Is Beamdog going to give us some more detailed info (teaser trailer, screenshots, ...) about the next project by the end of the year?
I'd doubt it if they even give us a working title for the project.
Why would they, until it's almost done? I mean, really...it could be a PR disaster if they demo'ed what wasn't the 95%-finished project. Look at what happened with so many other games in the last 10 years, where the devs demo'ed an early edition; and then the "fans" blasted them for "lying". I wouldn't even release a teaser until the game was 95% done being coded.
I think we're not getting any real life "news" from the Devs 'till summer 2017 at least. . Also, as I can fully understand the "100% team working on a new project" decision from the pure profit perspective, it's frankly a d--- move, to scatter a new hole before fully filling the last one. . Am I right? *Rodrian casts shield*
Also, as I can fully understand the "100% team working on a new project" decision from the pure profit perspective, it's frankly a d--- move, to scatter a new hole before fully filling the last one. . Am I right? *Rodrian casts shield*
No. They just laid off several people, and they're trying to stay in business. That means they need cash flow. And that means they need a new product out to sell asap. I find it perfectly understandable. They're not working as volunteers out of the goodness of their hearts, they're paying salaries and running a business.
@Rodrian im currently playing IWD2 after 'goging' it and im over the moon tho i feel like im going to end up tripping balls as the screen size is HUGE and my eyes arent used to it (its zoomed in further than BG) but so far so good!
only downside, it doesnt have expanded class options for some things (shadowdancer, shapeshifter etc) and i couldve sworn there was more race options but other than that its so awesome ty for pointing it out for me
Unfortuanately there were never prestige classes in IWD2.
Which sucks. They would have been nice achievements.
I agree. I would have liked them as well. I remember the discussions going on at the time the game was in late development. JE Sawyer absolutely hated the whole concept of them. Because of that they were never added.
Sure they need cash, everybody does, but while they're at it they could at the very least give us the impression they're not backing on their promises.
I for one would give them cash now, right now, in exchange for a hard promise they would tie up the engine as well as the story in a timely fashion all the while keeping us in the loop (for a change).
Unless your "hard cash" is in the millions of dollars range, it wouldn't make a difference.
Can you show me exactly where the company promised anything?
They set goals for themselves to accomplish, then shared said goals with the community, but they never promised "we're not going to stop working on these games until they are perfect." In fact they said the opposite many times before SoD came out. They might have fell short on meeting those goals, but that doesn't mean they broke an oath they gave to the community.
And what "bridges" are you talking about?
And just because they are working on something new, doesn't mean that previous releases have been abandoned. They have internal deadlines to meet, and need to use their resources wisely to meet them. Once those deadlines are met, they'll hopefully go back and revisit some things they wouldn't mind touching up in the IE games such as bringing IWD over to 2.0 patch.
That following statement can actually be found on Kotaku as well as in one of the pre-SoD Twitch sessions and somewhere on the forum also:
Our stance with the Infinity engine games is that if we ever move on from them into a more modern engine or something, we need to leave the Infinity engine in a state that is excellent so that people can enjoy it for another 20 years. If we leave it behind and you can enjoy this with your kids in 20-40 years then we’re extremely happy.
So, how is this a promise of anything? This is just saying, if we decide to X, here's how it would work.
fair enough, but who has said they have moved on from the IE to a more modern one?
perhaps there new project that they are working on is another IE:EE like IWD2 or PS:T and they are doing the same thing they did with SoD, improving the engine for the new release while implementing it backwards to previous released titles.
Trent has also stated there is another patch coming so it is not like they have been abandoned, just pushed slightly to the side while they blaze through something a tad more important.
I also think WotC has more to do with the cone of silence than Beamdog. I am pretty sure if the muzzle was removed fro @PhillipDaigle he would be spilling all the secrets.
The implied meaning here was that me being willing to do just that underlines the fact that others like me (maybe even many others, in fact) feel the exact same way. I know they aren't allowed to resort to Kickstarter, but still I feel many here would be willing to pop at least the same amount they spent on SoD to at last be given an ultimate and final version of the games. That means, but is not limited to, a bug-free and uber-moddable engine as well as a tied-up story and proper characterization of all npcs.
I'm not. I've paid my money and am quite happy with the version of SoD I have now. The bugs are minimal (especially compared to anything released by Bethesda or Obsidian), moddablity has been improved about as far as is possible for an 18 year old amateurishly cobbled together engine, characterisation is entirely in line with my perception of the characters, and anything not "tied-up" is clearly intentional story hooks for future projects.
If a demon ceases to be chaotic evil, then it is no longer a demon.
That is actually wrong, technically. And proven not only by Fall-From-Grace but also official Planescape material. While demons are Chaotic Evil, a non-Chaotic Evil demon is still... a demon. Just with a different alignment but not a different nature. Their category doesn't change.
The module is about a Deva and a Bebilith (demonic spider thing http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bebilith) in short. Long-story short, you can redeem the Bebilith and make into a Good demon by giving it the "spark" (essence, soul) of said Deva.
Also, the type and alignment are two different things. A demon can be literally made of Chaos and Evil (cosmic forces) but their alignment could change in rare cases. Even if they turn Lawful Good, their type is still Chaotic Evil. If you use Detect Evil on a Lawful Good demon, they will still ping as Evil because this is what they're made of.
@Fardragon I'm not exactly sure I understand what you're saying here.
If they intentionally left loose ends in order to tie them up sometime later via DLC, then terrific. That is exactly what I want and am requesting.
I think it was a full game they had planned, not DLC.
