Very few people actually install mods because it involves googling around and reading READMEs, unzipping files in specific directories and going through command-line interfaces.
Seriously, dude? Have you even played BG with mods?
Most mods that get downloaded nowadays are from SHS and G3. Every one of G3's mods comes with a self extractor that puts the mod in the correct directory *for you*. Command line interfaces? It's a black window that asks "Would you like to install X mod? Y for yes or N for no." What do you want, a shiny glossy Web 2.0 style button that says "Install"? Most people that actually play with mods will tell you that it's quite easy to set up, or at least not the most difficult thing in the world.
Not to mention that sites like SHS and G3 have very easy to use interfaces that guide users to download centers where the descriptions of the mods are in plain text right before them. READMEs...uh, yeah in basic terms that's an instruction manual. Games have those, too! They tell you what to do and how to install the game and what the game is about!
I understand that many people haven't played/heard of mods before. But it's a little unfair of you to make assumptions of the mods themselves when your information on them is clearly incorrect.
@theacefes yes I played BG with mods, and yes some of them require you to point out the installation folder. The auto-detected folder from the installers is also often wrong particularly if you're installing into a Tutu folder. A black window that asks questions which you answer by typing in letters is called a command-line interface. And there's no way to know about any of these mods except by googling and sometimes extensively so. Just how do you find out about EasyTutu? Just googled BG1Tutu, EasyTutu is on the 5th page. And wtf is a degreenifier? And what's BGT, is that an abbreviation for BG1Tutu? Your average user doesn't even know where his program folders are.
My point is, the vast majority of the people who have played Baldur's Gate did not mod the game, and wouldn't even mod the game if you told them they made the game 2 times better.
@theacefes yes I played BG with mods, and yes some of them require you to point out the installation folder. The auto-detected folder from the installers is also often wrong particularly if you're installing into a Tutu folder. A black window that asks questions which you answer by typing in letters is called a command-line interface. And there's no way to know about any of these mods except by googling and sometimes extensively so. Just how do you find out about EasyTutu? Just googled BG1Tutu, EasyTutu is on the 5th page. And wtf is a degreenifier? And what's BGT, is that an abbreviation for BG1Tutu? Your average user doesn't even know where his program folders are.
My point is, the vast majority of the people who have played Baldur's Gate did not mod the game, and wouldn't even mod the game if you told them they made the game 2 times better.
Except that Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition includes many mods as part of its official fixes. Therefore it's impossible *not* to compare it to a modded-up install of the original game, or at the very least take the existence of mods into consideration. Yes, there are people who don't know how to install mods, what mods they should install, and so on... and the Enhanced Edition is nice for them. But considering how little effort it does take to get mods up and running, and the issues that the Enhanced Edition does have, I can't recommend that people pay double for that privilege.
@IkonNavros It's not so much that I'm "ignoring" it. There is nothing to ignore. The game has never looked better, in my opinion. Like I said, the only time I notice an issue is when I zoom in too far and my party becomes a bunch of Super Nintendo RPG sprites. I can use virtually any level of zoom besides zooming in as close as possible. I'm on a 1600x900 screen and haven't customized any visuals, whether through mods or .ini shenanigans. I'm playing the game as vanilla as EE gets and yet I enjoy the visuals immensely.
My crappy 2007 laptop have a resolution close to yours 1680 by 1050 and the game looks sharp, that makes me thing perhaps the problem is if you go above that resolution?
On the other hand I tried to play the original BG with the WS mod and I rather play EE instead because it looks so tiny on my screen...anyway I saw a good idea in one of the above post, Overhaul need to put an option where you can switch with your native resolution (if you like to play with ants) or keep it like we have it now and everyone is happy.
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That last part I DO agree with - it's frustrating how small some of the text is, especially in the inventory screen.
Most mods that get downloaded nowadays are from SHS and G3. Every one of G3's mods comes with a self extractor that puts the mod in the correct directory *for you*. Command line interfaces? It's a black window that asks "Would you like to install X mod? Y for yes or N for no." What do you want, a shiny glossy Web 2.0 style button that says "Install"? Most people that actually play with mods will tell you that it's quite easy to set up, or at least not the most difficult thing in the world.
Not to mention that sites like SHS and G3 have very easy to use interfaces that guide users to download centers where the descriptions of the mods are in plain text right before them. READMEs...uh, yeah in basic terms that's an instruction manual. Games have those, too! They tell you what to do and how to install the game and what the game is about!
I understand that many people haven't played/heard of mods before. But it's a little unfair of you to make assumptions of the mods themselves when your information on them is clearly incorrect.
My point is, the vast majority of the people who have played Baldur's Gate did not mod the game, and wouldn't even mod the game if you told them they made the game 2 times better.
My crappy 2007 laptop have a resolution close to yours 1680 by 1050 and the game looks sharp, that makes me thing perhaps the problem is if you go above that resolution?
On the other hand I tried to play the original BG with the WS mod and I rather play EE instead because it looks
so tiny on my screen...anyway I saw a good idea in one of the above post, Overhaul need to put an option where you can switch with your native resolution (if you like to play with ants) or keep it like we have it now
and everyone is happy.