The World of Avlis

Now that you got NWN EE installed you might be wondering "ok what now?" or "how can I make this easier on myself?"

So let's do tips here!

So Beamdog set up NWN EE so that a lot of stuff now lives in the User profile folder of your OS. If you aren't fond of that setup either for the folder location or because your game stuff lives on another hard drive you can change that. You can even point it to your oldschool NWN 1.69 folders. So what do you do?

Go to the C:\Users\(Profile Name You Installed NWN On)\Documents\Neverwinter Nights and open up nwn.ini in Notepad.

Right at the top it should immediately show a category called [Alias] and the contents will look like this:

[Alias]
HD0=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights
MODULES=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\modules
SAVES=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\saves
OVERRIDE=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\override
HAK=G:\NeverwinterNights\NWN\hak
SCREENSHOTS=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\screenshots
CURRENTGAME=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\currentgame
LOGS=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\logs
TEMP=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\temp
TEMPCLIENT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\tempclient
LOCALVAULT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\localvault
DMVAULT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\dmvault
SERVERVAULT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\servervault
DATABASE=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\database
PORTRAITS=G:\NeverwinterNights\NWN\portraits
AMBIENT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\ambient
MOVIES=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\movies
MUSIC=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\music
TLK=G:\NeverwinterNights\NWN\tlk
PATCH=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\patch
OLDSERVERVAULT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\oldservervault
NWSYNC=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\nwsync
DEVELOPMENT=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\development
MODELCOMPILER=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\modelcompiler
SOURCEOVERRIDE=..\libsource\exobase\\..\..\\gamedata\latest-resource-override
CACHE=C:\Users\Sarm\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\cache

The above is a modified [Alias] category in nwn.ini where select folders have been told to point elsewhere. In this case, the folder I currently use for NWN 1.69. Now, most of these don't need to be modified at all. You can leave them as-is. For things like your Portraits folder or an Override folder you may want to tell NWN EE to use the folders of your current NWN install instead (just make sure your Overrides are playing nice). Then once NWN 1.69 is to where people can effectively uninstall it, you can just move those folders to where you like and adjust your nwn.ini appropriately. If you set up your [Alias] category properly and it will save you some headache in migrating. I would not do things though like point it to your modules folder if you actively use the toolset since there's a chance you'll lock a module to NWN EE if you accidentally open it up and save it if you still need to keep a 1.69 version of a module around.

tl;dr version: You can do this to say point NWN EE to use your current NWN 1.69 portraits folder and have access to them all in EE without needing to move them.

Amazing

Just one suggestion: Make a backup copy of that file before editing it, just in case

When I installed EE it immediately put the user profile folder in OneDrive, which I do not want to rely on for this info. How do I tell EE to look at the proper c:\user\me\documents\Neverwinter Nights folder?

I do not want to edit the OneDrive nwn.ini to look at the C:\ documents folder. Is this a GoG thing, or is it a NWN EE thing? Anyone know?

Thanks

GunnJ wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 03, 2022 9:28 am

When I installed EE it immediately put the user profile folder in OneDrive, which I do not want to rely on for this info. How do I tell EE to look at the proper c:\user\me\documents\Neverwinter Nights folder?

I do not want to edit the OneDrive nwn.ini to look at the C:\ documents folder. Is this a GoG thing, or is it a NWN EE thing? Anyone know?

Thanks

It may be because you have OneDrive as the default location for your documents folder.

If you want your Neverwinter Nights folder somewhere else (like your Documents folder), I'm not sure how to do that without leaving a symlink/junction there for updates to keep working. Moving the folder isn't too difficult, but the game will look in your default Documents folder for it when updating things, even if you change the location you use when playing with a command line switch.

Unless things have changed recently, OneDrive backs up symlinked locations, so you would keep backing up a GB of data with every nwsync update from Avlis and other servers. It s a single DB file that keeps changing.

You can make Windows stop using OneDrive as the Default Documents location, but EE already is pointing there for its files. I'm not sure you can undo that without a reinstall of the game. I tried to find a registry entry to change for it, but didn't have any luck.

If that is OK, you need to uninstall EE, then tell OneDrive to use your PC's Documents folder again before reinstalling EE.

Note: I don't have OneDrive enabled to verify these online instructions, so you should check this first before uninstalling EE.

1) Click the OneDrive icon in the notification area.
2) Click the menu button (three-dots) in the top-right corner.
3) Select the Settings option.
4) Click the Auto Save tab.
5) Using the drop-down menu, change "Documents" to This PC Only.

That should make it stop using OneDrive for anything new, though you may still have to change existing app settings to get them to change their default save locations too.

Hopefully, when you reinstall EE now, it should use the Windows Documents folder for the Neverwinter Night user folder.


Edit: Another option is to edit the nwn.ini file in that Neverwinter Nights folder, and move all of the folders inside it somewhere else (including NWSync). I know you said you didn't want to do that, but it may be simpler than what I suggested above. You can set a different path for most things there.

