GameSpotting


 Trevor Rivers
Associate Producer, GameSpot Live
Now Playing: Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix Beta, No One Lives Forever
Most Wanted: Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Castlevania: White Night Concerto, Grand Theft Auto: Vice (?)

Neverwinter Wonderland

Roughly two weeks ago, I found myself sitting in an Irish pub in Canada with a handful of people from BioWare, Infogrames, and GameSpot. The topic of conversation was essentially dominated by Neverwinter Nights, which is the reason that most of us were in Canada in the first place. By this time, we were mostly screaming back and forth at each other over the twisted cacophony of Irish folk music (and the odd U2 track) that was being pumped out of the pub's sound system. At some point during all of the yelling, Ron Dulin, former GameSpot editor gone freelance, cracked a joke along the lines of "More has been written about this game than about World War II." On that note, I'd like to throw another cup of water into the proverbial torrent.

In case you haven't read about the game already, let me point you in the right direction. If you're looking for previews, go here. If you're looking for news, go here. If you're looking for technical information, go here. If you're looking for Andrew Park talking about how much he's looking forward to the game, go here. If you're looking for video and interviews with the team, go here. If you're looking for an online documentary about BioWare, which includes information about Neverwinter Nights, go here. If you want to sign up for the beta test of the game, go here. And if all that's not enough, you can always go here or here. Right about now, I'm betting you've realized that Ron made a good point.

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"I've read more about Neverwinter Nights than I have about this."
Part of this has to do with the fact that the game has been in development for five years now. Most of that time was spent under the watchful eye of gamers and gaming press everywhere. There's a good reason that so much has been written about this game--a big part of that is that many of you folks out there are as excited about it as some of us here at GameSpot are. Some are so excited as to be borderline psychotic. While we were in that noisy Irish pub, the head of the Neverwinter Nights' team, Trent Oster, informed us that a group of people actually videotaped BioWare's E3 presentation last year on the sly and then went through the tape frame by frame and figured out how to do their own scripting for the game. Some other crackpot genius figured out how to edit and create Neverwinter's proprietary character and monster models in 3D Studio. Communities have already formed, and some of them are already planning out how they're going to build their own sovereign worlds using the toolset. Indeed, some of these groups have been out there for years now, watching and waiting.

 
 How excited are you about Neverwinter Nights?

Neverwinter what?
Slightly
Very excited
I'm on a ladder outside Trent Oster's office right now, reporting every keystroke to my Dungeon Master via cell phone

 
So, with all this attention, there's a certain amount of pressure derivative of that. Can the game possibly live up to all the hype? Does it even need to? At this point, I think it goes without saying that the game will sell well. A lot of games sell well, though. What I think sets Neverwinter apart is that it basically lets you decide how long you want it to last. For those who aren't aware, the game essentially comes bundled with the very tools that were used to create it. I'm not going to turn this article into yet another preview, so if you're looking for more of that kind of information, aim at the top of the page, close your eyes, and click. You're bound to hit something worth reading.

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"Please--do not feed the demons."
During this last trip, we were basically turned loose on the game for an entire day. I hadn't seen the game in action since the last time we visited BioWare, and I was very eager to play it. The strange thing is that once I sat down, I wasn't as interested in digging into the single-player game as I thought I'd be. I was much more interested in trying my hand at the toolset. So, I set about creating a number of maps, weapons, and characters.

If anybody is worried that the toolset might be difficult to use, you might as well stop being concerned right now. If a fool like yours truly can sit down in front of a PC, having never before touched the Aurora toolset (as it is so named), and whip up three connected maps, complete with random encounters and items strewn about, all in less than an hour, then you can do it too. Ever been through a setup wizard on your PC? If you remember how to click "next," "yes," and "finish," then you'll be able to create your own maps, weapons, NPCs, and so on. Technophiles out there who are horrified at the idea of something so simple need not worry either, because the toolset can get as crazy as you want it to be. The "wizards" (menus that let you create maps, items, monsters, and NPCs in just a few steps) are there so that anybody can join in the fun without needing to learn how to do crazy stuff, such as writing scripts and hacking 3D models.

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"Maps are actually quite easy to put together. It's all about how much time you want to put into it."
But it's all the geeks out there who have me especially excited--and not in a criminal way. It's cool that you can create your own maps and stuff, but a lot of the mystery and excitement is lost in that process. It's cool at first, but after a few hours of tinkering, what fun is it going to be playing through a set of maps that show you know exactly where that group of lycanthropes are going to appear and which tree that crazy magical item is lying beside? Wouldn't it be better to create something for somebody else and trade for something that they've made? This is precisely why my brother and I have made a pact to create and swap maps. It will not only feed our competitive natures (who can make the best map/character/weapon/campaign), but also keep both of us entertained. Perhaps some crazy barter system will arise from all of this. And think about the folks at BioWare, who have created and play-tested the game exhaustively. If you think that they're excited about the prospect of playing some fresh campaigns created by fans, then you're right.

And you just know that there are going to be hordes of D&D aficionados out there who are just itching to try their hand at the toolset. BioWare of course already knows this and is set up for strong community leadership. Think about that. Even if you never even mess around with the toolset, you'll be able to download new modules, items, and so on. There will undoubtedly be some groups out there that believe in the open source philosophy and will provide plenty of free content. That makes for a very strong possibility that there will be more campaigns created for this game than you will ever be able to play in your lifetime. And if you do in fact spend most of your life playing them, I know a doctor you should see.

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"Weapons are easier to make than maps are."
Finally, there's one more possibility that has me excited. About two years ago, when I took this job, I was in the middle of a D&D campaign. Our troupe essentially broke up, and the campaign was never finished. I moved, our DM moved, another player joined the Coast Guard, my brother headed off to college, the most avid player in our group went back to being an overly energetic ER doctor, and the last one sits next to me at work (what's up, Tim?). Considering that for the most part we flew apart like a cookie in a centrifuge, the chances that we would ever be able to have a real reunion and continue playing were essentially impossible. But not so anymore. There's a real possibility that we could rebuild our campaign in Neverwinter Nights. Using maps provided with the original module (The Temple of Elemental Evil, a classic Gary Gygax adventure), we could build the temple based on the old maps, transfer our characters, and pick up where we left off. Considering we'd gone off on a long tangent from the basic campaign, it wouldn't be too hard to whip up a few rural and city maps as well, along with some NPCs. Voilą. After that, all we would need to do is set a night and time, bring some Chee-tos and Mountain Dew, and we'd be all set to go. That would be a truly beautiful thing.

Call me crazy. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic here, but for some reason, I suspect I'm not.
 

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