Torment Beamdog's Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition

[Goral]

no spoilers, but one of them I enjoyed writing immensely for reasons that are likely obvious to those in the know

??

 

[an Administrator]

12. If given the opportunity, would you cosplay as an PST character? If so, which one?

 

[Sigourn]

Modded PS:T interface looks nothing like what the game would look like, should it have been designed for high resolutions from the beginning.

Modded:

No one is making you play at your desktop resolution. If you're using a 1080p monitor, try modding the game to use 960x540, it will look beautiful and crisp.

Will it? Running it at 960x540 will distort the original's 640x480 resolution, or is there something I'm missing?

 

[an Administrator]

no spoilers, but one of them I enjoyed writing immensely for reasons that are likely obvious to those in the know

??

I guess it's Annah?

 

[agris]

Modded PS:T interface looks nothing like what the game would look like, should it have been designed for high resolutions from the beginning.

Modded:

Spoiler

No one is making you play at your desktop resolution. If you're using a 1080p monitor, try modding the game to use 960x540, it will look beautiful and crisp.

Will it? Running it at 960x540 will distort the original's 640x480 resolution, or is there something I'm missing?

The UI mod will expand the viewport so everything will be aspect-ratio correct, if that's what you mean by distort. Will it be pixelated? Well, it will be 960x540 pixels across your X" 16:9 LCD, so of course. But it won't a) have blurry filters or b) render small ants running across the screen c) create ridiculous UI elements like in your quoted picture and d) artifically 'zoom' in on small maps, highlighting their imperfections. This is reason we want the EEs to offer a "select your own resolution" option. In conjunction with disabling zoom and filters.

 

[Sigourn]

The UI mod will expand the viewport so everything will be aspect-ratio correct, if that's what you mean by distort. Will it be pixelated? Well, it will be 960x540 pixels across your X" 16:9 LCD, so of course. But it won't a) have blurry filters or b) render small ants running across the screen c) create ridiculous UI elements like in your quoted picture and d) artifically 'zoom' in on small maps, highlighting their imperfections. This is reason we want the EEs to offer a "select your own resolution" option. In conjunction with disabling zoom and filters.

Hmm, interesting! I will have to download the game again and give it a try. Just for the record, the character sprites (for example) will remain the same size in 960x540 as they were in 640x480, right?

 

[FeelTheRads]

13. This is the second time you’ve worked Beamdog (Chris was a Narrative Consultant on Siege of Dragonspear). Would you be interested in collaborating with Beamdog again in the future?
CA - Of course. And have! Secrets!

No ! NO ! Oh God damn it !

I want to believe he'd do something meaningful, like actually being given lead writer/designer role for a game, but it probably means he'll just give his approval or whatever so these hacks can say MCA likes their game.

 

[agris]

The UI mod will expand the viewport so everything will be aspect-ratio correct, if that's what you mean by distort. Will it be pixelated? Well, it will be 960x540 pixels across your X" 16:9 LCD, so of course. But it won't a) have blurry filters or b) render small ants running across the screen c) create ridiculous UI elements like in your quoted picture and d) artifically 'zoom' in on small maps, highlighting their imperfections. This is reason we want the EEs to offer a "select your own resolution" option. In conjunction with disabling zoom and filters.

Hmm, interesting! I will have to download the game again and give it a try. Just for the record, the character sprites (for example) will remain the same size in 960x540 as they were in 640x480, right?

The sprites should be about 12.5% smaller as compared to 640x480, but nothing like in that screenshot of yours I quoted earlier. Check this post in case your graphics driver doesn't support 960x540 out of the box.

edit: also, 960x540 assumes you have a 16:9 1920x1080. If you have some other resolution screen, just divide the X and Y dimensions by 2, and set PST to use that resolution. If it's a 4k screen, divide them by 4.

edit2: assuming you're trying this on a 16:9 1920x1080, also try 1280x720. I think that's the best resolution for the IE games on a ~24" widescreen, imo.

 

[Maggot]

Well...not a screenshot...a photograph ofc

Here you go these were the best I could take.

Spoiler

EE will probably look the same in forced 640x480 desktop mode but you should be able to set the resolution to whatever you want without changing desktop resolution. If I had the BG EEs I would use that as a comparison instead of the upscaled ones posted in the thread right now to see if Beamdog really changed anything but I doubt it. Upscaling to higher resolutions always makes things look worse.

