Custom PC & NPC Portraits

June 1, 2015, 2:35 am

≫ Next: Simple Journal Fixes (BG1EE, SoD, BG2EE)

≪ Previous: Looking for dedicated players☺

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This discussion was created from comments split from: LadyRhian's too many pictures for any thread.....

Note: Edited to fix name of thread because of a mistake when merging threads. Apologies.

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Simple Journal Fixes (BG1EE, SoD, BG2EE)

March 19, 2017, 10:56 am

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≪ Previous: Custom PC & NPC Portraits

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Hello,

The new journal in the EEs is not yet fixed and even if my UI mod fix most of the issues, some people may want to use another UI setup. So I decided to extract and post here all the fixes I have.

I will focus only on fixes, no usability or graphical changes. This way, anyone will be able to use them in their own mod.

Tagging @AncientCowboy to see if he can include these in EEUITweaks

Fix for information entries

This first fix will ensure that information entries are always show in the journal.

Search for:
table.sort(quest.objectives,compareByRecvTime)
And after this line, add :

if stateType == const.ENTRY_TYPE_INFO then
	local entry = buildEntry(journalId, recvTime, stateType, chapter, timeStamp)
	table.insert(looseEntries,entry)
end

Fix for No Objective Text

This fix the infamous bug where some entries start with 'No Objective Text'.

For BG1EE or BG2EE, search for:
if(objective.text == Infinity_FetchString(quest.text)) then
And replace the line with:
if(objective.text == Infinity_FetchString(quest.text) or objective.text == nil) then

For SoD, you need to add this:

if(objective.text == Infinity_FetchString(quest.text) or objective.text == nil) then
	objective.text = objective.entries[1].timeStamp
end

Before this line:
if(objective.stateType ~= const.ENTRY_TYPE_INFO) then

Fix for empty entries

This fix will hide quest entries that contains no objective.

Search for:
return (questDisplay[row] and questDisplay[row].quest and containsChapter(questDisplay[row].chapters,chapter) and (#questDisplay[row].children > 0))

And replace the line with:
return (questDisplay[row] and questDisplay[row].quest and containsChapter(questDisplay[row].chapters,chapter) and childrenContainsChapter(questDisplay[row].children))

And before the function 'questEnabled', add:

function childrenContainsChapter(children)
	for k,v in pairs(children) do
		if containsChapter(questDisplay[v].chapters,chapter) then
			return true
		end
	end
	return nil
end

Fix for journal popup

This fix will only display the first few lines in the journal popup so that the text is always readable.

Search for:

label
{
	area 92 36 348 26
	text lua "getSubtitleString()"
	text style "label"
	text align left center
	text point 14
	text color D
}

label
{
	area 20 64 472 62
	text lua "getBodyString()"
	text style "normal"
	text align left center
}

And replace these lines with:

text
{
	area 92 36 348 26
	text lua "getSubtitleString()"
	text style "label"
	text align left top
	text point 14
	text color D
	scrollbar 'GUISCRC'
	scrollbar hide lua "1"
}

text
{
	area 20 64 468 62
	text lua "getBodyString()"
	text style "normal"
	text align left top
	scrollbar 'GUISCRC'
	scrollbar hide lua "1"
}

Green again

March 20, 2017, 6:04 pm

≫ Next: Problem z levelowaniem

≪ Previous: Simple Journal Fixes (BG1EE, SoD, BG2EE)

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OK, after getting busy with work, vacations, and stuff, it seems that while I occasionally hang out in the forum, I've not actually played the game in around 12 months or so - so putting matters to rights, I picked up my crazy 97-point elven archer (105-point after the Tomes) and set forth into BG2EE.

I am SO out of practice!

Early plan of grab my party up front so they share xp seemed to work - Jaheira from Chateau Irenicus, then Jan without encounters, before grabbing Aerie, and then Rasaad - who will be my front line. The rotating 6th spot lets me complete all NPC quests before setting on Neera in the final slot.

So far so good - we clean up the copper coronet, slowly, so Anomen has embraced his daddy troubles. Time to dump him for Cernd, and clear out the druids grove for hopefully a couple of +2 weapons...

At this point, I should mention that I am happy to metagame enough to pick an order for quests, but try to avoid too much knowledge and shooting off-screen etc. while playing the game itself. Dimming memories help lose the details anyway

Also, I am an inveterate hoarder, and will not sell anything to a store unless it is in stacks of 50 in some kind of bag, so there is a certain graveyard quest I want to get to, which will need +2 weapons...

