BG (1 & 2 actually) is a mixed bad. I am sometimes fond of saying that even when RPGs are badly designed (from a game mechanics standpoint, as AD&D was/is), they are still pretty fun. Same probably can't be said for many other genres.

BG's biggest drawback are it's AD&D game mechanics. Bad story...? Who cares. I read Gene Wolfe or Michael Moorcock when I want a good story. Story is a causal effect of RPG mechanics being what they are, not a defining characteristic of the genre. There are countless genres with good and bad storytelling and we do not call them "RPGs" regardless.

Game mechanics make or break an RPG. D&D/AD&D is notoriously poor in this regard which is why the designers of said game are always doing their damnedest to upgrade and improve the game (usually hindered by the nostalgia police and kids who would not know a good design from a bad one if their virginity was at stake.).

Having said all that, BG 1 & 2 are a couple of fantastic, fun crpgs. I started with and beat BG before doing the same for BG2 but if I had it to do over I would play through both games using Tutu. But if you are looking for "story" as a primary factor then I do not know what to suggest to you. I have very, VERY rarely seen good storytelling in RPGs if we are judging them compared to books written. Especially as far as 'fantasy' RPGs go. For superhero rpgs we have Freedom Force (& FF vs. TTR), which is only good story because the whole point of the game was to pay homage to not-so-great comic book stories of the silver age ( I mean I and many others think they are great but not in the same way that the Book of the New Sun is great. More like 'great' in the same way that 1970s Saturday morning cartoons are great). For sci-fi I know there are a few I am not able to remember right now.

Most crpgs, as far as 'story' goes, are in the same league as Fallout. Unbelievably stupid if you proposed such as a pitch for a novel but they serve the purpose of providing a framework for the game-action.

SkeleTony, I don't see you once mention why AD&D have such "notoriously poor game mechanics".

Funny how some of the best CRPGs ever - the Gold Box games and the infinity Engine games - were based on the "badly designed AD&D".
It's remarkable that so very few of the many CRPGs not restrained by AD&D's "notoriously poor" game mechanics are as good or better.

Tony, is it really the best idea to come onto a forum for an AD&D based game and shit on AD&D?

In addition to the mikerpgcenter guide, you might find this one helpful:

http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgate/locations.php

Every BG area is mapped and labelled.

Also, if you are having that difficult a time, do one or all of the following:
a) reset the difficulty setting to easy
b) save (in different slots) before entering a new area, after a fight or achieving a quest goal, before leaving an area.

I'm way late to the party but just stared playing this game. I really never had a computer that could play these games when released. Now that I do It's like being in a candy store. Back on topic... This game has frustrated me a little in combat and casting. However, I try to develop different strategies after a defeat. I'm in the mines and have four people in the party. Just wondering if I have passed up some party members or just need to keep at it. Will now use my thief to scout ahead. Also I'm using no mods since pc gaming is fairly new to me (played mostly consoles) and I don't want to mess up my pc.

Best advice in the thread!

Main thing about Baldur's Gate is that it assumes the player knows how to read and actually doesn't mind reading. There are no "walls of text" to wade through, but there are rather snippets of text which you *must* read and to which you must pay attention...otherwise you will not be able to play the game because you haven't yet actually tried to play it...;) If you waltz into areas that contain beasties far above your level then *expect* to get crushed on a regular basis--that's not playing the game, that's wasting time. The game will always tell you what to do next, or at least give you a choice of things to do. If you follow those directions the game is designed so as to allow you to prevail all the way through, provided you do so with common sense.

Hint: at least two of your party should be using missile weapons, like slings or bows or crossbows--even throwing knives.

*You should also examine each party member's personal profile and *change* their scripting to the script you deem appropriate for them, or else prepare to control each party member yourself.

*This is a turn-based game that doesn't force you to take turns in combat...;) Be sure and set the pauses in the game to the appropriate status. Like for instance, having the game pause as soon as an enemy comes into view, and etc. These automatic pauses are essential to plan and execute your combat. Beyond the automatic levels of pause that you can set, hitting the space bar will pause/unpause the game any time you need to take a breather to formulate and execute a combat strategy. Use it often--or let your characters fly on their scripts--it's up to you. Liberal use of the space bar during combat is essential.

Thanks for the heads up. Already picked up the other 2 party members. Just a little back tracking and script setting.

It's worth bearing in mind that XP earned in the game is divided between party members, so the bigger the party, the slower you level. You're left with the dilemma of wanting more party members because your character starts out rubbish, but recruiting more party members means you stay rubbish for longer.

