You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you see a gazebo.

October 17, 2010 8:38 AM

Wanna Play D&D? Nobody to play with? Got a computer? Wanna experience The Temple of Elemental Evil, Castle Amber, The Palace of the Silver Princess, and Danger at Dunwater in your pajamas? Start with Circle of Eight Modpack forThe Temple of Elemental Evil and play the most complete Dungeons and Dragon game ever made. Think 3rd edition is for chumps? Show your true Moxie and revisit the modules of yore with the Classic Adventures Mod for Baldur's Gate II.

You can get TOEE from GOG.com, or simply use a retail install. There is not currently a digital purchase option available for BG2, but it's looking like GOG will be releasing it shortly.

posted by Lord_Pall (42 comments total)

Wait there's a mod for Baldu-


*vanishes from known existence*
posted by The Whelk at 8:53 AM on October 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

Win only, though, right?
posted by klangklangston at 9:21 AM on October 17, 2010

BG2 runs on Mac but I'm unsure if it supports mods. Both BG2 and TOEE should run under WINE.
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:23 AM on October 17, 2010

The ultimate modding guide to Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, play the both games, both expansions, in the BG2 engine, with hundreds of user mods including:

* several hundred new areas
* over a hundred NPCs (as in only the ones who can join your party), which of course have their own storylines, dialogue (lots of them voiced)
* unimaginable numbers of new spells,
* quests,
* monsters,
* tactical challenges,
* class-kits,
* romances,
* engine modifications
* custom-GUIs
* widescreen resolutions
* and just about every bug or hiccup to ever glance the game has been squashed
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:26 AM on October 17, 2010 [10 favorites]

T. D Strange you are ruining my life.
posted by The Whelk at 9:30 AM on October 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

This is anwesome post. I knew about the Circle of Eight modpavk, but last time I looked, it was just there to fix ToEE and a half-finished Keep on the Borderlands conversion. And the Baldur's Gate thing! Holy hell! I'm afraid of being sucked down this rabbit hole.
posted by Snyder at 9:31 AM on October 17, 2010

T. D Strange you are ruining my life.

You're welcome / I'm so sorry.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:34 AM on October 17, 2010

Six dollars? But... but that's reasonable! Noooo....
posted by griphus at 9:36 AM on October 17, 2010

Oh, and for those unaware, Troika, the developers of ToEE, are pretty much the Fallout/Fallout 2 dev team.
posted by griphus at 9:39 AM on October 17, 2010

This is a completely awesome post -- New Vegas is just a week away, but the Classic Adventures mod might end up getting played first.
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 9:40 AM on October 17, 2010

I did not know ToEE was a Troika game. Huh.

Huh.
posted by cortex at 9:57 AM on October 17, 2010

The ultimate modding guide to Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

Aw, man. I put on my robe and my wizard hat.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:30 AM on October 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Want to Play D&D? YES! Got a computer? YES! Can you run windows on it? SHIT
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 10:46 AM on October 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sunniva... And I just started Planescape: Torment.
posted by valkyryn at 10:53 AM on October 17, 2010

This post is 100 pounds of amazing in a 10 pound FPP. Bravo.
posted by Splunge at 10:59 AM on October 17, 2010

God, I miss Troika.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:58 AM on October 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

BG2 runs on Mac but I'm unsure if it supports mods. Both BG2 and TOEE should run under WINE.

Hmmm, I don't play a lot of games and BGII is one of those big glaring gaps in my gaming experience. I did play Dragon Age since it came out for Mac, and it was fun. Would it be worth it for me to get BGII, or is it something you had to play when it was fresh to really appreciate it?
posted by homunculus at 12:26 PM on October 17, 2010

Ya, I had always wanted to play the BG games, but never did. The idea of getting to play both games in the newer engine with higher res! I am definitely intrigued.
posted by rosswald at 12:46 PM on October 17, 2010

BG2 is phenomenal, but it's a bit old school. You can die in the tutorial level. A lot. I think the 2nd or 3rd monster you face is a beholder.

It's probably the greatest d+d computer game ever made. Not the most accurate, but the greatest.

Plus you can play through the whole damned thing coop.
posted by Lord_Pall at 1:28 PM on October 17, 2010

Basically what Whelk said... with this post you are threatening to ruin my life.
posted by rosswald at 2:20 PM on October 17, 2010

homunculus - there are high-res mods for BG/BG2 (and Planescape: Torment)... the story is soo much better than Dragon's Age; definitely worth it if you have the time.

