Hi, I am just coming back to NWN after playing it to death years ago. I am a little disconnected from the community and only recenty I discovered there are some user-made hak paks to enhance the game's somewhat outdated visuals, such as NWNCQ.
Can someone point me to the most recommended ones? I recall something about overriding the head models or such.

I haven't tested it (no Linux version yet), but this looks promising :
NWShader

I have tested it & its pretty damn cool.

Thanks both of you, I'll look into it.

CQ Project:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=7848

Wow, impressive.

There's also All NWN2 Terrain Re-bumped-mapped

Isn't that just for NWN2, not for the first game?

I've been working for far too long today. :P

well, for a graphics enhancement wouldn't you want it to be an override? As in, to affect all modules?

Yes ofcourse....but I still don't recomend such.

It is instead better to actually play modules that where DESIGNED with the actual custom content instead.

Otherwise you are always running the risk of displaying the game in a way it wasn't meant to be displayed by the designer....

While I understand your point, I have to respectfully disagree - I've been using the NWNCQ as an override for about the last 6 months, and I haven't seen any noticeable issues with that so far. For me personally, I'd trade off a few strange visual artifacts now and again if it means that the other 99% of the time I have much better graphics & lighting effects. But to each their own, of course.

Which version of NWNHQ would you recommend? There is:

Basic
Basic Plus
Extended
Extended Plus

I'll probably go with Basic, but does Basic plus cause any problems with the original campaigns?

I'm personally using Extended Plus with no problems to report. This includes using both single-player mods and playing on PWs. Just be aware that the 'plus' version models use higher polygon counts than the non-plus versions, meaning they will require a beefier system to use them.

Also note that if you use NWShader, NWNCQ includes an additional shader you can use that is made especially for the NWNCQ models.