So here I am, at 9th level, strolling into some early game content, and having my butt kicked something chronic!!

Trolls are eating me alive. Maybe I have the wrong party for dealing fire damage with 2 mages, 2 druids casting flaming sword (and one summing fiery elementals) and a fireshielded monk with flaming fists. Nope, that can't be it. Darn, that means it must be me then!

Maybe having 2/3 of my party under stone/ironskin leaves me vulnerable (the the non-skinned includes an archer - clearly destined for melee)? Nope, it must be me.

Maybe I am just taking so much damage I can't heal, with a cleric and 2 druids loaded with healing spells, stacks of 24 potions of extra healing, and a monk with lay-on hands. Darn, no, it must be me!

Maybe the problem is that I have turned the difficulty all the way up to standard (not core) rules, so I have max hit rolls and the monsters are wimps? Nope - still no other choice - it MUST be me!!!

No idea what I am doing so wrong, but loving that I am doing it so badly, as I have so much potential to learn again! I already "know" from other threads that I specializing the wrong (long) bow, but need around another million xp before I need to decide short bow or firetooth for the next mastery. I can see that my party might not have the synergies I had hoped for, and while it is still early enough to change plans, I am stubborn and going to see it through.

I suspect this is yet another PC who will die of boredom in ToB - a game I have never managed to get going with, but should make it to the end of BG2EE again, eventually, unless ME:Andromeda sucks me away for an extended period later this week.

Anyone else got stories of coming back to BG2 after a long spell away, and finding it harder to get back in the swing of things than you remember?

Or is it just me?

Problem z levelowaniem

March 21, 2017, 11:00 am

≫ Next: Do You Cheat? (What Is Considered Cheating?)

≪ Previous: Green again

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Witam

Podczas gry w SOD natrafiłem na problem z uzyskaniem nowego levelu. W BG EE grałem z różnymi modami wieloklasowcem F/M/T i grę rozpocząłem na 11/12/15 poziomie. Oczywiście usunąłem limit plikami zamieszczonymi na tym forum ale nie mogę teraz zatwierdzić nowego poziomu - przycisk gotowe jest nieaktywny, liczba umiejętności 0, punkty biegłości 0.
Czy ktoś ma pomysł jak to rozwiązać ?

Do You Cheat? (What Is Considered Cheating?)

January 7, 2014, 3:59 am

≫ Next: Is there a canonical BG2 party? Or, help me decide on a party.

≪ Previous: Problem z levelowaniem

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Just curious if anyone out there, like me, occasionally uses cheats or editing to correct user error, etc.

For example, whenever i playthrough baldurs gate, and i make a user error on proficiencies or stats or what not, i respec my character's sometimes. I go into eekeeper and - a skill/proficiency, and then + another one...Sort of like backtracking.

I also occasionally use the teleport cheat if i have already discovered the area . Just because i am to impatient to walk there. IE: Teleport from west beregost to east beregost.

Just curious, what cheats everyone else uses, if any, and what you truly consider cheating...

Too me, truly cheating is obtaining a value, item, etc that you wouldn't normally have, abusing the game for combat gain, etc. What do you guys think?

Is there a canonical BG2 party? Or, help me decide on a party.

March 15, 2017, 1:32 pm

≫ Next: [MOD] Revised Dragon Scale UI for SoD (V2)

≪ Previous: Do You Cheat? (What Is Considered Cheating?)

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In BG1 it's simple: Imoen, Jaheira & Khalid, Minsc & Dynaheir. I've also read that canonically you travel with some other NPCs for a while, but that's the party you start with and evidently end the story with, given it's the party captured by Irenicus. It's a pretty well-rounded party too. Playing good alignment, it's my party of preference.

Is there a comparable setup for BG2? Jaheira and Minsc are with you, and as far as I understand Yoshimo is supposed to be kind of canon, given the things that happen with him later on. But other than that, is it safe to say it's left open?

As my main char is half mage and Jaheira half druid, I think Aerie is a fine addition, so I decided that I want to keep her. Available at the start, too. Also, Minsc's new witch! Semi-canon perhaps? Anyway, this leaves one slot open.

Jaheira is only half a fighter so with Minsc that's one and a half, perhaps leaving an additional warrior to be desired. That said, I could dual-class Yoshimo into a fighter after getting 100 points in open doors. I feel further thief levels would be wasted on him anyway, as I don't see myself using thief skills like traps and backstabbing that much. That would give me Minsc and two half fighters, which should satisfy.

