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Neverwinter Nights 2

K

Karroc

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2009
8
0
I have a MacBook with Leopard and version 10.5.7
Processor: 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo
Can I run Neverwinter Nights 2 well on my computer?
 
Karroc said:
I think I does work on Mac, I am wondering about my computers graphics, etc.
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Weird, there are two games called NeverWinter Nights 2. One is by Atari and another by Aspyr, sorry about that.

Aspyr said:
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Operating System: 10.4.11 (Tiger), 10.5.1 (Leopard)
CPU Processor: Intel Chipset
CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz
Memory: 1 GB
Hard Disk Space: 6.5 GB Hard Drive Space
Video Card (ATI): Radeon X1600
Video Card (NVidia): Geforce 7600
Video Memory (VRam): 128 MB
Media Required: DVD Drive
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You've got 1.83 GHz, and the minimum requirement is 2.0GHz so it probably wouldn't run too great.
 
miiles said:
Weird, there are two games called NeverWinter Nights 2. One is by Atari and another by Aspyr, sorry about that.



You've got 1.83 GHz, and the minimum requirement is 2.0GHz so it probably wouldn't run too great.
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Ok...darn.....thanks anyway...
 
The Aspyr version might be the ported NWN2 for the Mac. That is what Aspyr does they port games from PC to Mac. If Aspyr has a title with the name NWN2 I'd imagine that is the Mac version. Check them out.
 
ericvmazzone said:
The Aspyr version might be the ported NWN2 for the Mac. That is what Aspyr does they port games from PC to Mac. If Aspyr has a title with the name NWN2 I'd imagine that is the Mac version. Check them out.
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correct
 
The Aspyr version is the Mac port. I'm running it on a Core 2 2.0 Ghz with an x1600 and it's pretty slow, even with the graphics settings turned down. If you have a dedicated 3D card then it should run about the same, if you have integrated then it possibly won't even run.
 
My review is here:

The next difference is in the graphics and performance. There is a clear progression in the look of recent Bioware and Obsidian games from Knights of the Old Republic to KOTOR 2: The Sith Lords, and now from Neverwinter Nights to Neverwinter Nights 2. Each game looks better than the last, but the performance suffers greatly. It isn’t just the absolute performance either - it’s the relative performance, or the way a game looks compared to how it runs on a computer that meets the recommended specifications. The original Neverwinter Nights looked and performed very well even on systems just passing the minimum system requirements. The sequel, however, is a pig. It is certainly better looking that the original - or even the more recent KOTOR 2: The Sith Lords, and the details and environments are nicely done. But even on systems exceeding the recommended system requirements, the performance is not very good, with frequent drops in frame rate. It is possible to get solid performance by tweaking your settings and figuring out your system bottlenecks and getting good performance, but for too many this game is just frustrating in terms of performance. Many PC gamers complained that NWN2 was just too demanding for them, and that as RPG gamers they had no interest in joining the annual ‘upgrade dance’ that FPS players are forced to endure. The Mac version takes this poor relative performance to a whole new level - from what I have experienced and seen on hte forums, if you don’t have a Mac that is sold by Apple either new or refurbished (in other words, either current or last generation), expect to struggle to get decent performance with even moderate visual quality. I started the game on a ‘first generation’ top of the line Intel MacBook Pro, and playing the game was a disaster. This computer could easily run the PC version with excellent performance under Apple’s ‘Bootcamp’ system running Windows XP, yet was very sluggish performing at lower resolution and with fewer graphical details on the Mac version. Installing the game on a brand new, fully decked out, top of the line Macbook Pro was much more satisfying … but makes gamers ask just how much it is worth to play this game.
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Huntn said:
I like your review. I've played NWN2 on my PC and I did not care for it. I really don't like worlds with invisible walls all over the place because it ruins immersion IMO. Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is a much better choice for a solo RPG.
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Ugh ... problem is - while it is fun, Oblivion is really not much of an RPG. You can simultaneously answer Yes and No in terms of choices, and aside from *one* quest there are no consequences.

But then they are very different sorts of games, really. NWN2 is a D&D-based hardcore PC-centric RPG. Oblivion is an action-centric, console-focused action-RPG. It is all abotu what you are looking for in a game.
 
txa1265 said:
Ugh ... problem is - while it is fun, Oblivion is really not much of an RPG. You can simultaneously answer Yes and No in terms of choices, and aside from *one* quest there are no consequences.

