EFU is back open for playing!!! Come join in!!!

[wellard]

Guys it is great to know that it is back online i would like to revisit but one thing I hated was the need to use the file unzippers it always stuffed up other files on my PC - a great big PITA. And then there was the downloading and finding the correct versions every time I have a new hard drive or PC - and I am due for one soon.

Is there some way all ( and i mean ALL) files required other than the actual game and it's update could be put on a DVD or CD without the zip? With clear instructions I would of course be willing to pay all postage and donations to the necessary locations

[Ziroc]

Here are the EFU hakpaks:

part 1-3 (WARNING -- gamefront doesn't like Internet Explorer for some reason sometimes.. use Firefox or another browser to download them)

http://www.gamefront.com/files/13020...___Part_1_of_3
http://www.gamefront.com/files/13020...___Part_2_of_3
http://www.gamefront.com/files/13281...___Part_3_of_3

And the only other hakpak you need is CEP..

http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/Download.php?id=159229

(Only other thing you need to do is update NWN to the latest version.. its easy. if you need help, let me know)

[Greything]

Problems getting into Undermountain. Had to reload the graphic card drivers twice. And, no, I have no idea why that was necessary. I'm using Windows 7 and and everything worked for a few minutes then slowed down. Seems OK now though.

I see we are still on server vault. Any chance of flicking the switch and going to local?

[Micah Foehammer]

Originally Posted by Greything I see we are still on server vault. Any chance of flicking the switch and going to local?

I thought EFU had been switched back to local. Z must have switched it back AGAIN. *sigh*

[Ziroc]

What's the *sigh* for Micah? You playing? What's your char name?
Anyways, Yeah, Grey, I'll change it back tomorrow. I just kept getting a few crashes as of late. Just a word of caution, don't go to crazy modding your char Might crash the server.

BTW.. If it does crash, let me know where, and when. May be a bug in EFU. I just noticed in the Cyric level, the Henchmen on that level can't follow you through some of the doors.. (Near the Orc archers).. I just need to change the doors out. Never noticed that before. Dunno who/how they designed the doors to act that way. odd..
EFU has been getting active again, and its great! I just updated the main Dragon in the Dragon Halls.. He was simply way to hard to kill.. AC was insane. I just tweaked him a bit. He's still hard, just not impossible to kill now.

Good to see you guys still into EFU! I've been working on level 16 and 17--both will have to be released at the same time for a reason you'll understand when it opens up.. Has to do with factions..
BTW, a TOTAL remake of the Xanathar levels are also almost done. Been a long time coming.. they needed a full and awesome 'base'..

Also going to add my Fire and Ice Trolls I designed to the Trollbark Forest. OH yeah! hehe..

[Micah Foehammer]

Originally Posted by Ziroc What's the *sigh* for Micah? You playing?

I was just expressing frustration over the fact that it seems to keep changing (server/local). This simply looked like another switch BACK to server vault. My bad if i was wrong. It wasn't an indictment of the mod, which I HAVE played quite extensively. But since you raised the problem .......

If you remember I did play for a long while, off and on for a few years or so, up until early 2005. I remember joining groups with several IW players (larry_ohf and RTB spring to mind) and I brought several friends who weren't IW members over as well. IIRC, we got to level 13 or 14; I don't remember exactly which (but that was as far as we could at the time). We played a lot. I remember having tons of discussions with you and others in the forums on bugs we saw, game play issues, scripts etc., during those first years. Go back and do a search on my posts in the EFU forums dude!

As for characters, I took at least two of them thru the entire mod (or at least everything there was at the time). One was a dwarven defender, the other was a monk. Had a great time with both.

Then you switched EFU to server vault. I actually originally supported the move but my group tried it out and didn't like it and stopped playing. I even tried it on my own, and just didn't like the balance. We *might* have played more if it had been switched back to local vault. I wasn't alone; a LOT of folks prefered local vault back then. One external review said that it was extremely difficult with non-epic characters and I agree. By the time I got interested again, the mod was still strictly server vault and I really didn't have any interest in taking a brand new character from level 7 back thru EFU.

It wasn't until 2011 that you switched EFU back to local vault. The last change was announced in February of 2011 according to this thread:

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/...d.php?t=101868

And apparently the server got reset to server vault AGAIN in October of 2011 and had to be reset to local:

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/...d.php?t=102105

But prior to 2011, my old characters got scrubbed in an earlier changeover, and the backups I had got lost when my PC got destroyed in Katrina in late 2005. Besides, I wasn't interested in playing server vault. It took over 5 years for EFU to switch back from server to local. After 10+ years the mod STILL isn't finished, and I really don't feel like being a beta tester anymore. Any wonder why I haven't played for a while?

BTW, I'm sure the new levels rock.

[Ziroc]

Hell, the mod would never be OFFICIALLY done, you know that. Even with an ending, I'd still end up adding something else... lol

I really don't feel like being a beta tester anymore

Wow.. harsh Micah. You act as if I'm going to sell it. I WISH! But WotC wouldn't like that. Every mod designer I know still has their playerbase
test it out... And I would think you would give me props for keeping EFU going for 10 years.

No game is free of bugs, and no game designer can fix every single bug.. I have tried though. lol. but DMing is when I notice much of the issues.. when multipule players are doing things.
Should be fine though. There are no story-breaking bugs that I know of. Thank Durnan for that.

