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For PC single player, I'm still not convinced about Baldur's Gate:EE

(Hope this doesn't come across to negatively, I'm very happy Baldurs Gate is getting attention. just some feedback this)


The amount of content I can have in my modded BG1 and BG2 game is quite immense. This enhanced version does not seem to come close to bringing me a Baldurs Gate experience better than a modded original one.


I have in my Baldur's Gate1+2 install hundreds of mods. They offer me loads of new weapons,areas,enemies,quests,screen resolutions and running bg1 in bg2 engine, harder AI and new character kits/classes. Plus linking the two games(story lines) together.
(sure, it's a pain to set it up and get a stable build running without hassles if you want it to be big. Once it's up though; it's a sweet experience.)

As I look on the main page of EE, the only thing that interests me game play wise are these 400 improvements to the original game. What are these improvements? Are they bugs you mean? (that i'm guessing probably have been squashed by a mod/patch?)

I am finding it hard to see why I should get BG:EE, as it is not really offering something new to me. And an "offer of support" will hardly include(i think) support for mod installation ;)


I'm an old Baldur's Gate player, and what I'm looking for in a Bladur's Gate re-release is more content to the original.
What is being done in Enhanced Edition has already been done by others as I see it, and it's not even linking BG1&2 together which is quite upsetting for such an old game ;)


I think a re-release of Baldur's Gate should try to incorporate some of the great mods and conversions that are already out there if the developers can't supply their own.
It would make a richer, longer and fuller game.
A new version could offer mod support with regards to making them compatible with each other. Perhaps some centralized system(experienced modders review of sorts) that all mods can go through to make them compatible to a massive "1-click install" Baldur's Gate experience.


Quantity is very important in a Bladur's Gate game for me. I've played BG1 a-LOT, and I would pay for a game that expands upon original in a way that does this. A tiny subscription fee I could accept even.
If you were to, in the beginning, shift focus away from making your own game, into offering support for content already made, I would pay for that alone.
But to pay for a single standalone quest alone..? No, thank you very much :)

If BG:EE was to add loads of new content that offer new areas and quests + fluff, then yes. But as it is now, it doesn't interest me to much.

What does Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition offer experienced Baldur's Gate players is what I am wondering here...

Comments

  • CoryNewbCoryNewb Member Posts: 1,330
    edited November 2012
    Not HAVING to mod your game. The game will also include mods that will build further on the platform.

    Also, with all the bug/glitch fixes, I think this will be more challenging and fun to play because certain things won't be the same, some things will be viable, and some workarounds to beat bosses won't be there.

    Anyway, I also am jealous of iPad owners everywhere, because I think it would be sweet to play tablet BG.

    Oh yeah, new characters, and cross platform multiplayer sounds like a blast!

    Don't know if this will sway you, but the choice is yours! Cheers!
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Honestly there are lots of threads on this already and there is an entire faq that discusses the game. There are also bug fixed lists in the bugs section of the forums, as well as new manuals that have been posted http://www.baldursgate.com/manuals.en.html.

    But from a modding perspective the game is being made to be more easily modded, so though it may take some time to get the old mods running in the new game its still worth it to buy.
  • Allen63Allen63 Member Posts: 53
    edited November 2012
    I understand.

    If someone has already played BG1 and BG2 over and over and over for hundreds and hundreds of hours with mod upon mod, then an Enhanced Edition may not offer anything new. That type of thing could happen with any product.

    I'm in somewhat of the same "boat". I put in over 200 hours on BG1 and 200 on BG2 with mods. Thing is, that was a while back, for me.

    I wanted to play BG1 again; and, as luck would have it -- here is BGEE. Great!

    Its worth the money to me even if I don't finish the game (it will all come back to me as I'm playing and at some point I may feel I've been there, done that -- happens in other games all the time). Anyhow, even if I don't finish the game, I'll get 40 or 50 enjoyable hours out of it -- well worth the asking price.

    I also like the idea of an Android version. Seems like a good game for my Tablet. I'll be buying BGEE twice.

    But, for others with hundreds of hours already into the BG series -- its a personal decision :)
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    I look at it the same way that I look at Windows.

    Some people like Windows XP. Some people like Windows XP so much that they don't want to upgrade their system. Other people liked Windows XP but want to be able to run more modern programs, so they elected to upgrade their system to Windows 7 (and later Windows 8).

    BG:EE is the same way. There have been fifteen years of modding, which is all great. The EE allows the modding community to expand its horizons and create mods that do more exciting things. As the modding community adapts to the EE, its mods will become EE-centric, leaving the vanilla behind. Anyone who is still running the vanilla version will be stuck with the mods they have, or will have to purchase the EE.

    So it's up to you--but in the long run, your gaming experience will be greatly benefited by the improvements to the engine. It's more than just 400 enhancements and fixes. It's also the removal of over a hundred-thousand lines of code that were causing the game to slow down for no reason. Without those extra lines of code, the game loads extremely fast--so fast, in fact, that the loading screens have actually been removed entirely.

    You can read the FAQ for information on the other things they did, but the biggest advantage is on the engine-side, which in the end will make modders' lives easier.
  • GloktaGlokta Member Posts: 97
    edited November 2012
    Aosaw said:

    I look at it the same way that I look at Windows.

    Some people like Windows XP. Some people like Windows XP so much that they don't want to upgrade their system. Other people liked Windows XP but want to be able to run more modern programs, so they elected to upgrade their system to Windows 7 (and later Windows 8).

    BG:EE is the same way. There have been fifteen years of modding, which is all great. The EE allows the modding community to expand its horizons and create mods that do more exciting things. As the modding community adapts to the EE, its mods will become EE-centric, leaving the vanilla behind. Anyone who is still running the vanilla version will be stuck with the mods they have, or will have to purchase the EE.

    So it's up to you--but in the long run, your gaming experience will be greatly benefited by the improvements to the engine. It's more than just 400 enhancements and fixes. It's also the removal of over a hundred-thousand lines of code that were causing the game to slow down for no reason. Without those extra lines of code, the game loads extremely fast--so fast, in fact, that the loading screens have actually been removed entirely.

    You can read the FAQ for information on the other things they did, but the biggest advantage is on the engine-side, which in the end will make modders' lives easier.

    Was gonna post something, but this is pretty much the way i see it aswell (and probebly better written then anything i'd throw out there;))
  • Avenger_teambgAvenger_teambg Member, Developer Posts: 5,862
    Well, i'm one who doesn't want to upgrade WinXP for
    1. i fear a new install will damage my dual boot system - it could destroy 10 years of work :)
    2. i don't actually like the new windows GUI.

    None of these problems are with BG:EE. The new system is better than a Widescreen+fixpack optimized BGTUTU (with the BG1 part). I'm a bit tired of the story, but the Black Pits are really fun to play.
    The new engine is better for modding than ToB (which was previously the best official engine to mod).
    The new NPCs give some hours of play (12 hours might be an overstatement, though).

    With BG2EE the externalizations (making the engine even more mod friendly) will continue.
    Installing 1.8G should not damage your existing installs, so you could keep the old game until you can decide if you like the new one. I'm pretty sure you will like it, unless you have the weird taste of liking BG1 while hating BG2 :)

    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.
  • FrozenCellsFrozenCells Member Posts: 385


    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.

    What's the relevance of 5 years ago? A more active modding scene?
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    Aosaw said:

    I look at it the same way that I look at Windows.

    Some people like Windows XP. Some people like Windows XP so much that they don't want to upgrade their system. Other people liked Windows XP but want to be able to run more modern programs, so they elected to upgrade their system to Windows 7 (and later Windows 8).

    I don't really agree with this analogy. Win7 out of the box can do pretty much everything that a customized WinXP with a bunch of auxiliary programs can do, whereas a customized and modded BG install can be much, much more extensive than BG:EE will be out of the box.

    It would be more like a Win7 version that ran smoother and incorporated all WinXP patches and fixes - but several features you'd gotten used to on XP (to a point where you'd started viewing them as an essential part of Windows) just wouldn't be there right away with this Win7 install. You'd have to wait for a few weeks/months for it to be implemented. Once that happened though, the Win7 system would have a much greater potential for further feature development.

    Other than that, I agree with @elminster, this has been brought up many times before and there are several threads about it.

  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Yaa I got mentioned *goes back to sleep*
  • mch202mch202 Member Posts: 1,455
    elminster said:

    Yaa I got mentioned *goes back to sleep*

    @elminster

  • DukeGrDukeGr Member Posts: 43
    ocoini said:


    Quantity is very important in a Bladur's Gate game for me. I've played BG1 a-LOT, and I would pay for a game that expands upon original in a way that does this. A tiny subscription fee I could accept even.
    If you were to, in the beginning, shift focus away from making your own game, into offering support for content already made, I would pay for that alone.
    But to pay for a single standalone quest alone..? No, thank you very much :)

    If BG:EE was to add loads of new content that offer new areas and quests + fluff, then yes. But as it is now, it doesn't interest me to much.

    What does Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition offer experienced Baldur's Gate players is what I am wondering here...

    I can understand your philosophy and just have to say that bg:ee is still a work in progress.
    There is already a thread of how to make mods work on day 1 here http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/6950/player-how-to-getting-mods-to-work-on-bgee#latest

    If modded gameplay is something gamebreaking for you just give it a few more months for the mod community to mature and upgrade then. Noone is stopping you from playing your already modded content.
  • Kang54Kang54 Member Posts: 58
    edited November 2012
    For me, I'll start with just buying it for iPad. I'm quite often travelling by train for 8 hours a day, and BG is going to go a long way toward making that bearable. While the tablet experience might not be as smooth as the PC, I think it could (and will) work just fine. It's a shame that we won't get mods on iPad, but that's just the way the iPad is.

    As for PC, well, I'm a major nerd, but despite that I'd hesitate before starting installing BG and BG2. Just getting TuTu installed, then sorting out the various fixes, and the mods, and figuring out which are compatible and which are not, not to mention install order and so on. That's at least 2 hours out the window, and probably more like 4. I'd happily pay to avoid all that.

    Edit: I just had another thought: what about all the people who *aren't* nerds, who might not even know about the mods? BG without TuTu is not the best way to play it, especially not for younger players who are used to newer games (not saying there's anything wrong with that - I have trouble 'connecting' to the really old one-screen-at-atime games). While there's the GoG version of the games, you still won't get the TuTu experience, nor all the fixes.

    And last but not least - I want to support the isometric RPGs in any way I can.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • ZeckulZeckul Member Posts: 1,036
    edited November 2012
    Obviously the new quests and NPCs in BG:EE have, in fact, never been done before by mods. Mods added other quests and NPCs, but not these ones. If new areas, quests and NPCs are what you're looking for, it's there. They're all written by a professional FR author, voiced by professional artists and mastered by professional sound designers.

    As for bugfixes and improvements, while several were taken directly from existing fixpacks, access to the source code means many things that could never be fixed before are now properly fixed. Things like broken effect opcodes, etc. And this all out of the box, no need to hunt around for mods.

    As for supporting new resolutions, I don't think any mod has ever brought a GUI that scales gracefully with resolution so it doesn't look tiny on a high-res display, nor the ability to zoom in an out dynamically.

    You seem very fond of linking BG1 and BG2 as a single game: once BG2EE comes out, that's something that will probably happen again (through the modding community), and it should be much easier for modders as both games will run on the exact same engine.

    So yes, there is new high-quality content, amounting to many additional hours of gameplay, new bugfixes, new very practical UI functionality never seen before in mods, and what should become the new reference base game for future modding efforts. I think it should be very appealing to both newcomers and veterans. It's certainly not all it could have been in an ideal world, but it's enough to replace BG1/BG1Tutu as the de facto reference Baldur's Gate implementation.
  • bigdogchrisbigdogchris Member Posts: 1,336
    edited November 2012


    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.

    What's the relevance of 5 years ago? A more active modding scene?
    Just speculating here, the BG mod scene died down in the middle/late 2000's, so it might be hard to get some of the old players re-invested. If BG:EE came out 5 years ago, the modders would of jumped into this product and may still be modding to this day.

  • DinoDino Member Posts: 291
    edited November 2012
    If you have over 100 "mods" maybe this simply isnt for you. Big deal.

    However, keep in mind that with all probability all future mods will be released for the EE.
  • DeathMachineMiyagiDeathMachineMiyagi Member Posts: 120


    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.

    What's the relevance of 5 years ago? A more active modding scene?
    Just speculating here, the BG mod scene died down in the middle/late 2000's, so it might be hard to get some of the old players re-invested. If BG:EE came out 5 years ago, the modders would of jumped into this product and may still be modding to this day.

    Part of why I bought BG:EE out the gate is precisely because I hope the influx of new and old players will re-energize the BG modding community.

    Several years ago, I was considering making a BG mod of my own, but decided it would probably be a waste of time and energy given how diminished the BG modding community seems now. Now that has changed, I hope, and I'm brushing up on my modding skills. I'm hoping there are others out there who are thinking the same way.

    My only worry is how many of the modders of days past will return at least long enough to make their mods BG:EE compatible.

  • ajwzajwz Member Posts: 4,122
    mch202 said:

    elminster said:

    Yaa I got mentioned *goes back to sleep*

    @elminster

    Careful, if you say his name three time fast, you actually summon him into your home, where he messes up your pots and pans and hides pieces of lego near your bed.
  • DinoDino Member Posts: 291


    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.

    What's the relevance of 5 years ago? A more active modding scene?
    Just speculating here, the BG mod scene died down in the middle/late 2000's, so it might be hard to get some of the old players re-invested. If BG:EE came out 5 years ago, the modders would of jumped into this product and may still be modding to this day.

    Part of why I bought BG:EE out the gate is precisely because I hope the influx of new and old players will re-energize the BG modding community.

    Several years ago, I was considering making a BG mod of my own, but decided it would probably be a waste of time and energy given how diminished the BG modding community seems now. Now that has changed, I hope, and I'm brushing up on my modding skills. I'm hoping there are others out there who are thinking the same way.

    My only worry is how many of the modders of days past will return at least long enough to make their mods BG:EE compatible.

    Don't worry be happy! :)
  • NemissaNemissa Member Posts: 73
    ocoini said:

    (Hope this doesn't come across to negatively, I'm very happy Baldurs Gate is getting attention. just some feedback this)


    The amount of content I can have in my modded BG1 and BG2 game is quite immense. This enhanced version does not seem to come close to bringing me a Baldurs Gate experience better than a modded original one.


    I have in my Baldur's Gate1+2 install hundreds of mods. They offer me loads of new weapons,areas,enemies,quests,screen resolutions and running bg1 in bg2 engine, harder AI and new character kits/classes. Plus linking the two games(story lines) together.
    (sure, it's a pain to set it up and get a stable build running without hassles if you want it to be big. Once it's up though; it's a sweet experience.)

    As I look on the main page of EE, the only thing that interests me game play wise are these 400 improvements to the original game. What are these improvements? Are they bugs you mean? (that i'm guessing probably have been squashed by a mod/patch?)

    I am finding it hard to see why I should get BG:EE, as it is not really offering something new to me. And an "offer of support" will hardly include(i think) support for mod installation ;)


    I'm an old Baldur's Gate player, and what I'm looking for in a Bladur's Gate re-release is more content to the original.
    What is being done in Enhanced Edition has already been done by others as I see it, and it's not even linking BG1&2 together which is quite upsetting for such an old game ;)


    I think a re-release of Baldur's Gate should try to incorporate some of the great mods and conversions that are already out there if the developers can't supply their own.
    It would make a richer, longer and fuller game.
    A new version could offer mod support with regards to making them compatible with each other. Perhaps some centralized system(experienced modders review of sorts) that all mods can go through to make them compatible to a massive "1-click install" Baldur's Gate experience.


