[Not An Issue] Imoen looks like a thief even though she's primarily a mage

3leeTbger

[Windows][Beamdog][BG2:EE 1.3.2064][Standard game/no mods installed]

Imoen and Nalia are almost identical, they're both dualclass mage/thiefs. Nalia switched to mage at level 4, Imoen at 7. But their ingame paperdolls/avatars look different, Nalia looks like a mage (wears a dress), Imoen as a thief (wears "thiefsuit"). If they put on a robe, it's properly displayed for Nalia but not for Imoen.

I think Imoen should be displayed like a mage, just like Nalia is, or at least Imoen should be able to display a robe. Agree?












http://youtu.be/pJXy9UHn_Ok

JuliusBorisov

I agree that there should be some consistency here. But I like how Imoen looks now like a thief. I just like hooded figures, you know.

Hurricane

This was a conscious decision by the developers. It's not a bug.

But if you like it better when Imoen looks like a mage, there are mods that can do this for you, like the BG2 Tweak Pack.

3leeTbger

Hurricane said:

This was a conscious decision by the developers. It's not a bug.

How do you know? Has this been posted/published somewhere (if yes, where?) or are you just guessing?

I think it's a bit silly that a character that's primarily a mage, is visually depicted as a thief and unable to display mage robes

SionIV

3leeTbger said:

Hurricane said:

This was a conscious decision by the developers. It's not a bug.

How do you know? Has this been posted/published somewhere (if yes, where?) or are you just guessing?

I think it's a bit silly that a character that's primarily a mage, is visually depicted as a thief and unable to display mage robes

It's always been like this, even when black isle released their own patches back in the days they didn't change this. Beamdog took up the game and they haven't changed it either.

And if we're going to be following the game, none of them should be looking like either a rogue or mage, because when you dual class you don't keep the appearance. If i remember right you end up looking like either a fighter or a cleric after dual classing.

Hurricane

The developer intent is evident from the developmental history of BG2-SoA and the ToB add-on. In total, there are 19 individual instances of Imoen in BG2/ToB (as NPC, as cutscene actor etc.). Not one of those instances was created with the mage paperdoll. All of the 19 instances use the thief animation. There is not a single exception.

It is highly unlikely that Bioware had wanted to change Imoen to look like a mage in BG2, and then sloppily forgot to do so everywhere throughout the entire game. And then again in the add-on. And then again in the patches.

lunar

That's how she is supposed to look. For game engine rules, dual/multi classes use the animation for the highest hit dice available. A m/t looks like a thief, a c/m looks like a cleric, etc. Nalia and Aerie are anomalies but they make sense:Nalia is royalty after all, and her dress suits her character better. Also it differentiates her from Imoen. Imoen is an orphaned child, and is a lot more mischevious than Nalia, so her looking like a thief is ok to me. Aerie looks prettier in robes and dresses, as well.

Musigny

lunar said:

Also it differentiates her from Imoen.

I think this is one of the key points.

JTerzin

Actually, if you played the original Baldur's Gate, her primary class is THIEF, and NOT a Mage! Therefore, there are no bugs here.

Hurricane

lunar said:

That's how she is supposed to look. For game engine rules, dual/multi classes use the animation for the highest hit dice available.

I didn't even think of that, but you're right, even the game mechanics support Imoen looking like a thief. Although there are some more examples where characters went the other way (Yeslick, Jan), so it seems Bioware took the liberty to give their NPCs the paperdolls they liked. Doesn't change the Imoen case, though.

@Gate70
I think we're done here.