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Old 11-19-2006, 04:48 AM   #1
Ziroc
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     Bow to the Meow

 

Join Date: January 4, 2001
Location: Lakeland, Florida
Age: 51
Posts: 11,720
Someone compiled this list, and WOW, I agree with a lot of them.
(BTW, did you know anti-aliasing is broken in NWN2? lol. And there are memory leaks confirmed. Patch 1.03 will fix these)

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1: Cant "Duel Wield" from a Quick Slot, or even use a Sword and Shield from a Quick Slot.

2: Very Limited Voice Commands and no real easy access to the Sound sets. Why was pressing "V" so bad that it had to be taken away?

3: Context Sensitive Menu is Limited in comparison to the Radial menu. While the Context Sensitive menu is quicker in some situations, the fact that the Radial menu allowed you access to everything at all times means it got more much more use.

4: Very Poor Area Design, it seems that both interior and exterior world spaces suffer from rudimentary design flaws, such as cluttering up combat heavy spaces with placeables forcing your character to get stuck and die.

5: Combat Animations are appalling, actually... they are so bad they are not even there, no dance of death, no special combat conditions animations such as cleave which leaves combat feeling like whack a mole.

6: Character animations are staggered and unrealistic.

7: Music and Sounds have been recycled to an appalling degree. Roughly 95% of the Sounds from NWN have been reused for NWN2, Including Voice Sets and area music. This would have been a sentimental bonus if NWN2 had any of its own music or voice sets, but instead NWN2 rests upon the laurels of NWN.

8: Characters do not always perform cued actions in combat if already attacking. Casting spells from items or using feats/skills is very hit or miss. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and you and everyone else dies.

9: Death and re-spawn system Makes the OC a Joke on any Difficulty setting, the only real challenge NWN2 poses is dealing with the game stopping bugs and fighting with the UI.

10: Selecting targets in combat is slow and unresponsive meaning that often times instead of meeting a foe and engaging in combat your character will run past the MOB you were attempting to select because you clicked the ground instead.

11: Moving through doorways with any Camera is extremely awkward.

12: The OC Plot line is dull and cliche, with no real emotional connection to the PC.

"Do you know about your mother? No, Oh well Its not my place to tell you, so I wont just yet because its really not my place and its the only character hook we have that we need to reveal much later on so that you feel as if your character and history played some part in the story."

13: Character heads and hair are hideous and there is an extreme lack of selection. FaceGen could have easily been implemented, even for multiplayer. (Taking a Tip from unreal Tournament and having new user content if missing loaded on a map change.)

14: Character Portraits are as ugly as the heads they belong to. The old Portraits allowed players to be unique and creative.

15: Weapons are very basic and look out of place in comparison to the rest of the world, some of them like the Scythe's look as if they have been directly imported from NWN's with no changes made to update them.

16: The DM Client is awkward, clunky and is missing rudimentary functionality. It almost feels as if basic functions of the DM Client have been locked away from the people trying to use it, making it less of a tool, more a proof of concept.

17: Give/Take Level & XP is Missing from the DM Client.

18: Player Lists or a "Who's online" list is missing for both Multiplayer and the DM Client.

19: There is no "sit on the ground" animation, it has been replaced with "Kneel" which will make RPPW's a somewhat awkward task as most RP took place with people outside, sitting on the ground.

20: Chat Box is tiny and text quickly and easily disappears making Role Play very difficult if interacting with someone who can piece more than 2 words together at a time.

21: Chat "Rolls up" from players and disappears far to quickly, once more making in depth RP difficult .

22: Messy and overcomplicated UI for the toolset that makes duel monitors to manage all the menu's not an option but a requirement.

23: Swimming, Climbing and Jumping is absent, there is no real reason as to why these could not have been added. Where is the fun in improved terrain if all you can do is look at it?

24: By the Book adherence to the Rules in 3.5e, like all good DM's Bioware knew when to fudge the rules to make the game a more enjoyable experience.

25: Color Palette for Character creation is extremely limited and forces players into cookie cutter molds.

Why not open up all the color options, or even take a step forward and allow people to enter in the html code for the color they want.

26: No fat Character Models, the original NWN's allowed you to choose fat or thin, young or old.

27: No height slider for characters. Its one of the very few "New" features of NWN2 so why not let people use it?

28: Dialogue at times in the OC is sometimes downright funny, and not intentionally so. "Texan" Swamp farmers and "Irish" Wood elves for example. As well as those Lizard Folk running behind the poor farmer with torches like something out of groucho marks. You expect them to have top hats and Cains or cigars.

29: "Spearhead" dialogue options that don't even present the illusion of choice, but instead force the player down a predetermined path.

Whats the point in presenting multiple dialogue options if they all lead to the same response or some outcome?

30: Walkmeshs must be downloaded for each server without even so much as an automatic download feature.

31: NPC AI is horrific, that means the player must Micromanage everything otherwise NPC's will run off and get themselves (and possibly you killed) or stand around and refusing to engage in combat.

32: Automatic NPC "Open lock" or "Disarm Trap" fires inconsistantly. Sometimes the animation and voice will fire but the NPC will not actually unlock the door or disarm the trap.

33: Path finding is a joke, for all the walkmesh "improvements" the NPC path finding is so poor that the only thing you can be sure of is that if left to there own devices NPC's will either run around in circles or get stuck on an object.

34: WSAD Controls are hyper responsive that makes using WSAD Movement or even changing which direction your facing a difficult and finickety task.

35: Spells all look the same, while what few VFX there are look wonderful, spells no longer feel unique. In NWN's every spell had its own VFX (Even if it was just a culmination of several other VFX's added together) you could tell what was being cast purely by how it looked. Now there are so many spells that look exactly the same that you could be looking at the spell effect for 4 or more different spells.

36: Multiplayer Pausing in the OC is heavy handed and often times completely unnecessary. Not every dialogue is going to break the game, sometimes you just want to open up a merchant.

37: Dialogue Pausing will fire in combat, the rest of the world goes on but the other player not involved in the dialogue can not respond to attacks (They can still get hit and die however.)

38: Screen Turning happens at a snails pace, forcing players to use the middle mouse button if they want to turn the camera.

39: Every Camera Option has a major (and aggravating) issue with it. Top Down will become obstructed by walls or get pushed in so that you cant see anything. Free Camera has no real place in an RPG, even RTS games stopped using it. Chase camera has no way to easily turn around without moving forward & Driving Camera has major issues in interiors and especially doorways with becoming obstructed.

40: No First person perspective option, which makes interior ceilings a mute issue as the camera has to be at such a low angle to see them that it is something you only see when you want to take a screenshot, not when your actually playing.

