Thankfully there doesn't seem to be hide nor hair of those silly motion comic cutscenes. There were some nice art here and there (Sir Dorkspawn looked less dorky for one), but they looked awful animated and I still think at least one is still broken/unfinished. BG2 cutscenes were of a much better quality than the original Baldur's Gate cutscenes so I'd much rather see those return than a poor replacement.
Great to hear! Looking forward to it! I must say as well: the new areas shown look very nice; can't wait to explore these! The upgraded spell effects look awesome as well.
"A mysterious thief in service to mysterious master seeks powerful artifacts from across the globe."
That sounds cool! I wonder what that might mean? "[A]cross the globe" from Amn or from where the mysterious master comes from? Maybe it's snake-men from Maztica!
So they announced BG2EE but havent released the patch for BGEE? Ok... Look guys, I preordered BGEE, and I want to pre order BG2EE(especially with the very cool 3d effects) but you are killing me. It feels like you wont make more money off releasing the patch so F it, just sell another game instead.
So yes, I would love to buy it assuming you finish BGEE
@Tazok- they already have explained that : there are basically 2 teams. One does content and design (BG2EE, new kits etc etc) and one does the technical part (engine, bugfixes patches). Now it is easy for the first group to just put their work into the engine the latter group has developed.
So, BG2EE is the work of the first group and the patch a result of months and months of drudgery of the latter.
Let's also keep in mind that work was being done on BG2:EE WAY before the legal issues arose. Work began on BG2EE before the last BGEE patch was released. This is the annoucement of availability, not the annoucement of the start of development.
Everyone wanted to know why IneXile kickstarted Torment before they finished Wasteland. Same thing: there are specialists in the development team who finish their work long before other specialists. If you wait until the first game in the pipeline ships before starting the next one, you have people sitting around doing nothing for months.
We are working frantically to get BGEE updated for the open beta. We are working frantically to put the finishing touches on BG2EE. These are not mutually exclusive tasks.
@BladeDancer Knowing what happened in some people's playthrough to Xzar, Monty, Imoen, Edwin, Viconia, Coran, Safana, Gavin, Tiax, Minsc, Jaheira, Quayle and Sarevok, one could assume that he returns in some fashion.
I still hope the devs have something up their sleeve they haven't announced. Like a hidden dwarf NPC. Or a new kit. Or a hidden dwarf NPC with a new kit !
Best of all would be some sort of Barbarian kit. It would be quite a shame if this class remains the only one in BG:EE/BG2:EE which doesn't support additional kits.
@BladeDancer Knowing what happened in some people's playthrough to Xzar, Monty, Imoen, Edwin, Viconia, Coran, Safana, Gavin, Tiax, Minsc, Jaheira, Quayle and Sarevok, one could assume that he returns in some fashion.
Just had an epiphany: Baeloth will be a playable NPC in ToB
After you kick his ass again in Black Pits 2 of course. Oh, and he has his genie as a familiar.
Best of all would be some sort of Barbarian kit. It would be quite a shame if this class remains the only one in BG:EE/BG2:EE which doesn't support additional kits.
To be honest, I'd be happiest if they just made Barbarians a fighter kit instead. It already works that way in BG2 (though the game doesn't tell you so), and makes a whole lot of sense to begin with. Being able to dual-class also wouldn't hurt!
Though I suppose the whole "can't change existing stuff" clause screws that over... Same with druid XP progression I guess, they'll be forever stuck with the lvl15 Mt. Everest...
Nomally I'd agree with you here @Lord_Tansheron. After all: from a P&P perspective, this would be the most fitting appoach. However, my biggest concern about changing the Barbarian class into a Fighter kit are the currently hardcoded engine limitations: no more than nine kits for any class are available at character creation. Which leaves then only four open slots for custom Fighter kits.
If Overhaul 'opens' the Barbarian class with a new kit on the other hand, both modders and players would have eight new kit slots at their disposal.
Best of all would be some sort of Barbarian kit. It would be quite a shame if this class remains the only one in BG:EE/BG2:EE which doesn't support additional kits.
To be honest, I'd be happiest if they just made Barbarians a fighter kit instead. It already works that way in BG2 (though the game doesn't tell you so), and makes a whole lot of sense to begin with. Being able to dual-class also wouldn't hurt!
