Well I really hope the Simulacrum issue can somehow make its way into the final list. As of now, Simulcrums are just broken in the EE games, you can't choose their spells! How annoying is that? In the original game you chose which spells would be memorized first, in EE it goes alphabetically into your spellbook.
This is a major bug in my opinion and once your deep into the game and playing ToB, especially if you play with ascension etc, not being able to properly set up your simulacrum is just god damn annoying. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS BEFORE YOU RELEASE 2.6! This has been an issue discussed on these forums for years.
I have a question, do you plan to include in this patch the original Spanish voices that came on the CD in 1998 and 2000 for BG1 and BG2?
Currently you can install them simply by downloading and copying them to the folder but it's a bit of a hassle and it would be nice if they came already in the installer.
I have already asked this question in the forum without getting an answer, is there any restriction to do it?
Thanks for your interest in the Spanish translation for BG:EE and BGII:EE. We’re incredibly grateful to all our volunteer translators for their hard work and passion on these projects. At the moment, we don’t have a timeline for when we’ll be able to add the original Spanish voices to our D&D Enhanced Editions, but we’ll share more details when we do.
Hey Julius!
Guess it's been discussed a thousand times already, but I'm really not up to date on this matter.. Namely, why has Beamdog replaced the cinematics (at least for BG1) with inferior ones (or cut completely/replaced with static images)? Any chance the proper videos will make a comeback?
This is really really puzzling and annoying in otherwise a very solid re-vamp of the series.
Thanks for the answer.
Hey Julius!
Guess it's been discussed a thousand times already, but I'm really not up to date on this matter.. Namely, why has Beamdog replaced the cinematics (at least for BG1) with inferior ones (or cut completely/replaced with static images)? Any chance the proper videos will make a comeback?
This is really really puzzling and annoying in otherwise a very solid re-vamp of the series.
Thanks for the answer.
I appreciate everything that Beamdog does for these games, but I'm simultaneously baffled that modders can fix some of these issues relatively easily while it takes Beamdog years to do. I'm not complaining about Beamdog, since I thoroughly support them doing EE's, I'm just making an observation.
Yeah I know of this one, but was rather curious why this was done in the first place and more importantly if we could have them back by default. Because to me the 20 yo cutscenes look definitely superior, not to mention some were cut entirely.
BTW having trouble installing the mod on my EE with WEIDU on Linux. It says it cannot find the DIALOG.TLK as if it doesn't know about EE file layout.. its a pretty recent WEIDU too (246)... I thought it should be compatible with EEs by now. Probably doing something wrong on my end tho, never have installed mods on a EE
Well I really hope the Simulacrum issue can somehow make its way into the final list. As of now, Simulcrums are just broken in the EE games, you can't choose their spells! How annoying is that? In the original game you chose which spells would be memorized first, in EE it goes alphabetically into your spellbook.
This is a major bug in my opinion and once your deep into the game and playing ToB, especially if you play with ascension etc, not being able to properly set up your simulacrum is just god damn annoying. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS BEFORE YOU RELEASE 2.6! This has been an issue discussed on these forums for years.
Do you mean the spells that are left for casting after the level drain to the simulacrum ?
Yeah I know of this one, but was rather curious why this was done in the first place and more importantly if we could have them back by default. Because to me the 20 yo cutscenes look definitely superior, not to mention some were cut entirely.
The BG:EE Classic Movies mod upscales the movies as they were distributed with the games - you can see compression artifacts all over them once you know what to look for. Beamdog likely tried a straight upscale themselves and weren't satisfied with the result.
It's too bad the 3d animation used to make the movies didn't make it to Beamdog. Seeing those movies without compression artifacts at high resolution would have been nice, obvious 90's CGI be damned.
Yeah I know of this one, but was rather curious why this was done in the first place and more importantly if we could have them back by default. Because to me the 20 yo cutscenes look definitely superior, not to mention some were cut entirely.
The BG:EE Classic Movies mod upscales the movies as they were distributed with the games - you can see compression artifacts all over them once you know what to look for. Beamdog likely tried a straight upscale themselves and weren't satisfied with the result.
It's too bad the 3d animation used to make the movies didn't make it to Beamdog. Seeing those movies without compression artifacts at high resolution would have been nice, obvious 90's CGI be damned.
Still I prefer the origs over the rather underwhelming work Beamdog for some reason got out of their way to do. Take the intro for example - this was and is somewhat iconic even. BD's version is meh - way too cartoonish unlike the hardcore gritty-stormy feel of the original (and quite awkward actually with the guy's face close up)..
That said, the best IMO is just to leave the movies as they are, with no upscaling or other "enhancements" if they couldn't be re-rendered anew.
