NWN for Mac / New laptop - Listen up, nerds!

[Oskar Maxon]

Does NWN work well on a mac?

I'm getting a new laptop now that I start university and doesn't know what will be best for me. If you computor nerds could chime in on this, I'd appreciate it. I don't know if I'll have time to play nwn at all, but I'd like the possibility. Other than that, I basically just need to be able to use it for internet browsing, word processing etc, so I guess nothing fancy should be necessary for that. Alternatives in different price classes, and listing pros and cons, if you can.

Thanks!

[TheWastesAreFrozen]

You can get a windows based machine for a -lot- less than a Mac with equivalent power, but whatever way you go you can play NwN

[TheMacPanther]

Due to the fact that I am running NWN on a mac I have to say yes. The only problem that I found switching from NWN on a PC to a Mac is that you have to do one of 4 things.

1: Buy the games all over again for mac
2: Pirate the Mac version and use your old CD key (what I did)
3: Use the Mac demo and move over a lot of files from the PC version and use old CD key. (Haven't got this to work, but apparently with patience it does)
4: Borrow the Mac version from a friend etc. install it and use your old CD key.

If you have any questions about getting/using a mac in general or if you need help with making the switch shoot me a PM, ill be glad to help wherever I can.

[PlayaCharacter]

As someone who used to repair laptops for a living, my advice is don't get one. I'm only half joking,  but I'd really recommend  desktop combined with a cheap PDA. A laptop is the most expensive disposable appliance you can possibly buy.

Seriously, though, the problem with laptops is that they cannot be upgraded or modified, so your number one concern is always going to be value. Next you should look for a manufacturer's warranty. If you buy anything over $500, you are throwing away your money if you don't have at least a 2 year warranty.

[Ebok]

I've never played NWN on anything but a Macintosh laptop. It works just fine, minus the lack of copy/paste within game and no toolset access. Honestly though, neither of those are really all that necessary from a player's perspective. As for throwing away money? I've two laptops that are used for a variety of purposes, the old one which has been running fine for 8 years now without a single hiccup, glitch, or virus. And the new one which I've recently picked up do the fact that laptops are indeed unupgradable, and I wanted something with a bit more power.

All in all, if you're really looking for some barebones basics for computing, finding a good windows might be a good idea. They've got some interesting deals out there for their next system, since vista was so darn unpopular. Then again, I'm not much of a windows guy myself, and I've never not been able to do something I needed to do becuase I was on a Macintosh. So, it's all about personal taste.

[9lives]

NWN was originally made for PowerPC based machines, so I'm unsure how it will run through Rosetta on a new Intel-based laptop. If all else fails, just set up a Windows partition with Bootcamp and play with that.

[Oskar Maxon]

Wtf does that mean, nine?

[Ommadawn]

Google-fu at work:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/compatibility.html

[9lives]

Basically, when NWN first came out for Mac all the processors were being made by IBM; PowerPC. Now all the Processors are Intel based and have different architecture. The system is outwardly the same, barely anything has changed in that regard, but older programs aren't optimized for these new processors - Though they can run through Rosetta, automatically, usually at a loss for performance.

Bootcamp's an Apple disk utility that allows you to partition off a section of your HDD, and then install windows on it. Allowing you to boot into OSX or Windows at a whim.

[Oskar Maxon]

Is that as complicated as it sounds?

[9lives]

There are guides on how to do it on the Apple site. You just need a copy of Windows. I do it on my iMac and it's a piece of piss. You just hold down a key when you boot up, select what partition you want to boot with, and you're done.

[FleetingHeart]

I understand Crossover Mac does wonders for this sort of thing. It would allow you to run the PC version of the game in the Mac OS without the need to dual boot.