Playing Classic RPGs

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Luc0s: Just hint - there are more than two ways to resolve that encounter in the hospital, which is quite interesting. But you better post these things in the spoiler box, not everyone here played VtM Bloodlines.

Spoiler

That case is challenging, since you are making a choice of saving her, thus risking the violation of the masquerade, or ignoring her leaving her to die.

And I agree - VtM Bloodlines punishes for dumb decisions, and quests there are well crafted. I like how there are many ways to solve the same problem, and some of them only open up if you have certain skills, or even certain levels in those skills.

 

[luc0s]

Luc0s: Just hint - there are more than two ways to resolve that encounter in the hospital, which is quite interesting.

Yeah I realized that obviously, but I was just curious what would happen if I just did the plain and honest thing without thinking for a second about the masquerade. I was glad to see that the game punished me for my naivety.

After that, I reloaded a previous save-file and actually saved the woman without breaching the masquerade. I wonder why I took the effort to save her though. It's not like a care about her, nor does my character (I play a cold-heartened Ventrue asshole).

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

You'll see - there will be other consequences for saving her.

 

[CoronerZg]

Anyone know any good voice soundsets for BG, currently playing with Vhailor from Torment but it feels too terrifying and potent for a protagonist who is relentlessly called "boy" by all and sundry. Things are looking up now i'm at Beregost.

Haha, Vhailor being called wimp or whelp by every other thug would be funny indeed. I also spent a lot of time searching for some decent soundsets, but in the end i went with original BG1/BG2 soundsets, cause even if i found some good ones, recording quality, volume, echo and all that just would not fit as good in the mix with other in-game sounds.

Well done Coran and Coroner, the world's a bettre place with one less omnipotent know it all authority figure in it, though there's plenty more in Forgotten Realms.

We're working on that.

 

[luc0s]

You'll see - there will be other consequences for saving her.

My guess is that she'll become a Blood Doll, a Thrall and/or a Ghoul, which means I'll have an extra pet! />

I sure hope I'm right. We'll see. />

 

[volsung]

I thought the fat spider queen woman in cloakwood forest was supposed to have been cursed by one arch mage Jon Icarus, but in Tutu they changed it to Jon Irenicus. The reference is very obvious, but I prefer Icarus. Adds a bit of uncertainty. Just noticed this a couple of days ago.

 

[CoronerZg]

I thought the fat spider queen woman in cloakwood forest was supposed to have been cursed by one arch mage Jon Icarus, but in Tutu they changed it to Jon Irenicus. The reference is very obvious, but I prefer Icarus. Adds a bit of uncertainty. Just noticed this a couple of days ago.

Been there few days ago, i also thought how it's strange that i don't remember Irenicus being mentioned before.
But then i found my favorite two-hander so i didn't mind.

 

[volsung]

Gave in and got a digital backup of Baldur's Gate + TotSC from GOG.com, while it's still 50% off. Installing from disc was kind of a hassle and I kind of want to have it accessible from everywhere.

Has anyone tried BG:EE? It looks like a modded BG with a little extra content. I don't think it's worth $19.99.

 

[Smiling_Jack1]

http://polygamia.pl/Polygamia/1,112250,14171391,Brian_Fargo___The_golden_era_of_computer_RPGs_is_yet.html
Speaking og clasic RPGs...

 

[Pangaea666]

BGEE is nowhere near worth 20 dollars. It's like proper BG + bugs, for twice the price (or four times right now).

Finally gave up trying to get BG2 working in Linux and booted up WinXP again. Sure, things are slower and more bloated, but also.... SHIT WORKS! Anyway.. had forgotten what a pain fighting liches can be. In the Underdark, releasing trapped souls, and out pops a Lich. We did get him in the end, but Haer-Dalis died (resurrectable) and we almost emptied our spell cabinets. Time stop, Banshee (Haer-Dalis' bane), Abu Dalzim, and what felt like an endless supply of contingency and whatnot. These fights are great though. It's these big-time pissing contests with Liches and Dragons that I find the most pleasing about the game, the most rewarding anyway. Having played the game once already, the story is known to me, so that's kind of immaterial now. And honestly, roleplaying is quite limited. Like in many such games, it's kind of "be good or have quests locked off", and oftentimes there may be 3 conversation options, but at least two of them lead to the same result. But I digress.. can't wait to get back out of the Underdark (a lot left to do, mind) and go up against the beasts we haven't touched yet. I took a different path this time, focusing more on the main story line, so haven't done anything "big" in Athkatla and only been to Tradesmeet and Nalia's crib.

