Guide / Tips and tricks to make restarting NWN easier

[Ael'Thas]

Since we are all probably going through the same things to get our NWN install up to snuff again for the imminent re-release of Redemption Mod, I have decided to compile a list of tips and tricks that could be useful.

This guide is split into two posts. In the first we cover installing, required resources and some GUI additions. In the second, we go over the more technical tweaks. Don't worry, even though I say technical, most of them are pretty easy to 'install' .

Installing NWN

In case you still have your old discs and CD keys, great for you! If you don't, GOG has a pretty good deal (around 10$) - www.gog.com/game/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition. After buying it, you will also need to ask for an unique CD key. To do this, refer to the instructions here: www.gog.com/support/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition/online_play_in_neverwinter_nights_diamond.

If you don't have the discs any more but still have the CD keys, you could also 'procure' a version of NWN by going getting an eye patch, polishing your wooden leg, flying a black skull flag and going to one of the various 'Yarrrr' sites on the web. After installing, go to your NWN folder, find 'nwncdkey.ini' and input your CD keys in the appropriate places. Doing this will disable the Premium modules, but we all know that nobody cares about those since we are only here for Redemption Mod .

Additional resources

Apart from simply installing NWN, there are some other things we need to get ready. There is already a nice list in the 'Resource Links' thread (http://redemptionmod.proboards.com/thread/457/resource-links), but the links are sadly out of date and do not work any more. Because of that, I am compiling a new list below.

Required resources

Redemption Mod required CEP (Community Expansion Pack) to be installed. Even though Redemption Mod uses v2.2, I would recommend you install the latest version (v2.61) as it is backwards compatible with v2.2.

CEP download: neverwintervault.org/cep
CEP installation instructions: neverwinternights.info/cc_bighaks.htm#CEP (you only need to look at the 'Players' part, not the' Builders' one)

After installing this, you should be good to go, but feel free to read below for more tricks that might make your experience more enjoyable.

Extra resources

169 Portrait and Soundset Unlocker 2da's (for SoU+HotU): neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/169-portrait-and-soundset-unlocker-2das-souhotu

This enables a whole lot of new portraits and sound packs for player characters. Since they are all already part of the game, nobody else needs to have it installed to be able too see your portrait and hear your voice. If you ever wanted to create a rogue with the voice of 'Tomi' from the original campaign, this is something for you.

To install, simply extract the downloaded ZIP file into your NWN/override folder.

Complete GUI Alterations Package (Transparent and Colorized): neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/complete-gui-alterations-package-transparent-and-colorized

This is a combination of various UI tweaks. Basically, it makes feats, abilities, class icons, spell icons, emotes and more things colored instead of all of them being the same bland grey color. It also makes the UI windows semi-transparent, modifies the HP bar a bit and other little goodies. For a preview, look at the screenshots in the link. I have used it before and even though it takes a little while to get used to the Transparent GUI changes, in the end I found it to be a rather nice addition that makes the game more useful and presents the information in a way that is accessible faster.

If you want to choose only parts of this package, look at the packages below.

Colorized: Spell Icons: Generation 1: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/colorized-spell-icons-generation-1
Colorized: Feat & Ability Icons: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/colorized-feat-ability-icons
Colorized: Class Icons: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/colorized-class-icons
Colorized: Radial Icons: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/colorized-radial-icons
Colorized: Emote Icons:1.69: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/colorized-emote-icons-169
Colorized: 1.69 Icons: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/colorized-new-icons-169
Transparent GUI: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/gui/world-aenea-transparent-gui-overhaulupgrade

[Ael'Thas]

Various other tweaks

There are yet more tweaks we can do to make our gaming experience easier. Some of these require a bit more technical knowledge, but aren't all that hard. In case anyone has any problems, feel free to post here and ask for more detailed instructions.

If nothing else, I would look at the client extender, which includes a lot of little fixes.

INI tweaks

Find 'nwn.ini' inside your NWN installation folder. This is the bread and butter of the game settings, as everything you change under 'Options' is saved here. But there are also some more useful options that are hidden from the menu that we can enable here. In all the cases below, if the option is not already in the INI file, you can simply add it - but make sure to add it under the right 'section'. 'Sections' are parts of the INI file that are wrapped in brackets (example: '[Display Options]'). My picks are:

Allow the use of windowed mode

[Display Options]
FullScreen=0
AllowWindowedMode=1


This will allow you to switch between Fullscreen mode and Windowed mode by pressing alt+enter on Windows. Useful if you want to multitask while playing. Haven't yet found an easy way to run the game in Borderless Windowed mode, so you will have to lower your resolution a bit.

Skip intro movies

[Display Options]
Disable Intro Movies=1


Nobody watches these, so just skip them completely.

