[X] My Assistant

[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

[Acadian]

Neat. Fighter/Mage suits Blood Raven.

[SubRosa]

Lopov: I only just started the game. I did not reach the Friendly Arm Inn when I stopped yesterday. I recruited Khalid and Jaheria there. But have not done anything with them yet. I used EE Keeper to change around some of Jaheria's stats and weapons. So hopefully I will like her more this way than my past games.

Acadian: I was not sure how to create Blood Raven. A paladin was my second choice, since that is also a fighter with magical abilities. Or a Fighter/Cleric. But I have never done the Fighter/Mage before, so I thought it might be a nice learning experience. So far all I am using her magic for is an armor spell to make up for her not being able to wear armor. That and an Identify spell.

[Lopov]

I've almost always edited stats in GateKeeper / Shadowkeeper, both for my PCs and NPCs. Have you ever played through the entire saga, Throne of Bhaal included? You probably have, just askin'.

[SubRosa]

I have been all the way through BG1 only once I think. I also did the Black Pits all the way through once. Though I have started several other games, just never got all the way done with it. Likewise, I have started BG2 a couple of times, but never finished it. I never even started Throne of Bhaal.

I use EE Keeper a lot. It is the same basic thing as Shadowkeeper, just for the Enhanced Editions. I use it to tweak the companions stats and proficiencies. Like changing Minsc from a Ranger to a Fighter, he works much better that way.

[Lopov]

Black Pits is something that I've never done. I did the other two expansions, namely the Durlag's Tower and the one that takes place on some island, but I don't remember the name. It adds a village far to the north and you can sail from there.

I actually started with BG II, my brother bought me this game as a birthday present when I was still fairly young. He dislikes/d any games played from an isometric perspective but knew that I love/d them, so he bought it to me. I spent many years playing BG II only, then I moved on to BG I and lastly also to ToB. I think I've made it only two or three times from BG I over BG II and finally to ToB. BG II is still my favorite of all, also because of nostalgia. But if one prefers exploration over story, BG I is a better choice.

[Renee]

I have Baldur's Gate on my gaming computer, but have not gotten really far into it. I think if I had a computer back in the '90s, and slso know about BG back then, I probably would have played it, because I had more free time in those days. But I was also prettier back then, had more of a social life than I do now! Still, I think I would have at least tried BG.

Nowadays there are too many other games competing for my gaming time.

[Acadian]

Many years ago I played once through BG I, Tales of the Sword Coast and Icewind Dale. Then I found BG II and spent several years there. I did ToB once but really enjoyed just playing BG II. Eventually, computers advanced beyond BG II, it became buggy and I quit. Within the last year I spent about $4 on Gog and got BG II EE. It installed and plays flawlessly and is wonderful to have as an internet-free game.

I have the command console figured out so can use any codes I need to but I got confused reading about what I guess is EE keeper. I used to have something like that years ago and it was great. If I get back more seriously into it, I'll have to ask SubRosa more about installing EE Keeper for BG II so I can adjust classes a bit and change some of the companion classes.

[SubRosa]

I have a link to EE Keeper on the first page. It wasn't working when I just checked, so I updated it to point here now. I don't remember installing it. I think it was just you unzip all the files to a folder and run the shortcut to it. It is a pretty simple save editor, that allows you to change your stats, add or remove inventory items, and so forth.

[Acadian]

Oh, thanks! As is so often the case, your threads on the games you play double as great resources.

[SubRosa]

Blood Raven just recruited Minsc. It is fun to hear his voice again. It reminded me that he is voiced by Jim Cummings, who also voiced Hondo in the Star Wars animated TV shows.

[Acadian]

Minsc is a keeper all right! As you said, I imagine he works well as a Fighter in BG I. In BG II, you might consider trying him as either a Berserker or a Level 9 Ranger dual classed to Cleric.

I did get EEKeeper installed and it looks comfortably familiar to the 'trainer' I used for BG II years ago. Haven't done anything with it but it looks promising. Thanks for your help/encouragement.

[macole]

Minsc has some of the best lines ever envisioned in a game.

"A den of stinking evil! Hold your nose Boo."

and don't forget... "Go for the eyes, Boo. Go for the eyes!

