I've also been toying with NWN1 lately, specifically shader wrappers, model and texture overrides/hakpacks, and also camera hacks.
I found a cam hack last year that modified the exe to allow first-person perspective and extra zoom-out functionality for a semi-bird's eye view, but just recently I found camera hacks in shader apps which serve the same purpose and leave the exe untouched. 1st person is cool if you use WASD, plays FPS-like. The extra zoom-out just makes it easier to navigate larger maps.
There seems to be several model/texture packs, too. I used to throw in a collection of overrides for creatures, items, icons, tilesets and just whatever tickled my fancy. But this just eventually turns your install into an unrecoverable mess. So I looked into laboriously infusing the official modules with CEP and later
Project Q haks, but then came across
Q Campaigns which are the official modules already infused with Project Q, ready to roll. This works flawlessly, is instantly noticeable, and is far superior to many overrides. "Q = Quality", say the devs. Basically the artists have redone many of NWN's outdated assets, from creatures to tilesets to placeables. They also added in
Alternate Combat Animations and some other mod that lets you visually customize your character on the fly, I forget the name. But most importantly, the compatibility with the
Henchman and AI mod is respected.
NWShader is worth the trouble to install, too. It gives you Depth of Field, Bloom/HDR, SSAO and basically jazzes the game up visually far beyond dev intent. NWShader is basically the icing on the cake. It will be interesting to see what modders can do with it in the future...
If anyone's gonna run OC, SoU or HotU for the first time, or again, I highly recommend you download Project Q's haks and then use Q Campaigns. The visual improvement is immense (some of NWN default art assets look like someone took a shit on your screen, even back in release year 2002.) I also think NWShader with cam hack is indispensable if your PC can handle it, and Henchman and AI mod has been must-have since it came out. These changes don't cure the antiquated NWN of that dated/primitive look, they just give it a much-needed facelift and make it more enjoyable to play, imo.
Now all I need is a turn-based mod...
