Which classic game should I play first?

CountChocula

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I just bought BG1&2, Planescape Torment and NWN Diamond from GOG.

Any suggestions on which to play first, or tips for a newbie? I haven't played any of these before.

I'm thinking of installing the Baldur's Gate Big Game Project mod, which allows you to play the first game using the BG2 engine and seems to add all sorts of improvements. Anyone familiar with this?
 
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BG 1 and 2 for sure. You might toss Planescape in between just for a change of pace.
 
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Yea, i agree. I would start off with BG and BG2 first, then PST and then NWN. Be warned, the OC in NWN is crap. It's basically a demo for the toolset. The HotU expansion is alot better though. NWN is all about the player created content (modules and persistent worlds) and MP. (since the game does not have full party control, just henchmen/followers)

From octavius at rpg codex -
" Instead of the Big World Project, install a small amount of quality mods manually.

Quality mods:
Baldur's Gate Trilogy
BG1 NPC Project
Sword Coast Stratagems
Unfinished Business
BG2 Fixpack
Widescreen Mod
One Pixel Productions

There are also various tweak mods that has much to offer like:
Hard Times (if you really want to feel the iron crisis in BG1)
Rogue Rebalancing
d0Tweaks
iiTweaks
aTweaks
BG2 Tweaks
Spell Revisions
Oversight
TB#Tweaks
Virtue


Alot of quest mods most are pretty unbalanced, but these are quite good:
Lure of the Sirene's Call
Baldur's Gate Mini-Quests and Encounters Mod (not very exciting, though)
Tower of Deception
Wheels of Prophecy (not played it, but it's made by the same guy who made ScS, so I assume quality)
d0 QuestPack"
 
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I advise against using the Big Game Project mod, or any other mods, for your first playthrough. Just use the widescreen fix and maybe an additional bug-killing patch.

The BG games are great just the way they are. Save mods for a future replay.
 
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I advise against using the Big Game Project mod, or any other mods, for your first playthrough. Just use the widescreen fix and maybe an additional bug-killing patch.

The BG games are great just the way they are. Save mods for a future replay.
What if you have a lot of other games in the waiting, don't intend on replaying it, and just want to get the most out of it that one time ?
 
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I just think Baldur's Gate is one of those rare special titles that doesn't need to be messed with outside of bugfixes. The BG2 Fixpack is a must for BG2, but I only recommend installing the core fixes.

@bussinrounds- Delray Beach eh? I grew up in Punta Gorda. :)
 
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For Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, use http://spellholdstudios.net/ie/bgt seriously. There is literally no reason not to. This doesn't have all the extra fan-made quests or fan-made companions (but who wants that!) just both games tied together in an optimized engine with tons of bugfixes. Best mod pack ever.

PS:T has a similar set of excellent mods, and some guy on GOG put together a good guide to setting it up: http://www.gog.com/en/news/mod_spotlight_planescape_torment_mods_guide/

When it comes to NWN, you may want to skip the main campaigns entirely and just play fan content. There's a billion adventures for NWN on NWVault, and out of that there are hundreds that are competent and dozens that are awesome. It's a pretty safe bet to grab just about anything that catches your eye from the Top whatever lists.

As for what to play first, I say PS:Torment. It's simply the best.
 
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Well, PST is the best game out the bunch by a big margin. The question is, do you play that first and then risk getting your hopes up for the others? I'd probably play in order of release, so BG1, then PST, then BG2.

NWN is an odd one. The built-in campaign is pretty awful, even for Bioware, and it's even more awful if you're familiar with the toolkit and realize just how lazily slapped together most of it is. The expansions are much better, and I say just play those. I don't know how well most of the user mods, which were the main selling point, work these days. Bioware had a really bad habit of rewriting their scripting language seemingly with every major patch, which naturally broke anything done earlier. That's one reason I gave up on making mods. Well, that and the fact that you got the impression that the people making it had never played a real game of D&D in their lives. :p
 
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I recently installed BGT (Baldur's Gate trilogy) - and I think it makes a world of difference to have the BG2 additions available for your BG character, and it's really neat to have the maps combined - so as to make the whole thing more cohesive.

It's especially nice for me, because I always wanted to play a dual-class Kensai/Mage - which isn't going to happen in the original BG.

I found a nice install-guide which automates most things, including the otherwise painful download process - and you can customize it for maximum "purity" if you want.

I found it on QT3 boards in the BG1/BG2 thread.
 
I just think Baldur's Gate is one of those rare special titles that doesn't need to be messed with outside of bugfixes. The BG2 Fixpack is a must for BG2, but I only recommend installing the core fixes.

@bussinrounds- Delray Beach eh? I grew up in Punta Gorda. :)
I actually just moved down here a few months ago. Grew up in Queens NY.
 
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Well, PST is the best game out the bunch by a big margin. The question is, do you play that first and then risk getting your hopes up for the others? I'd probably play in order of release, so BG1, then PST, then BG2.

NWN is an odd one. The built-in campaign is pretty awful, even for Bioware, and it's even more awful if you're familiar with the toolkit and realize just how lazily slapped together most of it is. The expansions are much better, and I say just play those. I don't know how well most of the user mods, which were the main selling point, work these days. Bioware had a really bad habit of rewriting their scripting language seemingly with every major patch, which naturally broke anything done earlier. That's one reason I gave up on making mods. Well, that and the fact that you got the impression that the people making it had never played a real game of D&D in their lives. :p
I agree with you about PS:T being an amazing rpg, but someone who's more into well done encounters and tactical combat say, rather than story/writing/dialog wouldn't appreciate it as much.
 
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I agree with you about PS:T being an amazing rpg, but someone who's more into well done encounters and tactical combat say, rather than story/writing/dialog wouldn't appreciate it as much.

That's true. Combat wasn't PST's strong suit. Of course, for that sort of combat ToEE's probably a better bet. Or IWD, keeping it in the family. I always thought fighting in that was a bit more fun.
 
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That's true. Combat wasn't PST's strong suit. Of course, for that sort of combat ToEE's probably a better bet. Or IWD, keeping it in the family. I always thought fighting in that was a bit more fun.

Most defiantly. I used to like the tactical combat in the Gold Box games too. What about the Wizardry games ? I heard they were good combat, but it's a first person turn based game with party members, isn't it ? Aren't you lacking the character positioning aspect of the tactical combat when it's a first person view ?
 
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