New Countdown at BaldursGate.com

[Marceror]

Some former Bioware sysadmin is probably using that harddrive as a coaster right now, fully intact, and laughing his arse off at the trouble he's caused.

[henkie]

Let's see:

1. Only enhanced bit in this Enhanced Edition appears to be a support for different resolution
2. Barely any new content and certainly not nearly half as much as a few of the mods out there
3. Costs $20
4. Needs activation through this Beamdog thing (apparently you can download it before the release date but won't be able to play it until the release = activation)

In short: won't be getting it. Maybe if it appears for a few bucks on GoG, but don't see that happening anytime soon (the originals still cost $10 on GoG and since this version most likely needs to pay royalties to the owner of the property, the price will not likely ever be below that of the original games, outside of sales, possibly).

Whatever.

*Goes back to play some more BG and IWD*

[hannibal555]

I think judgement should be put on hold until the EE is actually out.
Sure there is a ton of story mods out there but in most cases they aren't on the same quality level as the original. And at Beamdog there have been some professional at work for the EE. Looking at the concept work of Nat Jones, e.g., shows the quality of the art.

The DRM isn't that bad either, it's just a onetime check, and then offline play is possible (though I prefer no DRM as well).

Well, content looks pretty empty for 20 $ but Imho one should give this project a chance.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Well, they are adding support for other means of play like ipads, android, etc.. though IMO the fan base would rather have enchanced graphics/game engine first, more content second and enchanced support for other appications last.

[henkie]

Originally Posted by hannibal555

Well, content looks pretty empty for 20 $ but Imho one should give this project a chance.

Of course, judgement should be reserved until the game is actually out. And I would be willing to give it a chance for max $5 on GoG (i.e. no DRM).

As it stands - do not care.

[Shardnax]

Originally Posted by Taluntain

Marceror, the depth of field you're referring to is a 3D effect. The BG backgrounds are flat bitmaps. They're just blurry.

IWDII EE!:
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/240/image1sce.jpg

Jokes aside, the screenshots of the new content bother my eyes. I was expecting the new areas to look much better than the old, not the other way around.

[Taluntain]

Any kind of blurring in the backgrounds is exceedingly rare in the IE games... pretty much everything is characteristically sharp. So much so that that kind of blurring sticks out like a sore thumb unfortunately. It's anybody's guess why they're doing it now - either they've got absolutely no eye for detail and style continuity - or they're just doing it to make the new content stick out like a bloody finger.

Either way, it's a fail in my eyes.

[Shardnax]

Originally Posted by Taluntain

Any kind of blurring in the backgrounds is exceedingly rare in the IE games... pretty much everything is characteristically sharp. So much so that that kind of blurring sticks out like a sore thumb unfortunately. It's anybody's guess why they're doing it now - either they've got absolutely no eye for detail and style continuity - or they're just doing it to make the new content stick out like a bloody finger.

Either way, it's a fail in my eyes.

The new art direction and character portraits are proof enough. I can't think of any areas that are blurry in BG/BGII, the background in some Severed Hand areas are blurred but, it's representing distance (and still easy on the eyes).