namelesstavern.net

E3 pre-event:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/704/704146p1.html

And direct links to the videos...

Windows media:
http://streamingmovies.ign.com/pc/artic ... wmvlow.wmv

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/pc/artic ... wmvlow.wmv

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/pc/artic ... wmvlow.wmv

Quick time:
http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/articl ... _qtlow.mov

http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/articl ... _qtlow.mov

http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/articl ... _qtlow.mov

If there's anything that's going to satisfy DnD lust this year, this'll have to do. Urquhart plays with the toolset and explaining the Obsidian's philosophy on having a highly modable game. The game features a lot of what's worked in the past, but I'll wager it comes with the FedEx quests, hack n' slash combat and some other drawbacks as well that Obsidian tends to do when faced with developer deadlines. J.E. Sawyer did say the game was cut to 20 hours of playtime to make sure everything was up to Obsidian standards, so hopefully we won't get game breaking bugs and a half done game like KOTORII. But then no one plays NWN for single player campaigns so, meh....

The graphics engine looks impressive and won't require dual vid cards and a thermo-nuclear reactor to run it; 128 meg vid card, pixel shader 2, usual minimum specs. The lighting and terrain will hopefully give us some genuine extra-planar mod capability, not just an 8th level hell that looks surprisingly like the spine of the world.

It looks promising, so here's to hoping it will get enough marketing so it doesn't flop.

P.S. You cannot discern combat mechanics beyond graphics since he's running around in Jesus-mode, but I'm praying they take some lessons from Thief with regards to stealth, given the dynamic lighting is a major talking point. None of this hide in broad daylight nonsense.

i'll have to check out NWN1 after all I guess
this does look ok, and it fits in more with how I want to game I think (casual group of friends working thru dungeons)

I never got into NWN... I always just played baldur's gate 2 instead

nwn sucked single player and the multiplayer was only decent if you had 1. a great module and 2. people you knew with you

At least you'll actually be able to control your party's actions like in Baldur's Gate/ Icewind Dale, and not just a retarded monkey sidekick like old NWN.

Hopefully that will allow them to make things more strategic, and/or ratchet up the difficulty.

Questions on my mind now are whether you will be stuck with pre-made npc's for party members only, how will npc advancement work (predetermined, or will you get to allot their skills, etc. as you see fit), or will you be able to populate a party of characters you rolled from scratch?

When is this slated to come out? Q4 '06?

I just remember Insano or Taxx saying that "it's neverwinternights or summer or fall or spring for that matter"


or something like that, I rofled