Bioware Releases Neverwinter Nights Linux Client Beta

valedaemon writes "Well, I thought that the world would end before this day dawned, but Bioware has finally made good on its promise of a Linux client for Neverwinter Nights. You still need a Windows installation in order to copy the game data, but the good news is that the downloadable is only 4.4 MB. I could write more, but why? Go play!"

Woo Hoo!

[FPCat]

Now I never have to boot Windows again!!!

Why?

[Clockwurk]

You still need a Windows installation in order to copy the game data, but the good news is that the downloadable is only 4.4 MB

This begs the point, why even bother with a linux version at all? Its nice that Bioware did make the game playable on Linux, but shelling out for a copy of windows to be able to play it seems counter-productive. Second, why didn't Bioware make a linux installer for the game files. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to have a hard-drive based installer that looks to the CD for the data.

At any rate, Bioware did make good on their promise to support Linux and Linux gamers should be grateful.

Let this be a lesson...

[GweeDo]

First of all, good work Bioware on finally get something into our hands. I hope that what they have gone through can serve as a lesson to others planning to release a game accross multiple platforms. Be sure that the tools you are using exist on each platform. *One* of the longest delays was due to the Video and Sound engine (I believe it was the Miles engine) not be supported in Linux (but then it finally was...it is a long story). This is why we need API's like OpenGL, OpenAL, SDL and the likes. It makes things a lot easier to release on a multiple platforms.

I also hope Bioware has learned to keep their mouth shut if they don't know when something will be done. They lied to the community more than once about the state of the Linux client and that made many very mad...so...wise up!

Is a copy of Windows *really* necessary?

[bheerssen]

You still need a Windows installation in order to copy the game data, but the good news is that the downloadable is only 4.4 MB.

Do you actually need to have windows installed, or can you just copy the files from some other installation, or maybe from the game CD? I no longer use unlicensed software, and I refuse to pay for Windows. That does limit my options somewhat.

Re:Let this be a lesson...

[geekoid]

I wouldn't say they lied, There lack of experience in this area caused them to make some serious mistakes.

Re:Why?

[GweeDo]

I believe that this had to do with some crappy copy protection scheme they used. Bioware made more than one screw up along the way with this multiplatform release. From day one they said we woudl get a linux client and then they repeatidly used technologies that weren't available for Linux...that is why it took them WAY past launch to even get this beta out the door.

Benchmarks?

[m0rph3us0]

Anyone have any benchmarks comparing the frame rate to the windows version? or even a it feels faster / slower?

Re:Maybe we will finally see

[MsGeek]

Epic Games deserves tons of props for making a Linux client for UT2003 available on the same disk set as the Windows version. Supposedly it installs pretty easily. By comparison, Bioware didn't do much for us at all. This requires a major hack to install. Not worth celebrating.

Oh yeah, Doom III will be coming out Windows/Linux cross-platform. Two words: Carmack rules.

Wrong answer, but not hard to do.

[Ndr_Amigo]

Actually, no, .cab files used by InstallShield are not -microsoft- .cab files, so cabextract will not work.

That said, I could probably whip up an extractor for it pretty quickly. Except I don't own a copy of NWN, and have no idea what InstallShield version/settings they are using.

There is absolutely no reason that this can't be done. Hey BioWare, send me a copy (heck, send me a sample .cab with the same settings) and I'll whip a native linux installer up for you :)

Re:Blowing some Karma...

[Tyreth]

Out of all my NWN gaming friends, about half will use the Linux version (ie, about 2-3 of them :) ). Still, even though they use windows now, an increasing number of gamers are looking to install Linux. Thanks to WineX (I still think this is good, but they shouldn't advertise games with native ports) and NWN Linux version, one of them is going to be interested in completing the wipe of Windows.

It's exactly these ports that will create a new market. Obviously a gaming company wouldn't be interested in having a 50/50 split between Linux and Windows, because then they have to develop two ports. But Bioware has been nice to give us a native port, which later on may result in it being a necessity rather than a kind gesture.

Oh, and by the way, I don't wine about "Dirty evil EA how dare they not give us a native client!" I know why they don't. Instead it's much closer to "Could you please make a Linux client? We would really, really, love that".

Re:Some people just can't do things right...

[WWWWolf]

What a bunch of idiots... These retards take almost a full year after the release to come up with the Linux client (that they told everyone would be ready for shipping with the cds), and then this.

Arrrgh. They actually shipped the Linux beta and people are still complaining about stuff they did in the past?

You know. I just saw this thing run. Right from my WindowMaker desktop. No problems. Jesus.

It is alive. All is forgiven. Not that I was angry in past, but all is forgiven anyway.

Hey, the point is, they got the beta out. New releases to come, new stuff ahead. And don't worry, I'm sure they'll find out how to overcome the data problem.

Jesus. I just typed ./nwn and it ran. Oh my god.

People, stop looking in the past and enjoy the game already. Chill out.

