Review of first NWN 2 modules

[aboyd]

Sorry for the necromancy, but it seems right to collect all my reviews here.

So I've not played much for the past two months. I'm finally wrapping up a really crappy contract to build a Web site, and I celebrated by playing two 1-hour modules. They are, "What's Bugging Costen" and "The Lighthouse." Both are appropriate for 3rd-level characters. The Costen module begins well, and will level up your character and provide decent gold if needed. The Lighthouse module ends well, properly dropping you back to the main menu. So playing Costen and then Lighthouse worked nicely.

What's Bugging Costen?
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NW ... ail&id=119

The module begins at the entrance of a small village. A goblin (I think) approaches. He claims to be a paladin, and to be your companion. He mentions goblin raids happening outside of town, and wanting to slaughter or convert his entire kind. I accepted him into my party. I don't know if you could refuse in the initial conversation, but you can initiate a followup conversation and boot him out if needed. I kept him.

The game levelled me up to 3rd, and gave me 5000 gold. I entered the town, found a merchant near the docs, and got some +1 armor and weapons for both of us.

It wasn't clear at first what to do. I tried to leave the area to go after the goblins everyone mentioned, but found I couldn't leave. After wandering around the town, I found all the people that trigger the main quest. Eventually, I ended up under water, in what is basically a dungeon crawl with kelp. It was a single map, linear path, story revealed as you kill your way through stuff.

Interestingly, I failed a heal check that would have revealed some plot. I accepted that and allowed the game to give me only the half-conclusion that my character was entitled to. If I really cared, I'd replay to try again, but I don't. I had fun, and I'm done.

The only annoyance is that one of the NPCs down under has a ring, and my character said, "hey that belongs to Steve!" But Steve up above hadn't mentioned a ring, because I gave him attitude. So how did my character know about the ring? Sloppy programming.

The good thing is that the underwater area is done nicely. Good ripples and design, it makes it seem plausible. Although having a boar be a stand-in for a kelpie probably broke the immersion a bit.

Overall, it's a 7. It's competent, it worked, it held my interest. For a one-hour game, that's all I needed.

 

[aboyd]

The Lighthouse - this review has some spoilers!
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NW ... ail&id=122

I don't think this game will auto-level you up if you come in at level 1. So be careful. Unless you're a cleric, there is probably no way to beat this at level 1 (or, hmm... maybe just knocking the difficulty slider down to easy or normal would be enough to allow you to beat the game). You should be level 3 or 4.

The module starts near a boat. You have arrived on an island. Judging from the dialogue tree, my character apparently asked to come out to the island. The game doesn't really give any motivation for it. But there is a lighthouse, and if you ask, you'll learn that people may have disappeared there. So, hey, let's check out the lighthouse.

One thing to note here is that there are birds flying around in very odd manner. They basically slide along the ground. A little weird.

We get inside and do some exploring. At first I couldn't figure out how to get past the ground floor. The interface for the secret door overlays on top of the interface for a bookshelf. So what happened was that I kept seeing the UI for lockpicking a door that wouldn't open. Finally, through luck, at a certain angle the game gave me the interface for looting the bookshelf. Yay.

I get the books -- maybe twenty of them -- and suddenly the secret door slides away. I can visit the dungeon. OK. I explore, get beat up a little bit, and find the end-boss fight. I can't beat him. I notice weird stuff happening in the bad guy's chamber, and I decide to push past him to explore the room. It turns out this is probably necessary, as the solution to the final fight can only be found inside.

I won't say how to end things, as it's fairly obvious. But I will say that I appreciated the story. Not bad for a single hour.

Of course, I didn't read all the books. There were too many, and I was feeling shallow. But I got enough of the backstory to be happy. Once I was satisfied, I left the lighthouse, found the captain of the ship, and left the island. That dropped me back into the main menu screen. Nice.

Overall I'm giving this a 7. It's not buggy or incomplete. It's just small, and that's what I was looking for tonight. But you should be warned that there are no merchants or anything here. So you come with what ya got, and you leave with what you can carry. I had a fine couple of hours playing this and the Costen module. That's all I needed.

Thanks for reading.

 

[OccupatedVoid]

You know, I bet NWN2 would have a lot more modules if the toolset didn't inhibit productivity.

I'm referring to making monsters, NPCs, and items. I mean, seriously, who's idea was it for everything to go in side panels? I know how to use the toolset, but it's a pain in the ass to use.

If I were in charge at Obsidian, I would fire the UI designer because it's not just toolset that is bad in this department, but the game as well.

