What D&D Online SHOULD Have Been

[DaveMage]

One of the things in the last Ultima game (not Ultima Online) that I played was that you could swim and get boots of levitation that allowed you to walk on air. That was really cool.

 

[Goken100]

One of the things in the last Ultima game (not Ultima Online) that I played was that you could swim and get boots of levitation that allowed you to walk on air. That was really cool.

Sadly, Wikipedia indicates that NWN2 will be rendered in 3d, but only 2d for gameplay purposes. But there's still a lot that can be done with 2d! I gather, for example, that the terrain will appear to have hills and valleys. This can probably be accomplished by making certain areas harder or easier to pass through depending on the direction of travel.

Here's a question:
Was there any way in the old game for the "DM" to play along with the characters as they were playing a module? That is, could the DM control any NPCs or enemies if he wanted? Could he change other aspects of the setting to react to the PC actions. I mean, what if my players don't enter the sewers like I expected, but instead try to go find the vizier and try to catch him red handed while he's bribing a wizard or something? If I can't react to the unexpected, all the NPCs will just be sitting around, waiting for them to be "tricked" into entering the sewer.

 

[Lazybones]

Here's a question:
Was there any way in the old game for the "DM" to play along with the characters as they were playing a module? That is, could the DM control any NPCs or enemies if he wanted? Could he change other aspects of the setting to react to the PC actions. I mean, what if my players don't enter the sewers like I expected, but instead try to go find the vizier and try to catch him red handed while he's bribing a wizard or something? If I can't react to the unexpected, all the NPCs will just be sitting around, waiting for them to be "tricked" into entering the sewer.

You've basically described how I run my NWN camapign. I control ALL of the NPCs, and don't have scripted conversations. With a bit of practice, it's not that hard to control 3 NPCs having a conversation at once (it helps to be able to type at 65 wpm). All my mods are hand-crafted, and I personally like to keep a lot of extra NPCs and even some generic areas in the palette to cover contingencies if the players don't go the way I expect.

With the DMFI (DM-Friendly Initiative) tools installed in a module, you can even use skill checks to determine things outside the engine (like listening at a door, or climbing a cliff).

And I don't know if I'd agree with the above poster that you cannot create large worlds in NWN. My last two modules were over 130 areas, and I know some Persistent World projects that have >400 areas. NWN2 will cut down on that somewhat, due to the large module file sizes, but you can still link smaller modules into a bigger whole.

There is a list of DM-friendly modules for NWN at the Neverwinter Vault, here: http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.DMFM

 

[werk]

The thing with NWN is you can't really create huge worlds.

I didn't have any trouble making huge worlds in NWN at all, it was just time and labor intensive, and I had to update a lot of material everytime a patch or add-on was released. And you had to 'zone' from one map to another, but that was simple enough...no need to click a door or anything like that, unless that's what you wanted.

Is NWN2 getting continuously pushed back as I predicted?

 

[ThirdWizard]

Is NWN2 getting continuously pushed back as I predicted?

Yes, but its better than the alternative (ie KOTOR 2).

 

[Goken100]

Oh man, now I'm actually starting to get excited. Anybody have any idea what the system requirements are? I can't find them posted anywhere. My computer barely runs Civ4, so it probably won't pass muster.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I'm not sure, but maybe you can find it somewhere on their website:

http://www.atari.com/nwn2/

 

[Henry]

As I recall, isn't it that you can't have more than 64 players in one zone at a time in NWN1?

Anyone see how the specs for NWN2 will pan out for this?

Personally, my belief is that in any game with D&D's power level, you have to vet the players involved to be sure everyone has the same expectaion. The larger the crowd, there's always going to be someone who is looking to cheat the system and break the bank.

 

[Lazybones]

I thought that 64 players was the max for an entire server in NWN1, not just in one area. I don't generally go above 8 so I may be mistaken.

As for NWN2, the player cap will likely be smaller. I have heard that the game requires more bandwidth per player this time around. Broadband is required this time around for multiplayer. Plus the use of heightmaps for exterior areas will mean that each player will have to have part of the module (at least the walkmesh) on their server.

Some of the information released about the system requirements for NWN2 has been gathered here: http://www.nwn2wiki.org/System_requirements