    Quantity is very important in a Bladur's Gate game for me. I've played BG1 a-LOT, and I would pay for a game that expands upon original in a way that does this. A tiny subscription fee I could accept even.
    If you were to, in the beginning, shift focus away from making your own game, into offering support for content already made, I would pay for that alone.
    But to pay for a single standalone quest alone..? No, thank you very much :)

    If BG:EE was to add loads of new content that offer new areas and quests + fluff, then yes. But as it is now, it doesn't interest me to much.

    What does Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition offer experienced Baldur's Gate players is what I am wondering here...

    The way I see your post is like you are asking for an expansion.
    What BGEE is all about is to "enhance" the original game remaining absolutely 100% sincerely to the original game.
    The EE,got already 3 unique new characters,a new adventure and 400 overall enhancements includings new interface,new cinematics,an ongoing support after the release plus the additions from Shadows of Amn,etc...etc...
    A mod,as well can be made,it's not official.
    That's just my point of view :)
    Peace.
  • loganultimaloganultima Member Posts: 109
  • CuvCuv Member, Developer Posts: 2,535


    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.

    What's the relevance of 5 years ago? A more active modding scene?
    Just speculating here, the BG mod scene died down in the middle/late 2000's, so it might be hard to get some of the old players re-invested. If BG:EE came out 5 years ago, the modders would of jumped into this product and may still be modding to this day.

    @bigdogchris Yep, that is about the time I retired from BG modding. But I am BACK now with this! This has brought other modders and programmers out of retirement too.

    The future is looking bright! Too bad the world will end on Dec 21st:(

  • mch202mch202 Member Posts: 1,455
    I'm not taking responsibility for this!
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited November 2012
    You better go check on your kitchen. You never know :p

    Hey has anyone seen how the TV show "Community" handled saying beetlejuice three times? awesomely is the answer to that.
  • MedillenMedillen Member Posts: 632
    Cuv said:


    The only problem with BG:EE is: it came 5 years late.

    What's the relevance of 5 years ago? A more active modding scene?
    Just speculating here, the BG mod scene died down in the middle/late 2000's, so it might be hard to get some of the old players re-invested. If BG:EE came out 5 years ago, the modders would of jumped into this product and may still be modding to this day.

    @bigdogchris Yep, that is about the time I retired from BG modding. But I am BACK now with this! This has brought other modders and programmers out of retirement too.

    The future is looking bright! Too bad the world will end on Dec 21st:(

    Actually, it ended few months ago. Aztec forgot to count the extra day every four years. :(

    To get back to the topic, I've tried some mods since I'm involved in the beta (and I could directly compare). I still find BGEE more pleasurable and comfortable. It's a lot of small things that make the global feeling better.

    Plus, there are a lot of invisible improvement for the player that should makes modding easier (at least that's why I'm getting from reading some posts, since I don't have any modding experience myself).

    Furthermore, there'll be some extra features post-ship. And every cent in this improve the chance that BG2EE will be BIG. As a reminder, BG2EE will use BGEE engine. That means that if they have a full year at their disposal, they can go twice as far as they have done for BGEE. But I hope it'll not stop there. With enough success, they could hire more devs, and make things grandiose.

    It's not just a game. It's also the fate of BeamDog here. They are a bunch of crazy people who actually listen to modders suggestion (smg not a quarter of gaming companies are capable of), and who are aiming to bring back 2D rpg game back into the gaming scene (smg NONE are willing/capable). I really hope they make it as an international and well known team thanks to BGEE.

    It's worth every euros I'll give. And I don't plan on buying only one version :)
  • Space_hamsterSpace_hamster Member Posts: 950
    $10 for BG on iPad? That is nothing. Instant buy.
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