Baldur's Gate Beamdog's Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 Enhanced Editions

[tuluse]

I'm sure if D&D was truly a cash cow and WotC knew what they were doing, they would be tripping over themselves to get a game out based on 4th edition. We're witnessing a small revival in party-based CRPGs thanks to Kickstarter and WotC is sitting on their hands while it comes and goes. So either they are incompetent, or D&D is ultimately a very niche product that pales in comparison to the profits their other products garner them (MTG, namely). It's probably a little from column A, little from column B. WotC's track record regarding who they let develop D&D video games definitely doesn't suggest they give much of a shit about quality.

They were license problems with 4th edition. Atari basically owned the computer game rights, while Hasbro owned the mechanics. They could not come to an agreement to resolve this.

Hasbro now owns their own computer game rights. So we should see some 5E games once it's out.

 

[Volourn]

"correstion: it shouldn't be made unless it's Obsidian making it, under Josh Sawyer and his Black Hound "expertise""

"Expertise" at having his games repeatedly canceled? R00fles!

 

[Excidium]

WOTC are a tiny wing of Hasbro, and from Hasbro's perspective, that wing might as well be called "Magic: the Gathering", because I'm sure they see a massive awesome cashcow and that's about all (somehow MtG card sales are the highest they've ever been, and boy do players sink a heap of money into it). D&D probably does somewhere between 1/100th and 1/1000th the sales of whatever kids toy line Hasbro launches for Christmas every year so niche video games with low revenue potential probably aren't a high priority for them.

Yeah. D&D doesn't make as much money as people believe, they evidently lost a lot of market in the late 2000s and 4e failed to meet Hasbro's sales expectations in general.

 

[SwiftCrack]

D&D is 90s as fuck.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

L0L But, no.

BG3, if properly adveritsed, would sell lots. Poeple claimed the same thing with the FOs and now peopel are waiting for the 2nd trilogy to be complete. LMAO

If BIo released a BG3 it would sell 3mil+.

If Obsidian released a BG3 it would sell 2mil+.

If Bethesda released a BG3 it would sell 5mil+.

If VD released a BG3 it would sell 10k+.

Yeah, given that he'd market it as an action adventure. "You like button mashing, butchering monsters and taking their shit? This is the game for you".

 

[Incantatar]

I have to admit i stand corrected. I thought the EEs would bring new life in the modding scene and would allow for a smoother and improved gameplay and a much better modability with formerly impossible engine fixes.
Now, the mods i love are pretty much lifeless, they are not able to bugfix their own shit content and i still don't see cool stuff we already had with ToBEx (which is incompatible with EE). You were probably right with the shit you gave me for my optimism.

 

[thesheeep]

Yeah, I also had far higher hopes for how much this would help modding.
Oh, well.

Waiting for GemRB, then, eh?

 

[Malpercio]

Eh, it's a15 years old series, I'm surprised the mod scene lasted that long, especially since the IE aren't so easy to mod compared to stuff like Morrowind or NWN2 (pre-rended backgrounds and all)


Out of curiosity, how are BG2 enchanted companions? I read one of them is a

Spoiler

fucking vampire? wut?

EEBG1 went to meh-but-non-offensive (the monk, the half-orc) to wtf? (the wild mage) based on what I remember.

 

[Dreaad]

Eh, it's a15 years old series, I'm surprised the mod scene lasted that long, especially since the IE aren't so easy to mod compared to stuff like Morrowind or NWN2 (pre-rended backgrounds and all)


Out of curiosity, how are BG2 enchanted companions? I read one of them is a

Spoiler

fucking vampire? wut?

EEBG1 went to meh-but-non-offensive (the monk, the half-orc) to wtf? (the wild mage) based on what I remember.

Yep a black, lesbian vampire who can walk around in sunlight.

