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Could also do the NWN2 series, though there's already a terrific LP of it in the archives. Or for the old-school option, the final Wizardry trilogy: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, Crusaders of the Dark Savant, and 8.
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Jun 27, 2013 12:50
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It seems to me that Baldur's Gate really fell into that sweet spot of game development where computers were powerful enough to justify a shed-load of content, but not capable enough that everything had to groan under time-intensive graphics and audio. A little earlier, and the machines just weren't up to that much content; a little later, and all the effort went to AV rather than narrative and setting. That said, there are names that come up again and again when talking about Baldur's Gate and the RPG glory days -- Planescape: Torment, Anachronox, FF7, Fallout, Deus Ex, and so on -- but I'm not convinced any of them have as much sheer depth as the Bhaalspawn saga.
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Jun 27, 2013 13:59
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The Icewind Dale games are pretty similar. The main difference being that IWD focuses on adventuring, whilst BG focuses on RPing. Secret of Mana is awesome. Probably my favourite game of all time. It doesn't have as much going on as BG though. There are some console RPGs that have a lot going on (The Elder Scrolls games, possibly the Dragon Age ones) but they're not usually as long as the BG games. Edit: Forgot a few. Most D&D based games (NWN, NWN2, Dragonshard) tend to have a lot going on anyway, but the Final Fantasy and Star Ocean series are quite packed with stuff.
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Jun 27, 2013 20:41
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Most of the Spiderweb games (Avernum, Geneforge, etc) have a ton of content. Admittedly, they tend to focus on adventuring and world-building rather than RP.
Haystack fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 23:41
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I don't think any of the games mentioned so far actually manage to match Baldur's Gate's progression from mortal to godhood, or if they do, they are lacking in narrative. It's also a pretty unique series for having the player start off at the same level of power in the sequel instead of stripping away all those hard-earned skills for an easy introduction. Even better, the difficulty moves to a completely different level, without making significant changes to the gameplay. Baldur's Gate 2 does not condescend to new or old players, it raises the stakes.
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Jun 27, 2013 23:55
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Then you've never played Planescape, I guess. It took a bog standard "Wake up with amnesia" start, through some pretty mundane problems (find gem for X, kill lots of zombies, rats, etc), to entering Baalor and ripping your ally from the first hour out of the Pillar of Skulls, fighting an angel, and eventually an ending that was pretty close to godhood. Try it if you haven't (and liked BG). For me, BG was always more about the combats, and I found myselfclicking through dialogue relatively fast, since it didn't much matter what I said most of the time. I always saw it as a pretty classic Forgotten Realms campaign, where the characters are adventuring for adventure's sake, and "more loot" was pretty much all the motivation they needed or got. I feel somewhat confirmed in this belief by the way the first chapters of BG2 worked out. Some total douche steals your childhood friend away. Oh no, better go solve every person's problems in this city and most of the surrounding area first. And if you didn't, you found yourself pretty underlevelled, underequipped and hard pressed, in the mandatory parts to come. My instinct was always to go after Imoen as fast as possible, but the best way to go about it was definitely to do everything else first. Planescape was the other way around. Get out of my way, you stupid demon, I want to see what happens next! Sure, there were sidequests, but they were in the part of the game where the story is not yet driving you onwards with iron spurs, and they often turned out to be surprisingly relevant to the main story afterwards.
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Jun 28, 2013 09:52
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Fruits of the sea posted:It's also a pretty unique series for having the player start off at the same level of power in the sequel instead of stripping away all those hard-earned skills for an easy introduction. Even better, the difficulty moves to a completely different level, without making significant changes to the gameplay. Baldur's Gate 2 does not condescend to new or old players, it raises the stakes. Maybe unique compared to what came later, but that was pretty standard procedure for all the ad&d gold box games, and icewind dale.
