I'm genuinely a bit awestruck by this. I just finished playing the extended edition a couple of months back, but this mod is such a work of love I'd feel guilty if I didn't take it for a spin... will have to download tonight!
Haven't had a chance to look at it, but curious if they implemented any of the restrictions that most people disable (XP cap, party alignment issues, etc.)
Okay, I started messing with this last night. Installed the game without a hitch and loaded it up. It takes quite a little while to load the first time, but that was expected. I had some texture glitches in some of the faces, but there were plenty others to choose from.
I rolled an Aasimar Favored Soul, and am playing with the hardcore D&D rules turned on. I normally play a lower difficulty, but I wanted to see how tough the game is, as it's meant to be played.
Candlekeep feels just like it did in BG, but it is much quicker to walk around in than in the original game. You'll get most of the same quests, outside of the one where you practice with party members. You'll also find a crafting supplies shop, in a nod to the newer game engine. I have not yet found a single essence in the three maps that I've walked around in.
After the cutscene with Gorion, the game goes to a totally black screen. Saving the game, while everything is black, and then exiting and reloading fixes the problem. There are several small fights with gibberlings and xvarts, just like in the original. However, I haven't found a single item that was hidden in the scenery of BG, they're all missing. This includes a certain ring just outside the Friendly Arm Inn, that is a pretty vital piece of equipment. Also, the dev decided to take the Ogre away from the 3rd map and replaced it with
a spellcasting Ogre Mage who drops out of invisibility and throws a magic missile with 6 missiles. This is instant kill for any one character, so if you use hardcore rules, you have to cheat the encounter or skip it. I chose to cheat it, by having my favored soul cast nightshield, which negates the magic missile spell. I still died several times to a color spray but won the battle eventually. You have to keep Imoen out of the picture until the OM is focused on your character.
The lack of the outdoor goodies really kills the enjoyment of exploration for me. So far, all containers have had the same items they had in the original game. Not sure if the dev will add those items in at a later date.
Well, these items are all in the game at the beginning in the original. I don't really care, as long as he replaces these good items with other items of equal quality. If he doesn't, then it takes it down a notch. I posted about it on his facebook page, so we'll see if maybe I just missed them....
Well, it is to be expected, that such a huge mod isn't bug free at release - right now there can be a mean bug when the companions want to complain about something... they walk to the main-character, initiate dialogue and say their standard-text when you talk to them while they are in the group... unfortunately that happens around once in a minute Nothing else to do but to dismiss the would-be nagger
They are also using an old version of Kaedrin's Class-Pack, so a lot of file-juggling is needed, every time I want to start another mod or game. Also they don't use Tony K's AI Enhancement, wich makes the party a bit harder to control
After I had to dismiss my tank, I started to use some files from my old override, like the feather of multi-classing, the deck of trumps and Tony K's KI Pack; so far it works, with minor giltches in the behavior tab.
I'm glad that someone who really likes Baldur's Gate is playing this. I just played a little while to get a feel for it, but I'm not a big BG fan. It was great in its day, but many games surpass it in all ways, including NWN2, imnsho.
I'm glad that someone who really likes Baldur's Gate is playing this. I just played a little while to get a feel for it, but I'm not a big BG fan. It was great in its day, but many games surpass it in all ways, including NWN2, imnsho.