Gen Con 2001: Neverwinter Nights update

BioWare was in attendance at this year's Gen Con game convention in Milwaukee, and it showed its upcoming online role-playing game Neverwinter Nights. Considering that much of Gen Con is devoted to traditional tabletop pen-and-paper role-playing, it's hardly surprising that the game was received so well by onlookers. Neverwinter Nights will be an online role-playing game that'll also let players create their own fully 3D dungeons, then run them online with other players from all over the world in real time. The game will also ship with a comprehensive single-player campaign story that will comprise more than 20 individual scenarios. The actual single-player game will take place in Dungeons & Dragons' popular high-fantasy Forgotten Realms setting, between the towns of Neverwinter and its neighbor, Luskan. Neverwinter was originally founded by an elf lord, though over time, it's become less of an elven sanctuary; its rulers have traditionally ascended to leadership not by right of blood lineage, but by virtue of their own valorous and honorable deeds. When the game begins, Neverwinter is governed by Lord Gnasher, a retired veteran adventurer who keeps council with Aribeth, an elven warrior with ties to the temple of Tyr (the Forgotten Realms god of justice). The town of Luskan is located close to Neverwinter, and it's actually governed by an old rival of Gnasher's, though Luskan has apparently fallen under the dark influence of a mysterious warrior, while Neverwinter has been beset by a plague. It'll be up to players to explore the two cities and the surrounding areas and find out what they can.

Once they're done with the single-player campaign, players will have more than enough to do with Neverwinter Nights' comprehensive dungeon editor, which will let players create their own adventures using both outdoor and indoor areas populated with monsters and non-player characters of their own choosing. According to BioWare designer Aidan Scanlan, most of the game's actual content (weapons, monsters, items, dungeon-creation utilities, and so on) has already been implemented into the game, and BioWare is now working to test each aspect of the game thoroughly to make sure that the final game is as polished as possible. Neverwinter Nights is currently scheduled to be released at the end of the year, but Scanlan assured us that the quality of the game is the company's first priority, so if the game isn't quite up to the designers' standards this holiday season, its release may slip to next year. For more information on Neverwinter Nights, see our previous coverage of the game.