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EspañolNEVERWINTER NIGHTS
'''Neverwinter Nights (NWN)''', produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames (now Atari), is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''Forgotten Realms'' rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial difficulties forced the change. Infogrames released ''Neverwinter Nights'' for Windows on June 18, 2002. BioWare released the freely downloadable Linux Client in June 2003 (purchase of game still required). MacSoft released a Mac OS X port in August 2003.
The game is based in part on traditions started in the original ''Neverwinter Nights'' online game, the first graphical MMORPG, which ran from 1991 to 1997 on AOL.
The core release includes the game engine, a campaign that can be played as single player or multiplayer, and the Aurora toolset (for Windows only) used for creating custom content based on the same engine. An expansion pack, '', was released in June 2003, and a subsequent expansion pack, '' was released in December 2003. In October 2005, '', an expansion pack that includes three new modules was released. On October 31, 2006, a sequel, ''Neverwinter Nights 2'', was released.
Description
Play centers on the development of a character that becomes the ultimate hero of the story. In the original NWN scenario supplied with the game engine, the player is single-handedly responsible for defeating a powerful cult; collating the four reagents required for stopping an insatiable plague; thwarting an attack on the city of Neverwinter, and many other side quests.
The first and final chapters of the story in the official campaign deal with the city of Neverwinter itself, but the lengthy mid-story requires the player to venture into the countryside and then northward to the city of Luskan. Neverwinter is a city on the Sword Coast of Faerûn, in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons.
Plot
'Chapter One': The tutorial takes place in the Neverwinter Academy. The player must complete their training and make their way to see Lady Aribeth to graduate from the Academy in order to help combat the Wailing Death, a plague sweeping the city and killing thousands. However, an attack on the Academy at the hand of a mysterious group of assasins results in the majority of the Academy's students and teachers being killed. The player, having survived the first wave of attacks, is charged with fighting their way to the stables of the Academy to protect Neverwinter's hope of a cure: Four monsters sent from Waterdeep.
Once the player reaches the stable, they discover the mages have beaten them, the Waterdhavian Creatures have been released, and they are the last survivor of all the Academy's students.
The game proper begins at the temple of Tyr in Neverwinter's City Core, where the player is properly introduced to Fenthick Moss and Desther, two men in service of Neverwinter. Fenthick Moss explains that Aribeth, his lover, requires an adventurer to seek out the Waterdhavian creatures and praises the player for their work in the Academy. Dester, however, is dismissive of, and at times outright rude to the player, regardless of their actions towards him. Aribeth charges the adventurer to solve some of Neverwinter's problems, while gaining the necessary parts for the cure. The 4 Waterdhavian creatures are: a Yuan-Ti, a Dryad, an Intellect devourer, and a Cockatrice.
The Yuan-ti is found in the Beggars' Nest, having taken control of a local gang, the Sword Coast Boys, and raised an army of undead. The player fights the Yuan-Ti, who calls herself Gulnan, before destroying the pillar created by a priest of Cyric to channel undead energy and end the hold the zombies have on the Beggars' Nest, leading to the thanks of Neverwinter's leader in the Beggar's Nest, Harben Ashensmith, and of Aribeth (once the Yuan-Ti's heart is returned to her).
Another reagent can be found in the Peninsula District. This district holds Neverwinter's prison, and upon arrival the player finds the prisoners have been set free by the head jailer for reasons unknown. The leader of the guards in the District, Seville, asks the adventurer to enter the prison and find out why the jailer has released all the convicts. The player breaks into the prison and fights their way through to "The Pits", thanks to the advice of the final surviving guard, and discovers the head jailer possessed by an Intellect devourer. The player defeats the Intellect devourer and returns another Waterdhavian reagent to Aribeth. The Dryad is to be found in the Blacklake District, picked up by a sorcerer and imprisoned.