 

[aboyd]

Yeah, I agree. The people in charge of UI for NWN2 definitely chose some less apt concepts for UI management.

For example, the icons in your inventory. I'm sure it seemed clever and stylistic at first. But I'm not impressed with the usability of tiny icons that are all in the same style and even look the same. Not to mention that it removed the space-management aspect of stuffing things into your backpack.

I wish we were already using the 1.06 patch. I feel like that is the point at which the toolset, online, and builders will finally have a stable base.

 

[aboyd]

Played another 1-hour module. Here it is:

Baldur's Gate 1 - Demo
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NW ... ail&id=112

So this is interesting. This is Candlekeep, incredibly faithful to the original. Winthrop is here, Imoen, Hull, Nessie, and so on. The buildings and layout are remarkably close to the original. Not perfect, but walking around Candlekeep, you get the distinct impression that the people who made it loved BG1.

So, what challenges do we face? The standard few fedex quests, the 2 paid thugs, and the rats. There are 2 missing sequences. First, the "test" with the brawler & the archer is not there. Second, the combat training house cannot be entered. It's interesting that those are the two missing things, as both are the ones that do "fake" damage to you. I would guess that there was a scripting issue that prevented the developer from fleshing out those parts.

Also missing is all the audio. Word is that eventually it will be added, copyright concerns be damned. But for now, most familiar voiceovers are gone.

What you're left with is a cute little starter module. You play through the small number of fights and quests, tell Gorion that you're ready to go, and the game drops you back at the main menu (so it might be good to export your character before telling Gorion you're ready to leave).

Overall, I'm giving this a 7 because it matches up with my expectations nicely. If the developer had said "here's BG1 remade" I would have given the module a 2 or 3, for being woefully incomplete. However, the developer makes it clear that this is only a taste, a preview. And it's not too buggy, and it is surprisingly faithful. So, 7 it is.

 

[Elwro]

Hm. I'm not sure. Why remake BG 1 if you can play the original version? Is the new engine really that important?

 

[JarlFrank]

Hm. I'm not sure. Why remake BG 1 if you can play the original version? Is the new engine really that important?

There's some program to convert BG1 to the BG engine. BG2 looks good eough, better even than NWN2, if you like 2D isometric goodness, so there's really no need for a remake.
But maybe with additional content, like Ultima 5: Lazarus for Dungeon Siege, which was good.

 

[JrK]

One thing though: NWN2 has 3.5ed rules, which are significantly better and more fun.

 

[Surgey]

One thing though: NWN2 has 3.5ed rules, which are significantly better and more fun.

Amen to that. It's D&D for people without PhD's in Calculus and eidetic memory.

 

[Elwro]

What? AD&D was complicated? I'm not saying the rules were particularly reasonable, but they never struck me as difficult.
And, of course, it's easier to learn stuff when you're younger. I think I won't forget WFRP rules until I die.

 

[rei1974]

Haha a BG1 remake... cool. That definitely brings back some memories...

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

I never liked 3rd Edition rules. Mostly because everything seemed so geared towards combat and Monty Hauls. That, and skills were handled rather poorly in my twisted view of the world. Then again it might be mostly because 3rd Edition seems way more open to rulemongers. Of course I may have just had some bad experiences with 3rd Edition. Neverwinter Nights and Icewind Dale 2 sure didn't help....

 

[OSK]

Wow. I'd love a Baldur's Gate game in the NWN2 engine. I own both BG1 and 2 with the expansions, but I never even finished the first one due to the damn RTwP combat.

I'm completely inept when it comes to controlling multiple characters in real-time.

Also missing is all the audio. Word is that eventually it will be added, copyright concerns be damned. But for now, most familiar voiceovers are gone.

The mod creator could allow you to place your legally owned (hopefully) sound files in some audio directory for the game to use. It's only illegal if he allows these files for download.

 

[Surgey]

What? AD&D was complicated? I'm not saying the rules were particularly reasonable, but they never struck me as difficult.
And, of course, it's easier to learn stuff when you're younger. I think I won't forget WFRP rules until I die.

It wasn't necessarily super difficult as much as requiring tons of charts. It also liked to throw in rules when inappropriate or in the weirdest places. The "System Shock" percentage should have been in the spell descriptions requiring a system shock roll, not in the actual Constitution chart, for example.

 

[Texas Red]

BG 1 rebuild is a good idea but BG 2 would work better. The beginning is just a bunch fedex quests and a tutorial. In SoA the starting dungeon is amazing and it could work as a few hour mode.

