I came to the Baldur's Gate games very late, 3-4 years ago or something. Tried to play BG1 vanilla first, but for me, it was too awkward. The solution was Tutu, which is an excellent mod. I read that playing it through the BG2 engine changes quite a few things, weapon specs for instance is much different, but overall it was a great experience, and I don't think I could play through it vanilla.

As others have said, however, there is no problem actually doing it. The game works fine the way it was released. It's just that playing it with Tutu and (if you wish) a host of other mods, means you can play it with a bigger resolution, and the experience is a bit smoother.

Would absolutely love to somehow play these games "blind" again. Such a marvellous piece of gaming history. Just the intro and quote in BG1 sets the mood wonderfully well.

Yeah, I've also been always playing BG1 vanilla, no mods or patches at all, and it's perfectly fine. I really recommend trying it vanilla, and once you're done with that, trying out TuTu or the Unfinished Business mod to see what's changed. Tutu also makes the game easier, since it adds mechanics from BG2 to the first game, so if you want the authentic experience, play it without it.

It is... BUT i would highly recommend these additions.. they are all super easy to install,,

I use the widescreen mod, It basically just takes the Gui, and splits the bottom and makes it twice as wide, Just makes combat easier to see and makes the game actually fit modern monitors and not look stretched. to read the text well, i highly suggest the 1024 x 780,, It plays good, and basically just feels like the original. The only issue with it, is when the movies run they won't fill the whole screen, but it is a non issue for the most part, as there are very few movies in the game.

Widescreen Mod 1024x780, http://www.gibberlings3.net/widescreen/ Just follow the instructions, super easy, and add your numbers when prompted.


I really call the next 3 official fixes... It does nothing to take away from vanilla, and just fixes things, or adds things that got cut, cause they never got fully installed right due to time.


Baldurdash bugfixes and text update http://www.baldurdash.org/BG1/bg1fixes.html

Install the first and third on the list... Again, just DL into the main folder, and a simple click.. these are basic fixes, Install them..



Unfinished Business http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=161&Itemid=114




The next two, DL, then EXTRACT into your main BG folder, then double click the EXE, Super simple to install.

Moder's, found and finished these quests that were originally in the game, but got cut mainly because of time, or just quite didn't get all the bells and whistles finished.. It just adds more flavor,, and stays true to the Original version of the game as it was part of the game in the first place. It really is part of the game.

http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=161&Itemid=114






Mini-quest pack Another tiny pack that adds a handful of quests to the early game, that is very much in the spirit of the vanilla game. It's 10 tiny quests.. Just add it trust me.. This one is not really Offical, but does nothing but add a few little fun quests early game, that if you never played the game, you would have no idea they were not part of it.. Just add um :)

http://www.gibberlings3.net/bgqe/

As a very avid BG player, and just replaying the whole thing for the best "vanilla" experience,, i am doing the extract same thing.





PS, for a pure play through.. I just love playing the dual classed human,, Fighter. For all of BG you play a pure fighter, and for RP reasons, i use only blunt, spiked, and missile weapons.. (sling only)

Then in BG II.. head to the tavern first after you make it out into the main game.. (it is the area exit on the right of the map) In that tavern talk to "Nalia" and follow her quest.. It leads to a way to earn a Keep! If you do this first, you can get the keep, before you swap to a cleric at level 12.. It is a very fun class combo, and powerful as well. (just make sure for stats, you have over 15 STR, and 17 Wisdom.. Though High Con, and Dex are also great too.

Fighter in BG is a great first time play, as it is a more forgiving class, as if you die you need to reload.. and in BG II, the cleric spells will just make you that much better of a fighter..

For BGII vanillia,, you can just install a few simple fixes, like the baldurdash patch... and unfinished business for the purisit play through :)

I can also recommend playing vanilla, works just fine, no mods needed, especially for the first playthrough. Later on you can add some mods, if you want to. I went full circle, staring with vanilla after it was released, then adding quite a lot of mods. Some of them were way too different from the original, so I came back to vanilla with just a couple of fixes and tweaks and play that way to this day.

I even played the game recently without TotSC, now that was a very interesting experience.

How is it different from the expansion, aside from the new areas?

The most obvious difference is the XP cap increase. There's a few tweaks, too: AOE spells only effect toons within area at trigger (you can now run from fireballs); autopause added; inventory autostacking; character hotkeys; unidentified items tinted blue; all projectiles' speed increased; quick load for SP; thief's abilities nerfed (stealth/backstabbing affected by shadows or lack of, need to be behind enemy).

Not sure if I missed anything.

Also some classes have less weapon slots without TotSC: Mages, Clerics and Bards have just one. Web spell has the repeated animation (like the explosion at the beginning) when it checks again for saving throw.

Overall the game is just fine, might be too frustrating to some. The projectiles' speed is especially noticeable, so ranged weapons are a bit less powerful, but so are the spells. Having no "enemy sighted" auto-pause caused me to be extra careful when there's a possibility of a threat nearby.

I play it without the expansion all the time, I plan on installing it after finishing the game once.

I really don't mod anything. So yeah, it's definitely doable.