NWN Why was Neverwinter Nights 2 not as popular as NWN1?

[Lacrymas]

NWN1:EE is fine and it constantly gets on sale for like 2 Euro.

Whats fine about it? It just seems completly superflous and made the old version useless.

So now I have to wait for a sale to play the game I already bought twice before? Why is this acceptable? What does the EE version bring me the diamond edition did not have?

Gargaune

 

[damager]

Yeah bro call your big brother to explain me how much I needed that new shaders that don't fit the art style and just eat performance

 

[Lacrymas]

He just has more experience with it, both as a player and a modder. NWN1:EE tends to run better on modern machines too. It also has pseudo-party control and integrated module downloader/installer (kind of, you'll still need a third party program to easily download and install most modules). Either way, most module and server creators have switched over, so you'll probably need it to play on more contemporary servers.

 

[damager]

NWN1 runs perfectly on my machine. No idea wtf is there to enhance. It's just a grift. But I will face the reality I can't play online anymore with my perfectly fine diamond edition and buy their crap they put a beamdog stamp on and relisted.

Also my hostility is just bullshitting. I'm just a little pissed at these business practices not any user here.

 

[Hace El Oso]

I still fondly remember Aribets soothing voice and some other good voice acting. The nice portraits of PC's and NPC's. And the Quests had some soul in it. Even some of the enviromentals, like the forest where you could only see the tree trunks, still look good today and were innovative for its time. Somebody tried and it was a servable prodcut. No great art, but it was a bug free and solid game out of the box.

NWN has some of the best forests ever in an isometric game. The only type of environment that lived up to the potential of the new fully 3D graphics.

 

[damager]

Yeah and with custom tilesets it gets only better.

Not to mention you can deck out all these enviroments with thousands of custom made objects. You can really build unbelievable detailed and lovely stuff.

 

[damager]

Does the EE at least have a working server browser again?

Edit: I will consume product and shut up now to find out

 

[volklore]

NWN1:EE is fine and it constantly gets on sale for like 2 Euro.

Whats fine about it? It just seems completly superflous and made the old version useless.

So now I have to wait for a sale to play the game I already bought twice before? Why is this acceptable? What does the EE version bring me the diamond edition did not have?

I am going to do Gargaune's job (badly) because he convinced me to buy EE and I didn't regret it.
EE has the great Tyrants of the Moonsea by Ossian but also the selling point for me was the rudimentary party control (like a simple attack this, go there command) that is shipped in, burried in some obscure setting file.

 

[damager]

NWN1:EE is fine and it constantly gets on sale for like 2 Euro.

Whats fine about it? It just seems completly superflous and made the old version useless.

So now I have to wait for a sale to play the game I already bought twice before? Why is this acceptable? What does the EE version bring me the diamond edition did not have?

I am going to do Gargaune's job (badly) because he convinced me to buy EE and I didn't regret it.
EE has the great Tyrants of the Moonsea by Ossian but also the selling point for me was the rudimentary party control (like a simple attack this, go there command) that is shipped in, burried in some obscure setting file.

Is there any module that makes use of this?

 

[Lacrymas]

Is there any module that makes use of this?

It works in every module and campaign, it's a "built-in" feature (that you have to enable in the settings file).

 

[whydoibother]

Why was Neverwinter Nights 2 not as popular as NWN1?

1. Bad camera during gameplay; bad companion pathfinding overal.
2. Uninspired first act of basic game, whereas the first act of NWN1 was good (and it only got dull as it got repeated in subsequent acts).
3. Modding tools both more buggy, and more complicated (OC teaches players dialogues will have camera and voice, whereas modders can't do that well).
4. Released at the same time as TES Oblivion, which syphoned all the RPG players and modders and left it dry.

 

[damager]

And how do I get additional party members in the OC for example?

 

[Lacrymas]

And how do I get additional party members in the OC for example?

If you mean the NWN1 OC, you don't. It's just you and 1 more (+ pets/summons).

 

[almondblight]

NWN forests are pretty ugly when you're actually playing through them:



All the NWN environments (interior and exterior) have a really fake feeling to them, like they're the same warehouse with different decorations.

I tried the OC, and it was as bad as everyone said. So I tried SOU, which was OK. Felt like a mod, honestly. I think I found Shadowrun mods more enjoyable (they definitely have better combat).

 

[Konjad]

Yeah and with custom tilesets it gets only better.

