Also Sam Hulick and Nat Jones. I remember on the site back in 2012 announcing their involvement in the BGEE projects, but I haven't heard much news about them since.
↧
Is Dave Gross still involved with Beamdog?
↧
Is the Baldur's Gate trilogy your favorite game(s) of all time?
For me, I have finally come to the conclusion that the original Baldur's Gate is my favorite game of all time. I like it even better than Baldur's Gate II, mainly because Baldur's Gate II seems very cramped to me whereas Baldur's Gate had wide open areas to explore.
It has also utterly ruined me from being able to enjoy the Icewind Dale games or Planescape Torment. Every time I try to get into one of those games I get a serious jones to play BG. It's like, "I am playing this when I COULD be playing THAT".
In any case, how many of you can say for sure that one of these games is your favorite game ever?
It has also utterly ruined me from being able to enjoy the Icewind Dale games or Planescape Torment. Every time I try to get into one of those games I get a serious jones to play BG. It's like, "I am playing this when I COULD be playing THAT".
In any case, how many of you can say for sure that one of these games is your favorite game ever?
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↧
baldursgate.com has got a redesign. How do you like it?
On January, 30, I've checked that http://www.icewinddale.com had been changed. Now, http://www.baldursgate.com has gotten a complete redesign as well.
Among other things, the new site mentions the Adventure Y:
"This year, the eagerly anticipated Adventure Y will finally navigate the dark underground caverns of development and venture out into the Sword Coast. We’ve mentioned before that Adventure Y will be an addition to the Baldur’s Gate line using the Infinity engine, bridging the gap between Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition. Keep an eye on the Beamblog in late spring for announcements regarding the content and release date of Adventure Y. We have an exciting release planned for this game, something bigger than we’ve ever done before. If you’re looking for more information on Adventure Y, check out these pictures which were mysteriously leaked to the forums."
So, do you like the change of the site? What's your opinion?
Among other things, the new site mentions the Adventure Y:
"This year, the eagerly anticipated Adventure Y will finally navigate the dark underground caverns of development and venture out into the Sword Coast. We’ve mentioned before that Adventure Y will be an addition to the Baldur’s Gate line using the Infinity engine, bridging the gap between Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition. Keep an eye on the Beamblog in late spring for announcements regarding the content and release date of Adventure Y. We have an exciting release planned for this game, something bigger than we’ve ever done before. If you’re looking for more information on Adventure Y, check out these pictures which were mysteriously leaked to the forums."
So, do you like the change of the site? What's your opinion?
↧
Android Game-Data Editing Tutorial (Hex Style)
It seems, once again, as far as convenience, we Android users are left out in the cold. Specifically, I am referring to the Beamdog Infinity Engine game ports' modding and console cheats. I don't blame Beamdog in the least (in fact, I both praise them for their efforts and applaud them for their accomplishments), but it would be nice if we could enjoy the same benefits as players of other OSs! As a side note, I'm trying to get together a master list of mods that work on Beamdog's Android IWD:EE, so if you are interested in participating, take a look here.
I find it highly unlikely Android users will ever be able to load most Infinity Engine game mods or that all users will be able to get to the console. To help close the gap just a little, I've decided to write a couple tutorials on editing saved games. This is essentially what a saved-game editor does, we're just going to do it manually and, we're going to do it all on Android itself (these same techniques work perfectly well on other OSs, but there are usually much easier methods for those). Theoretically, you can change nearly all values associated with your characters (any dynamic game data, for that matter), but it can get very complicated. I'm going to keep the tutorials fairly simple. My goal is not to show you how to change every modifiable value in your game, but to give you the knowledge and techniques necessary to do this for yourself. For sanity's sake, though, I would suggest using these procedures for nothing more than simple game tweaks.
Be aware, you will be editing the games' raw data. Even keeping it simple, it's easy to get confused (hopefully not with this tutorial, though), I still do and I've been doing this stuff for over 35 years! Always make a backup (you only need to copy the files to somewhere safe). Also, be aware, sometimes problems won't show up until much later; simple changes can have unexpected and catastrophic consequences and sometimes, a cascading effect. If you have problems with your Beamdog Infinity Engine game after editing one of its files, do not (I repeat, do not) blame me or Beamdog or, bother them with bug reports (unless you can reproduce the problem with a clean game). You are on your own! Take responsibility for your own actions. OK, this was actually the disclaimer, but if I put "disclaimer" at the beginning, no one would read this paragraph!
If you are not technically inclined, stop here or proceed with extreme caution (I don't give specific spep-by-step instructions on what I consider to be prerequisite knowledge, think twice before attempting this if you cannot even find the files). At a minimum, you will need to be able to manipulate hexadecimal values, though Hex Editor Pro does allow you to work in decimal format. If you decide to do this, you need insure you have access to a couple Android apps (for my recommendations, see the app links below). If you are not comfortable with these procedures, you can try transferring the data to your PC and editing it with a saved-game editor (I haven't tried this, but it should work fine).
The apps needed (or something similar) are:
I also suggest bookmarking the following sites:
Editing Ability Scores
This procedure can be used on both saved game files (BALDUR.gam) and character files (*.chr). One thing you need to be aware of (you can see this by examining the CRE file format linked above) is that ability scores are in a different order than they are presented in-game. Instead of: Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, then Cha, the data files store them as: Str, Str Bonus, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, then Cha. Since we will be using the ability scores to locate specific characters in the BALDUR.gam file (character names are not necessarily stored with their data), I suggest you write them down in the data file's order (translating them to hex at this point can save time). If you happen to have more than one character with the same ability scores, examine the data beneath the scores to help determine which toon you are viewing.
