I have played NWN to the third chapter, but recently have not been able to apply and immerse myself to the storyline.
I've been distracted by the tool-set!
I take great pleasure in this fiendish tool. It helps that I recently took a C++ course, but to tell the truth that knowledge was not all too beneficial. Most of my existing knowledge of how to use the scripting part of the tool-set comes from the official tutorials--my C++ knowledge has done me little.
I have yet to publish anything to the public forum, but give me some weeks to polish up a true campaign and I will do so!
Once it is understood, even at the basic level I currently approach it, the tool-set is a simple mechanism for executing a DMs grand design. Slap down a creature, change its levels, change its possessions, feats, skills, look, faction, hit points, armour class, speed, spells, dialogue, and so forth and so on...
I am as enthusiastic with the power it gives me as I was when I first began to experiment with it. And that is more then I can say for other editors I have attempted.
Is it PnP quality? No. But we knew that going in.
It allows for limitless creativity in moderation. And this is the delightful contradiction that keeps me working on one module after another, trying to learn as much as I can as soon as I can, so that when I truly apply the skills I learn, I will make a game that may, for a while, capture and hold the interest of its players.
