Scope of the BG Projects
Lions_fan
Member Posts: 19
First off I just wanted to say hi here and I'm a big fan of the Baldur's Gate saga! The first time I played it, the BG2 bundle was on sale for $20, didn't know anyone that played, never heard of it. My brother bought it and played it for a while, but after ten minutes I was sucked in. It was the greatest game I'd ever played growing up- better than FF7, Mario RPG, etc. If it's not too pathetic, I remember playing til 3 in the morning on some occasions, not even remotely tired, completely lost in quests.
I learned in that first hour (and going online for help) about the different kits and classes, the ability to customize your players stats, a wide variety of weapon types, the ability to CREATE your own NPC team- this stuff is almost a treasure UNIQUE to Baldur's Gate. Duel-wielding Kensai's and Swashbucklers with different types of weapons- how awesome is that?
Recently I decided to buy Diablo 3 because I WANTED IT TO BE BALDUR'S GATE. I actually thought it would be better because it was more popular. Boy was I disappointed. :P
Then news of this game hit, and the memories came back: Two-headed giants, trolls, the complete creepiness of the Cult of the Unseeing Eye, reputation points, pickpocketing, the dynamics your character had with the town, alignment. Dungeons ranging from bright circus demon portal things (remember the theatre swashbuckler and his quest to an alternate dimension?) to the Drow lairs, to the Keep and woods outside infested with trolls. I loved the VARIETY and ingenuity of the atmospheres- nothing like those storylines and side quests anywhere. I even got that ring from killing the Demi-Lich, which was a great quest because it was a secret quest right out in the open that everyone wondered about.
TL;DR This game was the serious shiznits.
I'm wondering about the scope of the game but almost can't wait til this afternoon. I'm worried if one summer is enough time to remake a game.
Diablo 3 left a bad taste in my mouth by being, as many call it, a quick moneygrab (a majority of reviews are 1-2 stars on most vendor sites). Activision bought out Blizzard, and since then WoW has tanked and Diablo 3, according to many players and I agree, was created just for the presales, with the game revolving around funneling its players into spending more money on a real money auction house.
This was what I was hit with (and many D3 players as well I'm sure) when I heard Baldur's Gate was just bought out and being remade.
Can this be real?
My main concern is with the short amount of development time. Usually the sooner the better is great but- one summer? I'm worried about any software that only spends 3-6 months in dev.
I'm also concerned about the rumored lack of a boxed edition. Only releasing it online without hitting the shelves seems like making a straight to DVD film. Except with Scorcese material.
My thoughts are, with the millions of players dissatisfied with Diablo, WoW, LoL, GW, etc and with the underappreciated gem that BG was, the potential for the games to be redone is limitless. Let's face it- the foundation for this Baldur's Gate remake/triology is the most solid out of any game that's come out in years. Other online games with millions of players are mostly just spinoffs of each other. I'd love to see BG get the credit it deserves with the way online gaming has changed today. That being said, one summer of development and no boxed edition... I could be wrong but that sounds like it's selling itself short.
That being said, I don't think it's possible to go wrong with the EE even if theoretically it were just a graphical enhancement- the games are just that deep and good, and it's been so long that it'd like a whole new story.
Sorry if this marshes anyone's mallow here with a serious thread! Just with WoW, D3, Star Wars, not having any good alternative, my first thoughts when I heard this was being remade, was this was going to be IT finally. The foundation the original games set up almost mandates it.
TL;DR- Is this game going to be the shiznits too?
I learned in that first hour (and going online for help) about the different kits and classes, the ability to customize your players stats, a wide variety of weapon types, the ability to CREATE your own NPC team- this stuff is almost a treasure UNIQUE to Baldur's Gate. Duel-wielding Kensai's and Swashbucklers with different types of weapons- how awesome is that?
Recently I decided to buy Diablo 3 because I WANTED IT TO BE BALDUR'S GATE. I actually thought it would be better because it was more popular. Boy was I disappointed. :P
Then news of this game hit, and the memories came back: Two-headed giants, trolls, the complete creepiness of the Cult of the Unseeing Eye, reputation points, pickpocketing, the dynamics your character had with the town, alignment. Dungeons ranging from bright circus demon portal things (remember the theatre swashbuckler and his quest to an alternate dimension?) to the Drow lairs, to the Keep and woods outside infested with trolls. I loved the VARIETY and ingenuity of the atmospheres- nothing like those storylines and side quests anywhere. I even got that ring from killing the Demi-Lich, which was a great quest because it was a secret quest right out in the open that everyone wondered about.
TL;DR This game was the serious shiznits.
I'm wondering about the scope of the game but almost can't wait til this afternoon. I'm worried if one summer is enough time to remake a game.
Diablo 3 left a bad taste in my mouth by being, as many call it, a quick moneygrab (a majority of reviews are 1-2 stars on most vendor sites). Activision bought out Blizzard, and since then WoW has tanked and Diablo 3, according to many players and I agree, was created just for the presales, with the game revolving around funneling its players into spending more money on a real money auction house.
This was what I was hit with (and many D3 players as well I'm sure) when I heard Baldur's Gate was just bought out and being remade.
Can this be real?
My main concern is with the short amount of development time. Usually the sooner the better is great but- one summer? I'm worried about any software that only spends 3-6 months in dev.
I'm also concerned about the rumored lack of a boxed edition. Only releasing it online without hitting the shelves seems like making a straight to DVD film. Except with Scorcese material.
My thoughts are, with the millions of players dissatisfied with Diablo, WoW, LoL, GW, etc and with the underappreciated gem that BG was, the potential for the games to be redone is limitless. Let's face it- the foundation for this Baldur's Gate remake/triology is the most solid out of any game that's come out in years. Other online games with millions of players are mostly just spinoffs of each other. I'd love to see BG get the credit it deserves with the way online gaming has changed today. That being said, one summer of development and no boxed edition... I could be wrong but that sounds like it's selling itself short.
