Yes, there's issues with targeting, but really, once you've figured out how to use the pause function, it's not that much of a problem, I'm having an absolute blast. And they're working on it as we speak.
I haven't looked all over this forum för bug list, so I apologize now if I'm repeating things that have already been said.
My over all opinion of the ipad version of the game is very positive. Very few bugs and the fantastic opotunity to play this fabulous game on a handheld is a god gift. One thing I found to be a very pleasant surprice is that they kept the BG 1 graphics for objects. I vould have expected that the BG 2 engine would bring it's graphics, with amn style of weapons and shields. Also I actually think the whole game play experience is really good. A lot of people have problem wiht clicking and aiming on the ipad, but I think you get used to it very quick.
These are some of the bugs that I've run into so far, and that I haven't seen mentioned. I don't know if these are unique to the ipad. 1. The journal. It's unreadable as you can't scroll it without clicking to edit. 2. The quest list doesn't update properly. Several quests semms not to be tied to the correct solution so that you solve a quest but it's not erased from the quest list. 3. Some caracters (this might not be a bug but actually be the same in the original) seem to have the wrong proficiencies. Both Minsc and Kivan have points in two weapon style, but none in two hand weapon style. This can't be correct, is it? 4. The icons for aiming doesn't always work right. When attacking with weapons and spells the are displayed, but when you use wands or scrolls they don't. This is a little bit confusing. Some ocational crashes happen, for example when picking up that for some reason famous rat.
2) This is likely not an issue with BG:EE but more likely an issue with the original version of the game itself. Beamdog wasn't allowed to change anything with the story or game play of the original released game, so I would suspect that any issues with the content of the story or how that content plays out in the interface is a problem in the original game, not with the BG:EE Code. Is there a specific quest you're thinking about? Can someone confirm that quest works properly in the original game but not here in BG:EE?
3) I seem to remember this from the original game as well. Don't rangers get an automatic proficiency in 2 weapon style in Second Edition Rules? I seem to remember they do. I don't believe this was a "spent" proficiency, just something that Rangers automatically get as part of their kit.
4) This is the second time I've seen this complaint, adding as a bug.
Re: Picking up the rat? Yea, it's been reported and added already. There's an open thread right now about it where someone is saying they have no problem with it. That may make it a bug specific to a version or another open app. Can you check out the thread and give more information?
This archaic system is slowly growing on me, and the gameplay and characters are great. I couldn't put it down for about 5 hours today, I guess a great game is a great game.
Huge respect to @TrentOster, this must have been a massive undertaking with a small team. It seems to be doing well, and I hope the money made is (A) enjoyed and (B) used to massively improve the look and UI for BG2EE. I don't see why they can't learn a great deal from the experience, and use it to make BG2EE the definitive game on the iPad (until Trent makes BG3 at least). Even less than stellar options (avernum et al) seem to understand UI basics better, but the team is staying loyal to the old interface, and I respect that, but sometimes, is there such a thing as too loyal?
I think we discovered 2-3 years ago with Broken Sword and Monkey Island SE that the tablet platform is perfect for adventure gaming. I think what we're seeing now is that it's pretty gosh darned good for an isometric RPG. With the upcoming Ravensword, and with the app store size limit, I think too much space is being used for graphics instead of a deep layered experience where choice matters. But BGEE shows us that an isometric RPG (and I hope they get more beautiful in the future, and I do understand the sprites would have been too much work to re-work) is perfect for the tablet platform. Sure it needs a few tweaks, but game co's will learn fast, and in a perfect world, I'd have an alternative Isometric spinoff (back to the original format rather) of Fallout on my iPad from Bethesda, and Mass Effect from Bioware. Makes more sense to me than MMORPGS which demand so much of your time it makes no sense, and it's just grinding. An RPG should be about choice, reaction, and battle - it has to be your game.
I hate the free to play and buy many tokens approach to gaming - I understand it, but I'm old fashioned. Give me something great, and give it to me all, and I'll pay you once upfront. And then just make sure you keep the updates coming.
Anyways, I don't know where I just traipsed off too, but so far, I love the game. and considering I've spent upto 3 minutes entering buildings and finding stairs, I'm still hooked - and without the exploit (stand near loot and go to inventory and it'll show up as the ground's inventory), I'd have about half the loot. I know Trent and the team will get this fixed (read his post about the radius system? - that should solve it all), so no worries. I'm just learning the game. By the time I get into the meat of it, I trust the BD team to have it all resolved. They've been extremely transparent and great thus far, so I believe it'll continue on the same.
