My first time pretty much went with "install game and go." The only thing I ever used mod-wise was Widescreen/GUI (because my current monitor tends to actually present resolutions smaller than 1024x768 weirdly and I'm still figuring out why, I had no problems with this. Buuut if other people are having problems you should probably hold off unless 100% required) and that's it. I put in bugfixes in later games.

The best way to go about this is to print out the manuals GOG gives you, read all about it, and use these as your only guide. Outside of that just let things flow. It's an RPG, do everything as you would do and immerse yourself.

Also EE is... not the best way to go about it, at least for your first. If you really want an enhanced experience for your first time, play it with mods going by the conservative readme sticky. But I would personally wait up on that.

Yea i have been reading the game manual on my tablet last night, games nowadays are so simple they don't have a manual like BG has.
Agreed I am not installing any mods. I understood what you are talking about.

Just have fun. Old school rpg like this can only be enjoyed by playing your way. It's about you, not the others here and as such.... you need to be true to what you enjoy in games.


Other than that if I were to suggest something. Go with the Canon fighter. But have fun man.

Hi,

I have only skimmed the thread but I don't think this has been posted yet. I found this FAQ file helpful for my BG1 playthrough.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/75251-baldurs-gate/faqs/8566

Wow thats great, thanks a lot, i have saved it as a text document, its a must read for me. Thanks again.

I agree that it's better to play it completely vanilla for the best possible experience. I doubt that you'll play it only once so the next time you can use any mod you like. And do not create your team by doing the MP thing, it spoils all the fun for me. You'll meet some wonderful people down the road - that is guaranteed! You'll get to create your party when you'll play Icewind Dale. (Don't miss that game!)

As for the widescreen mod, I didn't knew that it creates problems. I used it for my last two or three playthroughs and I haven't got a single crash but as PCs differ one from the other, better play without it just to be sure. ;-)

So, read the manual (or not!) and start the journey! Have fun! Cheers! ;-)

Having played both the vanilla Baldur's Gate without any sorts of modding and having played the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, the Enhanced Edition is the way to go after all the patching the Enhanced Edition has gotten.

At release the Enhanced Edition didn't have some of the things it has now and was full of a lot of unresolved issues, making the original version still attractive for stability and a way to play the game before some of the gameplay/rule changes present in the Enhanced Edition. Having played both versions of the game though I'd say you should go ahead and play the Enhanced Edition as there is a lot more to offer there and you don't really lose anything from the original game unless you're some sort of powergamer. The purist mindset shouldn't even really play into this as to the original experience being the 'better' experience. The original game wasn't necessarily perfect, and the Enhanced Edition has made some nice improvements to the game and the new class kits are a great thing to have for new time players and make the game more interesting. While it's debatable whether fans of the original think the added content/characters in the Enhanced Edition is on par with the rest of the content in the game, that doesn't detract from the experience the game itself gives, aside from the fact new NPCs will be fully voiced in comparison to the original game NPCs who were only partially voiced.

One thing to mention without giving away any spoilers, the extra characters you get in the Enhanced Edition make evil parties much more viable and interesting to play. So that's definitely one thing to take into account if you plan on doing someone who isn't a good character. Also the Enhanced Edition adds things like a gem bag, scroll case, and potion case as something to carry around extra sorts of items so they don't clutter your inventory.

I'd still recommend, however, buying the originals on here to support the devs and have access to all the great bonus content like the soundtracks, which makes the purchase price well worth it even if you don't play the original versions of the two Baldur's Gate games.

Those items are available in ALL versions, (that includes BG1 played in TuTu/BGT), except for plain vanilla BG1. And in vanilla you can use any container (barrel, chest, cabinet, bookshelf etc.) as storage.

As for the rest, EE is NOT BG, it's as simple as that.

I dunno, it seemed like I was playing Baldur's Gate the last time I loaded the game up, just as fun as ever. Minsc is still the same old Minsc, all the easter eggs are still there, etc. Perhaps some elaboration would help.

I can confirm that the carrying cases are not available in the BG1 section of BGT, unless I really dramatically missed something.

To clarify, I said 'available'. I was posting with the assumption that anybody installing BGT/TuTu will also be installing accompanying tweaks -- they're not interested in vanilla -- which certainly do include containers. They are also available without tweaks, simply by using ShadowKeeper.
You cannot get a Star Trek fan club to remake episodes with second-rate fan material and still call it Star Trek.

Wow. I totally missed this. Here's my advice:


If you want to build the best character, then get the manual. Use its charts in the back to help build your character without wasting points (unless you want to).

I usually reroll until I have 88 points in total or more. Then make a decent character.

Then I play the game.

The widescreen mod screws up your whole game. I did not appreciate it.

And I honestly don't care for the other mods. I liked it vanilla and I only play vanilla these days.

In the future, I might get EE and give it a try. But I don't see a point. One of the best RPGs in the world is sitting right there on your hard drive. No additional reading required. Just hit the play button, build a character, and go.

Enjoy the ride!

