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Alpha Baldur's Gate Builds, Any Exist?

WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
edited October 2015 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
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Does A Pre-1998 Launch Version Of Baldur's Gate Exist Somewhere? Those Prototype Gnolls Would Be Great Extra Content..

Any Insight, Anyone?

An Alpha / Beta Build Would Be A Crazy And Amazing Find.. Also Don't Pirate, Buy Official Products.
Post edited by WithinAmnesia on
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Comments

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    We should be careful with mentioning "downloads". Piracy on this site is not allowed.

    If only the pre-launch versions were avaible for buying...
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    edited October 2015
    Dee said:

    If they were available for purchase, they wouldn't be "pre-launch" versions, would they? ;)

    And if they're available for "download", that would likely be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Internal builds are internal for a reason.

    Is there anyway I can get a hold of an earlier version of Balder's Gate? I want to research the older creature BAMs and also see if there is 'cut content' that is not found in the launch version of Baldur's Gate. Is there some type of crazy roadblock(s) in the way to share the 1990's internal builds of Baldur's Gate?

    I don't want to share it around the web / spread it, I just want to research it. Do I have to buy it or give someone money to look at it?

    @Dee hey do any 1998 pre-launch Baldur's Gate builds even exist? Or did they go missing / got lost?
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    bengoshi said:

    We should be careful with mentioning "downloads". Piracy on this site is not allowed.

    If only the pre-launch versions were avaible for buying...

    Yeah I would buy them, I don't want to share / pirate them. I just want to research and look for cut content. I wonder if 1998 pre-launch Baldur's Gate builds even exist? Didn't the source files go missing?
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    @tuth: That was awesome! Good find, thanks for sharing.

    Interresting to see that Imoen was a mage in that demo.
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    @Sam_ can you bust into this please please please?
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    I also remember PLAYING an interactive demo from a demo disc of Baldur's Gate, It had only a few areas on it. It Had No Girdle Ogre Map.
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    edited October 2015
    Tuth said:

    I'd love to play either alpha or even beta of pre-release Baldur's Gate, just to see what some of the early concepts were in the game. I rememeber reading somewhere that there was a demo where Ajantis was the playable character and there were some quests in Candlekeep I believe.

    I wonder what content was cut from many wilderness locations that seem "empty", like Larswood for example.

    So far I've only managed to find the non-interactive demo:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVCTmSc3go4

    Keep Searching :3! I Would Love To Play / Near Infinity A Pre-Lauch Demo.
  • AlmateriaAlmateria Member Posts: 257
    WithinAmnesia said:

    @Sam_ can you bust into this please please please?

    I've tried busting into it and who knew biff files are pretty hard to crack into when there's a non-standard .key file. WinBiff was the only program which managed, and it's still unable to extract the files. So all you can get is a list of files used in the demo.
    But hey, maybe it's gonna work on a windows
    don't give up hope
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    Almateria said:

    WithinAmnesia said:

    @Sam_ can you bust into this please please please?

    I've tried busting into it and who knew biff files are pretty hard to crack into when there's a non-standard .key file. WinBiff was the only program which managed, and it's still unable to extract the files. So all you can get is a list of files used in the demo.
    But hey, maybe it's gonna work on a windows
    don't give up hope
    WinBiff you say? Windows!? You Say? HMMM! I have got some work to do now!
  • AlmateriaAlmateria Member Posts: 257
    WinBif or BifRip or BiffManager, lotsa options.
    At least I got the music track :v
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    edited October 2015
    Almateria said:

    WinBif or BifRip or BiffManager, lotsa options.
    At least I got the music track :v

