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So that I don't derail RBT again...

Discussion in 'Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition' started by Taluntain, Jan 24, 2014.

  1. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Well, now that I've been playing BG:EE for a while I'm much more happy with it. A restart of the game seems to have fixed the sound issue, fortunately, and the rest of the game is a fun trip down the memory lane. I can't believe it's been more than 12 years since I last played BG1... one thing that they really should have left in there was the "Save early, save often!" warnings, though. I'm reminded just how important that is every time I don't have a recent save game to revert to when one (or more) of my party members gets killed. Not exactly friendly to new players who don't know the drill and would probably get frustrated with the game when they didn't have a recent save to go back to. The help tips could be displayed after saving the game, so I don't really get why they removed all of them altogether.
     
  2. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Yeah, the save early, save often drill is ingrained in me from over 30 years of playing these games, so I don't even think twice about that. New players who are only dealing with newer games (more frequent autosaves) probably don't have a clue on that.
     
  3. Blades of Vanatar

    Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    PC and party specifics please?!

    If you haven't tried him out yet, I highly recommend Dorn. He is very unique compared to the original PCs. Lot's of fun and can be your main basher. Neera is pretty good as well. Nice quest they created for her. Baeloth is....not necessary.

    I also enjoyed fooling around in the Black Pits. It can be quite challenging if you choose a party that is not min/maxed. Try recreating your actual party from the game itself. I tried an all Dwarf team, which meant no arcane spell-casters. Very challenging. Of courser with the lack of pics available for Dwarves, there were two sets of Twins, "Thunder Twins" to you Realmsian fanatics! :p
     
  4. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I suggest a all 'New NPC's' party.
    So that at least you'll have cross-bantering NPC's in your party.
    Which is nice. Or otherwise you are stuck with the old mutes and some talkative newbies.

    Since we established in another thread that BG:Ee is a tad easier than the real deal, there i no need for powergaming.
     
  5. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Right now my PC is a human Fighter (probably better than any NPC) and I've got Khalid & Jaheira, Branwen, Imoen and Neera. I would probably have taken Dorn if there was actually any way to do so earlier, but short of a 3-sentence exchange in the FAI where he basically told me to take a hike, I'm still waiting for an opportunity. Not exactly the best of introductions for a new NPC if you actually want anyone to use them. Neera literally gets shoved in your face by contrast. She's almost more trouble than she's worth right now, but I'm hoping that that'll improve with time. I could easily ditch Khalid, but I like having two healers and Jaheira is so far the only one available. The new monk seemed a bit meh so I didn't take him...

    I'm still noticing occasional slowdowns and stuttering of the characters (for instance around the jellies in Ulcaster), which is really disappointing. Some spells like the AOE web also seem to have the sound level completely off, because they're 5x as loud as everything else - I literally have to turn the volume down every time I'm around those spider traps because if one goes off, that deafening boom starts shaking my whole table. I've also noticed combat sounds going completely mute in certain fights - no thuds, slashes or anything. These are annoyances, sure, but they are noticeable and simply shouldn't be there after 2 years of patching. Oh and I also noticed that when they re-did the world map, they forgot to draw the road going from BG down to Nashkel and splitting off to Candlekeep. Lack of attention to detail, I guess.

    The pathfinding seems much better now, though. The characters still get stuck occasionally or take ridiculously long detours for some reason, but I seem to remember there being much more of that in the original than now.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2014
  6. Blades of Vanatar

    Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Regarding Dorn, don't worry, the surprise is coming soon. The FAI is just an introduction to him.

    Are you a fan of the Black Company books by Glen Cook? Looks like the devs for BGEE are...;)
     
  7. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Can't say I am as I haven't read any yet. :D
     
  8. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Haha, that surprise just came - nice timing with that post. :D

    Dorn certainly looks overpowering but I'm having doubts about an evil character in the party... how does he play along with Neera and a good party?
     
  9. Nobleman Gems: 27/31
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    I miss getting stuck in the fences in Beregost :) Good luck with the party. A little evil in a party is never dull. I always felt most comfortable with two healers. They can pack a punch if need be.
     
  10. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    As a complete aside Tal, you owe it to yourself to read the Black Company books.

    Carry on.
     
