Is a newer version than v8 in progress?

[kreso]

Which ToBeX features did not end up in EE? Is it really such a hassle to discard EE's as a whole? I am no expert at this, so this is legitimate question

 

Imo, the most important ToBEx stuff not in EE:

- concentration check (this is a severe violation of basic game rules, so I doubt it will ever be there)

- regeneration stacking (you can only stack same regen rates in EE)

- critical hit aversion tweak

 

Probably a lot more, but I can't really think of any this important as these above (I speak for myself only).

For me, Concentration check is a must. I can't force myself to play without this, and it changes the game far more than any EE added feature. Hence, EE is completely out of the picture.

[Jarno Mikkola]

All right, I have to ask because all of you bring this up on almost each recent post. Which ToBeX features did not end up in EE? Is it really such a hassle to discard EE's as a whole? I am no expert at this, so this is legitimate question, not a flame starter.

This question is totally off topic, so I'll just blame you for it.

But for example the EE doesn't have the ToBEx's unlimited kit picking option when the amount exceeds the 10 max, so making a mod that adds a lot of them is going to be incompatible again with every other one(see TDD & SoS kits).

 

Mods worth ...There is the BGT-weidu for Enhanced Edition mod, that from this point on will be the Enhanced Edition Trilogy, or EET... it's close to a release, or so I believe, but apparently the BG2EE needs an update to come out before that happens. I also believe that the other mods suffer from this fact too. (if it's "barely play-able", -not my words).

 

- regeneration stacking (you can only stack same regen rates in EE)

Hmm, are you sure this is not the multiple timed effect stacking bug ?

Cause if it's that, you can't have poison & regen working correctly with different timers & a lot of other timed stuff, that can be seen as broken.

[kreso]

 

Cause if it's that, you can't have poison & regen working correctly with different timers & a lot of other timed stuff, that can be seen as broken.

 

Yeah, that's probably it. Not only did they not implement regen rates, but all other that fit in the category...meh.

Then again, apperantly EE wasn't ever properly tested (devs seem to be asking regular players to test it for them, instead of getting some profesionals to do it ) thus the outcome is what we got.

Umm...anyway, the thread is fairly derailed from it's topic.

[grogerson]

Then I'll add my voice to get it back on topic.

 

I've been a tester for IWDEE since they started testing. There are many nice things added to the game, but one thing still bothers me. If my ISP is down, or for some reason Beamdog is down, I can't play the game. IWD-in-BG2 will always be available, whether I'm on-line or off-line.

 

And, like it or not, I really don't want to buy the game another time (I have a CD version, a DVD/CD version, and the GOG version of both IWD and BG2).

[hook71]

Then I'll add my voice to get it back on topic.

 

I've been a tester for IWDEE since they started testing. There are many nice things added to the game, but one thing still bothers me. If my ISP is down, or for some reason Beamdog is down, I can't play the game. IWD-in-BG2 will always be available, whether I'm on-line or off-line.

 

And, like it or not, I really don't want to buy the game another time (I have a CD version, a DVD/CD version, and the GOG version of both IWD and BG2).

You shouldn't have any problem starting the EE games even if offline. Just use baldur.exe (or icewind.exe) to start them.

[subtledoctor]

All right, I have to ask because all of you bring this up on almost each recent post. Which ToBeX features did not end up in EE? Is it really such a hassle to discard EE's as a whole?

SR and IR are on the way. I've made my own EE replacements for DR and Taimon's WSPATCK For All.

 

But BGT, UB, Ascension, and Refinements HLAs, that stuff is a big deal. Much more valuable to me than some ridiculous munchkiny glorified mod NPCs, or the Black Pits.

 

Plus, there's the underlying engine issues: the best examples are 1) poison going through stoneskins/mirror images etc. 2) slings with strength bonus (applied in a new, weird way that I can't easily change) and 3) worst of all, no concentration check for spell disruption. To be more precise, no ability to *mod* a concentration check for spell disruption. ToBEx already gave us that, Beamdog could have simply externalized a .2da file to apply ToBEx's tweak. But they didn't, and it looks like they won't. I can't go back and play with auto-disruption even on zero-damage hits. It's just not fun.

