Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

FYI, I’m starting to comb through the game files.

I’m going to try to de-diversify Forgotten Realms.

 

[Storyfag]

FYI, I’m starting to comb through the game files.

I’m going to try to de-diversify Forgotten Realms.

May Myrkul's scythe aid you in this endeavour.

 

[Child of Malkav]

When you fight Bernard, be sure to have those sussur blooms in your inventory. After you push Bernard through the window, hide somewhere and then throw those blooms near the animated armors. This will incapacitate them. They will be able to move, but not take any action. AS long as they remain in range of those flowers or whatever they are. And then pelt Bernard from up top. Makes this fight a non issue.

 

[Gargaune]

I'll give it to Larian, that Attack button in conversation is massive fucking incline! Forget context menus, just press button and something awesome happens!

I think there’s a setting to hide it in settings.

No, sadly, the only thing Rotating Minimap toggles is whether it turns with your camera.

 

[Child of Malkav]

From Discord:
"
I discovered a very neat trick
[11:45 PM]
Place your characters very close to eachother, and throw a potion on the ground as close to the center of all of them, you will actually feed this one potion to more than one person"

 

[sullynathan]

I played on medium on an RX580 Vulcan and consistently had 60 fps. I'm not sure what performance issues some are having.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

It could be almost "neat" if positioning multiple characters with millimetric precision in this game wouldn't be as pleasant and comfortable as showering your bedsheets with rusks crumbles and then sleeping in it.

Seriously, can we get rid of the fucking toilet chain system?

 

[Varnaan]

It could be almost "neat" if positioning multiple characters with millimetric precision in this game wouldn't be as pleasant and comfortable as showering your bedsheets with rusks crumbles and then sleeping in it.

Seriously, can we get rid of the fucking toilet chain system?

Press space

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Press space

I know how to use the UI. It doesn't change the fact that it sucks on multiple levels.

Why what should take me few clicks with a traditional RTS-like control scheme (i.e. BG2 , POE 2 or Pathfinder) needs to become either a fucking special maneuver with twelve intermediate steps ("click, drag to unchain, move, repeat for another character, again, again... Now start doing everything in reverse") or involve switching to an turn-based mode that ,among other things, for some reason seems to take several seconds before actually kicking in.

 

[Mitleser2020]

FYI, I’m starting to comb through the game files.

Find the files of this lady.

 

[Varnaan]

Press space

I know how to use the UI. It doesn't change the fact that it sucks on multiple levels.

Why what should take me few clicks with a traditional RTS-like control scheme (i.e. BG2 , POE 2 or Pathfinder) needs to become either a fucking special maneuver with twelve intermediate steps ("click, drag to unchain, move, repeat for another character, again, again... Now start doing everything in reverse") or involve switching to an turn-based mode that ,among other things, for some reason seems to take several seconds before actually kicking in.

1. It's true that it's silly that in real time mode you can"t select a specific character or multiple to move with clicks
2. the true challenge in BG and Pathfinder is the... Pathfinding

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

1. It's true that it's silly that in real time mode you can"t select a specific character or multiple with clicks
2. the true challenge in BG and Pathfinder is the... Pathfinding

Eh, it doesn't really matter. They always did their work to the extent I needed it.

It's not like I have to send characters alone across half map away, most of the times.
As long as I can select them and position each one in the proximity QUICKLY, it's all I really need.

 

[Varnaan]

1. It's true that it's silly that in real time mode you can"t select a specific character or multiple with clicks
2. the true challenge in BG and Pathfinder is the... Pathfinding

Eh, it doesn't really matter. They always did their work to the extent I needed it.

It's not like I have to send characters alone across half map away, most of the times.
As long as I can select them and position each one in the proximity QUICKLY, it's all I really need.

Honestly I suggest you send your feedback to Larian, that's the entire purpose of the EA.
I'll also send them a ticket re the toilet chain.

 

[jackofshadows]

Chain system is for co-op, there's no way they gonna make a separate optional controls just for SP. They're already far behind schedule thanks to you know what.

Maybe modders will implement that somehow but since they didn't for two previous games that's also highly unlikely.

