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IWD:EE Joinable NPCs - A vital question

kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
So here we go, advancing in the IWD:EE project and all... but an old question and fiercely debated, here and in other forums, that is:

Will we get joinable NPCs now?

Much more can be argued about this subject, but this point, the core question of my doubts of IWD:EE, is the first i want to debate (and maybe others too).
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Comments

  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    It's not currently in the cards.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    Well... :(, no pre-order then, at least for now i will w8 to see how things are going work around this enhanced edition, the biggest reason for an pre-investment, for me at least, was shattered with this twiter message.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190

    Well that's disappointing. I was kind of hoping there would be some as optional downloadable content down the line. But this is not unexpected. The original didn't have any recruitable companions and it was pretty obviously a design choice and not cut/broken content.

    I don't agree with the "is/isn't what Icewind Dale is about" sentiments here though. I'm pretty sure the game is about what the story is about. If they wanted to make a pure hack & slash game they would have made just that. And there's several D&D hacky slashy games out there that does the job better, I don't think Black Isle would intentionally make a lesser one.

    The game is about what the story is about, that's true. It's also built to be a tactical RPG where you build a squad that doesn't talk much, like XCOM. And, no, there aren't any better D&D hack-and-slash titles, not in my estimation, anyway. Luckily, they didn't make a lesser hakc-and-slash title. They made IWD.
  • ThelsThels Member Posts: 1,422
    I can totally understand the reasoning behind their decision to not add any NPCs.

    Keep in mind that in BG(II), the NPCs work well, because there's a rich variety to choose from. BG1 has 25 (29 with EE) and BG2 has 16 (17 with ToB, 22 with EE). If both had exactly 5 to choose, and you'd be stuck with exactly those ones, it wouldn't nearly be as interesting, and might even be annoying. Heck, check the EE NPCs. It's already considered quite annoying that you need to have them in your group to explore those new areas...

    To do it well, they'd have to add at least a dozen NPCs, possibly more.

    I'll keep my hopes up that the IWDNPC mod gets converted and then seriously expanded upon.
  • windspinwindspin Member Posts: 20
    I do love the joinable NPC's in Baldur's Gate, but separately I am excited to create my own party from scratch for IWD:EE.

    That it is combat-heavy is very exciting to me, and it will be fun to think about options and strategies while party building.
  • PaladinPaladin Member Posts: 335
    This may have been answered elsewhere, so forgive me. But, will the NPC Mod that currently exists be functional in the Enhanced Edition?
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,042
    If you want a joinable NPC in IWDEE then wait until it is released then write/create your own NPC mod and share it with the world. I think there are a few NPC mods already out there; try looking for Kulyok's mod over at the Pocket Plant Group. I can't think of any others at this time....
  • ThelsThels Member Posts: 1,422
    That mod was brought up in another thread as well, and nobody could mention any other mods.

    It has 5 NPCs, so it does allow you to take one protagonist, and fill them up with the 5 NPCs. Problem is that you'll be stuck with those exact 5 NPCs whether you like them or not. Some of them seem interesting, others do not, not to mention that they're very physical oriented as a whole.

    From what I understood, IWD is a lot harder to mod NPC wise, due to the game not supporting it from the base. Since IWDEE will use the BGIIEE engine, adding NPCs to IWDEE should be a lot easier, so hopefully we'll see a bunch of NPCs.

    That does make me wonder, though. Is it possible to have a protagonist in IWDEE? It shouldn't be enabled by default, of course, but it would be nice if BeamDog included a "protagonist=0" variable, which mods could set to 1, which would treat the first character generated as the protagonist a la BG style, so NPCs can more clearly identify this protagonist.
  • CasadoomCasadoom Member Posts: 68
    I am very glad that Beamdog did not decide to add NPC's in IWD.

    IWD and IWD2 have always been my preferred games because of the more combat based nature and the ability to create a party without feeling you are losing anything. BG1 and BG2 just do not work with a custom created party.

    In addition, the resources spent creating a decent amount of characters could instead be spent further developing the games, fine tuning the balance (e.g. like a tactics mod let alone rebalancing for the new kit/spell additions), adding items and quests. If they have done any of the above in a satisfactory way remains to be seen.
  • SapphireIce101SapphireIce101 Member Posts: 866
    To be honest, if Beamdog were to make talking NPCs for IWD, they would have to be importable like the IWD NPC Project NPCs, and if they aren't going to do it like that, then I would rather that they never do it at all.
  • NimranNimran Member Posts: 4,875

    Damn... and here I was looking forward to see some cool Yeti romances in IWD:EE. :(

    It can still happen! Just not in the party.
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,606

    Damn... and here I was looking forward to see some cool Yeti romances in IWD:EE. :(

    Furries!
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