41: Because the Game Forces you down one path "Alignment" and alignment shifts are a mute point. The Only time you get to be evil or attempt to maintain an evil alignment is via very crude and brutal "Kill them all" actions instead of "Talk a little first then kill them all" good response.

42: No real romance options in the OC, that is and always will be one of the guilty little pleasures of Gamers (Male and female alike3.)

43: NPC's only have enough personality to be annoying, there is no means to interact with them or get to know them.

44: Everything Leaves a loot bag.

45: Chat options are jumbled around or missing. The Old Whisper is now speak making the Talk/Listen radius far to small, the new Whisper is now tell, and DM Chat appears to be missing entirely.

46: No Multiplayer "Players" or "Who's online" list which makes it especially difficult to find players as a DM.

47: The OC has very little place for your character to be anything other than an Elven/Human Ranger. While you can choose to play any class or race, the story and gameplay all point to Elven/Human Ranger and make you feel a little out of place, going against the grain being anything else.

48: The overall visual Aesthetic looks exactly the same as NWN's especially in interiors, so much so, that unless you are really in close (with exception to lighting) you could mistake them for the same game.

This is a shame as the new Graphics engine gets underplayed and understated more often than not.

49: The Toolset is counterintuitive, especially in light of the previous toolset. Powerful does not have to equate to "Awkward to use." After over a month of working with it, there are still times I have to stop and think about "How" I'm supposed to do something basic. Took 3 weeks to Untrain "Z" as Raise/Lower instead of "Height Lock" as it is now.

In fact, its almost as if every command in the tool set now does the exact opposite of what it did in the old tool set.

50: in the OC NPC's are forced onto you, you have no option but to take them along and eventually dump them in the Tavern.

51: No Vertex Weighting, Hair is static, clothing is static. For a New and improved graphics Engine it seems rather limited when it comes to rendering the characters.

52: Load times are horrific, with 2 gigs of Ram and a 3 GHz processor there is still enough time waiting between loads from one area to the next to make a cup of tea.

53: It feels as if the number of clicks to do the most basic and simple of things has increased exponentially. Click, Drag, press Shift while standing on your head and drag your inventory item to Denmark.

54: Context Sensitive menu delay is far to long, even at its lowest settings its unusable in combat situations.

55: Inventory tetris has been replaced with tiny bland Icons that makes finding something in your inventory almost impossible. It all looks the same and some of the icons in no way shape or form look like the item they are attempting to represent.

56: No Exploration in the OC, An Area "Opens up" and appears on your map when what little story there is is forcing you to go there, and even there you can only walk the predetermined path. Even returning to a previous area is fruitless as the NPC's have no life, no spark, nothing to say or add.

57: Resting is still hypersensitive to creature proximity with no relation to the fact that there are 5 walls between you and the creature that you cant rest because of, and because of the way that most of the dungeons are designed, when you need to rest you often have to back track trying every little nook and cranny in the hope that you can find a spot that's "Just right" its as bad as trying to get reception on a cellphone in the 90's... can you hear me now?

58: When you die in multiplayer the MOBS do not respond and instead will hover over your corpses so that when you hit "re-spawn" they will kill you again... and again... and again... and again... and again. It doesn't add to the "Difficulty" but it does make dieing a very aggravating and frustrating experience at times. I would much rather loose some xp than die 40 times in a row due to the 10 archers all aiming for me the instant I re-spawn.

59: Minimap is pretty much useless unless it is to act as a spoiler.

60: No Fog of War except for in interior world spaces, but even then it only applies to unopened doors, as the player can instantly see all the corridors in a dungeon. It must be great to be able to see around corners. (Once more, poor area design)

61: You have to buy and sell items individually. Selling or buying potions one after the other after the other is extremely aggravating. What happened to "How many would you wish to buy/sell" I mean hell... if even Pokemon Emerald can add that basic functionality to merchants why cant NWN2?

62: In game books have no personality, they used to feel like you were reading a scroll, now the book text looks like yet another pop up menu.

63: In game Cut scenes have no volume control, dialogue will be really quiet and then very very loud then quiet again.

64: Cut scene cameras have been poorly placed and do not seem very streamlined or tested, sometimes your looking at the NPC's leg, sometimes the Sky, your characters arm or the back of there head or the screen is cut in half because its partly buried in the ground.

65: There is no feeling of contact in combat, blades pass through MOB's, spells fire and red numbers flash and that's about it, sometimes if your lucky you will get a reaction hit.

66: No ability to be naked, or even semi naked. Characters are in a permanently clothed state... did GTA:SA Scare people that much that now even undies are taboo?

67: You can no longer assign an auto function for an item on the quick slot bar. In NWN's you could select that an item would cast light, or heal or whatever... now you have to go via the Context Sensitive menu which makes using items a pain in the arse.

68: The VFX for Light spells (IE The glowing orbs above the players head) get in the way in any camera mode where the camera is not really far back or high up.

69: No Sneak Animation.

70: Animations do not always fire (Which seems to be a problem carried over from NWN's.) You Will stand over an Object when you should be Kneeling, or "Open" animations will fire after the door is already open etc.

71: +1 Items are still the gawdawful "Copper" color meaning that normal items are still more aesthetically pleasing and look more "real" than items that are 100x there value. This is more a personal dislike and distaste from the original.

72: Not enough random loot in the OC, you Kill X Mob and get Y item way to often, which makes replaying the OC none to thrilling.

73: The "Seamless" transition space for areas is wasted more often than not in the OC and adds unneeded Bulk to user mods which compresses the problems faced by PW creators due to the module size limitations because NWN2 acts like a bloated tick when it comes to areas.

74: The World Map Transition Icon is large, garish, destroys immersion and is often times placed in a position where you have to move the camera behind the transition otherwise all the PC will do is open and close the transition doors that the Map transition is sitting on.

75: No Mounts or Mounted Combat, something that was achieved for NWN's late in its life and was a promised feature of NWN2, so much so that it appears on the presale box.

76: Only 2 Dragons that can only be moderately tinted.

77: Tinting for Buildings and Creatures is extremely limited, often only being the roof or the buildings trim and a great many buildings or placeables cannot be tinted at all.

78: Hair styles are almost the same for every race which does very little for character diversity.

79: More quest bugs than you can shake a stick at, everything from the Game Crashing when attempting to load a cut scene, to quests repeating themselves over and over again even after you have completed them.

80: NPC Death/respawn system sometimes gets stuck and your NPC's will not automatically stand back up after combat, cant be healed and cant be raised... and you cant leave the area you are in to get aid so your left with only the option to reload from a previous save and hope they don't die, and if they do... that they stand back up again.