In this tutorial, we will be editing the Strength Bonus ability score in a BALDUR.gam file. Editing ability scores is quite easy. I will be using the following scores in the example (you will use your own toon's scores for your game, that's why we wrote them down earlier), most likely, your values will be different. I'm only using example values here:
Lets say this is a Dwarven fighter and we want the strength bonus to be 100% (hex 64). We need to change the 31 (0x1f) to 100 (0x64).
Manipulating an Inventory Item
In this next (and final) tutorial, we are going to add a Bag of Holding (BAG31) to our inventory! Personally, I use this same procedure to add a Find Familiar scroll (SCRL6D) to my main magic user so I don't have to worry about finding the spell or wasting a slot.
Rather than trying to calculate exactly where each inventory space's index begins in the data file, which is fraught with danger, I'm going to teach you a much easier method. The best way I've found to insure I'm editing the right address is to put a cheap, unique item into an empty slot before saving the game. I don't recommend using a stackable item, like arrows, though I've successfully used them in the past. If you do, make sure there is only one and not a stack.
For our example, we will assume our Dwarven fighter above does not normally carry a dagger. Grab an ordinary dagger (DAGG01) from somewhere in the game and put it into one of your character's inventory slots, then save the game.
Please, do not try to add quest items with this method - it will not work (no triggers activated) and will usually result in a corrupt game. You've been warned.
I hope this helps! Remember, with knowledge comes responsibility. Be careful as you can easily make the game boring by over-powering your party.
If any part of these tutorials is unclear or if you find a mistake, please send me a PM so I can correct it.
Have fun!
Please note, this entire post was constructed on my tablet and I will be correcting, rewriting, and formatting it for next couple of weeks. If you notice any grammatical or formatting errors, please bring them to my attention via a PM. Thanks....
I find it highly unlikely Android users will ever be able to load most Infinity Engine game mods or that all users will be able to get to the console. To help close the gap just a little, I've decided to write a couple tutorials on editing saved games. This is essentially what a saved-game editor does, we're just going to do it manually and, we're going to do it all on Android itself (these same techniques work perfectly well on other OSs, but there are usually much easier methods for those). Theoretically, you can change nearly all values associated with your characters (any dynamic game data, for that matter), but it can get very complicated. I'm going to keep the tutorials fairly simple. My goal is not to show you how to change every modifiable value in your game, but to give you the knowledge and techniques necessary to do this for yourself. For sanity's sake, though, I would suggest using these procedures for nothing more than simple game tweaks.
Be aware, you will be editing the games' raw data. Even keeping it simple, it's easy to get confused (hopefully not with this tutorial, though), I still do and I've been doing this stuff for over 35 years! Always make a backup (you only need to copy the files to somewhere safe). Also, be aware, sometimes problems won't show up until much later; simple changes can have unexpected and catastrophic consequences and sometimes, a cascading effect. If you have problems with your Beamdog Infinity Engine game after editing one of its files, do not (I repeat, do not) blame me or Beamdog or, bother them with bug reports (unless you can reproduce the problem with a clean game). You are on your own! Take responsibility for your own actions. OK, this was actually the disclaimer, but if I put "disclaimer" at the beginning, no one would read this paragraph!
If you are not technically inclined, stop here or proceed with extreme caution (I don't give specific spep-by-step instructions on what I consider to be prerequisite knowledge, think twice before attempting this if you cannot even find the files). At a minimum, you will need to be able to manipulate hexadecimal values, though Hex Editor Pro does allow you to work in decimal format. If you decide to do this, you need insure you have access to a couple Android apps (for my recommendations, see the app links below). If you are not comfortable with these procedures, you can try transferring the data to your PC and editing it with a saved-game editor (I haven't tried this, but it should work fine).
The apps needed (or something similar) are:
- A hexadecimal calculator (I use NeoCal*, but there are alternatives)
- A hexadecimal editor (I use Hex Editor Pro*, but there may be alternatives, though I haven't found one)
I also suggest bookmarking the following sites:
- BGII item code list (many of these item codes work across all Beamdog's Enhanced Editions as they share the same engine, in theory)
- IWD item code list (Sorcerer's Place)
- Infinity Engine game data file formats, which give you a rough idea of where to look, what to look for, and its format and size (in this tutorial we're specifically interested in the CRE layout)
Editing Ability Scores
This procedure can be used on both saved game files (BALDUR.gam) and character files (*.chr). One thing you need to be aware of (you can see this by examining the CRE file format linked above) is that ability scores are in a different order than they are presented in-game. Instead of: Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, then Cha, the data files store them as: Str, Str Bonus, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, then Cha. Since we will be using the ability scores to locate specific characters in the BALDUR.gam file (character names are not necessarily stored with their data), I suggest you write them down in the data file's order (translating them to hex at this point can save time). If you happen to have more than one character with the same ability scores, examine the data beneath the scores to help determine which toon you are viewing.
In this tutorial, we will be editing the Strength Bonus ability score in a BALDUR.gam file. Editing ability scores is quite easy. I will be using the following scores in the example (you will use your own toon's scores for your game, that's why we wrote them down earlier), most likely, your values will be different. I'm only using example values here:
| Ability | Decimal | Hexadecimal |
| Strength | 18 | 12 |
| Strength Bonus | 31 | 1f |
| Intelligence | 10 | 0a |
| Wisdom | 11 | 0b |
| Dexterity | 16 | 10 |
| Constitution | 18 | 12 |
| Charisma | 8 | 08 |
Lets say this is a Dwarven fighter and we want the strength bonus to be 100% (hex 64). We need to change the 31 (0x1f) to 100 (0x64).
