Recommendations for good co-op modules?

Neverwinter Nights 1 General
#1

Since the EE is heavily discounted at the moment, I might be able to try and convince two friends of playing it in co-op mode with me. The thing is, they have never played it before and are used to more modern graphics, and one of them isn’t a big fan of combat-heavy games either, so it would be nice to have something a little shorter or simpler, not too shabby looking, preferably without walls of texts but still engaging enough, no pure hack and slash with monsters swarming you without rhyme or reason or context. Interesting exploration and the occasional puzzle would be a plus, I think.

Do you have any suggestions on what we could play?

#2

Here are some ones that I have played which I can recommend as good for a small co-op party and have a mix of content. They are all standalone (not part of a series) and would take at most a few sessions to complete.

IAT1: Time Becomes a Loop by Andrea and Wes Landaker

The Cup of Akbar (Act I) by Chuck Crawford

The Vethboro Dragon by Jason Robinson

For a longer list of possibilities, you can always take a look at the Neverwinter Connections MP module list. Some others have good reputations and might be appropriate for what you’re looking for (like Baldecaran’s Cave of Songs) but I can’t personally vouch for them.

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#3

Cool, thanks! :slightly_smiling_face:

#4

I think I got myself into a bit of a predicament by actually succeeding in convincing my friends to give it a try … They were still reluctant because of the dated graphics, so I showed them examples of how nice NWN can look with mods. But the thing is, I’ve hardly ever seen that in a playable module. I checked out The Vethboro Dragon and A Tangled Web and The Cave of Songs (the last two I’ve already played through in single player mode myself, in the past), and at least the starting areas look very dated in terms of custom content, just like default NWN from 2002, the same old tavern, same old farmlands. I don’t know if it’s just me having seen these tiles so often before, but I fear that this will immediately put them off before they even find out how fun the gameplay can be. And it also doesn’t help that you get little direction and have to read through lots of non-voiced English dialogues first (which isn’t their native language, and I snobbishly forgot that this could be somewhat off-putting to others, too). So, yeah, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea and can only end up in disappointment, with them coming in from Divinity: Original Sin 2. :sweat:

On the other hand, I just checked out a PW that was so stunningly beautiful at first sight that it offered no grounds for complaints about graphics and might even have blown their minds. But sadly, it’s RP only, with little players and no scripted quests. And that seems to be my general problem here, that I only seem to find acclaimed modules with outdated graphics and lots of text, or beautiful online landscapes devoid of any engaging storylines and quests. Nothing to immediately draw in sceptical first time players and make for an enjoyable multiplayer session with them.

Don’t get me wrong, personally I can see past the dated graphics, and I also understand about the preference for RP (or, on the other side of the spectrum, extreme hack and slash, looting and leveling, Diablo-style) on PWs, and I understand that it costs A LOT of lifetime to make a module both engaging (without requiring DM or player interaction) AND good-looking from today’s perspective. I’m just worried about how to introduce new players used to modern games to NWN without scaring them off before they even had a chance to grasp what it has to offer.

So I wonder, does anyone happen to know some middle ground, some multiplayer compatible module that is mostly about exploring and doing simple but enjoyable quests with a purpose, that is easy on the eyes and light on the reading? Something cute and beginner-friendly, that you could also use as a playground to learn the ropes? Or do you at least have any advice on how to pimp up the default graphics? I take it Project Q is not compatible with the latest version of the EE anymore, not sure about NWNCQ?

Probably the wrong forum to ask, but I still don’t know which would be the right forum. There’s so few actual module discussion going on these days on the various NWN community sites. sigh

Maybe I should delve back into modding one day and create the kind of module I can’t seem to find myself. Apologies for the long post, if anyone even decides to read this far. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#5

There are a lot of “modern” games with 1990s-2000s graphics out there, including hugely popular award winners. If people only want to see graphics from AAA games released in the last couple of years with millions of dollars/euros in the budget, then NWN:EE will never satisfy. If people are looking for fun multiplayer adventuring a la D&D in a world that looks pretty good - NWN:EE is a step up from NWN-1.69 in that regard - then they’ll like one of the smaller MP modules as an intro. Can’t really say any more about that.

Of course you can always look at whatever French-language modules are available as well, if that’s a factor. I’m not aware of any MP ones, the most famous ones (Batard de Kosigan series) are listed as single-player.