The Blacklake district is the high-class, noble district, relatively untouched by the plague. However, all is not well, and the player finds a wizard named Meldanen has not only been acting strangely, but is apparently witholding a large stock of grain that could be used to help the starving in the city. The player is consequently asked by a young lady to gain the key to his grain store to feed the poor, and to bring the tooth of the dead wizard to prove he will not bother them again. The player gains access to Meldanen's estate, either through a magical portal, or violently through the front gate, and must fight their way to the imprisoned Dryad, to find she had charmed Meldanen to prevent him from harming her. The wizard then appears and attacks in a rage, forcing the player to fight him to a stand still, at which point he explains himself, and the player can choose to either kill or spare him. The dryad willingly gives the player a lock of her hair, the needed reagant for the cure, before leaving. The reagent is returned to Aribeth, who expresses gratitude, and encourages the player to continue hunting down the remainging reagents.
A third creature is found in the Docks District, a violent area where fighting between muggers and bloodpirates is a frequent occurance. The player is forced to fight a number of thugs to get anywhere in the docks, and is quickly able to find an Auction Note. This note explains the reason for the increased unrest in the Docks: the leader of the Bloodpirates, Vengaul Bloodsail, is auctioning a Waterdhavian creature. A short investigation reveals dissention in the ranks of the Bloodpirates, Calik, Vengaul's liutenant, is attempting a coup. In order to find him, and thus the location of the Cockatrice, the player must travel through the 'aqueducts', where the kindly 'sewer guide' poles them downstream. The player discovers the Vengaul and Calik exchanging angry words, as Calik wishes to take control of the pirates, while Vengaul wishes nothing but peace. The player quickly defeats Calik, gains Vengaul's thanks, and has immediate access to the final reagent. Upon delivery to Aribeth, she invites the player to witness the cure creation, as thanks for all their hard work.
As the player finds the reagents for the cure, they draw the attention of the cult behind the spreading of the plague, resulting in the player being attacked by mysterious assasins at three points during their search. Each time, the player finds an anonymous note on one of the assasins, hinting at a sinister agenda behind the Wailing Death.
'Chapter One - Finale:' The player must talk to Aribeth, Desther, Fenthick and Lord Nasher (in his first appearance), ruler of Neverwinter, who has been afflicted by the plague. Aribeth, Fenthick and Nasher are very grateful, while Desther seems unimpressed. It transpires that Fenthick has given Desther his portal key to draw on extra power, creating a small gap in the castle's defenses. However, no one seems suspicious, and the ritual begins. The ritual is successful and the cure is created. However, Desther then declares the cure is his alone, calling upon his false Helmites to kill everyone. Desther escapes through a portal with Fenthick in pursuit.
The player, with the help of Aribeth and priests of Tyr, kills the Helmites, while Aribeth sustains the portal. She charges the player with stopping Desther, bringing him to justice, and discovering Fenthick's involvement in the plot. The player enters the portal, and is sent to Helm's Hold.
A strange woman appears in front of the player, warning the player that fate always catches up with a person. The player then enters Helm's Hold, and is given the option of removing the dark taint placed by Desther, or increasing the power of evil. However, the player must reach the top to encounter Fenthick, who claims he had no idea of his friend's treachery, and promises to wait while the player stops Desther. The player then enters the top tower to discover Desther performing a ritual to increase his power. The player should defeat all the ritual creatures to damage Desther's power. While undead attack, the player attempts to defeat Desther and break his power. Desther promises to surrender quietly, ending Chapter one with the death of both Desther and Fenthick as scapegoats for the plague. Aribeth, broken hearted at the loss of her "only love", relocates to Port Llast, north of Neverwinter, bringing the player and all possible companions, with her. This begins Chapter Two...
