Neverwinter Nights FAQ

This is meant to clarify the whole NWN/Linux situation. I hope it helps someone.

Contents

MY EYES ARE BURNING!!!!!!!@#!@$%@#&#%
Where do I get the game from????
How do I install NWN without Windows - or worse - WineX?
Why doesn't BioWare host that Loki installer?
Will Linux users get the Shadows of Undrentide and other expansions?
I'm one of those oh-so-leet FreeBSD users. Can I run this game?
I am using only a partial install. How do I make it use my CD-ROM drive?
I can't run the game unless I'm in the directory!!!
Help! It doesn't run on my <insert non-NVidia card here>!!!
I can't hear anything - no music, no sound!!!!
The game crashes on me if I try to <insert something here>!!!
OMGOMGOMGOMG I can't play this game online!!!!
What is the story!!??! No videos means I'm confused!!!
I get an "insufficient disk space" error when I try to create a character!!
I just get a black screen, a `ding` in my speakers, and then it returns me back to the command prompt - no errors. WTF?
The game segfaults on me when I try to start it!!
My mouse is jumpy and I blame the government!!
Grr!! Anti-aliasing is b0rk3d!!!111oneoneone
My textures are flickering worse than a strobe light set on max!!!
Oh no! Everyone looks like the Terminator!! Run away! Run away!
I just installed some hak packs, but they aren't working!
WTF? Illegal character? Illegal items? WTF is this crap?
How do I make the client run in a window?
The game is SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWW. No, I mean like KDE-slow!
How do I see my framerate?
The camera angles are restrictive!
Is there anything else I can do to boost my framerate? I'm cheap, so...
Where do I report bugs with the game?
I wanna play with other Linux users!!!
Okay, enough games - I wanna build stuff!!!




MY EYES ARE BURNING!!!!!!!@#!@$%@#&#%
Okay, fine. Click here to visit the plain version of this FAQ. [top]

Where do I get the game from????
You can buy the game online from TuxGames by clicking here: NWN@TuxGames. I recommend you order it from that link because TuxGames will be including an installer and whatever you need to make the game run on Linux without the use of WineX or Windows. If you want in on the beta test, you can order from them, and your purchase will count as a Linux sale, and you can ask them to ship it immediately. Note that if you do this, you won't get the installer, or whatever it is that TuxGames has planned. You could also look for the game in a store near you, but what fun is that? Support TuxGames, as they support the Linux community! [top]

How do I install NWN without Windows - or worse - WineX?
BioWare will be providing game resources for download when the first non-beta version of the client is ready. In the meantime, you can use these instructions: [top]

Why doesn't BioWare host that Loki installer?
According to Derek French, the InstallShield EULA that BioWare has agreed to does not permit them to extract the files from any InstallShield CAB files with any tool other than an InstallShield program. As of the first non-beta client release, they will have the game resources available for download. I'm willing to bet that most honest Linux users would just use their CDs and ravage's installer, assuming they knew of it's existance. [top]

Will Linux users get the Shadows of Undrentide and other expansions?
Yes. BioWare has said that the Linux client will be able to run the expansions. It is my guess that the expansions will be nothing more than addon data files, possibly just some hak packs, mods, music, and movies (despite the lack of movie support in the Linux client). BioWare has stated that the Shadows of Undrentide CD has a Loki installer and a shell script installer for Linux users. This is fantastic news. You can pre-order your copy of this expansion at TuxGames by going here: SoU@TuxGames. [top]

I'm one of those oh-so-leet FreeBSD users. Can I run this game?
Yes. The beta client has been known to run just fine on FreeBSD 4.7, 4.8 and possibly 5.0. If you can't figure out how to make it work, then maybe you just aren't so l337 after all. [top]

I am using only a partial install. How do I make it use my CD-ROM drive?
I don't know why you would want to do this, but you can mount the Play Disc as normal, and then edit the nwn.ini file to say something like this somewhere in the file (assuming your mount point is /mnt/cdrom: 
[Alias]
CD0=/mnt/cdrom
[top]

I can't run the game unless I'm in the directory!!!
So you were using Ravage's installer, and then you upgraded to a newer version of the client, right? Well, you'll have to manually edit the nwn script, and put one command in it that changes to the directory that you've installed Neverwinter Nights to. If you want to do something more generic and fancyish, you can modify your nwn script to look for the nwncdkey.ini file, and then change to the directory that it's in. This is what I do. I have about three copies of that file on my hard drive, so it will default to the last one, which just happens to be the correct one. If you want to see how many you have, make sure you've updated your search database since you've installed the game, and then run locate nwncdkey.ini. If it returns the full path to that file only once, you're laughing. If it returns it multiple times, you'll have to work out the details on your own.
Alternately, my multi-user script doesn't require editing, and to upgrade, I just have to untar the newer releases in the global directory and all is well. If you want help with my script, email me. [top]

