Hey guys, I've been to the Neverwinter Vault and there is just SOOO much stuff there it blew my mind. I couldn't process that much stuff, and it's a bit disorganized too (for a new visitor anyway), so I was hoping my fellow goggers could help me out.

I've played NWN a few times (I owned the collector's edition, bought it day 1 on release, I've subsequently bought every expansion and edition (diamond, platinum, etc) on disc, and now on GOG as well. Suffice it to say this is one of my favorite games of all time. However, it's been at least five years since my last visit to this game, and I've never played with mods before (which is odd, since I've always had a habit of modding the shit out of all my games since the days of Civ 2, lol).

I don't mind breaking with the original style of the game since I've played it so much, I just want the absolutely BEST, BEAUTIFUL, and EXPANDED playthrough possible at this time. Can someone give me personal recommendations as to the best mods, utilities, and community patches or added features I can download to make this latest adventure as epic as is can be?

Is there also a preferred mod manager to use? So far I've seen at least 3 different ones, so I'm not sure which one would be best.

I'd prefer to stay away from mods that make me edit stuff using the Toolkit, unless its relatively simple and the results totally justify the added hassle. Like I saw this CEP thing at the Vault, but the installation seemed really confusing (although I'm sure I could handle it if I fully understood what it was for and I thought it was worth the hassle, but I really had no clue what it was even about).

Let me have it guys, what are you all using to enhance your NWN games?

I will join this thread and will ask:
Is there also a mod which totally removes level cap? I remember there was some such mod flying around and i saw a sweet screenshot of Lv.172 character.
I am also interested in similar mod for NWN2 :)

Hi there!

CEP is not for players to use. It's a bunch of resources module builders can utilize in their creations. As a player all you need to know about it is that you need it to play a module that uses it.

As far as grat modules go, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Prophet series. Other than that you should definitely give a ty to Darkness over Daggerford and Wyvern Crown of Cormyr. All of these can be downloaded from the Vault, but WCoC is a premium module (official BioWare DLC for Nwn) and you will need to use an offline authenticator generator to play it (albo from the Vault).

There is an astonishing number of modules of professional quality available, so I'm suggesting only a few for now, not to confuse you too much. Nuff said, be sure to check out others once you're dane with these.

As for patches, I'd recommend unofficial patch 1.71. Fixes a bunch of bugs.

Thanks Taro, I'm not interested in playing any additional modules at this time. Do you have any info on mods, though?

I see. Mods and modules are often used interchangeably, so I didn't get what you meant.
You can search for Zwerkules' facelift hak paks (improving many textures). Other than that, I do not think there are any groundbreaking mods for the original NWN content. Mainly because builders focus much more on creating new stuff. Try to type in the Vault's browser something like "original campaign" and some mods should pop out.

If you're interested in renovating the graphics you might want to look at 'Q Campaigns', which adapts the original campaign and both expansions to use a large graphics overhaul called Project Q. Project Q and the Q Campaigns are available on the vault.

In NWN, .MOD files are modules. They are new games entirely. And there are many great modules, some made by companies that intended to add them to the official game. I strongly recommend you try some of those at some point.

But if you want to enjoy the original game, there are some .HAK ("hacks") you can install to enjoy the game more. HAKs change the function of the game.

Project Q is here if you want to try it:
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/combined/project-q


This has a list of many great add-ons. You can also get what you want and leave the rest.
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/combined/grand-override-compilation-ages
(if you do the whole thing, install Project Q after this -- it will probably work, but if not, just clear your HAK folder and put one or the other)

I personally recommend Amethyst Dragon's UI enhancements. S/he colored the icons. It's especially useful for spells, because the spell color helps you know the domain of the spell.

I've tried just about everything in the compilation and I'm not a huge fan of the model updates, battle animations, retextured areas, and AI updates.

The AI updates change the intended encounter flow of the game. So it ruins the game-ness for me. However, I see the grand compilation turned off "wandering monsters," which was my big issue. So it may be worth a try.

The other bug fixes are probably useful. I generally don't notice bugs, but I know there's at least a few goofy spell bugs.

The graphical changes don't mix well with the original, IMHO. So it looks off. And the hands are unnecessary and look goofy and rigid.

The battle animations are neat, but I remember them not being perfect. Maybe it was something with cloaks. It's been a while, but I remember not liking them.

So, my overall recommendation, is to use Amethyst Dragon's colorizers (I do feats and spells usually, but they're all good). But you don't know what you're missing if you don't try. So you could give the whole compilation a try and see if you like it.

Thank you so much mgoedde and Tallima, that was exactly what I was looking for! Cheers!

i used the fast rest and extra blood overrides, and some texture hak pak i can't remember the name of. as for mod(ule)s, try the Silver Key for shits and giggles?(NWS)

old version.
neverwintervault.net/project/nwn1/module/gate-silver-key-old-version

better version but requires installation of more stuff.
neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/gate-silver-key-reanimation

I recommend patch # 6. it improves game play and graphics also adds sidequest for extra dungeon explorati

To my knowledge, <span class="bold">this is the most thorough and recent writeup</span>

Lilura, you're a godsend. This is a beautiful write-up! Thank you so much!

You're welcome. Don't go near this Q Campaigns, btw. It's bugged! Use the Project Q patch hak method in my link, above.

Also be wary of flippantly installing CPP. It can imbalance and even break modules. CPP is a great piece of work, but until module builders get onboard, it will never be standardized (and that's a real shame). To my knowledge only Persistent worlds have employed it.

I should have been clearer. It of course would not break the module itself, it's just that in modules that use custom AI it could break things. Pls note I am not anti-CPP like some ppl out there. I wish ALL builders would incorporate CPP into their modules, but at this point I'm reluctant to try it in the modules I like most.

I don't like the inclusion of colored icons (I'm used to the default ones), but I would assume they can be disabled.