Maybe I'll just leave the sixth slot flexible, at least until I get back Imoen and Yoshimo parts, as I'd be back to Minsc and Jaheira as the only front-liners at that point.

Any thoughts? Any NPC you'd say I absolutely want in my party in the long run?

[MOD] Revised Dragon Scale UI for SoD (V2)

December 12, 2016, 7:17 am

≫ Next: Import save to BG2 EE by email?

≪ Previous: Is there a canonical BG2 party? Or, help me decide on a party.

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This is a mod for people like me who feel that SoD's new dragon scale UI is... almost there.

What does it change?

(click the spoiler to read and view screenshots)

Font Changes

- Buttons and labels now use a completely different font which was already in the game files (though unused). This font is very similar to the one used in buttons from the original versions of BG and BG2.

- Title bar now use the old school Forgotten Realms font a la BG1.

- Tooltips, floating text and world map locations now use Post Antiqua, the font you already know and love.

New Parchment Color

- Parchment graphics from all screens have had their colors changed. I'm not the only one who thought they look a bit too white.

Gameplay Screen

- The Bhaal symbol was restored to the Game Button on the sidebar.
- Clock position adjusted (it's no longer off-center).
- Game log and action bar width adjusted. They're now properly aligned.
- The little white line from the game log has also been removed.
- More Quickloot slots.


- Action bar buttons are now equidistant from each other. Those buttons used to be grouped together according to the layout of a keyboard's F1-F12 keys, but most modern computers don't use that layout anymore, so...

Area Map

- New header graphic and slightly tweaked layout.

World Map

- New header graphic and reworked World Map graphic: colors are now muted and look more like the SoD campaign maps. To be completely honest I'm not in love with this one, but then again I never liked BG:EE's oversaturated map, so there you go.
- Repositioned Travel Button.

Journal

- New background graphic: the journal window now looks less out of place using a new graphic posted by Pecca.

Inventory

- Slightly tweaked layout. Headers are now consistent between Inventory/Record/Mage Book and Priest Scroll screens.
- Restored secondary color button.
- New Stats and Item Comparison: Stats are now just one list instead of four. You can click each red header to expand or collapse information. There's also more information in there, which could prevent going back and forth from the record screen all the time.
- Gold number is yellow again.

Record

- Completely redesigned Record screen, with a more familiar layout.
- Parchment on the left (under Abilities and Combat Stat Icons) shows Saving Throws and Resistances at a glance, placing all combat stats together.
- Parchment on the right now has red headers and information is more organized.
- Biography, Stats and Kit Description windows have been restored.

Dual Class Screen

- Character portrait now has the correct proportions. How this got past QA in the first place is beyond me.

Mage Book and Priest Scroll

- Different margins and scrollbar: these minor changes should make those screens more pleasant to look at and use, even if you don't like the list-of-spells layout.

Options Menu

- Totally redesigned Options screen. It also changes the big logo according to the current campaign (BG, SoD or Black Pits).

Stores

- Different store screens now have more consistent layout.
- Upper and lower panels are now properly joined.

Character Generation

- Bigger buttons for this screen.

Installation

Just unzip the attached file on your Override folder which is located on Documents\Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. If the folder does not exist, it can be created.

Compatibility

This is currently not a WeiDU mod and it will completely replace your UI.menu. It is supported by EEUITweaks Mod Collection as long as you install this one first.

A note on customization:

In order to revert or further tweak font changes, you should edit the styles in M_CKUI.LUA - please don't just delete the file, as it introduces new styles that are referenced by UI.menu.

Enjoy! As always, feedback, bug reports, complaints and suggestions are always appreciated.

Special thanks to Lefreut, Pecca and AncientCowboy.

Import save to BG2 EE by email?

March 19, 2017, 3:41 pm

≫ Next: Lord-slayers' Shrine (Dark Souls 3)

≪ Previous: [MOD] Revised Dragon Scale UI for SoD (V2)

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Hey y'all, I just started Siege of Dragonspear on PC but I would like to continue in BG2 on an IPad, haven't purchased yet.
What's the best way to import? Could I just email myself a character file and open it on the Ipad?

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Lord-slayers' Shrine (Dark Souls 3)

March 24, 2016, 1:07 am

≫ Next: SI: Evocation/Necromancy doesn't protect you against your own damaging spells.