I hope there will be more room for actual roleplaying in Project Eternity, with a lot more conversation options, more in line with Planescape Torment. Of course, I hope Numenera will be much like Torment in that regard too.

 

[volsung]

Pangaea, just downloaded and installed BG+TotSC and BG2+ToB with Play On Linux (Wine 1.5.22) and both worked and ran flawlessly. For BG2 I chose 3D animations but no 3D acceleration. Also I configured Wine to emulate a virtual desktop, that way they don't take control of your real screen.

Now I am trying to devise a plan to run EasyTutu + degreenifier + widescreen + big fonts with Wine. I previously ran my already fully patched Tutu in Linux flawlessly, but I did all the patching in Windows so it doesn't count.

 

[Blothulfur]

Might not be the best time to try and get BG:EE right now Volsung, apparently Atari has pulled the game because of licensing issues and its future is uncertain, hence no patches and whatnot.

 

[kitta]

Have you folks seen this mod for Baldur's Gate?

One question, though, is it worth is to get BG:EE vs the $5 BG from GOG?

 

[Smiling_Jack1]

Have you folks seen this mod for Baldur's Gate?

One question, though, is it worth is to get BG:EE vs the $5 BG from GOG?

Yes, IWD has one also. Why would someone want to destroy perfectly good games with NWN 2 terrible engine is beyond me.

 

[Pangaea666]

Pangaea, just downloaded and installed BG+TotSC and BG2+ToB with Play On Linux (Wine 1.5.22) and both worked and ran flawlessly. For BG2 I chose 3D animations but no 3D acceleration. Also I configured Wine to emulate a virtual desktop, that way they don't take control of your real screen.

Now I am trying to devise a plan to run EasyTutu + degreenifier + widescreen + big fonts with Wine. I previously ran my already fully patched Tutu in Linux flawlessly, but I did all the patching in Windows so it doesn't count.

I managed to get them running too, although it was a bitch to save in BG2. Trying to install mods however was like wading through a minefield, and after getting both my feet blown off a couple of times I crawled back. I liked linux as an OS, especially the ability to customise, but as a gaming platform it's next to useless. If I want to play a game, I want to actually play the damn game. Not read 17 different guides for how to install it and if I'm lucky have it working by day 5. And unless I'm *really* lucky, everything won't work perfectly even then. Doesn't really matter if that is the fault of linux or whoever made the game. It doesn't work, and that is what matters.

kitta,
I don't understand why you would even entertain the thought of buying the inferior BGEE when it is four times as expensive as BG1 (or BG2). Hopefully things have improved a little now (though maybe not if patches can't be released...), but it was riddled with bugs, quite damn serious ones too. Would much rather recommend you to buy both BG1 and BG2 for half the price of BGEE and install some mods if you so fancy. It's fairly easy. As long as you play it in Windows.

 

[volsung]

I'm adding a modding mini guide for BG Tutu using Wine in Linux.

But Pangaea, what you experienced is not how you run games in Linux. It is how you run Windows games in Linux, which are two completely different things. Imagine running Linux binaries in Windows, the nightmare!!

What we need are proper Linux binaries with correct, complete packages and installers. For example, so far every single Humble Bundle and Steam for Linux game I've tried worked wonderfully.

Since PE and Wasteland 2 and Torment feature real Linux builds, we have to support that in order to show we want the real thing. Wine is not a real solution.

And yes, right now you can get BG and BG2 together for half the price of BGEE. Mods are free.

