For those who want to play the EE instead of original, here are the instructions of installing the 1.3 version.

In Galaxy, select BG :EE from library, click on More -> Settings, change Beta Channels to ON, change channel to Legacy. The version should change to 1.3.2053 as in screenshot.

Why 1.3 ?

Because on PC it looks better than 2.x, which introduced worse looking sprites (different renderer), worse looking UI (tablet style), in 2.0 the tooltips are no longer animated scrolls as in original, etc

Nice. Galaxy my .... Would love to have access to 1.3, but it seems No-Galaxy-For-Me users are 2nd class. And no, I cant even install this BS just to download the 1.3, bcs I use a linux OS. So, not even a 2nd class customer for GOG, but 3rd or something. This is not my GOG anymore.

But thank you for figuring this out, maybe it helps some other players. 1.3 was best BG:EE version. I went back to originals, btw. Except IWD:EE. This isnt messed up. Yet.

But would I lose the ability to have a two handed weapon in one quick slot while dual wielding (or sword 'n' board) in another?

Yes. But you would also get the shitty new UI removed and the retarded Sprites.

When 2.0 was first released, BeamDog decided to "improve" the graphics by adding a blur filter and sprite outlining:

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/279595144898395169/7F46E85085F6CA90884D1E36D226F156C69D7793/

Some people liked it, but (from my personal anecdotal analysis) the general consensus seemed to be: "eww".

So, Beamdog added an option to disable these graphical "enhancements". However, even when you disabled the blur filter, the character sprites still looked a bit "off" from the 1.3 versions:

https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/45/n6dx68n7zqys.png

(1.3 on the left. 2.x on the right.)

The sprites in 1.3 look a lot closer to the "original/classic" version of the game. While some people may not *prefer* them, they still look closer to the originals.

The further out you zoom, the less noticeable this will be. Some people do prefer the 2.x version, and some prefer the blur-filter too (*shrug* "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", I guess). It probably wouldn't have been an issue if Beamdog just included multiple filter options: classic, nearest-neighbor, and smoothed. Most people are totally fine with adding to something as long as you don't take away what we have.

Besides 1.3 having crisp graphics, some UI elements took a wrong turn in 2.0, looking more generic, like being made specifically for tablet/mobile, and also a lot more minor details. If in 1.3 the characters moved faster than in original (like in BG2) which is ok, in 2.0 my impression that they made them move even faster. Character walking speed in BGEE2.0 compared to vanilla BG is like everybody is wearing boots of speed. Together with other "convenience" options such as story mode, it looks like they tried to appease the more casual, inpatient players.

Exactly.

Another example how 2.0 screwed things up. BG:EE Graphics Overhaul mod works fine with 1.3 while in 2.0 it's broken (visual artifacts). Attached how it looks without (left) and with (right) the graphics overhaul mod.

Maybe you have FPS increased in settings? I didn't notice an increase on EE.

Anyway, even if they did, that's one thing I wouldn't blame on them. Some people are not necessarily impatient, just have less time.

Looks like the method for downloading the 1.3 version of the game as described in the original post doesn't work anymore. It stays at 2.3 even after setting the beta channels on and selecting the Legacy channel. :/

Not only the backgrounds and sprites in 2.3 aren't sharp anymore, some of the frames in the sprite animations have some kind of black lines appearing at the edges of the frame. I suppose these were itroduced during the "processing" of the sprites for the 2.3 version and were never properly removed. :/

I know it's probably a long shot, but does anyone know of a way to bring the backgrounds and sprites from 1.3 to 2.3?

Have you tries installing? It may be that version shown doesn't update immediately after selecting Legacy, but it will download 1.3 and the version will be updated after install.

Thanks, gunman_, you were right. If the channel is set to Legacy, the client will install the 1.3 version, even though the 2.3 version remains listed near the install button. :)