Beamdog [Official Site] have officially announced their next revamp of a classic with Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition. I have it confirmed it will be on Linux too.
See Also: My interview with Beamdog earlier this year.
Their official press details sent out to me clearly listed Linux as a release platform, as expected, since their previous revamps are also on Linux. Really great to see another classic get a refresh, but not only that, to see it get proper official Linux support.
For those that don't remember, Neverwinter Nights did actually have a Linux version, although it wasn't well supported, so it's fantastic that we get it properly this time.
With that out of the way, here's the trailer:
Direct Link
From the press email I woke up to today:
We are incredibly proud of the work the team has done so far on Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, and with the community’s feedback, we will continue fixing bugs and adding features for launch. We’ve added an improved display that looks great on modern 4k monitors, UI elements now adjust in size based on chosen resolution, and post-processing effects make for crisper, cleaner visuals. Save games, modules, and mods from the original Neverwinter Nights work in the Enhanced Edition.
Here's what it will include:
- Improved Display: Your portrait, combat bar, inventory, and other UI elements adjust in size based on your chosen resolution including 1080p and 4k.
- Advanced Graphics Options: Pixel shaders and post-processing effects make for crisper, cleaner visuals. Enable contrast, vibrance, and depth of field options as preferred.
- Community Endorsed: Original developers have teamed with key members of the Neverwinter Nights community to curate important fan-requested improvements to support players, storytellers, and modders.
- Backwards Compatibility: Works with save games, modules, and mods from the original Neverwinter Nights. A galaxy of community created content awaits.
They will be doing a livestream later today at 8PM UTC on their official Twitch channel, where they will give out more info. The official site will be up here, likely once the livestream is over.
Beamdog said that pre-orders will go live today and the game will cost $19.99, it should also get a Steam page later today too. On top of that, Beamdog will be selecting players from the pre-order pool for their "Head Start program" to "play, import modules, and update persistent world servers early".
They will also be doing a Digital Deluxe bundle, which will include Pirates of the Sword Coast, Infinite Dungeons, and Wyvern Crown of Cormyr), two soundtracks collecting all of the original music, and a new portrait pack. Each DLC will also be sold separately for those that don't want it all.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I mean look at KOTOR 2. Aspyr made a large improvement for the game and it didn't release it as a Enhanced Edition, but as an update.
Last edited by KayKay91 on 24 November 2017 at 9:22 am UTC
Quoting: KayKay91IMO it should've been just a patch for the original game.That would only be possible if it was BioWare themselves that was making this, but they are not, this is Beamdog's work, and for them to be able to make any money on it at all they need to be able to sell it as an original product. Just be grateful that the game has been taken over by a Linux friendly developer again.
Last edited by Hamish on 24 November 2017 at 10:06 pm UTC
slaapliedje Nov 25, 2017
Quoting: KayKay91IMO it should've been just a patch for the original game.
I mean look at KOTOR 2. Aspyr made a large improvement for the game and it didn't release it as a Enhanced Edition, but as an update.
I wish they'd do the same for KOTOR 1. Still haven't completed it...
slaapliedje Nov 25, 2017
Quoting: DMJCBack in the day I hacked in BINK support by hacking libSDL. I made it so you preload a custom SDL that forces the bink commandline player into fullscreen mode and deletes the cursor. Combined with nwmovies it does the job. Native Bink playback.
Nice! I remember using that initially. I think I'd decided later that using more open formats and playing them with ffmpeg was the better method.
So now we need to make sure that either A) Beamdog uses the same methods, or B) we hack the new one to support the movie playback.
I'm wondering though, did anyone make their own videos for custom modules? I could see that being useful for introductions to some of the re-made modules, or even some custom ones. There were definitely some very creative people creating new adventures for this game!
It's a DAMN shame that Sword Coast Legends was such a flop and limited.
oldrocker99 Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: HamishQuoting: oldrocker99Back 10 years ago, Neverwinter Nights was the only commercial game to have a Linux client, and, as I had already played the game since 2002, I was overjoyed, and have played hundreds of hours on Linux.No, the original Doom was one of if not the first commercial game to have a Linux client, way back in 1994:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1
Abuse by Crack Dot Com even had Linux releases published by Red Hat in 1997:
https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/press-crackdotcom
Not to mention Loki Software, more from id Software, Hyperion, Tribsoft, LGP, and many more.
