@NWN_babaYaga - There's the Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim franchise, but the rule set is broken in the first two (better in Skyrim). You might also like "the witcher" (1/2), they actually use the NWN engine with a different rule set. For a scifi theme there's Fallout 3, Mass Effect 1/2 and KOTOR 1/2. I really enjoyed all these games, and I basically started with BG/IWD/NWN
@NWN_babayaga - It looks like Wasteland 2 will be the closest. there you will have a 3D engine and a squad based approach. Won't be D&D, but it will be psuedo-turn based (or so I hear) 3D squad based combat.
There's the Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim franchise, but the rule set is broken in the first two (better in Skyrim).
Rules in Morrowind is just fine, my pet-peeve is the example that people kept missing attacks when obviously they were "looking straight at 'em!" (hullo first person RPG). I'd like to see how well they'd engage a target if they sprinted at everything like some kind of medieval beep-test, conserve that fighting strength! Now we get to play Lower That Bar! on all subsequent games, thanks for improving game-feel! /armswing /sardony
And don't get me started on magic, it was bad enough, but now they sacrificed an entire spell-crafting system so they could add 3 novice spells that go PEWPEWPEW instead of waaAAPEW. YES THOSE ARE VALID EXAMP-*cuts to reality and is slumped comatose, drool pooling on his shirt*
On-topic: gooooOOOO BG3! /jump /freezeframe
As an aside, who played BG and then IWD and thought that the clanging battle-sounds between all the missed hits made the battle seem more interesting, I don't know, I haven't read about community consensus on that point, but I liked it. It's the same kind of idea, really, all MW had to do was add more interesting clashing sounds (instead of FVVP!) and perhaps reactive weapon animations to demonstrate your utter feebleness in the face of exhaustion. /endthreadjack
@Tsyrith - What I found broken in MO and Oblivion was the game balance. You could easily make way over powered items (I remember my flying boots in Morrowind). In Oblivion you could pretty easily make your own invisibility suit and waltz through the rest of the game. I also remember crafting insane potions. Granted you didn't have to do any of those things, and some mods did try to bring balance back to the games.
is there any other RPG outthere in 3D that is "like" BG except NWN, NWN2 and Dragon age origins?
Knights of the old republic 1 & 2. Although party size is lot smaller, but companions are really well writen and storyline is just fantastic in both games. Ofcourse you have to be star wars fan.
Then there is the drakensang series: Drakensang: The Dark Eye (2008) and Drakensang: The River of Time (2010).
Finally Obsidian is developping A party rpg called "project eternity". They did a kickstarter campaign and it was a massive success. this should be right in your alley,
Also you should keep eye on the upcoming rpg from Larian studios called: Divinity - orginal sin.
I rather just see a whole new D&D game. Preferably in a different setting and with turn-based combat. Dragonlance, Planescape, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, anything. We already have enough games set in FR with real-time/pause-based combat. A more obscure setting will make the game feel more fresh.
is there any other RPG outthere in 3D that is "like" BG except NWN, NWN2 and Dragon age origins?
Knights of the old republic 1 & 2. Although party size is lot smaller, but companions are really well writen and storyline is just fantastic in both games. Ofcourse you have to be star wars fan.
KotOR is such a great game that you hardly need to be a fan of Star Wars.
I could see an interesting way of keeping the old story.
[1] Design a new super-epic ruleset. The plane of murder has been under the control of demon lords who filled the power vacuum left by the absence of Bhaal; among them was Shaeileth the raw one, who has control over the largest territories. As you are trying to stabilize the plane you inherited from your father, other more dangerous forces are at play.... The death of your "father" was initiated by Cyric, the greater god of strife, and supported by Mask, the god of thieves and wealth in a conspiracy that has been several centuries in the making. Dark forces are beginning to stir, the ancient gods are beginning to return. Faerun, and indeed all of the planes of this existence are threatened, for these ancient gods are sentient among gods; above and beyond the existence of the lesser ones who take worshipers of Faerun. All should fear the coming of the ancient ones, for the last time they were here, they rent reality of form and function leaving only a heaving primal abyss in their wake. Can you stop them?
