The Blades of Netheril (inc. enhanced AL1, 2 & 3)
LukeScull
Member Posts: 17
Hi gang,
I used to go by the community name "Alazander." Some of you may remember my NWN series from way back: AL1: Siege of Shadowdale, AL2: Crimson Tides of Tethyr, and AL3: Tyrants of the Moonsea. The last began life as a Premium Module but was cut short and released for free when Atari pulled the plug on the Premium Module program. It was my desire to finish the series with a fourth module, The Blades of Netheril. Sadly, the demands of real life and my professional work with Ossian Studios scuppered those plans.
I'm excited by the upcoming NWN:EE and intend to update the AL series to work with the new game. However, I've also been tossing around the idea of giving my modules an overhaul: expanding and rewriting dialogue to include more options and skill checks, re-balancing combat, fixing some long outstanding bugs (like the magic golem in the arena in AL3), etc - essentially bringing them all up a professional standard, using the skills and experience I've gained over the 15 years since AL1 was released. (15 years?! That can't be right!)
While I can't promise anything at this stage, the old itch to finish the story with a fourth module has also returned. It would be nice to gauge potential interest in a revised and combined super-campaign, which would include the three previous modules as well as the fourth and concluding new chapter, all released in one package. The campaign would take the PC from level 1 through to epic levels and be roughly OC-sized (50-60 hours), all redesigned and refined to a professional standard.
Right now I'm busy with two novels and an unannounced CRPG project, so a fully realized campaign like this is several years away. I am however hyped for Beamdog's latest release and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with my fellow builders and community veterans who might remember my work from back in the day. I look forward to checking out some of the great creations you guys come up with over the coming months.
I used to go by the community name "Alazander." Some of you may remember my NWN series from way back: AL1: Siege of Shadowdale, AL2: Crimson Tides of Tethyr, and AL3: Tyrants of the Moonsea. The last began life as a Premium Module but was cut short and released for free when Atari pulled the plug on the Premium Module program. It was my desire to finish the series with a fourth module, The Blades of Netheril. Sadly, the demands of real life and my professional work with Ossian Studios scuppered those plans.
I'm excited by the upcoming NWN:EE and intend to update the AL series to work with the new game. However, I've also been tossing around the idea of giving my modules an overhaul: expanding and rewriting dialogue to include more options and skill checks, re-balancing combat, fixing some long outstanding bugs (like the magic golem in the arena in AL3), etc - essentially bringing them all up a professional standard, using the skills and experience I've gained over the 15 years since AL1 was released. (15 years?! That can't be right!)
While I can't promise anything at this stage, the old itch to finish the story with a fourth module has also returned. It would be nice to gauge potential interest in a revised and combined super-campaign, which would include the three previous modules as well as the fourth and concluding new chapter, all released in one package. The campaign would take the PC from level 1 through to epic levels and be roughly OC-sized (50-60 hours), all redesigned and refined to a professional standard.
Right now I'm busy with two novels and an unannounced CRPG project, so a fully realized campaign like this is several years away. I am however hyped for Beamdog's latest release and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with my fellow builders and community veterans who might remember my work from back in the day. I look forward to checking out some of the great creations you guys come up with over the coming months.
Post edited by LukeScull on
24
Comments
I never played those mods, though I do remember them. Now with the EE, I am slowly revisiting all of the mods that I should've gone through, and I think I will add yours to the queue. As far as remastering/releasing new content, heck yeah! Even if it takes you years, that's okay! I will happily wait to see what you will do! So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the Vault to find the AL series and see what I've been missing!
And oh, yeah, welcome back! 'Tis a wonderful time to be a NwN enthusiast, yes?
A finished AL3 is the thing I’ve wanted most from NWN all these years.
AL1 was kind of .... sorry to say, mediocre... (this is not a criticism,, it was certainly amongst the best modules of it's time, but this was way before the NWN module development from anyone really hit it's stride. I especially remember how much I didn't like the ending.
Crimson Tides, however, was one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I can't way to return to it.
Or maybe we find out about that in Tyrants of the Moonsea?
