Hi all,
The original NWN AOL v2.2 client can be found on the internet .

This client can be used to connect to NWN Revivial.

We've added one click (no installing necessary) Windows, macOS (Universal binary) and Linux launcher. More info here: https://www.nwnrevival.com/join.php

@robbo007, you've made me curious. Always thought of Meridian59 as being the first graphical MMO. So I've downloaded the DOS client from the website (NWNREV) and transferred all to my happy DOS 6.0 VM in 86Box. I've configured all, but when trying to call I get a "NO ANSWER - hanging up". Website status says it's all open. What am I doing wrong? My modem appears to be dialing and working.

Arminius wrote on 2026-10-30, 09:45:

@robbo007, you've made me curious. Always thought of Meridian59 as being the first graphical MMO. So I've downloaded the DOS client from the website (NWNREV) and transferred all to my happy DOS 6.0 VM in 86Box. I've configured all, but when trying to call I get a "NO ANSWER - hanging up". Website status says it's all open. What am I doing wrong? My modem appears to be dialing and working.

Hi,

Great to have you giving it a go! Meridian 59 gets the credit a lot, but NWN was on AOL with graphics in 1991, a good few years earlier.

I think I know what's happening. The 86Box modem isn't a real phone modem, it connects over the internet, so it can't dial a phone number. If NWNSETUP is set to Modem Dialup (or the X.25 PAD) it dials a number the modem has no way of calling, gets NO CARRIER back, and NWN shows "NO ANSWER - hanging up".

Try this:

1. Run NWNSETUP and set the connection to WiFi/DOSBox-X (the internet one).
2. For the number put: nwnrevival.com:5000
The :5000 matters, without it the 86Box modem tries port 23.
3. In 86Box's settings for the modem, turn telnet mode off. The game sends binary data and telnet mode will mess it up once you're in.
4. Set the speed to the same in both NWNSETUP and the 86Box modem. 2400 is the safe choice.

Then type NWN and it should connect straight to the server. The first time, it'll probably offer you an update. Say yes, it only takes a few minutes.

If it still won't connect, let me know roughly what time you tried and I'll check the server logs from my end.

Regards,

Wow, thank you for the quick reply! You're probably spot on about NWNSETUP being set to Modem Dialup and not getting anything back. I've tried your suggestions, but I'm still getting disconnected. Bummer.

I'm attaching a screenshot of my NWNSETUP settings and the nwndian.log file it generated. Am I even getting through? Can you see anything useful in the logs? I just tried again at 12:19 PM CET.

Arminius wrote on 2026-10-30, 11:25:

Wow, thank you for the quick reply! You're probably spot on about NWNSETUP being set to Modem Dialup and not getting anything back. I've tried your suggestions, but I'm still getting disconnected. Bummer.

I'm attaching a screenshot of my NWNSETUP settings and the nwndian.log file it generated. Am I even getting through? Can you see anything useful in the logs? I just tried again at 12:19 PM CET.

Hi,
I spy the issue. In NWNSETUP.COM under the "Number IP:port" use: nwnrevivial.com:5000

That's the NWN Revivial server and port address. It needs to be present as you're coming over internet. Let me know how you get on.
Regards,

Silly me! Corrected it, and it works as intended now. You know what threw me off? The help text displayed underneath. It read nwnrevival.com:5000, so I assumed the address was already hard-coded. Apparently not!

Anyway, I was able to connect successfully and create an account! Yay! 😀 Now I just need to figure out what to do about the "GAME.EXE NOT UPDATED" error I get when trying to enter the realm.

I tried the suggestion on the homepage (resetting the .exe to its default state via NWN /U), but that didn't solve the issue for me. The files aren't write-protected either (I just checked using the attrib command). Any idea?

Great to hear you're in!

You're right about the setup screen, that note reads like the address is already filled in. I'll change it so it fills in nwnrevival.com:5000 for you when the field is empty.

On GAME.EXE NOT UPDATED: NWN.COM makes a few small changes to GAME.EXE when it starts (fights between players, and a fix for Tandy screens), and every player needs them to enter the realm. To be safe it only touches the exact GAME.EXE from the 2.22 release. If yours is different in any way it leaves it alone, and NWN /U does nothing either, which is what you're seeing.

Could you run this in your NWN folder and tell me what it says?

DIR GAME.EXE

The 2.22 one is 439,000 bytes. If yours is a different size, it's a different version or a modified copy, and the fix is to replace it with the 2.22 GAME.EXE. Where did you get your game files from? That'll help me work out which version you have.

One more thing: next time you call, the realm will offer you an update to 1.4.1. Say yes, it only takes a few minutes.
Regards,

Yeah, my GAME.EXE wasn't the one with 439,000 bytes, but was a tad larger. Found the right one. All I'll say is that archive.org is a great project! 😀

Saw the update to 1.4.1 and installed it. Worked fine!

The next obstacle I'm stuck on is character creation. It seems to launch a separate program for creating a character. However, all I ever get is a black screen with a yellow strip at the bottom, looking pretty much like someone started pasting together a QR code and then gave up halfway through. Looks like a graphics glitch. Ever run into this one?

Arminius wrote on 2026-10-30, 14:06:

Yeah, my GAME.EXE wasn't the one with 439,000 bytes, but was a tad larger. Found the right one. All I'll say is that archive.org is a great project! 😀

Saw the update to 1.4.1 and installed it. Worked fine!