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Jun 28, 2013 10:08
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Boscrossos posted:Then you've never played Planescape, I guess. It took a bog standard "Wake up with amnesia" start, through some pretty mundane problems (find gem for X, kill lots of zombies, rats, etc), to entering Baalor and ripping your ally from the first hour out of the Pillar of Skulls, fighting an angel, and eventually an ending that was pretty close to godhood. Try it if you haven't (and liked BG). Hmm, I don't doubt that Planescape has great progression and superior writing, but I'm going to guess that it's also substantially shorter and less grindy than the Baldur's Gate series. Those aren't really good things as such, but all that low-level suffering really puts ToB's finale into perspective in a way that few other games do. Vorgen mentioned the scope and weight of the game's experiences, and that's something that accumulates with time and suffering on both the character's and the player's parts. I should really play Planescape though. Never got past the beginning because I sold some item that was essential for exiting a later area and I couldn't buy it back. Edit: Linedance posted:Maybe unique compared to what came later, but that was pretty standard procedure for all the ad&d gold box games, and icewind dale. Yeah, the Icewind Dale series (haven't tried the gold box games yet) is similiar. They focus even more (too much, in my opinion) on combat instead of story though. Fruits of the sea fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 10:08
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Vorgen posted:Haha, thanks guys! I really like getting feedback on the Let's Play. Makes it that much more fun to do. I never imagined it would take so very long, though... and this is just the prequel. I'm really looking forward to having a record of my complete ascension to godhood, though. I'll be able to look back and remember exactly what happened when I was level 3.
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Jun 28, 2013 13:58
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If it's dungeon-crawling you're after, I highly recommend the final Wizardry trilogy - VI, VII, and 8. Comes complete with being able to import your party from one game to the next. It's admittedly less heavy on the role-playing, but VII in particular has some very interesting world-building.
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Jun 28, 2013 14:28
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I have to nth the recommendation to play Torment if you haven't yet, whoever you are. Really second to none in the writing department for videogames everywhere. Also if voting is still open, B - Replace Xan, he is a negative nancy.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:33
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Ghostwoods posted:It seems to me that Baldur's Gate really fell into that sweet spot of game development where computers were powerful enough to justify a shed-load of content, but not capable enough that everything had to groan under time-intensive graphics and audio. A little earlier, and the machines just weren't up to that much content; a little later, and all the effort went to AV rather than narrative and setting. Yeah, that does sound like a good assessment. Almost every rpg since then has been 3D, motion-capture and jiggling boobies. That's a big time investment. Boscrossos posted:Planescape and BG I have played Planescape as well, and it does have a very awesome story. The combat does take second place to it. I think that Plancescape, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale exist on a spectrum - Planescape has the story foremost and the combat secondary, Icewind Dale has almost total combat and minimal story, while Baldur's Gate is almost equal parts story and combat. I still hold out hope that Project Eternity or Baldur's Gate 3 will be the spiritual successor to all of these games, combining the best of each. That being said, I think Planescape's story is more awesome, but Baldur's Gate's story is more, well, more. It is very weighty and long. A ton more stuff happens to CHARNAME than happens to The Nameless One in-game. Supposedly The Nameless One has had a ton more stuff happen to him in all his hundreds (thousands?) of incarnations, but those are not all touched on in the story. utonium posted:Just curious, are you doing thorough backups of your install? We've all seen LPs get delayed from motherboards and hard drives blowing up, and that could be catastrophic for a setup like this. Yes, I am. My install is on a Virtualbox Virtual Machine which is backed up regularly. I've already transferred it through 3 OS upgrades and its holding steady, so I don't think anything will bust up the game. I've also got all the posts and images and everything else related to the game that I've created backed up in a separate folder which is now 3.5 GB in size. That's like three 100-page magazines that I've created myself. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jun 29, 2013 09:14
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I often wonder how many LP hardware deaths are actually down to the OP getting bored or suddenly realizing how much damned work is involved... :cynic: :HmmWhyIsThereNoCynicalSmiley?:
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Jun 29, 2013 13:59
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Vorgen posted:That being said, I think Planescape's story is more awesome, but Baldur's Gate's story is more, well, more. It is very weighty and long. A ton more stuff happens to CHARNAME than happens to The Nameless One in-game. Supposedly The Nameless One has had a ton more stuff happen to him in all his hundreds (thousands?) if incarnations, but those are not all touched on in the story. Yeah, Planescape's story is a bit shorter. That's not a bad thing, mind you - I'd say it's definitely better to make a shorter game with a really goddamn good story than to try to pad the story beyond what needs to be told.