If they create a BG3 game where you play as the Bhaalspawn's child, then I would like to have the option to import your game as well as have a regular start to determine what race your character is as well as their backstory.
They need to make IWDEE first IMO. I want to play that game with BG2 ruleset + improvements. One of the best strategy games ever and is more multiplayer friendly than BG/BG2.
I dislike long-running franchises. I like my stories to have a beginning and an end. No new Baldur's Gate, thanks. Make something new, something different. It's why I'm thrilled about the new Torment. A "real" sequel to that game, would probably not add anything to the story, since that story is complete. A spiritual successor can create the same experience, without being constrained by the original.
It doesn't have to be a continuing story, plenty of franchises that do not do that. Suikoden, Might and Magic, Wizardry, Dragon Age, etc. If it's a sequel in that form it just has to reference the original game and take place in the same world/region.
Definitely looking forward to the new Torment. I backed that sucker and don't regret it for an instant. The Numenera setting has a lot of potential. Didn't have any spare cash when project eternity was running, but I'm excited for it too. Kickstarter has made a lot of awesome games possible.
There are two obvious places you can have the next sequel... At the end of TOB The character relinquishes their bhaal powers and goes on another adventure. One involving a stronghold would be good. Or straight after BG and before getting captured by irenicus. You could relive the wilderness adventure with lower level characters.
Imho, a ToB follow up is not realistic. There isnt much else to explore for a 30+ character. Would be boring, with no sense of progression
The BG1.5 idea is good. Would give an indication of how good they are at building a story (more than just npc arcs, which i liked). Also is a good level to adventure. Leveling might be a problem, though.
I don't see how they could do it. Firstly, there's a chance the PC is a god/dess. Secondly, even if s/he isn't, she's still a level 30-ish character, and that doesn't leave much to do. And a level and inventory wipe would be really dang hard to justify. Thirdly, what about your party? What about your love interests, your sister, your friends? What about the living and dead among your members? Almost everyone goes their separate ways, so they'd have to do a retcon--and that would annoy lots of people.
You could play as CHARNAME's child, except a: not every CHARNAME is the type to have children and b: you aren't following CHARNAME's saga anymore, you're following CHARBABE's.
The Baldur's Gate series ended on a good note. I wouldn't mind seeing more games done in it's style, but leave its story closed.
Planescape Torment should get an Enhanced Edition. Not adding any new NPCs but perhaps new quests and those that were unfinished.
But what I would love to see get an Enhanced Edition, is Neverwinter Nights 2. The problem is that they might probably break compatibility with various mods and Persistent Worlds.
Planescape Torment should get an Enhanced Edition. Not adding any new NPCs but perhaps new quests and those that were unfinished.
But what I would love to see get an Enhanced Edition, is Neverwinter Nights 2. The problem is that they might probably break compatibility with various mods and Persistent Worlds.
Only if it fixed those damn mouse controls. And the "romances". And made Act I less tedious.
It could be interesting to have a story paralel to the original saga involving something that was there as sidequest (for example the Twisted Rune plot), so it could reference many things and events from the original (and even share some NPCs), but it would also expand the original in a way, that we would get some unfinished questions, or simply see the bhaalspawn conflict from another point of view.
I really don't think a BG III following the PC from the first two games could work. The game ended on a good note, and it would be too high a level IMO to really have much to do. Plus, the multiple endings would be hard to account for IMO. Good/Evil, /God/Mortal, etc. I don't think it would be a good idea to play as the PC's offspring either, considering not all of our PC's might be the type to have kids. (particularly those of us who play evil-aligned).
