To celebrate Baldurs Gate's 25th anniversary a while ago in 2023, we organized a Community Contest with O.G. artist Mike Sass to give our players the chance of a lifetime: to have their portraits transformed into the art style of Baldurs Gate and added to the game. A lot of fans participated in the Contest, and all of you wanted Mike to draw more than just 2 portraits. We summoned a Djinni, and it granted your Wish (although the Djinni certainly took their time), with the Reflections Of Myth & Valor portrait pack coming to Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store on April 29th alongside free community portraits of the two Contest winners (separate download). Reflections Of Myth & Valor will allow you to customize your characters look and feel with sixteen brand new portraits representing a huge variety of classes, subclasses, races, and alignments that the Baldurs Gate games are known for. To give you a glimpse of the quality level of Mike Sasss portraits, here are the two Contest winners:
Please add the portrait pack to your Steam Wishlist! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2488970/Baldurs_Gate_Reflections_Of_Myth__Valor/ We look forward to seeing your new CHARNAMEs! Tell us what you think below.

What is MythForce?

• Roguelike Dungeon Crawling
• 80s Cartoon Aesthetic
• Take on the forces of Deadalus solo or with up to 3 friends
• Play as a Knight, Mage, Hunter, or Rogue
• Fun

Heya! It's me, Imoen! Its time to reveal the winners of The Faces of Baldurs Gate I & II: Enhanced Editions Contest: Ashley Rich & Andrew Lim! Congratulations, Ashley and Andrew, youll get your portraits transformed into the art style of Baldurs Gate by Mike Sass!

LETTER BY MIKE SASS

CHARNAME BIOGRAPHIES

Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice! The Faces of Baldurs Gate I & II: Enhanced Editions Contest was such a success that it took us and Mike Sass a little bit more than 3 weeks to go through the submissions and pick the winners. You definitely rolled 18 Charisma for your CHARNAMEs! Were so humbled by the number of participants and the quality of your photos, stories, and character conceptsthat we might have something extra in store for a few additional finalists! (Boo says: Squeak!) Please check out the letter by Mike Sass below and stay tuned to our socials (Twitter & Facebook) in the upcoming weeks to find out who rolled a critical hit!

LETTER BY MIKE SASS

This year we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of Baldurs Gate, a game by BioWare that is so dear to all of us at Beamdog! In 1998, a legend was born, and this legend continues to live today thanks to an amazing community of Baldurs Gate players. And just this past November we celebrated our own small anniversary 10 years since the release of Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition. All these years YOU (yes, YOU) have been with us, sharing stories about your adventures on the Sword Coast, providing feedback, and showing how much Baldurs Gate means to you. We want to give you something special in return, and at the same time pay respect to the original game. We reached out to Mike Sass, the original artist who had created all the portraits of your beloved Baldurs Gate companions: Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira, Khalid, Edwin, Viconia, the list can only go on! Mike kindly agreed, and now we want to give back to you, the players. We want you to define and be the Faces of Baldurs Gate I & II: Enhanced Editions. Our community members are the true faces of the Baldur's Gate world and we want to honor that. Starting TODAY, we'd love it if you submitted your Photo to social@beamdog.com for a chance to be selected as one of two community members immortalized in a character portrait by Mike Sass. He will create your portrait in the original Baldurs Gate style and your face could be added to the games! In your email, answer the following questions for Mike to draw inspiration from when creating his portraits: [olist]

If you played the original game over 20 years ago, how did it feel coming back to the Enhanced Edition?[/olist] Feel free to add/attach any additional materials, design concepts, and more. *By submitting your Photo, you grant us, without any compensation of any kind to you or others, the exclusive right and license to use, copy, distribute, display, publish, perform, sell, sublicense, modify, edit, adapt, translate, transmit, create derivative works from, and otherwise exploit all Photos in any form, medium or technology that we elect, whether now or in the future. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that, without further approval from you, we may exercise the rights you grant us herein for any and all purposes we deem appropriate, including, without limitation, for the promotion, marketing, and publicizing of our services and products. The right and license you grant us is perpetual, irrevocable, exclusive, royalty-free, unrestricted, worldwide, and transferable without your further consent. You understand and agree that we have the option, but not the obligation, to use the Photo you submit to us, and that if we exercise our license rights, we may also use your User Information in conjunction with such Photos. You agree that we and our third party service providers may use your email address to contact you about your Photos and for other administrative purposes related to your obligations and our rights. The submission period is from February 13 to March 06. The photos we select are at our sole discretion. If Mike Sass chooses your portrait, he has the absolute creative freedom to design it away from your description. Here are guidelines to consider when submitting your photo:

• Every photo must be your original work
• We accept photos in digital format only
• One submission per person
• Photos must use a neutral/light background & match the lighting below

We will not use the following:

• Photos depicting persons that are identifiable
• Copyrighted material
• Photos that contain elements that are unlawful or that we may not lawfully use or publish
• Photos that contain your name or nickname, any other symbol or device that identifies you to others, or a copyright legend
• Photos that contain personally identifiable information such as, but not limited to, email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other forms of contact information
• Digital image files that contain anti-copying or tracking devices
• You must be at least 18 years old to submit a Photo to us

Please check out the letter by Mike Sass belowit has more recommendations to increase the chances of your photo being selected for the in-game portrait! Good luck, adventurers!

