I am just curious, but is there a chance that we get a computer game using the pathfinder setting/ruleset? I ask because besides word of mouth, computer games are one of the best publicity any RPG can get, IMHO that is why games like GURPS or TORG or Paranoia never went "mainstream", because they never had a gold-box computer game.
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It will be a while. As awesome as Paizo is, they just don't have the size, money, or killer branding that DnD did back when those great games were made. Then again, Paizo does have a few connections with the computer game industry, if I recall correctly, and if a developer got really excited about using Pathfinder, Paizo probably wouldn't have to front much of the cash needed to develop the game.
Problem is, the most successful recent computer RPGs seem to be using in-house IP (save Star Wars, but that's such a valuable IP to begin with). Convincing a developer to use an IP from a smallish RPG company would be a tough sell, let alone basing the game system off of one originally designed for tabletop use.
I am just curious, but is there a chance that we get a computer game using the pathfinder setting/ruleset? I ask because besides word of mouth, computer games are one of the best publicity any RPG can get, IMHO that is why games like GURPS or TORG or Paranoia never went "mainstream", because they never had a gold-box computer game.
If using PRPG rules, the first part is making sure that the software produced is OGL compliant--which can be a little complicated. See this: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/oglfaq/20040123i (although this is outdated because it assumes the d20 System Trademark License is in effect, but it was revoked by Hasbro). It's certainly doable, though.
The second part is of course finding a developer, and a publisher if Paizo isn't going to publish it themselves (I don't know if they have the kind of resources to publish and market a video game on a mass scale). It would probably take awhile to do. There's also the trickiness of making sure Paizo, developer, and possible third party software publisher all are on the same page and can agree on what they want (a common problem with video games based on existing IP).
A good CRPG takes at least a couple years to develop, especially if you're making the game engine from scratch. (Which I'd probably honestly recommend, as opposed to say trying to work with the various NWN engines, which while I love the NWN games, those engines are a bit old and clunky now). So even if it started now--we wouldn't see it for a little while. It would be really cool if it happened--but probably not an option as an immediate marketing opportunity.
Now, if you could say, actually get that going and, say, get Chris Avellone as lead writer... I would wait as long as I had to and pay a probably three times its recommended retail price for it. ;)
Total tangent: the Fallout series was originally supposed to have worked with GURPS, but the agreement between Interplay and Steve Jackson Games fell through halfway through development (I THINK, IIRC, because SGS objected to some of the more gritty and "adult" material in the game), hence the birth of the SPECIAL system. I sometimes wonder just how hard SGS kicks themselves about that....
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I can't help thinking that keeping it simple might not be the best option. Yeah, 3-d graphics and real time fighting in modern video games is great, but some of the old games I used to play on my old Atari 800 still capture my imagination today. The old gold box games for D&D were great fun to play, and oldies but goodies like "Return of Heracles" and "Agent USA" and "Mule" were fun! I may not be qualified to judge how much of this is just nostalgia, though!
A web based game that is simple in execution might be a whole lot of fun, and would be a whole lot less risky to produce. :)
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I think that Lisa mentioned that it was unlikely that there would be a PC/Console game based on Pathfinder material during her Piazo Con interview/panel discussion.
If my memory serves, she said one of the problems with movie/computer game makers is that they want to own/control the IP Paizo worked so hard to make.
However, Lisa all so said something like, "never say never". There very well could be someone out there who could have the right kind of deal out there. I take this to mean that deal to be one where Paizo didn't lose control of thier IP. (Intellectial Property).
This is off the top of my head so, if you think that I'm out of contect, (and I could be) Look for the Piazo Con recordings. (I think that search is still disabled.)
I miss Zork.
I would not mind "outdated" graphics, be it 2D (simply use an aerial view instead of the "egyptian" view of the gold box games) or 3D (neverwinter might be dated, but they will run smoothly in most computers). The idea of a web game is also interesting, how come there are out there so many free to play MMO? There must be some way to have one free-to-play (or at least cheap-to-play) Pathfinder game. I see no point in having top of the line graphics, IMO what is really important is a solid adventure.
