NWN2 Screenshots are finally up

[eliandi]

Thanks for the update!

I was hoping for more NWN --> NWN2 compatability to make updating/porting custom content easier...no sense in losing all the great work on the NWN community like CEP and d20modern/Nightfire.

 

[Old One]

It is not for console, it is for PC, as stated in the page itself. There is NO NW for the console at all. I should know...I have all the PC verisons myself.

Duh...nevermind...suffering from dumb@ssitis today !

~ OO

 

[Lazybones]

I agree with Robert, my prediction is Fall 2006. Which is fine, I guess (although the screenies make me want it now); my two campaign groups are going quite well even with the three+ year old NWN.

I keep telling myself that each project will be my last on the Aurora Toolset, that I'm going to focus on other games and wait for NWN2. The first time I said that was 6 modules ago. Damn ideas won't stop coming, plus my current campaign groups have played through a lot of my stuff and I keep having to produce new content for them. Since I do DM-required modules exclusively (i.e. no scripted NPCs, everything is possessed by the DM), that makes the building a lot easier (although conversely a DM's Guide is almost a requirement for each project).

NWN has proven very flexible, largely due to the efforts of the custom content community. In addition to the fantasy staples, I've run a Firefly campaign, a Star Wars mod, and am planning a modern-meets-fantasy mod that involves modern day soldiers transported into a medieval setting at the behest of a powerful archmage.

At the same time, I'm putting aside some ideas for NWN2, so I can hit the ground running when the sequel is finally released.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Duh...nevermind...suffering from dumb@ssitis today !

~ OO

No problem.

 

[KenM]

I picked up the issue from PC gamer. A couple of dteails: They said they are keeping most of the coding intact from NWN, so custom builders can move to NWN2 with little trouble. Also this one will have real sub races and prestige classes from the start.

 

[Zulithe]

Anyone have a mirror of the images? They are gone, both at that link and at the nwn2news website referenced there

 

[Orius]

As for whether or not NWN1 makes sense right now - damn right it does. There is still a lot of NWN1 development going on behind closed doors. In fact, the most significant content releases since Hordes of the Underdark can be expected probably before this Christmas - so you would be well served by dusting off your NWN1.

I'm curious as to what this would be. Is this the 1.67 patch which is supposed to include the PotSC content? Or is it a community thing like a DLA project or the CTP (for which I'm drooling with anticipation).

Personally, I'm happy with NWN right now as it is, and I see no reason to upgrade to NWN2 when it comes out just because it will be new. I don't like how the gaming industry pumps all the latest titles, while older titles which are pretty good games fall into obscurity. My dislike of how the market is run was further deepened about a month and a half ago when I finally got a copy of HotU, and I found only 1 copy after looking in three different stores. Also, I have doubts my computer would be able to handle NWN2; there are some parts of HotU that tend to slow down on my machine because of all the eyecandy crammed into the module, and my guess is NWN2 would be worse. And there's already lots of great stuff out there for NWN to play with, modules, the CEP, and when it comes out the CTP. So what if it's an older game that doesn't have "realistic" graphics? I'm having fun with it.

 

[Lazybones]

If you're still having fun with NWN1, more power to you. I mostly play MP, and will convert over because a) I have a pretty fast computer that should be able to handle all the new eye candy, b) most of the multiplayer base will head to the new game, and c) I'm looking forward to the 3.5 rules and the new content (even if initially, there won't be as much as NWN+expansions+CEP).

BTW, here's the latest rumor/info on NWN2's requirements, compiled in Rhomal's awesome NWN2 FAQ (http://www.nwn2news.net/modules/smartfaq/).

Jason Keeney: I dont really know a thing about the 8500... what its capabilities are, if its dx9 compatible, etc, etc... But I do know that Doom 3 uses OpenGL for its graphics, and therefore, while the 8500 may not be Dx9 compatible (from a Direct3D point of view), it *may* be OpenGL 1.3 compatible and perfectly happy to run Doom 3.

However in our case we are acutally using the Direct3D component of DX9 and I'd have to say that the chances of getting NWN2 to run on non-DX9 compliant video card pretty much zero.

[Update Mar 2005] Feargus Urquhart: Some of the stuff is still up in the air, but we are pretty sure that it's going to be a 128MB video card.

[Update Oct 2005] Brian D. Lawson: To answer both questions here at once (unofficially of course):

1) The minimum estitamed memory to get the full eye candy will likely be 256 meg. However, that's going to require a rather potent chipset as well (i.e. 7800/R520 type of chip).

2) The minimum estimated spec to run the game outright will likely be a 128 meg shader model 2.0 card. But as we all know, there are plenty of those out there in the NVidia FX5xxx series of cards (mainly 128 meg versions) that are miserably slow in terms of their shader performance.

If you happen to have one of those and still want to play with decent performance, you can always run with the vertex lighting option turned on.

 

[eliandi]

I won't be able to run it with my present rig, but will still be interested. I will be about due for a new system...this could be a deal-breaker launch.

 

[Scorch]

New shots from Eurogamer

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61426

These are the real deal, not the fake ones from the French magazine.

Scorch out.