If you leave Candlekeep with bows (or a bow and a sling, depending on class choice) and plenty of ammunition for your starting two characters, and you're careful not to pull more than one or two enemies at once and work out how to kite and juggle threat backwards and forwards between characters, it's perfectly possible to clear out the two areas en route to the Friendly Arm Inn and the area around the inn itself, including bears, wolves and ogres, with just the the PC and Imoen. Missile attacks also disrupt magic, so (saving first, obviously) with a bit of luck the two of you should be able to take out Tarnesh on the steps of the inn without too many problems. Combine the XP for the kills with the couple of quests you're given from NPCs inside the inn that you can now turn in straight away, you should now be most of the way to your first level up, at which point the game becomes at least slightly less brutally unforgiving.

Where to begin? A lot of what I am about to say has been said for years by a lot of other people. So no one should come in here and say "You are just copying ______!" .

Let's start with character creation/devlopment. There are six attributes in (A)D&D and I will list them here along with a brief description and some of the problems with how that attribute works:

Strength - 3d6, a range of 3-18 to start, like all the other attributes except if you DO end up with an '18' and are a Fighter-type class there is an added percentile dice roll, ranging from %1 - %100. Why did they do it this way instead of just being logically consistent and making 'exceptional strength' go to 19-25 (or whatever, and also raising various giants' strength scores accordingly)? No one knows and no one seems able to make a case for why this is.
Strength effects melee damage ,which makes sense, even if the modifiers for particular scores/progressions do not. And also how much you can lift/carry (which also makes sense of course).
But things get nonsensical in a few areas here: First of all the bonus 'to hit' in melee. I realize they felt they had to do this because of the notoriously wonky 'Armor Class' system but if they had designed the game right, with armor preventing damage (instead of making you harder to be hit) then the damage mod for Strength would take care of this matter and make WAY more sense! Then there is this weird 'Hit point' thing and how Strength does not affect such but I will get to that later.

Constitution - Again, 3d6 and 3-18 range but no 'exceptional' scores. Dwarves, at least with some rules addendum/revisions, can have Con. beyond 18 but the result is simply '19' or '20'. No percentile nonsense. Inconsistent much?
Constitution is nonsensically defined as both one's physical fitness/stamina AND modifies Hit points(?!). The problem here is that guys with a lot of 'Hit points' (big guys) are often not very healthy and often have little stamina...but they can take a ton of solid punches to the face and body and more bullets than the average joe.

Will detail more problems with Con when I get around to 'Hit Points' and such.

Dexterity - Again 3-18, no exceptional Dex but some races can get 19 or 20. Dex only affects missile attacks(?!). Ideally Dex would affect ALL attempts at targeting something, melee or otherwise, with Strength affecting damage. I suspect the designers were trying to balance things by having Dex affect only missile attacks and strength affect melee but this just leads to a big mess! Should a 75 lbs. elf who can juggle rapiers and hit a matchstick with an arrow from 20 yards out suffer negative modifiers to hit an ogre because his strength is low? Or should he be able to hit the ogre repeatedly and quickly but maybe not do much damage (unless he gets a critical hit)?


To be cont'd

Problem in combat? *shrugs* I just completed both the games and expansions using only the main character (using all the standard recommended mods from the sticky section, including level cap removal naturally.)

Some REALLY easy characters for bg1:
Fighter (Shoot stuff or Run up, Bash things.)
Fighter/Cleric (Sick buffs/healing while packing and whacking.)
Fighter/Thief (Stealth 2h Fighter anyone?)
Mage/Thief (Scout in stealth, run back out of sight and nuke the living fuck out of everything with x aoe spells.)

BG2 ezmode:
Fighter/Mage/Thief (One of the most op classes if played correctly, even more so when you get late into BG2 - UAI and batshit insane magebuffs, combine with stealth and carsomyr for maximum pleasure.)
Cavalier (Poison and Fear immune.)
Undead Hunter (Level Drain and Hold immune.)
Monk (The higher level you get the sillier your op shit gets.)


Generally you want a thief(or equivalent) in your party because there are some nasty damn traps in the game, also if you dont know the game in and out its going to save you some trouble stealth scouting rather than run into x basilisk that instapetrify you.


I do remember the first time i played BG 1 back in the days to have been somewhat a challenge, though from having played Fallout 1 & 2 it wasnt all too harsh to stricten up, pay attention and learn how to cut corners.

Proper Equipment will make your life easy in BG, and if you want some stupidly easy cash/ good gear early i suggest you pick up the ring of wizardry (sells for ~9k) just east of the entrance to friendly arm inn (hold down tab if you got the BG2 conversion and you can see a small blue lootable near some trees.) and/or the Ankheg platemail from the Nashkel farmers (left side field.) which is pretty much among the best heavy armor in BG1.

Also start using the Quick save function and get a keybind for quickload.
If you have trouble with something just run through the area, experiment with damage types and tactics and simply reload.