RPGWatch Feature - Planescape: Torment EE Interview

Myrthos

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With the help of some of our members we have asked Beamdog a couple of questions about the Enhanced Edition of Planescape: Torment that is scheduled to be released tomorrow.

JDR13: I read that the EE version will include some content that was dropped/cut from the original release of PS:T. How much did you guys have to improvise to finish the restored content? Was there significant debate over the things you chose to restore?Alex: Chris Avellone requested to personally proofread all of the text from the original game in order to make some grammar and style corrections. Other than the adjustments that Chris made, there are no other content changes or additions in PST:EE. Instead, we focused on making the game run properly on modern devices, recreating the user interface in native 4K, adding Steam Achievements and introducing a number of quality of life improvement such as zooming, object highlighting, journal searching, quickloot, combat log etc.

Maylander: Were you nervous about changing anything in Planescape: Torment? I know you already worked on Baldur's Gate, which has a bigger audience, but Planescape: Torment leans more heavily on its writing and overall tone. It carries the game to a much greater extent.

Alex: As the Project Lead, I defined the vision of PST:EE long before production and development started. The goal of the Enhanced Edition was to deliver the canon Planescape Torment experience to modern devices, without altering any narrative or gameplay aspects of the original. Therefore, you won't see any new companions, quests, areas, races, classes, kits, items or spells in PST:EE.
More information.
 
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Thanks to those who posted questions. Not all of them were answered unfortunately.
Those who are in the interview will get a Steam key for the game. Give me a bit to get them out to you.
 
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Thanks to Beamdog and the involved Watchers!
 
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Good read, thanks to the various Watchers for making it happen.
I've now bought it. :)
 
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Got my copy off GoG seconds before it was taken down... so happy I avoided this mess
 
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Amazing! Thanks also to Myrthos for enabling this little exchange of information. :)

I guess my third question on the expansion content idea was a bit too obvious upon reflection; though it didn't hurt to gently probe on the basis of Siege of Dragonspear's existence and see if any ideas or thought bubbles were forthcoming.
 
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Meh my super-intelligent question was ignored. I shall now be mortally offended until all eternity :biggrin: .
 
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Meh my super-intelligent question was ignored. I shall now be mortally offended until all eternity :biggrin: .

What question was that?

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Pretty informative here. In short,

1) no new material - just made it work, and we used someone's mod for the known bugs because, why reinvent the wheel.

2) We stuck it in our new, updated engine and had conflicts with duplicate fixes Bioware/Black Isle figured out first that conflicted with our new ones.

I think its interesting the new engine supports multiplayer but it can't be done with PS:T - which shows it must have had a lot "just make it work" code.
 
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From GoG's description of the EE:

"About: Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition will feature the unaltered original version and the Enhanced Edition in one definitive collection exclusively on GOG.com. The original game will no longer be available for purchase on its own, after the Enhanced Edition is released. Owners of the classic Planescape: Torment will not be affected by upcoming changes to the product. "
 
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Seems like Beamdog have learnt the importance of striking a good balance between curation and improvement.

As a story-focused game, it's probably not a particularly suitable target for adding new content.
 
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As a story-focused game, it's probably not a particularly suitable target for adding new content.

That's pretty much what they said. Chris Avellone apparently agreed with that as well.

While I appreciate any Enhanced version of a game like this, I also wish there could have been some content added. Of course, going forward I also hope Beamdog makes those things optional to please those who don't want the extra content. That would be the best of both worlds, IMO.

But it's all good. I'm enjoying the EE quite a bit. My 4th EE so far. I haven't even played that many projects from any other single modern RPG developer. :p
 
Great interview, and a good read. Lucky Day pretty much summed up the most important parts:

1) no new material - just made it work, and we used someone's mod for the known bugs because, why reinvent the wheel.

2) We stuck it in our new, updated engine and had conflicts with duplicate fixes Bioware/Black Isle figured out first that conflicted with our new ones.

I think its interesting the new engine supports multiplayer but it can't be done with PS:T - which shows it must have had a lot "just make it work" code.

I suspected this would be the case. Adding companions and such to Baldur's Gate has been done by modders for 15+ years, and is quite different from adding it to PST. I'm actually glad they're mainly fixing the game, and not adding to it, as I think it would be very difficult to get it right. The new stuff would probably stand out like a sore thumb.

I'll be giving this a spin later this week I think. Looking forward to it!
 
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