I know you guys at Beamdog are very proud of the new UI, and a lot of people (new and old alike) are also impressed, but for us luddites who like the BG:EE and BG2:EE UI will there be the option to run using the current (old) UI, or is it going to be a forced update?
Both.
If you watch the video, you will see how easy it is to mod the UI that someone will have a mod for the current UI in no time.
I know you guys at Beamdog are very proud of the new UI, and a lot of people (new and old alike) are also impressed, but for us luddites who like the BG:EE and BG2:EE UI will there be the option to run using the current (old) UI, or is it going to be a forced update?
Both.
If you watch the video, you will see how easy it is to mod the UI that someone will have a mod for the current UI in no time.
I'm certain there will be a mod for it, I was just wondering as to whether there will be native support.
@AndrewFoley Well.. technicly you guys announced the return of every character, you just didn't say anything about voice actors and little about additional banter.. (But I'm pretty sure you will give new banter to everyone and not just one or two) ^^
And lastly, I'm looking forward to SoD more than ever.. thank you for your hard work till now =^_^=
Have a nice weekend
Thank you very much. (At this stage, I'm so scattered I'm not really clear on what's been announced or not. I'm semi-expecting a war council at the office on Monday to get formal marching orders for the staff in the coming days.)
On a scale of Hexxat (sucks really bad) to Jaheira (really good writing), how is their dialogue?
It's different.
Good and bad are largely (but not entirely) subjective judgments; I can't make them for you, much as I'd wish otherwise. Every character has their fans and their detractors, Glint and M'Khiin will be no different. I happen to be a fan, but I would be, wouldn't I?
However do you have a forecast for expected release at all? Q3 of this year? Q4? Next year? Before 2020?
The last one.
Seriously, though, as someone else pointed out, the target is the end of the year, but the target will move if Beamdog isn't absolutely comfortable the game is ready. There are some bridges the company needs to rebuild; that process started with Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, it will continue with Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear and beyond.
Somebody will probably make a mod to recreate the old UI style, but until then it would suck to be stuck with a UI that I might find unspeakably ugly.
From the glimpses I got from the stream, it occurs to me that some aesthetic value has been sacrificed in order to introduce more "approachability", which I personally don't need one bit.
- I don't need extra boxes that tell me whether or not the weapon I hover is an upgrade or downgrade. Besides, evaluating a weapon based only on Damage and THAC0 is quite misleading. Attacks per Round can play a bigger role in effectiveness, not to mention enemies' vulnerabilities to certain damage types. - I don't need various colours and shades flickering on character portraits to tell me who can use it / who can't use it / who can use it better. - I don't mind clicking one extra time to check a spell description if I so desire. - I don't mind scrolling one extra second to find a statistic I desire. - The change in UI colours displease me.
By all means, approachability refinements are fine. Just give me the option to revert back to the beautiful blue stone-ish UI of BG:EE, with its shiny gold icons and borders, and the satisfactory arrangement of boxed information, if the final version of the Dragonspear UI looks distasteful.
And I really hope you decide to make an expansion between SoA and ToB. It would be a shame to stop with one expansion after you've gone through the effort of fixing up the engine over the past few years. *is very convincing*
Heh, I think some of us fans are getting old and set in our ways when I see the surprising number of complaints about the new UI. I think it's brilliant, not only for the upgrades (and let's be real here, they are upgrades: the spellbook scrolling option is far and away better than a finite number of icons with awkward additional screens, and replacing the tiny scrolling character info with a tab system is excellent), but for the extreme ease of creating new UIs. If the aesthetics are displeasing to some (I think they're good), it will be a cinch to create new UI décor. We aren't just getting a better system, but a system that is modular and easily replaceable. I felt I had better make my voice known, lest the detractors get too much viewing time.
Now, all of that being said... it would be cool if there was a little menu toggle somewhere that could turn on the old UI as well. It's a fair idea, and it would let me easily have a "retro" game feel if I desired. Mostly though, I am happy to learn the new UI and just use it.
Can't understand people wanting the GUI to stay the same? If you like the old GUI you must then have a copy of the old game... So... Without modding, you can play that copy.
It is the enhanced edition. It has been enhanced. Expect it to be enhanced.
What it shouldn't be is the same. ...
Unfortunately, I have a beef though now very similar to the "fond of the old GUI peeps" if the other way.
If I get shiny new cutscenes for stopping at an inn or such in BG1... And I presume we get shiny new cutscenes in the seige of Dragonspear... Why on earth do I want, or need, the old grainy cutscenes in BG2?
It is the enhanced edition. It has been enhanced. Expect it to be enhanced. *sigh*
You're talking as if all enhancements made in this game are inherently and by definition good enhancements.
But really, the only Dragonspear GUI enhancement that I would deem worthy of its good connotation is the ability is rearrange various GUI objects to create a customized look, and that's great.