NWN Client Extender

www.neverwinternights.info/nwncx.htm

This is a custom client extender, that does two very important things - it removes the long 'Authorizing Player Name' wait (the Master servers are down) and restores the in-game server listing that doesn't work any more. It populates it with servers from the Skywing's replacement listing server, hopefully Redemption Mod can get listed there soon after it is up again too, otherwise direct connect would still be the way to go. It also does other stuff (auto hak/tlk downloading if the server supports it, allows you to 'turn' the came more, ... ), but even just removing the stupid wait on login and server listing is worth it in my opinion.

Look at the readme inside the RAR folder for installation and usage instructions (basically you export it to the NWN folder directly, then use 'NWNCX_Loader.exe' instead of 'nwmain.exe' (you can patch 'nwmain.exe' using a provider patcher too). You will need most probably need to run 'NWNCX_Loader.exe' with Administrator privileges.

Sadly, it is Windows only, so if anyone is playing on Linux/Mac you're out of luck in this regard. But fear not, I have more tricks up my sleeve to share with you .

Disable the waiting for Master Server and Gamespy

Note: If you are using the NWN Client Extender (above), this is already fixed for you.

Since the NWN Master Server and Gamespy went down, trying to get to your game can be very tedious, as you need to wait for the game to figure the servers aren't there any more. In case you aren't using NWNCX, you can still fix this by editing your hosts file (don't know what a hosts file is? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file)).

Notice: For some reason the forum does not allow me to post the location of the hosts files (if I include it, it blocks my forum post ... ). So, just refer to the guide linked below or use Google to find out the location of the hosts file.

It does not matter which editor you use but you will require Administrative rights to edit this file. This mean that if, for instance, you want to edit this in Notepad, you need to open Notepad as an Administrator or you will not be able to save the file.

The line you need to add in your hosts file is this:

0.0.0.0 nwmaster.bioware.com peerchat.gamespy.com


There are various guides on the web about how to edit hosts files and they vary a bit between the type of OS you are using. If you have any problems tell me what OS you are using and I'll try to help you out. Here is a link to a general guide that should cover all the big OSes (and if you aren't using those, you are probably tech savvy enough to be able to figure it out yourself somehow) - www.howtogeek.com/howto/27350/beginner-geek-how-to-edit-your-hosts-file/. This guide does the same thing as we want to do, but instead of disabling 'nwnmaster.bioware.com' and 'peerchat.gamespy.com' it disables 'facebook.com' (*gasp* the horror!).

PS: To get the 'run' dialog in Windows, just hold down the windows button and press 'R' at the same time.

[Ael'Thas]

Character Planning

We most probably want to plan our characters before spending hours on leveling them up. This section should help with that.

'Training' Module

The main purpose of a 'training' module is to give you an easy way to level up/down, switch alignments and do anything else you need to do to plan your characters. I used to have a custom module for this, which included all the boss gear of that time, but it got lost in one of the disk formats. Since the boss gear changed a lot, it most probably doesn't matter anyway thought .

There are various modules like this available, I have used this one:

The Halls of Advanced Training Deluxe - HotU+SoU Edition: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/halls-advanced-training-deluxe-hotusou-edition

And it does work as advertised. I've only used it for the level up part, but it also includes an arena to test your character again mobs and a lot of other stuff.

Character Planner

The other thing to do after trying a build out in a 'training' module (to see if it's possible/viable at all) is to write the progression down so we don't make a mistake while actually leveling our character up. You can simply do this with a piece of paper and a pen, but if you want something a bit more complex, I have found this:

CharacterBuildCalculator (CBC): neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/tool/characterbuildcalculator-cbc

It is an Excel (tested it in LibreOffice 4.4.1.2 and it works fine) spreadsheet that helps you plan a character. The whole thing seems pretty massive and overwhelming, but everything you need to do is under the 'Character' tab. Basically you need to go through the white fields in a top-bottom, left-right way and input the data in them. All other fields should be locked so you don't accidentally change them.

More specifically, you need to:

• Select a race in field AP2
• Input your abilities in W2:AB2
• Select your class(es) in fields BJ3, BK3 and BL3
• Select level progression in the B column
• Select ability level ups in column AU
• Select feats in columns AV, BA and BF (white fields)
• Input skill point progression in columns EL:FM

Other things are pretty straightforward - for instance, if the text/choice you put in is red, this means that something is wrong (you don't have the prerequisites, like not being a having enough BAB for a prestige class yet).

After you are done planning the character, look at the 'Output' tab to see a nice 'plan' of your character that you can use as a reference when leveling up.

It is also possible to add extra races, so maybe someone will add all possible Remorts later on? Let's wait and see

Finishing thoughts

I know this guide/list can seem very long and daunting at first glance, but I would still recommend you read through it, you might find some useful things here.