 

[skyst]

WOTC are a tiny wing of Hasbro, and from Hasbro's perspective, that wing might as well be called "Magic: the Gathering", because I'm sure they see a massive awesome cashcow and that's about all (somehow MtG card sales are the highest they've ever been, and boy do players sink a heap of money into it). D&D probably does somewhere between 1/100th and 1/1000th the sales of whatever kids toy line Hasbro launches for Christmas every year so niche video games with low revenue potential probably aren't a high priority for them.

Yeah. D&D doesn't make as much money as people believe, they evidently lost a lot of market in the late 2000s and 4e failed to meet Hasbro's sales expectations in general.

D&D lost a lot of their market share to Pathfinder since 4e came out. Wiki shows PF as the top selling RPG system for a few quarters between then and now, which seems amazing for a comparatively new brand.

4e seemed perfect for computer games since the pnp already felt very MMOish but I guess they're distancing themselves from that formula with how quickly 5e is coming and how drastically different it will be. They're even adopting the living ruleset/community input things that made PF so popular. It would be interesting if they pumped some money into 5e CRPGs to recreate the late 90's/early 00's wave of CRPGs which certainly helped the pnp's sales (and vice versa).

 

[Lyric Suite]

D&D is gonna save computer RPGs!!!

In other news, why is this thread still going? People are actually still wondering whether those rape editions are considered worth playing?

 

[Spockrock]

I already bought the GOG version, so at least for me it has been settled

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

As much as I don't like this whole "enhanced edition" business, I have to admit being able to play bg on my ipad is pretty sweet. I still like gog for the PC version better though, but for long plane trips etc, this is pretty awesome.

 

[Zeriel]

The zoom in is so immensely gross, though.

 

[felipepepe]

Not to mention how the sharp text font clashes with the blurry & low res game & UI. Which begs the point of WHY the UI is low res, since they re-did it...

 

[Zed]

As much as I don't like this whole "enhanced edition" business, I have to admit being able to play bg on my ipad is pretty sweet. I still like gog for the PC version better though, but for long plane trips etc, this is pretty awesome.

i dont like this whoring business but i kinda like it when they blow me

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Pretty much.

What I mean is, playing it on the ipad is sweet but I'd rather someone had done a straight port rather than "fix" it with so much needless junk like the dlc companions. Graphics are fine btw. You can zoom in and out. That screen is zoomed in some. Out looks better. All the way in is bad, but it think it's just for precision tapping.

Not to mention how the sharp text font clashes with the blurry & low res game & UI. Which begs the point of WHY the UI is low res, since they re-did it...

Good point.

Also, I'm not a fan of the redone cutscenes. :/
It's probably possible to swap them for the originals w ifunbox.

 

[Nihiliste]

I convinced a friend of mine to replay these games and to my horror he went and bought the EE's on steam. I failed him.

 

[Kahlis]

Not to mention how the sharp text font clashes with the blurry & low res game & UI. Which begs the point of WHY the UI is low res, since they re-did it...

Average people don't seem to mind that kind of disparity but it really drives me crazy. My brother got a new laptop recently with DPI scaling for the high resolution and while we marvel at the text rendering I'm also spending every other second trying to figure out why some parts of programs' interfaces have scaled and others haven't. Wouldn't you rather have a pixellated BG that's at least consistent? It's like we're back to the days of those 80's Japanese home computers with the crazy aspect ratios.

 

[Jasede]

Achievement Unlocked - And So It Begins: Found Gorion

 

[Tytus]

Achievment Unlocked - Sacrifice of the Father: Survive first encounter with Sarevok.

 

[Jasede]

I am honestly shocked they got away with this; not even a high-resolution HUD? How is this 'enhanced'?

You could use a widescreen mod and get a better experience.

 

[felipepepe]

Achievement Unlocked - Keep it in the family: Imoen joined your party.

 

[Tytus]

Achievment Unlocked: Przed wyruszenem drogi należy zebrać drużyne: Party Gathered before leaving first location.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

Was surprised to see that Baldur's Gate: EE was patched today. Thought they'd given up on it completely.

