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How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

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Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#171

Post by int_19h »

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

Oh to be a kid again. I've tried a dozen or so RPGs since my childhood and I can't get into any. It's hard to sink deep enough into a world when I have responsibilities. As a kid, the Christmas break or summer break was this magical time where I could do this. My hope is that when I retire I can become re acquainted with crpgs

If you want to give it a try, my recommendation is to start with the Pillars of Eternity series. It's a modern game, but it's made by some of the people who made some of the best classic CRPGs, and it's done very much in their spirit. And I don't mean just the gameplay, but also e.g. graphics and style - the game uses hand-drawn backgrounds, just as Baldur's Gate did, but at much higher resolution, and with a 3D mesh underneath to apply lighting effects.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#172

Post by int_19h »

ionised wrote: post #24
_void wrote: post #2

Would not forget this game ever, first time had to install using 5CDs, endless hours spent discovering this amazing world and story these guys have built. Hands down to Black Isle Studios for BG series, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment.

They were all great but Planescape Torment was my favourite of the lot. Such a well-written game.

Speaking of which, there's an "enhanced edition" of P:T now, that's also available on mobile devices.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#174

Post by int_19h »

ArrayList wrote: post #79

Anyone remember Neverwinter Nights? That was my "thing". Also, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete was a high point in my childhood.

The best part of NWN was the ability to run your own custom servers online, with custom worlds. Sine the game had a fairly powerful (for its time) scripting system, and an easy to use editor, at its peak there were many thematic persistent worlds - various D&D universes, Middle Earth etc.

It was also very different from modern MMORPGs, since it wasn't massively multiplayer - you had at most 64 players per server, and it also provided for DMs. Thus, you could do the usual MMORPG-type XP grind, or you could participate in DM-managed adventures in parties. Most people did both. Of course, the game engine limits what you can do compared to a true tabletop RPG, but there's still plenty a creative DM can do. And even a simple dungeon raid can have a lot of unexpected twists and turns with a DM.

I recall there were some community-driven things to encourage roleplay, too. E.g. on some servers, all regular players would get an XP reward quota, that they could dole out to other players' characters for good RP interactions.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#175

Post by dmoy »

sreque wrote: post #123
muro wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Daggerfall was a buggy mess or randomly generated, yet still always the same dungeons. No reason whatsoever to walk in the always-same, never ending landscape. The plot was good, the scale huge. Morrowind fixed all of that - much smaller scale, less generated stuff, excellent plot, few (er) bugs - it was actually possible to finish the game. Landscape with purpose, it was actually interesting to walk and explore.

Admittedly, I've only played Skyrim and a bit of ESO, but I've gotten the impression from Bethesda that their RPGs are always buggy, but, at least with Skryim, the game was so good I was more than willing to forgive them for it. Skyrim remains my favorite single player RPG to date. To respond to the OP, I consider the baldur's gate series to be more of a trend-setter than the other games he listed.

Oh wow it just stuck me that the Morrowind "screen always red" bug and the Skyrim "the damn battle music won't stop playing" bug are probably a very similar bug.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#176

Post by djur »

int_19h wrote: post #168
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Morrowind does have more following, but Daggerfall has an extraordinarily staunch user base. 22 years after its release, its Reddit and various forums are pretty active and there is a full remake in Unity getting close to full functionality, with all code recreated from scratch, and people are already creating various mods for it. (obligatory link: https://www.dfworkshop.net/ ). Daggerfall and Morrowind had a quite d…

> You were now "the Chosen One" (in Daggerfall you were just a random person, except for being a friend of the emperor, living their life and trying to make fortune) It should be noted that in Morrowind, that is very much ambiguous. WARNING: MAJOR STORY SPOILERS! The only thing that is really special about your character in Morrowind is that you're born "on a certain day to an uncertain parents", which technically ma…

Yes, exactly. Morrowind isn't a Chosen One narrative, it's a subversion of and critique of Chosen One narratives. The self-fulfilling nature of prophecy is a major theme of the game. Skyrim is the first game in the series where the player character is unambiguously a prophesied hero by right of birth. (Oblivion is interesting in that it does have a Chosen One, but you end up playing his sidekick.)

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#177

Post by djur »

int_19h wrote: post #169
cialowicz wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Wikipedia page for Elder Scrolls II [0] indicates that the game world was absolutely massive: > the actual size of the map is 161,600 km² (62,394 mi²). The game world features over 15,000 towns, cities, villages, and dungeons for the player's character to explore. Was that scale part of the magic and fun back then? How varied were the various quests? Did it get repetitive, or was it fun to explore? [0] https://en…

Of course, it was procedurally generated. Later, Arcanum would try to do something similar, at least with a global map. It had premade towns and cities (and nowhere near as many of them, of course); but the landscape between them was done to proper scale, and it was all generated. So, when you reached the outskirts of a town, you could fast travel, or you could just keep walking - and the distance (and time!) you'd h…

Daggerfall, on the other hand, was not at all gracefully designed to handle that. It was way, way too easy to accidentally derail the main plot.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#178

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

enraged_camel wrote: post #152
minikites wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Fallout series isn't exactly obscure and Fallout 1 in particular is terrible. I got a game over 5 minutes into the game because I walked too far and the arbitrary timer ran out.

"This game is terrible because I got game over after ignoring the primary quest" is not a good reason to hate a game...

Yeah, I think it kind of is. I was 10 when BG2 came out, and that’s when I first played it too. It would have taken me far longer to understand what to do in all the quests, and how to be effective in combat, than any adult. I loved that I could just enjoy playing it slowly.

I remember loving the original Fallout, until it basically said “you didn’t find the water chip in time! Goodbye!”

Exactly the same story with Commandos 2 vs Commandos 3.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#179

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

anoplus wrote: post #138

Game experience is so much more than cutting edge graphics. From the many games I played in high-school, this one remembered as particularly charming (literally). I listened to the soundtrack on youtube recently. Beautiful. Maybe a good game for retirement as-well. EDIT: I wonder if I am the only one noticed the Beholders' cave shape is a perfect Nazi swastika

Oh, yeah! You’re right! I mean, not perfect, and it’s backwards, but otherwise pretty close.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#180

Post by ehaliewicz2 »

greyfox wrote: post #32

I remember Baldurs gate, sure. But i dont recall Baldurs gate being anywhere near as important to the survival of Computer RPG's than Diablo, and more importantly Diablo II. If i'm not mistaken DII had macintosh support out-of-box, and is still played to this day on battle.net

Diablo and Diablo 2 are hack and slash action games. They don't really have anything to do with RPGs.
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