Baldur's Gate - EE Interview @ Kotaku

[Dhruin]

Kotaku has interviewed Cameron Tofer from Beamdog/Overhaul Games about their Baldur's Gate update. It seems the PC version "won't be changed much" but the iPad version is getting a major UI overhaul. The article also draws a long bow in speculating about new IE titles down the track - we know Beamdog wants to make BG3 but Planescape: Torment 2 is another thing altogether:

The desktop versions of both games won't be changed much, Tofer says. They'll have higher resolutions and full-screen modes, as well as "working" multi-player, but they won't look too different from their original incarnations in 1998 and 2000.
On the other hand, Tofer says the iPad version will be a "radical departure from the interface." The text will be bigger. You'll be able to pinch the screen to zoom in and out. You'll be able to gesture between screens instead of clicking the tab. The whole game might be zoomed in a little more.
"We want to bring it forward, make it nice and swishy and smooth and things like that," he said.
Tofer says that earning the rights to this project has been a long and difficult process. It took the team 14 months to convince Atari, Wizards of the Coast, and BioWare to all get aboard Beamdog's Baldur's Gate campaign. Beamdog doesn't have the rights to any new Baldur's Gate games, but they do have a large chunk of the team that worked on the classic RPG series.

More information.

 

[sakichop]

So this is a enhanced edition for the ipad and a simple re-release on the pc pretty much.

My enthusiasm for this just took a huge nose dive.

Also, I must eat crow and apologize to everyone I argued with about this not being a quick cash in.

Unfortunately seems like I was wrong.

 

[Couchpotato]

So its basically a hd ipad remake then. No need to purchase it again as I have the gog versions of all the games on the pc.

 

[coaster]

Agreed, I'd hoped that they would be prettifying the graphics but if all they are doing is incorporating the widescreen mod (presumably with the modest benefit of a UI which isn't scaled down) I'm much less interested.

Adding a new NPC may help, but if that is the sum total of new content (BG1 NPCs aren't particularly talkative anyway) then I don't know if I will bother buying it.

Also, screw ipads. I hate touchscreen interfaces, all smudged screen and imprecise fumbling.

EDIT: The interview says the EE "will ship with new interfaces, unreleased content, and completely new characters, quests, and kits (classes)." If there is no substantive graphics update, everything hinges on the amount and quality of the new content. They will have to be very careful as they are messing with some of my cherished rose-tinted memories here

 

[Dhruin]

Not sure what to think. Trent's tweets seemed to suggest more (he specifically noted they had the rendering code to be able to change it, which the modders didn't have)...but maybe he was talking about the iPad release?

I never expected too much - they were never going to redo the whole thing but I expect more than TuTu and the widescreen mod.

 

[Dhruin]

Hmmm...Trent tweeted a reply when asked about the PC version

Look for the UI to get a serious overhaul. The other improvements will be rolled out in time.

https://twitter.com/#!/TrentOster/status/184829356231761920

Sounds like something...

 

[darkling]

The thing about pinching in and out to zoom with the iPad is surprisingly neat. It also tells us that they are certain to be upping the resolution of the rendered backgrounds so those modern high resolution iPads will have a usable interface. Bring that to PC and I'm okay with re-buying the game. That's all I want. Mods can't do that. I'm guessing we'll probably see the ability to zoom in and out some other way on PC as well. That would be handy.

 

[vurt]

This game is really perfect for ipad i think.. Played a bit already using Gemrb and it works great except the interface, which is too small. Also, "Ipad is unprecise"? i bet i can draw something with more precision on my ipad than you can do with your PC / mouse, coaster.

 

[Ovenall]

Excellent news. My iPad is ready and waiting. Sword Coast, here I come.

 

[Riddam]

It all turned out to be a joke. I should know better.

 

[Thaurin]

They also mentioned iPhone as a possibility if it turns out to be playable. That would be neat.

 

[Von Paulus]

Great. I hope they adapt to Kinect also.

 

[rich ruffo]

Very misleading. Im confused . Is Baulder Gate Enhanced coming to PC with better graphics,updated and DLC or was this BS ?

 

[blatantninja]

He clarified that it will have an better UI and new content. Not sure about the high rez graphics, but it will at least support higher resolutions natively.

 

[rich ruffo]

Thank you blatanninja, very curious about this new content .

 

[Thaurin]

Also, they said they didn't wanna just release and let go. They want to keep supporting it post-release.

"This isn't just something where we're going to ship the game and move on. We've got big plans," Tofer told [TouchArcade].

 

[dpc76]

So its basically a hd ipad remake then. No need to purchase it again as I have the gog versions of all the games on the pc.

This is exactly what I was thinking too. I like to try and support smaller studios, especially when doing RPGs. But the more I hear of this extended edition, it seems like the PC is merely getting some minor tweaks (most of which are already available through mods) and small bit of extra content. Don't know if I can justify spending the money to buy the games again if the updates aren't very significant. It seems like more of their energy is with the iPad version.

 

[vurt]

https://twitter.com/#!/TrentOster/status/183904243772698625

Please fix the awful combat in PS:T

 

[JDR13]

So its basically a hd ipad remake then. No need to purchase it again as I have the gog versions of all the games on the pc.

I think you're underestimating how much better it might look at properly scaled higher resolutions. I'll buy it for that reason alone.

I'm interested in see what this "new content" is though, and I'm also curious how they're going to price these remakes.

 

[Couchpotato]

I think you're underestimating how much better it might look at properly scaled higher resolutions. I'll buy it for that reason alone.

I'm interested in see what this "new content" is though, and I'm also curious how they're going to price these remakes.

Well I already knew that but from all his talk the ipad version is the focus. As for price he says the ipad version will cost $10. The pc version will no doubt cost more which is bullshit as you can buy it for $5-10 on a gog sale.