Author Topic: [MAC] Mac NWN FAQ  (Read 3665 times)

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« on: July 18, 2010, 05:16:26 am »


               This is the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for Neverwinter Nights, Mac Version. FAQs being what they are, it may also be of use to those using other platforms.

MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information

Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog


Section 1: General Information

1.01: Is the NWN Aurora Toolset coming out for the Mac version of Neverwinter Nights?

[Quoting Derek French of BioWare:] "No. Our initial goal was to create a cross platform toolset for the gaming community. However, we have encountered difficulty in obtaining a viable cross-platform solution to assist us in porting the Aurora Neverwinter Toolset. As such, BioWare has no plans to create Mac or Linux versions of the Aurora Neverwinter Toolset at this time."

There have been third-party efforts to create similar utilities, such as Neveredit. Neither BioWare nor MacSoft can provide support for using third-party utilities.

Some users have tried using the PC Toolset on the Mac with VPC, but all report it is not usable this way.


1.02: Is the DM Client included with the Mac version?

Yes. The DM Client is based off of the main NWN executable for all platforms, so there is a Mac DM Client.


1.03: Can the Mac version play as a NWN client or as a DM in multiplayer sessions with PC or Linux players?

Yes. All platforms can play together provided they are all running the same version number of Neverwinter Nights.


1.04: Can the Mac version connect to PC or Linux game servers?

Yes. All platforms can play together provided they are all running the same version number of Neverwinter Nights.


1.05: Can I download and play Hak Paks and modules created on a PC?

Yes. All the data files for Neverwinter Nights are cross-platform and work on Windows, Linux, and Mac.


1.06: Is it possible to import PC saved games into the Mac version?

It should work. All the data files are cross-platform.


1.07: Is the Neverwinter Nights Dedicated Server included?

Yes, nwserver is included as part of the Mac version of NWN. It is a GUI app like the Windows version. There are no plans at this time to do a console version of the Mac dedicated server.


1.08: What are the minimum system requirements to run Mac Neverwinter Nights?

They are listed here. Note that the minimum requirements are slightly higher from what is listed there when using the expansions.


1.09: I bought the game for my Mac over a year ago because I was told all three versions were coming in the same box. What are you going to do to either compensate me or allow me to trade in my PC version?

[Quoting Derek French of BioWare:] "This issue was clarified over a year ago. Sorry, but there is nothing we can do for you. You should have returned the game the moment you received it when you found out that you didn't get what you paid for from the retailer that you purchased it from. Neither can we, as the developer, do any sort of exchange for your current version (published by Atari) for a Mac version (published by MacSoft)."


1.10: Does Mac NWN support multiple CPUs? What about multicore CPUs?

Neverwinter Nights isn't optimized for multiple CPUs on any platform. It does run on multi-processor Macs quite happily, however.

There have been reports suggesting NWN may be unstable on Macs that sport multicore CPUs. A workaround for this would be to only enable one core when playing NWN, using Apple's CPUPalette utility (an optional install in the Mac OS X Developer Tools).


1.11: I already own a copy of NWN, would all I need be the executable file and the game resources to play NWN for Mac?

[Quoting RDesrosiers:] "The Mac publisher (MacSoft) gets no money if you use the resources of the PC version of NWN and use them with a freely available Mac executable. So you will need to purchase the Mac version of NWN in order to get the Mac executable and that will have the same game resources as the Windows version."

(Update: NWN1 for the Mac no longer appears to be for original sale anywhere, so the above point seems to now be moot. See also section 3.09.)


1.12: The PC versions of NWN rely quite a bit on the right-click. How is this handled for one-button mice in the Mac version?

Option+Click is the Mac version of Windows right-click in NWN. Also, many third-party multi-button mice are available for use with the Mac; in the immortal words of John Carmack, "Get a real mouse." 8)                                


1.13: I have one of those newfangled MacIntel doohickeys; does that mean I can't play NWN?

While Mac NWN is not a Universal Binary at this time and thus will not run natively on Intel-based Macs, it does run under Rosetta (but see 1.10 above if you have a multi-core CPU Mac such as a Core 2 Duo). Reports range from "not as snappy as it could be, but it does work" [Owen Borstad, Posted Friday, 10 February 2006 02:48PM] to "more than satisfactory" [Danien Elthas, Posted Wednesday, 18 January 2006 10:06PM]. (See also 3.09 for info on using Windows NWN on an Intel Mac; this is likely a better solution for many at this time.)

According to BioWare, work was started to make a Universal Binary version of NWN for the Mac; however, the latest news on this front from BioWare is not promising:

Craig Welburn posted: Sunday, 27 July 2008 11:25AM

Owen did a lot of prelimary work in his spare time on getting a UB for Mac working.

However, he has been swamped with work and life and hasn't been able to get back to working on it for quite some time.

At this point in time, I'm not sure if a UB will ever happen and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting around for it.

It may still happen. If it did happen, it wouldn't be for a long time and we're not making any promises as this point.

1.14: Is there a free demo of NWN for the Mac?

You can download the Tech Trial from MacGameFiles. (Update: it seems to have gone missing from there. You can still find it at FilePlanet, though you may need to use a browser other than Safari to download it.)
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 04 août 2010 - 01:59 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2010, 05:19:47 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Section 2: Tips and Tricks

2.01: Can I run Mac NWN in a window as opposed to full-screen?

Yes.


2.02: OK smarty-pants, how do I get Windowed mode to work in Neverwinter Nights?

First of all, make sure that the video resolution that Neverwinter Nights is set to run in is less than the video resolution of your desktop. You can change this within Neverwinter Nights from the Video Options menu.

Then, you will need to edit the file "nwn.ini", which is in the same folder as the Neverwinter Nights application.

Add the following line to the [Display Options] section:

AllowWindowedMode=1


As well, change the line that says
Fullscreen=1

to
Fullscreen=0

Save your changes. When you restart NWN, it should be running in a window.


2.03: How do I switch between Windowed mode and Full-Screen mode while Neverwinter Nights is running?

In Windowed Mode, change the game's video resolution to match your desktop's video resolution and NWN will switch to Full-Screen mode. However, there appears to be no way to switch to Windowed Mode from Full-Screen Mode at this time.

Other quirks of windowed mode on the Mac include an inability to move the window or hide the window. You can minimize the window to the Dock by using the widget or double-clicking the window's Title Bar. You can also use Exposé to reveal areas beneath the window. Alt-Tab is also useful for switching applications (especially if you have the option to rotate the camera when the mouse is at the edge of the screen turned on).

One workaround for some of these quirks would be to run NWN "full-screen" in a window of a virtual machine or something similar. See methods 1 and 2 under 3.09 of this FAQ for ideas on accomplishing this.


2.04: How can I disable the videos that play when I start Neverwinter Nights?

You will need to edit the file "nwn.ini", which is in the same folder as the Neverwinter Nights application. Under the [Display Options] section, add the following line:

Disable Intro Movies=1


2.05: How do I display my frame rate (fps) in Neverwinter Nights?

In the game, press the (~) key or (`) key. This will bring up the console; now type "trace fps" and press Enter. The framerate will then be displayed in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Alternatively you can type "fps" in the console and it will display your framerate at the exact second of the query. (If your keyboard does not have these keys, check the NWN1 Technical FAQ.)


2.06: That's cool! What are some of the other console commands I can use?

A list of console commands is available here.


2.07: I'd like to use the console commands to spawn some items or creatures in the game. How can I find out what the correct tags for these are if I can't use the toolset?