The next obstacle I'm stuck on is character creation. It seems to launch a separate program for creating a character. However, all I ever get is a black screen with a yellow strip at the bottom, looking pretty much like someone started pasting together a QR code and then gave up halfway through. Looks like a graphics glitch. Ever run into this one?

Glad you found the right GAME.EXE, and that 1.4.1 went on fine!

Character creation doesn't actually use a separate program in 2.22. It's all inside GAME.EXE, and it doesn't talk to the server at all, so this one is on the PC side. A black screen with a stripe of garbage at the bottom usually means one of two things.

1. The other game files don't match the new GAME.EXE. Your first GAME.EXE was a different version, so the .DAX files that came with it may be from that version too, and the character screens are drawn from those files. These are the 2.22 sizes to check against:

CHEAD.DAX 3,556
CBODY.DAX 24,236
CPIC.DAX 91,947
HEAD.DAX 15,292
BODY.DAX 30,645
8X8D.DAX 171,888
PIC.DAX 347,063
GAME.EXE 439,000

If any of them are different, the simplest fix is to take the whole game folder from the same 2.22 copy you got GAME.EXE from, not just the one file.

2. The graphics setting doesn't match the video card. In NWNSETUP, check that Pictures is set to EGA (VGA cards use EGA too), not CGA or Tandy. In 86Box, use a plain VGA card such as the IBM VGA or a Tseng ET4000. Some of the more exotic cards don't handle the game's EGA modes properly.

If both of those look right and it still happens, a photo or screenshot of the screen and the type of video card you've picked in 86Box would help me a lot.
Thanks,

I went back and overwrote all the files with the freshly downloaded 2.2 version, just to make sure there weren't any leftover files from other versions. And lo and behold, it worked! Wow. I think with my knack for putting my foot in it, we've probably covered most of the common error cases publicly on here by now. 😁 Thanks so much for the excellent support!

Character generation is working fine now. I grabbed the new 1.4.2 update and ventured out for a few minutes before the duties of the real world came calling. 😀

Just one last question, which might be worth adding to the FAQ on the website (which, by the way, I absolutely love for its retro style… we need more pages like that!):

How do I safely log out? I got a message saying that my deeds had been recorded after leaving a shop. Is it safe to assume that I can log out at that point?

Arminius wrote on 2026-11-01, 06:40:

How do I safely log out? I got a message saying that my deeds had been recorded after leaving a shop. Is it safe to assume that I can log out at that point?

It's always best to to quit the game via the encamp, quit, then once back at the hall press Q to leave Neverwinter. I've added addition saving in game, which is what you saw "your deeds have been recorded". Characters are also included in daily and hourly snapshots on the server back-end.

The only thing that is still local is the Vault. I will be adding this so its saved and backed up in the server in the next release.

Niice! I'm also working to properly reverse engineer a few D&D RPG, among them Shadow Sorcerer - Baldur's Gate in 1991, with hex crawl world map and isometric areas.
But I cant find the AIL 1.0 SDK, so had to decompile the audio myself.

Oh man, it's been a long time since I last played Pools of Radiance... Somehow, I'm completely sucking at it, despite having a reasonably good Paladin (with some pretty phenomenal stats in places — STR 18(76)!). But ever since I "upgraded" from my short sword and chain mail to plate mail and a long sword, things seem to have gone downhill. I'm getting hit more often, and I can barely land a hit on the Orcs in the Wharf District anymore. How is that even possible? What am I missing?

I know there's always an element of chance involved in the dice rolls, but this has been going on for the last three battles. I've died every time, and I'm beginning to think it's more than just bad luck. Are there any hidden penalties associated with certain weapon or armour combinations for Paladins? I seem to remember that plate mail + long sword + shield was actually a pretty awesome combination back in the day. I mean, I've got AC 2 now, and those Orcs are still hitting me for 4–6 HP and far too often!

Arminius wrote on Today, 07:30:

Oh man, it's been a long time since I last played Pools of Radiance... Somehow, I'm completely sucking at it, despite having a reasonably good Paladin (with some pretty phenomenal stats in places — STR 18(76)!). But ever since I "upgraded" from my short sword and chain mail to plate mail and a long sword, things seem to have gone downhill. I'm getting hit more often, and I can barely land a hit on the Orcs in the Wharf District anymore. How is that even possible? What am I missing?

I know there's always an element of chance involved in the dice rolls, but this has been going on for the last three battles. I've died every time, and I'm beginning to think it's more than just bad luck. Are there any hidden penalties associated with certain weapon or armour combinations for Paladins? I seem to remember that plate mail + long sword + shield was actually a pretty awesome combination back in the day. I mean, I've got AC 2 now, and those Orcs are still hitting me for 4–6 HP and far too often!

Hi Arminius,

I looked at your paladin on the server and in the game. The build is fine: AC 2, long sword, plate mail and shield all readied, THAC0 18, STR 18(74). I also checked the combat code and played some fights with the roll display on. The rolls follow the AD&D rules exactly, and nothing penalises plate mail with a long sword and shield.

So it's not hidden penalties. What you're up against is hit points. You're level 1 with 10 HP, and each orc hit does 4 to 6, so two or three hits and you're down. You hit an orc about 45% of the time and they hit you about 20% per swing, but a group of them in a round can still kill you. Your Movement is also only 6 because of the plate and shield, so you can't easily get away.

What I'd try: fight with the party at your back so the orcs split their attacks, take the corridors one orc at a time, and don't go into the Wharves with a single level 1 character on 10 HP. A few levels will make a big difference.

Regards,