I hope they use the money they earn on this game to really really make BG2EE a better evolution in every way, because we're pretty close to nirvana on the iPad. Max the use of the retina ipad (and high res androids, forget the 4 year old hardware), update the sprites - please don't give me gladiatorial combat as a free expansion (I didn't play an rpg to kill monsters in an arena endlessly) - put that time and effort getting the core game as beautiful as possible - I think BG and BG2 have been expanded adequately already (SoB ToB) - save the ideas for BG3, or something original. Maybe uninformed, but my 2 cents.
I felt BGEE was 20 percent away from being a piece of moving art. Close but not close enough. Maybe it's not possible, I'm not an expert.
PS - I don't wanna be snobby, and please don't take it as such. I understand that game co's want to support as many devices as possible for max sales, but in this day and age of rapid advancement, I hope the the game isn't dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, because the experience has to be great and can't be compromised. Also, I hope apple raises the size limit on the app store above 2 GB so great devs like Trent and Cameron can really get into it.
Bottom line. Lying on my couch traversing the mines on a screen in my lap through just my finger was just simply mindblowing. Wow.
2. I'm not saying the quests don't work, but that the quest list doesn't update properly. For example captain Brage. I've reterned him to Nashkel, but still his quest remains in my list of unresolved quests with some of the hints given. Volos story of Brage, general rumour. At the same time I have a post in my solved quests that is called brages life spared. The same thing with most side quests. I think the original game just listed all hints on quests in a long unsorted cronological list, so we can't really compare with that.
First of all, I played BG when it was released and all the Infinity Engine games. Huge fan. That said, the issues with the iPad need work. As it stands we have a diamond in the rough; however, right now it is pretty much unplayable. Two things that are essential for this to be even remotely playable: 1. There must be a way to highlight interactive items like doors, containers, and such. I know it would give away hidden areas, but the tradeoff is essential. There are buildings and containers that you would currently have no idea that you can interact with it. 2. There needs to be an option to make the conversational font larger. If you played BG when it came out, then it is likely your eyesight is not that great. On the iPad you will miss key conversation points. There are certainly other things that were implemented that should have options to disable such as the different colors under the PCs. I have targeted spellcasters as enemies since the red underneath looks too much like enemies. Now that the bad is out of the way, the good is that it is BG on the iPad. In my opinion it is the best CRPG out there. I can recall quitting World of Warcraft and started up a new game of BG. It was like coming in from the cold and relaxing by the fire. It truly is a wonderful game. The only problem is the interface for the iPad is too much of a port from the PC. There must, and I really stress must, be allowances and considerations for the smaller screen of the iPad and the lack of a mouse. Meanwhile, I will play Sid Myer's Pirates until these problems get ironed out (hopefully not with Iron Throne iron).
From the above link: Trent: "To resolve this we changed conversation choices to allow you to move around your selection and pick then you lift off. The selection to be chosen is highlighted."
What Trent is saying is that it's already implemented that way. Just tap and hold, then move between the dialog options without lifting your finger. This does nothing for people who have problems with font size though...
The iPad version is a more or less straight port of the desktop version, and it shows. The game is playable and enjoyable enough, but it constantly reminds you that you are not playing something designed for a touch interface tablet. There are some bugs and oddities that suggest that testing of the iPad version was not especially thorough. I don't see any critical problems that make it unplayable or unenjoyable on the iPad, but it is clearly not a first-class gaming experience. Part of this is due to the age of the original game and part of it is due to the iPad adaptation.
To make it a first-class tablet application, I think the interface needs to be re-evaluated from top to bottom. One example of how targeting and selection (probably the biggest problem) might be improved would be to replace tap-to-target with release to target. For example, touching the screen would display a crosshair showing where you are going to move/target/grab. You can then drag the crosshair around with your finger, and release when you are over top of your target. When you would target a specific creature, container, exit, or item on the ground rather than just a patch of ground, the item itself would be highlighted or the crosshair graphic would change (e.g. to a door icon to indicate you would head through a door, a sword icon to indicate you would attack, etc.) Releasing your finger would commit the action, and dragging it off the screen would abort.
The above example may or may not be the right way to do it, but to make it a true tablet application, all of the UI conventions that were built around a point/hover/click model need to be re-examined in that kind of way.
The interface is also unforgiving in some interesting ways. For example, I find it easy to mistakenly tap the rest button, which automatically makes you rest. Most actions don't commit until you unpause the game, but resting seems to happen automatically. An "are you sure you want to rest" popup might be in order. Likewise, I think it might be better if the game auto-paused upon loading or upon entry into a new area. The limitations of the iPad generally require a slower and more deliberate play style, which is not a bad thing per se, but it requires different defaults from the more fluid, real-timey style allowed by the desktop version.