Don't forget that the game is supposed to be played not with gamepad in mind but rather with m&k in mind, even if it just on PC for now.

 

[Luzur]

I kind of get the feeling that

Spoiler

something is wrong with Lae'zael and they have no way to "cure" those with a tadpole.

Its.....its gonna be that she have a cock, isnt it? I KNEW IT

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Chain system is for co-op

That's the thing. It sucks even there.
There's literally no scenario where it works better than the alternative.
And there's nothing it does (controller movement included) that the alternate control scheme couldn't do even better with an optional toggle to "Everyone selected start autofollow".

P.S. I'm a bit surprised to notice that basically everyone on the Larian forum agrees the whole system is garbage (seriously, it's like 100% agreement, literally the least divisive topic of discussion on their entire community) and then it's here on the Codex that I'm seeing the first people who are attempting to defend it.

 

[Varnaan]

P.S. I'm a bit surprised to notice that basically everyone on the Larian forum agrees the whole system is garbage (seriously, it's like 100% agreement, literally the least divisive topic of discussion on their entire community) and then it's here on the Codex that I'm seeing the first people who are attempting to defend it.

I was being cheeky, I thought it was annoying in the OS games as well.
I just sent them feedback telling them it's inconvenient and a hindrance compared to a click-to-select system

 

[Gargaune]

I kind of get the feeling that

Spoiler

something is wrong with Lae'zael and they have no way to "cure" those with a tadpole.

Her questline is incomplete, so it's hard to tell if they have some twist planned going forward, but that's pretty much what it looks like at this point.

Ok, I killed Lae'zel before she got to deliver that line, but as per other people's videos, when you recruit her she says:

Spoiler

"Githyanki protocol is clear: when infected with a ghaik tadpole, we must report to a caretaker for purification."

Now, this might be low-hanging fruit, but I assumed the twist is that

Spoiler

"purification" refers to the Gith people on the whole, rather than the infected individual, and that their mysterious protocol consists of whacking the victim over the head and sticking them in a hole in the ground. And that they don't tell the grunts so that, you know, suckers like Lae'zel will come willingly.

 

[jackofshadows]

I'm seeing the first people who are attempting to defend it.

Even if on Larian forum everyone agrees that it's a shitty system than it certainly not gonna change after we spell it out one more time here. It is a shitty control system, but it is pointless to bitch about it and even to write a ticket.

Then again, if I were writing a ticket it'd be about some other co-op thing that makes no sense in a single player mode - dropping out of dialogue by selecting other party member while enemies are still engaged in it, for example. But chain is your pet peeve, I got it.

 

[Bah]

It won't get changed because it's needed for their stupid two-player system so you can setup one NPC to follow each PC. Or rather, it's not needed, but it's the best they've been able to develop.

 

[Sharpedge]

Weird question, but

Spoiler

is it possible that the tadpole and the absolute are 2 independent entities and that not everyone who is "true souled" has a tadpole? The Warlock Illithid power allows you to teleport to anyone else who is also infected. This works whether they are friendly or hostile (you can teleport to the warlock in the druid grove when attacking the grove if you have it). It does not work on some of the true souls, like minthara for example. This suggests either that there is something different about those characters, or there is an oversight by larian. I would check on the gnoll with the tadpole, but I don't have a save close enough to it to check quickly.

 

[Gargaune]

It won't get changed because it's needed for their stupid two-player system so you can setup one NPC to follow each PC. Or rather, it's not needed, but it's the best they've been able to develop.

You don't have to chuck it out, you can leave it there and just add marquee and portrait selection, they're not complicated controls to write in. If they do it, you can just unlink everyone in single player and proceed normally, like in almost every other isometric, party-based CRPG in the last twenty years. If I recall correctly, Obsidian also patched marquee selection into NWN2 after complaints, it originally had a somewhat similar approach to BG3, but with follow orders instead of "chains." What we're less likely to get is proper party formations, didn't get it in NWN2 either, but what can you do.

If anyone's gonna write Larian about it, would you consider the following suggestions:

- Manual Multiple Selection when unchained: Shift + Left Click portrait to add to selection, and Marquee for multiple selection. Actions UI can stay on the leader as-is, we only care about movement here.

