If the software you're using does compression on the fly like you suggested that's a huge strain on your system, and no wonder you're experiencing issues. The reason that FRAPS deals in raw video is precisely this.
Yes both recording and compression is pretty demanding for a computer, more so than actually playing a game like BG.
I use a pretty old laptop, although one that was pretty good a few years ago. I lag occasionally, which stops as soon as I stop recording. I don't even think about recording/playing with Fraps and Audacity, and compressing with Windows Movie Maker at the same time. A powerful desktop can probably handle it, but I don't wanna risk my laptop blowing up.
Oh yeah, if u want to record commentary as well, I strong recommend Audacity. It's free and is great for recording microphone audio separately, so you can easily edit/enhance it. If you record mic audio with the same software that records game audio, there is very little you can do to enhance it/clean it up.
I don't think you will be able to enter WK, you need a minimum level. Last time I came straight from the slums they told me I should be back when I'm more experienced.
Also I don't think you will be able to keep enough meatshields going while still doing anything on the offensive.
I don't think you will be able to enter WK, you need a minimum level. Last time I came straight from the slums they told me I should be back when I'm more experienced.
Also I don't think you will be able to keep enough meatshields going while still doing anything on the offensive.
Up to Watcher's Keep level 2 is doable. Level 3 is tricky though.
In terms of progress, I cleared out the Guarded Compound and the party at the sewer.
I don't think you will be able to enter WK, you need a minimum level. Last time I came straight from the slums they told me I should be back when I'm more experienced.
Also I don't think you will be able to keep enough meatshields going while still doing anything on the offensive.
Nah it's just a warning you can ignore but I don't know how he will do the anti magic rooms in level 3.
No he wouldn't accept me and teleport upstairs, told me to come back later so I didn't even get the stone and ritual scroll. Maybe I missed some conversation option but it certainly read like i could not go in yet due to level restriction.
In BG 1, yes. You really only need to do 5 battles, as far as I recall. Mulahey (Nashkel Mines, wand of lightning), Bandit Leaders (Bandit Camp, wand of fire), Davaeorn (Cloakwood Mines, backstab or wand), Dopplegangers (Duchal Palace, wand of summoning), and Sarevok (final battle, backstab with potions of invisibility). The rest you can stealth through.
Only a few other battles if you want, for ex. Varscona, Boots of Speed, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and the Sword of Backstabbing.
In fact, it can be done with lower stats, with the exception of 19 dexterity (helps a ton for stealth). 17 constitution can help too, although it is only +3 HP (i.e. 9 vs 6 HP). A high intelligence and/or wisdom is really only important for BG 2, since it gives you more conversation options. You can get 18 charisma from a ring though (in BG 2), and 18/00 strength from gloves in BG 1, 22 strength from a belt in BG 2.
In BG 2, it's trickier, because some of the battles involve enemies with magic resistance, spell protections, immunity to backstab, and true seeing. That's pretty much your entire arsenal negated right there. That being said, you can still use mage scrolls for these occasions, and where there are few key battles, it's hard to tell.
With no need to level, the only question is what gear and scrolls you want to pick up along the way, which drastically reduces the number of battles you need to engage in.
The quest for demon heart was painfully difficult. The Tanarii just shredded everything in pieces. I had to rely on my fire and air elementals to do any meaningful damage to it at critical hits. I didnt know this earlier, but apparently Ogres from the wand of summoning attack with +2 weapons. The real prize of the planar sphere quest for this challenge is the ring of danger sense. Now my PC has 80 points in Find Traps. Quaffing 1 potion of perception brings this skill to 100. As far I know, the game doesnt give you as much potion of perception as potion of master thievery and each potion of perception only improves the skill by 20 points.
Ok, I'm having trouble killing the Greater Werewolves in Windspear Hills. Is it normal that they can regenerate this quickly or is this a bug? My PC and my summon each hit it for 20 damages, but 2 rounds later, the Greater Werewolves regenerate completely. Anyway, I just lure them into a room and trap them behind doors.