Patch notes:

Spoiler

Crash Fixes
- Game no longer freezes when canceling an imported priest character
- Double-clicking a stack on ground slots no longer crashes the game
- Custom portraits larger than 1024x1024 no longer crash the game; instead, a message appears informing the - user that the image is too big
- (Android) Returning to the game from sleep mode should no longer cause the game to close
Features and Gameplay Enhancements
- Added "Font Size" to Graphics Options (changing this during play will empty the combat log)
- Quickloot feature from BGII:EE has been implemented
- While viewing a mage's Spellbook screen, players can now switch to a priest character and the game will immediately switch to the Priest Spells screen (and vice versa)
- Spell scrolls that can be written into a spellbook for the current character now display a green-tinted overlay
- Non-friendly NPCs that are Blinded will no longer stand still; they will wander aimlessly until they are close enough to see someone worth attacking
- Phandalyn is now a Lawful Good Paladin
- Drizzt is now properly equipped with his scimitars, and has been recolored to match his description in the books
- All golems in the game now possess appropriate immunities to Poison, Charm, Hold, Fear, Sleep, and Backstab
- All crossbows now require the same strength as their non-magical counterparts
- Rogdok now grants 400 experience points when defeated
- Rasaad's bracers and boots are now only usable by Rasaad
- Neera's staff is now only usable by Neera
Modder Features
- Items can now be flagged as unusable by Half-Orcs
- Profsmax.2da "FIRST_LEVEL" value can now be set higher than 2 to let characters place more pips in a proficiency type at level 1
- Clswpbon.2da "GETS_PROF_APR" value can now be set to 1 to allow non-warrior classes and kits to benefit from APR bonuses
- Neutral Evil, Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, and Chaotic Neutral no longer prevent usability by True Neutral characters
- Portrait.2da is now alphabetized for easier reference, and the "M" values for each portrait have been populated; Dorn's alternate portrait has been updated to use the Half-Orc portrait from BGII:EE
Critical Fixes
- Aldeth's quest no longer gets stuck in cutscene mode during multiplayer
- The tutorial now grants the player a weapon they can actually use (Exception: Clerics with Strength 3 cannot use any weapons)
- Systems with out of date graphics drivers should no longer see graphical distortions in the game's UI
(Android) Game no longer drains the battery when not in use
- Auto-Pause will no longer stop a random encounter area from appearing; instead, the area will appear before the pause takes effect

At final tally, there were 208 bug fixes made in this patch. For the complete list, open the button below.