≪ Previous: Import save to BG2 EE by email?

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Since the DS2 thread has all but turned into DS3 discussion, I figured it is time to make a new thread for DS3.

Here is the new launch trailer


Trailers

 
 
 
 
 

Early review

 

Classes

Assassin
 
Cleric
 
Deprived
 
Herald
 
Knight
 
Mercenary
 
Pyromancer
 
Sorcerer
 
Thief
 
Warrior
 

SI: Evocation/Necromancy doesn't protect you against your own damaging spells.

March 21, 2017, 12:33 pm

≫ Next: favourite videogame, classical, folk musics

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Some spells are indeed affected, however. It does make you immune to your own webs, but fireballs, incendiary clouds, meteor swarms, skull traps (SI: Necromancy) affect you normally.

I only tested a bunch of spells of those two schools, but I'm guessing it's not supposed to happen.

favourite videogame, classical, folk musics

June 21, 2013, 12:42 am

≫ Next: [BUG] Death when Charisma drops to 0

≪ Previous: SI: Evocation/Necromancy doesn't protect you against your own damaging spells.

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PLEASE USE SPOILER TAGS OR LINKS NOW! Too many images on a thread will make the board go wonky. So says Aosaw.


Videogame music
Classical music
Folk music

instrumental and vocal


Don't worry about posting something someone else has posted in pages past. We all do it. ^_^


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I can't be the only one who listens to VG and classical music! ^_^

What stuff do you like?


Try some Quake II, yeah! >:D

Adrenaline Junkie
Gravity Well
Descent into Cereberon

And while I'm in the mood for it...
Sheila
Neo Fire Cross

[BUG] Death when Charisma drops to 0

March 18, 2017, 9:11 am

≫ Next: [NPC MOD] Sheena - The Half Dragon Tale

≪ Previous: favourite videogame, classical, folk musics

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[Windows ] Equipped Helm that substracts 3 of charisma on a dwarf with only 2 charisma

Observed:
Character dies. Other members of the party with high charisma don't

Expected:
Character should not die.

Notes:
Tested on Windows 7

Thanks!

[NPC MOD] Sheena - The Half Dragon Tale

August 5, 2016, 5:51 am

≫ Next: Helm of Alignment change

≪ Previous: [BUG] Death when Charisma drops to 0

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Sheena - The Half Dragon Tale

Sheena's story begins in Firkraag's lair at level 8-10 in a prison cell next to Garren's child. Sheena is a neutral good half red dragon multiclass Fighter / Wizard. Her half dragon form is hidden most of the time (cities, forests...) to balance the game. Sheena is limited to two handed swords, quarterstaffs, halberds and darts (an animation limitation). Sheena's strength and constitution can not be raised by any item (potions and spells do work). Sheena has extensive banters with all Bioware NPCs, numerous interjections and a friendship path available to both male and female PCs. Sheena's flirts are available to male PCs of good and neutral alignment. She has also a small romance path (TOB like), which triggers if Mazzy is in the party, other romances are not active, you are through with the friendship talks and your character is of neutral or good alignment. Sheena leaves for good if is kicked out from your party.



Race: Human/Dragon

STR: 16
DEX:12
CON: 16
INT: 15
WIS: 10
CHA: 15

- Infravision
- 50% fire resistance
- Half dragon form
- Half dragon breath ability useable once per day
- Slightly faster movement speed to speed up the half dragon animation

Half dragon form: + 4 STR, +2 CON, +4 AC (lizard scale bonus), 100% fire resistance, immune to paralysis as any large creature would and immune to mind spells (charm, confusion and stun). This is the standard half dragon template.

Languages: English, French, Spanish


What needs to be done:

- New better HD portrait
- Small adjustment for rules in her romance
- Extended romance (Right now is romance only in SoA)
- Few more special items
- Czech translation
- Personal Q ?

Additional informations:

- The current version does not work well with vanilla BG or old versions of EE, you must use a game that has a current patches. I will try to fix this problem in the next version of my mod.


Actual version - V2.3
Link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/vctuf9957eq9uqb/Sheena_v2.3.zip?dl=0

P.S.
I really tried to contact Red Knight the original author, but all websites are dead and all profiles and emails are canceled.
I hope he will not mind that I took over his mod.