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Jun 29, 2013 16:01
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Ghostwoods posted:I often wonder how many LP hardware deaths are actually down to the OP getting bored or suddenly realizing how much damned work is involved... :cynic: :HmmWhyIsThereNoCynicalSmiley?: There absolutely is a cynic smiley 
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Jun 30, 2013 23:35
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Okay, I just read through this entire thing over the past week-ish, and it is amazing and epic. Vorgen, you are truly superlative. It also got me to grab the Big World project and the GOG versions so I can have a run at it myself (also on a virtual machine, I need my windowed mode!). I really haven't played BG1/2 since they came out. Given that the Big World version I have is two years more recent I hope some of the bugs you've run into are resolved (also I'm not installing tactics, so there's that). I'm kind of sad that at the end of Mask of the Betrayer in NWN2 they didn't let you say "gently caress everyone" and tear down the Wall of Faithless and upend reality. Because that really would have been amazing in the mortal-to-god sort of story arc. Maybe there's a mod that lets you?
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Jul 1, 2013 19:43
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Tithin Melias posted:There absolutely is a cynic smiley No, that's the Cyric smiley. 
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Jul 3, 2013 19:39
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Wow, this is a new event. For the first time I think ever, voting is actually tied.code:
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Jul 6, 2013 17:05
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 23 Flamerule, 1370 Saying goodbye to Kivan is not hard - we have done it many times before, but only temporarily. He knows the drill as well as I.   We should separate now. I'll look you up next time I'm in the Gate - meet me in the Elfsong Tavern. I will do this thing, but much remains to be done. Do not delay your return.Then, I turn to address the answer laying thick upon the air around us.  You sound dangerous... but it may be worth our while to have you with us. Fall in line if you wish, but be advised Xavia, everybody carries their weight in this group. I assure you, Syvishtar, our performance will not disappoint! Keep out of my way, elf, and ye won't get hurt!This orc had better live up to his bluster, or I'm going to magic him something fierce. Of course, we need to suit these two up with decent equipment. We go off to the armory. While there, Xan asks me a question.   Syvishtar, have you had any more nightmares recently?Half-rememberd fears and terrors threaten to bubble up from my subconscious. I push them back down. Not that I remember, no. It might be the blood of the Tel'Quessir in your veins that protects you. In any case, I hope you will not experiene these horrors again.It is enough to hear that Xan has hopes. I'm proud of him. Mulgore insists on using halberds. I realize that we only have 4 halberds in our armory. Each one is quite interesting, though. I give them all to Mulgore. He can use whichever one is appropriate for the occasion.     We also have the problem with Mulgore that we've had before - he can't wear the highest-quality elven chain, so there is only one of the golden elven chains to share between him and Xavia. I give it to her, because Mulgore is wearing a shocking set of orc leather armor.  All in all, he looks pretty respectable when we have him outfitted.  Gameplay note: The extra hit points come from the red helm. And Xavia doesn't look so bad herself.  We find a blade for her that lets her move around more quietly.  I now have a melee-heavy party, so I change our formation to a triangle. Mulgore is on point, flanked by Xan and Finch. Imoen and Xavia stand on either side of me, in the back. I think this will work quite nicely.  Then, I think the best thing to do with this group is to get Mendas the charts he needs. He seems a little squirrely, but if he is going to follow through I see no reason for us to not follow through as well. So it is off to Baldur's Gate again!  We find The Counting House with little problem, and go inside.   I know the only kind of talk they'll listen to - talk of money. I am here to clear my debts with the League. Debts? Of what sort? Tea and spices purchased in Kara-Tur. ... As you will, but I urge you to conduct your business swiftly as I have little patience for your tone.Wow, that worked! I start to make merchant-related gestures like waiting around and tapping my foot impatiently while Imoen glides off to do her own thing. When she gets to the second floor, though...   