Tags for some items and creatures have been compiled in various places, some of which are mentioned here. There is an Item FAQ available at the GameFAQs website. Forum member MacSeeker also compiled a selective Item Guide. As well, forum member Ananna compiled useful information on spawning items and hirelings, which is quoted at the end of this FAQ. The most comprehensive reference, however, is probably the Resources section of the NWN Lexicon.


2.08: How can I import a character into a single-player game in progress?

[Paraphrasing onyx_mac:] This can be done by opening the saved game as host in multiplayer and re-saving with the replacement character. If the existing character has accumulated items important to the plot, the replacement character should have them as well or the plot may not continue; also, any items carried by the replacement character not supported by the module may not work. Steps to follow:
1. If you want your replacement character to be based on the existing single-player one, save your existing character (let's call him "Bob").
2. Save your single-player game.
3. Find your server vault Player folder; for instance, if your multiplayer Player Name is Fred, go to "/Neverwinter Nights/servervault/Fred/". (If you have never played a multiplayer game, you will need to go online in the game so that this folder is created).
4. Copy the file for the replacement character to your server vault Player folder. (If you saved a character file in step 1, you will find it in your local vault folder, e.g. "Neverwinter Nights/localvault/bob.bic"; copy this to your server vault.)
5. Start Neverwinter Nights, and select Multiplayer from the main menu; log in with your Player Name ("Fred").
6. If you did step 1, you can update "Bob" as you want now by opening a module and choosing the character, doing what you want with him, then closing the module and going back to the Multiplayer menu.
7. Now, in Multiplayer choose Load Game and load the original single-player game you saved in step 2.
8. When asked to choose a character, choose the replacement character. If you did step 1, it will ask you to choose the character ("Bob") in the save file or ("Bob") in the character list; choose the one in the character list.
9. Once the game has loaded, save the game using a new save slot.
10. Exit back to the main menu, choose to load a single-player game, and select the new save game.

2.09 My friends and I played the original Neverwinter Nights and the Shadows of Undrentide official campaigns together, but now we find that the Hordes of the Underdark campaign is single-player only! Is there a way around this?

If you are determined, and willing to put up with some inconveniences, it seems it is possible to go through HotU's campaign with more than one player. A thread in the HotU Campaign forum discussed this in detail. The essential details are listed below (includes minor spoilers!).

[paraphrasing Itoshi:] I believe the quickest, easiest multiplayer work around is:
1. Host starts the game
2. Additional players start a single player game, save a local copy of their character after killing the drow intruder
3. Additional players connect to the host using their saved character
4. Additional players use their Relic of the Reaper to teleport to the party leader

Additional advice [paraphrasing Jolly Rogue]:
  • Try playing through part of the first chapter (before going down the shaft) to get a few extra Rogue Stones for some life insurance.
  • When players join the server with their saved characters, they may find themselves in the Drow Queen's chambers. Don't interact with anybody, just use your Relic to teleport to your party leader.
  • For simplicity's sake, the host may want to enable "Only One Party" under "Advanced Server Options" after clicking to start/load your game.
  • If you encounter some issues trying to go down the shaft in the Well Room via the winch, try using the Relic instead.
2.10 Can I change the language NWN uses?

Officially, the answer is "No". Some people have had success changing languages by using the "dialog.tlk" file for a different language version of NWN (note that this would not change any audio dialogue, only textual dialogue). "dialog.tlk" files for some languages are available from the NWN1 Known Issues page. Needless to say, back up your existing "dialog.tlk" file before you do this, in case you need to revert.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 19 juillet 2010 - 07:30 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2010, 05:33:00 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Section 3: Updates and Expansions

3.01: What version of NWN is shipping in the Mac version? What is the current version? How can I tell what version I have?

The shipped version of plain NWN is 1.30; the shipped version of the expansions is 1.62. The current version is listed here. The version number of your Neverwinter Nights install is found in the top right-hand corner of the in-game Options Menu (here is an example).


3.02: Will the Windows, Mac, and Linux Updates be released at the same time?

[Quoting Derek French of BioWare:] For the most part, yes. We don't forsee anything that would prevent the Updates to all be released within 24 hours of each other, but we aren't willing to make statements in absolutes about this subject quite yet. You never know when the ninjas might attack again...


3.03: Is the NWN Updater included with the Mac version?

No, the NWN Update utility is not included.


3.04: So how do I update Neverwinter Nights on the Mac?

You will have to download and install updates manually. You can see what updates are available on the Patches page. Follow the link for the update you're interested in to download it, see more details about what it includes, and get instructions on how to install it; generic instructions for any patch are below (note: some of the patches are known to have included erroneous instructions; if in doubt, follow the instructions below).

Note: if you plan on installing Mac versions of the expansions, do so before updating Neverwinter Nights (see 4.17 for more information).

What to install:
  • If you have NWN alone, then you should use the plain NWN update.
  • If you have NWN + SoU, then you should only use the SoU update.
  • If you have NWN + HotU, then you should only use the HotU update.
  • If you have NWN + SoU + HotU, use both SoU and HotU patches (in that order). When applying the SoU patch in this case, ignore installing the two files "xp1patch.key" (normally in the same folder as NWN) and "xp1patch.bif" (normally in the "data" folder in your main NWN folder). (Technically, you only need to update the files in the "nwm" folder from the SoU patch.)
How to install:
After you download and unzip the patch, copy its files and folders to your existing NWN install as follows (you may want to make a backup of your install first if you have the disk space):
  • files in the top-level folder of the patch ("dialog.tlk" etc.): copy them to the folder containing your existing NWN application.
  • folders in the patch folder ("data" etc.): copy their contents to the same folder in your NWN application folder. Important: do not simply copy the folders over, as they only contain those files that are updated, not all the files needed to run the game.
  • "override" folder: this is the exception; copy the folder itself from the patch to your existing NWN application folder, overwriting the existing folder.
for all of the above, overwrite any existing files and make folders as necessary.
Additional notes for patch 1.69:
New content (for example, horses) will not show up unless the following new items are placed in the appropriate place:
  • xp3.bif file: put in the "data" folder.
  • xp3.key file: put in the main Neverwinter Nights folder.
  • xp2_tex_tpa.eft file: put in the "texturepacks" folder.
  • everything in the patch's "ambient" folder: put in your existing "ambient" folder.
3.05: Will the Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide (SoU) or Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark (HotU) expansions be coming out for Mac?

Macintosh versions of SoU and HotU are now available [Update: they are now very rare]. Each expansion provides 20+ hours of game play, new spells, extra tilesets, new creatures, and more. The expansions are only available for the Mac in their stand-alone editions (NWN Gold, NWN Platinum and NWN Diamond are not available for the Mac, nor have any plans to release them been made public).


3.06: Wait, I see people on the forum say they're playing with the PC versions of the NWN expansions on the Mac! How is that possible?

All the data files used by NWN and its expansions are cross-platform. That means that the same data files that work on the Windows version should work on Mac and Linux platforms. In addition, the same game application is used in Windows to run NWN and the expansions. Before the Mac versions of the expansions were available, some Mac users reported having successfully bought the Windows version of the expansions, installed the included data files and run the expansions using the Mac game application (using the Mac NWN Play CD). Neither BioWare nor MacSoft can provide support for users doing this. See also question 3.08 and 3.09.


3.07: I've seen people say on the forum that if I install the PC expansions, I should also install the patches for the Linux version; the install instructions for that version say I should delete everything in my "override" folder. Is that correct?

