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Games Entertainment

NWN Linux Screenshots 150

Posted by CmdrTaco from the things-to-lust-after dept.
Gabe writes "Looks like the NWN linux client page has been updated with screenshots!. Finally, some decent proof that Bioware is coming through for us linux folks. Maybe it's time to open my copy soon :)" My replacement CPU fan is here, so I theoretically can now play NWN. Can't wait for the good modules to start being developed. In the meantime, we should use it as the prettiest IRC server ever... where you can kill your friends instead of just kickbanning them :)
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NWN Linux Screenshots More

NWN Linux Screenshots

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  • Finally (Score:1, Troll)

    by EggplantMan ( 549708 )
    With companies like Bioware bringing support to the Linux platform, Linux will be more and more attractive to Joe Sixpack. Whoever said Linux would never survive on the desktop?

    • Re:Finally (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Skyshadow ( 508 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @01:47PM (#4089441) Homepage
      IMO, your order is wrong. Linux has become more attractive to the sort of people who play games like NWN, and in recognition of that Bioware is bringing support to the platform.

      If they didn't think they could at least recoup the price of porting the client, they would and should not port the game to our platform.

      In an unrelated but still game-oriented vein: Has anyone else noticed that Civ3 under WineX, while "working" is so slow that it's unplayible? I'd have thought a Althlon 1.2 ghz with a gig of RAM would have been enough...

      • Actually I think it is just that Civ3 is too slow to be playable. I gave it up on my G4 after I timed that it took 30 seconds to access the advisor screens and a minute to resort the city lists.

        To stay on topic though:
        It is good to see that bioware is porting but I think they have lost my money. I planned to wait for the mac port but I have found myself unimpressed with the game. Sad because I was waiting for NWN for three years now but at least I didn't rush to buy it.
        I think I'm going to give my money to a company that makes an actual effort to release my platform's port with the windows release. Warcraft III here I come!
      • COuld be be a misconfigured Wine? I can barely run StarCraft in Wine on a PIII-866 with 256MB of RAM.
      • I and some others have problems running any 3D games on our athlon/duron. It is probably a via chipset bug. You can see details at:
        https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail& atid= 100387&aid=522096&group_id=387

        So I would ask you to specify me your system setup. (as motherboard (with chipset), graphic card, kernel version, X version, distribution).

        You can post here, or write to rizsanyi at neobee dot net

    • Re:Finally (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Gizzmonic ( 412910 )
      Most Linux users boot into Windows to play PC games, and since the Windows version offers more features, (and probably less configuration headaches) why bother with the Linux version?

      Linux for games, or surfing the Internet with AOL, or FreeCell, is the wrong market. Linux needs more industrial strength server software to truly take mindshare away from Windows.

      • Re:Finally (Score:2, Insightful)

        by packeteer ( 566398 )
        Maybe someone doesn't want to take the hassel to reboot. Why dont you try to convince transgaming (the makers of winex) that linux is the wrong mrket for games. Face it, many people, including me, will pay in REAL money not just code for linux games. Winex does a good job and it is growing FAST, you think some other open source project can grow check out one thats getting an income of REAL money.

        • Re:Finally (Score:4, Interesting)

          by pjrc ( 134994 ) <paul@pjrc.com> on Saturday August 17, 2002 @04:41PM (#4090021) Homepage Journal
          Maybe someone doesn't want to take the hassel to reboot.

          That's me!

          I purchased NWN several weeks ago. I've been busy doing real work in linux, and the NWN box has been sitting on the table right next to the monitor for about a month. I even opened it and peeked at the 3 cds and manual (mostly a list of spells). I keep telling myself "I should really reboot and give it a try sometime, just to see what it's like".

          Rebooting is a hassle. Often times I'll leave things running on my linux desktop, including ssh sessions with remote machines. I design with embedded processors (usually 8-bit) and often times I'll leave "seyon" running, logging data that some embedded board is sending to my serial port. Rebooting is very disruptive to my work environment.

          Then again, getting "hooked" on NWN for a few weeks will be too.... but I'm expecting that NWN will be fun. Rebooting is not.

