Peninsula District Prison

Description
Who\'d have thought that you could combine NWN and JKA? No doubt a few natural twenties were rolled in the arbitration of this map.

[b]*ahem*[/b] Tacky Advanced Dungeons & Dragons puns aside....

What we\'ve got here, is quite an accurate representation of the Peninsula District Prison area from Neverwinter Nights. It may not look like much at all, and it does have the traits of a typical first map (although it\'s \"technically\" not), but this really is what the area looked like in NWN (aside from the Korriban textures, but that\'s a technicality).

First thing you\'ll notice is that the lighting is almost completely uniform. While I would usually list that as a bad point, I\'m listing it as neutral here. The bad side, is that it detracts from the aesthetic quality of the map. The good side, is that it\'s accurate to it\'s source - and this is a replica, after all. So, while it may be a bad thing, it\'s justified. Second thing that may be obvious, is the repetitive textures. You\'ll hardly notice in-game, as the lighting will cover it up to a degree, and the textures used don\'t tile in the most horrible fashion. Textures are from the Korriban set, as previously mentioned, so this is one point of inaccuracy. Regardless, this style actually works more in the map\'s favor than the NWN interior design.

OK, with those out of the way, let\'s look at the architecture. The layout is simple, yet good for gun battles. Plenty of places to duck and take cover, good space to dodge shots but not enough to make dodging too easy. Explosives and splash damage weapons are not recommended if you do hold a gun battle in here, as they\'d spoil that factor. The general layout is almost perfectly accurate to NWN, as stated before, so no worries there.

In the ways of design, the whole level has a romanesque feel to it which wasn\'t entirely present in the original. This is reflected in the columns and the winding passageways, as well as the style of doorframes used throughout. Maybe it\'s just a consequence of the level\'s 3D appearance, who can say. When passing the cells, you\'ll no doubt notice the classical, almost cliché D&D style to them - well, they don\'t feature in the map\'s gameplay, so that\'s OK. The simple layout of the cells, coupled with the design of the grilles covering them, adds to the atmosphere. The music increases that atmosphere further. In a game where you\'re not sure of your opponent\'s location at all, the design aspects, combined with ambience, makes for tense cat-and-mouse gameplay.

Right, done with the aesthetics. Now, onto the technical side. Thankfully, there are very few technical issues due to Kessno\'s thorough beta testing. Most of these are just minor improvements. Scripted doors. Dungeons & Dragons doors don\'t slide straight into the wall like a DS into your pocket. It is possible to create rotating doors via script, and not that difficult at all. On the subject of the doors, they sometimes interfere with the camera in various ways when passing through them, even when they\'re fully opened. Some texture misalignments are in there, which aren\'t very noticable but present all the same. Bot routing has been done, but the bots have a tendency to act like complete tools - but then again, this section is for flaws with the map, not the game\'s default AI. :p

For the NWN fans out there, or just those looking for something a bit different, this is a good map to try out. Sure, it\'s nothing particularly impressive, and it\'s certainly not your average JK map, for sure, but there\'s still a degree of fun to be had, and this really is something different.

Who knows, maybe Inyri The Mapper will strike again, or maybe not. Either way, it\'s almost certain that JKFiles hasn\'t seen the last of Neverwinter Nights....

~ Kouen

[b]Bot Support:[/b] Yes
[b]New Textures:[/b] Yes
[b]New Models:[/b] Yes
[b]Custom Music:[/b] Yes

[b]Gametypes:[/b]
Free For All

[b]Other Files of Interest:[/b]
Just a few orther files which work well with this to complete the AD&D experience. ;)
[url=\"http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Inyris_Melee_Pack;60612\"]Inyri\'s Melee Pack[/url]
[url=\"http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Kobold;57109\"]Kobold[/url]
[url=\"http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Osiris_blades_V2;65038\"]Osiris Blades V2[/url]