471 réponses à ce sujet

[BelgarathMTH]

Oh? I should probably be embarassed to admit it, but I didn't know about that particular easter egg. (It took me years before I finally figured out how to find the ankheg armor in Nashkel.

Is that the FAI in the picture? That's what it looks like to me.

[Fester Pot]

Nice work Bhryaen in keeping us all in the loop with your X, Y coordinate BGEE news searching.

Those new graphics for the game look fantastic!

FP!

[Giant ambush beetle]

Fester Pot wrote...
Those new graphics for the game look fantastic!

FP!

If you are referring to the Friendly Amn Inn pic, I don't think it was rendered by the actual enhanced engine, its just....artwork.

[Grond0]

"BGT unhappy over voice over-run"

My eye was just caught by this headline on the BBC website. Fortunately it does not refer to spiralling costs in trying to get BGEE to work on the BG2 engine, but to some show called Britain's got talent!

[Bhryaen]

Grond0 wrote...
"BGT unhappy over voice over-run"

My eye was just caught by this headline on the BBC website. Fortunately it does not refer to spiralling costs in trying to get BGEE to work on the BG2 engine, but to some show called Britain's got talent!

lol Just so long as Susan Boyle isn't going to do voice acting and music for BGEE!


And, yes, The Woldan is obviously correct: that FAI representation is just art- I assume from the new art director Nat Jones- but not the look of the otherwise isometric 2D BGEE. BGEE will look very similar to that obscure old game BG... except with some nice enhancements...

OK, new BGEE developments, most lifted from OsterTweets... well, not all so new- been a while...

*** New writer
Dave Gross... Or you can check out this page of his recent works... Main thing is he's a long-time Forgotten Realms writer, which might mean BG3 will still be in the FR... maybe... probly... Looks innerestin'...

No, this is not the look of a BGEE character


It's just an artist's rendition of one of Gross' fictional characters... a bit of a Drizzt wannabe, if you ask me... unless it is Drizzt?

*** New forums site
OK, Gate70 might not go, but it'll be available- official forums for BGEE. At present it's still in the works, and there's a contest for around $1500USD to produce a forum appearance/ format that they'll be using. The present runners-up are here. The contest demonstrates a lot of confidence by the BGEE devs in the abilities of the BG audience to produce something of quality, but as it is, I like the ones by djxpaul a lot, very straight-forward and user-friendly and at the same time aesthetically good. Maybe a header section that keeps rotating between the different themes in those ones... Not a voting thingy though. The BGEE team will be doing the voting...

On the same theme...
"Part of our desire to
build a great community is for the fans to help us focus our work"
Innerestin' indeed for Beamdog...

*** Momentous decisions
"We are not rewriting any original content other than minor bug fixes.
Our content efforts are all on the new adventures/characters.
This has been a point of contention lately because on the Beamdog thread and the reddit forum there have been many entreaties to add or change encounters to existing areas, and this means it's finally decided against such a thing... I assume. Oh, well, now no one can get all prickly on Trent's arse for having meddled heretically with BG... Plus it skirts potential legal issues from those from whom must come approval:

"Reviewing a contract. First time I've seen "throughout the universe" when reviewing a legal agreement. Interplanetary Law #FTW"
lol

*** Other news about what will NOT be changed...
- "We won't change CLUAConsole. It is too useful for mod development in #bgee"
- "We are limited as to what we can do in the original title for old characters, so we'll likely have to lean on mods there."

So what will be changed? (Other than what we already know...)
"The #overhaul on #baldursgate is on all fronts. We are reworking tech, improving art where we can and building a lot of new content."
A lot of it, eh?... hmm... On improving art, they did hit a wall, as Fester Pot mentioned: the original artwork- background environments and animations- were lost... by Bioware *ahem*... So, yeah, their efforts are a bit curtailed... not sure when they knew about this. On this though:

"We can't do much with the environment art as the source material was lost. We plan an algorithmic upscale on the content."
"Zoom is the answer. The world will be algorithmically scaled up so objects aren't tiny."
So maybe this Algorithm Spell can work some magic. Should be good to see. For sure Zoom is in.

