Guys, do you know/what do you think version 2.4 will brong?
Will 2.4 better integrate SoD with BGI&II? Is there any chance they will change some plot points, cutscanes or ending in SoD? Maybe new chars, quests, items?
I'm simply curious about what's even going on with 2.4, since there's been no news or comments from the devs in a very long time, even if it is just to 'update' us that work is progressing well and on schedule. It's a pity the old 'roadmap' system is no longer active.
My wish list has six items: one is a feature request to bring back Catmull-Rom Bicubic for graphic scaling; the other five are audio bugs @skellytz found in the course of some extensive research and I redmined last month based on her reports/repro steps.
Trivia!
Did you know that:
Different attack animations for all creatures (including NPCs) have each their own specific sound that matches the animation frame by frame, but only one sound is played over and over by the engine?
Some creatures have had custom sound sets since day one in 1998, but those sound sets have never been used or heard so far because of an engine limitation that prevented their playback?
In the BGII engine, creatures brought over from BG have a chance of playing two attack sounds simultaneously, overlapping each other due to changes to how the engine handles sounds between BG and BGII?
Fixing those five bugs would unearth a bunch of sounds that have always been there but have never been used, and enable attack sounds that match their animations frame by frame. ToBEx in conjunction with the upcoming iteration of @skellytz's Infinity Sounds will fix most of these* for vanilla games, but can't do the same for the EEs since the engine handles stuff differently.
(*IIRC the only one that won't be fixed is the custom soundsets for creatures that had them, as that would require claiming new animation slots just for this.)
I'm going to try and manage expectations around 2.4 a bit. We've been putting work into it over the last while, but the majority of our focus has been on another project. Our plans for 2.4 focus mainly on the bugfixing and tablet support side. The size constraints on tablet are daunting for SoD and we're committed to bringing the expansion to the tablet platforms.
@TrentOster How realistic are the items on my wishlist, if at all? I understand things may change for various reasons over the course of time and until the patch is out, we won't know for sure what is in and what is out ... But you know, in the interest of managing my expectations
I just kinda wanna see the Shaman get a kit or two, because it really bothers me when I click every class and go to the kit selection screen, but nothing happens when I click Shaman. I was so happy when they put Barbarian as a Fighter kit because it resolved this, but then Shaman came in a messed it all up for me again.
They don't even have to be good or viable kits, just SOMETHING to give the game a reason to go to the kit selection screen like every other class. Please. It'd be like an early Christmas gift, fit for the next decade.
I'm just really hoping for a rework of the UI. Whether that's for 2.4 or 2.5 or whatever doesn't really matter. Right now playing the game is so unenjoyable for me that I just can't do it.
There's a ton of great suggestions in UI improvement forum, so hopefully some of that stuff will be implemented in the future.
I'm just really hoping for a rework of the UI. Whether that's for 2.4 or 2.5 or whatever doesn't really matter. Right now playing the game is so unenjoyable for me that I just can't do it.
There's a ton of great suggestions in UI improvement forum, so hopefully some of that stuff will be implemented in the future.
Just so long as any such changes are optional. There are just as many of us who like most of the new UI features and don't care for the proposed changes/returning to the old ways.
I'm going to try and manage expectations around 2.4 a bit. We've been putting work into it over the last while, but the majority of our focus has been on another project. Our plans for 2.4 focus mainly on the bugfixing and tablet support side. The size constraints on tablet are daunting for SoD and we're committed to bringing the expansion to the tablet platforms.
@TrentOster I am thrilled beyond words that your focus is on a new project, which is exactly as it should be! I can't wait to hear more about it and eventually to get my hands on it!
Unfortunately, that's not very surprising news (especially after SoD's writers left), but it's still somewhat disappointing. I wonder if it was always intended for the Skie/Soultaker plotline to be left unresolved, or if any planned resolution for it ended up on the cutting room floor due to financial/time/developmental/etc. issues.
Somewhat disappointing to hear that the next update, for which we've been waiting patiently for a long time, will probably not address many longstanding issues
@TrentOster thanks for the updates. I really hope that 2.4 can fix the remaining broken achievements on the Steam version of the game. I know achievements are a lower priority than content, but earning 100% completion on a game is a great way to show the gaming community how much you enjoy a title.
Currently, two achievements are still broken. I have linked the issues below which, unfortunately, haven't seen any activity in quite a while, so it looks like they may not be currently considered for 2.4 scope. Please consider including fixes for the next update!
Comments
I just hope they will patch IWD:EE this time around. Modders need those shiny new opcodes.
* Lots and lots of bug fixes
* UI improvements/customization
* Updating IWD:EE to 2.0
What I'd love (but don't think we'll get):
* SoD tie-ins in BG2:EE -- namely a resolution for the Skie/Soultaker plotline
Trivia!
Did you know that:
- Different attack animations for all creatures (including NPCs) have each their own specific sound that matches the animation frame by frame, but only one sound is played over and over by the engine?
- Some creatures have had custom sound sets since day one in 1998, but those sound sets have never been used or heard so far because of an engine limitation that prevented their playback?
- In the BGII engine, creatures brought over from BG have a chance of playing two attack sounds simultaneously, overlapping each other due to changes to how the engine handles sounds between BG and BGII?
Fixing those five bugs would unearth a bunch of sounds that have always been there but have never been used, and enable attack sounds that match their animations frame by frame. ToBEx in conjunction with the upcoming iteration of @skellytz's Infinity Sounds will fix most of these* for vanilla games, but can't do the same for the EEs since the engine handles stuff differently.(*IIRC the only one that won't be fixed is the custom soundsets for creatures that had them, as that would require claiming new animation slots just for this.)
The bug didn't exist in earlier versions. It was introduced somewhere in 2.0-2.2.
Oh wait, we already hit god fragments throughout the game.
They don't even have to be good or viable kits, just SOMETHING to give the game a reason to go to the kit selection screen like every other class. Please. It'd be like an early Christmas gift, fit for the next decade.
There's a ton of great suggestions in UI improvement forum, so hopefully some of that stuff will be implemented in the future.
Currently, two achievements are still broken. I have linked the issues below which, unfortunately, haven't seen any activity in quite a while, so it looks like they may not be currently considered for 2.4 scope. Please consider including fixes for the next update!
Grim Deeds to Come: http://redmine.beamdog.com/issues/23918
You Chose ... Poorly: http://redmine.beamdog.com/issues/25716