Heh, even more hints in the page source of the main site:

<!-- Chapter One. -->
<!-- There will be more chapters. -->
<!-- More chapters than you think. -->

I don't think they'd tease us like this unless they felt confident they had a gem in the making. One of the best games of all time: enhanced could well be the best game of all time. While I personally don't share the popular sentiment that BG2 is the better title in the series, I concede that BG1 is more of a 'rough diamond' and BG2 does many things better than BG1 did. With their 'enhancement' they could bring BG1 more in alignment with BG2, addressing the weaknesses of the original and making people harder pushed to choose a favourite between the two.

I agree with Caruga, and I have a similar experience.

Same with cheat codes. Use them once, and the game is screwed. It's a simple psychological effect that breaks the fourth wall : you know it's a game.

Not only that, but save/reload abuse was pretty much obligatory in certain parts, simply because of the inventory restrictions. You simply can't afford to carry four fire resistance scrolls everywhere. But you can save and reload until Firekraag's AI is dumb enough to cast spells on wandering summoned beasts.

Of course the inventory should remain restricted. But every single one of my games, I'd end up with scrolls, wands and potions at will, only to find out that I needed another scroll that I had sold a few hours ago. That's the broken part.

Nice catch caruga, and thanks for the answer.

Do they mean more chapters in the site's source code, or do they mean in the game?

Edit: I'm not sure I agree with you guys though, when you're about to use an exploit or cheat you already broke the fourth wall didn't you!? It's not about the possibility but the will to do it.

I don't know about save/reload abuse being obligatory, I did do that because I don't like having anyone in my party dying, but I never had problems with not having "the scrolls I need", in part it is because the system gives you so many approaches to any given fight, and if you don't have X you use Y.

I apologize if I sound condescending or anything but it seems to me that it is the kind of problem that you could avoid, but I don't mean that it is a bad thing to have an unexploitable game, I totally agree on having a flawless mechanic, I just wouldn't put that in front of more content for example(not that we were choosing to begin with).

I like the idea of not always having everything you need for a fight, and sometimes having to retreat and shop around for the that little bit extra that'll give you the edge you need. This is a plus. Being able to win every fight by just digging in your inventory detracts from the experience I think, I would repeat what Zealer says above.

Saving and loading is a bit of an issue, not a game breaking one, although I certainly wouldn't call it abuse.Something which might satisfy the hardcore is an extra difficulty option which cannot be changed. Part of that might include having to pay gold to load. That might players try to make the most of the situation/use alternatives before jumping to reload. But that's just an aside.

Now for the important bit...

<!-- Chapter One. -->
<!-- There will be more chapters. -->
<!-- More chapters than you think. -->

I don't think that's more in the source code, just doesn't seem to be a natural construciton. Could we be looking at more chapters added to the game - that is what this quote strongly suggests. Is that heresy?

If it is, it's the heresy I've been asking for.

Piping in... hopefully constructively...

By page three there are already quite a few great suggestions for BGEE, and it would be a shame that they go unread- not sure if the development team reads everything out there or takes notes. Maybe a compendium of suggestions should be put forward in bullet form that makes it easier.

Plenty of debate could be had on some of the suggestions, but it seems difficult not to have consensus on most of it, and these don't even factor in the de facto "suggestions" that popular BG mods already provide:

1. Inventory interface adjustment to enable easier weapon type switching (from bow to sword+shield)
2. Inventory allotment reworked to account for small, light items like gems and arrows, though not making it unlimited (more convenience, but not at the cost of realism)
3. Adding BG2's movement through area transitions to BG1 (as Tutu/BGT already do)
4. Reapportioning quest XP in relation to each other (cite specific examples)
5. Creating a zoom feature since even in 2D zoom could be viable
6. Expanding mouse-keyboard button/wheel options in controls
7. Revamped Journal for quest updating
8. Simplified merchant and container interaction interfaces to avoid the laborious inventory shuffling one must do in vanilla
9. Improved enemy AI (like with the SCS mods?)
10. Making Firebead Elvenhair more formidible (and not respawnable in Beregost), or perhaps making the penalty for killing him be so great that it becomes impossible to leave Candlekeep after doing so... doomed to die a Lvl 2 evil dweeb