- "We are still talking about our approach with "unfinished business"
- "#Mods are on my mind."
Mods are another contentious issue with some voices content to leave them as mods, and others- yeah, moi included- intent on having as much of the tweak modding included as options in BGEE as is reasonable so as to reduce the modding load. The idea I've been voicing is to make various tweak and feature mods a part of an Advanced Options section (something mentioned earlier in the Beamdog threads) which would be available at every game start. Then you could select an Item Randomizer or Rogue Rebalancer right at game start of every game, able to change this by simply starting a new game and deselecting them rather than going through the entire delete-and-reinstall process over again. Not sure I'm making any headway though...

"Our hope is most existing #bg mods will function. We are fixing some bugs which are addressed in some mods, so there may be some editing."
May be some editing left to do of the mods or of BGEE? Likely of the older BG mods, but if they've incorporated specific components of BG mods, one can always just not select those ones when installing the whole mod to avoid conflict...

"As of this moment we have no plans around familiars. We'll look at them later on."
This too was discussed on Beamdog and the reddit forum recently... Lots of ideas on how to tweak them, particularly on a PnP DnD basis...

- "Ask me once, ... Ask me twice, Watch it I'm huge. We are looking at BG quick equip slots and how to improve them"
- "We'll be fighting with the quickslot system in a couple weeks. As always with #BG code, you never know exactly what you face until you start
- "The original BG code was very Windows 95 oriented. The UI and rendering code were both huge. They are now much simpler."
- "The new UI system pulls all the rules data from an internal database. Previously, all the rules were in code. Opens up a lot"
- "The new UI work and the mod systems are going to be developed on the PC and make the #PC #bgee amazing. I'm looking forward to 1920x1200"
- "Our plans are to make the UI systems scale to support the resolution you want to play with. The days of 640x480 are over."

"I have to confess to a fondness for the NWN quickbar system. Where BG slots are actual invenetory, NWN are more like hyperlinks"

"Inventory space in #baldursgate is tight, so we will be adding stacking for more items."

"Cam's got things super-busticated at the moment. I caught a glimpse of
some of the new font work and it is going to be sooo much better."

*** Platforms for BGEE
"Cam wants to see and iPhone version. I keep him focused on the PC/iPad/Mac. Post-ship we will dig into it."
This was a topic earlier on this thread regarding whether the intent was to release an iPhone version of BG. Clearly Trent is keeping that off the table until official release.

*** Official Release
- "Release date-wise, I'd like to throw a bone, but we've still got some
unknowns to deal with. When we're confident, we'll talk dates"
- "#bgee certainly better be a 2012 release."

*** New NPC(s) update
"Romances, hmm. We're planning some support for new characters, but one is a bit 'romantically challenged' #bgee"
That wasn't a typo. The word used was in plural: "characters." So there may be mention of a new NPC at some point...

*** BG Trivia
"Most characters in #baldursgate are based off a pnp D&D campaign jun by James. I should ask him where Khalid came from."
"My business partner's character was #Minsc. Not sure about Jan"
If he means Cameron Tofer as his "business partner," this means Cam made/ inspired Minsc!


"My fondest BG memory was killing Semaj the Mage with a backstab by my
dual class fighter thief and bugging James (Semaj is James backwards)"
"All of my good #baldursgate memories are usually around me bugging @JamesOhlen"
"I agree Khalid's stats are pretty brutal. I usually strip him of gear
and send him 'scouting'. Jaheria bounces back pretty fast."
lol... Good stuff...

*** Non-BGEE Beamdog aspirations
"If we were to do something new with #Planescape, I would figure a way to get Chris Avellone involved. Kidnapping comes to mind"
lol

"The Infinity Enhanced Engine will to work quite well for #bgee and IE titles, but after, we will likely have better ideas for iso game tech"

*** "There are now 8 former #Bioware people working on #bgee. How did that happen? This is madness. #NoThisIsSparta RRRAAAAA"
lol

*** From Cameron Tofer's Tweet... just a funny one...
[b]"utf-8, kerning pairs, anti-aliasing oh my"
lol... Not that I know what he's referring to, but still! lol

Modifié par Bhryaen, 28 avril 2012 - 05:39 .

[Gate70]

Sigh, I think I'm going to have to wander over there. Thanks for the continued updates Bhryaen.
edit, mention of frabjous too...

Modifié par Gate70, 28 avril 2012 - 07:08 .

[Giant ambush beetle]

Thanks for keeping us informed about BGEE, Bhryaen!  

[Grimwald the Wise]

Bhryaen wrote...

