Baldur's Gate 3?

[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...

[Fragony]

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...

Oh just cough it up, it's outragiously cool to have a remastered game of this scope in the first place, even cooler if you can play it on tablet. I can't imagine how hard this must be for the guys working on it

[TinCow]

All kinds of info pages up now at the BG website with the new content. Definitely worth reading them.
http://www.baldursgate.com/blackpits.en.html.
http://www.baldursgate.com/rasaad.en.html
http://www.baldursgate.com/neera.en.html
.http://www.baldursgate.com/dorn.en.html
http://www.baldursgate.com/enhancements.en.html

[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.

[rvg]

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.

So...what exactly we'll be paying for?

[johnhughthom]

So...what exactly we'll be paying for?

Pretty much my view too. I'll be sticking with my tutu version.

[Fragony]

So...what exactly we'll be paying for?

A HD version of Baldur's Gate! It must be a nightmare job to make a HD version, heck I'll pay two times retail to replay this in HD. Planescape Torment as well please, even better than Baldur's Gate imho.

[Vladimir]

Pretty much my view too. I'll be sticking with my tutu version.

Men playing computer games while wearing tutus are silly looking. You silly looking person.

Bring on Bhaal!

[TinCow]

A HD version of Baldur's Gate! It must be a nightmare job to make a HD version, heck I'll pay two times retail to replay this in HD. Planescape Torment as well please, even better than Baldur's Gate imho.

Actually, that's precisely what you won't be paying for. They can't do anything with the art or animations, so everything will look exactly the same as it did before. Presumably the game will support modern resolutions, but that itself starts to become an issue if you scale up so high that you can't see what you're doing anymore. That's not really so bad. I've played BG2 in modern widescreen with mods before and it worked fine, but it's still a long way from being an HD version.

[Fragony]

It's ok with me, screens I saw looked pretty nice

[TinCow]

Yeah, while the BG modding community sites seem very upset that the art assets were lost, that's not really a big deal to me. In fact, I think the IE games hold up pretty well simply because of the superb 2D art that was done on them the first time. The big things for me are bug fixes, GUI improvements, and more content, and all of those things are being done. I hope that the project is successful, as I can see it spinning into similar EE versions of IWD and PST. It would also be much easier to make a proper IWD3 than it would a sequel to BG or PST, simply because it's not really a narrative-based series. There's plenty of room in the world for another IWD game IMO. Been far too long since I had a nice party-based isometric dungeon crawl.

[Vladimir]

I was a little confused as to what they meant by "lost." How do you loose something that was so fundamental to the brand?

[TinCow]

I was a little confused as to what they meant by "lost." How do you loose something that was so fundamental to the brand?

The stuff that was lost were art assets that were created for use with the game, but they weren't in the actual game files themselves. For example, high-res versions of the background, portraits, and models. Those assets had to be significantly scaled down in size and quality to fit into the game at release, and the files that are in the game itself are these scaled down versions only. The full-scale versions were presumably retained on the servers and computers of the dev team and/or publishers. While Bioware is still around and a going concern, the game was published (and the rights owned) by Black Isle and Interplay, both of which went under a long time ago (though Interplay continues to lurch on as a corporate shell and logo to this day). The rights to the BG games were then transferred to Atari. The process of studio disintegration tends to be a chaotic one, and little of the actual development files survived the transition. Those things were lost through deletion or a fire-sale of the computer hardware. They probably were not considered important things to save anyway, as the games were finished and were not going to get any further development, so it's unlikely that much care was given to ensure their preservation.

I have a friend who was a dev with Big Huge Games when it went bust a few months ago. His accounts of the final days explain very easily how stuff like this gets lost. Essentially, when the layoffs hit, people grab whatever personal possessions they have (and whatever corporate property they think won't be missed) and leave the building, never to return. The building sits empty for a while, with the computers and servers just gathering dust until the lawyers and corporate shell figure out how to dispose of the remaining property. At that point, workers come in and haul the computers away, possibly for resale or maybe even for scrap. If you're lucky, there are a few dev people left to gather and organize the important files to transfer with the IP rights, but they're not going to comb through hundreds of hard drives looking for files created by other people and whose purpose they aren't entirely sure of.

[Vladimir]

That's a shame. I hoped that someone with long-term financial savvy and a casual approach to intellectual property rights would retain information like that.

Edit: Wait, yes, I know. Let's ask the Chinese for them back!

[Vladimir]

I wonder if the Blaclguard will join a party led by a Paladin? Who should my mage be?

Oh, yes. This is a shameless bump for those in the Dragon Age 3 thread who want squad combat. Those who like chess will enjoy the combat as well.

