Good times. The BG 2 manual is bigger than modern game boxes.
To anyone who bought later editions of BG2 that didn't come with a physical manual, you're missing out on quite a lot. For your benefit, here is a size comparison between the BG2 manual and a modern game box:
As you can see, it's pretty large. It's 234 pages and is filled with information on the setting and plenty of other background information and also contains more than 150 pages of information on rules and game mechanics.
OMG! The BG2 game manual! I read that thing for longer than I played BG2 in all honesty, it was really facisnating for me back in the day. All the spell discriptions by real wizards and the like, ah man.
The best was the two wizards who described shit like the eye beholder and killing spells and pubs, it was fucking awesome.
OMG! The BG2 game manual! I read that thing for longer than I played BG2 in all honesty, it was really facisnating for me back in the day. All the spell discriptions by real wizards and the like, ah man.
The best was the two wizards who described shit like the eye beholder and killing spells and pubs, it was fucking awesome.
Yeah, if anyone's curious, the non-rules portion of the manual is written from the perspective of Volothamp Geddarm under the title "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II." Since it's a document written by Volo, it's somewhat eccentric and has a slant to it that makes it read less than clinical
Then hand-written under Volo's text, you have comments written by Elminster.
In other words, it's great! The PDF version is fine, I suppose, but it's not the cool ring-bound original manual.
Great thread. Love these games. I still have my 5 disks of BG on release - scratched to hell though.
Just started playing IWD2 for the first time on a lan with a mate - just wondering - preferably without spoilers - which skills/feats are simply pointless in this game? I assume there's some, because it's 3.5E rules, and as much as I want to hope SEARCH helps in every situation, i'm sure it's less useful in the game....? I don't need advice on how to MAKE THE MOST GODLY CHARACTER EVAAA!!11one!!, but just some general notes on what is useless would be great.
PhilthePill on
I'm gonna sing the DOOM SONG now. DOOMY doom domm doom doom doom doom doom doom doomy doom-doom...
OMG! The BG2 game manual! I read that thing for longer than I played BG2 in all honesty, it was really facisnating for me back in the day. All the spell discriptions by real wizards and the like, ah man.
The best was the two wizards who described shit like the eye beholder and killing spells and pubs, it was fucking awesome.
Yeah, if anyone's curious, the non-rules portion of the manual is written from the perspective of Volothamp Geddarm under the title "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II." Since it's a document written by Volo, it's somewhat eccentric and has a slant to it that makes it read less than clinical
Then hand-written under Volo's text, you have comments written by Elminster.
In other words, it's great! The PDF version is fine, I suppose, but it's not the cool ring-bound original manual.
Good thing that we E.U players got utterly fucked out of that manual. All we got was some dinky 60 page, badly glued together substitute instead. :x
OMG! The BG2 game manual! I read that thing for longer than I played BG2 in all honesty, it was really facisnating for me back in the day. All the spell discriptions by real wizards and the like, ah man.
The best was the two wizards who described shit like the eye beholder and killing spells and pubs, it was fucking awesome.
Yeah, if anyone's curious, the non-rules portion of the manual is written from the perspective of Volothamp Geddarm under the title "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II." Since it's a document written by Volo, it's somewhat eccentric and has a slant to it that makes it read less than clinical
Then hand-written under Volo's text, you have comments written by Elminster.
In other words, it's great! The PDF version is fine, I suppose, but it's not the cool ring-bound original manual.
Good thing that we E.U players got utterly fucked out of that manual. All we got was some dinky 60 page, badly glued together substitute instead. :x
Really? That's awful.
It's a wonderful manual. But I suppose many manuals of the day were wonderful.
Mine's 141 pages, of which ~85 are spells, tables and credits, but no Volo/Elminster, and pocket instead of ring (meaning the only reason all the loose pages haven't scattered to god knows where is because I love it).
Yeah, mine is the 141 page version as well, though it does have Volo/Elminster ramblings, and is glued together rather than ringbound. They surely didn't do a very good job of homogenizing the manuals.
Cherrn on
All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
OMG! The BG2 game manual! I read that thing for longer than I played BG2 in all honesty, it was really facisnating for me back in the day. All the spell discriptions by real wizards and the like, ah man.
The best was the two wizards who described shit like the eye beholder and killing spells and pubs, it was fucking awesome.
Yeah, if anyone's curious, the non-rules portion of the manual is written from the perspective of Volothamp Geddarm under the title "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II." Since it's a document written by Volo, it's somewhat eccentric and has a slant to it that makes it read less than clinical
Then hand-written under Volo's text, you have comments written by Elminster.
