Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark Q&A
We discuss the upcoming expansion pack for BioWare's popular role-playing game, as well as the future of Neverwinter Nights.
BioWare's Neverwinter Nights was released last year and met with critical acclaim and commercial success. The 3D role-playing game used the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules to let players create a lone adventurer (who could be joined by a single hireling companion) and go on an epic quest across the fantasy world known as the Forgotten Realms. The game also included a powerful editor and toolset that let enterprising hobbyists create their own custom adventures from the ground up, including different wall and floor textures, custom treasure items, and monster encounters that could be scripted with line after line of dialogue.
The developer followed up the game with the Shadows of Undrentide expansion pack, which was released earlier this year, and plans to ship a second expansion pack, Hordes of the Underdark, this year. The new expansion will provide additional support for high-level characters, as well as all-new editor assets for the Underdark, the titular subterranean domain of the sinister dark elves. For more information on this upcoming expansion, we sat down with assistant producer Darcy Pajak and producer Trent Oster.
GameSpot: Thanks for taking the time for this interview. Could you give us an update on Hordes of the Underdark? How far along is the expansion, and what is the team working on now?
Darcy Pajak: Thanks for inviting us to do the interview.
Hordes is currently undergoing testing at Atari. We have most of the features completed and are down to writing the henchmen and some of the plots in the middle chapter.
Trent Oster: The Hordes of the Underdark expansion is flying along, with most of the major sections nearing completion. The major effort is currently focused on finishing the writing and getting the remaining art, animation, and resources in.
GS: We know that the second expansion pack will add plenty of new features to the original game, such as new prestige classes and new editor tilesets, including the Underdark, but what are you hoping the expansion will ultimately add to the game? Is it just more of the same, or do you see Neverwinter Nights heading in a particular direction?
TO: The Hordes expansion will vastly increase the high-level character support, allowing players to take characters further than ever before with the addition of epic level support. I think this expansion really pushes the Neverwinter Nights experience in almost every way. The expansion includes new tiles, monsters, prestige classes, and so many new feats and special abilities that it is truly amazing in scope. All of the new features we're adding will allow custom content creators to make even more stunning and varied modules to share with the world.
DP: One thing I think that Hordes of the Underdark will add to Neverwinter Nights is a greater range of player options and freedoms. You can now expand your character into epic levels and increase the skills, feats, and classes they want. They will be able to have new voice sets, they can add new portraits, choose new weapons. The builder now will have more tools to create their own adventures. We've added one large tileset and three smaller tilesets so they can set modules in many locations. They will have new monsters, new scripting commands, and the toolset has more wizards and options to make building that much easier.
GS: Is there a specific feature or addition in Hordes of the Underdark that you're most proud of, or that you're particularly fond of, that you'd like to share with our readers?
TO: Yes, but not quite yet. I've personally been involved in a small feature addition which I think will be quite popular among the community. I think the largest impact will not be the implementation, but the potential for future flexibility in the system.
DP: There really is no specific feature I can point to which I'm most proud of. The story is intriguing, and the interactions with the henchmen keep me going through the arduous fights with the new monsters. The new weapons are fun to use, as are the new effects we can add to them to give my character awesome power.
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark Quick Links
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- Atari
- BioWare
- Computer Role-Playing
- Release: Dec 2, 2003
- ESRB: Teen
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