I'm amazed at how much some people can know from just looking at a few screenshots. 
Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition Pricing and Release Dates
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DArtagnan
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I'm amazed at how much some people can know from just looking at a few screenshots.
It's called experience with how people function and the gaming industry as a whole.
Naturally, I've been wrong about these things before - but in all modesty, it's all too rare (unfortunately).
I wish I hadn't learned what I've learned about these remake projects - but I can't ignore all the warning signs just so I can blissfully support opportunism. No thanks
But if it makes you feel better, all my words are based on what it SEEMS to me. Like when a politician makes a promise - it provokes strong scepticism in most people, without them actually knowing if they're playing for votes. There comes a time when you can instinctually read whether someone is genuine or not - at least most of the time.
Beyond that, we have screenshots that don't lie - and if they aren't upscaled images - then I'm king of Denmark.
Odd that you aren't whining like this more often if opportunism offends you so much.
As far the images being upscaled, I'm not sure why that's so incredibly important, but everyone places emphasis on different things I guess. Personally, I'm more interested in the additional character classes and rebalancing.
As far the images being upscaled, I'm not sure why that's so incredibly important, but everyone places emphasis on different things I guess. Personally, I'm more interested in the additional character classes and rebalancing.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Odd that you aren't whining like this more often if opportunism offends you so much.
As far the images being upscaled, I'm not sure why that's so incredibly important, but everyone places emphasis on different things I guess. Personally, I'm more interested in the additional character classes and rebalancing.
It's not important to me - which is why I "upscale" BG myself when I play. The point is that with mods - you can get better results already.
But they did talk about having access to BG resources - and plenty people wanted them to re-render using old assets. Oh, I knew that was highly unlikely - and I said as much. But I left room for being pleasantly surprised
You honestly don't think I "whine" enough about opportunism? I find that surprising. I'll try upping my efforts a bit - if it pleases you. Oh, don't tell me it was sarcasm?
Anyway - you can get all kinds of classes and balancing with mods - but I guess you'd rather pay 20$ for Overhaul's version?
But they did talk about having access to BG resources - and plenty people wanted them to re-render using old assets. Oh, I knew that was highly unlikely - and I said as much. But I left room for being pleasantly surprised
What resources would those be exactly? There's not much more they could do graphics-wise without the original art assets that were lost.
There's a mod that balances BG1 to take into account the character classes from BG2? I don't think so.
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DArtagnan
Guest
I have no idea what they had access to, but some people suggested they might have access to the old files - or that they might render new graphics from scratch. Creating terrain bitmaps for BG would be pretty trivial - and I could make some that look superior to BG myself, and I'm no artist. Stuff like that. My point is that they've done nothing to make the graphics superior to what mods can do. Well, unless you count a few trees.
Why would you want one? Both games are based on 2nd Edition AD&D - and the BG2 classes are already taken into account in terms of balance through the system itself.
I've played BG several times with BG2 classes - and the balance remains excellent. Well, if you like to start out with a rough challenge and slowly develop into a pretty powerful party - but still have trouble with the tough fights.
I don't think creating new graphics was ever a goal, nor would most fans want that. I know I don't.
Most fans seem to just want higher resolutions with proper scaling. They don't want new graphics introduced. Whether or not Beamdog has managed to do that remains to be seen. There's also the matter of a zoom function which could offset some of the scaling issues.
I won't debate that since I've never done it myself, but the popular opinion is that some classes make BG1 much easier.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Well, if you honestly think it's worth 20$ - then there's no arguing that. A lot of people seem to agree with you, so they obviously made the right choice.
Personally, I don't see any improvement in the graphics whatsoever in those screenshots, but to each his own.
Balance is a subject that's almost impossible to agree on, anyway. I'd argue that any optimised party makes the game somewhat easy after a certain point - but I can't comment on whether BG2 classes make this worse or not. All I can say is that while I haven't gone all out on the min/max stuff with BG, I've created some relatively strong combinations - and the game remains both challenging and fun.
I'll reserve judgment until I've actually seen it in action. As I said before though, the graphics aren't a primary concern for me. I'll pay the $20 for the sum of the changes, not the visuals.
I think we both know that's subjective, but for me it's the new characters and their quests, new music tracks, and new cinematics. Also all the bugfixes and UI tweaks without having to mess with mods.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Of course it's subjective, I'm just asking your opinion. So, you feel confident these things are worth 20$? Ok then, fair enough.
I recently replayed BG (most of it) - and I encountered no bugs or UI issues whatsoever. I've always felt the UI to be pretty good, actually. Now, I'm talking about BG with BG2 mods and additional fixes. With the mod packages, it's trivial to install.
As for the rest, all I can say is to each his own. But you must have a lot of faith in these developers to assume the rest of the new content is worth 20$.
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DArtagnan
Guest
$20 means more to some people than others.
It means very little if you look at it without context like a real consumer. That's kinda what makes the impulse-market work so well, and you should be proud
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DArtagnan
Guest
You don't have to explain why Hollywood thrives on creating hollow shit in a circular pattern.
I already know that people don't care about what they support, because it's "only X bucks".
Basically, it's the reason why 9 out of 10 pieces of entertainment are infinitely less interesting or entertaining than they should have been.
It's also why we're getting a shallow "redressing" of BG - instead of an entirely new game.
Because people support it so eagerly.
If you don't mind the state of the industry, then I can fully understand why you're doing it.
I DO mind, so I'm not going to support it - and it's not because I can't afford it.
I already know that people don't care about what they support, because it's "only X bucks".
Basically, it's the reason why 9 out of 10 pieces of entertainment are infinitely less interesting or entertaining than they should have been.
It's also why we're getting a shallow "redressing" of BG - instead of an entirely new game.
Because people support it so eagerly.
If you don't mind the state of the industry, then I can fully understand why you're doing it.
I DO mind, so I'm not going to support it - and it's not because I can't afford it.
It means very little if you look at it without context like a real consumer. That's kinda what makes the impulse-market work so well, and you should be proud
Yeah, that's pretty much the response I expected from you.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Your statements aren't exactly shocking to me either
But I guess it means we're relatively firm in our opinions and dispositions. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
But I guess it means we're relatively firm in our opinions and dispositions. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
txa1265
SasqWatch
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I tend to agree with your assessment on the PC side - I am honestly pretty happy with the GoG version. But I have not played on the Mac for some time as Apple shifted OS and processors around, and tend to carry that more than a PC at this point - so I am happy to pay for that. Also for the iPad version - I *always* have that, so for me having BG for iPad for REAL - as opposed to the 'nigh on unplayable' GemRB version ... yeah, worth it.
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DArtagnan
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10$ is a fairer price - and given the effort required to successfully convert everything to iPad (especially the UI aspect - if handled well) - I think it's reasonable.
Oh, for sure, it's a cash-grab based on maximum profit for the platform - where prices are generally expected to be much lower - but it's not downright tasteless.
The difference in price for the PC version, however, IS downright tasteless. There's simply no reason to set the price that high, and they might even make more money by offering it up at 10$.
But we've had this debate before.