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BG1 & BG2 Replay Value - Vanilla

dockaboomskidockaboomski Member Posts: 440
edited March 2015 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
If you were to install the original, unmodded games, could you make a saga run without any mods? Fixpacks do not count for the purposes of this poll.

EDIT: For clarification, by 'vanilla' I mean Baldur's Gate and Tales of the Sword Coast from 1998; BG2 and ToB from 2000.

I, for one, could not do it. Limited stacking? Not happening anytime soon.
  1. BG1 & BG2 Replay Value - Vanilla52 votes
    1. Yes. I would have little difficulty replaying the vanilla games.
      55.77%
    2. No. I can not go back.
      44.23%
Post edited by dockaboomski on

Comments

  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Mods are excellent, but so are the vanilla games. I wouldn't have ever come across the mods if I did not love vanilla BG2.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Mods are the SOLE reason I've been playing this game for 10 years. I would not go back if I didn't have mods.
  • CaeDaresCaeDares Member Posts: 182
    Modding is what continues making the game fun. While I personally don't install heavy mods to the game, I like to modify spells and how they look, give the game a little more visual effects than just what comes with the game. No matter how you do it, everybody adds mods at some point, that I know of. Its just what keeps the game playable.
  • hisplshispls Member Posts: 166
    Before the item stacking I'd generally cheat in a couple containers for easier inventory management. Still though these games hold replay value with or without the new polish.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    edited March 2015
    I could do it, sure, but I wouldn't enjoy it in the least.
    Just thinking about not having Half-Orc characters in BG1makes me shiver in despair! :tired_face:
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    As someone who only uses the iphone...I've got to say that the vanilla games have great replay value. Though I do desperately want to be able to use mods...
  • FrozenCellsFrozenCells Member Posts: 385
    I like mods but they aren't particularly essential to me. I also like the balance of the original BG1 without kits and dual wielding (if by vanilla you mean BG1 rather than clean BG:EE) so that's no problem...except Druids are a bit depressing. The only issue is with BG2:SoA...I really like certain mod NPCs and the original cast is a bit hit and miss for me. But do-able.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • TuthTuth Member Posts: 233
    After several years of having fun with mods I went back to playing vanilla games. I feel that with mods the games are oversaturated, there's too much stuff without breathing room and balance. There was no need for mods back when the game was released, especially BG1, and I was replaying it over and over. So, I don't see the need right now (apart from several fixes and tweaks).
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,760
    I've been playing BG so much that now I absolutely, positively, can't do it without difficulty-enhancing mods, the SCS mod in the first place.

    So, as the question stands, I can't see myself making a saga run in the original, unmodded games, without any mods.

    As for playing vanilla games with mods, I say absolutely YES. I prefer the EEs but I perfectly see myself running a vanilla game, for a nostalgia reason at least.
  • SeldarSeldar Member Posts: 438
    the only bad point about the vanilla BG1, is the screen resolution, 640*480 is just horrible now... If there was a mod to set at least 1024*768, I would replay it immediatly (yes I know Widescreen, but works only with Tutu or Trilogy)... the good old stone GUI, characters appearance, sounds and loved the loadscreens painted on scrolls
  • dockaboomskidockaboomski Member Posts: 440
    For clarification, when I say 'vanilla' I mean the games, with expansions, from 1998 and 2000. Not the EEs.
  • LuremasterLuremaster Member Posts: 100
    While I prefer the Enhanced Editions with all their, well, enhancements, I still find something oddly enchanting about the vanilla versions, even with the screen resolution of the first game mentioned by @seldar
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    If I felt a strong enough reason to want to go back to original BG1+2 ... yes, of course I could do it, I haven't forgotten how.

    However, do I expect ever to feel a strong enough motive that I'd choose go back? Probably not. The EEs are now the "real" BG.

