16 replies to this topic

[IMG News]

Aspyr Media announced today that Neverwinter Nights 2 has been declared Gold and will begin shipping to retail stores in North America next week. The computer role-playing game set in the fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms, one of the popular campaign settings of Dungeons and Dragons, was licensed from Atari and developed for Mac by Aspyr Studios.

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

MULTIPLAYER REQUIREMENTS:

Internet(TCP/IP) or LAN play supported
Internet play requires broadband connection

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

CPU Speed: 2.33 GHz
Operating System: 10.4.11 (Tiger), 10.5.1 (Leopard)
Memory: 2 GB
Video Memory (VRam): 256

Supported Video cards:
NVIDIA GeForce 7600, 8600
ATI Radeon X1600, X1900, HD 2400, HD 2600

Head over to the site below to read more about the game.

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[halprin]

Not for PowerPC?  I find that pathetic.  Those tech specs could easily run on many PowerPCs.

[dojoboy]

Now maybe we can get the Warlords update.  :dojoboy praying:  

[GlendaAdams]

halprin, on February 20th 2008, 11:27 AM, said:

Not for PowerPC?  I find that pathetic.  Those tech specs could easily run on many PowerPCs.

Really?  Lets see...

The PowerMac G5 in early & late 2005 had these video cards: Radeon 9600/9650, Radeon X850, nv6600, nv6800, nv7800, and Quadro 4500.    The Quadro 4500 unfortunately is hamstrung with the same drivers as the 7300, so it's a no go, despite being a high end card.  The X850 and 7800 could get you there, video card-wise, the 6800 would be on the edge (driver issues again).

PowerBook G4?  Nope, no video card beyond the Radeon 9700.

iMac G5? FX5200, Radeon 9600, or X600.  Nope, the best card (the X600) is 2x-3x slower than the X1600.

So out of every PowerPC Mac apple ever sold, you may be looking at two to three models of the tower that would meet the minimum specs for video cards.  And those cards were generally BTO options, and not the default bundled card.

And don't forget the the extra 3-6 months of development time to build, test & debug the game on PowerPC (pushing ship date to maybe Summer '08), and the fact that Apple OpenGL updates to fix PowerPC bugs are pretty much non-existent (potentially killing some supported cards because there may be no workarounds for bugs).  

Sorry to be a little snarky, but we actually do think this stuff through.
Glenda

[Sargiel]

Glenda: Thanks for bringing NWN 2 to the mac. I've got my copy pre-ordered and am looking forward to some quality RPG action. Is there much delay between shipping to North American retailers and UK retailers getting copies ?

[devSin]

I'd pick this one up now, BUT: I don't currently have an Intel Mac usable for playing of the games (nor a PPC Mac that could even were they supported, so don't much care about that). So expect to come up at least one short when reviewing initial sales. ;)

That said, I'm glad for the delay since I'll be able to evaluate how Aspyr handles this (with a new patch coming out Real Soon Now™ and expected continuing support, it's probably better to have to wait and see if you're able to maintain parity between the two platforms and if you have any plans for current or future expansions). I'd much rather give you my money (and have waited this long), but I probably wouldn't end up paying more for less (since the PC version is now usable to us) just to show my support. :(

Quote

And don't forget the the extra 3-6 months of development time to build, test & debug the game on PowerPC (pushing ship date to maybe Summer '08), and the fact that Apple OpenGL updates to fix PowerPC bugs are pretty much non-existent (potentially killing some supported cards because there may be no workarounds for bugs).

Too much "woe is us," I think. I can understand if the specs just don't cut it and it's not economically feasible, but your "it'd take more time and effort, oh noes!" doesn't evoke any sympathy, sorry.

[teflon]

uh, but the specs arent feasible... thats the point, thats the sponge in the cake, the extra dev time, beta time and the fact that Apple dont give anywhere near enough support to the games industry as they should are practically just the icing on the cake in this issue...

thats pretty much all she was pointing out in a way that explained practically every facet of the decision. More work costs more money, takes longer and then sells less. simple.

[bobbob]

teflon, on February 20th 2008, 05:35 PM, said:

uh, but the specs arent feasible... thats the point

Fast G5's with a good graphics card look entirely feasible of meeting the specs...

Quote

the extra dev time, beta time and the fact that Apple dont give anywhere near enough support to the games industry as they should are practically just the icing on the cake in this issue...

That's not specs, though.

[halprin]

GlendaAdams, on February 20th 2008, 01:54 PM, said:

Really?  Lets see...

