"What is loyalty? Our rulers betray us for their petty gain. Nations are squanders for fleshly pleasures or, worse yet, the pride of some potentate... Trust not those who live and breathe, for all flesh is weak. Cleave to your virtue. It cannot disappoint. And if there are no gods in heaven, even then you can die knowing you lived as a man rather than a craven beast."
- Tre Vortigern
All is lost. The strength of the Realms is thrown down. Those that would right the world are scorned by all and there is no help for them. Seiji, Azura, Tre, Zhana, and Van must determine how to proceed in a world turned upside down. Yet, virtue does not sleep and even against impossible odds, the heroes will strive against their hated foe. But what is virtue? What fate should await traitors in Keld? And upon the sands of Bast faiths and loyalties will be tested. Will right prevail? How can one know...
--------------------------------------
Disclaimer
Vis et Virtus is not a normal Neverwinter Nights module, nor is it intended to be. It is, by design, a mostly linear adventure with a heavy emphasis on story and character development. It was designed to be a fusion of game genres combining elements from traditional Japanese console RPG games like Final Fantasy, with computer RPGs like NWN, along with devices that are unique to VeV.
If you are looking for a game that uses a non-linear approach with lots of dialogue options through which you can create a character of your choosing, featuring standard NWN systems, I encourage you to look elsewhere. There are plenty of excellent games out there that do an excellent job of this. I would also encourage you to look elsewhere if you don't have the time to allow the story and characters to develop. Like a great novel, the story gets better as it goes, and many questions remain unanswered until later in the series. In the beginning, you will not know the full history of each of the characters nor have a full understanding of their motivations, but over the course of the game these elements will become apparent. Finally, in order to add to the depth of the characters, Vis et Virtus uses pregenerated characters. If you are uninterested in games involving pregenerated characters, please do not waste your time downloading VeV.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for a game with a truly epic story, strategic battles, engaging party members, unique systems and stunning custom content that make you feel like you're playing an entirely different game, you will enjoy Vis et Virtus.
If you are still uncertain as to whether Vis et Virtus is the sort of gaming experience you like, I encourage you to read our reviews. QSW and the Vault Review Team have written excellent, detailed reviews of the last three chapters of VeV which will likely give you a good idea of what to expect. You can find them at Link, Link, and Link.
--------------------------------------
For more information on Vis et Virtus, please visit our website at Link
Mostly bug fixes, polishing, grammatical fixes, and some small details. You probably won't notice most of the tweaks we've made unless you're looking for them. Tweaked the way journal entries work, added an on / off switch to the boss death scenes, etc. I can't recall off the top of my head what specifically was changed in this chapter, but this is a stepping stone towards releasing a final version which will hopefully be bug free. Knock on wood.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2013-04-07 16:42:03 Voted 9.75 on 02/20/11
This was my favorite chapter; what was the update? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
I released an update to the prologue and chapters 1-6 today. Chapters 7 and 8 will be updated in the coming weeks.
I've dubbed this particular version the "Almost Final Version" because we are honing in on a Final Version. Andrew and I will be doing one last test run this summer and updating accordingly before officially labeling VeV Final.
These final updates are almost exclusively polish, subtle details and bug fixes. The only update I would like to point out is that we have added an On / Off switch to the boss cutscenes we added in version 4. That way, if you prefer not to watch those scenes, you can turn them off via a Macro Command. Further information is included in the in game Journal.
We have also remade our Vis et Virtus Website from scratch and moved it over to wordpress. We are still working on the finishing touches on this as well, but all the important information should be accessible there. You can find it at the link above.
Since the website has had a lot of downtime lately due to the server, I've decided to use a different host. The new Vis et Virtus website can be found at the link above.
Version 4.0 of Chapter 6 is up for download. Please report any bugs or errors you find to [email protected]
Thanks,
Jim
Posted by yatzik at 2011-08-15 07:36:02 Voted 5.00 on 08/15/11
By this chapter I've grown so tired of reuse of every damn asset and sick of the cast of dumbass characters I couldn't care less about, I really don't want to elaborate yet another time how bad this is. _________________________ Do dance with the rogues.
Posted by werelynx3 at 2011-06-12 04:14:46 Voted 10.00 on 06/12/11
Great story, wonderful characters. Combat is still on the easy side for most battles, except for near the end - the final battle in the temple is rough, but doable.
Still the biggest negative is the area size; running up and down Mt. Sheckhim is really getting to be a pain in the arse. It really adds nothing to the game. On a brighter note, there was less running away from immortal enemies in this one. _________________________ my third account, cause I cannot access the old one...
Posted by snowdog at 2011-03-02 07:51:35 Voted 8.00 on 03/02/11
Reading QSWs review now makes perfect sense to me. I would say that review does an excellent job of capturing the pros/cons.
