My wife and I just purchased BG w/TOSC. We got through Candlelight ok with some initials problems. Mostly due to the fact that we have never played a RPG before! <can ya believe that!> Where do we learn how to control NPC that have "joined" and other mechanics of this game. We looked in vain in the CD manuals and some Internet tip areas for help.

ask all those green dudes. the ones with tutors for name. they'll give you some nice info on how to do things

Hmm, not sure what you mean... Controling an NPC is precisely the same as controling your own character.

For really basic stuff I think you just need to experiment a bit, the interface is pretty intuitive.

One suggestion I will make, though, is to rightclick everything--weapons, armor, spells in your spellbook, every button on the game screen.

You must have bought the new version that has the manual in PDF format. If your printer is slow you might want to take the disk to a copy center and have the manual printed for you.

BG was the first RPG I got as well. Just practice using the interface when you play, get used to talking to people, fighting. Stay in Candlekeep until you are confident with buying, selling, talking to people, and fighting.

I agree with the above mentioned advice. The best way to get used to the game is to just experiment with it. Candlekeep is a great place to do that. Go around and talk to everybody. The green robed monks will give you pointers on how to play. Occaisonally people will give you quests, which are quite simple and straightforward, but by doing them you'll learn more about how things work in BG. There is a man in the bottom right of the map that will offer to have you fight a mock battle for practice. Agree to this and he'll take you inside a building where you can fight illusionary monsters (they cannot hurt you) using a complete illusionary NPC party. Just keep fighting the monsters until you think you have the hang of it. When in combat, I think you'll find that pausing the game (spacebar) often will be to your advantage. You could pause the game each time you want to attack a new monster or you could pause to give you a chance to think things through. Good luck and have fun!

BTW, you can select an NPC in your party and control them by clicking on their portrait or by clicking on them. Once you have control of them, they work just like your main character.

Hi. BG was not only my first computer RPG, but it was my first video game. I had a tough time learning to play it at first, but it got easy after a bit of experimentation.

Here's a good game guide that describes all the areas of the game without telling you what to do. It's what I used to familiarize myself with how the game works. It really made the game enjoyable for me.
http://www.gamespot.com/features/bal.../contents.html
Or, you can download the same guide in PDF format here:
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/cgi-bin/gamespot_gameguides_splash.cgi?guide=baldurs-gg.z ip

It's really very helpful with getting you acclimated to playing and has some tips on how to find things you'de never find otherwise.

Good luck and welcome to the board! You'll find a lot of really interesting and helpful people here.

[ 02-02-2002: Message edited by: Katherine ]</p>

BTW, dont attack anyone who isnt with a red circle around them. ;)

<font color="cyan">Errrm, ytwater has got through Candlekeep, hence the reason he mentioned it in his first post. So he cannot go back, and I assume he has taken control of Xzar and Monty.

I think you will pick it up, but Candlekeep is a learning centre, and maybe you should restart your game and have a look around there! But if you can do that, you can do the rest!

Good luck!!</font>