Portal from EE to 1.69

MaskandRiddle

Hi,

I play primarily on a 1.69 server, but I would prefer to play via EE. Is there a way of developing a portal from EE to 1.69 so that I can play my favourite server while enjoying EE’s upgrades?

Sherincall

The network code is not compatible, and will only keep diverging further. Even if possible to do now, it'd get harder and harder to support each EE update.

Some 1.69 servers have opted to provide compatibility with EE on their end, but this too will get harder and harder as things diverge.

FreshLemonBun

Yes it is possible but as said they have to have developed and updated the portal for it to work.

It may continue to get more difficult but this is quite honestly the fault of Beamdog. Within a week or two after NWN:EE was announced various servers brought up their concerns and Beamdog staff members discussed it with them. The bullet points summed up in short:

• Beamdog wont provide backwards compatibility because it requires work and they want to work on features looking forward not back.
• Several servers have dependencies and features not compatible with NWN:EE so they cannot transfer unless NWN:EE supports similar things.
• Beamdog asked for some indication of which features.
• Servers provided information on their most critical features.
• There was some indication there would be talks and working together to get things done.
• Nothing actually happened since then.

As you can see the dependencies and features aren't being addressed and the requirements of Beamdog and those servers remain incompatible. Those servers can't quite transfer all their critical dependencies and features and Beamdog doesn't seem to be adding them in to the base game any time soon. A server than transfers has to abandon those dependencies and features which is a downgrade in some cases and in other cases a lot of work for dubious gain.

This makes it impossible for the situation to resolve and the easiest option is to create a portal. This has already negatively impacted the community and presumable is partially to blame for the apparently disappointing sales performance of NWN:EE alluded to in interviews.

Of course the optimal solution would be to resolve the situation so everyone uses the same version and nothing important is lost on any server. But at this point in time who knows what will happen, very little progress has been made on that in the last 15 months. So a portal remains the most sensible choice until the situation dramatically changes, it is as simple as that, and everyone understood that from the start.

If you know a server you would like to portal from EE you should ask Mavrixio of Sinfar and the admins of your server to work together.

Victorixxx

It sounds very sad. I would really like to play with friends on such a large server as the High Ground! This is a great time forwarding! Beamdog just abandoned this side of the game. This is very short-sighted! With such features for players on Android, the game would be really unforgettable!