Baldur's Dale, The Infinity Engine Games Thread Options

[SubRosa]

With the Enhanced Editions to Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 now out, and Gog.com having sales on both the originals and the Icewind Dale games, it seems like a good time to create a thread about our old friend the Infinity Engine.

I have Icewind Dale 1 from a long time ago, but never got too far with it back then. Other games like Diablo II and Star Trek Elite Forces caught my attention, and the old school D&D ruleset of Icewind felt too cumbersome for me. I tried installing ID1 again a few weeks ago, but could not get it to work on my Windows 7 box. So I finally broke down and bought it and ID2 off of Gog.com a few days ago. While I was at it, I discovered that Steam had a sale on the Baludur's Gate Enhanced Editions, so I bought those two. I wound up getting all four games for under $20.

I decided to start at the start, so so I rolled a toon to pwn Baldur's Gate 1. Terra started out as a regular Ranger, and I experimented with her using dual swords and a longbow. I found I liked the bow better, and thought about restarting her game to specialize as the Archer subclass. But I found EE Keeper, and instead I used it to change her class and move around her proficiency points a bit.

So far BG1 has been a blast. I still think the old school D&D rules are cumbersome and clunky. Especially where magic is concerned. I hate that memorizing spells business and having to rest to be able to cast them again. I much prefer mana point systems for mages. But gripes aside, it is still a good game, even after all these years. It feels a lot like the original Fallout rpg in its look and feel - the same isometric view and sprites. BG1 just has more party members and the D&D rules.

I have been using BruceVayne's soundsets in Oblivion for years, and many of them are BG characters. So now it is a kick to finally hear them in their original settings. I especially love Imoen and Viconia's voices. From "Good on you if you saved the day!" to "Nightsinger, give me power!". So far those are my two favorite NPCs as well. I loved Minsc in the tutorial, but have not found him yet - he's clear across the map from where we start!

My current gang is Terra (the PC), Imoen, Viconia, Neera (she's a new EE added NPC), and Kagain. I am a little light on the muscle, and am looking for another good melee fighter. I'd like to hire the new half-orc NPC Dorn, but I have not gotten the encounter where it happens yet. OTOH, the team is strong in ranged attacks, and when we all focus our fire on one target we can usually kill it on one round. Unless it is a boss. So fights against ordinary critters often consist of mowing them down before they can even reach Kagain.

So far I am not thrilled with Neera, but for now she is the only mage in town. I'd like to hire the new Drow mage the EE edition added, but he doesn't appear until 5th level. It is funny, my party seems to be going to the evil end of the spectrum. Maybe I should use EE Keeper to change Terra from Neutral Good to Neutral Evil!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Apr 11 2022, 08:04 PM

[SubRosa]

So far Scáthach's game has been going rather well. I was worried at first about the Kensai's inability to wear armor. But going with an Elf - with the Dexterity bonus - has definitely helped. Between the 4 point bonus from her Dex, the Kensai's 2 point AC bonus, and another 2 point bonus from the Single Weapon proficiency, Scáthach started out with an Armor Class of 2. A +1 Ring of Protection found early on got that down to an AC of 1. That is a point better than Kagain in plate mail and a medium shield. Only Viconia has a better AC, with a -1 (wearing spint mail and a small shield).

Yesterday Scath made her way to the Friendly Arm Inn, and temporarily recruited Jaheria and Khalid for the extra muscle. I left Montaran and Xvar alone. Those two get on my nerves. Evil is Cool after all, and those two are not. Viconia was added soon after. She quckly proved her worth by practically putting down the Ogre Girdle Thief single-handedly. Jaheria got whacked by the spiders in Landarin's Beregost house, and I did not bother to pay to get her raised. I recruited Kagain shortly after, and then gave Khalid is walking papers (but this time I remembered to take all of his stuff first! ).