    Hey I made you a video: https://youtu.be/8Z0OmsK8-ic
  • GemHoundGemHound Member Posts: 801
    Good luck!
  • cmk24cmk24 Member Posts: 605
    On a related note, the original 1997 e3 demo is still reachable within the game (although it uses all the assets from the main game): https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/630905/#Comment_630905
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    bengoshi said:

    https://archive.org/details/BALDUR

    Baldur's Gate Demo
    by BioWare

    BALDUR.EXE 07-Feb-2014 01:26 32.7M
    BALDUR.jpg 07-Feb-2014 01:25 97.5K
    BALDUR_files.xml 09-May-2014 18:35 1.6K
    BALDUR_meta.sqlite 07-Feb-2014 01:26 14.0K
    BALDUR_meta.xml 09-May-2014 18:35 1.1K
    BALDUR_thumb.jpg 07-Feb-2014 01:26 6.1K

    I think you got the non-interactive demo friend?
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    edited October 2015
    I Struck Gold!
    (Close Up: http://pre09.deviantart.net/de83/th/pre/i/2015/301/5/f/baldur_s_gate_1997_by_withinamnesia-d9eny86.jpg )
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    Post edited by WithinAmnesia on
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    Also Do Not Forget About This Err 'Gem':
    https://youtu.be/0h7V72wts_M
  • Sam_Sam_ Member Posts: 172
    WithinAmnesia said:

    @Sam_ can you bust into this please please please?

    This is the most interesting project I've had in a while! :smiley:
    I expect it to take me a couple of days to complete my initial analysis. The problem with the BIFFs seems to be that the KEY file format was changed between the release of the NID and the actual game. Some of the other formats seem to have changed between then and now also. I can extract the files from the BIFFs, but it will take some voodoo to get all the resources named and working correctly...
  • JiveOneJiveOne Member Posts: 43
    Where did that back-of-the-box screenshot come from? Windows XP and Vista didn't exist in 1998 and Atari did not yet have the license to D&D games. Maybe it's a mishmash of old screenshots and a newer re-release boxart?
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    JiveOne said:

    Where did that back-of-the-box screenshot come from? Windows XP and Vista didn't exist in 1998 and Atari did not yet have the license to D&D games. Maybe it's a mishmash of old screenshots and a newer re-release boxart?

    It was 7:30 AM (I was not waking up) and I did some big time nerd google research for 1997 Baldur's Gate.

    And well, I found this lead:

    http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BALDURS-GATE-Double-Page-PRINT-AD-BIOWARE-1997-Poster-Art-PC-Playstation-RPG-/181884409948?hash=item2a5927d85c
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    Sam_ said:

    WithinAmnesia said:

    @Sam_ can you bust into this please please please?

    This is the most interesting project I've had in a while! :smiley:
    I expect it to take me a couple of days to complete my initial analysis. The problem with the BIFFs seems to be that the KEY file format was changed between the release of the NID and the actual game. Some of the other formats seem to have changed between then and now also. I can extract the files from the BIFFs, but it will take some voodoo to get all the resources named and working correctly...
    YAY! Jump for joy! !0! !O!
  • fearlessfearless Member Posts: 40
    edited October 2015
    Ive send sam a modified version of the chitin.key - seems to be a few fields of the 2 bif entries where not included - it does allow the extraction of assets - at least with my own WinBif program - not sure if the modified chitin version will allow the NID to run. Let me know how it all goes.

    If someone else wants the modified chitin.key it can be got from here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ii635ocy2dkc8c3/CHITIN.KEY?dl=0

    WinBif: http://www.letthelight.in/projects/released/winbif
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    @fearless I added you to the cool people list at https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/44471/s-c-u-m-a-recruitment-thread-my-modding-portfolio-did-i-break-this-thread-s :D
  • AlmateriaAlmateria Member Posts: 257
    Well, I've went through all the assets.
    Nothing new, except some sounds, maybe? Also, the whole NID is pretty shoddily put.
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 961
    edited October 2015
    @fearless , hey I do not think that I am using winbiff right, I keep crashing it when I try to open NID.bif and NID2.bif
    What could be the problem my friend?
  • SeldarSeldar Member Posts: 438
    hennnnnn all these stuff are amazing ! All these ancients skins look really nice. It would be a great challenge to restore them
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