Fester Pot wrote...
Hey, thanks for the link Bhryaen! Really bummed out to read they lost all the art assets but still very excited about playing BGEE over the summer in a dark, surround sound PC system, with the AC on and cold drinks at arms reach, kind of room!
Damn, that sounds quite nice! But mind you this OsterTweet:
"Release plan is this summer. We're hesitant to promise a date as we still have some open research."This is somewhat of a relief. I don't care if it's next spring if it means all the great content them witches have in their cauldron is mixed up properly and ready for casting... The thread on which Oster made that comment is called "itsdonewhenitsawesome." lol
I also don't see why the rush at the moment given how long it's been to get approval to do the project at all:
"This has been in the works for longer than #BG has been on GoG. We started talking to #Atari over two years ago."FitScotGaymer wrote...
I love how my little "ooo look a Baldur'sGate.com site" thread is still going. 
Activity here may have waned a tad, if not simply due to the initial excitement sobering up, then because people have sought out more official or hotter sources of information. Fro7k has repeatedly mentioned
Trent's Twitter (though I've been deferring to the
BGEE Twitter to get a larger sense of the discussion there, albeit with fewer OsterTweets showing up there (damn, much fewer, in fact, it seems... yes, defer to the OsterTwitter directly)- and Trent mentioned in that
NeoGamr article that he's become a Twitter junkie lately hehehe... And fro7k also mentioned the
Beamdog thread which Trent himself started personally particularly for discussion on BGEE (and has just as many pages as this thread, it seems) and in which Trent has posted general replies a number of times. A
great post there by caruga lays out most of the suggestions for BGEE that were made through the first 12 pages. Trent doesn't post on this Bioware thread here though for some reason, hmmm. OK, just being snarky... I wonder what would Bioware would do if he tried it... "Do we need to call security to escort you off the property?" lol
Also from the OsterTweet:
"Part of the long contract negotiation was getting EA/Bioware to sign off on the deal..."
But what may have drawn attention away from all those is a new development mentioned at the end of the Beamdog thread a few days ago or so: a new reddit forum called FriendsOfBaldursGate has been created by the BGEE developers which enables us to actually vote on the various fixes we want to see them do. This sounds great, but you need:
[EDIT:] a
reddit account (easy to obtain), a
Twitter account (even easier to obtain, particularly on iPhone), and permission from Cameron Tofer of Beamdog in order to gain access by Tweeting him @CameronTofer a request to join the forum that includes mention of your reddit account name. The web address for the reddit forum is
http://www.reddit.com/r/FriendsOfBaldursGate/, and if you're in you'll see a list of threads with vote tallies next to them. But until you're signed up the page will simply be called "Forbidden" and you'll just languish on the other side of the bridge with nothing to do other than go kill an ankheg for a dwarf's dagger and kill Tenya to feel some Umberlee hate.
Latest Oster Tweets:
Question: "So you admit you can possibly do a BG3 :D"
Oster: "I admit nothing. Just speculate about after you all help make #bgee a massive success."
And that seems to be the theme lately:
"The topic of Icewind Dale has come up a number of times. We are interested, but first we need #bgee to succeed"
So that's good- the emphasis on making BGEE work, that is, since I don't really care about IWD, never did. They must be well into their own "immersion" in the project development process... Focus focus focus! That said, it was mentioned that a NWNEE was a nixed idea due to discussion by Bioware of releasing an NWN MMORPG, and Bioware directly shot down an UltimaEE.
Here's a good one:
"We've banned drinking in the office during work hours; Was getting ugly ;-)"
lol
Technical details:
"A good amount of the underlying porting work we've done has made the BG
code base much easier to work with, so the port effort helps PC"
"We are going to change the UI layout a bit. The multiplayer code is sprinkled throughout, so we need to tread carefully"
"The UI work is basically a re-write. This allows us to remove the resolution locks and rebuild the UI for larger resolutions."
