Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition: Preview @ MMORPG

MMORPG.com checked out the upcoming Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition in a session at PAX together with Programmer/Scripter Coriander Dickinson.

Coriander spoke very proudly of what the team has accomplished since announcing BG: EE including the cleanup of the game code to suit today’s standards. Included in that cleanup is native wide screen resolution support. She showed me the game on an iPad and it looked terrific. Players who remember the original game will immediately feel at home with the UI and the look of the game. Interestingly, for those who play on tablets, the pinch to zoom in/out will be included so, for the first time ever, you’ll be able to see your party up close. Unfortunately, due to the loss of the original assets, character and companion models aren’t as spiffy as the team would have liked but, still, it’s awesome to see them up close and personal. They really don’t look that bad either.

More information.

I still cant figure out how you can lose original assets.
Its beyond me.

C

Originally Posted by Crilloan
I still cant figure out how you can lose original assets.
Its beyond me.

The 3D assets used to generate the 2D ones probably were not saved on the source management system along with the source code (and the 2D assets). They probably were on the artists computers and were erased when they upgraded/left the company.

Where I work we delete branches (the code and all assets) of projects that are considered EOL. We do a big clean up every year.

Im probably damaged by my years in QC and biotech industry, were you want to be able to trace changes and keep records of earlier builds.

Sad though

C

NASA lost tapes of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The broadcast networks lost their tapes of the first Superbowl. It happens to the best of us.

Cleanup = add new code and content?

Originally Posted by azarhal
The 3D assets used to generate the 2D ones probably were not saved on the source management system along with the source code (and the 2D assets). They probably were on the artists computers and were erased when they upgraded/left the company.

Where I work we delete branches (the code and all assets) of projects that are considered EOL. We do a big clean up every year.

It still sounds like a lot of bull…. They throw that line out there every chance they get. Detailed & new avatars should be part EE no matter how much new code it takes. The avatars are easily the ugliest part of BG, just screaming for enhancement. I hope at the very least they managed to match up the equipment you wear with the avatar.

There was a modder named Epherine a while back that was making some progress in updating the paper doll graphics and making them match to the avatars. I'm sure a team of professionals could have done better…

Originally Posted by spiraling69
It still sounds like a lot of bull…. They throw that line out there every chance they get. Detailed & new avatars should be part EE no matter how much new code it takes. The avatars are easily the ugliest part of BG, just screaming for enhancement. I hope at the very least they managed to match up the equipment you wear with the avatar.

Are you referring to the character portraits? Whether they're ugly or not is personal opinion, but I really don't see a good reason to change them. I do think the portraits from BG2 were a lot better though.

I think spiraling69 is actually referring to the representative figures of your characters (avatars) in the gameworld, but you're right, it's personal opinion regarding the portraits. I prefer those from the first game actually, they're just that little more naturalistic and less obviously trying to look like celebrities. (as quite a few were in BG2)

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
I think spiraling69 is actually referring to the representative figures of your characters (avatars) in the gameworld

I wasn't sure because of his comment about equipment not matching up. Equipment is properly represented on the characters.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I wasn't sure because of his comment about equipment not matching up. Equipment is properly represented on the characters.

Avatars are the little figures you move around on the screen. They are not properly represented. Shield sizes & shapes are off, some weapons, colors, not all helmets match, ect. That is a fact. Erephine's (her correct name) 1pp mod is the only mod I know of that made any progress to address correct avatar equipment.

I had to google to find her correct name and found out that her mod is going into BGEE…

Originally Posted by spiraling69
Avatars are the little figures you move around on the screen. They are not properly represented. Shield sizes & shapes are off, some weapons, colors, not all helmets match, ect. That is a fact. Erephine's (her correct name) 1pp mod is the only mod I know of that made any progress to address correct avatar equipment.

Match what? The icons in the inventory screen? For the most part, they do match. I remember a few things not showing properly, but it's certainly not something that needs to be considered a priority.

Originally Posted by rjshae
NASA lost tapes of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The broadcast networks lost their tapes of the first Superbowl. It happens to the best of us.

The BBC lost entire seasons of Dr. Who.

I lost my betamax recording of Mister Rodger's Neighborhood final episode.