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New to EE, need a bit of an introduction to EE modules

chevalierchevalier Member Posts: 51
edited April 2020 in NWN:EE Modules
Hi, guys. Some of you may remember me from the old days, so hi. :) Otherwise nice to make your acquaintance. Sorry if this is too much of a newbie thread, but I obviously registered today and first installed NWN1 EE today, so cut me some slack.

I installed EE because it was a gift and because I figured there had been so many great fan-made NWN1 modules I hadn't played before I moved on to NWN2 and other, newer titles. It's even possible I may only have played the official campaigns and premium modules, perhaps just one or two fan-mades.

So here I am, I have the CEP installed (okay, I do remember the CEP, so I must have played a couple of modules back in the time, after all ;)), I hear the PRC doesn't really work with EE, and I wonder what to play and… what to avoid.

Obviously, I'm aware of Lyra Vren's list and one or two other compilations on the net, and Hall of Fame recipients from the Old Vault with like 9.30 scores from 100 votes are must-haves.

But, what I don't know anything about is which modules have serious compatibility issues with EE and which ones are confirmed to run smoothly or at least be finishable without game-breaking bugs.

So:
  1. Are there any great modules I should stay away from because they don't work well with EE and you can't finish them?
  2. Are there any great modules that are workable but require special steps during installation that might not be obvious or well-explained online?
  3. Any good modules created already after EE came out and specifically for it?
  4. Specifically about Tyrants of the Moonsea. I know AL1 to AL3 are separate and can be played independently, but for pure story reasons, do I play AL1 and AL2 first, and if I do play them first, then is it better to continue with the premium module or with the old AL3?
  5. Is the Aielund saga currently OK to go or do I wait?

As for my subjective taste, I'm more into high fantasy than dark. I don't like the following cliches or have had enough of them for a long while (due to each and every studio doing the same thing these days):
  • making the setting, atmosphere and story as dark and heavy as it can be, especially if relating to soul manipulation or heavy occult themes
  • mages vs X
  • the 'all choices equally suck', 'all factions are equally bad', 'we're gonna make you feel bad no matter what' or 'we will force you to do bad things even if you're good' kind of writing or the whole obsession with artificial grey balancing

Big focus on puzzles or tactical combat is not my cup of tea either.

So what are some good modules that are not focused around the above?

Clear good vs evil (or irrelevant, but not purposefully made/artificially emphasized grey), bright/uplifting atmosphere, elves, ogres, dragons, knights, princesses, dispossessed heirs, castles in need of a new lord, sea journeys, epic heroic stuff, bounty hunts vs uncomplicated monsters, saving villages/kingdoms/towns/damsels, etc. would be a bonus.

If a module makes you think of DoD, WCoC, BG1 base, BG2 base, IWD1, NWN1 base/xp, NWN2 base, NWN2: SoZ, then I'll probably like it. If it makes you feel like the Dragon Age or the Witcher series but without so much death/undeath or mage vs x conflict, or PoE without the souls business, or IWD2, then I'll probably like it too. Mostly just no souls business and no mage hunt please. ;)

Thank you. :)
Post edited by chevalier on

Comments

  • rashkaerashkae Member Posts: 179
    1. That's a difficult question because EE is a bit of a moving target. Beamdog has been making some pretty big changes to port EE to 64-bit and new devices. I appreciate that the changes are starting to pay off, and the game can feel much renewed,, but there is some breakage. Notably, both Tales of Arterra and Prophet (Chapter 3.) were shown to have a game breaking bug with the latest updated. (I have edited the mod files to work around and make these great modules playable, but those edits are not currently on the vault.)

    2. At this time, I would suggest installing classic mods from their neverwintervault downloads and not from steam workshop.. (I'll cover why on Pt 5.). I do not have steam myself, so can't actually say anything from actual experience. Maybe I'm just off base on that one.

    3. I would probably just say the new Premium modules, as far as "Great." There's a new Fur and Frost module that I think is EE only, and a couple others.