'Chapter Two:' The player arrives at Port Llast to find Aribeth, who asks for the player's help in locating the cult who attacked Neverwinter. She advises the player to speak to Aarin Gend, Lord Nasher's spymaster, who tells the player to check out nearby caves, where humanoids have been busier than usual, and suspects cult involvement. The player fights his way to the bugbear leader and discovers a cult member has indeed been rallying the humanoids. Aribeth congratulates the player upon the return of the cult member diary, but asks for evidence of the cult's location. The player then explores Charwood and finds a haunted castle where a massacre of children has occurred. The player judges one of two brothers for the slaughter, the guilty one being lead to the purification point of the town, while the innocent is lead to the town becoming ablaze. Either way, upon leaving Charwood, another cult member is encountered, and, upon defeat, furthers evidence shows that Luskan is the cult's base in this area. On the way back, the player is attacked by Solomon, a halfling who presented the player with a ring. The player dispatches him and brings both the note and diary to Aribeth. However, she still wishes one more piece of evidence to prove the city of Luskan as the base of operations. The player is charged with investigating Neverwinter Wood, where a dwarf attacks the player. When he is killed, he also has a note, this time from "Maugrim". When the note is presented to Aribeth, she again congratulates the player, but asks for concrete evidence. Therefore, the player enters Neverwinter Wood to discover that "The Spirit of the wood" has gone mad, and is causing all the animals of the wood to attack humans on sight. The head druid asks the player to discover the problem, as well as save the other druids he has sent to investigate. The player saves the druids in the different areas and is told that stabbing him/herself with a special dagger while standing in a spirit pool will teleport them to the spirit's realm. After this, the player discovers yet another cult member, gone mad by the spirit realm. The player kills the cult member and takes his diary. The player takes the spirit poison and reaches the spirit. After the player damages the spirit enough to surrender, the player can then decide to kill the spirit or save it with the cure. The player is teleported away to the druid camp, and is rewarded upon the delivery of the news to the druid chief. On the return to Port Llast, a half orc called Vardoc, sent from Maugrim, attacks the player. The player kills him and takes a note from Maugrim. Aribeth says this confirms that the Cult is to be found in Luskan and bids the player speak to Gend. Gend tells the player his friend will get him into Luskan, to meet him and Aribeth in Luskan's temple. The player then enters Luskan, either by killing Gend's friend and stealing his key, or by peacefully gaining admittance.
Final showdown with Queen Morag. The encounter is complete with dynamic graphical effects.
'Chapter 2 - Finale:' When the player enter the Temple of Tyr in Luskan, he realizes that Aribeth has already gone into the Arcane Brotherhood's Tower, who are the true rulers of Luskan. Currently, there is a battle between two of the five captains on who should rule Luskan; the other three are presumed dead. Gend wants the player to align himself with one of the captains and battle their opponent in order to gain their seal, which allows them into the Brotherhood tower. After battling one of the two (the player can battle both of them, but will only get one reward from either captain), Gend makes a fake seal that allows the player in the tower. As he enter, he hears that Lady Aribeth is joining with the cult. Now the player is forced to stop her by traversing all nine levels of the tower, the last floor being the Pinnacle. On the floor before the pinnacle, the player meets a former member of the brotherhood who was overthrown by the cult leader, Maugrim. He opens a way to the Pinnacle, where the player sees Aribeth, Maugrim, and the Dreadqueen Morag, Queen of the Old Ones, talking. They disappear and leave the players with a group of Old One warriors to fight. After this encounter, the player returns to the temple and reports to Gend of Aribeth's betrayal and the cult's plan of retrieving relics of old magic called the Words of Power. The party goes to Beorunna's Well and starts Chapter three....
'Chapter Three': This chapter revolves around the retrieval of the last three words of power. There are four in total, but the cult has one of them which was acquired in Chapter Two in the Neverwinter Wood. When all three are found, the hero goes back to Neverwinter for the final battle and also confronts a rebellious Old One named Haedraline.
'Chapter Four': It was revealed that Morag is actually using a projection to talk to Maugrim and that she is actually in the Source Stone, a magical stone used as the portal to Morag's world where she and the Old Ones sleep. The hero needs to confront Aribeth and either redeem her (If s/he has completed a side-quest) or slay her, and then confront Maugrim to get the last Word. After that's done, the hero goes to the Source Stone and enters it using all Four Words of Power. In there he has a final battle with Morag. When she is dead, the Source Stone and the world in it explode, but Haedraline creates a little portal for the hero to escape. The game ends with a movie showing the Source Stone's destruction and an epilogue.
