Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, who's going to buy?

[Maniacal]

That was a stupid countdown, just gave out the release date. So far I still don't really see what makes it so much better than my retail and GoG versions with mods (that are already installed. The game has so many quests and NPCs already I have trouble finishing it and I'd have to replay it many times to get through all of the current NPCs (which isn't going to happen). I was hoping they would at least improve the character models :/

Plus it seems it will only be availabe from Beamdog, no one needs yet another digital store account.

EDIT: Although it is great that they are updating the game a bit and adding to it, and its probably a much better deal for people who haven't played it much or at all and those who havent played it in a long time.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Report has it that much of the art assets for BG have been lost, so they'd have to redo them entirely from scrath rather than re-rendering them

[Yeekim]

Originally Posted by Oda Nobunaga

Report has it that much of the art assets for BG have been lost, so they'd have to redo them entirely from scrath rather than re-rendering them

Sorry for being stupid, but how can something which is part of a game of which there are millions of copies around be "lost"?

[Arakhor]

Originally Posted by Maniacal

I was hoping they would at least improve the character models :/

Plus it seems it will only be availabe from Beamdog, no one needs yet another digital store account.

Well, that's certainly one way to kill interest in it.

[Rulke55]

There is now an official release for it and the new content sounds awesome:

Half Orc

New Character:
Dorn Il-Khan
"Do not annoy me with such simplistic notions of morality."

Born in the Spine of the World, Dorn fled to Luskan with his human mother when a rival tribe annihilated his father's savage people. In that northern city, Dorn's ruthless strength soon won him a deadly reputation and the attentions of a band of mercenaries whose wickedness exceeded even Dorn's. Imprisoned for the crimes of the entire group, Dorn made a fiendish bargain granting him even greater power and the promise of revenge.

A Blackguard of few words, Dorn is only too happy to ally himself with Gorion's ward and cut a bloody swath across the Sword Coast with his black greatsword, as long as that path continues to lead him to the traitors he has sworn to destroy.

Dorn is a half-orc Blackguard whose otherworldly patron grants him terrible powers in the form of his black sword and unholy spells. Add him to your Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and inflict evil to the last corpse.

Dorn adds the following Enhancments to Baldur's Gate:

• The Blackguard Dorn II-Khan, a new NPC to join your party
• Up to four hours of additional gameplay
• The Blackguard kit to create your own champion of evil
Betrayed by his former companions, the half-orc Dorn Il-Khan lusts for revenge and glory in equal measure.

Wild Mage

New Character:
Neera the Wild Mage
"Casting wild magic is like playing a flute by ear. In magical terms, I can play a pretty mean tune, but when I miss a note the flute shoots fire at everyone."

After a disastrous wild surge maimed her fellow students, Neera fled her home to wander the High Forest. Even there, her capricious spells threatened the highly flammable woods, forcing the mighty treant Turlang to banish Neera from his domain. On the open road, Neera enjoyed only fleeting companionship before the Red Wizards caught up with her.

Neera's whimsical humor clashes with the guilt she still harbors over the harm she has inadvertently caused in past. She hopes to find a way to control her wild magic, even as she delights in the surprises that could come with every spell.

Fleeing the Red Wizards and seeking a better understanding of her own powers, Neera hopes for friends who can help her survive both her hunters and her own magic.

Neera is a half-elf wild mage slowly coming to terms with her enormous magical potential. Add her to your Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition experience and ignite your wild side.

Neera adds the following Enhancements to Baldur's Gate:

• The Wild Mage Neera, a new NPC to join your party
• An engaging romantic adventure
• Up to four hours of additional gameplay
• New area: a secluded hideaway northeast of Durlag's Tower
This half-elf wild mage finds both delight and terror in her capricious magic while fleeing both her past mistakes and the merciless Red Wizards of Thay.

Monk.

Rasaad yn Bashir
"In the face of lies, we offer truth. In the face of hatred, we offer compassion."

For a young man, Rasaad yn Bashir radiates an uncommonly mature aura of calm and wisdom. After a disastrous mission to a monastery in Athkatla, he now wanders the Sword Coast in search of enlightenment.

Orphaned on the streets of Calimport, Rasaad and his brother, Gamaz, barely survived by begging and theft. Caught in the act by a monk of the Order of the Sun Soul, the boys received not punishment but their first instruction. Soon the brothers excelled in the physical, mental, and spiritual training of the monastery devoted to Selûne, goddess of the moon.

In the aftermath of his brother's death, Rasaad has left his order to seek his own solace. If he can also find opportunities to reflect his inner light on those in need, he is eager to do so.

Rasaad is a Calishite Monk demonstrating his monastic arts to the people of Nashkel. His quest ultimately leads into the highest reaches of the Cloud Peaks, where he must face an unexpected nemesis. Add him to your Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition experience to unleash the Monk's extraordinary power.

Rasaad adds the following Enhancements to Baldur's Gate:

• The Monk Rasaad yn Bashir, a new NPC to join your party
• A new playable adventure
• New area: the Cloud Peaks
Rasaad's adventure through the never seen before Cloud Peaks adds up to four hours of additional gameplay.

They all each have new quests and wild mage got romance option. The new quest is a vast here's quote to give idea.

New Adventure:
The Black Pits

"Rouse yourselves, you lice-laden layabouts. Stand and salute your new master, Baeloth the Entertainer!"

Across the realms, individuals of great power and prestige receive a scroll via magical means. Unfurling it, they discover that they have been selected as one of the very few to enjoy the finest forms of entertainment in all creation...

Come one, come all! Baeloth the Entertainer cordially invites you to the greatest spectacle the realms have to offer - mortal pitted against mortal in a desperate bid to survive! Thrilling combat, scintillating magic, and the grim spectre of death lurk above this, the greatest of all shows! All this and more can be enjoyed within... THE BLACK PITS!

Deep within the Underdark where few dare to tread, the mad drow Baeloth has used his extensive mastery of magic to force a duergar colony into creating an entertainment complex of his own design. He has invited guests from across the realms, from Maztica to Menzoberranzan, and they will readily attend - Baeloth is known to be an excellent showman.

The Black Pits is one of the enhancements that make up Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition that allows you to create a full party and battle through fifteen hellish battles in a desperate bid to escape. Difficult challenges, unique battles, and a bizarre cast of characters await you within the Underdark!

• A stand-alone adventure set deep within the Underdark
• Fifteen levels of arena-style combat challenges
• Full control and customization of up to six party members
• Over 6 hours of additional gameplay
The Black Pits are your new home... enjoy your stay while you can!

Finally over 400 enhancements apparently, they show six.

Enhanced Interface
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition features an updated and improved interface that has native support for high resolution and widescreen displays. The iPad and Android Tablet versions both contain platform specific interface enhancements.

Improved Multiplayer
Online multiplayer has been upgraded to include matchmaking functionality, and games can be played across multiple platforms. Adventurers on iPad, Mac, PC and Android Tablets can all play Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition together.

Core Game Improvements
The Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate has been given an extensive overhaul. The original source code has been cleaned up and improved, sped up, and now has support for modern platforms. Over 400 issues from the original game have been found and fixed.


Baldur's Gate 2 Features
All of the additions and improvements from Baldur's Gate 2: The Shadows of Amn have been brought to Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. Now you can use class kits, new subraces and classes that were previously unavailable.

New Cinematics
All of the Baldur's Gate cinematics have been replaced with beautifully hand painted animated cinematics, directed by Nat Jones.

Ongoing Support
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition will continue to receive improvements after release, along with continued support for the vibrant mod community that has helped it remain so popular for so long.

It's official, I'll buy this!

[PeteAtoms]

I'm not sure the enhancements being made actually justify the $20 price tag. I was expecting something around $12 This is probably a deal breaker for me.