Overall, I would suggest getting the iPad version if you specifically want to play it on the iPad, but I can't imagine the overall experience being as good as the desktop version, because it isn't a native tablet -- let alone specifically iPad -- application.
Another thought about targeting: the game should probably auto-pause during any targeting operation and then auto-resume (if it wasn't manually paused) when the target is selected. This would prevent the player from having to manually pause-target-unpause each time. Since it is very difficult to target anything when unpaused, pausing during targeting operations is the norm, and making the game pause and unpause automatically would make play more fluid.
The game plays as well as can be expected. Definitely not unplayable or unenjoyable as some people say. Graphics are quite bad compared to pc but that is understandable and okay in my book. Having this grand game on a portable ipad is really a joy.
My only dissatisfaction is patches running late for the ipad. New patches really improved the pc version in so many ways that ipad version can't compete, really. Yeah I know the trouble about the app store and stuff..but still it makes me a tad sad.
I too find this version fun, but a real hassle to play. Picking up treasure, entering buildings, all the stupid stuff people keep mentioning. How about just a button that makes the selected character pu the nearest pile? Goto nearest exit? I imagine there was some vigorous debate within Beamdog on whether this version was ready for prime time. It isn't. Then I keep hearing graphics are much better on PC. This iPad 3 has Infinity Blade and Arkham Asylum on it. But a water texture, spell effect, or a little AA bogs down the iPad? I can't believe this is a platform limitation. So, yeah, it's only a matter of time before I plunk down for the PC version as well. In hindsight, i'd not have purchased the iPad release. It's just way too fiddly.
I too find this version fun, but a real hassle to play. Picking up treasure, entering buildings, all the stupid stuff people keep mentioning. How about just a button that makes the selected character pu the nearest pile? Goto nearest exit? I imagine there was some vigorous debate within Beamdog on whether this version was ready for prime time. It isn't. Then I keep hearing graphics are much better on PC. This iPad 3 has Infinity Blade and Arkham Asylum on it. But a water texture, spell effect, or a little AA bogs down the iPad? I can't believe this is a platform limitation. So, yeah, it's only a matter of time before I plunk down for the PC version as well. In hindsight, i'd not have purchased the iPad release. It's just way too fiddly.
Here's where I come in and say "Patience is a virtue."
They have a fix already in the game for "picking up stuff" and "going to the nearest exit" (or at least mostly), it's been identified and in game now for weeks.
The problem is getting a patch to this game through Apple, NOT Beamdog releasing the patch. Keep in mind this patch also supposedly supports iOS 5 users (unclear if that means iPad 1 or just iOS 5 on iPad2 and up)...so this has some significant changes in it. The app store is on a freeze right now, meaning there's no way to GET a patch through.
Get past this Christmas holiday thing and let the developers slow down a couple minutes with all the various releases and I'm guessing you'll see more steady patch deployments between systems.
As to "water texture" and AOE bogging down the software, that's a GAME problem not a Beamdog problem. That issue was there in the original and is part of the original code, not part of what Beamdog added. You're STILL asking an almost 15 year old game to play well...that can be challenging.
Give it a patch or two and see what your opinion is then...as you even said...a couple patches made a world of difference in the PC version.
Playing on an Ipad4 for a couple of days now. Bravo! It plays very well and it is more polished than I expected. I already got my $10 worth.
There are only a couple of things that I would like improved. Grabbing fallen loot requires you to essentially zoom in, grab loot, then zoom out. It is perfectly manageable, but can be improved. Also, sometimes entering a building is challenging. If I have trouble, I zoom in, and click on the sweet spot, which I already have the hang of doing after a couple of days.
Only other tip is to save before entering a new zone, as the game can crash if it exceeds memory.
Looking forward to BG2, and if you can get license to do Icewind Dale too, that would rock.
Comments
And they're working on it as we speak.
It's not as bad as some make it sound.
My over all opinion of the ipad version of the game is very positive. Very few bugs and the fantastic opotunity to play this fabulous game on a handheld is a god gift. One thing I found to be a very pleasant surprice is that they kept the BG 1 graphics for objects. I vould have expected that the BG 2 engine would bring it's graphics, with amn style of weapons and shields. Also I actually think the whole game play experience is really good. A lot of people have problem wiht clicking and aiming on the ipad, but I think you get used to it very quick.
These are some of the bugs that I've run into so far, and that I haven't seen mentioned. I don't know if these are unique to the ipad.
1. The journal. It's unreadable as you can't scroll it without clicking to edit.
2. The quest list doesn't update properly. Several quests semms not to be tied to the correct solution so that you solve a quest but it's not erased from the quest list.
