Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition

I have pre-purchased the game which is due out Sept. 18 TH. i will post here my opinions and try to remember to make some screenshots. Since we already are familiar with the orginal game I am not going to worry about spoilers except for new things.

Do you know what new things they are putting in the game?

I for one don't really care about graphics especially since with BGtutu and a widescreen mod it doesn't look too bad (painted background age very gracefully).

The only reason I am interested in the graphics is because of my eyes. I am hoping it will be easier for me to see. The cost was 17.99 USD not too big a waste of money.

BGEE info Looks as if they added several new characters and a new quest line called the Black Pits. I hope they improved the combat script but mostly it seems to be about graphics.

Hopefully it will be money well spent.

I gather the graphics have been made higher resolution, but are otherwise faithful to the original designs. I will definitely be buying it, even just to support the venture. Apparently the plan is to eventually start producing new isometric RPGs, starting with a possible Baldur's Gate III (although, it would be a new concept for a sequel, rather than the cancelled "Black Hound"). Then they might move on to their own new IPs.

Between this project, Wasteland 2 and Dead State, I'm hoping to see a resurgence of isometric RPGs. For years, FPS adherents have been calling this genre dead. Apparently, nobody told Trent Oster, Brian Fargo, or Brian Mitsoda.

It would be nice if they picked up Planescape: Torment... I still miss that.

DanielCoffey wrote:

It would be nice if they picked up Planescape: Torment... I still miss that.

That would be great.

Quote :

Between this project, Wasteland 2 and Dead State, I'm hoping to see a resurgence of isometric RPGs. For years, FPS adherents have been calling this genre dead. Apparently, nobody told Trent Oster, Brian Fargo, or Brian Mitsoda.

Am I happy they didn't know that. let's continue to keep it a secret.

@Kana: that would be awesome.

DanielCoffey wrote:

It would be nice if they picked up Planescape: Torment... I still miss that.

Torment looks good enough with the widescreen mod:

https://bellesakurasaloon.frenchboard.com/t161-planescape-torment-widescreen-mod-and-ui

Nine days to go. I will be looking at this overhaul very critically. Hope they didn't mess up the game. However I wouldn't mind if they fixed some of the bugs. Improved the combat some.

I played BG II more. Intend to do a lot more exploring than I did the early days. Find a diamond that I could never find. Near the beginning of the game in a tree or tree stump as you head to the FAI.

Nakia the Rogue wrote:

Intend to do a lot more exploring than I did the early days. Find a diamond that I could never find. Near the beginning of the game in a tree or tree stump as you head to the FAI.

Spoiler:

I listened to a podcast by Toucharcade, where they talked about their time with an early build of the iPad version. Their review was positive, but one thing they talked about was how difficult it was compared to modern games. I wonder how new players are going to react to that.

I wonder if they will implement some kind of in-game tutorial, since manuals are largely a thing of the past. Some in-game explanation of terms like THAC0 and AC might help to ease in new players. I would really like this game to be a success, so we can get a BGIII.

Any thing on how the game is selling? The reason I am excited about the upgraded graphics is because of my eyesight. I can't play the orginal game very well. A lot of old players see no reason to change the graphics.

I still think 20 USD the price of DLC is a good price.

Newer players are spoiled with no brainers. Half the fun of the game is the difficulty, the feeling of achievement when you succeed. After a hard fought battle or adventure I would take the Party to an inn with good beds as a reward. You had to use some strategy to win some of the fights. You had to THINK!

So I too wonder how it will be accepted. No hand holding. No "You have arrived at the Tomb of Syrothoes and must enter".

You are right about needing a tutorial especially for AD&D terms. Again more thinking. Interesting that most of orginal players were young. Teens, early twenties. Even Carabas was a young guy then. I was really unique when I stepped into the gaming world. I was really worried when I decided to step out of the Old Age Closet. Afraid I would be hooted out of the Arena instead I was well received. Great group of kiddies in those days. i be yet friends with a few.

I think I still have the physical BG box somewhere but I would be interested in supporting the new version. I will be watching the release with interest but was a little concerned that there were no gameplay videos available yet.

My monitor's native resolution is 2560x1440 so I will be interested to see how it looks. I may have to play at 1280x720 pixel doubled if everything looks too tiny since any of the stretch to fit resolutions will be blurry.

