Why EE?
Xantofyr
Member Posts: 2
First things first: I love the old infinity engine games a great deal. I love how they look, I love how they feel, I love how they implement the AD&D system, and I love the storytelling. And nothing pleases me more than seeing these old gems revived. SO please don't take this question the wrong way. I really don't intend to troll or be mean to the hardworking artists and craftsmen on this project.
What exactly does the EE do that 15 years of modding doesn't already do better?
What exactly does the EE do that 15 years of modding doesn't already do better?
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The way I see it, the short answer is that the EEs move the game forward and allow it to evolve. The engine has been upgraded, things that previously weren't moddable have been externalized, new content is being planned, old mods are being upgraded for compatibility and people who for a long time laboured in the modding community have been given paid jobs to help further develop the series. Instead of an officially abandoned game, we get an officially supported one.
So an even shorter answer would be that the future of the BG-series by all accounts seem to lie with the enhanced editions.
+ Better quality backgrounds since they have the original renders
+ New Awesome GUI
+ Quick Loot Bar
+ Zoom feature
All all of the things above can't and haven't been done by mods, and I'm sure there is more, on top of that:
+ New NPCs
+ New Quests
+ New Areas
+ New Music
+ New Portraits
All of which are made by professionals and not as a hobby, as for more technical things:
+ No hassle in installing the game with a huge shopping list
+ Supports modern systems.
ON TOP of that you have as Shin said, on-going support from Beamdog, meaning more bug fixes in the future, new content etc
Also the hype around the game revived the modding community, new mods will be made ( even better than before because as Shin said:"things that previously weren't moddable have been externalized" )
So if you are a mod fan, expect that the new mods will compatible with the EE's rather than the old version
As for specifically to BG1:EE:
The Enhanced edition added quests and new areas to the game, Just to counter the old "Mod did that already" - The last Quest-related mod that was created for BG1 was made in 2009 ( Dark Horizons and Drizzt Saga ), that's almost 5 years ago.. so basically the modding scene in the aspect up to the EE's was slowly fading away..
On that note, they are going to add Adventure Yto BG1:EE, which is a quest related to the Bhallspawn saga which is integrated into the game (unlike the black pits)
Overall, IMO in the next few year the EE's will become the standard version of the game.
But new kits for classes previously un-kittable is a thing as the only class that's left closed from modders at the moment is pretty much the Barbarian.
More seriously speaking, EE's major advantage isn't that it brings many improvements to the game all on its own, but that it's setting the scene for the next fifteen years of modding by externalising a lot of the things that modders couldn't touch.
To use an analogy, it is like when you have to jump and then you go a bit backward so you can start running and have enough room to increase your speed in order to jump further.
As direct consequence I still find myself enjoying more the original games at the present moment (less bugs, more mods, more stability because things don't keep changing with every patch sometime for better sometime for worse, etc.).
I'm sure that the future lies with the enhanced edition, but we are not there yet. So for the time being I'm patiently waiting for this jumper to land and in the meantime I keep playing the GOG version.
Also, Blackguard, and Beamdog's version is infinitely better than the mod versions I've seen.
Anyway, BGEE has been out a year and imo it's only just now (that SCS is somewhat stable, a tentatively working beta of the NPC Project is available and some externalizations have been implemented) that the EE is comparable to modded vanilla. With BG2EE though, given how many mods have already been updated and how fast the process (mostly) is, it should be a lot faster.
I agree it's unfortunate, but then again we knew this was going to be the case.. for people looking beyond new NPCs and not needing to use fixpacks, it was always a project with a long view.
as a man
What else can you want?
But there's nothing to debate about.
*Plays mournful tunes on his lute*
Kinda curious. Might take it up as a hobby, for one character, at least. After seeing these terrible NPC mods and Beamdog's somewhat lackluster NPCs I'm pretty well convinced I couldn't do too bad. :P
That's definitely something the mods could not do. Not by themselves, and not with a tremendous amount of work and time put into them (as if they hadn't had enough already).
You forgot the panther. Cause ya know, he's not like Drizzt, he uses Katanas after all, but I mean really now......ya :P
Seriously though- thank you for the great responses. In light of the general tenor of some of the interface upgrades that have been mentioned though...
Is it now also possible to organically switch between duel-wielding/ sword-and-board and a ranged weapon without having to rifle through your pack every time? Because that alone would be worth the price of admission for me.