LETTER BY MIKE SASS

Hi Everyone! I'm excited that Beamdog has asked me to revisit Baldurs Gate and and create two new portraits of community members for the game. 25 years ago, BioWare was lucky to get the D&D license from Interplay to attach to the Battleground Infinity demo and create a special game that re-invigorated fantasy PC gaming. Back in the day, as a 90s startup based in Canada, most of the BioWare employees were generalists, and we were all learning on the job. When I started at BioWare my tasks included concepting and texturing 3-d models. Baldur's Gate needed some character portraits, and various employees tried their hand at photoshop-painting these characters. Since none of us were experienced artists at that point, nobody could seem to craft a professional-looking painting. Using photoshop version 3, my attempts seemed to be passable, so I became the portrait artist. Little did I realize, BG would be a hit, these images would resonate and I would have a 25-year career painting art for video games! The BG1 portraits were my first digital paintings ever. Back in the day, there was no standard to copy, no instruction to follow and no inspiration to aspire to. This was the first project for all of us, and we just used intuition and experimentation for everything. Illustrative game art in the early 90s was sometimes created by the programmers or outsourced to traditional advertising agencies. In-house art talent wasn't really a thing. In 25 years, I have learned much about traditional portraiture and digital painting techniques. These two new portraits give me the chance to create quality images using the knowledge of a seasoned professional. (To me, this is like going back to college when I'm 50 and correcting mistakes from my youth. Haha.) The past number of years I have focused on painting card art for Blizzard's Hearthstone game. I now use Corel Painter, and have a totally different process and standards. It will be interesting to see how this new portraits compare and if they even look like the same artist did them! As you likely know, the original BG portraits were based on real people. I had taken some photos for reference for various projects in college and knew this is what professional artists did to inform their paintings. So I asked around the office for people to pose for the BG characters. I also used wives and girlfriends, as BioWare was probably 90% male. I didn't even consider using actual, paid models as it seemed like a big ask to get the bosses to pay for that. Its also weird to go around telling random people that you want to photograph them for your fantasy project. In retrospect, I think people like the BG1 portraits because the dialogue and voices combine with a living, realistic picture of the character. Taking photos of specific poses and expressions allowed me to break from generic stereotypes and portray these characters in a manner where the portrait communicates a character's motivation or background. I aimed to have the model's hands be in the frame holding, doing or expressing something that furthered their character. With new BG portraits, I intend to use the successful aspects of the original BG1 set. I would like an object, prop or gesture to be included in the frame. (not totally necessary) These elements have to be close to the face so it can be cropped tight and consistent. (holding something in an outstretched arm to the side won't work) The main thing is I need faces that look like fantasy characters. There is a need for all types, from a portly dwarf to a delicate elf. I can change colors and add whatever details are needed. I will be enhancing the characterization a bit more this time, so it won't be verbatim the photo you send in. Don't photograph too dark or too light and washed out. Keep lighting simple and descriptive. The original portrait references were taken with a film camera and lit by a table lamp indoors. The lighting should match the mood of the figure. Take photos with a neutral/light background to avoid confusing detail. Get some basic costume, a good prop, even a hamster! If you are inspired to be included for posterity in this game, go ahead... take some photos, become your character and see if you can make it to be one of community-sourced models. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with! Mike Sass

[ 2023-02-13 15:31:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings everyone! The long-awaited 2.6 Patch for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions launched to PC, Mac, and Linux in April. Today we're following that up with the 2.6.6 Patch to squash a few more bugs in these classic RPGs. Thanks again to our heroic community members who tested out these fixes ahead of today's release. Together, we are bug-kicking for goodness! Read on for full patch details...

2.6.6 PATCH NOTES

UPDATES | ALL GAMES

• Clicking Sounds | Prevented extra button click sounds from playing in the User Interface (UI)
• Lightning Bolt Traps | Lightning bolts from the lightning mephit trap and mephit attacks will no longer bounce
• Melf's Minute Meteors | Fixed the removing of Melf's Minute Meteors (and any similarly implemented spell) when a character moves in Multiplayer
• Multiplayer | Fixed a Multiplayer issue where a newly added party member was not visible or controllable
• Multiplayer | Fixed a Multiplayer issue where the 6th slot characters were having the HP and inventory inadvertently changed
• Multiplayer | Fixed a rare issue where clicking on Multiplayer would crash the game
• World Map | The World Map no longer reopens when travelling to the same location

UPDATES | BALDUR'S GATE: ENHANCED EDITION

• Tremain | Tremain will now successfully revive his son
• Yeslick's Dispel Magic | Yeslick's special ability Dispel Magic no longer applies the continuous graphical effect
• Siege of Dragonspear | Fixed a crash when travelling to the Coalition Camp
• Siege of Dragonspear | Fixed a Linux crash after a dialogue with Corporal Duncan, near the end of Chapter 10
• Siege of Dragonspear | Fixed a crash in the music system during the Neothelid fight in the Ritual Chamber

UPDATES | BALDUR'S GATE II: ENHANCED EDITION

• Creature Sounds | Right-clicking on creatures will once again play their default sound

