Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Gnidrologist]

I know this question is being asked every 10 pages on this and similar threads, but what can you do. What's the optimal [current year] setup to play both games (probably with exporting if that works okay) without any derpy additional content, but all the much needed improvements like resolution patches and bug fixes? My loose impression is that all these enhanced editions of IE games are for fags, yes? If so then then what's the gentlemans kit for the good playthrough now days? (also for IW series)

 

[Theldaran]

Just the fact that you can tell her to fuck off after finally rescuing her is one of the most cringeworthy things ever. It really exposes how badly this game is written. None of it makes any sense. "Sorry, Imoen, but my party is full right now (as it fucking would be) but you can find your own way out from this hellish labyrinth, right?" It angers me that the CRPG scene is still infected by these charlatans who pose as writers. BG2 set the tone for the coming apocalypse, for sure.

The original intention was that Imoen would be dead when you found her (hence why she barely says anything once you get her), but they changed this because a) she was being waifu'd b) it was agreed that the motivation for your character being "We gotta rescue Imoen" only for the game to tell you "You can't rescue Imoen no matter what" would be too rage-inducing, and that would be correct for many players.

Well playing the whole game just to rescue a corpse could have been too much for many players (especially the adolescents back then), but it certainly would have passed in the videogame annals as something shocking and brave on the writers' part.

That's a thing you never see in videogames however, so we can't certainly blame BG2's writers. Better to have the appointed hero storm down everything and blow it to bits. That's the safe way.

Besides killing Imoen, especially behind the scenes, is a one-trick pony that works for the first playthrough. It would've been good publicity for the game, however, as every kid would have passed the word.

 

[Roguey]

Well playing the whole game just to rescue a corpse could have been too much for many players (especially the adolescents back then), but it certainly would have passed in the videogame annals as something shocking and brave on the writers' part.

That's a thing you never see in videogames however, so we can't certainly blame BG2's writers. Better to have the appointed hero storm down everything and blow it to bits. That's the safe way.

Deadfire: Stop Eothas (you can't stop Eothas).

Presenting people with a goal and making it impossible to accomplish that goal only causes irritation and frustration.

 

[Theldaran]

Well playing the whole game just to rescue a corpse could have been too much for many players (especially the adolescents back then), but it certainly would have passed in the videogame annals as something shocking and brave on the writers' part.

That's a thing you never see in videogames however, so we can't certainly blame BG2's writers. Better to have the appointed hero storm down everything and blow it to bits. That's the safe way.

Deadfire: Stop Eothas (you can't stop Eothas).

Presenting people with a goal and making it impossible to accomplish that goal only causes irritation and frustration.

That's also true.

But I guess it can be handled, if written properly. In Imoen's case, the shock value would have been great. The butthurt would have been glorious.

 

[Lilura]

My loose impression is that all these enhanced editions of IE games are for fags, yes?

Yes.

BG v5512.
BG2 v26948.
IWD v1.06.

No fixpack is authoritative. BG has 3, IWD has 1 and BG2 has 1. They all have issues. Only install them if a mod you want needs them.

 

[Theldaran]

I know this question is being asked every 10 pages on this and similar threads, but what can you do. What's the optimal [current year] setup to play both games (probably with exporting if that works okay) without any derpy additional content, but all the much needed improvements like resolution patches and bug fixes? My loose impression is that all these enhanced editions of IE games are for fags, yes? If so then then what's the gentlemans kit for the good playthrough now days? (also for IW series)

I dunno man, I have both the EEs and classics installed and both crash in their own ways.

 

[Apostle Hand]

original bg games are too old to be bothered with. they would sure look ugly on modern computers and nobody is playing them.

beamdog greatly improved them so now they look nice on modern computers.

 

[Theldaran]

original bg games are too old to be bothered with. they would sure look ugly on modern computers and nobody is playing them.

beamdog greatly improved them so now they look nice on modern computers.

Oh, they're certainly playable, especially if you config well your machine.

Each version has its own problems.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I don't remember crash issues with IE games. Interested in little tweaks that might better the overall playability.

 

[Theldaran]

I don't remember crash issues with IE games. Interested in little tweaks that might better the overall playability.

Well Windows 10 here so maybe that's why... anyway, I'm not going back to 7.

 

[Lilura]

I don't remember crash issues with IE games. Interested in little tweaks that might better the overall playability.

You could make dummie, blank audio files, name them per wavs like YOU MUST GATHER YOUR PARTY BEFORE VENTURING FORTH and YOU HAVE BEEN WAYLAID BY ENEMIES AND MUST DEFEND YOURSELF, and put them into your override. Tweakpack does that, too.

 

[Roguey]

No fixpack is authoritative. BG has 3, IWD has 1 and BG2 has 1. They all have issues. Only install them if a mod you want needs them.

Unintended exploit fixes like "wands of cloudkill can kill mind flayers even though a regular cloudkill spell cannot" are pretty nice to have.

 

[Cael]

Well playing the whole game just to rescue a corpse could have been too much for many players (especially the adolescents back then), but it certainly would have passed in the videogame annals as something shocking and brave on the writers' part.

That's a thing you never see in videogames however, so we can't certainly blame BG2's writers. Better to have the appointed hero storm down everything and blow it to bits. That's the safe way.

Deadfire: Stop Eothas (you can't stop Eothas).

Presenting people with a goal and making it impossible to accomplish that goal only causes irritation and frustration.

I am pretty sure there are games where the "You are too late. Revenge (or escape) is your motivation now." trope is used. One that comes to mind is Suikoden. You try to rescue your friend, but in the end, you can't. He dies and passes you the Death Rune and then you have to escape the King's crazy mistress. Hell, you can't even free the king from her clutches. The guy commits suicide right at the end in front of you.

