@powerfulally I actually disagree about it not being good for a console. Granted, there would need to be some creative things done with the controller, but the option to pause in the middle of battle would make it easy and painless to learn the controls. I actually really hoped this would be coming out on the Xbox, because that's my game machine of choice. I really don't mind though.
The first thing you said is why I want them to make BGIII though. It seems like they're listening to the consumers and genuinely want to make a quality product. This makes me believe they won't mess up the BG name.
@Zaccaro Even this forum is quite a proof that they CARE of what gamers think about it and they want to deliver the best product possible.
@powerfulally its not quite a proof, It is a proof, Trent Oster and other Devs posted replys quite frequently in the forum. well.. at least until the forum opened to the public and got flooded with threads
@paulsifer I always believed this is a game that a gamepad wouldn't match. Mouse is faster and more precise for these kind of things and you would have to use autopause really often, not to mention selection of the party members (maybe some hotkey for that?) and the in-game fonts would have to be a lot bigger to make it readable. As BG is a game that focuses on dialogues I would find it tiresome on a big TV screen, that's my justification. BG3 is my dream, hope everything will be just right! @mch202 it wouldn't make any sense if they don't read the forum. "Here you have a brand new forum, where you can do feature requests that we won't be taking under consideration, you losers!". Even if they wouldn't respond so often I guess they wanted to get a feeling what fans want from this game.
@powerfulally I can see that. I would guess something like RT to switch between people, LT to pause, RB to go into spells. I dunno, even on the computer I pause a lot, and I actually don't mind dialogue on the television. I really enjoyed Dragon Age on it (and I played it mostly for the dialogue). I'm not saying it would be as good as on the computer for most people, I just think it would be possible, and I'd like it more.
Wait. Trent Oster said on his own Twitter that game should be able to run on 2880x1800.... Combine that with lack of improved quality 2D sprites and, on the screen, even Firkraag would look ridiculously small, not to mention other, much smaller creatures... If I will be fored to buy microscpe in order to play, then I think I'll quit.
Awright, awright... first, bring back the old BG game spirit and, then, we'll see where we're going from here. Hopefully, this developer/player/fan community are able to come up with a BG 3 or something (epic) else.
I too agree with the notion of disappointment. Without a doubt, new and well-crafted content will always be welcome, but judging by this thread I get the feeling that EE isn't really adding anything more to BG than what a set of carefully selected, user-made (and free) mods tends to do: New characters? There are a lot of those. More banter? Been done in several packs and crossmod packs. New quests and encounters? There's probably hundreds of hours of new content out there, though admittedly the quality isn't always that high. Changed game mechanics? You can customize nearly every aspect of those.
In short, I would simply have expected the EE to be something more than what a group of dedicated amateurs can come up with.
In short, I would simply have expected the EE to be something more than what a group of dedicated amateurs can come up with.
Im sorry, but I find this line very disparaging in the great efforts that the team has done to put this project together...
You judge the final product even before you know what the final product is all about!
The intention isn't to belittle their efforts - and for my part I am enough of a fan to buy this regardless, if nothing else to support a rebirth of the BG series - but if we can't voice our disappointment or express skepticism here, then what good are the forums? And in all honesty, nothing I have heard about the added features so far (especially with this list of what cannot be done taken into account) makes me believe that the EE brings anything more to the (PC) game than what the modding communities have already been doing for years.
I didnt say you cant voice your disappointment, Every each one of us expressed a little disappointment in some way or another, but I think it should be done in a modest way...
after all, they still save their cards close to the chest, you dont know all about this project, and they are not allowed to reveal anything yet, you might get your surprises or its just me being too optemistic.
its not BG: Remaked - its BG: Enhanced, there is a great difference. I think its the best for us to save our judgments for the final product, until than we can only spaculate.
@Shin Sounds like you are missing the whole point to BG:EE... they are doing what the modding community CANT do... they can fix everything without the need of using fixpacks and patch the engine directly because they have the source code, among the other enhancements they have planned which are still secret. Then all modders have to do is MOD the thing! That is what is getting me the most excited as a modder. It currently takes so many tweak packs and bug fixes to get mods working together its become ridiculous. And one mod changes another... not always for the better.
