Feedback about SoD by player with some experience of BG series

frostysh

Despite my opinion about graphic outlook of this forum (I think it is sux as hell, same as the many other "white-on-black" eyeharming forum styles, and the worst thing - that you cannot change the single default theme in your frigging account menu , in addition this forums using HTML that I have don't know how to use, BBC-stuff is more cool ), I have decided to left a feedback about the game that I have bought - Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition +DLC "Siege of Dragon Spear", after a ~40 minutes of playing. I have a lot of experience of gaming in BG series, on the higher difficulty possible.

So my opinion about the game, for now.

• Game menu interface: Impressive! (for an exception about emblem - imho the old skool was better)
• Video shortcuts: Good! (well, if you want some critics - too much heroic and disney like, comparing to the old one "Armored figure on the roof", but still very good)
• User Graphical Interface: Impressive! (of course I have my cosmetic changes, to switch to old-skool black-on-white style, still very impressive)
• Game atmosphere: Impressive! (the design of the start location is super, even those chasm that smoking and the funny skeleton from the sarcophagus is ice. I am impressed indeed - much more better than the start location in BG2, despite of those poor flaming fists :P )
• Gameplay: OK! (the first fight - the ambush on the small bridge was nice and enjoyable, like an old-school in BG1, of course on LoB + SCS (don't changin default SoD AI))
• The story: (I have no straight opinion yet, but I don't like most of story of BG2, so I think SoD story will sux too :P )
• Voices: OK! (imho - even better than in previous BG series.)
• Dialogues: OK! (the NPC replicas is fine, and don't distracting from the game atmosphere)

Perhaps I will add something along with ma party way trough the game story-line.

Conclusions for now: Wow-effect, like a hollywood blockbuster.

Some graphical artifacts, that I think, migrated from the previous series:



The light shade of the fireball over the chasm, is looks weird.



The thunderbolt must be above the laying on the ground armors, but not below.

frostysh

And a question (sorry I not see "edit" in my previous post, so I must create another) - How I can shut off the blood and gore in the game?

thanx.

[Deleted User]

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frostysh

And I have, and that have no effect on the blood animation that we can see on the lower image.

[Deleted User]

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frostysh

And is there no mod, or some option in *.lua files, or something like that, to fix it or at least turn red blood into green. I just don't like blood/gore depicting in PC-games.

[Deleted User]

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TheArtisan

Maybe if you replaced the blood animation with a blank it'd remove it? I'll have to do a bit of testing.

frostysh

few words about gameplay, again

Gameplay after few hours of gaming, carefully exploring corner by corner of the start dungeon, I realized that this "Legacy of Bhaal" + new AI is a very good thing, the first normal fight - " the Welcome to Catacomb" battle was much more harder that I expected; yay! two Bladed Skeletons, two Shadowed Souls, and +frigging Skeleton Mage, and other undeads - this guys, the guys that you probably do not want to mess with.



If no help from the other NPC - that may be a difficult battle, in short - the new AI + LoB is fun and enjoyable for me, it is Ice!, but I think the developers need to add option in "Script - ADVANCED AI" for companions: "Use only small healing potions and goodberries" , "Use the extra healing potions" etc, and not only "Use the items", which is basically useless on the LoB difficulty where healing potions is very important stuff that you need to care about

About the Blood - actually I am scared to delete animation from the game (coz' I have many times crashed the game with my manipulations with graphic stuff - I tried to find a way, how to change the default message box font colors, without any success ...), perhaps to modify it, and export to the "ovveride" folder, but this is a question for a modding threads.

frostysh

Is this a bug? - I have finished the "battle for a lava bridge", which was easier than previous one against Skeletal guys, and I have witnessed a very weird thing: In the middle of the battle the Flame Fist Healer rushed into a not a small group of Ghasts, Wights, + Mummy, right after that, those guys focused on the healer... to save her digital life from a quick and painful digital death, my avatar used "Otiluke's Resilient Sphere" on that healer, and the spell was successful, then I have used few "Cone of Cold" (because it is the only offensive magic that lefts..), the healer in the sphere was in the area of effect of the cone cold, I though that it will not even scratch she. But after the battle ends, the sphere has gone, and I see nothin on the place where protective sphere was. The Healer has been found right in the next, Non explored yet! room... O_O . Is this suppose to be so, or it is a bug?
thanx

JuliusBorisov

I think it's normal - the Flaming Fist officer just moved to the next room.

argent77

frostysh said:

And is there no mod, or some option in *.lua files, or something like that, to fix it or at least turn red blood into green. I just don't like blood/gore depicting in PC-games.

@frostysh Unpack the attached zip archive into the override folder of your game. It should make blood animations invisible.

frostysh

@JuliusBorisov - yeah I have realized that too.

@argent77 - Thanx I will try it..