Though I suppose the whole "can't change existing stuff" clause screws that over... Same with druid XP progression I guess, they'll be forever stuck with the lvl15 Mt. Everest...
I believe they're allowed to tweak classes and kits, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to tone down the totemic druid, etc.
I believe, that it will be neither Hexxat, nor Caravella. Those were the PC names of the testers.
Well they certainly didn't use my characters in the trailer: Skunk or Tilly Wigglebottom :c
*sighs* Nobody likes skunks or hyperactive, clutzy librarians. ._. *pout*
Well of course they wouldn't use Skunk or Tilly Wigglebottom. Skunk was too busy sniffing around in his turnip garden to even think about joining in on an epic adventure. Why was he busy sniffing around in his turnip garden? Well he'd already dug up all his carrots I suppose.
As for Tilly Wigglebottom well let me tell you something. She's a nasty character she is. Ohh sure, she plays the hyperactive, clutzy librarian role well, but beneath that veneer was one of the most ruthless businesswomen on the Sword Coast. Not only was she a fierce competitor in the vegetable peddling business, but did you know she actually took the Jansen families turnip recipe and sold it to a group of monstrous Griffins? Uncle Graveltoes was not pleased about any of this. Its bad enough that his foot was made out of wood let alone that he had to traispe across half of Amn looking for the thing. Not for the wooden foot of course, though there was one time he lost that. That happened during the great slave riot of 1360DR. Not a human riot, or even a gnome riot (which have been know of course to happen from time-to-time). No, this was a vegetable riot. Uncle Scratchy finally perfected his vegetable animation spell and well, they did not like being harvested and bred one bit!
But yes, Tilly Wigglebottom is just a nasty sort. Though nothing compared to Wiggle Tillybottom. Now that is someone you don't want to cross!...
Tilly Wigglebottom also wiggles her ample bottom at any red-blooded male (and females on occasion!) who crosses her path when moonlighting in the Undercellar. She has a wild side most wouldn't expect from her stuffy, bustling demeanor as a librarian. With her long flowing hair worn down and wearing ample makeup, she is unrecognizable from her librarian persona wearing thick glasses and hair tied up in a head-mistress' bun. The second life she leads in the dark of night allows her to satisfy twisted carnal desires that she would never realize as a boring librarian.
She sees her 'customers' in her library from time to time, but they are unaware of her true identity as a mistress of pleasure. She is all but invisible to them even as they look her right in the face while checking out copies of 'History of the Fateful Coin', with their wives in tow. A wicked smile crosses her face as she considers that she holds the power to upend the lives of dozens of nobles in Baldur's Gate with the secrets she possesses. But, that would be for another day, as she is currently content with the thrill of leading the double life with nobody the wiser...
This is why you never trust a gnome...or an elf. I'm reminded of the time when great uncle Tookar invited a bodacious and beautiful gnome to dinner. Not to the Jansen home in Athkatla of course, that would be silly, but rather to somewhere deep within the Troll Mountains. Where specifically? Who knows. That was going to be a surprise for the both of them.
Of course while passing through the slums on his way to the Adventurer's Mart, to pick up supplies and a ball of yarn for his cats (as well as his date), he overheard an elf bragging about his illusion magic. He claimed he could hide anything from anyone, without even the slightest hint as to where it had gone. Tookar of course took this up as a challenge. How dare an elf think they know more about illusion magic than a gnome!
The elf as it turns out was a wild mage of sorts. Tookar won the challenge, though probably didn't end up how he'd hoped to. Something about a gnome being invisible from the neck down just isn't right. Just like elvish turnip tea.
"...4 new party members..." It means that there will be only 1 new NPC in BG2EE - the thief girl... 3 others are Neera, Dorn and rasaad? Am I right? :facepalm.jpg:
@DarkDogg: you are indeed correct. However, I think it's important to note that this is probably a GOOD thing, not a bad. BG1 is limited in its scope regarding banter, romance, and general NPC interactions. BG2 however has a lot of it. That means that in BG1, the new characters weren't as fleshed out and developed as one might like (makes sense, or they would eclipse all the other NPCs even more). BG2 gives us a chance to delve much deeper into the three characters, learn a lot more about them, and see more interaction. I think that in the end, three complete characters over the course of the entire saga is preferable to two times three half-done ones.
