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Post by unsalted on Nov 29, 2006 18:01:41 GMT
I saw a post by Infamy, it was on another guys topic, it was about running two instances of NWN at the same time.
I have a sweet machine, I run NWN2 and NWN1 at the same time, no problems. Both are windowed and its useful.
Right now I need to run NWN1 twice. I have my hardrive partitioned, I have an installation of NWN1 on each drive with the pathes in the ini's changed accordingly.
I have two legit copies of NWN1, both HotU,
I have tried run with different credientials, but that didnt work. I cant find the Run as a different user, setting, Im in Windows XP, any help would be appreciated, someone else asked for help and infamy PMed them.
I need help running these, PM me or post it here please.
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Post by Acaos on Nov 29, 2006 18:25:42 GMT
I have been completely unable to run two copies of NWN at once on the same PC without running one copy under VMware. No matter if they're in different directories, on entirely different drives, or whatever.
I made sure they had different CD keys and different client ports and I tried in both windowed and full-screen mode.
I tried the method mentioned on the Bioware fora where you install NWN once, copy it to another directory, uninstall, then install a second copy with the other CD key, and use nwmain.exe directly on the first copy. Still no luck.
I don't think it's possible to run two copies of NWN without two-boxing it (physically or virtually). Even the registry hacks just seem to be so you can have two separate installations, rather than actually running two windows. If it is possible, I'd love to hear how as well.
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Post by shadowspawn on Nov 29, 2006 21:13:15 GMT
That was me. I have done much the same as you, with no luck:
Infamy's solution that was PM'ed to me involved using Linux and, I assume, Wine?. So not much help to windows users. I have googled a lot of different terms to try and find the answer to no avail. So far the only workable solution I've seen is the "Fast User Switching" option in XP.
ss
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Post by DragonChyld on Nov 29, 2006 22:46:22 GMT
Downlaod a free version of Linux (they are everywhere) Go to the Bioware page and DL the Linux client for NWN from the, install it on your Linux install (making sure all folder names are ALL lowercase, Linux, unlike windows is Case sensative this killed me when I ran Linux) and whalaa
~ DC
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Post by greenlion420 on Nov 30, 2006 3:30:16 GMT
Downlaod a free version of Linux (they are everywhere) Go to the Bioware page and DL the Linux client for NWN from the, install it on your Linux install (making sure all folder names are ALL lowercase, Linux, unlike windows is Case sensative this killed me when I ran Linux) and whalaa ~ DC LMAO.....y'all shoulda seen him. It was funny as hell watching DC install/uninstall stuff for like a week.... *wipes a tear* I should've got it on video. Now I have to ask though......why do you need to run 2 instances of NWN? Server and client? Trying to play 2 toons at once for XP? What's the dealio here? |
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Post by shadowspawn on Nov 30, 2006 3:43:08 GMT
...and to transfer stuff that can't be put in chests.  btw DC, I love your americanized 'voila'  |
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Post by shadowspawn on Nov 30, 2006 4:24:16 GMT
For those of you that are thinking: "Crap! I can't do without my Window$!", there is the option of having both Linux and M$ on the same box, provided you have the space. I set up a dual-boot system with Mandrake, which is now Mandriva, in less than a day. Mandrake was quite user friendly and I hear RedHat is too, though this was a few years back and there may be better out there. Most Linux distros came with office, graphics editing, and games software bundled in FREE . In the end I turfed it to free up space, and I wasn't using it much due to the lack of good CAD software, but I was able switch between the two OS'es with no issues. For anyone interested: Dual-boot HOWTO....SITE |
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Post by unsalted on Nov 30, 2006 8:38:54 GMT
So yeah, I just downloaded Virtual PC from Microsoft, its free now. Im installing another copy of windows on it and it looks like it runs smooth windowed so far. I gave it 1 gig of RAM, I have 2 in this machine, (its also a dual core PC) I ran NWN1 along time ago on my old computer which only had 512 RAM and no video card and it was cozy still so I should be fine with 1 gig.
The nice thing is you dont have to set up harddrive space, it takes space as you use it on the virtual drive. Im gonna see if I can run one NWN inside the V PC and one on my normal machine. Switching back and forth is still easy so running a cleric and a melee wont be hard at all.
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Post by unsalted on Nov 30, 2006 8:39:50 GMT
Also, thanks for all the help and quick answers i was scared everyone would just harp on me and no one would read the post, ha.
BTW Ill test it out later today and report back here incase anyone is still interested in a decent way to do this.
