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Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition is announced!

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  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    On the bright side, if the art is specifically being left alone so that mods for textures/models/UI will still work, it means that things like CEP, Project Q, and NWNCQ should still work.
    [Deleted User]
  • aarionnaarionn Member Posts: 94
    Dorcus said:

    anyway if @Lilura is around, I'd like to hear her expert thoughts on what was shown.

    Lilura will certainly make a blog with her impressions :) looking forward :)
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    edited November 2017
    While I still think more graphical improvements would have been preferable to backwards compatibility, I too am extremely excited for an enhanced NWN. This was THE game that solidified me as a long time DnD gamer on PC and tabletop. And I even still have the file for a module I put many hours into, just for fun, but never released. Now i'm tempted to get it running again.

    If the graphics were updated to a better extent, even if it broke all previous mods, as long as it included the toolset it would breathe a whole new life into the modding community.
    sarevok57smeagolheart[Deleted User]Varwulf
  • HadarHadar Member Posts: 171
    Seriously, no additional content besides few filters and better resolution support? :v I could understand that approach for Planescape: Torment, but not for other games... :/
    Aedankanisatha[Deleted User]Kamigoroshi
  • MadHatterMadHatter Member Posts: 145
    Hadar said:

    Seriously, no additional content besides few filters and better resolution support? :v I could understand that approach for Planescape: Torment, but not for other games... :/

    Do you really think it's just a "few filters and better resolution support"? Did you watch the live stream and/or read the patch notes?

    The new patch starts up right where 1.69 ended. There are bug fixes and huge quality of life improvements (one that stood out to me because I had to get so hackish about it with my advanced-age players is that haks/tlks now preload before character creation).

    That combined with jumping to 64-bit and updating the graphics engine could allow modders to make truly modern overrides. I believe it was mentioned that material shaders are in early testing.
    PokotaVarwulf
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214

    In the stream they said the reasons for not redoing the graphics were to not mess up textures that modders used for their mods and also because the cost would be too high to redo all the graphics for the NWN+expansion content.

    This.
    If the EE engine allows it there is nothing to stop the community from releasing an hd texture pack later. It has happened to many other games, such as Fallout and Skyrim, for instance.
    mf2112[Deleted User]Pokota
  • taclanetaclane Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 364
    Hadar said:

    Seriously, no additional content besides few filters and better resolution support? :v I could understand that approach for Planescape: Torment, but not for other games... :/

    There is still plenty of content at the $20 tier. NWN plus the expansions is a lengthy trip. I know that you could have picked it up on GOG for less than that, but what I find important is the work they're doing under-the-hood.

    I think that PST:EE is something of a testament to their dedication. After it was ported to an active codebase, it had to receive such a thorough UI rebuild that it almost looks like they didn't do a thing. Sometimes it may not look like much, bu maintaining the game for modern systems is a way of bringing these stories to a whole new generation of computers and players.

    I don't have a lot of faith that the original executables will work forever, but as long as Beamdog keeps at it, I feel that they're carrying the torch forward.
    [Deleted User]ThacoBell
  • ChiricoChirico Member Posts: 15
    Congratulations. I just received my e-mail receipt for pre-ordering via the macOS Beamdog Client. I too fondly remember this and the Infinity Engine games from their original releases, even with their idiosyncratic performance and support on MacOS. I look forward to restored and improved playability of this game too on modern macOS. I’m also putting my money where my mouth is: I enjoy Beamdog's other games on my iPad, and if it is technologically feasible, I would like to play this game on iOS someday too. Thanks.
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    mlnevese said:

    In the stream they said the reasons for not redoing the graphics were to not mess up textures that modders used for their mods and also because the cost would be too high to redo all the graphics for the NWN+expansion content.

    This.
    If the EE engine allows it there is nothing to stop the community from releasing an hd texture pack later. It has happened to many other games, such as Fallout and Skyrim, for instance.
    Mods have made Morrowind, which suffers from similar early 3D graphic syndrome, to be much more pleasant to look at, so maybe there is hope.
    God[Deleted User]
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    like others i to was hoping an enhanced edition of NWN was going to come out with improved graphics ( like using the NWN 2 graphics for example) but to me the game looks the same in both versions, and i never had any problems with NWN 1, so hopefully they will do an enhanced version of NWN 2 eventually and if they do, that will be the one i will get
    [Deleted User]
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    It's a no from me. I haven't played NWN and I'm not really too interested in doing so either.
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    I buy EE's to not have to mod games myself. I am lazy when I can so for me this sounds a bit underwhelming. I loved the add-ons for NVN, SoU and HoU, and would have loved to play them through again with enhanced graphics and some other tweaks, but if I have to spend many hours modding the game to make it next level, I might as well install my old discs (though they are in the attic somewhere.. ) and do it myself.