81: Impossible to open doors have been placed in seemingly "key" areas and where MOB's can still attack you.

82: Game is artificially limited to 20 levels (much like DVD regions) references are made to Epic Level feats in the 2da's and there are even feat Scripts left in from HotU. While this has little effect on the OC it could of had a great deal of effect on Multiplayer.

83: Most of the "New" Content in terms of feats and PrC's seems to be taken directly from The Players Resource Consortium. While I know it all comes from the same fount, it just seems a little odd that things the Community had already added and had become popular and Successful make it into NWN2. So many PrC's and feats to choose from and yet
the same ones keep on cropping up.

While I know this is because both draw from 3.5e and both listened to the Community's demands... I cant seem to shake the feeling of "Been there done that, that's new? I thought that was always in NWN?" and I half expect to open up the tool set and see the same scripts from PRC in NWN2.

84: Quest Giver NPC's feel as if they are fighting with you in order to give you the quest they are forcing on you. Your trying to go from A-B and NPC X appears out of no where and demands or whines you into doing quest Z and you have to sit through 20 layers of the same repeating dialogue in order for you to mark the next area you have to get to. Sometimes it actually seems it takes longer to get the quest than it does to complete it.

While I have no problem with dialogue (What is an RPG without dialogue?) the quest givers just feel stilted and like they are dragging it out for everything its worth to the point that your hitting "1" just to get through the same convoluted tripe once more.

Give me with detail, depth and story, don't bore me with reiterating the same point or goal from the same NPC et infinitum to the point that the quest is a dead horse long before it has begun.

85: The US Limited Edition is a Joke, The Rings are Incredibly Cheap. I mean, I was Expecting Cheap, but not Cracker Jack Cheap, and just who's fingers are the rings supposed to fit? To large for a kid, to small for an adult. The Cloth Map is Tiny and Thin and the Concept Art Booklet is all Screenshots or Tiny little Sketches that would have actually been of interest were they not half an inch by half an inch in Size.

Compared to the UK version getting The Original NWN With Expansions, we seriously got jipped. Granted that is all the Publishers deal and in a year they will probably sell "NWN Complete" Packaging NWN/SoU/HotU, NWN2 & All premium Modules just before Obsidian releases there first expansion for NWN2.

86: The Run animations for duel wield make the PC's look like Bella Lagousey as Dracula, trying to shield his face from the sun.

87: Cloaks look horrible, not only are they once again paper thin but the way they attach to the PC's shoulders leave you looking directly through the "Loop" at the shoulders if your not wearing armor with huge pauldrons to hide it.

88: There is no feeling of Travel between Areas as the world map is tiny, they feel like exactly what they are, which cheap and Dirty fast travel options between instanced areas. Even Fallout went so far as to give you a little dotted line between point a-b and the option to stop off or have an honest to god, truly random encounter.. not just a planned encounter popping up before you can go to the next predetermined area.

89: NPC's have no Spark of life about them in terms of NPC to NPC interaction. They are extremely scripted, so much so that if and when they do spuraticly spout a line of dialogue its as if they are looking for there blacking marks on the ground and holding up there script.

"Hold on guys I think I have a line here.. Ok here it goes. We have now reached the City of Neverwinter, You two pissed me off on the journey... no don't actually bother responding to me or having an actual discussion with me about anything, and I'm not actually going to go anywhere like I said I would but instead stick to the group"

In KotOR, NPC's would stop and have conversations with each other depending upon who you had in the party and where you were or what actions your character had just made. NWN2 lacks even that small amount of depth giving you no way to interact with your companions except when the game occasionally allows you to have a dialogue option or two with them... which generally has no effect on them, they do what they were going to do anyway and you either loose or gain influence for agreeing or disagreeing with them.

Granted they are a hell of a lot better than the original NWN's but in comparison to even KotOR2 they have a great deal to answer for.

Even the abortion of the TES Series that was Oblivion managed to give the NPC's some personality, so Radiant AI was not very advanced but it at least made an attempt.

90: Interior Tile sets are extremely limited, while It is nice that we can fit together different tiles in some sembalance of a master List, that does not excuse the fact that there are crucial... key tilesets missing.

Sewers for example.

While I understand you only added what you would need for the OC it still leaves the modding Community high and dry on some tileset basics.

91: One of the worst crafting systems ever conceived. Having to Buy "Molds" for everything you want to create... you don't cast anything in a Mould, Weapons and Armor are tempered, not Poured. Has no one at Obsidian ever been to a Blacksmiths Forge or even to your run of the mill Ren fair?

Its a quick and Dirty Craft system ripped mostly from KotOR because every RPG apparently has to have one.

92: The OC is totally Monty Haul, Swamp Farmers with +1 Weapons, Low Level Lizard Folk with Flaming/Lighting/Whatever weapons. Oh look, I found another +4 Burning Sword of Doom, toss it onto the pile we have going.

93: The Cityscape of the City of Neverwinter is bland, uninteresting and placeables seem to be tossed around randomly. Why is there a mini Obelisk in the middle of the road? Why do the Docks have a Gazebo? Why are all the doors missing? I mean, I understand not wanting to make an interior for each building you place, but surely a tiny little cell with an NPC to talk to... oh that’s right I forgot, no main plot related dialogue or Life to any of the NPC's not in your party.

94: Middle mouse Button is a horrible way to control the camera, considering how little the context sensitive menu is used it would have made far more sense to switch Right Click/Middle Click Functionality... or even offer it as an option in the controls.

95: No "Quick Switch" option between two sets of weapons, NWN's had it, KotOR had it, why does NWN2 lack the option? Why am I switching to a bow, then having to re-requip both weapons via the inventory screen in the middle of combat?

96: The Limited Edition box opens upside down. Most every game opens from the top, NWN2LE opens from the Bottom... why? Now after a couple of days of not being taped up, the bottom has bulged out and the LE Box no longer will stand up on my shelf of its own accord, its pushing games off with it which is getting rather aggravating.

97: The shiny cover paper on the regular edition of NWN2 smears the ink of the CD Key, so in great Atari NWN's tradition they CD key is illegible and requires guess work.

98: NWN2 is not an "Old School" RPG, It is an outdated RPG that was rushed and regurgitates the Content of a 5 year old RPG. When did we change the meaning of the term "Classic D&D" to mean "Limited and Compromising" hmm?

I am truly surprised that Websites and Magazines are giving it the Ratings it has been getting, the only accurate score was pulled because the reviewer was making a statement about AD&D in general, not the actual Game.

There is no attempt at being New, or doing something Inventive, Its just half arsed attempts at cobbling together aspects that worked in other games.

