Baldur's Gate 2: EE - Patch 2.6 released

After a very long testing phase, the much-expected patch 2.6 for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Siege of Dragonspear and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions has been released by Beamdog:

Patch 2.6

We are launching Patch 2.6 for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Siege of Dragonspear and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions on Steam, GOG, the mac App Store and the Beamdog Store (tablet/mobile updates coming soon).

This massive patch upgrades the games to 64-bit systems, fixes hundreds of bugs, and adds brand new portraits & voice sets to customize your heroes-- including two sets from the legendary Mark Meer (voice of Commander Shepherd in Mass Effect)!

Huge thanks to our heroic community for their tireless adventuring in beta builds for this mammoth patch. Thank You!

Note: Patch 2.6 won't fix every issue in the games, but don't worry-- we're still working on future updates!

Patch Highlights

• Upgrade to 64-Bit | A much needed upgrade for modern machines-- this improves system compatibility
• 7 New Character Voice Sets | New player voice sets, including two from the legendary Mark Meer reprising his roles as Alveus Malcanter and Baeloth Barrityl
• 11 New Character Portraits | New character portraits to customize your hero's look
• Hundreds of Bug Fixes | Includes scores of fixes to spells and hero abilities
• Improved Pathfinding | Smoother party movement and navigation

New Localizations

• Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition | Added French text localization (beta)
• Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear | Added French (beta), Italian, German, Ukrainian and Polish text localizations
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition | Added Brazilian Portuguese and Chinese (Simplified) text localizations

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Thanks Redglyph!

More information.

HiddenX said:

After a very long testing phase, the much-expected patch 2.6 for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Siege of Dragonspear and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions has been released by Beamdog:

Thanks Redglyph!

More information.

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I like that they keep working on these remasters. I've yet to finish Siege of Dragon spear, but I enjoyed what I did play. I really should try to get back to it again. I want to finish it before I play BG3, just to be in a proper BG-mode

Gimme...Gimme...more patches please sir.

Sometimes I hate modern gaming when games need 30+ patches.

Really cool of them to keep working on these games; I'm excited to start a new run through!

64-bit increases compatibility?? I didn't think I would see those words until 128-bit computers got popular. Maybe 32-bit drivers are getting to be in bad shape?

Hundreds of Bug Fixes | Includes scores of fixes to spells and hero abilities

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Kind of surprised to read that. I didn't think there were that many spells and/or abilities that weren't working correctly all this time.

SveNitoR said:

I like that they keep working on these remasters. I've yet to finish Siege of Dragon spear, but I enjoyed what I did play. I really should try to get back to it again. I want to finish it before I play BG3, just to be in a proper BG-mode

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I'm replaying the entire trilogy prior to BG3. I'm really looking forward to it because it's been years since I did a full playthrough, and I've never played the new expansion. I'm already agonizing over what class I'm going to be this time.

Beamdog, the gift that keeps giving. I don't recall having any issues when I played through BG 2 some time ago, yet it's good to see that the service is still exemplary. I'd expect nothing less from the lads, and I'm reminded that I need to get the newest version of the Icewind Dales next time the urge to play through them strikes me.

I'm curious to hear if someone notices an improvement with the pathfinding, I played BG mostly in 2.6 beta, and it seemed fine to me. Except in cramped corridors when one companions blocks another and makes it try another route, but that's not really pathfinding. I hardly played it before 2.6 so I can't compare.

There might be hidden options for the pathfinding (see here) but they shouldn't be necessary.

I'm impressed by that list, it's a load of fixes (and not only EE fixes) but they also keep adding stuff and improving the experience. Obsidian is still selling NWN2 but they stopped the support long ago, it's an older game though.

Now they just need to make baldurs gate 3 i mean Baldur's Gate something cos the name 3 is taken heh. Hopefully sometimes in the next 20 years we actually get a new masterpiece game like the original one is.

Dolby said:

Now they just need to make baldurs gate 3 i mean Baldur's Gate something cos the name 3 is taken heh. Hopefully sometimes in the next 20 years we actually get a new masterpiece game like the original one is.

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Maybe BG3 will be a masterpiece? I haven't tried the beta, but people in general seem to be positive

I personally liked DOS2, but didn't love it. I'm hopeful about BG3 anyway.

BG3 will probably be a masterpiece that will only be recognised in 20 years. At that time, some successful studio that earned their status with hard work and great RPGs will be making BG5 and people will be moaning about how BG3 was the real good game and its essence has been lost in BG5, and it'll be another 20 years till another masterpiece game is made.

Nereida said:

BG3 will probably be a masterpiece that will only be recognised in 20 years. At that time, some successful studio that earned their status with hard work and great RPGs will be making BG5 and people will be moaning about how BG3 was the real good game and its essence has been lost in BG5, and it'll be another 20 years till another masterpiece game is made.

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Sounds like you'r moaning cos people don't jump on the hype train?