- Open the BALDUR.gam file you want to edit in Hex Editor Pro
- Search for the hex value 121f0a0b from the hexadecimal column of the example scores above (these are not all the ability scores, but you'll seldom need more than a few to uniquely identify a toon) and verify the rest to make sure you are working on the correct character (you will use your toon's ability scores here, instead of the example's) and don't forget to use the data file's ability score order
- Tap the highlighted 1f entry in Hex Editor Pro's left pane (remember, 1f is hexadecimal for 31): don't forget, you will use your toon's scores instead of the example's
- In the resulting dialog box, confirm the value 1f and change it to 64 (or whatever your values are)
- Tap the disk icon in the dialog box to commit your changes
- Tap the disk icon in the menu bar to save the file
Manipulating an Inventory Item
In this next (and final) tutorial, we are going to add a Bag of Holding (BAG31) to our inventory! Personally, I use this same procedure to add a Find Familiar scroll (SCRL6D) to my main magic user so I don't have to worry about finding the spell or wasting a slot.
Rather than trying to calculate exactly where each inventory space's index begins in the data file, which is fraught with danger, I'm going to teach you a much easier method. The best way I've found to insure I'm editing the right address is to put a cheap, unique item into an empty slot before saving the game. I don't recommend using a stackable item, like arrows, though I've successfully used them in the past. If you do, make sure there is only one and not a stack.
For our example, we will assume our Dwarven fighter above does not normally carry a dagger. Grab an ordinary dagger (DAGG01) from somewhere in the game and put it into one of your character's inventory slots, then save the game.
- Open the BALDUR.gam file you want to edit in Hex Editor Pro
- Search for the hex value 12640a0b like we did in the previous tutorial (notice the 64 now, instead of 1f) and verify the rest of the ability scores to make sure you are editing the correct toon
- Look for DAGG01 (in Hex Editor Pro's right pane) below the ability scores (if you examine the CRE format, you'll see a character's inventory items are below the ability scores), it shouldn't be too far down
- In the left pane, tap on 44, the capital letter D's hexadecimal value, and you will get Hex Editor Pro's Edit Value dialog box
- In the dialog box, tap the small white down arrow and select the ASCII radio button (the 44 on the edit line will change to 'D')
- Change the 'D' to a 'B' and to get to the next byte, tap the '>' icon in the dialog box (Item codes are case-sensitive: there are a few Bag of Holding codes, but from my experience, BAG31 is the only one that works right)
- Continue changing DAGG01 to BAG31 until you get to the final '1' and as the Bag of Holding code is shorter than the dagger's item code, be sure to replace the final '1' in DAGG01 with 00 (do not use the space bar, either switch back to hex or just delete the value altogether, this final value must be 00 in the left pane); in right pane, "DAGG01" should now be replaced with "BAG31." and in the left pane, "44 41 47 47 30 31" should now be "42 41 47 33 31 00"
- Tap the disk icon in the dialog box to commit your changes
- Tap the disk icon in the menu bar to save the file
Please, do not try to add quest items with this method - it will not work (no triggers activated) and will usually result in a corrupt game. You've been warned.
I hope this helps! Remember, with knowledge comes responsibility. Be careful as you can easily make the game boring by over-powering your party.
If any part of these tutorials is unclear or if you find a mistake, please send me a PM so I can correct it.
Have fun!
Please note, this entire post was constructed on my tablet and I will be correcting, rewriting, and formatting it for next couple of weeks. If you notice any grammatical or formatting errors, please bring them to my attention via a PM. Thanks....
↧
What is a Paladin?
So, I'm not asking for the obvious, "Oh, they're holy knights, blah blah blah."
No, I mean what is the difference between a Paladin and a Cleric/Fighter? I always felt the Paladin was a redundant class when multiclassing is a core part of the system.
I get in settings/games like Warcraft where by lore they are priests that took up arms and there is no multiclassing but D&D I feel as though Cleric/Fighter fills the trope nicely already.
So, I feel like the reasons for a Paladin's existence must be a lore reason. To be exclusive to humans (except Dorn), this must mean a Paladin is specifically a human type of Cleric/Fighter that receives different training.
I get the Paladin subclasses such as the Inquisitor that is more of a soldier that hunts out heretical mages and such, but the base class and Blackguards feel. . .uneeded?
I love Paladins and Blackguards to death but a Holy Cleric/Fighter and an Unholy Cleric/Fighter seems to fit the trope just the same.
Hell, even normal Clerics are plate wearing, warhammer and shield, face smashers.
So, what is a Paladin and why is it different than a Cleric/Fighter?
No, I mean what is the difference between a Paladin and a Cleric/Fighter? I always felt the Paladin was a redundant class when multiclassing is a core part of the system.
I get in settings/games like Warcraft where by lore they are priests that took up arms and there is no multiclassing but D&D I feel as though Cleric/Fighter fills the trope nicely already.
So, I feel like the reasons for a Paladin's existence must be a lore reason. To be exclusive to humans (except Dorn), this must mean a Paladin is specifically a human type of Cleric/Fighter that receives different training.
I get the Paladin subclasses such as the Inquisitor that is more of a soldier that hunts out heretical mages and such, but the base class and Blackguards feel. . .uneeded?
I love Paladins and Blackguards to death but a Holy Cleric/Fighter and an Unholy Cleric/Fighter seems to fit the trope just the same.
Hell, even normal Clerics are plate wearing, warhammer and shield, face smashers.
So, what is a Paladin and why is it different than a Cleric/Fighter?
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↧
The tale of a Drow (no-reload)
It is a dark time for the forum, the recent inactivity has caused fear and lack of no-reload playthroughs to read. In a world where @bengoshi 's hero, Yahiko, is still nowhere to be found and @Blackraven hasn't been illuminating us with one of his run for weeks ...
Some forumites started to lose hope, the prophecy of the return of summer and the World Cup at the same time is fulfilled once again.
But someone will try to stand up once again against this monster of a challenge that is SCS no-reload, he already failed in the past, but he is still going to give everything he has.
It will be hard, many rough fights await, but he is going to play his favorite game with passion and in difficulty lies joy and fun.
