Modding in game Avatars

WillyPete

I just read a BGEE review and it was given a 6.0. The reviewer basically said, and I agree, that although it's still the great game we have always known, nothing major was really "enhanced." I'm holding off from playing until the at least the banter mod works for EE.

With that said, what I would really like to see to make it a truly "enhanced" version is for all character and monster avatars to be overhauled. I'm happy with the background art, it's fine. It's the avatars that need help. I don't understand why Beamdog spent time to develop the zoom function. Zooming on those ugly blocky sprites does nothing for the game!

Is it at all possible to replace the current avatars with HD versions? What would it take to get them replaced? It would be really cool to see a group of dedicated modders focus their energy on this one project. It would do so much for the game to have nice sharp avatars on the screen...

Mornmagor

I think relying on modders to create new avatars is not gonna work, as it's something almost impossible.

Since the source models for the existing avatars were lost, it means no one can recreate them somehow to look better. It also means that if we want better character avatars, we need new models from scratch.

I agree, the zoom function does nothing for me as well, i always played at 1024x768, the game doesn't look good if you zoom in too much or too far out.

New avatars is something that would take years if it is to be developped by modders in my opinion, and it is not the work of modders.

It should be the devs that would create new avatars, but for the same reasons we hear about, they won't/can't do it.

I would really like to see new sprites, as i think that it is impossible for the game to look better without them, but i don't think it will happen, neither by modders, nor by the devs.

P.S. Creating new models would need to make the 3D models, animate them, in each armor and weapon combination available, and then BAM them, make them into bam files i think. All of those takes serious work if you don't have a team dedicated to it. And you don't just find 3D modellers and animators lying around to mod games.

leeho730

Very hard job.

Archaic

@WillyPete - zooming is an awesome function for many reason. I zoom in whenever I enter a building or inside structure especially if you are using non-scaled settings on a high resolution screen. Why are you judging the game based on someone else experience (review)? Major mistake - the game had a rocky launch but they have release many patches which have enhanced the game greatly. Give the game a chance and play it yourself. There are 1000s of portaits avail on the forums for you to pick from. Find some that you like and replace them for the NPCs of your choice. Good luck.