The gauntlet has been thrown down. GOG news about how to mod BG1.
shawne
Member Posts: 3,239
GOG has apparently taken a few lessons in cheeky marketing...
http://www.gog.com/en/news/enhance_the_gameplay_in_your_edition_of_baldurs_gate_from_gogcom
Money quote: "That's why some people would go a great distance modding and upgrading both those titles to combine them into one, seamless, visually updated game--an enhanced edition, if you will. We're well aware of a commercial project aiming to achieve that goal. Originally, actually, that was scheduled to release today. That didn't happen, unfortunately, but that does give us a great reason to tell you how to make your own enhanced edition of Baldur's Gate. It's very nearly hassle-free and (especially with the sale going on) it won't cost you much at all. There's one catch, though: you need copies of both Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 in order to enhance your game. Let's see how! One of our users, GoJays2025, committed his time to write a comprehensive guide on the topic. We know not all of you dare to venture into our forums, so we thought that sharing this guide here, might be a good idea--even more so during our Diamonds of D&D where you can get both Baldur's Gate games for as little as $7!"
http://www.gog.com/en/news/enhance_the_gameplay_in_your_edition_of_baldurs_gate_from_gogcom
Money quote: "That's why some people would go a great distance modding and upgrading both those titles to combine them into one, seamless, visually updated game--an enhanced edition, if you will. We're well aware of a commercial project aiming to achieve that goal. Originally, actually, that was scheduled to release today. That didn't happen, unfortunately, but that does give us a great reason to tell you how to make your own enhanced edition of Baldur's Gate. It's very nearly hassle-free and (especially with the sale going on) it won't cost you much at all. There's one catch, though: you need copies of both Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 in order to enhance your game. Let's see how! One of our users, GoJays2025, committed his time to write a comprehensive guide on the topic. We know not all of you dare to venture into our forums, so we thought that sharing this guide here, might be a good idea--even more so during our Diamonds of D&D where you can get both Baldur's Gate games for as little as $7!"
Post edited by Tanthalas on
6
Comments
Well, at least most americans. But good catch bro, and you can't blame them for trying to get some of the run off from this projects popularity. Remember, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. :P
I'm kind of ashamed I bought NWN from them now. May they rot in Hell, like Viconia's soul.
We've been waiting for nigh on fifteen years for some new official content for BG, another couple months won't kill us.
Trust me, even if BG:EE ends up getting bad reviews and/or being considered too different from the original experience, most people (specially newcomers) will choose it. If not for being the "new shiny version", mostly because compatibility on newer systems is guaranteed.
Not to mention the Mac/portable versions.
This is a battle GOG can't win, really.
Gog takes old games and does the same thing as EE, makes them run on current machines, but they don't do it as well, BUT they do it quicker. Let's not hate on them, but appreciate them for what they are, and even if this is a mistake on their part, let's give them a chance to change instead of just banning them.
I remember wanting fallout 3 from interplay, and they announced Fallout Tactics. I was upset, and joined a boycott, and there were alot of people in the boycott (around 30k at one point). Interplay wound up crashing and burning, i got a fallout 3 i didn't really like, and Fallout Tactics was still a great game.
I just want to install one game and then play it.
So, ask yourself if BG:EE is worth 7 bucks more than buying the components piecemeal and then "easily" sticking them all together and saying hello to lots of nice incompatibilities and bugs. I hope GOG customers - of which I am one as well - are able to think this through and not fall prey to the marketing tricks of GOG. I know their statements might have been in jest, but I guess it's just not good sportsmanship - something which in my opinion counts a lot for indie and old-school gamers. Maybe they just shot themselves in the foot by generating more buzz for BG:EE while looking somewhat unsympathetic themselves.
However - strictly in terms of content rather than mechanics - that's about all the EE can offer. We're all aware of the existing limitations: Beamdog can't change or expand existing NPCs, they can't use story-based mods that tie off loose ends (ie: Angelo recognizing Shar-Teel or Branwen actually reacting when you confront the man who petrified her), they can't even incorporate something as fundamentally essential as David Gaider's "Ascension". The only way that material can make it into the game is if the modding community adapts it for the EE - so you're still going to end up with a list of mods to run through.
This isn't to devalue Beamdog's work or to turn people against the EE; as I said, I'm buying it anyway. But I think it's going to be a much tougher sell than people here may think, particularly with GOG actively setting itself up as a cheaper alternative.
My personal benchmark for the success/failiure of BG:EE is if this is the game I click on whenever I decide to do another run through of Baldur's gate.