Originally released in 2002 and then later as Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition from Beamdog, many years on it's still getting major upgrades including a new Toon shader and loading speed improvements.
"Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition adds all-new enhanced features to the content of Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition. Slink through the shadows as a deadly half-elven rogue, wield fearsome magics as a powerful gnomish sorcerer, vanquish your foes as an armor-clad dwarven paladin... whatever hero you create, incredible adventures await. Discover magic, wonder, and danger at every turn on your own or with friends in these classic Dungeons & Dragons adventures."
Build 8193.35 was released on May 24th and here's what's new:
- Spells and spell-like abilities now display a targeting indicator displaying their range and, if appropriate, their AOE shape and size.
- Added support for up to 8 multiclasses, configurable per-module.
- Improved area load times by up to 100x!
- Added an in-game News UI that shows upcoming patches and community news.
- NUI windows will no longer break input to the game (WASD, drag&drop).
- Added a new "Toon" postprocessing shader.
- Hundreds of new functions and goodies for module builders.
- Hundreds of bugfixes and optimizations.
For the new Toon shader, here's an example of the differences. First shot is normal, second on the Toon shader:
There was also the official HD model and texture pack upgrade released for it back in 2021. Nice to see it seeing such long-term support to keep the classic alive.
You can buy it on Humble Store, GOG and Steam. It has Native Linux support and is rated Steam Deck Playable.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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13 comments
Brilliant game, should play some of the campaigns I haven't yet.
1 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje May 26, 2023
Quoting: akselmoBrilliant game, should play some of the campaigns I haven't yet.I may have to start over the original campaign (Yeah, I know most people thought it was boring, but I liked it). I managed somehow to get up to a 14th level wizard, then got stuck... but then lost my saved game during a hard drive mishap. Now we have cloud saves, so that shouldn't happen again... I've started that campaign so many times; last time my bro and I were playing it, I played a dumb half-orc fighter and he played a wizard... but he kept running off and dying :P
0 Likes
This was my first Linux game, back in 2002. I remember you had to go into the website to download the Linux executable as it wasn't on the DvD.
21 years later and I still never finished the campaign, lol.
21 years later and I still never finished the campaign, lol.
2 Likes, Who?
Kimyrielle May 26, 2023
The "Toon" shader makes the game look like a...well...cartoon. Which I suppose is the idea, but my roleplayer self is still cringing. But hey, if some people like it, who am I to judge!
Great to see the game still getting updated!
Great to see the game still getting updated!
0 Likes
Geamandura May 27, 2023
Man that just looks horrific.
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Quoting: denyasisThis was my first Linux game, back in 2002. I remember you had to go into the website to download the Linux executable as it wasn't on the DvD.
21 years later and I still never finished the campaign, lol.
Lol, yea I played this back in the day on Linux. Hard to believe it was 20 (wikipedia says the Linux client was released in 2003) years ago ! I wonder what distro I was using ... Warty came out in 04 so it was probably Mandrake or Redhat.
1 Likes, Who?
Yes, the Linux client was released in 2003. They originally said it's going to be ready for release in 2002, but that got pushed back. I remember waiting for it
And then the Linux client came and it didn't play any of the videos, because they were Bink files and RADGameTools had no Linux Bink library at that time. The community came up with an LD_PRELOAD hack that hooks into the game and starts mplayer. Of course, you had to re-encode that videos beforehand, using Wine and the RADGameTools toolset. Fun times.
And then the Linux client came and it didn't play any of the videos, because they were Bink files and RADGameTools had no Linux Bink library at that time. The community came up with an LD_PRELOAD hack that hooks into the game and starts mplayer. Of course, you had to re-encode that videos beforehand, using Wine and the RADGameTools toolset. Fun times.
8 Likes, Who?
I know Baldur's Gate usually takes the crown as peak Bioware-era RPG, but for me, it's always going to be Neverwinter Nights. BG has tons of modern spiritual successors after it, but there's nothing quite like NWN. It's not just a standard campaign, but a platform for digital role playing.
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Quoting: LungDragoIt's not just a standard campaign, but a platform for digital role playing.That's the greatest plus and the greatest disappointment at the same time. It's mainly a toolkit for digital role playing. Even without comparison to Baldur’s Gate (not the greatest story) the main campaign is very weak.
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Sure, the main campaign is weak, but the two expansions are great.
And then there's so many good community made modules
And then there's so many good community made modules
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Quoting: DrMcCoyYes, the Linux client was released in 2003. They originally said it's going to be ready for release in 2002, but that got pushed back. I remember waiting for it
And then the Linux client came and it didn't play any of the videos, because they were Bink files and RADGameTools had no Linux Bink library at that time. The community came up with an LD_PRELOAD hack that hooks into the game and starts mplayer. Of course, you had to re-encode that videos beforehand, using Wine and the RADGameTools toolset. Fun times.
I don't think I even knew about the videos!! (Probably explains a lot). I haven't played it since 2004/5 maybe.
In have to admit, I could never finish NWN or any of the other games. In fact the only aurora/infinity styled rpg I ever finished was Planescape Torment.
I have have and played them all. I would just get... Bored. Which is sad cause these games seem like they would be right up my alley (huge worlds, epic story, complex characters, etc). I just never felt connected to the world.
Last edited by denyasis on 27 May 2023 at 6:35 pm UTC
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Quoting: DrMcCoyYes, the Linux client was released in 2003. They originally said it's going to be ready for release in 2002, but that got pushed back. I remember waiting for it
And then the Linux client came and it didn't play any of the videos, because they were Bink files and RADGameTools had no Linux Bink library at that time. The community came up with an LD_PRELOAD hack that hooks into the game and starts mplayer. Of course, you had to re-encode that videos beforehand, using Wine and the RADGameTools toolset. Fun times.
Nice to read you again.
I remember you were involved in a free implementation of the Aurora Engine.
0 Likes
SoU and HotU are really well done and much more interesting than the core campaign, I think. I'm about halfway through Ch. 2 of HotU with an Arcane Archer and really enjoying it. I dig how you can continue with the same character in HotU and NPCs make comments showing that they've heard about your exploits from SoU (and even the core campaign). Both modules are just really well done and I highly recommend them if you've never played them or wasn't that impressed with the core campaign.
Runs great through Steam. I'd also suggest checking out all the addons available though the Steam Workshop for upgrading the graphics for various assets, adding more character portraits, etc.
It's impressive how many extra free modules Beamdog has made automatically available in the client too.
Runs great through Steam. I'd also suggest checking out all the addons available though the Steam Workshop for upgrading the graphics for various assets, adding more character portraits, etc.
It's impressive how many extra free modules Beamdog has made automatically available in the client too.
1 Likes, Who?
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