No! The Mac version of NWN depends on certain files in the "override" folder not included in other versions, so those instructions do not apply. As well, if you have added files not included in the original Mac install or updates from BioWare, the game may not run as expected. As of NWN version 1.64, it appears that files from the Linux patches are no longer necessary to install non-Mac expansions on the Mac (see also method four under section 3.09).

As of NWN version 1.64, your override folder should include, and only include, the following three files:
  • load_legal.tga
  • load_legal2.tga
  • soundprovider.2da
In addition, if you have not installed either of the expansions, you need this file (making a total of four):
  • iit_medkit_001.tga
3.08: I've seen lots of discussion on the forum about a Mac NWN Auto-Updater. What's that?

Update: the Auto-Updater no longer seems to be maintained and will likely not work with the latest patches; this information is being kept here for reference only. If you are trying to use the PC Diamond edition of NWN, see 3.09 below.
There is a third-party update utility available from the OpenKnights Consortium. From the old OpenKnights home page, it is "for managing Bioware updates for the OS X clients and servers, including installing the officially unsupported (on the Mac) expansions, Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark". Note that this utility is not intended for use with the official Mac versions of the expansions. Neither BioWare nor MacSoft can provide support for this utility.


3.09 Since there is no Diamond edition of NWN for the Mac, is it possible to use the Windows version?

There are currently four ways to use the Windows Diamond edition on a Mac. They are listed below in no particular order.

1. Install virtual machine (VM) software to run Microsoft Windows inside Mac OS X. NWN Diamond is then installed and run from inside the Windows VM. Not all VM software works for this; Parallels 3 has been reported to work (though it may be necessary to specify a NWN resolution matching the resolution of the VM and to play around with the VM window size slightly); VMWare Fusion 2 appears to work, but not at acceptable speeds (Fusion 3 has not yet been tested). The advantages of this solution are that it allows use of Diamond's normal install/update mechanisms and of the Toolset and included Premium Modules, and that it does not require restarting your Mac to run NWN. The disadvantages are that it requires a copy of both Parallels and Windows (making this potentially the most expensive option), it may provide lower performance than running natively, and it is not officially supported by BioWare.

2. (Vaguely related to 1.) Run the Windows version of NWN under Mac OS X using Wine (Wine is a reimplementation of the Win32 API for other operating systems--if this doesn't make sense to you, you can think of it as cousin to Rosetta translation, but for Windows applications instead of Mac PPC applications). Getting this to work might be esoteric for many, but user doh123 has created a NWN WinToOSX Wrapper which greatly simplifies the process. The advantages of this solution are that it likely does not require obtaining a copy of Windows (making this the cheapest option) and does not require rebooting into Windows. The disadvantages are that it does not support the Toolset or Server at this time, it may provide lower performance than running natively, and it is not officially supported by BioWare.

3. Use Apple's Boot Camp to start up your Mac using Microsoft Windows. NWN Diamond should install and run natively in such a setup, provided your Mac meets the minimum Windows requirements. The advantages of this method are that it allows use of Diamond's normal install/update mechanisms and of the Toolset and included Premium Modules, likely offers the best performance, and makes it possible to obtain official technical support. The disadvantages are that it requires shutting down Mac OS X and restarting in Windows every time you want to play Neverwinter Nights, requires a copy of Windows, and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later (earlier versions don't include Boot Camp).

4. Use NWN for Windows simply to provide the resources for a Mac OS X based install of NWN. As all NWN game resources are completely cross-platform, it should be possible to use them if one has the Mac retail version of the game's application file (in practice there are also a few other Mac-specific files required). There have even been reports of the Windows NWN resources being used with the free downloadable Mac Tech Trial of the game (caution: the Miles Carbon Library included with the Tech Trial seems to be version 6.5c whereas the Mac Retail has version 6.5f; there have been reports of frequent crashes when the Tech Trial version is used). For more information, see the discussions linked above. The advantages of this method are that it is the only method that works on both PPC and Intel Macs, it does not require rebooting into Windows, and for those with only vanilla Mac NWN, it may be the only practical way to obtain the expansions (as the Mac versions are now rare). The disadvantages are that it involves a possibly tricky install process (see below), it does not enable installing Diamond's included Premium Modules (they work but can only be installed by manually copying them from a Windows install), it requires copies of NWN for both Windows and Mac (the Mac Retail version has become rare, and issues with the Mac Tech Trial are noted above), it does not allow the use of the Toolset, and it is supported by neither BioWare nor MacSoft.

General instructions for method 4 (using NWN Diamond; instructions are similar for other versions):

crispyking posted: Thursday, 09 March 2006 02:25PM

These are the (Terminal) commands I used to install it from scratch using the Diamond DVD. (This assumes you've downloaded the SoU and HotU [1.67] Mac patches to your desktop):

cd ~/Desktop
mkdir "NWN Updater"
cd "NWN Updater"
unzip /Volumes/NW_DIAMOND/Data_Shared.zip
unzip -n /Volumes/NW_DIAMOND/data/XP1.zip
unzip -n /Volumes/NW_DIAMOND/data/XP2.zip
unzip -n /Volumes/NW_DIAMOND/Data_linux.zip
cd ..
unzip -o XP1Mac_English_167beta2.zip
unzip -o XP2Mac_English_167beta2.zip
mv "NWN Updater" "Neverwinter Nights"

After that, I just copied the Bink Carbon Library and miles directory from my Mac version into the Neverwinter Nights folder and it seems to work fine (at least I can start each campaign and wander around with no issues).

crispyking also created a shell script to simplify the instructions above. To paraphrase from the script's instructions, you need the Diamond DVD in your Mac's DVD drive, the Mac versions of the latest SoU and HotU patches in the same folder as the script, and the "Bink Carbon Library" file and "miles" folder from an existing Mac NWN install in the same folder as the script. The script will then, when run, do the necessary installation work. Neither BioWare nor MacSoft can provide support for this utility.


3.10: How do you feel about Mac users buying the PC expansions to play on the Mac?

[A direct quote from Al Schilling, Product Manager, MacSoft:] "We really WANT you to enjoy NWN Mac. If picking up the PC version of SoU makes your NWN experience better-we're happy. We can't offer you tech support for it but we're not opposed to it."


3.11: I don't see Macs in the system requirements for the Premium NWN Modules (Kingmaker, etc.). Why don't they work?

Like all modules, the Premium Modules are cross-platform compatible and do in fact work with Macs. However, they were never officially supported on the Mac. The last BioWare communication on this in the forums was as follows:

Derek French posted: Thursday, 16 December 2004 06:46PM

We are working through contractual details for Mac versions of the BioWare Premium Modules and we hope to have more info "soon".

Should you buy a Premium Module (or receive one as a gift!), simply download the "manual install" (or Linux) version. Once you unzip the package, install the files similar to how you would for a NWN patch (see 3.04 above). Note that you will still need to meet the other minimum requirements for each module (such as installed expansions, etc.). [Update: the Premium Modules are no longer available for purchase on any platform, presumably for similar contractual reasons.]
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 12 août 2010 - 07:29 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2010, 05:43:27 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Section 4: Troubleshooting

4.01: I think I have a problem with Neverwinter Nights. What should I do?
  • Make sure you are using the latest (non-beta) version of the game (see Section 3 for information about updating).
  • Check the MacSoft NWN Tech Support Page and the MacSoft SoU/HotU Tech Support Page to see if your problem is described there.
  • There are a number of known issues with Neverwinter Nights; you might want to see if yours is one of them.
  • You may also find the NWN Technical FAQ helpful.
  • Searching the forums (especially the NWN1 Technical Support (Self-Help) forum) can also be helpful.
  • A few issues that crop up frequently on the Mac forum are also mentioned later in this section.
  • Official support for the Mac version of Neverwinter Nights is provided by MacSoft. If none of these suggestions help, contact them. You can find their contact information here.
4.02: The Neverwinter Nights installer finishes installing from Disc 1 successfully, but then fails after I insert Disc 2. What should I do?