PS:T is even more storyline awesomelicious than BG2. The in-game art for both are fantastic and hold up ok.
posted by porpoise at 2:30 PM on October 17, 2010

I think the 2nd or 3rd monster you face is a beholder.

? Not to get all geeky fu on you, but is this right? I do recall you can walk in on a lich off the main street of Amn so it's not like I disagree with your overall point.

Loved me some BG2 back in the day. The first one was solid and noteworthy as an attractive computer rendition of the PnP game, but its sequel was just mindblowing.

My rage when SPOILER turned on me was huge, not least because he was like 1000 xp off getting to the double class breakpoint and turning into a T1000 style killbot. OH YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:15 PM on October 17, 2010

T. D Strange you are ruining my life.

Ruining.... or buffing!

Homunculus, BGII is the best game I have ever played in my life. If I could play no other game, just BGII, continuing on and on and on, I would be so happy. The girlfriend not so much, but I always have Jaheira for that.
posted by smoke at 4:05 PM on October 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

My rage when SPOILER turned on me was huge, not least because he was like 1000 xp off getting to the double class breakpoint and turning into a T1000 style killbot. OH YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS.

I know! And you always keep that traitor round cause their skills or so, so much phatter than the other NPCs near that class. Tricky bastards.

One thing I always struggled with in BG games, I always end up picking sorceror as my class because for keeping-aliveness and my preferred party composition it was far and away the best choice, but at the same time, I always regretted not exploring the more esoteric class options available.

I felt this x10 jabillion in NeverWinter Nights II, where you were constantly forced to include other people in your party for various missions. I hated them screwing with my composition like that!

God, I miss DandD.
posted by smoke at 4:08 PM on October 17, 2010

? Not to get all geeky fu on you, but is this right? I do recall you can walk in on a lich off the main street of Amn so it's not like I disagree with your overall point.

You're correct. It was an Otyugh. I remember it utterly wailing on my party though.

I also remember that damned lich. Opening a random door in town, finding a secret door and seeing *Time Stop*, *Meteor Storm* and thinking, "Hmm.. this is going to end badly".
posted by Lord_Pall at 4:38 PM on October 17, 2010

homunculus: you *need* to play BG2, if only to make this - Minsc Groove [mp3] - even more awesome than it is without context. (Full site link [scroll near bottom] in the event it blocks direct downloads)
posted by hrbrmstr at 5:07 PM on October 17, 2010

ToEE is slightly newer than the first Neverwinter Nights which I enjoyed but never finished*; how do the two compare? How do they compare to NWN2? I feel the urge to play a RPG.


Never finished Fable, Oblivion, Knight of the Old Republic 2, any of the Grand Theft games either.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 6:44 PM on October 17, 2010

Okay, I'm convinced. Even if the mods don't work on the Mac, if the main game's story is that good it souldn't matter. I'll get it sometime soon.
posted by homunculus at 8:51 PM on October 17, 2010

said it before, saying it again.. anyone for a Mefi chat/PBP game? memail.
posted by The otter lady at 9:13 PM on October 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I HAVE WORK TO DO
posted by The Whelk at 9:55 PM on October 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Will this run on a netbook with integrated video? No mention of minimum resolution or video memory in the specs section.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:02 AM on October 18, 2010

Sunniva... And I just started Planescape: Torment.

What are you doing online then?
posted by ersatz at 4:39 AM on October 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Will this run on a netbook with integrated video? No mention of minimum resolution or video memory in the specs section.

ToEE and BG are 2D games from several years ago. ToEE may use 3D for some spell effects, I don't know. Anyway, integrated graphics should be fine so long as your CPU is up to snuff.
posted by jedicus at 7:20 AM on October 18, 2010

ToEE is slightly newer than the first Neverwinter Nights which I enjoyed but never finished*; how do the two compare?

ToEE is, to my mind, the most faithful adaptation of D&D 3.5 to a computer game. Combat is turn based and plays out on an isometric 2D field. Placement of spells, movement and tactical combat with attacks of opportunity, casting on the defensive, and tumbling maps very easily to playing the game on miniatures. It's set in Greyhawk and so has all of the classic Gygaxian quirks of that world. It just feels more like D&D to me than NWN, which is more of a D&D/action game hybrid. Without mods, however, it's a fairly limited: You can only go up to level 10. The only options available to you as a player are what are outlined in the core books. The encounters in the game are fixed, with only a few randomized encounters to be found ont he overland map.