This installment is much the same as previous entries. With long runs across the barren continent, to talk to one person only to run back across the continent, only to find you were duped and run back across the continent again... ARGH!
The "cutscenes" are also too long. I read books, but the cut scenes really annoyed me in this entry. Mainly just long winded argument while they all just stand around. Or they meet the enemy and the enemy, who goes into a long winded tirades. These are all at least twice as long as they should be. I had a hard time paying attention to these and pulling out the important info. Also the text of difference characters runs together and makes it harder to decipher. Basically these are becoming a real pain.
When you use less words, each word has more impact. Less is more. Or in the words of the Bard: "Brevity is the soul of wit."
Even when you are supposedly in a conversation tree, you are merely pushing 1 endlessly to advance the conversation, you never get any dialogue choices. I shouldn't say never because once Van was going off to do something and I was given the choice to join him, which I missed and had to reload from a save game, because I was so used to just pushing 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. What was that? An actual choice??
The good things remains the same: Van and the Company of the Claw are both extremely well written, but there are really enough cons that keep this module in average territory.
I would also point out that many legitimate players have opted to vote on the series all at once after completing the whole thing and that is not an indicator of whether their votes are legitimate. I would look at the content of the votes to determine whether they actually played or not.
I can assure you that we at Pailith Studios have had nothing to do with the troll votes and have been reporting them to the admins on a weekly basis. The votes you mentioned have already been reported and will likely be removed soon. I would note that we also get troll votes with low scores as well as those with high scores. It's generally not difficult to figure out which votes are legitimate due to the content or lack there of, but the admins have had their hands full lately trying to deal with the recent influx of troll votes on many of the top rated modules in particular.
Posted by snowdog at 2011-02-28 08:22:57 Voted 8.00 on 03/02/11
@Areth.
There seems to have been a concerted effort to pump ratings on these and since there a so few votes it is easy.
Check Flamingninja/Prator. Neither posted a review. Each gave it a 10 rating in all the parts in one day.
Look at "finalpost@hotmeal" right above you.
These look like dummy accounts to pump the rating and get the count high enough to be seen. Very annoying behavior. I hope the guys at Palith had nothing to do with it and it is just a misguided fan.
I think Vote count should need to be much higher for these to show up in the top ranks or configurable by the user.
I haven't finished this one yet, but I will give it a fair rating when I do.
Posted by Areth at 2011-02-27 11:08:22 Voted 5.00 on 02/27/11
Not sure why this is rated so highly, I put it down to lag of downloads. The story is blah, the gameplay is repeative, and the dialog is not that good at all.
I don't see the appeal. I like linear, I like story driven, I even like having pre-made characters to play. I did not like this. Very average to me. _________________________ Oh yeah! My computer is running SEX! *Pelvic Thrust*
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2011-02-20 16:40:10 Voted 9.75 on 02/20/11
Didn't like the idea of killing innocents, but this is the best one yet. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by tisdestiny at 2011-01-17 20:48:39 Voted 10.00 on 01/17/11
Somehow, someway, this series just keeps getting better. Just when I thought things couldn't be improved upon, Pailith Studios finds a way.
The story continues to capture the party in a whirlwind of events that leaves the player yearning for the next cutscene. The writing is truly fantastic, especially the inter party conversations. The small details are also nicely presented, from standard things like item descriptions and journal entries, to world gossip.
The action of this chapter is the best yet. Custom battle features like custom henchmen special moves change the way you fight. Also, cool gameplay features like avoiding the wrath of a God and creating a zombie battalion the hard way. There are many epic battles in this chapter, where survival depends totally on the battle strategy of the player, and the choice of equipment, not mindless point and clicking.
Thanks for finding those little issues. They're both caused by the way we've removed the challenge ratings and are easily fixed once located, but the fix is on a per instance basis, so it's easy to miss one or two. I'll release an update soon to resolve them.
Jim
Posted by Libita at 2010-12-31 02:06:08 Voted 9.50 on 12/31/10
A few tidbits I noticed in this chapter:
- It's possible to see the challenge rating of an enemy if you scroll up his description text, though only for a moment. This only works on enemies that have enough status boosts for the description window to have a scrollbar, though.
- In my playthrough, part of the description of the altars in the Zakirim fortress were missing.
The puzzle was still doable, though. _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Posted by Libita at 2010-12-31 02:03:19 Voted 9.50 on 12/31/10
After the big reveal in the last chapter, you're now in the thick of things, fighting desperately against an enemy that seems to always be one step ahead and utterly unapproachable by usual means. While this may sound a bit cliché, this was exactly how I was feeling during play, the atmosphere was nicely conveyed. Dialogue is still top-notch, and I didn't experience much of a drag.