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I would not mind "outdated" graphics, be it 2D (simply use an aerial view instead of the "egyptian" view of the gold box games) or 3D (neverwinter might be dated, but they will run smoothly in most computers). The idea of a web game is also interesting, how come there are out there so many free to play MMO? There must be some way to have one free-to-play (or at least cheap-to-play) Pathfinder game. I see no point in having top of the line graphics, IMO what is really important is a solid adventure.
the free to play mmo's make money by selling your e-mail address. I thought I would try one a while back, quit it after a few days, and still am suffering from an extra 20 junk mail in my inbox every day. :(
I would not mind "outdated" graphics
Yeah. Anything on par with some years-old game, say, Crysis, would be okay. :D
Even if you had the money, time, and talents of a dedicated developer, one of the hurdles to designing a game Golarion inspired game is fidelity to the pathfinder system. Computer games and RPG's have a lot in common but there are things PnP RPGs do really well that computers do not, and visa versa, especially when it comes to turn-based play.
Not that it can't be done. Biowares games like Neverwinter Nights, and Knights of the Old Republic did fairly well combining D20's turn-based play into real-time strategy or 3rd person adventure play. But there were sacrifices made to the "computer game" aspects of it, in order to keep the fidelity of the PnP game. And sometimes those sacrifices made the gameplay suffer.
This also makes me think of Maptool. I know some of you use maptool to play pnp games online. There are times when maptool almost feels like a video game. While it can be a little daunting to learn to GM with maptool (if you want to do the neat stuff like hitpoint bars, you need to learn a little java coding), there is a possible opportunity here for Paizo. Maptool DMs could use more textures, and plug-ins for maptool, to make DMing easier. the APs could have maptool friendly maps and tokens, maybe even some token libraries for in game character sheets, running combats etc. Most Maptool gms do this all on their own right now, and it takes up a lot of time. Anyway something to consider as our PnP game move to digital media more and more.
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Even if you had the money, time, and talents of a dedicated developer, one of the hurdles to designing a game Golarion inspired game is fidelity to the pathfinder system. Computer games and RPG's have a lot in common but there are things PnP RPGs do really well that computers do not, and visa versa, especially when it comes to turn-based play.
Not that it can't be done. Biowares games like Neverwinter Nights, and Knights of the Old Republic did fairly well combining D20's turn-based play into real-time strategy or 3rd person adventure play. But there were sacrifices made to the "computer game" aspects of it, in order to keep the fidelity of the PnP game. And sometimes those sacrifices made the gameplay suffer.
This also makes me think of Maptool. I know some of you use maptool to play pnp games online. There are times when maptool almost feels like a video game. While it can be a little daunting to learn to GM with maptool (if you want to do the neat stuff like hitpoint bars, you need to learn a little java coding), there is a possible opportunity here for Paizo. Maptool DMs could use more textures, and plug-ins for maptool, to make DMing easier. the APs could have maptool friendly maps and tokens, maybe even some token libraries for in game character sheets, running combats etc. Most Maptool gms do this all on their own right now, and it takes up a lot of time. Anyway something to consider as our PnP game move to digital media more and more.
Turn based is pretty easy to do, if you actually do stop motion turnbased...it's when you translate into real-time turnbased that you have a problem...
NWN/Dragon Age modules would be cool (And if you're patient and savvy enough you could tweak tlks in the NWN2 editor so that it actually does follow Pathfinder rules) but you wouldn't be able to sell them or provide real marketing for the game the way I think the OP had in mind.
