I signed up to help back in February or March - hence this pretty blue background - but I realised very early on that I didn't have enough reliably available time to be able to help out in a really sustained way with the core project.
Thanks for your answers! Another couple of questions on the same lines:
How many coders are among you? How many for each OS? And more specifically, since apparently telecommute is an option, are you hiring (or plan to hire) any more Objective-C developers? :P
In BG:EE I have fed Dorn with books of Constitution and Dexterity. What stats will Dorn possess in BG2:EE in case I import my character from BG:EE final save?
How many coders are among you? How many for each OS? And more specifically, since apparently telecommute is an option, are you hiring (or plan to hire) any more Objective-C developers? :P
How many coders are among you? 3.5 programmers and 1.5 scripters. How many for each OS? ~0.75 And more specifically, since apparently telecommute is an option, are you hiring (or plan to hire) any more Objective-C developers? :P Trent prefers people to be local and actually work in the office. I don't think we're looking for Objective-C. You can send me a message if you want actual contact information to apply. :P
In BG:EE I have fed Dorn with books of Constitution and Dexterity. What stats will Dorn possess in BG2:EE in case I import my character from BG:EE final save?
The same. For the same reason that you can't continue "romances" you started in BG:EE.
BG2:EE is an entirely seperate game from BG:EE, just as BG2 was entirely seperate from BG. Variables from one don't affect the other.
@Dee I'm quite confused about the whole "importing items into BG2" thing. On the one hand I keep hearing stuff like they're above (they're separate games, blah blah blah) but on the other hand, certain items show up, certain people react to certain things, and you can import characters. I guess I'm just confused about why it would be so hard to implement. Adding a new boolean to the character that's imported and adding a new process to read that boolean should be as easy as... 5 minutes' work? Unless there's something I'm greatly misunderstanding here. Can you or maybe @kaloree clarify this for me?
@Dee I'm quite confused about the whole "importing items into BG2" thing. On the one hand I keep hearing stuff like they're above (they're separate games, blah blah blah) but on the other hand, certain items show up, certain people react to certain things, and you can import characters. I guess I'm just confused about why it would be so hard to implement. Adding a new boolean to the character that's imported and adding a new process to read that boolean should be as easy as... 5 minutes' work? Unless there's something I'm greatly misunderstanding here. Can you or maybe @kaloree clarify this for me?
Drizzt only gets pissed if you have HIS items. As in, you import them in with your character. From what I understand, he gets equally pissed no matter if you killed him for them or simply pickpocketed them, because if you have them, that's the way the game knows to make Drizzt angry. It doesn't import a variable saying you killed him.
Likewise with other items. They show up if you import your BG1 character who held those items. But, I believe these items are restricted to Irenicus' dungeon, and it's not a big list.
"Certain people react to certain things..." like what? I'm not familiar.
On the FAQ thread there was a mention that the Beta version of the Mac Release may not be available but you were looking into it. Any news about this? Or do you Mac Users have to wait?
@Dee I'm quite confused about the whole "importing items into BG2" thing. On the one hand I keep hearing stuff like they're above (they're separate games, blah blah blah) but on the other hand, certain items show up, certain people react to certain things, and you can import characters. I guess I'm just confused about why it would be so hard to implement. Adding a new boolean to the character that's imported and adding a new process to read that boolean should be as easy as... 5 minutes' work? Unless there's something I'm greatly misunderstanding here. Can you or maybe @kaloree clarify this for me?
The plot of BG2 heavily depends on certain party members being alive and certain class choices are assumed. If these party members are dead in the bg1 save, or their class hasn't changed, it would either be a massive plot hole for them to be back, or Overhaul would need to rewrite the plot of the entire game.
Wuuut? o.0 That's awfully not a lot of people for such a huge game. I was expecting somewhere in the region of 8-12.
What about all the "blue background" modders, including Cuv, CamDawg, aSCENSION, etc., don't they count as scripters?
@Dee is right, I was only counting the office people. That is the number we had during the BG:EE development though. I think the modders put the number of scripters at 10.5 for BG2EE and the BGEE updates this year. Also, they are totally awesome.
Any thoughts on when the BG2:EE Android version will be out in relation to launch? Or rather... Is it simple to get the Android version done once the BG:EE Android version is done?
Sorry if I've missed this, but has there been any development on the beta release date? Last I remember it looked like it might be later than mid September. Is that still the case? Rough estimate on how much longer?
@Dee I'm quite confused about the whole "importing items into BG2" thing. On the one hand I keep hearing stuff like they're above (they're separate games, blah blah blah) but on the other hand, certain items show up, certain people react to certain things, and you can import characters. I guess I'm just confused about why it would be so hard to implement. Adding a new boolean to the character that's imported and adding a new process to read that boolean should be as easy as... 5 minutes' work? Unless there's something I'm greatly misunderstanding here. Can you or maybe @kaloree clarify this for me?
The plot of BG2 heavily depends on certain party members being alive and certain class choices are assumed. If these party members are dead in the bg1 save, or their class hasn't changed, it would either be a massive plot hole for them to be back, or Overhaul would need to rewrite the plot of the entire game.
Yes I did mean @Kaeloree in that post. I'm aware about the class choices and the alive or dead- that's not the part I was referring to. If the game can detect certain items, it should be able to detect [i]any item[/i] (not that it necessarily should, but it could). This is why I can't understand why @Dee and others say certain things can't be imported- almost anything should be able to be flagged in BG1 as a boolean, set to true, and read by BG2 upon import. For example, romances. It would take (roughly):
In BG1: If RomanceDialogueOptionForCharA=True; set RomanceA=true
then upon importing the save into BG2: If RomanceA=true; then doThingsThatImpactGameplay
I'm just wondering why people are making it out to be hard when I can't see why it would be that way.
