More NWN2 impressions (free for all)

[Seboss]

I agree 100% with Zomg.

I'm going through a most unpleasant "endless succession of pointless battles and being bossing around by a thug lord" part and I'm getting really pissed. The game was just fine before that part and I sure hope it picks up again thereafter.

 

[RK47]

It'd be better if they increase the pace of combat and exploration. If there is something to explore. I was really disappointed by the invisible borders in some outdoor maps...Whatever happened to BG'ish lush and nicely populated zones?

Oh, any way to speed up the combat/movement?

And I can't really appreciate it much since my Dwarf NPC just hits something dead suddenly great cleave pops up on top of the two NPC next to him. Red numbers. Bam they're dead. How underwhelming =( I miss the gibs in BG2. and satisfying crunch as I backstab something..

 

[aboyd]

I believe you can get something similar to gibs in NWN 2. It's disabled by default. Check the video settings. I think it's called "show gore."

 

[RPG_Old_Timer]

Yeah IM the moron for having an opinion, and you're of course the smart clever dude who thinks that his opinion is greater than everyone elses.

I hate to break it to you, but "lolz this gaem is awsome!!! it pwnz other gaems" could hardly be called an opinion. If you can back it up, do so, if not, spare us these dramatic outbursts.

Edit:

Argh please dont even go there, I spent about two days tweaking that pile of crap only to find out its an empty shell of an RPG, I was SO damn gutted as I loved the other two

See above.

hmmm Nice but you cant back an opinion up, its an opinion and a persons own thoughts, but if you think Gothic 3 is a good "RPG" then its probably best you stop talking to me I think and come back when you get a little more experience. I also hate to break this to you but I never said OMGZ! or anything even remotly similar, those were your words and they really did a great job of showing how much you know about games.

Thanks for your time but im afraid you need to do a little growing up before you can speak with me.

 

[Seboss]

I wish there was a way to speed up the game indeed. The games have a lot of backtracking, especially in Neverwinter and that's the only thing I really find tedious in the game.
The map could have used fog of war or at least no point of interest until you stumble onto it.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yeah IM the moron for having an opinion, and you're of course the smart clever dude who thinks that his opinion is greater than everyone elses.

I hate to break it to you, but "lolz this gaem is awsome!!! it pwnz other gaems" could hardly be called an opinion. If you can back it up, do so, if not, spare us these dramatic outbursts.

Edit:

Argh please dont even go there, I spent about two days tweaking that pile of crap only to find out its an empty shell of an RPG, I was SO damn gutted as I loved the other two

See above.

hmmm Nice but you cant back an opinion up, its an opinion and a persons own thoughts...

First, you can, second, where are the "person's own thoughts"? Hint: thoughts is a key word. For example, any opinion stating that Gothic 3 is an awesome RPG or a shitty RPG without some arguments explaining how you arrived to such a conclusion is worthless, and that's exactly what you did so far.

You love NWN2 and hate Gothic3? Great. Now explain why in some details.

...but if you think Gothic 3 is a good "RPG" then its probably best you stop talking to me I think ...

Thinking isn't your strongest side, is it?

...and come back when you get a little more experience.

*rolls eyes*

I also hate to break this to you but I never said OMGZ! or anything even remotly similar, those were your words and they really did a great job of showing how much you know about games.

Well, using your own retarded arguments, I've never said OMGZ! either, so those were *your* words and "they really did a great job of showing how much you know about games".

:wink:

Thanks for your time but im afraid you need to do a little growing up before you can speak with me.

A superiority complex? How cute.

 

[kris]

hmmm Nice but you cant back an opinion up, its an opinion and a persons own thoughts,

There are often reasons behind opinions and those you can use to back them up. You want further explanation?

 

[Data4]

What the hell is this? Dumbfucks on parade?

-D4

 

[RK47]

I believe you can get something similar to gibs in NWN 2. It's disabled by default. Check the video settings. I think it's called "show gore."

Thanks, the blood helped somewhat, but I felt the devs could've added more sound to highlight the impact. Combat's a quiet affair most of the time. It's very average so far, I've reached Neverwinter with my bard. I wanted to try out other classes but the slow paced movement discourages me :S I guess we'll how this Michael Jackson goes.

 

[cutterjohn]

I wish there was a way to speed up the game indeed. The games have a lot of backtracking, especially in Neverwinter and that's the only thing I really find tedious in the game.
The map could have used fog of war or at least no point of interest until you stumble onto it.

Since you brought it up: thanks for the fast travel anywhere/time.

The map is completely visible at the start? That's annoying.

NWN1 AI: I'm still working away at the OC in NWN1(I've decided to play the OC and 2 expansions and have been working my way through the OC in between other games....). AI was still crap with the Aurora engine, so I usually have any henchmen loiter somewhere safe if something relatively difficult is coming up.

NPCs still using items when told not to: IIRC that bug has ALWAYS been in BW games. I remember it from BG1 & BG2 & IWD. I haven't noticed it yet in NWN1 as I usually restrict the henchmen pretty closely other than what they acquire on their own, and my PC's pets usually draw aggro anyways. (PC is a dwarf cleric too, so I usually just do cure lt. wounds when necessary...)