Gameplay
As in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the first thing a player must do is create a character. One can choose the character's gender, race, character class, alignment, statistics (strength, dexterity, etc.), abilities (skills, feats, etc.), appearance, and name. There is a great deal of customization involved - one can be, for example, an outdoorsman (Ranger class), healer (Cleric class), and then choose the skills and feats that would help them the most (a Ranger might want Animal Empathy, for example, while a Cleric would choose Combat Casting).
The game is lengthy (original NWN has three CDs, while the expansions each add one CD). Following a small prelude, there are four "chapters" in the original game, with each chapter consisting of a general storyline (the first chapter, for example, deals with a mysterious plague in the city of Neverwinter), and within each chapter, there are many quests, subquests, and mini-storylines. Depending on specific quests completed, and specific items kept, some storylines are continued throughout the entire game (such as Henchman or Aribeth's tales). Completing many of the side quests will give your character more experience (and special items), making him/her level up faster and continue to make the game easier as you progress. For example, completing all quests in the first and second chapters will start you in Chapter 3 with a 13th level character, instead of a 10th.
The game's actual mechanics are based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd edition rule set – most important actions (fighting, persuasion, etc.) are based on a die roll. For example, when a fighter attacks, he would roll a 20-sided die (called a d20 in-game) to determine if he hits the target and then roll another die determined by the type of weapon (an 8-sided die (d8) for longsword, 2 6-sided dice (2d6) for greatsword, 10-sided die (d10) for dwarven waraxe etc.) to determine damage dealt.
Multiplayer
Adventurers around a campfire in the Avlis persistent world.
The robust multiplayer component separates ''Neverwinter Nights'' from previous ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games, as there are many servers for players to choose from. Each server, depending on hardware and bandwidth, can support up to 72 players or more in the same module. NWN game modules run as a variety of separate genres and themes, including persistent worlds (which are similar to MUDs), combat arenas (player versus player modules), and simple social gatherings similar to a chat room. The campaign included with the game can be played with friends, for example, or a team of builders can build a virtual world similar in scope and size to commercial MMORPGs. BioWare insists that these persistent worlds be free of charge, primarily for reasons of copyright law.
Many persistent worlds are still actively run with updates and improvements; notable examples include Avlis and Layonara. Servers can also be linked together, allowing the creation of large multi-server worlds. Two early examples include ''A Land Far Away'' and ''Confederation of Planes and Planets''.
Because ''Neverwinter Nights'' lacks a global chat function aside from the supported Gamespy, players typically join "pickup" games through the game's multiplayer interface, or schedule games in advance with friends. Matchmaking sites, such as Neverwinter Connections, facilitate scheduling of games, and the experience is much like traditional Pen-and-Paper roleplaying games. Persistent worlds do this work for them by inviting players to visit their website and continue to roleplay there.
One important feature of Neverwinter Nights is the 'DM' or 'Dungeon Master' Client, a tool that allows an individual to take the role of the traditional 'Dungeon Master', who guides the players through the story, and has complete control of the server. While not the first game to utilise this feature (one previous example is a more basic version in the game 'Vampire the Masquerade', based on the printed gamebooks published by White Wolf), Neverwinter Nights had the most evolved version of this feature and thus arguably created one of the most 'immersive' RPG experiences currently available in CRPG gaming. The DM Client allowed players to participate in regular campaigns, while also allowing persistent-world servers to flourish by permitting the Dungeon Masters of those servers to possess NPCs 'on-the-fly' for added realism.
Neverwinter Nights ("NWN") generally has up to 9,000 or more players online at any one time. Key episodes and themes in the history of online Neverwinter Nights include:
★ Early in the first to second years of NWN's release, much exploitation of bugs arose by way of hacking character and item files.
★ These exploits were gradually eliminated as NWN version patches crept past v.1.28. Today, very few exploits exist at all. However, Zurc's legacy is upheld by the makers of Leto, a scripting tool created by Team Leto led by Dragonsong.
★ A legacy of the deep knowledge of scripting was also seen in the division of players into those who preferred to play Uber (with no item level restrictions and with full exploits permitted), semi-Uber (only with item level restrictions) and "strict-legit" (with item level restrictions imposed). Players of the Uber genre were capable of dealing damage in a single hit of potentially up to 1,000,000 hit points. The sound server coding by BioWare ensured these classes of players need not encounter each other in game worlds unless they so chose to.
