New to BG

Figgin

Hello everyone,

I am new to BG and to the forum. I have been an avid TES fan for many years and have meaning to check out BG for quite some time. I have searched high and low for games that rival TES and their open world non linear style of gameplay. My question is, how open is BG? Can you RP different chars and choose to avoid the MQ or is it more linear style gameplay?

meagloth

TES?
And shadows of amn is pretty non-linear, but I. Bg you'll run out of things to fido if you aren't doing the main plot. But you can definitely play different chars. The game as incredible replayability. A lot of the people here have been playing sense the games came out, arou 2000 (bg1 1998.)

Figgin

meagloth said:

TES?
And shadows of amn is pretty non-linear, but I. Bg you'll run out of things to fido if you aren't doing the main plot. But you can definitely play different chars. The game as incredible replayability. A lot of the people here have been playing sense the games came out, arou 2000 (bg1 1998.)

TES= The Elder Scrolls.

I love to make new chars and role play them out on different adventures and hoped that I would not have to repeat the same events over and over again. I like to have differnt outcomes and consequences for my actions.

One major flaw I have with Skyrim, is that any choice you made in game, resulted in the same outcome.

Figgin

My computer is ancient and I had to sell my ps3, so I am looking for games that I can run from Steam and BG is on the top of my list.

Flashburn

BG1 is the most like TES because there are a lot of open areas where there's just a whole bunch of nothing. You'll eventually run out of stuff to do if you avoid the main plot because there's nothing in it like housing or crafting.

BG2 is more linear but offers a high degree of freedom in the early part of the game. Once the main plot gets going, it becomes more linear because you have to go to certain places in order to move on. There are still tons of sidequests to go on though, but its not like TES.

Also if you're into lore at all, the Forgotten Realms has tons of it like TES does.

Figgin

Flashburn said:

BG1 is the most like TES because there are a lot of open areas where there's just a whole bunch of nothing. You'll eventually run out of stuff to do if you avoid the main plot because there's nothing in it like housing or crafting.

BG2 is more linear but offers a high degree of freedom in the early part of the game. Once the main plot gets going, it becomes more linear because you have to go to certain places in order to move on. There are still tons of sidequests to go on though, but its not like TES.

Also if you're into lore at all, the Forgotten Realms has tons of it like TES does.

Thank you, I am into lore, very much. I was going to start with BG1 and then move on to BG2 I think.

vyvexthorne

Bg1 and Bg2 are story based.. as is Planescape Torment. There are tons of side quests, secrets and some exploration to do in those games. As you follow the main quest you'll run into side quests that you can choose to do or not do. In these games you make a main character and then have the options of picking up companions along the way.
They are not 'open world sandbox games like skyrim or fallout. There are separate large areas for you to explore that you pick through the world map... but in most cases you can choose to go to whatever area you want. Some areas will be extremely tough and you might find you are in over your head but you'll always have the option of coming back later. (well, until the final battle) The games have a lot of replay value and will play differently depending on what class you decide to play and your alignment.

Icewind dale and Icewind Dale 2 are set up for party adventuring. You create your entire party and set off on your adventure. They are linear in that you will go from area to area but some areas have sidequests and stuff to do within them. Each area is explorable in it's own way and many quests have multiple ways of attaining the goal.

Baldur's gate 1 is low level play. In most cases, depending on class, you will reach between 8-10. The games are xp capped.. not level capped.
Bg orginally had a cap of 89,000xp.. the expansion raised the cap to 161,000xp
Bg2 originally had a cap of 2.95mil. the expansion raised it to 8mil.
Your character from bg1 can be imported into bg2 so you can play the same character all they way to level 1 to 31-40. (depending on class.)

Icewind Dale has an xp cap at 8mil for single class chars but also a level cap at 30. So a single classed character could theoretically go to level 29 then duel class and go to 30 in that class.. but you'd never reach that level so kind of pointless. multi class characters can still go all the way to 30 in both classes. A single class thief or bard will most likely reach the cap before endgame but fighters and other classes will not.
Icewind dale 2 also has a cap of 30 but you'll only reach about level 17-20 doing everything possible there is to do.

Planescape Torment has no hard cap but pretty much starts petering out after level 20. It's like they couldn't decide what level to stop you from leveling and just took some tables further than others. The thaco tables go to level 60. Other tables only go to 25 or so. But you'll only reach between level 20-30 so it still works out.

Figgin

Thanks for the insight. How come I can't find icewind Dale or planescape torment on steam? I'm looking to build my library with good rpgs from 2007 and before. My CPU can run oblivion but nothing newer.

elminster

Figgin said:

Thanks for the insight. How come I can't find icewind Dale or planescape torment on steam? I'm looking to build my library with good rpgs from 2007 and before. My CPU can run oblivion but nothing newer.

There are different rights/license holders involved in the different infinity engine games. That would certainly be one reason why no other infinity games (even non-EE editions) have been put on steam.

Figgin

elminster said:

Thanks for the insight. How come I can't find icewind Dale or planescape torment on steam? I'm looking to build my library with good rpgs from 2007 and before. My CPU can run oblivion but nothing newer.

There are different rights/license holders involved in the different infinity engine games. That would certainly be one reason why no other infinity games (even non-EE editions) have been put on steam.

Would they be on gog?

Figgin

Should I get the enhanced edition or the original?

elminster

Figgin said:

elminster said:

Thanks for the insight. How come I can't find icewind Dale or planescape torment on steam? I'm looking to build my library with good rpgs from 2007 and before. My CPU can run oblivion but nothing newer.

