Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset Preview

[neblig]

Eurogamer has a nice new preview of Neverwinter Nights 2 (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61457) that mostly talks about the NWN2 Toolset.

...witnessing the NWN2 toolset first-hand pumps elixir into that little bit of my heart reserved for things like TrackMania, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and Far Cry Instincts' level editor.

[Kyle Jones]

NWN2 is creeping up on me! I still have to give proper attention to the Platinum pack...

[ldi222]

I had a blast making dungeons in the first one, Ill definitely do the same when this one comes out.

[Malovech]

Iffy support for flowing materials (cloaks, hair, robes) and still no z-axis (flying, climbing or swimming). I think this will be a stinker.

[AspectVoid]

Given the main point (IMO) of NWN is the coolness of the toolset, the better it is, the better off we all are.

[Derella]

Iffy support for flowing materials (cloaks, hair, robes) and still no z-axis (flying, climbing or swimming). I think this will be a stinker.
Because those are the 2 things that make a good game... :rolleyes:

[Sykus]

Does suck that you can't swim. Where did you hear that though?

Other than that, I think this looks great. It hardly breaks the game that you can't swim.

Frankly, I'm looking forward to the ability to control a whole party again. I can't remember the last PC RPG where I got to control a whole party... the trend is definitely towards controlling a single character.

[PIPBoy3000]

I was part of a chat that had developers on it. It does sound like cloaks are in, though we haven't seen them in action yet. The latest screenshots show long tunic-like armor. I suspect we'll see robes that are close fitting, as the physics for flowing robes are very CPU intensive. Same goes with long hair.

While there's a z-axis in the game (e.g. you can spawn objects in at any height), most of the subsystems won't consider them. The developers would have had to rewrite too much of the game engine to get it working properly, though the new graphics engine theoretically supports a z-axis. An example is the AI. Right now it assumes you can attack someone who's right next to you when you only consider the X and Y axis. If they're actually above you, it freaks out.

Swimming and flying are mostly out. It may be possible to create a swimming animation for special circumstances, though that's iffy.

The toolset looks amazing, as do the latest screenshots. We're starting to get a good feel for the creatures and tilesets in the game. I don't think we'll get the same diversity as NWN, but the quality is so much better.

[dead]

Frankly, I'm looking forward to the ability to control a whole party again. I can't remember the last PC RPG where I got to control a whole party... the trend is definitely towards controlling a single character.

personally, i liked controling one character. It got less confusing in a large fight to control everything at once.

[PIPBoy3000]

My understanding is that the default will be a KotOR-like control system. You can control the main character the whole way if you'd like, or jump to another character and use their abilities for awhile. The other party members will have their AI kick in and hopefully help out in combat. The main reason is that some abilities that companions have don't work very well unless a human is controlling it. For example, knowing when to use magic items or cast certain spells.