UPDATES | ICEWIND DALE: ENHANCED EDITION

• Boring Beetle Pincers | Fixed pincers on the druid boring beetle form
• Spirit Wolves | Fixed a crash when using Spirit Wolves by Totemic Druid

Greetings everyone! The long-awaited 2.6 Patch for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II & Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions on PC, Mac and Linux launched successfully! Our community testers played a HUGE role in this success, and everyone on our team is here humbled by your support and feedback. We've identified a few issues introduced by the patch that require an immediate fix. This is why we're calling for your help again testing a 2.6.6 Beta before it's released as a stable patch! WHAT CHANGED in 2.6.6 All Games | The World Map no longer reopens when travelling to the same location All Games | Prevented extra button click noises from playing in the UI All Games | Lightning bolts from the lightning trap and mephit attacks will no longer bounce All Games | Fixed the removing of Melf's Minute Meteors (and any similarly implemented spell) when a character moves in Multiplayer All Games | Fixed a Multiplayer issue where a newly added party member was not visible or controllable All Games | Fixed a Multiplayer issue where the 6th slot characters were having the HP and inventory inadvertently changed All Games | Fixed a rare issue where clicking on Multiplayer would crash the game BGI | Tremain will now successfully revive his son BGI | Yeslick's special ability Dispel Magic no longer applies the continuous graphical effect BGII | Right-clicking on creatures will once again play their default sound SOD | Fixed a crash when travelling to the Coalition Camp SOD | Fixed a Linux crash after a dialogue with Corporal Duncan, near the end of Chapter 10 SOD | Fixed a crash in the music system during the Neothelid fight in the Ritual Chamber IWD | Reinstalled pincers on the druid boring beetle form IWD | Fixed a crash when using Spirit Wolves by Totemic Druid How to Participate: - Playthrough some quests & VOTE on the release - Tell us about *new bugs (the beta shouldn't add any issues) - comment below! - Tell us about major issues affecting saves, visuals, sound & quality - comment below! How to opt-in & verify you're using the correct version on Steam: - Please make sure you're using a clean (unmodded) install. Clear your override folder before testing the beta build - In your Steam Library, Right-Click on the game and choose Properties - Click on the Beta Tab - Choose the road_to_2.6 in the drop down menu - If you don't see the road_to_2.6 in the drop down menu, please restart Steam - In-game, on the main menu, you will see that the build is 2.6.6.0 Join the Beta & Vote Below!

We just launched Patch 2.6 for Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Siege of Dragonspear and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions. This massive patch upgrades the games to 64-bit systems, fixes hundreds of bugs, and adds brand new portraits & voice sets to customize your heroes including two sets from the legendary Mark Meer (voice of Commander Shepherd in Mass Effect)! Huge thanks to our heroic community for their tireless adventuring in beta builds for this mammoth patch. Thank You! Note: Patch 2.6 won't fix every issue in the games, but don't worry we're still working on future updates! Check out full patch details below...

Patch Highlights

• Upgrade to 64-Bit | A much needed upgrade for modern machines this improves system compatibility
• 7 New Character Voice Sets | New player voice sets, including two from the legendary Mark Meer reprising his roles as Alveus Malcanter and Baeloth Barrityl
• 11 New Character Portraits | New character portraits to customize your heros look
• Hundreds of Bug Fixes | Includes scores of fixes to spells and hero abilities
• Improved Pathfinding | Smoother party movement and navigation
• New Localizations |
• Baldurs Gate II: Enhanced Edition | Added French text localization (beta)
• Baldurs Gate: Siege of Dragonspear | Added French (beta), Italian, German, Ukrainian and Polish text localizations
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition | Added Brazilian Portuguese and Chinese (Simplified) text localizations

Attention! Known Issues

• New System Requirements | 32-bit operating systems are no longer supported. Check out the updated system requirements below, or visit game pages for details.
• Crossplay with Mobile | Crossplay between computers and mobile devices will not be available until we release the 2.6 patch for iOS and Android (this is in the works!!).
• Multiplayer Latency | Some players report multiplayer latency (delay in communication between game clients)
• French Localizations in Beta | We consider the new French text localization to be a beta release. We welcome feedback from the community!
• Haste Spell | The spell works correctly, but the combat log doesn't reflect the correct double speed/damage that is taking place

Updates | All Games

Upgrade to 64-bit

New Character Options

• 11 New Character Portraits | New character portraits to customize your heros look
• 7 New Character Voice Sets | New player voice sets to customize your hero's battle cries
• Mark Meer | The legendary Mark Meer reprises his roles as Alveus Malcanter (the most major of minor mages) and Baeloth Barrityl (The Entertainer of the Black Pits)
• CEO & Co. | You'll also be treated to the barbarian battle cries of Beamdog CEO, Trent Oster (who lost his voice for a few days after the recording session), plus four more Beamdog team voices!

