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Neverwinter Nights for Linux
Marshall writes "Today I received an email from Tux Games that I never thought I'd get: confirmation that they were shipping me Neverwinter Nights complete with Linux installer! I didn't believe my eyes, so I checked out bioware's web page, and it was confirmed, the linux client is complete. Also check tuxgames.com which states that they are completing the installer and plan to ship games on Monday, 23 June."
This news forces me to reconsider how appropriate I believe the title Neverwinter Nights is.
Perhaps Eventuallywinter Nights, Finallywinter Nights, or Tookadamnlongtimewinter Nights.
Sharpies don't just sniff themselves.
I've been playing it with no problems. I think the likely cause of the excessively long delay to release is due to some good QA people at Bioware.
So far everything in the game has worked flawlessly. With this and ut2003 native linux clients, Tux finally can be a gamer.
I recommend downloading Gentoo's Unreal Tournament bootable CD if you want to demo native Linux gaming for some non-believers... Sorry, can't find a direct link... It's in their livecd folder...
Also I recommend transgaming for Windows games on Linux. Warcraft 3, Ghost Recon, Max Payne to name a few games that run under Winex3...
I hope more game development companies want my money, cuz from now on the only way their getting it is if the game has a native Linux client... Unless it's a ps2 game of course..
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
Why would you need to buy another copy? The game assets are here (1.13GB). All you need is a CD Key and some FileShack patience (which would be cheaper than buying the game again).
Schnapple
The expansion pack Shadows of Urdentide even ships with a Linux installer on the CD
Almost...
It seems that the CD mastering tool BioWare/Atari used converted all the text files - that includes shell scripts, mind - to Windows-style text, and when you try to run the installer /bin/sh chokes on all the ^M characters.
Happily, there is a workaround. See HERE
Note to all single-player-campaign people - pick up the SoU expansion pack and install it concurrently with NWN. The expansion pack adds many more spells, classes, feats etc and they work with the original game, plus some minor bugs are fixed in the process (the SoU expansion patches the original game content too)
Huh, I submitted this as a story this AM, and it was rejected in favour of this. Go figure.
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
And what do they get in return? Well if this thread is to be believed, nothing but gripes and complaints. No wonder they don't want to break their nuts getting a Linux port out the door - they'll get headaches either way.
And the toolset hasn't been ported to Linux, mostly because Borland supposedly didn't come through with a compiler. And the Linux Client doesn't have movies becaue Bink's a little licensing bitch. And there's not an installer since they signed a bad contract with InstallSheild, who doesn't have a Linux version. Get over it. As Linux users you guys are supposed to be the "rebels" of the computer world - don't rebel and whine at the same time.
FYI, hit up the Bioware forums, there's a linky in there to get the toolset running in Linux using a hacked WINE. It's got some glitches but they're minor from what I've been told.
Also, get it right - Bioware didn't ship this game a year ago, Atari (then Infogrames) did. They had just spent a good load of cash getting Bioware away from Interplay and Bioware was in no position to tell them to sit on it a year.
Schnapple
Hell froze over?!?! Sweet!! Duke Nukem Forever must be right around the corner!
The NWN community has been getting broader and more interesting, perhaps mainly due to the VAST number of third-party modules out there, and the new module content that Bioware puts out as well. Think of it as another manifestation of the miracle of Open Source; a lot of things that were added to the latest NWN expansion pack actually came from the community and were added in.
From your post, it's obvious to me that you know nothing about this, and the only reason I'm replying is because it pains me to see such an uninformed post sitting at +5.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
The Win32 version has requirements: ...
450 MHz CPU
128 MB RAM (win2k/XP), 96MB (Win9x)
1.2 GB HDD (Minimum Install + OS etc.)
16 MB OpenGL 1.2 GFX
Note that NWN has had problems w/ ATI cards all from the start. I'd suggest using a GeForce 2 MX card and a 1 GHz CPU for fair performance.
2) Are you running in 16 or 24bpp.
There were problems with 24bpp on my radeon 8500le until beta 3 or 4. Now it runs great.. as long as I turn off hardware TCL. The T and C are fine, but the Lighting part in XFree86 DRI is messed up.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those that need closure
This made my year. How sad is that?
On the sadness scale of 1 to 10 where:
1 = A Rainy Day, and
10 = Your independently wealthy, nymphomaniac, computer literate, console game playing girlfriend who looks like a genetic combination of Pamela Anderson, Natalie Portman and Lara Croft (only with bigger boobs) crashes your new Porsche into a school bus full of nuns and orphans on their way back from rescuing puppies and kittens from the animal shelter, resulting in a huge explosion with no survivors, two days before your wedding after which you would have been a rich man and sole remaining heir to the (insert company of your choice) corporate empire.
