Release FAQ
Dee
Member Posts: 10,447
Got questions about the coming release? Post them here! Answers will be compiled and attached to this post as needed.
I also highly recommend taking a party into the Firewine Ruins or the Ulcaster School with this beta. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
When it comes to screen functionality a lot of things can be turned on or off through the various Options menus. Do some exploring and if an option is missing that you wish were there, submit a ticket on Redmine for it!
If you think the shift makes the ability too weak, of course, please let us know by either submitting a Feature ticket on Redmine or starting a discussion thread in this forum. Fans of the Shadowdancer will know that we're willing to listen to players if there's significant feedback. Let your voice be heard!
(in layman's terms, the code is the Infinity Engine itself; the specific bits like items and spells are what we call data, and those are different for each game.)
So you probably won't see code changes from 1.3 listed in this change log, because strictly speaking they were already fixed before the work on 2.0 was started. Pathfinding is one such fix. If you have questions about other code changes that you're not sure if they made it into this update, feel free to ask!
We have private beta testers who are under NDA, but they know what they're not allowed to talk about. Anything in this forum is fair game.
That doesn't mean an update for Icewind Dale isn't coming, of course. Just that it's not being tackled as part of this event.
Longer answer: The multiplayer experience in 1.3 is reasonably stable, and our goal for 2.0 is to meet or beat that same level of stability. Right now we're tackling a few issues that came up as a result of some other code changes in 2.0, but those should all be fixed by the time this release goes "live".
Truthfully, putting bonus spell slots on a weapon is probably poor design, given how frequently weapons are swapped out even during combat. To change how this works would involve reexamining how equipment and the Magic Weapon slot work as a whole. (Do you retain all of your equipped weapon's effects? What if your equipped weapon gives you +5 AC, or +2 APR? You probably shouldn't benefit from those effects while using a magical Flame Blade or Shillelagh.)
Is the release date the same as SoD? @charlienail
We're aiming to release the 2.0 update a little bit before SoD's official launch. No exact dates have been set, but the goal is to have the patch in everyone's hands in time for the SoD release.When will Android beta testing begin? @Airman1991
Nothing's set in stone, but we do intend to hold beta testing on Android before releasing the update on that platform.Have the issues with the Quick Loot bar been fixed? @Franpa
Yes. The Quick Loot bar should be working much better now. If you have the opportunity to test it out for yourself I highly recommend it; if there's something about the feature that still feels off to you, submit a bug report through Redmine.Has the bug been fixed where a character's number of attacks don't get reset after a magical weapon is depleted or dispelled? @DregothofTyr
Yes.Has the bug been fixed where the screen will shake in smaller areas when the zoom level is too far out? @DregothofTyr
Yes.Has the bug been fixed where characters walk into each other during battle? @DregothofTyr
The pathfinding has been fixed, yes. I recommend testing it out for yourself, though, so you can report any lingering issues that you may find.I also highly recommend taking a party into the Firewine Ruins or the Ulcaster School with this beta. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Can I disable the UI changes? @DregothofTyr
The design of the various UI screens is set; there's no way to revert them in-game to what they were before. However, the new UI system makes it a much easier proposition to change the way screens are laid out and designed; if you liked the old Character Record, there's a good change you or someone from the modding community can recreate that layout here.When it comes to screen functionality a lot of things can be turned on or off through the various Options menus. Do some exploring and if an option is missing that you wish were there, submit a ticket on Redmine for it!