          • Thats exactly what im talking about. Also, i dont know about you but booting up my linux partition on my duel box takes a long time. Time i would rather spend getting to the REAL action on free civ ;)
      • No, see, I don't have any Windows boxes and I don't plan on purchasing any in the future either. I would, however, really like to play good games on Linux. I plan on purchasing a copy as soon as it's available.
    • Now if you only could get decent 3d support without recompiling your kernel...
  • this was on linux games about 2 days ago. and the big fuss here is that bioware is dedicating time to the linux client AT ALL, and esp. not months after.

    QED

  • Anyone notice.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by EggplantMan ( 549708 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @01:55PM (#4089486) Homepage
    ... that Bioware uses KDE too?


    • They were using a stock KDE since it's as close to the "default Linux" look as you can get.


      I bet the coders' own machines look pretty different from that (and I'm also pretty certain that you couldn't associate their desktops with Linux immediately, as you can do with this screenshot).

  • Correction. (Score:4, Funny)

    by bleckywelcky ( 518520 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @02:02PM (#4089514)

    I have a correction to make:

    Looks like the NWN linux client page has been updated with screenshots!

    Should read: has been updated with a screenshot! :P
  • I think the real news is that companies are finally starting to consider Linux as a gaming platform also.

  • Paying for Linux Client? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by yoshi_mon ( 172895 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @02:11PM (#4089544)
    I've allready bought the Windows NWN client. Anyone know if Bioware plans to charge us again for the linux client?

    • Re:Paying for Linux Client? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ismilar ( 222791 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @02:20PM (#4089573) Homepage
      Notice how their Linux Client page is in the Downloads section of their website?

      You will not have to pay for it, unless you don't already own the Windows version of course.

      (I don't know about the Mac version, though)...

      • Re:Paying for Linux Client? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by redtoade ( 51167 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @03:30PM (#4089820) Homepage Journal

        Ironically:

        Even if the game is released for free download... I still WISH to pay for it.

        An excellent game, ported to an excellent OS. What's not to pay for?

        I didn't choose Linux because it's free (as in beer), I chose Linux because it's solid (as in ROCK). I have absolutely no problem with paying for good software. And since I know that software companies will only produce games in markets where there is profit to be made, I'm hoping that a GREAT game like this one might make enough money in the Linux market to make other producers "sit up and notice." So paying for the game is like an investment in the Linux gaming future!

        But I'm not holding my breath. Because on the other side of the coin... software companies are going to think to themselves "If THIS game can't make a profit... then no game can!"

        Eh... who cares. I want the game badly! Now to whom do I give this wad of cash?!

        • I believe the only way to get NWN for Linux is to buy the Windows version of the game and download linux binary. It is way, way cheaper for them to do that rather than make a linux boxed version, and a lot more convenient for most of their customers.

          Obviously it is a different story when they license the porting rights to another company (eg Loki) who then needs to sell it if they want to make any money.

          But I look forward to the day when most games come out of the box on a CD (or DVD) with Windows, Linux, and Mac installers all on the same disk. Or when Windows and Mac OS are consigned to irrelevancy because free systems turn out to be better :)

        • only the client is free (Score:4, Informative)

          by ColGraff ( 454761 ) <maron1@LAPLACEmi ... m minus math_god> on Saturday August 17, 2002 @05:09PM (#4090087) Homepage Journal
          The game content is still NOT free, and you'll have to buy a windows NWN cd to get it. This client only lets you play the content you've already bought in Linux.
    • <quote>
      All we can estimate is that we expect the Linux Client to be available for download in Fall 2002.
      </quote>

      I would assume from that that they are planning to release the linux client as a patch of sorts to the windows CD though I could be wrong
      • From what I've read (unless it's changed recently) in their linux client forum, they won't be SELLING the linux client. You will buy the windows client, install it in windows, and then copy a bunch of files over to a linux box after you download the linux client. Pretty crappy for those who don't run windows.
        • No, the GNU/Linux client is supposed to have a native installer, if I recall correctly. What you describe is the current state of the GNU/Linux dedicated server, because there is no supported way of extracting the required data from the CD's short of installing the game. Since there's no GNU/Linux installer yet, other methods of getting the dedicated server up would be rather clunky at the moment.
  • I'll be at CompUSA purchasing NWN the day the Linux client comes out (assuming I can buy the Windoze package and download the Linux client gratis).