Minor Fixes
- Characters with both arcane and divine spells can now view spell descriptions from the gameplay screen
- NPCs no longer speak over their own sounds when in dialogue
- NPC selection and activity sounds will now overlap with other selection and activity sounds from other NPCs
- Dual-classed assassins and thieves now receive the correct backstab multipliers when they get their abilities back
- Non-party characters now receive proper bonuses and penalties for their weapon proficiencies (or lack thereof)
- Japanese text now displays correctly across all screens
- Combat music no longer continues forever in certain situations (Killing Shank is a good example)
- The Shadowdancer's backstab progression now matches the BGII:EE version
- Luck spell no longer erases the target's weapon proficiencies
- "Boo will miss you" text when closing the game now displays correctly for every supported language
- Journal entries no longer disappear when scrolling the Journal screens
- Rasaad is no longer duplicated when removed from the party
- Exported dual-class characters should now keep their hit point totals when imported
- Blackmailing Areana now results in correctly receiving the blackmail amount each time
- Kirinhal can no longer be exploited for multiple XP rewards
- Jondalar now ends his combat tutorial if hit by the Totemic Druid's spirit animal
- Lothander's quest now resolves correctly when completed
- Shar-Teel no longer attacks the player after killing another member of the party during her recruitment encounter
- Dorn and Shar-Teel now correctly fight to the death after their final argument
- Shield spell now protects against traps that cast Magic Missile
- Otiluke's Resilient Sphere now carries out all of its intended effects correctly
- Elves' resistance to sleep effects now protects them from Power Word: Sleep
- All spells and innate abilities now possess accurate spell descriptions
- Characters wielding ranged weapons that deplete their current stack of ammunition will now automatically use the next stack of equipped ammo if it is the same type; if no stack of the same type is available, they will use the next available stack of non-magical ammunition
- Baeloth's recruitment dialogue now includes translations for Polish and German
- Imported dual-classed characters
- All usable spells and innate abilities now possess icons
- Erik and Jondalar no longer provoke the wrath of the Candlekeep Watchers
- The Doomsayer will no longer respawn after being killed
- The player will no longer lose control over Dorn once Dorotea and Senjak have been killed while in area OH1000
- Small Shield +2 no longer provides a bonus against missile weapons
- Potions of Power and Potions of Heroism no longer cause regeneration when reloading the game
- Montaron no longer leaves the party when force-talked at Reputation 12
- Items that are (or are not) usable by Barbarians now list Barbarian in the Usable/Unusable list
- Weapons that receive a damage bonus no longer provide an extra bonus to other weapons used when wielding two weapons
- Charm Person or Mammal no longer displays a message in the combat log at the end of the duration if the target was not successfully charmed
- Wizard Slayers now cause a Miscast Magic icon on their target's portraits (if available)
- Find Familiar spell description now displays the full description
- Subtitles now display correctly when Scale User Interface is enabled
- Horn of Kazgaroth no longer disappears after the first use
- User journal entries now display correctly during Multiplayer
- The door to the northwest-most house in the Friendly Arm Inn area now displays correctly when open and closed at night
- The tutorial now includes a translation for Czech
- Unidentified stacks of items no longer stack with identified stacks
- Selected weapons and ammunition now display the same green outline on the Inventory screen and the Gameplay screen
- The Dagger of Venom no longer bestows multiple portrait icons
- The bard class's spell progression now follows the progression from Throne of Bhaal
- There is no longer a strange woman's scream in Cloakwood Mine
- The Identify screen at temples and stores no longer allows scrolling past the final item in the list
- Resting now unpauses the game if it was paused, allowing random encounters and town guards to spawn correctly
- The Spell Information screen no longer allows clicking of hidden buttons
- The Reform Party function now works even if the game is paused and the UI is hidden
- Drizzt will now see the player even if they are invisible, allowing him to survive the encounter with the gnolls
- Expanding the dialogue window now aligns the text to the bottom of the window instead of the top
- Arriving at an area's eastern side now places the party at the edge of the map
- Killing Zhurlong before completing his quest now closes the journal entry for his quest
- Amnian soldiers now display correct reply strings once Brage's quest has been completed
- Spell Shield duration now scales according to its spell description
- Text strings on the Record screen now resize themselves to fit the available space
- Ghasts in Durlag's Tower no longer attack other enemy creatures
- Map markers can now be color-changed and deleted without any issues
- All items that grant immunity no longer display strings in the combat log for the effects that did not affect the character
- All text containers now allow scrolling all the way to the bottom of the text
- Pick-Pocket skill no longer resets to zero when raised above 255
- Picking up Brage's dead body no longer leaves a second body on the ground
- Lothander now leaves the area immediately after completing his quest
- Windowed mode no longer allows "edge scrolling" (scrolling the map by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen).
- The Sword of Balduran no longer makes other weapons glow green when equipped
- Beast Masters may no longer summon familiars during the tutorial
- Changing clothing colors no longer changes the colors of helmets and shields on the paper dolls if those items possess colors of their own
- Merchants no longer flash in and out of existence in the Iron Throne during Chapter 7
- (Android) All devices now display the same version number as other platforms
- (Android) Pressing the Return key on the on-screen keyboard when entering a password during multiplayer now closes the keyboard
- (Android) The magnifying glass tool's toggle setting is now remembered when transitioning world map areas
- (Android) Traps no longer display their trigger icons before they've been discovered with the Find Traps ability
- (Android) Multiplayer auto-saves and quick-saves no longer display ridiculous timestamp values