Well I really hope the Simulacrum issue can somehow make its way into the final list. As of now, Simulcrums are just broken in the EE games, you can't choose their spells! How annoying is that? In the original game you chose which spells would be memorized first, in EE it goes alphabetically into your spellbook.
This is a major bug in my opinion and once your deep into the game and playing ToB, especially if you play with ascension etc, not being able to properly set up your simulacrum is just god damn annoying. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS BEFORE YOU RELEASE 2.6! This has been an issue discussed on these forums for years.
Do you mean the spells that are left for casting after the level drain to the simulacrum ?
why has Beamdog replaced the cinematics (at least for BG1) with inferior ones (or cut completely/replaced with static images)? Any chance the proper videos will make a comeback?
This is really really puzzling and annoying in otherwise a very solid re-vamp of the series.
We don't agree with calling the new cinematics the way you call it. It was a design decision made in 2011 before we released BG:EE. It's highly unlikely that decision can be re-considered 8 years later.
We'd like to add that there is a mod that works-- which restores vanilla cinematics if you wish so.
It was a design decision made in 2011 before we released BG:EE. It's highly unlikely that decision can be re-considered 8 years later.
Oh cut the decision c-p. Software is called software for a reason - bc it is CHANGEABLE. It's not like you have a Mona Lisa here (which for the record has seen quite some change in her days apparently). Can't the great Beamdog condescend to the level of the puny Leo?
And since you yourself say
Yeah I know of this one, but was rather curious why this was done in the first place and more importantly if we could have them back by default. Because to me the 20 yo cutscenes look definitely superior, not to mention some were cut entirely.
BTW having trouble installing the mod on my EE with WEIDU on Linux. It says it cannot find the DIALOG.TLK as if it doesn't know about EE file layout.. its a pretty recent WEIDU too (246)... I thought it should be compatible with EEs by now. Probably doing something wrong on my end tho, never have installed mods on a EE
Thanks.. did a search myself but that only returned various other articles on IE/EE modding.
It should be nowhere near this involved though!
Seems the major problem is that to use the Linux version of WEIDU, we still have to lowercase all the game filenames, which makes WEIDU happy, BUT breaks the Linux EE executable which looks for various mixed-cased filenames...
Now, Julius is it possible that you folks make a good thing and switch to using all lowercased filenames? Consider this a feature request.. Shouldn't be hard to implement surely?
As for the mod in question - I presume you're the author? Maybe you could link/post a quick explanation on how to get it to work manually, without WeiDu? Because reading the install script (.tp2), there's some binary file (.2da, maybe others) altering going on, besides simply copying over the movie files...
@JuliusBorisov, it is very necessary to increase the number of chapters above 29 (for EET in particular). Now 29 is the maximum, which is bad for megamods. Will this be implemented in 2.6 and the number of chapters increased?
We don't agree with calling the new cinematics the way you call it.
Well not me alone. By far.
Maybe not, but there are also plenty of people that prefer nicely drawn art over early-3D-era cinematics!
Remember that the most vocal group does not have to be the largest group. It may be, or it may not be. Those that like things the way currently are have no need to speak up, after all...
Either way, the option between really old 3D cinematics and the more sliding art is not a black and white decision. They made their choice 9 years ago. It would be weird if they were rolling back on this aesthetic choice 9 years later because some people dislike the choice, when they have no clear insight in the numbers of how many people preferred the old or the new style...
We don't agree with calling the new cinematics the way you call it.
Well not me alone. By far.
Maybe not, but there are also plenty of people that prefer nicely drawn art over early-3D-era cinematics!
Remember that the most vocal group does not have to be the largest group. It may be, or it may not be. Those that like things the way currently are have no need to speak up, after all...
Either way, the option between really old 3D cinematics and the more sliding art is not a black and white decision. They made their choice 9 years ago. It would be weird if they were rolling back on this aesthetic choice 9 years later because some people dislike the choice, when they have no clear insight in the numbers of how many people preferred the old or the new style...
I agree re most vocal not necessarily being the largest but you seem to stipulate that the old cinematics are... well, old. So what? They're BETTER. Not to mention half of them just got thrown out without a trace. Which can only mean BD got around to carving out, but fell short of actually substituting. Nice deal there for the customers! And *FOR WHAT*?
I admire your attempt to stand up for the Beams here, but somehow I'm sure they'll be fine without it.
As for the intro specifically, it looks *every bit* as modern as the cartoonish surrogate. AND it fits 10000% better. It's iconic - I still remember Sarevok's grand entrance from 20 yrs ago! And I'm not even that much of a IE fan tbh (I'm the PST man - but I still don't like the IE in PST).
WHY BUTCHER WHAT WAS GOOD? I'm just having the feeling the answer is rip out for ripping out sake. "we're doing a trendy-modern thing here, so let's do away with as much stuff as we can".
PS The TSR logo is still every bit as gorgeous as it was 20 yrs ago too.