Grond0 wrote...
"BGT unhappy over voice over-run"

My eye was just caught by this headline on the BBC website. Fortunately it does not refer to spiralling costs in trying to get BGEE to work on the BG2 engine, but to some show called Britain's got talent!

lol Just so long as Susan Boyle isn't going to do voice acting and music for BGEE!

Whilst she might not be a stunning looker, she's one of the few singers on BGT that could actually sing!
And she IS a stunning singer!! Not that I think that she would make a good voice actress.

[Son of Imoen]

Bhryaen wrote...
*** BG Trivia
"Most characters in #baldursgate are based off a pnp D&D campaign jun by James. I should ask him where Khalid came from."
"My business partner's character was #Minsc. Not sure about Jan"
If he means Cameron Tofer as his "business partner," this means Cam made/ inspired Minsc!

Apparently Minsc was written by Lukas Kristjanson, if I'm right about interpreting this discussion in the Ask-a-Bioware Older game Q&A topic on the main forum.

Lukas Kristjanson wrote...

• Might I ask to what particular parts of the game (BG1) Mr. Kristjanson contributed?

Several
had a hand in it, but I probably wrote about around 70% of the word
count in BG1. So yeah, a good chunk. Minsc is mentioned a lot because
he's a fav, but I wrote most of the party members and more sundry
characters than I can remember (Also, confusingly, this,
because I was tired and putzing around with SoundForge). I was the
first dedicated writer at BioWare, and got to help puzzle out how the
D&D kitchen table dynamic was supposed to emerge. Crazy times. And
then we went bigger with BG2. "I wrote most of the party members" sounds
like a lot, but I'm pretty sure Jaheira alone in BG2 had more to say
than all of the followers in BG1 combined, and there were 24 of them.
Like I said, beautiful madness.

Modifié par Son of Imoen, 29 avril 2012 - 11:10 .

[thehun]

Gate70 wrote...
edit, mention of frabjous too...

Yeah...I noticed that too! Just coincidental naming of his account, or is he in fact the frabjous from the old forums? Where did that guy, if someone else, disappear to anyways? He was a great, and informed, poster.

[LeBurns]

So is the official BGEE forum still 'in the works' I guess?

[Bhryaen]

@LeBurns- That "official" forum site is still in the works, it seems. I'll try to put a link here when it's available. That forum design contest isn't done yet.
{EDIT}The contest is now over and Paul's design did prevail, it seems. Still working on building the forum site itself though...

@Gate70 & thehun- The Twitter account for Dave Gross is called @frabjousdave. Not sure if the forum poster you mention is the same...

@Grimwald the Wise- I wasn't actually knocking Boyle, just showing off my limited knowledge of British pop culture hehe Actually might be interesting to have her voice a character

@Son of Imoen- I think all Trent was saying was that Cam (or whoever) had a DnD char like Minsc, and that whoever (probably Lukas Kristjanson) then took those DnD experiences as a basis from which to develop the companion NPCs. Great link though- never even knew there was a Lukas. The Tiax song is a stitch lol

Modifié par Bhryaen, 03 mai 2012 - 11:11 .

[Bhryaen]

There's been a May 4 article by TabTimes with BGEE co-conspirator Cameron Tofer...

[Hrotti]

Can't wait for this game. It's gonna kick ass.

[Bondari the Reloader]

I just read on the website that the composer from the Mass Effect series is doing the additional music for BGEE. I've never played the games myself, but if anyone else here has, what was your opinion about the music?

[Bhryaen]

Yes, Sam Hulick- the music composer for Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 (though I think he worked with a number of others including Jack Wall (whose name tends to appear first), Christopher Lennertz, Clint Mansell, Richard Jacques, David Kates, and Jimmy Hinson, so I'm not sure how much of it is strictly his)- has been taken onto BGEE as what Trent Oster has been calling "Composer X" (because he needed approval before he release the name):

Official announcement
Sam Hulick's website
Sam Hulick's Tweets

As for the music, it's mostly (but not entirely) space age synthesizer stuff from what I'm finding on YouTube. (I've never played ME, not the slightest inclination.) It's just futuristic, not fantasy. Actually I like it and find it interesting that some of it sounds so much like Michael Hoenig's early work that was also more on the "outer space" synthesizer side. I'm not sure if Hulick can make in an instant the decades leap in life that Hoenig did to create the BG music we've come to adore (particularly given his having been soaking in the Bioware milieu for as long as he has), but it's still an interesting parallel... and it's more than a strong possibility that Hulick would be the one composing for any BG2EE extra content as well as the potential future BG3.

