Just to clarify I am referring to NWN1

I just tried to get the game working, and here were a few big problems I was unable to solve despite trying numerous suggestions from the message board:

The videos in the game do not play smoothly. The audio and video cuts out frequently.

You must go into the game files and alter settings in order to fix several smaller issues.

The resolution of the game is stuck at 600xc800 despite the game having both an in game and out of game configuration menu which allows you to increase the resolution up to 1920x1080. If you choose a higher resolution than 600x800 the actual size of the game display does not increase.

After skimming through the board here I have seen that lots of people are suffering many other issues, so I would not recommend purchasing this game as it seems like a buggy mess right now.

Not true. Given the fact how many people buy the game and have no problems with it compared to the few that do and ask for help here (and usually get their answersand solve their problems), I think it's unfair and untrue to say that Neverwinter Nights are a buggy mess.

Which OS are you using?

I'm on Win7 64-bit (using a 15.6" screen, max. resolution), the only problems I personally had were that at first the intro cutscenes to the campaigns didn't appear and I had a black screen with only the voiceover or something like that. Searching the forums showed a quick fix and after applying it, which was playing around in the compatability tab and maybe something else as well, it worked. The game itself worked even without it, only the cutscenes and intros were a bit messed up until I fixed it.

Not true. This is a problem with your system (drivers and/or hardware). Misleading vaguery. Not true. This, again, is an issue with your system. I'm betting you have either or both Window 8/Integrated Intel graphics. Completely unfair. Hundreds of thousands of people have been playing this game for years. Because you have issues with your system does not make the game any kind of 'mess'.

This is an absolutely AWESOME game. I am sad to discover you are having trouble getting it to run. The community stands ready to help you but you must clarify the questions about your operating system and hardware. As others have indicated there are hundreds of thousands of happy NWN users. I hope you join us soon. Offer us the clues we need and we'll do our best to lead you home.

Be well Game on.
GM_ODA

If everyone had the exact same hardware with exactly the same configuration, then you would have a point. Since everybody's computer is configured differently and many use different hardware on their machines, it just takes some work for some people to get the game running.

If you try to run it as Administrator then usually some of the bigger issues are resolved.

I am also using Windows 7 64 bit. I tried every single setting in the Windows compatibility tool and nothing solved my problems. In order for the game to even launch I needed to change the name of the executable file. After that I had to edit ini files to try to get the game to work, which was unsuccessful.

I use Windows 7 64 bit and I have a Radeon 6870.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about my system configuration, and I am sure there are lots of people who are less computer savvy than I am, and I would rather warn them that this game is not playable upon purchase instead of having them waste their money on a game that will not run for them. I tried that and it did not work.

Alright well I have finally gotten the game to a point where I can see all the videos and not encounter a black screen on startup. Here is a list of all the fixes I needed to implement:

1. Rename the nwnmain.exe to nwn2main.,exe and launch from the exe instead of the launcher.
2. Set the compatibility mode on the exe to Win XP SP2, Disable Visual Themes, Disable Desktop Composition, Run the program as Admin
3. In the game files there are two files, binkw32.dll, and binkw32_ati.dll; in order for me to see the videos in the game I needed to swap the names of the files so that the game used the file that was initially appended with _ati in place of the original binkw32.dll file.

After about 1-1.5 hours of searching for and testing solutions to get the game to work it finally seems in a playable state.

I would not consider this to be consumer friendly enough to recommend a purchase.

All of those reasons -- ALL of them -- are down to your system, not the game. The first is because of your security settings, the second is the same, the third is down to your video driver. You cannot blame the game for a single one of those reasons.

Every computer is unique, they become that way as soon as the buyer turns the thing on. We need INFORMATION to help you, else we are all just wasting one anothers' time.

A few points.

INSTALLING as administrator is the best way to start. Was your install done as administrator?

RUNNING as administrator is essential too. Is your shortcut run as administrator?

COMPATABILITY MODE is likewise important, is yours set to XP sp3 or sp2? This is what it should be set for.

LATER versions of windows come with later versions of DIrectX, and some portions of DirectX9.0c that NWN depends on UTTERLY have been depricated in later versions. Solution: get the SDK (Software Developers Kit) for DIrect X 9.0c (install it - as administrator). I suggest you get that file from microsoft.com directly.

I totally agree with the prior poster - NONE of the issues you have experienced are the fault of the maker, they are due to the unique nature of your computer hardware and software - pretty much all of which did not exist when NWN was built. It is a testament to good design that you can run it on modern systems (many old games don't).

I understand it was personally vexxing for you... the game was not the cause.

now that wasn't too difficult was it ?now that you know the solution.

would have been faster if you had bloody hell post your specs and ask someone here or on various related online forums.

"fix" #2 is what most users of modern windows OS's do with games of that era. #3 isnt even necessary to play the game and beat the campaign modes, and you could have just used software/safe mode. talk about whiny and entitled.

in any case your topic's purpose is pointless. anyone who bothers to access or read this forum would already have a copy of NWN from GOG or somewhere else.

He convinced me not to buy my 7th copy. Utter rubbish, this game.

(but for real, he just instilled my nVidia preference. It seems most of these types of issues happen with those ATI cards.)

Windows 7 x64 Ultimate here.
As a matter of fact, after 1,5 months, I was able the other day to finish smoothly all campaigns. Played straight "out of the box".
I got Intel / Asus combo for my PC, and I never had problems with older games.

I have Windows 8.1 and decided to download NWN 1 and try myself. All I had to do was set it to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP (SP2) and run it as administrator and had no issues at all. I even connected to the Arelith roleplaying server, which there are plenty of players still active, (which is amazing) , and I am having the greatest time!

I hope what I mentioned here works for all Windows 8.1 users. Also, to play online, if you haven't done so yet, you may have to request an online cd-key through GOG tech support instead of the default cd-key that came with it (unless they changed that??)

Boo-hoo to the thread owner. Stop acting like a spoiled brat just because the game won't run on your system INITIALLY. Not everyone has the same computer specs as you have. I would have sympathized with you if most of the people found the first Neverwinter Nights game to be unplayable, even with the different specs.