Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition Tidbits

blatantninja said:

Well nobody seems to like 4th Edition. Did IWD2 use 3 or 3.5? Either way, I never cared for those two. Too many choices, too many skills, etc. Got in the way of the story IMO.

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IWD 2 used a slightly modified version of 3.0 iirc.

Anyways, I don't have a problem with them sticking to 2nd Edition for the BG games. I imagine it would probably be too much of an overhaul to change that. I'm satisfied with them importing the extra character classes from BG2 to BG.

I REALLY hope this is successful enough for them to do the same thing with IWD 1&2 and Planescape.

ChaosTheory said:

They had me until "2nd edition D&D rules"…

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Well, I guess if they were to change that, they would have to make a whole lot of changes to the game in general, including rebalancing and stuff that would take the game further away from the original.

JDR13 said:

Amen to that. I don't get why so many people think BG3 would actually be a good idea.

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The story was never the main draw for me with the BG series. It was the d&d setting, monsters, character creation and progression and exploration.

So if they stick to the original formula and don't go the fallout 3 route I would welcome a BG 3,4,5,6 and so on.

The interface will see some revising, specifically to increase the size of the font (and hopefully the characters) at high resolutions.

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Very good! Widescreen mods that are unreadable and make pixel hunting impossible fail for me.

Thrasher said:

Very good! Widescreen mods that are unreadable and make pixel hunting impossible fail for me.

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If IE didn't have that thing where if you pause or hit the tab key (IIRC) and it illuminates everything you can click on, the games would be unplayable at high resolutions.

sakichop said:

The story was never the main draw for me with the BG series. It was the d&d setting, monsters, character creation and progression and exploration.

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In that case, why use the name at all?

I'm all for more D&D games using this engine, but I want something entirely new after they (hopefully) finish enhanced versions of all the existing IE games.

I wouldn't mind them going back to the Dalelands, Sembia or Cormyr. I'd prefer something new like an Aglarond / Thayan story.

JDR13 said:

In that case, why use the name at all?

I'm all for more D&D games using this engine, but I want something entirely new after they (hopefully) finish enhanced versions of all the existing IE games.

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I can agree with that. I would love something new using the same engine. It really wouldn't matter to me Bg, IWD or something totally new.

Don't you think though they would need the name recognition of BG series to sell a game based on this engine? I know I and most here would purchase a new IE game day 1 but they would need to appeal to a larger audience to be successful.

I think this remake may be to judge how much interest the BG name still holds. In which case it would seem much more feasible that the next step would be BG3 rather than something totally new. Obviously i'm pulling all of this out of my ass and could be totally wrong but it makes sense at least to me.

All I do know is if they make another d&d game in the vein of BG it needs to be hugely successful or we may never see another 1.

sakichop said:

Don't you think though they would need the name recognition of BG series to sell a game based on this engine? I know I and most here would purchase a new IE game day 1 but they would need to appeal to a larger audience to be successful.

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I think "D&D" is all the name recognition they need.

From a business standpoint, I can understand why they might consider Baldur's Gate 3 if the remakes do well, but I personally hope they don't go that route.

Skimmed the comments, didn't see much about graphics. I admit it, I'm one of "them". All other things equal (key line), I need to see graphics improve over time, especially in the same product line. Are these "improved"? Thanks.

sakichop said:

I think this remake may be to judge how much interest the BG name still holds. In which case it would seem much more feasible that the next step would be BG3 rather than something totally new. Obviously i'm pulling all of this out of my ass and could be totally wrong but it makes sense at least to me.

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According to this interview, you may be right - it looks like their hope is to make BG3 at some point

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/1220929p1.html

I agree with the sentiment that BG doesn't need a new entry, but would like to see a new IE game, preferably in a unique setting within the D&D universe. This is one of the concerns i have with the excitement regarding various kickstarter ideas or possible IE work: everyone is clamoring for sequels rather than new settings/games inspired by the classics. A lot of classics should be left alone, in my opinion, barring "Enhanced Edition" projects such as this one that stay true to the original experience.