@DarkDogg - The promised evil thief. I hope there will be another "hidden" NPC, because everyone loves presents and secrets. However even with "only" 4 new NPCs we have a lot more NPCs that you can ever use.
@DarkDogg: you are indeed correct. However, I think it's important to note that this is probably a GOOD thing, not a bad. BG1 is limited in its scope regarding banter, romance, and general NPC interactions. BG2 however has a lot of it. That means that in BG1, the new characters weren't as fleshed out and developed as one might like (makes sense, or they would eclipse all the other NPCs even more). BG2 gives us a chance to delve much deeper into the three characters, learn a lot more about them, and see more interaction. I think that in the end, three complete characters over the course of the entire saga is preferable to two times three half-done ones.
Just keep in mind that banters between new and old NPCs will mostly be onesided, because of the story and the voice acting. Banters between Neera, Rasaad and Dorn? Really? Pfff... IMO it's a loss if only 1 new NPC will be presented in BG2EE. I thought there will be at least 2 or 3 new characters in BG2EE.
Well, if we'd gotten 4 entirely new NPCs, we'd have the same situation. Besides, you don't need fully voiced banter anyway. Full voice is overrated. There's tons of custom NPC mods with miles of banter between new and existing characters, with either one-sided voice, or completely voiceless. They're fine, some of them even great. I am not worried.
I think having 4 high quality NPCs is plenty enough. The more you have, the less content and quality each will have. Plus there are already dozens of mods that add NPCs.
Comments
She'll probably be an Assassin though.
That sounds cool! I wonder what that might mean? "[A]cross the globe" from Amn or from where the mysterious master comes from? Maybe it's snake-men from Maztica!
So yes, I would love to buy it assuming you finish BGEE
there are basically 2 teams. One does content and design (BG2EE, new kits etc etc) and one does the technical part (engine, bugfixes patches). Now it is easy for the first group to just put their work into the engine the latter group has developed.
So, BG2EE is the work of the first group and the patch a result of months and months of drudgery of the latter.
Everyone wanted to know why IneXile kickstarted Torment before they finished Wasteland. Same thing: there are specialists in the development team who finish their work long before other specialists. If you wait until the first game in the pipeline ships before starting the next one, you have people sitting around doing nothing for months.
We are working frantically to get BGEE updated for the open beta. We are working frantically to put the finishing touches on BG2EE. These are not mutually exclusive tasks.
Knowing what happened in some people's playthrough to Xzar, Monty, Imoen, Edwin, Viconia, Coran, Safana, Gavin, Tiax, Minsc, Jaheira, Quayle and Sarevok, one could assume that he returns in some fashion.
No he won't. The fourth is an entirely new female thief.
After you kick his ass again in Black Pits 2 of course. Oh, and he has his genie as a familiar.
BG2 is, without doubt, one of the best games ever made - and fuck anyone who says otherwise, go and play pokémon you tramp.
Though I suppose the whole "can't change existing stuff" clause screws that over...
If Overhaul 'opens' the Barbarian class with a new kit on the other hand, both modders and players would have eight new kit slots at their disposal.
Of course while passing through the slums on his way to the Adventurer's Mart, to pick up supplies and a ball of yarn for his cats (as well as his date), he overheard an elf bragging about his illusion magic. He claimed he could hide anything from anyone, without even the slightest hint as to where it had gone. Tookar of course took this up as a challenge. How dare an elf think they know more about illusion magic than a gnome!
The elf as it turns out was a wild mage of sorts. Tookar won the challenge, though probably didn't end up how he'd hoped to. Something about a gnome being invisible from the neck down just isn't right. Just like elvish turnip tea.
They're not hardcoded per se. They simply would have to modify the GUI. If ToBEX can do it, they can do it too.
It means that there will be only 1 new NPC in BG2EE - the thief girl...
3 others are Neera, Dorn and rasaad?
Am I right?
:facepalm.jpg:
IMO it's a loss if only 1 new NPC will be presented in BG2EE.
I thought there will be at least 2 or 3 new characters in BG2EE.
BTW who liked the new transparent skills bar?