Some of this does get debatable. I wouldn't want a heavy-handed prevention of XP-exploits either. Frankly if one can figure out how to make it to the summit of Durlag's and score 1000XP or so at Lvl1, they deserve the reward for cleverness. But killing Firebead is just an absurd exploit. Firebead should be able to kill you a lot more handily for attacking him, or townfolk or guards come to his aid readily, and there's no way Gorion would stand for that. It just ruins the game's immersion with such an open door to metagamed murder-plunder. Then again, Gorion's own magic abilities were a bit lame in his death scene: I'd like to see a more convincing battle played out, with or without the ridiculous 1HP damage that <char name> takes from a high level mage...

Or do we want the developers taking our plethora of suggestions into account? Many of us would rather mod the game than play vanilla and wouldn't be playing a BGEE without the modifications either if we could help it now that we've tasted the improvements, so it's not as if we don't want the changes, but of course we're asking for more than just BG with better resolution at that point... Not sure where or how to draw a line on this...

I think there are some modifications that by now are taken for granted in the vast majority of informed megamod installs (though you may select different packages to get to the same end result). I'd imagine we would like these built into the new game from scratch. It would be even more excellent if they streamlined tools for modders (while I am no modder, lowering the barrier to entry for that scene can only mean good things), and vastly improved and stabilized the experience to start your own megamod install. This type of customizability is unparalleled anywhere else in gaming, and is a large part of why it has so far survived the test of time. Bringing that to more players can also only mean good things.

They say they will use 2E, will that mean I must reroll forever to get good stats. I hope they will set a limit as 3E have, so you dont need to reroll!!!

They say they will use 2E, will that mean I must reroll forever to get good stats. I hope they will set a limit as 3E have, so you dont need to reroll!!!

Yeah. Unadulterated 2E doesn't translate well to video games in all areas. I assume they'll be keeping out the rolling of hit die as they did from BG1 to BG2 on normal difficulty... actually, I'd prefer it as a separate tick-box option altogether. In BG1 I'd reload on level-up to get the max hp. :)

Maybe even have a whole sequestered configuration menu for non-rule abiding options that the devs think might make the game an arguably better experience for video-gamers. Maybe click on an "advanced difficulty options" button to take you there...

And then from what boxes you tick, the game can draw a scalar difficulty value from your selections so you can put a number to the difficulty you're playing at.
The old way of choosing the difficulty level (which would be different combination pre-sets of those tickboxes automatically applied) would also work for the majority who would prefer that approach.

Tickboxes i'd like to see in such a menu include things appropriate for the challenge games (rm your savefile if your main pc dies! No experience points! etc. Have a popup dialog warning box so people don't turn these on accidentally if they're clicked on). That scalar value I mentioned? Tick the right boxes and you can push it higher than the regular slider bar that works off of presets is normally able to go by moving it with the mouse (and all values are named, not just numerals, so you could unlock "nightmare" or whatever it might be called by moving the slider to the top, then going into advanced difficulty config and ticking/unticking). I think that would be cool. :)

Does anyone like the chosen name "enhanced edition"? It's starting to grow on me but my initial reaction was negative, since 'enhanced' sounds very vague. They've probably finalised it now, anyway. But I'd prefer "Baldur's gate: Remastered", and another one that's slipped my mind right now but i'll edit it in later.

'...vastly improved and stabilized the experience to start your own megamod install...'

I'm kind of hoping that the enhanced edition wont require a host of mods to make it fun, both for the reason that hopefully the best features from the best mods will be integrated into the game anyway, and that there'll be sufficient extra content.

However I agree that in the long run it is useful to be able to play stable mega-mod installs.

More importantly I wonder just how much extra content they are planning to add??

I agree, it would be preferd if you could choose. So hardcore fans who wonna use days for rolling, can do that. Some other small issues like % learn spells etc. I would like as an option to include.

They say they will use 2E, will that mean I must reroll forever to get good stats. I hope they will set a limit as 3E have, so you dont need to reroll!!!

I like rolling for stats. :/

I think there are some modifications that by now are taken for granted in the vast majority of informed megamod installs (though you may select different packages to get to the same end result).

I suppose the mod that made most difference is the one that allows you to play BG1 on BG2's engine, and since they stated that they're building it from the latest version of the infinity engine, that is taken care of. I don't know about tweaks and the other stuff from other mods, though. Also Trent said that they are trying hard not to break mods.

If it is, it's the heresy I've been asking for.

Oh man, as long as they keep true to the series(which I believe they are, it is actually quite awesome how much they know about what the fans want) bring as many new chapters as possible!

Zealer there are some features that doesnt implement well with a game, such as rolling for stats. When I make a char in BG it can take 5-10 min to get good stats. Its something I could do well without, if I make a 6-mann party it can take 30 min. Something that should not take that long!
It should be as an option, so people who wnat to roll can roll, however we who dont want to use forever can get a std. value to use on stats.

Mr. Oster tweets: "We aren't planning any new VO for old Chars in the current batch of new content. If we do well, our plans can grow #bgee"

Might not be the most popular thing to say, but I'd pay for a DLC 'voicepack'. Anything less than all the original actors on board though and it wouldn't be a purchase. Frankly it probably isn't a sound business strategy... but maybe one can't understestimate what loyal fans will pay for. :)

I like rolling for stats. :/

Anything one person likes and another doesn't, should be an option. I think it's noncontroversial to say that that's something we can all agree on. :)

Zealer there are some features that doesnt implement well with a game, such as rolling for stats. When I make a char in BG it can take 5-10 min to get good stats. Its something I could do well without, if I make a 6-mann party it can take 30 min. Something that should not take that long!
It should be as an option, so people who wnat to roll can roll, however we who dont want to use forever can get a std. value to use on stats.

I do not oppose implementation of the point distribution system, but if you take NWN as an example you could easily get better stats in BG, so either your standards for good stats change due to the inevitability of the point distribution system or I'm lucky in rolling stats.

So I agree with caruga that it should be optional.

Might not be the most popular thing to say, but I'd pay for a DLC 'voicepack'. Anything less than all the original actors on board though and it wouldn't be a purchase. Frankly it probably isn't a sound business strategy... but maybe one can't understestimate what loyal fans will pay for. :)

Don't you dare!! Hahahahaha... oh man I hate DLC with a passion, and it is in general too, I suppose there are some DLC that are worth the money, but at this point it is just another name for money grubbing, and the worse of it all is that expansion packs are being neglected when they could give you much more and richer content.

Sorry about the rant, it's just that this project is bringing the good old stuff back, I'm just hoping the industry can "learn" a bit from every aspect of it.

I do agree that it would be awesome to have the old VO artists come back to perhaps even voice all the dialog(even though I'm happy with the way it is now).

What do you guys think about quests in BG1? I'm slightly ambivalent about this, but I think generally the quests were lacking in a bit of depth, especially in comparison with BG2. Personally I would like to see a few of the quests expanded a bit, possibly with more NPC quests. Obviously that would be in addition to the implementation of new quests.

In respect of the VO artists, I don't see why we need them to come back, unless you mean for the purpose of voicing more lines for the existing NPCs. Otherwise I would say breadth of VO is definately to be preferred, it gets noticeable when the same few individuals are doing all of the voices, even if they are excellent. I would add that I'm fully in support of Trent's position that quality of dialogue should be emphasised, at the expense of less VO.

I doubt the quest in BG1 will be remade with VO, though i agree that it would enchant gamplay. Most of the quest in BG1 is about: get that item/kill that guy etc. So the quest them selvs seems generic, while in BG2 all the quest feels alive.I doubt that would change and I am fine with that. I belive they are thinking more about unfinished quest, then improving current if they are not broken.
I do expect they will make a better jurnal, that BG2 have since they say that they will make the same engine.

Hi,

Baldurs gate is the best game ever made. I will be buying both new editions when released.

One request. You must have an option to change the font size to large, and I mean large. Having small text is a problem for those of us who are short sighted. Would be shame to pass this great game because I couldnt read the text.

Things I would like to see in BG1:

The Baldursdash fixes included of course,

Removal of the "you can only wear x magical jewelry at a time" it never made sense to me and was just a pain in the ass.

Bigger item stacks, I want to lug lots of items around, especially potions and scrolls, perhaps put in the potion and scroll containers Icewind Dale had, but if so have them contain a limited number of stacks, not items.

Maximum hit points per level. I hate randomisation in character creation and development, so max (or half) hp per level. Also put recruitable NPCs under this so they have received this in the past. Another problem with joinable NPCs are at times their profiences and thief skills, so maybe let you reset and redistribute those?

remove failure on learning spell, its just adds save/load nuisance anyhow.

Remove STR being 18/XX just have STR progress like all the other attributes (17-18-19) I never got why it was penalised and to be decided by a one time random roll (don't forget to also apply this change to NPCs)

Remove rolling for attributes, If wanting to keep as an option, just give me the option to pick whatever a perfect roll for them would be.

Some of these should be options and such..

First of all let me say i love the idea of an enchanced version bg1+2, specially if the graphic is improved a lot, have been thinking a lot about going back to the series after i discovered gog.com, but the forced 640*480 resoulution have been turning me off:)

With that being said, am i the only one who is slightly worried about how stable the final products gonna be with this short of a development cycle? I mean if you look at the forums for MDK2HD(Disclaimer: Havent tried it) it doesnt excactly seems like people are getting a smooth and bugfree expirence..

So yeah here is for hoping i guess:)

I'm a little bit surprised at how...unambitious...some of these requests have been (e.g. more convenient inventory, bigger stacks, option for max hitpoints, higher resolution, easier journal etc). These things are all pretty much guaranteed to be there anyway on account that the game will be using the latest ToB version of the Infinity Engine.

This is a chance to see our favourite series brought back to life in an enhanced edition, surely our vision is not just limited to a couple of fixes which have been corrected by mods anyway? Is anyone hoping for new classes/kits? I'm aware that they're sticking with the existing rules, but it would be good to see intelligence given some real purpose/benefit. And as for new/expanded quests, is there anything in particular that anyone's hoping for?

I would like to see situations where having a high charisma actually helps you - or where having a low charisma isn't always worth it.

I would also like it if the weapons and armor had more unique sprites - a suit of plate mail should not look different on an elf than it does on a human or an orc, for example.

I'd like to see dwarf, gnome, and halfling sprites that don't all look the same - and I'd like the half-orc to look different from the human.

I'd like some additional race options (some subraces, the option to play as a full Orc, goblin/hobgoblin, etc.), with consequences (both good and bad) based on your choice of race.

I'd also like to see the class kits balanced for play in BG1 (they were designed with the assumption that you'd be starting with them at level 8/9, which meant for a number of them that starting at level 1 gave you no abilities at all).

I'd like to see some more robust stronghold quests - a Thieves Guild quest that actually ends, for example. It would also be nice to have some stronghold quests for the different warrior classes, or variations for each one, since there are variations of the cleric quest based on alignment. A monk stronghold that's a monastery somewhere in the hills? A barbarian stronghold that's a battle arena somewhere in Athkatla? Also, the paladin quest ought to be longer - or it shouldn't prevent you from pursuing the De'Arnise Hold as well, since it's so short.

I'd like to see some inklings in BG1 that the plot of BG2 is coming. Some references to an elf who betrayed his people, or some rumors that "there's a guild war in Amn".

I'd like to see more character-initiated quests in BG1 like there were in BG2. There are a number of NPCs in BG1 that exist in your party but have no real plot arc.