In other words, it's great! The PDF version is fine, I suppose, but it's not the cool ring-bound original manual.
Good thing that we E.U players got utterly fucked out of that manual. All we got was some dinky 60 page, badly glued together substitute instead. :x
Really? That's awful.
It's a wonderful manual. But I suppose many manuals of the day were wonderful.
That was after they started to fall off. BG2 was one of the last games where they had really "flavorful" manuals.
I recall getting a map of Baldur's Gate (I think it was the original, not 2.. but my memory is fuzzy) from a games magazine way back then. There wasn't one included with my EU copy of the game (I don't know if there was in the US version, regular or collector's edition). I might still have that thing somewhere amongst the dozens of old game manuals from the last decade.
I always liked Fallout's manuals. I'm glad I still have them, even if I had to repurchase the game as a budget version (bah). I don't have any of the old game boxes anymore, my mom was one of those "throwing out the clutter" types as well.
Fantasyrogue on
0
Vargas PrimeKing of NothingJust a ShowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
I borrowed a friend's copy of the original BG many moons ago. I never got a chance to finish it, or get into the sequels/expansions.
Have they released any newfangled bundle packs with all the games included? I wouldn't mind grabbing a copy for a rainy day.
So I just got the Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons release, just because I needed yet another copy of Baldur's Gate... Anyway, is there a way to fix the horribly slow scrolling in Temple of Elemental Evil? Also, is there a way to run it in 1600x1200?
Further ToEE question; I couldn't find a no cd crack for the newest patch, so its just sitting on my shelves right now. If anyone knows of a link to one for version 3, I'd like to know that, too. Switching CDs is a pain in the ass with all the different games I play, and it wears the CDs down, especially ones that come in cheap ass paper sleeves, like ToEE.
One of the reasons I got the mentioned released, as its packaging is slightly better:
Yeah it's still not quality packaging, but it really beats paper sleeves. Still no escaping that Atari's a crappy publisher which will never give the games the treatment they deserve.
That is the best option imo, as Temple of Elemental Evil is a game worth getting. Then there's the Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition tofu mentioned, and if you don't want the Icewind Dale games (trust me, you do want them) then there's the Baldur's Gate 4 in 1 boxset. That's the current European releases anyway.
I don't know how well known it is, but IWD actually had a free expansion released for it as well called Trials of the Luremaster. It's been years since I played it, but I thought it was pretty entertaining.
Man, thank goodness I've already knocked out Neverwinter Nights (and HotU) and had played BG 1 & 2 years ago. All I need to get through is Throne of Bhaal and IWD2, which shouldn't be too bad.
My backlog would cry if I brought that pack home -- that's like three or four hundred hours of gaming.
So I just got the Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons release, just because I needed yet another copy of Baldur's Gate... Anyway, is there a way to fix the horribly slow scrolling in Temple of Elemental Evil? Also, is there a way to run it in 1600x1200?
Further ToEE question; I couldn't find a no cd crack for the newest patch, so its just sitting on my shelves right now. If anyone knows of a link to one for version 3, I'd like to know that, too. Switching CDs is a pain in the ass with all the different games I play, and it wears the CDs down, especially ones that come in cheap ass paper sleeves, like ToEE.
One of the reasons I got the mentioned released, as its packaging is slightly better:
Yeah it's still not quality packaging, but it really beats paper sleeves. Still no escaping that Atari's a crappy publisher which will never give the games the treatment they deserve.
That is the best option imo, as Temple of Elemental Evil is a game worth getting. Then there's the Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition tofu mentioned, and if you don't want the Icewind Dale games (trust me, you do want them) then there's the Baldur's Gate 4 in 1 boxset. That's the current European releases anyway.
I'm pretty sure the Forgotten Realms Deluxe is only a euro product, which is why I had to grab it of ebay. I've never seen this Ultimate set before but it looks like it comes with the D&D RTS (which is crap) and something called Demonstone which I've never heard of (but is probably crap).
One of these days I'll pick TOEE and PS:T again though, separately.
Man, thank goodness I've already knocked out Neverwinter Nights (and HotU) and had played BG 1 & 2 years ago. All I need to get through is Throne of Bhaal and IWD2, which shouldn't be too bad.
My backlog would cry if I brought that pack home -- that's like three or four hundred hours of gaming.