Just for a sample:
"Ghost Ship" (not from ME- from one of Hulick's independent works)
ME1 "Uncharted Worlds"
ME2 "Legion Activation"
ME3 "Shepard's Return"
ME3 "I Was Lost without You"
ME3 "Victory Theme"
ME3 "I'm Proud of You"

(A lot more ME3 stuff up than ME 1 & 2...)

They'll have a sample of Hulick's BGEE work as soon as it's through the approval process as well...

Also, it seems from an OsterTweet that the FAI sketch I posted previously IS part of the actual artwork that will be featured in BGEE. It seems they're reworking those rather goofy looking cutscenes we get upon entering areas like the FAI, Beregost, Nashkell, etc., and that's what Nat Jones is working on presently... As Trent put it:

The Candlekeep pic is both a chapter transition image and planned for the cinematics. @natjonesart does nice work.

Also this:

Met with a potential model for an upcoming character. Turns out she's connected to the games industry. What are the odds?... we were reviewing some plans around some new content for a new character

So... new character in the works!
@Bondari the Reloader: I did put up a reddit request to make the gap in romance options obvious, btw, plus I've mentioned it on the Beamdog BGEE thread... We'll see if it wakes them up to a reality about the prospects of the future BGEE fan base or if they're content to be lulled by the romance-disinterested majority of those who tend to post on such forum threads...


There was also a rather ambiguous revelation at the Beamdog forum as well...

We can't go into the reasons for the no new content for old characters in old content. All we can really say is it comes from a very non-obvious source.

The speculation is on whether the use of "non-obvious" was meant sarcastically- as in, "it's obvious, people-" or it really is something non-obvious... So perhaps the term "revelation" is not the correct term... hehe But in any case one probably shouldn't anticipate any noticeable change in the vanilla BG NPCs or encounters since the bulk of their work is on engine improvements and the new content.

Modifié par Bhryaen, 12 mai 2012 - 07:42 .

[Bhryaen]

Another trivia tidbit from the OsterTweets:

Q: @TrentOster Have always wondered why Ajantis' portrait was on the TotSC box + artwork...can you shed any light please?
A: Ajantis=Ray Muzyka. It was close to the time ****** Henkel was on the cover of Planescape: Torment, not sure who made the call

Hehe... just so long as the new NPC's portrait doesn't look like Trent! Mind you, Garrick's portrait is the spitting image of Cameron Tofer...

[EDIT] This just in from the OsterTweets:

I never had a portrait in the BG series :-(
We'll have to fix that this time :-)

The audacity! lol

Modifié par Bhryaen, 12 mai 2012 - 05:50 .

[Bondari the Reloader]

Thanks for posting those music links! Spacey music isn't really my thing, but I really liked the ME3 ones. Hopefully it's a sign of good things to come for BG!

(@Bhryaen: Thanks for mentioning the romances on the other forums! I certainly don't think it should be a priority, but I'm glad to know it's being kept in the conversation.)

Modifié par Bondari the Reloader, 13 mai 2012 - 12:13 .

[Bhryaen]

Bondari the Reloader wrote...
(@Bhryaen: Thanks for mentioning the romances on the other forums! I certainly don't think it should be a priority, but I'm glad to know it's being kept in the conversation.)

Well, I think they're a priority, at least if BGEE is to reach a wider player base. The game has already got interest from people all over the world wanting it in their own language, and it may have a much higher non-US player base proportionately than most games out there, particularly given that BGEE remains accessible to those without supercharged, expensive computers... so a wider base should be prepared for. What I suggested on Beamdog was to make a new male NPC for BG1EE (particularly since they can't touch the original BG NPC content) that needn't be any more complex than Jaheira, but then make him available in BG2EE somehow and able to be romanced to the same extensiveness and complexity and quality as Jaheira. It's just one NPC to do along that line after all... I just doubt that a romance was ever in their active plans, but it ought to be... Come on, Trent, you're a family guy!
<_<

As for latest news, they're taking steps to determine if they can do a boxed set that would go out as a Collector's Edition for only the initial release. It would contain all sorts of great extra material (one suggestion on Beamdog was for a Sarevok statuette figurine (which I suggested should have cracks in it)), but Trent put out a poll on Twitter for what kind of Sword Coast map people wanted- a more modest one that'll show less detail and be small and unframeable but nevertheless be on cloth... or a larger, more interesting, 20X30 paper map full of extra details and cartography and that I could've put on my wall. *grumble* It was a really close vote of 85/15 in favor of cloth, so probably cloth, but a few last minute votes might, um... Most were saying they already have paper maps and wanted something that would last and be beautiful. Sheesh, some people...

