Books and scrolls

[Hormalakh]

One of the interesting (and most overlooked) aspects of BG2 and many of the other really good RPGs were the items that were books and scrolls that gave depth to the environments and places that players were in. It was really nice to be able to have a library filled with books that you could read. Unfortunately, I spent all of 5 mins ruffling through the shelves looking for potions and the differently colored scrolls or books that I knew were quest items.

 

To me, I felt really bad for the devs who spent time coding in those books and writing in those beautifully written texts. I wonder how many people actually sat and read through them. One thing that I always thought was, "Why don't we make these books reward the players who read them?" The best example I can remember was Baldur Gate 2's Sun God Amaunator books. You get plenty of hints about the role of the statue but you're never sure what to do. A lot of these hints come from books. I would really enjoy having maybe 1 or 2 "hidden" quests that really reward those players who can only find that information written in the otherwise overlooked tomes in P:E. Maybe have some of them give interesting tactics that players might not think about using against enemies.

 

Then make the books random! You won't always find that tome in the same place in the world. You actually have to read the book! It makes replays totally worthwhile, especially for those of us who always love finding hidden gems in games we've owned for very long times. And I think this is a game that will be played for a very long time.

[True_Spike]

I read all of them on my very first playthrough. MIght be one of the reasons for me instantly falling in love with the game world. I guess having a quest *hidden* somewhere in the books is a nice enough idea to pursue. I don't like the randomization part, though.

[Osvir]

Would a Codex work instead of the books? I really enjoyed picking up books and I hunted them out too but it filled up my inventory so fast.

 

Could it be done more effectively? For the atmosphere it'd be great to have books you have to pick up, but just like a keychain (which doesn't go into your inventory, but into your Journal or another place) perhaps it could either be thrown into a Codex or fill up space in some sub-dimensional library? xD

[AGX-17]

Sometimes TES games give you skill increases for opening a book (that doesn't necessarily make you read it.) I don't think you should be forced into it, since they're there for lore and flavor (which I'm all for,) but some people might get burnt out on reading text, reading combat notifications and reading novellas and poems constantly. Reading is great, but there are times and places for everything. Obviously the contents will be worth reading. This is Obsidian we're talking about. Besides, what if you're playing an illiterate bumpkin character?

 

Actually.... They should have fancifully illustrated books, walls of churches covered in illustrative statuary and similar methods the powers of the middle ages used to communicate primarily biblical messages to the illiterate. An image, icon or symbol can be more powerful than the written word. People were making art tens of thousands of years before they came up with written languages (a necessity born of economics rather than intellectual or philosophical purposes.)

Edited October 12, 2012 by AGX-17

[Hormalakh]

I don't think you sohuld need to pick up books and put them into a Codex to really gain anything. It should be more like what you read can help you in the game. I mean having maybe 1 optional quest that is related somehow to knowing something that you've read in a book somewhere can be interesting. If your character can't read books, then obviously you wouldn't really be able to play that quest. Thne when you replay the game as a different character, then you could get that quest. Games should be made so that they're never the same the second play around and that there is plenty for you to see again without it getting tired.

[elminster]

I think books in Baldurs Gate were great for giving the game a special background and atmosphere. What would Candlekeep be without its books?

 

But I disagree on the informational part of books. I like the way of reading a book in the game when I find its title interesting (so I would never read all books).

 

What I could imagine as a sidequest would be finding a book with a special name and read through it to gain some information for the quest.