99: Pre-release was over hyped and then botched to the point that it killed a great deal of the thrill and excitement for the games actual release. To say the pre-release toolset debatable lowered my expectations is an understatement. I picked up 2 Copies of NWN2 with all the enthusiasm of buying milk... i was actually more excited by Guitar Hero 2 then I was for NWN2 (That I had been waiting for expectantly after HotU and they announced they were making plans for NWN2 and Obsidian taking the franchise out of Biowares hands.)

100: NWN2 rests far to much on the laurels of NWN's and the NWN's Modding Community, it in no way, shape or form stands solely upon its own Merrits. People have upgraded there systems, spent hundreds or thousands of dollars (Or Ero's depending) to play this game. The Community deserved better, the Players and Fans deserved better. NWN2 needed to be in development for another year, perhaps even two. Instead Old Content has been regurgitated, and features "new" have only been half implemented due to time constraints.

People really did not ask for much, If all NWN2 had done, was update the graphics a little and left everything else exactly the same then people would have complained a lot less.

NWN2 attempted to do far to much and instead accomplished almost nothing that it originally "promised" and have managed to trample on what made the original so great.

This will be a great game in a year, perhaps even two. The Community instead of having to bandage a couple of sore spots have to regrow limbs... and NWN2 is heavily In need to core patching (And perhaps even an expansion) to fix basic functionality and implement missing features.

101: As if to rub salt in the wounds, A 7 day free Trial of DDO was included with NWN2 as if to say "If you want D&D Multiplayer? Play DDO, you have no more choice because we have striped out everything that was good about NWN Multiplayer and left only the shell for you to look at" It really is salt in the wounds at everything we have lost.

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Old 11-19-2006, 09:11 AM   #2
Harkoliar
Jack Burton
 

Join Date: March 21, 2001
Location: Philippines, but now Harbor City Sydney
Age: 40
Posts: 5,556
alot of these would be in the video graphics aspect compenent. Shame really
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Old 11-19-2006, 09:38 AM   #3
SpiritWarrior
Jack Burton
 

Join Date: May 31, 2002
Location: Ireland
Posts: 5,854
Beta patch is out this wednesday. Seems to fix much. I will be getting it for sure.

New Features

General
• Weapon combos in hotbar: Added the ability to set up dual weapon, weapon & shield, or weapon & torch combos in the hotbar. Clicking the hotbar button for a weapon you already have equipped will unequip it.

• Camera Changes: We’ve made a series of camera changes to this version:
o New options for adjusting sensitivity for controlling the camera by keyboard, mouse, and edge of screen.
o Chase Cam adjusted to work more like NWN1.
o In free cam mode, the arrow keys now pan the camera, and holding down CTRL will zoom and yaw the camera.
o Added bindable keyboard key for mouse look / camera control. This mimics functionality of pressing down the middle mouse button for those without a middle mouse button.

• Graphics Optimizations: A number of new graphics optimizations have been added:
o Anti-Aliasing Support: Anti-aliasing is now supported and can be enabled in the Options Menu. Please note: This could significantly affect frame rate, depending on your hardware.
o Shadow Rendering: Shadow rendering speed has been improved.
o Tree Rendering: Speed improvements to the rendering of trees.
o Water Rendering: Speed improvements to how water is rendered by the engine.

• New Options:
o Buy/Sell Confirmation: You can now turn off the buy/sell confirmation dialog.
o Options menu has been reorganized to support many new camera control options.
o You can now change keybindings in game.

• Database Support:
o The database script functions from NWN1 have been re-enabled. They are now significantly faster in many cases.

Multiplayer
• Improved /t style chat.

DM Client
• Added initial support for hotbar buttons and context menus.
• Added in party bar. It will only list the connected players in the game and not who is in your faction.
• You can now hover over menu items in the Chooser instead of having to click on them first.
• “Very Easy” difficulty option has been restored.
• The DM chat channel is once again available via the /dm prefix.

Scripting
• EffectWildshape() – New function for Wildshape effect.
• GetEncumbranceState () - Added script function to get the encumbrance state of a given player
• GetPlayerCreatureExamineTarget() - Added script function to get the current creature examine target for a player
• PackCampaignDatabase() – A new database feature to NWN2, this will pack the campaign database and purge deleted records from a database.
• GetPlayerTargetObject() – New script function to get the current selected target object for a given player.
• UnlinkDoor() – New script command to turn an area transition door into a normal door.
• Database support has been added, including new PackCampaignDatabase() function.

Toolset
• Added a load screen image previewer.
• Added item icon previewer.
• Area names and tags now default to the area’s file name for new areas.
• The spell tab now shows multiple instances of spells, so creatures can have multiple instances of a spell with different metamagic types.
• Right-clicking while placing tiles now rotates the tile.
• The first column and row of the 2DA viewer are now pinned, making it easier to use.
• Changes on item blueprints will now be propagated to items in creature or placeable inventories, or that are equipped on creatures.
• Added new option to the File menu that allows the user to compile only currently open scripts.
• There is a new panel in the script editor that allows the user to insert scripts from the NWN2Toolset\Templates folder into the current script.
• Script search functionality changed to bring up all results in one result window and the user can double-click to open up that search result.
• Item cost calculations added to the item properties.
• New visual style.
• Doors now have a flag that allows them to render an invisible area transition (aka an invisible "black door.") This is adjustable in the toolset. This is to address concerns with the “black area” behind open doors and how silly it looked on open gates in the middle of Neverwinter, etc.
• When users enter a string ref, they can also check a box to say that the string ref is from the custom file and the string returned will be from that file instead of the main .tlk table.
• Feminine versions of strings are now editable.
• Hex values can now be used as string references within 2DAs. This makes it easier to use custom TLK files with 2DAs.
• The script editor runs faster and uses less memory.

Bug Fixes

General
• Animal Companions, Familiars, and Summoned Creatures are now unsummoned when a roster member is being despawned. This will address problems where companions can become familiars on transitions.
• Some minor adjustments to the pathing system to prevent characters from being put into illegal areas.
• Split out Armored Caster feat into class specific feats for Bards and Warlocks to properly apply spell failure percentages. This will allow users who add new classes to give them specific armored casting ability easily.
• Some minor fixes to drop shadow rendering.
• The debug DirectX check has been removed – some users had problems running the game, even without the DirectX SDK being installed.
• The game would crash when a module with more than 16,000 objects was loaded.
• Fixed a memory leak related to grass that would occur in certain areas.

Multiplayer
• Fixed issue when a player was resurrected by another player, the “respawn” button would stay up on their screen, and could be used to restore life and remove effects.