The PowerMac G5 in early & late 2005 had these video cards: Radeon 9600/9650, Radeon X850, nv6600, nv6800, nv7800, and Quadro 4500.    The Quadro 4500 unfortunately is hamstrung with the same drivers as the 7300, so it's a no go, despite being a high end card.  The X850 and 7800 could get you there, video card-wise, the 6800 would be on the edge (driver issues again).

PowerBook G4?  Nope, no video card beyond the Radeon 9700.

iMac G5? FX5200, Radeon 9600, or X600.  Nope, the best card (the X600) is 2x-3x slower than the X1600.

So out of every PowerPC Mac apple ever sold, you may be looking at two to three models of the tower that would meet the minimum specs for video cards.  And those cards were generally BTO options, and not the default bundled card.

And don't forget the the extra 3-6 months of development time to build, test & debug the game on PowerPC (pushing ship date to maybe Summer '08), and the fact that Apple OpenGL updates to fix PowerPC bugs are pretty much non-existent (potentially killing some supported cards because there may be no workarounds for bugs).  

Sorry to be a little snarky, but we actually do think this stuff through.
Glenda

I did not want to come across as saying that you do not think this through!  I am sure that you guys certainly do!  I guess as an owner of a Dual 2.7 Ghz Powermac G5 with the ATI Radeon X800, I feel a little left out.  Oh well.

[G-News]

Face down in the mud, in a last effort to point out, raising a finger slightly, I mumble "ETQW?".

[teflon]

bobbob, on February 21st 2008, 02:16 AM, said:

Fast G5's with a good graphics card look entirely feasible of meeting the specs...

yes, but theres a grand total of 100 people who would be in this position and even consider buying this game.... which then isnt economically viable. And really I was referring to how the vast majority of PPC machine (im talking around 96% or more) just dont cut it in terms of GPU, let alone CPU)...

i do feel kinda sorry for all the guys who bought the G5PMs with decent GPUs and expected them to last in terms of gaming, only for Apple to pull the intel switch and all of a sudden they a drop in a shrinking pool which isnt viable to port to for many many games.

[Bernie]

Glenda,

I support Aspyr's decision.

I'm not happy about not being able to play NWN2; but, realistically, I would not have expected to be able to play it considering that I have a PowerMac from 2000 (even though I have upgraded the CPU and video card). I enjoyed the first NWN and I will eventually get to enjoy NWN2 (since I'm hoping to win the lottery in the next 10 years).

I am happy the NWN2 made it to the Mac. Please don't stop selling it (like what happened with Halo for the Mac).

-Bernie

[macdude22]

Absorbed Bernie, on February 21st 2008, 08:12 AM, said:

Please don't stop selling it (like what happened with Halo for the Mac).

-Bernie

From what I heard Microsoft didn't renew the license for the developers/publisher (Macsoft) of the Mac version so they couldn't distribute it anymore. My Apple store had quite a few halos left last time I was there maybe a month ago. @50 bones you could go buy an xbox and halo anyway.

[Ben Stowell]

Anyone know if a better card than is mentioned in the specs would be ok? Specifically, I'm considering getting a new Mac Pro w/ the nVidia 8800 GT. To be honest, one of the considerations for upgrading from my G4 would be to play NWN2. That, and, uh, time for a new computer...

[Tesseract]

devSin, on February 21st 2008, 08:16 AM, said:

I can understand if the specs just don't cut it and it's not economically feasible, but your "it'd take more time and effort, oh noes!" doesn't evoke any sympathy, sorry.

Who asked for sympathy? Surely the extra time and effort it would take is what makes it economically unfeasible?

[teflon]

exactly my point Tesseract. theyre fighting an uphill struggle, and glenda was just stating the facts.

Hi Ben, and welcome to the forums.
Generally newer cards will run older games just fine, but a bit faster. In the odd instance of driver and OS incompatibilities, there should be a patch in short order to fix those issues. But yes, the 8800GT should work fine as the 8600M GT in the MBPs works fine and its the same family of cards.

[Ben Stowell]

teflon, on February 22nd 2008, 05:45 AM, said:

Hi Ben, and welcome to the forums.
Generally newer cards will run older games just fine, but a bit faster. In the odd instance of driver and OS incompatibilities, there should be a patch in short order to fix those issues. But yes, the 8800GT should work fine as the 8600M GT in the MBPs works fine and its the same family of cards.

That's great news; thanks for the confirmation.