Custom content
''Neverwinter Nights'' ships with the Aurora toolset, which allows players to create custom modules for ''Neverwinter Nights''. These modules may take the form of online multiplayer worlds, single player adventures, character trainers or technology demos. Additionally, several third party utilities have further expanded the community's ability to create custom content for the game. Custom content creators are known as ''builders'' in the ''Neverwinter Nights'' community.
The Aurora toolset allows builders to create map areas using a tile system; the appearance and surface textures of the area are defined by the area's selected tileset. Builders can overlay placeable objects onto areas, and use the built-in scripting language NWScript to run cut scenes, quests, mini-games and conversations. NWScript is based on C++.
Third party utilities allow builders to create custom content for most aspects of the game, ranging from new playable races and character classes to new tilesets, monsters and equipment. Custom content is added to the game in the form of ''hakpaks''. Builders have used the Aurora toolset in combination with hakpaks to create playing experiences beyond the scope of the original campaign. Despite the game's age, the ''Neverwinter Nights'' custom content community remains active.
The Aurora toolset is not available for the Linux and Macintosh versions of ''Neverwinter Nights''. The open source project neveredit aims to port the toolset features to these platforms.
In terms of sheer user-created content, however, the major player is certainly the team that produced the Community Expansion Pack (CEP). Overseen by a small group of Neverwinter Nights builders, the CEP project was an enormous collection of player-made items, creatures and character appearances compiled into an interconnected series of add-on files. Content is only added to the CEP after being tested and approved by the CEP team, giving rise to one of the most widely-used player-made enhancements ever created for Neverwinter Nights, and (thus far) the only one to have received its own page on BioWare's official site.
Due to the extreme success and popularity of the CEP, a sister-project was started several years after the CEP's release. Dubbed the Community Tileset Project, it is attempting to duplicate the CEP's success, but the focus of the CTP is to create a collection of user-made tilesets, which are used to create a basic Neverwinter Nights map. While progress has been slow, the team itself is still working together.
Some leading examples of custom content include :-
★ NWKnights: The most popular local vault Team PvP server which is listed under the Action Category.
★ Many Servers also make forums where players can get together and chat and discuss gameing tactics, such as NW Knights.
★ Bastions of War and Antiworld: The most popular server vault Team PvP servers which are listed under the Team category. Note that local vault means you can bring in characters from outside the server whereas server vault means you can only create characters after logging into the server.
★ The hardest level 20 modules, with Item Level Restrictions imposed, is generally acknowledged to include modules such as The Citadel, publicly available under Neverwinter Vault, and the Catfish Escape, a demo version of which is available.
★ Multiplayer servers with high adventure and heavy combat which have a long reputation of excellence include the Ruins of the Twisted Woods, which has been running since the early months of the game and the Three Towns which has also been running (and is still running with a strong playerbase) since the first few weeks of the game.
★ Other good examples of popular content, which are ranked high in Neverwinter Vault, include modules such as the Dreamcatcher series. Such varieties tend to be popular only with single player role playing enthusiasts.
Team PvP servers in NWN include king of the hill and capture the flag continuous rolling combat. NWKnights is particularly popular because it allows players to instantly build and rebuild their characters up to their maximum level, allowing them to test any combination of melee, mage and rogue abilities and classes as they wish in heavy combat against other human players. This meant the total elimination of any need to "grind" up your character's levels before fighting other human players, a feature common to most current mmorpgs.
Expansions
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★ '' (''SoU'') — This expansion scenario pack was released in June 2003. It adds 5 prestige classes, 16 new creatures (two of them available as additional familiars), 3 new tilesets, and over 30 new feats and 50 new spells, as well as additional scripting abilities for those who use the Aurora toolkit. It features a story line concerning a student sent out to recover some stolen magical objects. The story begins in the Silver Marches, eventually moving toward the desert of Anauroch and the old Netherese city of Undrentide.
