Very cool to see, I have to say though Bevin and Shandra look....well absolutely nothing like they used to :(. Any change of a closer version to their original designs like your Elanee?
No, I deliberately steered away from trying to make them similar to the originals. I went for a more realistic look rather than trying to put lipstick on a pig like my original mod. I tried to capture the essence of the characters, as I perceive them, rather than try to guess what Obsidian had in mind when they made those hideous models. I did my best to make the new heads suit their voice actors and feel right in the part. I can get that people who have played the game over and over for years may feel like it's a departure from the original but I just can't bring myself to make uglier models (proportions and quality, not looks) just to keep the similarity. The proportions are all wrong, not stylized, just wrong, and it plays a very large part in how the originals look.
Ultimately, I know I can't please everyone so I make what pleases me. I kinda have to, if I don't it's very hard to stay motivated through the 100+ hours of work it took to make Bevil and Shandra. There is no magical "make cool new head" button, it takes a lot of time and effort.
When I made my last mod however it was one of the things that burned me out regarding NPCs. Even back then I had a lot of complaints about my new models not looking enough like the original ones. In the end it killed my enthusiasm to work on them. Most of the feedback on Shandra and Bevil has been positive, they are more of a reimagining than a faithful reproduction. It gives me freedom to be creative and try new things rather than be locked down to fan concept art and the original models. When doing a mod of this scale you absolutely need to keep your enthusiasm and drive going.
Thanks for the link to that portrait pack, those are some lovely renders, I may well use some as reference on some of the other NPCs. For Bevil and Shandra I had my own set of concepts based on their rolls in the story and the voice actors.
Hair is my Achilles' heel, I struggle to get it looking the way I want. I was quite proud of Bevil's in the end, it took 3 days to make. The limitations in the game engine are severe, particularly with hair. I am limited to a 1 bit alpha map (for the transparency). That means black or white, no shades of grey, a pixel is literally visible or not. Without being able to feather edges and use tricks from more modern engines, what I can make is severely limited. I feel I kept the core of what make Shandra and Bevil who they are in the game and gave them a new, updated face in line with the quality of the rest of my mod. I am sure it won't be long before new portrait packs come out that mirror their new looks. It is so much easier to make a new portrait than a new head. Bare in mind, a 3d head requires multiple textures, each taking as long or longer than painting a portrait. Each head takes on average 20 hours of work, 20 hours over the period of a bout a week and that is the regular player heads, NPCs take far longer.
I have been working on this off and on since 2020. Much as I would love to please everyone, it simply isn't possible, I tried last time and it was a mistake. This time out I do it my way. This is a monumentally huge mod to undertake, right now it's eating up practically all my free time and I don't get paid for it. It's a labor of love, not a job. I push hard to get my heads released, often working to 3am to get them out as quickly as I can. This sometimes creates the illusion that this is easy.
I also do commissions where I do my best to cater to the requirements of the commissioner but that isn't free. I have done commission work on a number of big mods over the years, most recently Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines where I created a dozen or so completely new NPCs for the game, even more difficult than working with NWN2 given the very limited tools available for it. I like working on older titles, the challenge motivates me.
The main difference is the hair, the facial features were actually very similar. I hope you like it. You can grab the .zip file here: https://forum.neverwintervault.org/t/new-facelift-mod/5960/53
Now at least your Shandra portrait can match her face and the rest of your favorite portrait pack.
Portraits for my new companions are in the "Posts" section. Thanks again for the link to that portrait pack Sdub12, I love them and will continue to update them for my mod. I am not making it downloadable on the nexus as part of my mod though as it is not my work, I prefer everyone grab them from the original author and give them an endorsement. All I am doing is editing them, the hard part was done by the original Author.
Casavir reimagined. Prepping the upload now, the old version will be reuploaded as an optional download for those that prefer a closer to the original look. I wasn't happy with it so I made this. I won't be working with the original models again, too much work for a substandard result. 
Ah well, that's fine. Thank you for all you're doing. I used your old mod back in the day, these new heads are making me want to play again, so thank you!
Thanks, I am rather enjoying getting back into the game myself 😊 To elaborate on your question, both heads already use the same eye texture so any differences you see are in the models themselves.
The female half orcs are taking a while so I am taking a breather and working on the next NPC:
Casavir, very early WIP
Keeping his Romanesque clean cut look but making him look less like a pretentious @$$ and more noble defender which is what his dialogues paint him as.
I will be updating a pic labeled "Current WIP" at the end of the images for the mod. If anyone is curious what I am working on, that is where you will find a teaser ;)
I will keep going and tackle whatever catches my fancy. I think, moving forward, I will try to cover races I didn't last time first though, that and companions. At least that way if I get burned out before I am done I will have added to my previous mod rather than replaced just a part of it.
