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[Narr]

I started replaying Baldur's Gate not too long ago with a mod I downloaded called BGtutu that basically makes the game run through the BG2 engine, meaning I get to do all sorts of fun overpowered things like kits for the original saga.

I've fallen in love with the game all over again.  It made me realize that computer gaming only died off to consoles because companies started to try too hard to make their games all showcase titles rather than giving it any substance.  There is SO MUCH completely useless, random shit in Baldur's Gate, it's astronomically delicious.  The genuine difficulty of the game is also lacking in a lot of modern games.  I like my D&D worlds to be harsh and unforgiving, forcing you to retreat the majority of the time at a game's outset instead of making everything a walk in the park until you get to the final encounter and even then the difficulty coming from something other than simply a difficult monster.

[KvP]

Minor quibble, BG is Bioware's baby. Black Isle published it. The Fallouts and Icewind Dales as well as Planescape:Torment were the bulk of Black Isle's product.

[Storm Rider]

Yeah, Black Isle didn't make Baldur's Gate.

[KvP]

Also, there are a number of mods for BG1tutu that make it a mite more palatable.

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http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=134&Itemid=94

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http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=161&Itemid=114

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http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2tweaks/index.phpSome of these will work with both BG2 and BG1Tutu, you have to install them in their respective locations. Some of the modifications are essential, such as the fixing of the shapeshifter class, and some are just really convenient, such as changing Khalid from a straight fighter into a fighter / mage (that some CNPCs require other CNPCs to be in the party makes party balancing somewhat difficult at times) and the increasing of maximum nonmagic ranged ammo stacks from 40 (or 20, in Tutu) to 120. There's also a modification that adds containers (gem bags, scroll cases, etc.) to some of the merchants in Tutu. Makes the game almost as smooth to manage as BG2.

[Spluff]

Damn it, stop making me nostalgic. I've got the games right here, but they won't run properly because I have an 8800. That means no BG, BG2, PS:T, and many other conveniently abbreviated masterpieces.

BG1 just had SO MUCH stuff to do. If you played it through just doing the storyline, it could play relatively quick. If you're like me and like to explore every single thing the game can last for a ridiculously long time. That was my only beef with BG2 - there wasn't nearly as many places to explore, and stuff to loot.

[Jackie Blue]

I played Baldur's Gate for probably 40 or so hours and still had not gotten to the town of Baldur's Gate.  I was having fun, but I gave it up after I looked at a map of Baldur's Gate and realised there were going to be another hundred or so sidequests waiting for me there and seriously, man, seriously.

BG2 was great... until you left Amn and got into A Bunch Of Silly Linear Areas Which Are Either Brainlessly Easy (Sahagin) Or Keyboard-Smashingly Hard (Beholders/Mind Flayers).

Seriously, I've tried to finish BG2 many times and nearly always just quit after I've had fun in the Amn and surrounding areas part.

I really love Icewind Dale (with HoW installed so that Druids kick much more ass and everything is just better) and despite being too tough, IW2 was kinda fun.  But for pure hack/slash replay value, IW is the best of the bunch for me.

[Alex C]

I didn't have much problem with BGI early on, but then again, I played a good align mage right away, and well, Sleep+Charm+Minsc= Win

[KvP]

You can always cheat. Or, failing that, try switching up your tactics. For example, in the patched version of BG2 there's a merchant who sells a shield that reflects all Beholder eye rays. Slap it on Jaheira or whoever, and have them run alone into a Beholder lair and it goes from hardest fight into the game to easiest by a mile. They kill themselves and you get the experience for it. As for mind flayers, they're always irritating, but the fifth level cleric / druid spell called "Chaotic Commands" can protect you from stun. Still have to watch out for the insta-kill ability drain, though.

[Spluff]

I didn't find BG2 particularly hard, it required creative thinking though. For the Beholders I decked my character out in a cloak that reflected all enemy spells and just sent him in and had him stand there until they'd all either killed or petrified themselves. For the Mind Flayers I just buffed up my tanks to the max so that they were ridiculously powerful and immune to mind spells, then massacred them. The mind flayer bracelets that I obtained there were damn useful later on in the game too, I ended up using one on Irenicus, which made him ridiculously easy.

