Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General BG1 & BG2 worth it while waiting ?

I think the EE found a way to monetize what was happening already anyway in the game's afterlife with the modding community, and just made that concept easier to distribute. The problem with mods or house rules or anything like that is always the tension between continuing improving something vs pushing it out to as many people as possible for broad buy in. Or visual art in general is like that I think, knowing when to keep going or call it finished.

Though even if I like portraits, video games are more like theater companies or film crews and their own thing. Ensemble with a big crew. Trying to synchronize and get some big aggregate package of mods out is tough. Plus you had Trent with the connection the franchise there, so sort of an idea that we might get a directors cut of sorts.

The nice thing about BG is that after a couple decades in the works, many of the mods have been merged and made easier to use. And since its one steam and gog and such, makes installing and reinstalling less a chore, or fucking something up accidentally less likely. Baldur's Gate has basically had hella bonus disks and DVD director's cuts, expansions and special edition-ified extras added onto it, more than any other game I can think of. Like if Ridley Scott just never stopped making Blade Runner heheh. Or like Star Wars, as long as there is a simple way to see the original, I like that that exists. There should be a way to launch the thing in "classic mode" just from like an art historical interest standpoint.

But yeah, going back to BG1 resolution to play is an exercise in eyeball implosion lol. There's no going back from BG2EE reso and movement speed and UI bonus features. Before there was a way to play BG1 in the BG2 game engine, it was almost impossible to play BG1 after experiencing BG2. Which I think is why the latter had such a long shelf life, and why BG1 has been a thing of nostalgic fascination. I like that it was remade in NWN2, that project is a fun idea. Or basically like the idea carried over from film of the reboot.

The original game came out at like the peak of ISO 2d sprites before everything transitioned to 3d. Even with the short timelines, it came out at like the fin de siecle of an era in video game art. I think early 3D games don't hold up as well. Like its way harder to hop back in on DOOM or even the best of the best in early 3D cause just hadn't had time to develop. Eventually there will probably be a Baldur's Gate in AR/VR and we'll look back on the end of the 3D era with nostalgic favorites, but I don't think its there yet. Someone still needs to come along and make "the portrait generator" for a 3D model or "sound studio" for voice next level first. To match up with the custom content of the day.

I'd still love to see a BG game that essentially looks and sounds like the old ones, but where the animations and vfx and sound were just totally dialed. Like on a visual front where entering "Sneak/Hide" the character would put on their hood and hunch over and to move all stealthy like. Mages scribing. Warriors using all kinds of badass attacks like battle of the mounds. Or where the areas were larger and had the same basic features but everything was painted out to unreal detail. It would be a fun challenge to see a really well done reboot of BG1 using whatever the final BG3 engine can handle.



That spot is great!