NPC scripts: I was looking through the BG forums on ironworks the other day and saw a thread where it looked like someone had made some pretty damned good AI scripts. The NPCs would heal selves and others, cure poison ditto, range/melee switch, etc. According to the log he even let them auto fight some battles and they did pretty good. I looked around the forum further, but didn't turn up the scripts, so I might just send a PM off asking if they could be posted. The guy was a moderator in their forums too, IIRC. (The scripts should still be useful as I imagine even the aurora engine must have similar scripting to what IE games had... or easily translatable...)

 

[aboyd]

It's weird that the RPG "old timer" gives off such a n00b vibe.

 

[HanoverF]

Impressions having just gotten to NW:

The AI is atrociously stupid. No matter how much I tinker with NPC behaviour I cannot find the "Stop being more retarded than Volourn" button. They will run through traps to attack, chug potions nonstop (allowing AoO, meaning more chugging, meaning more AoO), run around changing targets seemingly at random (meaning more AoO). My main character is a bard, if I stop controlling him for a second because one of the followers is doing something tragically stupid the AI controlled bard immediatly spams sanctuary song, then runs around wacking all the enemies on screen, invalidating the effect (if there are any enemies, I guess the AI is in constant fear of ambushes).

In ESF speak, it's like roleplaying a catherder trying to get 4 of the most fidgety inbred stupid cats from point A to point B. It's infuriating, but I'm not sure if it's stricktly the AI, or the AI coupled with making a tb system into rt w/p.

The camera is shit.

There are fairly good dialogue and some choices, but too soon to know if there are consequences. I haven't had performance issues, but the constant loading when you go indoors or something is annoying as the models are pretty dull.

 

[Data4]

Impressions having just gotten to NW:

The AI is atrociously stupid. No matter how much I tinker with NPC behaviour I cannot find the "Stop being more retarded than Volourn" button. They will run through traps to attack, chug potions nonstop (allowing AoO, meaning more chugging, meaning more AoO), run around changing targets seemingly at random (meaning more AoO). My main character is a bard, if I stop controlling him for a second because one of the followers is doing something tragically stupid the AI controlled bard immediatly spams sanctuary song, then runs around wacking all the enemies on screen, invalidating the effect (if there are any enemies, I guess the AI is in constant fear of ambushes).

In ESF speak, it's like roleplaying a catherder trying to get 4 of the most fidgety inbred stupid cats from point A to point B. It's infuriating, but I'm not sure if it's stricktly the AI, or the AI coupled with making a tb system into rt w/p.

The camera is shit.

There are fairly good dialogue and some choices, but too soon to know if there are consequences. I haven't had performance issues, but the constant loading when you go indoors or something is annoying as the models are pretty dull.

Some consequences come into play in Act 2, particularly your treatment of some non-party NPCs. Thanks to a post on another forum that didn't warn of the HUGE FUCKING SPOILER contained within, consequences also occur near the endgame. I'll spare you the details if you're willing to see the game through.

-D4

 

[RK47]

Impressions having just gotten to NW:

The AI is atrociously stupid. No matter how much I tinker with NPC behaviour I cannot find the "Stop being more retarded than Volourn" button. They will run through traps to attack, chug potions nonstop (allowing AoO, meaning more chugging, meaning more AoO), run around changing targets seemingly at random (meaning more AoO). My main character is a bard, if I stop controlling him for a second because one of the followers is doing something tragically stupid the AI controlled bard immediatly spams sanctuary song,

The camera is shit.

yeah exactly the same problem here.
it's a solid improvement over NWN, but the slow paced movement and somewhat lacklustre combat prevents me from enjoying it a lot. 7 out of 10 for casual gamers, probably more for those DnD fanatics.

 

[Data4]

Hmm... This looks interesting. It's a series of modules using the Planescape setting.

-D4

 

[kris]

Impressions having just gotten to NW:

The AI is atrociously stupid. No matter how much I tinker with NPC behaviour I cannot find the "Stop being more retarded than Volourn" button. They will run through traps to attack, chug potions nonstop (allowing AoO, meaning more chugging, meaning more AoO), run around changing targets seemingly at random (meaning more AoO). My main character is a bard, if I stop controlling him for a second because one of the followers is doing something tragically stupid the AI controlled bard immediatly spams sanctuary song, then runs around wacking all the enemies on screen, invalidating the effect (if there are any enemies, I guess the AI is in constant fear of ambushes).

There are fairly good dialogue and some choices, but too soon to know if there are consequences. I haven't had performance issues, but the constant loading when you go indoors or something is annoying as the models are pretty dull.

for some reason I avoided the worst experiences with the AI when I player my ranger in act 1. I mostly controlled sorceress and things went quite smoothly. but in my second playtrough as a monk I just can't ignore all the problems. Except the ones you mentioned we have the druid being able to aggro party members into attacking her. The classic AI wizards killing themself and their teammates as I move up to them with one fighter and they blast away. :D The first thing my monk do when I unpaused give others orders is to uncheck "flurry of blows" and that ability is more or less a must to have on for a monk. I almost lost a fight against Orcs yesterday since I stupendlously let the AI do their own work and aggro every Orc in the world, not to forget all the AoO accrued.