3. Some caracters (this might not be a bug but actually be the same in the original) seem to have the wrong proficiencies. Both Minsc and Kivan have points in two weapon style, but none in two hand weapon style. This can't be correct, is it?
4. The icons for aiming doesn't always work right. When attacking with weapons and spells the are displayed, but when you use wands or scrolls they don't. This is a little bit confusing.
Some ocational crashes happen, for example when picking up that for some reason famous rat.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11786/know-bugs-and-issues-with-bgee-ipad
Comments on your items:
1) Adding this.
2) This is likely not an issue with BG:EE but more likely an issue with the original version of the game itself. Beamdog wasn't allowed to change anything with the story or game play of the original released game, so I would suspect that any issues with the content of the story or how that content plays out in the interface is a problem in the original game, not with the BG:EE Code. Is there a specific quest you're thinking about? Can someone confirm that quest works properly in the original game but not here in BG:EE?
3) I seem to remember this from the original game as well. Don't rangers get an automatic proficiency in 2 weapon style in Second Edition Rules? I seem to remember they do. I don't believe this was a "spent" proficiency, just something that Rangers automatically get as part of their kit.
4) This is the second time I've seen this complaint, adding as a bug.
Re: Picking up the rat? Yea, it's been reported and added already. There's an open thread right now about it where someone is saying they have no problem with it. That may make it a bug specific to a version or another open app. Can you check out the thread and give more information?
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11827/clicking-boo-crashes-the-game
Huge respect to @TrentOster, this must have been a massive undertaking with a small team. It seems to be doing well, and I hope the money made is (A) enjoyed and (B) used to massively improve the look and UI for BG2EE. I don't see why they can't learn a great deal from the experience, and use it to make BG2EE the definitive game on the iPad (until Trent makes BG3 at least). Even less than stellar options (avernum et al) seem to understand UI basics better, but the team is staying loyal to the old interface, and I respect that, but sometimes, is there such a thing as too loyal?
I think we discovered 2-3 years ago with Broken Sword and Monkey Island SE that the tablet platform is perfect for adventure gaming. I think what we're seeing now is that it's pretty gosh darned good for an isometric RPG. With the upcoming Ravensword, and with the app store size limit, I think too much space is being used for graphics instead of a deep layered experience where choice matters. But BGEE shows us that an isometric RPG (and I hope they get more beautiful in the future, and I do understand the sprites would have been too much work to re-work) is perfect for the tablet platform. Sure it needs a few tweaks, but game co's will learn fast, and in a perfect world, I'd have an alternative Isometric spinoff (back to the original format rather) of Fallout on my iPad from Bethesda, and Mass Effect from Bioware. Makes more sense to me than MMORPGS which demand so much of your time it makes no sense, and it's just grinding. An RPG should be about choice, reaction, and battle - it has to be your game.
I hate the free to play and buy many tokens approach to gaming - I understand it, but I'm old fashioned. Give me something great, and give it to me all, and I'll pay you once upfront. And then just make sure you keep the updates coming.
Anyways, I don't know where I just traipsed off too, but so far, I love the game. and considering I've spent upto 3 minutes entering buildings and finding stairs, I'm still hooked - and without the exploit (stand near loot and go to inventory and it'll show up as the ground's inventory), I'd have about half the loot. I know Trent and the team will get this fixed (read his post about the radius system? - that should solve it all), so no worries. I'm just learning the game. By the time I get into the meat of it, I trust the BD team to have it all resolved. They've been extremely transparent and great thus far, so I believe it'll continue on the same.
I hope they use the money they earn on this game to really really make BG2EE a better evolution in every way, because we're pretty close to nirvana on the iPad. Max the use of the retina ipad (and high res androids, forget the 4 year old hardware), update the sprites - please don't give me gladiatorial combat as a free expansion (I didn't play an rpg to kill monsters in an arena endlessly) - put that time and effort getting the core game as beautiful as possible - I think BG and BG2 have been expanded adequately already (SoB ToB) - save the ideas for BG3, or something original. Maybe uninformed, but my 2 cents.
I felt BGEE was 20 percent away from being a piece of moving art. Close but not close enough. Maybe it's not possible, I'm not an expert.
PS - I don't wanna be snobby, and please don't take it as such. I understand that game co's want to support as many devices as possible for max sales, but in this day and age of rapid advancement, I hope the the game isn't dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, because the experience has to be great and can't be compromised. Also, I hope apple raises the size limit on the app store above 2 GB so great devs like Trent and Cameron can really get into it.
Bottom line. Lying on my couch traversing the mines on a screen in my lap through just my finger was just simply mindblowing. Wow.
Post of the day, in my opinion.
