their free time.
Hyped by NWN:EE, but still I really look forward to the day Beamdog will finally make their own game. I can understand a small game studio making their own game is quite the challenge though.
i dont think the challange is the problem. they could use the Cryengine and even publish for free. i think its more about pleaseing the fans of the games some of these guys spent their whole early career developing...idk tho i just think if i can easily get a concept up in Cryengine in a few days, a small team of Pros wouldnt have much trouble developing a full game in a reasonable time frame.
Comments
I guess they could have done the same for NWNEE...
What do you get for paying in advance? PERHAPS an headstart - PERHAPS...
(BTW to say "most users don't like it" is MUCH CHEAPER than to make graphics better.)
I will decide after reading some reviews.
Did you see this screenshot from @Ancarion ? NWN has been given new legs and we haven't even started to touch the possibilities of a 64-bit, normal mapped, higher res, higher poly, shader rendered mod yet.
Let's say Beamdog had implemented a graphical overhaul into NWN:EE with an optional new detail level for both in-game models and textures. If you played NWN:EE with a lot of mods, and found that the modded stuff clips a lot with the overhauled models, or they had bad texture inconsistencies that bothered you, you could simply go into the menu and revert the enhanced models and textures back to the originals. All of your mods and custom modules could work with it just fine.
When it comes to NWN, I think the original graphics are OK, and the setting and story is what makes the game good. For me, there is no much need for improved graphics in this game, I'd rather enjoy usability improvements. Comparing NWN's UI to that of BG and IWD, I find the former quite less useful. Now that EEs provide good support for high resolutions, it would be great to see some attempt at showing more game data on the screen, just like in BW and IWD.
Oh, and it's great to finally see EE version of a game based on 3e rules!
Also, implementing all the Feats and Prestige Classes from the Complete Warrior, Complete Adventurer and other supplements?
By pre-ordering on Beamdog, you can get Head Start access to Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition.
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition is playable on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
https://www.beamdog.com/nwn_faq#06
Also... D&D 3.5(ish)! Hell yeah! It's still the version I use most often.
It is pleasant to see that Beamdog has managed to successfully aquired the rights of the Neverwinter Nights franchise. Especially since I seem to remember a post couple of years back, where Trend was saying something along the lines that the rights of this IP were a true nightmare to behold.
Thinking further, this also means that we'll most likely see NwN2:EE in a couple of years as well. Which would ultimately lead to the continuation of the franchise in form of NwN3. Both outcomes are quite sought after by me personally.
However... at the current look of things I will abstain from getting NwN:EE for the time being.
While it was the right call from Beamdog to include *all* of the Premium Modules (including those missing from the Diamond Edition). The lack of enhanced graphics, even in form of simple spell fx overhauls, weights heavily against it. Honestly, I get better graphics when playing the GOG release via PlayOnLinux and the FXAA Injector Tool than what I saw within the trailer of NwN:EE.
That is not to say that it won't get any better, of course. Only that it requires time. Time for more post-release features to flow into NwN:EE. As well as hopefully reanimating the various old modding communities to continuing their works of passion. But again, this won't be a fast process. I estimate in around 2 to 3 years, NwN:EE will become one of my favourite games. So I am looking forward what the future holds until then.