ussnorway: partly yes, it has widescreen and graphics options that you need to use mods to bring into the old builds but more that Windows itself is moving on with W10 ending in 2025 [4 years] everyone will have to play BG on W11 and whatever crap Microsoft brings out next so staying with original is just going to get harder
If M$ mandates that the next iteration of their OS requires my computer to log into their server (which I can avoid in Win10, but only by removing the option from the OS by cutting the cable when installing it) then this conversation is moot for me, since I will not buy such an OS. (In this case, I will probably keep a dedicated, air-gapped laptop with WinXP to run these old games on, rather than update my hardware with new software to modernize the old software.)
Incorporating widescreen modification and updating the game for modern systems is a selling point, I agree, but not the slam-dunk it pretends to be. As many around these discussion boards will attest, the software fixes to run these games in widescreen and fixes and improvements in the kernel are readily available. (There is a barrier to the casual player, however, in that mods require a minimum level of cognizance with the personal computer and Windows in order to install them properly, and fix / remove them if they error. But if you write mods, this is a lesser requirement than that needed to author a mod itself, so is hardly worth mentioning. :)
ussnorway: from a mod point of view EE has a standard set of codes now so if you edit a spell in BG1 EE it will have the same effect when you bring that into BG2 EE... this simple fact is why mods that run BG1 & BG2 original as a single game are so popular with mod makers
I understand your appreciation for a good, consistent kernel as the basis for making mods, and especially for the ability to apply modifications to both the games. But don't dismiss the old versions just for convenience, because you might come to regret it later. There are always unintended consequences.
For instance, I am currently playing both games as their original releases. As I noted
elsewhere, there are various good reasons to do this. One of which is that the original, at the resolution of 640×480 pixels, focuses the player's attention better. With a Full-HD or 4k resolution, the original game looses all the intimacy and becomes a derivative hack&slash experience, I find,. The art assets are beautiful, right down to the the fixed-perspective shadows on characters and props (even more remarkable with the limited colour palette) that are simply too small to see on a wide screen. Especially if it is a small screen, like a smartphone.
It is much better to use the original resolution, with good
integer scaling (or resource-expensive anti-aliasing) to limit the focus appropriately, methinks, on a personal computer rather than a small device, if at all possible. (But obviously this limits where the game can be played, so it will not appeal to everyone and especially those gaming on public transport, for instance.)
edit: added scaling linkie
NB: I have not tested this yet, so
caveat ludor.