 

What does EE give me to replace all that? Pixelated zooming? Auto-corpse-looting? Please. I'll stick with the perfectly capable and perfectly moddable vanilla game, thankyouverymuch.

[Jarno Mikkola]

What does EE give me to replace all that? Pixelated zooming? Auto-corpse-looting? Please. I'll stick with the perfectly capable and perfectly moddable vanilla game, thankyouverymuch.

Ease of install, and no CD checks.

There's always the "what if I don't want to make 1000 choices I have no info about" and just play... approach.

[Almateria]

CD checks.

Please warn the authorities about 9/11, o time traveler

[subtledoctor]

Ease of install, and no CD checks.

There's always the "what if I don't want to make 1000 choices I have no info about" and just play... approach.

I have no idea what you're talking about as far as CD checks, I bought BG2 on GOG for five bucks and it's super easy to install.

 

As for 1000 choices: the toughest mods to slog through are probably SCS and BG2Tweaks, and they are probably the most popular mods for EE. So EE doesn't save you anything there. (And I don't think we're talking about non-modded games, or why are we here on G3?)

[DavidW]

Actually, on SCS installs I *think* the biggest advantage of BGEE is speed. I've only done limited testing but the EE engine seems to handle superlong SCS scripts quite a lot better than the vanilla one.

[Jarno Mikkola]

... and it's super easy to install.

 

As for 1000 choices: the toughest mods to slog through are probably SCS and BG2Tweaks, and they are probably the most popular mods for EE. So EE doesn't save you anything there. (And I don't think we're talking about non-modded games, or why are we here on G3?)

What about the Widescreen mod, BG2 Fixpack, 1PP ... .... .......... There's plenty of mods the EE made essentially unnecessary (whatever) yeah, the BG2 Tweak Packs(and SCS close second) might be the most popular BG2EE mod, but face it, the BG2Fixpack and Widescreen mod would beat them by far were there not already made into the game. Bringing the ease of install. Ouh, by the by, when you switch monitors, the Widescreen mod is very likely to need a reinstall, unlike the BG2EE.

[lynx]

Don't mods have sane defaults and you can just leave your cat do the typing? I can think of only Widescreen that requires real user intervention (input).

[Jarno Mikkola]

Don't mods have sane defaults and you can just leave your cat do the typing? I can think of only Widescreen that requires real user intervention (input).

A .bat file yeah... but that's mega moding, not manual install. And that's only after you download, extract etc. And there's actually quite bit of coding you ought to do if you wish to do all things nice and neat... look at the BWS, just look at it !

[subtledoctor]

What about the Widescreen mod, BG2 Fixpack, 1PP ... .... .......... There's plenty of mods the EE made essentially unnecessary

Installing ToBEx + Fixpack + BGT + 1PP + Widescreen takes about 15 minutes (to prep a game I will then sink 50-100 hours into) so no I don't give too much credit to EE on that score. Some credit, to be sure... just not much.

 

And my BGT game with ToBEx +

1PP + Widescreen gives me *more* options for customization than EE does, plus it doesn't have poison reaching through illusionary clones to affect someone the blade never touched (which I consider to be a bug) and it lets me toggle whether I want to use a concentration check for spell disruption, etc. etc. etc.

 

Basically along with the technical improvements of EE (of which DavidW notes a good one), it amounts to the devs choosing a core mod list that everyone must use, with certain options pre-picked, and won't let players deviate from those options. That just seems wrong.

 

('m not even saying EE should fix that stuff. They should just *make it fixable by others* like they did with CLSRCREQ.2da and CLSWPBON.2da, etc. But they won't. And so I will simply choose to buy and play what I consider to be the better (for being more customizable) game.

[kreso]

Actually, on SCS installs I *think* the biggest advantage of BGEE is speed. I've only done limited testing but the EE engine seems to handle superlong SCS scripts quite a lot better than the vanilla one.

This is part true. It still botches heavilly on magic-intense battles (I blame the fact that every mage and his pet cat and his dog casts Teleport Field. I so hate TF.).