Well said!
2. I'm not saying the quests don't work, but that the quest list doesn't update properly. For example captain Brage. I've reterned him to Nashkel, but still his quest remains in my list of unresolved quests with some of the hints given. Volos story of Brage, general rumour. At the same time I have a post in my solved quests that is called brages life spared. The same thing with most side quests. I think the original game just listed all hints on quests in a long unsorted cronological list, so we can't really compare with that.
Anyone? Can we confirm?
@BaronVH
The next patch, which should be released next Friday or the Monday after (
1) A smart radius should be add to help to interact with items ( http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11786/know-bugs-and-issues-with-bgee-ipad/ second comment of Trent Oster ). It will not show the the transitions area but for the items, you have the " Help Tool " button.
2) Some modification will be add to the conversation ( http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11786/know-bugs-and-issues-with-bgee-ipad/ first comment of Trent Oster )
3) I did heard nothing about the circle for the moment.
Trent:
"To resolve this we changed conversation choices to allow you to move around your selection and pick then you lift off. The selection to be chosen is highlighted."
What Trent is saying is that it's already implemented that way. Just tap and hold, then move between the dialog options without lifting your finger.
This does nothing for people who have problems with font size though...
To make it a first-class tablet application, I think the interface needs to be re-evaluated from top to bottom. One example of how targeting and selection (probably the biggest problem) might be improved would be to replace tap-to-target with release to target. For example, touching the screen would display a crosshair showing where you are going to move/target/grab. You can then drag the crosshair around with your finger, and release when you are over top of your target. When you would target a specific creature, container, exit, or item on the ground rather than just a patch of ground, the item itself would be highlighted or the crosshair graphic would change (e.g. to a door icon to indicate you would head through a door, a sword icon to indicate you would attack, etc.) Releasing your finger would commit the action, and dragging it off the screen would abort.
The above example may or may not be the right way to do it, but to make it a true tablet application, all of the UI conventions that were built around a point/hover/click model need to be re-examined in that kind of way.
The interface is also unforgiving in some interesting ways. For example, I find it easy to mistakenly tap the rest button, which automatically makes you rest. Most actions don't commit until you unpause the game, but resting seems to happen automatically. An "are you sure you want to rest" popup might be in order. Likewise, I think it might be better if the game auto-paused upon loading or upon entry into a new area. The limitations of the iPad generally require a slower and more deliberate play style, which is not a bad thing per se, but it requires different defaults from the more fluid, real-timey style allowed by the desktop version.
Overall, I would suggest getting the iPad version if you specifically want to play it on the iPad, but I can't imagine the overall experience being as good as the desktop version, because it isn't a native tablet -- let alone specifically iPad -- application.
My only dissatisfaction is patches running late for the ipad. New patches really improved the pc version in so many ways that ipad version can't compete, really. Yeah I know the trouble about the app store and stuff..but still it makes me a tad sad.
Then I keep hearing graphics are much better on PC. This iPad 3 has Infinity Blade and Arkham Asylum on it. But a water texture, spell effect, or a little AA bogs down the iPad? I can't believe this is a platform limitation.
So, yeah, it's only a matter of time before I plunk down for the PC version as well. In hindsight, i'd not have purchased the iPad release. It's just way too fiddly.
They have a fix already in the game for "picking up stuff" and "going to the nearest exit" (or at least mostly), it's been identified and in game now for weeks.
The problem is getting a patch to this game through Apple, NOT Beamdog releasing the patch. Keep in mind this patch also supposedly supports iOS 5 users (unclear if that means iPad 1 or just iOS 5 on iPad2 and up)...so this has some significant changes in it. The app store is on a freeze right now, meaning there's no way to GET a patch through.
Get past this Christmas holiday thing and let the developers slow down a couple minutes with all the various releases and I'm guessing you'll see more steady patch deployments between systems.
As to "water texture" and AOE bogging down the software, that's a GAME problem not a Beamdog problem. That issue was there in the original and is part of the original code, not part of what Beamdog added. You're STILL asking an almost 15 year old game to play well...that can be challenging.
Give it a patch or two and see what your opinion is then...as you even said...a couple patches made a world of difference in the PC version.
There are only a couple of things that I would like improved. Grabbing fallen loot requires you to essentially zoom in, grab loot, then zoom out. It is perfectly manageable, but can be improved. Also, sometimes entering a building is challenging. If I have trouble, I zoom in, and click on the sweet spot, which I already have the hang of doing after a couple of days.
Only other tip is to save before entering a new zone, as the game can crash if it exceeds memory.
Looking forward to BG2, and if you can get license to do Icewind Dale too, that would rock.