Multiplayer Improvements

• Area Names | Area names now display correctly on multiplayer saves
• Character Imports | Fixed issue with multiplayer character imports, specifically thief skills
• Chat Hotkey | Added a hotkey for multiplayer chat: hit T to open the chat
• Crash Fixes | Fixed several multiplayer crashes
• Client Connection | Fixed a few conditions preventing client connection
• Error Handling | Improved internal error handling
• Host Reload | Hosts reloading no longer cause clients to get stuck in level-up
• New Characters | New characters joining multiplayer sessions no longer receive default equipment
• Player Familiars | Player familiars and their stat blocks now load correctly in multiplayer games
• Time Played | Fixed error in multiplayer time played information
• Troubleshooting | Improved multiplayer troubleshooting by adding a network.log file and a fix to how the jingle.log file resets

General Fixes

• Character Imports | Advanced AI now loads correctly with character imports
• German Font | Fixed German text font size in menu for character voice selection
• Item Comparison | You can now disable item comparison
• Map | Fixed visual issues in map area backgrounds
• Text Input | You no longer need to click before typing in text inputs the cursor will remain active

Abilities, Spells & Magic

• Aid Bonuses | Aid bonuses to hits and damage now display correctly on the inventory screen, and the status icon displays on the character record screen
• Bigbys Hand Spells | Updated spell graphics and fixed saving throws for Bigbys Clenched Fist and Bigbys Crushing Hand
• Breach | Breach now uses projectiles and visuals consistent with the other spell protection removal spells
• Detect Illusion | Corrected the casting range on Detect Illusion
• Call Lightning and Pillar Spells | Effects that involve pillar animations, such as Call Lightning have been remastered into a single animation sequence rather than several stacked animations
• Chaos Shield | Chaos Shield and Improved Chaos Shield now use graphics distinct from Miscast Magic
• Chaotic Commands | Chaotic Commands now use the correct projectiles at all levels
• Cloud Projectiles | Updated Cloud Projectiles so they are cleared by Zone of Sweet Air
• Cloud Spells | Several Cloud Spell visual effects have been updated to match their color descriptions (including Cloudkill, Stinking Cloud, Death Fog, and Incendiary Cloud)
• Club Proficiency | Club proficiency now displays correctly on character records
• Fire and Cold | Fire and cold graphics of numerous items, spells, and abilities have been recolored to appear more realistic
• Fire Shields and Blade Barriers | Fire shields and similar effects no longer display text feedback if the striking creature is out of range of the struck creature
• Fire Shields and Blade Barriers | Damage suffered when striking a protected creature now ignores mirror image
• Fire Shields and Blade Barriers | These spells may now be refreshed before their durations expire
• Fireball | Updated visual effects for the Fireball spell and for items that use Fireball style explosions
• Haste Scrolls | Haste Scrolls now correctly target an area rather than a particular creature
• Hit Dice | Spells affecting creatures based on their hit dice now work as expected
• HP Drain | Spells that drain HP now work as expected, and cannot drain more HP than available from a target
• Invisibility, 10' Radius | Invisibility, 10' Radius now no longer affects enemies and uses a 10 foot radius area of effect
• Lightning Bolt | Lightning Bolt was restored to behave as it did in the original games (the first creature in a targeted line takes no damage, while the creatures further down the line take lightning damage)
• Magic Resistance | Spells such as Glitterdust, Contagion, and Otilukes Freezing Sphere no longer bypass magic resistance
• Melf's Minute Meteors | Updated damage type from piercing to missile
• Movement Effects | Movement effects from spells such as Entangle now relate properly with stacking or counteracting effects from spells or the environment
• Non-Detection | Spells blocked by Non-Detection will no longer play visuals or sound effects on targeted creatures
• Physical Mirror | Physical Mirror effects now have consistent duration and dispel behavior
• Poison Immunity | Creatures immune to poison no longer visibly recoil in combat when hit by poison or disease effects
• Polymorph Self | Fixed inconsistencies, casting time and minor issues with Polymorph Self
• Power Levels | Corrected the power level of several items and spells to make sure they interact properly with spell protections, such as Spell Turning or Globe of Invulnerability
• Power Word and Symbol Spells | audio and visual spell effects will only play if targets are actually affected by the spell
• Projectile Speeds | Updated projectile speeds so they are more consistent
• Projectile Speeds | Thrown darts and dagger speeds have been sped up to appear more realistic
• Priests of Tyr | Divine Favor and Exaltation now play expected graphics and sounds
• Priests of Tempus | Chaos of Battle now plays different animations on allies and opponents
• Psionic Blast | Description for Psionic Blast now appears in the innate ability menu when you shapechange into a Mind Flayer
• Raise Dead & Resurrection | Raise Dead and Resurrection type spells can no longer be cast on living targets, only dead targets
• Recurring Effects | Spells and items with effects that refresh each round now reapply the recurring effect properly
• Regeneration | Updated Regeneration status icon used on portraits
• Repulse Undead | Aligned School of Magic for Repulse Undeads parent and child spells
• Saving Throws | Corrected saving throw messages and functionality on a handful of spells and magic items
• Shaman Spirits | The spirit animals summoned by shamanic dancing are now correctly dispelled when they reach the edge of the shamans visual range
• Shamanic Spells | Shamanic spells and abilities now play consistent visual effects with shamanic themed colors
• Shapechange | Fixed inconsistencies, casting time and minor issues with Shapechange
• Simulacrums | Simulacrums and Projected Images no longer incorrectly inherit temporary abilities from casters
• Sleep & Unconsciousness | Fixed a few minor issues in the Sleep and Unconsciousness effects; status icons on character record screen now differentiate between Sleep and Unconsciousness
• Spell and Potion Icons | Added or updated portrait icons to portray suitable magical effects for several spells, potions and abilities
• Spell Protection Removal | Spell Protection Removal spells may now be cast onto invisible creatures
• Spell Target Glow | Creatures targeted by spells now glow consistently
• Spellstrike | Spellstrike now uses projectiles and visuals consistent with the other spell protection removal spells
• Spirit Armor | Spirit Armor saving throws now work as expected
• Spirit Fire | Aligned School of Magic for Spirit Fires parent and child spells
• Time Trap | Trap projectile for thieves Time Trap ability now plays audio
• Wish and Limited Wish | These spells now behave correctly as level 9 and level 7 spells when interacting with spell protections

