New Life for Baldur's Gate?

[gundato]

The android version is what gets me hot and bothered. If there were a way to sync saves across the two, they would instantly get two sales from me.

[Lukasz]

Nehrim

yeah. i was referring to nehrim. is it really 100 hours? Have hard time believing that unless it involves lots and lots of trekking through randomly generated terrain.

but nehrim is not skyrim. different things completely. if they did skyrim and then Skyrim appeared and assuming the mod is of great quality +100h of fun, then i would question why would people buy skyrim if they already can get everything the new game offers.

so there is no comparison

@gundato
mate. try to make it simple.

BG:EE offers new npc
there is a mod for that. not exact, not similar. maybe of lesser quality
BG:EE offers a new dungeon and new quests
there are a lot of mods with quests, some good some bad. there isnt exact dungeon tough.

now
how does that differ from Skyrim.
Skyrim is a full game, new game. lots and lots of different stuff. i told you already i am not going to point out differences cause thats just stupid. Skyrim is not Oblivion with extra 3npcs, extra big quest. if it were i would argue the same thing.

for me
everything BGEE does except that multiplayer (and crossplatform) can be accomplished with mods. its not like any additions to BGEE are going to be canon or influence the story. they are just sidequests just like any fan mod even the worst kind.

What if they threw in all the platforms with the purchase of the game ANNND allowed cross-platform cloud saves. So I can play the same game on my PC in the evening and on an iPad on lunch break.

this would be such an amazing thing. i might buy ipad just for that.

[Smashbox]

Yep that. Come on cloud saves! Have they denied or confirmed anything on this?

[pakoito]

yeah. i was referring to nehrim. is it really 100 hours? Have hard time believing that unless it involves lots and lots of trekking through randomly generated terrain.

Well, believe it my friend. Handmade meaningful level design at its best.

[gundato]

but nehrim is not skyrim. different things completely. if they did skyrim and then Skyrim appeared and assuming the mod is of great quality +100h of fun, then i would question why would people buy skyrim if they already can get everything the new game offers.

@gundato
mate. try to make it simple.

BG:EE offers new npc
there is a mod for that. not exact, not similar. maybe of lesser quality
BG:EE offers a new dungeon and new quests
there are a lot of mods with quests, some good some bad. there isnt exact dungeon tough.

now
how does that differ from Skyrim.
Skyrim is a full game, new game. lots and lots of different stuff. i told you already i am not going to point out differences cause thats just stupid. Skyrim is not Oblivion with extra 3npcs, extra big quest. if it were i would argue the same thing.

for me
everything BGEE does except that multiplayer (and crossplatform) can be accomplished with mods. its not like any additions to BGEE are going to be canon or influence the story. they are just sidequests just like any fan mod even the worst kind.


this would be such an amazing thing. i might buy ipad just for that.

Skyrim has "lots and lots of different stuff": Okay, so do Oblivion mods. Apparently that neherim mod or whatever is pretty long

Again, if you want to argue that BGEE has less new content, feel free. You are correct. But the "it is stupid because everything can be done with mods" argument is just, well, "stupid".

But, I think I understand your argument on Skyrim now: Skyrim came in a new box. So that totally is something modders could NEVER do, so it is inherently a new game. BGEE is a digital release, so no box, so modders could have done it. Got it. Because the alternative is to keep watching you post "Skyrim is different, but it would be stupid of me to explain why even though every argument thus far has been countered"

[Smashbox]

From some TouchArcade article:

Other nuggets of information have been dropped on Trent Oster’s twitter page as well. Apparently cross-platform saving isn’t something that will ship with Baldur’s Gate: EE but it’s in the works and they hope to implement it sometime down the road. Also, more new characters and adventures are planned as future updates to support the game post-release.

[gundato]

Well, in that case, the only thing holding me back from the PC version is getting it on GoG (for a game like this, I don't want to deal with random trade-spammers making friend requests on Steam).

[Lukasz]

snip

box? what frigging box?

I am going to put it simple:

To make BG1 into BGEE you need
bgtutu or bgt
unfinished business mod
npc banter mod
bg2 tweaks and fixes mod
widescreen mod
the npc mod i listed
the big quest mod i listed.

thats for PC version of BGEE. sure. won't be exactly the same but very similar.

I don't own skyrim but i do own oblivion and morrowind.

therefore i ask you
what mods should i install to get an experience similar to skyrim with my copy of morrowind or oblivion.


and i do hope it comes to gog.

[gundato]

box? what frigging box?

I am going to put it simple:

To make BG1 into BGEE you need
bgtutu or bgt
unfinished business mod
npc banter mod
bg2 tweaks and fixes mod
widescreen mod
the npc mod i listed
the big quest mod i listed.

thats for PC version of BGEE. sure. won't be exactly the same but very similar.

I don't own skyrim but i do own oblivion and morrowind.

therefore i ask you
what mods should i install to get an experience similar to skyrim with my copy of morrowind or oblivion.


and i do hope it comes to gog.

And, I have mentioned this repeatedly, but I'll do it again

Key features of Skyrim over Oblivion: Dual wielding and a different skill tree system.
Key features of Oblivion over Morrowind (just for poops and giggles): Non RNG based combat

Mods required for Oblivion: OBSE with a mod to let you trigger spell-like effects instead of blocking. Also, you probably want the combat moves (?) mod so that you get the special attacks. And if you want the new skill system, get a mod with a new leveling system (there are dozens...).
Mods required for Morrowind: MWSE with the mod to make combat not RNG based. One of the mount mods (admittedly, those were all buggy as crap). And get a new skill/leveling system if you want it.