    But if the community creates a huge mega-mod that installs a ton of mods all at once, then this can indeed be something very, very good. Traveling again with my best bud Deekin would be epic indeed :)

    So holding my thumbs and looking forward to see what will come out of this!
    StummvonBordwehrsmeagolheart[Deleted User]Kamigoroshi
  • Nighthawk4Nighthawk4 Member Posts: 4
    Sounds great. Looking forward to this.

    Nighthawk4 - Elder DM on Avlis The World of Avlis
  • AltairAltair Member Posts: 128
    Preorder completed :smile:
  • gugulug5000gugulug5000 Member Posts: 248
    NWN:EE sounds good to me! I like that they're wanting to get the community involved with new features to implement for release too. My #1 pick, is make those graphics better. It was a fun game and the toolset was fun to play with, but the game hasn't aged well. It doesn't have to look like current video games by any means, but the graphics definitely need some work. Very excited for this one. Good choice Beamdog.

    Oh and keep looking for that source code for Icewind Dale II. I'm still holding out hope that we'll see IDII:EE some day even if it has to be rebuilt from the ground up, but NWN:EE will do for now.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited November 2017
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    sarevok57
  • Wandering_RangerWandering_Ranger Member Posts: 175
    Why not Icewind Dale II Enhanced? That was an amazing game, and the swan song of our beloved infinity engine.
  • aarionnaarionn Member Posts: 94

    Why not Icewind Dale II Enhanced? That was an amazing game, and the swan song of our beloved infinity engine.

    Sadly, the IWD 2 source code is lost so there will be no EE version of it :(
  • shaddoshaddo Member Posts: 3
    If the graphics are not completely overhauled then it's a deal breaker for me. As it stands the game makes me want to dig my eyes out with a fork. Looks like someone went through the world with a bucket of paint and dumped it on the ground. "Oh that's grass and rocks!!" they say. I loved the EE versions of BG and IWD. Personally I don't care if the mods don't work they can always be recreated or used in the Diamond edition. Please Beamdog!! Update the graphics!!!!
    [Deleted User]AedaniKrivetko
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    I feel like this more of a passion project for Trent Oster than anything else. Looking a the response of people who played multiplayer and all the persistant worlds is so different from new players or just the single player casuals like me. This is clearly a work of love for the community, rather than you standard commercial release.
    aarionndeltagololienSam_
  • DorcusDorcus Member Posts: 270
    I think the approach of recieving detailed technical input from the NWN community is right headed and more important than a graphical upgrade to preexisting single player content. I have very limited experience with PW's but the response from the PW players in the stream was impressive. I pre-ordered and would be glad to offer my perspective as a layman-noob type to the online experience lol
    aarionn
  • SirBatinceSirBatince Member Posts: 882
    Aedan said:

    Awesome!

    I still think that IWD3 would have been a better idea, though. ;)

    let's begin with IWD2ee first, shall we?
    Aedan
  • egbertegbert Member Posts: 99
    I've seen the trailers - looks like NWN. :'(
    NWN is/was a great game - ideal CRPG for PnP-Players - with VERY BAD graphics.
    I have loved it.

    But (at least as Win user) why do I need NWN:EE?
    - Using NWNCX most of multi-player runs fine again...
    - Very bad graphics - as before...
    - Some UI-Improvement - US$ 20?

    I don't know. :(

  • MadHatterMadHatter Member Posts: 145
    I think Beamdog's mistake was not including at least 1 "shock and awe" element in their early tease. Upping the game to 64-bit and extending the graphics engine could have potentially allowed them to plug in something like a higher poly, higher res model that would have showcased the improvements better than vanilla assets from 15 years ago.

    That would have at least assuaged some naysaying like the well-intentioned @egbert who might not understand the technical implications of having the source code under active development again.
    WarChiefZeke
This discussion has been closed.