Getting Started

Once you have purchased the game, playing in ALFA is completely free! Its minimal costs are funded by the players and DMs that enjoy the game and are glad to support the community.

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition

ALFA runs on Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition released by Beamdog in 2017. All you need is the standard version. There’s a more expensive one, but you don’t need that. You can buy it from Steam (which is recommended) or you can buy it directly from the developer Beamdog*.

NWN1 runs on both PC and Mac (but the toolset only works on Windows).

NW Sync

To connect to ALFA, find an ALFA server on the server list in the game client. Clicking on the link will open the NW Sync utility that downloads the required files (hak and tlk files).

Hak files for persistent worlds are typically large and ALFA is no exception with well over 1GB to download. Please be sure your connection and machine are ready for that.

Optional Downloads

Official Beamdog HD Art Pack (highly recommended)
Uses Beamdog installer.

Classic ALFA Music and Portraits (ALFA Hosted)
Install into Neverwinter Nights/portraits or /music directory.

Quality Fantasy Portrait Pack (Vault) | (Steam Workshop)

Stock Character/Art Portrait Expansion Project (Steam Workshop)

Weapons Overrides (Steam Workshop)

Steam offers the Beamdog overrides plus many others that can enhance the game for free that are worth considering. If you do not use Steam you may download enhancements on Neverwinter Vault.

Forums

The ALFA Forums are where you can find up-to-date, persistent information about the game. Check out the Moonshae Forums or the Waterdeep Forums for the most current information on the servers, including scheduled sessions. Register for an account to get started.

Neverwinter Nights: Steam vs. Beamdog

*Note: There are many advantages to running the game using the Steam client instead of the Beamdog client, the most notable of which is that Steam retains your HAKs and TLKs when you update the game, and Beamdog wipes them out, meaning you must make a backup and restore them manually every time the game is updated. As well, you can easily subscribe to overrides and portrait packs using the Steam library.

If you have purchased the game using the Beamdog client, you may activate a copy of the game in Steam by downloading the Steam client and following these steps:

  • Step 1: Log in to your account on Beamdog.com using the Sign In option at the top of the page.
  • Step 2: Select My Account in the dropdown menu under your username.
  • Step 3: Navigate to the Game Keys tab and copy the 15 character key code next to Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. Digital Deluxe owners will see additional Steam keys here, for each piece of DLC.
  • Step 4: open your Steam Client and select the Activate a Product on Steam option.
  • Step 5: Paste or enter your Neverwinter Nights Steam key into the Product Activation area and select next.

    Congratulations! You now should have Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition in your Steam Library.