To be honest, I don't know why so many people want nothing but sequels; those games have already been done and will always be there to play. But new games set within creative new settings that follow a similar formula of the classics? That is what I would like to see. Wasteland 2 is one of the few examples where a sequel makes sense to me; there was only one game in the series and it's old enough to need a bit of "modernization"/reworking in order to be enjoyably today. On the other hand, games such as BG hold up well today, and while the originals could definitely benefit from some subtle presentation improvements (such as the playability when using high resolutions, more detailed characters, etc) the saga is "complete" in my opinion, and new entries in the series seem unnecessary. I feel that new IE games (if that were ever to come about) would benefit from having a new story, new characters, a different setting, etc.

They want to make a sequel because it's a lot more likely to sell. Honestly, it may be between making a sequel and not making a hardcore rpg at all.

Nerevarine said:

To be honest, I don't know why so many people want nothing but sequels; those games have already been done and will always be there to play.

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Ultima had 9 entries and most were pretty good games. M&M and Wizardy had multiple as well. Just because something is a sequel doesn't mean it is going to be the same old same old. They could do an original story line on the Sword Coast that still has you visiting some of the old locations (though obviously with new areas in them) as well as new locations and call it Baldur's Gate 3.

JDR13 said:

Amen to that. I don't get why so many people think BG3 would actually be a good idea.

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Like you, I feel the BG II wrapped everything up nicely. Period. Maybe I'm a little off mark here, but I suspect when people say they want "BG 3", what they really want is a new game in the image of Baldur's Gate(isometric view, control of multiple characters, ect.), and not necessarily a part 3 continuation of the Bhaalspawn story line.

One of the reasons why I fell in love with BG is because the game, to me, duplicates a tabletop D&D session. The isometric view reminds me of moving miniatures around the kitchen table, and the PC game bundles the whole experience in one nice convenient package. That's why a first person fully 3d game never appealed to me, and also why a game that's over 10 years old still fascinates me. In my opinion, it's a genius of a game.

I'm really excited about all the new attention for BG and the Infinity Engine in general. The modders from the various BG dedicated websites will now have new and slightly updated material to work with, so I see nothing but good things coming out of this project.

spiraling69 said:

Like you, I feel the BG II wrapped everything up nicely. Period. Maybe I'm a little off mark here, but I suspect when people say they want "BG 3", what they really want is a new game in the image of Baldur's Gate(isometric view, control of multiple characters, ect.), and not necessarily a part 3 continuation of the Bhaalspawn story line.

One of the reasons why I fell in love with BG is because the game, to me, duplicates a tabletop D&D session. The isometric view reminds me of moving miniatures around the kitchen table, and the PC game bundles the whole experience in one nice convenient package. That's why a first person fully 3d game never appealed to me, and also why a game that's over 10 years old still fascinates me. In my opinion, it's a genius of a game. I'm really excited about all the new attention for BG and the Infinity Engine in general.

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Couldn't agree more. Now let's hope for something nice this summer.

New characters!

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This is going to be like Lucas messing with the original StarWars.It will be fail.

Ashbery76 said:

This is going to be like Lucas messing with the original StarWars.It will be fail.

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Only if they decided to make Jaheria a bubbly teenager and Minsc a brooding brute.

OMG this is great news. I was going to buy some parts to make a retro box so I could replay the original BG saga. Now I don't have to . Hope it keeps the same look except of course accomodating widescreen. Also glad they're not making it with a zoomable camera a la NWN (which I hated).

BG3 would be pretty ridiculous. TOB was already pushing the ability of the 2nd ed system (and really any system would have issues) to deal with characters of that power.

I really hope that the enhanced editions are like high-res, glossy, more usable versions of the originals, maybe with some extra quests/stories mixed in. Honestly that's what I always imagined/hoped DLC would be like. A way of expanding the original game in organic ways so that when you replay it, you have more options and more story to explore.

Also a bit more character development in BG1. I love the game, but the characters are way more involved/interesting in BG2.