And then we have Spellforce: Order of Dawn...

 

[Lilura]

Well Windows 10 here so maybe that's why... anyway, I'm not going back to 7.

WinXP SP 2 or 3 run the IEs best. Good if you want to play unpatched or non-expanded for +difficulty. Install through Virtual Box. No framerate drops, ever. No compatibility-related crashes (only bug-related ones, which are extremely rare).

 

[Theldaran]

Well Windows 10 here so maybe that's why... anyway, I'm not going back to 7.

WinXP SP 2 or 3 run the IEs best. Good if you want to play unpatched or non-expanded for +difficulty. Install through Virtual Box. No framerate drops, ever. No compatibility-related crashes (only bug-related ones, which are extremely rare).

Well of course... I guess that the latest version of the classic BGs, which was that Atari box, was engineered for XP. I guess that's the same version GOG uses.

The EEs are a different beast, and it's shameful that they have technical problems. It was part of the appeal of paying again for these games and they botched it.

 

[Apostle Hand]

now you have to look in computer shops and buy old used windows xp machines in order to play originals

 

[Gnidrologist]

What about those versions, where both parts are united into one wholesome game? Buggy?

 

[Lilura]

I guess that's the same version GOG uses.

Wouldn't know. I only play with original CDs bought when the games came out (ISOs because they were getting scratched).

Ofc, game loads faster and saves faster in addition to +compatibility and +framerate. BG is silky smooth even with viewport filled with summon cheese or full party of mages casting spells simultaneously.

The EEs are a different beast, and it's shameful that they have technical problems. It was part of the appeal of paying again for these games and they botched it.

Even if BG, IWD and BG2 EEs ran at full frames, were bugless and sported full compatibility (not a snowball's chance), they would still have game-imbalancing additions, fan fiction level drivel, ugly aesthetics and feature removal (IWD party arbitration). You also can't play unpatched or non-expanded for +difficulty.

 

[Theldaran]

Well you can always play EE 1.3 version, I guess...

 

[Melcar]

The original games are still playable in my end (Linux installers from GOG). Only issue I had was that the widesreen mod would cause the ui to flicker. More of an annoyance really. Shame that they had to add extra shit content to the EEs, because I do like the ability to zoom in/out and the bigger fonts. Another thing I like is the extra difficulty options on the EE games.
As for mods (BG), all you need really is the fixpack and tweakpack. Optional (but recommended) would be SCS and Rogue Rebalancing (if you like thievery). Unfinished Business packs are kinda meh (I like the BG1 UB and only some modules of the BG2 one). I prefer to play the games as a single experience rather than making it a massive single game.

 

[Dux]

During my recent run of BG1 I ended up using 1280x960 (it being double the native 4:3 game resolution) windowed resolution through DxWnd with some slight filtering enabled to sharpen up the text. 100% graphically stable and the UI looks exactly the way it's supposed to.

The only thing that bugs me about the old engine is that it's quite easy for characters to get stuck on each other.

 

[Chippy]

The original games are still playable in my end (Linux installers from GOG). Only issue I had was that the widesreen mod would cause the ui to flicker. More of an annoyance really. Shame that they had to add extra shit content to the EEs, because I do like the ability to zoom in/out and the bigger fonts. Another thing I like is the extra difficulty options on the EE games.
As for mods (BG), all you need really is the fixpack and tweakpack. Optional (but recommended) would be SCS and Rogue Rebalancing (if you like thievery). Unfinished Business packs are kinda meh (I like the BG1 UB and only some modules of the BG2 one). I prefer to play the games as a single experience rather than making it a massive single game.

I decided over 15 years ago not to play BG ever again with mods after sinking hundreds of hours in to find a game breaking glitch. Every once in a while I get the urge to try again and usually give up as the sites are always down, links don't work, or installation of mods followed exactly always fail. So you'd expect me to say how fantastic Beamdog are; but at this point they're just another modding site with paid mods. I was browsing yesterday and was still seeing modders talking about having to update to version 2.5 for EE games.

So even though somebody called me retarded for not reporting EE bugs (it's the fault of people like me for not reporting them) I still think it's quicker to install the originals, and a few mods in the order you know they work, than it is to tackle Beamdogs latest patch and have to fire up modding tools to fix all of thier shit.

 

[Lilura]

As for mods (BG), all you need really is the fixpack and tweakpack.

They are not must-haves. Only one of my 100 BG write-ups was written based on a fixpack installation. Also, there is not just one fixpack so stop saying "the" fixpack, you 2008 newfag.

Optional (but recommended) would be SCS and Rogue Rebalancing (if you like thievery).

It's a big jump from fixpacks to SCS + Rogue Rebalancing. The guy was asking for "little tweaks". That said, this BG2 setup is stable when I ironed out its kinks (highlighted in red). And here is a solid setup for the original BG, recently posted.

 

[oldmanpaco]

I know this question is being asked every 10 pages on this and similar threads, but what can you do. What's the optimal [current year] setup to play both games (probably with exporting if that works okay) without any derpy additional content, but all the much needed improvements like resolution patches and bug fixes? My loose impression is that all these enhanced editions of IE games are for fags, yes? If so then then what's the gentlemans kit for the good playthrough now days? (also for IW series)

All you need is a fixpack, widescreen mod, Tweeks anthology, and SCS. All from g3. Exporting can get broked with mods though.

 

[TemplarGR]

now you have to look in computer shops and buy old used windows xp machines in order to play originals

The original are so low in requirements that he could probably just create a Windows 98/XP virtualbox and play them there.