Probably the best way to make everyone happy is to use a third party program or mod to adjust the experience values.
Personally, I wouldn't want to just "remove" the hard cap. If I wanted to progress further, it would seem more appropriate (read: less cheesy) to work in a soft cap. Possibly with diminishing returns.
IE: [1/4 exp gained.] (-2.5% less per level after max)
without having to use a 3rd party program to remove xp cap.
Not having to do that never seemed like much of an option for this purpose anyway. A full solo run through BG + TotSC will net you somewhere around 1.3M exp
and in what way is the game still challenging and interesting then?
Seriously? try doing a solo run with the cap and let me know how easy that is.This game hasn't been "challenging" for me since 1998's first play though. I look for other ways to run the game.
Wow, do I really need to spell my sarcasm out? I was addressing everyone who insisted that it was as 'easy' as changing one file; a file that probably won't be exposed in the iPad version.
Wow, do I really need to spell my sarcasm out? I was addressing everyone who insisted that it was as 'easy' as changing one file; a file that probably won't be exposed in the iPad version.
You asked US how we were going to do it and I told you. Sarcasm fail?
without having to use a 3rd party program to remove xp cap.
Not having to do that never seemed like much of an option for this purpose anyway. A full solo run through BG + TotSC will net you somewhere around 1.3M exp
and in what way is the game still challenging and interesting then?
Seriously? try doing a solo run with the cap and let me know how easy that is.This game hasn't been "challenging" for me since 1998's first play though. I look for other ways to run the game.
Yes, 6 characters at level 8/9 is harder than 1 character at level 8/9 (pre-TotSC). I understand your point fully.
/endsarcasm
A full party will get to max level before even entering Baldur's Gate . A solo character (even FMT or FMC) will get maxed out before half the game is over. So how can it ever be "easier" solo? With the xp cap in place you have your maxed out main character and 5 friends vs your main character only.
If you mean easier to manage deaths of stupid gimped party members, then yes I agree.
Make sure you do your math. I can tell you from experience, the XP cap will bite you if you don't. I played a reduced party, 3 or 4 characters, I don't remember which. My main character was a Fighter/Mage/Cleric. As a Cleric you get Cure Serious Wounds when you hit level 7 at 55,000 XP. I was really looking forward to that since he was my main healer. And then I capped out at 53,666 way too far into the game to trash him and start over. What a bummer!
Yes, 6 characters at level 8/9 is harder than 1 character at level 8/9 (pre-TotSC). I understand your point fully.
/endsarcasm
A full party will get to max level before even entering Baldur's Gate . A solo character (even FMT or FMC) will get maxed out before half the game is over. So how can it ever be "easier" solo? With the xp cap in place you have your maxed out main character and 5 friends vs your main character only.
If you mean easier to manage deaths of stupid gimped party members, then yes I agree.
A party of 6 getting max experience before even chapter 5? I'm not so sure that was the case in either pre-totsc or afterwards.
Whenever I play I always max out my party of 6 chars just before entering baldur's gate. I never farm but I am one of those ocd people who has to explore every single map area and finish every quest. The problem with this is I get bored of my chars after I've maxed them...after all, what is the point of playing with a maxed out character? To go through a story line that I already know by heart? I like to see my chars progress in level. On the other hand I can see the problem with a much higher XP cap...imagine coming into BG2 with a char that is lvl 16 or higher...that wouldn't be fun. Wish there was some way to balance this...I would actually be happy if the xp reward for everything from quest rewards to monster killing was reduced considerably to make up for this.
Whenever I play I always max out my party of 6 chars just before entering baldur's gate. I never farm but I am one of those ocd people who has to explore every single map area and finish every quest. The problem with this is I get bored of my chars after I've maxed them...after all, what is the point of playing with a maxed out character? To go through a story line that I already know by heart? I like to see my chars progress in level. On the other hand I can see the problem with a much higher XP cap...imagine coming into BG2 with a char that is lvl 16 or higher...that wouldn't be fun. Wish there was some way to balance this...I would actually be happy if the xp reward for everything from quest rewards to monster killing was reduced considerably to make up for this.
Hmm, are you going through Durlag's Tower by chance? Personally I generally do only some of the Totsc (both islands, ulgoths beard) content before entering the city. Durlag's Tower (and what follows) is the only thing I can think of that would result in the big differences in experience that I'm thinking of since I go through all the other maps as well before entering the city.
I'd love to know how exactly you guys plan to adjust that file; the iPad doesnt' expose it's filesystem!
Pad games, much like console games, leave you with very limited control over your game assets. Thus if you're the kind of player who likes to be able to switch things around to suit your own preferences, you should think carefully on this angle before deciding which version to get.
Whenever I play I always max out my party of 6 chars just before entering baldur's gate. I never farm but I am one of those ocd people who has to explore every single map area and finish every quest. The problem with this is I get bored of my chars after I've maxed them...after all, what is the point of playing with a maxed out character? To go through a story line that I already know by heart? I like to see my chars progress in level. On the other hand I can see the problem with a much higher XP cap...imagine coming into BG2 with a char that is lvl 16 or higher...that wouldn't be fun. Wish there was some way to balance this...I would actually be happy if the xp reward for everything from quest rewards to monster killing was reduced considerably to make up for this.