As for engine.... one thing I do know having played D&D based games for years... NO ONE will agree on what is the "proper" engine for it. Pure turn based, realtime, inbetween like Infinity and Aurora (where when you let it go it runs relatively realtime but everyone is acting on initiative just as in tabletop play), there will be proponents for all of them. If it were to happen, I say let the devs do what they're most comfortable and that's that. Trying to please everyone in CRPG design is like trying to kiss the sun, except the latter is less painful.
Although.... since people are mentioning low graphics and the OP mentioned "gold box games"... how about an actual "gold box" style game, with little 8 bit icons and all? :)
Anburaid raises a very interesting point about the difficulty of adapting PnP rules to the computer. PnP thrives on a DM's ability to make judgment calls. The rules were written with a human reader in mind, not to be translated straight into code -- witness some of the very interesting questions coming out of the rules forum.
The user interface is also interesting. Consider that there are six types of combat actions: standard, move, full-round, swift, free, and immediate. How do you indicate what is available / not available and *why*? That taking a 5' step kills any action that involves movement? That you can substitute a standard action for a move to get a double move? Boiling combat down to a simple expression:
(((standard | move) & move) | full-round) & swift & free+
(where + means "one or more") doesn't fully describe it. You aren't supposed to abuse free actions by taking too many. You can't take a swift if you took an immediate prior to it becoming your turn. You can't do a move if you have taken a 5', or a 5' if you have taken a move.
And we haven't even gotten to spells yet... =)
Pile on top of this that if you are using Pathfinder RPG rules you have to adhere to the OGL -- meaning if you implement something and declare it as used Open Game Content (along with relevant links to SRD documentation) you don't want to flub it up and implement it the wrong way.
As for presentation, my intent would be top-down with the typical circular "counters" to represent the monsters, players, etc. At least at first. It is the most tactical view (3d, isometric, etc. can make portraying distance, cover, etc. interesting).
It's fun sometimes to sit down and read rules as if you were implementing them in code. It is amazing how much stuff just falls out in the process.
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It might be more realistic for Paizo to make a computer based toolset, kind of like how 4e is going with their online component. A digital tabletop and character/monster/whatever generator would be incredibly useful, and a little easier to make than a full-graphics computer RPG. Say what you will about 4e, but I think the online tabletop is a great idea (and I don't even think they came up with it first.) Adding a light map-making component and character generator would make it an excellent toolbox, and if the tabletop is system neutral, it would have sales value to players of other game systems. It could even compete with Insider, by making it a one-time payment as opposed to subscription based.
Now, as for making it system neutral, it could be a simple system where the DM determines the turn order and has control over which player can act at a given moment. Then a player does his thing, moves his counter on the screen, rolls dice, etc. The DM has the ability to go back a step or two. It could use a system kind of like photoshop, where each action shows up in a queue, and you can go back a step whenever you like.
This is just me blathering, but it's something to think about.
Although.... since people are mentioning low graphics and the OP mentioned "gold box games"... how about an actual "gold box" style game, with little 8 bit icons and all? :)
Google "Unlimited Adventures" Anyone with some patience can make Pathfinder Gold Box games. Wouldn't be able to use the 3.5 rules though.
Personally, I thought the Temple of Elemental Evil game from a few years ago was great (once you applied all the community bug fixes). It was a shame that Atari basically killed what could have been the start of a cool new series of old school D&D games by forcing it to be released while it was still buggy, then blocking the devs from patching it.
In terms of what I'd like to see from a Pathfinder CRPG though, something along the lines of the ToEE game is dead on target. Old-school, overhead-view, turn-based design with a hybrid of 3D decorations and creatures over a richly-painted 2D backdrop, complete with fog-of-war.
* wonders what the guys who used to work for Troika are up to these days...
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It's fun sometimes to sit down and read rules as if you were implementing them in code. It is amazing how much stuff just falls out in the process.
On the other hand, that's not necessarily a problem. I guess I'm not the only one whose games are not about "sticking to the rules" but about "being part of a great adventure" (I'm not saying this is mutually exclusive but I think the second one has or should have a higher priority).