Modding

• Missiles | Corrected a handful of labelling inconsistencies for missile ids
• Missiles | MISSILE.ids now accurately label projectiles
• SPLPROT.2da | Added labels and standardized SPLPROT.2da across Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions

Updates | Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition

New Localizations for Siege of Dragonspear DLC

• Added French (beta), Italian, German, Ukrainian and Polish text localizations
• Note: We consider the new French text localization to be a beta release. We welcome feedback from the community!

Abilities, Spells & Magic

• Burning Hands | Burning Hands now correctly casts as an area of effect spell, rather than targeting one creature
• Chant | Detrimental effects play graphics and sound on opponents
• Chaotic Commands | Chaotic Commands now use the correct projectiles at all levels
• Confusion | Confusion no longer causes Sarevok to become invincible
• Darkness 15 Radius | Darkness 15 Radius' visual effects now blend to make it appear more realistic
• Death Ward | Death Ward now blocks the special version of Power Word: Kill used by the Death Knight
• Ethereal Retribution | The effect message for Ethereal Retribution now displays as expected
• False Dawn | Updated graphical effects of False Dawn to match its listed description more closely
• Immunities | Fixed several spells so they no longer affect creatures who are supposed to be immune
• Incendiary Cloud | Incendiary Cloud now uses consistent visual effects, regardless of the casters level
• Level Drain | Reported levels and actual levels drained now align correctly
• Otilukes Resilient Sphere | Aligned school of magic for Otilukes Resilient Sphere parent and child spells
• Polymorph | Corrected icon and damage for Brown Bear Polymorph
• Polymorph Self | Casting Polymorph Self into a brown bear no longer causes crash if a record screen is open
• Summon Monsters | Monsters summoned via wand will now behave the same as those summoned directly via spell
• Tiax | Fixed an issue where Tiax would sometimes fail to search for traps when the option was selected

Achievements

• Water, Water Everywhere | When flooding the mines at Cloakwood, you will now receive the 'Water, Water Everywhere' achievement if you open the plug via dialogue with the miner.
• Fishermans Foe | Fixed an issue in Tenya's area that prevented the 'Fishermans Foe' achievement from being awarded