Wait until the Disc 2 icon appears on your Mac before clicking the "Continue" button in the installer dialog box. If that does not work, try double-clicking the installer application located on Disc 2 to run it again. A few users have reported having to do this several times before the install completed successfully.

Some users report having better luck making disk images of the install disks (for instance, using OS X's Disk Utility), and installing from the images.


4.03: When I try to launch Neverwinter Nights, the icon bounces in the Dock a bit, but nothing happens! What could be causing this?

There are two things that seem to cause this. First, some users have reported that Neverwinter Nights will not launch under Mac OS X 10.3 if not located in your Mac's Applications folder. If you installed NWN elsewhere, try moving the Neverwinter Nights folder and see if that helps.

Secondly, there was a known issue with Stuffit 8.0.0 where expanding applications (such as Neverwinter Nights updates) would result in them being non-functional. If you have this version of Stuffit, try updating to a newer version and expand/install the updates again.


4.04: Neverwinter Nights doesn't seem to recognize my Play Disk anymore. What disk should I use?

The current version of NWN does not require a disc inserted in order to play. Prior to version 1.64, Mac users used the original Mac play disk even if they had the expansions installed; this behaviour changed in versions 1.64-1.66:
  • If you are playing NWN with no expansions, use your original NWN play disk (Disk 2).
  • If the only expansion you have installed is SoU, use your SoU disk (regardless of whether you used the PC or Mac version to install), or your NWN Gold play disk.
  • If you have installed the HotU expansion (even if you have also installed SoU), use your HotU disk (regardless of whether you used the PC or Mac version to install), or your NWN Platinum play disk.
Also, there are reports from some players that "undelete" programs can interfere with the copy protection used by the game. Try uninstalling these programs. Finally, over time your CD/DVD or your disk drive may get dirty or damaged; check to see if that's the case.


4.05: My CD key includes lowercase letters, but the game will only let me enter UPPERCASE letters. What's wrong?

Neverwinter Nights (and expansions) CD keys only include numbers and UPPERCASE letters. If something appears printed as a lowercase letter in your CD key, take a closer look.


4.06: OK, I'm entering my CD key with all letters UPPERCASE, and it's still not working! Now what?

Take a close look at the characters printed. Unfortunately, due to the font used, some characters may be easily confused. For more info, see the NWN1 Known Issues page.


4.07: I am only seeing the generic mouse cursors in NWN. What gives?

At this time, there are two known causes of this. First, if you have changed the name of your game application, you will likely experience this. Try changing the name back to "Neverwinter Nights" (without the quote marks).

Second, if your video card does not meet the requirements of NWN, it may not have hardware support for the custom cursors in the game. If possible, upgrade your video card. You could also try opening up the file "nwn.ini" (found in the same folder as the Neverwinter Nights application) in TextEdit and changing the following line in the [Video Options] options section from:
Enable HardwareMouse=1

to
Enable HardwareMouse=0


Note that this last solution may cause the mouse cursor to become less responsive.


4.08: I sometimes experience strange slowdowns or other glitches when i use the Control-Function keys to access quick-bar items in Neverwinter Nights. What's going on?

[Paraphrasing TheWhaleman:] These key-combinations can interact with the Mac OS X Full Keyboard Access feature under some circumstances. Full Keyboard Access can be activated with Control-F1; once activated, Control-F2 puts the keyboard focus on the Mac menu so it can be used with the keyboard, while Control-F3 does the same with the Mac OS X Dock.

One workaround is to change or disable the Full Keyboard Access keys, which can be done through the Mac OS X System Preferences.

[From Llandru:] Another workaround, if you have a multi-button mouse, is to configure one of these buttons to act as the "Control key", and use the mouse button instead of the keyboard key (this has only been reported to work using USB Overdrive software so far); somehow those mouse key events don't seem to have this problem.


4.09: On my Powerbook/iBook, the Function keys are reserved by the system for certain actions, so how can I access the quick-bar?

[From Nom.au:] Under Panther (OS X 10.3), if you're using a Mac laptop there is an option in System Preferences under Keyboard & Mouse to "Use the F1-F12 keys for custom actions". If you check this box, the system actions (changing screen brightness, volume, etc.) will only work if you hold down the "Fn" key, and the current application (in this case NWN) will get the keypresses otherwise.


4.10: I can't load one or more modules; I'm getting the error message "Could not load the module. Could not unpack the module". What could be causing this?

[Paraphrasing TheMacUser:] In addition to the discussion on the NWN1 Known Issues page, this can also be caused if you are logged in to your Mac as a user who does not have sufficient read/write permissions for the module in question. More information about permissions in Mac OS X is available here.


4.11: I'm having trouble playing/hosting multiplayer games through a firewall or over a shared internet connection. What's going on?

A full answer to this is beyond the scope of this FAQ. Usually, you should not need to change any network settings in order to play in a multiplayer game; however, to host a multiplayer game often requires such changes. Have a look at the discussion in the Technical FAQ and elsewhere on the Technical Support forums. A couple of helpful posts from the old forum are also quoted at the end of this FAQ.


4.12: I need to reinstall Neverwinter Nights. What files and folders should I back up?

Essential files/folders to back up:
  • localvault folder: has your local characters.
  • saves folder: has your saved games.
  • database folder: has additional saved game info.
  • nwnplayer.ini file: many preferences are stored here, including your online Player Name and favourite servers.
If you have been hosting or playing multiplayer games, you should also seriously consider backing up:
  • servervault folder: if you're hosting multiplayer games that use server vault characters, this one is essential!
  • dmvault folder: for DM characters.
You might also find it nice to back up:
  • modules folder: unless you want to re-download any modules you want to play.
  • hak folder: if you downloaded any hak packs for any of the modules or servers you play.
  • portraits folder: if you added any custom portraits.
  • nwncdkey.ini file: saves you having to retype your CD key. Do not share this file with anyone!
  • nwn.ini file: has most of your audio/video preferences.
  • logs folder: if you have saved any chat logs.
  • movies folder: some modules have their own movie files, which are installed here in addition to NWN's normal movies.
  • music folder: some modules have their own music files, which are installed here in addition to NWN's normal music.
On the other hand, it is not suggested that you back up your override folder, but simply reinstall it using the version in the current patch. (Having files in this folder which are not part of a standard install can cause problems; see question 3.07.)


4.13: Aaaa! I'm stuck in a wall (or other object), now what?

One thing you can try is bring up the console (as in question 2.04) and enter the command "makesafe". This should move you to a valid location in the area. If this is a multiplayer game, you can also try having another player "bump" into your character to try and free them; or have a player using the DM client free your character.


4.14: In the Official Campaign, characters I think should be friendly suddenly go hostile! What's wrong?

There have been a number of threads on various forums on this issue. The usual workaround in these cases is to go back to a previous saved game (rotating between a few saved games is probably a good idea in general anyway).


4.15: In the Hordes of the Underdark Official Campaign, the game always crashes just before the battle with the Valsharess. Help!

This was fixed in version 1.66. Make sure you are using the latest version of Neverwinter Nights.


