How Different is the Gameplay in BG from NWN/NWN2?

Leematon

Hi Guys. Just preordered BGEE and looking forward to trying it out next week. Although I've been playing NWN and NWN2 for several years now I'm a complete newcomer to BG, indeed to 2nd edition D&D.

From what I've read in other posts - 'the spacebar is your best friend' etc. - I get the impression that seasoned NWN players are in for a real shock, in that they can't configure companions' behaviour AI in BG like they could in NWN/NWN2 - in other words, every action for every party member has to be performed manually. Is this correct?

moody_mage

It's true but when you come to play it you'll realise this is the best way.

I've played plenty of NWN2 and never quite got used to companions doing stuff I hadn't wanted them to do or not doing things I did want them to do.

PhoenixDown

You can give your companions simple AI scripts somewhere in menus, but I'm not sure how this plays out. I have never used them or used them only for short time and turned off AI all together. It was always annoying when your characters done something you didn't want them to do.
Believe me you will have much more fun, when you will control your whole party by yourself! Unlike NWN2 or DA games in BG2 It's designed that way.

Space_hamster

There is a selection of AI scripts that you can assign your party members, they'll activate when you switch on AI, deactivate when you want more micro-management. They are helpful to use with specialized characters, ie, cleric can automatically heal severely injured party members during a fight, or your thief can automatically try to backstab, or your fighter will protect other members coming under attack. Some AI scripts are more useful than others.

Of course, for very tough fights, micromanaging all party members using auto pause or space bar will probably work the best. There are many options.

Tetraploid

Pretty much, yep. You'll get used to it, though, don't worry! You pick up your party gradually through the game, so you'll get practice with two or four people before you start managing all six at once.

Syntia13

All of the above, plus you always see the environment from one fixed angle, but the camera is not chained to any of your characters, which is a huge plus (for me, at least). There are also several different party formation you can choose, so you can, for example, comb through the area in a wide line, or have your followers march in a tight group, with tanks in the front and spell-casters in the middle (I don't believe there was an option like that in NWN2, and certainly not in NWN1). Interface is vastly different too, but that's only to be expected. (Actually, since GUI was the most modified part of the game, I guess we'll all have to learn it from scratch). XD And once the traps are laid, they can't be picked up again. And... and I'll just shut up now and let you discover BG on your own, which is the best way to do it, really.

ekster

BG is like playing 6 NWN at the same time.

As I played BG way before I played NWN, the NWN companions were a huge disappointment to me. While you can run some AI script, or make your own (from what I remember, anyway... I always just turn it off), the pause button is useful as you'll have to manage every character yourself...

But it's not overwhelming either. I first played this game as a kid whose experience to RPGs was limited to Final Fantasy 4, 5, 6, and 7... The auto-pause features actually makes the process easy and fun. Having something like 'pause on death, pause on target killed, pause on spell cast and pause on health below 30%' kept the pausing to a minimum, but always got your attention when it was needed.

valky

I think I used a compilation of advanced AI scripts for BG/IWD & Co. - with some knowledge you could do them by yourself as well.
But I agree for the NWN/NWN2 companions, specially caster....I got my party more than once raped (sorry) on regularly hardmode and powercasting, that I finally started to manually control any caster-based character myself. But stumbled upon a very fancy mod, which made things a loooooooooooot easier...and if setup properly, you could select a familiar or whatever else and watch the show

[As far as I remember, NWN companions tended to stuck for their lifetime or did some very stupid things while the whole damn world was doing damage to them; or the thief, whose name I don't remember was focused to disarm the trap 2 rooms afar and ignored all those nasty npcs...]

Else in BG/IWD & Co. the spacebar is indeed you very best friend, if you don't want to rely only on physical combat; never tried the caster scripts - as am a big fan of 'Heart of Fury' and scripts are useless there.
Played lately only IWD2/heart of fury & nwn2:motb...so my comment might be rather not very helpful...

paladin235

I just wanted to add, it's not so much that you have to control all 6 party members; it's more like you actually GET to control all 6! It's a great experience! So much so that NWN left me very disappointed when I started playing it.

All the characters are unique and have their own personalities (similar to Final Fantasy). Furthermore, the story is much more grand and epic!

After BG Bioware made NWN and then Dragon Age. Nothing that they ever did managed to equal the greatness of BGII/ToB! I really envy anyone who is getting the chance to play through BG for the first time!

Time4Tiddy

Another huge difference between BG and NWN - archery actually RULES in BG. You'll find equipping all your party members with ranged weapons, except maybe your tank, will make many battles short and simple, you may not even need to pause/space bar. Typically all the trash fights can be cleaned up with four ranged NPCs while the melee keep aggro in the front. Ranged combat in NWN was horrible.

mlnevese

And if you don't want to control all the characters all the time, you can download third party AIs, such as ESeries or BPSeries.

Peaches

The gameplay between the two are totally different. They operate off Different DnD editions to start.

The AI is a great assister, my first hundred times through the game I used the AI (looks like a latern) a lot. Then once you actually spread you spell casting wings you'll tend to become more of a manual player.

nemiafala

Think of it this way: You don't have to deal with things like Qara shooting off fireballs and other useful spells at low level mooks who don't really call for that kind of spell power! And while I'm on the topic of fireballs (and other area of effect spells): Neverwinter may have been merciful, but I don't think there's a difficulty setting in Baldur's Gate where they ignore your party. If you have Edwin shoot a fireball too close, everyone is going to burn horribly, including him.

ZanathKariashi

Also...dying hurts...A LOT. So much so, most people just reload a previous save rather then suck it up and get on with it.

That said, the game is actually solo-able in it's entirety if a party isn't your thing, without using exploits, as any race or class combination (I've done so personally over my long association with this series), but requires good knowledge of system and where to acquire the gear you need to survive and the most effective questing path for your means.

Ranged weapons are king...remember that. Non-warrior type characters only ever get 1 base attack (warrior type can get 1/2 an attack with ** proficiency (doesn't apply to the swashbuckler) and another 1/2 attack at level 7 in that class), unless they dual-wield. Bows, Speed weapons, throwing knives and darts all have 2 or more attacks per round AND keep you out of harm's way (most enemies can easily kill you in one hit until you have a level or two under your belt, depending on your hit-dice, and anything as big as an ogre is always bad news. Enemies with nasty status effects, Ghouls and spiders and the like, are also better attacked from range).


Also status effect spells (like sleep, blind, slow, web (especially web, since most BG parties are ranged heavy anyways and it has a rather nasty save penalty that keeps it useful all through the series) etc) are THE most useful spells in the game. Damage spells, due to the low levels available never really become competitive, especially since there's are plenty of easily acquirable wands that can fill your trash clearing needs just fine.