Help! It doesn't run on my <insert non-NVidia card here>!!!
If your card isn't supported by the latest version of the client, then chances are that your drivers are the problem. Gothmog of A from the BioWare forums has made a workaround patch for ATI users to try. You can download it here: http://mschoder.bei.t-online.de/nwnati.tar.gz Note that you shouldn't require the xdelta patch with the latest client released from BioWare.
Medevehk has reported success with a TNT2 card.
Sfuerst has reported success with a Matrox 450 card.
Hamunaptra has reported success with a Voodoo5 card. [top]

I can't hear anything - no music, no sound!!!!
Okay, calm down. There are ways of telling whether it is a problem. First of all, are your speakers turned on? Is your volume turned up? Are your speakers plugged in? Can you hear sound from other games or music players? Okay. Now, disable any sound daemons that are running, such as Artsd. Yay! You should have sound and music now.
Red Hat users may need to disable automatic startup of esd by editing their /etc/esd.conf and setting auto_start=1 to auto_start=0. Then kill esd and try starting the game again. It should go (thanks Michael). [top]

The game crashes on me if I try to <insert something here>!!!
Most commonly there are permission errors set incorrectly for the game. Try running this command, as root, from inside the dir that you installed NWN into: chown -R user.group ../nwn ; chmod ugo=rX,ug+w ../nwn and try again. Make sure that you substitute `user` with the Unix name of the user that you wish to play NWN as, and `group` with the Unix name of your user's group, or, alternately, a group that you make specifically for running NWN.
Another problem is that the data is corrupted. Download my MD5SUM listing file for the NWN data files by running wget http://icculus.org/~dolson/files/nwnlinux.md5 inside of the NWN install directory. Once the file is downloaded, run this command to check your files for corruption: md5sum -c nwnlinux.md5
And finally, you may have stumbled upon a bug. Please report it to BioWare.
Note: There are undoubtedly more problems and solutions that I will add as I find them. [top]

OMGOMGOMGOMG I can't play this game online!!!!
As of Beta 6, server browsing and internet chat are supported. If you were using an older version, upgrade and see if you can play online. If this doesn't fix your problem, read on.
You need to change your hostname of your computer to something valid. To do this, you need to change it in /etc/hostname, and check out /etc/hosts as well. You can try running the command hostname mycomputer or whatever you like, and see if that works. If it does, then change it in the appropriate files. If the command hostname -v --fq returns without any error, then the game should work in multiplayer. [top]

What is the story!!??! No videos means I'm confused!!!
The cinematic videos do not play in the Linux client. This is because Bink does not exist for Linux. BioWare said that Linux users won't get the cinematics for either Neverwinter Nights, or the expansion Shadows of Undrentide. It is likely that any other expansions will not have cinematic playback either. At one point, BioWare stated that they would likely release the videos in MPEG format as a download, but it seems they have changed their minds. If this is due to Bink licensing issues, then I hope that they don't use Bink in the future, assuming they bother with Linux again (and I sure hope they do).
Apparently, if you look at your journal right after a chapter transition, the text of the cinematic is put there for you to read it. This doesn't help you get a feeling of closure when you complete the final chapter, however...
If you want to conver the videos for playback using Mplayer or some other Linux media viewer, look at this website: http://delirare.com/stuff/nwnbink2ogm.php [top]

I get an "insufficient disk space" error when I try to create a character!!
Again, this is most likely to be a permission problem. Try running this command, as root, from inside the dir that you installed NWN into: chown -R user.group ../nwn ; chmod ugo=rX,ug+w ../nwn and try again. Make sure that you substitute `user` with the Unix name of the user that you wish to play NWN as, and `group` with the Unix name of your user's group, or, alternately, a group that you made specifically for running NWN. [top]

I just get a black screen, a `ding` in my speakers, and then it returns me back to the command prompt - no errors. WTF?
I had this same problem. I solved it by putting the Miles libraries into one of the paths that were listed in my /etc/ld.so.conf file. Alternately, I could have added the path to the Miles libraries (/usr/local/games/nwn/miles) to my ld.so.conf file.
Other people have other fixes. Some people put a link called libGL.so into their NWN directory or in the Miles directory, which they pointed at NVidia's libGL.so.1 file.
Also, make sure that AGP is enabled. To do so, run this command: cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status and check the output. You should see that the Status is "Enabled" and which driver you are using - most likely to be AGPGART or NVIDIA. If these settings aren't right, adjust them. You can add Option "NvAGP" "1" or Option "NvAGP" "2" to your /etc/X11/XF86Config file under the Device section for your NVidia card. Note: Some distros use XF86Config-4 as a file name instead. If you continue to receive crashes, try upgrading to the latest NVidia drivers. Don't forget to rmmod nvidia ; modprobe nvidia and then restart X. This solved the problem for someone (thanks bDove). [top]

The game segfaults on me when I try to start it!!
This can be caused by many different things. First thing to do is check that the MD5SUMs match. If they don't, then some data is corrupted or missing. If you are missing some of the texture files, then chances are that your nwn.ini file is configured to use a different texture set than what you have installed. If ALL of the texture files are missing, but you know that they exist, the file case is wrong and you will have to rename them by hand. Here are the file names, with the proper case:
Also check to ensure that you have SDL 1.2.5 or higher installed. Lower versions may work, but I wouldn't argue that considering BioWare used 1.2.5 to develop the client. Note that as of Beta 6, BioWare has included a pre-built SDL library, and instructions to use it are included. [top]

