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Neverwinter Nights:
Platform: Win 95/ 98, Mac, Linux Publisher: Interplay Developer: Bioware Projected Release Date: 1st Quarter 2001
Massively multi-player RPGs have risen to astronomical heights in popularity. Whether playing Ultima On-Line, Everquest, or Asheron's Call, many gamers have been sucked in to the new worlds that these games provide, losing sleep, strategically planning bathroom breaks, and moving the old mini fridge to within arms length; all of this to cut down the need to be away from the game. The one down side has been that players couldn't control these worlds, nor could they make their own, relying on the respective games developers and GMs to take care of it. Bioware is about to change all of this with its latest venture into the Forgotten Realms, Neverwinter Nights, where multi-player is the main thrust of the game, players are the Dungeon Masters, and are encouraged to use the games editor to make their own quests for others to play on-line, or to download for single player.
The name of the game here is multi-player, where it is planned that anywhere from 8 to 64 people can play in a world at once, depending on the speed of the internet connection of the server in use (and of course by how many people the DM wants to allow onboard). The great part is that the sky's the limit as to what kind of questing can be had since Bioware is pushing for the gaming community to make their own adventures through the games editor, the Solstice toolset. With this players can make their own worlds with the available tiles, enter the non player characters (NPCs) that they want, add towns and castles, monsters, well, all the things needed to make the game. It will even run much like a first person shooter server, where players can setup the game on their own computer for people to join, or they can make the quest available for download so that others can play when they have time. On top of this servers can be joined by "portals" which allow characters to transport from one server to another, making for the possibility of some huge questing areas should 6 or so worlds have portals between them.
With all of these worlds that can be created, there will have to be Dungeon Masters to run them. Again players fill up this role, as they set the rules for the world, cause encounters, and make the plot twists. DMs will be able to possess anyone in the world they're running, even other players' characters, in order to advance the plot. Just like in the world of Pen and Paper role playing, DMs will have a lot of pressure on them to make great adventures for others to enjoy, then again they could make a slash-fest, monster bashing quest if it suites their fancy. DMs will also be able to perform their roles from a remote, non-server computer since a password is required for the DM, in order for him or her to log on to that word as the DM. If that wasn't enough, games can even be run by multiple DMs.
While the game is being geared towards the realms of multi-player, there will be single player play available for those so inclined. About 60-100 hours of play will be involved for players to complete the quest included.
Visually the game is looking delicious. Running on a variation on the "Omen" engine (which was used in MDK 2) the presentation is set in a 3/4 over head, third person view. Already the use of light is impressive, and the smoothness of the animation is shaping up well.
Neverwinter Nights is also getting a nice, gigantic assortment of all the amenities one would expect from an RPG. There are planned to be over 200 spells, 200 monsters, and the usual assortment of races and classes to choose from. However, the game will also be running on the Dungeons and Dragon's 3rd Edition Rules (which are planned to be made available to the public in August, 2000). As such more classes have been added, like Barbarians, Sorcerers, and Monks.
The sheer hands-on factor that this game presents looks to be enough to have most gamers salivating over it. Aspiring game designers, fans of the Forgotten Realms, and Pen and Paper role players all seem to have something to look forward to.
Previewed by Kaspian May 14, 2000
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