I realise this is a general post of intent, rather than anything about future patches, but I'd like to reiterate some things I pointed out long, long ago and (AFAIK) have never been addressed in BG:EE. Admittedly, I haven't played in a few years now so if any of these have finally been sorted, let me know!
Miners in Nashkel Mines areas (AR5400, AR5401 ) shouldn't use 'miner slave' model. They aren't slaves (like in Cloakwood). They should just be commoners.
Ulgoth's Beard should be accessible first time only via a new area map exit on the Black Dragon Gate (AR0100) and placed NW above Baldur's Gate city on the world map. This will preserve the difficulty flow of the game without new players bumbling across the town too early, as well as line up with proper FR canon. The town has always been in the wrong place on the world map.
Exotic weaponry should be added to the merchant stock (AR4908) in the Nashkel Carnival (AR4900). There aren't really any other natural places for players who put points in things like katana/ninjato to get replacement weapons in the early game. It would at least make thematic sense that a travelling carnival would stock them, and as you've put the BG2 rules into BG1, this should be addressed.
The silver weapons available in the desk in the Wandering Eye's top deck (AR1504) should not be behind the hardest boss that they're useful against. It's too easy to arrive here without being able to beat Karoug and get stuck on the island. In fact, it makes little sense that lycanthropes would keep silver weaponry anywhere near by. Instead, I suggest that the sword and butter knife are moved to Dradeel's cabin (AR1505), perhaps even offered to you to help get his spell book back.
The door to AR4806 (Joseph's home) should not be locked. It discourages good-aligned players from finding the quest for Joseph's ring.
Lots of those things could have been "fixed", but thing is the original had those already and it was never addressed.
1. Never considered the sprites used by miners to be a specific "slave" sprite. Just a "dirty miner" sprite. Changing them to commoner sprites would make even less sense.
2. Part of the charm of BG is that you can go to areas not meant for your lvl and get wrecked.
3. Access to exotic weaponry (especially ones added in BG2) should have been better handled, yes. I seem to remember there being a mod that addressed this issue and placed more items in certain stores.
4. Another point that should have been better addressed. Should have removed the silver requirement thing entirely and done the werewolf/greaterwerewolf like in BG2 or implemented a workaround like the Tweaks Anthology does. As for the weapon placement, having useful items in awkwardly convenient places is a mainstay of rpgs.
5. You should not be barging into private homes anyway as a good aligned character unless you have a specific reason to do so. Better to have added an NPC that would tell you about it, like that guy in Beregost that can inform you about local quests.
Long time since I've been here but I just saw that a engine version is coming up which is amazing news. Not going to lie, my main interest is to see if the LoB saving throws will be fixed as I recall it being an engine bug causing an Integer underflow. I can't wait to finally play LoB like it was meant to be one day.
Thank you for working on those amazing games after all this time.
Infinity Engine 2.7.2.0 Beta Now Available on Android
Every hamster has his day. A long awaited update has arrived for Baldur’s Gate I & II and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions on Android: user accessible game data is now supported.
To try the new build, open the game’s Google Play Store page, scroll to Join the beta, and tap Join.
Patch Notes
By default, the games now import and export user files to a location visible to file browsers: \<root\>/Documents/\<game_name\> Example for BG1: \<root\>/Documents/BaldursGate1/
Key Behaviors
• Saving: New saves are exported to \<root\>/Documents/\<game\>/save/\<save_name\> These saves can be freely copied between Android and PC
• Deleting: Removing a save in game also deletes it from the Documents directory (if present)
• Adding files manually: Placing files in \<root\>/Documents/\<game\>/ triggers a folder picker on next launch
o This grants the game full read/write access
o Choosing the default Documents folder is recommended, but any allowed folder will work
o The selected folder becomes the permanent USER_DIR until the game is reinstalled
How USER_DIR Works
Once selected:
• On every launch, the game imports all files from USER_DIR into its internal data directory
• You can treat USER_DIR like the Documents folder on PC:
o Add saves to USER_DIR/save/ to make them appear in game
o Add custom portraits to USER_DIR/portraits/ for the game to use
o Add your modded files & mods to USER_DIR/override/ for the game to use
o Restart the game after adding files while it’s running
o Note: those directories won't exist until you create them and add files. The only one the game creates on its own is USER_DIR/save (and "mpsave", etc.) when a save is made in-game
• The game will not delete or overwrite internal saves based on changes in USER_DIR
o Delete saves through the in game menus
o Create new save folders if you want to modify a save
Important Fix
This update resolves a bug that caused incorrect permissions on \<root\>/Android/data/\<game\>, preventing access via PC or file browsers.
