i think BG:EE is OK you can play it on tablet ipoad ipad ithings
for powergaming/more story adventure ofc BGT + MODS is way better because modders (plural) can put thousands of hours into this and make new everything for 10 years
Arf arf arf! Even the harshest sounding criticism may contain something that should be heard - and it's always something for the devs to think about.
Because of economic reasons and conflicting initial reports of bugs and compatibility issues(!!!) in BGEE, I just went and bought the original collection. But it was also the BGEE hype that made me interested in the series. I had watched a couple of BGEE videos from youtube - this brilliant chap whose youtube account name starts with "K" is doing a let' s play - so I thought, "Well, this looks ok, I'll just buy the original collection!" While the said turnip installation wasn't smooth, it took less time than finding just the perfect custom portrait.
As for BGEE, from what little I have seen, Dorn looks cool, and so does one of the new female player portraits. But hype and all the good vibes... they are priceless, and surely overshadow any problems that BGEE may have!
@shawne Part of the reason BG1NPC is taking so long is that I'm ensuring there are systems set up for other people to make their mods compatible in the future.
@scrawnypaws I agree about the balance of power due to Dorn's stats, and the new area art doesn't look very good but I disagree that it wasn't worth it.
Even if you hated everything about BG:EE, the cost of the game bought you an updated engine. With the updates they are doing to the engine (and will, hopefully, continue to do in BG2:EE), you'll eventually be able to play BGT in the EE engine, and that's a good thing.
The OP comes across as troll-ish though... especially considering how he praised all the *sound of record skipping* high quality free content for BG? If you've got a discerning enough eye to notice the low resolution area textures and trite writing in the EE.. I don't see how you stomached ~85% of the user made content out there. It doesn't fit with the theme, power curve, writing, aesthetic or design of the original game. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Which, coincidentally, is why it's so satisfying to put together a well curated megamod. That's a topic for another time tho..
@scrawnypaws I agree about the balance of power due to Dorn's stats, and the new area art doesn't look very good but I disagree that it wasn't worth it.
Even if you hated everything about BG:EE, the cost of the game bought you an updated engine. With the updates they are doing to the engine (and will, hopefully, continue to do in BG2:EE), you'll eventually be able to play BGT in the EE engine, and that's a good thing.
The OP comes across as troll-ish though... especially considering how he praised all the *sound of record skipping* high quality free content for BG? If you've got a discerning enough eye to notice the low resolution area textures and trite writing in the EE.. I don't see how you stomached ~85% of the user made content out there. It doesn't fit with the theme, power curve, writing, aesthetic or design of the original game. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Which, coincidentally, is why it's so satisfying to put together a well curated megamod. That's a topic for another time tho..
Thank you all for your comments, even those I don't quite agree with. Lemme try summing it up. We were promised a new and improved body for our beloved Chevy Thunderbird 1964 and an age cure that would turn her into an 8-cyl hotrod. Correct?
Somewhere along the way it turned out the blueprints were lost so it's still the same ole body (oldies but goldies, as they say - and looking at the sales, they well may be:)), sorry folks. The 8-cyl is actually a trike (multiplayer not working?). But hey, ain't she sweet?!
Yeah, she sure is. Always was.
2 AGRIS:
"Even if you hated everything about BG:EE, the cost of the game bought you an updated engine." - No, I didn't say that. And no, it didn't get me or you a new engine. It got THEM a new engine.
Beamdog has written a new engine (BTW why? there are so many now, and superior ones to boot) and we've all financed it. The game IS essentially the same BG1, right? Those telling me they've spent many a happy hour with it (and so I should shut up) kinda forget that that experience has been crafted by someone else in 1998, not Beamdog.
Yes, it does load fast - once you're pas that "connecting" screen. But you know what? GOG version DLs in minutes, installs in 60secs and does load fast, too. And so on. And somebody, point out that part in my post where I said ALL WAS BAD?
