[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]

'Grats to Blood Raven! With BGIIEE +EE Keeper, I'm interested in what sort of a party she puts together. Specifially, how she modifies the NPCs (like Minsc as a fighter instead of ranger) to end up with a functional mix but still keeping all or mostly NPCs.

[macole]

Oh my, I can't begin to explain how much I miss those character portraits.

[SubRosa]

Blood Raven escaped from the Irenicus dungeon a little while ago. It has been a really long time since I have done BG2, so I had forgotten almost the entire thing. I changed things up a little with the Raven this time out, and now have her dual-wielding longswords. In BG1 she was doing a longsword and buckler. I also used EEKeeper to give her the Wizard-Slayer kit for her Fighter class. I am not entirely sure if it is applying all the Wizard Slayer bonuses. But it did add the penalties, like not being able to wear bracers. So it probably is doing the good stuff too.

I also modded Minsc again, and this time made him a Barbarian. Like in BG1, I have him using a two-handed sword. Both seem to suit him. The other two in my group right now are Jahiera and Yoshimo. But I don't know how long I might keep them. Is there a Find Traps spell for wizards? Blood Raven picked up a knock spell in the Irenicus dungeon. So if she can learn Find Traps, she technically won't need anyone with thief skills. Oh wait, even if she finds the traps, I don't think there are any spells to disarm them. So she will still need a thief after all. Oh well, I always like Nalia anyway.

I will probably go looking for Aerie next. My last time playing her I made her a pure Cleric. I might do that again, as I found the Mage/Cleric combo a bit overwhelming when it came to all the spell choices.

I also started using Tweaks Anthology, which is combination of hundreds of mods for all the Infinity Engine games. Thankfully you can pick and choose each individual mod you want when you set it up. It can take a while to do, since there are a lot. But there are a lot of things, from hiding helmets, to two handed axes, katanas, bastard swords, etc...

[Lopov]

Congrats on beating BG I, you've been through really fast.

A lot of fun with BG II, story-wise is IMO the game even better than the first title.

[Renee]

I returned to Baldur's Gate EE (the first one) and just finished the tutorial. Spoke to Belt and he says "You are now ready to start your adventure and will be returned to the main menu. Good luck with Baldur's Gate!"

I click End Dialog, and now I'm back at the main menu. I see buttons for Tutorial (Done), Baldur's Gate, The Black Pits and Credits.

I try Baldur's Gate, but I don't see a way to continue with the tutorial character I just rolled. In the menu I go like this...

BALDUR'S GATE
SINGLE PLAYER
NEW GAME (choosing Load Game only puts me back in the tutorial)
CREATE
IMPORT
SAVED GAME

And from here I can see the final save I made in the tutorial. I click on this, see my character in the IMPORT CHARACTER window so I click on him, and choose DONE.

From here, I am stuck in the Character Generation menu. I can choose IMPORT or START OVER, both which put me in a loop of menus. How do I actually start the game with the guy I rolled??? Or is this not possible?

This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 2 2022, 06:44 PM

[SubRosa]

I have never done the Tutorial. I just started it and went through a little. There is one point where you Export your character. That saves a copy of the character and their stats, picture, and such. Basically your character sheet. Start a New Game, and where you create a new character click on Import, and you should see your character in the list (If you Exported them).

You can use this to bring your character into different campaigns, like going from BG1 to the Black Pits, or to Baldur's Gate 2, and so on. Neverwinter Nights 1 does it a lot more. It is what allows you to play the same character in all the user made modules out there for it.

If you didn't Export the character at the time go back to the Tutorial if you have a save from it, and Export them. Then it will be in the list.

If worse come to worse just create a new character right there. You can always make them exactly the same as your tutorial character. or

[Renee]

Okay thanks I'll see if there is a way to Export then.

Strange that the game doesn't tell us how to do this (or maybe it did, but I just missed it). Then again, BG was made in the era during which hand-holding was not as prevalent as it was later on...

[SubRosa]

In the Tutorial it tells you how to Export your character.

[Renee]

So here's how to do it. In the game click on the custom-made toon character and go into Record (5th icon on the left) The EXPORT button is in the lower right.

"This will save your character to the "characters" folder in your Baldur's Gate directory. You will be able to use this character in future multiplayer games using the Import button on the Character Creation screen. Exporting a character will not remove them from the current game, nor will it alter then in any way."

And then there are 9 Filenames we can choose: 01FIGHT, 02THIEF, 03MAGE, and so on. We can't name our own Filename? Guess I'll choose 01FIGHT, since my toon is a Fighter.

