Has anyone here tried Neverwinter Nights 2 yet?  If so, how good is it?

Thanks!

I got most of the way through the first chapter, before computer difficulties forced a downgrade to a card that can't handle it.

It's fucking awesome.  The single player campaign is about 100 zillion times more well done than any of the NWN official campaigns.  The way they handled the dual storylines in the first chapter was utterly brilliant.

It's got it's flaws of course, mainly in some of the shortcuts they took with the game, like reusing almost all of the audio content from NWN1.  It also has some wierd issues in terms of performance, seems it's possible to have TOO badass of a computer for it, and you're best off having a midrange machine, especially if you have dual-core.

But by and large it was awesome.  And my Warlock is fuckin' sweet.  I set people on fire.

Well, I'm thinking of getting a new mac soon, an Intel one (that can run Windows, even though I normally hate Windows), so NWN2 is something I'm considering.  I just hope that an Intel mac isn't 'too badass' for it.

Quote from: AkrasiaWell, I'm thinking of getting a new mac soon, an Intel one (that can run Windows, even though I normally hate Windows), so NWN2 is something I'm considering.  I just hope that an Intel mac isn't 'too badass' for it.

Well, they are dual core, which might introduce some performance hit, as NWN2 isn't coded for dual core.

Quote from: J ArcaneWell, they are dual core, which might introduce some performance hit, as NWN2 isn't coded for dual core.

That totally sucks.     I hope that the company (it isn't Bioware anymore, right?) does something about this.

Quote from: AkrasiaThat totally sucks.     I hope that the company (it isn't Bioware anymore, right?) does something about this.

It's not likely they will, if it doesn't already.  The trouble comes from the fact that the vast majority of games aren't multithreaded, which means the CPU can't balance the cores by itself, and rewriting an application to be multithreaded is a tremendous task.  So far as I know there's no plans to do so.  In fact the only company in the entire gaminn world I know of planning to try it is Valve, in a future patch for HL2, and that's because they've got an engine to sell, and they need it to support all they can.

So you're stuck with the problem of what happens when you don't support both cores.  Most dual-core processors run at lower clock speeds and handle fewer instructions per cycle than single-core processors, making up for this with the extra core and leading to a sum total processing power that's better than most single cores.

But if the application only supports single core, that second core is effectively dead, and you're basically stuck with a subpar processor.  

So I'd take a look at the clock speed of your dual core.  If it's a good 2.5-3ghzm it should still handle NWN2 fine with just the single core.  If it's lower than that, you'll likely get some definite CPU bottlenecking.

What model where you thinking of buying?

Thanks for the explanation regarding the problems associated with dual-core processors.  I know crap about computers, so that's useful info.

Quote from: J ArcaneWhat model where you thinking of buying?

No idea yet, I'm just toying with the throught for now.  

I'll probably look into it more seriously over the X-mas break, once I can breath again.

I get the impression that, much like the original NWN, it's shit unless you're producing your own adventures for it.  The single-player game provided is just a series of dungeons.  In NWN2 you go outside a bit more but then it just brings home how restrictive the play is when you ARE in a dungeon.

Quote from: J Arcaneas NWN2 isn't coded for dual core.

Really? I'm sure I read NWN2 devs claim otherwise.

Quote from: QuasarReally? I'm sure I read NWN2 devs claim otherwise.

Nope.  In fact it was a dev post on the official forums where I learned that.

Oh, and welcome to the site, Q.  Nice to see you again.

Quote from: J ArcaneNope.  In fact it was a dev post on the official forums where I learned that.

Oh. Maybe I'm getting it confused with SLI support

QuoteOh, and welcome to the site, Q.  Nice to see you again.

Thanks. Nice to see you too.

I barely played it for a while on a friend's house, but man I loved it, despise the weird camera that sometimes gives a little trouble, and the fact that sometimes teh NPC's get stuck on objects, the game looks, sounds, and plays like a charm.
It has some things that I would've done different, but either way I'm so going to get me that game.:arcade: