Best way to play Baldur's Gate

[Dramart]

Dramart The factions power groups within the city respond to you

Spoiler

being labelled as murderers of the iron throne leaders

You meet a representative of the thieves guild (who you later discover represents another organisation), then you've got the two power groups that respond to whichever pair of companions you have in your party, then there's another two shadowy information dealers that you can meet in certain inns, and tell you what happened while you were away. The citizens respond to the events taking place. I'm pretty sure the rumours in the inns do as well. The fact that you can get a smuggler to smuggle you into the city was a great touch. The Flaming Fist was out to get you.

That's the point: all these little touches here and there built the world. Even the average citizen you meet had relevant information for you: on your first visit to BG there was that guy that owed money to the Seven Suns, or the Iron Throne; and he mentions that the trader avoided him instead of paying thugs to break his kneecaps.

You could even uncover important information by going to the fortune teller in the circus area.

That's what builds a game world for me. You could tell BG was a labour of love. In comparison, what did you get when you returned to Athkatla? Just visiting each of the power groups to aid you in a big battle ahead if I remember correctly.

Well that is interesting and I like it, I have nothing against that my proble with BG1 is with some of its mechanics, like resting, or all the traps, I also have the feeling the they miss much more the attacks compared to BG2 and the pacing is also a problem, the characters travelling on foot is very slow for my taste. I don't know if Athlaka had something like that reactivity you mention, I believe it didn't, I ignored most of the people withouth a proper noun so I don't know if normal citizen had good information, the I spoke with just said information about the city and its people. When I think of Athlaka I remember mostly receiving and doing quests and resting in Copper Coronet honestly. But the ones (quests) I can remember were good or entertaining or interesting at least, for example one quest for a companion were you had to go to another plane of existence, or the one you had to investigate a religious sect. Both games have good things I guess.

Spoiler

BG2 > BG1

 

[JohnSmith24601]

I actually finished both games in their EE versions. Wonder what I've missed...

 

[Chippy]

Dramart Sounds like you just arn't as into the game as I was/am. It also depends on what version you've played. Lilura has verified this for me in several posts - but as far as resting goes in the original version; the spawning system was much harder. I found it wasn't really feasible to spam rest as you may wake up to 10 or so bandits ambushing you, armed with longbows. I'd have to go through the files, but I think on higher diffuculty settings, they might have had composite longbows. Even in the cloudpeaks/mine areas, if you didn't have a helmet on and you got ambushed by a bunch of kobolds with shortbows (who all aimed at your character) you were in deep shit.

Then the EE changed the spawning system to BG2 (it was inferior) and effectively broke the game. Resting scaled, so you got high XP monsters. So you could rest + harvest more XP from each rest than several maps.

Footspeed was increased in BG2. 1.5 I think. I forget. Didn't really bother me that much.

Missing attacks: you might mean cosmetic attacks?. Hard to say as I don't know how you played. BG2 had more opportunities for increasing APR with items and spells, so maybe that was it?. Although APR was the most effective attribute to have, I didn't equip the boots of haste because it threw off my timing. I remember knowing when in the round my character was going to attack, and didn't really notice characters missing more in BG2.

I suppose it depends entirely on what each person gets out of the game. I'm willing to bet you didn't read all of the books and keep them in a collection either?.

-That's asking for autism tags.

 

[Ninjerk]

BG2 is written like a children's cartoon with an everpresent MUAHAHAsoevil villain. BG1 teases the villain at the beginning, but he has more important things to do than MUAHAHA i tOrTuRe U 24/7 like he's some kind of high school bully.

He's evil but he has a purpose, he seeks power and the tortures and his experiments have a reason. I don't know if you played the game but he wants something from the main character. He wants power and he doesn't care the means to get it, and also he wants revenge. I liked him as a villain, every encounter with him was interesting and I was really interested in having a combat with him. So the thing is he is obviously evil and a bully but he has a purpose, when you know more of him he becomes a plausible character and not just evil muahahaa.

I played BG2 first not long after it came out. I liked it quite a bit and I liked the Final Fantasy series prior to that (I believe FF6 or 7 was a significant influence on how BG2 was written). As an adult, I have little interest in 2deep4u villains that make the developers feel the need to stop me from controlling my character while they deliver their exposition. Maybe it's a matter of taste.

 

[Delterius]

BG2 is written like a children's cartoon with an everpresent MUAHAHAsoevil villain. BG1 teases the villain at the beginning, but he has more important things to do than MUAHAHA i tOrTuRe U 24/7 like he's some kind of high school bully.

altho tbh i always thought it was p funny sarevok gave up on looking for the PC who just... ran to the road 100 meters away

 

[Ninjerk]

BG2 is written like a children's cartoon with an everpresent MUAHAHAsoevil villain. BG1 teases the villain at the beginning, but he has more important things to do than MUAHAHA i tOrTuRe U 24/7 like he's some kind of high school bully.

altho tbh i always thought it was p funny sarevok gave up on looking for the PC who just... ran to the road 100 meters away

In hindsight, that and the intro cinematic were probably too early to introduce the antagonist so clearly.

 

[Sarathiour]

I'm willing to bet you didn't read all of the books and keep them in a collection either?.

Haha ye-yes, what kind of person would do that...

 

[NJClaw]

I also have the feeling the they miss much more the attacks compared to BG2

Missing attacks: you might mean cosmetic attacks?

I think he just means that it's easier to miss your attacks in BG1. That happens because to hit bonuses improve faster than armor class values, so at high levels (BG2) your chance to hit an enemy should be better than what it was at low levels. Then there's ToB, but fuck ToB.

 

[Drelkag]

If you're only planning to play once I'd go with Enhanced. It'd be a slog to go through the same game twice in a row without a long break.

 

[Silly Germans]

BG2 is written like a children's cartoon with an everpresent MUAHAHAsoevil villain. BG1 teases the villain at the beginning, but he has more important things to do than MUAHAHA i tOrTuRe U 24/7 like he's some kind of high school bully.

You should try the German version of BG1 with the third male voice kit. The Saxon dialect kit is so fucking hilarious, BG2 has nothing on it. Sometimes is just start it up and go the the character creation screen with the sound selection, its brilliant.

 

[Dramart]

I think he just means that it's easier to miss your attacks in BG1

This. I refer to missing attack with weapons.

I didn't equip the boots of haste because it threw off my timing

I loved these boots, especially to go to buy items in stores faster. And played the classics, not the EE.

I suppose it depends entirely on what each person gets out of the game. I'm willing to bet you didn't read all of the books and keep them in a collection either?.

Rarely. I read some, not more than ten, but I forgot what they were about, just remember one taht was about the three brothers fighting for power I believe one of the three was Bhaal. You liked the lore more than I, I just wanted to play and the story was interesting enough but a secondary thing.

 

[Lilura]

Then the EE changed the spawning system to BG2 (it was inferior) and effectively broke the game.

BG is also easy at the start when played in the BG2 engine. We used to see lots of forum posts where people were struggling to level up, not knowing where to get XP from. There used to be lots of stories of people being slain by wolf, bear and kobold archer on the first couple maps. Now, everyone just powers through the first chapter with their 19 Str Half-orc barbrager, or Sorc. Low level AD&D is easy in 2020.

Footspeed was increased in BG2. 1.5 I think.

That's another factor. Too easy to close in on archers or spellcasters.

I solo'd BG SCS with Barbrager. It was way easier to solo Barbrager in SCS than Fighter in original BG, unmodded.

 

[Tehdagah]

Mobile

 

[smaug]

Use BGT, and mods to modify ruleset to the original. That way you have OG ruleset and no bonus classes and stuff from BG2 engine.

Only reason is for good pathfinding, original pathfinding is AWFUL.

CappenVarra why do you disagree? You can play BGT with the OG ruleset, UI and everything else exclusive to BG1. Why play with shitty pathfinding?

