Neverwinter Nights Preview

The game possesses an interesting toolset, which permits you to create scenarios and inhabit vast modular worlds. In case players are not famirliar with the art of Dungeon making, rather thorough tutorials will be provided on the NWN web sites. After NWN is released sometime next year, these tutorials will be able to teach you how to design dungeons. They will offer basic tips for city and wilderness designing, basic scripting, area scripting, and NPC scripting. You will be able to download all the necessary software from the official (and unofficial) ring web pages. When manufacturing modular worlds, you will have to choose from a set of four basic modules: single-player modules, scripted modules, DM-required modules, and template modules. The first one focuses on single-player games, that exclude a DM. Scripted modules are made for any number of players, and they don't require a DM. Dungeon Master-required modules can be used exactly the same as the scripted, only with the necessity of a DM. And finally we come to the template modules, which provide starter settings and other vital details, although they cannot be handled without the presence of a Dungeon Master or a module-maker. These are all officially undetermined aspects, but the most likely ones to be developed. In the near future BioWare has promised to publish some more info on this stage of development, as well as the release of the game's beta version that we're so eagerly waiting for. BW assures us that it will be easy to use, for players who want to make their own adventures and share them online or DM them. There will be no fee to play online with up to 64 players in a game at once.

Up to 50 modules will be playable alone or on-line. You can always continue your adventures by downloading exciting new Player-Designed Modules from fan and guild sites on the Internet. Resources for DungeonMastering techniques have not yet been established; even so it all looks pretty impressive at this point. The character modeling needs a bit more work, but the tiles and landscape textures look good so far.

NWN is actually not the first game to have this name. In the early 1990s, America On-Line (AOL) launched a game called Neverwinter Nights: a 500-player, persistent online game based on the AD&D license and the 'gold box' games developed in the 1980s by SSI. Neverwinter Nights is a 'spiritual successor' to this classic Dungeons & Dragons game. No matter what you prefer, single or multiplayer games, Neverwinter Nights represents a near-infinite amount of solid, AD&D gaming.

Buckle up everyone, because the forthcoming millennium is going to be packed with all sorts of RPG titles. In the last year, or so, we saw a huge amount of excellent products in the world of fantasy games. It appears that game-consumers are tired of first-person 3D shoot-em-ups, which take place in outer space. Epic fantasies are coming back and its here to stay. Especially now when we impatiently await the arrival of the big-screen version of the Lord of The Rings trilogy (directed by Peter Jackson) it's obvious that people are in need of characters that can inspire them. The NWN RPG introduces a unique approach to the matter. It combines all beauty and wonders of a fantasy world, with a sort of dark and dangerous medieval look. NWN is taking a daring step forward in the new FRP epoch by making the AD&D type of game, whilst using avant-garde details. This is something that other RPG makers did not even attempt to achieve. A player presents his talents with a creating a specific storyline, crafting a rich environment, plus adding all sorts of new races to the scenery. These artificial worlds can be there for others to explore and venture in, but, NWN will probably surpass Shadowbane in weaponry detail, simply because of little things like the sheaths for characters who carry swords or sharp and nasty blades, arrows sticking into walls etc. etc. Anyway, we can't say anything for sure yet, since both games are at various stages of their development. As for NWN, we're to expect the arrival of the beta version in a few months time. Until then, you can satisfy your lustful RPG appetite, by visiting the NWN's official site. The game is still under development, but the creators are almost constantly on-line and are always open to suggestions. While we're on the subject, I would like to point out a detail myself; recently I noticed that certain games use rather over-the-hill character models (not necessarily RPG's), which have been with us since the dawn of 3D engines. Please I appeal, to all the game makers out there, come up with something visually new and fresh.