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How To install Neverwinter Nights on Linux

Posted by Hemos on from the much-time dept.

Joe Barr writes " As soon as I saw the news that BioWare released a beta of a Linux client for its popular and successful Neverwinter Nights title, I downloaded the beta (registration required) and went shopping for the prerequisite retail Windows version of the game. Before I proceed, let me offer this brief warning: Neverwinter Nights is the mother of all timesinks. Do not follow my path unless you have nothing important you want to get done for the next week or so."

4 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Finally.... by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Have to agree there... April 1st is a pain in the ass. I mean sure, post one story (the whitespace one was cool), but to post them all day, and ostensibly the same idea? Sad.

    Anyhoo, on topic, given how long the poor saps who bought NWN (because of it's promised Linux support down the line) have waited, for Bio to provide NO kind of installer or, by the looks of things, no information either... The word "afterthought" comes to mind.

  2. Re:But on GENTOO, it would be...! by damiam · · Score: 2, Insightful

    On Gentoo, it's exactly the same as any other distro. Debian and Gentoo both have great package management systems, but for applications that can't be packaged, they're useless.

    --
    It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  3. Where to play by Winterblink · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Having played NWN to death on the Wintel platform, just a helpful hint to some. Playing multiplayer on public servers which allow client-side characters to be imported, I find, is utterly boring and pointless. It's WAY more fun to go old school and get you and a group of your buddies with the software together on your own server and play. For best results, obviously you'll want to come up with your own maps and adventures, something the packaged toolset is absofuckinglutely fantastic at doing.

    The reason I speak out against these kinds of public servers is that, first and foremost, you'll be playing against the biggest most idiotic cheaters ever. That and nine times out of ten it's just the servers admin fucking around and killing everyone because he's made his character into a dragon. So play with your buddies, you'll have a more enjoyable experience and it's easier to track a cheater down and punch him in the face.

    Just my 2 gp.

    --
    "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
    -Hoban Washburn
  4. Re:I'm scared by t0ny · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Why BioWare can't provide an installer is evidently something they choose not to discuss beyond a vague mention of legal restrictions. The word on the street -- unconfirmed by any primary party -- is that the license between InstallShield and BioWare prevents BioWare from providing another installation tool. That may or may not be the case, but I note that InstallShield offers a multiplatform version of its installer and that it runs on Linux. Perhaps that is what BioWare will use when it offers the retail version of the game for Linux.

    Seriously, the guy writing the article has no idea how much stuff costs. The Linux InstallShield license would probably cost BioWare more money than they would make on the Linux port.

    Just be happy it runs at all.

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