Not to mention you can deck out all these enviroments with thousands of custom made objects. You can really build unbelievable detailed and lovely stuff.

Looks good on screenshots but tbh I never thought when playing NWN "wow, this forest looks great!". They looked somewhat too clean and artificial. When it comes to 3D forest I guess only Gothic made me amazed (then Gothic II).

 

[Gargaune]

NWN1:EE is fine and it constantly gets on sale for like 2 Euro.

Whats fine about it? It just seems completly superflous and made the old version useless.

So now I have to wait for a sale to play the game I already bought twice before? Why is this acceptable? What does the EE version bring me the diamond edition did not have?

Gargaune

NWN EE's foremost selling points, in my view, are the optional henchman controls, revamped renderer, and content support, official and fan-made. There are plenty of other perks for various purposes, UI scaling's a huge benefit, moddable UI extensions like the NUI Spell Widget (NWN2 Quickcast), you've got server lists for multiplayer again, an integrated content browser for new players, a major slate of Toolset improvements for modders and builders etc. etc.

NWN started out as the EE ugly duckling, it launched too early and there wasn't much to recommend it if the DE still worked for you, but it's really grown into the best of the lot and an unequivocal upgrade over the original. Henchman controls alone, even though Beamdog's kept them as a hidden .ini config*, are a killer feature and the game goes on deep sale constantly.

* Guys, it's in the options now! Options -> Multiplayer -> Server -> Advanced -> Server Player Party Control:

This is wonderful news, but... my pristine reviews, they've become... outdated!

Yeah bro call your big brother to explain me how much I needed that new shaders that don't fit the art style and just eat performance

You're thinking of the HD Art Pack, not the shaders. The HD models are a mixed bag with a mixed reception - I'm not a fan myself, they stick out and have some execution issues - but the enhanced lighting shaders fit perfectly and just make for a nicer image. And don't get upset with Lacrymas for tagging me in, he just knows how much I love this broken record.

And how do I get additional party members in the OC for example?

You forget about the vanilla losers and install the OHS Henchman System, roll your own party of losers! It's a little complex, you really need to at least skim the manual, but absolutely worth it. Oh, and throw it into a patch hak, it'll save you having to clean your Override if you wanna remove it.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Yeah and with custom tilesets it gets only better.

Spoiler

Not to mention you can deck out all these enviroments with thousands of custom made objects. You can really build unbelievable detailed and lovely stuff.

Looks good on screenshots but tbh I never thought when playing NWN "wow, this forest looks great!". They looked somewhat too clean and artificial. When it comes to 3D forest I guess only Gothic made me amazed (then Gothic II).

It comes down to placeable use. The engine has tons of everything. Shrubs, ferns, flowers, etc.. With skillful use, they will bring the bare tile sets alive. Same for area lighting. The difference cannot be understated. I almost want to make a little 4x4 zone to show the difference.

The worst part of the tile sets are the furniture and features baked into some of the tiles. It's most notable for the interior sets, but is a problem on the dungeon one too. It's difficult to use it without being a pulpy Spawn comic book-like hellscape.

EDIT: I went to create some demonstration areas, but it turns out the aurora toolset doesn't function on Linux. Not even very well on WINE.

 

[Beans00]

Yeah and with custom tilesets it gets only better.

Not to mention you can deck out all these enviroments with thousands of custom made objects. You can really build unbelievable detailed and lovely stuff.

Looks good on screenshots but tbh I never thought when playing NWN "wow, this forest looks great!". They looked somewhat too clean and artificial. When it comes to 3D forest I guess only Gothic made me amazed (then Gothic II).

It's because most bioware employees never touched grass.

 

[damager]

Okay, okay. I will admit, having the server list back, like when I booted up that game for the first time back in the days, that's worth something.

 

[d1nolore]

NWN1 runs perfectly on my machine. No idea wtf is there to enhance. It's just a grift. But I will face the reality I can't play online anymore with my perfectly fine diamond edition and buy their crap they put a beamdog stamp on and relisted.

Also my hostility is just bullshitting. I'm just a little pissed at these business practices not any user here.

If you want multiplayer servers and new content EE is good and you will need for the online servers. It opens up a heap of features and stuff and ongoing updates, I think they’ve handed over updates to a community team now.

If you just want to revisit old content then the old version is fine. EE probably breaks some of the old content.

EE has a bunch of new features but performance is notably worse, crashing etc. EE is still playable but standard nwn was super stable.