I'm playing Tyrants of Moonsea right now and I'm stuck at the arena. I managed to get past the golem by standing really close to the lodge when I destroyed it, but after the next fight with the minotaur it doesn't seem to matter where I stand, the dialogue after the fight just won't start. Is there any workaround for this? This module is awesome and I really want to continue.
2) Finish off the golem, and the cutscene appears to work fine.
Alazander."
Guess this is getting off-topic by the way, sorry about that.
Thanks for stoking the fires again, Luke! And thanks for all your contributions to the NWN community.
Of course you are remembered.
-JFK
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1367409609
I wanted to let you know in case this was done without your knowledge or permission.
EDIT: It's not just CToT. It's the whole series. Here are the links for AL1 and AL3:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1367386967
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1367445263
On a slightly different note, I'm currently reviewing every Forgotten Realms novel in published order on my blog. Fans might want to check it out.
http://www.lukescull.com/
My understanding regarding others sharing your work is that as the author, it's your call to allow that or not. They're supposed to get your permission to re-host it. (Personally, I don't even let the Vault host my module files; my page there links to my website for those.) There aren't any legal consequences that I know of unless you choose to pursue them.
Beamdog's posted guidelines for the NWN Workshop on Steam, which I think does a good job of clarifying things:
https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/discussions/18446744073709551615/1694920442949737048/?appid=704450
But yes, we can dream we'll have a nice surprise.
I've contacted Luke about this problem already; he was great but couldn't recall enough to help. In case anyone else can, here's the problem:
In Suldanessellar, I've completed Against the Giants and handed the spell component to the Mage. I'm now supposed to relay the new of my attempted assassination by a noble family to Queen Ellesime. I can't find her, unfortunately. Lilura's walkthrough says that I should bump in to Levantes when I go to the upstairs rooms in the palace, but I can't find him and the doors are all locked. I've tried going back a save and re-entering without result. Did this ever come up before, and could you suggest somewhere to look for a solution (even if it's just kick-starting the appropriate cutscene from the command line - I'm on Mac so can't open the mod in the editor).
Really looking forward to any results that might come from Luke looking at these classics again!
I heartily second the interest in AL4! Regarding the previous modules, though: they can be downloaded and installed from the Neverwinter Vault, and played in any installation of NWN:EE (including Steam). They can be found here:
AL1 - Seige of Shadowdale
AL2 - Crimson Tides of Tethyr
AL3 - Tyrants of the Moonsea
Everyone: PLEASE do not assume that modules for NWN:EE are only available on the Steam Workshop! Nearly all of the great classics from the golden age of NWN (as well as some new ones), have been preserved, and are still available, on the Neverwinter Vault. The Enhanced Edition was designed for backward compatibility, which means that every one of these hundreds of high-quality adventures will play in NWN:EE. All you need to do is install them into your Documents/Neverwinter Nights folder. If anyone has trouble with how to do this, please feel free to ask on the forums. There are plenty of us who would be glad to help.
A few of the classic NWN mods have been ported to Steam, but not many. And it isn't necessary to play them. The only benefit to a Steam port is that players get to install mods with a single click, instead of spending a few simple minutes downloading and copying files. I recognize the value in trying to make things easier for players, but porting a mod to Steam's format isn't easy -- especially if it's a complex one that uses a lot of custom content that the author may need to try to get permission to re-release on another site. Speaking personally it's on my to-do list, but like other mod authors I'm very busy with other projects, and I know Luke is as well.
That's not very difficult to do if people really want it, but I was under the impression that executable installers were somewhat frowned on in the NWN community. I'm also not sure it solves the problem of people expecting mods to all be on Steam. Unless Steam allows the option of listing an installer that will pull components directly from the Vault? If it did/does that would make things a lot easier (see my comments here as well).
AL series was my favourite. It has the d&d quality i like the most and really good writings, unlike many other sloppy modules :P
Executable installers I can live without.. But projects should, where possible, (and in most cases, it would be,) be delivered in a all in one... Download this zip. (or exe,) and extract the contents to the right folder, job done.
We can make exceptions for *very* common shared resources, (i'm thinking specifically of CEP, for example).. but having to find and download a doze dependencies to install a module is going to be a serious barrier of entry.. (Now I'm talking about Aielund.)
Here are some personal thoughts I posted on my Facebook page: