Since I am curious, what BG NPCs would you like to see again in Athkatla? I know I was always disappointed when Alora showed up far too late for me to take advantage of her abilities. But for personality, I'd have to go with Xan. I don't think I've ever seen pessimism played so artfully.
That's just me, though; I couldn't speak for the others.
Will my dream of playing a Polish translation ever come true? The short answer is yes. As noted in my answer regarding the translation teams, it depends on how quickly our translators work--and we try to let them take breaks every once in a while, or the monkey starts to stare at us funny...
Do you plan to add voice communication to multiplayer? We don't have any current plans for voice communication, no. We may look at it somewhere down the road. For myself, when I play with my brother we typically use Skype or cell phones to get the audio component.
Will we be able to play BG1 and BG2 as a single game (a la "BG Trilogy")? Not at launch, no. We may look at something like that later on, but at launch they have to be separate programs.
What is the meaning of life? Oh, man, I don't know. It's been so long...
Speaking of which, it's time for my daily trip to the Pit of Despair. I think today is a Five-Year day. I'll be back to answer more of your questions a bit later; keep them coming!
(Alright, Count Rugen, let's see what you've goAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGHHHHH...)
Are any changes planned for any of the new kits, specifically the DD? Ie, breath weapon bugs or altered class perks
The patch we're polishing right now will address a lot of the issues with the new kits we introduced. We don't have any current plans to rebalance the kits, but we may take another look later on.
No plans to rebalance the new kits, or no plans to rebalance any kits at all? If not, why not?
And do you plan to add any more?
Is the ability to dual/multiclass kits something we may see in the future?
@PugPug It's not so much that we're planning not to rebalance them, it's more that we don't have any solid plans for doing so at the moment. Any time you change something fundamental in the game, whether it's a kit, a race, or a creature file, it raises the potential to break things. Not just with bugs, but in existing saves. So while we aren't ruling anything out, it's much simpler to add a kit, from the player's perspective, than it is to change one.
That's why I made a thread in the modding forum asking what changes could be made to kits that wouldn't break existing characters, but it got zero replies...
A few questions that match my personal interests...
Is there going to be more Mummies in BG2:EE?
Can we put a Mummie into BG:EE?
Can we have a quest to bring Yoshimo back to life through Mummification? (You already have his heart... Now you just need to wrap his desiccated body in toilet paper...)
If the answer is NO to all three... What have you, Overhaul, got against Mummies!
And what about Daddies? Yeah!
Plus...
@Dee , that prank where you got chained to your desk... Have they found the key yet? How do you go to the toilet?
There is any chance that reputation system gets improved somehow? I mean, so far its too plain to be good or evil, something like Virtue mod or something even more elaborated could hit the spot and its really something I wanted to see, particulary.
@Dee When reffering to "Polish translation ever come true", I believe it is about original BG1 voiceovers, since the translation is ready for eight months already, and only voiceovers from original BG1 content are missing. The question is, when (or if?) we can expect fully this language (and others) fully supported, the way it should be?
Hey guys, awesome thread! I have a few questions, sorry! 1. Are you planning to/are you able to tie up any loose ends in BG2 e.g. the Twisted Rune encounter, Yoshimo's story, Jan's quest etc? 2. Do you have any plans/ are you able to change/ expand on any of the existing strongholds or add new ones? 2. Are Dorn, Neera and Rasaad going to get new portraits in BG2EE? I mean Minsc, Imoen, Jaheira, Edwin and Viccy all change portraits between games so it would seem weird if our new friends don't. 7. ToB: can you give us any new details? What do you guys actually think about ToB in its vanilla form? d. Are you looking at extending the colour palette for paperdolls at all? -. Is it true that Overhaul Games is awesome(!!!)? Coz that's what I think + How do you make lists? Keep up the good work guys!
Where does Overhaul intend to go after Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition series is complete? It's known that Overhaul likes Party-Based RPGs, but are the plans to Enhance other similar games or is there a new IP in the works?
Will you improve the graphics on the Web spell? (like they did in IWD), and will you add new spells to the game?
Also, what are your plans for BG1? I mean, you've done great work so far, but what should we expect to see in the future? are you going to just add new things to the existing game? or will you also delve in to the old content?
Web isn't the only spell that had awesome graphics and effects in IWD that I'd like to see. The elemental damage effects in BG were also rather pathetic, compared to IWD. Will we see any of these in the future?
Will you add any more romance options? Like, Valygar and Haer'Dalis were supposed to be in original, but were cut.
What of Revised Hell Trials? Will you be doing anything at all to make the final dungeon more sensible, like make the character not go evil at the first bad decision, allow him to turn good, and so forth?
