BG3 or PS: Torment and or IWDale series Remake?

DKnight

Yeah I think Ive done more than my part to make you guys able to create more awesome recreations of my favorite games. I bought both Baldurs Gate 1 EE and BG 2 EE and purchased both on pc and mac (you can see I like infinity engine games)

I want to know what is the next step. I was thinking that since you want to make BG 3 as AWESOME as possible (if at all possible) why not recreate Icewind Dale 1 and 2 or Planescape. From that money you can spend it on making BG 3 awesome.

Besides wont we need to get past 20 playthroughs of each of these 2 games before we go to Bg3.

JonelethIrenicus

I am willing to donate large sums if money for a BG3 kickstarter project, heck I'd even donate my kidney for it!

Eudaemonium

I don't think Kickstarter is really an option. It wasn't in the EEs and I suspect this was down to contractual reasons. I see little reason why the contracts for securing the rights to make a BG3 would be much different in that sense.

I'd like them to add some awesome DLC to BG1&2. BG3 would be nice. Planescape I honestly feel doesn't need much updating. The graphics were always infinitely better than BG's and I think still hold up pretty well today. If they can HD it up and screw around with the engine to allow you to have all 7 NPCs on your party at once (since it isn't exactly like the game is combat-heavy or really needs to be balanced for it) then I say go for it, otherwise do something else. I.e. BG3.

I generally think of IWD as some of the most pointless and boring games ever created, but apparently there are mysterious humans who actually like them for reasons I will never be able to comprehend. I'd have absolutely no interest in any EE'd version of either IWD title.

Smoke_Jaguar

My dream is that they will make a IWD 2 EE that uses 2nd edition rules.

Never will happen though

Ardul

IWD:EE would be an absolute blessing as far as I am concerned!

booinyoureyes

@Eudaemonium
You said it all.
Yet would you like if IWD was remade using original NPCs from the Beamdog team? Honestly that is the only way to enhance it. Otherwise it i a boring "Less Talk More Fight" kind of game.

There is NO reason to enhance Planescape: Torment, though if I didn't have to drop a party member I'd really like it.

Archaos

Eudaemonium said:

I generally think of IWD as some of the most pointless and boring games ever created, but apparently there are mysterious humans who actually like them for reasons I will never be able to comprehend. I'd have absolutely no interest in any EE'd version of either IWD title.

-Gorgeous portraits
-Great music
-Beautiful UI
-Many more voicesets
-IWD2 uses 3E rules
-Full party customization that makes sense story-wise
-Locations far more beautiful than BG and many BG2 ones too
-Option to replay the full game with the same party/items/levels but added difficulty
-And it's closer to a PnP campaign than BG where you make a full party of average adventurers on an fun and interesting adventure, instead of playing a demi-god that can become a full god and it's all about him/her.

Oh and in IWD2, Paladins and Monks roleplay their classes. They refuse rewards.
Others could think of more reasons.

Eudaemonium

I think the only really valid enhancements that can or should be made to Planescape are, if the assets survive, making the graphics higher-resolution, and most importantly increasing the party size from 6 to 8. If neither of these can be done, I don't think touching it is really worthwhile. The plot is thematically consistent and the characters all relevant. Adding areas/quests/NPCs just wouldn't feel right.

I think adding NPCs to IWD, while it would make me more inclined to play, is too much work for too little gain, and it isn't the main appeal of IWD to the people who love it anyway, as much as I fail to understand them, so I don't think it'd really be worth it on any level.

Meyahi

Planescape would make me very happy. Incredible writing and setting, extreme depth and replayability. This is hands down the best Infinity Engine game and a lesson for every game script writer. It is much more Epic than BG1/2 yet much less combat centered -even though spells are much more beautiful in PS:T.
If a game deserves to have its EE version, it´s this one. My only fear is the possibility of new content in such a complex world. Achieving a seamless integration looks like a daunting task if not an extraordinary feat. No matter how much talent Beamdog can muster, it will take time.

Edit: I have to confess that I have the Ipad/touch screen interface in mind. PS:T would work much better than the BG series since there is so much dialogue.

