Well, it's been almost two years since I've played BG1, but the past few days I've just had a craving for some good ol' Baldur's Gate. So here I am... heh, my account still works too :D

I've got BG and Tales installed.
First off, patches. What patches should I install? I looked on Interplay's site and it's got patches for BG that say "don't install if you have Tales", and it's got patches for tales that say "don't install if you have Original Saga", what's Original Saga and how do I know if I have it? Do I even need patches? I don't think I installed a patch last time and everything worked fine (IIRC).

Next, sound. I have a weird problem with my sound, when I load a game my sound plays at "volume 10" (arbitrary number, just a reference point), but after I save the game the volume drops to maybe level 6-7. Any ideas about this?

On to, screen size. Is there anyway to increase the screen size? The game is running in what... 800x600? I'd like to get it up to 1024 if not higher. But I'm not holding my breath on this. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Now we come to Quick Load. Is there anyway to make the Quick Load button work? In the config I set the button I wanted, but it still won't work in the game. I remember having a problem with this last time, but I thought I was able to fix it... not sure though.

Here we are at chests. Are the contents of chests random, or is everything set? I ask because with my current PC I set my Lock Picking skill as high as it would go (60%) and I was able to open some chests I've never gotten into before (in Candlekeep). Inside on I found a gem (diamond-like looking, triangle shaped...), and I was able to sell it for 1000gp. I'm wondering if that was a random pull, or if it was set. Because it really unbalanced the game, I was able to buy all the best stuff (that Candlekeep had to offer at least) and still have a sizable chunk of cash left over.

And finally we come to the mage. Who would you recommend as a mage? My last game I somehow managed to kill both Dy-something (Gnoll Stronghold) and Edwin (I think that was his name, the guy on the bridge in Nashkel?) (I don't know how or why, but I did). So I used the Gnome guy outside BG city. This decision will choose my alignment. Frankly I don't much care which one, I haven't played either so I have no favoritism towards either, if I play one this game I'll play the other next game. So it doesn't matter to me, I just need someone to push me one way or the other. ;)

Thanks for any help.


Addition. Does BG have background music? I'm playing with virtual CDs this time around as I *hate* switching in and out CDs. I don't have any background music, and it seems like there should be some. If it just won't work with a virtual CD (some games do that), I guess I have to deal with switching CD :(
I know someone will say that "it's not so bad switching CDs", so my pre answer to that is, switching CDs is now I loose (rarely) or scratch CDs (more common, but still rare), and my CDs aren't that great of shape to begin with (that cardboard CD book they come in doesn't do a very good job of protecting them, IMO, give me plastic cases any day.)
Thanks again. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Who's Choc?


"Thanks for posting!

Choc thanks you for submitting to him.. We are taking you back to: New install = new questions "

1) Welcome back [img]graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]

2) You should install the latest patch for TotSC if you got the 5+1 disk set (You do, because you are having the same crappy cardboard package with 5 CDs as I have [img]smile.gif[/img] )

3) ???? Maybe fixed in the patch. Never heard about that one before

4) No

5) Does the game come with quick load? Didn't know that

6) IIRC the diamond is fixed. I do not know if all chests have fixed contents.

7) I would go for Dynaheir (She's looking good too). Mostly because I use Edwin right now with a good alligned party. He can be very annoying to listen to.

8)Hmm - If it do, I somehow managed to switch it off. I do not remember if I did that. Normally I hate background music. You could also make a full installation on your HD. In this case, you only need to have CD #6 in your drive.

[img]graemlins/greenbounce.gif[/img]
Insane

It's some kind of joke. Earlier it said something like:

You have submitted to choc. Please wait while we are taking you back to: ........

[img]graemlins/greenbounce.gif[/img]
Insane

Choc(olate) is Ziroc's cat: [img]graemlins/choc.gif[/img] . And Ziroc is our Webmaster.



You have to press Ctrl+(the key)

Some minor treasures are usually random (a few gold pieces, silver necklace, or a lynx eye gem).
This gem is set, though, but its chest is locked very tight, so it is more of a secret than an unbalanced thing.

It does. Haven't you seen the music slidebar in Audio Options menu?

[ 06-12-2003, 03:51 AM: Message edited by: Vedran ]

[img]graemlins/choc.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/choc2.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/choc3.gif[/img]

Choc is Ziroc's cat. It's a joke going around on the forum. Choc is really the real mastermind behind the website and is trying to take over the world. ;)

Thanks for clearing things out.

Maybe I should try to listen to that background music once in a while. Normally I hate background music. It softens the turns I get, when something unsuspected happens.

[img]graemlins/greenbounce.gif[/img]
Insane

BTW Can we speak with Choc in the live c(h)at rooms? :D

Well I guess it only been a year since I played Baldur's Gate... according to my registration date :/ it seemed like forever ago.

Yeah I've seen the music slidebar, but that doesn't always mean there's music (a few games I've played, the music plays for about a minuets after you load a map, then cuts out). So I guess I'll have to keep a cd in the drive.
Even with full install I thought it still asked for the cds... if not then that's handy.

Thanks for all the help.


