BGII Anniversary Patch?

Silverstar

So today it's 9 months since BGII:EE's release. 9 months with no patch. According to Dee, the BGII patch is close to being done (hooray! ) but

Dee said:

The BGII patch has a small amount of work still remaining to be done, and then a lot of testing to make sure it's stable.

-a lot of testing.- A lot of testing won't be done in a couple of weeks. Phase IV of BG:EE shows us as much, that started in -May- and is still ongoing. It's not even done yet and if testing of BGII's patch will be as... "thorough"... we probably can't expect to see it released for a couple of months. Maybe even 3 months in which case it will be around BGII:EE's release anniversary.

Sylvus_Moonbow

I know! There's so much content in Baldur's Gate 2, that it's amazing so much work is being done to patch such a wonderful game.

A patch worth waiting for, indeed!

shawne

@Silverstar: Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath - the devs talk a good game about how they want to do better, and how they're not happy with the game's current state, but it's not like they're doing anything differently. Nothing we can do but wait, and be extra-cautious when they try to sell us their next bugfest...

Bercon

I wouldn't expect it to be released this year.

GreenWarlock

I'm going to be uncharacteristically positive here ;~)

Unless you bought BG2 through the Mac App store, then you already have the first patch addressing serious stability bugs, so the game is playable, if still not the ideal experience. Even with the Mac App store version, I have taken at least one character into the start of ToB.

The public beta for the BG 1.3 patch has been running for over 6 months now (started in February) which does not seem to bode well for a rapid turnaround for the BG2 patch. However, if I observe correctly, a large part of the delay in the release is nailing bugs in the engine - the content bugs were ironed out a while back and are not being messed with. Those engine fixes should come directly into BG2 and hopefully be a lot more stable from the get-go, so I can indeed imagine a shorter test cycle as we benefit from the hard work now going into validating (and fixing) the BG 1.3 patch.

That does not mean that BG2 will be quick to validate - I hear there are a lot of content fixes that will take some time to verify playing through the game with many character and party variations. But this should be simpler, and bugs easier to fix, than endlessly tweaking the gameplay of the engine. As an optimist I still hope for a release around the 1 year anniversary.

Especially as a Mac App store customer awaiting my first patch!

elminster

For BG2EE the optimist in me says sometime in December. The realist says its probably going to be early next year. But only time will tell and obviously how well any kind of public beta goes will be a factor in all this.

JuliusBorisov

Basing my view on the topic title, as soon as I'd read it I thought: Ohh, it would be amazing to have the patch for BG2:EE on September 24 - exactly that date in 2000 BG was released.

shawne

elminster said:

For BG2EE the optimist in me says sometime in December. The realist says its probably going to be early next year. But only time will tell and obviously how well any kind of public beta goes will be a factor in all this.

The only reason to be halfway optimistic about this is that Beamdog might actually be contractually obligated to release BG2:EE on Android within a year of the PC/Mac launch - and the devs have said that that version will launch with the 1.3 patch.

Bercon

Didn't Android BG:EE launch with 1.3 as well? I'm still not seeing it on any other platform. Having BG2:EE 1.3 on Android means nothing to the rest of us.

elminster

Bercon said:

Didn't Android BG:EE launch with 1.3 as well? I'm still not seeing it on any other platform. Having BG2:EE 1.3 on Android means nothing to the rest of us.

BGEE version 1.3 is still in beta testing. Androids do have it, though even their version as I understand will vary depending upon whether or not they've signed up to beta test.

Frogman

noobie question - do we already know what will be included in the patch?

Silverstar

derrick4372 said:

noobie question - do we already know what will be included in the patch?

Not really no. Hopefully a truckload of sorely needed bug fixes. There's some UI improvements that will port over from the BG:EE patch, a colour overlay on (un)scribable scrolls, font size selection and fixes to the quick loot bar, can't think of anything other than that.

Dee

We'll post a full change log once we enter beta testing for it, but suffice to say the patch is chock full of goodies, and not all of them are bug fixes.

iavasechui

Ooooooh sounds interesting, very interesting~

Mush_Mush

Hey

I just started BG2 with my Dragon Disciple which I carried over from a BGEE solo poverty run and noticed when I cast breath attack on the lesser golems their MR blocked it's effects...? Breath attack bypasses MR in BGEE...I think this has been mentioned before but wondered if it will be fixed in the upcoming patch/update?

CrevsDaak

Mush_Mush said:

I just started BG2 with my Dragon Disciple which I carried over from a BGEE solo poverty run and noticed when I cast breath attack on the lesser golems their MR blocked it's effects...? Breath attack bypasses MR in BGEE...I think this has been mentioned before but wondered if it will be fixed in the upcoming patch/update?

