Masterwork Items for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (W.I.P.)

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Masterwork Item Details:
-Note: This is no where from being finished.
I want to create unique Item Icon (B.A.M. files) for every default item in Baldur's Gate that also has at least +1 Magical Variant of it (e.g. Weapons and Armour)

Masterwork Weapons: (W.I.P.)
+1 Damage Bonus (~~+1 T.H.A.C.0~~ -skill based (e.g. magical weapons 'guide' their wielder with unseen forces to hit more often ~world building - less 'nerdy'. On Earth a better made weapon can inflict greater wounds in general than a poorly made weapon when it strikes (striking is arguably skill based and +1 T.H.A.C.0 should be magical only))
+1 Magical + Default Variant Weights / 2 = Weight (rounding per case - measured in pounds / lbs.)
+300 Gold Value (on top of default Gold Value; +6 Gold Value for Ammunition: Arrows, Bolts, Bullets, Throwing Weapons etc.)
Sold at Master Smithies and Rich Merchants (e.g. Thunder Hammer Smithy, Baldur's Gate, -Maybe- Nashkel Carnival)

Masterwork Battle Axe

STATISTICS:

Damage: 1d8 +1 (Intentional)
Speed Factor: 7
Proficiency Type: Axe
Type: One-Handed
Requires:
10 Strength

Weight: 7 lbs.

Not usable By:

Beast Master
Cleric
Cleric / Mage
Cleric / Thief
Cleric / Ranger
Fighter / Druid
Fighter / Cleric
Fighter / Mage / Cleric
Mage
Mage / Thief
Monk
Sorcerer (Bug does not show up in game - Sorcerers should have their own weapon usability class flag)
Thief

Value: 305 Gold (5 + 300 Gold)

Masterwork Arrow (W.I.P.)

STATISTICS:

Damage: 1d6 +1 (Missile)
Launcher: Bow

Weight: 0 lbs.

Value: 0 Gold (7 Gold in a stack of x20; 1 + 6 Gold)

Masterwork Bolt (W.I.P.)

STATISTICS:

Damage: 1d8 +1 (Missile)
Launcher: Crossbow

Weight: 0 lbs.

Value: 0 Gold (7 Gold in a stack of x20; 1 + 6 Gold)

Masterwork Bullet (W.I.P.)

STATISTICS:

Damage: 1d4 +2 (Missile)
Launcher: Sling

Weight: 0 lbs.

Value: 0 Gold (7 Gold in a stack of x20; 1 + 6 Gold)

Masterwork Bastard Sword (W.I.P.)

STATISTICS:

Damage 2d4+1 (Slashing)
Speed Factor: 8
Proficiency Type: Bastard Sword
Type: One-Handed
Requires:
11 Strength

Weight: 10 lbs.

Value: 325 Gold (25 + 300 Gold)

Masterwork Club (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Composite Longbow (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Dagger (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Dart (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Flail (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Halberd (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Heavy Crossbow (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Katana (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Longbow (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Long Sword (W.I.P)
Masterwork Light Crossbow (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Mace (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Morning Star (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Ninjatō (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Quarterstaff (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Scimitar (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Shortbow (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Short Sword (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Sling (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Spear (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Throwing Axe (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Throwing Dagger (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Two-Handed Sword (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Wakizashi (W.I.P.)
Masterwork War Hammer (W.I.P.)
-Experimental Weapons: These weapons could also be created with default and magical variants such as, Lucerne Hammer, Javelin, Short Spear, Maul, Great Axe, Light Mace, Hand Crossbow, Sickle, Throwing Hammer, Kukri, War Pick, Light Pick, Trident, Rapier, Falchion, Cutlass, Great Club, Katar (less ghetto Punching Dagger), Heavy Flail, Scythe, Composite Shortbow, Dwarven War Axe, Shuriken, Repeating Crossbow (Chinese Style), Knuckle Duster, Nagamaki (Katana with a very long grip - almost a pole weapon) and Glaive (~Pole Sword).

Masterwork Armour: (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Padded Armour (W.I.P.) (A.C. 9 Experimental)
Masterwork Leather Armour (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Studded Leather Armour (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Hide Armour (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Chain Mail Armour (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Splint Mail Armour (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Plate Mail Armour (W.I.P.)

Field Plate Armour (Default and +1 Magical Item B.A.M.s / Icons) (A.C. 2 Experimental)

STATISTICS: (Default)

Armour Class: 2 (-1 vs. slashing, 1 vs. piercing and missile)
Requires: 14 Strength

Weight: 60 lbs.