This post has been edited by macole: Apr 12 2022, 04:03 AM

[Lopov]

I like the story between Minsc, Edwin and Dynaheir in BG I, though on the other side it's difficult to keep them in the same party. I kept Minsc in BG II only if he was my companion in BG I, else I'd "remove" him from the game. I once roleplayed a neutral evil Half-Orc, the entire party in BG II was composed of mostly evil-oriented characters, only Minsc was the good-aligned one. Despite constant quarrels and protests I managed to keep Minsc in the party through the entire game. I remember an event from the Underworld, where Korgan, a chaotic-evil Dwarf suggested slaughtering some innocent villagers, and Minsc protested. It was on the protagonist, that is on my Half-Orc to decide, and he sided with Minsc. Korgan grumbled but eventually got over it. It was worth keeping Minsc in the party.

[SubRosa]

Blood Raven met a famous DnD character

Them!

I updated BG EE 1 from 2.002 (my old version) to 2.660. It comes with a lot of changes, including improved textures.

An example of combat. The floating health bars are optional

The journal/quest log is vastly improved, and is now much more easy to read.


On the whole I am liking the new version of the game. It comes with a lot of small improvements, and has a lot more options now that you can now turn on and off. The whole interface is a lot more readable, especially the spell books, which now have the names of each spell listed beside their icons. The map has an option to add an overlay that shows which areas are accessible and which are not, which is another ease of life thing.

However, you can no longer use the Function keys for things like quicksaving and quickloading. Beamdog says that doing so can cause bugs. I also found that my old NWN2 Soundset mod won't install on version 2.660. But I was able to make a simple soundset by hand, and it will works.

All in all it is an improvement. Currently I am planning on following with BG2EE, and I will use the updated version of that game too.

[Lopov]

It's Drizzt, right? It can only be him. Now let's click on the photo...yup, I was right. for me.

I saw an ankheg the other day. Annoying creatures. Their armor is good but their pincers are sharp. Still, I avoid them, whenever I can.

I think that Siege of Dragonspear looks about the same like the updated BG EE. Are you planing to play SoD after BG I before moving to BG II, it serves as a prelude to events of BG II?

[Acadian]

Wow, it's been decades since I played BG1, but I am quite current on BGIIEE. Your game and user interface looks stunningly like BGIIEE. I really had to study what you were doing to ensure you weren't playing BGIIEE in those screenshots.

[SubRosa]

Lopov: I don't have Siege of Dragonspear, though maybe some day I will look into it. I just have so much other stuff I have not gotten around to it yet.


Acadian: It looks like BG2EE has the same version number as BG1EE, so I think they did the same updates and improvements on both games simultaneously. Probably the same with Icewind Dale EE.

[WellTemperedClavier]

Lopov: I don't have Siege of Dragonspear, though maybe some day I will look into it. I just have so much other stuff I have not gotten around to it yet.


Acadian: It looks like BG2EE has the same version number as BG1EE, so I think they did the same updates and improvements on both games simultaneously. Probably the same with Icewind Dale EE.

I played it! Mostly it was pretty good, though I did feel railroaded at a few points (can't go into more detail without entering spoiler territory).

I actually didn't play BG until just a few years ago. I'll commit mild RPG heresy here and admit that I actually really dislike the way the Infinity Engine handles combat. To me, that sort of combat is just better done when it's turn-based. Yes, you can pause it, but that still feels like an extra hassle.

(This is probably why I like Planescape: Torment so much--it doesn't actually require a ton of combat).

Regardless, I still found the game enjoyable.

[Lopov]

I quite liked SoD as well. Some things / events are predictable for those of us that've played BG 2 but there was still at least one surprising story twist close to the end.

I often joke that I've spent my entire youth playing Baldur's Gate and original FOs with occasional jumps to GTA. But the sheer amount of hours that I've invested in BG II, definitely surpasses any other game that I've played since then.

[SubRosa]

I beat BG1 tonight. I was worried for a little while, because I got stuck at one point. After you kill Rieltar and the other Iron Throne leaders in Candlekeep you get thrown in prison. The game just froze on that, no matter how many times I reloaded. In the end I had to skip over that completely, and after killing the Iron Thronites I had to use the console to teleport myself to the catacombs. But it worked out. *phew*

So I updated BG2 to the latest game version, and imported Blood Raven. Ready to go shadowing in Amn.