★ '' (''HotU'') — Released in December 2003, it expands the level-cap to level 40 (epic levels), and adds a number of spells and items appropriate to such characters, as well as adding further tilesets, prestige classes, feats, and abilities, and compatibility with the Intel Pentium 4 Processor, which was unsupported in previous versions. The story continues where ''Shadows of Undrentide'' ended, with a character of at least 12th level (if you start this expansion with a character below level 12, the game will level you up to 15), and leads into the vast subterranean world known as the Underdark. The first chapter of the story takes place in the ''Undermountain'' dungeon beneath the city of Waterdeep.
★ '' — includes three premium modules, '', '', and ''.
In March 2004, an expansion known as the ''Community Expansion Pack'' (''CEP'') based on community material was released. This freely downloadable expansion was compiled by members of the ''Neverwinter Nights'' community. It combines a selection of previously released custom content into one large hakpak. BioWare had no involvement in creating content for the ''CEP'', but provided resources to help promote it. Players must add the ''CEP'' to a module with the toolset to use ''CEP'' content.
Though not actually expansion packs, Atari released subsequent editions of the game following its first release in 2002. These editions are: ''Neverwinter Nights: Gold'', which combines the original game with the ''Shadows of Undrentide'' expansion pack; ''Neverwinter Nights: Platinum'' (in Europe called ''Neverwinter Nights: Deluxe Edition'', or with extra bonus content as ''Neverwinter Nights Deluxe: Special Edition''), which combined all three NWN products and came on a single DVD-ROM or four CD-ROMs; and ''Neverwinter Nights: Diamond'', which includes everything in the Platinum edition plus ''Kingmaker'' and three additional modules.
As well, in early December 2003, the Players Resource Consortium released the PRC, which is a group of hakpaks combined, which added classes, races, skills, and spells to the game. As of May 20, 2006, the PRC now has roughly three times the number of prestige classes the original game had. It also adds dozens of epic spells, and many normal spells that make better use of BioWare's Aurora engine. These include: Teleportation, Transposition, Mazes, Summoning Houses and more. As well, psionic powers have been included, which are essentially spells, but done with "power points", akin to the sorcerer class. This "expansion" can be found at [1], along with documentation. Much of the PRC pushes the engine in ways that the designers never intended, so caution is advised when making use of the hakpak.
Premium modules
In late 2004, BioWare launched its online store and started selling what it called ''premium modules'' as part of its digital distribution program. This initiative was spearheaded by BioWare's Live Team Lead Designer, Rob Bartel. Though technically not expansions, these smaller-scale adventures introduce new storylines and gameplay. They often include new music and art that BioWare claimed would be integrated into future patches and updates to the core game. The most recent patch, 1.68, includes much of the art and music that can be found in the premium modules.
According to BioWare, the revenue generated is used to support their fan community and provide ongoing updates and improvements to the popular game. The modules that are sold in the BioWare store require an active internet connection to play, even when played in single player mode. The modules in the Kingmaker expansion were stripped of this requirement but are only for Windows. The modules included with Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition do not require Internet access to play.
★ ''Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker'' — In November 2004, BioWare announced their flagship premium module, which later received the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 'PC RPG of the Year' award. The player is called upon to defeat the evil at the Keep of Cyan, and win the throne.
★ ''Neverwinter Nights: ShadowGuard'' with free ''Witch's Wake'' — At the same time as ''Kingmaker''
★ '' — In June 2005, BioWare announced the upcoming release of a new premium module. The story begins in the city of Neverwinter, and leads to a lengthy ship-bourne, swashbuckling-style adventure. Characters start at the 5th level.
★ ''Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker'' (Premium Modules collection) — Atari released this CD-ROM expansion pack in September 2005. It compiles the premium modules ''Kingmaker'', ''Shadowguard'' and ''Witch's Wake''.
★ ''Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons'' — In May 2006, BioWare released this premium module which takes place in ''Undermountain'' below Waterdeep. The main feature is randomly generated dungeons, which are suitable for all levels of adventurer. The module is designed for single and multiplayer gaming. With the exception of the ability to respawn one's character, ID is very similar to a 3-D roguelike.
