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All you wanted to know about Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear ("Adventure Y" previously)

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  • GemHoundGemHound Member Posts: 801
    All the involvement I can see Irenicus having is some hired thugs of his rounding up the Bhaalspawn at the end.
    booinyoureyes
  • brusbrus Member Posts: 944
    edited October 2015

    @brus while I sympathize with your love for Irenicus (he is a villain with a LEGENDARY presence) I don't think it is feasible or even desirable to include him in the Siege of Dragonspear plot in a major way. As a background figure at the end I think it would be a nice touch, but something more substantial might be a bit too much.

    Well, I can easily imagine vampires, golems and his accomplices plotting from elves forest. But, it just came to me that this probably won't happen from technical standpoint. Namely, original Irenicus voiceactor probably is not avaiable or his voice has changed a bit after 15 years.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
  • GloatingSwineGloatingSwine Member Posts: 18

    I really like the new journal pop-ups when you receive a quest. Reminds me of Pillars of Eternity.

    It really is amazing if you go back and look at the original Baldur's Gate, or any other older RPG (Morrowind is a particular example) how far the informational design of quest tracking has come.

    Hell, back in the day quests might not even be distinctly sorted from worldbuilding fluff....
    DragonspearbooinyoureyesArcalian
  • wojtekwojtek Member Posts: 311
    what things are they changing? what are they implementing? would be good if we found out this
  • YamchaYamcha Member Posts: 486
    @wojtek probably a nice way of saying it's too bugged and/or excuse for delaying it to 2016
    wojtek
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    Ammar said:


    I don't like pop-ups since they take you out of the game and break the fourth wall. Also, usually they are just a summary of the dialogue you had anyway.

    exactly. without them the journal really feels like a notebook where your character writes stuff, and with them it feels like a guy floating over your head telling you what you should do next

    AdulCluas
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    edited October 2015

    It really is amazing if you go back and look at the original Baldur's Gate, or any other older RPG (Morrowind is a particular example) how far the informational design of quest tracking has come.

    I can appreciate the convenience of the modern CRPG journal, but the way it was handled back in the day had a sort of realism to it that I think is lost nowadays. Like a lot of areas of gameplay, the player had to keep their own stuff in order or risk blindly stumbling around in the dark.

    Me being a cranky old curmudgeon (trapped in a somewhat younger body), I prefer the old school in this case. There's some romanticism in not being handed convenient packets of information that I could also look for myself. It makes me feel like the game respects me enough not to hold my hand through every obstacle.

    Plus having to find my way instead of constantly being pointed in the direction of the next plot point makes the game seem less linear.

    Hell, back in the day quests might not even be distinctly sorted from worldbuilding fluff....

    Hate to say it again, but I liked it that way. You mentioned Morrowind which I think was excellent in this regard. The lore I read in books and conversations always felt like it might have some practical use for my character, because sometimes it did. It helps immersion when I feel as if I'm a part of the game world, having to pay attention to stuff and do my own research, instead of being an outside onlooker who is always kept perfectly informed through the various HUD elements that keep popping out to tell me in simple English what I've just read in the game.

    Okay. Let me attempt to direct this aimlessly and violently flailing rant back to the topic at hand. To conclude, I hope the new journal popups in SoD (and the EEs in general) will be optional, otherwise I think they could be intrusive to those of us with giant sticks up our butts.

    Edit: Triple ninja'd. I should probably try to write shorter rants from now on.
    JuliusBorisovdunbarlolien
  • AmmarAmmar Member Posts: 1,295
    Optional is good, but I think people underestimate the interaction between UI and general game design. For example, with the popups.

    Are they going to contain the same text as the journal? Then the journal text needs to be brief and concise enough to fit into the popup and be read in a short amount of time. This would clash with the current style.

    Or is it another text? Then it means more work for the writer and less time for other things. It would also mean that the same information has to be maintained and synced in three independent text blocks: journal, dialogue and popup. More potential for discrepancies errors.

    The point I am trying to make: these features tend to affect even those of us who turn them off. In most games with popups the affect the design on a fundamental level.

    Can it be be done right? Probably. But I wonder if it worth the risk and the cost given that most customers are already familiar and comfortable with the existing UI. I can't really see it attract many new customers.
  • brusbrus Member Posts: 944
    edited October 2015
    I think that UI popups are convenient but without them we could still cherish the game. What is neccesary and important that they reimplement spell UI. Everyone who was playing with mage/cleric on higher levels and tried to find desired spell in spell toolbar knows how tedius this can be.
    Flashburn
  • cmk24cmk24 Member Posts: 605
    Ammar said:

    Optional is good, but I think people underestimate the interaction between UI and general game design. For example, with the popups.