So if I hear "Pathfinder CRPG", I think of "playing in Golarion, the Pathfinder World" not of "Playing a game built on the Pathfinder RPG". So if there's a rule threatening the fun in the context of a CRPG, I'd rather see it be thrown outta the window then to be integrated just for the sake of accuracy.
Which would be nothing but adhering to the "most important rule" as stated in the PFRPG.
Apart from that, I'd love to see something like this. I'd even pay for a NWN or Gold box-style adaptation of one of the APs, cause that would probably be my only chance to play them (instead of to run them).
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I asked about this back when the community use package was released, and by those rules it is acceptable to create:
1) A hackpak for NWN2 that uses PRPG rules, thus letting people play any module they want using Pathfinder instead of 3.5
2) A module set in the Golarian world. This would have to be completely original and not use any proprietary Paizo IP such as character names and dialogue, but could use familiar locations and ideas.
Unfortunately, you could not for instance port one of Paizo's APs to NWN2 as a single-player game. If you did you would have to strip out all dialogue and plot events, which could then be re-inserted by a live GM (who types them in directly from Paizo's PDF).
I'd be all for doing #1, but while I've figured out how to modify and add additional feats, I haven't dug into the game editor enough to figure out how to change things like how often you get feats (though that could be done by just adding more feats when replacing the core classes, which would need to be done anyways) or how to change the skill list, or even if that could be done.
Anyways, if we really want a PRPG game, I see NWN2 as the most viable option to get something into players' hands anytime in the near future. And the graphics are actually still pretty slick - I recently decided to play back through the OC to finish, since I never was able to when it first came out due to my frustrations at the bugs which have since been fixed. And it's a good lookin' game.
It's fun sometimes to sit down and read rules as if you were implementing them in code. It is amazing how much stuff just falls out in the process.On the other hand, that's not necessarily a problem. I guess I'm not the only one whose games are not about "sticking to the rules" but about "being part of a great adventure" (I'm not saying this is mutually exclusive but I think the second one has or should have a higher priority).
It is a problem, however, if the intent of reading the rules is to actually implement them in a CRPG. Especially important since any game implementing the PFRPG would fall under the OGL (well, short of licensed products which I imagine in terms of rules-fidelity would be held to a high standard) and have to indicate which content is open game content -- and link to the relevant SRD text. Mis-implementing it would be bad.
However, I totally agree that for a rules set written to be "implemented" by a human (the GM) for humans doesn't have to be so iron-clad that no input on the part of the GM is necessary -- and that would actually distract from the experience if it were even possible.
CEO
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I asked about this back when the community use package was released, and by those rules it is acceptable to create:
1) A hackpak for NWN2 that uses PRPG rules, thus letting people play any module they want using Pathfinder instead of 3.5
2) A module set in the Golarian world. This would have to be completely original and not use any proprietary Paizo IP such as character names and dialogue, but could use familiar locations and ideas.
One important point about option 2—you couldn't sell it at all, since the community use package doesn't allow you to use Golarion in any for sale product without a license.
-Lisa
I asked about this back when the community use package was released, and by those rules it is acceptable to create:
1) A hackpak for NWN2 that uses PRPG rules, thus letting people play any module they want using Pathfinder instead of 3.5
2) A module set in the Golarian world. This would have to be completely original and not use any proprietary Paizo IP such as character names and dialogue, but could use familiar locations and ideas.
One important point about option 2—you couldn't sell it at all, since the community use package doesn't allow you to use Golarion in any for sale product without a license.
-Lisa
I don't think it could be sold under the NWN2 license either. I'm pretty sure there's a clause in the NWN2 software license against using NWN for-profit. I don't have NWN2 but I'm thinking that was how it was with NWN and its expansions.
So any for-profit NWN/NWN2 project would require a license from Atari (publisher of NWN and NWN2, and Hasbro subsidiary).