 

[secondchildren]

Luc0s, you can't beat me on WOD and VTM />/>

I knew this was a bad idea, but I was curious what would happen and I wanted to know if the game would actually punish me for my dumb decision. And the game indeed did punish me. After she drank my blood, it took a while for her to realize what happened, but when she realized it, she started screaming "VAMPIRE, PLEASE, HELP! SEND THE COPS!" and soon enough the cops indeed came barking in shooting my ass plus I got my first strike for a masquerade breach (5 strikes is perma-game-over).

It's not a bad idea for a vampire at all. That reaction mostly depends on the dialogue lines you chose.

Definition of:

blood doll = a human addicted to the "dark kiss", who loved to sell herself to a vampire. She will become a ghoul eventually in most cases. Being that the dark kiss causes extreme pleasure to a human, similar to orgasm, blood dolls are similar to sex addicted or junkies.

ghoul= a human drinking vitae. Vampiric vitae causes full addiction on them. They cannot get sick, cannot age, but the moment they stop drinking, they either can go totally mad, or will die when their real age will fall on them at once. If there is a 100 age ghoul, the moment she will stop drinking, all the 100 years will fall on her. Thus she'll be dead.
ghoul are perfect pets, in fact and the vampiric vitae provides them supernatural abilities: they're stronger than a normal human and faster. Normally a ghoul can gain from 1 to 2 points in celerity, potence or resilience. They cannot go beyond these points. This is the reason why ghouls are often used as vampire agents, servants and body guards. Being completely loyal to the domitor, sometimes they are sent in the daylight to do business.




thrall= it doesn't exist in VTM. Either you are a ghoul or a blood doll or a fledgeling. Thralls are the servant of demons http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Thrall_(DTF) (it's a different game)

 

[Pangaea666]

I'm adding a modding mini guide for BG Tutu using Wine in Linux.

But Pangaea, what you experienced is not how you run games in Linux. It is how you run Windows games in Linux, which are two completely different things. Imagine running Linux binaries in Windows, the nightmare!!

I know, but let me repeat, as I've said this a couple of times over the last week or so. It doesn't matter if games not working in linux is the fault of linux or games developers. It doesn't work. That is the crux of it. It works on Windows. That is the problem. When users need to dual boot just to play games, it won't take long before most turn back to just booting up windows. I've taken that journey many times in the past, and may well head down that path again.

 

[volsung]

I know, but let me repeat, as I've said this a couple of times over the last week or so. It doesn't matter if games not working in linux is the fault of linux or games developers. It doesn't work. That is the crux of it. It works on Windows. That is the problem. When users need to dual boot just to play games, it won't take long before most turn back to just booting up windows. I've taken that journey many times in the past, and may well head down that path again.

I see your point. Well, if for example GOG.com offered Linux binaries for those games that already support it, and CDPR released native Linux versions of The Witcher, nobody would have to reboot and everyone would run *those* games in their favorite platform, instead of having to go through serious obstacles to run non native applications. From a pragmatic point of view, if you are offered Windows-only games, then yes you can't run them easily in Linux. It's kind of amazing you can even try.

I personally like gaming. That is why I kept using Windows as a gaming platform and Linux for everything else. I would like to do everything in Linux myself, but I also want to play modern games fluently and I pay good money for my PC parts.

For now, I believe, what we can do is try to support multiplatform gaming as much as we can. Thankfully, the new wave of computer RPG's understands that and will come out on the three big platforms

PS: May I patent that term? NWOCRPG's.

 

[Pangaea666]

With a fresh install of Windows, I of course needed to re-install BG and BG2. First did BG2, with mods, because I wanted to get right back into the swing of things. Then I installed BG1 and easyTutu. The latter had a messed up GUI, however. Is this because it had to use a BG2 install with mods as opposed to a 'fresh' installation?

In that case I won't bother to redo it once again, as it's a bit of a pain to select the few tweaks I want from the tweakpack. Also, the BG2fixpack won't work for easyTutu, right? I ran it, but didn't actually install anything. Same with Tutufix (don't think it's necessary anymore).

The good news on the previously talked about points, is that kickstarted games are mostly bringing out linux versions too. That Steam (spit) is supporting linux too these days, will certainly make it easier for future games to support that platform. I only hope GOG do the same, because linux or not, I'm not touching steam with a 2-lightyear long pole.