Rules and mods:
-Solo
-No-Reload
-Insane difficulty at all times
-Completionist
-Start with 1 reputation and can't earn reputation through donating
-SCS (full prebuff for casters)
-Item Randomiser
-BG2 Tweaks
-aTweaks
-Rogue Rebalancing
-IWDification
-BG1 casting sounds
-Dark Horizons (Blind)
-T'was a slow boat from Kara Tur (Blind)
To face this difficult challenge, I present you Yami, a 108 roll Neutral-Good Drow Berserker/Wild Mage/Shadowdancer because why not ! Let's see if a character this powerful can be enough to overcome the challenge.
![image]()
Living as a Drow in the realms is far from easy. Even when you are raised by a powerful and respected Mage in a small closed library. The folks here started to trust Yami and to consider him as a good fellow. He was truely kind-hearted, something that wasn't common with the others members of his race. He learned the art of magic with his foster father, Gorion had a lot of hopes for him even if sometimes his innate power was bursting, he practiced his swordmanship with the watchers and played a lot with Imoen during his youth. He was kind of a jack-of-all-trades and had a strong inner will.
He is specialized (** pips) in Dagger and Scimitar. Being a Berserker, he can't assign more than 1 pip in a ranged weapon, so he is actually throwing daggers. He started his mage career with Sleep and Find Familiar memorized and his Thief career with 30 points in Open Lock.
In Candlekeep, Yami did all his chores and picked some chests, most notably those in the Inn. He looted a very beautiful sapphire which was worth 1.000 gold. He also encountered some bounty hunters, Shank and Carbos weren't threats. After speaking with them, Yami simply threw a dagger, which was fatal. However, he also met another guy in the basement ...
[spoiler]![image]()
After a Sleep spell.
![image]()
[/spoiler]
Maybe he was the source of the rat infiltration in the fortress. Anyway, Gorion was right, this place was becoming too dangerous and Yami decided to join his foster father and to flee Candlekeep. He spoke with Imoen before, she wanted to travel with him but knew Gorion wouldn't permit it.
Gorion told him that they were going to travel this night if they could. The shadows would help them to escape, unobserved.
This was but a terrible mistake.
After 4 hours of walking, they were ambushed by a group of bandits. They wanted Yami at all cost, but Gorion refused. After he yelled to flee, Gorion started to cast some powerful spells and dispatched most of them. But in the end, the armored figure slayed him. Hidden in a tree, Yami saw all the scene and he was destroyed. The man who raised him, gave him education and a chance to live in this ruthless world was taken away from him. A part of him died at the same time Gorion felled to the ground. He didn't even know why they were after him and why Gorion had to pay the cost of his ignorance ...
Some forumites started to lose hope, the prophecy of the return of summer and the World Cup at the same time is fulfilled once again.
But someone will try to stand up once again against this monster of a challenge that is SCS no-reload, he already failed in the past, but he is still going to give everything he has.
It will be hard, many rough fights await, but he is going to play his favorite game with passion and in difficulty lies joy and fun.
Rules and mods:
-Solo
-No-Reload
-Insane difficulty at all times
-Completionist
-Start with 1 reputation and can't earn reputation through donating
-SCS (full prebuff for casters)
-Item Randomiser
-BG2 Tweaks
-aTweaks
-Rogue Rebalancing
-IWDification
-BG1 casting sounds
-Dark Horizons (Blind)
-T'was a slow boat from Kara Tur (Blind)
To face this difficult challenge, I present you Yami, a 108 roll Neutral-Good Drow Berserker/Wild Mage/Shadowdancer because why not ! Let's see if a character this powerful can be enough to overcome the challenge.
Living as a Drow in the realms is far from easy. Even when you are raised by a powerful and respected Mage in a small closed library. The folks here started to trust Yami and to consider him as a good fellow. He was truely kind-hearted, something that wasn't common with the others members of his race. He learned the art of magic with his foster father, Gorion had a lot of hopes for him even if sometimes his innate power was bursting, he practiced his swordmanship with the watchers and played a lot with Imoen during his youth. He was kind of a jack-of-all-trades and had a strong inner will.
He is specialized (** pips) in Dagger and Scimitar. Being a Berserker, he can't assign more than 1 pip in a ranged weapon, so he is actually throwing daggers. He started his mage career with Sleep and Find Familiar memorized and his Thief career with 30 points in Open Lock.
In Candlekeep, Yami did all his chores and picked some chests, most notably those in the Inn. He looted a very beautiful sapphire which was worth 1.000 gold. He also encountered some bounty hunters, Shank and Carbos weren't threats. After speaking with them, Yami simply threw a dagger, which was fatal. However, he also met another guy in the basement ...
[spoiler]
After a Sleep spell.
[/spoiler]Maybe he was the source of the rat infiltration in the fortress. Anyway, Gorion was right, this place was becoming too dangerous and Yami decided to join his foster father and to flee Candlekeep. He spoke with Imoen before, she wanted to travel with him but knew Gorion wouldn't permit it.
Gorion told him that they were going to travel this night if they could. The shadows would help them to escape, unobserved.
This was but a terrible mistake.
After 4 hours of walking, they were ambushed by a group of bandits. They wanted Yami at all cost, but Gorion refused. After he yelled to flee, Gorion started to cast some powerful spells and dispatched most of them. But in the end, the armored figure slayed him. Hidden in a tree, Yami saw all the scene and he was destroyed. The man who raised him, gave him education and a chance to live in this ruthless world was taken away from him. A part of him died at the same time Gorion felled to the ground. He didn't even know why they were after him and why Gorion had to pay the cost of his ignorance ...
↧
The Original Baldur's Gate Better than Baldur's Gate II?