Value: 2,000 Gold

STATISTICS: (Masterwork)

Armour Class: 2 (-2 vs. slashing, 1 vs. piercing and missile)(-1 to main / dominant armour modifier only if there are multiple armour modifiers to prevent magical variant irrelevancy)
Requires: 13 Strength (Magical variant strength requirement)

Weight: 45 lbs. (Default + Magical weights /2 = weight lbs.)

Value: 3,050 Gold (2,000 +1,050 Gold)

STATISTICS: (+1 Magical / Enchanted)

Armour Class: 1 (-2 vs. slashing, 0 vs. piercing and missile)
Requires: 13 Strength

Weight: 30 lbs.

Value: 11,000 Gold (Plate Mail +1 + Full Plate Mail +1 /2 = Gold Value)
Lore to Identify: 60

Masterwork Full Plate Mail Armour (W.I.P.)

Masterwork Price Adjustments:
+400 Padded
+450 Leather
+500 Studded Leather
+550 Hide
+600 Chain
+750 Splint
+900 Plate
+1050 Field Plate
+1200 Full Plate

-Experimental Armours: Scale Mail (Metal), Scale Mail (Wood or Horn), Ring Mail, Padded (Gambeson), Lamellar (Metal), Lamellar (Wood of Horn), Double Mail, Boiled Leather (Cuir-Bouilli in French), Plate Mail (Bronze) (Ancient Tomb / Undead and or Iron Crisis), Brigandine (Metal), Brigandine (Wood or Horn), Bar Mail, Banded Mail, Augmented Mail.

Masterwork Shields: (W.I.P.)
Masterwork Buckler
Masterwork Small Shield
Masterwork Medium Shield
Masterwork Large Shield

-Experimental Shields: Wooden Buckler, Wooden Small Shield, Wooden Medium Shield, Wooden Large Shield, Spiked Shield, Aspis.

Abel · August 2016

Good idea! We always need more animations!
But isn't this icon already used by the +1 version of that weapon?

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Abel said:
Good idea! We always need more animations!
But isn't this icon already used by the +1 version of that weapon?

Well not quite. The difference is that the icon colours are faded by 25% and then it is re-brightened by 25% to make it more 'washed out' although with the same colour vibrancy / contrast as the rest of the Baldur's Gate item icons (B.A.M.s). Also I forgot to add the zip file with the Masterwork Battle Axe (new item with a unique icon and unique equipped colours) in my original post also. So I included the zip file with this post to keep the future 'file spam' down. It works (just unzip, throw the files into in Override folder and Cheat / Console Command Create Item "AX1H1M") minus the masterwork description which needs a proper WeiDU Implementation Package. -Removed File- Near Infinity v2 B.A.M. files do not play nice.

I have plans to have any competent blacksmith / smithy available to the Player to be open for commissions to forge / upgrade any Masterwork Item into a Magical +1 variant. With a respectable price that is based up the Player's Charisma and or Reputation Value [need help] somewhere higher than the vendor price although yet somewhere lower / more competitive than just buying a Magical +1 variant 'off of the shelf'. Although the price point of such a commission should not be where buying a Masterwork item and then commissioning said item into a +1 Magical variant would be cheaper than buying the same +1 Magical item variant 'off of the shelf'; even with high vendor price reduction modifiers. Also all Masterwork ammunition must be commissioned at a stack amount of 20 per commission (no more, no less). This is to eliminate 'gold printing' and to moreover reward the Player who finds masterwork items while adventuring and thus commissions them into +1 Magical variants (this route will be cheaper than buying the same +1 Magical item 'off of the shelf'. As to whether or not the Player can make money off of this is yet to be seen / properly calculated (although if possible it should be profitable - 'adventuring costs' and such).

Additionally the Player must wait one full day in order to receive their completed commissioned Magical +1 item forged / improved from the Masterwork Item that the Player provided to the smithy in addition with their commission order fees.

Thels · August 2016

+1 damage rather than +1 attack makes sense for a masterwork item. There is something to say for masterwork making it easier to wield the weapon, but certainly not required.

However, have you considered giving twohanded weapons +2 damage instead of +1? Since you're basically investing both hands in it, rather than only one, it stands to reason that the bonus is then also bigger.

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Thels said:
+1 damage rather than +1 attack makes sense for a masterwork item. There is something to say for masterwork making it easier to wield the weapon, but certainly not required.