Personally, I'd rather have an 'enhanced; edition of one of the two Neverwinter NIghts games (particularly #2) I think they could benefit from the sort of polish that the team could bring to the table. As a fan of playing evil-aligned characters I can easily think of a dozen or so additions that would make playing an evil campaign more enjoyable and less railroad-y.
Likewise I think Throne of Bhaal is something that could benefit from being rebuilt from the ground up, redoing pretty much everything except watcher's keep. I always thought that expansion was too short, linear, plot-holey, and generally rushed. Unfortunately, I wouldn't expect too much in the way of drastic improvements or changes, since they were barred from doing anything too drastic with BG I+II (no new questline branches, reappearance of old party npcs, or rescuing ones that BG II kills off, etc)
*If* a BG III does turn up, I'd honestly expect it to either be another IP cash-In like the Neverwinter MMO, or take place post-sundering and tie in with that dross story that WoTC cooked up with Abdel and Viekang and all that. Neither particularly interest me.
I think the solution that would be a good solution would be to have an infinity engine game (using either the NWN2 or BG2 engine) that took place in a completely different place, had completely different characters, and didn't reference BG II at all. We have Neverwinter, Amn, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale well covered- how about a game based someplace like Mulhorand, Dambrath, Thay, the Underdark, Calimshan, Maztica, Shou Lung etc? Whiel I think it's a good place to leave the Bhaalspawn saga, that should not exclude the possibility of more infinity engine games.
I also think the BG2 story should end with TOB. I mean TOB is tedious and unrealistic enough (with every thug being a level 15 fighter with +3 weapons). Level 30+ characters are just not possible to play properly IMO.
That being said i would gladly play a game of the same vein of BG because nothing (apart maybe fallout and dragon age) has been close to matching it for the past 15 years.
The have main issue for me in most modern games are : - lack of difficulty. yes baldur seems easy when you have been playing it for the past 15 years. But the first playthroughs are VERY rough (to be compared to laughingly easy games like kotor on which you can gimp your character on purpose and yet fly away through the game at max difficulty)
- level scaling. I simply hate this one which have been plaguing otherwise great games (elder scrolls)
A whole new adventure (starting at level 1) can be dreamed up based on what was set in motion by BG saga, which ties in to whatever developments have taken place in the current Forgotten Realms with respect to the BG saga. This new tale could be just about anything, just as long as it has some sort of vital connection with the BG saga. I don't find anything troubling about that. I do hope it's a great story, of course.
*If* a BG III does turn up, I'd honestly expect it to either be another IP cash-In like the Neverwinter MMO, or take place post-sundering and tie in with that dross story that WoTC cooked up with Abdel and Viekang and all that. Neither particularly interest me.
If they even try to bring that THING into MY games, there will be hell to pay.
(Yes, I know he's technically in BG1. I mean as the "canon" character, not an optional one.)
But like I said, I do like the Infinity Engine, and I'd be happy to play a game based in, I don't know, Kata-tur or Calimshan or Thay. Somewhere we haven't seen before. Enough of the Sword Coast, let me go places!
I agree that the original Bhaalspawn Saga is over. Epic level characters are fun... for a day or two at most and I can see that I'm not an exception when it comes to this opinion. But.
I wish that this theoretical new game would relate to the original saga the way KotOR2 relates to KotOR. Leaving, finding and following your own footsteps - it's the best thing ever.
*If* a BG III does turn up, I'd honestly expect it to either be another IP cash-In like the Neverwinter MMO, or take place post-sundering and tie in with that dross story that WoTC cooked up with Abdel and Viekang and all that. Neither particularly interest me.
If they even try to bring that THING into MY games, there will be hell to pay.
(Yes, I know he's technically in BG1. I mean as the "canon" character, not an optional one.)
Assuming that the game begins at level one with a new character, there is still the tie-in to the BG saga to be worked out. Fans would go apes**t if Abdel is Gorion's Ward, I think that is fair to say. So I think what would make the most sense is for the game to offer both options for that element of the story: 1) lets you import the file of for your ToB protagonist at the conclusion of the game, or 2) you can enter the main characteristics of the character, i..e., name, gender, race, class/kit. That allows the player to customize the Gorion's Ward aspect of the backstory.