DM Client
• Added larger “+” buttons for the Chooser and Creator to make them easier to click on.
• Fixed some issues with keymapping.
• Player list is used instead of the party list when displaying party members on the minimap and areamap.
• DM’s can now area transition while possessing something and the entire faction doesn’t come with them.
• Fixed issue with trying to possess a creature in a different area than the one the DM is currently standing in.
• Fixed mouse action target for Dungeon Masters, so they don't start conversations with everyone. Also fixed highlight, so they can't always highlight themselves.
• DM can now move around while game is paused.
• Moved feats granted to a DM character from being hard-coded to a new flag in the feat.2da, "DMFeat". If it's marked as 0, the DM doesn't get it; as 1, he does.
• NWN database bug: Variables names are now properly truncated to 32 characters in all cases.

Effects/Spells
• If weapon trails are disabled in the options menu, hit and parry visuals are disabled as well.
• Character validation was not taking Spellcasting Prodigy into account for a number of spells wizards learn at first level.
• You no longer get max spells after unequipping an ability boost item, then an extra spell slot item. Also, changed extra spell slot items so that they only grant extra spell slots if you are capable of casting spells of that level.
• Neutralize Poison should not remove Disease and Ability Decrease effects.
• Lowered Frenzy damage to 6 per round.
• You can no longer recover traps with DC 20 or higher if you do not have the Trapfinding feat. If you try to disarm or recover a DC 20+ trap without Trapfinding, you will receive feedback that success is never possible; it is still possible to suffer a critical failure and have the trap go off on you. You can still flag, examine, and set a trap of any DC without Trapfinding; you can also always disarm or recover a trap you set yourself.
• EffectShareDamage() was not actually applying damage to the caster.
• Some fixes to global scripts on how spells affect NPCs, etc., in Hardcore mode.
• Finger of Death affects players in multiplayer mode now.
• Heal spells no longer call a touch attack when cast on undead.
• The Mass Inflict Line of spells now properly call a will save instead of a Fort save.
• The Mass Inflict Line of spells have now been updated to have the same behavior as Mass Inflict Light Wounds in regards to target discrimination and undead.
• Mass Inflict Light Wounds no longer harms hostile undead. Neither will it heal them. The healing effect is only applied to friendly undead.
• Casting Mage Armor on a character who already has Improved Mage Armor applied will no longer remove the stronger spell.
• Improved Mage Armor now correctly provides +6 AC rather than +8.
• The duration on Tymora’s Smile has been corrected.
• The spells Foundation of Stone, Body of Sun, Jagged Tooth, Tortoise Shell, Swamp Lung, Storm Avatar, and Nature's Avatar now properly apply their metamagic abilities.
• Tymora's Smile is now self-cast only.
• Crafting wands, potions, and scrolls was not working for many spells. All spells should now craft properly.
• Soothing Light will now auto-cast when selected.
• Guarding the Lord will now only target other creatures.
• Warlock Darkness now has the same targeting UI as arcane Darkness.
• Mass Heal now has a range of "close."
• The Mass Cure line of spells now uniformly have a range of "close."
• Old behavior for Bigby's 3 was causing some creatures to become paralyzed rather than immobilized in order to simulate grappling. This allowed them a chance to break out on a will save. The paralysis effect has been replaced with an immobilization effect.
• Prismatic Spray was always petrifying, rather than applying a random effect. This is fixed.
• Web and Greater Shadow Conjuration/Web now have the same targeting UI.
• Greater Fireburst will no longer damage the caster on hardcore difficulty.
• Fireburst will no longer harm the caster.
• Iron Horn now properly uses a cone shape instead of a sphere.
• Foundation of stone was calculating its duration in seconds rather than rounds. This has been fixed.
• Magic Fang and Greater Magic Fang now can be applied to any animal, beast, or vermin. This includes wildshaped druids.
• Missile Storm will no longer target friendlies on hardcore mode.
• Bombardment now knocks down targets on a failed save.
• Blade Barrier now plays a species specific blood spray when it damages a target.
• Destruction now checks the target for death immunity.

Items
• Changed Holy Avenger bonus damage from 1d6 to 2d6 vs. evil.

Scripting
• AttemptToDisarmTrap() - Returns FALSE if character cannot path to trap instead of assuming they don't have the skill points to do so.
• GetArmorRank - Returns whether an equipped item is ARMOR_RANK_NONE, _LIGHT, _MEDIUM, or _HEAVY
• GetSpellLevel() wasn’t taking cleric domains into account. This has been fixed.
• GetWeaponType() – Lets Keen Edge spell also affect piercing weapons.
• TalentSpellFilter() – This has been standardized in regards to Keen Edge and Weapon of Impact.
• Added script command gr_character_xml run from console that will export character data in XML format to the log.
• Fixed X2_inc_switches constant that was causing the override spellscript and the tagbased script prefix to overwrite each other.
• NPC casters can no longer affect themselves with AOE spells in Hardcore+ difficulty
• NPCs of non-opposed factions can no longer affect each other with AOE spells in Hardcore+ difficulty
• Added additional effects and fixed parameter listing for ga_effect.
Crafting
• 'Medalion of Thought' recipe now gives that item instead of the 'Talisman of Pure Evil'
• The 'Armor of Arrow Deflection' recipe now gives the correct effect and not 'Spell Specialization: Abjuration' on the Armor enchanted
• 'Invulnerable Armor' recipe now give Damage Reduction Effect
• 'Posion Weapon' recipe now give poison effect
• The 'Armor of Spell Resistance' recipes now gives spell resistance effect.
• Crafted wands, and scrolls now give the correct class restrictions based on class spell lists.
• Wands and potions now take into account the class and level of the caster for determining if the max spell level is surpasses instead of using the innate level of a spell.
• removed item cast at item restriction for spell storing devices (wands, potions, scrolls)
• Reduced cost of 0 level spells for wands, potions, and scrolls by half
• Added warlock darkness crafting recipes for Gold Filigree Charm and Infernal Focus
• Number of charges for newly crafted wand now defaults to 50.

Interface
• Fixed a bug where screen edge turning was frame rate dependent, making the camera behave differently based on graphics settings or area.
• Fixed a few minor bugs with mouse selection.
• Save game name will now show up properly when overwriting savegames.
• Fixed issue where gaining bonus feats from items were not causing a refresh of the character sheet.
• The character ‘ψ’ has been added to our fonts.
• Context Menu Delay slider and Weapon trail Option are now properly saved and read in correctly.
• You can no longer resize on of the multiplayer chat windows offscreen.
• You can now click past feat selection if you have no feats to select. You lose that feat pick permanently. This was added so characters with low stats in core abilities could process through level up.