First Orc head just about done. This was a tricky one.
First I had to create the head on a human body so I could get the rigging right for animations, I couldn't find a dialogue with a Half Orc to test with so I used good old Georg in the starting area with the head on a human.
Then I had to correct all the proportions to match the existing Orc heads and body. About 30 hours into this one so far, at least it will be quicker making variations now.
WIP (33 comments)
Ultimately, I know I can't please everyone so I make what pleases me. I kinda have to, if I don't it's very hard to stay motivated through the 100+ hours of work it took to make Bevil and Shandra. There is no magical "make cool new head" button, it takes a lot of time and effort.
thanks for the reply
When I made my last mod however it was one of the things that burned me out regarding NPCs. Even back then I had a lot of complaints about my new models not looking enough like the original ones. In the end it killed my enthusiasm to work on them. Most of the feedback on Shandra and Bevil has been positive, they are more of a reimagining than a faithful reproduction. It gives me freedom to be creative and try new things rather than be locked down to fan concept art and the original models. When doing a mod of this scale you absolutely need to keep your enthusiasm and drive going.
Thanks for the link to that portrait pack, those are some lovely renders, I may well use some as reference on some of the other NPCs. For Bevil and Shandra I had my own set of concepts based on their rolls in the story and the voice actors.
Hair is my Achilles' heel, I struggle to get it looking the way I want. I was quite proud of Bevil's in the end, it took 3 days to make. The limitations in the game engine are severe, particularly with hair. I am limited to a 1 bit alpha map (for the transparency). That means black or white, no shades of grey, a pixel is literally visible or not. Without being able to feather edges and use tricks from more modern engines, what I can make is severely limited. I feel I kept the core of what make Shandra and Bevil who they are in the game and gave them a new, updated face in line with the quality of the rest of my mod. I am sure it won't be long before new portrait packs come out that mirror their new looks. It is so much easier to make a new portrait than a new head. Bare in mind, a 3d head requires multiple textures, each taking as long or longer than painting a portrait. Each head takes on average 20 hours of work, 20 hours over the period of a bout a week and that is the regular player heads, NPCs take far longer.
I have been working on this off and on since 2020. Much as I would love to please everyone, it simply isn't possible, I tried last time and it was a mistake. This time out I do it my way. This is a monumentally huge mod to undertake, right now it's eating up practically all my free time and I don't get paid for it. It's a labor of love, not a job. I push hard to get my heads released, often working to 3am to get them out as quickly as I can. This sometimes creates the illusion that this is easy.
I also do commissions where I do my best to cater to the requirements of the commissioner but that isn't free. I have done commission work on a number of big mods over the years, most recently Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines where I created a dozen or so completely new NPCs for the game, even more difficult than working with NWN2 given the very limited tools available for it. I like working on older titles, the challenge motivates me.
The main difference is the hair, the facial features were actually very similar. I hope you like it. You can grab the .zip file here:
https://forum.neverwintervault.org/t/new-facelift-mod/5960/53
Now at least your Shandra portrait can match her face and the rest of your favorite portrait pack.
Totally looking forward to Genasi!
Enjoy :)
https://www.nexusmods.com/neverwinter2/mods/1184/?tab=files
Casavir reimagined. Prepping the upload now, the old version will be reuploaded as an optional download for those that prefer a closer to the original look. I wasn't happy with it so I made this. I won't be working with the original models again, too much work for a substandard result. 
To elaborate on your question, both heads already use the same eye texture so any differences you see are in the models themselves.
I think these will be fun :)
Bit more, it looks SOOO much better animated in game than in screenshots. The effect blurs things making it hard to get a clean screen cap.
Casavir, very early WIP
Keeping his Romanesque clean cut look but making him look less like a pretentious @$$ and more noble defender which is what his dialogues paint him as.
Thank you for all your hard work! You're making NWN2 great.
I will keep going and tackle whatever catches my fancy. I think, moving forward, I will try to cover races I didn't last time first though, that and companions. At least that way if I get burned out before I am done I will have added to my previous mod rather than replaced just a part of it.
First I had to create the head on a human body so I could get the rigging right for animations, I couldn't find a dialogue with a Half Orc to test with so I used good old Georg in the starting area with the head on a human.
Then I had to correct all the proportions to match the existing Orc heads and body. About 30 hours into this one so far, at least it will be quicker making variations now.
Time to re-install NWN2 I guess.
Heads 2 and 3 nearing completion.
excellent work Xaltar, wow. your passion for modding knows no bounds
I look forward to wherever this goes.
Really nice work by the way !
My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\Override