Neverwinter Nights Behemoth Preview

The largest and most complete look at the game BioWare’s making us turn prematurely grey with anticipation over, Neverwinter Nights, has been written by Computer Games Online and can be found in two 4-page parts. Part I takes us through the basics of creating our own level and is filled with quotes from the team, such as this about portraits:

“Neverwinter Nights is kind of designed around the idea that we always match portrait and appearance,” says Oster, “so any time you interact, you see the portrait. So I, as a player, get to go in and select a portrait when I create my character, and I can use one of the standard portraits or I can create my own. So there’s always this link between the portrait and the character.”

Part II continues the overview with scriptwriting, creating a character and the basics of interaction in the world. Here’s a clip from part the second:

The interface is a study in simplicity—a circular menu of nested icons that pops up when you click on your character. “The idea is that it pops up when you need it, and it’s not there when you don’t,” Oster says. “It’s clean and minimalist at all times.” We select the “socialize” option and invite the Half-Orc character to join our party. The Half-Orc agrees, and his portrait (along with a few icons) appears on the right side of the screen, under the portrait of our dwarf.

I’ve seen the interface in action from a few of the movies and it’s a wonder to behold in its intuitiveness. If you’ve yet to learn about the game, this preview will give you your best chance to catch up.