Helm of Alignment change

March 17, 2017, 8:39 pm

≫ Next: Original casting sounds for Baldurs Gate

≪ Previous: [NPC MOD] Sheena - The Half Dragon Tale

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Anyone ever kept this so it is imported of to SoD? Works quite well if running a CHARNAME of , well let's say, darker interests and a lack of evil companions (and you feel you need that). First run I was running my gnome cleric/thief of Urdlen through and he found all sorts of fun n games with it.

SOme dont like it, some question the morality of it, but in the right hands ,and roleplayed with a character of the proper alignment, is quite useful.

Original casting sounds for Baldurs Gate

March 17, 2017, 8:04 pm

≫ Next: As far from Baldur's Gate as it gets

≪ Previous: Helm of Alignment change

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I found this on a thread deep down in general modding but like it so much I want to give it a little more visibility in BGEE mod section.

original thread: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/8060/mod-original-casting-sounds#latest


Thanks to @Akuro . Great work on digging these up. Never did like to hear latin unless it was in a medieval or renaissance setting on Earth. Forgotten Realms AIN'T. Fantastic.
Here is a good preview if anyone is interested before changing settings. Turn that volume UP, baby!

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As far from Baldur's Gate as it gets

March 21, 2017, 7:45 am

≫ Next: Humor in mods

≪ Previous: Original casting sounds for Baldurs Gate

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So, I was taking a look through my GOG library last night, and came to a few realizations.

1) I've spent a lot of money buying games I haven't even played yet.

2) I need to stop spending money on games and never playing them.

3) I have no self control.

4) I have a much wider array of games than I initially thought.

Of course, a large portion of my collection are along the lines of RPGs in fantasy settings, like Wizardry 8, or the HoMM series, but I came to notice that I've actually got a good few games that aren't anywhere near that genre.

For example, the Unreal series. I absolutely love Unreal and Unreal 2 for both the gameplay, and the nostalgia of playing them as a 7-year-old on my ancient computer.

Or the Rayman games, which I bought during a recent sale. I'm a big fan of platformers when they're done right, and Rayman definitely falls under that category.

So, I thought I'd make a little thread where we can discuss and appreciate some of the great games that don't necessarily have anything in common with BG, or fantasy in general. I mean, who doesn't love blasting aliens to pieces with a rocket launcher every now and then?

Humor in mods

March 21, 2017, 2:31 pm

≫ Next: Another THAC0 thread...

≪ Previous: As far from Baldur's Gate as it gets

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I have been toying with an idea to make into my first mod. I think I have the plot, NPC, and the general scope of the dialogues developed to the point where I am ready to start. However, I need to ask the community: how acceptable are humor and pop culture references? There were quite a few examples of both in the original game; many joinable NPCs either made the comments themselves or inspired them. You could argue that Minsc and Tiax were largely comic relief, albeit quite effective comic relief. In addition, you had things like the encounter with Larry, Darryl, and Darryl in the Cloudpeaks. There weren't quite so many examples in BG2; mostly it was restricted to Jan and Lilarcor. (Although the various appearances of a moose with a squirrel still make me smile.)

What I am planning would not be a pure comic relief character or quest based on pop culture, but I have thought of things to add. For the record, nothing is beyond a G rating, except one thing possibly bordering on PG; my guideline is asking myself if I would be uncomfortable saying it in front of my funny but religious neighbors and their grade-school-aged children. But I am not sure what the community would think of references to old songs (well, not old to me) or quasi-obscure movies.

Thoughts?

Another THAC0 thread...

March 21, 2017, 2:14 pm

≫ Next: SEGNALAZIONE DI REFUSI NELLA TRADUZIONE ITALIANA DI IWDEE

≪ Previous: Humor in mods

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Hello!

I'm playing BG2 again. Perhaps this time I will actually finish!

I keep getting stuck on investigating how my equipment and buffs and abilities have an impact or not on attack rolls, saving throws, and so on. It bothers me greatly when the numbers do not add up.

Right now for example, I'm hitting Aerie (sorry) with the Helm of Balduran equipped. My THAC0 is reported as 10 in the inventory UI. On the attack roll it says +7.

Now I remove the helmet. The UI says THAC0 11. The attack roll however, is still +7.

What in the frack is going on?


Very grateful for some lightshed... I won't sleep until I understand.



Masklin


EDIT: Okay I suspect a solution. THAC0 bonuses from non-weapon equipment do not add to the attack roll, but they lower the threshold that your must reach with the roll. At least it is like this for helmets. Haven't tested amulets, rings, shields, boots, gloves, or armor...