Existing installations with incorrect permissions cannot be repaired. You must uninstall and reinstall the game. Because uninstalling removes saves, export them first and copy anything important to a PC.
Android permissions vary by device and OS, and Android/data may still be inaccessible even after reinstalling. If you cannot access it via PC, the “Files” app by Marc apps & software is recommended. If all else fails, rely on the new import/export system using \<root\>/Documents/\<game\>.
Comments
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/90612/who-the-hell-is-ilair-malavons-dome
1. Never considered the sprites used by miners to be a specific "slave" sprite. Just a "dirty miner" sprite. Changing them to commoner sprites would make even less sense.
2. Part of the charm of BG is that you can go to areas not meant for your lvl and get wrecked.
3. Access to exotic weaponry (especially ones added in BG2) should have been better handled, yes. I seem to remember there being a mod that addressed this issue and placed more items in certain stores.
4. Another point that should have been better addressed. Should have removed the silver requirement thing entirely and done the werewolf/greaterwerewolf like in BG2 or implemented a workaround like the Tweaks Anthology does. As for the weapon placement, having useful items in awkwardly convenient places is a mainstay of rpgs.
5. You should not be barging into private homes anyway as a good aligned character unless you have a specific reason to do so. Better to have added an NPC that would tell you about it, like that guy in Beregost that can inform you about local quests.
Thank you for working on those amazing games after all this time.
Every hamster has his day. A long awaited update has arrived for Baldur’s Gate I & II and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions on Android: user accessible game data is now supported.
To try the new build, open the game’s Google Play Store page, scroll to Join the beta, and tap Join.
Direct links
- BG:EE Open Testing:
Join on Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededitionJoin on the web - https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition
- BGII:EE Open Testing:
Join on Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beamdog.baldursgateIIenhancededitionJoin on the web - https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.beamdog.baldursgateIIenhancededition
- IWD:EE Open Testing:
Join on Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beamdog.icewinddaleJoin on the web - https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.beamdog.icewinddale
- SoD Open Testing:
Join on Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beamdog.siegeofdragonspearJoin on the web - https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.beamdog.siegeofdragonspear
Patch Notes
By default, the games now import and export user files to a location visible to file browsers: \<root\>/Documents/\<game_name\> Example for BG1: \<root\>/Documents/BaldursGate1/
Key Behaviors
• Saving: New saves are exported to \<root\>/Documents/\<game\>/save/\<save_name\> These saves can be freely copied between Android and PC
• Deleting: Removing a save in game also deletes it from the Documents directory (if present)
• Adding files manually: Placing files in \<root\>/Documents/\<game\>/ triggers a folder picker on next launch
o This grants the game full read/write access
o Choosing the default Documents folder is recommended, but any allowed folder will work
o The selected folder becomes the permanent USER_DIR until the game is reinstalled
How USER_DIR Works
Once selected:
• On every launch, the game imports all files from USER_DIR into its internal data directory
• You can treat USER_DIR like the Documents folder on PC:
o Add saves to USER_DIR/save/ to make them appear in game
o Add custom portraits to USER_DIR/portraits/ for the game to use
o Add your modded files & mods to USER_DIR/override/ for the game to use
o Restart the game after adding files while it’s running
o Note: those directories won't exist until you create them and add files. The only one the game creates on its own is USER_DIR/save (and "mpsave", etc.) when a save is made in-game
• The game will not delete or overwrite internal saves based on changes in USER_DIR
o Delete saves through the in game menus
o Create new save folders if you want to modify a save
Important Fix
This update resolves a bug that caused incorrect permissions on \<root\>/Android/data/\<game\>, preventing access via PC or file browsers.
Existing installations with incorrect permissions cannot be repaired. You must uninstall and reinstall the game. Because uninstalling removes saves, export them first and copy anything important to a PC.
Android permissions vary by device and OS, and Android/data may still be inaccessible even after reinstalling. If you cannot access it via PC, the “Files” app by Marc apps & software is recommended. If all else fails, rely on the new import/export system using \<root\>/Documents/\<game\>.