I was comparing the two games and I counted the Non-Player Characters
30 + 5 +1 for the Original Baldur's Gate
22 for Baldur's Gate II
It got me thinking, was Baldur's Gate II worse than the Original Baldur's Gate?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also It seems that Baldur's Gate II has less Areas and far less world map areas than the Original Baldur's Gate along with the game progression being more linear and less 'wild west' and free range. As in one is free to explore most all of the world around the character in the Original Baldur's Gate and can enter 'impossible' areas at low level like Durlag's Tower and the Ice Dungeon and is only really barred from the City of Baldur's Gate and Returning to Candlekeep from after a skippable tutorial level (Candlekeep). While in Baldur's Gate II there is an unskippable 'notorious' prison dungeon that the party must escape and is then more or less fed areas to progress into and cannot openly and freely explore or progress into the world around the character for the areas don't exist. For example there are interesting areas towns outside of Athkatla that the player is forced to never enter and it seems that the developers lost the 'everything on the maps goes into the game' moral decision that is found in the Original Baldur's Gate (Map: http://www.pocketplane.net/volothamp/images/faerunlarge.jpg ). Also did you notice that in the Original Baldur's Gate II there are only 3+1 Evil Non-Player Characters and it is impossible to have a pure evil party unlike in Baldur's Gate One?
The Item BAM [Icon] quality in Baldur's Gate is of higher quality (opinion) for most items are 3D Modeled and or Altered from 3D Models while the items in Baldur's Gate II are just blurry painted icons that look as if they were 'reduced in quality' to create more of them. [The item colour structure and item concepts are not to be confused with technical quality]
I like the advancements in some areas, as in most of the engine changes and the 'more fleshed out' Non-Player Characters in Baldur's Gate II but I feel as if the game is not the same as the Original and it is not an improvement 'across the board'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm curious to hear what everyone has to say one the subject and I know I'm missing good and bad points on both sides but I wanted to give some thought provoking material for everything to think of and then write a comment on. So what game is better or worse (maybe they are the same) and for what reasons?
30 + 5 +1 for the Original Baldur's Gate
22 for Baldur's Gate II
It got me thinking, was Baldur's Gate II worse than the Original Baldur's Gate?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also It seems that Baldur's Gate II has less Areas and far less world map areas than the Original Baldur's Gate along with the game progression being more linear and less 'wild west' and free range. As in one is free to explore most all of the world around the character in the Original Baldur's Gate and can enter 'impossible' areas at low level like Durlag's Tower and the Ice Dungeon and is only really barred from the City of Baldur's Gate and Returning to Candlekeep from after a skippable tutorial level (Candlekeep). While in Baldur's Gate II there is an unskippable 'notorious' prison dungeon that the party must escape and is then more or less fed areas to progress into and cannot openly and freely explore or progress into the world around the character for the areas don't exist. For example there are interesting areas towns outside of Athkatla that the player is forced to never enter and it seems that the developers lost the 'everything on the maps goes into the game' moral decision that is found in the Original Baldur's Gate (Map: http://www.pocketplane.net/volothamp/images/faerunlarge.jpg ). Also did you notice that in the Original Baldur's Gate II there are only 3+1 Evil Non-Player Characters and it is impossible to have a pure evil party unlike in Baldur's Gate One?
The Item BAM [Icon] quality in Baldur's Gate is of higher quality (opinion) for most items are 3D Modeled and or Altered from 3D Models while the items in Baldur's Gate II are just blurry painted icons that look as if they were 'reduced in quality' to create more of them. [The item colour structure and item concepts are not to be confused with technical quality]
I like the advancements in some areas, as in most of the engine changes and the 'more fleshed out' Non-Player Characters in Baldur's Gate II but I feel as if the game is not the same as the Original and it is not an improvement 'across the board'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm curious to hear what everyone has to say one the subject and I know I'm missing good and bad points on both sides but I wanted to give some thought provoking material for everything to think of and then write a comment on. So what game is better or worse (maybe they are the same) and for what reasons?
↧
Shag, Marry, Kill: The Baldur's Gate Version
Okay, classic game. You choose among the romance interests in the Baldur's Gate Trilogy one to spend a single, memorable, steamy night with, one to spend the rest of your life with till death do you part, and one to chunk in any way you see fit. Try to choose options compatible with your gender/preference/orientation/whatever. Feel free to explain your choices ![:)]( ":)")
I'll begin:
Shag: Jaheira (I feel like she'd have some crazy primal nature side. Hopefully not too freaky... being called "omnipresent authority figure" may be a bit much)
Marry: Aerie (I don't like blondes, but she's a sweetheart and my kids may get wings... sweet!)
Kill: Viconia (Almost shagged her... but then she may kill me first, so there you go. Close call just couldn't bring myself to kill Neera)
Neera ain't wifey material, too non-committed and wild surges may not be safe during conception...
I'll begin:
Shag: Jaheira (I feel like she'd have some crazy primal nature side. Hopefully not too freaky... being called "omnipresent authority figure" may be a bit much)
Marry: Aerie (I don't like blondes, but she's a sweetheart and my kids may get wings... sweet!)
Kill: Viconia (Almost shagged her... but then she may kill me first, so there you go. Close call just couldn't bring myself to kill Neera)
Neera ain't wifey material, too non-committed and wild surges may not be safe during conception...
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Sharing My Experience Playing BG2EE for the First Time
Coo!
That is all.
That is all.
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Does language support change character's voices?
I'm sorry, I've searched throughout the forum and couldn't find an answer. I decided to change language to French, but it only seemed to change the subtitles . As far as I know, original BG had was voiced in other languages.
Can anyone help me?
Can anyone help me?
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Slow walking speed
so I have the party now it is working great but for some reason dorn walks sooooo slow. I think it is the baldur's gate walk speed beta from BG2 tweaks so I uninstalled it but dorn is still rally slow does anybody know how to fix that. (ps it is not the armor he is wear because khalid used it before I got dorn and he walked way faster)
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Unfinished Business?
Has it been made for BG2:EE yet?