CrevsDaak

@booinyoureyes if they make PS:T:EE, they can fix bugs, fix more bugs, make some items attainable in the game, before you go to the Fortress of Regrets (*cough cough* Eye of Vecna *cough cough*), and many things like a damned place to sleep in Carceri, improved UI for Widescreen users, IPAD COMPATIBILITY, and make it work in some new Operative Systems like *cough* Mac OS X *cough* (really? I have OS X 1.7.5, and I have PS:T running with Wineskin, though, it has lots of bugs, glitches and well, half quests and things like that), improved Loading Times (maybe not so needed, but I like that too), and @Mehayi, they won't even think of adding another NPC to the game, maybe fixing and more fixing like "now you can get the STR bonus from Vhailor because we've removed the bug!" and those sort of things, like Greater Glabrezu spawning constantly in UnderSigil (well, maybe not :P), but those type of things could be added.

comebackhome

JonelethIrenicus said:

I am willing to donate large sums if money for a BG3 kickstarter project, heck I'd even donate my kidney for it!

This.

So much this.

Calmar

I'm fine with people who say Baldur's Gate (II) is a better game than Icewind Dale, because Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 are excellent games, but Icewind Dale has a much better story than BG. If you care more about that than about roaming free, IWD is more attractive to you.
What makes Baldur's Gate appear so vast and free is the huge amount of side quests and plot-lines that mostly have nothing to do with the actual main story line.

Consider, broken down to it's core, BG 1 sums up to...
Candlekeep - Friendly Arm Inn - Nashkell Mines - Bandit Camp - Cloakwood Forest - Baldur's Gate City - Candlekeep - Final Battle;

similarly, BG II is equally brief...
Irenicus Dungeon - one quest to earn gold - Some work for the Thieves or the Vampires - Spellhold - Bodhi's dungeon - Suldanessalar - Final Battle

All the rest, the other quests, the exploration of Athkatla, most joinable NPCs, Watcher's Keep, Sahuagin City and the Underdark is, strictly speaking, just a distraction from your quest to save Imoen and then kick Irenicus' butt for goodness.

When it comes to the depth of the story, IWD, thanks to its linear structure, is much deeper and more coherent. In IWD, like in a good book or play, everything happens for a reason.

Eudaemonium

I farmed those Glabrezu for so long trying to get the ultimate equipment. I never did get the Heaven & Earth Mace, and I was like level 56 or something by the end.

CrevsDaak

Calmar said:

I'm fine with people who say Baldur's Gate (II) is a better game than Icewind Dale, because Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 are excellent games, but Icewind Dale has a much better story than BG.

Prepare ourselves!! FLAMERS ARE COMING!!
Really, you ahould watch out from many people now, and get fire resistance, besides that, BG's main plot do not has very good quests, but, well, the story is a lot more better, you are the son of a god, you really do not know that, and well, you need to stop one of the most trickiest conspirations ever made, besides BG is highly based in side-quests, Planescape Torment also has lots of side quests, and its storyline is the best one ever, but the storyline missions are short, and, well, you can win BG with no other things, as a power gamer speed run maker, but the game is designed to be... Different.
Also IWD is like a PnP, while BG is like BG, and PS:T is, like BG but marvelous better, besides, in BG1, a nice thing to do it exploring the areas that have no realation to the quest you are doing, because then you feel like an adventurer, while in IWD you start and end as an adventurer, while in BG, you end up as a hero, but still, you are like a children and not like Ribald or another adventurer, until BG2, then you become an adventurer, you kill dragons, you invade Drow cities (you haven't mentioned that) and you battle besides Drizzt against Nosferatu, need more? You can ascend to godhood.

Eudaemonium

To be honest, IWD might have a much better plot than BG. I find BG to have a very cliched plot. It's fun and awesome, but it is very cliched. And that's totally fine. I just found IWD really boring to play because of the lack of companions. I've never been a fan of make-your-own-party games in any form.

To be honest I'm probably quite different from many here in that if I wanted a good DnD story I wouldn't go near Forgotten Realms with a 20 foot pole.

Beowulf

beamdog has made thoughtful and irevocble choices in regards to the new wasteland modernity mores they applied to their postmodern pure Greeko Roman....tenmding towards Spartan ideals of ..…Romance.….I suppose one could argue these cultural ideals applied to my old fav baldurs gate which was created in a more conservative climate... Is business savvy to the new age world views of their buyers ...… perhaps it was not a mere choice of bad judgment... But there is no way in the twin cities on that burnt angel wanna luv them plainsland that I will ever buy a remaske of IWD Plan escape or any other game they revamp unless I know One hundred percent there are no -candain legeslated norm- romances in them.

