Nothing compares to TOEE. I'm old school and grew up on the earliest wizardry and ultima titles. I'm currently playing through BG 2 hoping it will compare to the bliss of TOEE. When I was 12 (27 yrs ago) I was playing modules like whiteplume mountain, the isle of dread, castle amber, and tomb of horros and finally TOEE, so I'm a thoroughbred nerd. I recall trying to run TOEE in 2004 on a slugish pc and it was buggy back then sending an indelible pain of anguish through my heart. Perhaps it was a blessing though as I only discovered it on GOG a few months ago and have played through it numerous times. If I had known how much pleasure this fully armed and operational masterpiece would have given me I would happily have paid hundreds of dollars. I'm going to slowly donate that money to the CO8 (circle of eight) modders community for their tireless work in turning this game into a flawless masterpiece. The only reason GOG has it so cheap is because the TOEE.exe file is often misdiagnosed as a trojan by anti-virus software such as Mcaffee, causing people to complain when their install fails. Mcaffee would not let me create an scanning exception or fully deactivate realtime scanning for a trojan file but when I completely uninstalled Mcaffe from my system I enjoyed a seamless install which only involved 2 simple steps. Obviously I have backed up my entire computer on the D drive and a few dvdr 4 gig disks should the worst happen. Step 1 download GOG TOEE which to me seems to come fully patched. Step 2 goto CO8 website and download the latest TFE-X mirror which everybody will be thrilled to know is now at version 6.0 and includes all updates and patches! Get the one which says NC (new content) and you can enjoy many new areas such as verbobonc and the arena of heroes and highly advanced AI improvements too numerous to mention here. It's that simple! I also right click on my TFE-X icon and run it as administrator . C'mon 2 steps? My kids can do that! I'm running everything smooth on my Vist 32 bit laptop and my new Win7 64 bit 23 inch Touchscreen and I assure you the results are far, far superior to the fully modded widescreen versions of Baldur's Gate etc. The youtube movies do zero justice to how the game will look on your computer these days and I assume they failed to update their game or use fraps or something! TOEE is really like infinity engine 2.0 and upping the res requires no patch or modding. I was pleased to note a few thousand people had gone to CO8 to download 6.0 NC only a few weeks ago in Jan 2011 indicating there are still people who know where to get the most exquisite, truly only authentic turn-based rpg opium af all time! Forget pause buttons. You will need to carefully plan every single battle descision with D&D rules version 3.5. Fortunately the Incredibly brilliant conception of a user friendly radial menu makes this so easy my 12 yr old daughter is feinting, charging, and casting defensively. Skills like tumble, cleave, and sneak will have you fully immersed in the battle. Do I risk disengaging my druid to use a heal on my monk? Will I pass the concentration save or provoke an attack of opportunity from that beholder if I run there? Honestly I could write a thesis about how you will be agonising over every single step or thrust your characters will make during the course of the most epic battles you will ever see. The music score is so rich and varied with special tracks for special encounters and The final showdown with the Plant Goddess should be pumped out on your loudest stereo or usb headphones for heart jolting effect. Ohman that organ blasting goes through my nighbours heads at night I kid you not! The graphics are so rich you will thrill to role a critical hit and see your maul come crashing down in a bigger more deliberate way with a sickening thud on some bugbear's skull. Its the devil in these details that seperate TOEE from anything you have ever experienced. I mean the beastiary is incredibly rich with hundreds of very detailed monsters more cleverly animated than anything you have seen and all attacking you in many ways. Watch out for the trip attacks! Get those save rolls up fast or you will be running in fear, staggering blind, or worse still hitting each other over the head as your charmed by wizards. I feel so sorry for the poor deluded younger generations who seem satisfied by their 3d shooters and driving simulations instead of this cerebral high. Don't get me wrong I have played em all at one stage or another in moments of boredom. Oblivion was ok at least. But nothing and I mean absolutely nothing compares to TOEE. If only I knew python I would help write the new keep on the borderlands module CO8 are finalising for the TOEE engine. I mean really I appreciate all the great work done on Baldur's gate 2 and IWD etc but I would rather see every expert recognise the simple fact that time would be better spent further developing the TOEE engine. Forget your fancy 3D games like Mafia 2 and get back to this exquisite topographically rendered painting masterpiece! The storyline is not linear. It has been developed immensely since release. I consider Dragon age linear and is a sick joke on kids who don't know any better. If they want to wacth movie cutt scenes, Y don't they just go and watch some pixar film like Shrek instead? TOEE the best experience of my life ever by a country mile and the best ever authentic graphically superior simulation of tabletop D&D ever. PERIOD!!!!