Adventuring

• Adoys Enclave | Added experience reward when killing Magreb and completing Adoys Enclave quest
• Adoys Enclave | Adoy's Enclave is now accessible from the Gullykin to its north on the world map.
• Adoys Enclave | Fixed an issue where nearby goblins would sometimes attack and kill the bear in Adoy's Enclave
• Bassilus | Bassilus skeletons now correctly attack along with Bassilus when players choose any of the hostile dialogue options
• Black Pits | Splitting slimes in the Black Pits can no longer kill the party in Story Mode
• Black Pits | When replaying the Black Pits battle with Llyrk (Tier 1, Battle 3), his Crumbling Skeletons will no longer die immediately
• Beregost | Fixed a bug preventing players from entering a home near the Red Sheaf in Beregost.
• Doppelgangers | Doppelgangers at the Seven Suns no longer lose their loot when transforming out of their human disguises
• Doppelgangers | Aldeth now recognizes when you have completed the quest to clear out the doppelgangers at Merchants League
• Dorn | Dorn is no longer too easily killed when you meet him in his initial ambush
• Dorn | When approaching Kryll, Dorn will no longer jump to a new position before initiating dialogue
• Dradeel | Dradeel should now remain dead if you kill him in his hut, and will no longer turn up later as you try to escape the island.
• Drizzt | Fixed an issue where players could stand close enough to activate gnolls attacking Drizzt without activating Drizzt to fight back
• Drizzt | Drizzt will now properly acknowledge the player's help in the gnoll ambush
• Ducal Palace | The entrance to the Ducal Palace is now only available once the bars are open
• Durlags Tower | A handful of traps in Durlag's Tower and the Dark Moon temple are no longer flagged as already discovered
• Durlags Tower | Fixed an issue in the basement of Durlags Tower where killing the initial fission slime prematurely sent the party to the chessboard
• Dynaheir | Dynaheir no longer comments on Edwins death if he is killed before you meet her
• Elfsong Tavern | In Chapter 7 in the Elfsong Tavern, Husam no longer appears and disappears repeatedly
• Nashkel | Fixed an issue where killing Brage would not result in his body being dropped, which prevented players from being able to collect his bounty in Nashkel
• Mutamin | Fixed an issue occurring when Mutamin is hidden: one of his basilisks could be attacked and killed without turning hostile and fighting back
• Prism | If you complete the Prism quest before talking to Oublek, he will no longer list Prism as an outstanding bounty
• Ramazith | Ramazith now returns inside if he finds himself coaxed outside his home during the completion of his quest
• Rasaad | The female monk in Rasaads quest no longer uses a male avatar and some male sounds
• Rasaad | Fixed an issue during Rasaad's quest where the party will encounter Gamaz but not 'officially' kill Gamaz, so he would never be added to the party stats (such as the 'most powerful vanquished')
• Scar | Reworked Scars rewards for completing the investigation into the Seven Suns
• Story Mode | NPCs (non-player characters) who leave the party now lose their invincibility, as expected
• Tazok | If you join the bandits with Kivan in your party, you will no longer get trapped in a loop if you choose to attack Tazok in the Bandit Camp
• Tenya | Reworked Tenyas rewards for returning her bowl
• Tutorial | Fixed an issue preventing Belt from moving to the next floor in the tutorial.
• Waukeens Promenade | Fixed a crash when checking area background in Waukeen's Promenade
• Items
• Arrows | In Chapter 6, Arkanis and Deder now carry normal arrows, not special arrows
• Baeloths Ring | Fixed message displayed when clicking Baeloths non-removable ring in his inventory; message now correctly reads This item cannot be removed
• Blinding Powder | Removed redundant combat feedback when using Blinding Powder
• Dwarven Runestones | Multiple copies of dwarven runestones can no longer be pickpocketed from Ike
• Eldoths Poison | Eldoths Poison Arrows no longer do 50% more damage than expected
• Elemental Bullets | Elemental Bullets of Fire, Ice and Electricity now use unique icons to distinguish them from other bullets
• Elemental Bullets | Increased the price of elemental darts due to their higher damage potential over +1 darts
• Rilsas Ring | Added Rilsas Ring item description
• Shield of the Falling Stars | Multiple copies of the unique item Shield of the Falling Stars can no longer be looted from Varci
• Journal Entries
• Dorn | Failing to discover Gorions letter in Candlekeep no longer prevents the journal entry for Dorns quest from closing; the entry now closes with the death of Simmeon
• Melicamp | Melicamps journal entries are now filed together under one header, rather than separate quests
• Kagain | Interrupting Kagains dialogue when he finally sees the destroyed caravan no longer causes the journal entry to remain open
• Rasaad | Several notes from Rasaad's side quest are now flagged as critical so they will no longer disappear from ground piles and prevent the completion of the quest
• Rising Tensions with Amn | The journal entries filed under 'Rising Tensions with Amn' now close as expected once you complete Chapter 4 and discover the true source of the conflict
• Tandem in Extremis | The Tandem in Extremis journal entry will now close when you meet Winski at the end of the Thieves Maze, rather than remaining open.
• Tazok and the Bandits | Informational journal entries for Tazok and the Bandits journal entries now appear in the Info section of the journal, rather than the quest section
• Display, Dialogue & Audio
• Adoys Enclave | Added the missing footstep sounds in Adoys Enclave and Dark Moon Temple
• Ambush Cutscene | Cutscene of Gorions ambush now correctly shows the players familiar fleeing along with the player
• Baldurs Gate Creatures | Some hidden creatures in the City of Baldurs Gate in Chapter 7 no longer display a string of code when they disappear
• Baeloth | Fixed an issue where Baeloths dialogue after the Margarine of Evil fight could interrupt the partys return from the arena, breaking the campaign
• Bruel | Bruels retort now displays correctly
• Dialogue Choices | Dialogue choices now display correctly, without cutting off longer text blocks
• Gandlor | Removed superfluous dialogue option causing conversation with Gandlor to repeat
• Fog of War | Fog of War and map features now reset as expected when players reenter the area where Dorn gets ambushed
• Inn Screens | Inn screens now display properly in the center of the screen
• Iron Throne | Fixed missing weather on the Iron Throne roof
• Neera | Fixed an issue where Neera starts her post-fight dialogue despite remaining enemies
• Play Button | Corrected code for the Play button when choosing a character voice
• Thieving Message | When caught thieving, the message Someone has noticed you! You hear the guards being summoned will now only appear when guards are actually summoned
• Russian TLK Table | Added Russian Female TLK table to resolve some grammatical issues
• Spell Sound Effects | Less intrusive sound effects play for numerous area of effect spells
• Waylay Areas | Fixed missing combat music in many waylay areas

General Fixes

• Fixed crash when players attempt to load after idling

Modding

• AecLetecs Death Gaze | Fixed an issue where if the player mods the game to allow the protagonist to die, the game would still end if Player1 is turned into a ghast via Aec'Letec's death gaze

Patch 2.6 is almost ready!

How to Join the Beta

Important

How to Participate

• Yes, Release the Patch!
• No, it's not ready! (Please explain)

How to opt-in & verify you're using the correct version

• Please make sure you're using a clean (unmodded) install. Clear your override folder before testing the beta build
• In your Steam Library, Right-Click Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and choose Properties
• Click on the Beta Tab
• Choose the road_to_2.6 in the drop down menu
• If you don't see the road_to_2.6 in the drop down menu, please restart Steam
• In-game, on the main menu, you will see that the build is 2.6.2.0

• Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
• Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear (New Beta Available!)
• Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition[url=https://steamcommunity.com/games/257350/announcements/detail/3023571752230066000] (New Beta Available!)
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition (New Beta Available!)