One reason Bioware focuses more on their own IPs these days is because of all the trouble they had dealing with Hasbro during the days publishing NWN and LucasArts with KOTOR. Of course even Bioware/Pandemic is now owned by Electronic Arts so we're all doomed. (Or something.)
Of course a free community modification could be done for NWN and/or NWN2 to convert it to PFRPG and that would be awesome.
Personally, I thought the Temple of Elemental Evil game from a few years ago was great
I think here lays a great idea. That is a game engine that was quite functional, with nice graphics and that no one is using nowadays. The hard part is finding who is the owner of the program code, maybe it has reverted to one of the original founders of troika and then it would not be too hard to buy/lease and update to use the pathfinder rules/setting.
Personally, I thought the Temple of Elemental Evil game from a few years ago was greatI think here lays a great idea. That is a game engine that was quite functional, with nice graphics and that no one is using nowadays. The hard part is finding who is the owner of the program code, maybe it has reverted to one of the original founders of troika and then it would not be too hard to buy/lease and update to use the pathfinder rules/setting.
Ooo... yes.
This could be quite promising.
Anyone know about Knights of the Chalice?
Not to diminish the work that the team put into this game, but just because I'd like the next CRPG I play to use 3.Pf rules doesn't mean that I'd be willing to look at 1992-era graphics for hours on-end. ToEE wasn't necessarily a cutting-edge game visually, but it still had good aesthetics that could keep you immersed.
Personally, I thought the Temple of Elemental Evil game from a few years ago was greatI think here lays a great idea. That is a game engine that was quite functional, with nice graphics and that no one is using nowadays. The hard part is finding who is the owner of the program code, maybe it has reverted to one of the original founders of troika and then it would not be too hard to buy/lease and update to use the pathfinder rules/setting.
Hmmm. You folks seem to have a different definition of "functional" than I do... I seem to recall that being one of the most clunky, non-responsive, frustrating games I've ever played (and I play NWN2 on a regular basis). I remember the battle grid and the circular menus got me commanding my characters to do the wrong thing half the time. Mind, I doubt I got all the community patches, but that means the community made a nice engine out of the half finished thing they were delivered. I really have trouble seeing how starting with that as a base would save any time or trouble.
Fact, I think the only thing TOEE got me to do was make me chuck the discs across the room and play a new game of Baldur's Gate 2 instead.
I realize game engine preferences are a YMMV thing, but that's also why as I mentioned before, if someone were to actually seriously take up a project, I'd rather someone start from scratch than try to adapt an existing engine. Sure, take the best of previous engines as inspiration, but just start from the beginning and use the latest programming innovations to make the best product possible now. That doesn't mean shiny graphics, but it does mean to make something that works the most efficiently with the current OSes on the market, newer processors, etc.
I'd rather someone start from scratch than try to adapt an existing engine.
I disagree for one reason: TIME. Bioware spent about five years creating NWN from scatch. The reason ToEE was so buggy is because they did not, their publisher wanted to cash the invested money ASAP. So if today Paizo hired an excellent group of programmers to do a new engine they would finish it in late 2014; of course they could release it before and have another ToEE fiasco.IMO Pathfinder needs a CRPG now, not in half a decade. That is why the ToEE engine sound so sweet, they would only need to invest a year to iron out any of the remaining bugs the community patch did not/could not eliminate, upgrade the rules, add some nifty new graphics/animations/music/sound effects and do nice adventure (either in house or hiring a team to do it for paizo).
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I asked about this back when the community use package was released, and by those rules it is acceptable to create:
1) A hackpak for NWN2 that uses PRPG rules, thus letting people play any module they want using Pathfinder instead of 3.5
2) A module set in the Golarian world. This would have to be completely original and not use any proprietary Paizo IP such as character names and dialogue, but could use familiar locations and ideas.
One important point about option 2—you couldn't sell it at all, since the community use package doesn't allow you to use Golarion in any for sale product without a license.
