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

[Monte Carlo]

They announced cross-platform MP support...

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/31/swords-with-friends-baldurs-gates-cross-plat-co-op/

[Nepenthe]

They announced cross-platform MP support...

 

http://www.rockpaper...oss-plat-co-op/

Looks like a slow news day, that's been confirmed for a while, now.

[Junai]

An acquaintance of mine who's still heavily involved with the hobby posits that a part of the essence of Bhaal is still bound to the waters rushing under the Boarskeyr bridge in Cormyr, do you think this could be used as a springboard from which to resurrect the franchise while still maintaining a certain level of creative continuity? Seems a little hackneyed to me.

 

Well, "BG3" doesn't have to be anything more than a working title. The IWD games didn't share a direct story continuity, the title merely reflected that these tales took place in the same part of the world. A lot of stuff can happen in the city of Baldur's Gate. Something in Cormyr/Suzail would be fun, something not related to BG/Bhaal.

[Volourn]

There's LOTS of story ideas for a BG3. All it takes is a little imagination which one should have if they ar einto fantasy.

 

How can anything get more 'hackneyed' than the idea a god who knows he is dying decides to go around have sex and making babies of every race, species, animal type imagineable and manages to do it within a quick tiemf rame and the other gods aren't even aren't even aware of it? L0L That's the entire set up of the BG series... yet it friggin' worked.

 

LOTS of ideas 'hackneyed' or 'otherwise' that could work. LOTS.

[MrBrown]

Is it their intention to make BG3, if it happens, on the same engine or new?

 

In other words, would they aim it at the retro-crowd, or make an AAAAAAAAAAA-title?

[Nepenthe]

Is it their intention to make BG3, if it happens, on the same engine or new?

As far as I know, their license only covers BG1 and 2. So IF they can make a third one, it would be up to the license negotiations to cover the engine as well. I suspect that they'd want to use their updated version of Infinity engine as much as possible.

[Delfosse]

There's LOTS of story ideas for a BG3. All it takes is a little imagination which one should have if they ar einto fantasy.

 

How can anything get more 'hackneyed' than the idea a god who knows he is dying decides to go around have sex and making babies of every race, species, animal type imagineable and manages to do it within a quick tiemf rame and the other gods aren't even aren't even aware of it? L0L That's the entire set up of the BG series... yet it friggin' worked.

 

LOTS of ideas 'hackneyed' or 'otherwise' that could work. LOTS.

 

He "decides to go around and make babies of every race"? Jebus! Some people always have to look for a meaning no matter what huh. I think he just liked ass.

Edited August 8, 2012 by Delfosse

[Nonek]

I assume the word "hackneyed" rubs your rhubarb somewhat Volourn, I do apologise. I have similar reservations about "actually", always seems a little condescending, probably just me projecting though.

 

Got to admit a touch of bias here, I was never the biggest fan of Mr Greenwoods backyard, and though i'll admit that Shadows of Amn was a rollicking good adventure i'm still not particularly enchanted with the setting. I prefer more grimdark or out there properties, such as Warhammer frp or Athas, Abeir Toril always seemed a little middle of the road.

 

Mind you i'll still be picking it up, if only for the warm feelings of nostalgia and Korgan Bloodaxe's homicidal mumblings.

[Tale]

Is it their intention to make BG3, if it happens, on the same engine or new?

As far as I know, their license only covers BG1 and 2. So IF they can make a third one, it would be up to the license negotiations to cover the engine as well. I suspect that they'd want to use their updated version of Infinity engine as much as possible.

Related, I have no hope that they'd be able to swing for AD&D. They'd probably have to use 4e or 5e.

[Delfosse]

Yeah right. Here's a little glimpse into a possible future if they ever decided to make BG3.

 

"Hey guys, it's Trent. So we have finally decided on the rule system for BG3 and I know you all asked us to use D&D, which is of course an obvious choice, but.... (and don't bash us yet, read till the end!) after a lot of heated discussion, we decided to move to another system, because it's a) easier to understand for iphone players b) more balanced c) will allow us to create more content, because frankly D&D is very limiting! And believe me, it'll only make the game better. If I thought it would spoil the BG experience, I wouldn't even think about it, trust me, I'm a hardcore BG2 fan myself. So... without further ado, it's the...... DA2 system!"

