NWN Neverwinter Nights (NWN & NWN2) Modules Thread

[Crispy]

Or has someone managed to fix that?

I really didn't want to get into any of the technical problems of NWN2 in this thread, but I decided I'll bite afterall.

Xor's right. I'd even go so far as to say that of all the problems I've had running this game, the camera is one of the least bothersome. racofer's trolling aside, seriously, I don't have any real trouble manipulating the camera in any situation to place it in a way that pleases me. Exploring, I tend to use Character Mode, zoomed to where it's just cutting off my controlled character's feet. I map mouselook to 'X' and swing it around often to simulate (well, facilitate) keeping an eye out for anything. Incidentally, I also disabled the "inspect" key so that I'm forced to pixel-hunt manually for any hidden objects. It's old school. Try this.

Once combat begins, I simply hit '*' on my keypad to switch to Strategy Mode and that, combined with allowing Object Fade, keeping the ceilings off and NOT rooting the camera to focus near the selected character (free roam), has never been a problem. Yes, there are occasional glitches but never ones that annoy me such as to question the whole setup.

What does bake my cookies though are some of the long-standing bugs that can very directly affect combat results, such as the red-hot rage-inducing issue where your character's currently equipped weapon switches places with the equipped weapon of the next character you select in combat or simply disappears. I think this may only be a graphical glitch, to where you're still effectively using the actual weapon, but it introduces enough doubt to where you're tempted to try to re-equip right in the middle of a melee, which can be deadly. The other bug along these lines is the super lag involved in the simple act of selecting or switching a weapon, which winds up sometimes simply not responding until maybe the 2nd or 3rd attempt. Very frustrating when you're in a fight with two tough Driders on Hardcore mode with 5 medium-levelled characters who are lucky to get off one fireball. You have to be *very* careful and micromanage even more because of little shit glitches like this.

Nevertheless I'm a complete sucker for D&D and FR, so I put up with it. And I'm surprised you've read this far. Walls-o'-text regarding NWN2 inconsistencies make not for interesting reading.

 

[Ruprekt]

Downloaded this for something to play after Torment.

 

[Murk]

somewhat disappointed that they didn't just include a built in level-up feature but eh.

Included in Trinity as of ver. 1.05.

Huzzah!

 

[racofer]

I'd even go so far as to say that of all the problems I've had running this game, the camera is one of the least bothersome. racofer's trolling aside...

me no troll

 

[Xor]

I'd even go so far as to say that of all the problems I've had running this game, the camera is one of the least bothersome. racofer's trolling aside...

me no troll

 

[Mangoose]

So explain please. What kind of atmosphere? Linear/nonlinear? C&C? Skill checks? Dialogue? Good/bad combat? Basic story outline? Cliche or not?

 

[Crispy]

So explain please. What kind of atmosphere?

Foresty, old-fashioned Forgotten Realms is the best I can describe it. Somewhat intimate as it's a rather small module, but it doesn't feel claustrophobic to me.

Linear/nonlinear? C&C?

Hard to describe any (smallish) module built for NWN2 as truly non-linear, but there are definitely choices to make and consequences for them. Think about what you're doing before you decide to go on a raiding party.

Skill checks? Dialogue? Good/bad combat?

There are skill checks and some rather surprising ones at that. Don't want to spoil. The dialog is what shines IMO. Not too verbose, but well done and relatively typo-free. It's plain English, though, as has been advertised by the author, but it's appropriate to plain D&D speak and doesn't throw off the atmosphere. The combat is exquisitely balanced so far. I have yet to finish though, so this may not be my final judgment on it.

Basic story outline? Cliche or not?

Read its description for the basics but if you can stomach FR, and crave it like I do, it's not cliche at all. It draws inspiration from a FR P&P module (although I don't remember which one), and follows a traditional formula of "you need to go perform this quest for the betterment of the local populace". So it's been done before, sure, but the excitement building up to the goal is there, for me at least, and it warrants going through slowly, methodically, to see if you can "get it right" the first time.

Accept your choices and avoid reloading if possible. Fun stuff.

Again, though, remember that this is like me gushing about some tiny foreign film. Don't expect any opus or grand scope. It's a perfectly seared filet mignon, not a huge t-bone.

 

[jazzotron]

Re-installing NWN2 (gawd, never thought I'd type that...)

 

[madbringer]

Now that is some coincidence i reinstalled NWN2 recently to scratch my D&D itch. Having fun with my Fighter/Rogue, backstabbing cunts for the shit of it (chaotic evil ftw). Thanks for the tip, Crispy!

 

[Whisperer]

any other mods you'd recommend?
Besides Trinity, I've finished :
- Misery Stone (good, but not great, and the heavy metal bits when in combat made me go AAAAAAHHHH!!!)
- Asphyxia (this could have been it, as it's set in Icewind Dale with a Planescape touch, but it all turns to shit after act 2)
- Harp & Chrysanthemum (great camera work, only flaws are lightning-speed plot and wtf ending.)
- Night Howls in Nestlehaven (unforgiving combat which I adored and a neat red vs. blue concept, ends with cliffhanger, sequel is on hold.)
- A Hunt Through the Dark for NWN2 (great old-school combat, but not much else + horrible typos. Ends with cliffhanger and sequel is an unplayable mess.)
- Mysteries of Westgate (good execution, solid contribution on all levels)

Have also played, but ragequit :

- Dark Waters (wtf is this shit, the opening "cutscene" is longer than any Final Fantasy one that I know of, why is everyone kissing the creator's ass, not even his NWN1 mods were THAT good.)
- Live Forever (heard it's great, but a script that didn't fire killed it for me five minutes in.)
- Subtlety of Thay I (absolute shit. unforgiving combat and no way to improvise, because gaem doesn't want u 2. Dialogue is cliche x 1000)
- Legacy of White Plume Mountain (SOZ-style, even better than SOZ I might add, but it was still in beta phase when I played it and one area fucked some drivers. Haven't reinstalled it.)
- Purgatorio (the first non-Prime town, "Hopeless", was marvelously done. The rest is sadly unfinished. Still feels like Planescape, but I don't think these guys will ever finish it.)

