Neverwinter Nights 2 Q&A Feature

Having already enjoyed a First Look and chat with Obsidian's Feargus Urquhart earlier in the year, TVG just had more questions it wanted answered when it comes to the eagerly awaited return of Neverwinter Nights.

As one chapter naturally draws to a close, with confirmation that premium content would cease for the original Neverwinter Nights, it certainly seems that both Atari and Obsidian are keen for its sequel to carry on the community/modding aspects of its predecessor, as Chris Avellone, Creative Director/Senior Designer, at Obsidian Entertainment pointed out.

With NWN being so popular and doing so well has it been a hard challenge for the team, especially as a new studio to ensure the sequel hits the same high level and what do you see as some of the distinguishing features of the game in terms of design and gameplay ideas?

A lot of the designers, artists, and programmers at Obsidian have been working together since the days of Black Isle Studios (and on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords), so the RPG logistics haven't been hard to nail down, it's mostly a matter of implementing the content. As far as unique features and game play ideas go, I think there was a solid core already with NWN1, so we've tried to expand on that - we want to create a compelling single-player campaign while trying to increase the power of the toolset both in creating adventures and environments for those adventures (but more specifics on that below). If I were to point to one of the distinguishing features of Neverwinter Nights 2, I would have to say it'd be the stronghold mechanics (recruiting and building your home base) - it's one of the design backbones in the game, and it sees a lot of use throughout the campaign.

"... we're even more excited about what the public and modders will create with the toolset, so there's a lot of eagerness on our end, too."

Please can you tell our readers about the backdrop setting to the game and have the team ensured any real continuity in the storyline from the first title?

The story starts in the Mere of Dead Men along the Sword Coast, in the farming village of West Harbor. The campaign takes place several years after the events in Neverwinter Nights 1 (and those events are referred to and have much to do with the problems facing Faerûn at the moment), but the story stands on its own, and there is no direct continuation between the two titles. Still, players familiar with the first game's storyline will enjoy cameos here and there from familiar NWN1 characters.

What have you learnt from NWN that you will try to open up and expand on?

We're focusing on creating a strong single-player campaign as well as improving the toolset. I think the modding community alone will be pleased with the flexibility with environments, item creation, armor customization, and the global script templates that will make scripting encounters and dialogues much easier.

Could you tell us a little about the makeup of the team working on the game, as many gamers will have enjoyed previous games such as Fallout 2, Baldur's Gates, Icewind Dale and Planescape? How did the design of the game evolve and how did the team get the rights to develop the game?

Darren Monahan is the Producer (IWD1, IWD2, Heart of Winter), Lead Designer is Josh Sawyer (IWD1, IWD2, Heart of Winter), our Lead Programmer is Frank Kowalkowski, who was the lead programmer on Dark Alliance 2, Tim Donley is our lead environment artist who was lead artist on Planescape, and Tramell "T-Ray" Isaac is our lead artist (Fallout 2). I'm Obsidian's Creative Director, and I help Josh with some of the demo and pipeline stuff, and a lot of the writing in the game - I worked on Fallout 2, the IWDs, and Planescape.

We got the Neverwinter Nights 2 license through Atari and a recommendation from Bioware, so we are thankful to both. Originally, there was a skeleton crew working on Neverwinter Nights 2 while we were finishing up Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, but once that title wrapped up, Neverwinter Nights 2 staffed up pretty quickly.

Tell us more about the actual gameworld. Will the structure, feel, of the game be a mix of linear and open world ending exploring and what new elements have you added that will immerse the players even further?

Some of the beginning sections of the game are linear until you hit Neverwinter, and then you are free to explore as you will, choosing factions, checking out the various districts, and so on. There's enough there that you should have a markedly different experience from other players.

"You may not even mind seeing the death screen as long as you took screenshots of what happened shortly before your character's death..."

How extensive will the quests be and will these offer also a varied selection of side quests?

The quests run the range of module-spanning dramatic quests that require a great deal of exploring, investigating, and even debating at points, to simple fetch and exploration missions of the local environment... but as players will discover, hacking and slashing isn't going to be enough to reach your goals in the intrigue-ridden city of Neverwinter. There are always politics and factions to keep in mind, and how the player handles both them and the immediate threat plays a big role in the game.

For those not au-fait with NWN could you tell us a little about creating a character, and the basic progression line that will unfold?

Starting up the game, you have many of the same choices they would make in a Dungeons and Dragons pen-and-paper game - you can choose your race, class, abilities, and customize your character's appearance (along with some other bonus stuff - mentioned below). From there, you emerge into West Harbor on the day of the Harbor Festival engaging in various feats of spellcraft, strength, and even a bit of thievery here and there... as well as getting to know the inhabitants of your village.

Growing up in West Harbor will grant you a selection of unique background traits you can use to customize your character even further (traits such as Bully, Devout, Natural Leader, Militiaman, etc.), but a lot of the weapons and abilities you gain is directly in your hands and vary based upon how your choices during character development.

Could you also go into a little detail about the creatures through Neverwinter players can expect to come across?

We've chosen monsters not only for their involvement in the story, but for their usefulness to the mod community. If I were to cite a specific creature, I guess I would point to the Succubus, since it has popularity hereto unseen by most denizens of the monstrous manual. This is probably because they "attack" most victims through a means they find pleasurable. If you have to die, it's a hell of a way to go. You may not even mind seeing the death screen as long as you took screenshots of what happened shortly before your character's death, who knows.

How big a focus has the technology behind the game been and what presentational aspects of the game do you believe will impress?

The biggest focus has been on the toolset and functionality, as well as improving the graphical quality of the engine. It did require removing and writing a great deal of code, so much so it became the (now-named) Electron engine, and we're pretty pleased with the results. Trees, fogs, water, the flexibility of outdoor environments... all of these things have been added and should add a lot to campaign-builder maps.

Any other thoughts you'd care to share will our readers?

As much as we're excited about releasing Neverwinter Nights 2, we're even more excited about what the public and modders will create with the toolset, so there's a lot of eagerness on our end, too.

TVG would like to thank Chris Avellone for taking the time to answer our further questions; expect more on Neverwinter Nights 2 soon...