That being said, I don't think it's possible to go wrong with the EE even if theoretically it were just a graphical enhancement- the games are just that deep and good, and it's been so long that it'd like a whole new story.
Sorry if this marshes anyone's mallow here with a serious thread! Just with WoW, D3, Star Wars, not having any good alternative, my first thoughts when I heard this was being remade, was this was going to be IT finally. The foundation the original games set up almost mandates it.
TL;DR- Is this game going to be the shiznits too?
1
Comments
So the way I see it, BG:EE doesn't have to be a perfect game out of the box - in all likelihood it won't be - but as long as it turns out to be a work of love and dedication, there is a whole lot of potential is this project.
As for specifics, there are posts on these boards regarding features that will be included, features that are wished for and, perhaps most important, things that cannot be changed; so you can browse around and get an idea of how to align your expectations.
as for the short time of development, I dont know how much they worked on it Before the announcment in March, but I think that 6-7 months is enough time, right now they work only on BG1 and not Bg2, and it is an enhancement and not a remake.
also don't forget that some of this guys actually worked on the Original game back in 1998, so they I believe they know what they are doing.
from swarming in this forum for the last 2 months and the Information I gathered, I don't think we will get disappointed :-)
This isnt a total remake for one. The old infinity engine (albeit updated) will be used, and while the development cycle has been quite short, the game was essentially already made. Also we dont really know when work started on this project, only when it was announced.
A boxed edition has no impact on the quality of the game. Id like a boxed edition (A LOT!), but they definately wont be going entirely retail as the costs would likely be too high with little pay off for a company of Beamdogs size.
Anywho, be exited like myself and many others but at the same time try not to overhype too much, lol. Even if the "enhancements" arent as good as wed like, we'll still have BG in all its glory. Not to mention the prospect of a sequal/other isometric RPGs
As for your issues:
Re boxed edition: there is nothing definitive yet, its unlikely there will be a boxed edition in time of release, Trent and co believe (jugging by tweets etc, so sorry I’m my wording of their beliefs are a little off here) a boxed edition wouldn’t be worth it sales wise especially as its an enhancing of an old game as opposed to an entirely new game, but I’m still holding out for a collectors edition down the track
Whether a few months is enough: I don’t know how long they’ve actually been physically working on it for but from what Trent’s said they’ve had the idea for years and have been working out contract issues for something like 14 months so its not like its a new idea. But as I said its not a new game and its not an entire remake of a game, its an enhancing, so they don’t exactly have to ‘change’ heaps they really just need to update and add stuff (sorry if the word ‘just’ sounded cocky, thats not my intention) the extent of what they’re doing will hopefully be made clear in less than 7 hours
"the underappreciated gem that BG was, the potential for the games to be redone is limitless” yes and no: we’d like to say yes its limitless but due to their restricted contract its not really limitless. Also as for time constraints they’ve already said they are planning on releasing much as DLC (more free than paid according to one of the developers, I think it was Phillip Daigle)
Basically I think it’ll be totally worth it. And yes I think it will be the shiznits too
Hope this helped mate
The boxed edition might not be necessary, and it is definitely an extra cost. Not just the production costs but contracts worked out with each vendor, materials and production, warehouse and bulk/individual shipping. The boxed edition I think would just be an important "arrived" statement for the triology again, but might be a lot of extra hassle.
Maybe NOT doing a boxed edition is how it's getting out so fast, if it has only been that short a time lol.
Definitely exciting, it's hard to not speculate with questions and a big timer!
Sure, there might be some small connection in terms of gameplay, but the experience in itself is vastly different. BG is dark, beautiful and realistic, Mario and FF have the aesthetic level of a cereal box
No disrespect homey, I'm a programmer/web developer and would volunteer for this if needed.
Anyone fears that that Contract? - that allows only selling so far on beamdog - just makes it anyway impossible from the start that the experiment is successful at all?
Lets hope people decide to give that platform too a chance - and if only for baldurs gate enhanced.
But still, i know at least a handful people which would have shown their support in buying if the game would also come to stream.
And i am sure many of you know at least a couple of friends which think the same way.
So... if that reason makes it happens that the ee would be a "box office bomb" - that would for sure mean no Baldur's Gate 2 ee?
Anyway, lets us helding hope high
Btw. i have of course preordered, so much said for my case
These are the games Beamdog currently sells- which to me just seems like a countless number of gimmicky knock-off games.
http://www.beamdog.com/
And this is the game Overhaul (the department making this EE) has redone:
Just one- a remake of a 2000 PC game that's now selling for $7.50: http://www.beamdog.com/products/mdk2-hd
It just seems like that remake was a gimmick.
There's absolutely nothing I can find about Beamdog and especially the new Overhaul division that points to an out of this world BG3 being developed by them in the future, or a fantastic remake on this one. Their roster of other games seems to indicate otherwise.
Is this an overreaction or am I missing something?
I'm going to hold off on pre-order until I see more. If they do to this game what they did to the other, even if it's in the same ballpark, it'll be essentially reselling almost exactly the same game and calling it "Enhanced Edition" because they can.
Someone please correct me. As it stands I won't be supporting it until after user reviews.
Sure, a cross release would also take away some money and the term "sold only on our platform" - but in times of general money maximization strategies, the recent economy crisis - it should be clear and logical enough that more money is equal more success.
As i wrote today in another thread... Where is the love for more money which brings us more content for the game
also now that there is a new site to bg, I belive we will hear news more frequently - including Adventure Y and more this they yet to reveal
but you are a grown man and you should know what is best for you. ;-)