Modding contest was not a new idea. Several Game Mod competitions already exist in the industry, and a few include the NWN Toolset as an "approved tool."
It was not until December 2005 that BioWare, Inc. finally issued an official Modding Contest for their Aurora Toolset (NWN 1). Even then, BIOWARE has long been using the Aurora Toolset as a recruiting tool, in that anyone who wants to apply for a job with the Canadian company must turn in a game mod made with the Aurora Toolset as part of the job application package. The aim is of course to preview the applicant's ability in using the established toolset to tell a good game story. (The details of the NWN1 Contest can be found here.)
Soon after the NWN2 was released (less than 6 months), Obsidian Entertainment was quick to announce a modding contest using the new Electron Toolset. This is generally viewed as a good move on Obsidian's part, because it quelched some of the "The Toolset is too hard" and "The new toolset sucks" talks (whines?) in the community. In addition, it provided new contents for the community to play with until the expansion set hit the shelves in Fall.
Here's the official announcement for the first NWN2 modding contest by Obsidian Entertainment.
Obsidian Entertainment is pleased to announce its first Community Mod-Making contestFor each mod-making contest there will be a theme, such as “The April Fool.” Each mod entered into this contest will involve the theme in some way. For “The April Fool” you might make a module about a court jester or a comedy. Maybe you might just make a silly mod, or perhaps you will make a dark mod about someone being fooled into giving up their fortune, their love or their soul.
For this first contest, the theme will be “Grimm’s Fairy Tales.” The final day to submit modules will be Monday, April 30th at noon Pacific Time.
You can remake one of Grimm’s Fairy Tales or do anything else as long as your mod has something to do with the theme.
Here are the rules for the contest:
- All work submitted must be your own, with the following exceptions: You can use anything already submitted on Neverwinter Vault as of the date of the contest announcement (you cannot use anything submitted to the vault after the contest is announced). You can ask for advice in the Toolset, Scripting or Custom Content forums, but no one can do any of the mod-making for you.
- A document explaining your module must be included as a ReadMe. It should be no more than one page in length.
- Each module must contain two to five areas. You must have at least one interior and one exterior. One of the exterior areas may be up to 24x24 in size, but the rest of the exterior areas may not exceed 16x16.
- Modules should have at least 30 minutes, but no more than two hours of gameplay.
- Entries should be uploaded to Neverwinter Vault on or before the declared end of the contest so that others may see your work. The module must be identified as a contest submission. Links to your module should also be placed in the thread (this thread) announcing the contest to make it easier for people to find them.
- The winners will be announced about 30 days after the end of the contest. The contest will be judged by the community (voting on the vault) and by the Neverwinter Nights 2 Live team.
- Have fun!
The Contest received 16 submission in total, and the Winners are listed below. The Winning Announcement.
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