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Project Goals

This project aims to overhaul and add to Neverwinter Nights art, scripts and systems making it a good start for any player (new or old) when playing the game, and a good basis for a builder to start a module off. A short list of what it will feature:

• Upgraded existing content with HD models and textures where possible, which will be an ongoing process since there are a lot of them in the base game. These should be roughly sticking to the Neverwinter and WotC style.
• Entirely new HD models for different weapons, creatures, placeables, skyboxes and VFX
  
• Gameplay alterations and bugfixes to various feats and spells where needed
• New gameplay content such as classes, spells and feats to expand available content for singleplayer (or builders using this for their module)
• New and updated Quality of Life systems such as crafting, auto buffing, quickbars and AI improvements and control options

Some different flavours will be provided for download:

• Userpatch Override Art - This will contain primarily models and textures only with no additional new content, and should only override existing game models, building on the Beamdog HD Pack
• Userpatch Override Gameplay - This will contain art and gameplay changes and additions, which may work with modules but primarily will be tested with the original campaigns. It will be the basis of improvements to the original campaign modules in the future.
• Builders Source and Compiled Zips - This contains either the source files, or compiled versions of source files, in organised zips, for people to take what they want.

The basis for the pack will be the Beamdog HD Pack to begin with. In comparison to the Community Expansion Pack (CEP) it is going to be a much more focused project with both overhauls and EE HD/fancy maps as a priority. Like the Community Patch Project (CPP) it will try and include lot of fixes to the game, but also add new content and balance changes. There will be some additions and changes to classes and spells but not as many as the Player Resource Consortium (PrC).

Helping The Project

Primarily this project is headed by Jasperre on the Vault Discord #overhaul channel; let us know there if you can help in any potential area, from creating new things (art, effects, gameplay systems, sounds, music, voices) to helping test and document. We may create sort some area on the Vault forums to also discuss the project once it has something. We'll also get a bugtracker on Github at some stage for reporting bugs centrally.

Project Aspiration Details

The project aims to do iterative releases slowly building the amount of upgraded and new content over time using high definition, fancy-mapped models and art utilising all NWN:EE features and replacement scripts and gameplay systems and additions utilising NUI and additional script and engine changes. The sheer amount of base Neverwinter Nights content is immense - tens of thousands of different files across all aspects of the game need improvements - so below is the aspirations of what will be done but not all immediately.

No ripped assets will be included in this project; although several selections of models (primarily the Beamdog HD Models) are licenced only for Neverwinter Nights usage. Compatibility with other projects (CEP, CPP, PrC) will be unlikely due to clashing 2da files, art assets and scripts, although the simple art override should be reasonably compatible with most custom content.

Final release file sizes will be limited to 15MB to stay within nwsync limits, making use of DDS to keep file sizes down, but source files will be kept as high a quality as possible for any potential increase of it or for singleplayer only changes.

Documentation will be provided on this wiki, with pages on assets being worked on and pictures of before/after of art and models, and a manual for players (and builders) once any gameplay changes are implemented. This may be eventually a separate "Space" to keep it away from the usual NWN modding information.

Art Overhauls

Beamdog has provided a sensible basis for overhauling the rest of the art in the game to a more modern standard, especially adding fancy maps to textures. There are several flavours of changes which will be used:

1. New models and texture replacements - Most time consuming but best results. New models to replace or add to existing content in the same fidelity as the Beamdog HD models, sticking reasonably close to 3E source or Bioware art.
2. New texture replacements with fancy maps- The textures on many tilesets and models could be replaced with a similar look and feel, and additional fancy maps.
3. Original texture upscales and auto generated fancy maps - Using AI upscaling of otherwise small textures, and adding fancy maps generated from tooling, this will provide some still noticeable updates to model look and quality.

The above would cover creatures, placeables, doors, tilesets, skyboxes and VFX including weather.

In addition there is going to be included upscaled portraits, loadsceens, GUI textures and Icons so that using the in-game scaling options allows for no loss of quality of these flat elements. Portraits will also be, if necessary, updated when models are. Additional or replacement load screens may be also done.

Gameplay and Systems Overhauls

For builders and players these additions may be included:

• Fixed bugs for many systems/2da files/scripts across all aspects of the game
• Script systems such as AI integrated into the overhaul
• Classes - additional and updated classes - primarily adding ones making use of EE features, potentially gamified to NWN standards rather than entirely sourcebook accurate. Reimplementation of the two cut classes (Eye of Gruumsh and Shou Disciple) would be a priority, as would adding proper spellbooks to the Assassin, Harper and Blackguard.
• Spells - new spells and changes/rebalancing - making use of EE features like additional subdial slots on spells, EffectRunScript and EffectIcon, OnPlayerTarget and knowing how powerful some spells are (looking at you Issacs Missile Storm) and weak others are (who seriously ever casts Poison or Bestow Curse?), a pass at reasonable balance adjustments, new spells and feats will be done. There may be attempts to provide functional caster levels for Pale Master (and any other prestige class that adds divine or arcane caster levels).
• Feats - new feats and some rebalancing - A few hardcoded cut feats will be re-added with appropriate changes, and new feats will be created to give martial classes some potential additional options than just choosing the basic ones. Some rebalancing or fixes should be done to some scripted abilities, and feat-spells used for Assassin, Harper and Blackguard will be removed.
• Additional item properties and weapon VFX
• Additional and updated blueprints for items, creatures, placeables, primarily for builders
• Crafting menu improvements
• Systems for auto buffing and additional spellcasting quickbars
• Animal Companions and Familiars rework - Possibly adding some, but primarily bug fixing and balancing hopefully making some more interesting choices due to the way abilities and stats were decided by Bioware.
• Additional meta systems such as traps, poisons, diseases, domains

Other Overhauls

The project will be hopefully able to look at:

• Music, sounds, and voicesets - Hopefully adding some additional content here in the same style of the base game
• Shader-based improvements - to toruches, lighting and other things now unlocked in NWN:EE
• Additional base weapons - now NWN:EE has added the ability to have weapon feats and finesse and other properties for them
• Toolset naming of objects and categorisation - Potentially add additional categories for the pallets, and rename object appearances so there are not dozens of things named identically. The new content should be marked reasonably well as well. New categories for scripts and sounds to find new content would also help.
• Revamps of the original campaign modules, hopefully featuring:
  • Multiple henchmen and rebalanced combat encounters (possibly with difficulty options)
  • Quality of life fixes, such as having stores updated with newer spell items and magical properties and new skills be supported in the older campaigns
  • Multiplayer fixes so playable in multiplayer without issues
  • Cutscene additions where appropriate to the Wailing Death campaign
  • Fixed improved movie files