I don't understand why Wizards wouldn't give them a bit of contractual leeway. What possible harm could there be in allowing them to finish up unfinished quests and other such stuff?
Can the unfinished business mod be made canon in BG:EE, missing dialogue and quests etc...
I don't like modding my game a whole lot, and since the content I'm referring to was always intended to be in the game I think this is the type of thing the enhanced edition should aim for.
On that note the ascension mod for ToB (at least as an optional toggle option in the settings) would be nice as well.
I think fixing lost / missing intended content is exactly the sort of thing an enhanced edition would want to incorporate, and most of the work has already been done by a mod so you could more or less copy what it does.
Do you think it is outside their contract limitations?
I don't remember exactly why, but I know it's been talked about before and I think the discussions typically ended with the conclusion that it was unlikely. I'm not sure if any devs actually weighed in though. I'm thinking it probably has a lot to do with contract limitations. Also, their may have been an issue with trying to track down all the people who contributed to UB in order to get their permission to use their mod content.
Edit: this is all based on hazy memory so I could be totally wrong here.
Has a developer ever weighed in that this is against contractual limitations?
I don't really see the difference in fixing spelling mistakes, or expanding descriptions to replacing missing dialogue that is actually in the system. I know some of the missing dialogue in BG2 never displayed due to a typo. I also think its basically the same thing is flushing out missing / broken quests. And ascension is basically imperative to ToB.
I could easily argue that Korgan showing up to a raided caravan and shrugging off his entire business to follow you around is as much a bug as anything else that has been fixed, with the exception of crash bugs.
Could they not make the interface such that mods could be packaged and put in a mod folder that can be toggled on or off from inside the program? And then expand it further so at the start screen be able to view possible mods they have approved and download them to the mod folder from inside the program to be toggled on/off? That way they could make their own mods as a way to get around contractual limitations, and at the same time use fan mods that they approve of. All without you having to do anything other than open Baldur's Gate, look at the list of options, and select which ones you want that would then download.
The developers are aware of UB and its popularity. @Nathan once commented in a Reddit AMAA that it was not implemented due to time constraints more than anything. @Dave later confirmed that there are plans to tie loose ends in BG2:EE, although he did not specify whether by the implementation of BG2UB or by the devs' own solution (mind you, he only said they are considering it; he never confirmed it would get done 100%).
The mod UB is in the process of being updated and will be available in a BG:EE-friendly version relatively shortly.
If the mods for BGEE are as irritating to install as they are to me for BGT, especially given that BG:EE updates itself so it is more likely to break the mods you've installed, it would be disappointing to have to depend on mods to flush out loose ends or ascension.
From the perspective of someone who hates installing mods I'm still hopeful they will tie up loose ends with things like UB, make mod support user friendly, or both.
I realize there are a lot more pressing concerns at the moment like multiplayer, ipad issues, android support, bugs, etc... but maybe we'll see it down the road.
@moopy this is a response to your question in the "Killed Drizzt in 3 seconds..." thread about getting a statement from the devs regarding restoring cut content à la Unfinished Business (thought it would make more sense for me to post it here). The following is taken from here: https://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/4045/questions-answers-thread-from-last-nights-and-perhaps-todays-amaa which is a copy from the AMAA (Ask Me Almost Anything) done by Beamdog on Reddit.
How much, if any, of the 'Unfinished Business' content is in BG:EE?
[–]OverhaulNathan[S]
Hi Billards, thanks for coming out!
Unfortunately, we won't be including any of the Unfinished Business mod content with the BG:EE core. In order to include any mods with the game, we've done our best to ensure that we get direct permission from the creators involved and credit them accordingly.
Unfinished Business is one of those mods that, although it has one sort of 'curator' to look after it, who sort of owns the content therein is a big question mark. In addition, there are some strict contract-related things about modifying the existing game's content that we have to be careful to not run afoul of, so... there you have it.
BG:EE will be very mod friendly though, I believe more-so than BG2/BG1 is, and should support existing mods with minimal modification on the mods' part. I'd be surprised if the people in charge of curating the mod don't update it to work with BG:EE fairly quickly.
This isn't exactly what you're looking for, as it's more talking specifically about UB, rather than the issue of restoring cut content in general, but it doesn't make me feel particularely optimistic about seeing content restored.