I found the battle against Zhar to be extremely well-balanced by the way. Though the only way I survived the onslaught was a Sutra of Iron + Guardian of Heien combo. In the end, Zhar and I duked it out 1:1, with me barely surviving. _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Sounds like the readd dying character to the party script didn't go. Fortunately, there is a simple fix to this! Hop into Debug Mode (~ DebugMode 1) and type dm_runscript addparty. This script is a safety script I put together to readd all your party members back into the party incase something bad happened. Sorry for the bug, I'll look into making it more stable.
ok, during the fight with Mele at some point I think the following happens with Van Eisen .. I'm not entirely sure since I have to watch for Seiji's health and all the colorful stuff happening on screen but I'm pretty sure he 1. Dies. 2. Is Revived but splits off from the party and 3. Is neutral with everyone else. in the order I've listed them. When the fight ends he still has the conversation options as if he's part of the party however after I get out of the temple he doesn't follow. Anything I can do about that? I really don't feel like redoing that fight if I can help it..
Posted by EthernalWanderer at 2010-10-13 09:21:18 Voted 10.00 on 10/13/10
Very very nice, a little shorter than the other chapters but I enjoyed it nonetheless, it's been more "dense".
Onward to chapter 7!
Posted by flamingninja at 2010-09-27 06:45:41 Voted 10.00 on 09/27/10
This series is the reason to reinstall NWN on your computer.
Posted by prator at 2010-09-10 22:08:48 Voted 10.00 on 09/10/10
I hope this mod makes the top mods list. It really should be there.
The long awaited chapter 6 version 3.0 update has arrived! Chapters 7 and 8 should be on a more regular schedule at this point since Andrew's back from his trip. (knock on wood!) We hope you enjoy the updates!
VERSION 3 UPDATE:
Good news and bad news everyone. The good news is that my tester has just about finished his first test run of chapter 6 and there are very few errors. This is a promising sign that one more test run should be sufficient to release chapter 6. The bad news is that his computer's motherboard just died earlier this week and he's going to England for the next month, so he will not have a working computer back until he returns at the beginning of August.
So, what this means is that Version 3 of Chapters 6, 7, and 8 will not be completed until August at earliest. He has assured me that he will work hard to finish them up quickly upon his return, but there is simply no way for him to continue testing them for errors until then. Fortunately, none of the data on his hard drive was compromised, so he should be able to pick up from where he left off upon his return.
I apologize for any inconvenience this delay might cause you. Version 3 will be completed and released as soon as it is ready. Thank you for your patience in this matter.
Jim Bannister
Pailith Studios
Posted by bombsaway at 2009-10-06 15:39:09 Voted 10.00 on 10/06/09
epic story. loving every minute of this game
Posted by Libita at 2009-09-24 01:37:35 Voted 9.50 on 12/31/10
I agree with the review in most cases - the summary was spot-on. Funny I remember the normal fights being not easy, but somehow didn't remember that the last one being that difficult. Actually, I thought this was pretty well-balanced for a post-level 30 mod, what with your own overkill abilities and such. But don't ask me how I did that last fight.
Another thing: in case the nature of what QSW called "semi-movie" confuses you, I always thought this to be the eastern approach to RPGs. While western games focus more on the "play", eastern games focus on the "role". In western games you get to choose you background, profession etc. at the cost that the game doesn't know what it is you're playing. So, the choices can not or only very crudely be referenced. Yeah, I can choose my own background, but it's being totally irrelevant for the story. So it's like a choice between having mostly inconsequential choices or having part of my character laid out for me. Note that most successful western RPGs sneak a little bit of fixed character background in, in a way the player doesn't realize. Baldur's Gate used a fixed metaphysical background (child of a God), and Planescape Torment used a fixed background all over, only with an amnesiac PC, so your fixed background doesn't mean having a fixed PC.
But I think the reviewer has done quite a tremendous amount of work here as well. I almost had to read it in segments due to the length. :) _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Posted by shuurai at 2009-09-20 23:07:11 Voted 8.75 on 09/20/09
Great story, wonderful characters. Combat is still on the easy side for most battles, except for near the end - the final battle in the temple is rough, but doable.
Still the biggest negative is the area size; running up and down Mt. Sheckhim is really getting to be a pain in the arse. It really adds nothing to the game. On a brighter note, there was less running away from immortal enemies in this one.
This is an unusual module series, and not exactly what one might expect from a RPG. That said, the story is fantastic, and the companions are worth a fortune in entertainment! Please see full review for in depth comments.
Thank you for creating this series, I can see that a lot of effort has gone into your creation. _________________________ QSW -NWVault Reviewers Forum
In order to simplify the installation of Vis et Virtus, I have decided to make the files available only in the zip format. I had thought that I was being helpful by offering the files in multiple formats because you could download the format of your choice. After hearing several complaints about the number of files and the installation being confusing, I realized that it would be best to instead choose one. I have opted for the zip format because it is accessible by more people than other compression formats.
If you were curious about the download counts of the formats I�ve removed, I�ve listed them below.
Site
