The realm is open for callers. The address to dial is nwnrevival.com:5000, or call +1 385-596-1775 with a modem over a phone line.
The best way to play
Real retro hardware: an old PC running MS-DOS, dialling in with a WiFi modem. That is how this game was meant to be played, and it is where our realm is different from the others.
We have worked hard to build the new features, such as The Adventurers' Hall, its boards, guilds and news, so that they feel like part of the original game and never break the immersion. The screens, the pace and the text all fit a real DOS machine, and that is the experience we design for.
Emulators work and are a fine way to try the realm, but the real thing is better.
What you will need
- Your own copy of the Neverwinter Nights 2.22 online client for DOS. We cannot supply it.
- Our small connection and setup programs, NWN.COM and NWNSETUP.COM, in the download below.
- A way to connect, any of these:
- a WiFi modem (a WiModem232-style device that dials an address) on retro MS-DOS hardware,
- DOSBox or DOSBox-X, with its emulated modem, on Windows, macOS or Linux,
- a real modem on retro MS-DOS hardware, calling our dial-up number over a phone line (see Play over a modem).
Download
NWNREV.ZIP (about 12 KB): NWN.COM (the connection), NWNSETUP.COM (settings), HALL.DAX (the Hall's pictures, with the animated fire, smoke and crystal) and a ready DOSBox configuration, with a README that walks through the setup. These are our own programs; the game itself is not included.
Copy them next to GAME.EXE. The two programs are packed (PKLITE), so a few virus scanners may grumble about old packed .COM files; they are safe, and you can ask us.
Connecting
- Run NWNSETUP and set Connection to WiFi Modem / DOSBox-X (Over Internet). Press F1 on any line for a full explanation. Calling with a real modem over a phone line? Choose Modem Dialup for a number that answers straight into the realm, or Manual for a gateway with its own menu.
- In Number or IP:port type nwnrevival.com:5000. Your WiFi modem or DOSBox looks the name up itself, so your DOS machine needs no network setup.
- Choose the port speed your modem is set to, then enter the name and password you want for your account (a password of 8 to 16 characters, no spaces).
- Start NWN. It dials, and the realm greets you with the Adventurers' Hall.
Play over a modem, like back in the day
Hear the handshake again. Our dial-up number answers straight into the realm, so a real modem on retro hardware can call in just as players did in the 1990s:
+1 385-596-1775 (Utah, USA)
- In NWNSETUP, set Connection to Modem Dialup and put the number in Number or IP:port, with any prefix your phone line needs.
- The line answers at up to 14,400 bps (V.32bis). Set the port speed to 9600.
- It is a United States number, so the cost of the call depends on your phone line. Callers from outside the USA pay international rates.
The dial-up node is kindly run by Cloudschatze, who lets us share it with you.
Anyone can make an account: no invitation code is needed. To keep out bots, the realm limits how many new accounts can be made each hour. If sign-up is refused, try again later or write to us.
Once you're in, see the Help page for a reference card to the Hall and the game, and a link to the original manual.
The connection to the realm is not encrypted, as on a 1990s modem line, so follow standard password practice: choose a long, hard-to-guess password, and do not reuse one you use anywhere else. Use the latest NWN.COM, which signs you in without sending your password across the line.
Questions about getting set up? Write to us.