Save your Cash and Play the Better Version

[{Garett}]

Just a note to say that the finest and best way to play the Baldurs Gate games is by buying the boxed set DVD cheap (or off GOG), complete versions up to the Throne of Bhaal expansion. You then apply the BGT mod patch that combines all the games into one single game allowing playthrough from BG1 all the way to the end of BG2 ToB - http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/54-baldurs-gate-trilogy-weidu-116/ and after patching simply apply the widescreen mod to it - http://www.gibberlings3.net/widescreen/ done... You now have a far bigger, better game than the one here for less price. This is the way to play Baldurs Gate complete, not some shoddy handheld device afterthought with stuff added that no one wanted or asked for.

[Blurt]

Thats what I did. Even put BGT onto my android tablet. Takes a bit to get used to doing stuff with the touch screen but rather impressed it worked with no trouble

[ein]

Agree about playing the original, but you've only made half the case. What's inferior about this version, apart from just being the first game?

Shoddy is also a pretty strong word, and suggesting that we're getting app store shovelware is sort of bizarre. This means the handheld version was never a port of the original but made from scratch. How does that work?

[Aro]

I played this game back when it first came out. Awesome game...
but I've tried to play it multiple times since then both with the GOG versions and the BGEE (which I bought outside of steam). Multiplayer kept crashing in the BGEE after we got a bit into the game, which really sucked. Even the GOG version had a lot of problems.

The moral of the story? This was a great game but that's all in the past. It's no fun playing any game that crashes...most of all an RPG that you have to sink a ton of time into. Oh well.

[cimerians]

Amen brother. I agree. Get it from GOG and patch it.

[Elazul]

I spent $20 and got the entire D&D anthology off of GOG on their last big sale over the holidays. That is 6+ games for the cost of just this one game non-sale price. Hell the original BG1 just by itself is as cheap as this sale price. This version is completely lazy. You don't get anything that a free mod doesn't already provide. The only thing they got that the original doesn't is a new game mode which doesn't add anything to the story and is only accessible through the menu. Screw the "enhanced" version. The only thing being enhanced is the lazy developers wallets with your purchases of this version.

[Der Ungrund]

Personally, I'd get both. The Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate is basically just BG modded and with multiplayer, but I still like to support the project as I like it whenever a company spends the resources to update classics. Plus, it's not shovel ware or a bad port by anymeans. There are new characters, a new arena mode (which isn't that great, but it's still there), it supports higher resolutions and new operating systems, and has a bunch of bug fixes out of the box. If you do get BG1 from GOG you can do most of that stuff, but you are going to have to do a significant amount of modding on your own to put all that stuff in.

I mean, I love GOG too, but I also like it when studios actually put money into restoring old games. I wish game companies would start treating their back catalogue more like movie studios treat theirs. Movie studios will restore and put movies on Blu-Ray that are 80-90 years old. But with game studios, if something is even 5 years old they forget about supporting it in any degree.

[Daemoc]

^^ What he said.

I think as digital distribution becomes more mainstream, you will see more of this. And it will be a good thing.

[Namo Amida Buddha]

Автор сообщения: Der Ungrund

Personally, I'd get both. The Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate is basically just BG modded and with multiplayer, but I still like to support the project as I like it whenever a company spends the resources to update classics. Plus, it's not shovel ware or a bad port by anymeans. There are new characters, a new arena mode (which isn't that great, but it's still there), it supports higher resolutions and new operating systems, and has a bunch of bug fixes out of the box. If you do get BG1 from GOG you can do most of that stuff, but you are going to have to do a significant amount of modding on your own to put all that stuff in.

I mean, I love GOG too, but I also like it when studios actually put money into restoring old games. I wish game companies would start treating their back catalogue more like movie studios treat theirs. Movie studios will restore and put movies on Blu-Ray that are 80-90 years old. But with game studios, if something is even 5 years old they forget about supporting it in any degree.

I totally agree with Der Ungrund. The point is to support the studio. And let the industry realizes that players want more enhanced classics.

[Blurt]

If I wasnt comfortable with modding/troubleshooting I would buy it. But since I own all the BG stuff I just cant bring myself to pay for it again. Each to their own though.

[Tacred]

Автор сообщения: Elazul

I spent $20 and got the entire D&D anthology off of GOG on their last big sale over the holidays. That is 6+ games for the cost of just this one game non-sale price. Hell the original BG1 just by itself is as cheap as this sale price. This version is completely lazy. You don't get anything that a free mod doesn't already provide. The only thing they got that the original doesn't is a new game mode which doesn't add anything to the story and is only accessible through the menu. Screw the "enhanced" version. The only thing being enhanced is the lazy developers wallets with your purchases of this version.

Im not seeing D&d anthology in a search on GoG. Are you sure you got it there?

[ein]

Here's what I've been up to for about the last hour and a half. I especially enjoyed looking for the readme at the Spellhold site.

http://i.imgur.com/3hECHOO.png

The excitement is only just beginning. Others will no doubt wish to join me. Don't forget to set your himem.sys path!

tl;dr thanks for nothing

[{Garett}]

If it's taking that long you've done something wrong. I was playing the game in under 10 minutes, the majority of that time was disk swapping and installing. Don't know what you've done for it to be taking over an hour but grats on your patience! http://www.shsforums.net/topic/46256-bgt-installation/ might help you out. There's a load of stuff out there to walk you through the install step by step.

[ein]

With the readme missing it was unclear that this all happens within the BG2 directory, and that the Trilogy setup then grabs what it needs out of BG1. The installer simply asks for your Infinity Engine directory.

It's still unclear to me (based on the GOG instructions, which were the most comprehensive I've found; plus I have the GOG version) whether BG1 needs fixing at all, since the recommended modding for that game is supposed to happen after the Trilogy installer has done most of its business. But I never had a problem with BG1 in its original form (nor did I like it much) so we're probably fine leaving that as it is.

Thanks for the link just the same. I do doubt your total of 10 minutes if you're using the original disks; it took that long for me to run the GOG installers and the patchers alone. God help you if you started off in the default install directory.

But in the end it was probably worth the trouble, and I take back 10% or maybe 20% of the grumbling tone in my previous post.

[{Garett}]

Hehe, good it's all sorted then. BGT lifts the entirety of BG1 and TSC from the old engine into the new one and you're fine to uninstall the old BG1 once it's all sorted as well. It really was all sorted in 10 minutes here, I know this as I recently reinstalled win 7 and slapped the game back on, I guess it's dependent on PC speed and load etc. One thing that might be causing a problem is that althought I know this works on the GoG version i've only converted using the dvd complete set, so the procedure might be different in that sense - i've no idea if GoG have tweaked it themselves in some way that might mess with something.

[Turbo Nozomix]

People should never bash classic game re-releases. The player-base for classic games dwindles every year, and these re-releases spark massive new life into these games, and greatly spreads knowledge of them. It's a blessing and exciting that all these re-releases are now happening.