I'd say you're about a 12, maybe 12.5.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
If that's the case, then there are a bunch of /. guys out there right now going to collect on those dates they were promised.
Sure, this version lacks some features, which is grotty. Sure, it's horribly late, which will massively reduce interest in it. Sure, it's very unlikely you'll see this version hitting the stores (which is where you need the Linux versions!) but it's better than nothing. Just.
Am I over-dramatizing all this? Can games really make that big of a difference? Well, yes, they can. To use a term I detest, but it's all-too-accurate, it's all about mindshare. Every time someone sees a Linux title on the shelf, every time someone sees Linux placed alongside the mainstream choices, Linux gains mindshare. People consider it as a real option. Something they can actually use.
At the moment, it's generally seen as a "fairy-tale" OS - something that sounds all magical and unreal. That's because it gets mentioned a little but sightings are still rare. It becomes the computer version of Bigfoot.
Now, you start seeing stores stocking Linux software - not just the distributions, but actual applications, games, utilities, etc - then you will see a gradual dawning on people that Linux actually does exist, and actually does something.
The games market is key, though. Companies are loath to change what they use, but students are less likely to care, so long as it's cheap, simple, and covers the same titles as Windows. Younger kids certainly won't care, so long as they can make things go splat.
To get to these people, you need to get titles in the stores. Current titles. Hot-selling titles. Stuff that people will gravitate towards, not just glance at. The Linux port of NWN is not that, by a long way, and I doubt I'll see it stocked on the shelves anywhere soon.
But, it is a step in the right direction. It has got the company aware of what it takes to write Linux code, and it now has their graphics engine ported. Both of those are essential ingredients in the brew that'll get the company releasing titles for both Linux and Windows at the same time. However, they are just two ingredients. It's got to be clear to these people how to write Linux code well, how to make money from it, and how to promote it.
We're not seeing any of those, here. We've not really seen any of them from any other porting effort. Without those, companies won't bother.
Here's the kicker, though. Once teens & students switch to Linux in a serious way, the more visible Linux will become to everyone. The more visible Linux is, the more mindshare it'll grab. The more mindshare, the more it'll be used.
Nobody wants a system they can't use, but equally nobody wants to be seen as an ignorant has-been. There is a "critical mass" of people which, if you can reach it, the popularity will massively explode. Below that point, usage will stabilize and eventually fizzle out. The reason people use Microsoft has nothing to do with quality, it's because: (a) they know others use it, (b) they know about it, (c) it's easy to get and (d) it does what they (think) they want.
You need titles on shelves. Preferably games titles, as those sell more than office suites and other "big" applications. You only need one word processor, but most games-players have more than one game.
NWN, Quake, et al, are all great in that people are learning what it takes to get these games onto Linux. The skills are valuable. But that's not enough. The day Linux titles are stocked by corner stores, video stores (they rent computer games), Wal-Mart and all the other major outlets, then Linux will become a mainstream OS and (in turn) more profitable for companies to write for.
As of right now, Linux looks destined to dominate t
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Bioware got a lot of press around these parts for their promise of concurrent Linux and MacOS releases. They screwed up. Badly. Not only did they miss a concurrent release... but they've missed it by over a year (considering the MacOS isn't 1.0 yet and the caveats with the Linux version).
It is also a valid point that they got further delayed by technology they didn't own. Borland, Bink, and InstallSheild didn't help. But then, Bioware is supposed to be a professional outfit. Where was the process that ensured the technology being used would be cross platform?
Bioware's savings grace is that they've slogged through the experience and are finally delivering... more or less. It seems they are trying to make good, despite obvious inexperience in doing this kind of thing. Maybe they've learned enough to make the next time (and I hope there is a next time) go smoother. After all, other game houses have managed to pull this off.
The Bioware guys seem to be honest enough to admit to their mistakes and take the criticism. And they deserve that criticism. Keep in mind that they are selling commercial software. If their Windows release had the same issues as the Linux version, they'd get the same criticism and more. You wouldn't have people saying "we should all buy this despite how rough it is... after all, they could have just made a version for the PS2 and ignored Windows."
Having said all that - there is that saving's grace. Its a good game. They're trying. And they're doing a decent enough job at delivering. I'll be buying my copy today after work. I'll even buy the expansion set if its available.
But I'll still point out when and where they screwed up. As well as where they succeeded.
Nobody is above contructive criticism.