It still leaves the question of if they CAN do it or not contractually. He just said they have to be careful.
And it says they won't be using the current UB mod, I am more curious if they, at a future date, would implement their own take on what is missing.
To me it basically reads we may or may not be able to do it, and we definitely won't be doing it before we go live, and if we never get around to it (which we may or may not be able to do) then you can always just hope someone else will update the mod for BG:EE.
So I guess I would have asked the question a different way, not will you add content from the UB mod, but will you implement your own take on code that is partially or fully present (not just quests but dialogue also) and was never finished or triggered to appear in the game.
For example if BG2:EE doesn't include the Ascension mod, which is practically canon, I will be severely disappointed. (I'm expecting it to not be though)
Comments
But then again, I'm no lawyer.
I don't like modding my game a whole lot, and since the content I'm referring to was always intended to be in the game I think this is the type of thing the enhanced edition should aim for.
On that note the ascension mod for ToB (at least as an optional toggle option in the settings) would be nice as well.
Just curious what makes you think so?
I think fixing lost / missing intended content is exactly the sort of thing an enhanced edition would want to incorporate, and most of the work has already been done by a mod so you could more or less copy what it does.
Do you think it is outside their contract limitations?
Edit: this is all based on hazy memory so I could be totally wrong here.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/6455/unfinished-business
@Jalily some merging needed
I don't really see the difference in fixing spelling mistakes, or expanding descriptions to replacing missing dialogue that is actually in the system. I know some of the missing dialogue in BG2 never displayed due to a typo. I also think its basically the same thing is flushing out missing / broken quests. And ascension is basically imperative to ToB.
I could easily argue that Korgan showing up to a raided caravan and shrugging off his entire business to follow you around is as much a bug as anything else that has been fixed, with the exception of crash bugs.
Could they not make the interface such that mods could be packaged and put in a mod folder that can be toggled on or off from inside the program? And then expand it further so at the start screen be able to view possible mods they have approved and download them to the mod folder from inside the program to be toggled on/off? That way they could make their own mods as a way to get around contractual limitations, and at the same time use fan mods that they approve of. All without you having to do anything other than open Baldur's Gate, look at the list of options, and select which ones you want that would then download.
@Nathan once commented in a Reddit AMAA that it was not implemented due to time constraints more than anything. @Dave later confirmed that there are plans to tie loose ends in BG2:EE, although he did not specify whether by the implementation of BG2UB or by the devs' own solution (mind you, he only said they are considering it; he never confirmed it would get done 100%).
The mod UB is in the process of being updated and will be available in a BG:EE-friendly version relatively shortly.
From the perspective of someone who hates installing mods I'm still hopeful they will tie up loose ends with things like UB, make mod support user friendly, or both.
I realize there are a lot more pressing concerns at the moment like multiplayer, ipad issues, android support, bugs, etc... but maybe we'll see it down the road.
which is a copy from the AMAA (Ask Me Almost Anything) done by Beamdog on Reddit. This isn't exactly what you're looking for, as it's more talking specifically about UB, rather than the issue of restoring cut content in general, but it doesn't make me feel particularely optimistic about seeing content restored.
I appreciate that.
It still leaves the question of if they CAN do it or not contractually. He just said they have to be careful.
And it says they won't be using the current UB mod, I am more curious if they, at a future date, would implement their own take on what is missing.
To me it basically reads we may or may not be able to do it, and we definitely won't be doing it before we go live, and if we never get around to it (which we may or may not be able to do) then you can always just hope someone else will update the mod for BG:EE.
So I guess I would have asked the question a different way, not will you add content from the UB mod, but will you implement your own take on code that is partially or fully present (not just quests but dialogue also) and was never finished or triggered to appear in the game.
For example if BG2:EE doesn't include the Ascension mod, which is practically canon, I will be severely disappointed. (I'm expecting it to not be though)
Which is why I tried to clarify I didn't want the UB mod. I wanted some of the missing content restored by the Overhaul team.
Schrodinger would love it.
I have perceived a bias toward non-interference on the part of the devs, but maybe this is starting to be on the table a little? :]
Either way, if they do, it will probably happen in a relatively short (but heretofore unspecified) amount of time.