I really don't understand your hate for the Enhanced Editions, which you seem to need to post about in every thread anytime anyone brings them up., I agree that people trying the game out for the first time should try to play BG and BG2 without mods or Enhanced Editions. But if you want to try things a little differently on subsequent playthroughs, I see nothing wrong with using mods or in playing the Enhanced Editions. Are the Enhanced Editions for everyone? Obviously not. But if someone likes them, I don't see why you see the need to impose your opinion on everyone else. I haven't played all of the content in either BG:EE and BG2:EE, but what I've played so far I like. I don't get why its not okay for other people, including me, to like the Enhanced Editions. No one's opinions are facts. If you do not like the Enhanced Editions, that's fine. But my opinion is valid too. Its just a matter of personal preference and I don't get why you feel the need to scare off everyone from trying the Enhanced Editions.

Don't assume you know me. I do not hate the Enhanced Editions. I have two copies of each. I bought both from Beamdog, and both from GOG. I have played both. This is a forum. Forums are places for discussion. If you have a valid opinion you should state it. In the same vein, I do the same. I have never said, nor intimated, that my opinion is above anybody else's, nor that it's "not ok" to like the Enhanced Editions. My opinions count; your opinions count. Don't lose sight of that, and don't whine just because somebody's opinion is different from your own.

The issue is that you still haven't really elaborated on why you have a dislike for the Enhanced Editions or why it is you don't think people should play them. There are numerous little additions or enhancements present in the BG1:EE that are really nice to have, and issues/features that are fixed from vanilla Baldur's Gate. Not to mention playing an evil party is that much more fun now, there are some nice pieces of updated artwork for various things, some nice equipment updates/requirements are made, some nice different spell & effect animations, additional content makes bastard swords more viable which was heavily needed with how weapon proficiencies are more specific from the original BG, scimitars on a notable NPC are no longer pickpocketable, the new NPCs have some unique interactions and voice acting with original game NPCs, etc. etc. etc. I could go on, but I'll just end with saying character creation is much improved as well, with some additional portraits for you to choose from (the original Baldur's Gate only had 2 non-NPC female portraits to choose and 4 non-NPC male portraits to choose), as well as doubling the amount of voice sets you can pick from giving you more variety with the character you roll with (5 of the 6 new voice sets are nicely done IMO).

The one notable thing I didn't see them address would be giving you a more appropriate character portrait for a female dwarf, so you basically have to pick something like a halfling portrait unless you use mods for a portrait closer to a dwarf. Another criticism is that the original opening cutscene looks much more in style with what I think of Baldur's Gate than the motion comic version in the Enhanced Edition. Most the other cutscenes or updates in terms of art I've encountered have looked fine and I'm definitely okay with those, but the redone motion comic style doesn't really work for that opening cinematic compared to the original. I don't think it would have been too much work to redo it with hand drawn animation that didn't seem like corners were cut doing it motion comic style, but if they couldn't do redone animation right then they should have found a way to update the original cutscenes in higher resolution or some 3D workaround that didn't break the bank.

Now as I already talked about, it would have been one thing to have been saying things to the effect that the Enhanced Edition wasn't worth the money when you could just use mods for the original, that is when the Enhanced Edition first came out and didn't have as many fixes or present features as it does now. But now that the Enhanced Edition is in a very playable state with most in-game issues dealt with and additional features taken care of (like adding the Dwarven Defender fighter kit in a patch) I don't get what the issue is with playing the Enhanced Edition, especially if someone doesn't want to spend a bunch of time with mods or trying to figure out which mods to use and stuff. Some people just like to install a game and play, or plug and play. No content of the original game was removed, barring balancing out some starting equipment of an NPC to match updated proficiencies of characters. It's like if you go to a chinese restaurant and your preference is to always use chopsticks to eat your food because you enjoy it more then that's fine. But that doesn't mean that your friends eating with you also have to use chopsticks because you feel it's the better way to eat chinese.

If you would just explain and give us some reasons as to what's so wrong with the Enhanced Edition, we wouldn't have a problem with your opinions in the thread. But so far you haven't really posted anything to support your opinion that concerns something in the game itself, except for maybe the contention that buying the original and playing with mods instead is better and less expensive. And for the sake of argument, technically someone with access (like through a friend maybe) to the Enhanced Edition's additional portraits and voice sets could try modding them into the original game instead of just buying the Enhanced Edition. However, that would be a very dishonest thing to do and would be disrespectful to the people who did work on the Enhanced Edition.

I can't really say anything yet about BG2:EE since I haven't played that or the original BG2, though I did see in the reviews that the initial release was plenty buggy and unstable like the initial release of the BG1:EE. I can understand being upset about this and thinking if it becomes a pattern with Beamdog that it would be problematic using players as glorified testers. But as to the state of BG1:EE as it is right now, I see no reason why someone shouldn't play it if they're new to Baldur's Gate. If their best interest is to play the original release first, with or without modding, I'm sure they'll come to their own decision and play the original regardless what I say or you say about the EE.