Hail, Captain. I have been sent to inquire if there is aything else you'll be needing before you set sail. Aye, ye be wit' the League, then... A jug o' this town's hardest liquor would make for a fine departure, if ye'd be so kind. Old De'Tranion brews a vile swill at'll do the trick. Ye can find the old coot at the Blushing Mermaid.When Imoen tells me what the guy wants, I think that the Weave is smiling upon me, because I've had one of them in my potion case for quite a while. Imoen comes to surreptitiously pick it up from me and returns upstairs.  When she gets up there,  Cheers to the Merchant League! Aye, that's the stuff! Be a good lass and hold these sea charts fer me. I'm feeling a bit woozy...Imoen practically bounces back down the stairs, her glee barely contained. She got them!  Well that was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be!  When we get back to Ulgoth's Beard, that strange gnome named Dushai seems a lot more friendly. I guess because she's seen us before?  Uh... yes. Your fame has spread far and wide and adventuerers such as ourselves could not pass through Ulgoth's Beard without stopping to see you. A charmer ye be. Even in me younger days I never believed that I held fame beyond the Beard. I know that ye follow Balduran's path to far Anchorome. This is easy to discover for an old woman that knows to heed the whispering stones. What other knowledge do you hold? Ye walk quite blindly into this adventure. I know something of Balduran's story and will share it with you. I require only a bit of gold for me research expenses. Perhaps 100 gold pieces will satisfy your muse? It will, at that. Listen, then, and learn. As ye may know, Baldur's Gate was named for the legendary seafaring explorer Balduran, who long ago sailed past Evermeet in search of the rich, fabled isles of Anchorome. Balduran returned with tales of strange, vast lands across the seas. He also brought back much wealth and scattered it about his sparsely settled home harbor. So Baldur's Gate was born. He then set sail again for the wondrous lands he had found. Balduran never returned. Some say he sails still, finding new lands in the endless reaches of the far sea, ore ven that he sailed off the world and fares now among the stars. Others whisper that he met with misfortune and perished in the deeps, while still others believe that he lived to a ripe old age in his new-found home. Perhaps you will discover his fate on this island that you sail to, perhaps not. Regardless, I wish ye well on your journey and may say no more.I guess Mendas did mention Balduran artifacts in the shipwreck on the island. He didn't mention it was Anchorome though. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out! When we get to Mendas' home again, he is overjoyed to see us.  I am ready. Where is your boat? I hire boat at the docks here in Ulgoth's Beard. I meet you there soon.Then he rushes outside before we do. When we finally get out there, he rushes up to us again.  I have bought boat to use. It has food and water for journey. Everything is ready. You go now? Let us leave immediately. Most excellent, heroes. May gods grant you speedy journey. I will await your return at my house here in Ulgoth's Beard. Go well!His well-wishes are incredibly naive. Things do not go well, not at all. Gah. Blah. Pslah. I never want to sail again.  Okay, we are all here. Imoen, Xan, Finch, and the two expendables. Ok. We can do this. Wait, is that a little girl I see standing over there?  Yes child, I did swim in. Our ship sank and we are in need of shelter. OK, I believe you. Not see many that swim in. Many float, but don't wake up. Fishies are mean and cliffs hurt ship-homes. You lucky. Still smell funny though. Maybe you stay and belong? Belong to whom, little one? You are not alone here? Alone? Of course not, silly. There's mommay, poppay, my brother too. We've got neighbors too. The village is very nice. It's boring sometimes, but I like it. The seas are treacherous in this area. How did you come to live here? I saw no ships nearby. Mommay says great-great grammay came here on a ship-home like you. Sumthin' happened and they had to swim or be caught by the fishies. The ship-home is here somewhere, I guess. We're not allowed to go there. You do not seem alarmed to see me. How often do strangers come here? Not very often, and they don't always want to make friends. That's what mommay says, but I never seen anyone that doesn't belong. Until I meet you, anyway. You still smell funny, but you not scary. Not like the beasties. The "beasties?" What do you mean? The beasties are scary. They sometimes look like us, but they change and get mean. Mommay says they are nothing more than animals, but the other animals don't hate us so much. Maybe... maybe you will help us? Perhaps, but I should