[TinCow]

Unfortunately, we won't know until November now, as it's been delayed. On the positive side though, it looks like the delay is because they want to make more changes and fixes than they originally intended, rather than being unable to accomplish their goals by the original release date.

[Vladimir]

Unfortunately, we won't know until November now, as it's been delayed. On the positive side though, it looks like the delay is because they want to make more changes and fixes than they originally intended, rather than being unable to accomplish their goals by the original release date.

That was on my mind as well. I am perfectly content to wait.

[ReluctantSamurai]

I will not be holding my breath as I simply cannot see that the game will be more enjoyable than the one I now play. However, at the price they will be asking for it, a copy will certainly make its' way to my archives to be played when I get bored with everything else....

I wonder if the Blaclguard will join a party led by a Paladin? Who should my mage be?

Judging from past experience, I would think not. Recall the lethal relationship between Viconia and Keldorn in the original....

If you play a 'goodie-two-shoe', then Imoen is really the only choice (for an unmodded game), and if you walk the dark side then Edwin is your man (again with an unmodded game).

[Vladimir]

I'm not holding my breath either, but, like you said, the price convinced me. The new additions are nice as well.

I never brought the Drow into my party because I used to play Mr. Two Shoe in my younger years. Also, 2nd edition rules wouldn't let me play the type of character I enjoy in 3rd. What I recall from playing the rather vanilla party is that party "reputation" is what would cause party members to leave. I always maxed reputation because it got me more things more cheaply than an "evil" reputation. In effect, I was more evil and manipulative playing the god guy.

Having a Paladin lead worked out well in the BG series. Keeping reputation to a point where the blackguard is uncomfortable, but compliant, should work. If he'll even join the party in the first place, he should stick around as long as he is allowed to complete his quest line.

I'll add party management as an element of fun. I also enjoy breaking game dynamics away from where the developers intended.

[Stazi]

I don't know if this deserves a new thread but IMHO it can be called a new BG too.

[Whacker]

Side/related note: GOG.com has all of the Infinity engine series + NWN on sale for ~ 30$. I couldn't resisit. http://www.gog.com/en/promo/hasbro_stacking_promo

I reinstalled BG1 last night after seeing this thread.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Having a Paladin lead worked out well in the BG series. Keeping reputation to a point where the blackguard is uncomfortable, but compliant, should work.

Not necessarily. In the original, there were some combinations you couldn't have for long no matter your reputation. Keldorn-Viconia, Korgan-Aerie, Minsc-Edwin, Anomen-Aerie (if Anomen fails his test). All of those will end up with the NPC's fighting each other to the death, at some point. I mentioned Keldorn-Viconia because that's as close to a paladin-blackguard as you can get from the original.

I never brought the Drow into my party because I used to play Mr. Two Shoe in my younger years.

You can have Viconia (THE best cleric in the game, IMHO) in your party even as a good aligned character....you just cannot have her and Keldorn at the same time.

Having a Paladin lead worked out well in the BG series. Keeping reputation to a point where the blackguard is uncomfortable, but compliant, should work. If he'll even join the party in the first place, he should stick around as long as he is allowed to complete his quest line.

That may well be, but I'm thinking it won't happen based on the original.

[TinCow]

You can have Viconia (THE best cleric in the game, IMHO) in your party even as a good aligned character....you just cannot have her and Keldorn at the same time.

Yep, you can even change Viconia's alignment to neutral if you make the right choices. 'Reforming' her is a perfectly valid choice for a good oriented party. I also find that the Viconia and good-aligned PC romance to be the most interesting one in the game.

[ReluctantSamurai]

you can even change Viconia's alignment to neutral

I thought it was a flip to a good alignment? Since I've never opted for that route, I would wonder if flipping her alignment changes what type of cleric pin she receives at lvl 25?

I also find that the Viconia and good-aligned PC romance to be the most interesting one in the game.

Ahhhh..... you haven't tried Tyris Flare then, I presume?

[TinCow]

Ahhhh.....then you haven't tried Tyris Flare then, I presume?

Honestly, I've never liked a single mod NPC. Even the most well developed fan-favorites seem to be very poorly written to me, often with a heavy dose of Mary Sue.

[ReluctantSamurai]

You didn't answer my question

Tyris was created by Grim Squeaker, one of the top modders at G3. he spent well over a year getting her ready for presentation, had a voice actor do the audio, and takes the time to remove any bugs that have cropped up.

I too, am not impressed with many of the user-made NPC's, but Tyris has quickly become one of my favs. Seriously, if you haven't tried her out, I think you're missing one of the better NPC's out there