Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate is a video game that consists of 3 releases
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Also from AD&D come the races and classes available for player characters. Characters can be either male or female versions of a Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Halfling or a Human. Each of the races offers different bonuses or handicaps in different areas of gameplay. Once a race is selected, the player can then pick from one of eight classes: Cleric, Druid, Thief, Bard, Fighter, Ranger, Paladin or Mage. Furthermore, Mages can specialize in one of the schools of magic, gaining bonus spells from the school while losing access to spells from an opposing school. Each class has unique abilities and this choice largely dictates how your character would approach combat situations. There is also an option to Multiclass or Dual Class. Human characters who have reached at least level two in their first class can choose to Dual Class, and start leveling in a different class. Once their new class outlevels their original class, they regain all the skills and abilities they had gained in their first class. Non-human characters can be created as Multiclass characters, where you can gain the abilities and features of two or three class at the expense of a slower progression in each class; a "jack of all trades, master of none" approach. Human characters can't Multiclass and non-human characters can't Dual Class, and both Multiclassing and Dual Classing are limited to certain combinations of Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief, Ranger and Druid.
There are also attributes that represent how effective characters are in the game. Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma all influence how well characters attack, defend, and interact with others. These attributes are rolled by the engine as 3D6, with some modifiers for the Non-human races. Important attributes for each class will have an elevated minimum value. A Human character's attributes will also determine whether or not the character can be Dual Classed; the character must have at least 15 in the prime attributes of the first class, and at least 17 in those of the second class, in order to be eligible for Dual Classing, and the character's alignment must also be compatible with the desired new class. For instance, a Fighter would need Str 15 and Wis 17 in order to Dual Class to Cleric, but there would be no alignment incompatibilities. A fighter who wanted to Dual Class to Druid would need Str 15, Wis 17 and Cha 17, and would also need to be of True Neutral alignment.
Major Cities
Story
As the game opens you see a knight rush to the top of building screaming with fear, followed by a hulking man in an evil-looking suit of armor. After pummeling the knight, the hulking man proceeds to hurl him off of the roof to his death on the cobblestones below, and the knight's blood flows between the cobbles to surround the game's skull emblem - the symbol of Bhaal.
You start the game in the city of Candlekeep, a small but important town that houses a major library, where all the wisdom of the world is collected. You learn that you were raised in the citadel after being found as an orphaned child out in the world. Your adoptive father is a powerful mage named Gorion, and you have just recieved word that you and he have to leave the citadel. There are various missions to be done in the city and supplies to gather, but once you feel you are ready, you set out with Gorion. He instructs you that if trouble should befall him on your journey, you are to head to the Friendly Arm Inn, where he has friends. As night falls on the first day out of the citadel, you and your mentor are suddenly ambushed by the man from the earlier cinematic as well as two Ogres and a woman. Gorion tells you to flee for your safety and prepares to fight the band of villains. Gorion is able to kill the Ogres, but in the end he is slain by the armored man, Sarevok.
Following the death of your foster father, you will, if you follow the suggested game outline, head to the Friendly Arm Inn to meet with Gorion's old Harper friends, the strongwilled Jaheira and her timid husband Khalid. On the way to the inn, an old man stops you. While it ostensibly has something to do with the plot, it is merely fan service because it is Elminster. After you join up with your father's friends, they tell you how they were planning on heading south, to Nashkel, to deal with an iron crisis that has gripped the entire sword coast. You agree to help them, and your new party heads off south to find adventure. The game is, however, designed with a great amount of flexibility, and even though dealing with the situation in Nashkel is required to unlock later chapters of the game, you are free to pick your own path in getting there. One options is for instance to travel with Xzar and Montaron, who meet you on the road out of Candlekeep and are also headed to Nashkel to investigate the iron problem. The only path that is closed to you is to return to Candlekeep; nobody is allowed inside without offering an expensive book as their entrance fee.
Soon, you are caught up in a major crisis that on the surface appears to be an economic plot, led by the Iron Throne, to destroy all iron reserves on the Sword Coast and force the local governments into capitulating to their demands. However, it turns out that it is all part of a plot by Sarevok, your father's murderer and your estranged half-brother, to kill as many children of Bhaal as he can in order to gain power. It turns out you and Sarevok are both the mortal progeny of the former God of Murder - and no one will be able to take his mantle until all the other children of Bhaal are dead. As more children of Bhaal are slain at the hands of another, powers and abilities are unlocked within themselves due to the dark nature of their blood. Sarevok was targeting you - and it ends up being your quest to put an end to his reign of terror, and temporarily free the Sword Coast from the grips of evil.
