Enchanced Edition - Discussion

[Marsi]

Gonna keep on asking in case someone who knows happens to read- at risk of sounding repetitive, it's a literal gateway for me: the pricetag for the game's okay and I can do. A new computer, is not.

Beamdog's page lists a set of requirements, and Steam a completely different one, and this 64 bit compatibility I've seen do in the past at the cost of losing 32 bit: is NWN EE still compatible with 32 bit machines?

The short answer is no.

With emulation/much finagling (qemu?) you can emulate 64-bit. I'd make absolutely sure its your hardware that's 32-bit and not just your OS, because the latter can be replaced.

The former can too, and not quite as expensively as you might think. Used, ex-gov thinkpads go for anywhere from $25 - $150 USD (depends how hard you want to look) and are ironically more sturdy and effective than consumer laptops x10 the price. My x220 (64 bit, i5, 4Gb ram) was like $200 USD and even that I considered overpriced.

[boggle99]

The big thing I've picked up from all of this is how much easier this will be for our devs to do stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if more than half the work for any update we get now is jumping through hoops of old outdated nwn code while also making sure it doesn't break any of the other additions that are jury rigged an duct taped to this server. So is what beamdog is doing worth 20 bucks? Not sure I'm a cynical old goat and I will believe their promises when I see them. Is getting something that lets our devs crank out content that we could only dream of before worth 20 bucks? Hell yes, I trust our devs they have worked miracles keeping this old girl running with glue and prayer. Imagine what they could do with a whole shiny new workshop.

[PlunderBunny]

Lacking a nwn.ini to mod has anyone found a way to get Windowed mode yet?

Alt + enter, adjust resolution to whatever you want. Leaving it at full resolution gives you a window'd fullscreen.

Do you have NWN:EE, can you 100% confirm that you can have a full desktop resolution window with it?

[Grunf]

I cant believe this is even a disccusion, if being listed again(and it will) as server on game that might sell out in 500k-1mil copies for me as citizen of arelith that worths not 20$ but 100$ if needed. Dont you want to see more Drow Houses in Andunor? Clan Duergar? Ghaundarites? More Hins in Bendir, gnomes? More Banites Cyrists?More great players? Over hundreds players logged whenever you log? I know I do!

If it was single player to pay it again yes i agree it would be legit to ask why to pay for same(i didnt buy BG for that reason) but here we talk abot Arelith not vanilla game. It will enhance Arelith with new players, and with many updates that will be for our DEVs now easy to launch and create more custom content that we all enjoy it and because of what we always return to Arelith even if we leave goodbye kudos threads.

Each of our DEV invested their time not in playing but in working for us, for free with only satisfaction to see us enjoying the game. Do you know how much costs such work in the industry? More than 20$ PER DAY! Now imagine how many of $$$ in time that is even more precious was invested by them for us, they hard have time to play and with it listen to our critisism if some of us dislike the change, would you do something like that?

Now is Christmas time, and we all will spend $ for many silly and stupid thing that doesnt matter(i know i will), if we cant spare 20$ on it at least put some faith and respect in those who donate their free time they could spend different but they instead put to make us happy for free over 10 years of time, or players who are excited to see what i already mentioned, expanding fantasy world,as its at least nice and polite thing to do.

[greatfanfare]

Lacking a nwn.ini to mod has anyone found a way to get Windowed mode yet?

Alt + enter, adjust resolution to whatever you want. Leaving it at full resolution gives you a window'd fullscreen.

Do you have NWN:EE, can you 100% confirm that you can have a full desktop resolution window with it?

Do you mean like this?

If so, yes you can do it, I don't see the point, but yes, you can drag the window corner to any size too.

[Dunshine]

There still is a nwn.ini, it's located in your documents/neverwinter nights folder now though, you can edit it and put:

[Display Options]
FullScreen=0
AllowWindowedMode=1

[Black Wendigo]

Again: The way to win people over is by presenting arguments that are convincing to THEm. Not by chiding them or telling them how wrong they or how silly they are being. Read what the opposition is saying. It's not just "I don't wanna pay $20,"

This is a discussion not an argument. Can't we keep it that way? Stop harassing people over this. It's getting annoying.

[Liareth]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I empathise with people who don't think what they're getting is worth $20. It is to me, but that doesn't mean it has to be for everyone else. I know that time will prove that it's a worthwhile investment.