However, have you considered giving twohanded weapons +2 damage instead of +1? Since you're basically investing both hands in it, rather than only one, it stands to reason that the bonus is then also bigger.

Well that point on bonus two-handed damage could make sense although you would have to redo Ad&d 2nd edition with that in mind.

- Two-Handed Sword: 1d10 +1 (default), 1d10 +2 (Masterwork).

- Bastard Sword: 2d4 (one-handed default), 2d4 +1 (one-handed Masterwork) /
2d4 +1 (two-handed default), 2d4 +2 (two-handed Masterwork)

Also 1d10 damage rolls and 2 Reach for Two-Handed Swords and Halberds reflects this two-handed bonus already.

Longsword (Arming Sword): 1d8 = ((1+8)/2) = 4.5 Average Damage [1 Reach]
Bastard Sword (One-Handed): 2d4 = ((2+8)/2) = 5 Average Damage [1 Reach]
Bastard Sword (Two-Handed): 2d4+1 = ((2+8+1)/2) = 5.5 Average Damage [1 Reach][Unimplemented]
Two-Handed Sword: 1d10 = ((1+10)/2) = 5.5 Average Damage [2 Reach]

Thels · August 2016

I merely intended for the masterwork bonus to be +2, not change the damage for the base weapons. Dualwield could get +1 with each hand, effectively +2 if both weapons hit, so why can't twohanded get +2?

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Thels said:
I merely intended for the masterwork bonus to be +2, not change the damage for the base weapons. Dualwield could get +1 with each hand, effectively +2 if both weapons hit, so why can't twohanded get +2?

Because magical weapons are presumed to be enchanted masterwork weapons and making the masterwork 'base' weapon deal more damage than the enchanted magical 'upgrade' would not make much sense from a practical stand point.

Anyway I am on the tail end of being sick after a hiking up a mountain with no sleep for two days with a person with minor pneumonia. I do not feel very well to add more item B.A.M.s (icons) just yet - but I should in the near future. Making very high quality item B.A.M.s / item icons is a tedious process with lots of manual pixel by pixel work that sometimes needs many retries to get the item B.A.M.s (item icons) just right.

Thels · August 2016

That I guess is a good point.

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Thels said:
That I guess is a good point.

Ah we all see the world in a different light, I find that talking with people and throwing all of the ideas on the table works better than not. Your idea is good and maybe I may use a variant of it for my own medieval fantasy game in development for the damage model. My own medieval fantasy game is planned on top of this unity game engine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPX3Og-mDZE

Thels · August 2016

I think the big problem is that the bonuses have such a limited range, from +1 to +5. Add to this that they had the foresight to spread the range out over multiple games (unlike, say, EoB, that had lots of +5 items in EoB1), and the increase in modifiers is just very restrictive.

It makes sense for a PnP game, where you roll a single d20 (the largest platonic or properly symmetric die), that the bonuses are as limited as they are. And BG is based on that.

You'll often notice for computer games that the random number as well as modifiers tend to be bigger, therefor allowing for more gradual steps in power.

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Thels said:
I think the big problem is that the bonuses have such a limited range, from +1 to +5. Add to this that they had the foresight to spread the range out over multiple games (unlike, say, EoB, that had lots of +5 items in EoB1), and the increase in modifiers is just very restrictive.

It makes sense for a PnP game, where you roll a single d20 (the largest platonic or properly symmetric die), that the bonuses are as limited as they are. And BG is based on that.

You'll often notice for computer games that the random number as well as modifiers tend to be bigger, therefor allowing for more gradual steps in power.

My Point Summerized:

No way man - this is Baldur's Gate - I am not changing a classic, although I will expand one within its theme of rules and world building with hopefully good taste and respect to the original. I like your solutions and ideas and I have something really similar although it is my own original intellectual property and I can do as I will with it (within reason). You sound like a good guy with creativity behind you - why do you not learn unity and make your own games? You never know until you try something - even if it is hard to begin with - hang in there you may really come to enjoy it!

I think that you miss the point of why Baldur's Gate is different from most computer games. Not many ~20 year old video games are as widely beloved as Baldur's Gate. If you want to radically change a classic - then make a blue print and pitch it. I hope you the best although I will be on the horizon line waiting for a bomb to drop.

This may be a be bit rash on my part but what you have given me for an argument (limited as it is) is to basically make Baldur's Gate into Ben Hur 2016. Here is why I believe this to be true.

