How to make baldurs gate 2 or 3 a smashing success!

vorathian

Allow a campaign creation system as well as a lobby based multilayer system in the same vein as diablo 2. This would give the game unlimited replay value.

Corvino

As I understand it, streamlining multiplayer and making it user-friendly is a priority for the developers.

As for Campaign creation, there's a request for a module creation tool on the Feature Requests forum. As far as I'm aware the Devs are currently using DLTCEP, a freely available program, to add new content to the game. I think a module editor was described as something that would be nice if the team have time, but not a priority.

XerxesV

I'd love to create my own areas, but I found with neverwinter nights I didn't have the patience to make anything worthwhile. I hope they do it someday with BG. If not for me, then for you other fans who can make good content.

marceror

Campaign creation for BG2 would be cool, but I doubt that any but the most over the top, highly skilled fans could create anything that even approaches the scale and depth of BG2.

As for multiplayer, making BG2, a smash hit? Well, it already is a smash hit without any significant multiplayer. It's the gold standard by which all CRPGs are judged, so I'm not sure what you mean here.

LordRumfish

XerxesV said:

I'd love to create my own areas, but I found with neverwinter nights I didn't have the patience to make anything worthwhile. I hope they do it someday with BG. If not for me, then for you other fans who can make good content.

I remember working with the Neverwinter Nights tools. The main reason I didn't get further than creating a few zones and some silly monsters (Super-Fire Chickens, anyone?) is because I was working alone and I wasn't involved with any forums or support. If I picked up a project now, I could see myself putting a lot of effort and polish into it. The NWN module was only ever made to amuse me, and there's only so far that can inspire me.

Flashburn

marceror said:

Campaign creation for BG2 would be cool, but I doubt that any but the most over the top, highly skilled fans could create anything that even approaches the scale and depth of BG2.

You'd be surprised. If it were as flexible as NWN's toolset, there would be unlimited possibilities. There were so many good custom worlds in NWN's lifetime and its why I'm still utterly convinced that it had the best multiplayer of any RPG of all time.

FinneousPJ

NWN had the best multiplayer AND fan made single player of all time, IMO.

Corvino

I did like the Aurora toolset for NWN. It probably gave me twice the enjoyment the actual NWN singleplayer campaign did. The dialogue tree tool was nicely streamlined and the scripting was simple enough for me to get my head around. You could tell the toolset had a lot of very hard work put into it.

It would be a bit difficult to do the same for Baldur's Gate though as it's not tile based like NWN. If I understand correctly you need a high-res image of the area that you can then convert into a map. I could see that certain areas could be standardised & recycled without too much of an issue, like home and tavern interiors.

However you'd need some kind of tool to create unique dungeon, wilderness and town environments. This would be a lot of work, and avoiding generic-looking backgrounds and maintaining the hand-crafted look of the BG series would be very difficult.

FinneousPJ

You could make a map making tool for BG though that utilized the idea of NWN's tile system. The tiles of NWN would instead be high-res images ("tiles") of corridors, rooms and so on. Not impossible, I think

Corvino

Hmm. Given the time and effort required to create a user-friendly module creation tool the question becomes this: Would you pay for it as DLC?

The Devs do check these forums. To quote @LiamEsler on the issue of further new NPCs:
"What the community wants will definitely influence what we make. If you want to see more NPCs (and are willing to pay for them to fund development), say so loudly and regularly. "

I don't want to extrapolate and go beyond that, but if you feel strongly about a user-friendly module creation tool and would be prepared to pay for one then say so. Or take it a step further and rally some friends, create a campaign and say "Take my money! Give me module creation tools or give me death!*"

*melodrama optional

jackjack

Shut up and take my money!

KolonKu

Few things can make me fart out of sheer excitement. A BGEE-editor? It would be like flying a jeep through space going ape-shit with Nintendo controllers. I'd pay my left nut for such a DLC!

the_spyder

XerxesV said:

I'd love to create my own areas, but I found with neverwinter nights I didn't have the patience to make anything worthwhile. I hope they do it someday with BG. If not for me, then for you other fans who can make good content.

I played around for a long time with the NWN editor. I created a lot of very basic things and it was fun (to me) to actually try and figure things out. I created this whole city block/docks area where a city guard walked around a path and people were there to interact with. It was loads of fun. But ultimately, I found as a novice, I didn't have the stamina to stick with it until I came up with something worth sharing.

Still, I think that loads of folks out there would do wonders with an official modding tool.

Corvino

Now that we have multiplayer matching on the non-beta client I would say this becomes possibly more useful.

If we could engineer modules specifically designed for multiplayer parties that would be something quite removed from the normal game.

If there were a user-friendly Baldur's Gate module creation tool that had functionality anywhere near the NWN toolset I would pay US$5-$10 for it right now. If it already existed, and was known to be functional and easy-to-use I might pay more.

Flashburn

The toolset should come with the game, but I've got some friends that would love to get back into building and would gladly pay for it. NWN's multiplayer is all but dead and decayed now, but I've had so much fun with it that nothing has ever been able to truly replace it since.

BG3's toolset should be as robust and user-friendly as NWN's, with the ability to go deep into the nitty-gritty via a programming language similar to NWScript to precisely customize the rules of the module. With the ability to easily host and share modules, and utilize Dedicated Servers, I'd preorder YEARS in advance for $100+ if it meant getting a multiplayer community like NWN's back.

Those were such good times. *sniff* Rest ye well, Neverwinter Nights - my old friend.

/melodrama