I can only ask that people remain open-minded and trust me and the rest of the team regarding the server's future. I have dedicated hundreds or maybe even thousands of hours at this point to Arelith, for free, because I love the game and the server. I'm passionate about it. Our position isn't a conspiracy to rob you. We wouldn't be migrating over if I wasn't certain that it will open a lot of doors for us, both in terms of what we can accomplish with the engine, and in terms of the wider community we'll be able to reach.

[godhand-]

I bought NWN when it was first released. And after 15 years, its the only game i've ever played i keep coming back to, no matter how many breaks i've had, or how many hours of sunk into it.
I've enjoyed many years of arelith, and truth be told recently i've been concerned about its lifespan. This news is wonderful as I've always wondered when i'll stop being able to play this glorious game. It fills me with confidence for its future. I wish you would all see it the same way.

I've upgraded my computer 3-4 times over the last 15 years, and i've noticed the bugs that come with upgrading technology. The newer the computer i've had, the more issues i've had running NWN. I definitely see the value of the support for new technologies. I've put up with all kinds of crap to play this game, freezes every 5-6 seconds, permanently flickering lighting, darkness bugs, consistent crashes, you name it. Knowing these will be resolved is a godsend

I check the forums every month to see the player count, and knowing its steady has kept me going. Playing in Australia is hard, because i'm in a different time zone to the majority of players. i'm lucky to get 10-20 people per server on a week night. weekends are better, as my morning is your afternoon.
With EE? I think of all the amazing role players who've stopped playing over the last 10 years.
I think EE has the potential to spark the passion back in those players and bring them back, not just new players, but returning the gods of old. I know there are alot of players i miss who've retired long ago, perhaps they will return. In fact, i've already seen a sparked interest in a few of them i keep in touch with.

My only concern is EE being too successful, and Arelith turning into what vanilla WOW was at release, 3 hour wait times to get a spot in the server .... ain't nobody got time for dat :p

[rookie]

Again: The way to win people over is by presenting arguments that are convincing to THEm. Not by chiding them or telling them how wrong they or how silly they are being. Read what the opposition is saying. It's not just "I don't wanna pay $20,"

This is a discussion not an argument. Can't we keep it that way? Stop harassing people over this. It's getting annoying.

I'm not quite sure what you're expecting others to do. It's your money and decision on whether you play or not. It's the admin's server and it is set in stone for moving to NWN: EE.

At the end of the day if you're not interested in what NWN: EE offers then it is whether $20 is worth it to you personally to continue playing on Arelith for the next few years or not. You even mentioned this in an earlier post.

A discussion on business ethics, cost/benefit analysis, etc isn't going to change the outcome of the server's transition. Likewise only you know if you'd rather spend $20 to continue playing here than spending it on [insert game/activity/meal(s)] instead.

[afreshstart]

I think this is great news, considering new possible directions the devs can go, a revitalized NWN community both for single player modules and persistent worlds. My only concern is regarding to the first few months after the relase. I hope Arelith dosen't get overwhelmed with the new player influx, considering there aren't that many active(and populated) servers currently it's possible a massive amount of people will gravitate towards Arelith until they find servers more suiting to their tastes. But overall I'm pretty hyped

[Seekeepeek]

i think it's cool it's Trent Oster that's running the show, since he was the Director of NWN way back. i can't however find the man on Wikipedia so i wonder what he been up to these past 15 years.

Brent Knowles kinda made Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Dragon Age according to Wikipedia.

[One Two Three Five]

Short anecdote from last night:

To get on the EE server, I open NWN EE- realize I want it windowed mode and hit alt-enter. Windowed mode. No ini fiddling.

I hit multiplayer- no master server wait.

I hit the server and put in a username. Make a character. Log in. Run around with shiny water on. Easy.

Then I went to log into Arelith Classic- master server wait (yes I have this modded out. still happens sometimes), server browser for history- wont load. Back out. Multiplayer. Master server. Log in.

Get kicked silently back to the main menu. Click multiplayer.

i hate this game

[DragonRiderCyric]

If it works on windows 10 and my new laptop then I’ll pay. My older laptop is not the best connection and I can’t figure out how to play diamond in my new laptop at all. So give me the updated version for the modern world. I’m ready

[Tyrantos]

If it works on windows 10 and my new laptop then I’ll pay. My older laptop is not the best connection and I can’t figure out how to play diamond in my new laptop at all. So give me the updated version for the modern world. I’m ready

It works on a laptop and windows 10. There is a demo server out for ARelith atm.
Check this post for more info.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=15376

[Xanos950]

It's kind of weird that the system req is now win 7 or higher. I mean, i get it's supposed to more modern but... it's still the same 15 year old game and they did no drastic changes.

