When a great storm strikes during your voyage home through the Trackless Sea, west of the bustling coast cities of Luskan and Neverwinter, you find yourself shipwrecked on a mysterious island that appears, at first glance, to be bereft of any intelligent forms of life. With no sign of your ship, your crew, or any of your equipment, and with no readily available way to return to the mainland, you have no choice other than to explore and hope for the best. You quickly realize, however, that the Island is, in fact, not deserted, and that it hides a terrible secret...
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READ THIS INFO:
The Island is a module designed for (and the story makes sense for) one character between level 26 and 28, who is returning home from an adventure via ship--it is set in the Forgotten Realms, though that doesn't really affect the module too much (it just provides a name for the sea you were sailing through). It features a little bit of epic combat and some nice custom music tracks. I'd like to stress that this is a short adventure; it should take around between 1-3 hours to complete if you explore thoroughly.
I paid a lot of attention to atmosphere when building this module--I tried to make visually-interesting areas accompanied with, as I previously mentioned, new music tracks; this makes for a very (I think) immersive exploration experience through jungles, ravines, cliffs, caves and a few other locales I will not mention at this time. ;)
Spellcasters, be warned that there are many "No Rest" areas in this module. I have tested with a druid and a sorcerer, and they both did fine anyways. Just be aware of this obstacle you will encounter.
Also, there is an item-strip that occurs at the start of the module for story reasons. Combat is balanced assuming you respect the item strip--if you cheat to give yourself items afterwards, via the toolset or the console, that may very well skew the balance--cheat at your own risk (duh). Your items, by the way, will all be returned to you at a specific point in the module as a part of the story, so 1) don't cry too much ;) and 2) don't neglect to bring in equipment suitable for an epic-level character; you will need it.
Now, let there be no more delay; The Island awaits you...
(Music and Hakpack credits are in the Readme)
Cheers and thanks,
Hugie
NOTE: If you are playing this with a character from the 'Tale of a Mage' series, you will need to download and install my Spellpack in this module for any custom spells you may have chosen to take effect. Direct any questions about this process to the email address given above.
Posted by werelynx2 at 2012-09-24 08:48:41 Voted 9.00 on 09/24/12
Beautiful use of tilesets and music. Short. Could be used as a sidequeast or an episode in a series or between 2 modules.
Unfortunately usage of old CEP version causes weird sounds during the fight(like breaking glass). _________________________ Thanks Rolo:)
Posted by Riqe at 2011-01-08 11:52:37 Voted 9.00 on 01/08/11
A quick and straightforward adventure for epic levels. I enjoyed it, though it was way too short.
Posted by edosan at 2009-09-14 14:08:38 Voted 8.00 on 09/14/09
Nice atmosphere, but way too short. Also, if you can't ID a magic item early in the game, you're sort of hosed.
Posted by Nelson The Geek at 2008-03-09 10:32:23 Voted 9.00 on 03/09/08
I enjoyed this module thoroughly, despite its brevity, just like I have enjoyed other work by this author. The story was engaging and the tilesets were great. The hardest fight I had was not with the big villian at the end - it was with three jaguars near the beginning. If I had not been a cleric (with access to a Heal Spell), I would have died.
One very minor complaint. When I found the 24-screen chest with my stuff, some was missing. When the utility stripped me of gear, it unpacked my bags. I've been in one mod where the utility did *not* unpack the bags. I would not have lost stuff if that had been used.
Fun - 9, Layout/Design - 9, Dialogue - 10, Originality/Creativity - 10, Quality Control - 9, Overall - 9
Posted by dwong1207 at 2007-09-12 17:16:36 Voted 9.50 on 09/12/07
Just finished the Island. Pretty cool and short adventure. Loved the forest. It felt like I was really lost in some strange jungle out in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for the wonderful modules you've put out. They were all wonderful. Now I'm off to try AoD.
Posted by fardoche77 at 2007-07-23 09:17:16 Voted 9.00 on 07/23/07
This was fun. Short and sweet. One of the best ambiance/area design I've ever seen in NWN. But I felt there wasn't enough things to do in the first 3-4 areas. Could my character get hungry? Maybe he could fish. Could he meet more weird people ? Or maybe he could catch a disease from some tainted plants. How about adopting a baby jaguar?
Steve, I played an earlier version (pre-revamp), so it's not fair for me to vote now. I never got a chance to play the revision. And given that it's in the Hall now, it doesn't need no more stinkin' votes! :) -B _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
'Grats on the Hall. :) This was a fun little module, and I played it before the revamp! :) -B _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
Posted by Aessinus at 2007-06-05 10:09:52 Voted 10.00
Congrats! See, told you so .... :lol: _________________________ Please don't forget to vote and leave feedback!
It's Free! :)
Glad you liked the mod! I know the combat can be easy, especially with Evaard's, but I tried to make it manageable for all classes, so it happens. :P Regarding other mods to play after this one, S1 - Tomb of Horrors by Ghool is a good one level-wise and story-wise. Also, Black Thorn by El Dano fits very nicely as a sequel to The Island.
Posted by SpiderSilk at 2007-04-16 01:15:51 Voted 9.00 on 04/16/07
Can someone recommend some mods to play next please. And I'd like to know how old ppl were when they first started playing NWN.
Posted by SpiderSilk at 2007-04-16 00:18:08 Voted 9.00 on 04/16/07
Well that was fun. I do think you could sprinkle some bushes around with some small good/bad effect berries. (like ale and cure light wounds) that would make the large areas a little more fun to explore without actually affecting the story. I played it with a level 26 sorcerer and it was a little too easy but I didn't mind. I really dont see why you need to care about the gold being still there, it isn't as if you can buy anything, and you could explain it RPwise because I keep my coins close at all times.