-Lisa
Ah yes, sorry. As wolf mentioned, that's standard for any module made for NWN/NWN2 anyways, so I didn't think to mention that. This would have to be a free fan-made module. Which I wouldn't complain about at all.
We just need to find some Pathfinder fans who are more familiar with modding NWN than I am.
I'd rather someone start from scratch than try to adapt an existing engine.I disagree for one reason: TIME. Bioware spent about five years creating NWN from scatch. The reason ToEE was so buggy is because they did not, their publisher wanted to cash the invested money ASAP. So if today Paizo hired an excellent group of programmers to do a new engine they would finish it in late 2014; of course they could release it before and have another ToEE fiasco.IMO Pathfinder needs a CRPG now, not in half a decade. That is why the ToEE engine sound so sweet, they would only need to invest a year to iron out any of the remaining bugs the community patch did not/could not eliminate, upgrade the rules, add some nifty new graphics/animations/music/sound effects and do nice adventure (either in house or hiring a team to do it for paizo).
It's a cool idea. I would love to see it work if it could happen. But as far as I've ever seen, no good RPG has ever been made in a year, preexisting engine or no. You'd have a very hard convincing me it would be anything other than a buggy piece of nonsense.
I WOULD buy that game that came out in 2014 though. People waited longer for Dragon Age.
And let me say, I think you're absolutely right that a well-made CRPG would be a great marketing item for Pathfinder, and that in order for it to be effective for the current ruleset, it would need to come out within the next year. It's just that unfortunately, I don't see any way of that happening.
And that doesn't mean someone might still try, and it might be good--but if it isn't, it could do more damage to Pathfinder than good.
That said...
Ah yes, sorry. As wolf mentioned, that's standard for any module made for NWN/NWN2 anyways, so I didn't think to mention that. This would have to be a free fan-made module. Which I wouldn't complain about at all.
We just need to find some Pathfinder fans who are more familiar with modding NWN than I am.
... have you modded NWN2 at all? I've worked a little with the toolset (won 3rd place in a module making contest ages ago, but I'm out of practice at the moment). I'm not great, and I'm not a programmer, but I can make some stuff. I'm very comfortable with outdoor area design, which is where a lot of other people get a little fearful.
If I could find a small group of reliable people to work with to try and make a Pathfinder Chronicle kind of adventure, I'd be tempted to do it.
Heck, I have Crypt of the Everflame, I'm curious to see if I could make an NWN2 mod out of that just to see if I could. No rules upgrades, just see if I could put the adventure itself together. OBVIOUSLY, it would be free and Paizo would have to be forgiving of the use of copyrighted material, which I don't know if they would be. But it could be cool to see if it could be done. Worth a shot?
I removed some edition wars trolling (and replies to it.)
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... have you modded NWN2 at all? I've worked a little with the toolset (won 3rd place in a module making contest ages ago, but I'm out of practice at the moment). I'm not great, and I'm not a programmer, but I can make some stuff. I'm very comfortable with outdoor area design, which is where a lot of other people get a little fearful.
If I could find a small group of reliable people to work with to try and make a Pathfinder Chronicle kind of adventure, I'd be tempted to do it.
I've done a little bit of modding back with the first NWN but never really completed anything, and only just played with the NWN2 editor a bit. That said...I have a lot of free time right now since I'm currently unemployed and could potentially help out with a team.
Heck, I have Crypt of the Everflame, I'm curious to see if I could make an NWN2 mod out of that just to see if I could. No rules upgrades, just see if I could put the adventure itself together. OBVIOUSLY, it would be free and Paizo would have to be forgiving of the use of copyrighted material, which I don't know if they would be. But it could be cool to see if it could be done. Worth a shot?
Be careful here - you'd need to get special permission from Paizo to do that, and they'd probably be unwilling to do so if you're not an already proven and established development team. What you could do is create all the locations in the adventure and leave it empty for a DM to drop in the appropriate dialogue and enemies.
