Baldurs Gate vs Baldurs Gate : Enhanced?

[DanielCoffey]

I would like to solicit opinions about the two main versions of Baldurs Gate... the original by Atari and the newer Enhanced Edition.

 

I should state that I currently own the original Baldurs Gate 4-in-1 box set with both BG and BG2 with both their official expansions for Windows . I have no idea where I picked it up but I have a vague memory that it was free (or practically free) with something else.

 

Considering just Baldurs Gate for the moment, would you advise sticking with the original, modding it for BG-tutu or BG-WeiDU, widescreen (at 1280x720) and Unfinished Business or paying for Baldurs Gate : Enhanced Edition instead?

 

Given that I prefer to do most of my casual gaming on Linux, are the tutu/WeiDU and widescreen mods available for Linux players? I know that GoG.com has a good offer on BG for Linux.

[Nebulous112]

Oh Baldur's Gate II...I remember very fondly the community for the Darkest Day. Modding before it was called modding. I loved those folks.

 

Anyway, back to reality: I looked up the differences in the Enhanced Edition and the regular edition for BGII a while back, and I found that the Baldurdash fixes were included. That's about as far as I got in my research, though. I did buy both extended editions on Steam, for nostalgia alone.

 

No actual idea about your questions, sorry. I was just taking a trip down memory lane...

[Greg]

It looks as if at least some mods are compatible with the enhanced edition and it is easier to setup than tutu. There is a somewhat interesting discussion of this here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/13670/bg-ee-or-bgtutu-bgt

 

I have Baldur's Gate I and II on CD here, but I never really played them much.

[Spock]

Afaik they fixed some engine bugs in the EE, but they probably also introduced a few new ones. There is also a list of EE compatible mods. If I recollect this correctly, WeiDU is an .exe install system, so I would guess it is not Linux compatible. But I'm a Linux noob.

 

There is a compatible mod list for BG II:

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/23726/bgii-ee-compatible-mod-list

 

After a very quick search I only found outdated BG I versions of that list.

 

What are you looking for? Content addons? Rebalance mods?

[DanielCoffey]

Thanks for the thoughts and reminiscences.

 

Having watched a few Lets Plays of BG:EE, I decided to get the Linux version of BG:EE from Steam. I am actually very impressed with the work on the UI  and it looks like it may even work with my Wacom tablet too which is a bonus.

 

What I am looking for now is a list of what you would consider the "first playthrough, essentials" mods such as restored content, NPC interactions and similar. Is there the equivalent of the Nexus for BG:EE somewhere? I can find a few disparate sites with, as you say, many out of date or BG classic-only mods.

[Spock]

As far as I can tell there are some restored banter mods with maybe one or two new quest dialogue options, but the amount of content added is very, very little compared with what is already there. Besides, I do not know if or how how BG mods are packaged for Linux.

 

The other thing with BG is difficulty. With some system mastery the difficulty will become trivially easy, especially with some of the crazy overpowered BG II artifacts. There is a great mod to fix that, which mostly enhances AI, it is called Sword Coast Stratagems. But that one makes Mages brutally hard, especially in BG II.

I would say you could use it for a first play through if you are a min-maxer who is o.k. with some non-spoiler advice and likes a serious challenge.

[DanielCoffey]

I do know that linux is case sensitive and that there are issues with WeiDU to do with it wanting paths that are all lower but the mods themselves wanting cased paths. Various scripts have been written to parse the file tree, store it, tolower the filesnames, run WeiDU and then restore the file names from the parsed tree.

 

For now then I'll stick purely vanilla although I have submitted my first bug to do with the world map locations being faint and pixellated even when discovered.

[redirishlord]

Regarding Baldur's Gate EE, there's a 25 hour long DLC "Siege of Dragonspear" that bridges the gap between BG:EE & BG2:EE. You can import/export your character through all three. Available March 31, have a look on the Beamdog site.

[GrantSP]

Want to see just how bad an expansion to a much-loved classic can be?

See what GOG.com is offering the unsuspecting player today - BALDUR'S GATE: SIEGE OF DRAGONSPEAR

[Uhuru]

Claasic free with Enhanced

 

Just got an update to the GOG enhanced editions, where I was also gifted the classic versions, so that settles this question,  for new buyers.

 

The new question is

I already have the GOG classic versions of BG and BG2, so who wants the free codes.

First post requesting, will get a PM with the pair of codes.

 

Icewind Dale EE also gives free code, so that classic version will go to another poster

 

First post can choose BG pair or ID

[GrantSP]

I never look a gift horse in the mouth so, if they are still up for offer, I'll take the BG ones please.

[Uhuru]

No one else has responded, so I'm giving GrantSP the Icewind Dale key as well.

Not because hes STEP Staff, because he's MistakenMystic on Nexus, and the most active helper on MO forums.

So sorry keys are gone.

I will add that when GOG gives me free keys, for games I already own, I will not offer them on GOG in future, they will be given to a STEP/MO user in this Gaming thread.

[JUNKdeLUXE]

Hear hear !!!

 

Baldurs Gate is my absolute favorite game.. even today (close second is Skyrim). I also have both BG and BGEE and I still can't figure out which is the best of the 2 (for a heavy modder).

[Spock]

Hear hear !!!

 

Baldurs Gate is my absolute favorite game.. even today (close second is Skyrim).

Mine is NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer followed by Knights of the Old Republic. I never got around to finish Planescape:Torment but the world and dialogue is saw was amazing.

[redirishlord]

Mine is NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer followed by Knights of the Old Republic. I never got around to finish Planescape:Torment but the world and dialogue is saw was amazing.

If you decide to take the Torment plunge, GOG forums have a page of mod instructions to scale up the resolution, tweak the ui & bugfix / add cut content. KOTR blew my mind back in the day, great game. Love NWN for the D&D ruleset, where else can I get some hot 3.5 action? Pillars of Eternity is nice, but I don't have that same connection to the rules & lore.