I find this so confusing, BG1 vs BGEE and BG2 vs BG2EE
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So I have never played BG before, but I played PST along with all its mods and improvements and enjoyed it because the modding community fixed so many problems the game had, so I was considering buying the BG series, but I am uncertain if I should get the original or the enhanced ones.
The modding community has had a large amount of time to:
1) Provide widescreen support for the original BG1 and BG2 and provide texture packs to improve graphics
2) Fix bugs in the original BG1 and BG2
3) Release balance mods for the original BG1 and BG2 so overpowered things are toned down, and useless things are made more useful.
Now I know the enhanced editions have 1 covered, but are all the bug fixes the community released as fixpacks over the years included in the enhanced editions?
And what about the balance fixes, are those carried over? or at least still compatible (I would expect not for BG1) ?
The modding community has had a large amount of time to:
1) Provide widescreen support for the original BG1 and BG2 and provide texture packs to improve graphics
2) Fix bugs in the original BG1 and BG2
3) Release balance mods for the original BG1 and BG2 so overpowered things are toned down, and useless things are made more useful.
Now I know the enhanced editions have 1 covered, but are all the bug fixes the community released as fixpacks over the years included in the enhanced editions?
And what about the balance fixes, are those carried over? or at least still compatible (I would expect not for BG1) ?
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Yes, bug fixes from mods were included, as well as some additional fixes. Some new bugs were introduced, but they have been busy quashing them ever since.
For the most part, game balance was not touched, other than tweaking a few things that came from BG2 that would have been too powerful in BG:EE. As far as BG:EE mod compatibility goes, it'll depend on which mod you're talking about. BG2:EE is likely to have better mod compatibility (than BG1:EE) from the get-go.
More importantly, it has all the BG2 advanced character creation options (like Kits) added to the original game. And has three entirely new Companions you can recruit all with their own quests and storylines and romances (something none of the originals really have in the first game). In short, it makes the first game play more like the second game.
I'd reccomend picking up EE now while its on sale so cheap. Hard to beat the $5 price. But you might want to wait a smidge to play it until the next patch comes out. Its currently in testing now, so wont be that long. I'm playing the beta of that patch and its the best verison of the game I've played to date. (and I played it back on the original discs when it came out)
If you do end up grabbing the EE while its on sale, I'd suggest grabbing it directly from Beamdog, rather than Steam. You'll get the patch faster when it happens. The Steam version takes longer to update due to Atari's involvement.
Also a lot of the modders are now working with Beamdog to make the game perfect, and most of the popular mods are either implemented (like fixpacks) or available for BG:EE.
Definitely go for BG:EE!
BG2:EE should be far more compatible from day 1 as there has been no change to the file naming, allowing a lot of mods for BG2 to work without any tweaks.
If you've not played any Baldur's Gate before, then go for the EEs. While the modded originals are robust and good compromise, they do lack the polish and stability of a professional product.
Still, BG:EE did a much better job staying true to the BG1 spirit than BG:TuTu ever did.
All that being said, again I think BG:EE is wonderful in that it opens up the greatness that is BG1 to a wider audience that may not necessarily care about the same stuff I just mentioned.
Lastly, I will definitely be playing BG2:EE as my definitive BG2. All of the enhancements (again to me) make perfect sense for it. We will just have to see if I enjoy the new NPC's enough to do a full playthrough of BG:EE.
I personally consider the originals superior by far. For many reasons. Especially so, since you like mods, you can enjoy the "restored content", bug fixes, even the trilogy mod, without having to buy those games anew, at roughly DOUBLE the price of the modern tweaked originals, say, like from GOG.
BG1 with 2's system, which is one of the biggest changes EE forces, is very hostile to players, especially new ones. 1 original had weapon proficiencies, covering MANY weapon types, collected in one main category. Plus, its mastery system, was way more powerful and productive (the more stars you spent) compared to 2. Also, there was no summoning limit; you could command an entire faqing army! Spells like hold person, confuse, horror etc, in 1 original, laster longer, were stronger and more effective, and were game makers (for player caster) or game breakers (from enemy casters). In 2 original, and 1+2 EE, they use the mechanics of 2, which severely watered them down, as well as summoned creatures, with 5 creatures maximum limit. The only bright side of 1EE, at least in my books, is the corrected magic resistance (in original high resistance prevented both friendly and hostile spells if it was high), and the rest until fully healed option. In pretty much anything else, 1 is better the way it had always been.
BG2 now. In the original, you could keep your hard earned items from 1. Circumvent the limits at summoned creatures. Powergame to your heart's content by using exploits and holes (like eliminating wild surges from wild mages, or use infinite spellcasting without rest inbetween). And many more interesting stuff. Like Beamdog going against Bioware's decision of the time to prevent ranger kits from dualling with a patch, except for Beastmaster exclusively; in EE, all ranger kits can dual, stuff which should NOT. In the EE, all this stuff is actually gone. Now there is only the cheat option, the console commands, or the watered down, nerfed, butchered, compared to the amazing original, gameplay. 2EE for me has only 2 nice things, as i found for 1EE. The fact that it displays your total stats number rolled, and that it features an advanced multiplayer style, cross-platform, allowing you to find other players very easily.
All in all, for me, besides the 2 points i liked in each EE, the only common good i saw in both EEs, was their updated graphics, and better built journal/quest tracking. For pretty much everything else, for me, the original is still the top dog. And i seriously mean it.
a friend and I have been waiting YEARS to do the multiplayer playthrough we're currently doing. I remember trying to hook up our computers in a hundred different ways for hours about 10 years ago. now it's simple
But that was biowares doing. Beamdog redid the paper dolls to make them more like the original, and for that I was very pleased.