Getting Started with NWN?

Kaele · Post by **Kaele** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:42 pm

[color=indigo:3fszxy2a]RL finances not withstanding, if I were to get the game, do I need both NWN and NWN2 or does 2 come with the original version? What about this Kingmaker add on? Is the Diamond edition enough? I guess basically, what all are you all using to play together in the game itself?[/color:3fszxy2a]

Bhaern Quel · Post by **Bhaern Quel** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:14 pm

Wwell in general NWN2 supercedes NWN, however better advice can be provided by people that have the resources to load on their box. From what I understand some servers still use the first program , but that the second program will handle the first.

All in all I can defer to the -phase "It is above my paygrade"
Sorry I can not help you much.

Post by **Shir'le E. Illios** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:54 am

Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 are two separate programs and not interchangeable. Things that work for NWN1 don’t work for NWN2 and things that work for NWN2 don’t work for NWN1 (more or less; if you’re a builder it’s not quite as clear, but it’s a good guideline in general).

All the expansions released so far (“Shadows of Undrentide”, “Hordes of the Underdark” and “Kingmaker”, all of which are included with the Diamond Edition) only work for NWN1.

There have been some versions of NWN2 which also included NWN1 (like the Collector’s Edition I got in Europe), but I’m not exactly sure which version do or where you could get them (different territories seemed to have different collector’s/limited editions). In general though, no, NWN2 does not include NWN1. Again, they’re two separate products.

At the moment it seems that NWN1 is still the more popular (and more hardware-friendly) version with still a decent number of servers to play on (I still host a dedicated server, unrelated to this site). But at the moment we’re not really playing together anywhere (except in the forums). Some might still play here or there, but there (unfortunately) isn’t some coordinated place for our members to play together.

I’ve had plans to create such a place myself for NWN2, but due to numerous reasons (pretty much my life being turned upside-down and having trouble finding people willing to help build it) those plans are currently on hold.

In short, don’t get any game just to play with us. If you don’t mind older games then you might consider getting NWN1 (which should be fairly affordable now I think), as there’s a wealth of very good modules and servers for it out there (the original campaign with the main game isn’t that good, but the expansions are much better; particularly Hordes of the Underdark and I quite liked Pirates of the Sword Coast, pay-to-download from BioWare’s site, as well).

If you have the system to run it (and it really needs a beefy system) then you might consider NWN2, which I thought had a quite enjoyable main campaign. But the content for it is a little lacking at the moment (there’s a few servers out there as well as a couple of modules, but nowhere near what you can get for NWN1).

I hope that was helpful.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Kaele · Post by **Kaele** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:11 pm

[color=indigo:ei0zm4ua]Thanks, Shir'le. I got pretty much the same responses from an inter-gaming guild I'm a member of (most of them have been members of the guild for 12-15 years and avid gamers of all genres for even longer).

While I'd love to find a new online game to get involved in (hubby is currently focused on EVE and it's just not my king of game), I think I'll hold off on NWN for now. I may eventually get it just to see what it's about and as a reference to what goes on here, but it can wait. I'm treading water with my new interest in the Drow as it is![/color:ei0zm4ua]

Arathen · Post by **Arathen** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:13 am

I'll be getting a new computer soon (that can handle NWN2), so I'd love to offer my assistance with building, Shir'le.

Post by **Shir'le E. Illios** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:33 am

[quote="Arathen":koyf9vw2]I'll be getting a new computer soon (that can handle NWN2), so I'd love to offer my assistance with building, Shir'le.[/quote:koyf9vw2]
That would be great and much appreciated. I have every intention of going back to building once my life settles down again.

Though I warn you that people have found editing in NWN2 to be far more complex and involved than it was in NWN. So perhaps you might want to try your hand at editing first to see if you can get a grasp of it and actually like doing it.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Arathen · Post by **Arathen** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:15 am

hehe, sure *glares at his NWN2 box* I bought the game and couldn't run the thing, but...new comp soon, so I'll try my hand at editing with it a bit before letting you know if I can do anything for ya or not.

Arathen · Post by **Arathen** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:21 am

greetings to all from my new, top 'o the line laptop! (Woo!)
I'm updating NWN2 as I type this, so I'll fiddle with it soon!

Shyressa · Post by **Shyressa** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:37 am

Hehe and Shir'le is right NWN2 is alot more difficult to work in than nwn1. so much redumbdancy (no not a typo LOL I meant it as I typed it =P) having to put files in both the install folder as well as the My Docs folders...still a number of things thats not working right, and that could have a huge impact on the class I am working on....seems there may or may not still be a bug where you cant level a custom class past the first level in it. Not to mention I am not entirely sure if it is possible to make the class only available to Eilistraee females...can restrict to her alignments...and the feats and skills from the book as well as races (which may or may not include humans..depending on desires from you all). Oh well still pounding away on it LOL

atiguy · Post by **atiguy** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:36 am

what are NWN2's system requirements anyway? i have 1.5 gig of RAM and a 7600gt and i still get some wacky frame rate drops.

Post by **Shir'le E. Illios** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:27 am

[url:zycds2wm]http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/[/url:zycds2wm]

Try that.

They're pretty hefty though.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Shyressa · Post by **Shyressa** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:15 pm

[quote="atiguy":1ug6q16r]what are NWN2's system requirements anyway? i have 1.5 gig of RAM and a 7600gt and i still get some wacky frame rate drops.[/quote:1ug6q16r]

From all I have read the code in NWN2 is VERY sloppy and even on the best machines framerates are bad. Its not optimized very well and seems to have a few memory leaks as well. I have found that turning off the water effects (strange that it makes such a HUGE improvement based on just how little water I have seen) and reducing light sources and especially shadows seems to give a pretty decent boost in playability without really losing anything graphically. Your mileage with it might vary. Hopefully that will help you.

atiguy · Post by **atiguy** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:55 pm

says i pass the recommended requirements. guess it is coded sloppy

Post by **Shir'le E. Illios** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:15 am

[quote="Shyressa":20kt1gby]From all I have read the code in NWN2 is VERY sloppy and even on the best machines framerates are bad. Its not optimized very well and seems to have a few memory leaks as well. I have found that turning off the water effects (strange that it makes such a HUGE improvement based on just how little water I have seen) and reducing light sources and especially shadows seems to give a pretty decent boost in playability without really losing anything graphically. Your mileage with it might vary. Hopefully that will help you.[/quote:20kt1gby]
Also make sure you get the latest patch as they've made a number of performance enhancements in the patches (and continue to make them).

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

atiguy · Post by **atiguy** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:10 am

turned the shadows down to light. got a enormous boost in frame rate and was able to keep my texture quality maxed out