From Beamdog:

If we can make a box copy happen, it will likely only be for a limited-run collectors edition. I'll push as hard as I can to make it awesome.
-Trent

The new content still hasn't been discussed in detail, but "Adventure X" pertains to a larger extra expansion type of deal (like a Werewolf Island or Durlag's) while "Adventure Y" pertains to the main plot somehow... It's not clear which Adventure NewNPC X and Y are a part of (if either) but if X is involved with Y but not X, will Y factor into X? We'll C.
In his own words... OsterTweet:

Adventure X is actually a completely separate storyline from the #baldursgate series.... Adventure X is going to be standalone. Keep your ears peeled for
Adventure Y, which is intimately linked to the Bhallspawn storyline... Adventure X is a side adventure, while Adventure Y is an optional storyline piece in the Bhallspawn series

Also this one, small detail:

Just got my butt handed to me in Adventure X of #bgee. Damn AI is tough. I really hate bouncing lightning bolts.

Not sure if he's messing with new AI options or just experiencing the usual fun of Lightning Bolt ricochets...

Just a funny Tweet from Composer X:

Sam Hulick...
Listening to the #BGEE Adventure Y main theme on repeat while doing paperwork. Never has something so mundane felt so heroic & adventurous.

lol... Wish we had that sampler...

{EDIT} More funny Tweets of Trent and Sam corresponding on that same theme:

Trent: "@SamHulick I do the same. It can become a liability when the #bgee Adventure Y theme is going hard and you are trying to do contracts."
Sam: "@TrentOster 'I will sign this contract.. IN THE BLOOD OF MY ANCESTORS!' 'That won't be necess--' 'YAAAARGH!!'" (lol)
Trent: "@SamHulick I usually go more for the blood of their ancestors ;-) Epic music while contract work leads to some pretty hard wording."

Latest news- "While meeting with Bioware representatives to gain approval for the new Adventure Y theme music, Trent Oster is said to have shockingly and fiercely told them, 'We WILL use this music score or you will face ME, the NEW LORD OF BG! I do not fear litigation... Do YOU?!" (jk)

---

There's also this from the OsterTweets regarding apparently making early mages more playable somehow:

Q: "@TrentOster Hey Trent, thanks for all the #bgee info. Any ideas about how to make starting as a Mage more possible? Mages squishy at lvl 1."
A: "Good question, @mtrem225 Mages are very susceptible to stiff breezes, bunny nibbles and the odd wayward pebble at level 1. We have a plan!"

Curious about this plan actually... Mages being as powerful as they ultimately are, hopefully it won't take away that feeling of overcoming great odds to toughen up squishiness. Still, mages are pretty much just lousy slingstone archers to start out...

No, you will not be required to be online to play # bgee.

This is a relief. DAO (Bioware) is somewhat more intrusive...

Modifié par Bhryaen, 24 mai 2012 - 02:50 .

[Bondari the Reloader]

Bhryaen wrote...

No, you will not be required to be online to play # bgee.

This is a relief. DAO (Bioware) is somewhat more intrusive...

Phew! After all the pain my friends have been going through with Diablo 3, I could not be happier about this.

Thanks again for the massive updates, Bhryaen!

[Bhryaen]

A bit of a BGEE spoiler, but anyone who goes to baldursgate.com may notice this little Nat Jones addition to the roster of BG1 portraits featured on the entry page...



The image on the left is the one I lifted from the page directly. The one on the right is the same, just brightened somewhat but not a lot more decipherable. Could be an archer or mage with the stick behind the back, could have scars or tattoos, not quite certain given the shade-out. The clothes appear maybe leather, maybe cloth, but probably more on the mage side with the raised collar and necklace. Dunno. Since they mentioned introducing a new character class/ kit, it may very well be a monk with a jo stick or a warlock... This would also mesh with the suggestions that something has been done to make magery more sufferable at lower levels, though it was speculated on the Beamdog thread that they may be introducing cantrips as well...

