2.5 or 2.6?

[gurt]

I'm just curious to sort of get a survey of BG enthusiasts on this forum who play with mod-heavy installs...

Are you playing with 2.5 or 2.6.6?

I ask because after two failed playthroughs with 2.6.6 on a mod-heavy EET install, I'm considering reverting to 2.5. I play with EET, SCS, and 70+ other mods. The problem is that some of these mods explicitly include support for 2.6, and I always prefer to use the latest versions. Also, 2.6+ *does* have a large number of useful bug fixes by Beamdog.

I'm just curious to hear how you play Baldur's Gate.

Edited August 25, 2021 by gurt

[subtledoctor]

I'm sticking with 2.5 until the 2.7 patch comes out. 2.6 seems to introduce as many bugs as it fixes, and the ones it fixes seem to be cosmetic or stuff I never noticed anyway. That patch took forever and yet the end result still seems rushed.

[gurt]

1 hour ago, subtledoctor said:

2.6 seems to introduce as many bugs as it fixes, and the ones it fixes seem to be cosmetic or stuff I never noticed anyway.

Great point. I keep going over the 2.6 and 2.6.6 lists of bug-fixes, and they seem so impressive, but the truth is that I was able play 450+ hours with 2.5 and lots of mods, and I never had a single major bug that I ever noticed. Maybe 2.6 fixes a lot of stuff under the hood, but I definitely notice the new bugs introduced (at least when it comes to compatibility with mods).

[Graion Dilach]

I am the opposite. 2.6's bugs/regressions are stuff that I haven't even noticed so far, but since I got aware of how the logic under the voicesets got revamped, I refuse to even think to go back to the limited, more fragmented world of 2.5.

It's hard to suggest things for 70+ mods though without knowing which are those. Sure, SCS has compatibility issues with 2.6, but SCS already had issues prior to 2.6 anyway with the Smarter Mages regression introduced in 33.5 and 33.4 lacking WeiDU 247 compatibility.

[argent77]

Another point to consider is that many mods have already been updated to be compatible with patch 2.6. However, as a result it is possible that these mods are not fully compatible with patch 2.5 anymore. EET itself does only support a specific patch version anyway. You'd have to install older mod versions which were still developed for patch 2.5 to create a stable mod installation. But in that case you might miss new features or bugfixes.

Btw, I don't see EE patch 2.7 coming in the foreseeable future.

[Jazira]

38 minutes ago, argent77 said:

Btw, I don't see EE patch 2.7 coming in the foreseeable future.

Agreed, patch 2.6 "just" came out. I do not expect a 2.7 patch before yearS.

I'll personally choose 2.6 over sticking on 2.5. Maybe wait a few months, most of the mods will be updated for 2.6.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Jazira

[gurt]

Thanks for all the feedback, very helpful so far!

[Endarire]

Our family's staying with 2.5 for the near-term because of EEex and OlvynSpells.  If 2.7 includes EEex functionality to let us play using OlvynChuru's mods, we may change to 2.7.