Well the increased graphics is NOT something that has ever been modded. The widescreen mod simply rescales to the letterbox aspect ratio so that the display doesn't look stretched. It doesn't add any detail, it still uses the old images and sprites. I'm hoping for repainted/rerendered graphics rather than using the originals. Hoping we'll find out soon whether that is going to be done...

I suggested in another forum (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/183/index/9487004/7#10083723) that there be a 'bridge chapter' between the end of BG1 and the beginning of BG2, that fills in on what happens in the current intro movie of BG2, right up to your capture. Also someone else suggested that you can alter the canon of who ends up in the cages with you at the beginning of BG2, rather than forcing it to certain ones as the original title did.

btw, does anyone else get "authorization failure" when trying to view the formatting help window?

Hi everyone, it's great seeing all the thought and discussion behind this. I'm hoping to open up a forum soon that will allow us to discuss, vote, and iterate on ideas and fixes for BGEE. The team simply won't have enough time to read every comment so we need some system to stream line the discussion. I'm looking at a couple solutions, I tried ideascale.com but wasn't completely happy with it. Right now I'm toying with the idea of a subreddit. If anyone has some ideas please let me know.

-cam

MR. ManlyMan that would be good. If we can make a complete list of cons and pros of BG1 and the team could se over it, that would be awsome!

Aosaw i agree charisma has to little influense in the game, if "team leader" has x char it gives party x bonus. Something about evil/good party should have pros and cones. now its just that evil is hard. Becouse prices are ridiculuse high and you get attacked everywhere you go. That would be fine if there were some pros, but there are none.

Some kits as Beast master and Avanger should be rebalanced. BM should have better creatures to call on and avanger have to many disadvantages to have just get some spells!

Is anyone hoping for new classes/kits? I'm aware that they're sticking with the existing rules, but it would be good to see intelligence given some real purpose/benefit. And as for new/expanded quests, is there anything in particular that anyone's hoping for?

I actually asked Trent on twitter if there would be new spells or items, and he didn't answer.

I'm pretty sure there will be new items since they are adding new content(I'm assuming new quests, ergo new enemy npcs, ergo new items), and it seems that there will be new types of abilities as said in this interview.

Some people already mentioned it would be nice to have the depth of BG2 quests added to BG1 quests, instead of just messenger quests, etc...

And the reason I'm not being ambitious with my requests is that I want the game to remain unbroken, it has its flaws but the gameplay is perfect, and changing it too much as I've seen a lot of people suggesting, might unbalance it.

So I guess I'm all for new stuff that don't break the game.

Ambitious can mean a lot of things Zealer. It doesn't necessarily mean changing core gameplay mechanics or re-writing parts of the plot. It can include things like adding a new dungeon or three, writing new encounters and quests, and like we were discussing earlier, and Beamdog were hinting at; potentially even adding a chapter to the game.

As for adding depth, i'm fully with you on that Zealer. I would personally like to see a quest which involves defending a location from marauding gibberlings (or other beasties), where you have to plan your defence, find allies/call for help, inspire those fighting with you, etc.

Shut up and take my money!!

Is there any word on getting kickstarter funding up and running for this game?

I've been reading up on kick starters and I would seriously love to contribute some financial support to this game. The Baldur's Gate series is seriously one of my all time favorite franchises. It's up there with X-Wing and Master of Orion in my mind. Along with that line of thought, I would love to put my money where my mouth is and contribute to the game.

If my financial support will help in even the smallest amount to allow the artists working on BGEE lessen corporate concerns or outside influences and allow them to focus on making this game the best it can be, so be it. I read up on some of Double Fine's donation tiers and think the rewards that go along with those donations are a great idea!

It doesn't look like there's going to be a kickstarter for the BG:EE Jorkan, although I agree that if there was I would definately be contributing. You, like the rest of us, will have to settle for putting your money where your mouth is by buying the game when it comes out.

Helping to publicise Beamdog too couldn't hurt. As long as I keep hearing positive things from the people at Beamdog, I'll be directing everyone I know, here.