Well met, strangers! (Also opinions needed) =)
Ser_Elryk
Member Posts: 72
***VERY, VERY SLIGHT SPOILERS***
Greetings! So for a brief intro, I'll just say upfront that I'm a noob. I've only played BG1 up until the Bandit Camp, and I've never played anything outside of the starting areas of BG2 and IWD. That being said, I'm already in love with these games and want to play through them very much. However, my OCD has caused me to have a dilemma, and I would very much appreciate some opinions on the matter
Okay. So I have both Classic BG1&2 and BG1&2:EE via Gog.com (amazing site). I have also toyed around with BWS. For anyone who doesn't already know: BWS stands for "Big World Setup", and is an amazing tool (imo) for installing mods into IE games, including BG1&2:EE. As I'm sure most players are aware; there are a lot (like A LOT) of mods for the Baldur's Gate games, especially for Classic BG1&2, and with more and more becoming EE compatible every day.
So for my first real, solid playthrough, I'm conflicted over what kind of setup I should use. I've seen that Classic BG1&2 have several mod expansions that I'd be interested in playing. Dark Side of the Sword Coast, Northern Tales of the Sword Coast, Secret of Bone Hill, Check the Bodies, Never Ending Journey, Shadows over Soubar, and Tortured Souls all caught my eye, as well as countless other various mods. But I'm not sure if I should just go all out or not for my first playthrough. I REALLY like the idea of playing with the Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod (and/or the EET mod one day), and I've heard many times that the mod "Ascension" for TOB is considered essential.
Needless to say, such endless possibilities coupled with gamer OCD can make the whole affair seem quite daunting and intimidating, lol. Any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. I'm very much looking forward to becoming part of the community and getting into all sorts of nerdtastic discussions with kindred spirits!
Greetings! So for a brief intro, I'll just say upfront that I'm a noob. I've only played BG1 up until the Bandit Camp, and I've never played anything outside of the starting areas of BG2 and IWD. That being said, I'm already in love with these games and want to play through them very much. However, my OCD has caused me to have a dilemma, and I would very much appreciate some opinions on the matter
Okay. So I have both Classic BG1&2 and BG1&2:EE via Gog.com (amazing site). I have also toyed around with BWS. For anyone who doesn't already know: BWS stands for "Big World Setup", and is an amazing tool (imo) for installing mods into IE games, including BG1&2:EE. As I'm sure most players are aware; there are a lot (like A LOT) of mods for the Baldur's Gate games, especially for Classic BG1&2, and with more and more becoming EE compatible every day.
So for my first real, solid playthrough, I'm conflicted over what kind of setup I should use. I've seen that Classic BG1&2 have several mod expansions that I'd be interested in playing. Dark Side of the Sword Coast, Northern Tales of the Sword Coast, Secret of Bone Hill, Check the Bodies, Never Ending Journey, Shadows over Soubar, and Tortured Souls all caught my eye, as well as countless other various mods. But I'm not sure if I should just go all out or not for my first playthrough. I REALLY like the idea of playing with the Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod (and/or the EET mod one day), and I've heard many times that the mod "Ascension" for TOB is considered essential.
Needless to say, such endless possibilities coupled with gamer OCD can make the whole affair seem quite daunting and intimidating, lol. Any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. I'm very much looking forward to becoming part of the community and getting into all sorts of nerdtastic discussions with kindred spirits!
8
Comments
Personally I would suggest you to have at least a complete run through all BG (EE) saga modless: the EEs already have some added contents and there's a lot to discover, also I believe that one deserves the most pure experience at their very first time.
Then, once completely satisfied, one can mod the hell out these games for a further enhanced experience, allowing you to enjoy this saga more and to appreciate the original content more too, as some mods are a great framework for this saga.
I hope this suggestion will be useful for you, meanwhile enjoy this forum!
I agree with everything @Metalloman said. Play and learn the games first without mods. Then add all the mods you want and play again
Be cautious with the mods you install. More is not always better.
Some mods are nicely updated to run on the EE versions but this is not a general statement.
Once you are ready to start adding mods, I would recommend adding them only a few at a time. It is much easier to judge if a mod suits you, or if one is causing bugs, if you only add them sparingly until you get a feel for which ones are doing what.
Have fun and keep posting!
I have tinkered around with both the modded classic BGs (with the Widescreen mod and such) and BG:EE. And I have to say after seeing the interface improvements/differences, it's difficult for me to play classic BG and not crave the EE. I use a 40" 1080P TV for my monitor at the moment, and classic BG+Widescreen mod just makes everything SOO small! I love the zoom feature in the EE. And other things like how NPC names appear over their heads when you hold Tab. It makes it so much easier to spot unique (named) npcs among the throngs of "Commoners" and "Peasants" etc.
Anyway, also thanks for the warm welcome! ^_^
The mule can be bought outside the Friendly Arm Inn, and I'm not sure where in BG2 (though I know it's compatible with it too). I like that it has four different "saddlebags" (General, Scrolls, Potions, and Gems/Jewelry) so it helps me keep everything organized. There are some items I come across that I want to keep like notes, letters, items of sentimental value, etc., but don't want them tying up inventory space.
I'm also using a few mods like the BG1 NPC Project, Neera Expansion, a few NPC mods, etc. So while my 1st playthrough isn't 100% "Pure", I'm still going to resist going too crazy with mods my first time. I do read about each mod and mod component very carefully before I decide to use it though.
In my current playthrough (I restart way too much...) I'm back in Nashkel and getting ready to set out for the mines.
As for restarting… You are among friends there as well. (Grin)