Personally I would add skill checks since the rules now have them. I would also expand the dialogs and add backround information. Perhaps, to motivate the players, give small rewards if succesful in conversation through various moral and skill checks.

 

[Lumpy]

Haha a BG1 remake... cool. That definitely brings back some memories...

Sure does. I remember the compulsion to finish the boring Candlekeep part, for completeness's sake, and get to the rest of the game.
Only later did I find out that the rest of the game was just as, if not even more, boring as Candlekeep.

 

[Texas Red]

Haha a BG1 remake... cool. That definitely brings back some memories...

Sure does. I remember the compulsion to finish the boring Candlekeep part, for completeness's sake, and get to the rest of the game.
Only later did I find out that the rest of the game was just as, if not even more, boring as Candlekeep.

anger cunt

 

[aboyd]

I remember the compulsion to finish the boring Candlekeep part, for completeness's sake, and get to the rest of the game.
Only later did I find out that the rest of the game was just as, if not even more, boring as Candlekeep.

It's funny how different people's tastes can be. I'm replaying the full BG1 using EasyTutu right now. And it doesn't seem boring to me. Granted, there are a LOT of optional wilderness areas. Wandering randomly isn't always exciting. I concede that point. And I have to admit that I very much do not like "running the gauntlet" before getting into the city itself. Those 5 or 6 areas leading up to the flooding of the mines are my least favorite.

Having said that, I'm having a lot of fun. I'm not a completionist, so I never feel driven to explore unnecessary areas. I usually hit one or two while I'm curious, and then get on with it. Because of that, I actually saw new dialogue and new battles this playthrough, which I think is my 6th or so.

I also installed a banter pack or something like that. I don't recall. All I know is that Dynaheir is AFTER me. I've even cut her off, and she still wants to play footsies. It has been fun to see it.

I even find the combat to be enjoyable. It helps that EasyTutu runs BG1 in the BG2 engine, so I get all the pause options, and the ability to play it at 1280x1024. I scout ahead, lure bad guys back into ambushes, etc. Apparently, I'm also not very good, unlike some other people who have posted here. I generally have a hard time with the wolves in the first area after Candlekeep. I've even been known to die in Candlekeep, if the losers with the daggers get in a couple lucky shots against my low-HP characters. Since I play "semi ironman mode" -- I try to play without ever reloading, although I always end up making a few exceptions -- I'd say BG1 is pretty difficult. Playing without allowing reloads definitely makes the game more strategic for me, as I have to play cautiously. I like it like that.

 

[JrK]

It's really difficult because lvl1 characters could theoretically die of a handkerchief.

 

[Psilon]

Certainly a level 1 wizard could be killed by a house cat.

 

[JarlFrank]

Certainly a level 1 wizard could be killed by a house cat.

I simply love D&D experiments with low level characters.
Also high level ones. I remember a thread in the D&D forums about a character class called the Hulking Hurler. Basically it was an ogre or something similarly strong with all points put into strength, which, in the end, could throw things as heavy as a small mountain and do a few hundred thousand d20 of damage.
I also remember the "Which D&D character would Hitler be?" thread. Hitler is a level 20 elite bard [because of his speeches], and because he is such high level the level 1 American soldiers can't even hit him with his superior AC. He also gets party XP when the Nazi party kills some more jews.

 

[Texas Red]

Certainly a level 1 wizard could be killed by a house cat.

Have you ever fought against an angry cat? They can do serious damage. They will scratch out your eye like that *snaps*.

 

[made]

Also, Pool of Radiance (Chapter 1 of 4) is out now.

So has anyone tried this and can comment on its quality? I remember while playing NWN2 I couldn't help but think that the engine would be perfectly suited for Goldbox remakes; I especially crave a remake of Pools of Darkness. I downloaded this mod the other day, but was quickly put off by the kobold killing and didn't get past the first quest. Is it worth sitting through?

 

[Starwars]

Just a small heads up. Obsidian has been holding a mod contest, with the theme being "Grimm's Fairy Tales". The mod makers can then twist this theme into whatever they see fit.

Not something for everyone (haven't tried any of the mods myself yet), but some of these mods are up on the vault now. Some of them look quite interesting. As aboyd pointed out, these shorter type of mods can be pleasant to play through every now and then.

 

[Volourn]

"It wasn't necessarily super difficult as much as requiring tons of charts."

Yeah, because 3E doesn't have any charts. L0LLERZ!