Bioware CEOs Discuss Neverwinter Nights

Thanks to GameSpy for posting an interview with Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk the CEOs of developer Bioware, about the Neverwinter Nights franchise and the success of the mod community. As Greg Zeschuk says, "It's actually kind of funny - in a sense it's a well-kept secret that some people don't realize.. the volume of [mods] is unbelievable". The article goes on to discuss RTS and even MMO mods that users are creating for the million-selling PC role-playing game, as well as touching on the Shadows Of Undrentide expansion pack, which is released on June 18th in the US.

What about the Mac version?

[XxtraLarGe]

They don't say anything about the Macintosh version. It's been almost a year now since NWN came out, and now they're releasing the first expansion! This game went from simultaneous release with toolset to Windows only followed by Linux server & client, and no Mac version.

Re:What about the Mac version?

[Eggman27]

Hear here! I haven't been waiting nearly as long as others, but this wait has been excruciating! The last update (if you could even call it that) was way the heck back in April... Everquest, even with its ridiculous online subscription fees, is sounding pretty good right now (especially since I'm beta-testing it)...

Re:What about the Mac version?

[caulfield]

I've heard from a programmer who works there that the mac client will ship with the Shadows of Undertide box.

Good game

[Thyamine]

I'm glad that someone finally revisted the D&D game area with some zeal and purpose. The old SSI games were (as far as I played) the last big push into that area (D&D, not fantasy in general). Too often the idea is there, but not the followthrough isn't as well done as you'd like (need I mention the movie [imdb.com]?)

Of course, I still haven't finished the game. [Grumble, grumble] Stupid HDD crashes.

Re:Good game

[travail_jgd]

" I'm glad that someone finally revisted the D&D game area with some zeal and purpose. The old SSI games were (as far as I played) the last big push into that area (D&D, not fantasy in general). "

Did you miss the whole Black Isle/Bioware D&D revival? Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2 (and their expansion packs), Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale 2 (which was the first good 3E game released), all of which were powered by various incarnations of the Infinity Engine.

I'm not trying to flame, but the Infini

Re:Good game

[easychord]

I have to say, by the time NWN came out I was pretty much sick of the forgotten realms. The fact that Baldurs Gate 2 makes NWN look like a bad joke as a single player game didn't help it as well.

Re:NWN = overhyped mess

[TrueBuckeye]

To each their own. I also bought it the day it came out and really enjoyed it. I actually just reinstalled it about 2 weeks ago and am playing it through again. Yeah, the tilesets are VERY repetitive, but I find the gameplay to be quite fun. It is a nice blend between the clickfest of a Diablo and the slower turnbased play of the older Baulder's Gate series.

Re:NWN = overhyped mess

[GypC]

If you're not playing the community developed modules, you're really missing out. There are dozens that are a lot more fun than the official campaign.

Re:NWN = overhyped mess

[Necromancyr]

Honestly, that's the mod's fault. I've played online on a few persistant worlds and the 'hak pak's' that they have put together are just amazing. I don't want to slashdot any of them, but they are easy enough to find. Generally, I found the single player lacking a bit - but the multiplayer is amazing.

Can't wait for Unrentide

[analog_line]

This weekend, me and my friends are going to have a nice little LAN party and play through the whole Unrentide campaign. I'm glad that they're doing a new campaign, as I just wasn't impressed with the original one. I'm glad the mod community is getting it's act together and putting out some real high quality stuff. The single player campaign was never really the reason to get NWN. The toolset and all the possibilities it brings, are. Hopefully some of these new modules will help keep me playing it long

Re:Can't wait for Unrentide

[WWWWolf]

FWIW, the word is that the 1.30 Linux version will be shipped on the SoU CD afterall, with an installer too =) And the Mac tech demo was just released too.

Anyway, I recommend checking out the Vault's top lists. I personally recommend the In the Company of Thieves series, so far so fun. Also lots of other good mods... Elegia Eternum, The Vethboro Dragon (probably far more fun with multiple players and a competent DM), Lone Wolf series. I'm currently playing The Cave of Songs which seems pretty good. And I

Re:Can't wait for Unrentide

[wbm6k]

Good modules you should check out...
The best online community (that is, multiplayer) I have found is Exaria [nwnmodules.com].
As far as individual modules that I've enjoyed playing through, try Shadowlords, Lone Wolf, or Dreamcatcher.

No Mention of NWC?

[Ochobee]

Wow, I'm suprised that that article had absolutely no mention of NeverWinter Connections... Quite possibly one of the best site for NWN multiplayer sessions, and one of the main reasons that NWN still resides on my hard drive...http://www.neverwinterconnections.com

Re:Neverwinter Nights is dying!

[rtrifts]

The reason this thread does not stimulate conversation is because, unike virtually every other game out there, NWN fans don't need to come to slashdot - or any other place - to talk about it.

The NWN forums are STILL busy as hell a year after release.

RE: Same old look to the game. On this point, I agree. That's why our group, http://www.DLAdventures.com, has over 9 original tilesets in progress, a dozen new monsters, music, voice acting, FMV and - yes - our own sound engineer and 3 composers to back it

Re:Neverwinter Nights is dying!

[Kthoris]

I do have to agree with rtrifts here. The NWN community at large is quite, well, large. They have over 1 million posts in 1 year. not bad for a game that some people say is "lackluster" and no one is going to really play it anymore.

Although I tend to agree with the fact that bioware didn't do the best job on the planet implementing the single player version, nor did they fully extend their hand to the community with a load of tools to use, they have given those of us (myself included for those of you wh