Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Editions Announced

[Jaesun]

Thanks, on the website it suggests OSX only.

 

That's their target audience. The PC is the bastard Stepchild in the corner.

 

As usual.

 

Also some interviews should be coming out soon from them that will hopefully clarify more. *COUGH*

[Monte Carlo]

I don't know whether to be happy or scared. Gaider's patches to Baldur's Gate 2 were good. But will he be able to put his nostalgia glasses on? Or maybe Gaider's not himself involved and he's just drawing attention to it.

 

I have been one of Dave's biggest critics but his BG2 mods were great.

[Monte Carlo]

BG2:EE had better feature an Oasis-Tarrasque.

 

I one-shotted the Tarresque with quivering palm, I've got a screenie of it. Honest.

[Gorgon]

Whats a beamdog.

[Tigranes]

Yet another stupid and annoying spyware, uh, sorry, Game Downloader and Player Service.

[Gorgon]

I told you there was going to be dozens of those for the average gamer before long.

[Delfosse]

So why are you all so excited about this? Can't you play BG now? There's a trilogy mod allowing to do this, plus a ton of other mods. All this "Enhanced Edition" allows is to play on your tablets, and there is one bonus character and some 1 minute bonus content. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's all there's to it.

 

If you something think hipsters are going to "understand" or even play this game, you're deeply wrong. This is not even an attempt to revive the genre. It's just an attempt to rob some people of their money, that's all.

[Delfosse]

Alright, so somebody says I'm deeply wrong in a neighbor thread. I'd appreciate some explanation.

[Drowsy Emperor]

You got your reply in the other topic. You're also badly informed. Plenty of new content will be included, a complete graphical overhaul the details of which aren't all clear at the moment, modded stuff that can be switched on and off etc.

 

Its not a new game, but if it works it'll remove a lot of the hassle with mods the current one has and will introduce some new players to a classic game, hopefully.

 

I've contacted the people working on it and some of them were part of the original BG team. They've also done a good job with the MDK remake so they're not (entirely) about money.

 

How well this game sells will directly influence the possiblity of BG3 as well.

 

I personally would be satisfied with just the graphical tweaks, so that I can play the game on my widescreen monitor without bothering with resolution mods and tiny dialog text (which can also be modded apparently).

Edited April 7, 2012 by Drowsy Emperor

[Delfosse]

Alright, got it. I just don't take their word for it when they say they're gonna make BG3 if those "enhanced" versions sell well. They're just blackmailing people into buying their product, which is now bundled with their empty promises.

 

They hire, say, 15 people to "enhance" BG1&2, which costs them half a mil, because it takes them half a year to get the job done. Let's say they need to sell at least 20k copies just to get into positive ROI, which, let's say is theoretically doable, although I wouldn't get my hopes too high.

 

Now, if they want to MAKE a BG3, that's a different story. They're gonna hire more people, including actors, scenarists, programmers, designers, and make BG3 on Infinity. It's gonna take them, let's say a year. So now the game cost production jumps to 3-4 mil, but the market is still just 20k people. Unless they suddenly start selling BG for 3 times its normal price, it can't possibly be profitable.

 

Now all those numbers that I used, they're not real or anything, I'm just trying to show you the picture of why nobody ever makes cRPGs with dialogues nowadays. Because they ****ing can't. It's unprofitable.

[213374U]

Plenty of new content will be included, a complete graphical overhaul the details of which aren't all clear at the moment, modded stuff that can be switched on and off etc.

Yeah, that's puffery, so I expect that kind of talk to appear in the devs' Twitter and ****. But, since you are apparently paraphrasing, maybe you can explain in detail what "a complete graphical overhaul" exactly means, considering that "the details of which aren't all clear at the moment".

 

And while you're at it, maybe elaborate on what that "plenty of new content" actually is...

[Drowsy Emperor]

I don't really believe there will be a BG3, but I also don't care. The series may be my favorite of all time but its done and finished in a way that needs no sequels even with ToB's problematic status between expansion and full game. By ToB the engine and story were taken as far as they could go, which was pretty much perfect in my book.

 

What is really needed is a new, unrelated RPG that takes the genre beyond BGII.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Plenty of new content will be included, a complete graphical overhaul the details of which aren't all clear at the moment, modded stuff that can be switched on and off etc.

Yeah, that's puffery, so I expect that kind of talk to appear in the devs' Twitter and ****. But, since you are apparently paraphrasing, maybe you can explain in detail what "a complete graphical overhaul" exactly means, considering that "the details of which aren't all clear at the moment".

 

And while you're at it, maybe elaborate on what that "plenty of new content" actually is...

 

Or maybe you could just get off your lazy ass and read twitter for the few scraps of information that are available there?

[Delfosse]

By ToB the engine and story were taken as far as they could go, which was pretty much perfect in my book.

 

When a character achieves godlike status, it's absolutely not a dead-end. There are two ways: either provide him with godlike challenges, or strip him of his powers. Besides, if your character chose to be a mortal, the adventures continue.

 

I always saw TB's ending as a hint to a sequel.

Edited April 7, 2012 by Delfosse

[Drowsy Emperor]

What's the point? The characters have moved on and the bhaalspawn story arc is finished. You could tack on anything you want, but then it would really be milking the cow for all its worth.