Vote Below (include your OS)

• Yes, Release the Patch! [Windows / macOS / Linux]
• No, It's not ready! [Windows / macOS / Linux]

Greetings Adventurers! We've released a new Beta for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition to prepare for the BIG 2.6 Patch! We need your help to test out this build, and tell us if it's ready for release. The first bit of feedback we're seeking is a simple Launch & Save Test. How to Participate:

• From your Steam Library > Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition > Properties, Switch to the 2.6 Beta
• Install the 2.6 Beta
• Launch the 2.6 Beta
• Save your Game in the 2.6 Beta
• COMMENT below!
• ***Please share your System [Windows / macOS / Linux], Launch [Success/Fail] and Save [Success/Fail]***

A fair wind favors the Sword Coast today as the 2.5 update arrives in Baldur’s Gate! After weeks of waiting on becalmed seas, our swashbuckling team of developers have released a patch filled with features and fixes. Beyond the city gates, adventurers will find enhancements to the Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition expansion, Siege of Dragonspear! Find the full list of patch notes on the Beamdog blog: http://blog.beamdog.com/2018/08/updates-to-baldurs-gate-enhanced.html

Attention Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition players! The 2.5 Update Beta for BG:EE has just been updated on Steam and Beamdog to v2.5.15.1!
Please note that this beta update will temporarily bring the beta version of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition out of line with Siege of Dragonspear. This will be addressed in a future update. Find out more in today's blog: http://blog.beamdog.com/2018/04/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-25-beta.html

Attention Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition players! The 2.5 Update Beta for BG:EE has just been updated on Steam and Beamdog to v2.5.15.1!
Please note that this beta update will temporarily bring the beta version of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition out of line with Siege of Dragonspear. This will be addressed in a future update. Find out more in today's blog: http://blog.beamdog.com/2018/04/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-25-beta.html

Find the full list of patch notes here: http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/12/the-25-update-beta-is-here.html To try the 2.5 update beta, right-click on the game you'd like to try the beta in and select Properties. Go to the Betas tab, and choose the bg1_beta, bg2_beta, or iwd_beta option. The beta will then begin downloading. If you've already tried the beta, we’ve written up a quick survey to find out what your experiences have been like: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWSFP8trFnh1WI_ldYahKr-cKP6I1H_0vT5-_U1yrRyJrgcQ/viewform Please include any information you have so far about any crashes and other issues you may have encountered during the beta. We'll be accepting survey entries until Jan. 15.

Find the full list of patch notes here: http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/12/the-25-update-beta-is-here.html To try the 2.5 update beta, right-click on the game you'd like to try the beta in and select Properties. Go to the Betas tab, and choose the bg1_beta, bg2_beta, or iwd_beta option. The beta will then begin downloading. If you've already tried the beta, weve written up a quick survey to find out what your experiences have been like: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWSFP8trFnh1WI_ldYahKr-cKP6I1H_0vT5-_U1yrRyJrgcQ/viewform Please include any information you have so far about any crashes and other issues you may have encountered during the beta. We'll be accepting survey entries until Jan. 15.

A brand new Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition portrait pack by acclaimed artist, Kieran Yanner is now available on Steam for $1.99 USD. The Faces of Good and Evil portrait pack includes six brand new character portraits (three male, three female) for you to create charismatic heroes and dastardly rogues and adventure through the Sword Coast.

A brand new Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition portrait pack by acclaimed artist, Kieran Yanner is now available on Steam for $1.99 USD. The Faces of Good and Evil portrait pack includes six brand new character portraits (three male, three female) for you to create charismatic heroes and dastardly rogues and adventure through the Sword Coast.

Today's update brings a hot-fix for tooltips on Macs, as well as achievements localized for Brazilian Portuguese and a minor crash fix on the Options menu. Enjoy!

Today's update brings a hot-fix for tooltips on Macs, as well as achievements localized for Brazilian Portuguese and a minor crash fix on the Options menu. Enjoy!

Today we're pleased to bring you v2.3, with fixes for Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldurs Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and Baldurs Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. Read the full release notes here, a master document that also includes the release notes from v2.0, v2.1, and v2.2! Highlights of v2.3 include: -Tooltips now display a stylized scroll background that dynamically resizes with the amount of text displayed -The Candlekeep tutors dialogue no longer displays placeholder text when a non-English language is selected (BG:EE) -Turkish UI strings no longer appear in English (BG:EE) -Story Mode protections now apply to the players Familiar as well as party members -multiple dialogue fixes (eliminating repeated lines, removing incorrect lines, and closing dialogue loops) -multiple gameplay fixes and interface fixes -multiple quest and achievement fixes We are continuing to make improvements to the game all the time based on feedback from the community and beta testers. Hop over to the official Beamdog forums to join the conversation!

Today we're pleased to bring you v2.3, with fixes for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. Read the full release notes here, a master document that also includes the release notes from v2.0, v2.1, and v2.2! Highlights of v2.3 include: -Tooltips now display a stylized scroll background that dynamically resizes with the amount of text displayed   -The Candlekeep tutors’ dialogue no longer displays placeholder text when a non-English language is selected (BG:EE) -Turkish UI strings no longer appear in English (BG:EE) -Story Mode protections now apply to the player’s Familiar as well as party members -multiple dialogue fixes (eliminating repeated lines, removing incorrect lines, and closing dialogue loops) -multiple gameplay fixes and interface fixes -multiple quest and achievement fixes We are continuing to make improvements to the game all the time based on feedback from the community and beta testers. Hop over to the official Beamdog forums to join the conversation!