    Are they going to contain the same text as the journal? Then the journal text needs to be brief and concise enough to fit into the popup and be read in a short amount of time. This would clash with the current style.

    Or is it another text? Then it means more work for the writer and less time for other things. It would also mean that the same information has to be maintained and synced in three independent text blocks: journal, dialogue and popup. More potential for discrepancies errors.

    The point I am trying to make: these features tend to affect even those of us who turn them off. In most games with popups the affect the design on a fundamental level.

    Can it be be done right? Probably. But I wonder if it worth the risk and the cost given that most customers are already familiar and comfortable with the existing UI. I can't really see it attract many new customers.

    What if the popup only contain the title of the quest? That would not require any more to be written and would still tell you what part of your journal to check for more information.
    JuliusBorisov
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    cmk24 said:

    What if the popup only contain the title of the quest? That would not require any more to be written and would still tell you what part of your journal to check for more information.

    I think it can be a solution for the concerns @Ammar has voiced.

    The thing is, from the screenshot we know, it's unclear, if "I must choose a unit and defeat the wizards" is the title or the description of the quest (it's not even a quest, it's an important event, so basically that phrase could duplicate the whole journal enty as it is, maybe in this particular case it didn't need to have more words in it).



    image

    NightRevan
  • brusbrus Member Posts: 944

    Adventure Y is an Infinity Engine adventure.

    After Adventure Y we have some more projects in the works that use a more modern engine.

    Which one?

  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    brus said:

    Adventure Y is an Infinity Engine adventure.

    After Adventure Y we have some more projects in the works that use a more modern engine.

    Which one?

    I'd say it's a pretty safe bet to guess Unity 5. They mentioned some while back about looking into using the Pillars of Eternity engine for future projects.
    JuliusBorisov
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    bengoshi said:

    It's obvious the developers can't please everyone. A lot of people like it "old-school", and not less people like it "PoE-style" in terms of quest pop-ups.

    The same situation is with Health bars.

    This is why they're toggleable options.

    What about those who want REALLY old school? Will there be sheets of graph paper in the box? :wink:
    JuliusBorisovGallowglass
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    Health bars above characters? We already have health bars on the portraits... and colouration of health numbers on portraits. How much superfluous information do you need..........
    Fina92
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    why do the health bars have five segments when the mouse over information so far has only revealed four degrees of injury: barely injured (<=1/1hp), injured (<=3/4hp), badly injured (<=1/2hp) and near death (<=1/4hp)?
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    There is a bar for hypochondriac.
    proccobob_vengSon_of_Imoen
  • Sylvus_MoonbowSylvus_Moonbow Member Posts: 1,085
    bob_veng said:

    why do the health bars have five segments when the mouse over information so far has only revealed four degrees of injury: barely injured (<=1/1hp), injured (<=3/4hp), badly injured (<=1/2hp) and near death (<=1/4hp)?</p>

    One for full health.
    elminstercmk24
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited October 2015
    bob_veng said:

    why do the health bars have five segments when the mouse over information so far has only revealed four degrees of injury: barely injured (<=1/1hp), injured (<=3/4hp), badly injured (<=1/2hp) and near death (<=1/4hp)?</p>

    (roughly)

    5/5 = Full Health
    4/5 = Barely Injured
    3/5 = Injured
    2/5 = Badly Injured
    1/5 = Near Death
    JuliusBorisovGemHoundproccololien
  • Sylvus_MoonbowSylvus_Moonbow Member Posts: 1,085
    Maybe they'll be a mod that at 0 bars, it shows DEAD in a red, blood-dripping font above the party member.
    Spjuv3rnAbelmeaglothbob_veng
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    With many foes and summons you will start to see only health bars.
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308

    One for full health.

    uhhm right.

    (< is idiot)

    lolien
  • wojtekwojtek Member Posts: 311
    what devs are doing is indeed cruel, when they were making announcement i thought that game will be in maximum 2 months, i was naive, but they were making this feeling that the game release is so close, and they were talking that after they will give more details, i was lied to !! :)
    Abel
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    edited October 2015
    dunno where people got the feeling that you describe because i didn't

    edit: since we talked about UI, there's a UI improvement i'd really like - the bestiary :smile:
    proccoJuliusBorisovBillyYank
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    bob_veng said:

    dunno where people got the feeling that you describe because i didn't

    edit: since we talked about UI, there's a UI improvement i'd really like - the bestiary :smile:

    Agreed! It would be awesome to have the description and illustrations straight out of the old Monster Manual and Fiend Folio.
    JuliusBorisovlolienFlashburnGemHound
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