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Snowy Tae: A Cleric/Mage/Thief in SCS2
I have long wanted to play as a Cleric/Mage/Thief in BG2, and was always disappointed that the engine does not permit it. But after a bit of thought, I have realized that it is entirely possible to create such a character by fiddling around in Near Infinity.
The game still doesn't support a triple-class besides a FMT or FMC. But I can approximate the class by doing several things.
[spoiler]
I create a gnomish Illusionist/Thief and apply a custom SPCL ability (kit-based passive effect) which penalizes her XP by 33%. This gives her the same mage and thief level progression as a triple class, and will prevent her from reaching mage level 18, meaning no 9th-level spells, just like a triple class.
I duplicate various cleric spells and tweak them so that they are classified as mage spells. This means they are detected by the Cowled Wizards and are blocked by wearing armor, but I can assign them to my gnome with Shadowkeeper and she can cast them just like any cleric could. I create a ring that permanently doubles level 1 to 7 mage spell slots, and my gnome will dedicate half of those slots to cleric spells. She won't have exactly as many spells of each kind as a normal CMT, but it will be close.
Finally, I tweak a .2da table to let her add proficiencies in cleric weapons, and give her UAI so she can use helmets and such. She will still pick UAI as her first HLA, and until then, she won't be using items that a cleric/mage or cleric/thief could not use.
This gives me a character that has thieving abilities, cleric spells, mage spells, and a cleric's item restrictions, at least until we get UAI legally. She still can't Turn Undead, or cast cleric spells while wearing armor, and her HP, saving throws, and THAC0 will be slightly off, as well as her spell slots to some extent, but otherwise she will function just like a real Cleric/Mage/Thief.
I also have worked out how to create a Monk with some Stalker bonuses, an Avenger/Bounty Hunter, a Monk/Sorceror with a Barbarian kit on top, an Archer/Skald, and an Enchanter/Paladin. Normally these aren't possible, since dual- and multi-classing options are hardcoded, but you can get around this by using a similar character as a base and editing a CLAB file to ensure they get the right bonuses. For instance, to get an Archer/Skald, you add an Archer's THAC0, damage, and APR bonuses to the Skald kit's .2da file, give bards some extra proficiency points and the ability to attain grandmastery in missile weapons, and then create a Skald and apply an XP penalty to slow its growth. You have to have the right base, though: no character besides a bard is ever going to get a bard song, so any bard multiclass has to be based on a normal bard. Same goes for Turn Undead, restricted to clerics and paladins, and thieving skills, restricted to thieves.
[/spoiler]
Thus, we have Snowy Tae, a gnomish Cleric/Illusionist/Thief! I will be taking her through SCS2 solo, but this is not a no-reload run, as the character is new and unfamiliar to me. Later tonight I will post on her initial progress.
The game still doesn't support a triple-class besides a FMT or FMC. But I can approximate the class by doing several things.
[spoiler]
I create a gnomish Illusionist/Thief and apply a custom SPCL ability (kit-based passive effect) which penalizes her XP by 33%. This gives her the same mage and thief level progression as a triple class, and will prevent her from reaching mage level 18, meaning no 9th-level spells, just like a triple class.
I duplicate various cleric spells and tweak them so that they are classified as mage spells. This means they are detected by the Cowled Wizards and are blocked by wearing armor, but I can assign them to my gnome with Shadowkeeper and she can cast them just like any cleric could. I create a ring that permanently doubles level 1 to 7 mage spell slots, and my gnome will dedicate half of those slots to cleric spells. She won't have exactly as many spells of each kind as a normal CMT, but it will be close.
Finally, I tweak a .2da table to let her add proficiencies in cleric weapons, and give her UAI so she can use helmets and such. She will still pick UAI as her first HLA, and until then, she won't be using items that a cleric/mage or cleric/thief could not use.
This gives me a character that has thieving abilities, cleric spells, mage spells, and a cleric's item restrictions, at least until we get UAI legally. She still can't Turn Undead, or cast cleric spells while wearing armor, and her HP, saving throws, and THAC0 will be slightly off, as well as her spell slots to some extent, but otherwise she will function just like a real Cleric/Mage/Thief.
I also have worked out how to create a Monk with some Stalker bonuses, an Avenger/Bounty Hunter, a Monk/Sorceror with a Barbarian kit on top, an Archer/Skald, and an Enchanter/Paladin. Normally these aren't possible, since dual- and multi-classing options are hardcoded, but you can get around this by using a similar character as a base and editing a CLAB file to ensure they get the right bonuses. For instance, to get an Archer/Skald, you add an Archer's THAC0, damage, and APR bonuses to the Skald kit's .2da file, give bards some extra proficiency points and the ability to attain grandmastery in missile weapons, and then create a Skald and apply an XP penalty to slow its growth. You have to have the right base, though: no character besides a bard is ever going to get a bard song, so any bard multiclass has to be based on a normal bard. Same goes for Turn Undead, restricted to clerics and paladins, and thieving skills, restricted to thieves.
[/spoiler]
Thus, we have Snowy Tae, a gnomish Cleric/Illusionist/Thief! I will be taking her through SCS2 solo, but this is not a no-reload run, as the character is new and unfamiliar to me. Later tonight I will post on her initial progress.
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BG2 Hardcore Playthrough (SCS/No Reload/No Resting)
Thought I'd do an update on my current playthrough, which I didn't think was possible but is still going strong.
It's the usual standard mods plus nearly all of SCS (no Improved Shade Lord is about the only omission). The variants are no reloading, no resting and no cheese (no running up and down stairs to avoid spells, simulacrums cannot use Quick Items etc). The only tweaks in my favour are No Traps & Locks and all items are identified.
I chose a Dwarven Berserker. Casters are useless without resting and with a Berseker I can continue to get more and more Enrages (which are key for survival) just through levelling up.
This was more an experimental run but it's turned out to be incredibly fun and a lot easier than I expected! I'm about to set off for Spellhold...here's the character.
