LINUXGAMES

BioWare mentioned a few interesting items in their weekly update yesterday:

• An article introducing the implementation of Persistent Worlds in Neverwinter Nights for those unfamiliar with these user-driven servers. In my experience, PW’s function like smaller-scale MMORPGs, with the crucial difference being that they can be more varied and flexibile as they are created and maintained by players.
• BioWare also announced that the winner of NWVault’s Post-HotU Contest, which aimed to find the best user-made module created to continue the player’s story after the events of Hordes of the Underdark (the second official expansion pack), is John McA’s Sands of Fate I – Shadows Under Heliopolis. There was also another contest last year where the entrants had to create a module to bridge the first expansion pack, Shadows of Undrentide (it should be noted that this expansion now comes with the current retail release of NWN, NWN Gold), to the second. The winners of that contest (The Nether Scrolls and Shadohaunt), as well as the other entries, can be found here.

NWVault also pointed out this forum post by BioWare’s Georg Zoeller which enumerates many of the changes coming in the next patch (version 1.63). Also, good news for Witch’s Wake fans: Rob Bartel has given a status update on this module series:

WW1: Remastered is 95% complete and generally awaiting some funding authorization (i.e. Atari approval of the DD concept) so we can put in some finishing touches like VO, etc.

WW2: The Witch Hunters is about 5% complete, with development currently at a standstill as we await the same funding authorization. All of the back-end systems are complete (though they’ll require substantial testing and revision) but the story is currently limited to the opening area.

In short, progress is slower than I had hoped but it’s given me time to help out with a few other DD goodies that we’re hoping to release.

DD refers to BioWare’s Digital Distribution project, which will offer new official modules and content for sale online if it moves forward.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2004 at 11:38 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.