    4. Alazander himself has been known to dissuade people from starting with AL1, being as it's a very old and dated module, as far as production standards. But I would say, start there. It's perfectly playable,, and even if you do not use the same character, (actually, it makes more sense if you assume a different character for each installment,) it does set up for the first time the overall plot that over-arches all the events of the three modules. AL3 should be avoided.. its broken and can't be finished, (even to it's unfinished conclusion.. This isn't an EE thing, it was also broken in the recent Classic NWN updates.) Moreover, the entirel contents of AL3 are included in Tyrants, and then a 2nd half added as well. Note that importing from AL2 to Tyrants will set you up with monstrously godly equipment. You'll be overpowered for the first leg of the journey until the game catches up with +4 / +5 gear. (But if you like powergaming, it's a great payoff:) )

    5. When someone recently reported a problem with Aielund, I took it upon myself to try to reproduce. But I could not, either artificially, (by teleporting to the crashing area.) or in actual game play, YMMV, but since the one thing I could not test is the integrity / compatibility of all the files installed by Steam, that's why I suggested installing from vault downloads. So far, no one has stepped forward to confirm that they installed Aielund from Steam and did not see any issues. Even the mod creator's first attempt to verify the problem resulted in him being unable to open the game in toolset. (that turned out to be easy to fix procedural error, but I'm still waiting for confirmation that everything on Steam works with Aielund.)

  • chevalierchevalier Member Posts: 51
    Thank you. :)

    1/ Thanks for the warning about Tales and Prophet. I'm going through a bit of rough patch in life and use games to destress and lighten the mood, so I'd prefer to avoid disappointments like being unable to finish the game or have to keep reloading, editing files manually a lot, etc. This helps a lot.

    2 & 5/ I have the GOG version and would prefer not to port the game to Steam, so I'm doomed to Vault, Nexus, etc. anyway.

    3/ My memory of premium modules is relatively fresh, so I'm skipping Witch's Wake, Kingmaker, Pirates, DoD and WCoC, but Tyrants and Furiae are on the todo list. :)

    4/ Aight. I'll do AL1, then AL2, then premium Tyrants.

    Does Hall of Training still work if I need to level-up/equip my character?

  • ProlericProleric Member Posts: 1,283
    A couple of links that may help:
    https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1309774090
    https://steamcommunity.com/app/704450/discussions/0/1626286205687011593/
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,325
    Regarding AL1 and 2, yeah, Siege of Shadowdale is a VERY bare-bones module. I don't really fault Alazander for it because it was one of his earliest works and you can see how he was still learning how to put everything together. Crimson Tides of Tethyr is a MUCH better and more engaging module, however, and I would heartily recommend it. :)
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    Seeing as you are returning after quite an absence there is a tool that you will probably find useful - Neverwinter Nights Mod Installer Tool - NIT. This will download not only the module but any file needed by that module in order to run. It also will automatically download a series of modules (e.g. modx 1, modx 2, etc.) and associated files if you want it to.

    TR
  • Sylvus_MoonbowSylvus_Moonbow Member Posts: 1,085
    edited April 2020
    TarotRedhand wrote: »
    Seeing as you are returning after quite an absence there is a tool that you will probably find useful - Neverwinter Nights Mod Installer Tool - NIT. This will download not only the module but any file needed by that module in order to run. It also will automatically download a series of modules (e.g. modx 1, modx 2, etc.) and associated files if you want it to.

    TR

    There is a feature built-in to NWNEE that does this and I guess could connect to NWVault? It was added in a previous patch, but it is still in concept stage by the look of it? NIT will do the job nicely until we see the scope of this new feature to its fullest.

    There is more details in the patch notes under NWSync https://steamcommunity.com/games/704450/announcements/detail/1697226147911946433
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    @Sylvus_Moonbow If you are talking about NWSync, that is for persistent worlds. NIT is for single player modules.

    TR
  • Sylvus_MoonbowSylvus_Moonbow Member Posts: 1,085
    TarotRedhand wrote: »
    @Sylvus_Moonbow If you are talking about NWSync, that is for persistent worlds. NIT is for single player modules.

    TR

    Yes, the NWSync update in the link can be used for Single Player modules as well, it just has to be setup.
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