Opinion on the mod so far Options

[Patrick_hindman]

I have to say i'm finding this to be the best mod of baldurs gate 2 i've ever played, the battles to me always feel fresh having to switching tactics and not using the same one every time like in the vanilla game till it became a chore to even complete it (congrats on the ai, its the best i've experienced). I have to say after beating torgal i have not had such a adrenaline pumping battle since ascension (and i'm eager for more as i go through the mod). I like how its all balanced and nothing seems overpowered in the game. Though i would make a criticism in that the most frustrating part was probably starting out since most battles were too difficult for low level parties and finding doable battles was hard so i would suggest you mod in some extra content for lower level parties (such as the slavers encounter at the beginning which was pretty good).

Oh i know that you've been bugged alot about this already but i would like some more evil content in the game ie. items and quests. For starters why not allow evil characters to work for firkraag. As i have never modded before and this is too much of a demand just ignore it but keep up the good work you've done an excellent job so far.

[Vuki]

I have one general comment also regarding IA.

I see one problem with this mod. It ruins the role play behavior of BG2. The vanilla game was a super RPG with some problems (sometimes stupid enemies, bugs, ...). But as a realistic world it is fantastic. Monsters are believable, neutral or enemy NPCs are realistics, spells are good and the story is very good. The game is maybe a bit too easy but on the other hand you feel that you are a real hero, son/daughter of a God, one who really is a main character in the world.

In IA that feeling is completely ruined. The enemies are really not realistics anymore and therefore you do not have the same feeling that you had in the vanilla game. You are not a hero anymore, you can think even than you are one of the weakest creatures in the world. One example is the already mentioned adventurer party on the second floor in the Seven Veils. Teoretically there is nothing special in them: they are high level adventurers. But they have a good amount of magic damage resistance, resistance against normal damage, unlimited stonskin and so on... You are son/daughter of a God and your special abilities are 2 Cure Lights Wounds and some other minor spells and on the same time the opponent spellcaster(!) has appr. 50% of damage resistance and a nice amount of regeneration. How the hell was he able to acquire such nice abilities? And the same is almost true for all the NPCs (like Haegan, the Beastmaster, and so on...). It is highly unrealistic and really ruin the game feeling.

I know you has written previously that IA is a strategic game and not an RPG anymore but I still think it is a drawback. Also in lot of other strategic games the oppenents are not overpowered compared to you (exapmles: StrCraf, WarCraft, Heroes of Might and Magic, ...). I am absolutely not against that a monster could have nice and really strong special abilities but it is not really realistic when normal NPCs have it.

The other problem that affect the realism of the game is the missing mage and priest spells. In IA it is really common that an opponent have elemental or damage resistance. Almost all of them have it. In such a world the mages and priests for sure develop their own weapons (I mean spells) against these abilities. There is the 4th level Lower Resistance spell against MR but no such a spell against other types of resistences. It makes the world plastic, a world that is not a living one.

I am sure that you are aware of that issues already. I know you made the changes to make the game more challenges but on the other hand you lost something that is also very important in my opinion. I am not a mod maker and I have no idea if it is possible to make the game harder but on the same time solve these problems also. But definitely would be really nice. In V7 for example.

This post has been edited by Vuki: Jun 11 2008, 02:29 PM