23 réponses à ce sujet

[apunyfly]

Okay, after some months of waiting, I finally am able to attempt installing nwn on my computer.
There are however, various problems (I discussed some briefly on an old topic), so I shall now explain the way I wish to go about doing this, because I want to play it as soon as possible.

I lost the game cd, but I have the others as well as both expansions (deluxe edition).
However, NWN is installed (with expansions, v 1.59) on my brother's computer (XP) which has no access to the Internet.

I would like it on my computer (Vista), so... judging from the stickied topic, it seems copying and pasting the neverwinter nights directory on a usb key should work, right ?

After that, I plan to install the 1.69 patch, I've already got the files on my computer.

Is there anything wrong with this ?

[NWN DM]

I think an actual install is always the preferred way to go, but I seem to recall hearing somewhere that this approach works fine.

You certainly won't have any of the appropriate registry entries I don't think. Not sure if that's an issue or not.

[apunyfly]

What do you mean by that ? I don't play online, and I know I would have to change the CD keys if I wished to. Registry entries ? What are those ?

[HipMaestro]

apunyfly wrote...

What do you mean by that ? I don't play online, and I know I would have to change the CD keys if I wished to. Registry entries ? What are those ?

If you run RegEdit, you should notice an entry for BioWare in the Software folder of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE if the installation was normal.  This is one registry area where NWN sets up keys during installation.

Essentially, it maps all the components of each app (like a game), among other organizational functions that it stores. 

During install the DLLs and other necessary files which are needed by the app are assigned keys as static index values for that installation.  A re-install, for instance, may assign a totally different key or set of keys for the same app.  This where a problem can occur.  If an installation is manually removed, typically, only the files that the end-user recognizes as being associated with that app are removed.  However, should the same app be re-installed at some point, there will likely be two sets of keys for the same app... a situation which usually confuses the CPU (i.e. two or more GUID values for a single app).  Therefore, along with file removal, all the keys for that app should also be deleted in the registry.  Sometimes these are not easy to identify since those keys associated with common processes may be lodged together under somewhat cryptic identifiers.

It's always best to let some install tracker (like the InstallShield) keep the historical record of what areas in the registry need to be modified during install and uninstall.

Modifié par HipMaestro, 07 juillet 2011 - 05:12 .

[apunyfly]

All right, I understand the problem (I think) ; however, I had no intention to uninstall the game from the other computer, so I shouldn't have the problem of finding the keys and deleting them. Or will I have to ? I don't really know as much about the kind of stuff you're going into than I wish I did.

[HipMaestro]

apunyfly wrote...

All right, I understand the problem (I think) ; however, I had no intention to uninstall the game from the other computer, so I shouldn't have the problem of finding the keys and deleting them. Or will I have to ? I don't really know as much about the kind of stuff you're going into than I wish I did.

If you are leaving the game on the other machine, there's no need to change or delete the registry keys there.  Your issue, if any,  will be with the copied version.

If you can run the critical rebuild for v1.69, your installation method was probably fine.  If it doesn't, you may need to provide the registry keys as exist on your brother's machine (assuming he installed the game in the standard fashion) but with the path(s) on yours.

MSWindows' aim was to insulate the end-user from the actual mechanics of how applications are run so to that end they have been successful as few of us really understand how they work unless we were programming in the days before Microsoft stuck their toes in the waters of computing.

[apunyfly]

All right, sorry for the late reply, I shall try the transfer later today. One last question (for the time being) : is it OK to install it on my D hard drive ? The C drive is almost full, and most of my games are installed on the D drive anyway.

By the way, thanks for your replies, NWN DM and HipMaestro. You've been a great help. I love this community.

[apunyfly]

Well, I've done the transfer and nothing went terribly wrong but it seems that the 1.69 patch won't work. The name of the .exe file is NWNEnglish1.69OrigUpdate and I believe it is the right version though I'm not 100% sure I have the delluxe, not the Diamond).
However, when I launch it, or run it as administrator, a message states that 'Neverwinter Nights is not found. Please reinstall the game from the original CD-ROM and try again.' I'm guessing that either this means I have the wrong version of the patch, or that the registry keys need to be modified for the patch to be able to 'find Neverwinter Nights'. Or perhaps I need to run it in a certain compatibility mode but I don't know what that entails and how things will work ouut if I do that.