meet with your people and find out what is going on first. Yeah, you go to the village and speak to mommay's friend, Kaishas. She leads while mister chieftain is away. Dunno where he went, but he's away and you should speak to Kaishas. I gotta go, but maybe we will see each other later, maybe I too busy playing. We'll see. Bye-bye!I always like talking to kids. It reminds me of the Weave. We have just recovered from an actual shipwreck. I don't really feel like going anywhere just yet. I think we should take some time to recover our strength, to rest and recuperate. To dry off. So we set up camp right here next to the pieces of the ship that brought us here, get a warm fire going, and just sit still. There is no rocking of the boat. No worries about anything. Just the waves and the seagulls and the relaxing feeling of being alive and not dead and not having my life threatened by anything. I wonder if I am now further from my home than ever before. I do not know exactly how far away that ice island was, or the Isle of Lendore with Restenford on it. Does this count, or that count, as furthest island? I might try to work it out via the stars later. But the feeling is the same as when I was on Lendore. A feeling of removal, of peace. A feeling that whatever great horrors await me are not moving closer. I also remember how I was a woman then. I can't get that idea out of my head, and eventually find myself looking at the Girdle of Cognizance again. It will turn me into a woman via magic, just by putting it on.  I should try it again. Just for the day. It was kinda nice being so pretty. I slip it on.  Ahh, yes! With the rush of magic flowing over me comes a desire to rush back into the waves and have some fun. So I do. Xavia stares, open-mouthed, but I don't think Mulgore notices or cares. Finch and Imoen giggle to each other and then set about the business of making food. Xan follows me into the waves. It is an entirely enjoyable afternoon and evening. I don't even care what happens next. I just want to eat roast rabbit and look out over the sea and celebrate being alive. We all fall asleep in the night, after talking about our dreams and secret desires. Even Mulgore softens up. The next morning...   Shhh... Estel'amin, it's me. The sunrise is near, and I do not want you to miss it. Not today. *Xan picks you up in his arms, your head resting against the tender skin of his shoulder, and carries you away from the camp. As he walks, his fingers are nimbly racing lines along your cheecks and ears, bringing you awake. When you open your eyes, you see that the sky has already turned blue, and a pale pink line glimmers over the horizon.* Finally, Xan stops in the middle of a small glade, and gently puts you down. You hear the sounds of arcane chanting, flowing from his lips in an ancient melody.* *For a moment, nothing happens. Then his feet slowly start to rise off the ground and into the air. Whiley ou gaze at the sight, Xan gathers you up once more, and next moment, both of you are gaining height, levitating higher and higher over the ground in a tight embrace.* *Some ancestral instincts of the People awake deep within you, and as the treetops sway under your feet, the first fear disappears, replaced by calm enjoyment of the ride, the morning and the slender figure in your arms. Xan is watching you in some trepidation, but as your face relaxes, he sighs in relief, momentarily burying his face in your hair, and murmurs your name against your skin.* *The first glimmer of the sunrise lights the sky aflame, coloring your faces golden, and the light leaps from every wet blade of grass and leaf to meet it, erecting a golden dome around the pair of you. The sight is breathtaking, and the cool, solemn silence of the early morning makes it even more so.* *Xan turns his face away from the sun, and his eyes shine as they look into yours.* Syvishtara, dream with me. Here, away from this world of misery, away from our foes and calamities, it is easier to imagine that some day, our trials shall be over. Some day, we shall be able to travel away from this sorrowful land, to where the gardens are full of blooming flowers, the streams run with singing water, and Elven blood runs strong and clear in people. Will you... will you step over the threshold of Hanali's temple with me, then? Will you become mine in the eyes of the whole darkening world? My... wife in the eyes of the People? Gameplay note: Well? He's waiting. Make up our collective mind already! Vorgen fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Jul 7, 2013 |
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Jul 6, 2013 19:31
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If he's alright with you flitting between genders at a whim, go for it. That kind of understanding is hard to find.