Hmm, are you going through Durlag's Tower by chance? Personally I generally do only some of the Totsc (both islands, ulgoths beard) content before entering the city. Durlag's Tower (and what follows) is the only thing I can think of that would result in the big differences in experience that I'm thinking of since I go through all the other maps as well before entering the city.
Yeah, I hit the totsc areas before I go to the gate. When I don't go through the add on stuff I usually max out just coming out of the candlekeep catacombs but I rarely go through the gate first. Like I said once I max my chars it gets boring for me so if I waited till just before going after Sarevok I would have no real reason to do Durlag's Tower and the werewolf island I would just want to export my char to start up in BG2.
@elminster On my first playthrough ever in 1998 I distinctly remember (as my other friends that were playing the game simultaneously) that I had hit the cap on all my party members before entering BG. I thought it was a pretty big fail to be questing such a beautiful city with so much to do and get no xp rewards for such. My other friends remember the same. There was no such thing as an expansion or a mod back then, and, I never cheesed a place to grind. However, I am quite meticulous on my first playthough of any rpg to explore every nook and cranny and do every quest possible.
To answer those who are concerned about the export to BG2 being a problem because of being OP without an xp cap there is an easy way to solve this. Make an export save of your character when you see you've hit the game's cap design. When it's time to import simply use that saved character.
It's not a hard XP cap, per se; it's a cap on your level. In the Black Pits, you can reach level 10 with any class--so the XP cap will be different for each class.
Will it be possible to move back and forth at will, one's party between Main Game and Pits? ie, decide at the beginning of Chapter 6 that your party will go into the Pit Challenge and once out of it, get back into the Main Game exactly where you left it (Chapter 6) but with the party's score sheets and inventory as it is at the end of the Pits?
Also, is it possible to go and do part of the Pits (say the 5 initial fights) then opt out of it, continue Main Game, and then later go back to complete the Pits without having to go through the 5 initial fights again?
@Minscandboo Soling the game is vastly easier than a full group because you get EXP 6x faster and dont have to nanny a full party. A single level 9 mage dualed from a thief can easily solo the entire game, I've done so multiple times with no difficulty at all.
I also doubt your memory of having reached max XP in a full group that quickly, unless all you did was farm golems and ankhegs.
I'd love to know how exactly you guys plan to adjust that file; the iPad doesnt' expose it's filesystem!
Pad games, much like console games, leave you with very limited control over your game assets. Thus if you're the kind of player who likes to be able to switch things around to suit your own preferences, you should think carefully on this angle before deciding which version to get.
It isn't terribly difficult to make an iPad or console expose it's files, assuming you have the appropriate cables, software, and pc. Screw an end user license. I paid for that hardware, and I'll do what i want with it
With regards to removing the xp cap - the xpcap.2da file isn't one of the files we've downloaded so I have no idea if it's possible to do this still or not.
With regards to removing the xp cap - the xpcap.2da file isn't one of the files we've downloaded so I have no idea if it's possible to do this still or not.
It's likely there, just compressed inside one of the .BIF files.
Pad games, much like console games, leave you with very limited control over your game assets. Thus if you're the kind of player who likes to be able to switch things around to suit your own preferences, you should think carefully on this angle before deciding which version to get.
To amplify my comment: iPad / Mac lets me use iCloud to sync my saves, so I'm probably going to move my gaming habits there, while I already pre-ordered PC before I discovered that cloud sync was an option. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough that 'manually' syncing to the PC is an option.
@Mungri I've played the game several times as well since 1998. All the titles of the genre (BG Series, IWD Series, PST) have had multiple playthroughs. Although my memory cells may have suffered over the years since I was in fact born before Woodstock, this is one of those recollections that will stay with me forever. I'm not the only one that has maxed out before BG. And I do not "farm"... A few ankhegs? Sure. But nothing that would abuse the system.
Comments
Personally, I wouldn't want to just "remove" the hard cap. If I wanted to progress further, it would seem more appropriate (read: less cheesy) to work in a soft cap. Possibly with diminishing returns.
IE: [1/4 exp gained.] (-2.5% less per level after max)
/endsarcasm
A full party will get to max level before even entering Baldur's Gate . A solo character (even FMT or FMC) will get maxed out before half the game is over. So how can it ever be "easier" solo? With the xp cap in place you have your maxed out main character and 5 friends vs your main character only.
If you mean easier to manage deaths of stupid gimped party members, then yes I agree.
Edit: Apparently I may be wrong on this.
Sorry.
To answer those who are concerned about the export to BG2 being a problem because of being OP without an xp cap there is an easy way to solve this. Make an export save of your character when you see you've hit the game's cap design. When it's time to import simply use that saved character.
Also, is it possible to go and do part of the Pits (say the 5 initial fights) then opt out of it, continue Main Game, and then later go back to complete the Pits without having to go through the 5 initial fights again?
I also doubt your memory of having reached max XP in a full group that quickly, unless all you did was farm golems and ankhegs.
'All of them'.