SEGNALAZIONE DI REFUSI NELLA TRADUZIONE ITALIANA DI IWDEE

March 4, 2015, 11:09 pm

≫ Next: Has BG:EE lost something?

≪ Previous: Another THAC0 thread...

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Scopo di questo thread è quello di raccogliere le eventuali segnalazioni di refusi presenti nella traduzione italiana di Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition. Per "refuso", si intende solo ed esclusivamente un errore di battitura relativo alla scrittura di una parola ("btavi" al posto di "bravi") o della punteggiatura (ad esempio, quattro puntini di sospensione anziché tre).
Qualora desideriate darci un feedback sul nostro lavoro, vi chiediamo gentilmente di postare in questo thread.

Nota bene: Gli Allegri Buffoni hanno ultimato la revisione della traduzione della campagna base e delle espansioni Heart of Winter e Trials of the Luremaster. Attendiamo il rilascio di una nuova patch affinché possiate godere del risultato finale del nostro lavoro.

Come segnalare un refuso.

Potete:

- Postare uno screenshot del dialogo in cui compare la frase con il refuso;
- Scriverla;
- Segnalare il numero di stringa corrispondente. Per fare in modo che il numero della stringa compaia nel gioco, è sufficiente procedere in questo modo:

• Fate una copia del file baldur.ini per sicurezza
• Apritelo con Word Pad e inserite questa voce: 'Program Options', 'Strref On', '1'
• Salvate e lanciate il gioco. Adesso ogni scritta sarà preceduto dal numero della stringa. Per disattivarle, editate la voce 'Program Options' in precedenza inserita nel file baldur.ini in questo modo: 'Program Options', 'Strref On', '0'.
• Prima di aggiungere la suddetta voce, accertatevi che non sia già presente. Se così fosse, limitatevi a cambiare 0 con 1. Diversamente, aggiungete l'intera riga.

Vi chiediamo gentilmente di evitare messaggi del tipo "Ho visto un errore, ma non ricordo dove". Disponete di ben 3 modi per fare un report; scegliete quello che preferite e usatelo.

A chi segnalare un refuso.

È sufficiente postare un messaggio in questo thread. Sarà mia premura verificare e correggere.

Has BG:EE lost something?

September 14, 2016, 2:45 pm

≫ Next: Power gamer wants to roleplay + no reload challenge

≪ Previous: SEGNALAZIONE DI REFUSI NELLA TRADUZIONE ITALIANA DI IWDEE

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Hello, I've recently gotten into a phase of playing very old school games from the late 1990's. It started when I got back into Dark Wizard, a Sega CD game that was my very first video RPG/strategy game.

It got me to thinking about doing another BG run, as I named my units in Dark Wizard after BG characters. So, I started up a BG:EE run, planning to finally try new content from Neera and Rasaad through the trilogy.

I got really turned off when Neera committed suicide again for the umpteenth time during her own recruitment encounter and I had to reload. Also, something started to strike me as very artificial about all the updating - the kits, the interface, the new AI, everything.

I've begun to remember a certain je ne sais quoi quality about the original, completely unmodded BG1 and BG2, that I'm all of a sudden missing.

I have the same feeling about a mysterious lost quality with the Heroes of Might and Magic series, which lost quality began for me with Homm3. I actually prefer Homm1 and Homm2 over Homm3, to a certain extent, and I prefer the first three Homm installments leaps and bounds over any other installments in that series - but especially 1 and 2.

To this day I think Might and Magic 6-8 are the best D&D style games I've ever played, even better than BG, although BG certainly holds a place on my top 10 loved games.

Is this merely nostalgia on my part? That's certainly a factor, but I don't think it explains what I'm looking for here. All the modern attempts to recapture the alchemical magic I'm reaching for here, such as Pillars of Eternity, Divinity Original Sin, or Dragon Age, have fallen flat for me in some way. I always lose interest in them and go back to my classics again and again.

I wonder if the fact that my first love of D&D came from my experiences playing tabletop 1st edition AD&D with very fondly remembered friends during my senior year in high school and first years of college, in 1982-1987, has something to do with this? Could it be that the early computer games I love so much duplicate that tabletop experience in a solitaire form better than any of the later offerings from game developers? Have the developers lost touch with the magic of the tabletop gaming experience?

I'm about to replay the original BG1 on Gog.com to see if I can recapture the feeling that I'm missing again.

Does anyone else understand or have insights into what I'm trying to get at here?