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Jul 6, 2013 19:54
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1) Marry the man. Since all this lovey-dovey elfiest elves that ever elved stuff pretty much insures he's getting permakilled in SoA, you might as well let him die with hope in his heart. Although if we keep rotating partymembers, SoA might get rather interesting. Or gamebreakingly buggy. Who knows!
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Jul 6, 2013 19:54
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No. Our heart belongs to Shar-Teel, dammit. 
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Jul 6, 2013 19:55
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I say yes, go for it. Option 1. I just don't have the heart to make him more depressed. Dunefar fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 6, 2013 20:01
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I knew we should have kept Kivan instead.
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Jul 6, 2013 20:19
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sebzilla posted:If he's alright with you flitting between genders at a whim, go for it. That kind of understanding is hard to find. In fairness, Xan is an elf. Also go for it!
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Jul 6, 2013 21:33
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Cat Army 
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No - #3, this is way too early to be settling down.
voiceless anal fricative fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Jul 7, 2013 |
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Jul 6, 2013 21:34
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Heck, yes, go for it. Not that you're not all doomed anyway, but hey, it'll be a pleasant change...
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Jul 6, 2013 22:39
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It's just a ceremony.
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Jul 7, 2013 00:36
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He shall be the first in our harem.
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Jul 7, 2013 00:46
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Syv is going to have all the spouses. EDIT: Edited to reflect dialogue options. Shei-kun fucked around with this message at 11:26 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 7, 2013 01:19
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Stick it to Shar-Teel one final time. Go for it. (Option 1)
Pickled Tink fucked around with this message at 12:58 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 7, 2013 02:00
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My answer is dependant on if there's any Xan related mod content in BG2 TBP.
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Jul 7, 2013 02:33
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Tithin Melias posted:My answer is dependant on if there's any Xan related mod content in BG2 TBP. Oh there is, trust me.
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Jul 7, 2013 02:36
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Quarter Past Ten posted:Oh there is, trust me. In that case abso-loving-lutely not
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Jul 7, 2013 03:06
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Tithin Melias posted:In that case abso-loving-lutely not Xan's BG2 romance arc is different based on whether you go through with this or not. Yes, the BG2 component takes that into account.
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Jul 7, 2013 03:10
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Go for it. It's not like you aren't going to have an open marriage whether he likes it or not.
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Jul 7, 2013 03:17
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Go for it. The first of many to come!
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Jul 7, 2013 04:41
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Quarter Past Ten posted:Oh there is, trust me. You know if it locks us out of anyone else's?
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Jul 7, 2013 11:19
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So, is marriage supposed to be between a man and a woman on the Sword Coast? This whole gender bending thing must give the legal/religious authorities a mighty headache. (and then there's polymorphing, Doppelgangers...) I'd say go for it as long as it doesn't lock you out of other romances. Let's have a nice peaceful honeymoon on this beautiful island! Spoiler to exactly no one: Not gonna happen
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Jul 7, 2013 11:45
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No. Syvishtar(a) is basically the epitome of Chaotic, dammit, she won't let marriage stop her from banging half the people in her party. So why bother with it in the first place?
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Jul 7, 2013 12:11
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