My mouse is jumpy and I blame the government!!
Edit the nwn script and add export SDL_MOUSE_RELATIVE=0 before the line that executes nwmain. This fix was implemented by BioWare and any recent client should not require this fix. [top]

Grr!! Anti-aliasing is b0rk3d!!!111oneoneone
If you have an NVidia card, you can edit the nwn script and add export __GL_FSAA_MODE=# before the line that executes nwmain. Be sure to replace the `#` with a valid number for your video card. You can get more information about the valid FSAA modes by reading the NVidia documentation located at /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/README. [top]

My textures are flickering worse than a strobe light set on max!!!
Your uber-leet ATI Radeon card is the culprit. You can try running the command export R200_NO_TCL=1 before starting the game, to see if it fixes the problem. If it does, you can modify your nwn script to do this automatically. This should work on cards that use the r200 DRI driver. If this doesn't fix it, then I don't know. I don't buy ATI hardware. I am just passing on the message. If you have a different fix for this problem, send it in to me. [top]

Oh no! Everyone looks like the Terminator!! Run away! Run away!
Look in your nwn.ini file, under Video Options, and change the line that says Enable CreatureEnvironmentMapping=1 to say Enable CreatureEnvironmentMapping=0. Alternately, you could look for the option inside the game's option menus. [top]

I just installed some hak packs, but they aren't working!
Make sure you run ./fixinstall to change the case of the file names. [top]

WTF? Illegal character? Illegal items? WTF is this crap?
Edit your nwnplayer.ini file and change the line that says Single Player ItemLevelRestrictions=1 to say Single Player ItemLevelRestrictions=0 and the line that says Single Player Enforce Legal Characters=1 to say Single Player Enforce Legal Characters=0 and start the game. This is needed for mods such as the Zelda: A Link to the Past module. [top]

How do I make the client run in a window?
Open up your nwn.ini file and find the text Fullscreen=1. Change it to say Fullscreen=0 and add a new line right before or after it. On this new line, put in AllowWindowedMode=1. Save the changes. Now NWN will start in a window, of the size specified elsewhere in the same config file.
Note that you will need the resolution that you wish to use available in your XF86Config file, even though you are using windowed mode. This is because BioWare implemented it such that the game would only run in valid video modes. If you don't like it, too bad.
Also note that the minimum resolution that the game will run at is 800x600. [top]

The game is SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWW. No, I mean like KDE-slow!
It's time to put your X server into 24-bit depth mode, as opposed to 16-bit depth mode. This is necessary because the stencil buffer is not hardware accelerated at 16-bit depth, and it is used extensively in NWN for the shadows and so forth. [top]

How do I see my framerate?
Start the game up and press ~, which opens the console prompt. Type in fps to get the current framerate, or type in trace fps to keep the framerate on-screen. [top]

The camera angles are restrictive!
Open the console in the game by pressing ~ and type in unlockcamera 1. If you don't want to have to do this every time you start the client, you can edit nwnplayer.ini, and under the Control Options, you can add in a new line: UnlockCamera=1 (thanks Thantel).
Alternately, you can use the unsupported camera hack. For details, go here: http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/hakpacks/data/1049732364934.shtml [top]

Is there anything else I can do to boost my framerate? I'm cheap, so...
Well, this tip was found on the BioWare forums:

Your framerate should now be boosted. I haven't tested this at all yet. I have, however, used a .xinitrc file that just runs `nwn` when I `startx` and it gave a performance increase. Not enough that I do it every time I want to play, however. [top]

Where do I report bugs with the game?
You should email them to nwlinux@bioware.com [top]

I wanna play with other Linux users!!!
I highly recommend you join our guild! The URL for the guild is: http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/viewguild.html?gid=1191 You can browse our user list, and see what IP addresses people are playing online at, and you can schedule games, and so on. If you want to join, send a request to us, and we will grant it. I think that FreeBSD users should be welcomed as well, as they are using the Linux port to play the game, they post in our forum, and they use a pretty cool operating system as well. I, personally, dual-boot with FreeBSD, but I don't use it to play my games in. If anyone has a objections to this, then please let email me at dolson@icculus.org [top]

Okay, enough games - I wanna build stuff!!!
Well, we aren't getting the toolset. I don't see why not, other than the fact that it may be a lost cause already. Borland was originally blamed for the lack of toolset, but then we saw the same issue with Miles - "No Linux Support from 3rd Party" they said. Well, both RAD and Borland have delivered, and BioWare went with Miles halfway through the client port process, so I think we should still get a port of the toolset. However, even though BioWare do have the latest Kylix release, I doubt it will happen.
If you really wanna build, you can help build the builder - join the OpenKnights project! The website is here: http://openknights.sf.net/ and they are working with BioWare (in a limited capacity) to provide *something* to the Linux and Mac users who were left in the Windows dust.
Recently, BioWare have added a section on their website for developers. You may want to look there as well. [top]



Please submit FAQ question and answers to dolson@icculus.org