And as @mch202 just said: Its not like they don't come around the forums... they do, and they ask questions, make comments. I am really sorry you are feeling dissapointment, but dont you think it might be a bit misplaced before even knowing what will be in the final product? So far, what I have heard and seen has got me super excited. *shrugs*
@Shin Sounds like you are missing the whole point to BG:EE... they are doing what the modding community CANT do... they can fix everything without the need of using fixpacks and patch the engine directly because they have the source code, among the other enhancements they have planned which are still secret. Then all modders have to do is MOD the thing! That is what is getting me the most excited as a modder. It currently takes so many tweak packs and bug fixes to get mods working together its become ridiculous. And one mod changes another... not always for the better.
And as @mch202 just said: Its not like they don't come around the forums... they do, and they ask questions, make comments. I am really sorry you are feeling dissapointment, but dont you think it might be a bit misplaced before even knowing what will be in the final product? So far, what I have heard and seen has got me super excited. *shrugs*
Well, I can see a certain point to fixing everything in one sweep (if that is indeed what will happen), but I don't agree that the mod conflict situation is that bad. Each and every mod won't work together, sure, but with some planning and reading you can easily have a smooth game running even with 50+ mods in it. And yeah, if the point to the EE is to incorporate the fixpacks and tweakpacks into the source code, then I admit I missed it.. but in my eyes it really isn't a hassle to do 10 minutes of fixing and tweaking after the install.
And if the secret enhancements bring hitherto unseen things to the game, no one will be happier than I.. but like I said, I haven't heard of anything like that yet.
Also, I apologize if I sounded aggressive in expressing disappointment. It's most assuredly nothing personal aimed at anyone involved with making the EE. My expectations were just more along the lines that the EE would improve the things that could not be addressed by modding, console usage, file editing or exe manipulation - and unlike you I wasn't thinking about fixpack consolidation.
Edit: I will add that if objects currently on the externalization list are seen through, that would definitely be significant.
Very glad to see this post, it was worrying to see the number of false expectations that were present on the forum. I prefer to not sound redundant, but once again I find myself compelled to respond to the comments made about being disappointed with the scope of the project.
First of all, Baldur's Gate is a very old RPG tied up in more licensing with more groups than I care to think about. This enhancement is not a thing that was likely to ever be done by anyone. There simply isn't enough money in it. If there was enough money in the idea, Bioware would have done this themselves by now. This project (while still needing to be profitable like any other business venture) seems to be more of a labor of love than anything. The development team love Baldur's gate and they saw a desire for an enhancement of this great classic, and a desire to see new games similar to Baldur's Gate made in the future, and so they decided to meet that desire. I, for one, am very happy that they did.
Please don't misconstrue my constant support for the ramblings of a blind fanboy, as I am certainly not that. I do not fall out of my chair at the mention of Baldur's Gate, and I try to take everything with a grain of salt. The Dark Alliance games, for example, did not have me jumping for joy. They were fine games, but they were also a blatant attempt to capitalize on the BG name as they were not anything like the actual Baldur's Gate series. There is just more than enough product here to justify the support of this enhancement:
Engine Tweaks - Playing the games in an updated and enhanced version of the ToB engine is a great improvement in my opinion, and will really help to endear these games to a new market as BG1 is, for many RPG players that are used to more modern RPGs, something of a hassle. This engine update and port will really make the games feel more fluid.
Bugfixes - The guys over at Overhaul are working their asses off to fix countless bugs. Just take a look at the Fixed category for evidence of this. You may think that installing a fixpack or two is easy, but a new player being told about the things he/she has to do just to get the game to not be buggy would be heavily discouraged to bother playing it.
Modding Support - People just can't stop mentioning that it seems to them that everything that the BG:EE team is doing can easily be done with mods. Well, take a look around this forum and see for yourselves what the modders have to say. They're excited about BG:EE. They're excited because Overhaul has access far beyond that which modders have ever had access to, and Trent and the guys are doing a great deal to externalize things and make BG:EE as modder friendly as possible. This, coupled with the game already incorporating a wealth of fixes, etc. means that mods will be able to do things that they couldn't before, and do them more seamlessly.
New Content - Yes, there are a great deal of mods out there for new NPCs and even new adventures, but the truth is that new adventures are difficult for modders to make, and the Overhaul guys are implementing two new fully professionally developed adventures into the game, as well as a new NPC set to span across the series, all of which have to be of good enough quality to live up to the legacy set by Baldur's Gate.