What about Planescape:Torment. You can not leave that off your list to play. Byfar one of the best Written games, EVAH!!!!.
Man, the Brazilian IWD manual was a simple machine translation of the original US manual.
No one bothered to revise it. It makes absolutely no sense at all. It's actually a very entertaining Dadaist book, actually.
Man, the Brazilian IWD manual was a simple machine translation of the original US manual.
No one bothered to revise it. It makes absolutely no sense at all. It's actually a very entertaining Dadaist book, actually.
Haha, that makes me remember those TecToy's mistranslations
The largest manual I know of, however, is the one from that 1997 Magic: The Gathering pc game.
Because it contained all the rules for the card game.
Ahhhh I loved that game. Unfortunately, when I tried to run it on a faster computer it went OMGsuperfast. Fine during normal dueling but made the Shandalar overworld a bit tricky.
The largest manual I know of, however, is the one from that 1997 Magic: The Gathering pc game.
Because it contained all the rules for the card game.
Ahhhh I loved that game. Unfortunately, when I tried to run it on a faster computer it went OMGsuperfast. Fine during normal dueling but made the Shandalar overworld a bit tricky.
Yeah, I remember that. I also remember some kind of fix.
It's still the only incarnation of Magic I've ever played consistently.
I don't care now. I have Eye of Judgement and Magic has gone crazy on the "printing free money" end, releasing new editions every other week.
and something called Demonstone which I've never heard of (but is probably crap).
Demon Stone is basically a D&D beat 'em up.
If anyone remembers those Lord of the Rings beat 'em ups that came out along with the movies that were at the very least half decent?
Demon Stone was made by the same developers and plays exactly the same except instead of LotR characters, you get a human fighter, a human sorcerer, and a half-drow rogue. As you progress through the game, your characters level up and you can use the gold you earn in the levels to buy new, more powerful magical equipment which also opens up new abilities.
The largest manual I know of, however, is the one from that 1997 Magic: The Gathering pc game.
Because it contained all the rules for the card game.
Ahhhh I loved that game. Unfortunately, when I tried to run it on a faster computer it went OMGsuperfast. Fine during normal dueling but made the Shandalar overworld a bit tricky.
Windows XP doesn;t seem to like it at all.
Pity. I actually got rid of all the final boss's 100 life once.
I'm pretty sure I did Watchers Keep before facing Irenicus, I think the worst part was opening the seals on the near bottom floor. Some pretty tough groups there.
Rami on
Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
I need some advice on taking down the cowled wizards in the ambush inside the planar sphere. I cant even go outside to level up more for the fight or get better spells. It feels like I've been stone walled in here with this hard fight I can't get past, which sucks because I was really loving the game up til this point.
I need some advice on taking down the cowled wizards in the ambush inside the planar sphere. I cant even go outside to level up more for the fight or get better spells. It feels like I've been stone walled in here with this hard fight I can't get past, which sucks because I was really loving the game up til this point.
Whats your party setup?
Make sure you cast all your protective spells and buffs like haste and then go kick some ass. The trick is just to get some of your fighters interrupting their casting as fast as possible.
If that doesn't work, isn't there a door you go through just before entering that area? Maybe a cloud kill through the door before you rush in will do some damage. Just make sure to close the door after you fire it off.
I'm pretty sure I did Watchers Keep before facing Irenicus, I think the worst part was opening the seals on the near bottom floor. Some pretty tough groups there.
Send in a summoned creature for them to blow all their spells on, then head back out of sight or back to the previous floor. Come back a few moments later and they should have used their most powerful spells already.
Use haste on your melee fighters, dispel magic/breach on the mages and nuke away, if things get too hard you can retreat, mages normally don't move. It's still a tricky fight, though. Especially if you're still a low lev.
Aldo on
0
KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited February 2008
If you have Cloudkill, you can cast it on a spot right before the Fog of War and I think it softens Tolgerias up a bit before you fight him. It's a little unsporting though.
Barring that, make sure you cast a successful Breach on the mages and get your fighters slamming on them. With enough damage coming at them they won't be able to cast any spells, but you'll need to get right of the Stoneskin/Prot from Magical Weapons first. If you have it, cast True Sight as well to get rid of any Mislead/Mirror Image/Shadow Door whathaveyou.
Posts
To anyone who bought later editions of BG2 that didn't come with a physical manual, you're missing out on quite a lot. For your benefit, here is a size comparison between the BG2 manual and a modern game box:
As you can see, it's pretty large. It's 234 pages and is filled with information on the setting and plenty of other background information and also contains more than 150 pages of information on rules and game mechanics.