But let's not confuse things. I don't mind people writing engines. There are many similar campaigns on Kickstarter. I don't mind donating either, should someone asks me. If Beamdog ran a money raising campain -sure, why not?
What I do mind is being promised ONE thing and given ANOTHER. And people telling me that's alright.
Were they ready on the release day? No. What would be an honest solution? Suck it in, pay penalties but don't pass the cost of your bad decisions onto customers. What would you say if Toyota would play the same trick with your beloved truck? What if the SONY TV you've just bought wouldn't turn on? Unthinkable, isn't it? And so on...
Why is it different here? And please, none of that "young industry" rant. There are people who were concieved, grew up, entered workforce market AND even begot their own kids since ATARI "helped defining computer games industry in the 1970s -1980s" -heh
So, is BG a good game? Yep! But it WAS NOT created by Beamdog. Why should I love them for smething they didn't do?
Are there some minor tech improvements? Sure there are. Are they the Promised Land we were er...promised? I'll let you answer it. Are they worth my $20? Not to me. Is Beamdog performance subpar? The answer probably depends on whether the respondent still lives with his/her parents
I wish them luck with BG2:EE, but I wouldn't put all my money on that horse. Come to think, I won't bet at all.
Some decent points. Personally I would never have paid $20 for this version (which is basically just a jumped up 'mod' in my opinion). Due to mod compatibility BG Tutu is actually a superior version.
I paid $6 for BG:EE, and more than anything else that's to support Beamdog.
I would say it depends the way the project is about to be updated.
I was very disappointed when I paid the $20 for this game when I saw how broken things were during the release. Game overall stability was quickly improved, and patch corrected many things, though also breaking new things.
If they are not blocked by ATARI or WoTC, let's see how they can fix this game, because BG is always BG, and BG:EE is far less of a pain to play and to install.
Concerning rushed cinematics, it's something that can't be forgiven, but let's hope they have time to fix this (will they ?).
That said, the current state of this project will prevent me to buy BG2:EE, at least as long as BG:EE is not polished.
Also, to buy BG2:EE, there's need to have a lot of added value, because there's no much improvement - except the widescreen mod - that can be added to this game.
I have to say that I'm less excited about BGEE2 than I was for BGEE. Why? Because I play BG2 unmodded, and it's awesome. BG needs far more work in my opinion to be a great game (it's still a good game). I mod it with Tutu and NPC project. These make it on par with BG2 for me, and it's not as good without them. BGEE added a form of tutu that's very nice and fixes some little graphic problems I had with the original (reverting helmets and female dwarves with beards) However they were not allowed to add NPC project because of their contract. I have read that they originally wanted to do so. I can only imagine how amazing this game would have been had they been allowed to do more to "enhance" it. I still like the game and its worth $20 to me.
I like the game, too. Right now I'm playing BGT (on BG2 engine), the first part, and it's as good as BG:EE --bacause it's still the same game. It loads in seconds on Win7, and is very stable, too. All bugs were weeded out by enthusiasts long time ago. And you can get it for $10.
The GOG page has all the instructions and links to DLs. Just keep hitting OK, is all.
I recently downloaded a game from GOG. I normally wouldn't download a free game, but this was Ultima 7 and I had some nostalgia to see it actually run on a Windows 7 PC. Well the "free" game added so many pop-ups to my browser and delays, and it stopped loading normally, and many more notices from Norton, that I just had Norton restore the machine today (that cost a lot of money). Adding to things, parts of the game never responded to my mouse and therefore was much trouble for nothing. Try to actually get help on their web site. To me it looks like an exercise in circular reasoning that appears to be intelligently designed. Really low quality service.
So if somebody has come on this forum with the plan to (not just criticize) but to relentlessly knock Beamdog and BGEE, let's realize that he's trying very hard to sell us something else.
I think it's unfair that people would report the original post or even accusing him of being a troll. His message came across as honest and as objective and rational as a human can try to be with a product he's not satisfied with.
