Rediscovering Baldur's Gate

Call me crazy, call me stupid, but I prefer BG over Baldur's gate 2 graphics any day. In fact i prefer the game entirely over bg2. It's a masterpiece and will always be my first true CRPg love :date:

Crazy.

No, really, BG2 is gorgeous, even by today's standards it looks good. BG looks a bit rough in comparison. BG was the worst looking of the IE games.

About the game itself? Well, I prefer BG2, but they're both great games.
 
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For me, BG was the best looking because it was the only one that was was not dark. The colors were vibrant and cheerful.
 
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@xSamhainx: Yep, you are crazy :) BG2 graphic is so much more gorgeous than BG1 graphics ;)

@crpgnut: I agree with blatantninja. I'm never good at combat (hence why I struggled with 3rd and 3.5 edition combat rules) and I thought mage is most fun and very overpowered class in BG2 especially towards the end.

@Relayer: I disagree :) I think PS:T is more ugly than BG1 :p
 
I'm with the BG2 crowd actually. Technically and artistically, I prefer BG2 by far.

Unfortunately while I have completed BG, I haven't done so for BG2. Not because it's inferior but it's such an involving and deep game that I barely had enough time to invest in it for long periods. I really should get back into it :) I've probably played only about 20% of it.
 
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It seemed mages never got anywhere in BG2 because every spell was countered.
You must be joking, right? On the top off my head, I can remember only one character in the first third of the game who could counter magic: that yuan-ti mage in Nalia's estate who reflected your own spells right back at you. And I was delighted to meet him, because finally spell breach became useful.

That's still one of my favorite moments of BG2, really. I was so puzzled as to why I kept finding myself inside of the "force field" (well, I don't remember how it was called in DnD) that I have just casted onto another character… It happened THRICE before it finally dawned on me what was going on.
 
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And I was delighted to meet him, because finally spell breach became useful.
That's actually one of my gripes with the game. They were so intent on getting AD&D in there that they included a lot of spells that were either pointless or needed so rarely that you would never have them ready when the time came. Well, that and not sorting your save games.
 
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What the iPad has done is recreate this game for a new audience and made it so those who have experinced it previously can do so again with a whole new experience -- a new interface, touch, mobile, etc. This is the true pitential dor ios, to bring modern gamers in love with classic titles and relive them.
 
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That's actually one of my gripes with the game. They were so intent on getting AD&D in there that they included a lot of spells that were either pointless or needed so rarely that you would never have them ready when the time came. Well, that and not sorting your save games.
The issue is not variety, though, it's about how the mage class was set to work. Its limited spells. And I personally had spell breach ready in that encounter, still all the party except my character was dead by the time it dawned on me what the yuan-ti was doing.

Sure they could cut down on spells overall and avoid enemies who were using unique powers, but the game would lose a lot from being simplified. As it is, I will remember that encounter for years to come, unlike many other encounters that slipped from my memory the minute they ended. And let's face it, quite a few games force you to reload once you meet a unique enemy\boss, because you need a few tries to figure out how to fight.
 
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It might gain even more by giving you more situations to use spells in other than just battle. That wouldn't be easy, though. If you drop in a character of questionable motives, a simple Detect Lie or Charm Person will make those motives real clear very quickly.

I don't mind situational spells, either, assuming those situations happen with some minimal frequency. Once or twice a game just isn't enough. That's complexity for complexity's sake, IMHO.
 
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I'm loving BG this time through, so I'm really looking forward to BG2 also. This mod may throw a wrinkle in my plans though. I loved NWN2 and it wasn't very buggy for me; so this mod is going to get a serious look. I'm already planning a mage replay of BG tool; perhaps with several of the mods mentioned earlier in the thread.

My pally can pick up a friend in the Fishing village, but I'm not sure who to drop. Kivan has the best THAC0 in the party. I have two thieves, so I could just drop Imoen and take the 2nd paladin. I knew I didn't like any of the mages in BG1 so I rolled a thief and mage at the start. The rolled thief is much better than Imoen. I was keeping Imoen because I know she's kind of a main in the next game.
 
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I have high hopes for Baldur's Gate reloaded, a remake in the NWN2 Engine:

https://www.facebook.com/BaldursGateReloaded

Release should be on the 1st. of June.

That really does look interesting, thanks for sharing!

Hmmm, now I can't but wonder about a BG title in the Divinity:Original Sin engine. Assuming, of course, with D&D mechanics implemented :)
 
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Hmmm, now I can't but wonder about a BG title in the Divinity:Original Sin engine. Assuming, of course, with D&D mechanics implemented :)

That's the number one reason I was interested in the game. Hopefully it will be another renaissance for mods like the Aurora Engine was from nwn.
 
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Actually for a BG experience which is truer to the originals, the Project Eternity engine would be even more ideal! Especially considering that the devs have promised modding for Project Eternity.

Our plan is to release our file-format information and expose as much of the data in the game as possible for you to extend and edit. We traditionally do not "hard-code" numbers so that our designers, and you, have the power to easily change and iterate on RPG data. We also plan on releasing localization tools to let communities around the world create localized versions for languages we are not translating Project Eternity into.

As we get more familiar with Unity during production, we will be extending Project Eternity even more for mod makers. Look forward to announcements in the months ahead as we make further progress and can provide you with more information about tools and mod support
 
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Actually for a BG experience which is truer to the originals, the Project Eternity engine would be even more ideal! Especially considering that the devs have promised modding for Project Eternity.

I look forward to both, but I need to see both toolsets first to see which is better.
 
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I dont get why Jeff Vogel doesnt use one of those other engines or pay a license or something. Heck even id he used the original neverwinter night mods he could probably make a better game and more money without even paying for an engine, he could just have a donate button near the "mod" download link on his site or something.
 
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