Visuals - No, the definition of the graphics can't be improved. This is a fact we have to face as the assets were lost and a full remake of all the individual animations would take far more time and money than is available to any small development team. We're still getting high resolution support without the use of a mod, as well as the ability to zoom, which I'm sure some people will find useful. To me, the art of the game is good enough, and Baldur's Gate was never about the graphics.
Ultimately, this enhanced version of BG that incorporates TotSC and all the things mentioned above is being offered for ten bucks. Well, I suppose it's reasonable to be disappointed by something you imagined being enhanced not being implemented in this release, but I think it would be difficult to be disappointed in the final product that is being offered, just from what we know of it now. Sorry for the long post.
I knew this, and honestly I like most of it! But those receiving the news just now might be a little shocked. Personally I know they will make a great job and those limitations might even work in the game's favour.
I for one am totally excited about the game. I would have been happy with a straight port to the iPad and osx. To hear they are able to fix the bugs and add some new content is just icing on the cake. I will be waiting to give them my money as soon as it is released.
I am going to be buying this game simply for the engine tweaks - and possibly buying about 6/7 copies to gift to people. Though I'll be buying about 15 of BG2:EE.
I still feel that the questions in this thread has not been answered in sufficient detail by overhaul, there is some detail missing. Maybe @AndreaColombo could add it to the OP if it does get answered.
@AndreaColombo - Thanks for all the info When can we expect some screenshots or a trailer or anything that can give us a hint of what to really expect from BGEE.
If i red correctly, then you can't do anything to enhance the game. It will be the same as before : You can't deliver Baldur's Gate HD, and/or re-render any art at higher resolutions. You can't modify sprite, you can't change map, well, you can't do nothing so why create a new enhanced edition for BG ?
I have just one question : Is it possible to make BG:EE playable on Linux ? If i remember correctly, it was possible with the old one by changing some little things, so it would be great for the linux community users that the game would be officially supported.
If i red correctly, then you can't do anything to enhance the game. It will be the same as before : You can't deliver Baldur's Gate HD, and/or re-render any art at higher resolutions. You can't modify sprite, you can't change map, well, you can't do nothing so why create a new enhanced edition for BG ?
@Falheim I warmly suggest you to read jaysl659 comment and other comments as well
I was disappointed with the confirmed facts, however it is brilliant that we are being told what is happening rather than being surprised with something bad like Mass effect 3 *Here’s the great ending you were totally expecting!* After reading things through I think a thread that shows what is being included so we can sift through the goodies would be beneficial for people to see what we are getting. All I personally want to know is what is being fixed, what is being enhanced and will the game run a lot smoother? will it be easy to install and will the multiplayer community work and get people playing together? I also want to know will there be the zooming feature? What is being added :S
Comments
The first thing you said is why I want them to make BGIII though. It seems like they're listening to the consumers and genuinely want to make a quality product. This makes me believe they won't mess up the BG name.
BG3 is my dream, hope everything will be just right!
@mch202 it wouldn't make any sense if they don't read the forum. "Here you have a brand new forum, where you can do feature requests that we won't be taking under consideration, you losers!". Even if they wouldn't respond so often I guess they wanted to get a feeling what fans want from this game.
There's going to be a zoom feature.
In short, I would simply have expected the EE to be something more than what a group of dedicated amateurs can come up with.
You judge the final product even before you know what the final product is all about!
And in all honesty, nothing I have heard about the added features so far (especially with this list of what cannot be done taken into account) makes me believe that the EE brings anything more to the (PC) game than what the modding communities have already been doing for years.
I didnt say you cant voice your disappointment, Every each one of us expressed a little disappointment in some way or another, but I think it should be done in a modest way...
after all, they still save their cards close to the chest, you dont know all about this project, and they are not allowed to reveal anything yet, you might get your surprises or its just me being too optemistic.
its not BG: Remaked - its BG: Enhanced, there is a great difference. I think its the best for us to save our judgments for the final product, until than we can only spaculate.
And as @mch202 just said: Its not like they don't come around the forums... they do, and they ask questions, make comments. I am really sorry you are feeling dissapointment, but dont you think it might be a bit misplaced before even knowing what will be in the final product? So far, what I have heard and seen has got me super excited. *shrugs*
And yeah, if the point to the EE is to incorporate the fixpacks and tweakpacks into the source code, then I admit I missed it.. but in my eyes it really isn't a hassle to do 10 minutes of fixing and tweaking after the install.
