Uninformed, yet enthusiastic...requesting information and advice
NightWarden
Member Posts: 62
I played the entire Baldur’s Gate series when it first came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I heard that an “enhanced” version had been produced I decided to play the game again.
As I’ve looked into the enhanced edition, I’ve read about numerous crashes and bugs that BGEE owners have experienced, and about how very long it has taken the company to respond with patches. I understand that a recent patch significantly improved the performance of the game, although I continue to read that there are still a number of problems that exist. Can anyone tell me how significant the remaining problems are?
Until I began researching BGEE I had never heard of a “mod,” and the idea of them intrigues me. I’ve come across many discussions about whether it’s better to play the original game with mods, or the EE (possibly with mods as well). Since the company is seemingly in no rush to deal with the issues that have plagued the game, is it likely that the modding community will deal with these problems directly (assuming the issues aren’t complex to the point that only the company itself will have the knowledge/ability to provide the fix)?
I enjoyed the cinematic sequences in the original game, and from what I’ve read the new game’s cinematics aren’t an improvement. Also, I really enjoyed the music from Baldur’s Gate and SOA (not so much Throne of Bhaal), and am curious if it will be a part of the new game or if it has been replaced with new music.
Of the new character classes, the blackguard is the one that most interests me. Not sure if it would be legal to do so, but is it likely that someone will create/adapt a blackguard kit for the original (not enhanced) version?
I’m told that the new game has a “better” user interface…not sure what’s better about it, but that might interest me. As I intend to play solo, the multi-player support doesn’t matter.
As I’ve looked into the enhanced edition, I’ve read about numerous crashes and bugs that BGEE owners have experienced, and about how very long it has taken the company to respond with patches. I understand that a recent patch significantly improved the performance of the game, although I continue to read that there are still a number of problems that exist. Can anyone tell me how significant the remaining problems are?
Until I began researching BGEE I had never heard of a “mod,” and the idea of them intrigues me. I’ve come across many discussions about whether it’s better to play the original game with mods, or the EE (possibly with mods as well). Since the company is seemingly in no rush to deal with the issues that have plagued the game, is it likely that the modding community will deal with these problems directly (assuming the issues aren’t complex to the point that only the company itself will have the knowledge/ability to provide the fix)?
I enjoyed the cinematic sequences in the original game, and from what I’ve read the new game’s cinematics aren’t an improvement. Also, I really enjoyed the music from Baldur’s Gate and SOA (not so much Throne of Bhaal), and am curious if it will be a part of the new game or if it has been replaced with new music.
Of the new character classes, the blackguard is the one that most interests me. Not sure if it would be legal to do so, but is it likely that someone will create/adapt a blackguard kit for the original (not enhanced) version?
I’m told that the new game has a “better” user interface…not sure what’s better about it, but that might interest me. As I intend to play solo, the multi-player support doesn’t matter.
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Comments
The modding community has also done very well updating a ton of classics, and adding new material, to get everything working on EE. Although I prefer a fairly small number of mads, others will know more on exactly what's working and what isn't. Check the Modding header at left for more information. This is currently a BG Golden Age.
There is no giant pile of bugs either in EE. Yeah, there are some bugs here and there, but I've seen a lot worse in other games. BGEE and BG2EE are nowhere near "unplayable" and many small issues can indeed be fixed with mods or just enabling console.
Many mods are updated or in the process of being updated for EE, and there also several new mods. It's much more likely older mods will be upgraded than EE features will be downgraded for the original.
This link should help:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15380/bg-ee-mods-and-modding-tutorials-quick-links/p1
That being said, prepare that there are purists who won't touch BG2:EE until Ascension is fully compatibile
Patch reaction for the initial memory leak was great but since November nothing, various platforms are at different patch levels making multiplayer impossible and it looks like that situation will continue till at least android version is released. The developers are trying but are obviously overstretched to support two games on four platforms.
You can still enjoy and complete the game, use quite a few mods but expect to run into the occasional problem. Support in the forum is great.
What does the console do? Is it easy for an inexperienced player to use?
I'm not familiar with Ascension. Why is it desirable?
Ascension is a mod that adds additional content for the final part of BG 2, Throne of Bhaal, fleshing out the plot a bit more and also making some encounters a lot harder.
I don't recommend messing around with it unless you have some experience with debugging, if only because spawning the wrong item or changing the wrong variable can seriously mess up your game, and you won't necessarily know how to fix it unless you remember what you did.
Ascension is a fairly substantial mod that changes certain parts of the Throne of Bhaal expansion. The part that makes it a "must-have" for a lot of people is that David Gaider, the lead writer for Throne of Bhaal, actually helped create it, so a lot of the things that are in there are based on things that David Gaider would have liked to have done but didn't have time. There's a link floating around that I don't have handy, but if you google "BP Ascension" you should be able to find a version that works with the Enhanced Edition, if you want to try it out for yourself.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/24795/hotfixes-workarounds-and-how-to-activate-the-console/p1
I have encountered almost all of these in various complete and partial runs - that's why at the moment
i would certainly not recommend ipad version, at least befire the next patch.
As far as your blackguard question, there are some mods that add blackguards to the original game, but they are slightly different than the EE's take. You can check out "The Darkest Day" or the Return to Trademeet Kit Pack mods for examples.
I'd highly recommend you get the enhanced versions though, the improvements are worth it.
1. Journal entries are sort of a mess because the system was changed from the original style (no threading, all entries ordered by date) to the BG2 style (organized by quest). You can get inaccurate entries and entries for previously completed quests this way. It's a bit annoying but it's only aesthetic.
2. Journal scrolling will sometimes get bugged and you won't be able to see any entries. More annoying because it requires you to restart the program.
3. A few times dialog wouldn't trigger correctly during Dorn's character quests (required loading earlier saves). Very annoying since it required replaying some fights, but they weren't very hard.
4. Combining Edwin's Amulet and the Ring of Wizardry will work as you'd expect (i.e. level 1 spells will be [(2 base + 1 amulet) * 2 ring] = 6) but upon changing areas it seems like the effects are stacked incorrectly (it changes to [(2 base * 2 ring) + 1 amulet] = 5). Not too annoying since you don't unmemorize the spell, but if you want to reassign slots you have to unequip the ring to get around this.
I'm sure there were other minor ones that I just didn't remember or didn't notice, but these were the standouts. I can't remember the program every crashing on me and other than Dorn's stuff nothing every required me to scrap progress.
Other than that, BG:EE and BGII:EE are good.