Mechanically, we are only differing in terms of polish at this point (which is true of your BG example).

So now we need new content.
For oblivion, that is trivial: Neherem or whatever the mod previously mentioned was. And you can also tack on as many quest/NPC/item mods as your heart desires.
For Morrowind: Been a while since I did a mod run, but I think Wizard's Isle was a pretty good mod in terms of new landmasses. And again, tack on as many new quest/item/npc mods as you want.

As I have been saying: You can get the same (less polished) mechanics through mods, and then it is just a matter of adding new content. And, for the umpteenth time: if you are going to complain that you aren't in the "land of the nords", I can EASILY complain that you aren't adventuring with Bill and Ted in the new BGEE dungeon.

The key difference that distinguishes a fan-mod from something from the devs: Polish. And that is really it.

[Lukasz]

snip

i want skyrim in my oblivion or morrowind.
not only mechanics, not only leveling system, not only npc, not only dragons

and neherem is different game. it is not skyrim.

I want Skyrim in my oblivion.

I want to choose legion and slaughter nords in windehelm, i want to fight that dragon aludidng or whatever his name was. i want to hear knee joke so i can foshrodah a guy for it...
and so on
not just mechanic

i want full skyrim game. doesn't need to be exactly the same. just 90% the same.
what mods should i get?

tell me that to shut up me.


and why you are bringing neherem into that? thats completely different game. what does it have to do with skyrim?

[gundato]

i want skyrim in my oblivion or morrowind.
not only mechanics, not only leveling system, not only npc, not only dragons

and neherem is different game. it is not skyrim.

I want Skyrim in my oblivion.

I want to choose legion and slaughter nords in windehelm, i want to fight that dragon aludidng or whatever his name was. i want to hear knee joke so i can foshrodah a guy for it...
and so on
not just mechanic

i want full skyrim game. doesn't need to be exactly the same. just 90% the same.
what mods should i get?

tell me that to shut up me.


and why you are bringing neherem into that? thats completely different game. what does it have to do with skyrim?

Okey dokeys then.

I want the BGEE NPCs in my BG1. And I want the new dungeon. Give me those, and you can say it is a mod (by the standards you have put forward). I don't mean I want new NPCs and new dungeons, because apparently that isn't enough. I want THOSE NPCs and THAT dungeon. And I better get all the voice acting and every single quest.

So, by your definition: BGEE cannot be reproduced with mods ,and Skyrim cannot be reproduced with mods. I'm okay with this one, because it still proves my point that saying "I can get that sequel/remake with mods" is stupid.

[NathanH]

OK, guys, this is just getting silly now.

[gundato]

Indeed. it DID get very circular (considering I made that exact argument in the second or third response...).

And yeah, price wise, this is probably acceptable. 20 bucks for what is basically the original with a small expansion and katanas.

[Lukasz]

Okey dokeys then.

I want the BGEE NPCs in my BG1. And I want the new dungeon. Give me those, and you can say it is a mod (by the standards you have put forward). I don't mean I want new NPCs and new dungeons, because apparently that isn't enough. I want THOSE NPCs and THAT dungeon. And I better get all the voice acting and every single quest.

So, by your definition: BGEE cannot be reproduced with mods ,and Skyrim cannot be reproduced with mods. I'm okay with this one, because it still proves my point that saying "I can get that sequel/remake with mods" is stupid.

yeah. nathanH is right. lets finish it.

last thing: I said something similar. not exact. you give me something completely different to skyrim. if you ask nicely on modding forum and you will get npc from BGEE. it is jut an issue of replacing stats and picture for existing npc.
you want something exactly the same. seeing as we don't know what that is, you are asking impossibility. we can get something similar which was my point, is something i mentioned few times.
you cannot get something similar to skyrim in oblivion. you can get aspects of that game into oblivion, thats all. Thats why your argument is just bemusing.


ANYHOW
any MAC expert here? are macintosh computers much different to windows in terms of files? Is it hard to make save files work both on mac and win or have a easy automatic converter?

[gundato]

And if you "ask nicely" on the TES forums I am sure someone will recreate the NPCs and maybe even the quests. And apparently someone already did the landmass.
And aren't the NPCs in EE supposed to have quests too? I imagine that is going to be a bit of effort.



As for save files: It depends on how they handle it. But if they are planning multiple platforms from the start, odds are they will have a compatible save format as well (it is just a file they write to). The main issue is just how different the different versions are, but signs point to it being feasible.

[pakoito]

XMLishfiles and dropbox-like save service? No problem.

[Smashbox]

Ah, not for mobile versions, though.

[Dubbill]

They are doing an overhaul of the UI which isn't something modders haven't been able to fix, or haven't fixed for whatever reason. It's still in progress which is why all the screenshots released so far are sans UI. If they can smooth out the performance and have it scale correctly, that'll be worth a few pounds of my money. Add to that the convenience of the fixes and the new characters and content and I'll happily pay the launch price.

[TheApologist]

I've been waiting for BGEE for months now as an excuse to get back into Baldur's Gate. I nearly finished the first one, and never managed to get as far as I wanted into the second. This thread has inspired me not to wait, but to take advantage of summer quiet and pick them both up again from GoG, and apply the various mods advocated here and on the GoG forum. Was playing BG last night (in the BG2 engine with various elements of restored content and the BG2 different class kits available) and having a blast.

Thanks guys!

[Fumarole]

New screenies showing the UI. Doesn't look all that different to me.