Feel free to comment below with any comments, questions or ideas.

[Kaetral]

My two favorite things from here that everyone MUST DO because they are that awesome are --
Windows Mode (Lord knows that this is hands down the best when it comes to multitasking in this game. I remember playing NWN back in the day without this and it would crash ALL The time, or get a graphics bug every time i Alt-Tabbed.)
Getting rid of the wait for the master server. It makes switching between characters take a minute instead of five minutes! It's truly wonderful!

[Tarnos]

I've got a friend who's looking to start playing NWN for the first time, but he's only got a Mac. Now if I recall, the original NWN actually had a Mac version for it, gog doesn't seem to have that version.

I've found some forums about using a custom wrapper for wineskin to boot NWN. forum.bioware.com/topic/125609-mac-nwn-wintoosx-wrapper/

But I wanted to check to see if anyone knew of a more efficient way to get NWN running on a Mac OS before I took this solution and ran with it, or if this is the preferred method.

Any other Mac users out there that can confirm or provide some information before I try that?

[Ael'Thas]

Oct 23, 2015 14:22:06 GMT -5 Tarnos said:

I've got a friend who's looking to start playing NWN for the first time, but he's only got a Mac. Now if I recall, the original NWN actually had a Mac version for it, gog doesn't seem to have that version.

I've found some forums about using a customer wrapper for wineskin to boot NWN. forum.bioware.com/topic/125609-mac-nwn-wintoosx-wrapper/

But I wanted to check to see if anyone knew of a more efficient way to get NWN running on a Mac OS before I took this solution and ran with it, or if this is the preferred method.

Any other Mac users out there that can confirm or provide some information before I try that?

First I wanted to say that I know someone who played NWN on a Mac and there was a Mac client so why not just use that, but then I found out that one only worked with the old PowerPC Macs ... so there is no way to use that version on current Macs.

Installing NWN under a virtual machine or Bootcamp would definitely work, but it requires installing Windows and all things that come with that (if nothing else, owning a copy of Windows).

I have played NWN on Linux before, but that was using a 'native' manual install (copying stuff over by hand and making sure you had the right libraries installed). WineHQ states that NWN has platinum support, so that should also work fine, but working with Wine can get messy.

I have had great success before with PlayOnLinux, so maybe you could try out PlayOnMac and see if it works? It's basically a 'recipe' that somebody wrote that installs a specific version of Wine, installs the game and can do extra steps if necessary (kinda like CrossOver, but free). It should be (at least PlayOnLinux was) really easy to use - search for the correct recipe using the app (GOG NWN Diamond is in there), open it point it towards the setup file you got from GOG. Might be worth giving it a shot before trying other, more complicated stuff.

For playing on Linux I would probably recommend the same, as the 'native' install would probably be really tedious so why not try a simple solution first and move on if it doesn't work later?

Edit: Also the Mac NWN FAQ (some things are a bit old and not exactly how they are in the GOG version, but it might answer some questions) - forum.bioware.com/topic/125397-mac-mac-nwn-faq/

Edit 2: Some extra links for the lazy:

PlayOnMac download: www.playonmac.com/en/download.html
PlayOnMac NWN recipe: www.playonmac.com/en/app-1099-GOGcom__Neverwinter_Nights_Diamond_Edition.html

[Tarnos]

Thanks Ael'Thas! I'll pass on the information and read it over myself. I'll post an update once we find out what works so that any Mac users can follow our steps.

[Tyr]

Great advice for people returning to RD.

[saidin]

ok, have downloaded diamond edition, downloaded CEP paks etc. do I need to put the cep anywhere specific. Been soooo long that just can't remember

[Ael'Thas]

Oct 24, 2015 5:43:34 GMT -5 saidin said:

ok, have downloaded diamond edition, downloaded CEP paks etc. do I need to put the cep anywhere specific. Been soooo long that just can't remember

All that you need to do is extract the CEP file you downloaded, and then copy the 'hak' and 'tlk' folders into your NWN installation. If it asks, tell it to merge folders and overwrite any existing files with the same name.

You can ignore the 'docs', 'erf' and 'modules' folders, you only need those if you are building a module using CEP in the Toolset.

For more information, look at the installation instructions posted in the first post .

[Rulin Pendragon]

I have Windows 8.1 and I would love the information on the game spy and the issue with the long loading.

[Ael'Thas]

Oct 25, 2015 11:15:30 GMT -5 Rulin Pendragon said:

I have Windows 8.1 and I would love the information on the game spy and the issue with the long loading.

I'd recommend using the NWN Client Extender, since it also does some other stuff. If you don't want to use it for some reason, then you need to edit the hosts file. You can find the link to the NWNCX or the line you need to put in your hosts file and a link to a guide on how to edit the hosts file (Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are right at the top of the guide) in the second post.