Feature Requests to Fully Enhance Baldur's Gate

Abdel_Adrian

Dear Beamdog,

This is a modest list of requests from a life-long fan who only wants the series to live up to its potential:
1) More options are always a good idea, please provide a few “simple” toggle settings for the following:
a) Option for the original cinematics (I love what you’ve done with the series overall and much of the new art, but I simply do not like the new movies. I am a purist and one of my favorite aspects of the game was removed, with no option to restore it. This goes for the Nietzsche quote as well.)

b) We all know Baldur’s Gate already doesn’t adhere perfectly to PnP, so this shouldn’t be an issue, especially since it’s already possible with mods. Some people would like toggle options for 1) 100% chance to learn spells, 2) max hp on level up, and 3) disable permanent death for difficulties of core and above. For people who like to play with the harder difficulties, it’s a pain to toggle to a lower difficulty for learning spells and leveling up.

c) Many people would really love the option to quickly and easily switch between 2H, DW, and sword & shield. I understand this may be difficult to program, but it would be a huge time-saver and make gameplay a lot smoother and more fun for those who switch between weapon styles often.


2) More uniformity between the series and all enhanced infinity engine games.
a) “Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition features more than 400 spells, the most available in any Infinity Engine game to date.” Why not add all of these spells to the BGEE series? And what about the Priests of Tyr and Tempus? I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to see all the IE has to offer in a single game.

b) I’ve seen this request be acknowledged before as possible for consideration, but I’ll include it anyway- I would love to see BGEE, TotSC, SoD, BG2EE, & ToB offered in a single, continuous game. All the spells, items, and strrefs would be consistent all the way from Candlekeep to the Throne of Bhaal. Hamsters, Rangers, and modders everywhere would rejoice.


3) Fix and restore all original content from the series (should be a priority over new content imo)
a) I know there are still plenty of bugs out there, although you’re all doing a great job. I just think it should be a high priority.

b) Restore what was cut from the original games, if at all possible. I know this has already been done by modders, but if your contracts allow for it, I’m sure everyone would love to see the content officially revamped. I believe CamDawg helped on IWDEE with this, so hopefully it’s possible for BGEE/BG2EE.


Okay, maybe not such a modest list, but I think many of these requests are feasible and all of them would significantly improve the game for veterans and new players alike. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

billbisco

These are great requests. I agree with all of them. Each one is worthy of its own topic of course.

gugulug5000

Sounds good to me. Adding these features would definitely permit hamsters, rangers, and modders to rejoice.

Madrict

The main thing I want is the spells from IWD in the BG series...

Maxxximus

max hp on level up baldur.ini 'Game Options', 'Maximum HP', '1',

bengoshi said:

As of version 1.3, it's 1 by default. This is why you get max HP by default.

According to @Dee here, it's an oversight.

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/590386/#Comment_590386

Switching between... will be 100% info from @TrentOster

OurQuestIsVain

I fully support item 1) B. It isn't that difficult to lower the difficulty manually every time I level up or write a spell but it is inconvenient and I don't see how anybody could argue against this as it would be a toggleable option.

Ilius

Item 2b might be difficult to implement, but it might be possible to integrate the Infinity engine games into a single program, then you can create characters and select which "campaign" (IWD, BG) to play. Given the geography of the Forgotten Realms it might not make sense to allow a lot of travel between the North, the BG region and Amn (I forget all the names). Though the continuity of BG2 should allow players to go between SOA and TOB settings, as the original version allowed players to access Watcher's Keep during either section.

Similarly, it would be nice to see the games share resources. Create one folder that dumps all the voice and portrait files, then whenever more DLC is released with character options the new files can go there.

And I know it's been said before, but NPC portraits from one game should be used for their cameo appearances in another.

Abdel_Adrian

Ilius said:

Item 2b might be difficult to implement, but it might be possible to integrate the Infinity engine games into a single program, then you can create characters and select which "campaign" (IWD, BG) to play. Given the geography of the Forgotten Realms it might not make sense to allow a lot of travel between the North, the BG region and Amn (I forget all the names). Though the continuity of BG2 should allow players to go between SOA and TOB settings, as the original version allowed players to access Watcher's Keep during either section.

Similarly, it would be nice to see the games share resources. Create one folder that dumps all the voice and portrait files, then whenever more DLC is released with character options the new files can go there.

And I know it's been said before, but NPC portraits from one game should be used for their cameo appearances in another.

"BGEE, TotSC, SoD, BG2EE, & ToB offered in a single, continuous game." - Abdel_Adrian.

As you can see, I didn't include IWDEE, IWD2, or PS:T, because those are different series, that would make no sense. BG and IWD are set 100 years apart even, so no, you should not be able to travel between them in one game, I wasn't suggesting that.

As a side note, this thread is pretty old and these may be considered necroposts, so please try to avoid commenting on threads from a different year.