[Micah Foehammer]

Originally Posted by Ziroc Wow.. harsh Micah. You act as if I'm going to sell it. I WISH! No game is free of bugs, and no game designer can fix every single bug.. I have tried though. lol. but DMing is when I notice much of the issues.. when multipule players are doing things.

I'm not being harsh at all. I never said that you planned to sell it; that was your interpretation of what I said and it was HUGE stretch at that. I recall you mentioning several times previously that you planned to make EFU available for download thru NWVault or from IW. In fact you said that in post #10 of this thread. See? I really do read your posts. I made a single comment directed at the bugs, more about server versus local vault and not ONE about you selling the game. That was a stretch and you know it.

EFU isn't a game, it's a mod (albeit a really darn big one). I have played a LOT of mods (and some very large ones at that) that ARE 100% bug free. We obviously don't agree about the bugs, so we can debate endlessly the difference between a bug originating from the core NWN game or a problem within the mod, or about how many of EFU's issues were caused by the latter as opposed to the former. Doesn't really matter.

But be fair, you've been working on EFU for 10+ years now; don't you think a high percentage of the problems MIGHT be due to the fact that the mod just keeps changing? I mean it's not like NWN has had a patch for what? Five years? And since your claim is that no game will ever be totally free of bugs, why does my not wanting to beta test it ad infinitum come as a huge shock or strike you as harsh? Especially in light of my issue with server vs local vault.

Hey, I understand that mine isn't the ONLY opinion. But Greything asked about turning on the local vault switch as well didn't he?

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Ziroc Wow.. harsh Micah. You act as if I'm going to sell it. I WISH! But WotC wouldn't like that. Every mod designer I know still has their playerbase test it out... And I would think you would give me props for keeping EFU going for 10 years.

Seriously? You want "props" for keeping a personal project going for 10 years???? Really? I hate to break it to ya, but EFU is not the ONLY server or mod that has been up and running for 10 years. I've played several and the two I played the most have easily been up as long as EFU, if not longer.

I played EFU as well, but honestly, I found the other servers more challenging. Characters started off at 1st level rather than 7th and didn't get epic gold upon character creation. In fact, most characters started out almost broke and had to earn their money through quests, adventures or loot. Not saying there is anything wrong with starting off at a little higher level, bags full of gold and a store that sells some really nice items. I just think it made the players better when they had to take on tough foes with more mundane equipment. That was my experience anyway.

Our server did add "black chests" in the epic areas that had a 1% chance of giving out some uber-nice gear. After 3 years of playing, I've collected a decent portion of the gear available and my characters with that gear can solo almost every area of the server. But my very first 40th level character was a female gnome mage/thief. She reached level 40 before the black chests were created. Not long ago, I pulled her out of retirement to look over her character sheet and was absolutely stunned at the LACK of "uber gear" she had. She had one very nice shield and some standard epic items from the server epic strore. Other than that, ALL of her equipment were things she found in the teen levels. Her main cloak was a Cloak of Displacement. But this gal could take some of the biggest bosses on the server (including the main dragon boss) by herself. There was an island that had 2 blue dragons on it. I could log on, travel to the island, buff up and kill both dragons in 5 minutes REAL time (Levi and I timed it once). Naturally, this was after facing them several times and learning exactly which strategy and spells worked best.

The point is that this character doesn't have 1/4 the uber gear my other character does, but can still solo all the same areas.

I've played most of the upper levels of EFU, but haven't gotten down to all the lower levels, so it would be interesting to see what's there. Unfortunately, as I posted a couple of weeks ago, the game crashes every time I try to enter EFU. It starts the load, then just crashes...giving me the option to "Send Error Report" or just skip it. I usually skip it.

Originally Posted by Ziroc No game is free of bugs, and no game designer can fix every single bug.. I have tried though. lol. but DMing is when I notice much of the issues.. when multipule players are doing things. Should be fine though. There are no story-breaking bugs that I know of. Thank Durnan for that.

Well, I'll have to disagree with this as well. The server I played did have some bugs from time to time, but the admins and mods were very good about getting them fixed in a timely manner. Some were obviously more difficult and time-consuming to fix, but I can't think of any that were never fixed at all.

[Ziroc]

Well, I'll have to disagree with this as well. The server I played did have some bugs from time to time, but the admins and mods were very good about getting them fixed in a timely manner. Some were obviously more difficult and time-consuming to fix, but I can't think of any that were never fixed at all.

What bug are you referring to in EFU that was never fixed?

I don't know what rig you are playing NWN1 on, but I see a lot of players getting in fine. Are you running XP or Win7? May be a missing .tlk file? Maybe the downloaded hakpaks didn't download right...
BTW, how can you compare EFU to another server when you didn't make it down past level 8? I remember watching you many times in EFU and it looked like you were indeed challenged..

I set the 'level 7 and gold' to balance it out... MANY people asked for this. So I did it..
I also remember how you said you LOVED EFU, and thought it was awesome!

I don't WANT props, just thought it was pretty cool I have kept it going that long.. ten years is a long time to keep a game server running. I'd give ANYONE else props for doing the same. Just being respectful.
(I think NWN1 was released in late 2002 right? I remember that I put the server up a day after it was released--they gave us the editor early, and I had the tavern and level 1 in the works). I remember those days.. it was so fun and new.