But the rest is an attempt to make the game more approachable, but it also ended up being either slightly intrusive or annoying, or ugly (subjective opinion), or a subtle mockery of my intelligence as a knowledgeable player.
Anything that changes core aesthetics of the game is bound to create some controversy, big or small. That's why it's better to introduce such things as optional, rather than throwing it at our faces and say that it's enhanced, so it's better, so deal with it old-fashioned geezer!
In comparison, Vanilla BG to BG:EE interface was the perfect GUI enhancement for me. It loosely retained the architecture of the old GUI while providing additional condensed information and statistical breakdowns in a single screen that even I found extremely useful. The end result was something informative, approachable and aesthetically pleasing.
Seriously, though, as someone else pointed out, the target is the end of the year, but the target will move if Beamdog isn't absolutely comfortable the game is ready. There are some bridges the company needs to rebuild; that process started with Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, it will continue with Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear and beyond.
As on some previous occasions, that's an interesting but cryptic teaser.
Maybe @AndrewFoley merely means that the company needs to rebuild the bridge at Boareskyr, so that Our Hero can get back across the river to go to Athkatla!
But saying that company needs to rebuild bridges, in the context of potential delays in releasing the product, suggests that there are some corporate hostilities in the background which could potentially become obstacles. Naturally it reminds me of when the production of BG2ee was suspended for a while because of a legal dispute over something-or-other (what was that about, I forget ... was it the licence terms?) Whatever it is, I hope that Beamdog can resolve it without major disruption!
What saddened me during the livestream is that I heard one of the devs say something along the lines of "I found the interface confusing, particularly the spellbook, so I went about improving it"
1. How can you improve something you don't understand? 2. For those of us who have played the game for the time we have, we have no issues with the UI and it's never been raised. Why change it? 3. Why did Beamdog feel the need to wait until they produced their own content to change the UI? If it's an enhanced UI why didn't it ship with the original EE games?
I just want the ability to keep the current UI from BG2 and BG:EE/BG2:EE. I like it and don't see anything wrong with it - if it ain't broke don't fix it. Don't make us have to mod the game to get bring back original content.
I can understand that there are others that like the new UI, and for new players it will be great. But I think players should at least have the option instead of being forced into a newer system that actually takes some of the knowledge about the game, it's lore, it's characters, and it's mechanics away from it.
On a scale of Hexxat (sucks really bad) to Jaheira (really good writing), how is their dialogue?
It's different.
Good and bad are largely (but not entirely) subjective judgments; I can't make them for you, much as I'd wish otherwise. Every character has their fans and their detractors, Glint and M'Khiin will be no different. I happen to be a fan, but I would be, wouldn't I?
Right, except most of the new Enhanced Edition dialogues are witty one-liners, while the original Baldur's Gate II had actual deep dialogue. You can't honestly tell me that series of witty one-liners could be considered superior to, or even on par with dialogue with emotional significance and sometimes even philosophical depth.
But saying that company needs to rebuild bridges, in the context of potential delays in releasing the product, suggests that there are some corporate hostilities in the background which could potentially become obstacles.
Nah. There's no corporate drama in the background that I'm aware of this time around. And no pressure to release before the expansion is ready, which is a good thing.
But saying that company needs to rebuild bridges, in the context of potential delays in releasing the product, suggests that there are some corporate hostilities in the background which could potentially become obstacles.
Nah. There's no corporate drama in the background that I'm aware of this time around. And no pressure to release before the expansion is ready, which is a good thing.
That's a relief, then ... but in that case, I can't make head nor tail of what you meant in your previous comment!
You can't honestly tell me that series of witty one-liners could be considered superior to, or even on par with dialogue with emotional significance and sometimes even philosophical depth.
I'm not going to argue with you over our individual subjective judgments of the quality of the EE dialogue. You've got your opinion and it's perfectly valid. I've also got mine, Chris Avellone has his, my employers and WotC have theirs; it's all good. I sincerely hope you and everyone who plays Siege enjoys it, especially the writing, but if you don't, you don't. Such is life.
I'm really really really looking forward to this! What I saw in the stream looked great in terms of changes to the GUI and all the little additions and modifications to the game (in addition to the brand new content and returning friends from the old games) just puts me over the moon.
I'm especially glad to hear it's coming out so soon... though knowing me, I probably won't be able to play it until all these awesome additions get ported over to BG:EE and BG:EE2 so I can get the experience of one continuous playthrough. I wish you all the best of luck on wrapping up development smoothly and having a successful release.
That's a relief, then ... but in that case, I can't make head nor tail of what you meant in your previous comment!
Pretty sure Andrew meant we've got to regain the reputation after the complicated BGEE and BG2EE releases. The path we've set on with IWDEE, and will continue with SoD and future projects.
