SOD is close! What do you think?

Mirage

So SOD is finally close to our doorstep!

I guess all the veterans has watched at least parts of the Twitch streams.
There are plenty of discussions regarding the shaman class, GUI etc. But I wonder what was your impression by just watching the game, without worrying about the rest..

Mine at first was... Mmm ok, not bad, let's see. It felt different and seemed a bit too dark for me, but maybe it was the stream..
Well.. the thing is that after a while I got used to it, it seemed really COOL.
Everything moves smoothly now and all the lights in the city at night make a really intense atmosphere! It makes me wanna start a new adventure and get lost in this new world!

I heard Phil saying during the stream "We are just patching a 20 year old game, it is like patching QUAKE 1" or something close to this. Well for me there is only one answer to this.."THANKS A LOT GUYS, we appreciate it so much". To me this seems the path to follow before even daring to start a project like BG3.

The only thing I am sad about is that I can't afford the Collector's Edition right now...especially the Sword Coast map is a "must have" for me...klaps

So what do you guys think?
What is your overall impression of SOD?

MacHurto

I am really looking forward to it. I must be one of the few people who liked the added content on BG:EE and BGII:EE, so I think I will like this one too :-)

EnialusMeliamne

I've basically been playing Baldur's Gate since I bought the first PC that I owned, and when I converted to Mac's in 2008, eventually had a bootcamp partition drive loaded with XP so that I could continue playing the game (Tutu, mods, you name it). That said, since I've owned the EE editions, I've beaten the game more times than I did on the analog editions, and I'd beaten analog BG more times than any other game I've ever played, if that says anything. Therefore, it's safe to say that I'm supremely stoked to have another expansion to continue playing for years to come. For me, BG/BGII remain supreme in my gaming pantheon of excellence and love. Nothing has come close.

I've watched the streams on replay, and I can already tell that this release is going to continue that trend. I'm extremely excited to see the enhancements close up, and playable at my finger tips.

rjmacready

Eve though its not the full city I CANNOT WAIT to go exploring some of the areas of Baldurs Gate with my party. When I get the first interjections and banters from them Im going to lose my mind. Its going to be a bit like early BG2 again. Really thats the ultimate for me is that many of the old faces, some of whom go all the way to the end of ToB, will be back and speaking again.

Dee

If the game looked really dark to you, it's not just you; the video settings during our last stream were a bit on the "might have been filmed in the Underdark" side. The actual game isn't nearly as dim and dark as it appeared in our last stream.

the_sextein

I've got a good feeling about it at the moment. When the EE versions were first announced I told a few friends who were less than impressed. Personally I understand where they were coming from because the graphics were not improved very much and most of what was improved could be done with mods but....

The ability to have all of the improvements with added zoom and bugfixes without having to mod the game or install it with discs was still an improvement and the games were 10 dollars more than the original so it felt like an ok deal that big fans of the series would be interested in.

For me, I was happy to see an official dev team, no matter how small, willing to do anything to this series. There was talk of better mod support and suddenly I noticed a bunch of respected modders getting pulled into the team and that is when I started to get excited. I decided to support beamdog because I knew that they wanted what I wanted and that the team was made up of people who supported and improved the game for decades with no profit motivation what so ever.

Recently, with David Gaider and Chris Avellone making appearances around the studio the future looks brighter than ever for Beamdog and just knowing that guys like ascension 64, Cam Dawg and so many others have had direct input makes this a bit of a dream team setup in my opinion. I know ascension 64 crushed a lot of bugs that occur when converting BG1 to the BG2 engine. I would assume even without them being a part of the team many of the bug fixes came quicker because of the help and experience that many in the modding community have brought to the table.

Beamdog has done a good job with artwork and some of the scenarios like the classic drunken bar fight in Neera's SOA quest were a real joy and I hope to see more of it. I felt that the maps for the extra areas that they added were not as sharp or detailed as the original SOA artwork and some of the conversations in game felt a little off to me but after seeing what SOD has to offer through the streams and screenshots, I am happy with what I am seeing. The backdrops are more detailed and sharp. New fog, water and lighting effects have been added to the engine and it looks like the RTS side of the game is getting a kick in the pants at least with all of the mass melee battles I am seeing in the previews. The fact that they took small steps with the expansion content in BGEE and BG2EE makes me feel confident that Beamdog is being cautious and they were aware that they may need a few shots before they nailed the original quality that Bioware did. I for one am very confident in the leadership that Trent Oster has shown over the last few years. What he has done takes serious work and the risks can be high. I can't believe he untangled the Atari/wizards mess enough to make progress at all. I think he has proven to Wizard's that he is worthy of trust and that both companies can profit without breaking anything.

