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General Discussion => The Speakeasy: OOG/Off-topic Discussion => Topic started by: Safai on 07 Sep 2012, 13:46

Title: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 07 Sep 2012, 13:46
http://www.baldursgate.com/

Very excited about an official facelift for Baldur's Gate and the ability to multiplayer with my friends without TCP/IP workarounds. (BGT+SCS mods were p.nice though)

Anyone else have this preordered? :D
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Gottii on 07 Sep 2012, 14:28
Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing this to my attention.  Baldurs Gate is my favorite game experience, bar none. 

From pissing off my girlfriend by slipping out of bed with her to play the first one at 3am, to the final moment of the Throne of Bhaal when you read up on what happens to all your various NPCs and followers and friends, I loved it.

So pre-ordered this.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: kalaratiri on 07 Sep 2012, 14:32
Am I reading this wrong.. or is this going to be free?
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 07 Sep 2012, 14:36
Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing this to my attention.  Baldurs Gate is my favorite game experience, bar none.
Penny Arcade's comic this morning (http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/09/07) reminded me I ought to make a thread.

Am I reading this wrong.. or is this going to be free?
$20 USD
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: ArtOfLight on 07 Sep 2012, 16:28
This is so much win!
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: kalaratiri on 07 Sep 2012, 16:32
I am bad at their website. Do you already need the game, and this is like an expansion pack, or can you buy this and it works as the game?
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 07 Sep 2012, 17:28
I am bad at their website. Do you already need the game, and this is like an expansion pack, or can you buy this and it works as the game?
http://www.baldursgate.com/windows.en.html is probably what you're looking for.

It's a standalone refinement of the classic first Baldur's Gate plus the expansion, Tales of the Sword Coast. The game will look and play more like Baldur's Gate 2, which uses a superior version of the exact same engine (Infinity Engine). However, BG:EE will only cover the first part of the series, plus some new content tucked in.

Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition will come at a later date. As I understand it, if they do well enough financially and the team proves capable of producing their own content then they'll get the go-ahead to begin on Baldur's Gate 3, which does not exist yet. I don't know how I feel about that last part yet, but we'll see.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Druur Monakh on 07 Sep 2012, 21:41
While I have finished BG-ToB before, should I ever convince myself to buy a tablet, this is the first game I'd be buying for it. This is a game which just screams for a tablet version.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 29 Nov 2012, 17:10
Bumping because this just released the other day, after having been delayed for a couple months.

There's a good handful of bugs and oversights still (e.g. poor Intel graphics chipset performance, no longer able to adjust game speed via config, resting at an inn while playing multiplayer crashes the game, other stuff) but I am really liking a lot of the little improvements they have tucked in and Beamdog will (hopefully) be steadily patching the game.

That said I started a multiplayer session with a friend the other night. We only made it as far as Nashkel, but it was a really nostalgic great time.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Natalcya Katla on 29 Nov 2012, 17:22
The only reason I haven't picked this up already is that I imagine the modding community haven't had a chance to upgrade the essential mods yet. I'd rather play the old version with the NPC Project mods than the new version without them, but I hope it won't be long before I can have my cake and eat it too.  :)

Edit: Yeah, I see they're already working on getting the NPC Project compatible. Unfinished Business too. Goodie.

The NPC Project, by the way, is a mod that gives a serious facelift to NPC companion banter and interaction in Baldur's Gate 1. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 29 Nov 2012, 17:45
Shouldn't be too long now. I don't think all of them are converted yet, but the modding community has been very positive. As I understand it, it's largely a matter of the mod authors fixing up each WeiDU installer to recognize and use BG:EE.

I haven't sank my teeth into the new content much yet, but so far The Black Pits has terrific voice acting and interesting characters, so I'm looking forward to it.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 03 Dec 2012, 13:05
I was looking for custom portraits the other day and none of them were suiting my taste, so I decided to combine the powers of EVE's Character Creator and Photoshop to create some customs. I tried to have them resemble the BG2 NPC style.

(http://i.imgur.com/8KIhD.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/BpkI2.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Zcdbz.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/1vMWW.jpg)

The first two are for my multiplayer game, my Human Cleric (NG) and friend's Human Archer (CG) respectively. The third is my own Bhaalspawn single player, a Human Monk (LE). Feel free to crop and use them if you like.

Edit; touched them up somewhat.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Natalcya Katla on 03 Dec 2012, 13:47
Feel free to crop and use them if you like.

Sweet. Thank you.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 14 Nov 2013, 16:06
"Ahh, the Child of Bhaal has awoken. It is time for more ... experiments ..."

Baldur's Gate II: (http://baldursgateii.com/) Enhanced Edition (http://baldursgateii.com/index_main.html) releases in a couple hours. I've got it preloading right now, and a multiplayer party for tonight. Very excite! :D

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition Launch Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tONHtATupkw)

And for those with BG:EE who haven't played it this month, there was an update on November 1st which added some features you will see in BG2:EE, such as
- Better compatibilty with intel chipsets (was a big issue)
- Multiplayer match-making (still pretty beta though)
- Auto-resized custom portraits
- Scaleable UI, new font (better imo), and other interface improvements
- Many bugs squashed

edit; I also want to plug artastrophe's NPC Portraits (http://artastrophe.deviantart.com/art/Baldur-s-Gate-NPC-Portraits-327153371) and Portrait Pack (http://artastrophe.deviantart.com/art/BG-Portrait-Package-145216289) because they're beautifully done, add a lot of variety and look terrific in game.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Wanoah on 15 Nov 2013, 13:12
I have been playing BG a lot recently. It's made me ponder the value of voice acting: every word voiced in a large RPG is a huge overhead and a limitation. In BG, the mix of voice work and text seems to be a happy compromise that maybe some larger developers should hark back to.

When this was first released (I mean originally, not this enhanced edition) it did not grab me at all. I think it was a demo on a magazine cover disc (remember those?). I vaguely recall wandering out of Candlekeep, then immediately being set upon by wolves and dying. Ragequit! It's nice to revisit after all these years and play a game I missed out on. :)
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Natalcya Katla on 27 Nov 2013, 19:10
Still waiting for a working port of the NPC Project mod. Until then, the old Tutu is still better.  :)
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Safai on 27 Nov 2013, 19:41
Didn't realize that hadn't been done yet /o\

I've been having a blast with my multiplayer game when I do boot it up, and Black Pits with various parties and increasing level of difficulty, but totally understand where you're coming from. The NPC Project added a lot of content to the characters that were otherwise dry or silent throughout the entire first game.

I still weigh in favor of the Enhanced Editions being a superior and smoother gameplay experience, but whether it's worth the price is definitely up to you :D Granted, twenty bucks is generally more than most are willing to pay for a game they already own.
Title: Re: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Post by: Natalcya Katla on 27 Nov 2013, 21:36
Just bought BG1EE on Steam, as it was 50% off. I'll still hold off on playing it until the mod gets successfully ported, but I've gathered from the forums that it will happen, and that work on it is well underway. I believe you about the enhanced gameplay - I just want to have my cake and eat it too.  :D