 

[Makabb]

So no zooming in feature? Lame. That is the only enhancement I care for.

Zooming in/out works exactly as it did in the previous EE games. How area backgrounds and character sprites look in PST:EE depends entirely on your settings. Based on what you choose, they get smoothed (blur) or pixelated as you zoom in. If you don't use zoom and turn off sprite outlines and smoothing, the area art and character sprites are a pixel perfect match of the original game.

Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2

The first time you start a new PST:EE game, there's a "welcome screen" where you can choose between "Original" and "Enhanced" option presets. You can adjust these settings at any time from the Options menu if you change your mind later on.

oh wow that is looking great.

Money will be well spent on the EE

 

[ShadowSpectre]

Okay, so I used pictures earlier in the thread to compare the first time around, but this time I actually took a screenshot from inside the original PST then "zoomed in" with Paint on the left. I realize this isn't perfect, but it still looks not much different than the first time around in that EE is WTF when zoomed. The floor looks better and is brighter/pops out more on the left in the original. If I had a copy of the EE, I'd test it out for myself instead of having to rely on pictures taken elsewhere.

 

[Kev Inkline]

You just said they have taken credit for something they didn't do. Where? Show me.

What do you call taking down Black Isle's logo from the game and replacing it with their own?

When you put your logo and only your logo on something you claim ownership of it. That's where they take credit for something they didn't do.

Looks p ok, right?

 

[Makabb]

You retards the original is more blurred and the EE is sharper, it is better

 

[Sigourn]

The sprites should be about 12.5% smaller as compared to 640x480, but nothing like in that screenshot of yours I quoted earlier. Check this post in case your graphics driver doesn't support 960x540 out of the box.

edit: also, 960x540 assumes you have a 16:9 1920x1080. If you have some other resolution screen, just divide the X and Y dimensions by 2, and set PST to use that resolution. If it's a 4k screen, divide them by 4.

edit2: assuming you're trying this on a 16:9 1920x1080, also try 1280x720. I think that's the best resolution for the IE games on a ~24" widescreen, imo.

Hmm, that's strange. I was 100% sure the Widescreen mods do not really mess with the "size" of the things displayed on screen. Instead, they only expand what you are able to see, which is why, if you are running "windowed", may as well run 1920x1080 over 1280x720, as things will be exactly the same size but you will see much more stuff at once. But no matter, I'll get the game tomorrow in the morning.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Planescape Torment

PlanEscape Torment Enhanced Edition

Spoiler

First time that joke was used.

Now when it is used.

 

[Kev Inkline]

I said in theory. If a developer has endless funds and can outsource the basic time-heavy work elsewhere, then it would presumably shorten development time. Not many game developers can print money to do that, though, or we might actually see if it could work really well.

A story heavy game doesn't work like that even in theory, there's very little economies of scale in writing a story. Three Marcel Prousts wouldn't write Remembrance Things Past three times faster, Three MCAs wouldn't have wrote PST in one third of the time. If anything, there might be actually diseconomies of scale employing a vast cast of writers, you only need to look for the dev time of T:ToN for tentative evidence.

For Bethesda games? Sure, the dev time will shorten considerably, shoveling manure works like that.

 

[Sigourn]

 

[agris]

The sprites should be about 12.5% smaller as compared to 640x480, but nothing like in that screenshot of yours I quoted earlier. Check this post in case your graphics driver doesn't support 960x540 out of the box.

edit: also, 960x540 assumes you have a 16:9 1920x1080. If you have some other resolution screen, just divide the X and Y dimensions by 2, and set PST to use that resolution. If it's a 4k screen, divide them by 4.

edit2: assuming you're trying this on a 16:9 1920x1080, also try 1280x720. I think that's the best resolution for the IE games on a ~24" widescreen, imo.

Hmm, that's strange. I was 100% sure the Widescreen mods do not really mess with the "size" of the things displayed on screen. Instead, they only expand what you are able to see, which is why, if you are running "windowed", may as well run 1920x1080 over 1280x720, as things will be exactly the same size but you will see much more stuff at once. But no matter, I'll get the game tomorrow in the morning.