 

Now here's the glimpse into the actual future concerning BG3:

 

Kickstarter in 20 years by aging Brian.

Edited August 9, 2012 by Delfosse

[Tale]

They wouldn't have any choice in the matter. It'd be up to Hasbro. And Hasbro isn't going to want them to use an EA system.

[Nepenthe]

Is it their intention to make BG3, if it happens, on the same engine or new?

As far as I know, their license only covers BG1 and 2. So IF they can make a third one, it would be up to the license negotiations to cover the engine as well. I suspect that they'd want to use their updated version of Infinity engine as much as possible.

Related, I have no hope that they'd be able to swing for AD&D. They'd probably have to use 4e or 5e.

Hopefully 5e won't suck.

 

Also re: the painful vanillaness of Forgotten Realms. Yea. OTOH, with the current selection of settings, it would probably still be the best one available. Always thought that Dragonlance did "standard fantasy" a lot better, even if the literal approach to wearing your alignment on your sleeve rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

[MrBrown]

Is it their intention to make BG3, if it happens, on the same engine or new?

As far as I know, their license only covers BG1 and 2. So IF they can make a third one, it would be up to the license negotiations to cover the engine as well. I suspect that they'd want to use their updated version of Infinity engine as much as possible.

Related, I have no hope that they'd be able to swing for AD&D. They'd probably have to use 4e or 5e.

 

Normally I'd agree, but: a) If they do it in the old engine, b) How many 4e and 5e computer games have you seen?

[Nepenthe]

b) How many 4e and 5e computer games have you seen?

Considering 5e hasn't been released yet, it's not exactly surprising.

 

As for 4e, I understand that they've been fighting over the IP for years (basically from NWN2 to last year), and the license was only recently restored to Hasbro. There's enough extraneous variable that past performance here isn't a viable indicator of the future.

[Junai]

Is it their intention to make BG3, if it happens, on the same engine or new?

 

In other words, would they aim it at the retro-crowd, or make an AAAAAAAAAAA-title?

A few BG3 Twitter statements from TO;

 

 

We are speculating again. If we were to do a #BG3 it would likely use the latest rules system. (hurry up 5E)

 

I'm probably more excited about the potential for a #BG3 But I think an overhaul on Torment could be a great thing

 

Yes, if we can swing it, we want to do #BG3 after the other potential enhanced editions. If not, might be a good time to start new

 

If we were to do a #BG3 we would probably develop a new engine and tool path. Clipping map areas is not an ideal level art workflow.

 

Mapping out the opportunity space is an over complicated way of saying we're looking at our options. IWD:EE PST:EE, BG3, Kickstart new IP

 

While I think #Diablo3 looks good I'd really like to avoid an 8year Dev cycle for a #BG3 if it were to happen.

 

If a #BG3 were to happen we would roll new technology. Infinity can do many things, but there are fundamental software design limitations.

 

 

J.

[Nepenthe]

Good work digging out the "new engine" bits, I'd (obviously) forgotten those tweets, though I remember seeing them now.

[Zoraptor]

As for 4e, I understand that they've been fighting over the IP for years (basically from NWN2 to last year), and the license was only recently restored to Hasbro. There's enough extraneous variable that past performance here isn't a viable indicator of the future.

The legal shenanigans were not sufficient to stop games being made though, Neverwinter was in development pretty much throughout and Daggerdale was fairly recent and well post NWN2, though I would tend to suspect that the inability to produce games and specifically 4e games was why Hasbro were so keen to remove Atari. Of course, there still aren't any new D&D games in development that we know of but I'd presume that Hasbro are trying to shop the licence around. I guess if they have trouble getting any takers a 2/3e IE based BG3 could be a possibility to drum up interest and show it's (D&D) still a viable brand even if it's likely more retrograde than they'd want.

 

Personally I'd get someone to make a 5e NWN3 with a SoZ style map as it would be ideal for a drop in dlc/ premium access based business model.

[Delfosse]

If anyone makes NWN3 it'll be an action shooter made on Crysis 3 engine... WITH MAGIC! People will dig it. Especially Morgoth.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Delfosse

[greylord]

You know what, how about a spiritual sequel to IWD 2. I say spiritual because I'd want it done differently then what I've heard about the possibilities with BG3 above.