"The feedback has been varied per individual tastes.
When we reviewed the BG movie content, we felt the animation and rendering had not aged well and we felt we could make the game better by re-working that content.
When we reviewed the BG2 movies, we can to the opposite conclusion. We could replace them with new artwork, but the animation and rendering quality was much better, so we decided to focus our efforts elsewhere. So, we decided to keep the cinematics unchanged for BG2:EE and add more new areas and new plot content instead."
See conflicting feedback regarding the cinematics, so it's impossible to say if it's "better" or "worse".
So you do admit it was "conflicting". The proof is in the pudding I'd say. Keep the proper ones - everyone's happy. I can't imagine sticking to the old ones would've hurt your sales of what essentially a 20 yo game.
Also you have replaced some, cut some out, and still left others as is. Am I missing something re this strategy???
I propose running an official poll on the intro specifically - Should you have replaced the intro? Yes/No
I mention "conflicting" feedback: because I went through those threads and see people calling the new cinematics bad, but I also see people calling it good and better than the old cinematics.
Such poll, if it was to be created, had to be posted in 2012, not now. That said, we've got your request and will handle it as all other requests. There are many things players still want to see fixed / changed, but the patch can only include so many changes. We'll see if and which additional items can be implemented in 2.6.
Thanks.
Another one - if you go through the Firewine dungeon and emerge in the burrow of that evil hobbit - the secret door behind the bookcase "stays" secret, ie still has to be "detected" (purple tint) and opened. Even tho you've just arrived thru it.
I'm not fanboying Beamdog. I'm actually rather disappointed in Beamdog as of late... I'm just stating that not everyone thinks the old cinematics are better. I sure don't.
Again, which ones are the proper ones? That's subjective. And no, not everyone will be happy. Either way they'd go, there'll be some people happy with the choice, and some people unhappy with the choice. Switching now would be odd.
I do agree it would've been nice if there was a new cinematic for each of the old ones (and perhaps extra ones for the new NPC content).
Replacing the old cutscenes with static pictures never felt like much of an "enhancement" to me. I'm not a huge fan of either, but I think they should have just left well enough alone, if they lacked funds to do it right.
I actually like the newer art style, just not a huge fan of the execution. I almost wish they had spent more time on it because I think it could have come out a lot better. The choking part especially is awkward and is jarring enough to take me out of the cinematic. Otherwise, I think it's an upgrade.
[EDIT] Starting at 33 seconds: https://youtu.be/egfgFZATd5E?t=33. I think it's because the head doesn't move. The artistic decision on what moves versus what's static and the illusion of camera angles doesn't all fit together.
Comments
This is a major bug in my opinion and once your deep into the game and playing ToB, especially if you play with ascension etc, not being able to properly set up your simulacrum is just god damn annoying. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS BEFORE YOU RELEASE 2.6! This has been an issue discussed on these forums for years.
Thanks for your interest in the Spanish translation for BG:EE and BGII:EE. We’re incredibly grateful to all our volunteer translators for their hard work and passion on these projects. At the moment, we don’t have a timeline for when we’ll be able to add the original Spanish voices to our D&D Enhanced Editions, but we’ll share more details when we do.
Guess it's been discussed a thousand times already, but I'm really not up to date on this matter.. Namely, why has Beamdog replaced the cinematics (at least for BG1) with inferior ones (or cut completely/replaced with static images)? Any chance the proper videos will make a comeback?
This is really really puzzling and annoying in otherwise a very solid re-vamp of the series.
Thanks for the answer.
No Icewind Dale:EE Portuguese Translation that is done for a year already??????????????
why that? she is ready !!!!
Have you seen BG:EE Classic Movies?
I 100% support bringing back the classic movies.
BTW having trouble installing the mod on my EE with WEIDU on Linux. It says it cannot find the DIALOG.TLK as if it doesn't know about EE file layout.. its a pretty recent WEIDU too (246)... I thought it should be compatible with EEs by now. Probably doing something wrong on my end tho, never have installed mods on a EE
Do you mean the spells that are left for casting after the level drain to the simulacrum ?
It's too bad the 3d animation used to make the movies didn't make it to Beamdog. Seeing those movies without compression artifacts at high resolution would have been nice, obvious 90's CGI be damned.
Still I prefer the origs over the rather underwhelming work Beamdog for some reason got out of their way to do. Take the intro for example - this was and is somewhat iconic even. BD's version is meh - way too cartoonish unlike the hardcore gritty-stormy feel of the original (and quite awkward actually with the guy's face close up)..
That said, the best IMO is just to leave the movies as they are, with no upscaling or other "enhancements" if they couldn't be re-rendered anew.