    Thank you for the screenshot. Progress is good!

    Thank you for porting your game to Linux, and when you're done, I'll reward you with my business.

    Sincerely looking forward to NWN on Linux,
    Zoward

  • This is news?! (Score:1, Troll)

    by yanyan ( 302849 )
    Okay, i realize that the Linux port of NWN is something that we've all pined for, begged for, and are still waiting for. But come on, a single screenshot is news?! Firstly, how can we be sure that it isn't fabricated at all? And secondly, i'd be much happier if we could, say, download some alpha client code; something more substantial than a mere screenshot.

    I still think Bioware should have made good with their promise of bundling the Linux, Mac, and windoze versions in one box.

    Anyway, assuming the screenshot is really authentic, it's nice to see progress on one of my favorite games being ported to Linux, and i just hope the Linux version comes out real soon. Right now, the only reason i boot into windoze is to play NWN. Hopefully that's gonna change.
    • I just hope they don't port over the fucking SecuROM protection as well. There's a LOT of us who haven't been able to play the game in Windows for over a month now due to Sony's evil protection scheme. (Which incidentally, protects nothing, since the ISO's are all over the net in the usual places.)

      Word of warning to anyone buying this game. It may very well REFUSE to load in Windows for you, and Bioware and Infogrames are doing nothing to fix the issue, leaving poor bastards like me with some very expensive coasters.

      Here's hoping the Linux client isn't the clusterfuck the Windows release has become, since the way it's going, playing in Linux is my only hope!
      • I have the same problem with GTAIII & SafeDisc2. I usually have to reboot the system before it will load the game.

        Jaysyn
        • Interestingly GTA3 ran fine in my drive. TOo bad the game was a mess and unplayable on my ABOVE RECOMMENDED system. Returned it and got NWN.

          Tried everything with NWN to get it working. Nothing works. Even slowed the drive right down using CDROMTool to see if that would work. No dice.

          Royal fuckup. Last money Bio or Infogrames ever get from me. Bio claim it's Info that chose the protection, but if it's fucking over their customers, Bio should have the balls to say "NO." I mean due to this I won't ever buy a Bio product again.

  • let's show em. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by 7-Vodka ( 195504 ) on Saturday August 17, 2002 @02:25PM (#4089590) Journal
    I know there are a lot of us here waiting on that client. Let's show them their linux support was worthwhile. Head out and buy the game the day the linux client is released. You'll get to play the game you want and they'll see a nice large bump in the sales and go "whoa".

    • Re:let's show em. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jcoy42 ( 412359 )
      Let's show them their linux support was worthwhile.

      I believe the plan is to show our support with a big "Thank You" on the front page of slashdot.

      So yes, they will certainly be aware. Or at least their server admins will be aware.

      Pity they don't serve ads.
    • The sort of bump felt as your speeding car runs over a turtle in the road.

    • Re:let's show em. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by pjrc ( 134994 )
      Let's show them their linux support was worthwhile. Head out and buy the game the day the linux client is released.

      ... or just simply use the linux client in networked play ...

      While NWN can be played stand-alone without a network, most people playing NWN will at least occasionally make network connections to bioware (eg, patches). The NWN protocols reportedly use the serial number shipped with the game. Assuming that's true, and assuming that the protocol informs that of the version and platform the client is running, it would be very simple for Bioware to collect stats on the number of linux, windows and dual-boot users.

      So if you really want to "show your support" for the linux client, when is it eventually released, you could just as well buy the game now and make sure you keep your network connection unplugged while you're playing, so that all your network connectivity is via the upcoming linux client.