Toolset
• Turning off fog along with the “use area far plane” option now works correctly, and will render the area up to the far plane specified in the Graphics section of the Options screen.
• Oriented billboards in visual effects will now render correctly in the toolset.
• Weapon scaling now looks correct in the toolset.
• Fixed a bug with the script and conversation search windows stealing focus.
• Fixed a bug with changes to spells not getting saved if the active tab was changed before changes were applied.
• Level 9 spells are now saved correctly for creatures.
• Font preferences are now saved correctly.
• Fixed a bug where docking windows would snap closed if a drop-down box was used while they were shown.
• Reduction in memory pre-allocation by half. This should address some customer reported issues with the toolset crashing on load.
• Some improvements to script editor speed and reductions in memory usage.
• Fixed a bug where placed instances of stores weren't copying the "infinite" flag for items.
• Fixed memory leak when erasing grass.
• Fixed issue for non-English versions where some required toolset preferences were not being loaded.
• Module variables are now displayed under the “Scripts” category.
• Fixed bug where turning off light spheres would turn off sound spheres.
• Focus wouldn’t change properly when clicking on the propertygrid or the blueprint view. Fixed.
• Fixed crash when trying to modify prefabs in the universal blueprint changer.
• Fix for an exception that could be thrown if a journal was modified from code (like a plugin.)
• Fixed inability to modify camera orientation, Orientation has been re-enabled.
• Some fixes to toolset memory management to improve stability.
• Floating windows that are offscreen will be moved back onscreen on startup.
• Newly-created blueprints will have their template property set to the same name as the blueprint.
• Fixed a bug where creating new item blueprints, assigning them to a creature or placeable, and then immediately placing the creature or placeable would result in the item having incorrect properties.
• Fixed a bug in the script editor where certain NWN-specific data types would confuse the parameter info display.
• Using the “Find All” button in the script search window now displays all results in a popup window. Users can select the matching script/line they want to view.
• An estimated value for the cost of an item (before appraise rolls etc) has been added to the properties of items.
• Updated look and feel of the tab controls.
• Fixed a bug with the “Save” button in the world map editor. It will no longer corrupt map images.

In addition to the fixes listed above, there are a series of single player campaign fixes coming as well! More info on that next week
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Old 11-19-2006, 09:44 AM   #4
robertthebard
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Quote:
• Weapon combos in hotbar: Added the ability to set up dual weapon, weapon & shield, or weapon & torch combos in the hotbar. Clicking the hotbar button for a weapon you already have equipped will unequip it.
...uh, yeah. Why wasn't this enabled from day 1? It's not like it was an unheard of feature prior to NWN2.
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Old 11-19-2006, 10:21 AM   #5
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So technically by the time I get a computer powerful enough to run this game, it'll actually be playable all the way through without any complaints from me? Wicked! Hopefully, patch 1.15 will come out before December, as right now that's my current scheduled timeline for the completion of my new gaming machine. (After this, it'll be AM2 processors and motherboards for me!)
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Old 11-19-2006, 10:45 AM   #6
Micah Foehammer
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I certainly do NOT agree with that list, at least not in it's entirety! A rebuttal:

1: Cant "Duel Wield" from a Quick Slot, or even use a Sword and Shield from a Quick Slot.

True. Being fixed in a patch.

2: Very Limited Voice Commands and no real easy access to the Sound sets. Why was pressing "V" so bad that it had to be taken away?

And why is it number two on this list? Imho, this is a picky complaint.

3: Context Sensitive Menu is Limited in comparison to the Radial menu. While the Context Sensitive menu is quicker in some situations, the fact that the Radial menu allowed you access to everything at all times means it got more much more use.

And imo the radial menu was cumbersome to use. Took forever to get to spells, the quick cast bar is MUCH faster.

4: Very Poor Area Design, it seems that both interior and exterior world spaces suffer from rudimentary design flaws, such as cluttering up combat heavy spaces with placeables forcing your character to get stuck and die.

I wouldn't call the area design very poor and I have yet to run into a situation where the area design seemed unrealistic. As for pathfinding issues, I have yet to have a character get stuck.

5: Combat Animations are appalling, actually... they are so bad they are not even there, no dance of death, no special combat conditions animations such as cleave which leaves combat feeling like whack a mole.

6: Character animations are staggered and unrealistic.

#'s 5 and 6 are just variations on a theme, and I don't agree. I do wonder what type of system this guy is playing on and if the REAL issue here is his frame rate.

7: Music and Sounds have been recycled to an appalling degree. Roughly 95% of the Sounds from NWN have been reused for NWN2, Including Voice Sets and area music. This would have been a sentimental bonus if NWN2 had any of its own music or voice sets, but instead NWN2 rests upon the laurels of NWN.

Okay, this is supposed to be a sequel to NWN 1, right? So why is importing content from a game that everyone liked a BAD thing?

8: Characters do not always perform cued actions in combat if already attacking. Casting spells from items or using feats/skills is very hit or miss. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and you and everyone else dies.

Never had a problem with this.

9: Death and re-spawn system Makes the OC a Joke on any Difficulty setting, the only real challenge NWN2 poses is dealing with the game stopping bugs and fighting with the UI.

*sigh* Why is the death and re-spawn system a joke? The reviewer offers us an opinion and NOT one fact to back it up. And to make matters worse, he switches gears in MID_SENTENCE and brings up a second completely different issue.

10: Selecting targets in combat is slow and unresponsive meaning that often times instead of meeting a foe and engaging in combat your character will run past the MOB you were attempting to select because you clicked the ground instead.

This falls under the category of USER ERROR! The same thing could happen in NWN if you weren't careful. Pause the bleeping game if you can't target your enemies on the run!

11: Moving through doorways with any Camera is extremely awkward.

Agreed. The camera angles do have a tendency to lose their place when making transitions.

12: The OC Plot line is dull and cliche, with no real emotional connection to the PC.

This is the writer's Personal opinion - i don't agree at all.

13: Character heads and hair are hideous and there is an extreme lack of selection.

The included heads are NOT hideous - again that is the writer's personal opinion.

14: Character Portraits are as ugly as the heads they belong to. The old Portraits allowed players to be unique and creative.

I agree on this one. I don't like the 3D portaits in the least. Again though this is a personal preference.

15: Weapons are very basic and look out of place in comparison to the rest of the world, some of them like the Scythe's look as if they have been directly imported from NWN's with no changes made to update them.

Again this is supposed to be a sequel to NWN 1, right? So why is importing content from a game that everyone liked a BAD thing?

