Baldur's Gate 3?

[Martok]

Link to the homepage(?).

Link to RPS article.



Now if you'll excuse me, I must go try and sleep while still shivering with excitement over this...

[econ21]

I can't get too excited - not only because there's not a lot to go on in that webpage, but also because the originals were so good it's hard to see them being improved on and because they were also essentially complete, so a story-based sequel makes less sense. However, I will keep an eye on it.

The wave of nostalgia this provoked, and reading the speculation you linked, started me wondering about getting the anthology of the Infinity Engine games now available, apparently patched to work with Windows 7:

http://www.gamersgate.co.uk/DDB-DBAM...ter-collection

At £5, it's hard to argue with the price.

[TinCow]

My speculation is a rerelease with an updated version of the IE engine. Improved graphics and interface, at least up to IWD2 levels, and possibly with 3.5 rules. I wouldn't be surprised if they combined the entire thing into a single continuous game as well. That's been done by mods (as has the port to the IWD2 engine), so it shouldn't be too hard to do it with the real game.

[Vladimir]

I hope it's my long awaited continuous (and updated) game. An AI similar to DA:O would be nice as well as the ability to use both third and first person.

We'll see.

Wait, Is Infinity only top down? Well, as long as I can get to squad-style combat again...

[TinCow]

Wait, Is Infinity only top down? Well, as long as I can get to squad-style combat again...

Yes, the Infinity Engine is strictly isometric. It was used for both BG games, Planescape, and both Icewind Dale games. The final and most 'advanced' version was used in Icewind Dale 2. The engine that followed it was the Aurora Engine, which started with Neverwinter Nights. It, and updated versions of it, was used for all NWN, KOTOR, NWN2, KOTOR2, and Jade Empire.

Personally, I prefer isometric for party-based games. Party management has never been good in any Bioware game since they left the Infinity Engine, and they only made it bearable by significantly reducing the size of the party. I think the best isometric (and party management) engine that was ever created was whatever was used for The Temple of Elemental Evil. That engine was truly superb, even if the game itself had some significant issues.

[Vladimir]

Oh well...

Reading the news articles I get an impression that it may just be a mobile port. Decent enough for tablets I guess.

Unrelated but I posted server news in the Minecraft thread.

[Whacker]

Yes, the Infinity Engine is strictly isometric. It was used for both BG games, Planescape, and both Icewind Dale games. The final and most 'advanced' version was used in Icewind Dale 2. The engine that followed it was the Aurora Engine, which started with Neverwinter Nights. It, and updated versions of it, was used for all NWN, KOTOR, NWN2, KOTOR2, and Jade Empire.

Personally, I prefer isometric for party-based games. Party management has never been good in any Bioware game since they left the Infinity Engine, and they only made it bearable by significantly reducing the size of the party. I think the best isometric (and party management) engine that was ever created was whatever was used for The Temple of Elemental Evil. That engine was truly superb, even if the game itself had some significant issues.

I dunno about this.

The Infinity engine'd games are pretty much all legends and deserve their well earned status in the history of great gaming, and I enjoyed the ones I played.

But I absolutely loved the Aurora engine as implemented in NWN1. It was essentially everything I wanted in a D20 game. Pretty good gfx, outstanding interface and controls, and it still kept all the wonderful D20 rules and calculations safely under the hood and operating smoothly as a well oiled machine. KOTOR1 was also outstanding. KOTOR2's interface suffered, NWN2's interface was horrible (xiahou and I agree violently about this one), Jade Empire was boring.

To me, NWN1 was and remains the pinnacle of D20 gaming engines.

[Vladimir]

I agree with the infinity combat aspects. I really enjoy that type of squad level combat where bows rocked.

[TinCow]

I really, really hope they update it to full 3.5 rules. 2nd Edition is really obsolete and inflexible, and it's a pain to go back to it after this long. I haven't played with 4th edition personally, but I listen to a lot of podcasts about it and it doesn't seem like it would fit well with the BG series. 3.5 seems to be the best fit. I would love to be able to replay the BG series as an armored mage.

[Sarmatian]

I like 2nd edition better. Sure, it's inflexible but that's part of the fun.

When I see examples of characters builds for NWN 2, I cry a little inside - 16 Pale Master/5 Fighter/3 Broken Fist/6 Red Dragon Disciple/2 Clean Sock/15 Alice in Wonderland.

Give me good ol' inflexible 2nd edition over that any day of the week.

[johnhughthom]

I prefer 2nd edition myself, too much flexibilty in RPG character creation nowadays! Still, at least 3.5 is not Bethesda's roleplaying experience where you can't really roleplay a character with well defined strengths and weaknesses. Yes, I know a party based game has more scope to allow for that, but I find it difficult to enjoy playing a character who can do everything in RPGs.

[TinCow]

I prefer 2nd edition myself, too much flexibilty in RPG character creation nowadays! Still, at least 3.5 is not Bethesda's roleplaying experience where you can't really roleplay a character with well defined strengths and weaknesses. Yes, I know a party based game has more scope to allow for that, but I find it difficult to enjoy playing a character who can do everything in RPGs.

IMO, lack of flexibility stifles roleplaying. It's one thing to give people bonus for playing a 'preferred' method and penalties for creating characters that do odd things with their classes, but it's another thing to directly block characters from taking an alternate route if they want to. 2E actively hurts roleplaying IMO, because of some of its ridiculous restrictions. Why only blunt weapons for clerics? Really? A cleric is going to be excommunicated if they use a blade? Are you seriously telling me those flanged maces and spiked morning stars don't cut people? Why can't a wizard cast a spell in leather armor? Sure, maybe he has a higher chance of spell failure, but a total inability is ridiculous. 2E makes me play a character that the creators of the game designed, not that I designed myself. It's got about as much class variety in it as Diablo 2.

