Neverwinter Nights 2

• Platform: PC
• Published by: Atari
• Developed by: Obsidian Entertainment
• Release Date: Oct 31, 2006
• Genre: RPG
• Multiplayer: Yes
• Online: Yes

Neverwinter Nights 2 Interview Continued..

Shack: Tell us more about the companions: do they have different reasons for fighting alongside the player; will traveling w/ different henchmen affect the path the player takes through the game; etc.

Baudoin: All of the companions have their own personality, stories, and motivations. And which companions you take with you can definitely impact the way the game goes, and potentially open up some options. Sometimes a companion is required for certain sections of the game. The whole goal is to make sure that they are deep and involved characters that sometimes interact with the story similar to the way you do.

Shack: Is there a way to give your companion a nudge in a direction you'd prefer them to take? Or do they fight exclusively for their own interests? If you can guide them, how is this accomplished?

Baudoin: Although it would be potentially realistic for companions to balk at certain tasks or go off to pursue their own interests, we go with a more Infinity Engine convention. They'll chime in and offer their two cents and you can get them so mad that they may not take it any more – but in combat you're the leader and they'll follow you. And if you want, you have the option at any time to directly take control of your companions and give them orders. That opens the door for more complex tactics and strategies through the course of your adventures.

Shack: Seems the conversation system has been affected by the winds of change. Tell us about this completely revamped system.

Baudoin: Yes and no. We still use the original conversation style for some things. But we do make extensive use of our cinematic dialog system – similar to what people saw in the Knights of the Old Republic series. It allows us designers to craft scenes and convey emotion similar to a director in a movie. It gives us plenty of opportunity to make for a more involved story.

Shack: The game's graphics look stunning. Tell us about the graphics engine that is being used for NWN2, and why it will enhance our gaming experience.

Baudoin: The graphics engine has been built from scratch - it's called Electron. Electron supports many of the latest graphics technology - normal mapping, dynamic lighting, and shader tech. We want Neverwinter Nights 2 to have good graphics not only for an RPG (traditionally a lower bar) but also compared to other games in 2006. Some of the environments the artists have worked on - wow. It's hard to believe it's our game at times. And the way lighting is done it is easy to use the same area and just by changing the time of day it looks different and breath-taking. The Dock District at dusk especially blows me away.

Shack: One of the main attractions of the original NWN was the fantastic toolset it included. Will experienced designers be able to dive right in?

Baudoin: The tool has been rebuilt to be faster, stronger, and it absolutely feels no pity... err... I mean, it's an advanced toolset that has no chance at all to take over the military industrial complex and rain devastation from the skies above. Yup, it's perfectly safe. Designers use the tools day in and day out, and we wanted a lot of improvements to the tool. It started off great - now it's great. For experienced designers it should take a few minutes of adjustment before you feel right at home and then start spotting some of the new capabilities. Some of the people we've hired for the project come from the Neverwinter Nights community - and they've been stunned. I expect it'll be the same for the community at large.

Shack: Map editing has always been an interest of mine, but everything is so darn complicated. What steps are being taken to entice budding map creators to give NWN2's tools a whirl?

Baudoin: As much as we want the experienced users to jump right in, we're taking pains to [help the] new modders can get into the swing of things. We're going to have a wide range of wizards to help new users make something quickly, including the ability to quickly generate outdoor areas. Interiors are still tile-based, so those will be much easier to jump right in and tweak (like the original game). It should be easy for new users to make something for their friends, with a ton of depth available to them if they want to use it.

Shack: What additions have been added to the toolset?

Baudoin: The dialog system has had so many improvements that typically time-consuming tasks are a breeze. You can pass parameters with script calls, which means instead of dozen scripts to handle very specific situations (e.g. "Does the speaker have a 3 Intelligence?") instead you can do it with one script. You can also do some Boolean logic on the script level, making it so you can spend less time scripting and more time designing. The toolset also allows tons of things to be tinted, so instead of one Merchant House that always looks a certain way - you can make it black, neon green, or plum. There's so much you can do.

Shack: Can modules from the first game be converted for use in NWN2?

Baudoin: Not wholesale, no. The way levels have been put together is completely different and it just wouldn't work. But wherever possible we've tried to make it so that previous work can be imported in. The good news is that dialogs and scripts can be imported into NWN2 remarkably well. We've taken great care to make sure that scripting commands from the first game are not modified so that they break in our game. If we need too many changes we make up a new command and put a note in the old one pointing you to the new and improved function. Seeing that dialog and scripting can be a huge chunk of work, it should allow people to hit the ground running. You can also import items and objects from the first game pretty easily, although you'll have to update their appearance to something from NWN2. A lot of the new magic items were created earlier in the NWN1 toolset and we just imported them straight into NWN2. You have to change a few things, but it works really well.

Shack: Multiplayer was lots of fun in the original game. Tell us how this aspect of NWN2 is shaping up so far.

Baudoin: The single-player campaign can be played in multiplayer with some friends, so out of the box you can have D&D fun with your pals – and we've made some additions to multiplayer to make partying easier and friendlier. But most of multiplayer in the original game came from the fans who've produced a staggering number of modules and demonstrated a remarkable amount of talent. So we're giving them more powerful tools, a next-gen engine, and the ability to do their work quicker. There are a lot more possibilities in NWN2 and once the community jumps in the possibilities are... well, endless.

Shack: The game's looking mighty fine! When will we be able to play it?

Baudoin: Thanks for the interview, and for fans who want to know more checkout our forums at http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/. Many of us at Obsidian post on occasion, so it's a good place to hear the latest goop and get more information about our game. If you want to see what else Obsidian has coming up or make suggestions, you're also welcome to check out our website at www.obsidianent.com.

Ferret sidestepped the release question like a real pro there, and that's because Atari has no hard release date set for the game. But look for the PC RPG sequel to be released this year.

Page One   Page Two   Comments