If it's a bug, then it will get fixed for sure (unless it isn't reported, but, IIRC, @elminster‌ played a DD in BG2EE so it might be reported, otherwise, he could report it now ).

elminster

CrevsDaak said:

Mush_Mush said:

I just started BG2 with my Dragon Disciple which I carried over from a BGEE solo poverty run and noticed when I cast breath attack on the lesser golems their MR blocked it's effects...? Breath attack bypasses MR in BGEE...I think this has been mentioned before but wondered if it will be fixed in the upcoming patch/update?

If it's a bug, then it will get fixed for sure (unless it isn't reported, but, IIRC, @elminster‌ played a DD in BG2EE so it might be reported, otherwise, he could report it now ).

That one was actually reported pre-release (not by me). It was fixed awhile ago but obviously the game hasn't been patched so it hasn't been fixed for you guys.

I believe its one of the things I addressed in my fix/tweak pack too.

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/31976/elminsters-micro-bg2ee-fixes-and-tweaks/p1

The spl file you'd want to put in your override folder is SPDD03.spl.

Silverstar

elminster said:

CrevsDaak said:

Mush_Mush said:

I just started BG2 with my Dragon Disciple which I carried over from a BGEE solo poverty run and noticed when I cast breath attack on the lesser golems their MR blocked it's effects...? Breath attack bypasses MR in BGEE...I think this has been mentioned before but wondered if it will be fixed in the upcoming patch/update?

If it's a bug, then it will get fixed for sure (unless it isn't reported, but, IIRC, elminster‌ played a DD in BG2EE so it might be reported, otherwise, he could report it now ).

That one was actually reported pre-release (not by me). It was fixed awhile ago but obviously the game hasn't been patched so it hasn't been fixed for you guys.

I believe its one of the things I addressed in my fix/tweak pack too.

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/31976/elminsters-micro-bg2ee-fixes-and-tweaks/p1

The spl file you'd want to put in your override folder is SPDD03.spl.

I actually always thought it was intentional. At least the two "alarm golems" are called "lesser", so I've always assumed they were supposed to be somewhat easier to dispatch since you have to fight them and obviously don't have any powerful magical blunt weapons to deal with them at the time.

Silverstar

I'm somewhat conflicted now

Seeing as BG:EE 1.3 has been The Next Big Thing™ for ages now and would continue to be so until its release, I was hoping BGII:EE for Android, and thus the patch for all versions of it, would gain that honour now. But it seems Icewind Dale now claims that position. Which is great. I really really do want an ID:EE. But more than that I'd first like to play the hell out of a patched BGII. Back to waiting I guess.....

elminster

Silverstar said:

I actually always thought it was intentional. At least the two "alarm golems" are called "lesser", so I've always assumed they were supposed to be somewhat easier to dispatch since you have to fight them and obviously don't have any powerful magical blunt weapons to deal with them at the time.

I'm not sure what you mean. The Breath Attack ability is currently bugged because its supposed to bypass magic resistance. The golem just happens to be the target in this case but really any enemy that has magic resistance (and not 100% resistance to fire) should be affected by it.

Mush_Mush

I was eager to see the effects of dragon breath on Sarevok knowing it was guna bypass his MR...

Mordukhavar did 1 damage to Sarevok (25 - 24)

Silverstar

elminster said:

I'm not sure what you mean. The Breath Attack ability is currently bugged because its supposed to bypass magic resistance. The golem just happens to be the target in this case but really any enemy that has magic resistance (and not 100% resistance to fire) should be affected by it.

You can safely disregard that, seems I missread quite a bit, made an assumption and then responded with that in mind. Don't make posts while still half-asleep is the story's morale ^^

elminster

Mush_Mush said:

I was eager to see the effects of dragon breath on Sarevok knowing it was guna bypass his MR...

Mordukhavar did 1 damage to Sarevok (25 - 24)

In BGEE sarevok has no magic resistance (that was removed by TOTSC a decade or so ago). He does however have 90% resistance to fire damage, so that is what you are seeing there.

Ohh and for the record its just BG2EE where breath attack currently doesn't bypass magic resistance. In BGEE it does.

Mush_Mush

No MR? Really? Huh.

Could of sworn I saw it say "Sarevok - Magic Resistance" during one of my playthroughs (I've played through BGEE 3 times now 1 normal/1 solo/1 solo insane no item). I thought he had high MR.

Guess I was wrong.

elminster

He's got elemental resistances (90% fire, cold, electricity, acid) but no magic resistance.

cryocore

Dee said:

We'll post a full change log once we enter beta testing for it, but suffice to say the patch is chock full of goodies, and not all of them are bug fixes.

Maybe with Icewind Dale you'll actually release a functional version before taking peoples money. Still pissed about the state BG2EE was/is in. After all this time I expect better.