If we play bg 3 in 20 years as we play Bg 2 now that would be great, but somehow i doubt it. Right now the only amazing thing about it is the environment maps if they make those bigger at release it will indeed make that one feature amazing-masterpiece.
It is good game but that doesnt make it a masterpiece.
Most other features are just reused from other games or from DoS 2 yes some are improved, mosty graphics the rest not so much.
Identity crisis i guess and not much in the game is improving the genre with one exception. But that just one opinion so take it for what it is.
What is the one feature that's so amazing in BG 3 in your opinion? Sorry, got to ask cos of your profile picture.

Dolby said:

If we play bg 3 in 20 years as we play Bg 2 now that would be great, but somehow i doubt it. Right now the only amazing thing about it is the environment maps if they make those bigger at release it will indeed make that one feature amazing-masterpiece.
(...)
What is the one feature that's so amazing in BG 3 in your opinion?

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We should wait until it's finished before asking ourselves that question, but if I had to guess, I'm expecting the story and the storytelling to be great, with a lot of C&C, and a lot of freedom on approaching about anything, really, including the environment.

Let's turn the question around for the sake of variety, I think we had enough threads of "BG3 sucks because it's DOS3" and that becomes boring. What's so exceptional in BG or BG2, according to you?

I'm sure I'll enjoy BGIII when it's released and out of Early Access. Going by the development speed probably sometime in 2023-24. Anyway I'm not to hyped.

As for these patches best thing about them is the 64-bit support.

Dolby said:

Sounds like you'r moaning cos people don't jump on the hype train?

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You need compassion and understanding for fanboys/girls. They know no better.

Redglyph said:

We should wait until it's finished before asking ourselves that question, but if I had to guess, I'm expecting the story and the storytelling to be great, with a lot of C&C, and a lot of freedom on approaching about anything, really, including the environment.

Let's turn the question around for the sake of variety, I think we had enough threads of "BG3 sucks because it's DOS3" and that becomes boring. What's so exceptional in BG or BG2, according to you?

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The adventuring i got to do in the epic fantasy game world where for the first time in any game i found myself as part of a fellowship… we even had the rings!
Where we explored sometimes to a stupid dead ends to try and get revange and answers from the best arch enemy ever. Doing all sorts of serious stuff or not on the way there.

Couchpotato said:

I'm sure I'll enjoy BGIII when it's released and out of Early Access. Going by the development speed probably sometime in 2023-24. Anyway I'm not to hyped.

As for these patches best thing about them is the 64-bit support.

You need compassion and understanding for fanboys/girls. They know no better.

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Pff I'm not a fangirl. But if the game came from say, Tactical Adventures or Owlcat, people would be much less bitchy about it. It's the selective bias what gets the devil out of me.

I mean, BG3 isn't even out yet and every random Joe here already knows what it's going to be or what it's not going to be. I wasn't even an adult when BG1+2 released originally but I was old enough to not remember them being huge hits that blew the world away. They were niche RPG games that a very niche audience enjoyed a lot and kind of popularised the genre I'd say in similar way in which Final Fantasy VII popularised JRPGs in the west, but that doesn't make Final Fantasy VII the best JRPG ever, does it? Now BG1 and 2 are "the irrepetible masterpiece!". Matter of opinion, but sure, for the sake of agreeing and not angering the nerdiest elder gamers of the world, I'll buy it. Let's say BG1+2 are the best CRPGs ever made (spoilers, they aren't). But how exactly does anyone know how BG3 is going to turn out?

It is for sure looking good enough that I will give it the chance to entertain me, and it's made by a studio that produced a huge successful best selling franchise out of thin air when it was in the verge of bankruptcy. So now they are successful and people being people hate success.

Alright, I get that too. But one should wait to both praise or criticise them when they can actually judge the game, not before.

Yeah I was just kidding but I get why WotC picked Larian. As their last two games sold very well, and the expectation is BGIII will sell better. Probably already has.

It's a sound business plan but I don't have the Early Access sale numbers though. As for me I love Larian Pre-Original Sin but that's just my personal preference.

I would love another Divinity 2 with better graphics but sadly that ship has sailed.

BG 1 & 2 were a lot more than that. They came at a time when the genre was down and they did a lot to revive it. I'm not saying they're the ultimate games for every crpg fan, but they blew everything else away at the time, and tbh, they still haven't been surpassed by many party-based RPGs all these years later.

JDR13 said:

BG 1 & 2 were a lot more than that. They came at a time when the genre was down and they did a lot to revive it. I'm not saying they're the ultimate games for every crpg fan, but they blew everything else away at the time, and tbh, they still haven't been surpassed my many party-based RPGs all these years later.

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I agree with that, hence the comparison I made with Final Fantasy VII. BG1+2 revived the genre, and together with PS: Torment, also brought visibility to it, made it more "mainstream". At least as far as I remember, my memory might not have been perfectly formed back then. But either way, it was more a matter of timing than being irrepetible masterpieces. And they are very awesome games, nobody will deny that. Masterpieces? Yes. Irrepetible? Not by a long shot. A good number of games as good or better than BG1+2 existed before and after them, and will keep popping up as times goes by.

What are all these games that are as good or better? I'm curious.

I agree with most of what you say there, but not that there are a lot of games that managed to repeat what BG 1 & 2 did. I'd say that a lot have tried, but I wouldn't say a lot succeeded.