Advice for a new player

[Legacy_bussinrounds]

               Should i even bother with the official campaign, or should i just dive into these amazing sounding modules  ?    



            Also, what are the best cosmetic mods and what fixes am i gonna need ?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jmlzemaggo]

               I'm afraid you shall never learn from anyone else if there is something you like yourself as long as you haven't touch it.
I would kiss the OC, if I were you. Imagine you miss the love of your life by listening to your best friend...
who is gonna go away with her.
Do you wanna be one of those NWN players who pretend hating the OC... such as myself... only because they didn't write it? Do you seriously want to belong to such a bunch of losers? Trust me, I do, no fun. Now, if you're new to NWN, the OC is a great school for it.
And it's not thaaaaat bad.  
To me it's more a question of rythm, as it could get very tedious as some point... And I mean very... In some other words, it's more a question of how much you can take, if you're a ****, instead of a hero like myself, who could play something he doesn't care about for hours before surrendering to life.
I suppose NWN is quite a huge game, with many sides to get used to, before feeling alive in it.
To me today, it's almost like my second life, but I'm familar with both, and both feel home, I'm easy in them. I wouldn't face the community modules without, at least, some of that easiness about NWN, and some background, some history, something to hold to when you're gonna be lost and alone  in somebody else's mind.

There is only one way to play NWN, not matter what everybody would say:
Yours.
Find it, that's your only duty, your only key to access your own fun.
What you wrote made me realise the first thing I did when starting playing NWN was to make it mine. Right away. I'm aware it might sound a bit antagonistic, I wouldn't be offended, neither surprised, with what I just said earlier, about being a good kid at the OC school, and learn the rules by the official book, and, as a matter of fact, short for AAMOF... 
it kind of does...
But, I wouldn't have loved it so much before possessing it. I went right away for the add-ons made by the community, including the cosmetic mods as you called them, but not only. Which is probably what made me write a list, also in my signature, short for sig, about my first NWN friends, one you might find helpfull yourself eventually. Only I knew I could own the game my way, but not before seeing it the way it is by itself.
Without me. Without you.You might find me a bit pretentious. You bet.
So you are. You're already thinking about changing something you probably know nothing of yet.
You're kind of reminding me of someone I happen to know quite well actually...
This mod community is huge. It's like so many people decided to make NWN they're own. The ticket to themselves. I hope you'll find out why. You sound quite fit to the challenge already...

Oh, before I forgot, take a chair. I write quite too much sometimes.
Actually, I'd better write that warning at the beginning of my posts, wouldn't I, it's got no real use at the end...
Why I never remember this is simply beyond me, and I'm sorry.

Welcome!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par jmlzemaggo, 24 décembre 2010 - 07:24 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_bussinrounds]

               Good post.     I actually got excited when i saw the length of it !!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jmlzemaggo]

               No doubt, you're one of a kind. '>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par jmlzemaggo, 24 décembre 2010 - 07:27 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_NorthWolf]

               If you're running a powerful computer, you might consider downloading NWShader or NWNCQ. Both increase Neverwinter Night's visual appeal, assuming you're willing to set them both up properly (neither are terribly complex, but NWShader can confuse you easily). If you intend to play online, you'll probably need the CEP, as well.



Cheers, and enjoy yourself.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_bussinrounds]

               

NorthWolf wrote...

If you're running a powerful computer, you might consider downloading NWShader or NWNCQ. Both increase Neverwinter Night's visual appeal, assuming you're willing to set them both up properly (neither are terribly complex, but NWShader can confuse you easily). If you intend to play online, you'll probably need the CEP, as well.

Cheers, and enjoy yourself.

   
    hey man thanks for the links great to get some imput.  i am running intel quad core 4 gigs ddr3 ram and a nvidia 1028mb 9500gt.  i am new to this game and the modules i do have some time into using mods with baldurs gate and oblivion but it is much different here.  would u be able to point me to a good guide for a beginner to install the mods that u are talking about? Ii have also been hearing about overrides and .hak files, what are the differences between these and the modules?  know this is getting off topic from the original post and is most likely in a very obvious post but i must have not seen it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jmlzemaggo]

               Did you take a look at that list I mentionned?
Before going any further...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NorthWolf]

               NWShader is its own unique little gadget. I forget how it installs exactly, but basically you extract it to your /NeverwinterNights/NWN/ folder and then run one of its utilities. The utility will configure things for you, but you can always play around with it (they have some optional shaders, last I checked).

NWNCQ is something you'd want to download as an override, which leads into the explanation of haks vs. overrides.