Does the patch improve the spell icons in the spell books? long story short- they're pixelated and ugly. The high quality spell icon resources are already in the game, so it should be easy to use them. See for yourself, pick up a spell scroll in your inventory (click it and let it float), and you're treated to a spell icon that is the same size as the one in the spell book, but higher resolution. Since I'm pretty sure that scroll icons are the spell icon with an alpha layer overlaid onto a parchment graphic, you could just grab the spell icon and use it in the books.
EDIT: apparently clicking a scroll no longer gives a larger version of the icon, but a rolled up parchment. Oh well, you can still see the difference here:
Is the Reputation system being revamped?@Itomon Not any time soon, no. As with changing kits, anything that alters a fundamental mechanic needs to be looked at very carefully so as not to break anything in the process. The reputation system isn't "ideal", but it works fine for what we need it to do in the game right now.
If the Ikea ninjas steal a tree, will it make a sound?@DecrepitDragon It is the position of The Company not to comment on any activities that may or may not be taking place with respect to ninjas. The Company chooses not to comment on the existence (or lack thereof) of any ninja-based organization, and this is certainly not an indication that there are ninjas within The Company.
Are you planning to "enhance" IWD or Planescape: Torment? Right now we're focusing on the current projects, so we don't have anything concrete to say about what we might do later on with respect to future projects.
Will enhancements made to BG2EE be backported to BG1EE, and vice versa? Any enhancements that we make to the engine will be implemented in both games, yes (you might even see some of them in the next patch for BG1EE, so keep an eye out for them). I can't comment on kits or spells.
Is there any info you can share about the match making service? Hopeful release, breakthroughs, pitfalls, etc?@Wiggles We've been very happy with the progress on the multiplayer end of things. Right now there are some stability issues we're attempting to sort out, but having tried it out I think people will be pleased with how it's all set up. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you more soon.
Are you planning to tie up loose ends in any of the existing quests in BG2? Our contract is a bit sticky when it comes to messing with the existing story content, so we have to be very careful about what we change or add to the "vanilla" characters and their respective plotlines. It's "easier" from a contract perspective to create all-new content than to extend existing content. That's not to say it's impossible, but it takes a fair bit more planning.
Are new spells (or new spell graphics) being added in the next patch? Not at this point, no. We may do more later on, however.
What about [Feature X]? Unfortunately, we can't comment on features that haven't yet been implemented. Even if work has started on a new feature, until it's released there's no guarantee that something won't be discovered in the development process or in QA that makes it unfeasible to implement.
If you're curious about something, though, do keep asking--if we can answer, we will.
When will the patch be released? At this point, the best answer I can give is "When it's ready to be released." We want to make sure that the fixes and features we're implementing are solid and stable, which means some thorough testing and QA.
Comments
I know I was always disappointed when Alora showed up far too late for me to take advantage of her abilities. But for personality, I'd have to go with Xan. I don't think I've ever seen pessimism played so artfully.
That's just me, though; I couldn't speak for the others.
Will my dream of playing a Polish translation ever come true?
The short answer is yes. As noted in my answer regarding the translation teams, it depends on how quickly our translators work--and we try to let them take breaks every once in a while, or the monkey starts to stare at us funny...
Do you plan to add voice communication to multiplayer?
We don't have any current plans for voice communication, no. We may look at it somewhere down the road. For myself, when I play with my brother we typically use Skype or cell phones to get the audio component.
Will we be able to play BG1 and BG2 as a single game (a la "BG Trilogy")?
Not at launch, no. We may look at something like that later on, but at launch they have to be separate programs.
What is the meaning of life?
Oh, man, I don't know. It's been so long...
Speaking of which, it's time for my daily trip to the Pit of Despair. I think today is a Five-Year day. I'll be back to answer more of your questions a bit later; keep them coming!
(Alright, Count Rugen, let's see what you've goAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGHHHHH...)
And do you plan to add any more?
Is the ability to dual/multiclass kits something we may see in the future?
That's why I made a thread in the modding forum asking what changes could be made to kits that wouldn't break existing characters, but it got zero replies...
A few questions that match my personal interests...
Is there going to be more Mummies in BG2:EE?
Can we put a Mummie into BG:EE?
Can we have a quest to bring Yoshimo back to life through Mummification? (You already have his heart... Now you just need to wrap his desiccated body in toilet paper...)
If the answer is NO to all three... What have you, Overhaul, got against Mummies!
And what about Daddies? Yeah!
Plus...
@Dee , that prank where you got chained to your desk... Have they found the key yet? How do you go to the toilet?
. . . er . .wait a minute, thats wrong . . .
If the Ikea ninjas steal a tree, will it still make a sound? . . .
Yeah. That sounds about right. . . .
Edit: Also, will upgrades made to BG2 will be on BG1, such as a new kit or something like that.