By the way, the files are in my D drive (not enough space in the other one).

Actually, I just tried some other files : NWNEnglish1.69HotUUpdate. Same result.

So, what's my problem ?

[apunyfly]

Still in need of help here, sorry...

[HipMaestro]

apunyfly wrote...

Still in need of help here, sorry...

According to the wiki, the Deluxe versions (there are 2, one is Euro Platinum and the other is Euro Diamond) are European versions that both contain SoU and HotU so you need to be sure if your brother had installed both expansions in the copy you have.  I've read that some of these commercial flavours allow a custom installation of either expansion, all or none, if selected, but my Diamond just installed them automatically AFAIK.

Therefore, if indeed both expansions were installed, I believe you should be applying the v1.69 HotU patch (the last one you tried to install).  I would use the critical rebuild version that has been posted in many of the recent threads here.

Once you are sure you have applied the correct upgrade, ask your brother to open up his registry with RegEdit and tell you how the section on NWN is organized.  It is organized just like Windows organizes everything else, with folders and the keys are listed in the applicable folder. You can create new keys easily using RegEdit and can emulate the same sort of structure as on his machine.  Of course, you will need to modify the path to reflect your installation on the D: drive but the rest appears to be boilerplate information. 

AFAIK the GUID is merely a unique identifier and it may run without one.  TBH, I have no clue how to add a new GUID and suspect the installation does it but you may find the trick reading up on it.

Then, once the registry has been adjusted to include the NWN keys, reboot and try to run it.  Too bad we are forced to reinvent the wheel without access to the legacy data that had fully documented this procedure.

edit:  Oh, just to check quick... you have NWN installed directly off the D: drive, not among the other Program Files, correct?

Modifié par HipMaestro, 10 juillet 2011 - 09:45 .

[apunyfly]

Yes. And both expansions were on the computer.

Oh, and when trying to run nwmain, even in compatibility mode, I get a message with an 'i' symbol on it and two options : retry and cancel.

I don't have RegEdit and might I just say STUPID VISTA !

Modifié par apunyfly, 10 juillet 2011 - 10:05 .

[apunyfly]

Erm... Never mind what I just said, I worked out how to use it, but it seems I don't have any registry keys for the game. I guess they weren't copied along with the folder.

I guess I will have to try whay you say, HipMaestro, unless anybody knows which keys I need exactly and where to put them ... ?

I suppose that also explains why none of the CDs or patches can detect the game on my computer...

Sorry about that, if I'd known how it all worked, I'd have needed less help. Thanks again.

[HipMaestro]

apunyfly wrote...
I don't have RegEdit and might I just say STUPID VISTA !

That would surprise me.  I am almost certain we did some registry maintenance on my friend's Vista machine a few years ago.  If you bring up the little "Run"  text box, type in "regedit", click ok and it should open your registry organization window.  I always assumed every version of Windows provides access to the registry in case an application populates a bad key...  but I could be assuming too much there.

If you believe it would help, I would be glad to PM you a copy of the folders and keys that NWN installed on this machine.  I'm betting all the versions probably install the same way.  It's your call.

[Shia Luck]

Hi, I didn't get involved in this thread cos it seemed you were getting good advice, but if you are still having issues.... why not patch the game on the other computer first , then port that copy across? That is what the installation guide says *smiling*. You shouldn't have to do anything to registry. That's how I got it onto my vista machine and it works perfectly there.

Good luck

[Estelindis]

Shia's advice is excellent; I suggest giving it a try.

FYI, what has worked for me is copying the NWN install directory wholesale (from my backup HDD to the D drive of my new laptop) and then running the NWN Updater (which fixes the registry entries; the game worked for me without having to take this second step, but certain aspects of the toolset were buggy until I did this). However, given that the 1.69 critical rebuild doesn't seem to work for you, this might not work either.

By the way, I don't see any reason why the CD keys wouldn't have been copied with the install folder.   I don't belive the file is copy-protected or anything (if it even could be).

Modifié par Estelindis, 11 juillet 2011 - 08:58 .

[apunyfly]

Hmm... It's not going to be possible to patch it on my brother's computer...
So, I guess I wouldn't mind to take a look at your files Hipaestro. It'd be helpful.