Is it awesome? Yes.
The best was the two wizards who described shit like the eye beholder and killing spells and pubs, it was fucking awesome.
Yeah, if anyone's curious, the non-rules portion of the manual is written from the perspective of Volothamp Geddarm under the title "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II." Since it's a document written by Volo, it's somewhat eccentric and has a slant to it that makes it read less than clinical
Then hand-written under Volo's text, you have comments written by Elminster.
In other words, it's great! The PDF version is fine, I suppose, but it's not the cool ring-bound original manual.
Just started playing IWD2 for the first time on a lan with a mate - just wondering - preferably without spoilers - which skills/feats are simply pointless in this game? I assume there's some, because it's 3.5E rules, and as much as I want to hope SEARCH helps in every situation, i'm sure it's less useful in the game....? I don't need advice on how to MAKE THE MOST GODLY CHARACTER EVAAA!!11one!!, but just some general notes on what is useless would be great.
Come to think of it I also lost IWD2 and PS: T...
Really? That's awful.
It's a wonderful manual. But I suppose many manuals of the day were wonderful.
Nothing beats Ultima's cloth maps, though.
I always liked Fallout's manuals. I'm glad I still have them, even if I had to repurchase the game as a budget version (bah). I don't have any of the old game boxes anymore, my mom was one of those "throwing out the clutter" types as well.
Have they released any newfangled bundle packs with all the games included? I wouldn't mind grabbing a copy for a rainy day.
*And by "day" I mean "year".
sketchyblargh / Steam! / Tumblr Prime
I just bought this.
My backlog would cry if I brought that pack home -- that's like three or four hundred hours of gaming.
Unfortunately not. The best you can do is increase the resolution with the widescreen mod.
I'm pretty sure the Forgotten Realms Deluxe is only a euro product, which is why I had to grab it of ebay. I've never seen this Ultimate set before but it looks like it comes with the D&D RTS (which is crap) and something called Demonstone which I've never heard of (but is probably crap).
One of these days I'll pick TOEE and PS:T again though, separately.
No one bothered to revise it. It makes absolutely no sense at all. It's actually a very entertaining Dadaist book, actually.
Haha, that makes me remember those TecToy's mistranslations
(Well, they do actually, and at a pretty good clip I must say.)
Because it contained all the rules for the card game.
Ahhhh I loved that game. Unfortunately, when I tried to run it on a faster computer it went OMGsuperfast. Fine during normal dueling but made the Shandalar overworld a bit tricky.
Yeah, I remember that. I also remember some kind of fix.
It's still the only incarnation of Magic I've ever played consistently.
I don't care now. I have Eye of Judgement and Magic has gone crazy on the "printing free money" end, releasing new editions every other week.
Demon Stone is basically a D&D beat 'em up.
If anyone remembers those Lord of the Rings beat 'em ups that came out along with the movies that were at the very least half decent?
Demon Stone was made by the same developers and plays exactly the same except instead of LotR characters, you get a human fighter, a human sorcerer, and a half-drow rogue. As you progress through the game, your characters level up and you can use the gold you earn in the levels to buy new, more powerful magical equipment which also opens up new abilities.
It's not a great game, but I enjoyed it.
Windows XP doesn;t seem to like it at all.
Pity. I actually got rid of all the final boss's 100 life once.
So much for doing Watcher´s Keep at the start of ToB.
Gaider's changes will BEAT YOUR ASS MERCILESSLY.
Whats your party setup?
Make sure you cast all your protective spells and buffs like haste and then go kick some ass. The trick is just to get some of your fighters interrupting their casting as fast as possible.
If that doesn't work, isn't there a door you go through just before entering that area? Maybe a cloud kill through the door before you rush in will do some damage. Just make sure to close the door after you fire it off.
Use haste on your melee fighters, dispel magic/breach on the mages and nuke away, if things get too hard you can retreat, mages normally don't move. It's still a tricky fight, though. Especially if you're still a low lev.
Barring that, make sure you cast a successful Breach on the mages and get your fighters slamming on them. With enough damage coming at them they won't be able to cast any spells, but you'll need to get right of the Stoneskin/Prot from Magical Weapons first. If you have it, cast True Sight as well to get rid of any Mislead/Mirror Image/Shadow Door whathaveyou.
I'm pretty sure that Falcon 4.0's manual is the largest ever made for a digital game.