Today we're pleased to bring you v2.2, which includes 229 fixes to BG:EE and the Siege of Dragonspear expansion. The full release notes are linked below, but here are the highlights: - Improved multiplayer stability - New graphics options - Fixed item description artwork - Localized Steam Achievements for French, Polish, and Italian - Added voice-overs for French (Baldur's Gate campaign only) - Updated voice-overs for Polish (Baldur's Gate campaign only) We are continuing to make improvements to the game all the time based on feedback from the community and beta testers. Hop over to the official Beamdog forums to join the conversation! Read the full v2.2 Release Notes

Today we're pleased to bring you v2.2, which includes 229 fixes to BG:EE and the Siege of Dragonspear expansion. The full release notes are linked below, but here are the highlights: - Improved multiplayer stability - New graphics options - Fixed item description artwork - Localized Steam Achievements for French, Polish, and Italian - Added voice-overs for French (Baldur's Gate campaign only) - Updated voice-overs for Polish (Baldur's Gate campaign only) We are continuing to make improvements to the game all the time based on feedback from the community and beta testers. Hop over to the official Beamdog forums to join the conversation! Read the full v2.2 Release Notes

Today we're pleased to bring you v2.1, which includes a number of fixes to BG:EE, BGII:EE, and the Siege of Dragonspear expansion. The full release notes are linked below, but here are the highlights: - Difficulty options should now be preserved across saved games - Using cloud saves should no longer cause game crashes in multiplayer - Multiplayer in general should be more stable We still have a few lingering issues to fix regarding multiplayer, as well as other areas of the game that need some more polish; those things will be addressed in one of our upcoming updates. In the meantime, enjoy this first batch of fixes! Release Notes

Today we're pleased to bring you v2.1, which includes a number of fixes to BG:EE, BGII:EE, and the Siege of Dragonspear expansion. The full release notes are linked below, but here are the highlights: - Difficulty options should now be preserved across saved games - Using cloud saves should no longer cause game crashes in multiplayer - Multiplayer in general should be more stable We still have a few lingering issues to fix regarding multiplayer, as well as other areas of the game that need some more polish; those things will be addressed in one of our upcoming updates. In the meantime, enjoy this first batch of fixes! Release Notes

Beamdog is pleased to announce the release of the full digital soundtracks for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and its expansion, Siege of Dragonspear! The Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition soundtrack features the full original soundtrack from Baldur's Gate, as well as all of the tracks composed by Sam Hulick for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. The Siege of Dragonspear soundtrack features all-new tracks by Sam Hulick, featured in the Siege of Dragonspear expansion, as well as several bonus tracks from the game's official announcement and launch trailers. The soundtracks come in both lossless FLAC and 320kbit MP3 format. Once downloaded, you can access them from the Steam Media Player to listen to them while you play--or load them onto your phone or mp3 player and take the sounds of the Realms with you as you venture forth. (Both soundtracks require you to have already purchased Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.) http://store.steampowered.com/app/459280/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/459290/

This is our biggest update ever, and it applies to both Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. The full release notes are linked below. We have a lot of improvements planned in the coming weeks and months as well; stay tuned for more information! Some highlights: - New Class: The Shaman - New Cleric Kit: The Priest of Tyr - Class Ability Tweak: Poison Weapon now scales with levels - Item Tweak: Stupefier +1 has been adjusted to be more in line with the game's other equipment - Spell Tweak: Enchanted Weapon now modifies the target's existing weapons - Items can now be placed in the Off-Hand slot while ranged and two-handed weapons are equipped - Steam Cloud Save support has been added (Steam only) - Achievements have been added (Steam only) - The User Interface has been overhauled with a new system - Dozens of modder-friendly enhancements - Hundreds of bug fixes Link to the Release Notes PDF

Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, an expansion to Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, adds a new chapter to the Bhaalspawn saga. The events occurring between Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II are at last revealed in this 30-hour expansion that returns players to the Sword Coast and reunites them with Minsc, Edwin, Viconia, and other companions voiced by their original actors. Siege of Dragonspear is now available on Steam for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and requires Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition to play. Happy gaming!

We're pleased to announce that Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition now supports Steamplay for Mac! This means that if you own the game, you can install and play it on any machine running either Windows or Mac OS X. The Mac version is already updated with the latest 1.3.2053 patch and is ready to install now. Gather your party and venture forth!

We're pleased to release the latest version of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, including over two-hundred fixes and dozens of new gameplay enhancements. The full change log is posted on our official forums, but here's a taste of what we've done: * Added "Font Size" to Graphics Options (changing this during play will empty the combat log) * While viewing a mage's Spellbook screen, players can now switch to a priest character and the game will immediately switch to the Priest Spells screen (and vice versa) * Spell scrolls that can be written into a spellbook for the current character now display a green-tinted overlay * Non-friendly NPCs that are Blinded will no longer stand still; they will wander aimlessly until they are close enough to see someone worth attacking For the full list, visit our official forums: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/34086/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-update-v1-3-2053

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