[Jackie Blue]

See, the thing is, to me tactics like "Have one character wear a reflecting shield and then go stand and let the Beholders stupidly kill themselves" are not fun or "creative thinking".

The Icewind Dale games had a much better balance of "this is a tough fight, but if you're smart you can win without having to reload and memorise specific spells or use specific equipment".

Though I didn't find anything in BG1 to be hard at all, honestly.

[KvP]

The only thing approaching difficulty in BG1 was the endless respawning of kobold commandos in the Firewine Bridge ruins. They could get annoying.

[Narr]

I have mentioned PlayItHardcore.com a few times.  We haven't done our Baldur's Gate HC run guide yet, which is kind of weird considering it started the whole damn thing.  Basically, the guy who owns it and our main admin have both solo'd the entire Baldur's Gate series, although it starts getting incredibly difficult, WITHOUT EVER RELOADING JUST TO MAKE SOMETHING GO THEIR WAY.  Loading is just because we're human and need breaks from games, or because there are a lot of game crashes and that sort of fucks up not ever reloading.  I dare you to beat Baldur's Gate 1 without ever reloading.  It's pretty damn hard.

Oh, and ZeroDrone: I agree to a certain extent.  Items that are basically "Here, this makes this easy" ruin a lot of the fun.  Beholders aren't that difficult, though.  It's entirely possible to beef up your toons with spells to be immune to 90% of what they have to offer without that shield anyway.

And sorry for thinking Black Isle was the developer, because I thought Interplay was the publisher.  I thought Bioware didn't formally exist yet back then.

[Storm Rider]

Interplay was effectively the publisher, because they owned Black Isle. They just published it under the Black Isle name, for whatever reason.

[KvP]

Black Isle was Interplay's "RPG arm". Besides, Black Isle always had a good relationship with Bioware. They still do through Obsidian.

[Spluff]

See, the thing is, to me tactics like "Have one character wear a reflecting shield and then go stand and let the Beholders stupidly kill themselves" are not fun or "creative thinking".

The Icewind Dale games had a much better balance of "this is a tough fight, but if you're smart you can win without having to reload and memorise specific spells or use specific equipment".

Though I didn't find anything in BG1 to be hard at all, honestly.

That's true, the reflecting item thing was a bit cheesy, it did exploit the AI. That's why NWN1 is the best roleplaying experience available on the PC - because of the DM client (and to a lesser extent, the toolset). It allows you play through an online game just like PnP where enemies are no longer controlled by retarded AI.

[Narr]

Speaking of 3rd edition stuff, a friend of mine are going to duo through Neverwinter Nights 2 through the expansion and my character is going to be a Lawful Neutral Red wizard enchanter.  Basically, you better hope to god you make your saving throws (which is easier said than done because fucking red wizards get ridiculous DC on their spells) or you will either be fighting for me after I dominate you or sleeping, setting up my friend's elf ranger for the Coup de Grace.

But anyway,

Which one of those mods does what?  You sort of coded them for some odd reason instead of making them links making it so I'd have to stop being lazy to copy-paste.

[Jackie Blue]

Since BG2 is still on my hard drive, I kind of feel like trying it again now.  Are there any mods which substantially improve the game in really cool ways?  (I don't have Throne of Baal, mind you.)

[KvP]

The only mod that would really change the way you thought about the game would be Ascension, which is ToB only.

Otherwise, there's restored content (which is generally good) and a number of NPC mods and added interjections / Jansen inventions, but no huge overhauls.

Which one of those mods does what?  You sort of coded them for some odd reason instead of making them links making it so I'd have to stop being lazy to copy-paste.

Well, there's this one, which restores miscellaneous things to Tutu, this one, which does a pretty good job of replicating the BG2 experience within Tutu by adding party interjections and dialogues. This last one contains all manner of bugfixes, workarounds and little things (it works for both Tutu and BG2 and is considered essential by the community).

[Narr]

Reading about the mods now and they seem like rather neat ideas.  I'm playing through the game multiplayer right now with a friend, however, so I have to talk him into trying them.  I bet he would simply because he's done BG1 a gazillion times before.