Well?

 

[Crispy]

The aforementioned Pool of Radiance Remastered.

Very much a trip down memory lane if you've played the original or read the book, but it's "different" enough that you'll still enjoy playing it.

Other than that one I'm afraid you've already mined all the goodness from NWN2 that I'm aware of.

 

[Thrasher]

How about John McA's Conan Mods? They are highly rated on the vault. They aren't FR, but I liked his epic Sands of Fate mods for NWN 1, and they were in a very well done original setting.

 

[Jaesun]

The Conan mods are great. Highly recommended.

 

[Erebus]

I'm currently playing Dark Waters for the second time... The first time, I had to give up at the beginning of the third module because of a gamebreaking bug that seems to happen randomly during load screens.

It's an unusual series of modules, but I like it so far. The setting and the characters are interesting and developed, the dialogues are pretty good and there are a lot of original ideas.

The first module kinda look like an adventure game (especially during the first half), but the second one offers a lot more freedom and I suspect the third one does too.

 

[elkston]

Hmmmm. I wonder if it's worth re-installing NWN2 to play this.

Last NWN2 mod I played was Harp & Chrysanthemum. Haven't played Westgate yet.

One thing that NWN did much better than the sequel were combat animations. I loved actually SEEING the greater cleave or having bodies bust into gibs. Now you get the same, flat takedowns no matter what the circumstance.

 

[Whisperer]

play Trinity and then import your exported char to Westgate, as far as I remember it would be just the right level (8-9).
You'd be surprised how fugly Westgate looks when compared to Trinity though, but I guess MotW was made even before MotB came out, so..
yeah, play them both fo' sho'. No bugs, no OC model-reusing like most mods do, some neat new creatures and small rule modifications, and some epic fights in them. They're both better than HaC, especially if you hate companion romance.

 

[Mangoose]

Hm... Trinity -> Westgate -> something -> MotB sounds like a plan.

 

[elkston]

They're both better than HaC, especially if you hate companion romance.

That might sell me right there. I've never been too big on romances in these type of games. I like to explore and get down to business.

 

[Crispy]

I wouldn't say MoW is fugly. The city is well-done, and believable. It also features some really cool areas, like the arena (where you can fight in matches).

Trinity -> MoW -> ??? -> MotB would be an excellent plan, but IMO you're not saving the best for last. :wink:

 

[Erebus]

Is there any good fan-made module using the possibilities introduced in SoZ ? I didn't care for Storm of Zehir, but the overland map was interesting enough.

 

[Mangoose]

I wouldn't say MoW is fugly. The city is well-done, and believable. It also features some really cool areas, like the arena (where you can fight in matches).

Trinity -> MoW -> ??? -> MotB would be an excellent plan, but IMO you're not saving the best for last. :wink:

Hey, if I got a mod that deleveled me instead of leveling me I'd do the complete opposite. :p

 

[Whisperer]

Is there any good fan-made module using the possibilities introduced in SoZ ? I didn't care for Storm of Zehir, but the overland map was interesting enough.

Legacy of White Plume Mountain is even better than SoZ imo. It reuses some OC character models and still has some bugs, but it even made me, a sandbox hater, play it for 2 or 3 days.

Also, Misery Stone - it uses the overland map, very atmospheric, alas combat is a joke and that heavy metal combat tune has got to go. Not that I don't like metal, but it's Ravenloft, ffs.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Almost every NWN2 module I've played has just felt really flat and unappealing. Only exceptions were MotB (if that counts), Conan Chronicles 2 and parts of Asphyxia, and that's pushing it a bit. Traveller was okay, the premise was interesting but it ended up focusing on one or two areas so it wasn't really fulfilled.

 

[Crispy]

This is regarding one of the more memorable and well-done fights in Trinity. Obviously do not read if you do not want to be spoiled.

Spoiler

The Doomsphere fight in the school. This encounter was exceptional because of its execution by the designers. Normally most fights involve the A.I. rushing the party, but this one pits the group against a stationary foe, which makes it especially dangerous due to the orb's eyebeams. I was forced to rush him, and several of my characters were immediately incapacitated from its Sleep effect. Not all, though, so it remained fair. One could not just stand outside the doorway and pepper it with missiles and spells, since you'd immediately get hit with either the Sleep effect or a very damaging physical effect. Eventually I was able to get two of the group close enough to engage him, buying time for the spellcaster to slip in the room and set up for his own casting.

I don't believe the undead beholder used more than two of its eye attacks, which is also appreciated since that's canon to these types of creatures in FR, AFAIK.

It was an exhilarating encounter, one that makes you appreciate the use of sound tactics yet also makes you realize sometimes those just don't cut it. Sometimes you just have to charge in, weapons flailing. Just seeing the thing, at first, though, definitely gave me pause. At first I thought it was a poorly-placed and overpowered creature but afterwords realized it was yet again an exquisitely-balanced battle.

Not sure how it was coded in to get the Doomsphere to stay in one spot (I've never messed with the construction set myself) but I don't recall many encounters in any of the NWN2 family being quite like this one.

Very cool.

Still have a ways to go, really looking forward to the conclusion of this excellent module.

 

[betamin]

Now that I have a laptop one of the few games that I can play is nwn, I remember the OC being shit but I saw that there are a lot of modules, what's the codex view on them?