Of course, it only changes the size of the viewport. To see any difference, you need to play in fullscreen. This is why it is a perfect example of why beam dog should let us specify the fullscreen resolution of the EEs. Play PST in those resolutions, fullscreen, and compare it to fullscreen 1080p, you'll see.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It was very noble for a financially-struggling, post-Daggerfall Bethesda Softworks to assist developers Interplay and Black Isle in publishing two classic RPGs, Fallout and Fallout 2, in 1997 and 1998.

Mock it, but I think the Publisher label on Steam is more useful like this. It tells you who gets your money when you buy the game.

If only it were possible for Steam to list the Original Publisher and Original Release Date in addition to the Current Publisher (if applicable) and Latest Release Date (if applicable).

 

[ushas]

Please, give fluent fanboy tag already .

Also, there is only one reason to purchase EE and that is native Mac and Linux (and whatever mobile platforms) support. inb4 smb rushes and yells about Wine or VM, yeah, it is a solution, but some people stay true to their principles: not giving MS money for Windows, for example. Wine may be stable than it was years ago, but I personally don't consider it a great problem solver.

Might even get EE at a heavy discount just to be able to play it natively on Linux. But $20? Hell no.

I got the original (even re-bought it on GoG) and play it with Wine with all the "essential" mods and shit. WS mod does not install for some reason and can't be asked to fiddle with it to make it work. I may get the EE just for the Linux support (like I did for IWD EE) and provided they don't go crazy with the "enhancements", but once only at <$5 because Jews.

Also. Where the fuck is my IWD2 EE?!

Hm, I recall playing all IE games modded under wine, before gog had this nice wrapper. Don't remember problems but it was a long time ago. In case if helps with the WS issue (but the mod prob. got updated in the meantime):
http://www.neant.ro/2011/12/planescapetorment-on-linux/

It's nice applauding for for Linux / Mac native ports, but those originals aren't fully native under modern windows anymore. So I too admit getting previous EEs in a sale for cheap using similar reasoning in the past. However, in the end concluded that I will still rather replay modded originals under wine. And IIRC Beamdog's ports aren't even 64bit, or are they?

So after having blast with openxcom I see it differently nowadays, realizing that cross-platform opensourced codes are far the best way to modernize those older gems. I wish Beamdog having courage to do something like this. Or at least support GemRB engine development by sharing as much possible, as Goral and others mentioned, and taking care that EE versions are compatible with that. It's not that they wouldn't be able to cash in similar way.

Has anybody tried PS:T with GemRB lately?

 

[Melcar]

Please, give fluent fanboy tag already .

Also, there is only one reason to purchase EE and that is native Mac and Linux (and whatever mobile platforms) support. inb4 smb rushes and yells about Wine or VM, yeah, it is a solution, but some people stay true to their principles: not giving MS money for Windows, for example. Wine may be stable than it was years ago, but I personally don't consider it a great problem solver.

Might even get EE at a heavy discount just to be able to play it natively on Linux. But $20? Hell no.

I got the original (even re-bought it on GoG) and play it with Wine with all the "essential" mods and shit. WS mod does not install for some reason and can't be asked to fiddle with it to make it work. I may get the EE just for the Linux support (like I did for IWD EE) and provided they don't go crazy with the "enhancements", but once only at <$5 because Jews.

Also. Where the fuck is my IWD2 EE?!

Hm, I recall playing all IE games modded under wine, before gog had this nice wrapper. Don't remember problems but it was a long time ago. In case if helps with the WS issue (but the mod prob. got updated in the meantime):
http://www.neant.ro/2011/12/planescapetorment-on-linux/

It's nice applauding for for Linux / Mac native ports, but those originals aren't fully native under modern windows anymore. So I too admit getting previous EEs in a sale for cheap using similar reasoning in the past. However, in the end concluded that I will still rather replay modded originals under wine. And IIRC Beamdog's ports aren't even 64bit, or are they?

So after having blast with openxcom I see it differently nowadays, realizing that cross-platform opensourced codes are far the best way to modernize those older gems. I wish Beamdog having courage to do something like this. Or at least support GemRB engine development by sharing as much possible, as Goral and others mentioned, and taking care that EE versions are compatible with that. It's not that they wouldn't be able to cash in similar way.

Has anybody tried PS:T with GemRB lately?