Is there any info you can share about the match making service? Hopeful release, breakthroughs, pitfalls, etc?
When reffering to "Polish translation ever come true", I believe it is about original BG1 voiceovers, since the translation is ready for eight months already, and only voiceovers from original BG1 content are missing. The question is, when (or if?) we can expect fully this language (and others) fully supported, the way it should be?
1. Are you planning to/are you able to tie up any loose ends in BG2 e.g. the Twisted Rune encounter, Yoshimo's story, Jan's quest etc?
2. Do you have any plans/ are you able to change/ expand on any of the existing strongholds or add new ones?
2. Are Dorn, Neera and Rasaad going to get new portraits in BG2EE? I mean Minsc, Imoen, Jaheira, Edwin and Viccy all change portraits between games so it would seem weird if our new friends don't.
7. ToB: can you give us any new details? What do you guys actually think about ToB in its vanilla form?
d. Are you looking at extending the colour palette for paperdolls at all?
-. Is it true that Overhaul Games is awesome(!!!)? Coz that's what I think
+ How do you make lists?
Keep up the good work guys!
Also, what are your plans for BG1? I mean, you've done great work so far, but what should we expect to see in the future? are you going to just add new things to the existing game? or will you also delve in to the old content?
Will you add any more romance options? Like, Valygar and Haer'Dalis were supposed to be in original, but were cut.
What of Revised Hell Trials? Will you be doing anything at all to make the final dungeon more sensible, like make the character not go evil at the first bad decision, allow him to turn good, and so forth?
[spoiler]
<ol> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> </ol> <ul> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> </ul>Ordered list:- Item 1
- Item 2
Unordered list:<ol> <li>Item 1 <ul> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> </ul> </li> <li>Item 2 <ul> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> </ul> </li> </ol>Unordered list nested within an ordered list:Code can be seen on the right. More information can be found/requested in the formatting thread
[/spoiler]
Does the patch improve the spell icons in the spell books? long story short- they're pixelated and ugly. The high quality spell icon resources are already in the game, so it should be easy to use them. See for yourself, pick up a spell scroll in your inventory (click it and let it float), and you're treated to a spell icon that is the same size as the one in the spell book, but higher resolution. Since I'm pretty sure that scroll icons are the spell icon with an alpha layer overlaid onto a parchment graphic, you could just grab the spell icon and use it in the books.
EDIT: apparently clicking a scroll no longer gives a larger version of the icon, but a rolled up parchment. Oh well, you can still see the difference here:
2) If the IP owner won't put up cash for a new BG could someone sit down and show them the value of Kickstarters' ability to get games funded?
Are you my mummy?
Is the Reputation system being revamped? @Itomon
Not any time soon, no. As with changing kits, anything that alters a fundamental mechanic needs to be looked at very carefully so as not to break anything in the process. The reputation system isn't "ideal", but it works fine for what we need it to do in the game right now.
If the Ikea ninjas steal a tree, will it make a sound? @DecrepitDragon
It is the position of The Company not to comment on any activities that may or may not be taking place with respect to ninjas. The Company chooses not to comment on the existence (or lack thereof) of any ninja-based organization, and this is certainly not an indication that there are ninjas within The Company.
Are you planning to "enhance" IWD or Planescape: Torment?
Right now we're focusing on the current projects, so we don't have anything concrete to say about what we might do later on with respect to future projects.
Will enhancements made to BG2EE be backported to BG1EE, and vice versa?
Any enhancements that we make to the engine will be implemented in both games, yes (you might even see some of them in the next patch for BG1EE, so keep an eye out for them). I can't comment on kits or spells.
Is there any info you can share about the match making service? Hopeful release, breakthroughs, pitfalls, etc? @Wiggles
We've been very happy with the progress on the multiplayer end of things. Right now there are some stability issues we're attempting to sort out, but having tried it out I think people will be pleased with how it's all set up. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you more soon.
Are you planning to tie up loose ends in any of the existing quests in BG2?
Our contract is a bit sticky when it comes to messing with the existing story content, so we have to be very careful about what we change or add to the "vanilla" characters and their respective plotlines. It's "easier" from a contract perspective to create all-new content than to extend existing content. That's not to say it's impossible, but it takes a fair bit more planning.
Are new spells (or new spell graphics) being added in the next patch?
Not at this point, no. We may do more later on, however.
What about [Feature X]?
Unfortunately, we can't comment on features that haven't yet been implemented. Even if work has started on a new feature, until it's released there's no guarantee that something won't be discovered in the development process or in QA that makes it unfeasible to implement.
If you're curious about something, though, do keep asking--if we can answer, we will.
When will the patch be released?
At this point, the best answer I can give is "When it's ready to be released." We want to make sure that the fixes and features we're implementing are solid and stable, which means some thorough testing and QA.