[Vladimir]

What? No. This isn't tutu, it's newnew and I'm so excited.

[Vladimir]

I'm happy enough with the updated version and look forward to the BG II version. I'd rather have a DAO-style POV with BG formations but I'm still excited.

[TinCow]

Lots more info on the first release:
http://kotaku.com/5928997/baldurs-ga...g-september-18

If you've been getting the urge to replayBaldur's Gate, you might want to wait til this fall.
The classic role-playing game will see new life on September 18, when developer Beamdog releases Baldur's Gate: Extended Edition, an enhanced remake with new characters and a new adventure that the company says will take you six hours to play through.
PC and Mac versions of the game will run you $20 unless you pre-order, in which case they'll be $18. They'll come with three new playable sidekicks: half-Orc Blackguard Dorn (whose head is pictured below), half-elf Wild Mage Neera, and human monk Rasaad.

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition will also feature a new dungeon called The Black Pits, set within the Underdark, that tasks you with fighting your way through fifteen levels of arena-style battles.


The iPad version, which Beamdog is hoping to release around that same time in September, will cost $10. The interface for this version will be totally retooled so it's pleasant to play on your tablet. However, new characters Dorn and Neera will be sold separately as downloadable content for the iPad edition. Additional voice sets and portraits will also be DLC. The new Black Pits adventure is included with the game.


This version of Baldur's Gate will also feature the classes, kits, and races that were available inBaldur's Gate II. It squashes a whole bunch of the original version's bugs and also offers cross-platform multiplayer among all versions.

The Black Pits:

"Rouse yourselves, you lice-laden layabouts. Stand and salute your new master, Baeloth the Entertainer!"
Across the realms, individuals of great power and prestige receive a scroll via magical means. Unfurling it, they discover that they have been selected as one of the very few to enjoy the finest forms of entertainment in all creation...
Come one, come all! Baeloth the Entertainer cordially invites you to the greatest spectacle the realms have to offer - mortal pitted against mortal in a desperate bid to survive! Thrilling combat, scintillating magic, and the grim spectre of death lurk above this, the greatest of all shows! All this and more can be enjoyed within... THE BLACK PITS!
Deep within the Underdark where few dare to tread, the mad drow Baeloth has used his extensive mastery of magic to force a duergar colony into creating an entertainment complex of his own design. He has invited guests from across the realms, from Maztica to Menzoberranzan, and they will readily attend - Baeloth is known to be an excellent showman.
—
The Black Pits is one of the enhancements that make up Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition that allows you to create a full party and battle through fifteen hellish battles in a desperate bid to escape. Difficult challenges, unique battles, and a bizarre cast of characters await you within the Underdark!

• A stand-alone adventure set deep within the Underdark
• Fifteen levels of arena-style combat challenges
• Full control and customization of up to six party members
• Over 6 hours of additional gameplay

The Black Pits are your new home... enjoy your stay while you can!

NPC Dorn:

"Do not annoy me with such simplistic notions of morality."
Born in the Spine of the World, Dorn fled to Luskan with his human mother when a rival tribe annihilated his father's savage people. In that northern city, Dorn's ruthless strength soon won him a deadly reputation and the attentions of a band of mercenaries whose wickedness exceeded even Dorn's. Imprisoned for the crimes of the entire group, Dorn made a fiendish bargain granting him even greater power and the promise of revenge.
A Blackguard of few words, Dorn is only too happy to ally himself with a child of Bhaal and cut a bloody swath across the Sword Coast with his black greatsword, as long as that path continues to lead him to the traitors he has sworn to destroy.
—
Dorn is a half-orc Blackguard whose otherworldly patron grants him terrible powers in the form of his black sword and unholy spells. Add him to your Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and inflict evil to the last corpse.
Dorn adds the following Enhancments to Baldur's Gate:

• The Blackguard Dorn II-Khan, a new NPC to join your party
• Up to four hours of additional gameplay
• The Blackguard kit to create your own champion of evil

Betrayed by his former companions, the half-orc Dorn Il-Khan lusts for revenge and glory in equal measure.

[LeftEyeNine]

I was... I was confused... I was.. As I gazed into the abyss... It also gazed into me... It cost me $18...

[Fragony]

I was... I was confused... I was.. As I gazed into the abyss... It also gazed into me... It cost me $18...

That's a steal it must cost a fortune to update such on old game, I would be willing to pay full retail of a AAA title

[TinCow]

The thing that tears me up the most is that I want it on BOTH the PC and the iPad. I wish the iPad version came free with the PC version. I suppose there are worse things in the world than funding a company that's spending time updating and adding new content to BG...

[Vladimir]

The Underdark gives me The Fizz. So into this!

[LeftEyeNine]

Pre-load is said to be towards the end of August.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Here's the rub....for anyone who still plays BG (and that includes me) is this going to be any better than the heavily modded version I now play? I don't play Baldur's Gate for pretty graphics. I play because dragons can, and will, kick your a$$ and battles with liches can take a half hour or more to win, if you CAN win. It's a chess match where every one of your characters has a role to play in the battle, and having the proper equipment is vital.

If the updated version also does not correct all the bugs that were present in the original, well...have fun with that. Apparently, the devs are considering using some of the fix-packs and mods created by programmers over at G3. You can catch some of the discussion here:

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index...howtopic=24075

[Fragony]

Original and updates only

[ReluctantSamurai]

A short list of what won't be done in the remake:

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discuss...t-cant-be-done

The modding team at G3 is actively working with Beamdog, so hopefully at least some bug-fixes and other game-enhancing modifications will be included in the final release.