They made spell memorization ordered alphabetically.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/59694/memorized-spells-order
We don't agree with calling the new cinematics the way you call it. It was a design decision made in 2011 before we released BG:EE. It's highly unlikely that decision can be re-considered 8 years later.
We'd like to add that there is a mod that works-- which restores vanilla cinematics if you wish so.
And since you yourself say there's no technical reason to not to.
PS the mod won't install for me on a EE (no other mods). Any advice Jul?
It should be nowhere near this involved though!
Seems the major problem is that to use the Linux version of WEIDU, we still have to lowercase all the game filenames, which makes WEIDU happy, BUT breaks the Linux EE executable which looks for various mixed-cased filenames...
Now, Julius is it possible that you folks make a good thing and switch to using all lowercased filenames? Consider this a feature request.. Shouldn't be hard to implement surely?
As for the mod in question - I presume you're the author? Maybe you could link/post a quick explanation on how to get it to work manually, without WeiDu? Because reading the install script (.tp2), there's some binary file (.2da, maybe others) altering going on, besides simply copying over the movie files...
Maybe not, but there are also plenty of people that prefer nicely drawn art over early-3D-era cinematics!
Remember that the most vocal group does not have to be the largest group. It may be, or it may not be. Those that like things the way currently are have no need to speak up, after all...
Either way, the option between really old 3D cinematics and the more sliding art is not a black and white decision. They made their choice 9 years ago. It would be weird if they were rolling back on this aesthetic choice 9 years later because some people dislike the choice, when they have no clear insight in the numbers of how many people preferred the old or the new style...
I agree re most vocal not necessarily being the largest but you seem to stipulate that the old cinematics are... well, old. So what? They're BETTER. Not to mention half of them just got thrown out without a trace. Which can only mean BD got around to carving out, but fell short of actually substituting. Nice deal there for the customers! And *FOR WHAT*?
I admire your attempt to stand up for the Beams here, but somehow I'm sure they'll be fine without it.
As for the intro specifically, it looks *every bit* as modern as the cartoonish surrogate. AND it fits 10000% better. It's iconic - I still remember Sarevok's grand entrance from 20 yrs ago! And I'm not even that much of a IE fan tbh (I'm the PST man - but I still don't like the IE in PST).
WHY BUTCHER WHAT WAS GOOD? I'm just having the feeling the answer is rip out for ripping out sake. "we're doing a trendy-modern thing here, so let's do away with as much stuff as we can".
PS The TSR logo is still every bit as gorgeous as it was 20 yrs ago too.
Let me quote Trent about this subject:
"The feedback has been varied per individual tastes.
When we reviewed the BG movie content, we felt the animation and rendering had not aged well and we felt we could make the game better by re-working that content.
When we reviewed the BG2 movies, we can to the opposite conclusion. We could replace them with new artwork, but the animation and rendering quality was much better, so we decided to focus our efforts elsewhere. So, we decided to keep the cinematics unchanged for BG2:EE and add more new areas and new plot content instead."
See conflicting feedback regarding the cinematics, so it's impossible to say if it's "better" or "worse".
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/7105/may-contain-spoilers-how-do-you-like-new-cinematics
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/8276/the-intro-cinematic-what-do-you-think
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/10001/petition-optional-old-cinematics
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/7771/do-you-like-the-new-cinematic
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/147/new-and-old-cinematics
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/10329/disappointment-with-the-new-cinematics
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/68214/bg1ee-can-we-get-our-old-cg-movies-back
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/11106/dude-where-s-my-gnoll-stronghold-cinematic
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/8560/about-the-cinematics
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/44326/movie-cinematics-gone-in-bg-ee
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/58038/i-miss-the-bg1ee-style-of-video-cutscenes
Also you have replaced some, cut some out, and still left others as is. Am I missing something re this strategy???
I propose running an official poll on the intro specifically - Should you have replaced the intro? Yes/No
Such poll, if it was to be created, had to be posted in 2012, not now. That said, we've got your request and will handle it as all other requests. There are many things players still want to see fixed / changed, but the patch can only include so many changes. We'll see if and which additional items can be implemented in 2.6.
Another one - if you go through the Firewine dungeon and emerge in the burrow of that evil hobbit - the secret door behind the bookcase "stays" secret, ie still has to be "detected" (purple tint) and opened. Even tho you've just arrived thru it.
Subjective. I don't think they're better.
I'm not fanboying Beamdog. I'm actually rather disappointed in Beamdog as of late... I'm just stating that not everyone thinks the old cinematics are better. I sure don't.
Again, which ones are the proper ones? That's subjective. And no, not everyone will be happy. Either way they'd go, there'll be some people happy with the choice, and some people unhappy with the choice. Switching now would be odd.
I do agree it would've been nice if there was a new cinematic for each of the old ones (and perhaps extra ones for the new NPC content).
[EDIT] Starting at 33 seconds: