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OS X Baldurs Gate Enhanced
- Thread starter Washac
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Zombie-Ataris has risen and forced legal action that has in turn forced BeamDog / Overhaul to remove the game from digital stores, hold the patches ... and even has placed the released of Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced in jeapordy! Sad but true ... hopefully it gets resolved soon.
So in that case how do all us people who payed money for this piece of not fit for purpose software stand, stuck with it I assume.
Over the last more than few years I am getting more and more sick and tired of companies putting out unfinished/polished software in respect of in many cases it does not even work. I can put up with a few glitches but some games do not even work.
I thought this comes down to selling a product not fit for purpose.
GOG is my main game supplier now, great DRM free games at amazingly cheap prices.
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Using GOG, though, will not save you from unfinished or poorly written games. Also, the problem with BG:EE is not related to DRM. It has to do with the fact that - in theory - Atari still owns the rights for this title, so they seized the chance to get easy money.
Not sure what you mean ... I have this on Mac, PC and iPad - and it is definitely the same game from 15 years ago at its core, and is playable on all platforms. Meaning that it is 'fit for purpose'.
If you are having issues, have you consulted the official forums? There are loads of helpful people there.
I agree that the enhanced edition is the same game from 15 years ago at its core, but the sauce, the flavour and the dip are of something else entirely.
It is absolutely playable, but it's also so bug ridden the experience is far from what one might expect, especially after having played the original.
Hence, the cloud of unhappiness about its current state.
I agree that the enhanced edition is the same game from 15 years ago at its core, but the sauce, the flavour and the dip are of something else entirely.
It is absolutely playable, but it's also so bug ridden the experience is far from what one might expect, especially after having played the original.
Hence, the cloud of unhappiness about its current state.
Bug ridden how exactly? I am asking specifically about the Mac release here. It's been my understanding that the PC version is playable start to finish with no show stoppers so I hoping the same can be said of the Mac version in its current state.
I've read lots of complaints about this game too but nobody ever gets into any specific detail citing any particular problems. On the other hand I have read posts by people saying they played through and didn't have problems. It is hard to know what to make of all this.
It seems like the biggest outstanding issue for some users on PC which is a show stopper is display problems that behave like a driver issue, not that I am blaming the drivers. I wouldn't know of course but complaints of white screens and flickering make me wonder if it is related to certain GPUs and/or drivers since other users do not have these problems at all.
I've played this on PC first, then iPad, and Mac when it came out. Not only have I played on all three platforms, but I even used the same save file across all three. When I do play, I primarily play on Mac and iPad and transfer save files back and forth using a program called iFunbox. The game has been extremely stable, and I can't recall running into any sort of bug, or at least have not noticed any.
With that said, my desire to keep playing it has dwindled with the uncertainty of BG2EE.
With that said, my desire to keep playing it has dwindled with the uncertainty of BG2EE.
That is nice to hear. Thank you.
Baldur's Gate is a great game in its own right. I wouldn't let uncertainty over its follow up dissuade you from enjoying the first game and its expansion.
If you fall in love with this and BG2:EE never happens, I believe Wine is an option for this game and it would not be hard to setup with Wineskin even if you have never used it before. You can get BG2 for Windows on gog.com complete with Throne of Bhaal for 10 bucks I think. With Wineskin it would not be hard to apply fixpack and widescreen mods and you'd be good to go.
Hopefully though, the dispute between Atari and the developers gets resolved and we see the enhanced BG2, not to mention the patch for BG1 which is already done but on hold due to the legal problems.
Oh, I know both games are great and own the originals. My concern about BG2:EE is mainly about the transfer of my save file from BG:EE.
Ah, okay. Well that certainly is a valid concern I wasn't thinking of. My play through of BG1 wasn't too long ago and predates the release of BG:EE although I bought the Mac version off the App Store knowing I would want to play it again multiple times.
Yeah, I would really like to take a character all the way through myself. I did skip Tales of the Sword Coast too. So it would be good to just start a new Paladin (I must be a Paladin!) and do the whole BG1 experience and then keep on trucking in BG2.
Well, now I hope even more the legal problems get fixed. It would be such a shame to not see the other Infinity Engine games get the treatment. I was hoping they'd do all of them for Mac.
Feel free to browse.
For comparison, these are the bugs carried over from the original Baldur's Gate.
But yeah, the main quest line is absolutely doable.
Hmm, too many to bother reading about. Bummer. On the other hand someone here just reported a no issues play so I guess one's mileage may vary. The original bugs page is interesting too. I did play the gog version with fixpack applied but I played a 70 hour game (roughly), skipping Tales of the Sword Coast and never encountered a problem.