16: The DM Client is awkward, clunky and is missing rudimentary functionality. It almost feels as if basic functions of the DM Client have been locked away from the people trying to use it, making it less of a tool, more a proof of concept.

17: Give/Take Level & XP is Missing from the DM Client.

18: Player Lists or a "Who's online" list is missing for both Multiplayer and the DM Client.

Items 16, 17, and 18 are all issues relating to persistent world gaming and I could care less that the functionality the writer misses is gone.

19: There is no "sit on the ground" animation, it has been replaced with "Kneel" which will make RPPW's a somewhat awkward task as most RP took place with people outside, sitting on the ground.

Oh for pete's sake, the "resting" animation just looks fine. Sit, Kneel - this is such a MINOR problem that I can't even believe that he puts it on this list.

20: Chat Box is tiny and text quickly and easily disappears making Role Play very difficult if interacting with someone who can piece more than 2 words together at a time.

Agreed. This should be bigger.

21: Chat "Rolls up" from players and disappears far to quickly, once more making in depth RP difficult .

Same thing as number 20.

22: Messy and overcomplicated UI for the toolset that makes duel monitors to manage all the menu's not an option but a requirement.

Totally disagree. Except for the chat window, the new UI is far less obtrusive than the screen filling radial menu was.

23: Swimming, Climbing and Jumping is absent, there is no real reason as to why these could not have been added. Where is the fun in improved terrain if all you can do is look at it?

I'm surprised the writer excluded horse back riding! Sheesh.

24: By the Book adherence to the Rules in 3.5e, like all good DM's Bioware knew when to fudge the rules to make the game a more enjoyable experience.

Not a valid point! We ALL knew that NWN2 was going to be based on v3.5 It was apparent from the get go that the main reason that Obsidian did the design instead of Bioware was because Bioware had a belly full of WOTC's micro-managing the game design and forcing Bioware to cut to the letter of rules.

25: Color Palette for Character creation is extremely limited and forces players into cookie cutter molds.

Again, this in NOT true imho. There is more than enough color variation to customize your character.

26: No fat Character Models, the original NWN's allowed you to choose fat or thin, young or old.

Okay, there are a number of variations in body type, race and age and the only thing that the writer claims is missing is a FAT character model? Seems picky to me.

27: No height slider for characters. Its one of the very few "New" features of NWN2 so why not let people use it?

Picky

28: Dialogue at times in the OC is sometimes downright funny, and not intentionally so. "Texan" Swamp farmers and "Irish" Wood elves for example. As well as those Lizard Folk running behind the poor farmer with torches like something out of groucho marks. You expect them to have top hats and Cains or cigars.

Actually Orlen sounds more like Elvis to me.

29: "Spearhead" dialogue options that don't even present the illusion of choice, but instead force the player down a predetermined path.

Whats the point in presenting multiple dialogue options if they all lead to the same response or some outcome?

This may actually be a decent point. I have gotten the opinion that AT CERTAIN times, my dialogue choices did not matter. On the other hand, I CAN testify that the Diplomacy / Bluff / Inimidate skills DO WORK and they WORK well.

30: Walkmeshs must be downloaded for each server without even so much as an automatic download feature.

YAWN! Who gives a darn?

31: NPC AI is horrific, that means the player must Micromanage everything otherwise NPC's will run off and get themselves (and possibly you killed) or stand around and refusing to engage in combat.

AI has ALWAYS been an issue, and NWN2 is better than any of its predecessors. The writer also conveniently forgets how much we moaned over having NO CONTROL of the NPC characters, and now he seems to be complaigning that we have TOO much!

32: Automatic NPC "Open lock" or "Disarm Trap" fires inconsistantly. Sometimes the animation and voice will fire but the NPC will not actually unlock the door or disarm the trap.

Not for me. Works everytime!

33: Path finding is a joke, for all the walkmesh "improvements" the NPC path finding is so poor that the only thing you can be sure of is that if left to there own devices NPC's will either run around in circles or get stuck on an object.

Again, imho pathfinding is a huge improvement over IWD, BG, and NWN 1. I haven't encountered anything close to what the writer suggests.

34: WSAD Controls are hyper responsive that makes using WSAD Movement or even changing which direction your facing a difficult and finickety task.

Again, I do not have this problem.

35: Spells all look the same, while what few VFX there are look wonderful, spells no longer feel unique. In NWN's every spell had its own VFX (Even if it was just a culmination of several other VFX's added together) you could tell what was being cast purely by how it looked. Now there are so many spells that look exactly the same that you could be looking at the spell effect for 4 or more different spells.

Don't know if this is valid or not. I haven't played a spellcaster yet, so I can't comment. I am sceptical that the designers, who apparently used a ton of NWN 1 content already, would not have simply copied over the VFX effects for the spells.

36: Multiplayer Pausing in the OC is heavy handed and often times completely unnecessary. Not every dialogue is going to break the game, sometimes you just want to open up a merchant.

Can't comment - haven't played in mplayer mode yet.

37: Dialogue Pausing will fire in combat, the rest of the world goes on but the other player not involved in the dialogue can not respond to attacks (They can still get hit and die however.)

38: Screen Turning happens at a snails pace, forcing players to use the middle mouse button if they want to turn the camera.

Not an issue on my system. I wonder what this guy is playing the game on, an old P2?

39: Every Camera Option has a major (and aggravating) issue with it. Top Down will become obstructed by walls or get pushed in so that you cant see anything. Free Camera has no real place in an RPG, even RTS games stopped using it. Chase camera has no way to easily turn around without moving forward & Driving Camera has major issues in interiors and especially doorways with becoming obstructed.

The top down / 3/4 bird's eye view has also been my favorite anyway and imho it has NO MORE PROBLEMS than it did in NWN 1.

40: No First person perspective option,

If you want a first person shooter go BUY ONE! This is supposed to be a CRPG with party dynamics and I want to be able to see my entire party at one time!

41: Because the Game Forces you down one path "Alignment" and alignment shifts are a mute point. The Only time you get to be evil or attempt to maintain an evil alignment is via very crude and brutal "Kill them all" actions instead of "Talk a little first then kill them all" good response.

BS! There is an entirely separate path for evil characters to take when first arriving in Neverwinter! You do NOT have to join the watch. In addition, there are a number of evil and chaotic actions one can take that can alter your alignment further down the CE path. Same holds true for LG. And if you want to maintain a true neutral alignment, that can be done too.

42: No real romance options in the OC, that is and always will be one of the guilty little pleasures of Gamers (Male and female alike3.)

Again this is flat out untrue. There is a romance option for both male and female characters. You may not like the characters you are able to have a romance with, but at least you have a CHOICE!

43: NPC's only have enough personality to be annoying, there is no means to interact with them or get to know them.