Another thing, The collectors box is insanely expensive and I will admit I was turned off for a few seconds after I saw it for the first time BUT, I realize how hard it is to make something like this available and it looks like Beamdog has not cut any corners when it comes to quality. This looks every bit as golden box standard than the SOA collectors edition that I own. (Maybe even more great). This sort of thing costs money and I for one am happy for this magical chance to even have the option to purchase something like this again. It is no longer 1999 and the mainstream is not buying these things so they are not mass produced for cheap like they used to be.

I won't know until I have the game but I have to say that I am happy with what I have seen so far and I am confident that Beamdog has capitalized on this once in a lifetime chance to improve the game blend between BG1EE and BG2EE the way Bioware never did.

I can only think of two things that only time will tell. Will all of Amber and co's work pay off? The way Avellone was talking I would think so but I have no way of knowing until I play the game and then there is the issue of Phillip Daigle's red SOD shirt. It's not a matter of when he will sell it on E-bay for massive retirement profit (we all know he will), the question is will he wash it first? I'm thinking no.

Mikey205

I'm grateful to be honest. If youd told me this would happen 7 years ago noway would I have believed you. Im just amazed theyre bringing back so many voice actors. The new areas look stunning in places I can't wait to see the story. I dont love every ui change (fonts in particular) but on the whole its a massive step forward

koteko

I vowed long ago I would have given BeamDog my money for any BG-related enhancement, sequel or expansion, and so far they have lived up to my expectation. So I pre-ordered SoD, although at the cheapest level.

And I very much look forward to play this game.

Nimran

The timing couldn't be much better, since I just had my birthday yesterday. This will be the gift that I give to myself this year.

darrenkuo

What i think is " Is today Mar.31th?"

shawne

I was on the fence for a while, but the information coming out of the latest streams finally had me decide against it. Beamdog's still cutting corners with story content - M'Khiin, Glint and Neera have quests, Corwin and Dorn have "something smaller", nothing for Baeloth, Rasaad or Voghiln (which begs the question why he was even included in the first place), no stronghold for Shamans, etc. - and I'm not rewarding them for that a third time.

Mirage

Dee said:

If the game looked really dark to you, it's not just you; the video settings during our last stream were a bit on the "might have been filmed in the Underdark" side. The actual game isn't nearly as dim and dark as it appeared in our last stream.

Great! That is good to know!

Mikey205

@shawne Why did you think they were going to add a massive stronghold into BG2 when this is a standalone expansion to BG1? Also character quests do not equal story content. I'd much rather have well written characters with banter that comment through the main quest than have an artificial character questline shoehorned in for a checkbox exercise.

Stormvessel

I can't wait but I'm a little concerned about whether I will have to purchase BGEE again just to be able to play on day 1. I have the Steam version and can't pre-order on Steam. If I have to buy BGEE again (this time directly from Beamdog) just to be able to play on day 1, I will, but I won't be happy about it AT ALL.

darrenkuo

Stormvessel said:

I can't wait but I'm a little concerned about whether I will have to purchase BGEE again just to be able to play on day 1. I have the Steam version and can't pre-order on Steam. If I have to buy BGEE again (this time directly from Beamdog) just to be able to play on day 1, I will, but I won't be happy about it AT ALL.

No ,
You can purchase it through Beamdog and request Stem-Keay from support team

http://www.siegeofdragonspear.com/

Q: If I buy on Beamdog.com will I get a Steam key?
Yes. After the release of the game you can contact support@beamdog.com to request a Steam key.

BillyYank

@darrenkuo You can't buy the Beamdog version of the expansion unless you own the Beamdog version of BGEE, the website won't let you.

darrenkuo

BillyYank said:

@darrenkuo You can't buy the Beamdog version of the expansion unless you own the Beamdog version of BGEE, the website won't let you.

Opps, I think you are right,

Messi

Stormvessel said:

I can't wait but I'm a little concerned about whether I will have to purchase BGEE again just to be able to play on day 1. I have the Steam version and can't pre-order on Steam. If I have to buy BGEE again (this time directly from Beamdog) just to be able to play on day 1, I will, but I won't be happy about it AT ALL.

I'm 100% sure SoD will be available on Steam come release date. Just like was the case with BG2EE and IWDEE.

Zanso

My hamster is getting antsy. If we be adventurers, let us adventure!