[spoiler]![image]()
![image]()
![image]()
[/spoiler]
Level 34 already :0.
I blitzed through all Athkatla quests in about 3 days. Then did a full tour of the provinces, de'Arnise Keep, Umar Hills, Trademeet and Windspear Hills, before coming back to Athkatla and doing the Planar Sphere and Chapter 3 quests. Note that of the 14 days and 2 hours, nearly half that time is Cromwell upgrading stuff for me and 2 or 3 days were travel time. The actual adventuring has been done in about 5 days! It's just constant blitz when there's no resting, I'm going straight from one fight to another, which has the advantage of preserving buffs.
I've been fatigued since day 7 but it's hardly made a noticeable difference. When THAC0 is so low you only ever miss on a 1 and when AC is so good, most non-boss enemies can only hit on a 20.
The only Athkatla fights I haven't done so far are those for which I want the Cloak of Mirroring before attempting: Guarded Compound, the 3 liches across Athkatla, Kangaxx, the Twisted Rune and the Shadow Dragon (I had no consistent way to avoid level drain when I went to Umar Hills since Enrage only lasts 10 rounds - I have the upgraded Mace now so will do in Chapter 6). Firkraag was surprisingly easy - I used the Vhailor's Helm Simulacrum for that fight and then used a Restoration scroll on my clone. The sheer melee power of 2 level 26 Dwarven Berserkers was too much for the Dragon to handle, the fight lasted less than 30 seconds and I only used the clone's HLAs, didn't even need to touch my PCs GWWs.
I will continue to update as I progress into Spellhold. The key so far is potions, I buy every useful potion I can get my hands on and use them constantly to make the PC immune to as many status effects as possible.
So as I set off for Spellhold I'm about to get my only rest until the very end of SoA (the next one will be the transition from Suldanesselar to Hell)! When I get to Brynnlaw I will have 9 x Enrage, 3 x Hardiness, 1 x WW, 7 x GWW, 1 x Power Attack, 1 x Critical Strike and 1 x Smite to get me through the rest of the game, plus any gained through level ups (I'm playing without a XP cap but I believe I can still only get up to level 50, so only another 16 HLAs left). I also have a few 1 use per day items which will help, including the Iron Horn of Valhalla and Vhailor's Helm, plus 19 charges of Fireshield Red/Summon Fire Elemental from the Staff of Fire.
I didn't originally plan to do a write up for this playthrough since I didn't think it would last, but since I've got this far I will now post updates and take any questions on strategy and tactics![:)]( ":)")
.
It's the usual standard mods plus nearly all of SCS (no Improved Shade Lord is about the only omission). The variants are no reloading, no resting and no cheese (no running up and down stairs to avoid spells, simulacrums cannot use Quick Items etc). The only tweaks in my favour are No Traps & Locks and all items are identified.
I chose a Dwarven Berserker. Casters are useless without resting and with a Berseker I can continue to get more and more Enrages (which are key for survival) just through levelling up.
This was more an experimental run but it's turned out to be incredibly fun and a lot easier than I expected! I'm about to set off for Spellhold...here's the character.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]Level 34 already :0.
I blitzed through all Athkatla quests in about 3 days. Then did a full tour of the provinces, de'Arnise Keep, Umar Hills, Trademeet and Windspear Hills, before coming back to Athkatla and doing the Planar Sphere and Chapter 3 quests. Note that of the 14 days and 2 hours, nearly half that time is Cromwell upgrading stuff for me and 2 or 3 days were travel time. The actual adventuring has been done in about 5 days! It's just constant blitz when there's no resting, I'm going straight from one fight to another, which has the advantage of preserving buffs.
I've been fatigued since day 7 but it's hardly made a noticeable difference. When THAC0 is so low you only ever miss on a 1 and when AC is so good, most non-boss enemies can only hit on a 20.
The only Athkatla fights I haven't done so far are those for which I want the Cloak of Mirroring before attempting: Guarded Compound, the 3 liches across Athkatla, Kangaxx, the Twisted Rune and the Shadow Dragon (I had no consistent way to avoid level drain when I went to Umar Hills since Enrage only lasts 10 rounds - I have the upgraded Mace now so will do in Chapter 6). Firkraag was surprisingly easy - I used the Vhailor's Helm Simulacrum for that fight and then used a Restoration scroll on my clone. The sheer melee power of 2 level 26 Dwarven Berserkers was too much for the Dragon to handle, the fight lasted less than 30 seconds and I only used the clone's HLAs, didn't even need to touch my PCs GWWs.
I will continue to update as I progress into Spellhold. The key so far is potions, I buy every useful potion I can get my hands on and use them constantly to make the PC immune to as many status effects as possible.
So as I set off for Spellhold I'm about to get my only rest until the very end of SoA (the next one will be the transition from Suldanesselar to Hell)! When I get to Brynnlaw I will have 9 x Enrage, 3 x Hardiness, 1 x WW, 7 x GWW, 1 x Power Attack, 1 x Critical Strike and 1 x Smite to get me through the rest of the game, plus any gained through level ups (I'm playing without a XP cap but I believe I can still only get up to level 50, so only another 16 HLAs left). I also have a few 1 use per day items which will help, including the Iron Horn of Valhalla and Vhailor's Helm, plus 19 charges of Fireshield Red/Summon Fire Elemental from the Staff of Fire.
I didn't originally plan to do a write up for this playthrough since I didn't think it would last, but since I've got this far I will now post updates and take any questions on strategy and tactics
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Portraits for Jaheira and Khalid. Help me decide!
[spoiler]I have finally got around to a brand new full saga playthrough of Baldur's Gate (not that I ever really stopped playing BG since I've been playing in a RP'ing multiplayer game with forumites most weeks for almost a year now!), and now that I'm not playing blind anymore, I can actually plan ahead a bit!