Lore

IWD just felt to much hack and slash to me, and part of what made BG so great was your party all the interactions and different ways of creating your party. None of that is in IWD , i find it very booring, Tried to play the first but it was not my taste.

PS:T on the other hand now thats one of the best RPGs ever created on hight if not better then BG1+2. An Enhanced edition would be most welcome.

Illustair

Eudaemonium said:

To be honest, IWD might have a much better plot than BG. I find BG to have a very cliched plot. It's fun and awesome, but it is very cliched. And that's totally fine. I just found IWD really boring to play because of the lack of companions. I've never been a fan of make-your-own-party games in any form.

To be honest I'm probably quite different from many here in that if I wanted a good DnD story I wouldn't go near Forgotten Realms with a 20 foot pole.

Same here. It's fun at first but it gets boring after some time. From time to time I get back at IWD; and every time I do, I abandon the game halfway. It's still D&D and in IE for that matter, that's why I've given it nth chances, hoping every time that there'd be a change of heart. Companions are what it's lacking I believe. What say you if IWD:EE would have fully-developed companions with banters?

booinyoureyes

I will NEVER understand the people who make their own custom parties in BG

CoryNewb

As far as kickatarting, I would probably donate quite a bit. I would prefer IWD EE right now.

booinyoureyes

I actually like Icewind Dale, though it is nowhere near as good as Baldur's Gate... and my videogame experience is very very limited so I played it cuz I stick with what I know and it is similar to the BGT.

1. Druids are actually really cool in it. Also Druids/Rangers make more sense in the IWD games
2. Paladins and Bards have cool unique roleplay options
3. The MUSIC is incredible and epic beyond belief
4. The landscape art was gorgeous and immersive
5. I feel like it had more spells (could be wrong) and that they looked cooler

Yet despite those five pros, I play BG more for the story experience. Not really being a computer game aficionado outside of DnD based games, I am drawn more to great stories and great characters. The Baldur's Gate Trilogy had a decent main storyline but the sidequests were so much fun and were great tales on their own. But the NUMBER ONE thing that makes BG>IWD.... the NPCs. Great characters make great stories, and IWD was lacking in that category.

Ryofu

IWD is nice, the environment and story is good but the lack of companions and the banter between them makes it very boring after a while. What Bioware originally did that made BG2 stand head and shoulders over all the other games of it's time was adding NPC banter which fleshed out the NPCs in BG2 and made them feel alive, of which the strategy was later used in Dragon Age and Mass Effect to great effect making alot of characters from those games fan favourites.

Personally i would buy a IWD EE only if there is a chance that the guys who made the IWD in BG2 mod are still around and are willing to make the port to the EE version now that would be awesome

Eudaemonium

What is this IWD in BG2 mod?

Ryofu

there is this mod for BG2 that lets you play enter IWD from BG2, basically you talk to an npc and you bring your party to IWD. iirc talking to that NPC allows you to travel between BG2 and IWD. the requirement was that you needed to have IWD installed in a specified location on your computer

Ryofu

here is a link to the forum on G3

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?s=bd3211335caab77ebc94561df9d7b703&showforum=155

Eudaemonium

Now see, that is the only way I would play IWD. Probably between SoA and ToB :P

Jarleale

CrevsDaak said:

a damned place to sleep in Carceri

I played through PS:T recently and had no problems sleeping inside houses in Carceri. I had a modded game, but AFAIK I didn't install the "sleep anywhere"-tweak.

In an enchanced edition of PS:T, I would like an overhauled combat with smarter AI, more usable mage/cleric spells, in addition to several new planes to visit (side-quests or something like that). More items for NPCs would also be a welcome addition.

booinyoureyes

I always wanted that mod, but was too afraid to install something that big on top of my mega-installation.

The added experience/items would let me play Ascension w/ improved Bhaalspawn (The Five)
Otherwise... it was just waayyyyyyyyyyy too hard.

Eudaemonium

I have decided that I only want an IWD:EE if there is an IWD:EE in BG/2:EE mod.

What level range is IWD, actually?

EDIT: 1-15ish apparently (then up to 30 in HoW). Eh, seems like something fun to do between BG1 and BG2 XD

nikodemusp

Enhanced or not, I would buy either game on iPad.

TJ_Hooker

I think the UI in PS:T could use some tweaking. Radial menus should all die in a fire as far as I'm concerned.