I see BGEE as a rope that was set there to see if it was worth to climb to the top and release BG2EE. Personally, just for me, the UI and resolution changes are worth enough the money I paid, because old games can be quite painful to the eyes, especially with newer and bigger (wide)screens. I can see how the original poster expected more and it's totally understandable. I don't think that makes him a troll. I think that if I would have had the same expectations as him, I'd also be disappointed. But again, I believe that BGEE was just a taste of what's to come and the big thing will be BG2EE.
It's also possible that this is part of my own expectations, because I personally prefer BG2 a million times over the original, especially when it comes to combat, as high level casters make things very tactical and interesting. So I bought BGEE to see if I finally could get into the Sarevok hunting thing...and well, I found myself struggling to finish it and I even didn't play the game for 3-4 months after reaching Baldur's Gate until a few weeks ago that I decided to push myself to go for it. I had similar problems when I played the original many years ago.
So, all the additional content that BG2EE may include is welcome, but if someone does a modern reverse-TuTu (BG2 using BGEE content), I'd be happy enough already, as I just need the improved resolution.
I see BGEE as a rope that was set there to see if it was worth to climb to the top and release BG2EE.
Except that when Beamdog was promoting BG:EE, one thing that was constantly emphasized was that BG2:EE would happen no matter what, because the deal was for both games. BG:EE was never intended to be a "standalone" project.
I see BGEE as a rope that was set there to see if it was worth to climb to the top and release BG2EE.
Except that when Beamdog was promoting BG:EE, one thing that was constantly emphasized was that BG2:EE would happen no matter what, because the deal was for both games. BG:EE was never intended to be a "standalone" project.
As I said, it's how I see it. If BGEE would have been a disaster sales and popularity wise, BG2EE would have been released? I don't know the answer, but in this case, it doesn't really affect my opinion.
I think it'd have been better to develop both at same time and pack it together, so you have Baldur's Gate, Tales, Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal all under the same game. Then add a mini-adventure in between to see what happened.
@scrawnypaws I agree about the balance of power due to Dorn's stats, and the new area art doesn't look very good but I disagree that it wasn't worth it.
Even if you hated everything about BG:EE, the cost of the game bought you an updated engine. With the updates they are doing to the engine (and will, hopefully, continue to do in BG2:EE), you'll eventually be able to play BGT in the EE engine, and that's a good thing.
The OP comes across as troll-ish though... especially considering how he praised all the *sound of record skipping* high quality free content for BG? If you've got a discerning enough eye to notice the low resolution area textures and trite writing in the EE.. I don't see how you stomached ~85% of the user made content out there. It doesn't fit with the theme, power curve, writing, aesthetic or design of the original game. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Which, coincidentally, is why it's so satisfying to put together a well curated megamod. That's a topic for another time tho..
about the megamod installation
can someone tell me what mods should i install to have good installation not some crazy weird giant messed thing?
I think it'd have been better to develop both at same time and pack it together, so you have Baldur's Gate, Tales, Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal all under the same game. Then add a mini-adventure in between to see what happened.
Unless you want to sell the games for a lot less you just aren't going to make the tablet sales by selling the combined games together (at say $20 before DLC like Neera, Dorn, etc). Tablet games generally have a low price. They initially were aiming for tablet sales at launch, though I don't know if that has changed.
My personal opinion is that what many people dislike about the new NCPs is just the fact that they are... new. If they had been part of the original game, with the same characteristics, development, quests and dialogues they have now, nobody would have ever criticized them. But I honestly don't see how they don't fit with the game...
And talking about the new areas: I absolutely loved the Cloud Peaks. Finally some wilderness area that is a bit different from the others! The others are just a countless series of woods... and woods... and woods again... for me it was pleasant to see something new and different for once
I think it'd have been better to develop both at same time and pack it together, so you have Baldur's Gate, Tales, Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal all under the same game. Then add a mini-adventure in between to see what happened.