      But they know linux users are (largely) dual-booting and somehow I doubt they'll worry about counting up the number of users who NEVER ran the windows client. More likely, they'll compile some ongoing stats for the percentage of users using each client on an ongoing basis. Simply using the linux client over the network (in communication with Bioware's servers) will be showing plenty of "support for the linux client".

      FWIW, I purchased NWN shortly after it appeared in stores, and I'm waiting for the linux client... not so much for philosophical reasons, but simply because I've been busy lately and rebooting is a pain (I tend to leave a bunch of stuff running on the linux desktop).

      • Autoupdater is a different binary, and it doesn't execute on its own, no need to "keep your network connection unplugged" if you are using only the client.
    • Except for those of us that bought the game on release day in good faith, and we believed them when they said that the client would be released very soon. There's quite a few of those, and really, as far as their marketing division is concerned, we're already windows sales.

      Really, they're fucking it up the same way all other linux games have been fucked up- Release the linux client MONTHS after everyone's already bought the windows version, get minimal sales afterwards, the higherups say "You sure wasted us an ass-load of money. the linux version didn't make us any sales."

      Oh well. Let's hope that some day a game company will get it. I thought bioware had; they'd promised a linux version in the box. I bought the game to support that. Now, here I am, two months later, feeling like i've been ripped off, with no even estimated completion date for the linux client.
      • I would write an email to their support...then take the box back. Get store credit or something. You were had. We all were. So, let them know just how much you would like to take a boot to their temple and shove the box right up their keester.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I don't think that will do the trick. I believe the way they will figure out if a Linux port is worthwhile is by analyzing the stats for clients connecting to their online game server. So buying just for 'supporting linux' is not the way to go it. You will have to actually play the game. Or if you wish, keep loging on and off their server all day.
  • Just wondering if anybody knew what sort of specs you'd want for your Linux box to run NWN.

    • Just wondering if anybody knew what sort of specs you'd want for your Linux box to run NWN.

      It shouldn't be that different from the Windows specs, seeing as they're running on the same hardware. From the Neverwinter Nights page [bioware.com]:

      • Pentium® II 450 MHz or AMD K6 450 MHz
      • 128 MB RAM
      • 1.2 GB HD space
      • 8X CD-ROM drive
      • 16 MB OpenGL 1.2 video card
      • 56K modem

      Now, if you want a playable game that runs faster than one frame per second:

      <exaggeration>
      <!-- Some of these devices don't actually exist yet -->
      • Intel Pentium 5 or Athlon Clawhammer processor
      • 1024 MB RAM
      • 4.7 GB [dvdforum.org] HD space
      • CD-ROM drive fast enough to shatter CDs [slashdot.org]
      • NVIDIA GeForce 5 video card or equivalent
      • T1 Internet connection
      </exaggeration>
  • better watch out for those -i (minus eye) people!

  • what's the big deal? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by pb ( 1020 )
    I can run the NWN Client under Linux *right now* in Wine. The only thing you need to make it work is the nocd crack, because Wine doesn't like the direct CD-ROM access that the copy protection uses.

    But other than that it works decently; it crashes occasionally, but so does the real thing, right? At least this doesn't bring your whole system down...
    • Actually, the game never crashes for me. The toolset did back when I had an ATI but w/ a GeForce 4 it runs very very well.

      I have managed to screw the scripting up in the single player campaign though. Just one area in Act I.

      I do find it very difficult to play the game as a character that relies upon ranged attacks. But it's a "I can't see far enough away but the character can" thing.

    • $3 crack (Score:2)

      by pb ( 1020 )
      Ok, so where's the troll here? Is it the fact that I can run the NWN Client in Wine, the fact that you need the nocd crack, or the fact that the NWN Client crashes sometimes?

      Oh, it's the $3 crack; I'm sorry... can I have some?
  • Where is the BeOS port they were promising 5 years ago...

    oh wait... http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/12/22/142025 9&mode=thread&tid=87

    Darn.
  • I found NWN to be a second rate Baldur's Gate with the only major change being the use of a completely 3D environment. The shear number of load screens is ridiculous and the game becomes very monotonous at times. I was excited about gettign NWN but after playing it once, I doubt I'll be getting much replay value out of it unless a VERY cool module is released.