I agree that Baldur's Gate can always be improved. Although fixing something that is not broken can ruin a franchise. Look at Siege of Dragonspear and the writing theme change and the decisions and the mind set behind it that 'said yes' and agreed to all of the things that a great deal of fans / people hated - not that I agree with some points although as a project leader you should not be a fool and assume that your theme changes are better than an original - and a beloved classic for nearly 20 years. I saw Amber being cast as a fool by hoards of angry fans and then leaving with Trent back peddling some of the writing that he originally 'okayed' and in all honestly I did not see a great deal of foresight of what not to add to a game on his point. Although don't get me wrong I like Trent although everyone makes mistakes - I want Beamdog to always get better even if the have to all collectively learn some hard lessons. If the work put into Siege of Dragonspear launched under a new original I.P. it would have been a bit bitter I believe. There would have been less hatred about a theme change of a classic, it is all very trick stuff. Also you won't please everyone's expectations.

When you take a gamble at improving one of best games in the world you are taking the risk of falling hard if you do not deliver - falling harder than just making your own new game for you would have less expectation upon you than working on new content for a beloved classic. Although sometimes changing a classic is like opening a can of worms - with springs. Then again if done right one can really become beloved and successful by making a great game phenomenal - one just has to be very careful and to have practical talent and ambition.

This is one of the reasons why I do want to be a called a modder - rather a content creator for I strive for very high standards of quality - unlike the over whelming majority of modders who produced crappy half-baked ideas that no one really enjoys of whom I do not want to become associated with.

Let us face it - most mods are crappy, mediocre and do not blend well with what makes people love a game in the fist place. Sure there are some great mods although they only work for the creators knew what to add to the game and also more they knew what to NOT add to the game. Call me extreme although we are all going to die at some time maybe tomorrow maybe in 100 years or more, why be remembered by crap and disappointment when you could have brought a great deal of excellence into the world?

Sometimes I just don't release my work for in my mind I know that it is not to the quality standards that I personally demand. Perhaps I did not have enough talent, perhaps I was over ambitious and maybe I just did not have the resources. I don't care - crap is crap, the medium is the message and if you release crap for what ever excuse you are labeled as crap and crap is not what I want to become; I want to become quite the opposite really.

I would rather be remembered by nothing than to be remembered by crappy content and disappointment to the one's who believed in me and I personally let down because I did not know when to say NO to something. Even if I had already scarified much and spent hours, days, weeks and even months on a project. No excuses - find a solution where none exists, Everything or Nothing and the Player before Profit.

I think you may be be a nice guy (I don't know this is the internet after all) although one does not have to be nice and critical to make something great. One just has to be critical, to be smart and to be ruthlessly hungry for quality. Being nice is very much optional in some cases when every small detail counts. One does nor have to be an a-hole but if one cannot say NO one is weak and one's own work will reflect this and one will suffer from such weakness. I personally like being nice although being nice does not always work when quality is on the line. Some people just simply do not have the talent to improve something - eve if you really enjoy there company and friendship. Life is cruel mate although do not give up because it is so. One can only grow as a person through adversity.

Personally I agree with you my friend. If I trusted you and perhaps I knew you a bit better in real life I would show you my Medieval Fantasy game mechanics. They are very much close to what you have said although Baldur's Gate is Baldur's Gate. It is what it is and I don't what to alienate the core audience by making something radical. I do what to make something radical although I did not dare do it on Baldur's Gate. I sucked it up, and I jumped on Unity and any tool that I need and I started plugging away at my own original intellectual property instead of choosing the easy route and expanding on what is already there. Go boldly into the unknown. Perhaps it won't work - although either way I will strive to do my best to do as best of a job that I can to get my game as good as I can with what I have no matter what adversity sits in my way. Again Everything or Nothing.

Thels · August 2016

I did not recommend you to change the values! I merely explained why BG provides so little increments in stats compared to other CRPGs that do not have their roots in pnp. Of course it shouldn't be changed. It's a 2e game, so it should use 2e rules, which includes a lot of d20 rolls, and thus limited modifiers.

I'm already glad they had the foresight to keep enough room for modifiers for the expansion. If they had used +4 and +5 items in BG, like they had in, say, EOB, it would mean that later items would lose it's charm. (EOB is a great game, but having mostly EOB1 gear at the end of EOB3 is most certainly not it's best aspect.)