Unless you want to sell the games for a lot less you just aren't going to make the tablet sales by selling the combined games together (at say $20 before DLC like Neera, Dorn, etc). Tablet games generally have a low price. They initially were aiming for tablet sales at launch, though I don't know if that has changed.
I rather not say what I think of tablets and portable devices in the subject of gaming...
My personal opinion is that what many people dislike about the new NCPs is just the fact that they are... new. If they had been part of the original game, with the same characteristics, development, quests and dialogues they have now, nobody would have ever criticized them. But I honestly don't see how they don't fit with the game...
And talking about the new areas: I absolutely loved the Cloud Peaks. Finally some wilderness area that is a bit different from the others! The others are just a countless series of woods... and woods... and woods again... for me it was pleasant to see something new and different for once
And being new can be a negative thing, to say so. Pretty much everything about them is new and some may consider that it doesn't really fit the world as it is. In example, Neera has different portrait art style, a new class, a voice over that seems to fit very well a 2012 cartoon, etc. It feels out of place, so maybe that's why people don't like it so much. I don't mind Dorn, haven't really played with...Rasaad(?), but Neera feels out of place somehow. I'm not saying it's bad, just saying that she doesn't really seem to fit in there and I believe the voice has a lot to do with it.
I was about to write a full detailed description comparing current prices of BG1 on GOG and BGEE on ATARI and analysing whether the current (and potential future) additions made by the EE accounted for the extra $17.50, but screw it its all opinion anyway and mr/ms OP seems to have one that certainly won't be swayed, so all I'm going to say is I just timed how long it takes to go from clicking the Baldur's Gate icon on my desktop to actually playing the game, it took me 13 seconds... 13 SECONDS!! I'm happy with my purchase
My personal opinion is that what many people dislike about the new NCPs is just the fact that they are... new. If they had been part of the original game, with the same characteristics, development, quests and dialogues they have now, nobody would have ever criticized them. But I honestly don't see how they don't fit with the game...
And talking about the new areas: I absolutely loved the Cloud Peaks. Finally some wilderness area that is a bit different from the others! The others are just a countless series of woods... and woods... and woods again... for me it was pleasant to see something new and different for once
Hate to be a bother... But you forgot the other 3 forests.
2 Scooter: Win7, i7, 12GB RAM = 8 seconds total 2 zur312: GOG BG page lists the core install modules 2 Vishnu: I like your comparison to a rope. I have a better definition: bait and switch.
2 the emotional ones: if someone buys, say a Whirlpool dishwasher at Future Shop and gives it a 1 star review based on a personal experience - is this consumer a troll? According to you, yes.
So next time your brakes squirt fluid, please don't bitch about the warranty. Hey, cut the maker some slack - making good stuff is hard, isn't it?
New areas: A bit of wilderness - sure, I'm all for it. Just give it 5 more hours so it doesn't look like a rat's ass. As for Neera's level - try posting something like that say, at Conceptart forum, even as a newbee work and wait for comments. You'd be in a bit of surprise.
The only thing that really interested me in BG:EE was the iPad version, playing it on the go, before sleep. I would not have bought this if it only came out on pc, because my pc copy still works fine.
The iPad version was horrid at launch with bad touch controls, but they fixed that. I played until i started seeing spells like fireball and entangle, which brought the framerate to a crawl.
Also, the first quest in the game remains broken. And then there is the legal BS preventing them from bringing out the patch which was to fix all of these issues.
I agree... It wasn't worth it. Sorry ...
Edit: both bg1 and bg2 on gog.com for $10 and a list of mods that does pretty much al bg:ee does( and more ). Nice! I'll go play that.
