44 replies to this topic

[Cal Jones]

I am feeling inordinately proud of myself today, because, despite being a technotard, I managed to upgrade my ageing PC from 512MB RAM to a fat 2GB. I can now play Oblivion and Jade Empire and the larger maps on Civ IV that eluded me before. I thought perhaps I might also now be able to play NWN2.

However! I have a lowly GeForce 6200. It runs everything quite nicely, from my old IE games to KotOR and Jade Empire. But I see that the minimum requirements for NWN2 is a GeForce 6600. I've had a look at their forums and it seems even that card struggles, which leads me to my two points:

1) Is there any way in hell that it I can play it using my current card and
2) If not, is it a good enough game to worth shelling out for a newer card?

I was going to wait until next year to buy a brand new machine, hence upgrading the RAM on this one as an interim measure. I was going to put off the shiny games like Fallout 3 until then, so had no plans to add a new graphics card to the current PC. However, I know NWN2 has problems with dual processors, which most new PCs seem to have, so I am wondering if the game is, in fact, worth the hassle.

[Yovaneth]

I have a 2.6Ghz dual core processor with 4Gb RAM and a 512Mb nVidia 8800GTS and NWN2 still brings it to its knees with the sliders set more than midway. Is it worth playing? I've yet to find out....

-Y- (currently playing Jade Empire).

[SaintZenn]

I have a 7600 something or other that strangely Kotor 2 says it doesn't met the min but can run the max settings for Mass Effect and Fallout 3, weird. But anyhow. I find the true fun in NWN2 is the modding community. That's where it shines. You can play almost any mod type out there. Want a hack and slash? Got it. What heavy role playing? Got that. Just about anything. From the silly to the obscene, you can find it. NWN Vault Is a good site to find mods.

[GeN1e]

I have a 7600 something or other that strangely Kotor 2 says it doesn't met the min but can run the max settings for Mass Effect and Fallout 3, weird

Nothing to be weird, I think. Many older games don't recognize newer hardware.

[princesspurpleblob]

I'd say its not worth it unless you want to get new graphic card to play other games in future. I've regretted getting NWN2. It was crap in my opinion. Usually ppl find MotB worth buying but that really wasn't my cup of tea and I didn't enjoy it. Hell, I've enjoyed OC much more than MotB. And, if you are not patient person, forget it. The camera setting will drive you nuts.

[Sir_Carnifex]

As a single-player game, I'd say NWN2 is not worth it at all. I enjoyed the voice-acting and a few other things, but the whole game is entirely linear. There is virtually no freedom to choose where to go. Baldur's Gate is easily the MUCH better game.

However, I really enjoy playing NWN2 multiplayer in a Persistant World. If you enjoy that type of stuff, get it and jump online.

[SConrad]

I liked NWN2 (OC) and especially MotB on single player. I've played better and I've played worse, but overall I thought it was an enjoyable experience. The setting is fun, the role-playing isn't bad, the gameplay is decent and the characters and story are generally okay. I liked dinking around with the toolset to create custom classes, abilities and items, too.

Is it worth getting a new graphics card for? Probably not. But if your computer can run it, I'd say to give it a try.

[Cal Jones]

It's probably worth noting that I didn't like NWN (the original game) although a lot of that was down to boring level design and a lack of party characters. NWN 2 looked more interesting due to the companions you could have with you, but if it's not that great, I'll probably give it a miss, then. It does sound as though it's a lot of trouble to get working properly.

[Eleima]

Thanks for starting this thread, Cal Jones, it certainly had me read! Like you, I didn't like NWN 1, pretty much for the same reasons, and was wondering about NWN 2. Especially since I had seen some of Orthodoxia's beautiful NWN 2 fan art, it made the game sound really nice!!!

I'll tell you one thing, though: Obilvion is *worth* the trouble, though. If only for the breathtaking landscapes.

As for NWN 2, I'm still debating!

[theacefes]

I'm a little bit confused as to why Yovaneth can't play it at max settings as I have a similar system setup and I can run the game at max settings. I don't have any sort of proof to show for it but my word I guess. I have yet to come across a game I've purchased that I couldn't play at max settings without noticeable lag. Then again....I haven't played Crysys yet...lol

[Yovaneth]

It plays, but it does an excellent imitation of a very poor slideshow. Due to my online PC giving me the terminal finger, I've been forced to install all of my internet security stuff on my games machine and I have more than half a suspicion that's what's slowing it down. Even silky-smooth Oblivion started showing a minor case of the stutters after that was done.