    Maybe if someone bet me a significant amount of money that I'd no longer be capable of winning the original versions, then yes, I'd revert to originals simply to win the money. But I can't imagine why anyone would offer such a payment!
  • SmilingSwordSmilingSword Member Posts: 827
    BG1 without the NPC project is unplayable for me, similar feelings towards BG2 without SCS.
    Man i spent years playing BG2 then BG1 vanilla, fully unmodded vanilla, the only reason for this was as a kid, I had no internet :(
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    I always try out new characters in vanilla BG1 first as it seems less forgiving and gives me a better "gut feel" idea of how the character actually works without the sophistication and information overload of BGEE.

    Also it makes me feel nostalgic and more like I'm playing the game for the first time all over again.

    Having said that I don't think I could face playing BG2 vanilla again.
  • Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806
    edited March 2015
    I didn't even finish my very first game of BG1 vanilla as (albeit I used a walkthrough alas) the game became too easy. I installed Tutu for my second playthrough (and first to finish) to use the Sword Coast Stratagems mod and I have been using SCS ever since. Plus not being able to pause while browsing your inventory was frustrating.

    Now that there's the enhanced edition, the game plays twice as nice. I just started my first EE campaign two weeks ago and am already in the city of Baldur's Gate. That would have taken me at least a month in Tutu, the game feels so very fluent in it's EE state.
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    dunbar said:

    I always try out new characters in vanilla BG1 first as it seems less forgiving and gives me a better "gut feel" idea of how the character actually works without the sophistication and information overload of BGEE.

    Also it makes me feel nostalgic and more like I'm playing the game for the first time all over again.

    Having said that I don't think I could face playing BG2 vanilla again.

    @dunbar Your answer is almost the opposite to mine lol

    Why can't u face BG2 Vanilla again? I find the difference between BG:EE and BG1 Vanilla to be much bigger than BG2:EE and BG2 Vanilla. BG2 Vanilla came with most of the important utility features like bigger ammo stacks, item containers, Tab highlighting etc... which makes the game much less frustrating compared to BG1 Vanilla, where as a noobie, you have no chance of finding hidden loot because you can only find it if you knew it was there.

    The only thing I kinda miss from BG1 Vanilla was the "no-inventory-pause". That added a new element of challenge that forced you to really think about what you put in quick slot. I remember getting poisoned by the spiders in Landrin's house and having to find anti-dote asap... man that was tense!

    Things I don't miss from BG1 Vanilla: (in addition to inconvenient inventory management and lack of tab)
    1) Random waylaid encounters at the start of the game that gave you no chance at all.
    2) Algernon's Cloak of cheese.
  • mylegbigmylegbig Member Posts: 292
    No, at this point I can't go back. Especially BG1. I had trouble dealing with the slow walk speed of BG1 even in those days. I can't deal with it now.
  • CaeriaCaeria Member Posts: 201
    I could go back with little trouble. I still own the vanilla games, and I could play them easily if for some reason the enhanced editions stopped working. I can't see this actually happening, but it's nice to know the option is open.
  • LuremasterLuremaster Member Posts: 100
    mylegbig said:

    No, at this point I can't go back. Especially BG1. I had trouble dealing with the slow walk speed of BG1 even in those days. I can't deal with it now.

    I really don't mind the walking speed until I equip a pair of boots on one or more of my party members that hastes them. Then I get about twenty "You must gather your party before venturing forth" messages from the creepy disembodied Sarevok voice every time I want to go to a new location.
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    similar to @bengoshi I don't think I could play without difficulty mods anymore. after playing with SCS, ascension, and max difficulty in one playthrough, going vanilla would be completely push over. the only exception I have to that is my MP run with @heindrich, but playing multiplayer is a whole different beast as you have to coordinate with other players which is much harder than controlling every character to get your plan done. that said I still think we could handle harder, but another thing about MP is that there is more than one person's preferences being taken into account :)
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    Having to play BG1 with a resolution of only 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 again? Forget it.
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