Comments
If you watch the video, you will see how easy it is to mod the UI that someone will have a mod for the current UI in no time.
Does that mean that merely installing SoD will increase the experience cap on vanilla BGEE? To be honest, I hope it doesn't.
Good and bad are largely (but not entirely) subjective judgments; I can't make them for you, much as I'd wish otherwise. Every character has their fans and their detractors, Glint and M'Khiin will be no different. I happen to be a fan, but I would be, wouldn't I?
Seriously, though, as someone else pointed out, the target is the end of the year, but the target will move if Beamdog isn't absolutely comfortable the game is ready. There are some bridges the company needs to rebuild; that process started with Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, it will continue with Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear and beyond.
From the glimpses I got from the stream, it occurs to me that some aesthetic value has been sacrificed in order to introduce more "approachability", which I personally don't need one bit.
- I don't need extra boxes that tell me whether or not the weapon I hover is an upgrade or downgrade. Besides, evaluating a weapon based only on Damage and THAC0 is quite misleading. Attacks per Round can play a bigger role in effectiveness, not to mention enemies' vulnerabilities to certain damage types.
- I don't need various colours and shades flickering on character portraits to tell me who can use it / who can't use it / who can use it better.
- I don't mind clicking one extra time to check a spell description if I so desire.
- I don't mind scrolling one extra second to find a statistic I desire.
- The change in UI colours displease me.
By all means, approachability refinements are fine. Just give me the option to revert back to the beautiful blue stone-ish UI of BG:EE, with its shiny gold icons and borders, and the satisfactory arrangement of boxed information, if the final version of the Dragonspear UI looks distasteful.
Now, all of that being said... it would be cool if there was a little menu toggle somewhere that could turn on the old UI as well. It's a fair idea, and it would let me easily have a "retro" game feel if I desired. Mostly though, I am happy to learn the new UI and just use it.
New game looks great - roll on release date!!!
It is the enhanced edition. It has been enhanced. Expect it to be enhanced.
What it shouldn't be is the same.
...
Unfortunately, I have a beef though now very similar to the "fond of the old GUI peeps" if the other way.
If I get shiny new cutscenes for stopping at an inn or such in BG1... And I presume we get shiny new cutscenes in the seige of Dragonspear... Why on earth do I want, or need, the old grainy cutscenes in BG2?
*sigh*
"Q: If I buy on Beamdog.com will I get a Steam key?
Yes. After the release of the game you can contact support@beamdog.com to request a Steam key."
But really, the only Dragonspear GUI enhancement that I would deem worthy of its good connotation is the ability is rearrange various GUI objects to create a customized look, and that's great.
But the rest is an attempt to make the game more approachable, but it also ended up being either slightly intrusive or annoying, or ugly (subjective opinion), or a subtle mockery of my intelligence as a knowledgeable player.
Anything that changes core aesthetics of the game is bound to create some controversy, big or small. That's why it's better to introduce such things as optional, rather than throwing it at our faces and say that it's enhanced, so it's better, so deal with it old-fashioned geezer!
In comparison, Vanilla BG to BG:EE interface was the perfect GUI enhancement for me. It loosely retained the architecture of the old GUI while providing additional condensed information and statistical breakdowns in a single screen that even I found extremely useful. The end result was something informative, approachable and aesthetically pleasing.
Maybe @AndrewFoley merely means that the company needs to rebuild the bridge at Boareskyr, so that Our Hero can get back across the river to go to Athkatla!
But saying that company needs to rebuild bridges, in the context of potential delays in releasing the product, suggests that there are some corporate hostilities in the background which could potentially become obstacles. Naturally it reminds me of when the production of BG2ee was suspended for a while because of a legal dispute over something-or-other (what was that about, I forget ... was it the licence terms?) Whatever it is, I hope that Beamdog can resolve it without major disruption!
1. How can you improve something you don't understand?
2. For those of us who have played the game for the time we have, we have no issues with the UI and it's never been raised. Why change it?
3. Why did Beamdog feel the need to wait until they produced their own content to change the UI? If it's an enhanced UI why didn't it ship with the original EE games?
I just want the ability to keep the current UI from BG2 and BG:EE/BG2:EE. I like it and don't see anything wrong with it - if it ain't broke don't fix it. Don't make us have to mod the game to get bring back original content.
I can understand that there are others that like the new UI, and for new players it will be great. But I think players should at least have the option instead of being forced into a newer system that actually takes some of the knowledge about the game, it's lore, it's characters, and it's mechanics away from it.
I'm especially glad to hear it's coming out so soon... though knowing me, I probably won't be able to play it until all these awesome additions get ported over to BG:EE and BG:EE2 so I can get the experience of one continuous playthrough. I wish you all the best of luck on wrapping up development smoothly and having a successful release.