Haks are probably what you're more accustom to as "mods". They're sort of like Oblivion mods, except instead of the user choosing which ones they want active when they play, a builder chooses which haks a mod uses, then players need to have those haks to play it. Your haks go in your "hak" directory.

Overrides are different. From a player's standpoint they can be used to literally override a file in the game with another file of your choosing. In this way you can change textures, music, etc. for the entire game without actually going in and override core game files. You'd want the NWNCQ override if you're playing modules; it'll make things prettier without you having to do anything more than extract them. They go in your "override" directory.

Careful with overrides; when you install/update/etc. Neverwinter Nights you can often make backups of your overrides. You always want the one named plainly "override".

As for being able to run any of these things, you'd essentially be hitting a fly with a sledgehammer with the PC specs you have, so you'll have absolutely no troubles having your computer run NWN content.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NorthWolf, 24 décembre 2010 - 01:22 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

bussinrounds wrote...

       Should i even bother with the official campaign, or should i just dive into these amazing sounding modules  ?    

           Also, what are the best cosmetic mods and what fixes am i gonna need ?

I am assuming you have not tried playing any NWN yet but have successfully installed on your machine at this writing.

If this is NOT the case, do so and patch to v1.69 using the critical rebuild for the version of the game you have purchased.

Vista, Win7 and 64-bit OS's have sometimes posed some problems running NWN and may need to be tweaked a bit.  If your installation is trouble-free, grasp your good fortune by the throat and dive in!

I would then recommend at least tasting the OC.  Most of the community content available has its ancestral roots in these modules and you may need some time learning the ropes of NWN's version of D&D before you take the plunge into more challenging adventures elsewhere.  Also, until you become accustomed to installing haks and overrides, it would probably be wise to establish a stable baseline before engaging in the more esoteric aspects of the NWN gaming experience.  This advice is coming from a self-proclaimed neurotic (as others may readily attest to) so digest it with a grain of salt.

It might also be interesting for you to play with the toolset for an hour or two to get a perspective on how the "magic" is created.  Aurora has designed a utility that a novice can jump into without much knowledge and begin creating their own games.  But consider that optional, of course.

Since you haven't mentioned the expansions, if you don't have them, I would place those on the top of my Christmas list since many/most custom content requires them.  If you DO have them installed, you are already ahead of the curve, will hit the ground running and be able to experience even more innovations (not to mention the premium modules, if you have them available in your package).

Once you've become comfortable with single player gaming feel feel to sample all the excellent offerings the on-line community has provided.  And don't be afraid to enlist your RL friends in joining in the fun with you playing NWN!

Happy Holidays and all the best fortune in your NWN experience, my friend!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 24 décembre 2010 - 02:21 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_CalSailX]

               

bussinrounds wrote...          Should i even bother with the official campaign, or should i just dive into these amazing sounding modules  ?                   Also, what are the best cosmetic mods and what fixes am i gonna need ?

 I'd recommend playing the OC if for any reason, because more then one module you might end up playing from the vault poke fun at some of it's charactors.  Or try to tie up some of the loose ends left in its wake.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_ffbj]

               Mp is the name of the game for me.  Though I suppose you could play some of the OC in multiplayer.  If you are just a single player then by all means play it.  I did for a while, though I never finished any of them, got too bored, and discovered mp and building and that was Adios to the OC for me.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NorthWolf]

               Ditto with the above. Neverwinter Nights doesn't feel like a game for single player. Would sooner play Baldur's Gate or Planescape or Dragon Age or something if I was in it for the campaigns.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NWN DM]

               

ffbj wrote...

Mp is the name of the game for me.  Though I suppose you could play some of the OC in multiplayer.  If you are just a single player then by all means play it.  I did for a while, though I never finished any of them, got too bored, and discovered mp and building and that was Adios to the OC for me.

Agreed.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_bussinrounds]

               Thanks for the replies everyone !    I didn't even know i could play the OC co-op with a friend, (or friends).    Does the difficulty ramp up when playing with more ppl, or does it just get easier ?     And what would you advise a new NWN player as the first things to do ?  Start looking into character builds, or technical stuff like hacks & overrides  ?    Or just play  ?      





    And, i know theirs THOUSANDS, it's a tough question, and very objective, but what are some of the modules that are considered, the cream of the crop, say ?  (especially the classic p&p ones redone )       I'm an old school p&p guy, so ones with that classic d&d feel to them, i would def love.




               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NorthWolf]

               I think it gets harder with more players, but I forget. If you find it's getting too easy with friends, you could always just increase the game's difficulty to compensate. Failing that, download some custom AI that makes your enemies more intelligent.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NorthWolf, 25 décembre 2010 - 11:28 .