MemeticAI Toolkit

[Kilkonie]

If you're just starting out using NeverwinterNights and you want to try playing with A-life or behavioral programming, I have a project that may be interesting to you:

MemeitcAI Toolkit Website [summermeat.net]

It's a rewrite of Bioware's AI architecture, to allow modular behaviors that can be reprioritized, transferred, preempted (and automatically resumed), as well as a host of other features. There is a Bioware board dedicated to the project with about 150 memebers, available here:

MemeticAI Guild Site [bioware.com]

There is also a PDF explaining in detail what can be done with the core scheduler and what is in-progress. This can be found here:

MemeticToolkit PDF [summermeat.net]

The Reason

[RobertKozak]

My guess is that they were waiting for some tools from Borland [borland.com] on the linux side.
Bioware's engine was written with Borland C++ Builder [borland.com] on Windows and they needed to use Kylix 3 [borland.com] which allows them to compile C/C++ code as well as Delphi. [borland.com]
Disclaimer: I worked on the first couple of versions of Kylix when I used to work at Borland. That said, I just want to say it really is a great development environment and you should check it out if you haven't yet. They have an Enterprise Trial and an Open Edition which can be downloaded here. [borland.com]
--
Karma: Positive --- Seems I haven't screwed up yet!

Re:Maybe we will finally see

[StarTux]

I am supporting it for two reasons:

1. NWN is a good game

2. First time, I am allowing for mistakes like this on their first outing.

If they get enough interest perhaps they shall try again with another game and this time they had better bloody well get it right from the start. As someone else pointed out they messed up at the start with regards to cross platform issues.

As for the Toolset, they relied on Borland saying that Borland C++ was going to be out for Linux, but Borland decided to add it onto Kylix. Heard of no plans to now try porting the toolset to Linux.

StarTux

Re:wine/winex?

[Dimensio]

It won't work with entering the CD key, unfortunately.

Fortunately there are at least two installers that will do the trick, and someone on the NWN Linux Client forum posted a method of using one of those installers and an edit of system.reg in ~/.wine/config combined with the latest update patch run through wine to get the install up to the lastest version.

Linux NWN Client

[Netmonger]

Wow!!!

Its working great here! (my system stats: p4 2.0G 512Mb gentoo linux kernel 2.4.20-gentoo-r1, GeForce 4600TI, SB Live)

I tested campaign, multi-player coop, ramped up the video options.. The only thing I DIDNT test was custom content..

Its all working great! NWN in Linux!!

Woo Hoo!!

There is but a single bug I have found and that is with the mouse control.

Im going to send in a bug report - its probally not a big deal to fix..

Fantastic job BioWare!! You have seriously pushed forward into new territory in the world of Linux gaming!! :)

Tried it, General Impressions

[Kenneth]

After playing NWN under Windows for quite a while, here are my general impressions of the NWN Linux Client.

• It's a bit slower than NWN for windows. I don't know if it's their inexpierence with Linux, or the more strict, orthagonality and greater number of layers to X. I suspect a combination of both.[1] On the other hand, it might be because I run a lot more on the Linux side of my machine, and killing a lot of those processes might help
• It really needs a Linux installer. I suspect that getting the resources for Linux was some of the Legal issues mentioned on the NWN Linux site. For those without Windows partitions, find a friend with a burner and a windows machine. You might have to zip things, and massage the files because it's about 2gb, but it should work as long as you get everything back where it goes. On the other hand, if you have a windows machine on your network, install it there, update it, and transfer the files to your Linux box. I would be willing to bet that you could make it work even if it doesn't come close to the system requirments. After all, you just need the files, not to play it on that machine. Still, they need to find a way to get an installer.
• You don't need the disk in to play. I found that out by accident. I had a different disk in, forgot it wasn't NWN, ran the game, and it worked.
• It is still lacking. There isn't movie support (not that I could sit through the movies more than once anyway), and there is no toolkit. These should be added, although it looks like they won't be.

I applaud Bioware for their effort. They have given an ok first showing. They could have and really should have done a lot better, but the incompetance I've seen there isn't any worse than I've seen anywhere else. I think both the bosses and the programmers at Bioware need to be forced to read and pass a comprehension test on The Mythical Man Month, since it appears that they made every classic mistake the book warns about, of course so does virtually every other company that has someone write software for any reason, so I can't condemn them too much.

We want to play nice with anyone that tries to bring games to Linux. After all, it's a risk for them. Their marketers are telling them that Linux just doesn't have that much market share, so there's little reason to support it. If other companies are watching this, and believe me they are, whether or not they decide to support Linux will be determined by what happens to those that have gone before. If the expierence is negative, they will be less likely to support Linux in the long run.

[1] It is handy to be able to export a display etc, but doesn't that add a whole lot ov overhead? It seems to me that it would give much better performance to have a local only X server, for the average desktop machine. Of course include the regular one, but why waste those system resoruces.

They're going to sell licenses....

[Cryptnotic]

Obviously, the intent of Bioware is not only to release their game, but to make available the game engine to other development studios. Just as id software has made a pile of money letting other companies make first person shooters that use the Quake series of game engines, Bioware will attempt to do the same for RPG games. The Linux and Mac ports of the game engine will actually make the engine more attractive to potential licensees. So even if they have no new NWN sales because of the Linux port, it is still valuable to them.

Re:Where's the source?

[0x0d0a]

Microsoft assumes that you don't have the source to what you want to run. As a result, they ship all the major versions of their libraries -- MFCXX.DLL. DirectX is backwards compatible, and application vendors generally ship copies of what libraries they need.

That same set of assumptions isn't true for the Linux world. Grab binary program foo that "works on Red Hat" and try and run it on another distro, and see what happens. Or wait until the current library version is no longer around, and a new one is in its place. Look at a couple of places that distribute binary-format software for Linux -- they'll have four, five, in the case of NVidia, over fifteen different copies of their software.

And you often can't statically link because of GPL restrictions, so *that's* out...