Me neither. I remember nosing around on the net and it all looked so complicated so I said to myself, what the heck, I should pay $20 and have a great ride -heh
Comments
you can play it on tablet ipoad ipad ithings
for powergaming/more story adventure ofc BGT + MODS is way better because modders (plural) can put thousands of hours into this and make new everything for 10 years
so
BG:EE for mobile
BGT for PC
Because of economic reasons and conflicting initial reports of bugs and compatibility issues(!!!) in BGEE, I just went and bought the original collection. But it was also the BGEE hype that made me interested in the series. I had watched a couple of BGEE videos from youtube - this brilliant chap whose youtube account name starts with "K" is doing a let' s play - so I thought, "Well, this looks ok, I'll just buy the original collection!" While the said turnip installation wasn't smooth, it took less time than finding just the perfect custom portrait.
As for BGEE, from what little I have seen, Dorn looks cool, and so does one of the new female player portraits. But hype and all the good vibes... they are priceless, and surely overshadow any problems that BGEE may have!
Even if you hated everything about BG:EE, the cost of the game bought you an updated engine. With the updates they are doing to the engine (and will, hopefully, continue to do in BG2:EE), you'll eventually be able to play BGT in the EE engine, and that's a good thing.
The OP comes across as troll-ish though... especially considering how he praised all the *sound of record skipping* high quality free content for BG? If you've got a discerning enough eye to notice the low resolution area textures and trite writing in the EE.. I don't see how you stomached ~85% of the user made content out there. It doesn't fit with the theme, power curve, writing, aesthetic or design of the original game. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Which, coincidentally, is why it's so satisfying to put together a well curated megamod. That's a topic for another time tho..
...
*Makes far less than $20/hr*
We were promised a new and improved body for our beloved Chevy Thunderbird 1964 and an age cure that would turn her into an 8-cyl hotrod. Correct?
Somewhere along the way it turned out the blueprints were lost so it's still the same ole body (oldies but goldies, as they say - and looking at the sales, they well may be:)), sorry folks. The 8-cyl is actually a trike (multiplayer not working?). But hey, ain't she sweet?!
Yeah, she sure is. Always was.
2 AGRIS:
"Even if you hated everything about BG:EE, the cost of the game bought you an updated engine." - No, I didn't say that. And no, it didn't get me or you a new engine. It got THEM a new engine.
Beamdog has written a new engine (BTW why? there are so many now, and superior ones to boot) and we've all financed it. The game IS essentially the same BG1, right? Those telling me they've spent many a happy hour with it (and so I should shut up) kinda forget that that experience has been crafted by someone else in 1998, not Beamdog.
Yes, it does load fast - once you're pas that "connecting" screen. But you know what? GOG version DLs in minutes, installs in 60secs and does load fast, too. And so on. And somebody, point out that part in my post where I said ALL WAS BAD?
But let's not confuse things. I don't mind people writing engines. There are many similar campaigns on Kickstarter. I don't mind donating either, should someone asks me. If Beamdog ran a money raising campain -sure, why not?
What I do mind is being promised ONE thing and given ANOTHER. And people telling me that's alright.
Were they ready on the release day? No. What would be an honest solution? Suck it in, pay penalties but don't pass the cost of your bad decisions onto customers. What would you say if Toyota would play the same trick with your beloved truck? What if the SONY TV you've just bought wouldn't turn on? Unthinkable, isn't it? And so on...
Why is it different here? And please, none of that "young industry" rant. There are people who were concieved, grew up, entered workforce market AND even begot their own kids since ATARI "helped defining computer games industry in the 1970s -1980s" -heh
So, is BG a good game? Yep! But it WAS NOT created by Beamdog. Why should I love them for smething they didn't do?
Are there some minor tech improvements? Sure there are. Are they the Promised Land we were er...promised? I'll let you answer it. Are they worth my $20? Not to me. Is Beamdog performance subpar? The answer probably depends on whether the respondent still lives with his/her parents
I wish them luck with BG2:EE, but I wouldn't put all my money on that horse. Come to think, I won't bet at all.
Thanks again.
I paid $6 for BG:EE, and more than anything else that's to support Beamdog.
