For those in need of a good RPG to play on Linux you're in luck, as Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition [Steam] is now officially available with day-1 Linux support.
For those that don't know, the original Neverwinter Nights actually did have a Linux version, although it wasn't officially supported and needed some manual tinkering to get working properly, so having an updated version that is supported is fantastic. Beamdog have done some good things for Linux gaming, giving us official support for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition and now this too! For fans of more classic RPG experiences, Linux is a pretty good gaming platform.
Note: My copy was provided by Beamdog.
Here's what's changed:
- 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're also including all the content from Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition, so you get the Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark expansions as well. As it's on Steam, it comes with Steam Workshop support.
On top of this, Beamdog have said that development will be ongoing. The released version is just the start, they do plan a graphical overhaul and they will have a Steam beta up for people to test what they're working on.
Honestly, there's not a huge point in doing a traditional review, since the story hasn't changed and it's been around since 2002. I can say, since the earlier versions I tested, some Linux-specific issues like cursors vanishing behind the UI and some sound issues have been solved so the Linux version is working rather nicely.
In regards to the editor being Windows-only, it is on the Roadmap to make a version that's cross-platform, but it's in the "Icebox" section, which is items they want to do, but aren't the highest priority.
Find Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on Steam now. As for a GOG release, they told me directly they don't have any dates lined up yet, but it sounds like it's not off the table.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Never did play with it in the initial game which was Win only.
Truth be told , NWN was the first D&D experience I had and by far sucked at the most.
stretch611 Mar 27, 2018
For those that never played... Deekin is a NPC... a kobold Bard. He has the best lines in the game if you let him join your party.
I´m also currently having a surprisingly good time with "Vendetta-Curse of Raven Cry". Bought it very cheaply on sale with minimal expectations, but to my surprise the missing 1.10 patch had been added to linux and the game has been rather fun as well as bug & crash free for 5-6 hours now.
Kimyrielle Mar 27, 2018
Quoting: razing32Curios when that editor comes out.
Never did play with it in the initial game which was Win only.
Truth be told , NWN was the first D&D experience I had and by far sucked at the most.
Using the editor was quite a nice experience; relatively easy to learn, and did what it needed to.
The biggest problem was that NWN1 mods were based on assembling playing areas from pre-existing rectangular tile sets, for both interior and exterior scenes, which could be quite limiting even 15 years ago. It produces OK interiors, as one is generally accustomed to rectilinear architecture, but creating good exterior areas is challenging.
You would definitely want to trawl through the community content to find additional tile sets, since exterior features like buildings, city walls, cliffs and so on have to be part of a tile - you can't just drop a wall or building onto a flat piece of ground as you might expect.
Other limitations I recall were a fairly small area size limit ( 32x32 tiles I think ), and no proper Z axis ( you can have height variation, but there is a single "walk-mesh" surface that can only have one Z value for any given X and Y ( so if you have a tile containing a bridge, it will either be one you can walk over or one you can walk under, but not both). The "walk-mesh" is created as part of a tile, so it is not something a toolset user needs to worry about.
Creating new tile-sets and other model content is NOT part of the toolset as far as I recall, and is obviously more complex.
Kimyrielle Mar 27, 2018
Quoting: etonbearsThe biggest problem was that NWN1 mods were based on assembling playing areas from pre-existing rectangular tile sets, for both interior and exterior scenes, which could be quite limiting even 15 years ago. It produces OK interiors, as one is generally accustomed to rectilinear architecture, but creating good exterior areas is challenging.
The simplicity allowed single creators to rapidly make a large numbers of areas though, which I believe had no small part in drawing in so many creators. NWN2's area editor was more powerful, but also much more tedious to use. I don't believe it's a coincidence that NWN2 had dramatically fewer games made with it than NWN. And both editors don't remotely compare to full-blown game engines, where you can't even build a garden shed in any reasonable amount of time.
Personally, I think the trade-off was very acceptable and a smart move by NWN devs.
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