Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition Tidbits

I thought we'd quickly check in on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, via Trent Oster's twitter:

We've been quiet for a while as we continue to work on the game. The new UI code is going well, but it will be a while before screenshots

Really there are two targets, Desktop and Tablet. Each get a different UI scheme. Mac and PC, only major difference is right mouse button.

I'd feel very silly if we did all the UI rework and just released the same old UI functionality in #bgee. ;-)

Custom button mapping will be in game.

The desktop is getting a UI overhaul. How far Cam's data driven UI lets us change things is coming clear. Char gen is all data-driven now.

More information.

Is there any release date confirmed?

C

It was set to be released summer 2012. Based on those tidbits, however, I'd say that's unlikely to happen. It seems they still have quite a lot of work to do.

Meanwhile Atari/Infogrames are still selling their D&D portfolio here in Germany in new packs …

I have a really bad feeling about this. It's not the original team working on it? And the only possible way to buy it will be through some obscure website?

The only way you could have a bad feeling about this is if you're a complete jerk who hates fun. BGEE haters go in the same pile as the people complaining about Wasteland 2's eventually being available to buy on Origin and the people throwing insane fits about Divinity Original Sin having co-op features.

It's mind boggling. The industry is finally leaning in our direction and all you people have is rage, hate and confusion to throw at them. No wonder everyone stopped of catering to PC RPG fans. I know I would have.

Originally Posted by Edgarstrong
I have a really bad feeling about this. It's not the original team working on it? And the only possible way to buy it will be through some obscure website?

There are original members working on it, including Trent Oster. It's coming to Steam too. Not sure why it would be so important that the original team works on it either, have you even played a current Bioware game? I consider them to be absolute crap. If Bioware did this game i'm pretty sure i wouldnt buy it.

Originally Posted by Edgarstrong
I have a really bad feeling about this. It's not the original team working on it? And the only possible way to buy it will be through some obscure website?

Last time I checked, there were 7 original team members, including studio owners Trent Oster and Cameron Tofer - that seems a pretty good number over a decade down the track, to me.

Though, to be honest, I don't think they need any original developers for their basic brief. This isn't a completely new game - it's a spit'n'polish of the original. BG+widescreen res+new UI+a couple of new areas.

As the the "obscure" website, that's the digital portal founded by Trent and Cam a few years ago - you know, those original developers you want to have on the project. It will come to others as well but, naturally, they want to promote their own portal.

…what is wrong with the UI?

Originally Posted by Monolith
…what is wrong with the UI?

It's not optimized for the handheld devices.

Sorry, didn't make clear that I don't give a rats ass about handheld devices. So, what is wrong with the UI for the desktop version? Because:

The desktop is getting a UI overhaul."

Originally Posted by Monolith
Sorry, didn't make clear that I don't give a rats ass about handheld devices. So, what is wrong with the UI for the desktop version? Because:

Because at modern resolutions, its freaking tiny. Even with some of the mods, it still doesn't always look right.

Originally Posted by Monolith
Sorry, didn't make clear that I don't give a rats ass about handheld devices. So, what is wrong with the UI for the desktop version? Because:

The original UI doesn't scale, have a lot of hard-coded limitations and doesn't work with widescreen very well (the widescreen mod padded it with copy-paste of the borders). As for limitations, I remember modders complaining that the sub-class list was limited to a certain number of kit, making it impossible to add more after you reached it (Mage was full by default).

Technically, this also mean the new UI will be modders friendly. Also, they don't have to change the graphics…

Originally Posted by blatantninja
Because at modern resolutions, its freaking tiny. Even with some of the mods, it still doesn't always look right.

Originally Posted by azarhal
The original UI doesn't scale, have a lot of hard-coded limitations and doesn't work with widescreen very well (the widescreen mod padded it with copy-paste of the borders). As for limitations, I remember modders complaining that the sub-class list was limited to a certain number of kit, making it impossible to add more after you reached it (Mage was full by default).

Technically, this also mean the new UI will be modders friendly. Also, they don't have to change the graphics…

Ok, thanks - makes sense. I just hope they don't change the look/feel.

Agreed. I'm looking forward to the high resolutions supported. It drives me nuts when the viewable area is larger than the party view area (Not sure what is is called, but there the parts that are out of view are pseudo blacked out), but if you lower the resolution, it starts looking bad on the larger monitors.

Yeah, one of my gripes with this engine is that the text is unreadable on high resolution since it didn't scale up. That and similar pixel hunting difficulties would be my number one and two UI priority.

Originally Posted by blatantninja
(Not sure what is is called, but there the parts that are out of view are pseudo blacked out)

That's called the fog of war .