Here's something weird that happened. I was in Beregost looting houses when Jaheira and Xzar started arguing. I didn't think anything of this because it always happens. Next thing I know, Xzar makes some comment about Harpers, and Jaheira ATTACKS him! Then her and Khalid start fighting with Xzar and Montaron! She and Khalid obviously kill the other two... but holy crap! I've NEVER seen their arguing come to blows before! While they were fighting they all turned violet and I couldn't control them... how weird. :?

Also, what's a good Pathfinding number? Last time I played I asked why my NPCs kept getting lost/stuck, and someone said to increase the Pathfinding "node (?)". I bumped it up to 37000, as I seem to remember that number, is this too high?
thanks

Alot of that has to do with the Charisma of the party leader. Mine was only 15 with my CG Theif and they had it out as soon as I picked up Jaheira and Khalid. I have learned an extremely valuable lesson from my experience as a thief. BACKSTAB ROCKS!!! Hehehe. . . when you clear a whole area using nothing but backstab, it's a really nice fealing. When encountering groups that are closely packed I simply switch to the backstab and run tactic. Anyways back to the topic at hand. If you manage to keep both completely opposite pairs from killing each other before the completion of the Nashkel mines bit, then kudos to you.

What pathfinder node level is good all depends on your computers capabilities. Mine is personally set somewhere around 50k, and I haven't encountered any performance issues. Even if Imoen still walks ALL THE WAY AROUND a build when I told my party to go to a location just across the front of it. (note: this is a rare occurance and normally happens only in really tight passages.)

[ 06-12-2003, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: Firestormalpha ]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Halbarad1891:
Yeah I've seen the music slidebar, but that doesn't always mean there's music (a few games I've played, the music plays for about a minuets after you load a map, then cuts out). So I guess I'll have to keep a cd in the drive.
Even with full install I thought it still asked for the cds... if not then that's handy.

A full install shouldn't ask for CDs. I used to have BG1 fully installed before I uninstalled and did a full install for BG2. During that time, the game never asked for CDs.

The music isn't a constant thing. I think I'd go crazy if certain area themes were neverending loops. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Make sure you have the sound effects turned on too, so you can enjoy the ambient sounds.

Jaheira and Khalid work for one secret group, and Xzar and Montaron work for another secret group. The two groups that the two pairs work for hate each other, so they will be at each other's throats at some point, high charisma or no.

Raise the path search node to the maximum, if your machine can handle it. If not, experiment.

I've only been able to make backstab work a few times, maybe I'm doing something wrong :/
But yes it is awesome.

So far I've only been asked for the ToSC cd. I had a full install last time, and I thought I was asked for cds every now and then... maybe I left the movies on the disks...
Thanks for the help. [img]smile.gif[/img]


Is there ever any formal resolution to the "quests" to bring Xzar/Montaron and Jaheira/Khalid to Nashkel? Like do I get a message or something, or is there anything in particular that they're supposed to do? I just reached Nashkel and talked to the mayor, but nothing happened. I thought Xzar said they wanted to talk to the mayor... I want to get ride of those two, but I want to finish thier quest frist.

Everything J/K or X/M ask you to do is to keep them happy, and keeping them happy means you keep them in the party. There are only a few times I can think of where an NPC's quest or request directly hinges on the PC, but I'll leave those for you to find out. ;)

(Back to work shelving books!)

How do you mean "nothing happened"? What did the mayor say? So do it!

What I mean is there was no dialog... "oh we're here in Nashkel, bla bla bla, we'll still fight with you if you want, bla bla bla"
I've gotten the quest from the mayor, but I didn't really want to take Xzar and Montaron into the mines. I really don't like those too, and I want to pick up Minsc, so I'd like to leave them but I'm not sure if their "quest" is fully completed.

Because you run into M&X and K&J so early in the game, they don't really have real NPC quests, the way some of the other NPCs do. BioWare felt that throwing a large number of subquests at a newbie just staring their maiden game of BG1 would be needlessly confusing, so all they did was have the two pairs of NPCs do their part to push you along the Main Plot.
M&X: We are on our way to Nashkel. We won't mind a few little detours with you first, but we have a job to do in Nashkel.
J&K: Oh, good, you're here. After we chat about Gorion, we should get going, because we have an appointment in Nashkel.

In either case, as soon as you speak to the Mayor of Nashkel (Berrun Ghastkill), then their NPC "quests" are done. If any of those 4 NPCs are in your party, Ghastkill will say that "I don't know you, but I recognize ? in your party."

Important note: If you should pass by M&X or K&J (not recuit them at all) then enter Nashkel, and then go back to where you left the NPCs, they will be gone permanently. Just a little warning.

And it IS possible to keep the conflicting pairs in your party for a long time--it depends on Charisma, and keeping your Reputation at a level that all 4 of them can live with. Also, it seems that the 4 are less likely to start a fight if some of them are missing (dead or "misplaced"). In my last game of BG1, I kept Jaheira and Montaron in the party all the way through the end of the game. Khalid and Xzar, on the other hand, were quickly abandoned in some out-of-the-way house. Now, my main character's Charisma was anything but spectacular, so I suspect the 4 are unwilling to tangle with each other if they've already lost somebody.

Super. Thanks.