Mac game publisher MacSoft’s revelation in July that they’ll publish the forthcoming Macintosh version of Bioware’s role playing game Neverwinter Nights has left many Mac gaming enthusiasts hungry for more information.
If you’re looking for the latest news, one great place to check is the Neverwinter Nights discussion board on Bioware’s own Web site. A thread on that board is dedicated to the Mac version of Neverwinter Nights, and one of its participants is non other that MacSoft product manager Al Schilling.
For the past couple of weeks, Schilling has been providing some illuminating details about Mac Neverwinter Nights’ ongoing development status and some of the thorny issues involved in bringing the game to the Macintosh.
Over the course of several pages of discussion, Schilling revealed that the Mac version of the game itself is being done by Bioware, which, of course, wrote the original game. Schilling also noted that the game itself would be compatible with the PC version when it comes to online play.
Schilling also noted that a separate developer has been contracted by MacSoft to bring the Macintosh version of the toolset — a major component of the PC package that permits users to create their own games, much like a “dungeon master” would in a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Many Neverwinter Nights enthusiasts consider it an indispensable part of the game.
“Porting the toolset to Mac will be a much bigger undertaking than we had hoped and cost more than we had anticipated. That being said, I can tell you that we still intend to bring the toolset to Mac,” said Schilling, who added that while contractual issues and schedules still need to be worked out, the as-yet-unidentified developer “is already well under way with the port.”
Schilling expressed his confidence that there won’t be any major roadblocks to prevent the Mac conversion of the toolset, but conceded that anything’s possible.
“I am still being a bit cautious with toolset announcements. Not because there is any one thing that seems to be a problem but because it is such a complex piece of software. There’s always a chance that some insurmountable hurdle will pop up. However, such instances are rare and we don’t see any giant red flags flying right now,” said Schilling.