Neverwinter Nights expansion update

BioWare and FloodGate studios are working to complete Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide in time for this summer. In addition to some new features like prestige classes, Undrentide promises to add a lot of new content in the form of a new campaign and new tilesets and other materials that community module makers can use. BioWare's Tom Ohle recently told us, "Chapter one, of three, is now nearing completion, and it's really shaping up to be a great role-playing experience. The design team has put a lot of effort into allowing players to play through the adventure as a variety of characters; the replay value of this expansion will be immense."

Ohle also mentioned that some new gameplay elements are being worked into the campaign, saying, "Players can expect fairly different experiences based on their alignment. Both evil and good players will have plenty of gameplay options. The designers are also implementing a number of options for druids and rangers; the ability to converse with animals is used much more than it was in the original Neverwinter Nights campaign, and certain quests are exclusive to players who have the animal empathy skill."

We received some new screenshots that show off two of the new tilesets in Shadows of Undrentide, the ruins and rural winter. The ruins tileset actually encompasses both exterior and interior settings. These tilesets represent some of the major locations in Undrentide--players start off in the small snowy town of Hilltop and then make their way across the Anauroch Desert to the ancient Netheril ruins.

For more details, check out our previous coverage of the first of two upcoming expansions to Neverwinter Nights.