Yes Greater Wolfwere always had insane regeneration.
That's why I hated Karoug so much in BG 1. For a noobie playing blind (thus no silver weapons), he was impossible. I'd unload everything (magic-wise) that I had, take him down to 'badly injured', and seconds later, he was back to 'uninjured'.
Sarevok is relatively easy if u are willing to cheese. Just buff up on Fire Resistance and run around triggering the fireball trap is one I can think of.
I don't think @bbear would be able to defeat Karoug though... however he doesn't need to in order to complete the saga.
I voted crazy, but my hat is currently off, in respect to bbear !
I haven't voted only because there is no "yes" option. I wasn't sure of BG2 being possible (now I am sure) but I was sure about BG1 since it isn't that difficult. Oh, and @Tresset definitely bbear is the Lord of All Exploits, I had to admit this
@bbear sorry, don't feel offended, it was a joke between Tresset and I (I'll explain this, Tresset said that you were the lord of all exploits or something like that, but I said that I was a lot more power gamerish, but I think you win in exploits knowledge and that I had Arrows of Dispelling underestimated), I really admire you, and I thought that the title of the Lord of All Exploits was going to be found funny by you.
Greater Air elemental has a special ability that can instant kill low level character (I got a few instant death screens). This is why my PC was running from it as far away as possible.
@bbear one part of the Circlet of Netheril (upgraded gives +10 HP and an extra 7 and 8 mage spell slots, maybe you want the HP bonus, but there is another ToB item that gives 15 HP bonus and it is a helmet too (Sendai has this one that gives +15). And he also drops a part of Nixil's spear +6, a Dagger+2 called Nixil's spike.
Ok, I'm almost done with Level 3 Watcher's Keep. I didnt cheat or exploit (does kiting count as exploit?) I only engaged two demon battles (Tahazzar and partially the tieflings), peaceful resolved with Ka'rashur (received thief hood), ran away from the rest encounters and picked up equipments on the ground (white dragon scale and wand of spellstriking).
I cant pickpocket the Deck of Many Things. Is it possible to steal it or do I have to kill the demon?
Man I am a monster. I had my familiar played the first two games. He got slowed and its strength and constitution stats reduced to 6. He was helping me out earlier fighting imps and was at near-death status.
My PC killed the Succbus first because she was healing everyone. These demons have no resistance against acid, 50 resistance against cold and are immune to fire and lightning. The tricky party is to bypass the MR.
I had no other choice. I had to kill him for the Deck of Many Things. Ten extra HP is just too juicy to pass up. This is not in the video, but my familiar played the first two games and was cursed with slow and strength and constitution stats reduced to 6.
I got lucky in this battle. He cast 2 flesh to stone and disintegrate at my PC and made all 3 saves.
I ran out of potion of freedom and had to resort to "another way" in killing mindflayers.
I didnt record a video capture of the demi-lich and dragon battle. I used the previous strategy in the Kangaax battle here (Protection against undead). For the dragon battle, my PC just hid behind the archway and spammed cloudkill on the dragon. He couldnt melee and only spammed my PC with fire dragon breath. The following is a screenshot of Saladrex battle.
Here is a question. At Level 5 of Watcher's Keep, at the upper left hand corner there are 4 pillars you have to put color globes in. You only need to put one color globe in each pillar and the rest can be used as quick items. What effects do they bestow?
Comments
I use a pretty old laptop, although one that was pretty good a few years ago. I lag occasionally, which stops as soon as I stop recording. I don't even think about recording/playing with Fraps and Audacity, and compressing with Windows Movie Maker at the same time. A powerful desktop can probably handle it, but I don't wanna risk my laptop blowing up.
Oh yeah, if u want to record commentary as well, I strong recommend Audacity. It's free and is great for recording microphone audio separately, so you can easily edit/enhance it. If you record mic audio with the same software that records game audio, there is very little you can do to enhance it/clean it up.
Also I don't think you will be able to keep enough meatshields going while still doing anything on the offensive.
In terms of progress, I cleared out the Guarded Compound and the party at the sewer.