Alright. Spoke to Belt, now I'm in the main menu again. Click on Single Player > NEW, and voila, there is Lord Redbeard. Not a very clver "Renee" name, but I was tired.

Thanks much!

[Renee]

Lord Redbeard (the red-bearded fighter I rolled a few days ago) got pwned last night. Soon as it happened, I spontaneously honored his death. It just felt right. At the time he was traveling with Imoen, the two half-elves from Friendly Arms, and a second, somewhat annoying thief, whose name I'm forgetting.

I am honoring his falling because I feel like I got too ambitious with this game, pushing too fast into what I'm assuming is the Main Quest. But that's for another discussion, perhaps.

I really like having the one half-elf guy around ... um .. Jaheira. He's a druid. He can cast Entangle, which is pretty sweet. Problem is, when he cast the spell everybody was already in combat, which meant Redbeard and virtually all the others got entangled in those magical weeds! Only Imoen was running free at that point, since she usually stands off to the side with her bow.

Lord Redbeard got caught up in those weeds just as the party got attacked by a band of hobgoblins. Eventually, he fell. So now I'm at that point where I'm about to roll a new a nu t00n, actually more than one. I need a name for a new fighter, preferably male. And I can't think of a name!

But I thought of some cool names for other characters.

Ayn Strand -- Shaman probably, since Ayn Rand was often associated with intellectual pursuits, religion, political themes, and so on.

Faye Daway -- Illusionist

Luke Zhatkil -- Hmm, could be a Fighter.

Hmm, could be Luke. But I want a cooler name for my party leader. Maybe derived from classic Crusades/Dark Ages times.

This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 6 2022, 01:39 PM

[SubRosa]

Poor Red Beard. That is why I don't like web spells. They often are just as bad to you as they are to the enemy.

I was thinking you should create a Bard type character sometime named Alfred Capella, or just A. Capella for short.

[Renee]

A. Capella, sweet! <>

Okay, so Entangle is a tricky spell to use, got it. Wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong.

This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 7 2022, 11:42 PM

[SubRosa]

Check out the character names from the movie Mastergate. There is a gold mine of names for you there, like Archer Bowman, Manley Battle, or Shepherd Hunter.

[Renee]

Awesome, thanks hon. And here's one for you: Tonight I found this Medieval Name-maker website. At the top of the page are names which are still popular today like Matthew, Andrew, Alice, and so on.

Just keep scrolling down. Eventually the names become more obscure. Like Aelflaed, Cwenburg, and Ethelfrith.

I have a question. So I know how to export and import, but is it possible to make two characters of my own, and have them both in the same save instance? Or am I stuck with rolling with just one PC, and picking up pre-made NPCs along the way?

[SubRosa]

You can only have one player character, and you cannot make custom NPCs, like new games allow you to. So you are stuck with the toon you roll, and the NPCs you meet along the way.

[macole]

Just keep scrolling down. Eventually the names become more obscure. Like Aelflaed, Cwenburg, and Ethelfrith.

Aelflaed and Ethelfrith,
Now there was a fine pair.
An elf beauty and his noble protector of the peace,
(usually mete out with a mace)

[Renee]

macole, absolutely!

Well I made a guy and used that site to give him a first name: Hadden, second name Nuff. Hadden Nuff. Hadden's sort of like Lord Haaf-Mersey, my Skyrim paladin. Lawful Good, Paladin, yadda yadda. For some reason, I've always liked this archetype of character when structuring a leader.

Dang though, I really want to add my own follower(s) with Hadden. I made Faye Daway, the illusionist too. I wonder if there's any mods ...

[Lopov]

You're brave (and positively stubborn ) to approach the BG with the DiD, it's one of those games for me, where I wouldn't even think of reloading, if my main character got killed. I'd often OP-them form the start, but I did, because I was mostly interested in story, combat comes for me always as secondary. So are you already rolling someone new?

[Renee]

How do you make your character OP from the start?

Yes I already rolled somebody new, his name is Hadden Nuff. He's still in the opening village (Candlekeep or whatever it's called). My first guy, Lord Redbeard, did not spend as much time in this village. I think he did 3 or 4 tasks for villagers and then he was off, which was really MY impatience with getting into outside the village. Little did I know we cannot go back in once we've left.

I don't mind starting over, but let's say after 3 or 4 times I'll want to get further into the game, while still playing more cautiously.

[SubRosa]

Baldur's Gate has a command console, like most games. And there is EE Keeper, which is a save game editor that lets you change your stats.