4.16: In the Hordes of the Underdark Official Campaign, I can't seem to get past the puzzle with the gargoyles in the "Puzzler's Sepulcher" area. What can I do?

This was fixed in version 1.62. Make sure you are using the latest version of Neverwinter Nights.


4.17: I finally got the Mac versions of SoU or HotU, but I get an error message when I try to install them!

If you are trying to install Mac SoU and/or HotU, and you get a message saying that the NWN could not be found, or that the version could not be determined, this is caused by a glitch in the installer program used by the expansions. Basically, if your existing version of NWN is higher than 1.62, the installer will get confused and generate this error message. The solution is to back up your important NWN files (see 4.12 above for backup advice), reinstall NWN, and install the expansion(s) before applying any patches.


4.18 Various characters appear wrong (have metallic skin or barklike skin, or are partly invisible). What gives?

There have been occasional reports of this, and it seems tied to specific Mac hardware configurations. This is believed by some to have been fixed in version 1.66. Otherwise, the usual cure is to deselect "Character Environment Mapping" in the game's video options.


4.19 Occasionally when I play, the entire game area turns black or to a solid colour (generally the same as the area's fog colour). I can still hear game sounds and see various panes such as the map, compass, inventory, etc., but I can't see the world and I can't move using the mouse. Help!

This appears to be one of those intermittent bugs that occasionally rears its head. So far no one has been able to reproduce it reliably, though some people seem to experience it more frequently than others. You may be able to fix the problem (at least temporarily) by triggering an area transition, for example by entering a doorway to another area. Since you can't see and can't move using the mouse, you must use the keyboard commands and the compass and map panes to move your character to the area transition. If this does not work or you cannot reach an area transition, the other workaround is to save and reload your game.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 19 juillet 2010 - 07:24 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2010, 05:48:18 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Section 5: Forum-Specific

5.01: I'm looking for a message that was posted in the old BioWare forums but I can't find it in the forums on the BioWare Social Network. What can I do?

You have a couple of options.
  • Try searching with Google (hint: to restrict your search to the Mac NWN1 forum, use the search terms '"forum=71"' and "site=nwn.bioware.com" and select the cached results). However, even the Google cache will probably go stale eventually.
  • Try using the Internet Archive. You probably won't be able search for the old message as fast or easily as with Google, but it will likely be saved there for the foreseeable future.
5.02: I want to post something but it may give away plot-related information ("spoilers") about the Official Campaign. Can I still post it in this forum?

Please do not post spoilers in this forum. One of the following forums would be more suitable:5.03: What's with all this alphabet soup you people keep throwing around?!

Here are some of the more common acronyms in use around here, and what they stand for:
  • AA: Arcane Archer (a PrC)
  • CoT: Champion of Torm (a PrC)
  • D&D: Dungeons and Dragons (the fantasy RPG NWN is based on)
  • DD: Dwarven Defender (a PrC)
  • DM: Dungeon Master (someone who acts as referee and has administrative powers in D&D)
  • HotU: the Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark expansion
  • HS: Harper Scout (a PrC)
  • NPC: Non-Player Character
  • NWN: the award-winning game, Neverwinter Nights, of course!
  • OC: Official Campaign (the story ("campaign") that ships with NWN)
  • OK: The OpenKnights Consortium
  • PM: Pale Master (a PrC)
  • PC: Personal Computer (usually non-Mac), or Player Character, depending on context
  • PnP: Pen and Paper (this refers to the way D&D is classically played, with pen, paper, dice and most importantly, imagination)
  • PrC: Prestige class (special classes included in SoU and HotU)
  • PvE: Player versus Environment (see PvM)
  • PvM: Player versus Monster (a style of play that emphasizes players fighting NPCs, usually in cooperation)
  • PvP: Player versus Player (a style of play that emphasizes players fighting other players)
  • RDD: Red Dragon Disciple (a PrC)
  • RPG: Role-Playing Game (should be self-explanatory...)
  • SD: Shadowdancer (a PrC)
  • SoU: the Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide expansion
  • UB: Universal Binary; a program that will run on both PPC and Intel Macs.
  • WotC: Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro. They publish the D&D PnP games, which is what NWN is based on.
  • WM: Weapon Master (a PrC)
5.04: Is there a way for us Mac users to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the herd on these forums?

The old BioWare forums included a "Mac NWN" logo as a possible user portrait. At the time of writing, this does not exist on the BioWare Social Network. One alternative is to put something in your signature instead. Another possibility is to use a custom avatar picture; instructions on how to do this are available elsewhere on the forum (hint: search for "custom avatar").


Please feel free to make suggestions for new questions and comments on the specific FAQ items, but please note that we will be culling those posts once the issue has been addressed. If you want to discuss a particular FAQ item in more detail, please create a new thread in this forum.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 19 juillet 2010 - 07:31 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2010, 05:49:42 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Quotes of old posts referred to in section 2.07:

Ananna posted: Monday, 02 February 2004 12:53PM in thread "Neverwinter Nights Mac FAQ"

Frequently Spawned Items
(Or, how to use crafting skills in the NWN Original Campaign and Shadows of Undrentide)

If you are playing the original campaign (or even Shadows of Undrentide) and want to use some of the Hordes of the Underdark feats that are mostly useful for lower level characters -- like brewing potions, crafting items, etc. -- you won't be able to find any of the necessary items, because the original campaign (and Shadows of Undrentide) isn't set up for you to be able to purchase or find any of these items. So, the intrepid adventurer must find other ways of acquiring these essential items in order to make full use of their impressive skills.

You'll need to use the Console Commands, so please familiarize yourself with the proper use of the console.

Note: Whenever something is enclosed in quotes, you do not actually type the quotes, but instead, type what is inside the quotes and then hit return. Capitalization is extremely important, and the commands will not work unless they are typed exactly as they are shown here (unless I have misspelled or miscapitalized something). Capitalization is not important with resrefs, apparently (though, I think it is when scripting, it does not appear to be the case when using console commands). Also, whenever there is a space, it is very important that you include that space, or the command will not work. Of course, adding extra spaces will just as likely cause the command not to work, and might cause the screen to fill with rabid vampire bunnies.

The particular DM command you'll be using is "dm_spawnitem". So, for instance, if you want to create an empty potion bottle, you will enter the Debug Mode by entering "DebugMode 1" (note the space between the e and the 1, but no space between the g and the M) at the console and then type the console command:

"dm_spawnitem x2_it_cfm_pbottl" (note the space between spawnitem and x2)

Sadly, the Mac version of NWN does not allow copy and pasting as the PC version does. Someday, hopefully, BioWare will remedy this.


Useful Crafting Items

For Brew, Scribe and Craft Feats

Magic Potion (For Brew Potion Feat) . . . x2_it_cfm_pbottl
Blank Scroll (For Scribe Scroll Feat) . . . x2_it_cfm_bscrl
Bone Wand (For Craft Wand Feat) . . . x2_it_cfm_wand

For weapon and armor crafting

Oak Wood Plank . . . x2_it_cmat_oakw
Elm Wood Plank . . . x2_it_cmat_elmw
Bar of Steel . . . x2_it_cmat_steel
Bolt of Cloth . . . x2_it_cmat_cloth
Bar of Steel . . . x2_it_cmat_iron
Large Bone . . . x2_it_cmat_bone
...(You can use your Craft Weapon skill to turn the bone into a Bone Wand.)
Feather . . . x2_it_cmat_feath
Leather Hide . . . x2_it_cmat_leath
Bar of Mithril . . . x2_it_cmat_mith
Bar of Adamantite . . . x2_it_cmat_adam
Ironwood . . . x2_it_cmat_ironw

For adding properties to items, and changing their appearance.