I believe the point Dee was making was that the original planned the opening dungeon very carefully regarding what was available to find and thus what your resources would be when you arrived in town - add a bunch more items and you now have the 20K you need without any further questing and can go right to midgame - sometimes Moar isn't better.
@Dee I'm quite confused about the whole "importing items into BG2" thing. On the one hand I keep hearing stuff like they're above (they're separate games, blah blah blah) but on the other hand, certain items show up, certain people react to certain things, and you can import characters. I guess I'm just confused about why it would be so hard to implement. Adding a new boolean to the character that's imported and adding a new process to read that boolean should be as easy as... 5 minutes' work? Unless there's something I'm greatly misunderstanding here. Can you or maybe @kaloree clarify this for me?
The plot of BG2 heavily depends on certain party members being alive and certain class choices are assumed. If these party members are dead in the bg1 save, or their class hasn't changed, it would either be a massive plot hole for them to be back, or Overhaul would need to rewrite the plot of the entire game.
Yes I did mean @Kaeloree in that post. I'm aware about the class choices and the alive or dead- that's not the part I was referring to. If the game can detect certain items, it should be able to detect [i]any item[/i] (not that it necessarily should, but it could). This is why I can't understand why @Dee and others say certain things can't be imported- almost anything should be able to be flagged in BG1 as a boolean, set to true, and read by BG2 upon import. For example, romances. It would take (roughly):
In BG1: If RomanceDialogueOptionForCharA=True; set RomanceA=true
then upon importing the save into BG2: If RomanceA=true; then doThingsThatImpactGameplay
I'm just wondering why people are making it out to be hard when I can't see why it would be that way.
The issue MIGHT be that a variable from BG1 might be used for something entirely unrelated in BG2... importing that variable from BG1 would do wonky things in BG2... I am only making a guess here.
There are is a small selection of items that, if they are in your inventory (not in a container) when you import your save, will show up in Irenicus's dungeon. This page tells you the details of the items:
I would advise reading the details carefully on that page so you can determine exactly what gets transferred over.
If you have completed Baldur's Gate & the Tales of the Sword Coast and your main character has certain items in his/her inventory they can carry them over into Baldur's Gate II. You can bring ONE item from each list (on the web page) which is presented in order (i.e. if you have two items from one list, the item higher up the list is imported). There is a default item for each list so that if you never imported an item from each list you will still get something in BG2. You should consider carefully which is the best of each list if you are playing the whole saga through to Throne of Bhaal. Also note that you should hang onto the Golden Pantaloons (not listed but does transfer) as they will also carry over into BG2.
Import variables from import file ".chr" is possible even from script side, but from code side it would be easier. It required one script in BGEE before generating import file, and one script in Irenicus Dungeon.
The issue MIGHT be that a variable from BG1 might be used for something entirely unrelated in BG2... importing that variable from BG1 would do wonky things in BG2... I am only making a guess here.
What is the status of Ascension and it's possible conclusion in BG2:EE? I think many would be interested because it seems like a significant change from BG2:EE that many would have signed up. Not to mention from what we've been repeatedly told about contractual obligations about changing characters and story it would seem that quite a lot of Ascension's content should simply be out of the question.
I think customers who have pre-ordered or those who are considering buying would appreciate knowing what content the game will actually ship with. So with that said what is and is not being considered for BG2:EE?
Comments
Thanks for your answers! Another couple of questions on the same lines:
How many coders are among you?
How many for each OS?
And more specifically, since apparently telecommute is an option, are you hiring (or plan to hire) any more Objective-C developers? :P
What stats will Dorn possess in BG2:EE in case I import my character from BG:EE final save?
3.5 programmers and 1.5 scripters.
How many for each OS?
~0.75
And more specifically, since apparently telecommute is an option, are you hiring (or plan to hire) any more Objective-C developers? :P
Trent prefers people to be local and actually work in the office. I don't think we're looking for Objective-C. You can send me a message if you want actual contact information to apply. :P
BG2:EE is an entirely seperate game from BG:EE, just as BG2 was entirely seperate from BG. Variables from one don't affect the other.
Likewise with other items. They show up if you import your BG1 character who held those items. But, I believe these items are restricted to Irenicus' dungeon, and it's not a big list.
"Certain people react to certain things..." like what? I'm not familiar.
What about all the "blue background" modders, including Cuv, CamDawg, aSCENSION, etc., don't they count as scripters?
In BG1:
If RomanceDialogueOptionForCharA=True;
set RomanceA=true
then upon importing the save into BG2:
If RomanceA=true;
then doThingsThatImpactGameplay
I'm just wondering why people are making it out to be hard when I can't see why it would be that way.
There are is a small selection of items that, if they are in your inventory (not in a container) when you import your save, will show up in Irenicus's dungeon. This page tells you the details of the items:
http://www.forgottenwars.com/bg1/miscellany.htm
I would advise reading the details carefully on that page so you can determine exactly what gets transferred over.
If you have completed Baldur's Gate & the Tales of the Sword Coast and your main character has certain items in his/her inventory they can carry them over into Baldur's Gate II. You can bring ONE item from each list (on the web page) which is presented in order (i.e. if you have two items from one list, the item higher up the list is imported). There is a default item for each list so that if you never imported an item from each list you will still get something in BG2. You should consider carefully which is the best of each list if you are playing the whole saga through to Throne of Bhaal. Also note that you should hang onto the Golden Pantaloons (not listed but does transfer) as they will also carry over into BG2.
I think customers who have pre-ordered or those who are considering buying would appreciate knowing what content the game will actually ship with. So with that said what is and is not being considered for BG2:EE?