Gorgon wrote:
Edit: Another option is to edit the nwn.ini file in that Neverwinter Nights folder, and move all of the folders inside it somewhere else (including NWSync). I know you said you didn't want to do that, but it may be simpler than what I suggested above. You can set a different path for most things there.

Question:
Do you then keep the cdkey.ini, nwn.ini, nwnplayer.ini and settings.tml in the OneDrive Documents folder? Or would those need to be copied to the new folder as well?

I disabled Onedrive first thing when I got this machine, the C: drive is the default, and nothing else writes to it.

I checked the default settings, then uninstalled and reinstalled, and it still put the user\documents folder back there.

I was hoping there was some obscure setting in Gog that set this up, cause it makes no sense how it would connect to Onedrive, but I've since read others have the same re-direct problem.

Heed this warning, folks!!

Le Sigh

David A Smith wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 03, 2022 5:36 pm

Gorgon wrote:
Edit: Another option is to edit the nwn.ini file in that Neverwinter Nights folder, and move all of the folders inside it somewhere else (including NWSync). I know you said you didn't want to do that, but it may be simpler than what I suggested above. You can set a different path for most things there.

Question:
Do you then keep the cdkey.ini, nwn.ini, nwnplayer.ini and settings.tml in the OneDrive Documents folder? Or would those need to be copied to the new folder as well?

If you are just moving folders from inside the Neverwinter Nights folder and editing the nwn.ini (top post here), then yes, you need to keep the other files there. The game looks for those at the location it put them.

GunnJ wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 03, 2022 6:36 pm

I disabled Onedrive first thing when I got this machine, the C: drive is the default, and nothing else writes to it.

I checked the default settings, then uninstalled and reinstalled, and it still put the user\documents folder back there.

That's annoying. Does that mean you aren't syncing those files with OneDrive, or if you manually sync, does it skip that folder?

If you aren't syncing the files all the time, then you can at least move them elsewhere and link back to that location for the game to use. Creating the link back to the original may not be 100% necessary if you also update the "HD0=" [Alias] in nwn.ini (see below or the top post), so let me know if it works without it. It will probably play fine with the extra -userdirectory parameter, but since the nwn.ini is inside the folder that changed locations, EE updates have no way to know that, and will probably fail without a link back. Then again, EE doesn't really touch the user folder when updating anymore, so I don't know really. It also may matter for external NWN tools and apps unless they allow setting the user folder manually.

There are some long-winded instructions around, but the TLDR; version is:

1) Move your Neverwinter Nights folder to another location anywhere on your PC (a different partition or drive is fine). Make sure there isn't a Neverwinter Nights folder where it came from (delete it or rename it if you copied it instead of moving it). I'll use "D:\Game Files\Neverwinter Nights" as the new home for it in this example, but you can use "C:\Users\me\Documents\Neverwinter Nights" from your first post the same way.


2) Update any full path nwn.ini [Alias] location lines to point to the new location. If you check the top post, SOURCEOVERRIDE is a relative location (uses ..\ instead of a full path) and can be left unchanged, but any that start with a drive letter need to be updated.
E.G.,
3) Edit the properties of the shortcut you use to launch the game, and set the "Target:" line to use the -userdirectory.
Target:
4) [This may not be required] Then open an elevated command prompt and type: Change the directory names to match where you put it, obviously. If you don't know how to open an elevated command prompt, Google has several ways, but typing "cmd" in Start Menu's search and then right-clicking > "Run as Administrator" gets you there.


That creates a link back to the original location for the game to use when updating and other things, but you are using the new location for your files.


As I mentioned, if you see that it is syncing all of the EE files, try without the last link creation step (you can delete the link in OneDrive like anything else), or you may need a better solution. Many online sync apps (Google Docs, Dropbox, etc.) do not follow symlinks, and won't add things they are linked to, but OneDrive used to. I don't know if it still does, so it may be fine, or you may be syncing a GB of NWSync data after every update.

Edit: If you use shortcuts for online play, you also need the extra stuff. The example below is the same line, but would connect you to EE Beta Mikona at startup (DMs also add -dmc IIRC):
Target:

GunnJ wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 03, 2022 6:36 pm

I was hoping there was some obscure setting in Gog that set this up, cause it makes no sense how it would connect to Onedrive, but I've since read others have the same re-direct problem.

Heed this warning, folks!!

Le Sigh

I may have found your obscure setting, though I haven't tested it. If you "Right Click on GoG Taskbar Icon, and click GOG Galaxy in the menu that pops up. Next click on the light grey gear Icon in the upper left corner of the next Window which is hard to see and in the menu that drops down click "Settings". Then, in the next window that pops up there is a page that has settings called "Installing and Updating" I think the "Other Downloads Folder" might be the one that does install it to a different folder?

The link below shows how to do it in an animation.

https://support.gog.com/hc/article_atta ... ectory.gif

This is the GoG support page where I found the animation directions.

https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articl ... roduct=gog