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#6

French wouldn’t be so bad for NWN modules, but the language is German. :wink:

As for graphics, I think there is a difference between games mimicking the isometric Infinity Engine style with nice ‘handcrafted’ semi-2D pixel art backgrounds, so to speak, and NWN’s original early blocky 3D building set. Personally, I love how flexible NWN is because of it, and I don’t think the graphics are that bad personally, I’m just not very fond of the drab default look where everything is tan and brown and ugly and areas all kind of look the same and a bit empty if the authors did not go to any length in adorning them with extra stuff. Especially if one is used to the colorful detailed environment of D:OS2 (not a million dollar AAA game, I think, but still). I’ve played these modules and liked them, but that was back in the days, as single player and of my own accord, with an open mind. And now I’m already a long time fan with special interest and nostalgia goggles, so it’s a bit shocking to take these off and try to see it from a new, still unconvinced player’s point of view.

The frustrating bit is that I know how great NWN can look with haks, but most people hardly ever get to see all the really awesome custom content out there because most story modules are older or rather basic in that regard. But I guess that’s only part of the problem why I think my friends might end up not liking it after all. I guess I just think it would be easier if I wouldn’t have to do all the convincing myself, without anything in the game immediately jumping out as nice and worth it to them. :innocent: I know that there is more to NWN than graphics, but they don’t, they’d first need to overcome several obstacles to see that, and I fear they are sometimes too quick to judge for their own good …

Anyway, sorry for drawing you into what may seem like a rant, you made a good constructive post before, for which I am thankful! I just felt like writing down some of my doubts and frustrations, even though I know it’s kind of pointless and not fun to read for other fans of NWN. :sweat_smile:

I guess there’s only way to find out whether they’d like the modules or not.

#7

If it must be a module, you could try the Aielund. I think it was multiplayer friendly. Otherwise I would recommend a PW that was Action-oriented but still had some light RP on the side. PWs tend to be fresher and are quicker to take advantage of updates, improvements, enhancements, etc. I would recommend my Saltmarsh module but it is unforgiving to newbies I think that’s off the list.

Just keep in mind that your friends will likely need to download a fair amount of haks/content for those modules/PWs that take it to the “next level.”

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#8

Yeah, I was actually itching to try out your module for a while now, it’s just that the comments below it made it sound like maybe it wasn’t such a good idea with complete beginners. :slightly_smiling_face:

I can see how downloading from the Vault might be another hurdle (I thought about prepackaging required files and sending them via Skype, so that they just have to unzip a single file into their Documents/Neverwinter Nights folder), but they have the Steam version, so I think for Aielund it wouldn’t be a problem, they could just subscribe to it on the Workshop, and I think with NWSync the downloading for PWs would be comparatively easy, too. (Btw, is there an option to individually uninstall PW content installed with NWSync, just for one particular PW? Or is deleting the whole NWSync folder the only way?)

Do you have any idea which PW I could check out? My own experience in that field is limited; from what I’ve seen the common choices are between RP heavy or just clearing out dungeons filled with the same type of monsters which could get boring to at least one of my friends, too. The cool thing about Divinity OS was that almost all the encounters felt unique, not repetitive, but that must be hard to achieve on a PW in NWN without a DM involved …

Also, I see that Pirates of the Sword Coast is listed as supportinhg 1-6 players. Has anyone played it in multiplayer, does that make sense? It’s using old default graphics as well, but I seem to remember that the story was somewhat engaging from the start, it has a small amount of voiceovers and the island tilesets still look very nice today. Since it’s currently only 50 cents, it might be worth a try?

#9

See this great (and constantly maintained) program to handle all that for you - Neverwinter Nights Mod Installer Tool - NIT. Works with both 1.69 and EE. Give it a try.

TR

#10

Right, I forgot about that. I’ll give it a try, thanks!

#11

Is it safe to install it when I already have lots of modules and haks in the folders or does it require a fresh clean documents/NWN folder without any content in it?

#12

I installed with games already installed. Upon installation it will check which version of NwN you’re running and then what you have installed already. It’s pretty painless.

TR

#13

Okay, thanks.

Does anyone know, if you play a premium module together, does everyone need to buy it or just the person hosting the game?

#14

AFAIK each player needs to have their own copy of any module that is played (but then again I don’t play any form of multi-player).

TR