- Camera Pitch manual adjustment (middle mouse, same as turning) and extend Zoom range a little bit.

- Persistent Locked/Free Camera option: you can snap back to a character when needed, but don't lock onto them again unless the player double-clicks them (see Deadfire for reference).

- Screen Edge Turning option when the camera's locked to a character (i.e. pan in free cam, turn in locked, see NWN2's Tactical and Exploration camera modes, respectively).

- Party Formations: nice to have...

Early Access would be the proper time to whine about this stuff, can't hurt at any rate.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

It won't get changed because it's needed for their stupid two-player system so you can setup one NPC to follow each PC. Or rather, it's not needed, but it's the best they've been able to develop.

You don't have to chuck it out, you can leave it there and just add marquee and portrait selection, they're not complicated controls to write in. If they do it, you can just unlink everyone in single player and proceed normally, like in almost every other isometric, party-based CRPG in the last twenty years. If I recall correctly, Obsidian also patched marquee selection into NWN2 after complaints, it originally had a somewhat similar approach to BG3, but with follow orders instead of "chains." What we're less likely to get is proper party formations, didn't get it in NWN2 either, but what can you do.

If anyone's gonna write Larian about it, would you consider the following suggestions:

- Manual Multiple Selection when unchained: Shift + Left Click portrait to add to selection, and Marquee for multiple selection. Actions UI can stay on the leader as-is, we only care about movement here.

- Camera Pitch manual adjustment (middle mouse, same as turning) and extend Zoom range a little bit.

- Persistent Locked/Free Camera option: you can snap back to a character when needed, but don't lock onto them again unless the player double-clicks them (see Deadfire for reference).

- Screen Edge Turning option when the camera's locked to a character (i.e. pan in free cam, turn in locked, see NWN2's Tactical and Exploration camera modes, respectively).

- Party Formations: nice to have...

Early Access would be the proper time to whine about this stuff, can't hurt at any rate.

Look, we basically already addressed all of this and more.
And yes, I'm hammering this complaint over and over to the point of bordering autism because I think it's a a "now or never" situation to address it.
Larian will either listen to the extremely negative feedback about their control scheme in the next months or we'll have to suck down this shit for years to come, bitterly thinking "If only they didn't made that aspect of the game such an unforgivable pile of garbage" in hindsight.

Here's the thread about it, for the record: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=679414#Post679414

Most of the reasons mentioned here about why it's "necessary" have already been extensively discussed (and mercilessly debunked).

By the way no, Jack, I don't count it as "pet pevee" of mine, because the term implies a minor annoyance, while on the contrary I think this control scheme is currently one of the single most harmful flaws for the overall quality of the experience.
It's also a rotten foundation that is preventing improvements in other areas (i.e. allowing for a larger party than four).

 

[Bah]

It's also a rotten foundation that is preventing improvements in other areas (i.e. allowing for a larger party than four).

Is it really the chaining/selection system that is the reason they can't have a party larger than four? It seems like that would be more related to their crappy two-player system. With 2 NPCs, each PC gets one NPC. But an odd number of NPCs doesn't divide evenly, so they won't ever allow a party of 5.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Is it really the chaining/selection system that is the reason they can't have a party larger than four? It seems like that would be more related to their crappy two-player system. With 2 NPCs, each PC gets one NPC. But an odd number of NPCs doesn't divide evenly, so they won't ever allow a party of 5.

I mean, it's not a direct relationship as much as an unintended consequence: moving around four men in minute detail in BG3/DOS2 is already far more slow, cumbersome and mechanically unintuitive than doing the same with a party of six (and PETS) in Pathfinder Kingmaker (just to name one).
Can you even begin to imagine the inane amount of tedious that would come from just having to stealth/position/jump/climb/chain/unchain SIX different characters with the current system? Ten hours would drive people on suicide watch.

And there's nothing about a party of six that would be inherently harder to manage for two players IF a decent control scheme was available. Starting with the very basic fact that filling all the six slots wouldn't be mandatory to begin with.