The Infinity Engine was developed by BioWare for a project called Battleground Infinity, which ultimately became Baldur's Gate. BioWare used it again in several installments of the Baldur's Gate Series, and also licensed the Engine to Interplay's Black Isle Studios. The Infinity Engine allows real-time gameplay. The AD&D RPG stats are 'rolled', and the player can either pause the game or let the events happen without stopping the action. The engine uses an isometric perspective with pre-rendered 2D backgrounds and sprite-based characters. It was one of the very first games to use the LUA-Scripting Language, allowing to script events and customize the behavior of NPC's. The game also allows the players to import custom sound files and pictures for the playable characters in the game. The mod-scene embraced the Infinity Engine, and there are many mods and files available for the game - even a custom character sound set featuring the voices of Dr. Ray Muzyka (CEO, Producer of the game) and James Ohlen (Lead Designer) of BioWare.
Baldur's Gate is a CRPG that features plenty of in-game lore as well as a thoroughly fleshed-out story. The player can choose from many different options in dialogue and their actions do affect the outcome of quests and story threads.
Game Mechanics
Dungeons & Dragons
Baldur's Gate is a role playing game based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rule set. Although it would be difficult to incorporate every aspect of a pen and paper RPG, Baldur's Gate offers a faithful translation of the source material into videogame form. The game can be played in real-time, much like an action game, can be manually paused at any time to give orders, or can be set to automatically pause when various conditions are met (someone is injured, someone runs out of ammo, after every round, etc.) Having the game pause after every round of combat closely mirrors the gameplay of the tabletop versions of D&D, and makes Baldur's Gate feel very much like a turn based strategy game. Some concepts in Baldur's Gate, such as spell-casting, questing, stat-based gameplay, inventory management, and even non-combat solutions to problems have direct correlation to core gameplay elements in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.Also from AD&D come the races and classes available for player characters. Characters can be either male or female versions of a Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Halfling or a Human. Each of the races offers different bonuses or handicaps in different areas of gameplay. Once a race is selected, the player can then pick from one of eight classes: Cleric, Druid, Thief, Bard, Fighter, Ranger, Paladin or Mage. Furthermore, Mages can specialize in one of the schools of magic, gaining bonus spells from the school while losing access to spells from an opposing school. Each class has unique abilities and this choice largely dictates how your character would approach combat situations. There is also an option to Multiclass or Dual Class. Human characters who have reached at least level two in their first class can choose to Dual Class, and start leveling in a different class. Once their new class outlevels their original class, they regain all the skills and abilities they had gained in their first class. Non-human characters can be created as Multiclass characters, where you can gain the abilities and features of two or three class at the expense of a slower progression in each class; a "jack of all trades, master of none" approach. Human characters can't Multiclass and non-human characters can't Dual Class, and both Multiclassing and Dual Classing are limited to certain combinations of Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief, Ranger and Druid.
There are also attributes that represent how effective characters are in the game. Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma all influence how well characters attack, defend, and interact with others. These attributes are rolled by the engine as 3D6, with some modifiers for the Non-human races. Important attributes for each class will have an elevated minimum value. A Human character's attributes will also determine whether or not the character can be Dual Classed; the character must have at least 15 in the prime attributes of the first class, and at least 17 in those of the second class, in order to be eligible for Dual Classing, and the character's alignment must also be compatible with the desired new class. For instance, a Fighter would need Str 15 and Wis 17 in order to Dual Class to Cleric, but there would be no alignment incompatibilities. A fighter who wanted to Dual Class to Druid would need Str 15, Wis 17 and Cha 17, and would also need to be of True Neutral alignment.