On the other hand, if they didn't bother tying up their plotlines and have no intention to do so in the future, then I'll be mad and very disappointed of Beamdog. That would be one prime example of what I consider to be going back on their word.
Because SoD didn't sell as well as they hoped, the planned follow-up got axed. I.e. the same reason Amazing Spider-Man 3 never happened, leaving plot-hooks from ASM1 and 2 dangling.
As far as I'm concerned, the later would instantly raise the question: given that Beamdog does not care with completing their storylines, should I and will I invest myself in any future title they hope to release?
I'm sure they would like to complete their story, but the need for food and shelter comes before the need for Self Actualisation.
Our stance with the Infinity engine games is that if we ever move on from them into a more modern engine or something, we need to leave the Infinity engine in a state that is excellent so that people can enjoy it for another 20 years. If we leave it behind and you can enjoy this with your kids in 20-40 years then we’re extremely happy.
In this statement I only read that they make the infinity engine usable for another 20 years. So game code. When someone wants to use the same principles or someone wants to mod the crap out of the bgee or iwdee series, they can do that quite well (or so is the premise).
In no way whatsoever does it say anything about the game storyline content or plothole 'fixes'. So if you are expecting them to tie up loose ends, you are in for disappointment because they did not commit to that at all. (I still expect them to add some content in the future though).
@Fardragon I'm not exactly sure I understand what you're saying here.
If they intentionally left loose ends in order to tie them up sometime later via DLC, then terrific. That is exactly what I want and am requesting.
I think it was a full game they had planned, not DLC.
On the other hand, if they didn't bother tying up their plotlines and have no intention to do so in the future, then I'll be mad and very disappointed of Beamdog. That would be one prime example of what I consider to be going back on their word.
Because SoD didn't sell as well as they hoped, the planned follow-up got axed. I.e. the same reason Amazing Spider-Man 3 never happened, leaving plot-hooks from ASM1 and 2 dangling.
As far as I'm concerned, the later would instantly raise the question: given that Beamdog does not care with completing their storylines, should I and will I invest myself in any future title they hope to release?
I'm sure they would like to complete their story, but the need for food and shelter comes before the need for Self Actualisation.
To bè fair, SoD Is a PC only rpg which Is also the interquel of two(three if we count ToB) old PC only rpgs based on a tabletop rpg with the negative reputation of being overly complicated and boring, so it was Pretty much doomed from the start of not selling well. I'm not being a negative Nancy, its Just how things work in the ruthless videogame universe.
I've added the spoiler tag. Not everyone browsing through these boards finished or even played SoD, so the contents of it should go under a spoiler tag. Carry on!
Comments
Also, as I can fully understand the "100% team working on a new project" decision from the pure profit perspective, it's frankly a d--- move, to scatter a new hole before fully filling the last one. . Am I right?
*Rodrian casts shield*
They set goals for themselves to accomplish, then shared said goals with the community, but they never promised "we're not going to stop working on these games until they are perfect." In fact they said the opposite many times before SoD came out. They might have fell short on meeting those goals, but that doesn't mean they broke an oath they gave to the community.
And what "bridges" are you talking about?
And just because they are working on something new, doesn't mean that previous releases have been abandoned. They have internal deadlines to meet, and need to use their resources wisely to meet them. Once those deadlines are met, they'll hopefully go back and revisit some things they wouldn't mind touching up in the IE games such as bringing IWD over to 2.0 patch.
fair enough, but who has said they have moved on from the IE to a more modern one?
perhaps there new project that they are working on is another IE:EE like IWD2 or PS:T and they are doing the same thing they did with SoD, improving the engine for the new release while implementing it backwards to previous released titles.
Trent has also stated there is another patch coming so it is not like they have been abandoned, just pushed slightly to the side while they blaze through something a tad more important.
I also think WotC has more to do with the cone of silence than Beamdog. I am pretty sure if the muzzle was removed fro @PhillipDaigle he would be spilling all the secrets.
While demons are Chaotic Evil, a non-Chaotic Evil demon is still... a demon.
Just with a different alignment but not a different nature. Their category doesn't change. Most notably, The Deva Spark module. Which is one of the most known Planescape modules I believe.
Also high quality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deva_Spark
The module is about a Deva and a Bebilith (demonic spider thing http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bebilith) in short.
Long-story short, you can redeem the Bebilith and make into a Good demon by giving it the "spark" (essence, soul) of said Deva.
Also, the type and alignment are two different things.
A demon can be literally made of Chaos and Evil (cosmic forces) but their alignment could change in rare cases.
Even if they turn Lawful Good, their type is still Chaotic Evil.
If you use Detect Evil on a Lawful Good demon, they will still ping as Evil because this is what they're made of.
I'm sure they would like to complete their story, but the need for food and shelter comes before the need for Self Actualisation.
In no way whatsoever does it say anything about the game storyline content or plothole 'fixes'. So if you are expecting them to tie up loose ends, you are in for disappointment because they did not commit to that at all. (I still expect them to add some content in the future though).
I'm sure they would like to complete their story, but the need for food and shelter comes before the need for Self Actualisation.
To bè fair, SoD Is a PC only rpg which Is also the interquel of two(three if we count ToB) old PC only rpgs based on a tabletop rpg with the negative reputation of being overly complicated and boring, so it was Pretty much doomed from the start of not selling well. I'm not being a negative Nancy, its Just how things work in the ruthless videogame universe.
I would like to see something new.
And to be clear, SoD was half-new, new story, same appearance.
Maybe graphics are not everthing, but i have come to the point, where i don't want to see more IE.
Also, no more 2nd edition please ._.