[Rulke55]

Originally Posted by PeteAtoms

I'm not sure the enhancements being made actually justify the $20 price tag. I was expecting something around $12 This is probably a deal breaker for me.

You get the NPCs and new adventure free, whereas on pad even though it will be 10 dollars you will have to pay for the new content.

[GoodGame]

It'll be COOP too?

http://www.baldursgate.com/enhancements.en.html
Looks like it.

Only $20. Sounds great.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Originally Posted by Yeekim

Sorry for being stupid, but how can something which is part of a game of which there are millions of copies around be "lost"?

What they have in th game is the animation that were made from the art assets.

The art assets themselves (ie, 3d models and whatnot) that were used to create the animation are lost, so they can't simply load up the art assets all over again to create new, higher-quality animations.

[GoodGame]

In other words they have to re-rig the models, which probably isn't much of a loss given the age of the game.
It's akin to having the artwork to make an interpretation from, but just not having the original artist around.

[Maniacal]

Enhanced Interface
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition features an updated and improved interface that has native support for high resolution and widescreen displays. The iPad and Android Tablet versions both contain platform specific interface enhancements.

Widescreen mod isn't hard to install but this is still good.

Improved Multiplayer

Whoopdyfreaking do. I doubt most people will ever touch it.

Core Game Improvements
The Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate has been given an extensive overhaul. The original source code has been cleaned up and improved, sped up, and now has support for modern platforms. Over 400 issues from the original game have been found and fixed.

The game runs very well on modern hardware as it is and GoG.com already made it work with Win7 and such (although my BG2 retail version works great on its own).

Baldur's Gate 2 Features
All of the additions and improvements from Baldur's Gate 2: The Shadows of Amn have been brought to Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. Now you can use class kits, new subraces and classes that were previously unavailable.

Also a rather easy to install mod, good addition still though.

New Cinematics
All of the Baldur's Gate cinematics have been replaced with beautifully hand painted animated cinematics, directed by Nat Jones.

This definitely sounds like an improvement.

Ongoing Support
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition will continue to receive improvements after release, along with continued support for the vibrant mod community that has helped it remain so popular for so long.

If they deliver on this promise then good!

[GoodGame]

Originally Posted by Maniacal

Whoopdyfreaking do. I doubt most people will ever touch it.

Put it on Steam and I would.

[Rulke55]

Originally Posted by GoodGame

Put it on Steam and I would.

Don't need to download Beamdog client apparently, just pre-order game and will get file ect. Although you could then add it to steam library to make it easier for self.

[GoodGame]

Originally Posted by Rulke55

Don't need to download Beamdog client apparently, just pre-order game and will get file ect. Although you could then add it to steam library to make it easier for self.

I mean I'd like it on a Steam server so it's a reliable multiplayer.

[Maniacal]

I really don't think something like BG needs a major and dedicated server like the ones Valve and thousands of individual people rent/use for TF2 and other games to handle it properly.

[Samez]

From the official homepage

*Neera the Wild Mage and Dorn Il-Khan are available as in-app purchases on iPad and Android Tablet.

Does this mean the two chars are not included in the 20$ retail version? Does it also imply they will be exclusively for IPad and Adroid tablet?

[Rulke55]

Originally Posted by Samez

From the official homepage
Does this mean the two chars are not included in the 20$ retail version? Does it also imply they will be exclusively for IPad and Adroid tablet?

It means on the PC and Mac version these characters are free with 20 retail price, whereas Android and Tablets get it cheaper (10 dollars) due the fact they don't get this content for free. So PC and Mac get the three new NPCs, new adventure and the overall updates to game. Thus why we pay extra, since we get all at once.

[Samez]

Okay that sounds much better.

[Luckymoose]

Originally Posted by Maniacal

Whoopdyfreaking do. I doubt most people will ever touch it.

My favorite part of these games is multiplayer.

[Rulke55]

Looks like this will be a hit, and may make young 'uns aware of an amazing game. Fingers crossed eh.