[Delfosse]

I've been milking this cow for years, what's wrong with the fact that it might actually give me some milk now in 2012? I'm happy for you that you manage to find games that you like. I for one haven't found anything remotely interesting since Vampire the Bloodlines.

[Drowsy Emperor]

I haven't played a good RPG since the first Witcher so I know where you're coming from. The reality is that the single player RPG costs too much money, entails too much work and pays too little unless you're Bethesda or Bioware. If the kickstarter thing doesn't get it off the ground, nothing will.

[Volourn]

" It's just an attempt to rob some people of their money, that's all. "

 

The defintion of rob you use is different than the atcual definition of rob.

 

 

P.S. BG3 cna be amde. there are tons of ways, TONS OF WAYS, to continue the BG saga story. Only those who lack creativity, and imagination cna't think of a way.

[213374U]

Or maybe you could just get off your lazy ass and read twitter for the few scraps of information that are available there?

Nice dodge bud, but no. I'm not doing the legwork for you (much less on Twitter. Ugh!). I was simply curious whether you really knew any actual details about the new build beyond "ZOMG mousewheel zoom!" or just buying into the hype.

 

Shame it's the latter.

Edited April 7, 2012 by 213374U

[Drowsy Emperor]

Or maybe you could just get off your lazy ass and read twitter for the few scraps of information that are available there?

Nice dodge bud, but no. I'm not doing the legwork for you (much less on Twitter. Ugh!). I was simply curious whether you really knew any actual details about the new build beyond "ZOMG mousewheel zoom!" or just buying into the hype.

 

Shame it's the latter.

 

Actually I do know some stuff, but your tone is routinely equal parts irritating and condescending so I have no real reason to share it with you. Please don't lose any sleep over it.

[MrBrown]

I know stuff that knows your stuff.

[Zoraptor]

Or maybe you could just get off your lazy ass and read twitter for the few scraps of information that are available there?

Nice dodge bud, but no. I'm not doing the legwork for you (much less on Twitter. Ugh!). I was simply curious whether you really knew any actual details about the new build beyond "ZOMG mousewheel zoom!" or just buying into the hype.

Smart Filters and some manual touch ups since Bioware has apparently lost the original art and builds for the levels. Some (maybe one) added joinable NPC. Some new quests.

 

I'm not excited by it, to say the least. Pretty cynical hype machine teasing possibility of BG3 to sell an iPad version, and a PC version with very marginal improvements over what mods have already done.

[meomao]

I don't really believe there will be a BG3, but I also don't care. The series may be my favorite of all time but its done and finished in a way that needs no sequels even with ToB's problematic status between expansion and full game. By ToB the engine and story were taken as far as they could go, which was pretty much perfect in my book.

 

What is really needed is a new, unrelated RPG that takes the genre beyond BGII.

 

In my opinion, BG3 should not be necessarily a direct continuation of the Bhaalspawn story. It could be the story of his son. It could be an unrelated story that just take in to account the aftermath of ToB. It coult be settled in the new "post-apocalypse" Forgotten Realms. The possibility for a continuation are endless and it's not something like "Bhaalspawn or nothing". The game is called Baldur's Gate and not The Bhallspawn Saga.

 

Having said all of that, call me a cynic but I don't believe that Beamdog has the strenght to develop a BG3 that makes justice to his predecessors. It won't probably happen. Still, I will support the EE relase. At least because a success would proove that such games have still an audience and that they could be profitable.

Edited April 8, 2012 by meomao

[Magnum Opus]

Am only marginally curious about this release myself, but anything that diversifies the gaming landscape from the current "cinematic shooter with RPG elements and OTS perspective" is worth supporting, I think.

 

Can't imagine they'll be charging modern-day-release prices for it anyway. The only thing that might prevent me from supporting it -- since I'm halfway onto philosophical grounds already -- would be the Beamdog client. Just how many of these clients do they think I want cluttering up my machine, spraying data about my gaming habits to who-knows-where? Steam, Origin, Beamdog... ok, I honestly can't see a point in keeping Origin on my rig anymore, since Bioware has used up all of my former goodwill and even most of their usefulness to me, but even so, where does it end?

 

As for what I'm actually hoping for from the revamped BG... armies. Granted, this applies more to ToB than BG1, but I never much liked how the armies in Amkethran spawned onto the field in manageable numbers. IIRC Bio mentioned at the time that it had to do with hardware limitations and processing power, but I can't imagine THAT being an issue anymore. Being assaulted by a hundred or so gibberlings might be fun, though.

 

Oh, and a tarrasque.

 

Or at least a dragon. BG1 felt naked with a dragon in it somewhere. Not even necessarily one to fight. BG1 needs a dragon.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Magnum Opus

[Rostere]

You skeptical people, did you even like BG in the first place? Significant parts of the original team getting together and adding content and features sounds great to me. Of course I'll pay for it, it's one of the best games ever created. You've got to realize these people (among which several were from the original team) are really putting their love in this. Were you fans of MDK back in the day and have you played the new version of MDK 2? Although the "added features" part of the MDK 2 remake was nothing to speak of, it was damn good work. I can't understand how you can be so tight-assed. I bet many of you pay lots of money for new mainstream games today, games you don't really care much about. Why not show your support for the Baldur's Gate franchise? I sure know I'm going to.