    I'm not sure if it works with WINE or Crossover Office but you might consider getting Dungeon Siege instead. Not only were the graphics better, the total lack of loading screens (except for when you load a saved game or start a new game) was VERY, VERY cool. I guess this game spoiled me and I expected too much from NWN.

    Also, not only is there a toolkit available to develop your own DS modules, there is a gmax module designed specifically for DS so you can make your own models for use as characters, objects, and terrain nodes. The DS community has also joined in to help develop tools to write skrit scripts and edit current modules. Granted, these dev tools require Windows but so does the Aurora toolkit for NWN.
    • I had the opposite reaction to those two games. *shrug*

      I liked NWN a lot. The D&D 3rd Edition rules are a really nice mix of a skill-based and level-based system. The story is long and involving, and yes the combat can get tedious at times, but you're free to ignore the non-essential quests.

      Dungeon Siege, OTOH, is an inferior copy of Diablo II. It's just killing things over and over without, imo, the style of DII.

      Also, the toolkit for NWN is much more robust than the DS toolkit. It pretty much lets you create a module / campaign the way you would with a P&P RPG and *play* it that way as well. With DM controlled NPCs.

      Though I do agree that DS, overall, is a better looking game. The environments are stunning. The character models in NWN are much nicer, though.

      YMMV.
    • I hate to say it, as it's often been pointed out, but you are clearly missing the point with NWN. As far as I recall, Baldur's Gate does not have a DM Client, nor does it have a sophisticated module building mechanism like you have in NWN.

      As far as I can tell, NWN gets closer to allowing online role-playing than any other game I've seen to date. Certainly Dungeon Siege is all but useless in this regard.
    • Its funny you had the reaction. I played a little DS, and found it to be quite impressive eye-candy-wise, but lacking in depth. I'm not sure how robust the multiplayer is in DS (other than there is an 8 peron limit) but NWN certainly has the most robust non-MMORPG system I've ever seen. Up to 64 (or is it 96?) players on a server, modules can be created that require teamwork of 10s of people, one of the things that always made P&P scenarios (and EQ/UO) so much fun. DS offers teamwork, but in a much more limited scope.
      And, now that I think about it, I guess one of the coolest parts of NWN is that it has a great plot set in a world that has been devleoped in the first two BG games and the Forgotten Realms R. A. Salvatore novels. Its always fun to play in a world that you liked so much in books.
      Maybe my impression will change if I'm ever willing to fork over the money for a copy of DS and try it out on my windows box. I don't think replay value is something to be taken literally, however...DII and DS's idea of just having you play again through the game in a more difficult mode is, while interesting for a time, ultimately kind of boring; I don't seem to feel like I'm making real progress.
    • Dungeon Siege?

      Horror. NWN may have its bad areas, but comparing these two... how can ANYONE, even in theory, enjoy the sugar coated clickfest that is DS? It's got neat graphics, but you don't even have time to admire the cool scenery, when you can't take ONE DAMN STEP forward without being in the middle of yet another swarm of stupid monsters.

      NWN is a good game, but if someone wants to try another CRPG, I suggest Morrowind. (DS doesn't even fit into the category, it's the very definition of hack&slash, even diablo isn't that bad compared to it...)

    • Granted, these dev tools require Windows but so does the Aurora toolkit for NWN.

      I know at least one person [by-a.com] who has gotten the NWN tools to work with wine. He even provides an RPM for those who don't want to tackle configuration.
    • In my opinion its far better than what you're saying, single player is not that bad imho.

      Actually tried Dungeon Siege, nice graphics, but with much more repetition than NWN. DS is far more monontonous than NWN.

      Maybe load screens do not bother me as much, as long as the rest of teh game is good.

      StarTux
  • But will it be open source? I'm guessing not and for good reason - obviously bioware will not want to share its coding techniques with the world.

    Somehow I suspect that this will be 'ok' with the Linux community which is interesting considering the fuss everyone normally makes about open source, but hey what do I know.