[/spoiler]
I have been really struggling to make my mind up on portraits for Jaheira and Khalid, and so I've decided to ask for your help to make a decision!
The original BG and BG 2 artwork has really grown on me, although I am still not a fan of the "action/expressive" portraits of BG1, or Jaheria's BG 2 portrait. So in thinking about alternatives, I am considering the following factors...
1) Quality of artwork.
2) Does the picture capture the spirit of the character?
3) Does the picture fit in with the general style of other portraits? (For example I really like Artastrophe's portraits, but they do have a very distinct style, so I feel it has to be "all or nothing" in terms of using those portraits.)
To help with 3) here are the portraits I have already chosen for other core party members...
![image]()
Charname by Isandir
![image]()
Kivan (default)
![image]()
Neera by Nixxi
![image]()
Imoen*
*Incidentally does anyone know which artist was responsible for creating that Imoen portrait? I always like to know my BG artists!
So the options I am considering for:
Jaheira
A
![image]()
by Isandir
B
![image]()
by Synthia13
C
![image]()
by Isandir
Khalid
A
![image]()
Default (I always thought Khalid had one of the nicer defaults).
B
![image]()
by Isandir
So... thoughts and feedback? Please...?![:)]( ":)")
[/spoiler]
I have been really struggling to make my mind up on portraits for Jaheira and Khalid, and so I've decided to ask for your help to make a decision!
The original BG and BG 2 artwork has really grown on me, although I am still not a fan of the "action/expressive" portraits of BG1, or Jaheria's BG 2 portrait. So in thinking about alternatives, I am considering the following factors...
1) Quality of artwork.
2) Does the picture capture the spirit of the character?
3) Does the picture fit in with the general style of other portraits? (For example I really like Artastrophe's portraits, but they do have a very distinct style, so I feel it has to be "all or nothing" in terms of using those portraits.)
To help with 3) here are the portraits I have already chosen for other core party members...
Charname by Isandir
Kivan (default)
Neera by Nixxi
Imoen**Incidentally does anyone know which artist was responsible for creating that Imoen portrait? I always like to know my BG artists!
So the options I am considering for:
Jaheira
A
by IsandirB
by Synthia13 C
by IsandirKhalid
A
Default (I always thought Khalid had one of the nicer defaults).B
by IsandirSo... thoughts and feedback? Please...?
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why can't I play properly with a group
I just failed another no reload attempt with a "group" (minsc+sorc charname).
i died miserably in the main tent in the bandit camp.
It's a shame because i had some good fun so far.
But in the end i always end up dying in the hardest fights, unless i use the usual solo no reload tactics (=getting immune to everything), which kind of defeats the point of playing with several characters.
Is there any good tip you can share to make a successful group no reload run? or do I have to accept that groups are unsuitable for no-reload gameplay.
Thanks in advance
i died miserably in the main tent in the bandit camp.
It's a shame because i had some good fun so far.
But in the end i always end up dying in the hardest fights, unless i use the usual solo no reload tactics (=getting immune to everything), which kind of defeats the point of playing with several characters.
Is there any good tip you can share to make a successful group no reload run? or do I have to accept that groups are unsuitable for no-reload gameplay.
Thanks in advance
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Create a Character, Have Fun (Not being posted in Roleplay because that gets very little traffic)
A long time ago, I said I would post a discussion asking to create characters and elaborate on them. Now, finally it is here.
I need
1. Name
2. Alignment
3. Species
4. Class
5. One line that describes their personality that they would say
6. One line from another person that describes them
I need
1. Name
2. Alignment
3. Species
4. Class
5. One line that describes their personality that they would say
6. One line from another person that describes them
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Is there a way to assign custom portraits to non-joinable NPSs?
I know some mods do this. But is there a way for me to do it manually (with Vanilla and mod NPCs)?
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Baldur's Gate: The Next Generation
Let's try something different: design a character that is the offspring of your "prime" Bhaalspawn and his/her romance option (canonical or mod NPC, whatever works for you).
I'll start:
Zinnakhan: Half-Orc Blackguard
Daughter of Selene (elf sorceress) and Dorn il-Khan
![image]()
Zinnakhan's conception was an accident, her survival a trick of fate. Mere days before her birth, Selene was forced to kill Dorn during their final escape from Luskan; the infant resurfaced a month later in Waterdeep, under the protection of Selene's longtime ally Viconia deVir. Of the Last Bhaalspawn herself, nothing more was ever told.
Viconia raised Zinnakhan alongside her Sharran followers, until betrayal forced the priestess to slaughter the entire cult. In the chaos that followed, the half-orc was separated from her caretaker, and might have died in the wilderness if she had not been approached by a demon who claimed to have known her father...
I'll start:
Zinnakhan: Half-Orc Blackguard
Daughter of Selene (elf sorceress) and Dorn il-Khan
Zinnakhan's conception was an accident, her survival a trick of fate. Mere days before her birth, Selene was forced to kill Dorn during their final escape from Luskan; the infant resurfaced a month later in Waterdeep, under the protection of Selene's longtime ally Viconia deVir. Of the Last Bhaalspawn herself, nothing more was ever told.
Viconia raised Zinnakhan alongside her Sharran followers, until betrayal forced the priestess to slaughter the entire cult. In the chaos that followed, the half-orc was separated from her caretaker, and might have died in the wilderness if she had not been approached by a demon who claimed to have known her father...
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Your favorite quote
I'm sure we all agree Baldur's Gate is loaded with highly memorable quotes. Which one is your favorite?
"A cutthroat in every alley, but I’ll not let them take us alive!" As remarked in urban environments by my favorite bats**t insane necromancer in world, Xzar:3
"A cutthroat in every alley, but I’ll not let them take us alive!" As remarked in urban environments by my favorite bats**t insane necromancer in world, Xzar:3
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