WithinAmnesia · August 2016

Thels said:
I did not recommend you to change the values! I merely explained why BG provides so little increments in stats compared to other CRPGs that do not have their roots in pnp. Of course it shouldn't be changed. It's a 2e game, so it should use 2e rules, which includes a lot of d20 rolls, and thus limited modifiers.

I'm already glad they had the foresight to keep enough room for modifiers for the expansion. If they had used +4 and +5 items in BG, like they had in, say, EOB, it would mean that later items would lose it's charm. (EOB is a great game, but having mostly EOB1 gear at the end of EOB3 is most certainly not it's best aspect.)

Crap hey I lost your point? This is why I do not like the forum vs. real life conversation. So much misinterpretations of text that it can hinder a conversation.

You have a solid point and I agree about pacing powerful items instead of making it very top heavy. The Original Baldur's Gate has a ~maximum of +3 enchanted items and you know maybe having less magical yet very powerful magical items is better for world building? Maybe not. It is what it is. I personally go nuts on Baldur's Gate items and I try my very best at them. Look here are my other icons / new items: http://withinamnesia.deviantart.com/gallery/51118284/Baldur-s-Gate-Path-of-the-Lost-Odyssey

Well I usually get too ambitious and I usually only find myself working on a project - small retirement town - clean - thus I was unfortunate to find no one to work with on video games in real life. I am unlike most successful video game studio founders who started rich or middle class and had like passioned friends at most every step of the the way; comparatively they had an easy start. So here I am at least plugging away at videos game with a woefully under funded and under equipped game making platform. Although you know what our kind of work does not go way - it is digital and millions of people can enjoy it if it is good enough. Anyway do you make video game content or do you just like playing it more than building it? (I am a designer myself - I build when I must).

Thels · August 2016

I sometimes try to design stuff, though lately I've focused more on IRL playable games than computer games, but it's just a hobby. I tend to have more ideas than time that I'm willing to invest in properly working them out. :P

Grammarsalad · September 2016

I agree that more animations are always welcome! Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

WithinAmnesia · September 2016

Yeah I really want to get this done. I just got over pseudo ~Pneumonia in my tonsils (I was really lucky that it did not take hold in my lungs). I roasted my body for two days and now I am fine. I am getting my energy back after probably losing a more than a few pounds. Back to work, hell I didn't really stop working even when I was sick :-P!

I most always find these kind of things not really fun to work on for I would rather work with some people together on it. Although working together can suck at times if the group is just a group of 'anchors'; then I like working alone when a group sucks. Although not many video game developers / content makers suck due to how much sh*t an ambitious creative person must first learn in order to have any real creative power to work on videos games in the first place. All that time learning how to use creative tools is a big filter that separates the hang-arounds from the rockstars. Yet I have spent around 2+ years working ~alone on the Baldur's Gate content and it sucks - I am a social monkey!

I end up getting bored of working with 'Mc. B.A.M. Softwares', 'Mc. Near Infinity', 'Mrs. Override File' and 'Mr. Bug-Test' that I just end up working on World of Tanks or World of Warcraft or Hearthstone or whatever for they at least have game developers to work with and talk to instead of the aforementioned lifeless computer programs / files. I tried to find some creative people on here although it just does not really work out for what ever reason and my empty experience working on Baldur's Gate is the ever hum of air fans and deafening silence of my room in the middle of the night -always-. Yet I love the game! This love hate drive me mad!

I really enjoy working on some really good game (~never a shitty game) and or with some great (usually) Blizzard / Activision artists over things like armour, weapons, swords, guns, exo-suits, tanks just whatever I find interesting. It is just more social - more people to talk to and work together with. Some games I don't even play or I stopped playing them but I just find working with the game developer teams themselves much more satisfying than playing the actual game. I am a game design 'manager' I have found. I go to a game, find the creative core of the game and make a bunch of friends and plug away at whatever I find interesting and I end up ~leading some type of team for what ever project, recently I became a Polish Tank Historian endorsed by the leading Polish Tank Historians of the world while going nuts finishing the Polish Tank Tree World of Tanks.

Perhaps maybe one day after I bust my ass on my Unity games I can throw money at people to make some really great content for the games I like. Hell I don't really mind if I lose money. I already by my own struggles have created a great many AAA+ quality items and characters in my closed away game development vault for Baldur's Gate.

