Neverwinter Nights: EE - Released

The Enhanced Edition of Neverwinter Nights is now available:

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition v8166 is now ready to download


Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition v8166 is now available on Steam and Beamdog. We’re closing in on the March 27 release date fast!

This build brings Steam and Beamdog versions back in line and focuses on camera, audio, and part-based item/character issues.

Hotfix - Mar 26

• Fixed an issue where Borderless full-screen mode (introduced in 8166) prevented some resolution changes from happening.
• Reverted an attachment point fix causing attachment issues on cloaks and horses in 8166.

Known Issues

• We are still looking into the Intel Integrated GPU-related crashes on Windows.
• Windows players using the server tool may experience save game corruption if they load the game from a save game rather than a module and then attempt to save the game via the server tool while nobody is logged into the server. In cases like this, please save your game while at least one player is still online.

Fixes

• Fixed clipping/popping on some music tracks.
• Fixed distortion/crackling on music.
• Switched to using OpenALSoft to allow surround sound to work properly.
• Fixed an issue with positional audio listener orientation that was causing undefined behavior.
• Removed UI options that are no longer relevant with OpenAL.
• Fixed case sensitivity issues with opening music files.
• Fixed an array bounds issue in the MP3 decoder.
• Paste (as in copy/paste) has been fixed.
• Fixed the issue where part-based rendering would not attach properly; like crossbows, slings, tails and wings.
• Fixed the camera issue where switching to Drive Mode would lock the zoom-axis erroneously.
• Fixed the camera issue where it would start tilted down in some cases.
• We fixed ANSI-encoding of text (sorry, not UTF-8 yet) in all input modes.
• Everything the NWN chat font supports should now work.
• The console doesn’t emit \ (or `, depending) anymore when opening it.
• The console cannot be closed anymore with the console-open key. The reason for this is that some console commands require \; i.e. workshopupload. Use ESC instead.
• You can now type ~ and ` in the console.
• We fixed an issue where UI click positions would sometimes not line up with the buttons after switching window mode or resizing the game window.

Features

• Lighting and normal-mapping on static objects has been improved.
• Added a pointer on CGameObject dedicated to NWNX use.
• Numpad Return now acts the same as Enter on the main key block.
• Re-enabled 2x UI scaling on 1080p. Some main menu elements do not fit yet. We plan to update the screens that break so they play nice at 1080p.

nwn.ini

• Under Display Options, you can now set glFinishBeforeFBO=1. This will cost about 20% performance, but will fix post-process rendering issues on some setups, particularly Intel. When turned on, you’ll notice filter “leaking” into the next, producing visual artifacts (You can test this on the console by typing glFinishBeforeFBO=1). The alternative is to only run one post-process filter.
• You can turn on Borderless Window mode by setting Borderless=1 under Display Options.
• You can use DESKTOP-style fullscreen mode (“borderless fullscreen”) by setting FullScreenDesktopMode=1 under Display Options. FullScreen needs to be enabled as well for this to work.

More information.

Picked this up immediately.

I'm a little skeptical about how much they can enhance this old horse. It sounds like they are adding new graphics functionality that at least makes it more like NWN2, but unless they do an HD texture update and refine the multitude of very low poly models it's still going to look pretty dated. But we'll see.

I've been playing it and I have to say it does indeed look a lot like the original Diamond Edition of NN that I already own, but things are a bit crisper maybe? I'm still excited that they're keeping this beast alive somehow. I had a lot of fun with the game back in the day.

lots of griping on steam. Guess the naysayers win (so far).

I believe personally that it wasn't quite ready for release. I have it and have played somewhat over the past two months, but I'm going to wait a bit longer before delving back into it.

I still can’t figure out what everyone is buying. I hope Henchman changes are part of it at least.

Agree with the general feeling and posted so on their forum - there ain't enough wow factor yet. Server browser is a big IF you're still interested in playing online but then if you're still interested you've probably worked out how to do that with the existing version. I suppose getting it installed and working straight off the bat with modern systems is a good thing for some people. The shaders etc are ok but nothing to get excited over. The UI scaling is very basic. All in all it's pretty underwhelming which is just going to add fuel to the cash grab, naysayer comments that Beamdog seem to garner so often.

I can't see BD not being aware of all this. The optimist in me hopes they're trying to generate cash flow to do all the stuff that's been hinted at. The pessimist is disappointed that they haven't waited to release it with at least some more of the hinted bells & whistles and with a failed release meaning it'll eventually fall short on those hinted features. Why they didn't do early access is beyond me, I spose we're not privy to the workings of their studio. Time will tell.

I played it last on a 22” panel at native resolution with a bunch of critical mods like Henchman & inventory etc. I’m trying to think of anything that limited the experience necessitating a remaster. Besides a big HD texture & maybe poly overhaul I’m drawing a big blank. And Beamdog certainly hasn’t done anything for the visuals that I can see.

Some of the screenshots I've seen for EE of versions of user created modules (like Andarian's Sanctum of the Archmage series) look fantastic. Not sure how much Beamdog actually tweaked the OC so it's possible you will only really notice a graphical improvement in modules.

If I need the EE in order to play future installments of Sanctum and other module series
I really like then I guess I'll have to get it eventually. But $20 for a 16 year old game with minor graphical enhancements, not much in the way of new features, (and no new content) seems like highway robbery… especially when you already own the NWN diamond….

Not a big fan of Beamdog and their Enhanced Editions. Most of the times, the fans did better.

So correct me if I'm wrong but older mods should work with this edition right?

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
So correct me if I'm wrong but older mods should work with this edition right?

Yes that's right - one of their key aims is for backwards compatibility.

Originally Posted by Pongo
Yes that's right - one of their key aims is for backwards compatibility.

Thanks I was worried they wouldn't.

Still the price does seem high to buy right now.

If you are going to charge $20 then you need to release it with a new module or it better look awesome. I would love to see new user created content but I think sales will be hurt for rushing this out the door.

I'm interested to try a new persistent world again if there is a big enough population. I had fun with this back in the day.

This looks almost as bad as before. I cannot see any significant improvements…

Since the original campaign has bored me to death twice even when I was younger and had more than enough time on my hands, I'm very reluctant to give this another shot.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
So correct me if I'm wrong but older mods should work with this edition right?

From perusing Beamdog forums creators were saying something about most of the issues being with custom tilesets.. If a mod requires a custom tileset it may be to be updated for EE in order to prevent crashes or other bugs. Many of them have apparently already been updated though.

Looking great!

Yes, some of the modder-built tilesets are really quite nice even for this old relic, especially if the enhancements are going to improve the lighting/shadows and implement normal maps. If the Beamdog EE needs an update to the new tilesets though, that will be a problem.

I know for a fact that this product will need many updates to get it to where Beamdog wants it to be, and probably where all the fans now will expect it to be. This will take months, and they should have not released it this early because during those months, they are going to take a huge amount of flak. I'm not sure what the haste was, but it may cost them a lot in the long run.