Can we use Baldur.lua to perform more complicated Lua scripts to run in-game? @CrevsDaak
As far as I know, baldur.lua is just there to set user configuration settings. There is functionality there for you to set variables, which makes it possible to do some things with mods that you couldn't do before, but I don't think it allows you to write functions and have them be executed in-game. I could be mistaken, though; if you want to know more, ask again and I'll see about grabbing one of the programmers during the week.Will the journal functionality be similar to that of original BGII? @Silverstar
The Journal screen has been completely redesigned from the ground up. I recommend taking a look at it in the beta, but the function of it is a lot more intuitive than it was before.Does this update add ay opcodes or scripting actions and triggers, or any new externalizations that modders can make use of? @Grammarsalad
Yes! In fact, I tried to separate out all of these "modder-friendly features" in the Enhancement lists.Since the App Store has increased the app size limit, will the iPad version now be rendered in retina? @iKrivetko
I think I understand what you mean, but I'm not certain and I don't want to risk misinterpreting. Could you be more specific about what you mean by "rendered in retina"?Do fighter/mages still lose spell slots when they use Melf's Minute Meteors or another spell that creates a magic weapon? @iKrivetko
I believe they do, and from what I understand this isn't a bug. But I'll be happy to double-check for you; just ask again and I'll snag one of the programmers for a more complete answer.Will this update feature any new enhancements specific to tablets? @Luke93
I don't know of any tablet-specific features in this update, but that doesn't mean tablet-specific enhancements aren't on their way.Is it possible to use Azuredge, Dwarven Thrower and similar weapons for dual wield in 2.0? @vnkwerjau
Yes, if you equip them in your main-hand slot. I'm not certain, but I think that weapons with a Thrown ability are still restricted from being equipped to the off-hand slot.Why was Sun Soulray changed to a single-target effect? @Flashburn
In conversations with the designer of the Sun Soul Monk kit, we discovered that the ability was always intended to be single-target. Somewhere between design and implementation it was shifted; all we've done is shifted it back.If you think the shift makes the ability too weak, of course, please let us know by either submitting a Feature ticket on Redmine or starting a discussion thread in this forum. Fans of the Shadowdancer will know that we're willing to listen to players if there's significant feedback. Let your voice be heard!
Can we expect "marked circles" for Area of Effect spells as an optional thing to turn on/off? @O_Bruce
Not in this update. But if it's something you feel strongly about, I highly recommend submitting a Feature ticket on Redmine, or starting a discussion thread about it in this forum.Is the OriginalClass() trigger just a trigger or can it be used to make changes to that bit as well? @subtledoctor
It's just a trigger. If there's something specific you want to be able to do, though, please submit a Feature ticket in Redmine. I can't promise it will be implemented, but we'll at least take a look.I don't see a certain bug listed in the change log. Does that mean it wasn't fixed? @Doubledimas
Not necessarily. The change log that's currently posted is preliminary; it's a quick grab of everything that was ready to be documented. There's hundreds more listings that just need to be sorted, sifted, and rewritten for the purposes of documentation. That's a big part of what I'll be doing this week, is getting the final list of bug fixes posted.Something was fixed in the code for BGII:EE or IWD:EE, but it's not mentioned in the change log here. Why is that? (Specific example: pathfinding) @joeblow
Anything that's been fixed in the code will be populated across all Infinity Engine games whenever they're updated, because they all use the same codebase.(in layman's terms, the code is the Infinity Engine itself; the specific bits like items and spells are what we call data, and those are different for each game.)
So you probably won't see code changes from 1.3 listed in this change log, because strictly speaking they were already fixed before the work on 2.0 was started. Pathfinding is one such fix. If you have questions about other code changes that you're not sure if they made it into this update, feel free to ask!
Why isn't the Priest of Tempus in this update? @bengoshi
Time, mostly. It's a kit that we want to include, but it involves migrating resources over from IWD:EE (unlike the Priest of Tyr, whose special abilities were already in the files for BGII:EE). So, short answer: the kit is coming, just not in this update because there were other things that were more pressing to get in.Is this beta event under NDA? @Adul
No, the Road to v2.0 event is not under NDA. Feel free to post screenshots on Twitter and Facebook, talk about the beta with your friends, post links to your tumblr account, blog about it on LiveJournal (people still use LiveJournal, right?)...We have private beta testers who are under NDA, but they know what they're not allowed to talk about. Anything in this forum is fair game.