And if the secret enhancements bring hitherto unseen things to the game, no one will be happier than I.. but like I said, I haven't heard of anything like that yet.
Also, I apologize if I sounded aggressive in expressing disappointment. It's most assuredly nothing personal aimed at anyone involved with making the EE. My expectations were just more along the lines that the EE would improve the things that could not be addressed by modding, console usage, file editing or exe manipulation - and unlike you I wasn't thinking about fixpack consolidation.
Edit: I will add that if objects currently on the externalization list are seen through, that would definitely be significant.
First of all, Baldur's Gate is a very old RPG tied up in more licensing with more groups than I care to think about. This enhancement is not a thing that was likely to ever be done by anyone. There simply isn't enough money in it. If there was enough money in the idea, Bioware would have done this themselves by now. This project (while still needing to be profitable like any other business venture) seems to be more of a labor of love than anything. The development team love Baldur's gate and they saw a desire for an enhancement of this great classic, and a desire to see new games similar to Baldur's Gate made in the future, and so they decided to meet that desire. I, for one, am very happy that they did.
Please don't misconstrue my constant support for the ramblings of a blind fanboy, as I am certainly not that. I do not fall out of my chair at the mention of Baldur's Gate, and I try to take everything with a grain of salt. The Dark Alliance games, for example, did not have me jumping for joy. They were fine games, but they were also a blatant attempt to capitalize on the BG name as they were not anything like the actual Baldur's Gate series. There is just more than enough product here to justify the support of this enhancement:
Engine Tweaks - Playing the games in an updated and enhanced version of the ToB engine is a great improvement in my opinion, and will really help to endear these games to a new market as BG1 is, for many RPG players that are used to more modern RPGs, something of a hassle. This engine update and port will really make the games feel more fluid.
Bugfixes - The guys over at Overhaul are working their asses off to fix countless bugs. Just take a look at the Fixed category for evidence of this. You may think that installing a fixpack or two is easy, but a new player being told about the things he/she has to do just to get the game to not be buggy would be heavily discouraged to bother playing it.
Modding Support - People just can't stop mentioning that it seems to them that everything that the BG:EE team is doing can easily be done with mods. Well, take a look around this forum and see for yourselves what the modders have to say. They're excited about BG:EE. They're excited because Overhaul has access far beyond that which modders have ever had access to, and Trent and the guys are doing a great deal to externalize things and make BG:EE as modder friendly as possible. This, coupled with the game already incorporating a wealth of fixes, etc. means that mods will be able to do things that they couldn't before, and do them more seamlessly.
New Content - Yes, there are a great deal of mods out there for new NPCs and even new adventures, but the truth is that new adventures are difficult for modders to make, and the Overhaul guys are implementing two new fully professionally developed adventures into the game, as well as a new NPC set to span across the series, all of which have to be of good enough quality to live up to the legacy set by Baldur's Gate.
Visuals - No, the definition of the graphics can't be improved. This is a fact we have to face as the assets were lost and a full remake of all the individual animations would take far more time and money than is available to any small development team. We're still getting high resolution support without the use of a mod, as well as the ability to zoom, which I'm sure some people will find useful. To me, the art of the game is good enough, and Baldur's Gate was never about the graphics.
Ultimately, this enhanced version of BG that incorporates TotSC and all the things mentioned above is being offered for ten bucks. Well, I suppose it's reasonable to be disappointed by something you imagined being enhanced not being implemented in this release, but I think it would be difficult to be disappointed in the final product that is being offered, just from what we know of it now. Sorry for the long post.
They do good. Hamsters and Rangers everywhere, rejoice.
When can we expect some screenshots or a trailer or anything that can give us a hint of what to really expect from BGEE.
I have just one question : Is it possible to make BG:EE playable on Linux ? If i remember correctly, it was possible with the old one by changing some little things, so it would be great for the linux community users that the game would be officially supported.
After reading things through I think a thread that shows what is being included so we can sift through the goodies would be beneficial for people to see what we are getting.
All I personally want to know is what is being fixed, what is being enhanced and will the game run a lot smoother? will it be easy to install and will the multiplayer community work and get people playing together? I also want to know will there be the zooming feature? What is being added :S