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Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

octavius

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I noticed that Elminster disappeared right after the encounter en route to the Friendly Arms Inn, instead of wandering off.
Same thing happened with a Wild Dog, that failed its morale after being wounded.
Should I be worried, or is this normal BGT behaviour?

EDIT: Nevermind, Tarnesh and the Hobgoblins at FAI behaved as they should when turning yellow.
Incidentally, I was surprised that Tarnesh has more loot on him with BGT + Hard Times than he had in BG1 EE.
 
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Pizzashoes

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Any of you still play Throne of Bhaal? I love Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, but I can't stand the expansion.
It's like the guys responsible for making quality games at Bioware died after Shadows of Amn. Dialogue is worse, combat is worse, story is worse, and even the art is worse.
It's so fucking disappointing
 

Dzupakazul

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Did you play it with Ascension? It adds a bunch of neat things and is most renowned for making the fights more challenging while adding a few more choices.

I played BG2 so much it's pretty much pure hack'n'slash and fucking around with builds, so ToB is just more of that, and a final test of mettle for characters. Also Watcher's Keep is solid.
 

Shaewaroz

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I started soloing BG1:EE for the first time recently and made it quite far already, but now I'm starting to regret not starting the solo run with Tutu. EE seems to be a heck lot easier than original BG. Almost all enemy groups have only 1 enemy! I don't think this was the case with vanilla BG, although I'm not 100% sure since I never tried to solo it. Maybe the mob size is scaled based on your party size or something?

Lilura, have the mob sizes been reduced in BG1:EE?
 

octavius

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TuTu is obsolete. Use BGT instead. I recommend using Big World Setup to install if using mods.

All spawn systems are party size and/or level scaled AFAIK, except TuTu which maxes out the numbers of enemies. At least TuTu makes it more realistic that way, when you fight groups of low level enemies. Personally I don't like the idea of lone wolves, kobolds, bandits, gibberlings and such attacking a party. And tougher enemies can be avoided by scouting.

The best spawns system is probably BGT + BGSpawn.
BGSpawn makes things more interesting and unpredictable, but can be quite hard with some of the SCS treated enemies, especially Orcs are very tough is using SCS. Also, makes Ulcaster much tougher.
Avoid the Random Encounters between Areas component, though. It's unbalanced, and you run the risk of either earning too much XP, or having your entire party torn to shreds in a matter of seconds by a Greater Frost Troll.
 
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Lilura

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At least TuTu makes it more realistic that way, when you fight groups of low level enemies.

Problem there is, wealth and XP point progression is almost unavoidably increased to the point that it makes the campaign too easy, too early.

That is just one problem of playing BG1 in the BG2 engine, though: overall, original game balance will forever elude players of Tutu, BGT and EE.
 
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Lilura

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By best do you mean hardest? What class are you thinking about soloing with?
 

octavius

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If you want larger mobs your best bet is probably BGT and the the BGT Tweak Pack component "Altered spawns: TuTu-style levelled spawns".
 

Shaewaroz

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I found that having a familiar makes first few levels much, much easier. Without a familiar playing a non melee class would require avoiding combat or reloading a lot. Soloing the vanilla BG would certainly be much more difficult than soloing in any of the ones using BG2 engine.
 

Dzupakazul

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I generally enjoy pure BG1 (and really wish EE didn't erase the experience), but I also think BG1->BG2 conversions more than make up for the features lost in transition especially since you can't install SCS on vanilla BG1, and that mod really adds a lot of entertainment to fights and can surprise even veterans. And, as a bonus point, you can no longer cheese Drizzt with mass summon spam, so the game isn't necessarily easier or harder either way if you add some tweaks here and there.

Generally for BG1 though, I always had my entire party stay entirely ranged until around level 3-4, because bow and arrow (or sling) do not break like mundane melee weapons and the early combat is volatile enough to discourage going into melee (especially on Insane, where frontliners get one-shot in an unlucky roll of the dice), plus typical Entangle+Sleep+Web tactics synergize better with ranged weaponry. Don't think Mage/Thief would necessarily be any harder than a regular mage (who, for all his faults, has the I Win buttons in form of Sleep and Blind in the early game), although Thief levels by themselves don't really shine much in BG1, you're mostly a utility toolbox with some promising backstabs if you can find ways to raise your Strength really high (DUHM Bhaalpower) and Staff of Striking. Just stay at range a lot, you will pick up some colour around spell level 2 (Web, Horror). Generally though I believe early AD&D was balanced with the idea that fighters are the heroes of the low-level story and the wizards have to rely on their strong backs, so honestly, just keep everyone ranged and refine your kiting tactics (have someone act as bait). Also places like Gnoll's Keep are really good for ranged approach because the place is cramped full of chokepoints you can block with just a single meleer (though be very careful still).

Also, can anyone confirm whether BG1 or BG2 mechanics make your attacks from shadows/invisibility have a lower THAC0? Opening a fight with M/T from invisibility as a flanker with Chill Touch could be potent.
 

d1nolore

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Are the BG & BG2 enhanced editions good or is it better to track down the originals? Did the mess with the story/mechanics or mostly just fix bugs?
 

octavius

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The enhanced editions didn't really enhance much, IMO.
Backgrounds are blurrier.
New characters and items don't mix well with the original game.
They didn't enhance the things that could do some enhancing, like showing AOE for spells, or LOS for individual characters.

AFAIK, there's only a few advantages to the EEs:
You will (I assume) get the Jaheira&Khalid vs Monty&Xzar showdown. Not so with TuTu and BGT.
Weapon breakage, and the mods that make enemy weapons shatter, works correctly with EE. With BGT you need to have Party AI on for your own (not sure about enemies) weapons to break.
I understand there's an Auto Loot button in BG2 EE that allows you to choose from all the loot on the battlefield, instead of clicking on one fallen enemy at a time.
There may be some minor UI improvements, faster load times (not really an issue if you install the old games on a SSD drive) and a slightly more stable game.