So what happens if you try to run it on a let's say vista toaster pc? Won't install despite the old game?

[One Two Three Five]

The drastic changes are all in the coding/modernization/new (hard/soft)ware support right now, from what I can tell from the patch notes and stream and things the devs here have been saying. It's the 'same' 15 year old game but updated to run on modern systems without having your robes disappear if your drivers update.

Edit: I think the 'tough sell' here is that things like, say,

SetTag(object, string), void SetTag(object,string).
Specifies a new tag for the given object. Note that
this call will not update any of the references to
this tag (such as area transitions).

and other scripter/server admin/developer changes are, while exciting to the people who make Arelith actually happen, kind of arcane to the people who just log in to punch stuff and yell at elves, or punch elves and yell and stuff.

Thus the weirdly intense focus on player-side stuff that would get tweaked at a server level anyway, like the assassin change or the move to a shader-based graphics. (The latter of which is still a game modernization/stability issue and not a graphics overhaul.)

Honestly I do think it'd be an easier pill to swallow playerside if they added a class or two. For some people there are no amount of "It'll make the server better/easier to run/actually sustainable" or "NWN is living on less than 4 years of borrowed time without this realistically" that will ever override that base sense of "but what do I get out of it?" Irongron/Liareth/Dunshine et al can talk endlessly about how good this is for the server and how it improves their time as developers and builders, but people are still going to go back to "but it's the same game" unless there's something shiny/videogamey to point to, like a class or a bundle of new spells or something.

[Nemain]

Gonna keep on asking in case someone who knows happens to read- at risk of sounding repetitive, it's a literal gateway for me: the pricetag for the game's okay and I can do. A new computer, is not.

Beamdog's page lists a set of requirements, and Steam a completely different one, and this 64 bit compatibility I've seen do in the past at the cost of losing 32 bit: is NWN EE still compatible with 32 bit machines?

The short answer is no.

With emulation/much finagling (qemu?) you can emulate 64-bit. I'd make absolutely sure its your hardware that's 32-bit and not just your OS, because the latter can be replaced.

The former can too, and not quite as expensively as you might think. Used, ex-gov thinkpads go for anywhere from $25 - $150 USD (depends how hard you want to look) and are ironically more sturdy and effective than consumer laptops x10 the price. My x220 (64 bit, i5, 4Gb ram) was like $200 USD and even that I considered overpriced.

I can assure you, if I could afford that money on my PC, I'd have spent it already, instead of gradually migrating to other OS and older games. If for nothing else, then for compatibility with all those neat-looking new games out there.

That is not the case.

NWN is an old game. One whose community's composed of two kinds: those who keep playing it out of nostalgia, and those who simply cannot afford to even try newer games. That's their limit. Both play it, because both love it.

If this update really breaks away with 32 bit PCs.... Then yes: I'm going to have to sink with the boat. Simply because there is no other boat: Beamdog took it. Wish everyone good luck and to have fun.

[Sockss]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I empathise with people who don't think what they're getting is worth $20. It is to me, but that doesn't mean it has to be for everyone else. I know that time will prove that it's a worthwhile investment. I can only ask that people remain open-minded and trust me. I have dedicated hundreds or maybe even thousands of hours at this point to Arelith, for free, because I love the game and the server. I'm passionate about it. Our position isn't a conspiracy to rob you. We wouldn't be migrating over if I wasn't certain that it will open a lot of doors for us, both in terms of what we can accomplish with the engine, and in terms of the wider community we'll be able to reach.

With all due respect, it's not a matter of trusting you.

Unless I've misinterpreted or you've understated your role in beamdog and you make financial decisions / project decisions for them.

This is about trusting a company, who is selling a product that is very near identical to existing nwn (the improvements currently being minimal and mostly time-saving, most of which are freely available in the community and bug fixes which are achievable regardless). This is buying a product based on promises.

While beamdog in themselves have a history of re-releasing games in this exact manner, then actually adding features over time (BG EE, for example), there is absolutely no guarantee that they will do that.

