NWN Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition spotted on SteamDB

[Morgoth]

NWN 2 Enhanced Edition incoming:
https://steamdb.info/app/2738630/history/

 

[Gargaune]

NWN 2 Enhanced Edition incoming:
https://steamdb.info/app/2738630/history/

Oh, that would be lovely! If it's actually happening, I hope they'll frontload more out the gate, NWN2's one of those games that could benefit a lot from some relatively minor work.

 

[Infinitron]

EULA mentions Aspyr: https://store.steampowered.com//eula/2738630_eula_0

Does not mention Beamdog (but Beamdog is owned by Aspyr)

 

[Nelka]

EULA mentions Aspyr

They couldn't finish the simple job with KOTOR iirc, yet now they are taking just another work in their hands. I don't trust them.

 

[dutchwench]

If it really is Beamdog then it's going to be interesting to see if they'll offer the game as much support as they did with the original NWN on Steam.
... I mean, it sure beats what they did with the Baldur's Gate EEs...

 

[mediocrepoet]

EULA mentions Aspyr: https://store.steampowered.com//eula/2738630_eula_0

Does not mention Beamdog (but Beamdog is owned by Aspyr)

Is it? I thought Embracer dumped them after that shitty cartoon shooter thing.

 

[Morgoth]

EULA mentions Aspyr: https://store.steampowered.com//eula/2738630_eula_0

Does not mention Beamdog (but Beamdog is owned by Aspyr)

Is it? I thought Embracer dumped them after that shitty cartoon shooter thing.

Nah, some layoffs, but Beamdog is still around.

 

[Gargaune]

EULA mentions Aspyr: https://store.steampowered.com//eula/2738630_eula_0

Does not mention Beamdog (but Beamdog is owned by Aspyr)

That's not necessarily indicative of anything since they're a subsidiary now. If Aspyr are doing a NWN2 EE, Beamdog's the most logical solution. What I find curious is the timestamps - that EULA's dated Oct 2023.

 

[Abu Antar]

I thought that they had lost the code for the game.

 

[Infinitron]

I thought that they had lost the code for the game.

No, that was Icewind Dale 2.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

If there's a game that actually needed an EE it was 2. I'm kinda hyped. The EE for NWN actually fixed a ton of bugs in the original, it's pretty much the only actual case of it being better than the original.
I know they won't fix the camera though ...

 

[Takamori]

I wouldn't mind going for another Mask of the Betrayer playthrough.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Will they remaster the graphics or leave it unchanged? The original had a bug with genasi skins not matching the head and body. They hotfixed it by blacking out any bare skin on the body models below the next. There’s also the merchant’s friend and blessed of waukeen feats released as pre-order bonuses. I’m curious how that will be handled.

 

[dutchwench]

Will they remaster the graphics or leave it unchanged? The original had a bug with genasi skins not matching the head and body. They hotfixed it by blacking out any bare skin on the body models below the next. There’s also the merchant’s friend and blessed of waukeen feats released as pre-order bonuses. I’m curious how that will be handled.

I think that depends on the community's involvement. They did release one for NWN, two years after they published the EE on Steam. It's even hosted on Beamdog's website, which I guess means it's more official than not.

 

[Gargaune]

Will they remaster the graphics or leave it unchanged? The original had a bug with genasi skins not matching the head and body. They hotfixed it by blacking out any bare skin on the body models below the next. There’s also the merchant’s friend and blessed of waukeen feats released as pre-order bonuses. I’m curious how that will be handled.

I think that depends on the community's involvement. They did release one for NWN, two years after they published the EE on Steam. It's even hosted on Beamdog's website, which I guess means it's more official than not.

There are community assets that have been adopted in NWN EE (notably tilesets) and it's the Vault crew that's taken over general patching as of about a year or so, but the HD Art Pack was an internal Beamdog development. There's a community revision of it which fixes some issues, but the original was Beamdog's. I still prefer the old models, but your mileage may vary.

NWN2's graphics don't really need that much work, though, it's just the heads that would really demand an update, it's why I normally recommend Xaltar's replacements as a must-have mod. Beyond that and various minor fixes (like that skin bug), graphical assets should be fine, just work on the renderer.

 

[Roguey]

Would prefer they not touch graphics at all, but if they could fix the the camera, shadow performance, the AI, and all the redundant and poorly placed enemy spawn point triggers in the OC I'd be impressed.

 

[Poseidon00]

I would love for this to be true. NWN2 is beset by some laughably retarded design flaws and stupid decisions that hold it back from competing with the original. I would love to see MOTB inside of a better engine.

 

[ADL]

How is NWN2's persistent world scene going these days?

 

[MerchantKing]

I would love to see MOTB inside of a better engine.

In KotC2's engine right?

 

[Gargaune]

What I'd want off the top of my head - untether the tactical camera from the party (use fog of war instead), fix its elevation bug, add camera turn/zoom speed sliders, save companion positions on the map, save minimap and quickcast on/off, increase head mesh fidelity, built-in widescreen UI (with added portraits in all content), full renderer update, fix party multiselect bug, make party selection persist past area transition... And swap out the SoZ theme from the main menu, obviously.

Basically, I hope they've read my NWN2 config guide.

If they're also working on content, which they're probably not, there'd be plenty to improve with the OC from systemic changes like opening up companion multiclassing to reworking the encounters. Then there's the Toolset to consider, but that's a major rabbit hole. Honestly, I'd rather they do a whole new NWN2 expansion - I'd still prefer more NWN PMs, but a new NWN2 campaign with full party creation etc., yeah, I'd definitely be down for that.

 

[Sabotin]

I'd like for them to work on the engine a bit, it's kind of an unoptimised mess. Design wise working on the resolution of the texture maps would do wonders I think. The thing that makes textures look bumpy when a light shines on them. It's very pixely and muddy and makes things look worse than they are. See scalemail up close. Eww. Oh and the godawful bloom.
Past that what can even be done besides fix bugs? We already got a bunch of extra classes and modules and UI improvements. There's even an enhanced OC with retroactively applied SoZ improvements for example.
Still, can't deny I'm looking forward to it if it happens.

 

[Taxnomore]

Finally you guys will realize that the OC is much better than this Mask of the Betrayer bullshit.

 

[MerchantKing]

BTW, I don't get it. NWN2 runs fine on modern systems as long as you install the client extension mod. Why do we need an "enhanced" edition?

 

[MerchantKing]

Finally you guys will realize that the OC is much better than this Mask of the Betrayer bullshit.

Storms of Zehir is the best module.

 

[Morgoth]

"We ESRGAN'd all textures but we didn't fix the camera lol that would be $50 please"

-yours truly, Asspyr