Nakia the Rogue wrote:

Even Carabas was a young guy then.

I was 20 when BG was released. I'm only 34, that is not old!

Although to be fair I started roleplaying back in the 80s when I was around 8 or 9 (I got serious about pen and paper RPGs when I was 10).

I remember switching between CDs when playing BG on my old computer. It was such a hassle I copied all the videos on the hard drive to make it easier.

Big difference between twenty and thirty four, Cara. As we grow older the age difference dimensionless. Two year old and a five year old are quite diffident. The difference between a sixty year old and a seventy year old not so great. Then you take people like me who just can't get into their heads that they are OLD. Oh I know what the years sy but the mind just keeps saying "No way."

There does seem to me to be a difference in the newer breed of game player. They want it all, don't restrict them, don't make them follow rules. Don't challenge them. It worries me a little. Is this the mind set they are bringing into the world Into so called Real Life?

What you're describing isn't restricted to gamers. I think it's just the way that kids are brought up today. Everything has to be available and convenient. It's all about instant gratification. When I was a kid we had three channels and I had to wait the entire week to see my favourite program. Now we all have hundreds of channels and the internet so we can watch whatever we want whenever we want. There are programs for kids in the middle of the night it's simply crazy.

To a lesser extent it's the same with some grown ups. Look what our technology has done to us: we've become spoiled, lazy and we tend to take evrything for granted.

The kids are just the product of this environment.

When I was kid it was radio, no TV, little cars and a cap pistol. I had a teddy bear. Didn't play with dolls. Although I did like to make paper clothes for paper dolls. Lots and lots of books. Good books. Went to the movies once in a while.

You are right. I am spoiled with modern equipment. If I had to wash my clothes by hand well, all I can say is you would not want to get near me. Microwave oven. What would I do with out it?

I still like challenges and thinking.

Man, I wish I could join in with you guys, talkin' bout the "good ol' days". Back when I was a little kid, we had all that technology and stuff. Not as much as it is now, of course, but we had some. I didn't use it much, though. Nah, I preferred to use my imagination. Going around with my little brother, pretending he was a big bad troll and I was a knight sent to kill him. That was good fun. Makes me wanna be a kid again.

L) Dragon, your day will come. You'll be able to tell the kids all about the days before holograms and all sorts of virtual reality gadgets. That is way things go. We wouldn't give up our modern gadgets and convinces for anything. Go back to the simple life before in door plumbing? No thank you.

"You know, you whippersnappers, in MY day, we didn't have these fanceh-shmanceh tel-ee-poor-tation thingamabobbersh! No, when WE wanted to get somewhere, we hopped in a car and DROVE there! I swear, kids these days."

You tell 'em, Dragon.

Back on topic... ish... I have just dug out my BG box. It turns out I bought the 4-in-1 box set apparently with BG, BG:TotSC, BGII:SoA and BGII:ToB.

What is even more embarrassing is that I have never completed them. Never! I got distracted by Planescape Torment at the time and never went back to BG.

So... on the off-chance that the new release isn't up to much I will be asking for advice on how to turn these ancient disks into something more suitable for today's computers... if they still work under Win7-64 that is.

I read the system specs and had a good laugh... Pentium2-300, 64Mb RAM and under graphics card, "Yes". Those were the days... *sigh*

They should work alright. You'll need the widescreen mod and I'd recommend playing BG1 with Easy Tutu (adds all the improvements from BG2 to BG1).

Check out Gibberling 3 and Pocketplane:

http://www.gibberlings3.net/

http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/

Thanks for the tips.

I have also found my CD for Emperor Rise of the Middle Kingdom which is in the process of being widescreen modded (although the HeavenGames site is down at the moment so I can't get the patches).

Interesting that games such as Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the BG games have been updated to use with modern computers and monitors. It does indicate that these older games have something that makes them still competitive with modern games.

Emperor has been without widescreen for years and some guy with a hex editor has had enough and done Pharaoh, Cleo, Zeus and some of the Caesar games already. Emperor is not tweaked yet but he is working on it.

LINK : https://www.wsgf.org/forum/7252/pharaoh-zeuson-widescreen?page=9