Posted December 07, 2016
I am curious about how far the engines of Neverwinter Nights and its sequel have been pushed, and I am wondering what modules, if any, exist that break away from the standard approach of making RPG-style quests.
Examples of the types of modules I am looking for here include:
* Utility modules. For example, something like Blades of Avernum's High Level Party Creator, which allows you to raise a party to an arbitrary level, and are then allowed to buy equipment appropriate to said level. The idea is to then transfer the character to a module that expects you to start at a higher level.
* Puzzle modules. The idea here is that the module presents you with puzzles which need to be solved by using the game mechanics. For example, if such a module has an enemy, the enemy is not meant to be killed in normal combat; you have to find a way to bypass the enemy, disable the enemy, or temporarily become strong enough to kill the enemy. (Is there a way (in the module editor) to make all UMD checks automatically succeed? This would be handy for this sort of module, so that your class and build doesn't matter here.)
* Total genre conversions. For example, a module that plays like a Pong or Breakout clone.
* Kaizo modules. These modules require you to exploit the quirks in the engine, and may even outright require glitch use to proceed. Basically, consider strategies that many players consider gamebreakers (either from a balance perspective or being able to skip normally mandatory parts of other modules); such tricks might be required in such a module.
* Troll modules. Here, the game punishes you, preferably in funny ways, for performing reasonable actions. For example, your level 1 PC goes through a door and ends up in an area with hostile monsters that are balanced for a level 40 PC. Or, perhaps you search for traps, and that triggers an event that sucks your player into a spiked pit. Basically, these modules would require trial and error, and a lot of saving and re-loading, to proceed. To put it another way: Normally (I assume), module developers try to make their modules fair; troll modules don't even pretend to be fair.
* Content-free multiplayer. Basically, a multiplayer module that exists for people to chat over the Internet, and that doesn't actually include any content or quests to do.
Do any modules of this sort, or other non-standard sorts of modules, exist?
Examples of the types of modules I am looking for here include:
* Utility modules. For example, something like Blades of Avernum's High Level Party Creator, which allows you to raise a party to an arbitrary level, and are then allowed to buy equipment appropriate to said level. The idea is to then transfer the character to a module that expects you to start at a higher level.
* Puzzle modules. The idea here is that the module presents you with puzzles which need to be solved by using the game mechanics. For example, if such a module has an enemy, the enemy is not meant to be killed in normal combat; you have to find a way to bypass the enemy, disable the enemy, or temporarily become strong enough to kill the enemy. (Is there a way (in the module editor) to make all UMD checks automatically succeed? This would be handy for this sort of module, so that your class and build doesn't matter here.)
* Total genre conversions. For example, a module that plays like a Pong or Breakout clone.
* Kaizo modules. These modules require you to exploit the quirks in the engine, and may even outright require glitch use to proceed. Basically, consider strategies that many players consider gamebreakers (either from a balance perspective or being able to skip normally mandatory parts of other modules); such tricks might be required in such a module.
* Troll modules. Here, the game punishes you, preferably in funny ways, for performing reasonable actions. For example, your level 1 PC goes through a door and ends up in an area with hostile monsters that are balanced for a level 40 PC. Or, perhaps you search for traps, and that triggers an event that sucks your player into a spiked pit. Basically, these modules would require trial and error, and a lot of saving and re-loading, to proceed. To put it another way: Normally (I assume), module developers try to make their modules fair; troll modules don't even pretend to be fair.
* Content-free multiplayer. Basically, a multiplayer module that exists for people to chat over the Internet, and that doesn't actually include any content or quests to do.
Do any modules of this sort, or other non-standard sorts of modules, exist?