"We're still trying to itemize all the outstanding work. The BG code is still providing some small surprises"
"Working on 15 year old code is a challenge. The fellows has been
whacking Windows95'isms for months. Cam did most of the Machete work"
"We did some machete work, Directplay is dead."
There was mention of the good ol' Roger Wilco multiplayer audio system on the Beamdog thread. Somehow I don't think they'll be revamping that. hehe
A "hot off the presses" OsterTweet:
"rotating the camera in isometric just makes the camera a distraction."
How does one even rotate isometrics? The world would always be going uphill, no?
On the inclusion of modders' content, here is what he said regarding the 1PP mods:
"I'm impressed with the 1pp work. I'm currently investigating content inclusion and the legal issues"
This is quite cool actually- both for the BG modders in general regarding getting recognition this way (possibly) and specifically for 1PP which has already produced a beardless girl dwarf animation and paperdoll.
"Personally, there is only one #NWN and it was all about user content"
This is just a matter of character, not BG... but another way I find myself aligned with Trent Oster. He mentioned elsewhere something about making BGEE not just "backwards capable" for mods to still be used but also actually more accessible for modded content to be produced. It may be in the NeoGamr article...
An even hotter-off-the-presses" OsterTweet:
"I've just added SpeedTree http://www.speedtree.com/ to my arsenal of tools. My area art now has 700% more trees. Starting to look good."
I like trees.
Does this mean we'll be able to walk east from the bandit areas to that northeast spider area now? 
There are numerous "new recruits" to the BGEE development team mentioned in the OsterTweets, but their contributions will end up being invisible to those of us mostly only just seeing the final content, so I'll spare this post that mention, alas.
Here's another common BG-fix-up complaint being addressed (but not yet finished):
"We are looking at the #bgee pathfinding. We have a few theories on the problems. Mainly looks like lack of fidelity on search maps."
This might be a nice touch:
"We've been surprised by the number of people asking for a box copy of #bgee It is something we are looking into"
Question: "Hi Trent, in respect of the new class/kit, did you mean new in that no other NPCs in Bg with it, or new as in not in the game?"
Oster: "new class as not ever offered in the game"
Not really sure what new class they came up with at all. Maybe it's a 2EDnD race-based one like Dwarven Defender or Bladesinger. My first BG char was based on a Bladesinger- fighter/mage elf.
Comment: "Baldur's Gate came with a 160 page manual and a map. Wonder how @TrentOster and the rest of Beamdog will pass all that info to the newbie!"
Oster: "We're going to try a funnel and a toilet plunger. Seriously, we hope to improve UI and tutorials for better understanding"
lol
Regarding that Apr 7 NeoGamr article, he says:
"Just finished an interview on #bgee. I think I insult cinematic gaming. Whoops."
lol... The comment he made in the article was this:
NeoGamr question: "The original versions of the game is [sic] still available for sale
at a number of download outlets. Why do you believe there is an audience
for a revamped version of the original game?"
Oster: "I think there is an audience for a revamped version of the game because
it's a bloody great game. When you remove all the talking heads
bullcrap and 'cinematic storytelling' very few games can hold a candle
to Baldur's Gate in the storytelling department. As well, no other game
has the same great tactical adventure feel quite like the Baldur's Gate
games. These games are great to play over and over as you try new
tactics to overcome challenges in new ways."
I've been mulling over his anti-cinematics comment there lately actually, so I'm a bit glad to see just now that he'd made that lip-biting Tweet comment immediately after doing the interview. I'm starting to see how DAO used the whole higher graphics and "more realism" bit quite well and how "talking heads bullcrap" cutscenes can be very enjoyable- for what they are- particularly with one's custom-made main character featured in it. It is simply the case that DAO is a completely different game with a completely different game emphasis than BG, so Trent must be getting uppity like BG fans usually get when the game isn't appreciated for its strengths and people pull the "But isn't it outdated?" line on it. hehehe
[b]
[i]"If by living the dream you mean bashing your head repeatedly against 15
year old design decisions and trying to wear too many hats, yes."lol... Funny stuff
Modifié par Bhryaen, 13 avril 2012 - 09:18 .
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