Light Crafting Gems
x2_it_lightgem02 . . . Yellow Light Gem
(add 1 to the 02 portion of the resref to get other light gems, there doesn't seem to be a 00 or 01)

Metal Dyes
x2_it_dyem00 . . . Dye, Metal, Bleach
(add 1 to the 00 portion of the resref to get other dyes)

Leather Dyes
x2_it_dyel00 . . . Dye, Leather, Bleach
(add 1 to the 00 portion of the resref to get other dyes)

Cloth Dyes
x2_it_dyec00 . . . Dye, Cloth, Bleach
(add 1 to the 00 portion of the resref to get other dyes)


(I just took a guess at many of these names, sorry if I got any wrong)


For adding additional damage and effects to weapons.

Poisons
Some poison I didn't test . . . x2_it_poison00
(Starts at 00 and as above, add 1 to the 00 portion to get other poisons that you can use on your weapons)

Grenade Weapons
Alchemist's Fire . . . x1_wmgrenade002
...(This can be found easily in SoU, but not in NWN OC)


A huge list of spawnable magic and mundane items (From Healing Kits to a Staff of the Magi) can be found at the NWN Lexicon on the "Resources" pages (link at the top right of the page), then click the "Items" link. These items are categorized and include all (most?) non-Plot items from Neverwinter Nights and Shadows of Undrentide.


(I may post a more extensive list of Light Gems, Dyes and Poisons if I get invigorated, but these are generally the least "cheatish" items that I can think of. Since the NWN Original Campaign and Shadows of Undrentide don't give you access to these items in any way (though, I might be wrong about the armor and weapon crafting items like Oak Planks and Iron Bars, NWN might be smart enough to cause those to be dropped when you bash a door or kill a monster that would normally drop them in HotU, but I haven't experimented enough to know if this is true or not. In any case, if you find a Bar of Mithril in the OC, it might not be considered the same as a HotU Bar of Mithril for crafting purposes, so you could replace the OC Mithril with HotU Mithril and then use it for crafting instead of whatever other use it might have in NWN. As always, use your own sense of ethics to determine what you feel is cheating or not. You can always give gold to a merchant for an item you've spawned, simulating that you've bought it. It's all up to you what you do with this, I'm just providing it, so you can take advantage of the crafting, brewing, and scribing Feats if you want to in the Original Campaign, which I'm certainly going to do. '<img'>        )


Don't forget to turn off the Debug Mode when you are finished by entering "DebugMode 0" at the console.

I may adding more interesting items as I find the resrefs for them, but I will probably not add magical or hugely expensive items. I will also make every effort to test these commands out (The wands, potions and scrolls work, I've just verified), but I provide no warrantee or guarantee for fitness of purpose. You assume all responsibility for damage caused by rabid vampire bunnies.

Note: These should work if you have Hordes of the Underdark even if you don't have Shadows of Undrentide. If you don't have Hordes of the Underdark, these items will be useless to you anyway, as they rely on specific features of HotU that you won't have access to unless you've installed HotU.


Ananna posted: Tuesday, 03 February 2004 12:25PM in thread "Neverwinter Nights Mac FAQ"

Spawning Hirelings In The Neverwinter Nights Original Campaign

If you are having problems with hirelings disappearing in the Original Campaign, or just want to play around with spawning in new hirelings (such as having more than one in the OC if you have HotU installed, or swapping out hirelings on the fly without having to go to some other area to hire them, or if your current hireling is acting strangely and you want to get rid of them and spawn in another copy to see if that fixes the problem, here is a list of the Original Campaign hireling resrefs and instructions on how to use them.

(note: this was a message in reply to someone else, and I just copied the text out of that reply and pasted it here, so please ignore anything that sounds strange, like I am talking to someone else, and not making a generic FAQ answer message.)

Some strange things occur (I think it might be related to me having HotU installed), like I was able to have two hirelings at the same time. (If you want to try to use this to have two hirelings in the OC, you need to have HotU installed, then hire one hireling normally, and spawn in a second hireling as described here, which can be any hireling, even a second copy of the one you have just hired normally. I haven't done this on purpose, it was a side effect of solving the original problem, but you can experiment and see if this works in the long-term. It might discontinue to work if one hireling dies and leaves the party for some reason.) Also, if you spawn in a new hireling while you have a hireling that you've spawned in, the old one will disappear with the "unsummoned X" message in yellow. Sort of like the creature or familiar unsummon special effect.

Use the following commands to spawn in a new hireling of your choice (and level of your choice) who will then become as if they were a summoned creature or familiar. It may be because you have already hired these folks, but the same thing happens if I spawn in one of the hirelings that you haven't already hired but are standing around in the ToB (sorry, spoiler, I can explain if you don't understand what that means), and when I go there, they are still standing there, and I have a duplicate hireling following me around, so something strange is happening with this command, but you will have an unlimited supply of hirelings if you choose to use it that way, or you can just retrieve your old hireling that you can't find anymore, which is, I assume, all you really want out of this. (I suppose someone with HotU could also use this command to have two hirelings, even two of the same type, if they wanted. That might actually be pretty cool. '<img'>      )

Okay, so you need to use a console command in order to do this, if you are unfamiliar with console commands, please go here ( http://nwn.bioware.c...s/commands.html ) if you need help.

1. Move your pointer to a clear spot on the ground near your character (any space that is valid to walk on). I don't think this is completely necessary for the hirelings, as they don't appear at this point, but it is a good habit to get into when using the dm_spawn commands.

2. Open the console (for english keyboards, it is the ` key, usually right below  ESC and above TAB)

3. type "DebugMode 1" (without the quotes, hit return)

4. type "dm_spawncreature nw_hen_bod_01" (without the quotes, hit return)

5. type "DebugMode 0" (without the quotes, hit return)

You should now have Bodyknock Glinkle as a party member and you can talk with him as though he had been hired, even though you don't have whatever charm the hireling would normally have given you. This may cause problems later on, but once you change to the next chapter, any problems will become moot.

So, that will get a level 1 (I think actually level 4, but I'm not sure, exactly) hireling. You can talk with the hireling to ask them to level up, and do this until you no longer have that option. That should level up the hireling to one level below you, as is normal. I haven't tested this, you might be able to level them up all the way to their highest level, I don't know. Pretty sure they will stop at the level they're supposed to, though.

Or, you can spawn in the hireling at the appropriate level to your character, which is one level below your character's level. If you notice, the resref ends with 01, which is the first instance of the hireling. Because of the way the Original Campaign works, there are actually 12 or so different versions of every hireling, and whenever they level up, it swaps out the old hireling and replaces it with the same name, but one number higher. If we assume that 01 is level 4, then 02 is level 5, 03 is level 6, etc. You could spawn in a hireling that is closer to your level, so that you don't have to keep asking them to level up until they eventually get to be one level below your level. Just a time saver. I suppose if you are having problems, you could spawn in a hireling that is higher level than your character's level. If you want.

Anyway here are all the resrefs. I'll also add them to the FAQ, so they will be there for folks who might need this in the future.

Linu . . . nw_hen_lin_01
Tomi . . . nw_hen_gal_01
Sharwyn . . . nw_hen_sha_01
Grimgnaw . . . nw_hen_gri_01
Daelan . . . nw_hen_dae_01
Bodyknock . . . nw_hen_bod_01

As I mentioned above, you can add 1 to the number on the end, such as "nw_hen_bod_12" (I think 12 is the highest), and have the higher level version of the hireling as your party-member.