 

Turn it over to Obsidian...let them try to recreate the IWD I and II flavor...but use the Pathfinder rules. Get in the game with the Pathfinder game...not only would we get IWD 3...but also a Pathfinder game to boot.

 

Done by Obsidian that sounds like all sorts of WIN to me.

[Delfosse]

Ok, explain what is there in IWD and what's its flavor exactly? It's like BG2, except without banter or story (yeah, there's a quest instead of the story). A naked engine with mobs.

[greylord]

If you haven't played IWD, but enjoyed BG...you should play IWD!

 

If you played BG but created your own party (MP but as SP) then you have sort of the idea right there. There's a story still, though not as epic as the BG series. It's more of a traditional type, with dungeon crawls spread throughout. I think the story is MUCH stronger and better in the BG series, but the dungeons, puzzles, and overall style is better in the IWD games.

 

PS: Even though modified, I think IWD II captured the FEEL of D&D 3e best of ALL the games created for it (NWN, ToEE, NWN 2) to tell the truth, at least for an SP game. For MP....if you played with a DM and party...of course the NWN series wins...but for an SP game...I thought IWD 2 actually came the closest to the RPG type feel...at least for me.

Edited August 10, 2012 by greylord

[Volourn]

"but the dungeons, puzzles, and overall style is better in the IWD games."

 

No.

 

 

"Even though modified, I think IWD II captured the FEEL of D&D 3e best of ALL the games created for it (NWN, ToEE, NWN 2) to tell the truth,"

 

Hell to the no. I'm no fan of TOEE, but it crushes IWD for that. As do both NWNs. I do give credit to IWD2 though... it does better than POR2 with 3E... l0lz

[Cantousent]

I thought ToEE was kind of lackluster, but I liked it nevertheless. I enjoyed IWD 2 quite a bit. Even moreso, I loved IWD . I think IWD 2 suffered a little from being switched to something close to the actual 3.0 rules in the middle. At least that's how I remember it. I agree that the IWD series did the puzzles better than the BG series with the exception of the TotSC. If I remember it right, that's where they placed the tower flush with traps and doppelgangers. That place was actually spooky. I didn't think the 'story' was better in BG, what with the godspawn savior of the universe starts out as a lowly peon but becomes.... blah blah blah, but the NPC interactions were fun and you certainly missed that in the IWD series. I'm one of those crazy folks who actually liked what they did with Imoen in BG2. ...And BG2 definitely gave you a chance to make some NPC decisions a la PS:T. I've avoided DA2, but I have it on good authority that DA2 is better than the reviews would suggest, so maybe I should take a gander and see how Bioware pulled that off before getting too into a prospective remake of an old game.

[Monte Carlo]

With regards to 5E... given that it looks like 5E is a bizarre attempt to play 'Windows Compatibility Mode' with all of the existing iterations of the rule set, it strikes me as especially difficult to implement for a computer game.

 

And to follow the software analogy, 4E is widely accepted to be Vista. Folks flocked to Pathfinder.

[Nepenthe]

As for 4e, I understand that they've been fighting over the IP for years (basically from NWN2 to last year), and the license was only recently restored to Hasbro. There's enough extraneous variable that past performance here isn't a viable indicator of the future.

The legal shenanigans were not sufficient to stop games being made though, Neverwinter was in development pretty much throughout and Daggerdale was fairly recent and well post NWN2, though I would tend to suspect that the inability to produce games and specifically 4e games was why Hasbro were so keen to remove Atari. Of course, there still aren't any new D&D games in development that we know of but I'd presume that Hasbro are trying to shop the licence around. I guess if they have trouble getting any takers a 2/3e IE based BG3 could be a possibility to drum up interest and show it's (D&D) still a viable brand even if it's likely more retrograde than they'd want.

 

Personally I'd get someone to make a 5e NWN3 with a SoZ style map as it would be ideal for a drop in dlc/ premium access based business model.

Good points, let's not forget that Atari's financial troubles were a big part why games weren't made (and the ones that were, were kind of... cheap). OTOH, I think that the license situation was cleared up at a time where they already were working on 5e. They'll want to tie the two together, so I think it's highly likely they'll start doing something when the rules are finalised, or close to it. I guess they could have somebody already working on pre-development. But since there are only two studios who really can make an RPG in that style, and neither of them appears to be working on one, expectations aren't high.