I was very disappointed when I paid the $20 for this game when I saw how broken things were during the release. Game overall stability was quickly improved, and patch corrected many things, though also breaking new things.
If they are not blocked by ATARI or WoTC, let's see how they can fix this game, because BG is always BG, and BG:EE is far less of a pain to play and to install.
Concerning rushed cinematics, it's something that can't be forgiven, but let's hope they have time to fix this (will they ?).
That said, the current state of this project will prevent me to buy BG2:EE, at least as long as BG:EE is not polished.
Also, to buy BG2:EE, there's need to have a lot of added value, because there's no much improvement - except the widescreen mod - that can be added to this game.
The GOG page has all the instructions and links to DLs. Just keep hitting OK, is all.
So if somebody has come on this forum with the plan to (not just criticize) but to relentlessly knock Beamdog and BGEE, let's realize that he's trying very hard to sell us something else.
I see BGEE as a rope that was set there to see if it was worth to climb to the top and release BG2EE. Personally, just for me, the UI and resolution changes are worth enough the money I paid, because old games can be quite painful to the eyes, especially with newer and bigger (wide)screens. I can see how the original poster expected more and it's totally understandable. I don't think that makes him a troll. I think that if I would have had the same expectations as him, I'd also be disappointed. But again, I believe that BGEE was just a taste of what's to come and the big thing will be BG2EE.
It's also possible that this is part of my own expectations, because I personally prefer BG2 a million times over the original, especially when it comes to combat, as high level casters make things very tactical and interesting. So I bought BGEE to see if I finally could get into the Sarevok hunting thing...and well, I found myself struggling to finish it and I even didn't play the game for 3-4 months after reaching Baldur's Gate until a few weeks ago that I decided to push myself to go for it. I had similar problems when I played the original many years ago.
So, all the additional content that BG2EE may include is welcome, but if someone does a modern reverse-TuTu (BG2 using BGEE content), I'd be happy enough already, as I just need the improved resolution.
I think it'd have been better to develop both at same time and pack it together, so you have Baldur's Gate, Tales, Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal all under the same game.
Then add a mini-adventure in between to see what happened.
about the megamod installation
can someone tell me what mods should i install to have good installation not some crazy weird giant messed thing?
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/19493/making-great-megamod-installation-bgt-mods-and-opinions
NOTHING
If they had been part of the original game, with the same characteristics, development, quests and dialogues they have now, nobody would have ever criticized them.
But I honestly don't see how they don't fit with the game...
And talking about the new areas: I absolutely loved the Cloud Peaks. Finally some wilderness area that is a bit different from the others! The others are just a countless series of woods... and woods... and woods again... for me it was pleasant to see something new and different for once
2 zur312: GOG BG page lists the core install modules
2 Vishnu: I like your comparison to a rope. I have a better definition: bait and switch.
2 the emotional ones: if someone buys, say a Whirlpool dishwasher at Future Shop and gives it a 1 star review based on a personal experience - is this consumer a troll? According to you, yes.
So next time your brakes squirt fluid, please don't bitch about the warranty. Hey, cut the maker some slack - making good stuff is hard, isn't it?
New areas: A bit of wilderness - sure, I'm all for it. Just give it 5 more hours so it doesn't look like a rat's ass. As for Neera's level - try posting something like that say, at Conceptart forum, even as a newbee work and wait for comments. You'd be in a bit of surprise.
The iPad version was horrid at launch with bad touch controls, but they fixed that. I played until i started seeing spells like fireball and entangle, which brought the framerate to a crawl.
Also, the first quest in the game remains broken. And then there is the legal BS preventing them from bringing out the patch which was to fix all of these issues.
I agree... It wasn't worth it. Sorry ...
Edit: both bg1 and bg2 on gog.com for $10 and a list of mods that does pretty much al bg:ee does( and more ). Nice! I'll go play that.
Shouda known better
And you're very welcome!