Well, that's about it. I would suggest once you do this you start saving to a new Save Game slot, so you can go back to the original, just in case this causes some problem. I never tested this with combat, but the hirelings seem to act normal, so I am assuming they will fight as they normally do.

Have fun. '<img'>  


               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 19 juillet 2010 - 07:20 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2010, 05:50:29 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Quotes of old posts referred to in section 4.11:

Nom.au Posted: Saturday, 31 January 2004 05:31PM in thread 'NATs, routers and uni-directional networking (or "Why doesn't multi-player work?")'

The problem:

Person A starts a NWN server on their home network.  Player B, on the same network, can connect to the server.  Player C, on a different network, cannot.  All 3 players can connect to a public server (such as one advertised on GameSpy).  Why does this happen?


  Internet

   |      |     |
 NetA   NetC    D
   |      |
   +--+   +
   |  |   |
   A  B   C
Network A is the home network shared by A and B.  The node marked NetA is the router box connecting the home network and the public internet.

Network C is the home network used by C.  The node marked NetC is the router box connecting the home network and the public internet.

D is a public server.

What this diagram doesn't tell you is that there's a trick.  Normally, each node (think computer) has an IP address - one address per computer.  This address is the unique name for your computer, and also has information about how to send information to your computer.  The trick is that the router boxes have only one outside address for the entire network.  To the outside (on the internet), everything seems to come from that one router box.  Only machines inside know that there's a network with several machines.

This works because of a piece of software in the router called a NAT, or network address translator (actually, it's a particular type of NAT).  Whenever a machine inside tries to send a message to a machine outside, the message is sent via the NAT.  The NAT changes the message so that it looks like it has come from the router.  When the reply comes back, the NAT remembers who sent the original message and changes the reply so that it goes back to the machine that sent the original message.

For outgoing messages and their replies, that's all well and good.  But what happens to incoming messages?  Well, they can only be sent to the router, because that's the only machine the rest of the world knows about.  And the router doesn't know what to do with the message, so it discards it.

So, what happens when A sends a message to D?  The message goes out through router NetA, which converts the addresses.  It is then delivered to D.  D responds, sending a message back to NetA.  NetA knows that this message is responding to A's message, and thus forwards it back to A.  All well and good.

The same thing happens when B talks to D (via NetA) or C talks to D (via NetB).

Now what happens if C tries to talk to A?  C can't send to A directly, since A doesn't have a "public" address.  It can send a message to NetA, but NetA doesn't know how to deal with unexpected messages.  So they can't talk.

How do we get around this?

Messages aren't only sent to addresses, they are also sent to ports.  It's like ringing a telephone number, followed by an extension.  You tell the internet to deliver a message to the computer with this address, an to deliever it to this port.  Ports allow a single computer to have many messages going at once, and keep them separate.

When a server progam starts up, it chooses a port (or several ports) to listen on.  Client programs can use any old port number to send messages, since their port number (which is where the reply must be sent) can be included in the original message.  It's like making a phone call - you only need to tell the person on the other end your number if you want them to call you back.  If you only want to make calls, you don't need to tell anyone your number.  But since servers want to receive calls, they need to use a "known" number.

So what we need to do is tell the NAT/router to forward any messages received on these "known" ports to the appropriate server.  This gets communication started.  Once communication is started, your NAT/router knows how to keep it going.


What about firewalls?  A firewall is a piece of security software designed to block unwanted messages.  By default, most firewalls are set up to block incoming messages that are not replies to outgoing messages.  However, they can typically be configured to block or allow almost anything.  In this case, the issue is similar to the NAT problem; you have to tell your firewall to let through messages destined for your server's "known" ports.

So is a NAT the same as a firewall?  No, they are different pieces of software that do different things.  A firewall just allows or stops messages.  A NAT changes where messages are being sent.  That said, a NAT does give you some firewall-like functionality (blocking unsolicited incoming messages) whether you want it or not.  Many router boxes contain both a NAT and a firewall, and allow them to be configured together.  There's not a lot of point to telling your NAT to forward messages that your firewall will block, or vice versa.

How do you set this all up?  Read the BioWare Technical FAQ.


Cobra87 posted: Sunday, 01 February 2004 10:43AM in thread 'Ok, Let's talk "servers"'

We are on two Mac G4 titatiums and one iMac linked by ethernet cable to linksys BEFSR81.  We play with friends running windows xp behind the same router in a different city.  After compiling stuff from many forums and gaming websites, we found the following set up works.  Don't know if every step is necessary or if it works with airport.

With regard to port forwarding - when sharing a router, you need to make sure every computer has unique ports.

Go to your router and give fixed IP to each computer
Computer 1. Fixed IP (internal LAN) ending with .101
Compter 2. Fixed IP ending with .100
Computer 3. Fixed IP ending with .103

On router, set up port forwarding as follows:
computer 1. Forward 5120-5130 UDP to computer with LAN ip ending with 101
computer 2. 5131-5141 to 100
computer 3. 5142-5152 to 103

In neverwinter nights change the server port so each computer is unique.
Computer 1. NW server port of 5121
Computer 2. NW server port of 5131
Computer 3. NW server port of 5142

In the nwnplayer.ini file, we did also change the Client Port = so that they were different for each computer. You can open from within Microsoft word and save as text and it is sitll recognized by NWN.

Just make sure the server port of the hosting computer is included in the range of ports forwarded to that computer.  You will need to add the server port to the IP address for most efficient direct connecting (see below).

I thought about dividing 5120-5300 into thirds and giving each computer a third of the ports, but was afraid to get too far away from 5130 as we wanted multiple computers to be able to host.  (Does anyone know if the number of ports affects game speed?)

We also have 28900, 6500 and 27900 forwarded to 101, but am not sure if that is necessary as the other computers can also host.

More than one computer can host and be joined by more than one of our friends at the same time. However, only games hosted by computer 1 with server port of 5121 can be seen on either the internet or LAN lists on Gamespy. However, you can direct connect to the other games by specifying the port. For example, computer 3 can link to computer 2 server by typing 192.168.101:5131 (assuming your LAN ip is the default for linksys). Since both are behind the router, this computer needs to use the LAN ip. Our friends outside can direct connect by typing the external IP of the router:5131, regardless of whether it is posting to the internet. Thus, posting to gamespy is not a reliable indicator of successful setup for multiplayer, but is one way that people can find your ip and port.  We prefer to play without posting so that we are not advertising our ip with the open ports.

The interesting thing we have found is that the WAN listed in the linksys administration site is NOT the same as the external ip. Don't know if that is related to Macs or if our ISP is doing something they are not telling us.  This is probably why we never could host Diablo.  The ip that shows up with you examine the server posted to Gamespy is the one that works for direct connect. You can use www.whatsmyip.org to find out your current external IP, which may change even if you supposedly have a static WAN with the ISP.

The problem we have is that if our friends host using their windows XP machine, we regularly get timed out after around 5 minutes of play. This does not happen when we host with our Macs on system X Panther or system X jaguar. Anybody have thoughts about that?


               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 19 juillet 2010 - 07:21 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Llandru

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2010, 05:53:02 am »


               MAC NWN FAQ CONTENTS:
Section 1: General Information
Section 2: Tips and Tricks
Section 3: Updates and Expansions
Section 4: Troubleshooting
Section 5: Forum-Specific
Quoted Posts
Changelog

Changelog:

2010-07-18
Transplanted FAQ to new forum. Much cleanup, especially with some of the numbered lists since it looks like the new forum has trouble with those; more cleanup is no doubt needed. Added 2.10 about changing languages by using a different "dialog.tlk" file.