 

[Lawntoilet]

I can't believe the retards shilling the EE in this thread, the is real.

Next thing you gayfags will be trying to sell SoD as an "essential part of the Baldur's Gate experience" or some other stupid bullshit. Kindly restrict yourselves to the place you belong, jerking Swen off in the BG3 thread.

 

[Ninjerk]

I can't believe the retards shilling the EE in this thread, the is real.

Next thing you gayfags will be trying to sell SoD as an "essential part of the Baldur's Gate experience" or some other stupid bullshit. Kindly restrict yourselves to the place you belong, jerking Swen off in the BG3 thread.

The BG3 thread is still on the codex. It's time to revive the time-honored tradition of Watchwitzing.

 

[Vyadhis]

I can't believe the retards shilling the EE in this thread, the is real.

Next thing you gayfags will be trying to sell SoD as an "essential part of the Baldur's Gate experience" or some other stupid bullshit. Kindly restrict yourselves to the place you belong, jerking Swen off in the BG3 thread.

Agreed. I already see way too many people giving SoD a pass now. The EE's were always trash just out of principle and beamdog is a garbage company that deserves as little support as possible. How can anyone defend TAKING THE ORIGINALS (which were cheaper) off of gog, repackaging them as "extras" for their version and charging twice as much? This doesn't even go into how the EE's were so buggy at release and how they are still a shitty way to BG all these years later.

 

[CaffeineConquistador]

I can't believe the retards shilling the EE in this thread, the is real.

Next thing you gayfags will be trying to sell SoD as an "essential part of the Baldur's Gate experience" or some other stupid bullshit. Kindly restrict yourselves to the place you belong, jerking Swen off in the BG3 thread.

So be the one oldfag who changes his diaper and give a concrete reason why EE is so bad. Your rocking chair tilted too far back, gramps? The only thing I’ve read so far is a applying the same set of QoL mods in an older way.

 

[Ninjerk]

Beamdog introduced new pathfinding problems.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I can't believe the retards shilling the EE in this thread, the is real.

Next thing you gayfags will be trying to sell SoD as an "essential part of the Baldur's Gate experience" or some other stupid bullshit. Kindly restrict yourselves to the place you belong, jerking Swen off in the BG3 thread.

So be the one oldfag who changes his diaper and give a concrete reason why EE is so bad. Your rocking chair tilted too far back, gramps? The only thing I’ve read so far is a applying the same set of QoL mods in an older way.

Adding new characters
Plying BG1 in BG2 engine
Adding classes in BG1 that weren't originally there
Changing how some spells works
Changing UI esthetic
Cutting original cutscenes in BG1 and adding new shitty one

 

[Nano]

Adding new characters

Can be ignored or removed with mods.

Adding classes in BG1 that weren't originally there

Don't play with them if they bother you. Tweaks Anthology also has a component that restores the classic BG1 weapon proficiency system.

Changing how some spells works

Aren't the changes mostly buffs to underpowered spells?

Changing UI esthetic

The UI in the EE is better and more readable.

Cutting original cutscenes in BG1 and adding new shitty one

Mods took care of this one too.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

So rather than use a single mod you can easily deduce beforehand that you will need, now you need at least 3 diffrent mods to play the game and you need to have an extensive knowledge about differences between original and EE to know you need those mods.

Truly EE makes life easier. Truly worth the price increase.

 

[Nano]

So rather than use a single mod you can easily deduce beforehand that you will need, now you need at least 3 diffrent mods to play the game and you need to have an extensive knowledge about differences between original and EE to know you need those mods.

You'll be using mods regardless of the edition if you want to have the best experience. Modding is one of the best advantages of the PC platform; maybe you'd feel more at home on consoles if these things annoy you.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

BGs are perfectly good as they are. You only need a resolution mod.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

"Hehehe, if you don't like EE then you may better like consoles, lolololol!!!!11"

What a roast. The life will never be the same for me. It's over. The shame I feel! Oh! Will it ever fade away?