-Y-

[Pandæmonium]

I'm running with a Radeon HD 2400, 2gigs of RAM and a Dual core processor. Not exactly top of the line stuff, but I found I can run very well at nearly max settings so long as I keep Point Lighting switched off. A very small price to pay, and I recommend eveybody try that since it has a noticeable impact on FPS.
As for the game itself - I think it's diabolical. It reeks of DnD for Dummies, with its rest-anywhere (which somehow feels more offensive than the similar system in the IE games, maybe because of how short it is) and party members hopping back up from the brink of death at the end of every fight.
The story itself has utterly failed to ignite my interest in the four or five hours I gave it. I know RPGs tend to get off to slow starts, butfew others have had this much trouble in keeping me interested.

As it stands it's wasting valuable space on my hard drive and only remains there in the vain hope that one of the various IE remake projects will eventually be finished.

Edited by Pandæmonium, 06 November 2008 - 03:38 AM.

[Bluenose]

It plays, but it does an excellent imitation of a very poor slideshow. Due to my online PC giving me the terminal finger, I've been forced to install all of my internet security stuff on my games machine and I have more than half a suspicion that's what's slowing it down. Even silky-smooth Oblivion started showing a minor case of the stutters after that was done.

-Y-

What patch are you on? There was a noticeable improvement in speed after the initial release, especially after the second or third patch.



And in general, I enjoyed it well enough. It's not on a par with BG, but the OC is better than NWN1's. Personally I find the modding community has done some really good stuff for both NWN 1 and NWN 2, better in many ways than the original games.

[Yovaneth]

What patch are you on? There was a noticeable improvement in speed after the initial release, especially after the second or third patch.

Dunno - NWN2 is currently 'desupported' i.e. there's a big hole on my HDD where it used to be. I'll go check Bioware for patches anyway and store them somewhere 'safe'

-Y-

[Bluenose]

What patch are you on? There was a noticeable improvement in speed after the initial release, especially after the second or third patch.

Dunno - NWN2 is currently 'desupported' i.e. there's a big hole on my HDD where it used to be. I'll go check Bioware for patches anyway and store them somewhere 'safe'

-Y-

I'd suggest here as the best places to get the patches. That's where I got mine, and I keep them on a CD in the case with the game.

[Yovaneth]

Anyone that's still reading this thread - patch, patch, patch. I started NWN2 recently and found that after spending a few minutes installing the game and over two hours (!!!!) download-patching it, framerates have improved dramatically over the OOTB experience.

-Y-

[Crazee]

I hate how complicated patching is in NWN2. They've got a long list of a million different patches, all of which mean nothing to me, and then I have to put it into the folder MANUALLY. I'm a bumbling simpleton. It's just too much for me.

Edited by Crazee, 08 January 2009 - 09:35 AM.

[Kellen]

Autopatcher don't work for you?

[Qwinn]

I was actually not all that impressed with MoTB, despite everyone singing its praises. I'm not sure why, it just seemed like you were led by the nose everywhere you went, moreso than any other game I've played, and in the end all your actions didn't seem to amount to much. Now, obviously, I don't have anything against games that are more about the protagonist personally than about "saving the world", but still... I dunno, the plot just seemed really -contrived-.

I thought the OC was decent, especially the trial (which had a lot of pretty cool easter eggs) and the Keep (even if it was implemented pretty shoddily, but good concept at least), but the "romances" were laughable. What is it with game companies that are fascinated with only letting you romance annoying druid/cleric wimmen? Of course, MoTB comes along and gives us the option to romance a bald Thayan witch with -serious- personality issues... yay.

I just picked up Storm of Zehir. Haven't played it through, but things I've read make it sound pretty promising. I'm -very- much looking forward to setting up a "merchant caravan trading empire". Yum. Hopefully there's -some- level of depth to that.

Qwinn

[berelinde]

I actually liked the Safiya romance. Call me weird. When I get a new game, I always play through the first time with a male PC, then the second time with a female one. I wasn't too thrilled with the OC romances, though. I just couldn't make myself like Elanee, and, while I simply adored Casavir (which makes me even more of a freak, apparently), his romance lacked any kind of depth.

In general, though, I liked all of the MotB companions and most of the OC ones. About the only one I actively disliked was Qara, though I was no more than tepid about Elanee, Shandra, and Zhjaeve. I loved Casavir (of course), Bishop, Sand, Neeshka, Grobnar, and Khelgar.