Another stupid question: I am on pending state, to reload or not to reload. I have cleared by my party amny rooms, room-by-room, corner by corner, of that nasty dungeon, but my-party supporter Flaming Fist guys, has gone , even those guy who askin a lot of question. Every battle they rushed onto enemy like crazy, preventing my avatar from using much of AoE, and the monster focusing on them, and tearing apart like a sheet of paper.. I have tried to use protective spells on them, etc - but without much of success, after defeating another bucket of those crazy necro-guys, I have realized than no Flaming Fists left.
So I do not know what I need to do, I am trying to avoid much victims as possible, even if this victims Falming Fist guys :P, so perhaps I need to reload and try to make a battles far from Flaming Fists + Imoen party to avoid get involved them into nasty battles. Or when I will led my party to next level, then the Flaming Fists just appear again? Like teleport or something like that? In addition monster become more and more tough, and my party have less and less of Extra-Healing potions, and I remembered that Flaming Fists Healer have another 10 EH potions that I have forgot to buy.

thanx.

JuliusBorisov

@frostysh You can progress even if these officers are no longer alive. But it will be harder without them, and you won't be able to use healing services/buy potions and scrolls from the priest. So the decision is up to you.

frostysh

I have reloaded, and not I have trying to prevent Flaming Fist guys to get involved into a hard battles, and strange but those guy who have asked questions is no longer asking any questions. Also I have spent a lot of time to deal with that cursed colored fires - and at last my party have found a place that was guarded .

The stuff of @argent77 is works fine for me! For first I have tried to change the blood into a green thing, like in the shooter "Serious Sam" - who played this funny game, on the hardest difficulty, is know how goriest this game is,



But you can turn the blood there into a something green, or a flowers - a very good idea imho, for somebody who don't like a gore in PC-games, so I have tried to do the same trick in the BG:EE + SoD, I have mod BLOODS.BAM, that was red, and I toned it into green (saved as 254 colors, indexed stuff), then I have tried to do the same with other BLOOD*.BAM files, but they is seems no red colored, but transparent O_O.. So I just used the stuff from argent77 for now.

frostysh

I have spent few hours in exploring some of Baldur's Gate City areas, and my general feedback - it is OK! :
City' streets looks more "alive" and natural than in the previous series, well of course it is far from the level of Witcher/Witcher 2, but still reminds me some stuff. Quests usually have few option to solve, which is very good too - I feel no difference from previous series in this case. Commoners usually saying something "weird", like "Can you kiss my baby? . . .", which is adding some humoric element. Those guy from Neera's friends from BG2, is looks ok too . One problem that I have noticed - not very cool range of view inside of buildings:



Just ~ten fetes farther and my avatar cannot distinguish a table inside of a tavern from an another character ... This is weird, in addition this "view range" causing serious pluggs and spikes on my PC, in areas such as Jail under the Ducal Palace.

frostysh

Complicated the developers of SoD, have made something like never was before in the BG-series, they have made a complicated society, more looks like a very dark fantasy, with some satire of the reality... In my humble opinion it is something like a world of Witcher 2, with some like terms and different terms. But on this high level of fantasy society depiction it is time to make some remarks like in the Witcher 2, make a links to the future "jumps" and changes. For an example in the Witcher 2, you can find (or that was Witcher 1, Idrm) a remarks to the modern fabric production, you can found the one of the first manufacturing production facility. Of course I am not proposing to make another "Arcanum" (looks like a cool game, I will bought it to, in the future, if all will be ok)! But imho it is a good time to make a references to something like that.

City girl - with a bow... This NPC by herself said to my avatar that she is better in the city than in the wilderness, and I have found in the BG-series a LOT NPC skilled with a bows, beginning from from the skeleton archers, Kivan, etc.. But almost nobody skilled with a crossbow... I think it was better to make "Corben Dallas" skilled with a crossbow rather than with a longbow.

frostysh

I have not opportunity to play for long time in SoD, but now my party is moving further I have a lot of narcotic pleasure from a gameplay ^^. Woohoo, I will remember those Broken Portal for a long time... pity trap it is, anyway my party have obtained a LOT of experience there , despite of huge amount of reloads.

Summoned Creature Unsummon - I mean, my avatar have called a Skeleton Warrior, and then, unfortunately harmed those guy by AoE, so Summon starting attack my char - How I can unsummon this creature?

JuliusBorisov

frostysh said:

Summoned Creature Unsummon - I mean, my avatar have called a Skeleton Warrior, and then, unfortunately harmed those guy by AoE, so Summon starting attack my char - How I can unsummon this creature?

It's strange that a summoned creature became hostile after you damaged it. There's no way to "unsummon" it, only to wait for 8 hours till it unsummons automatically (as the duration of that spell is 8 hours).

Grond0

In older versions of EE (and vanilla) most summons would turn hostile if attacked by you. Summons don't turn hostile (red circle) in EE now, but if they've taken friendly fire since last being directed to do something and there are no enemies in their sight they will still attack the one that caused the damage. As they're still under your control you can just tell them to do something else though.