I enjoy playing NWN simply because the moddability of the game allows for more content, and the wider character build options allows you to play it in different styles. There is some replay value to TOEE (ie. playing parties of different alignment allow you to play with different priorities and roleplay options) but in the end, you're still hacking and slashing your way through the same maps and same encounters.
posted by bl1nk at 8:39 AM on October 18, 2010

I got the GOG download, can't seem to figure out how to get the updates & mod to work with it.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 6:17 PM on October 18, 2010

Hamms Bear: forget about the updates, as the GOG version and Circle of Eight are all you need. In the system folder for the game, rename TOEE3.EXE to TOEE.EXE; add the Circle mod files and run TFX.
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:41 AM on October 19, 2010

Mac people: this will run (with a couple non-fatal annoyances) under CrossOver Games, including some flickering of light/fire animation and (for me) crashing w/widescreen resolutions.

trial available here:
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/download_trial/

If you want to buy CXG, the coupon code 'DEADDUCK' will get you 50% off (works on anything in Codeweaver's webstore, I think.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:40 AM on October 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

I should note that to install C08 in CXG you need to do the following, which probably isn't immediately obvious to many people:

-install .NET2.0 support in the CXG bottle for TOEE. (Set the source to Codeweaver's server.)
-install the C++ redistributables in the CXG bottle for TOEE. (Set the source to Codeweaver's server.)
-explore the bottle and add the modpack files to the game directory (not Applications/CrossOver Games/)
-copy 'TOEE3' in the bottle's game directory to 'TOEE'
-rename 'TOEE3' as 'TOEEBAK' or 'TOEEORIG' or whatever (and if you're paranoid like me move it out of the bottle.)
-do a 'run command' on the bottle, browse to the game directory and run TF-X to activate the mod and do front-end configuration.

Now, if anyone could explain the C08 starting map, I'd appreciate it. The C08 release notes refer to an initial 'shopmap' but say there should be NPC shopkeepers there to explain it, and I don't see any. I just see a series of rooms with chests offering some basic equipment, beds I can't seem to use and an alcove with a big stone portal floor tile.

Am I supposed to spend the starting funds I'm allocated here, or go through the portal?
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:54 AM on October 19, 2010

There aren't any shopkeepers. You select your items from the chests, and the charges are deducted from your funds. When you enter the portal and begin the game, you'll meet traders and vendors, but the starting cell is meant to be reminiscent of paper-and-dice setups for party selection.

You could try running through the portal, if you wish to rough it, but a lot of important gear is in the cell, like swords, shields, and healing supplies.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:43 AM on October 19, 2010

Thanks for this! Grabbing a copy from GOG tonight!
posted by Mardigan at 8:24 AM on October 19, 2010

Yep-I figured the shopmap out, eventually. Forgot to buy a healing kit, hopefully I can get by with healing magic until I can afford one from a vendor again.

The pesky problems I'm having now are getting all of the features of TFE-X (the front end that lets you configure extra options etc) running properly under CXG--and Windows too.

On Mac/CXG, the menu bar doesn't render due to some kind of GDI+ problem, and using the native DLLs from my windows box instead of the WINE/CXG builtins makes it crash immediately.

Interestingly, on my windows box TOEE and TFE-X look better but TFE-X isn't importing saves exported on from CXG (but possibly aren't being exported correctly?) and options set in the front end aren't recognized in game (like the increased player character limit.)

Tips from anyone more familiar with TFE-X and/or CXG are of course appreciated. That the frontend options don't seem to work perfectly on the Windows side makes me wonder if there's something I'm doing wrong generally.

I'm going to try and get some help with the GDI thing from CXG, I've run out of ideas there.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:09 PM on October 19, 2010

I haven't got BG2 yet, but in the meantime I decided to take another look at NWN2, which I'd gotten shortly before Dragon Age came out. If anyone else gave up on the Mac version like I did because it crashed all the time, it looks like the last patch stabilized it, and it seems there's a way to play MOTB on the Mac.
posted by homunculus at 11:35 AM on October 26, 2010