I hate companions.

rlterry

Seriously. It feels like baby sitting. Even with scripts I can't play my main guy without one of them dying. Then I just end up dragging around a grey portrait and gear I can't sell.

Is there a downside to not having a full party other than difficulty?

Is there a list somewhere telling you what characters you will NEED in order to complete certain quest?

I'd seriously rather run around solo but I have read the game wasn't ment to be played that way and you will miss out on huge amount of content if you do.

LordsDarkKnight185

You can start a multiplayer game, it will run like a single-player game, and create a custom 6-man party.

RomulanPaladin

Once I made a mod for an innate spell that "summoned" your party. I would go soloing around the area and, when it was time to leave, I cast the spell to bring them to me. I wonder where those files went off to...

Chow

You'll miss out on all the character personalities and how they work together, which at least for me would be a big minus.

LordsDarkKnight185 said:

You can start a multiplayer game, it will run like a single-player game, and create a custom 6-man party.

That'd be beside the point. The problem was that characters keep dying, and having a custom party won't change it.

MedullaOblongata

You can start a multiplayer game, and I will steal everything

raywind

You can easily run it solo without party like i allways do.

and_then_or

I don't know about content, but I'm doing a solo run now. I'm amazed at how easy it can be. Of course foreknowlege is critical. Knowing what encounters to avoid, where and when to get magical items and so forth.

If you've not run through the game two or three times then I would reccomend against soloing. As far as keeping your peeps alive, I think that is more about learning the interface and the game. If your mages keep running into mele, change thier ai scrpits. You do that by hitting 'r' (brings up character info) 'customize', 'scripts'

I've played through maybe 8-10 times over the years. Many battles just owned me. Then I learned the tactics needed to overcome the difficult areas from people far better at this game than I am. I guess all computer games are like that.

Relax, enjoy the frustration and role-play your character. Immerse yourself in the world and story. Then when you become the Duke of Castle Kickass it will be that much sweeter.

Jalily

rlterry said:

Even with scripts I can't play my main guy without one of them dying.

Are you not controlling your other party members at all? Scripts are meant to cut down on micromanagement, not eliminate the need for it entirely. You're meant to frequently pause the game and issue orders to people.

rlterry

Jalily said:

rlterry said:

Even with scripts I can't play my main guy without one of them dying.

Are you not controlling your other party members at all? Scripts are meant to cut down on micromanagement, not eliminate the need for it entirely. You're meant to frequently pause the game and issue orders to people.

I try not to. I only want to roleplay 1 guy. Not an entire party. I think ima start over and solo thief for my first play through... should make the game take awhile.

rlterry

Jalily said:

rlterry said:

Even with scripts I can't play my main guy without one of them dying.

Are you not controlling your other party members at all? Scripts are meant to cut down on micromanagement, not eliminate the need for it entirely. You're meant to frequently pause the game and issue orders to people.

I try not to. I only want to roleplay 1 guy. Not an entire party. I think ima start over and solo thief for my first play through... should make the game take awhile.

rlterry

Jalily said:

rlterry said:

Even with scripts I can't play my main guy without one of them dying.

Are you not controlling your other party members at all? Scripts are meant to cut down on micromanagement, not eliminate the need for it entirely. You're meant to frequently pause the game and issue orders to people.

I try not to. I only want to roleplay 1 guy. Not an entire party. I think ima start over and solo thief for my first play through... should make the game take awhile.

DJKajuru

In that case, soloing is a nice alternative. You said you wanna be a thief , and that's quite fun - focus first on stealth and trap removing, and by the end of chapter 2 you'll already be a 9th level thief with all the skills you want.

rlterry

Im gonna do that. Thank you.

LiamEsler

@rlterry Why not install something that'd help you focus on just your own character? http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11375/bp-series-party-ai-scripts-for-bgee-non-weidu-available

ajwz

Learn to use space to pause. That should help

ImTheLaw

Make a character a lot less powerful, you'll need companions!

In my case, I usually give all the best magic items to CHARNAME, he becomes overpowerful and the other party members almost useless...

Madhax

The NPCs are less important in BG1 in terms of story value. I wouldn't say that you're missing that much by not taking them, but I would strongly urge you to change your tune for BG2. The NPCs of BG2 have much more depth of character, and often provide you with large quests that you can't do without them. Plus, by the end of the game they'll have such a wide variety of skills that you'd only be scratching the surface of what the series has to offer combat-wise if you only play one class.

This game is meant to have you equally micromanaging a party of six people. It isn't meant to be played like Mass Effect or KOTOR. I hope you come around to that line of thinking, because the series is quite rewarding when you get into it.

Messi

rlterry said:

Seriously. It feels like baby sitting. Even with scripts I can't play my main guy without one of them dying. Then I just end up dragging around a grey portrait and gear I can't sell.

Is there a downside to not having a full party other than difficulty?

Is there a list somewhere telling you what characters you will NEED in order to complete certain quest?

I'd seriously rather run around solo but I have read the game wasn't ment to be played that way and you will miss out on huge amount of content if you do.

You do realize that you are meant to manage all 6 of them not just your main right? Scripts are only there to allow some automatization for the most meanial tasks like changing targets, etc.

ARKdeEREH

I usually play with 2-3 characters in my party and find it much more fun than playing with 6. Part of this is because I don't want to babysit the characters, like you're saying. I also find it difficult in an annoying way to get 6 characters through places where I'm fighting large groups of opponents and finesse is required.

Of course, this means that I miss out on some of the NPC interactions, but at the same time it means that I enjoy the overall game much more and essentially get more time with my favorite NPCs. I can also get better gear faster because I can sell everything that those few people don't use.

I certainly could play solo, and I have done so in the past, but the reason I like Baldur's Gate more than games like Oblivion is because of the NPCs and their interaction with my PC. If I didn't have any NPCs there wouldn't really be a point to playing Baldur's Gate as I could do the same thing better in other games.

CoryNewb

You can boot any or all your companions at any point. Your exp is leveled up faster because it isn't divided out. The downside, you have to be a one men wrecking crew and some battles are tough like that.