More Party Slots
TvrtkoSvrdlar
Member Posts: 353
So we know the 6-person limit is hardcoded in BG1/2.
And since IWDEE runs on the BG engine, the same applies, right?
But when Overhaul said 'hardcoded', did they mean "totally completely utterly impossible to modify", or was it more along the lines of "yeah, we *could* do it, but it'd eat up an inordinate amount of our time"? Because if it's the latter, I believe I'm not the only one who'd drop a couple of bucks for a DLC featuring expanded party slots, especially for a new game like IWDEE. And the improved functionality could (probably?) be back-ported to the BGEEs as well.
What sayeth you?
(note: please don't bring up balance issues - if this was ever implemented, it would probably be given 'as is', and no one would expect Overhaul to re-balance the entire game around the change, so any talk of balance -- or lack thereof -- is a moot point anyway)
And since IWDEE runs on the BG engine, the same applies, right?
But when Overhaul said 'hardcoded', did they mean "totally completely utterly impossible to modify", or was it more along the lines of "yeah, we *could* do it, but it'd eat up an inordinate amount of our time"? Because if it's the latter, I believe I'm not the only one who'd drop a couple of bucks for a DLC featuring expanded party slots, especially for a new game like IWDEE. And the improved functionality could (probably?) be back-ported to the BGEEs as well.
What sayeth you?
(note: please don't bring up balance issues - if this was ever implemented, it would probably be given 'as is', and no one would expect Overhaul to re-balance the entire game around the change, so any talk of balance -- or lack thereof -- is a moot point anyway)
3
Comments
If you had more than six party members, they'd all be extremely low level.
Also, if there's a six character limit, then how does Find Familiar work? Surely there's something more...
"Oh, we're heading into an extreamly dangerous area but we'd better leave behind Keldorn, Jaheria, Mazzy, Neera, Dorn and Valygar.They'd only get in our way, right?
Now Jaheira, Mazzy and Valygar, on the other hand...I guess they have more important things to do...right?
Read the part up in the OP about not involving game balance in the discussion.
@Frond
My thoughts exactly.
@WebShaman
From a strictly storyline perspective, it makes little sense to kick people out of your party. But this isn't about storyline either - it would be just a 'for fun' change that would let people who've beaten the game countless times before now run with 6+ parties. A novelty option, nothing more. Same as with IWDEE's HoF mode.
They also added story mode to IWDEE. Story mode was not a part of the original game, and it also upsets balance because it makes the game trivially easy. Thus, it's not out of the realm of possibility for them to add things which aren't 100% vanilla-friendly. I honestly have no idea why you're so militant about this topic. It's not as if introducing more party slots somehow automatically wrecks the game. If Beamdog can't or doesn't want to implement this due to financial constraints, then that's something I can understand, but completely ignoring the possibility of new, unique additions just because of a handful of purists like yourself is silly.
@Fardragon
I think he was being facetious.
Give it to me straight - what are the odds of you guys tackling this?
I'm a huge fan of the EEs, and I'll throw money at you as fast as you can produce content, but regardless of that, there are many people out there accusing Beamdog of doing little more than packaging mods with the original game. Such silly statements aside, if you guys came out with a 6+ party option, you'd pretty much silence the opposition forever.
Sooooo... how do we get @TrentOster to greenlight this?
@CaptRory
Nothing some elbow grease and a wrench or two can't handle
How about this @TvrtkoSvrdlar, what would you rather have, one more NPC in IWD or a new adventure from Beamdog?
Why not both? Or all three? :P
This really would be a fundamental shift, so it's not like it could be a bolt-on DLC pack. Another huge problem is mods--there would be an issue any time the game has your party change areas, or has your party do something via cutscene, etc. There are no 'party do X' actions in the engine, so in every one of these instances there are six sets of actions to get the party to do something. Every instance of this in the game, and in mod content, would need to update to account for more than six party members. We're, what, two years in and still don't have full conversion of the existing BG2 mods (which need smaller updates than this) so you can imagine how this would go over. We've already included a lot that can't be accomplished by mods. Criticism is good, and we listen and do our best to improve, but we're better served focusing on a good engine, filled with fun content, with a bug-free experience instead of worrying about folks who are not going to change their minds.
during cutscenes they would simply disappear and reappear afterwards (from the area border, entrance point or simply materialize).
you could give them items to use by putting them in an ordinary 'bag' in your inv (give them the bag via "take zee bag bitte" dialogue and they would equip a superior weapon/armor or learn spells that were put inside; incompatible items would just be dropped to the ground)
they could figure in the game as mercenaries. this would work nicely in iwd imho. better than NPCs for iwd which some people also think is a great idea.
feels like a legitimate addon for me. they could have distinct personalities and clash with the party and have many nasty twists that normal jNPCs don't get to have (except for yoshimo).
edit: also, for this to work, spellbook would have to be accessible or maybe they could autonomously decide what to memorize.
From a technical standpoint, I think that would actually be more difficult.
bad ideat then lol
i've also always wanted to see the character sheet of that constantly improving BG2 summoned berserker.
But it is a good idea for the new engine, I'm currently building (In my dreams that is
Thanks for the indepth explanation
PARTY SLOTS...