I can design and write and plan for hours and hours straight -encapsulated- in my work (the suns goes up, the sun goes down and back again and I am still at it). Although I just do not like building with clunky game engines (well without people it sucks I find)- I like to build real life things (I took wood working / carpentry for years). Ironic but I find working with code for me just eats my soul. I would rather bloody my hands for hours with my work rather than boggle my mind with coding for ten minutes. That is just who I am at the end of the day -yet- I learned how to build with Baldur's Gate modding tools (new and old), WeiDU, build websites and work with Unity.

I hate every second of learning code but you got to roll with the punches some times. F*ck I would hate to be a full time coder. Washing dishes as a career is better than being a full time coder (for -me- at least and I know first hand how absolutely abysmally sh*t that job is).

Anyway I am rising out of poverty with with lots of practical game development experience (e.g. I have my work in W.o.W. Legion, W.o.W. W.o.D., W.o.T. Italy - Switzerland - Poland, C.o.D. etc and I have a few working internal game prototypes (tanks mostly) under my belt. Also in the near future I should get some extra spending money. Also since I am not a loser and I do not drink, smoke nor do drugs and coupled by the fact that I am a frugal motherf*cker I will most likely be throwing cash money towards some grand artists / content creators and Unity asset makers to fuel my tank and medieval fantasy adventure games; even the ones that I will lose money on like Baldur's Gate.

I see working on Baldur's Gate as a hobby that will cost a lot of money. Instead of throwing money to play game content that other people make like most gamer people I will be throwing money to create game content that other people make. I am making my own games but damn you need an army of nerds like ourselves to make a good game these days. There is just so much sh*t to make for one good game these days - this ain't the Atari days.

Abel · September 2016

You're one of a kind! I like your stories.

I myself give way too much time to this game. I have these ideas to make it better or more enjoyable. They're like urges I can't suppress: you must do this, it will be fun! At the same time there's a me that says: stop this madness, go do something else! Get out of this year 2000 time maze!

Sure I got better at modding, but in the end it's just still BG. Well, I just hope I run out of ideas...

WithinAmnesia · September 2016

Abel said:
You're one of a kind! I like your stories.

I myself give way too much time to this game. I have these ideas to make it better or more enjoyable. They're like urges I can't suppress: you must do this, it will be fun! At the same time there's a me that says: stop this madness, go do something else! Get out of this year 2000 time maze!

Sure I got better at modding, but in the end it's just still BG. Well, I just hope I run out of ideas...

Ah time does not really move as it seems that it should when everyday you can relive a piece of it. The leaves may fall, the air may change and the flowers may bloom like madness in the spring year after year but we become a visage of a frozen time by every memory that you and I relive and or even chase to live again. Whether it be by breathing in a memory in our mind's eye or delving deep in the radiant pools of our own nostalgia or even by simply playing a particular game such as the likes of Baldur's Gate. We change my friend, the game does not. Even when we alter the game with our own actions. It just stays that same Baldur's Gate that we have always known since we have first heard the menu screen roar up and have had the sigil of Bhaal stab deep into our collective fabrics of memory for the first time. Well for myself it has been like that at least, although mayhaps we differ on this matter yet I grasp to reckon that it is not so.

I learned how to properly read English with Baldur's Gate when I was nine years old. For myself Baldur's Gate is older than Rune Scape for I am unfortunately of a generation bourn of when it should not be so. I still vividly remember asking the question to my now forgotten classroom friend whom is without a face within my mind's eye back in the computer lab of my elementary school that tried in vain to teach myself All the Right Type; as of which today I still 'finger peck' - yet tragically as a ninja: 'does Rune Scape have +1 weapons?' For me Baldur's Gate has always still been that game that I have played all of those years ago, in my blur of youth. With myself getting my black skinned white haired male Half Elf Fighter Thief of all 18s and a dumped charisma score gibbed at melee combat attacking Shrek the transgender ogre in the beginning of Baldur's Gate.

I may now be better at the game, knowing how to cheese my way through the game solo as a level 1 with terrible abilities. I may have also have found secrets that no else has found. I may have been to forgotten places and rediscovered lost alpha work and art of the game and other such achievement stuffers. I may have now as of late have Beam Dog rolling around online with the lost works of the community of old having now been brought to life for a newer breath of time. I have found that in my life that as time moves on the perspective changes but the picture stays the same. The Irony of being a Baldur's Gate content creator in many ways of experience is not that we have changed Baldur's Gate, but rather the Irony is that Baldur's Gate has changed us.

Masterwork Items for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (W.I.P.)

Comments