Speculation: Beamdog is making another IE game/campaign
Khyron
Member Posts: 635
I am pulling my speculation to it's own thread, instead of continuing in a beta feedback thread..
So here I am, quite possibly making a fool of myself yet again.
But I am convinced there's something comming.. or continuing with these patches would just be draining resources from a company that has probably felt the pandemic on it's coffers just like everyone else.
Speculation: Engage.
Galactygon wrote: »@_Luke_ Unfortunately we had to shift gear and prioritise other issues for this build as we're wrapping up work on 2.6. Rest assured, the fixes are already submitted internally ready to be applied; they will simply be part of 2.7 instead. Thanks for your valuable contributions.
Alright.. that's it. I am making a call.. and I am calling out Beamdog on this.
You're making another entry in the line of Infinity Engine games.
I'm not gonna speculate if it's BG, IWD or something completely different.
But you are making another IE game/campaign one way or another.
It makes absolutely no sense to keep patching this game if your goal is to make money.
Which I assume it is.
You won't be selling much more of the already released EE games, they've been out for several years already.. patching games this old makes no sense at all, unless your patches are Engine level changes and improvements which swipes across all EE games, paving the way for a new title to be released on a tried and tested engine.
Confirming that 2.7 is a thing makes me convinced there's something in the pipelines.
So here I am, quite possibly making a fool of myself yet again.
But I am convinced there's something comming.. or continuing with these patches would just be draining resources from a company that has probably felt the pandemic on it's coffers just like everyone else.
Speculation: Engage.
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Comments
Unlike most other engines where the owner charge for it's use.
Using an engine they know, that has a great lineage, relatively huge amount of modders and fans, and quite likely free of charge.. not to mention it has been already converted to just about every single platform you can think of. Using most other engines would limit you to Win/Linux and possibly consoles.. IE is on Android and iOS - which are absolutely massive markets to tap into.
I can see how a company of Beamdog's size would think using the IE for said reasons seems like a good option.
And just to add, I think it really is a good option. It seems like an obvious choice to be honest.
Just about every single relevant platform you can think of can run IE.
Releasing a game without having limitless resources and massive PR support is difficult.. but it's a lot less difficult when your game looks quite alright and can be played on just about every single phone, tablet, pc and console there is.
Maybe there is also a little wishful thinking since I love the IE games but who cares.
I'm guessing it's either a completely new line of games or they decided to finish what's still missing: IWD II
I know the source code is gone and IWD II followed another ruleset edition but maybe Beamdog goes for the IWD I ruleset edition and just uses the current assets to recreate IWD II.
Like I said, it's a lot of wishful thinking.
Source.
But why would they continue patching the EE games so extensively? All their current work is on the technical side. Some quest fixes, but it's very concentrated on either the engine itself and how it runs or spells and effects that cover all EE games.
The EE games have had their time to shine and i am adamant they won't sell a single copy more with the effort they now put into it. They'll continue to get some sales as any game on the market does for years and years, but those sales would come regardless of a 2.6 or 2.7 patch.
In a business sense i can't see a single good reason to keep patching the engine if you're not gonna use it for another game.
Especially during a pandemic which is quickly leading us towards a major recession.
Doesn't matter if they'd hire ten people for a UE project, as they've probably got everything they need in-house for a new IE campaign.. at least on the technical side.
The Baldur's Gate saga is fun, but it wasn't the Infinity Engine that really made that happen.
I for one know of no other engine that will by now be:
1: Free of charge
2: They have massive experience and competence with
3: Has an established mod and fan scene
4: Seamlessly works on ALL relevant systems
Yes, IE has it's limits.. it's over 20 years old.
But if you're making a rpg of sorts that is supported on every system and perhaps especially so on tablets, then the IE is just fine.
There are many rpg's out there now that run on engines that look and feel much inferior to IE, yet gain traction in the market and gets a decent amount of sales/downloads with in-app purchases.
Vampire's Fall: Origins comes to mind..
Beamdog could definitely make something better than this using the IE, and it would work on ALL systems.
I'm waiting for someone to tell me why it makes sense to keeping patching the EE games, if it's not to improve the engine for further games.
When was the last time you saw a company pour money and resources into several year old games that no longer have much of a position in the market?
It describes on how campaign.2da was going to work in the future to enable mods and total conversions to run more easily in an integrated way next to the base game. You could make dedicated starting areas, movies and sound, etc.
It could be an entirely new IP.. or perhaps they've been given permission to create IWD 3.
Or maybe it's Gorions story.. or it could be nothing at all.
But anyone who can explain why it's a good idea to keep pouring money and resources into IE improvements if you're not gonna use it, are welcome to do so.
And if this is simply not the case, then Beamdog could say so without further ado.
Having said this, I would LOVE to be proven wrong by Beamdog demonstrating to me in the coming months that they do have a business plan they've been working on that actually makes sense.
Whether or not they plan to go for another IE title, I really like their effort for further patching the current IE titles since they still are some true gems within the gaming world and deserve nothing less.
I'd even start a little crowdfunding to gather some more money to let them tackle bigger tasks (e. g. redrawing the ugly sprites etc.).
So if he was gonna make 2.7, he'd know..
But we'll see, eh?
If I'm not mistaken, isn't part of the 2.6 patch rewriting the engine for 64-bit (as opposed to the original 32-bit development)? Even if Beamdog doesn't plan on using IE in future games, a 64-bit application ensures the current games stay playable into the future if/when more operating systems require programs be 64-bit (e.g. again, if I'm not mistaken: MacOS no longer supports 32-bit applications).
I've been searching for one definite answer to address this thread. Here it is:
Let's nitpick on the ambiguity that he "thinks" it has been retired.. that's not an absolute statement.. ??
Especially during a pandemic which is quickly leading us towards a major recession.