From the OsterTweets:

Wow, you fellows have good eyes. He could be a new character in #bgee or he could be a villain, or he could be your lost uncle Franco Debono

So it's official: it's my lost uncle! The reunion will be so epicly heartwarming! Hang on, Franco!

Then there was this fairly newsworthy exchange on the Beamdog thread...

Jorkan wrote...
My level of excitement for this project was off the charts a month ago. However, after reading through this thread, it seems like  BioWare is trying to c*ck block Trent and his team and keep them from making a truly great game... From an "outside looking in" point of view, BioWare appears to be meddling too much in the affairs of BGEE and is going to **** up the game just like they do everything else now days. Does anyone else feel the same way? Am I
wrong? If so please correct me.

This sentiment has been shared by many in this thread as well- Bioware as the harbinger of game quality doom...

Then came this from Mr. Oster...

Trent O wrote...
Bioware isn't the "c*ck-blocker" in question, to date the fellows have been quite supportive. Basically there are two "recognized product classes" in the contract which is causing all the grief. There is the original game and there are expansion packs. We are restricted from modifying certain content in the main game. When we create new content for an expansion, it is a new product and is without the same restrictions. We're thinking about the minefield and how best to navigate it on a daily basis.

"I hate Bioware! I hate Bioware!"
"Uh, Bioware has been quite decent actually."
"Oh... I hate Atari! I hate Atari!"
"Hate to mention, but Wizards of the Coast is the one determining DnD's image..."
"Oh... right... I hate WotC! I hate WotC!"
*sighs*

Trent also mentioned this:

Trent O...
On the inclusion of Mods, we're holding until we get the new forums up. We want to approach the mod creators and ask permission to include the most popular mods as optional content in the game. The legal requirements are pretty stiff though, as all Intellectual Property becomes property of Wizards of the Coast as the owners of Dungeons and Dragons. Some mods have too many authors to track down and others will not want to grant the rights, so we'll do
what we can. The mod system will not be trivial and will likely be a post-release feature.

This I'm in great anticipation of. I do hope that modders will join into that discussion/ process when the forum is finally up- David W, demivrg, and any who want a hand in making mods available as in-game options... though actually I've no idea how that's going to work at present. We'll see when the BGEE Forum site goes up...

Modifié par Bhryaen, 28 mai 2012 - 05:36 .

[Hrotti]

Eh, I already lost all faith in WotC after they created 4th Ed. anyways. Bioware is still pretty dubious, though, particularly since any Bioware support is likely coming from individuals in the company, not the company itself; since if it was from the latter, then EA would be sinking its claws into this thing and.. well.. it wouldn't be pretty.

[The Potty 1]

Bhryaen wrote...

Trent O...
... all Intellectual Property becomes property of Wizards of the Coast as the owners of Dungeons and Dragons. Some mods have too many authors to track down and others will not want to grant the rights, so we'll do what we can..

Well who would agree to that? The authors of a mod are either active, in which case do they really want to sign over ownership to some beurocratic corporation, or they're not active, in which case good luck getting hold of them. The only way this might happen is if Trent throws cash around like confetti, and he doesn't even end up owning the content.

Also, what happens to the vanilla BG mod if Wotc suddenly own the content? 

[LeBurns]

Seems an odd path to trod making BGEE. It is like BioWarEA is kind of ok with it, but they do not want it to be too successful, or if it is very successful how can they make some follow up game themselves and cash in on it.

I definitely want the mods to be optional. At first I just want to play the game as the original designers intended, but with better graphics, interface and bugs fixed. After that I wouldn’t mind adding some additional stuff.

Wouldn’t it be easier though to just release the tools so the fans can make (or update the old) mods? Less work for them and players can pick and choose how they want to play. Honestly the player made mods are the only things that keep the TES games going for years and years after they are released and Bethesda highly encourages the player made mods. You end up with the best of both worlds.

Modifié par LeBurns, 29 mai 2012 - 02:20 .

[Bhryaen]

Just found a new photo of the new featured BGEE portrait:


Still not entirely sure of his class, but definitely tattoos rather than scars, definitely not a longbow...

