Registered Member #396
Joined: 5:35:42 am GMT 01/10/05
Posts: 519
Ritz wrote ...
It's a great thing, and I'm glad to see that the server getting the upgrade that it needs.
That being said, it's not 'just' $20. Not for everyone.
Not everyone's computer is going to be able to handle 4k HDMI 6040p 1.21 jiggawatts of pure HD gaming power. There was a time where I was running NWN, and Thain, off of a netbook.
A netbook!
If I was only running on a netbook, and saw this, I might as well start figuring out how to kill off my characters. Which, I may or may not be doing anyway...
For people who can't upgrade due to hardware, they aren't looking at the $20. They're looking at the $400.
And you'll know who they are, when the switch happens.
The graphical options are just that, options. There's nothing forcing you to run it at 4k. The hardware requirements are substantially modest by modern standards (1ghz CPU/1GB RAM, by hardware reqs alone, I could run NWN EE on my phone and I already run NWN classic on my tablet), and it will require Windows 7. If you have a PC manufactured within the last 8 or so years, then you'll probably have Windows 7 on it. If not, and you're running XP, I highly suggest you upgrade to a more modern version of Windows since XP support was killed a long while back at this point and keeping XP leaves you open to more serious issues beyond whether or not you can run NWN EE.
-Clickedy- <- $179 for an ultra portable laptop that ticks off all the NWN EE requirements (at least those thus far announced)
Registered Member #1029
Joined: 11:45:04 am GMT 04/18/07
Posts: 732
In case it's useful info to anyone, you can insulate yourself against changing hardware and OS updates by running in virtual machines. I run my client in a virtual machine, running a Windows 7 install, running inside the latest version of OS X on an iMac. I can upgrade my hardware as I please but the virtualised NWN sees no difference. I also run a little NWN server on Linux. The Linux version of nwserver is 32 bit and uses libraries which are years out of date but that doesn't matter because I run it inside a VM running a 32 bit version of Linux inside a current 64 bit Linux distribution running on a modern server. The virtualisation overhead for both client and server is barely noticeable on modern hardware. All that said, I'd love to have the option of running both client and server natively again and NWN:EE seems to offer that on both accounts.
Moo Registered Member #1327
Joined: 2:14:55 am GMT 07/27/08
Posts: 1718
It's nice to see them fixing the longstanding bugs, exploits and security issues, etc. There isn't going to be another game like this for a long time, if ever; hopefully this helps it keep going for another decade.
I support the initiative to move forward with Enhanced Edition.
Registered Member #140
Joined: 12:40:52 am GMT 06/16/04
Posts: 4311
Twirlip wrote ...
In case it's useful info to anyone, you can insulate yourself against changing hardware and OS updates by running in virtual machines. I run my client in a virtual machine, running a Windows 7 install, running inside the latest version of OS X on an iMac. I can upgrade my hardware as I please but the virtualised NWN sees no difference. I also run a little NWN server on Linux. The Linux version of nwserver is 32 bit and uses libraries which are years out of date but that doesn't matter because I run it inside a VM running a 32 bit version of Linux inside a current 64 bit Linux distribution running on a modern server. The virtualisation overhead for both client and server is barely noticeable on modern hardware. All that said, I'd love to have the option of running both client and server natively again and NWN:EE seems to offer that on both accounts.
To be honest, I don't even know how to do that stuff. I am sure I could figure it out, but the issue is more so an increasing barrier to entry is bad, in the long term, for the game.