Based on previous history, I believe that new things will come and that they will make good on promises, but that is not certain.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we have a lot of respect and appreciation for you and your work, but please don't use your position in the community to promise things that you can't and push products. Please don't infer not trusting beamdog is not trusting you.

[Liareth]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I empathise with people who don't think what they're getting is worth $20. It is to me, but that doesn't mean it has to be for everyone else. I know that time will prove that it's a worthwhile investment. I can only ask that people remain open-minded and trust me. I have dedicated hundreds or maybe even thousands of hours at this point to Arelith, for free, because I love the game and the server. I'm passionate about it. Our position isn't a conspiracy to rob you. We wouldn't be migrating over if I wasn't certain that it will open a lot of doors for us, both in terms of what we can accomplish with the engine, and in terms of the wider community we'll be able to reach.

With all due respect, it's not a matter of trusting you.

Unless I've misinterpreted or you've understated your role in beamdog and you make financial decisions / project decisions for them.

This is about trusting a company, who is selling a product that is very near identical to existing nwn (the improvements currently being minimal and mostly time-saving, most of which are freely available in the community and bug fixes which are achievable regardless). This is buying a product based on promises.

While beamdog in themselves have a history of re-releasing games in this exact manner, then actually adding features over time (BG EE, for example), there is absolutely no guarantee that they will do that.

Based on previous history, I believe that new things will come and that they will make good on promises, but that is not certain.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we have a lot of respect and appreciation for you and your work, but please don't use your position in the community to promise things that you can't and push products. Please don't infer not trusting beamdog is not trusting you.

Sorry, I was a little unclear. Just to clarify: my post was aimed at those who think Arelith's eventual migration to the EE is the wrong move, or a move motivated in any way by financial gain. I should have split my original post into two paragraphs! One about the price (and pointing out that it's worth it to me, but everybody is entitled to their own opinions), and another about the server's future.

I'm not asking you to trust me and buy NWN:EE - that's your decision and has nothing to do with me. Whether you buy it or not doesn't personally impact me. I'm asking those who think we're 'selling out' or that we're 'shills' to trust me. Financial incentive has nothing to do with it. If money was our motivation then we wouldn't have invested so many hours into creating and maintaining an entirely free server. We're just interested in making the server a better place, and this is, hands down, the best opportunity we've ever had to do just that.

(I've edited my original post to be more clear)

[High Primate]

This is about trusting a company, who is selling a product that is very near identical to existing nwn (the improvements currently being minimal and mostly time-saving, most of which are freely available in the community and bug fixes which are achievable regardless). This is buying a product based on promises.

There is a clear sense in which it is not identical to the original product, in that it is designed to work on modern systems without having to go to great lengths to update it and make it compatible. I would thus not call it redundant.

[chris a gogo]

As it stands I won't be playing as i have to buy a 64 bit system to play it.

Plus i haven't read of any other servers i play on making the transition as yet so would be a £200 expense just to play on Arelith.
If every server switches over then i may save up to get a new system but right now it's just not worth the money.

[Tyrantos]

Im super happy that they've made the game less hardcoded. Means that custom stuff can be added more easily, without voodoo. Also that you can pick your class in the game, if you got the files for it.. (If its a custom class that is) Will be neato. Actual warlock might come soon then.

[Morderon]

It's kind of weird that the system req is now win 7 or higher. I mean, i get it's supposed to more modern but... it's still the same 15 year old game and they did no drastic changes.

So what happens if you try to run it on a let's say vista toaster pc? Won't install despite the old game?

Windows Vista and prior aren't supported by Microsoft. or soon won't be.. even World of Warcraft/Blizzard has been removing support for vista and prior.

Now would it still work if you can find a 64-bit version *shrugs* likely not.

But you can't expect beamdog to support it when even microsoft doesn't .

[Nemain]

It's kind of weird that the system req is now win 7 or higher. I mean, i get it's supposed to more modern but... it's still the same 15 year old game and they did no drastic changes.

So what happens if you try to run it on a let's say vista toaster pc? Won't install despite the old game?

Windows Vista and prior aren't supported by Microsoft. or soon won't be.. even World of Warcraft/Blizzard has been removing support for vista and prior.

Now would it still work if you can find a 64-bit version *shrugs* likely not.

But you can't expect beamdog to support it when even microsoft doesn't .

The thing is, this isn't a brand new NWN 3. It's a patch (albeit far more indepth under the hood) of a game originally designed for those machines, which suddenly makes it no longer compatible with them.