 

[damager]

NWN1 runs perfectly on my machine. No idea wtf is there to enhance. It's just a grift. But I will face the reality I can't play online anymore with my perfectly fine diamond edition and buy their crap they put a beamdog stamp on and relisted.

Also my hostility is just bullshitting. I'm just a little pissed at these business practices not any user here.

If you want multiplayer servers and new content EE is good and you will need for the online servers. It opens up a heap of features and stuff and ongoing updates, I think they’ve handed over updates to a community team now.

If you just want to revisit old content then the old version is fine. EE probably breaks some of the old content.

EE has a bunch of new features but performance is notably worse, crashing etc. EE is still playable but standard nwn was super stable.

Beamdog is such a trashcan company

Anyway I'm happy about the working server list. Arelith seems like a massive server man. Somebody knows if its fun to play? They have a server cluster of 5 and they are all populated and up in the the list.

 

[damager]

Do these big module downloads (8gb in this case) always crash after a few seconds, fellas?

I try to join this Ravenloft server and have to resume the download constantly.

 

[Gargaune]

If you just want to revisit old content then the old version is fine. EE probably breaks some of the old content.

EE has a bunch of new features but performance is notably worse, crashing etc. EE is still playable but standard nwn was super stable.

I think that's more of an expectation than a reality. The only broken content I've ever encountered on the EE was WCoC, and while it would behoove Beamdog to address it, the problem's squarely on the module itself, its scripting's held together with duct tape and hopeful dreams. I know there was an issue with broken force field doors in an older EE build, RK said it bugged up SF Ch.3, but it's since been addressed. And for what it's worth, I've played Miller's ancient Shadowlords and Dreamcatcher campaigns on the EE without a hitch.

As for crashes... meh, maybe slightly more unstable on average? I had sporadic CTDs on area transition with the prior build at the time of my DoD review, but only in DoD itself, and then it turned rock-solid on the latest EE patch. Other than that, I'd say quite rare, I've since replayed the entire OC without a single crash. And then I've had random issues with the DE too, SF Ch.2 was crashing on me like crazy on reload, must've been something with my setup. I think I read somewhere that some errors in community content (like in tilesets) that would fail silently in the DE could cause the EE to crash, but overall I haven't found it to be much of a concern in my experience.

Do these big module downloads (8gb in this case) always crash after a few seconds, fellas?

I try to join this Ravenloft server and have to resume the download constantly.

I don't multiplay, but maybe luj1 can advise. Or see if the haks are posted on the Vault for manual download.

 

[Pikoman]

Do these big module downloads (8gb in this case) always crash after a few seconds, fellas?

I try to join this Ravenloft server and have to resume the download constantly.

A bit late, but I myself have played on the Ravenloft server for a long time and one of my finest roleplaying on a computer was done there. It has its problems, shady people and server drama common in all of the bigger servers, but it's definitely worth a spin. As others have already said - you won't find a better computer adaption of DnD than NwN, and playing on a PW, hopping on the DM events there with others, is the apex of the whole NwN experience in my book.

I'd be glad to help you with any questions you might have on the server, still have an active toon there, though I've been mostly nolifing Swordflight these days lmao. One major tip I have for you is to join one of the supported factions, the go-to newbie catch-all faction is gone, which might be an issue, but if your character concept aligns with one of the official factions - give them a spin. It is a good place to start and you'd have the biggest chance of going on events and the like.

 

[Morality Games]

I've been playing Mask of the Betrayer, and it's been really solid. From what I've tinkered with on the game's toolset, it's a lot more advanced than NWN1's, not to mention it still runs on D&D 3.5e.

so I'm genuinely curious, why did Neverwinter Nights 2 never take off as much as 1 did? that's not to say it isn't somewhat popular, but you never hear it talked about as much as its predecessor.

A game having an ongoing legacy depends on a community of hardcore fans and hardcore fans didn't immigrate from Neverwinter Nights to Neverwinter Nights 2. Even Luke Scull is still making games with Neverwinter Nights toolset.

As for why they didn't immigrate, the Neverwinter Nights user-made content community made a lot of mods and improvements to upgrade the already powerful toolset and at the end of the day they liked what they they had spent years collectively creating over starting from scratch with what Obsidain provided. It's comparable to the reason why the MMO community resists immigrating from World of Warcraft (it already has everything they want) or the Steam community resists moving to other platforms (it already has everything they want).