My guess is, while there seems to be lots of minor issues that need to be cleaned up, the game is playable and enjoyable and that's good. It will certainly be for the better though if they can iron out the legal issues and get the patch they did out for everyone.
Almost every game has a tech support/bug forum, but does not mean that will be the experience for everyone. There are countless games that have had bugs, and I was not affected. This is not a sign of a bug ridden game, it's normal for every game I have ever played (to have a forum that is).
Good point, particularly in light of the fact that there is no substantial software in existence that does not have bugs. I don't doubt that a game as large and complex as Baldur's Gate still has bugs but again, I played through the entire game and never noticed one.
To me, bug ridden mess means the game simply is not playable. It is a disaster that needs serious fixing before it can be completed and enjoyed. Fortunately, those are relatively rare even though they really should never happen at all.
Have you two played the original BG?
I definitely have, several times on both Mac and PC. I prefer BG2, but still love the original. And I tend to be a 'completist' - not just a 'main quest' guy.
I take it you completed all, but only a few quests in BG:EE?
As you, I loved Baldur's Gate. I had to scour every location for all quests and overcome every challenge, even if it meant repeating a single fight a dozen of times.
I could not do this in the enhanced edition, because Firebead's quest is bugged and it's right at the beginning. Now, a bugged quest is easily noticeable.
When I went to the official forums in search for a workaround, it struck me how many other bugs were present in the game. Not just obvious bugged quests, but broken rules, spells not working right and so on. Stuff you usually don't notice.
Every game has bugs, but 24 forum pages of bugs is bug-ridden in my book.
I take it you completed all, but only a few quests in BG:EE?
As you, I loved Baldur's Gate. I had to scour every location for all quests and overcome every challenge, even if it meant repeating a single fight a dozen of times.
I could not do this in the enhanced edition, because Firebead's quest is bugged and it's right at the beginning. Now, a bugged quest is easily noticeable.
When I went to the official forums in search for a workaround, it struck me how many other bugs were present in the game. Not just obvious bugged quests, but broken rules, spells not working right and so on. Stuff you usually don't notice.
Every game has bugs, but 24 forum pages of bugs is bug-ridden in my book.
Makes me smile when I read people have completed it, when right at the start there is a quest you cannot complete followed by other bugged quests etc
Best to play the original in a wrapper.
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Well, I don't know why you'd smile about the game being screwed up but I'd have to agree with you for now about playing the original.
With Atari's IPs going on the auction block this week coming up I think it is, hopefully Beamdog/Overhaul games gain complete control of BG:EE, etc. such that they can release the patch they have ready for it and can continue to give it the attention it still may need beyond that.
Hope springs eternal but I'd like to think if Overhaul gets the chance to finish what they started, BG:EE will ulimately be decent and with lessons learned (I hope!) from this release, BG2:EE will be much better from the start. If not, I'd say it is game over for Overhaul and many people's hopes for enhanced releases of all the Infinity Engine games.
I'm not saying there aren't any bugs, but I don't have the same experience. Here's a screenshot of my most recent play through (only in chapter 2) and "bugged quest" in question was completed w/o issue.
EDIT: it's not uploading for some reason. I'll have it up in a bit.
EDIT 2: Guess I was not waiting long enough...
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Actually, reading this I think I'll backpedal and say I'd be willing to give BG:EE a shot for a next play of the game, even in its present state. It does not strike me as a major risk but then I'm willing to accept a few small warts if I was to run into them for the benefit of a native Mac version with all the mods I care about applied and some new NPCs and the arena to have some fun with.
Ah, I like that screenshot. Thank you for taking the time to share that.
Actually, reading this I think I'll backpedal and say I'd be willing to give BG:EE a shot for a next play of the game, even in its present state. It does not strike me as a major risk but then I'm willing to accept a few small warts if I was to run into them for the benefit of a native Mac version with all the mods I care about applied and some new NPCs and the arena to have some fun with.
Ah, I like that screenshot. Thank you for taking the time to share that.
It's definitely worth taking a shot. AFAIK, even the bugs that are mentioned in the forums, I don't believe there are any "show stoppers"... I am not a completionist, I play RPGs for the story, characters, and game play. That being said, I don't intentionally skip parts, if I know it's there I do it. So it's possible I have not run into every situation a bug could occur, but I have played it through quite a bit and it has been a solid game IMO. I think Beamdog has done a great job with the update and w/o damaging the spirit of the original.
A weird thought just came to me. What a mind-blowing scenario if.... IF a company like Apple came along and bid on some of Atari's gaming IPs. Maybe in the hopes of bolstering Mac and iOS gaming? Who knows. But it sure would make things interesting if that happened!
Problem with this sort of thing is a company could buy just for the Atari name alone as happened many years ago with the Amiga computer fiasco.