Thanks for your advice, Shia Luck and Estelindis, but I unfortunately can't do things the usual way here.

[Pstemarie]

You can buy the game on GOG for $10. I know you already "own" it, but if you add up the value of all the time you've spent trying to copy it from your brother's computer...

Buy the game from GOG, install it, then open nwncdkey.ini and replace the CD keys in that file with your brother's keys. You'll have a fully working copy, patched to 1.69, and ready to run multiplayer using your brother's CD keys.

EDIT - GOG has instructions for how to obtain new multiplayer CD keys from them. So do that and you'll have two sets of CD keys to use, allowing you to install your new Diamond edition on two systems.

Modifié par Pstemarie, 11 juillet 2011 - 02:28 .

[NWN DM]

1. Try running the 1.69 Critical from your game directory as Administrator and in XP SP2 Compatibility mode.
2. Based on your level of understanding displayed in your posts, do not try to do any registry editing (advice I'd be giving myself as well...).
3. Get yourself and your credit card over to Good Old Games and get the whole thing for just $10 and a download.

[apunyfly]

1. Didn't work.
2. I don't doubt your word.
3. Guess I have no choice. Oh well.

Thanks for all your help.

[HipMaestro]

apunyfly wrote...

1. Didn't work.
2. I don't doubt your word.
3. Guess I have no choice. Oh well.

Thanks for all your help.

Rather than delving into the registry (as others have wisely steered away from), if the game cannot be patched up to v1.69 on the originating (the brother's) machine to utilize Shia's concise NWN copy instructions (Dang! I forget how similar Vista is to Win7 and the instructions simply slipped my mind.  Forgive me, Shia dear.  )... I would think that unless things just had magically worked for you, GoG would be my own choice in the same predicament.  Do not let the relatively-paltry $10 fee deprive you of enjoying this super game or prevent you from avoiding any more hair-pulling than absolutely necessary.  Take my word for it:  the hair you save today will result in a younger-looking countenance in the years ahead.

On a personal note, after a small amount of poking around, I found a few Web servers that assign GUIDs, so for what it's worth, I was able to get some additional education (ouch!) by virtue of your struggle to get things working.  Funny how things sometimes fit together, no?

Modifié par HipMaestro, 11 juillet 2011 - 04:18 .

[MrZork]

I am pretty sure that, while the game can be run without the proper registry entries, the patch does use them to determine the game location for patching. Basically, the registry holds strings with the location on the hard drive of your NWN installation and a program (like the patch) that needs to know where NWN is will check the registry to find it. If it can't find the keys, it may conclude that NWN isn't installed or isn't installed properly.

You could work around this without patching the game on your brother's computer, but it would require editing the registry. That's doable (I think it's just essentially a few string entries), but it's not easy to guide someone through online and it's not something someone unfamiliar with registry editing would want to do for the first time on his/her own.

The quickest solutions aside from registry editing have been outlined above. For ten bucks, I would probably download GOG's already-patched and ready-to-play version and be done with it. Be sure to request your online CD keys through GOG's email system, though. Using the ones from the older CD should work fine, but there is no reason not to have the keys you are entitled to from (re-)purchasing the software. And, save the keys somewhere where you won't lose them! I usually download the big file from GOG, install it, add their keys, then 7zip the big file along with the nwncdkey.ini they emailed so that everything will be together if I need to reinstall. (I also email CD keys to myself, as a backup plan.)

[apunyfly]

Okay. MAJOR UPDATE here. HipMaestro sent me the registry key data he mentioned a few messages above and I thought, what the heck, so, following his instructions, I was able to add NWN registry keys and I HAVE GOT THE GAME PATCHED AND WORKING !!!!!!!

I am so happy right now. Thanks to all of you, and especially Hip.

I just saved 10$

Edit : This also means that an unpatched version will not copy the registry keys from one computer to another and that the patch does require the registry keys in order to function correctly.

By the way, I may, in the weeks to come, have some questions regarding certain keys and what they do, or need some more help as I am not sure every feature of the game works. I'll go play it right now. Anyway, brace yourselves, just in case.

Modifié par apunyfly, 13 juillet 2011 - 03:40 .

[NWN DM]

Good to hear. Enjoy the game that never stops giving you quality hours of enjoyment (on-line).