Guarded Compound
I need some equipments first before proceeding to Watcher's Keep.
i could not go in yet due to level restriction.
Only a few other battles if you want, for ex. Varscona, Boots of Speed, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and the Sword of Backstabbing.
In fact, it can be done with lower stats, with the exception of 19 dexterity (helps a ton for stealth). 17 constitution can help too, although it is only +3 HP (i.e. 9 vs 6 HP). A high intelligence and/or wisdom is really only important for BG 2, since it gives you more conversation options. You can get 18 charisma from a ring though (in BG 2), and 18/00 strength from gloves in BG 1, 22 strength from a belt in BG 2.
In BG 2, it's trickier, because some of the battles involve enemies with magic resistance, spell protections, immunity to backstab, and true seeing. That's pretty much your entire arsenal negated right there. That being said, you can still use mage scrolls for these occasions, and where there are few key battles, it's hard to tell.
With no need to level, the only question is what gear and scrolls you want to pick up along the way, which drastically reduces the number of battles you need to engage in.
But generally, I'd say no for BG 2.
The quest for demon heart was painfully difficult. The Tanarii just shredded everything in pieces. I had to rely on my fire and air elementals to do any meaningful damage to it at critical hits. I didnt know this earlier, but apparently Ogres from the wand of summoning attack with +2 weapons. The real prize of the planar sphere quest for this challenge is the ring of danger sense. Now my PC has 80 points in Find Traps. Quaffing 1 potion of perception brings this skill to 100. As far I know, the game doesnt give you as much potion of perception as potion of master thievery and each potion of perception only improves the skill by 20 points.
That's why I hated Karoug so much in BG 1. For a noobie playing blind (thus no silver weapons), he was impossible. I'd unload everything (magic-wise) that I had, take him down to 'badly injured', and seconds later, he was back to 'uninjured'.
Sarevok is relatively easy if u are willing to cheese. Just buff up on Fire Resistance and run around triggering the fireball trap is one I can think of.
I don't think @bbear would be able to defeat Karoug though... however he doesn't need to in order to complete the saga.
I wasn't sure of BG2 being possible (now I am sure) but I was sure about BG1 since it isn't that difficult.
Oh, and @Tresset definitely bbear is the Lord of All Exploits, I had to admit this
Yes, there are others, but you can have it until someone else comes to claim it.
Watcher's Keep 1st Level: Guardians
Watcher's Keep 2nd Level: Guardians and Chromatic Demons
The Chromatic Demon fight starts at 12:55
Greater Air elemental has a special ability that can instant kill low level character (I got a few instant death screens). This is why my PC was running from it as far away as possible.
And he also drops a part of Nixil's spear +6, a Dagger+2 called Nixil's spike.
"Must run away from the nasty elf..."
I cant pickpocket the Deck of Many Things. Is it possible to steal it or do I have to kill the demon?
Man I am a monster. I had my familiar played the first two games. He got slowed and its strength and constitution stats reduced to 6. He was helping me out earlier fighting imps and was at near-death status.
Watcher's Keep Level 3: Tahazzar Demon Encounter
My PC killed the Succbus first because she was healing everyone. These demons have no resistance against acid, 50 resistance against cold and are immune to fire and lightning. The tricky party is to bypass the MR.
Watcher's Keep Level 3: Aesgareth Demon Encounter
I had no other choice. I had to kill him for the Deck of Many Things. Ten extra HP is just too juicy to pass up. This is not in the video, but my familiar played the first two games and was cursed with slow and strength and constitution stats reduced to 6.
I got lucky in this battle. He cast 2 flesh to stone and disintegrate at my PC and made all 3 saves.
I ran out of potion of freedom and had to resort to "another way" in killing mindflayers.
I didnt record a video capture of the demi-lich and dragon battle. I used the previous strategy in the Kangaax battle here (Protection against undead). For the dragon battle, my PC just hid behind the archway and spammed cloudkill on the dragon. He couldnt melee and only spammed my PC with fire dragon breath. The following is a screenshot of Saladrex battle.