Actually, I think it would also be neat if future patches for both BGEE and BG2EE also flagged info re: the NPCs that CHARNAME adventured with (in both legs) for importation of the character file into BG3. If the character file isn't imported then the player can enter that info manually at character creation. Thus sidequests could be woven into the game that are based on the legacies of those relationships. Those quests would only be available based on whether such a relationship existed, of course.
And based on my own experience of playing BG by RPing all characters and using card flips and die rolls to determine some outcomes (my so-called "Let the Fates Decide" method), in this new gaming experience I would love to see some type of way to bring some simple AI based unpredictability based on roleplaying choices, such that different things can result, and NPCs can display a kind of independence. Some sort of blend of randomness and a decision tree that is based on reactions from the NPCs to various events in the game, and relationships to other characters. I realize this is ambitious. But it is wonderful to not to really know what is going to happen next, and then have to figure out the next step based on a surprise.
My other dream for BG3 is that it is approached almost as if the Infinity Engine were rebuilt from scratch using the technology that is available today. And I know that it almost certain not to use our beloved 2nd Edition AD&D. But please bend D&D Next to resemble Infinity's ruleset every bit as much as possible.
Comments
And don't get me started on magic, it was bad enough, but now they sacrificed an entire spell-crafting system so they could add 3 novice spells that go PEWPEWPEW instead of waaAAPEW. YES THOSE ARE VALID EXAMP-*cuts to reality and is slumped comatose, drool pooling on his shirt*
On-topic: gooooOOOO BG3! /jump /freezeframe
As an aside, who played BG and then IWD and thought that the clanging battle-sounds between all the missed hits made the battle seem more interesting, I don't know, I haven't read about community consensus on that point, but I liked it. It's the same kind of idea, really, all MW had to do was add more interesting clashing sounds (instead of FVVP!) and perhaps reactive weapon animations to demonstrate your utter feebleness in the face of exhaustion. /endthreadjack
Then there is the drakensang series: Drakensang: The Dark Eye (2008) and Drakensang: The River of Time (2010).
Finally Obsidian is developping A party rpg called "project eternity". They did a kickstarter campaign and it was a massive success. this should be right in your alley,
Also you should keep eye on the upcoming rpg from Larian studios called: Divinity - orginal sin.
And ofcourse Wasteland 2.
[1] Design a new super-epic ruleset. The plane of murder has been under the control of demon lords who filled the power vacuum left by the absence of Bhaal; among them was Shaeileth the raw one, who has control over the largest territories. As you are trying to stabilize the plane you inherited from your father, other more dangerous forces are at play.... The death of your "father" was initiated by Cyric, the greater god of strife, and supported by Mask, the god of thieves and wealth in a conspiracy that has been several centuries in the making. Dark forces are beginning to stir, the ancient gods are beginning to return. Faerun, and indeed all of the planes of this existence are threatened, for these ancient gods are sentient among gods; above and beyond the existence of the lesser ones who take worshipers of Faerun. All should fear the coming of the ancient ones, for the last time they were here, they rent reality of form and function leaving only a heaving primal abyss in their wake. Can you stop them?
Or straight after BG and before getting captured by irenicus. You could relive the wilderness adventure with lower level characters.
The BG1.5 idea is good. Would give an indication of how good they are at building a story (more than just npc arcs, which i liked). Also is a good level to adventure. Leveling might be a problem, though.
Isnt that what adventure Y is about?
You could play as CHARNAME's child, except a: not every CHARNAME is the type to have children and b: you aren't following CHARNAME's saga anymore, you're following CHARBABE's.
The Baldur's Gate series ended on a good note. I wouldn't mind seeing more games done in it's style, but leave its story closed.