Fortunately Trent Oster clears this up in a later Tweet:

OsterTweet...
We established the new guy on the web page is your lost uncle, Franco DeBono. He comes to visit and brings back Gorion's dog... Who leaked the brown dog in #bgee? we wanted to keep Mr. Fluffles under wraps. Sarevok kills your step-dad and his dog, O' the tragedy

So now it's out. We get to recruit a wardog! (jk, just a jk)

@LeBurns: I really think what Trent is saying is true- that Bioware (even BiowarEA) is pretty much keeping their distance and not being particularly picky. They're definitely not the ones the most at stake in how BGEE turns out, not with DnD's 2E rules in the picture, and Bioware's product line is obviously completely different, no? It's hard to see them getting overly envious of a game that is presently the very opposite of their marketing direction.

This related OsterTweet:

We really want to bring the magic of the Infinity engine style of RPG back into gaming. Less Hollywood, more game

As to mods being optional, that too is what is intended. In fact, they apparently are adding the option to play without the new BGEE material as well if one really wants to do without all the fantastic new music, characters, and adventures they've been adding. (Almost seems a crying shame to make it an option... *sigh*) As to a tools-based fix, that seemed to me what Trent was hinting at as something they'll be making available post-release. I can't count how many times Trent has mentioned his mod-friendliness and the intention to make BG moreso, particularly given his all-about-the-mods NWN leadership. One example from 2 hrs ago:

Glad you like #NWN I'm proud of the Hordes of the Underdark, the toolset and the general mod-focus. Not so much the first story

I have to admit some of my deepest fun in NWN was with player-made mods... This isn't exactly so of the BG adventure mods which... well... aren't as deep as BG...

@The Potty 1: I agree. On Beamdog when Trent made that announcement we'd just reached a sort of consensus among the participants that integrating the actual mods themselves into BG would just be too much and that what was more reasonable was to integrate the sort of content that mods offer instead. It would be the same as the way "mana" is introduced into so many games these days without there being any ooze production idea theft from the game devs who first came up with it. Or the idea of "Taunt" which is apparently fairly common among games. To put an option into a game that enables a player to choose, say, new AI improvements or opens weapons restrictions or allows you to tweak NPC stats and class before you meet them doesn't necessarily have anything to do with SCS/aTweaks or Ashes of Embers or Level1NPCs. Actually I've discovered that a modified form of Level1NPCs is built into Dragon Age: Awakenings- or rather just the game feature of being able to tweak a recruited NPC in-game upon recruitment.

To be honest I've also stated that if I were a modder I'd be happy to donate the work I'd been doing to "the cause," so to say- free of charge. It's not like they've been paid all these years for it, and that hasn't exactly been the fault of BGEE devs who are trying to bring the game back into mainstream circulation with a boost. But you're right: if the modders aren't available, they won't be doing any such donating, and if the modders are available and are actively working their mods, they're not about to just give up all rights to meddle with it to WotC to usurp at such a late date.

So, although Trent's notion of getting actual player-made mods into BGEE is a bit off-based, I do very much hope that modders do get involved as he's encouraging. If otherwise modded material is to be made available in-game, it would be most excellent to have the BG modding community involved calling some shots. It just seems such a shame if a David W or a Miloch weren't involved at all in the process of BGEE devving. I totally want them to step up and get credit somehow after all these years of their own BG devving in relative obscurity. Plus I just like their work, so...

Heh- forgot to mention... THE BGEE FORUM SITE IS UP! Please to delay jumping on it though as it's not quite available to everyone. They're trying to setup the thread structure that fans have been building at the less accessible reddit forum... and work out the new forum's bugs, I'd wager. (There are a few as yet.) Nothing to prevent you from applying to join, however. The link is here, but again, you need permission to get in. I think that's a good thing given the advertbot trolling that goes on with most gamer forums anyway.

@Bondari the Reloader- Just an interesting exchange I bumped into in the OsterTweets that might interest you (as it does me)...

Q: @TrentOster It would get my heart all a-flutter if you were to say the ladies might get another romance option in #bgee.
A: Flutter away.

Not sure if that's a promise or sarcasm actually... Hmph.

They've also now firmly locked down a release date- also as of 2hrs ago:

My guesstimate on the #bgee ship date is five minutes after we're really happy with it. Seriously, a while yet.

And as for future plans this tidbit:

While I think #Diablo3 looks good I'd really like to avoid an 8year Dev cycle for a #BG3 if it were to happen.

So... there you go...

This announcement also from Oster who was part of the original work on BG and would know:

I agree, Noober is the man behind the scenes, calling the shots. He's the Bhaalspawn's Bhaalspawn.

lol...

Modifié par Bhryaen, 31 mai 2012 - 07:48 .