SPOILER about play style
Even in ToM I was getting through fights too easy. I think they should take everards tentacles away from me! especially as i have it 4 times (quick, max, enpowered and regular) and all you need to do is be faster than your enemy or distract him with something to hit.
Thanks for the feedback--yeah, I suspect that 1 hour would be a more apt advertisement...it does sort of depend on playing style though, as Elhanan said. :)
I'm glad you both enjoyed the visuals--that was the point of this little exercise. ;) The story, as you noticed, was kept quick and simple--that definitely *wasn't* the focus of this mod.
Thanks for the heads-up on the bug. Depending on if I get a free moment, I'll try to fix it. Even if I don't get a chance to, I'll know what to tell people in the future who have the issue. :)
Posted by Elhanan at 2007-02-13 04:15:30 Voted 9.50
MeltdownZero - the 1-3 hr standard may be due to reports from players like myself; those who map out every nook and hidden crevice to seek out treasures. Pls do not fault the author.
Posted by MeltdownZero at 2007-02-12 23:58:54 Voted 8.00 on 02/12/07
Very visually impressive, especially when I switched the view to more forward-looking than top-down. You really created the feel of being in a jungle, and the view of the island from the shoreline was just plain awesome.
The plot was simple--effective enough for a hack-and-slash I guess, but it still felt shallow. Also, start to finish, it only took 1/2 hour. I don't fault it simply for being short, but when it's advertised at 1 to 2 hours, I was genuinely shocked when the module was over. I expected I was about half way done, when in fact I was fighting the last enemy.
So these reasons, I give it an 8 out of 10. It's a very nice bit of work, but it has that unfinished feel to it, as if it were the first half of a larger story.
Also, a bug report for you. (Minor spoiler.) When using the elevator to reach the village, it stops at the halfway point where you need to light those braziers. After lighting the braziers, a message pops up saying something to the effect of "you jump on the elevator as it starts to move." The first time I read that, I moved my character onto the elevator...and nothing happened. I ended up having to reload the module, because it just never loaded the next area. I figured out that when the message about the elevator starting to move pops up, just stand there and do nothing, and the next map will load. Actually moving will prevent it from loading, it seems.
Hope that helps. :)
Posted by Razide0506 at 2007-01-28 21:38:29 Voted 8.00 on 01/28/07
Pros: Visually stunning. The jungle was incredible, and the ancient temple looked fantastic. Among the very best modules I've ever played when it comes to the visuals. I also liked the bits of description that would pop up from time to time. Some nice scripting too, especially the big cutscene. Finally, my 26th lvl wizard found the big battle to be reasonably challenging.
The Cons: Very little happens until you reach the village, and not much more happens until the end. What's more, there's very little to do until the end, so I felt less like I was making things happen and more that I was watching a story unfold, and the story itself was too short and predictable, and while the setting was immersive, the plot was very by the numbers, and it rang hollow. With so little to do, I felt like I may as well have started right near the end.
I gave this an 8 largely because the visuals were so impressive that I gave a bit of a pass to the flaws. Also, it was pretty much what you described: a quick diversion from a longer project, and all in all, it wasn't a bad time.
Thanks very much for the detailed feedback! I enjoyed reading what you had to say. :) Glad you liked the atmosphere, descriptions and journal entries--I hear ya regarding the cliche setting and slightly cheesy ceremony.
In the first release of the module, there was no plot with the original god of the island or anything like that, and the player actually *was* sacrificed...only to wake up below-decks on their ship by thunder and lightning... ;) _________________________ Alex "Hugie" Hugon
Writer - Ossian Studios NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate - NWN2's first Adventure Pack Moonshadows - An Action-Packed, Story-Driven Adventure in the Forgotten Realms [Development Blog] The Third Sign - A Novel-to-NWN2-Module conversion of Gregory A. Wilson's book [Purchase from Amazon]
Posted by Starwars at 2007-01-15 11:51:39 Voted 8.75 on 01/15/07
Just played through this nice little thing. :)
Spoilers ahead!
First off, the setting for the story is rather nice. People being shipwrecked on island isn't very original perhaps, but it can make for some great atmosphere!
Walking through the jungle was fantastic, very nice use of lightning, and the music you chose really helped convey a sinister atmosphere!
I really liked the 'descriptions' of places, again, they added to the *something is not quite right* feel. In fact, I would've really liked to see more of that thing in this mod. Especially the temple of the older god (name escapes me now) could've perhaps been just a bit larger, with a few hints as to what had been going on there before and so on.
I liked the idea about finding the journal and the dead body in the cave, but I kinda felt it gave away a bit to much. The ritual is kinda easy to foresee, and while the exact nature is unclear, speaking to a kid in the village hints pretty heavily that the children are involved somehow.
Perhaps if the journal was more ambigious (obviously hard since the guy who wrote it has a spear through him, would've been silly if he had written in *riddles* before he died).
Maybe if you had gotten to spend a wee bit more time with the villagers, and perhaps not having the priest mention the bit about eternal life beforehand, then the actual ritual would've felt *stronger* once it occurs.
Perhaps I've just read to many horror stories before though, since many people seem to be quite moved by it. :)
But yeah, personally I think that was the biggest *flaw* of the mod for me.
Also, this is just me rambling, but it would've been ultracool to have a really downbeat ending, where perhaps the character you play dies, or gets sacrificed or something. Or maybe gets heavily beaten down and is forced to escape, and then lives in solitude in the jungle whilst going insane. :p This clashes with the fact that you're helping the older god of course, but it would've been really cool as an alternative ending or something.
Anyways, ramblings aside. Nice work, and I really enjoyed it!
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