★ ''Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr'' — In September 2006, BioWare announced a new premium module produced by the DLA team. It features fully ridable horses, flowing cloaks, tabards and long coats, a new prestige class (the Purple Dragon Knight), and extensive new art, creatures, and tilesets. Characters start at the 6th or 7th level and module offers an approximate 18 to 20 hours of gameplay.
Previously canceled modules
★ ''Tyrants of the Moonsea'' — In July 2006, Alazander released the first cancelled premium modules to Neverwinter Vault. The story takes place in the Hillsfar area and includes gladiatorial matches. Characters start at the 12th level.
★ ''Darkness over Daggerford'' — In August 2006, Ossian Studios Inc., headed up by Alan Miranda, a former producer at BioWare, released the second cancelled premium module to the Vault. The story takes place in and around Daggerford and has been compared favorably to Baldur's Gate 2 in terms of its scope. Characters start at the 8th level.
New content created for the premium module program by the DLA team continues to be patched into the game's official resources. Neverwinter Nights 2 was released on November 4, and new support for the premium module program is unlikely to continue (although BioWare has said that they will not stop supporting the existing modules). Development resources for premium NWN content is likely to be redirected to BioWare's new Dragon Age RPG.
Reception
''Neverwinter Nights'' was generally met with very positive reviews. GameSpot referred to it as "one of those exceedingly rare games that has a lot to offer virtually everyone, even if they aren't already into RPGs", and praised it for its campaign, its Aurora toolset, and its graphics.[1]
Awards
★ E3 2000 Game Critics Awards: Best RPG, Best Online Multiplayer
★ E3 2001 Game Critics Awards: Best Role Playing Game
★ E3 2002 Game Critics Awards: Best Role Playing Game
Legal issues
Since the original release of ''Neverwinter Nights'', several in-game portraits have been modified in patches due to their having been copied from outside sources. [2] In another instance, the Canadian Red Cross complained to BioWare about the appearance of the Red Cross symbol on the in-game item "Healer's Kit", not wanting the Red Cross to be associated with the game's violence. This resulted in the Red Cross symbol being removed from the Healer's Kit through patches. [3]
Educational usage
''Neverwinter Nights'' is used for educational purposes in West Nott's College in the United Kingdom as a means of delivering Key Skills and of showing IT designers how to understand the coding in the game.
Also, the game itself and the Aurora toolset have been used as part of a level design course, given at the Ubisoft Campus in Montréal, Canada.
It is also being used as part of the Applied Computer Science (ACS) program at Contra Costa College (CCC) in San Pablo California. The ACS program is a core component the of CCC Tech Prep outreach to Middle College High School.
Additionally, Champlain College is currently using the Aurora toolset as part of a Sophomore game design course.
Sequel
A sequel to Neverwinter Nights, ''Neverwinter Nights 2'', was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company which has a long history of association with BioWare. According to BioWare, the change of developer is due to BioWare's business with other titles, such as ''Mass Effect'' and ''Dragon Age''.
NWN2 shipped at the beginning of November 2006 prior to the 4th of November in the US and most European countries, and on the 16th of November in Australia.
Legacy
''Knights of the Old Republic''
'', a role-playing game based in the Star Wars universe, was also released by BioWare using a heavily modified version of the Aurora engine of ''Neverwinter Nights''. The sequel, '', also used this modified engine. Because of this, modders have been able to modify these games using some ''Neverwinter Nights'' modding tools.
''The Witcher''
''The Witcher'', a computer role-playing game currently in development by the Polish company CD Projekt, is based on the Aurora engine of ''Neverwinter Nights''. Its development was highly publicized within the ''NWN'' community.
See also
★ List of Neverwinter Nights characters
Notes
1. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/neverwinternights/review.html
References
Dice to Clicks: Neverwinter Nights Faithfully Translates Pen-and-Paper D&D
External links
★ Official ''NWN'' website
★ NWN Vault, the largest hub for user-created content.
;Reference and utility
★ (formerly nwnwiki.org)
★ NWN Lexicon Scripting Reference
★ ''NWmax'' 3d modeling software for gmax and 3dsmax
★ Neveredit module editor for Linux and Macintosh
★ DVD/CD Install Script for Linux
★ more up to date install scripts
;General resources
★
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