    I think it's great that decent games are making it to Linux, and with RedHat7.3 Linux is definitely becoming a more attractive option to the average user. I just need Steinberg to port Cubase SX to Linux and I'm ready to move!

    • Re:But... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Doc Hopper ( 59070 )
      You suggest that the GNU/Linux-using community as a whole is somehow hypocritical when it comes to free software. Most free software advocates (and I count myself as part of this number) acknowledge that there are certain software markets where free software simply may not make sense. These include computer games and applications with massive development cost and tiny markets (dozens of users or fewer).

      Supporters of free software run the whole gamut on their opinions, and this is simply my own. There is no hypocricy, as you suggest, because the community is composed of millions of individuals with their own opinions. I personally believe that the approach used by some companies (id Software, Sleepycat Software, etc.) of releasing the source code to older versions of their products, while keeping newer versions proprietary until they have recouped the cost, is an excellent approach that could be profitably mimicked by many more companies.
      • I agree with what you are saying, however NWN is not "just a computer game". The server component _could_ very well contain a buffer overflow or two for all anyone knows leading to boxen being rooted.

        I think people like ID releasing old source is an excellent idea which can only lead to higher quality code in the future as coders can consult it for ideas.
        • You are quite correct that it could be insecure! However, that's a completely different issue from whether or not it is free software. Yes, free software code auditing would be good for the community running the servers, but would probably be disastrous right now for Bioware.

          I would take the following precautions with *any* NWN server running on GNU/Linux:
          * Run it in a chrooted environment
          * Run it as an unprivileged user
          * Run it only on a machine dedicated for the purpose, with no other important services running on it (i.e. a game server running 2 or 3 different games is OK, but running NWN alongside your CVS repository probably isn't.)
          * Put it into a dedicated DMZ with no "friendly" relations to neighboring machines
          * Put it on a switched network.

          Me, the way I'm running my NWN dedicated server? Leasing a box at Serverbeach for $99 a month. This way, it's completely isolated from any of my important network services. I don't have any user account on the system that's common to any other system of mine. It seems a fairly ideal solution... if the box is cracked, one phone call to Serverbeach and the box is restored to its original pristine condition. This makes life much easier. I hear Rackshack is good for this too... lots of bandwidth, reasonably powerful machines, crappy tech support so you'd better know what you're doing.

          Most systems administrators are required to run proprietary code in-network with other code. A machine is as secure as you are willing to make it. That one service may be insecure, sure, but if you take precautions you can avoid a root-level compromise of your system by being sane in your usage, and sufficiently isolating the box you know may contain vulnerabilities. Heck, I remember running a system we *knew* to contain some significant security vulnerabilities for over a year at one point, hanging out on the Internet. Sure, it was unsafe, but the reality was we had no time to keep the antiquated code up-to-date, and some customers demanded the service. Therefore we put the box isolated on its own network, with no special identifying information, arranged a secure log server to receive syslogs from it, and watched our daily reports for any hacking activities. When someone would attempt to exploit vulnerabilities (this was some code unique to this box, so it wasn't like someone would write an automated tool to scan the Internet for this problem), we'd simply ban their IP. After a year, we eventually migrated customers to another system.

          IMHO, no Internet-connected system can withstand the attacks of a dedicated system cracker. They *will* find a way in, it's simply a matter of time. Your goal is to keep your life easier by keeping out the script kiddies that comprise 99.999% of the "cracking" community, and make the remaining intelligent system crackers' lives harder by using smart tools to discourage entry (portsentry is a *wonderful* thing! Port-scan my box one time, and you are now perma-banned). And then keep up-to-date on security patches, watch your logs, keep up-to-date on security announcements so that you are aware of potential vulnerabilities, and try really, really hard not to intentionally piss off dedicated system crackers. Even then there's no guarantee. Life is risk. Learn to manage it, and it can work for you. Fear it, and never accomplish anything.

