BG Trilogy or Enhanced Edition

Is there any real reason I should use BGT over the two Enhanced Editions? Because I'm trying to play Baldur's Gate with BGT, and honestly, the little things are killing me: Camera movement is horrendous, there's no way to get it to a good resolution and still be zoomed in at all far enough, I really miss being able to zoom in/out... Just little things like that. BGEE has all that, and it makes it... Well, kinda playable for me. Thoughts?

It seems like most mods have been updated to support the Enhanced Editions, so I don't really see much reason to use BGT over them, aside from having to buy them. I definitely find it hard to go back to the originals, now.

If you're doing it right BGT looks glorious.

I personally dislike all the additions made by the Enhanced version. The best mods feel more professional and less out of place IMO.

Does the BG1 NPC mod work for the EE? Because if it doesn't that alone is a deal breaker.

If you really want an Enhanced Edition get Icewind Dale Enhanced because the original is not so easy to run on modern machines.

Topic moved since we have a forum for Infinity Engine games.

Evidently the NPC mod does work for the EE, thankfully.

I think I'll just install that and use the Enhanced Edition - I know it's petty, but I honestly don't think I can play the game without the option to zoom and move the camera using the middle mouse button (rather than moving the mouse to the edge of the screen).

Oh, and thanks for moving the thread, Cara.

No problem. Have fun.

Personally I don't like how the game looks zoomed in and I can't tell the difference when it's zoomed out.

The only good thing as far as I'm concerned is how the character screen looks full screen but I can live with that (or more accurately without that).

I don't think the new kits or the new companions are worth the asking price either.

What I really don't like is people raving about Beamdog. IMO they don't deserve that much praise for what they've done.

A few things worth adding to the consideration, the NPC mod for BG1 is now working with the Enhanced Edition and that's a pretty big deal if you've become used to your BG1 NPCs being chatty and all that.

There is also an autoloot thingy in Enhanced Editions. It doesn't look like a huge deal but it may tip the scales for some players.

As far as I can tell it would appear that they've decided to add some sort of filtering that makes the game looks like the Fallen Enchantress games and while it's hard to condemn them for the effort from what I've seen it makes the game look like poo. I don't know about you but I don't see the point in fixing something that is not broken only to make it even worse. I assume it can be turned off though.

Anyway that's what I've been able to come up with so feel free to add any information or precision.

I've bought BG "Enhanced Edition" 1 & 2 (minus the expansion) and although I miss some of the features of BG Trilogy right now BGEE comes with enough mod support to keep an old BG player happy.

The autoloot thing is a real boon and it's pretty much the only thing that I like more in this version so far and I'm really not sold on the new "enhanced" videos and I think I'm going to hunt down the mod that restore the original movies.

I'm not convinced by the new kits and classes either but some of them do look like they could be nice. The Blackguard kit is utterly broken though and I can't see any reason for anyone to have Charname as a Shaman.

The outlines they've added are absolutely horrid but fortunately that can be changed in the settings.

I still need to add a few more mods and it will be time to get the show back on the road.

EDIT: the cool thing is the ability to switch between weapon styles with ease, especially between a bow and a sword and shield style.

I'm still trying to figure out how to disable the critical hit screen shake though...

There is a mod that ties everything together for the EE and it's called BG EE Trilogy but it does require that you have Siege of Dragonspear (although from what I've seen there is a possibility to skip it by messing with the files if you look around).

It may be worth a look if you already have the Beamdog DLC but certainly not a reason to get it if you don't.

Last but not least, I've stumbled upon a mod that disables the new NPCs from the EE:

http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/1135-disable-enhanced-edition-npcs/

Now, that is pretty cool if you don't want to mess with the game and benefit from the EE UI, loot and zoom functions while experimenting a true BG experience.

Especially with classic movies:

http://www.shsforums.net/topic/55573-mod-bgee-classic-movies/

I've decided to give the BG EE Trilogy mod a go and using BigWorldSetup makes the entire installation process rather painless and easy (in fact it's incredible how easy it is compared to the good old days).

In any case, I've started playing a Swashbuckler who will dual to Cleric later on (I'm thinking sometime in BG2).

I'm not really convinced by the NPCs from the Enhanced Edition so far but I will give them a chance.

Going back to Candlekeep almost twenty years after I first played this game feels a bit like going home and apparently some old tricks never get old no matter how many years go by:

Spoiler:

Hahaha, oh no, your character lost all of his one piece of gold. Remind me of a screenshot my friend sent me one time. He killed a chicken and his 1 XP point was enough for him to gain a XP level.

Are there a lot of new characters? I haven't too much on the improvements the EE makes on the game.

The EE brings a loot bar that is really nice and a zoom function which is moderately useful. The quality of life elements may make it worth picking when it's on sale but it's a bit steep for a returning player otherwise.

It's a mixed bag as far as NPCs are concerned.

In the BG part you get a Wild Mage, a Monk and a Blackguard (I think there is also a Drow Sorcerer but I haven't located him yet).

The Monk is useless because it's a low level campaign but the character seems rather nice (I find it hard to carry a dead weight at such a lower level, I may pick him up later and go basilisk hunting so he can get a few levels).

The Wild Mage is a liability at low levels but it's still my favourite spellcasting class. The problem I have with her is that I've dualled Imoen at level 4 (after maxing out pickpocket since my main is a thief) and decided to give her a Wild Mage kit (it meshes rather well with the NPC mod and Imoen learning magic in a rather haphazardous fashion). So I decided to mess around a bit and change her to a Sorcerer while keeping the Wild Mage kit (and it seems to work just fine).

The Blackguard is a Half Orc so he has 19 STR which is crazy at low levels but he has mediocre CON which brings a little balance to the character. The voiceset is appropriately evil and his one liners keep making me think of our friend BZ but I'm not sold on his story so far and I do find that he stands out a bit too much (which is usually a problem with modded characters).

I've also added a number of modded NPCs (some are really great like Finch).

At the moment I'm running with Imoen (Thief/Wild Mage), Branwen (Cleric of Tempus), Shar Teel (Barbarian), Neera (Wild Mage) and Dorn (Blackguard).

I've toyed with the idea of replacing Branwen with Viconia but I've played so much with Viconia (and Minsc and Edwin and Jaheira) in the old days that I welcome a change.

Plus they may not be hairy amazons but I like having both Branwen and Shar Teel around.

I've found the Drow Sorcerer and he is overpowered as hell. He comes with a Robe of the Evil Archmagi and a ring that boosts the number of spells per level (he alone can use it). In all fairness it is pretty bad considering how unbalanced that is for BG... Even Edwin is no match for that guy.

The Blackguard is a bit too much as well and I'm not even using his abilities. Plus having a natural Strength of 19 means he does a lot of damage.

I've finished the Wild Mage's quest and it's nothing to write home about. I'm still on the fence when it comes to this character. Of course the Wild Mage kit is also the most powerful (and my favourite) Mage kit but at lower levels it's not that game breaking.

I think I'm going to give the Monk a try as he is probably the least powerful of the new characters. Not being able to use an armour in the first BG game is in itself a challenge (and probably why all the people who rave about the Kensai/Mage only play BG2).