The only way I can get the WS mod to properly install is if I use my original disc images with a nocd patch, so I guess it has to do with the executable used in the GoG version. Already tried most "solutions", but it just won't install. Works fine for all other IE games, with no special workarounds.
Last time I tried PST with GemRB it was a bit of a mess. Missing icons and sound will die off occasionally. But that was a few years back.

 

[Iznaliu]

Looks like everyone's favourite reddit SJW cesspool has taken notice of this thread

From the looks of things, most gators moved onto bashing Mass Effect Andromeda now. However, most of the hate for PST:EE seems to come from the old school gamers from sites like RPG Codex, they pretty much use the same nonsensical arguments based on fear and deliberate misinformation.

For instance, quite a few of them have accused Beamdog of "stealing" mods, even though Beamdog have the actual source code to the Infinity Engine and went beyond what simple mods can do, and credited modders when necessary. One guy I saw threw a tantrum because the trailers didn't credit Black Isle, a company which has been dead for 15 years, and ended up creating a Steam group and GOG mix dedicated solely to bashing Beamdog. How sad.

I've been involved in the Beamdog community since 2012, and I'd say that these bashers are some of the pathetic people around. They seem to think that remastering a game for a new generation would somehow devalue their own games, and to that end, they must go out and make sure no one else can enjoy the Enhanced Editions.

lol, some garbage misrepresentation of the complaints and Beamdog fanboying. Good for Beamdog at least, half-assed overpriced re-releases with what are essentially mods slapped on seem to have quite a fanbase on reddit and even among some on this site. Fools and their money as they say.

Ugh. That's always been the conundrum... You have to admire the community of these hardcore fans for sticking so long with these classic titltes, but it seems a lot of them have really shitty, awful attitudes that nitpick the most useless, petty shit.

They nerd gatekeep this stuff and drive away the young fans that are actually curious of checking these games out. No wonder so many fandoms eventually die off.

Hey at least they admire what this place stands for, even if the discourse is too triggering for them.


bonus from the same discussion:

I hope they make the combat easier and more intuitive. I love these CRPG games but I can't get myself to care about the combat.

Can you give me a link?

 

[Werdna's Revenge]

Can you give me a link?

Sure thing bud.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamerGhazi/comments/62675n/beamdog_are_putting_out_planescape_torment/

 

[Darth Slaughter]

The UI mod will expand the viewport so everything will be aspect-ratio correct, if that's what you mean by distort. Will it be pixelated? Well, it will be 960x540 pixels across your X" 16:9 LCD, so of course. But it won't a) have blurry filters or b) render small ants running across the screen c) create ridiculous UI elements like in your quoted picture and d) artifically 'zoom' in on small maps, highlighting their imperfections. This is reason we want the EEs to offer a "select your own resolution" option. In conjunction with disabling zoom and filters.

Hmm, interesting! I will have to download the game again and give it a try. Just for the record, the character sprites (for example) will remain the same size in 960x540 as they were in 640x480, right?

The sprites should be about 12.5% smaller as compared to 640x480, but nothing like in that screenshot of yours I quoted earlier. Check this post in case your graphics driver doesn't support 960x540 out of the box.

edit: also, 960x540 assumes you have a 16:9 1920x1080. If you have some other resolution screen, just divide the X and Y dimensions by 2, and set PST to use that resolution. If it's a 4k screen, divide them by 4.

edit2: assuming you're trying this on a 16:9 1920x1080, also try 1280x720. I think that's the best resolution for the IE games on a ~24" widescreen, imo.

That was what I was talking about: althoug running 1280x720 wil make characters smaller than the default 640x480, the fact tha we have bigger monitors compesate for that. Also it's one of the traditional resolutions that is less prone to bug. It's the one I use for Fallout 1 and 2, and it just feels right for me. Old CRT monitors were usually 15" to 17". If you use 640x480 in 24" widescreen monitors will have giant sprites. And Ghostdog UI even has the option to increase the font size. would GOG release a download with a patch that install all the necessary mods, it would be a better EE. Only thing missing is the new correct writing... which i think it could be perfectly modable and inserted in the original version...

The lack of option to change that in game is ridiculous.

You forgot to use the restored image....

 

[rado907]

Good.

Now they just need to do IWD2.