Is this Road event just for BG:EE and BGII:EE? What about SoD and IWD:EE? @BelegCuthalion
This event is for BG:EE and BGII:EE only. SoD is being handled through private beta testing, since it features story elements that need to remain a secret. IWD:EE didn't require an update for the release of SoD, since you can't import a game from SoD into IWD:EE.That doesn't mean an update for Icewind Dale isn't coming, of course. Just that it's not being tackled as part of this event.
Why is the Multiplayer broken? Will it ever be fixed? @thelovebat
Short answer: multiplayer is hard.Longer answer: The multiplayer experience in 1.3 is reasonably stable, and our goal for 2.0 is to meet or beat that same level of stability. Right now we're tackling a few issues that came up as a result of some other code changes in 2.0, but those should all be fixed by the time this release goes "live".
Do companion stats now carry from BG1 to BG2? Like if I give someone else the stat tomes in BG1 will that still affect their stats in BG2? @Messi
Not in this release, no. But it's something that we're looking at--whether or not we do it, of course, is a separate question (and one that I can't really answer at this point).Can scripting now detect diseased creatures? @Nixos
Yes. @Tresset found the specific fix number for this one.Are the new portraits only in the BGEE beta (to which I don't have an access)? I don't see them with DLTC in the BG2EE beta Portrait.bif? @bengoshi
It looks that way, yes. If you want to see them added to BGII:EE, I highly recommend submitting a Feature ticket on Redmine for it.Will the tablet version finally get a means to rotate party formation with this update? @BelegCuthalion
This feature hasn't been implemented yet, but that doesn't mean it's not in the schedule. I agree with @subtledoctor that you shouldn't have to create a new Feature ticket to let us know this is important (we know it's important), but in this case creating that ticket will help us most by telling us how you would like this feature to work. Even if we don't use your idea, it will help us in determining how best to communicate the new control to players.Can we get an option to make the quest update window stay visible longer? @Messi
This is an excellent example of something you should create a Feature ticket for. If one of the patch's new features/design changes isn't working the way you want it, create a ticket and let us know how you want it to work.Can we simulate the Ctrl-click functionality when selecting party members from the roster of portraits? @BelegCuthalion
I'll say the same thing here as above: if you have a specific idea for how you'd like it to work, create a feature ticket in Redmine. (Again, that's not to say that this isn't something we've thought about before, but getting your ideas written down and into our system will give the developers more information to work with.)Re: Dakkon Zerth Blade and bonus spell slots @Grammarsalad
What I mean by "not a bug" is that any equipped item that grants bonus spell slots is going to stop granting those spell slots as soon as it's no longer equipped. So if an effect forces your character to equip a different weapon (like, say, Melf's Minute Meteors), it's by design that your character will no longer benefit from the effects of the previously equipped weapon, in the same way that removing a Robe of Fire Resistance also removes your resistance to fire. So in that sense, it's working as intended, even if it's not ideal.Truthfully, putting bonus spell slots on a weapon is probably poor design, given how frequently weapons are swapped out even during combat. To change how this works would involve reexamining how equipment and the Magic Weapon slot work as a whole. (Do you retain all of your equipped weapon's effects? What if your equipped weapon gives you +5 AC, or +2 APR? You probably shouldn't benefit from those effects while using a magical Flame Blade or Shillelagh.)
I have access to the BG:EE or BGII:EE beta through Beamdog, but it's not updating. Is something wrong? @Sam_
Potentially. Start a new thread in this forum and tag @Cerevant - he'll help you figure out what's preventing you from updating, if anything.Post edited by Dee on
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Comments
Since the App Store has increased the app size, will the iPad version now be rendered in retina?
Do fighter/mages still lose spell slots when they use MMM/BBD etc. with the Dakkon Zerth's Blade equipped?
Also, was the pathfinding bug improved? Besides the number of attacks with ammo gone bug, the pathfinding issue and the way that small zones would shake when you scrolled up and down in the window are the worst bugs in the current game. Can anyone answer that?
Really looking forward to the new patches and to SoD by the way, just have a couple concerns about these things because I'm so attached to these games, and I think for the most part that Beamdog have done an excellent job.
Is improved path finding coming to BG1EE so I can finally start my first play through? Thanks.