All true, but the Diamond Edition of NWN was the only easily-available game (you could find in stores--how quaint!) I could get, and, when I later got some Loki games, they simply weren't any fun, mostly C+ games that didn't hold my interest. I do love Kohan:Immortal Sovereigns, but haven't played it in 7-8 years.
And I hate and despise FPS games. Because I totally suck at them.;)
slaapliedje Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: Asuplease put in modern third person RPG controls. The current controls are ancient and unapproachable.
Ugh, no... and you already sort of can.
Zoom really far in... and move around with WASD.
By the way, anyone who ever says to get rid of the pie menu, should be lit on fire. I love the pie menu, and honestly couldn't play the second one because the menus were horrific.
slaapliedje Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: oldrocker99Quoting: HamishQuoting: oldrocker99Back 10 years ago, Neverwinter Nights was the only commercial game to have a Linux client, and, as I had already played the game since 2002, I was overjoyed, and have played hundreds of hours on Linux.No, the original Doom was one of if not the first commercial game to have a Linux client, way back in 1994:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1
Abuse by Crack Dot Com even had Linux releases published by Red Hat in 1997:
https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/press-crackdotcom
Not to mention Loki Software, more from id Software, Hyperion, Tribsoft, LGP, and many more.
All true, but the Diamond Edition of NWN was the only easily-available game (you could find in stores--how quaint!) I could get, and, when I later got some Loki games, they simply weren't any fun, mostly C+ games that didn't hold my interest. I do love Kohan:Immortal Sovereigns, but haven't played it in 7-8 years.
And I hate and despise FPS games. Because I totally suck at them.;)
I think the first commercially published and released game for Linux was Civilization: Call to Power, right? I mean sure there were source ports before that. Original Doom was never commercially released for Linux. By that I mean something that you could actually get the game for Linux, without having to get the data files to run with a binary.
Another early one that had Linux support was Unreal Tournament.
Quoting: oldrocker99Quoting: HamishQuoting: oldrocker99Back 10 years ago, Neverwinter Nights was the only commercial game to have a Linux client, and, as I had already played the game since 2002, I was overjoyed, and have played hundreds of hours on Linux.No, the original Doom was one of if not the first commercial game to have a Linux client, way back in 1994:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1
Abuse by Crack Dot Com even had Linux releases published by Red Hat in 1997:
https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/press-crackdotcom
Not to mention Loki Software, more from id Software, Hyperion, Tribsoft, LGP, and many more.
All true, but the Diamond Edition of NWN was the only easily-available game (you could find in stores--how quaint!) I could get, and, when I later got some Loki games, they simply weren't any fun, mostly C+ games that didn't hold my interest. I do love Kohan:Immortal Sovereigns, but haven't played it in 7-8 years.
And I hate and despise FPS games. Because I totally suck at them.;)
I thought I was the only one that experienced the Kohan series.
Seems today you only can via wine, but there is nothing comparable even on Windows as far as i know.
Quoting: slaapliedjeI think the first commercially published and released game for Linux was Civilization: Call to Power, right?Abuse, Inner Worlds, and Hopkins FBI all beat Call to Power to Linux as far as I know.
slaapliedje Mar 24, 2018
Quoting: HamishQuoting: slaapliedjeI think the first commercially published and released game for Linux was Civilization: Call to Power, right?Abuse, Inner Worlds, and Hopkins FBI all beat Call to Power to Linux as far as I know.
I didn't think Abuse was commercially released, more like a game that was released after on Linux as open source. Never heard of Inner Worlds.
Call to Power was released / published and available (limited of course) in stores as a stand alone commercial release. Even now, most Linux releases come with the version for other operating systems. But maybe that is one of the reasons the old ways of getting the games out there failed? Gone are the days of Loki and LGP.
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