There are different rights/license holders involved in the different infinity engine games. That would certainly be one reason why no other infinity games (even non-EE editions) have been put on steam.

Would they be on gog?

Yea they are all on gog.com. The enhanced editions aren't however.

As for the enhanced editions I would say its worth it for BGEE but BG2EE is still buggy enough to pass on it for now.

meagloth

I would definitely go for the ee's, both games. Bg2 is still buggy but completely playable, and will likely be much better once you finish bg1. As for other games, there's a lot of stuff on gog, (windows only, for me) and you can actually still buy old discs off of amazon:)

TethorilofLathander

If you want Icewind Dale, they sell the triple pack (Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale:Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale 2) together. Considering it's about 10 years old you may be able to snag one for a few quid!

Figgin

Gamestop has that triple pack for $9.99. I may get that. I'll get bgee1 as well. Then get bgee2 after I finish 1.

I used to play d&d table top when I was a kid. Just watching the let's plays and reading about these games, has me excited.

Figgin

I wad worried about the series after playing daggerdale. I did not like that game at all. I also have the free to play neverwinter. Not impressed with that one either.

emjay

I hope you like a challenge, cos buddy these games are unforgiving for a new player. Sounds like you like to read every bit of information the game gives you though, so you should learn just fine.

Figgin

emjay said:

I hope you like a challenge, cos buddy theooose games are unforgiving for a new player. Sounds like you like to read every bit of information the game gives you though, so you should learn just fine.

I love a challenging game, as long as it is rewarding and worth the challenge.

Lemernis

Figgin said:

Should I get the enhanced edition or the original?

I would say EE to start because of the enhancements: a very welcome zoom feature, the experience of playing the BG1 game with the BG2 engine (BG2's spell list, kits, and dual -wielding), and three new professionally written and voice-acted NPCs with their own quests. It also offers also the Black Pits which is a standalone arena adventure that is kind of interesting.

Then if you become an aficionado I would recommend getting the original BG series and sample from the smorgasbord of mods that have been custom built for the game over the years. Unfortunately only a relatively small portion of the BG mods have been re-coded for BGEE. The mods also allow you to play BG1 with the BG2 engine via the Tutu and BGT platforms.

Figgin

Couple questions then, are the only features to the enhanced edition that it runs on the BG2 engine? How hard is it to mod the original game?

I see that gametop has a download that is called the Anthology for $19.99 and it includes BG1, BG2, Icewind Dale 1, Icewind Dale 2 and all expansions. I think it includes Planescape as well. Is that something I should look to get, since i want to get all of these titles?

JuliusBorisov

Figgin said:

Should I get the enhanced edition or the original?

And this is probably one of the most controversial debate questions regarding Enhanced Editions.

Just to name a few threads: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/5089/few-questions-mainly-gog-vs-bg-ee , http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/2116/why-purchase-the-bg-ee-over-the-gog-version , http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/21216/why-the-hate-for-enhanced-edition/p1

Right now, after BG:EE has been patched to 1.2 version, I would dare to say that for someone who has not played this game it is better to get the enhanced version. With the exception of BG NPC Project Mod that adds conversations between NPCs, BG:EE seems to offer more.

In regards to BG2:EE, though, I'd advice trying BG:EE first. If you like it, then the second enhanced game will be fine for you too. Right now it has some issues/bugs but they will be fixed in the future. The vanilla BG2 is compatible with much more mods than BG2:EE but nonetheless BG2:EE offeres many good things too: new NPCs, quests, quick loot option, the Black Pits 2 adventure and so on.

Figgin

So, I have decided to go with BGEE for the first one. Eventually, I will get BGEE2, all the Icewind Dale series and Planescape. I really hope this brings me back to my days playing D&D as a kid. Thanks for all the insight.

BelgarathMTH

@Figgin, please consider creating a "My first Baldur's Gate run" report thread. We jaded old veterans derive much pleasure from reading about the experiences of new players in our beloved old game.

Figgin

BelgarathMTH said:

@Figgin, please consider creating a "My first Baldur's Gate run" report thread. We jaded old veterans derive much pleasure from reading about the experiences of new players in our beloved old game.

I absolutely will. I love doing that kind of stuff. I may do a lets play as well.

CrevsDaak

One little flaw the EE has for new comers is that the release version has taken the spawn rates' timer out of counting so the game spawns enemies everywhere and all the time. Very nice for old players, but it can be a challenge for new players.
Now I should see what happens if I install SCS over 1.2 BG:EE and make all the spawned enemies harder to beat.

Figgin

@BelgarathMTH, any particular class you want? I am buying the game tonight I think.

Figgin is my main char back from my D&D tabletop days. He is a Half elf theif/assassin, but I may play him later on my second playthrough.

Flashburn

@Figgin‌
Do what you want; part of the fun of reading/watching blind BG playthroughs is seeing how new players roll up their characters. You should do your first playthrough without any mods to get an idea of what the game is like. Then when you beat the game, you can head over to the Modding sections of the forums and find some cool mods that you like.

SirK8

@Figgin - My recommendation for your first playthrough is that you don't do a lot of reading on character optimization, walkthroughs etc. Exploring the game for the first time without outside references is part of the magic that is BG.

Figgin

@Flash @SirK
Good points!!! I will post the thread I start in here tomorrow. Tonight, I visit Candlekeep!!!

Figgin

Steam code in hand. On my way home. Put the kids to bed, then it's off to Amn

Nyka

Figgin said:

Steam code in hand. On my way home. Put the kids to bed, then it's off to Amn

So how was your first night visiting Candlekeep?