If you wanted to make it a single-player module, we'd have to come up with our own story (though we could use the same location).
I've done a little bit of modding back with the first NWN but never really completed anything, and only just played with the NWN2 editor a bit. That said...I have a lot of free time right now since I'm currently unemployed and could potentially help out with a team.... have you modded NWN2 at all? I've worked a little with the toolset (won 3rd place in a module making contest ages ago, but I'm out of practice at the moment). I'm not great, and I'm not a programmer, but I can make some stuff. I'm very comfortable with outdoor area design, which is where a lot of other people get a little fearful.
If I could find a small group of reliable people to work with to try and make a Pathfinder Chronicle kind of adventure, I'd be tempted to do it.
Well, it's something to think about.
Heck, I have Crypt of the Everflame, I'm curious to see if I could make an NWN2 mod out of that just to see if I could. No rules upgrades, just see if I could put the adventure itself together. OBVIOUSLY, it would be free and Paizo would have to be forgiving of the use of copyrighted material, which I don't know if they would be. But it could be cool to see if it could be done. Worth a shot?
Be careful here - you'd need to get special permission from Paizo to do that, and they'd probably be unwilling to do so if you're not an already proven and established development team. What you could do is create all the locations in the adventure and leave it empty for a DM to drop in the appropriate dialogue and enemies.
If you wanted to make it a single-player module, we'd have to come up with our own story (though we could use the same location).
Well, that was why I said, "they'd have to be forgiving and I don't know if they would be." Mind, there are a buttload of NWN and NWN2 modules made based on other IPs without permission (the massive Baldur's Gate remake comes to mind) that I think the IP holders in question turn a blind eye to it because it's free and fairly obscure, but that doesn't make it any more right or legal.
The reason I thought of it was to just see if one could take a Pathfinder-esque adventure and see how easy it would be to design and script the areas. As a kind of test thing, not to use it as any kind of official Pathfinder marketing effort.
Doing it JUST as an area design I certainly could try to do. Maybe just something smallish like a village or something.
Eh, I'm probably talking way beyond my abilities anyway.
Ross: Thanks.
Death Quaker: I was mostly using ToEE as an example of a style of CRPG and a level of detail that I thought would make for a viable product. Your recollection that it was very buggy is accurate if you were playing it out-of-the-box. While I myself did play thru it once in that state, after another year or so, I came back and played it with the Circle of Nine's community patches, and it was a much different, much smoother experience.
As for NWN & NWN2...
About the most experience I have with those engines is making items (NWN 1 & 2), and designing areas (NWN 1). I don't have any experience at scripting, etc. However, I am capable of modelling 3D architecture and inorganic decorations in 3ds max, and my Photoshop skills are pretty good too. (I actually have an Unreal Engine-based 3D tour of an Egyptian temple that is a regular show at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.)
I don't have the time to be a project lead for such an undertaking, but I'm well acquainted with collaborating remotely. IMO the biggest challenge would be figuring out how to modify the base 3.5 rules/feats/classes in NWN2 to adhere to the new ones in PfRPG. If someone could make a hakpack that did even that, it would be a huge milestone!
But as far as I've ever seen, no good RPG has ever been made in a year, preexisting engine or no.
OK, so NWN 2 was made in two years and four months with plenty of bugs, because they had to extensively upgrade the engine to update the graphics (and changed the engine from opengl to direct3d in the process, which is a bunch of extra work) and they had to upgrade from 3.0 to 3.5 (which was not their main priority, the pwetty graphics were #1 priority).
So the ToEE engine is already 3.5 and some of the bugs in it have been patched by end-users, if the do not attempt to enhance (which is very different to --> increase <-- ) the graphics beyond their actual level I still think one year is a realistic goal, I even think they might even do it in less time to achieve a summer '10 release, but of course, that depends on whether the paizo people think this is worth their while,