Setting
Baldur's Gate is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. More specifically it takes place on the continent of Faerûn on the planet of Abeir-Toril, an Earth-like planet. The world of Baldur's Gate most closely resembles the Medieval time period of history in terms of technology and social structures. However, the major and obvious difference between Faerûn and a Medieval Europe is the cornucopia of enchanted weapons, magic, monsters and other fantastic elements.Major Cities 
World Map
World Map
- Baldur's Gate
- Candlekeep
- Beregost
- Nashkel
Major Areas
- Sword Coast
- Cloudpeak Mountains
- Wood of Sharp Teeth
Major Factions
- The Harpers
- The Red Wizards of Thay
- The Iron Throne
- The Flaming Fist
- The Black Talons
Major People
- Gorion
- Sarevok
- Elminster (cameo)
- Drizzt Do'Urden (cameo)
Story
As the game opens you see a knight rush to the top of building screaming with fear, followed by a hulking man in an evil-looking suit of armor. After pummeling the knight, the hulking man proceeds to hurl him off of the roof to his death on the cobblestones below, and the knight's blood flows between the cobbles to surround the game's skull emblem - the symbol of Bhaal.You start the game in the city of Candlekeep, a small but important town that houses a major library, where all the wisdom of the world is collected. You learn that you were raised in the citadel after being found as an orphaned child out in the world. Your adoptive father is a powerful mage named Gorion, and you have just recieved word that you and he have to leave the citadel. There are various missions to be done in the city and supplies to gather, but once you feel you are ready, you set out with Gorion. He instructs you that if trouble should befall him on your journey, you are to head to the Friendly Arm Inn, where he has friends. As night falls on the first day out of the citadel, you and your mentor are suddenly ambushed by the man from the earlier cinematic as well as two Ogres and a woman. Gorion tells you to flee for your safety and prepares to fight the band of villains. Gorion is able to kill the Ogres, but in the end he is slain by the armored man, Sarevok.
Following the death of your foster father, you will, if you follow the suggested game outline, head to the Friendly Arm Inn to meet with Gorion's old Harper friends, the strongwilled Jaheira and her timid husband Khalid. On the way to the inn, an old man stops you. While it ostensibly has something to do with the plot, it is merely fan service because it is Elminster. After you join up with your father's friends, they tell you how they were planning on heading south, to Nashkel, to deal with an iron crisis that has gripped the entire sword coast. You agree to help them, and your new party heads off south to find adventure. The game is, however, designed with a great amount of flexibility, and even though dealing with the situation in Nashkel is required to unlock later chapters of the game, you are free to pick your own path in getting there. One options is for instance to travel with Xzar and Montaron, who meet you on the road out of Candlekeep and are also headed to Nashkel to investigate the iron problem. The only path that is closed to you is to return to Candlekeep; nobody is allowed inside without offering an expensive book as their entrance fee.
Soon, you are caught up in a major crisis that on the surface appears to be an economic plot, led by the Iron Throne, to destroy all iron reserves on the Sword Coast and force the local governments into capitulating to their demands. However, it turns out that it is all part of a plot by Sarevok, your father's murderer and your estranged half-brother, to kill as many children of Bhaal as he can in order to gain power. It turns out you and Sarevok are both the mortal progeny of the former God of Murder - and no one will be able to take his mantle until all the other children of Bhaal are dead. As more children of Bhaal are slain at the hands of another, powers and abilities are unlocked within themselves due to the dark nature of their blood. Sarevok was targeting you - and it ends up being your quest to put an end to his reign of terror, and temporarily free the Sword Coast from the grips of evil.
Recruitable Characters
- Imoen
- Xzar
- Montaron
- Jaheira
- Khalid
- Garrick
- Minsc
- Dynaheir
- Edwin
- Kivan
- Ajantis
- Branwen
- Coran
- Safana
- Kagain
- Yeslick
- Faldorn
- Shar-Teel
- Eldoth
- Skie
- Alora
- Quayle
- Xan
- Tiax
- Viconia
The Infinity Engine
PC System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP/Vista
- 2 MB Video RAM
- 166 MHz Intel Pentium 3 or AMD K6-III
- Hard Drive Installation 320 MB
- 4x CD or DVD-ROM (depending on your retail-version)
- Direct X 3.0 or higher
Recommended System Requirements:
- Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP/Vista
- 200 MHz Intel Pentium or equivalent AMD Duron/Athlon
- 4 MB Video RAM
- Hard Drive Installation 570 MB
- 8x CD or DVD-ROM (depending on your retail-version)
- Direct X 5.0 or higher
- Multiplayer-Mode ( Modem-to-modem, null modem, IPX, TCP/IP)
Releases
1998: Original release
1999: Release of the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack
2000: Release of the Baldur's Gate Double Pack, containing the original and the expansion
2002: Release of Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga, containing the original and the expansion as a three-disk set
| Game Name | Baldur's Gate |
| Platform(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Genres |
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| Original US Release |
Nov. 30, 1998
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| Original US Release |
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| Aliases | BG |
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