So now Scath's party consists of Kagain, Viconia, Imoen, and Neera. I found a ring that doubles the number of spells wizards get. I think it might only be the 1st level ones. But it has proved very valuable. I have been getting better with Neera too. I got rid of her staff and gave her a sling, to keep her from running up into the fight. Her chromatic orb can be devastating, so can her color spray. The trouble with the latter is not hitting the party with it too!

I know the last time I played BG II, I was able to import a clipped screenie of Buffy's face and bring in her 'Innocent' voice set. That is a great portrait of your kensai!

It wasn't easy, but managed to do the same for Scath. I found a 'Sassy' voice from this voice pack. The sound files have to be in a .wav format, so naturally the pack has them all as .obb files. So I had to convert them all. Then I had to rename them all. I found found that BG1, as 10 Custom voice slots left open. So rather than editing any .2da files, you can just rename your files Custom0a, Custom0b, and so on. Then just copy them to the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition > Lang > en_us > sounds folder. After that is appears as Custom0 in the voice selection menu. If anyone reading wants to create a new voice set for BG1EE, you need the following files:
XXXXXXXa.wav : Battle Cry
XXXXXXXb.wav : Becoming Leader
XXXXXXXc.wav : Tired
XXXXXXXd.wav : Bored
XXXXXXXe.wav : Badly Wounded
XXXXXXXf.wav : Selected 1
XXXXXXXg.wav : Selected 2
XXXXXXXh.wav : Selected 3
XXXXXXXi.wav : Action Acknowledgement 1
XXXXXXXj.wav : Action Acknowledgement 2
XXXXXXXk.wav : Action Acknowledgement 3
XXXXXXXl.wav : Being Hit
XXXXXXXm.wav : Dying
XXXXXXXn.wav : In Forest
XXXXXXXo.wav : In City
XXXXXXXp.wav : In Dungeon
XXXXXXXq.wav : Daytime
XXXXXXXr.wav : Nighttime
XXXXXXXs.wav : Rare Selected 1
XXXXXXXt.wav : Rare Selected 2
XXXXXXXu.wav : Rare Selected 3
XXXXXXXv.wav : Rare Selected 4
XXXXXXXw.wav : Reaction to Party Member Death

XXXXXXXa.wav would be Custom0a, and so on. Your second voice pack would be Custom1a and so on, etc...

Is there any difference between playing a Good character and an Evil one? I know there is a Reputation stat, and that the Evil characters will bolt from your party if it gets too high, and the Good ones will leave if it gets to low. But is there really an Evil path to quests as opposed to a Good one?

My recollection of the good/evil thing was that the games are heavily biased towards the good player. A totally evil party won't be able to buy/sell anything, or stay at inns. Camping out all the time isn't viable, because of the frequency of interrupted sleep, and its effect on spell recovery. The attacks by guards etc. on evil characters isn't offset by any less attacks by anyone else.

Mixed parties break themselves up, as conflicting characters won't work together. I don't recall if there any points where the story-line is actually blocked for the evil player option, but that's possible - I never got far enough with an evil character to find out.

I got the impression that the evil recruitable characters were there to be used as short-term solutions to specific problems, You'd have them join, use their special talents to solve some quest situation, and then let them leave again (or leave them dead when they're killed). You'd want to play as a core party of three or four good characters, with a variable addition of "evils" to go that way. They often come in pairs, and you'd need both for stability.

It definitely does seem to be geared toward the Good side. But it doesn't seem that hard to keep your reputation up high enough to avoid people attacking you on sight either. You just have to do a few quests to get Rep points. Usually that means big experience point rewards too. Scath returned Joia's ring. It didn't net her any money, as selling it would. But OTOH, Joia "paid" for it with a hefy amount of xp, which is worth more than gold. It also bumped up her Rep a point. You have to kiss a few babies in between stealing their candy. It has worked for politicians for millennia.

At the moment I am thinking long term for party members to be Dorn and Kagain for tanks. Viconia has the cleric spot sewn up. I will try Edwin on as a wizard, but I'd also like to give Baeloth a try too. He looks cooler. That would leave Imoen as the only Good character. I don't want to lose her, because I love her voice.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 29 2020, 08:48 PM