IWD dual-wielding

Insultion

I haven't done a very thorough search, so curse me if this has been brought up before, but it's been an issue since pre-EE.

That issue is the dual-wielding for sprites in the game. It's a relatively minor gripe, truly, but in IWD and IWD only (IWD2 as well, though there is no EE for that!) the sprite for the weapons is bugged. If you have a mace in your main-hand and a dagger in your off-hand, the main-hand will always be closest to the camera, regardless of character orientation; so it switches hands when you turn around. I would post a picture representing, but I am on the cusp of leaving for work. Will gladly post the picture when I return home, assuming this issue hasn't been brought up at all.

Sceptenar

I believe that is because they just flipped the character model for convenience so they wouldn't have to animate as many frames. Nothing to be done about it really.

Jarrakul

That's correct. It's called sprite mirroring, I believe, and sadly, it's the case with every game that uses BG2-style sprites, which are the only ones that support dual-wielding. There's not much to be done to fix this without significant effort.

Insultion

I'm almost positive it is not the case in BG 2 or 1 I seem to recall it being a part of IWD 1 and 2 only as well as there having been a fix. Of course this is all pretty long past memory so I could very well be blowing smoke. I know of sprite mirroring but in this particular case it shouldn't really be hard to fix. The sprites for both combinations of any possible combination are already there because they are interchangeable anyway in game.

Jarrakul

I just checked BG1EE, BG2EE, and vanilla BG2, and it is definitely the case in all those games. I suspect you're misremembering, my friend.

You're right, though, that it does seem more plausible to fix the issue with two-weapon fighting than with other fighting styles. Unsure how I'd feel about the inconsistency, though.

Franpa

Yes, in the case of Sword & Shield or similar setups where equipment can't be swapped between offhand and main hand, there might not be any animation frames for them to be properly held when facing certain directions due to the original devs and artists using Mirroring to minimize costs.

Insultion

Jarrakul wrote: »

I just checked BG1EE, BG2EE, and vanilla BG2, and it is definitely the case in all those games. I suspect you're misremembering, my friend.

You're right, though, that it does seem more plausible to fix the issue with two-weapon fighting than with other fighting styles. Unsure how I'd feel about the inconsistency, though.

Fair enough, I typically don't dual-wield in BG 1 or 2, so that may have something to do with my recollection. I just got home and confirmed for my own eyes that you are indeed correct.

I suppose my not noticing is truly just a testimony to how good of a game these are, even after years. After all, it suggests I'm more invested in story and play.

@Franpa I do believe they mirrored for space and memory reasons, moreso than cost, but aye. Not to mention it costs more to do it after the fact than during initial production of the game.

Thank the lot of you for being straightforward and not being pricks; I typically avoid forums for my mental health!