Did this guy even play the game or TRY? Getting to know your NPC's is a matter of gaining their trust and influence! What did the guy expect? Walk up, say hi, and have the NPC swoon and dump his life story in your laugh in the first 2 minutes? Get real!

44: Everything Leaves a loot bag.

Maybe on EASY difficulty it does, but not in MY game.

45: Chat options are jumbled around or missing. The Old Whisper is now speak making the Talk/Listen radius far to small, the new Whisper is now tell, and DM Chat appears to be missing entirely.

Again a DMclient issue.

46: No Multiplayer "Players" or "Who's online" list which makes it especially difficult to find players as a DM.

Repeated. Same as number 18. You know at this point the writer starts loosing credibility. He is SO desparate to find 101 things wrong with this game, that he is actually repeating them.

47: The OC has very little place for your character to be anything other than an Elven/Human Ranger. While you can choose to play any class or race, the story and gameplay all point to Elven/Human Ranger and make you feel a little out of place, going against the grain being anything else.

Again this the subjective opinion of the writer and I do not agree. At no time in the game did I feel that either my Paladin or dwarven fighter were out of place.

48: The overall visual Aesthetic looks exactly the same as NWN's especially in interiors, so much so, that unless you are really in close (with exception to lighting) you could mistake them for the same game.

This is a shame as the new Graphics engine gets underplayed and understated more often than not.

I'll give the writer the benefit of the doubt on this one although I am not sure this is actually a complaint. Personally, I like the graphics although I am going to have to tweak the transparency a bit.

49: The Toolset is counterintuitive, especially in light of the previous toolset. Powerful does not have to equate to "Awkward to use." After over a month of working with it, there are still times I have to stop and think about "How" I'm supposed to do something basic. Took 3 weeks to Untrain "Z" as Raise/Lower instead of "Height Lock" as it is now.

*sigh* Toolset doesn't mean squat to me, so I could care less.


50: in the OC NPC's are forced onto you, you have no option but to take them along and eventually dump them in the Tavern.

This does have some merit. In fact, there are places where even if you TRIED to dump a certain NPC, you can't because he/she is REQUIRED for a specific encounter. That bothers me - I do NOT like being FORCED to take a character that I don't like.

In the interest of space, I am going to stop halfway thru this list. My overall reaction is this: The writer of this review does raise some valid complaints, and there certainly are some things about the game that SHOULD be fixed. But if you disregard his complaints about Mplayer issues and the DMCLient, the balance of his complaints appear to me to be simply matters of personal preference. It's one thing to not like a game because of its style (first person shooter) or content (Star Wars fantasy versus Medieval fantasy). But when you frame your personal preferences as "problems" you have crossed the line from objective to subjective. I hate to say it, but imo this "review" is simply a hatchet job. It seems to me that the writer was predisposed to dislike NWN 2 and was LOOKING for "problems", no matter how big or how small, real or imagined.

For balance sake, I will say that that NWN 2 is NOT totally without problems. There are bugs, there are issues with game play and there is an apalling lack of support for Mplayer / PW play. But a significant number of the bugs are being addressed, and there are patchs and new drivers which have substantially improved game play. This is STILL a great game (okay not a 9.5 great game) and well worth playing simply for the SP OC.
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Old 11-19-2006, 03:07 PM   #7
robertthebard
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The toolset, and MP, are a large part of this game, whether individual players will use them or not. Some people will. Your saying they don't matter to you does not diminish the issues with them in the least. As I said before, a long while back, MP, and the toolset are the only things I'd really buy this game for, and based on all I've read, and been told personally about MP, his review seems right on. The fact that there is no "updater" type set up for the walkmeshes means that people that want to host a MP world have to secure a download site for their walkmeshes, let alone .hak files. As you said, it's a sequel, some aspects of it should be better, not worse.
That being said, I've seen some really pretty screenshots from in a private game, and as far as I can tell from those, the game is much prettier. I'll know more about how it really plays pretty soon, I hope. Then I'll post my own review, based on my playing experience.
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Old 11-19-2006, 05:14 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally posted by robertthebard:
The toolset, and MP, are a large part of this game...
No, I believe that the toolset and MP were a big part of NWN 1. This is NWN2, a different game.

If you want the game to be exactly like NWN1 (and it seems based on this list and other posts/threads/forums that people do) then you need to go and play NWN1.
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Old 11-19-2006, 06:26 PM   #9
Micah Foehammer
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Quote:
Originally posted by robertthebard:
The toolset, and MP, are a large part of this game, whether individual players will use them or not. Some people will. Your saying they don't matter to you does not diminish the issues with them in the least. As I said before, a long while back, MP, and the toolset are the only things I'd really buy this game for, and based on all I've read, and been told personally about MP, his review seems right on. The fact that there is no "updater" type set up for the walkmeshes means that people that want to host a MP world have to secure a download site for their walkmeshes, let alone .hak files. As you said, it's a sequel, some aspects of it should be better, not worse.
That being said, I've seen some really pretty screenshots from in a private game, and as far as I can tell from those, the game is much prettier. I'll know more about how it really plays pretty soon, I hope. Then I'll post my own review, based on my playing experience.
If you bought NWN 2 primarily for the DMclient and the toolset, then you probably DO have a right to bitch and complain.

RTB, I will grant you that NWN 2 is NOT the game you wanted or hoped for. However, I strongly disagree that the "101" is "right on". You and I will have to "agree to disagree" on the validity of the review. I see too many nit-picky issues, inaccuracies or personal preferences being touted as "fact" to consider the "101" review to be anywhere CLOSE to being fair or accurate.

IMO the 101 review is ALMOST as bad as the original 1UP review that panned the game JUST because it was based on AD&D! Now how ridiculous was THAT? Flaming an AD&D game because it was an AD&D game?
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Old 11-19-2006, 07:29 PM   #10
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Oh, I have no doubt that a lot of the review is based on personal issues, but if you look at some of the pre-release hype, it talked about playing your own modules online...In fact, if you look on the box, it talks about it. So we can leave personal opinions about MP out of rebuttals on the review. I own the regular, not the Special Edition, but the third bulleted paragraph on the back of the box is about MP, and creating those modules with the "improved Neverwinter Nights 2 tools set". MP, and the toolset are even advertised on the box. Listing problems with either component isn't a personal preference. These things were promised, and while they were sort of delivered, it's no where near the MP game that 1 was. If I'd known nothing else about this game but what was on the box, I'd have expected to be able to join an online game with no difficulty at all, based on what's on the box. So, reviews that include MP functionality of this game are relevant.
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Interesting read, one of my blogs.
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