But all in all not nearly enough to make it qualify as "Enhanced".
 
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Dzupakazul

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EE does have Legacy of Bhaal, for what it's worth. They do keep adding content to the EEs, but it's not particularly good content.
 

Filthy Sauce

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A parrot for my thoughts: Playing through BG 1-2 is one of those things I must 'do before I die.' I bought both games at launch. Spent countless hrs with the first, but spent too much time restarting and getting bored with the starting areas and then quit. When BG 2 rolled out, i had a single dedicated game, but never finished it. Don't even remember how far I got.

Maybe 8 years ago I revisited the series, using the mod (dont remember the name) which basically makes 1&2 into a single game. It was sort of buggy, and included fan made NPC banter. Jaheria gave birth control advice to imoen involving tree sap. My world was never the same again.

I managed to complete bg1 with a half-elf fight/mage. Playing with touch spells was pretty fun. I started bg2 but quit for some reason even before getting out of the starter dungeon.
 

Filthy Sauce

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Fucking Christ. What happened to half my post?

Continuing from my previous post, recently (with ee) I'm going for another run. Hopefully this time I will make it. Trying a dual class fighter mage. Just hit the main city at level 5. Am I correct I should wait for level 7 for the switch?

Also. Xan kicks ass. I know he can't fireball, but his moonblade is good at killing stuff. That cleric lady you can rescue in stone seems pretty good despite shitty stats-seems like she can cast a billion spells before having to rest. Ditched jaheria for her. My current party is myself, kahlid, xan, the new monk guy, stoned cleric, and imoen. Might complete the game with this party. Don't really remember what NPCs are available.
 

Sigourn

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I want to play classic Baldur's Gate, I'm using the GOG version. Since Fallout 2, I decided to play all my games in their vanilla resolution (which I did both in FO2 and Arcanum so far).

My problem with Baldur's Gate is that windowed mode (vanilla resolution) has some issues with edge scrolling. I literally have to move my mouse all the way to my monitor's edges (because the mouse leaves the window screen, as opposed to staying inside like it did in Arcanum and FO2). Anyone knows of a solution for this? I also have DXWnd, which I used for Arcanum successfully, but using the same settings didn't make any difference for Baldur's Gate. Help on this matter would be much appreciated.
 

Sigourn

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Big-ass image I just made, but hopefully it will be of help to others with my same problem.

Baldur_s_Gate_Settings.jpg


Here's what the game looks like with these settings (spoiler warning: as it should look, completely vanilla).

Screenshot.png

It's small, but I'd rather have than than the prosperish look of the high resolution patch.
 
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Sigourn

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Why do you torture yourself, Lucas?

I don't really like the god awful changes Hi-Resolution patches make to these old games. In Thief for example there isn't any ridiculous change, but in the IE games the interface is butchered and looks like crap, and only makes it so that you see more than the developers intended. I prefer to play these games in their original form, really. (Baldur's Gate would have worked perfectly if it wasn't for that annoying "cursor goes out of window" issue I managed to fix, though I spend more time trying to fix an annoying ghosting issue with the cursor as a consequence of using DXWnd: Compensate Flip emulation did the trick)
 

hell bovine

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Continuing from my previous post, recently (with ee) I'm going for another run. Hopefully this time I will make it. Trying a dual class fighter mage. Just hit the main city at level 5. Am I correct I should wait for level 7 for the switch?
Yep, fighter 7 is the latest you can dual to a mage in BG1.
 

Jason Liang

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I switched to a new laptop last month, and now I'm really torn whether to install Baldur's Gate 1 and 2: EE or not. I doubt I'll ever play through either game again, but I have a ton of empty hard disk space and not sure which games to install. I still have the games on my old laptop, so I have that as an archive of past games. I just want to install stuff that I'll actually play.

So far I've installed:
Neverwinter Nights
Yugi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist
Europa Universalis IV (but I might uninstall - still runs shitty even on the new laptop - so far it's the only program that's caused my new laptop to overheat)
Europa Universalis III
Rance VI: Fall of Zeth
Daibanchou
Talisman Digital Edition
Lords of Waterdeep
Twlight Struggle

Games I plan to install:
Sengoku Rance (when the official translation is released)
Alpha Centauri (when I get the urge)
Ur Quan Masters (when I get the urge)
Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall DC (when I get the urge)
Vampire: Bloodlines (maybe see what new mods come out a few years from now)
Temple of Elemental Evil (at some point)
KoF 1998, 2002, XIII, XIV (when I get a joypad)
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (I get on an adventure game hankering once in a while)
GTA III? IV? V? (have to see which can run on my laptop)

Games I don't plan to install:
Age of Decadence (just burnt out on it)
Arcanum (NEVER AGAIN)
Fallout
Fallout 2
Wizardry 7
Civ IV
Pillars of Eternity (I bet it'll still run shitty on this laptop too)
Path of Exile (burnt out)

Games undecided:
Baldur's Gate 1: EE
Baldur's Gate 2: EE
Jagged Alliance 2
Elminage Gothic
Darkest Dungeon
CK II
Shadowrun Returns: DMS
Shadowrun Returns: Hong Kong
Pirates!
Stellaris
Invisible Inc.
Ultimate General: Civil War
Final Fantasy VIII
PS: Torment

I guess I'm in between games right now. Not playing anything much except Yugi-oh and Neverwinter Nights. Was thinking of starting up EU IV or III again but I don't have that kind of time anymore. I want to play EU III, but EU IV makes me not want to play EU III. And EU IV makes me not want to play EU IV.
 

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