2010-07-17
More changes to prepare for transplanting the FAQ to the new forum, mostly aimed at making the FAQ more self-contained instead of referring to other threads on the old forum.

2010-07-14
In preparation for transplanting the FAQ to the new forum on the BioWare Social Network, inserted a new section 5.01 on where to search for old posts (the existing section numbers have been bumped up). Also changed 5.04 to reflect what currently exists on the BioWare Social Network.

2010-07-02
Expanded 3.09 with basic info and a link to doh123's NWN WinToOSX Wrapper thread. Also updated 3.09 with a caution regarding instability issues when using the Miles sound resources included in the Mac Tech Trial as part of a Mac NWN application + Win NWN resources scenario. Updated 2.03 with a note about running NWN in a VM or similar window as a workaround to Mac NWN windowed-mode quirks.

2009-02-21
Maintenance, e.g. pruning/updating old links (there are probably still some lurking about though).

2009-02-10
For reference, added a link in 3.07 to the old thread containing instructions on how to manually install PC SoU/HotU on the Mac.

2009-01-05
Added 4.19, documenting the fog-colour blank-screen bug and known workarounds.

2008-08-11
Updated 3.04 with info on where to install files that are new in the 1.69 patch.

2008-07-31
A sad day: updated 1.13 with the latest info on Mac NWN's UB version. Also updated 3.09 to include running PC NWN under Parallels 3 (I had meant to add this way back when, but clean forgot about it; thanks to The Grand Panjandrum for making me remember).

2008-04-14
Updated a couple of sections, touching on finding the Tech Trial, installing PC versions, and instability on multicore CPU Macs. Affected sections: 1.10, 1.11, 1.13, 1.14 and 3.09.

2006-07-28
After a long delay, a bunch of updates that have been some time coming: 3.04 now recommends installing both SoU and HotU patches when one is using both expansions; 3.05 explains what editions SoU and HotU are available in (i.e. standalone only); 4.17 deals with the Mac SoU and HotU installer glitch; 4.18 deals with the "Creature Environment Mapping" glitch some users have reported.

Also added 3.09, dealing with installing PC Diamond NWN (since the OK Auto-Updater appears no longer to be maintained). Accordingly, the old 3.09 is now 3.10, and the old 3.10 is now 3.11.

2006-02-22
Added 1.13, dealing with NWN on Intel-based Macs.

2006-02-20
Given the past issues with official patch instructions, I've updated 3.04 with generic patch installation guidelines. Added a 3.10 question on the Premium Modules. Clarified citations throughout. Also cleaned up the thread a bit.

2004-12-31
Updated 4.04 with Platinum play disk info. Changed the link for 4.06 to a more informative one. Added suggestion to back up the "movies" and "music" folders to 4.12 (thanks to Nom.au).

2004-12-29
Added a recommendation to back up the "database" folder to 4.12.

2004-11-16
Minor update to 3.01 to add what versions the Mac expansions are shipping as, and to 4.01 to add a link to MacSoft's SoU/HotU Tech Support page.

2004-10-30
Changed 4.04 to include info about what play disk people should use. Inserted a question about custom mouse cursors not showing up in the game at 4.07. Changed 1.08 with a link to the new minimum requirements for SoU and HotU.

2004-10-12
A further update to 3.07, noting an additional file for the override folder required for those who have neither expansion installed (thanks Owen Borstad!). The change history (this post) is now in reverse chronological order.

2004-10-11
Updated 3.04 to specify which type of update people should apply. Updated 3.07 to reflect the proper contents of the override folder as of version 1.64.

2004-08-16
Added a new question (2.09) on how to play through the HotU campaign with a multiplayer party.

2004-08-11
After much anticipation, I am very pleased to report that question 3.05 has been updated. Also minor changes throughout Section 3 to reflect that the Mac expansions are now officially here. Hooray!

2004-08-02
Inserted a submission from Nom.au (thanks!) at question 4.08. Changed 4.07 slightly.

2004-07-29
Yes, it's still alive! Added a link to the NWN Lexicon to 2.07. Changed 2.08 bullet 3 since manually creating the servervault folder reportedly doesn't work. Added a link to Annana's override folder listing to 3.07. Added another workaround to 4.07 (reported by yours truly). Changed 4.10 so better emphasis is given to saving the servervault and dmvault folders. Added Harper Scout to 5.02 (how did I miss that one before?). Cleaned up the thread. Other minor changes.

2004-03-04
Lots of additions, most to Section 4. 4.02 is now 4.11 (I'm trying to push all the in-game troubleshooting stuff to the end). New questions inserted at 4.02: installer Disc 2 issue; 4.03: NWN fails-to-launch issues; 4.05 & 4.06: CD-Key issues; 4.10: What files to save in case of reinstall. Added SD=Shadowdancer to 5.02; now how could I have missed that one...? :shades:
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Llandru, 19 juillet 2010 - 07:19 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Skildron

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2011, 10:22:12 am »


               As the Bioware servers are still down and some people may look for the latest patches to bring their installation up to date, here are the download links for Mac patches:

English patch 1.69 for NWN with HotU
English patch 1.69 for NWN with SoU
English patch 1.69 for plain NWN

German patch 1.68 for NWN with HotU
German patch 1.68 for NWN with SoU
German patch 1.68 for plain NWN

French patch 1.68 for NWN with HotU
French patch 1.68 for NWN with SoU
French patch 1.68 for plain NWN

Greetings
Skildron
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Skildron, 17 juillet 2011 - 09:22 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Kaldor Silverwand

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2012, 05:42:56 pm »


               Rosetta is no longer supported with the release of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion". This means that NWN will not run natively on Macs running Lion. See section 3.09 above for alternative ways to run NWN with Lion.

If you decide to use doh123's NWN v4 wrapper for OSX then you may want to read what I had to do to get it working on my Mac.

Regards
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Kaldor Silverwand, 21 janvier 2012 - 11:02 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #10 on: July 27, 2012, 08:12:02 am »


               Simple: which one single way would you guys be taking to play NWN1 on a Mac Intel (Lion 10.7.4) today?
I'm just very lost between so many options and so little tech on my side, with rosetta being not supported any longer and all that...

Would Wineskin by doh123 be "the Way", as Kaldor Silverwand is saying, only, from my reading, it doesn't sound 100% safe?
Or Boot Camp? 

As I said: lost in translation. 

Thanks.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par jmlzemaggo, 27 juillet 2012 - 07:25 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_MontySnake

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[MAC] Mac NWN FAQ
« Reply #11 on: September 23, 2012, 08:52:40 am »


               

Kaldor Silverwand wrote...

Rosetta is no longer supported with the release of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion". This means that NWN will not run natively on Macs running Lion. See section 3.09 above for alternative ways to run NWN with Lion.

If you decide to use doh123's NWN v4 wrapper for OSX then you may want to read what I had to do to get it working on my Mac.

Regards


I used this method, too, because doh123 wine wrapper v4 does not work, Thanks, it took some time tracking down "winery" and about 2 hours of trying, but I now have a working version of Nwn diamond edition on the mac in OS Lion! Thanks for all of your info! I wish winery was more easily found, Doh's site did not have it for download, I had to go here,
http://forum.winehq....opic.php?t=8786 to get the latest winery!, which you'll need to make your own NWN wrapper with sound enabled!'Posted