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Post by jvnorris on Dec 5, 2006 7:23:27 GMT
The Dual Boot option will not work for what is trying to be done so it is moot to discuss that. With Dual boot you cannot run BOTH os's at the same time.
On the other hand a virtual machine is the only true solution to the problem. VM programs are now free and should not be an issue to install and run that way. The next point is what OS to run under that machine. Linux is the dead on choice because it is free. To run another Windows you would for leagal reasons of course have to have a second KEY so. I actually have considered doing this myself though what i have planned kinda feels like cheating. I plan to create a Wiz to write scrolls with and pass them to my AA's and such. Is this a lack of integrity? Is it Amoral to do this since there is no other way to pass items for a reason?
The big problem over all is getting Linux to run and install. The procedures are rather simple nowadays but still can be a pain to work with. If someone out there needs assitance I will throw my hand in as I have been working in Linux for about a decade now so I am familiar with it and a few of its incarnations.
Just reviewd the posts again and yes the fast user switching option is available but can be a pain in the butt haveing to switch back and forth. At least with a VM you are just switching windows in particular basically. So once again since they are free go with the Virtual computer option and you should be fine. Most on that is straight forward and if you have an extra copy of windows it is even easier. Fourtunatly I have several copies and versions of MS crap laying around I prefere to keep my Linux Game free (yea boo on me) and its used only for development. VM's are great though and I'm sure you will find more and more reasons to use it as you move on. Currently I can run about 5 different OS's all at the same time and they all intereact with each other. Heck if you get really good imagine running you OWN party through a run.. If ya got the power and 1 char that could sluaghter everything. OHH the possibilities hehehe.
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Post by zerragon on Dec 5, 2006 14:10:01 GMT
Question:
How does the Virtual Windows perform graphics wise in nwn ?. At work I run Windows WM ware under Linux, and I only get a crappy software emulated graphic card there that sucks bigtime. Running anything heavyer than a web flash animation makes in crawl.
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Post by unsalted on Dec 5, 2006 14:16:33 GMT
exactly, crawl. I installed VMware, and Windows XP (another copy, cough) and installed NWN easyily. Problem is your grpahics card is 64 MB's I think. and there is no 3D acceleration. I ran NWN its just choppy as hell, my other copy runs fine in native windows. There is apparently a way to turn on 3d Acceleration and adjust the Memory size of your emulated video card to 128 MB's. I turned on 3D acceleration, I think but I saw no difference, I didnt try upping my emulated video card yet though as its abit trickier. However I did give the virtual system 3/4ths of my system ram 1.2 Gigs, and kept only .8 gigs for myself + my 256 MB Nvidia graphics card, native NWN still ran fine, no problems.
Only other way at this point I think of is finding out how to edit the registry so that the instance of NWNmain.exe is called someting else, so when the second one looks to see if its already running it see's nothing, possibly some anti virus or maybe even hacker software that disguises process or hides process could be used to hide the first one as Im almost certain its something as simple as NWN searches to see if NWMAIN.EXE is alread running as a process.
Sadly, i found a guide abotu editing your registry to run more than one copy of a game, however it was written in moron speak and could not be read. It was for Star Trek Armada, but it also said it worked for other modern games,
Anyone know anything about editing registries?
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Post by illandous on Dec 5, 2006 14:35:42 GMT
Yeah, you rename the NWMAIN.EXE file, however I think the game may refrence that name when it is in use, or for copywrite protection.
Oh, and I use VmWare all the time to run multiple instances of Ms Server 2003 (I have 3 legal copys running) and I'm able to play NwN on all of them at the same time if I wished to, I only have 2 keys and have tried it once. The performance wasn't bad, but I have a 8 processer server with about 4 gigs of ram, I still found it pain to play. but I guess it would not be bad for transfering equipment.
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Post by jvnorris on Dec 5, 2006 14:38:52 GMT
OK I would have to agree that 3d is pretty bad and very choppy but the purpose is not to PLAY on the virtual machine necessarily. The Idea is to use it for short little things that need to be done ( transfering items and such) not to ACTUALLY play the game there. If you actually wanted to PLAY two characters at once
1. You need an extra set of hands and a new hobby.
2. You would need a second rig to be effective.
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Post by unsalted on Dec 5, 2006 14:41:17 GMT
I don't, I have a solid melee and a free running cleric monk with ii. I could micro both of them at the same time in a team PvP environment easyily. So basically I need to find out how to edit the registry so that when it references the file it uses the correct changed one.. Hmm. lemme test some stuff
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