But what I would love to see get an Enhanced Edition, is Neverwinter Nights 2. The problem is that they might probably break compatibility with various mods and Persistent Worlds.
They could ask Oblivion for permission.
Personally, I'd rather have an 'enhanced; edition of one of the two Neverwinter NIghts games (particularly #2) I think they could benefit from the sort of polish that the team could bring to the table. As a fan of playing evil-aligned characters I can easily think of a dozen or so additions that would make playing an evil campaign more enjoyable and less railroad-y.
Likewise I think Throne of Bhaal is something that could benefit from being rebuilt from the ground up, redoing pretty much everything except watcher's keep. I always thought that expansion was too short, linear, plot-holey, and generally rushed. Unfortunately, I wouldn't expect too much in the way of drastic improvements or changes, since they were barred from doing anything too drastic with BG I+II (no new questline branches, reappearance of old party npcs, or rescuing ones that BG II kills off, etc)
*If* a BG III does turn up, I'd honestly expect it to either be another IP cash-In like the Neverwinter MMO, or take place post-sundering and tie in with that dross story that WoTC cooked up with Abdel and Viekang and all that. Neither particularly interest me.
I think the solution that would be a good solution would be to have an infinity engine game (using either the NWN2 or BG2 engine) that took place in a completely different place, had completely different characters, and didn't reference BG II at all. We have Neverwinter, Amn, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale well covered- how about a game based someplace like Mulhorand, Dambrath, Thay, the Underdark, Calimshan, Maztica, Shou Lung etc? Whiel I think it's a good place to leave the Bhaalspawn saga, that should not exclude the possibility of more infinity engine games.
I mean TOB is tedious and unrealistic enough (with every thug being a level 15 fighter with +3 weapons).
Level 30+ characters are just not possible to play properly IMO.
That being said i would gladly play a game of the same vein of BG because nothing (apart maybe fallout and dragon age) has been close to matching it for the past 15 years.
The have main issue for me in most modern games are :
- lack of difficulty. yes baldur seems easy when you have been playing it for the past 15 years. But the first playthroughs are VERY rough (to be compared to laughingly easy games like kotor on which you can gimp your character on purpose and yet fly away through the game at max difficulty)
- level scaling. I simply hate this one which have been plaguing otherwise great games (elder scrolls)
Do IT:)
(Yes, I know he's technically in BG1. I mean as the "canon" character, not an optional one.)
But like I said, I do like the Infinity Engine, and I'd be happy to play a game based in, I don't know, Kata-tur or Calimshan or Thay. Somewhere we haven't seen before. Enough of the Sword Coast, let me go places!
I wish that this theoretical new game would relate to the original saga the way KotOR2 relates to KotOR. Leaving, finding and following your own footsteps - it's the best thing ever.
Actually, I think it would also be neat if future patches for both BGEE and BG2EE also flagged info re: the NPCs that CHARNAME adventured with (in both legs) for importation of the character file into BG3. If the character file isn't imported then the player can enter that info manually at character creation. Thus sidequests could be woven into the game that are based on the legacies of those relationships. Those quests would only be available based on whether such a relationship existed, of course.
And based on my own experience of playing BG by RPing all characters and using card flips and die rolls to determine some outcomes (my so-called "Let the Fates Decide" method), in this new gaming experience I would love to see some type of way to bring some simple AI based unpredictability based on roleplaying choices, such that different things can result, and NPCs can display a kind of independence. Some sort of blend of randomness and a decision tree that is based on reactions from the NPCs to various events in the game, and relationships to other characters. I realize this is ambitious. But it is wonderful to not to really know what is going to happen next, and then have to figure out the next step based on a surprise.
My other dream for BG3 is that it is approached almost as if the Infinity Engine were rebuilt from scratch using the technology that is available today. And I know that it almost certain not to use our beloved 2nd Edition AD&D. But please bend D&D Next to resemble Infinity's ruleset every bit as much as possible.