          Dang, I cannot seem to post anything to Slashdot shorter than a hundred words lately!
        • Well I must say it's quite refreshing to see someone presenting a sensible appraisal of the situation, plus you seem to know what you are doing. I agree with your solution - have it hosted by a third party, however in my experience with this sort of thing the main problem is unauthorised services running on networks without the knowledge of the organisation. Obviously the mere presence of a good sysadmin should make this sort of thing impossible but I'm sure you are aware of the issues.

          As for portsentry, it wont protect you from sideways scans for vulnerable services, such as what would happen if someone were looking for vulnerable NWN servers for example. (_if_ any vulnerability were to be discovered - I'm not suggesting they are vulnerable).
  • To clarify what a few previous posts didn't seem to quite get, NWN originally advertised shipping the Windows, Linux, and Mac clients together (okay, they *originally* advertised BeOS too, but we'll ignore that). They have quite clearly stated that even though the Linux binaries did not make the final box, they will be available free for anyone who has the Windows CD to use. The Linux Server is already available for download, and the client will be when it is released.

    I use Linux on nearly every machine I work with, except one: my gaming computer. I keep this machine around with Windows 98SE and some nice hardware so that I can play the games I want, when they come out, with a minimum of hassle. I'm not interested in trying to force the industry to ship more products for Linux, although I'll certainly try it out when they do. Linux is productive, fast, and highly customizeable. Windows is compatible, optimized, and wide-spread.

    I believe a great many people do exactly the same thing. It's just nice to have a dedicated machine for games, and using Windows simply works best.

    --Elentar

  • Link to screenshot (Score:2, Informative)

    by Sloppy ( 14984 )
    Getting to the shot was a pain in the ass. Actual link to screenshot is here. [bioware.com]

  • Question (Score:2, Interesting)

    by terracon ( 70374 )
    This is great to see this screenshot but there are still some outstanding questions that need to be answered. The first is. How will us Linux folks be able to install this game. As far as I know certain game data is in an Installshield exe on the windows cd. Bioware released the Linux dedicated server binaries but you have to install the game on windows and patch it on windows than copy the files over to Linux. Since there's no tool to extract the game data out of the exe for Linux how can we get the gamedata off of the cd? I've been reading the nwn forums and as far as I 've read, there is game data in an Install shield exe so this could be a big problem. Another thing is how will we be able to update the game. Will Bioware port their autoupdater to Linux or will we have to install the game on windows and patch it on windows than copy the game data over?
  • Can't wait for the good modules to start being developed.
    I'm with you there. So far I've DLed about 25 modules [ign.com] and all are pretty much hack and slash. To get good content (if you are looking for more than H/S) from the community is going to take some time. Why? You may ask when Bioware has Boasted its easy to use Toolset. Well, the toolset is really easy for making a landscape (flat as a tabletop and everything is right angles). But to get real good gameplay out of a module, there needs to be some nice programmed scripting for monsters, NPCs, sequences, custom sounds, intro movies, etc. All of this stuff takes time. I've been slaving away with scripting, and, although the scripting language is pretty intuitive if you've had programming experience, the functions used by the NWN are not documented with a good amount explanation which results in a lot of trial and error. More time. Now that school is in session, there will be a lot of college students looking for a distraction from class. Hopefull they will find a valid distraction by taking the time to make a good NWN module.
  • "Can't wait for the good modules to start being developed."

    There are already lots of good modules. Check out The Spires of Ravenloft

  • Yay! NWN Linux *isn't* just vapor-ware/false-promise(s)! Big props to Bioware for actually concentrating on such a niche market,especially since they are probably losing money on devleoping a linux client.

    If only more game companies would be willing to do this, I would *never* have to reboot again! :)

    Once again big props to the guys at Bioware, keep up the good work!

  • I just hope I have new hardware by the time the client is released. My computer beats the min reqs, but it will not run (driver issue for TNT2, I think). I hate it when companies don't put realistic min specs out for their products.

    I was disappointed when I bought the game that the Linux version wasn't on it. The last thing I had heard was Bioware was going to release the Win/Mac/Linux version on the same CD. Guess I hadn't been staying up on it at all. Well sometime in the future I will be able to play the Linux native version of this game... I am happy for that at least

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