But then they are very different sorts of games, really. NWN2 is a D&D-based hardcore PC-centric RPG. Oblivion is an action-centric, console-focused action-RPG. It is all abotu what you are looking for in a game.
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There are a lot of factors that make up a game along with personal preference. Oblivion is far from perfect but it is very immersive. And it is the first game I played where if I saw an interesting mountain, I could go climb it or go out and wander just to see the sights. It's main short coming is that you could totally ignore the main quest and you are right, no consequences. But to get into the story you are kinda obligated to go do it and there is a conclusion. What is really funny is I don't care for Fallout3, Bethesda's follow on to Oblivion at all! I do have an eye on Borderlands, about another post apocalyptic world, which is supposed to come out this Fall.
 
Huntn said:
Always seems to be compromises with ports...
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True, but this brought a whole new level of disappointment for me. I expect the odd crashes, but encountering an issue which required me to restart the game from the very beginning, losing all previous progress, was unacceptable and I simply set the game aside at that point.
 
mags631 said:
True, but this brought a whole new level of disappointment for me. I expect the odd crashes, but encountering an issue which required me to restart the game from the very beginning, losing all previous progress, was unacceptable and I simply set the game aside at that point.
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Absolutely unacceptable.
 
Sadly, it seems that most, if not all mac ports of games are slower than their windows counterparts. Even The Sims 3 seems to be.
 
mags631 said:
True, but this brought a whole new level of disappointment for me. I expect the odd crashes, but encountering an issue which required me to restart the game from the very beginning, losing all previous progress, was unacceptable and I simply set the game aside at that point.
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If you have that busted saved game handy, e-mail it to me and I'll take a look: brad AT aspyr DOT com.
 
txa1265 said:
While that may be largely true, I have found NWN2 the absolute worst PC->Mac port I've ever played in terms of performance.
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I did the bulk of my Mac NWN2 development on an iMac with an x1600 card. As part of that I did Boot Camp performance testing. Our framerate in the Mac port for that card was 75% of Boot Camp, which all told wasn't terrible given the differences in GL and D3D that NWN2 (ab)used.

With that said, I'm curious what parts of the game you felt performed the worst relative to Boot Camp. Because NWN2 doesn't have automated performance scripting, our tests involved basically loading up saved games from various portions of the game and comparing.
 
As I said in my quoted review, my first run was with a 256MB x1900 card MBP ... and perhaps it was patch non-parity or something, because I was playing the Mac version on 'day of release' ... and I really found it very poor in terms of performance throughout. I mean, even in the opening tutorial contests and town battle ...
 
txa1265 said:
As I said in my quoted review, my first run was with a 256MB x1900 card MBP ... and perhaps it was patch non-parity or something, because I was playing the Mac version on 'day of release' ... and I really found it very poor in terms of performance throughout. I mean, even in the opening tutorial contests and town battle ...
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Have you played it since then? We're prepping a 1.23 patch, and we've got a Mac-specific performance patch in the pipe after the 1.23 patch, so any feedback is appreciated.
 
Brad Oliver said:
Have you played it since then? We're prepping a 1.23 patch, and we've got a Mac-specific performance patch in the pipe after the 1.23 patch, so any feedback is appreciated.
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What is the current state of add-ons / expansions? I have a replay of 'Mask of the Betrayer' in my long gaming queue ... but if I cannot *ever* play MotB, Storm of Zehir or the Mysteries of Westgate on the Mac version ... it isn't a good thing.
 
^^there is a way to get MotB onto the Mac NWN2 here.
Performance is pretty dire on an X1600, I'm amazed you didn't go insane Brad, I have to run it with pretty much all settings on minimum.
 
Rodus said:
^^there is a way to get MotB onto the Mac NWN2 here.
Performance is pretty dire on an X1600, I'm amazed you didn't go insane Brad, I have to run it with pretty much all settings on minimum.
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Thanks for that ... I had tried the manual method using the dev-tools way back with little success, so I might give this a shot. I would still rather give Aspyr my $ for an official release.
 
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