  11. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I can't say I have stuttering or missing sounds in BG:EE anymore, but some spells are truly deafening compared to some.
    And since I usually game with my fancy headphones, it makes me jump or cringe on occasion.

    Meh. Tinnitus ahoy. ;)
     
  12. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Well, I've taken Dorn and Kicked out Khalid & Jaheira... at this point I don't really need a second healer, but maybe later. Dorn packs such a punch that it's silly, pretty much everything that he mows down gets chunkified with pieces of flesh and gore flying all over the screen. Maybe I'll take the new monk along just to see his quest since I've got a free spot in the party now.
     
  13. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Yikes, talk about disappointing when it comes to Neera's quest. The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes and with very little reward. And not even supplying the entire map of goblins with a few grunted responses, but rather leaving them with "Goblin has nothing to say to you."... that's just half-assed, along with piling some useless items on top of a very difficult to spot quest hot spot - that doesn't show unless you pick up said items - which you never would if you're higher than say level 3. A shame because otherwise the area and the encounters are quite decent, but polish is obviously not Beamdog's strong suit. The lack of any location markers on the map just adds to the feeling of the area being incomplete.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2014
  14. Keneth Gems: 29/31
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    Because the saving/loading is instantaneous, and the log window is cluttered enough as it is.

    An unfortunate consequence of that is that I started saving and loading too often. I found myself pressing Q every 5 seconds, and loading the game on every failed check because it was faster than waiting a full round to try again.

    As for the new quests, yeah, they're worse than many of the mods I've played. The fight with the red wizards was somewhat challenging, although silence and hopelessness/sleep/hold person/fear/etc. applied liberally pretty much solve every problem in the game (that's D&D for ya).
     
  15. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    The log window is much less cluttered by default now, plus saving/reloading clears it so that's not really a valid reason. They could have even made it into floating tooltips that'd disappear after a few seconds, for example. The loading screens also had some nice art that is never seen anywhere now. That kind of complete content removal irks me a bit.

    Oh yeah, instantaneous saving and loading is VERY convenient... almost too much so, hehe. I'm not sure whose idea was that the log window never shows the actual log if you expand it until you click on the top button again... I'm having to do that constantly and it's really stupid. Is there a mod to fix this?
     
  16. Keneth Gems: 29/31
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    There are plenty of ways they could have implemented it, but it really wasn't needed. Even more than a decade ago, my game loaded fast enough that I couldn't even manage to read the hints anyway. It could be a quaint little mod to implement the hints in some manner again. Maybe a usable item that spits out a random hint or something. Sadly there's no GameLoaded() trigger, although it might be possible to approximate something like that.

    I don't see any problem with the log. If you need to look at it, you're gonna be scrolling up anyway. Changing the way text is displayed would require changing the binaries, which isn't worth the hassle.
     
  17. Blades of Vanatar

    Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Dorn is monster with 19 STR and his 2-Hander. But also vulnerable to damage against tougher foes. Avg Dex and no shield make him very hittable. I loved what they did with his sword special ability.

    If you go with Rasaad, his stats are average at best. Though I like that in a PC tbh. The more challenge the better I say. His story is good but long. It's real good in BG2EE. Neera works with anyone.
     
  18. Keneth Gems: 29/31
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    Rasaad is probably one of the worst characters in the game, mechanically speaking. Low-level monks are pretty horrible, even with the kit he received later, and his stats don't do him any favors either.
     
  19. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I took Rasaad along and he deals decent damage, but I need to keep him out of reach often because with no protection just a few arrows can kill him, which isn't much fun. Dorn left my party after my rep shot to 20 as a quest reward... and I don't have a recent save to go back to. :doh: It's really annoying that there's no "sensible" way to lower rep in the game.
     
  20. Blades of Vanatar

    Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Yep, that sucks. I always wished there was an option to payoff evil characters or something of that nature so you could keep them while having a high rep. But, these games have limits, I guess.:confused:

    I used Dorn in an all-evil party, including myself as an Evil Skald, Edwin, Monty, Xzar and Viconia. He was "fun..".:cool:

    I match Neera with a Dragon Disciple PC, Rasaad, Xan, Imoen and a Quayle. Fireworks galore with Rasaad decoying.
     
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