This is in some ways very similar, and they have the same heritage. BG:EE uses the official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons v.2.5 rules, where the games you mention have made their own rules and systems. The AD&D rules is very complex, and comes with an already built-up in lore for the developers to build on, and it certainly was a boon back in the day to gain official license to AD&D. A big difference in BG is the fight system. You have a party of up to 6 members, and though they have an AI, and it is possible to change the script of the AI, it's recommended to micromanage everyone when fighting, in fact this is why the game is so fun! It's much more tactical than the games you mention, and there's such a huge number of different things enemies can throw at you, and ways to deal with them, that it'll put most modern RPG's to shame... I would suggest you look up some reviews on the game, preferable the original BG, as they tend to go deeper into the system and story, where reviews of BG:EE spend more time comparing it to the original instead.
I tried iFunBox, and it worked like a charm! It took me a while to figure out that I had to use the iFunBox Classic tab for it to work.. It doesn't work if you just click the "Managing App Data and click the Baldur's Gate icon. I clicked "iFunBox Classic" ->"Use Application->"Baldur's Gate->"Library"->"Save and imported from my PC. It allowed me to continue my game I play on the pc. It's a good and fairly easy way to do it until a cloud save alternative is implemented to work with windows.
The interface is indeed very blurry, and the text quite small. iPad 3 here. And the icon has that awful looking glare effect added. I don't understand why modern apps still use that ugly effect.
Thanks. I've read reviews from time to time trough the years since I've always been interested in testing the BG games out, but been scared away by the amount of time and patience you seem to have to invest in these games. But hey I managed to throw away 400hrs on Skyrim after a couple of years completely away from games (except the occasional iPhone game). So seems like I can at least give it a shot eh? And the iFunbox seems like a good workaround if you need to store your saves when having to temp delete the game?
Well, that's nice to know. Maybe I'll be able to give them my money eventually after all. (iPad 2 here, I've just have been through the apple upgrade dance with some VERY VERY NASTY side effects and don't have the time or inclination to repeat it.)
There has to be something better. Has to be. If not, the devs have some splaining to do. I know we will understand them after a while, but there must be an easier solution to seeing the spell lists, no? And going to the manual is not an option. Far from the most intelligent for sure. And seeing as I'm a weeny compassionate vegetarian, that should say how important it would be for me Where's the rimshot smile when you need it?? Seriously though, on my 7 iDevices I've never had a screw up in updating them. Jesus. I have SEVEN. I have major problems.
I'm going to be nit picky, but AD&D didn't really have a 2.5 Edition (sometimes players will retcon the Player's Option books as a faux-2.5, but BG does not use those). BG uses a variant of the 2nd Edition ruleset. Similarly, KotOR uses a variant of the Star Wars d20 ruleset, so it's also based on a pen and paper RPG.
So many first world problems, not related to the actual game, in this thread, lol, you guys crack me up. OMG IOS6, MAPS, ARRGH, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, RAGEQUIT We have two ipad minis, two iPhone 5s, an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and four iPod touches all running iOS 6.0.1 without problems and I've even used turn-by-turn directions numerous times on my iPhone without getting lost. Even if I did get lost, I worry about greater things than the software on my phone. You know, important things in life, whether to pick a half-elf ranger or a human thief! I'm still going through the tutorial and I agree I hope they can make it so you can see what the spells are when trying to learn them. I did actually get one description to show up once, but have no idea how and have not been able to replicate it. To the person who asked, I'm playing on a mini and am able to read the text without troubles.
You're right, my bad. I've played a lot of PnP role play, but we used the 3.5 edition of AD&D. It's probably what I was thinking about with the extra decimal there... Didn't know about KOTAR, didn't know such a rule set even existed. I stand corrected. In my defence I was just trying to explain as best I could the similarities and differences between the games he mentioned and BG..
That's impossible for me to answer right now... There's some design decisions I don't agree with on the iPad, a few things they really should have thought through, especially the fact that they haven't utilized multitouch or double tab that's possible on iOS. They could have made things a bit easier in the interface using some of those touchscreen features, and I hope there'll be some updates to address this stuff. That being said, there's really something special to the fact that I'm able to sprawl on my couch playing BG. For now, I love playing on both PC and iPad equally much. But for different reasons...
I just can't fathom why they didn't make the "highlight" button show the tool tips on the icons on the gameplay screen. It boggles my mind they haven't implemented this! Another solution could have been to double tab on the icons to show a tool tip. I'll write about it in the bugs section on their forums, and I hope it was just an oversight on their part...
For now, the solution to see the spell description, open the spell book, and hold the spell icon for 2-3 seconds, then release and it'll show. DON'T tab the memorized spells, as they'll get deleted.
What is all this complaining about not seeing spell information? In your spell book press and hold for a second and let go to see the spell description. Same goes for scrolls when trying to learn and add them to your spell book. Simple really...
Can someone upload a couple of full size screenshots taken from a retina iPad? Either link them here or hit me up with a PM, it'd be greatly appreciated.
Well, I really miss the basic tool tips in the gameplay window. Especially when playing a spell caster of a higher level. I can't always remember spells by their icon, so I'm used to hover my mouse over the icon to get the name. Also, to the point your making, it's not exactly intuitive the way they've implemented it. In fact, the first time I tried, I clicked and held the memorized spells for a couple of seconds and ended up deleting them from memory instead...
Anybody know why, when I go into the settings, the option for graphics is greyed out, and I can't select it? I'm currently playing on an iPad 3.
Fair enough! Admittedly, I am a very old Pen & Paper geek, so a lot of this is second nature to me even if I haven't played or used AD&D in decades, I still remember all the rules, spells, etc! I agree though, there could be a more intuitive way to implement it...
Being a fan from the first time around, playing this today was bittersweet. Sweet because its still BG, and frankly BG contains some of my dearest gaming memories, and really, they're all still there. Bitter because the port is so... uninspired. I really was hoping for a UI overhaul and a march through the graphics with an equalizer and an eye for IPS screens. Instead, the UI has gotten the bare minimum implementation, still chock full of tablet unfriendly stuff, and the graphics look dim and dingy on a bright iPad. So much squandered opportunity there Still, it's Baldur's Gate, and like a love sick soldier I'll be fighting my way through at least one more play through with Minsk and Boo. It's hard to recommend that you should too, unless you have the same fondness already, but if you're willing to endure the awful anachronisms of its interface, I promise that there will be moments where you too learn to love it.
There aren't even any options for graphics on the PC version =p. Has anyone tried loading their iOS save with the PC version? (Or can someone send me their iOS save game to try!)
