bit-tech.net

brumgrunt · 16th Mar 2012, 10:41

Beamdog has confirmed that it's working on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/...announcement/1

Tyrmot · 16th Mar 2012, 10:46

Well, I already own several copies of this, and it looks like soon I'll have one more. Can't wait!

Whirly · 16th Mar 2012, 11:04

Oooh, the first game announcement this year that has truly excited me.

kosch · 16th Mar 2012, 11:21

Loved the series I remember spending alot of time trying to do my own voice acting for the custom characters you could import. Drove my dad nuts me repeating the same lines over and over again. Think I still have some of the WAV files somewhere!

greypilgers · 16th Mar 2012, 11:44

I would rather pay money for a remake of this than most games released in the past three years!

DLDeadbolt · 16th Mar 2012, 11:46

CrazyBlade · 16th Mar 2012, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whirly

Oooh, the first game announcement this year that has truly excited me.

I'll second that one. Cannot wait.

Spectrator · 16th Mar 2012, 12:35

Sounds like perfect time to purchase this legend at last and go through it for the first time!! (o^-^o)

johnnyboy700 · 16th Mar 2012, 12:55

I'll think I'll get me some Baldur's Gate time again!!

I agree with the above sentiments, best gaming news in a long time - only beaten by the gameplay video of the X-Com remake.

AstralWanderer · 16th Mar 2012, 14:34

Higher definition content? You've got that courtesy of the Widescreen Mod (which works with BG2, Icewind Dale and Planescape).

New content? There's been a modding scene producing that for over a decade with the likes of The Darkest Day, Shadows over Soubar, Tortured Souls and Check the Bodies mods. You also have BGT Weidu (Baldur's Gate Trilogy) which imports Baldur's Gate/Tales of the Sword Coast into the BG2 engine, allowing you to play a single epic game from the Candlekeep Inn to Bhaal's Throne. And you can combine them all (with dozens of other mods, expanding BG to over 30GB in size) via the BiG World installer (see the Spellhold Mega Mod Help forum and How to install BWP for newbies (and up) for more details - it's a work in progress so not yet easy to use).

Internal game engine limits are being tackled by projects like TobEx (several features including increasing the number of kits selectable on character creation and the number of spells accessible in the spellbook) and Infinity Animations (increasing the number of creature graphics). And then there's the open-source GemRB which may even be able to increase the existing 6-character limit (handy, given the vast range of joinable NPCs available from various mods).

It's hard to see any "enhanced" version maintaining compatibility with the great swathe of mods and fixes out there - or being able to match the work done by hundreds of modders over the last decade. If a console release is planned, then it seems likely that the game engine would have to be dumbed down considerably to cope with joypad-only controls (e.g. always-on AI, smaller party size with weaker opponents to compensate, smaller spell selection, etc).

BG/BG2 was (and still is, with the appropriate mods) an awesome gameplay experience and one that deserves a refresh (maybe Beamdog could fix the craptastic pathfinding algorithm that dogged so many of Bioware's games?) but it's difficult not to see the potential downsides also.

yesitsme · 16th Mar 2012, 14:55

[quote=AstralWanderer]Pessimist!

I think it is great news. Although there are many good mods out there that improve the first two games, I think that members of the original development team will do a much better job and I can’t wait! This may even pave the way for a BG3, exciting times.

DLDeadbolt · 16th Mar 2012, 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by AstralWanderer

*snip*

I.. buh... wah.. *brain sizzles*

MUST BUY AND MOD!

loftie · 16th Mar 2012, 17:25

Hmm, not sure about this. Never played BG, but I played BG2 and enjoyed it. Updating an engine and releasing new content seems a bit pointless. As someone already said, there's loads of content out there already, and it'd have to be a pretty big update to the engine to make it seem worthwhile.

I suppose it all depends how good the game will look. Imo, the game could be released again with a new graphics engine and would sell really well.

greypilgers · 16th Mar 2012, 17:33

no no no no no no no!
LoL... You all miss the point! Its Baldurs Gate!

Cities always teem with evil and decay... Let's give it a good shake and seeee what faaalls out!

GW42 · 16th Mar 2012, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyBlade

I'll second that one. Cannot wait.

3rd'd!

I came to the party late (i think my first play through was about 2004-05 ish) but easily one of the, if not the best gaming experiences I've had. I particularly enjoyed going back to it a couple of years and playing BGT all the way from candlekeep through to the end, in nice big widescreen.

CowBlazed · 16th Mar 2012, 19:28

Baulder's Gate mobile on tablets and phones would be interesting.

AstralWanderer · 16th Mar 2012, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by CowBlazed

Baulder's Gate mobile on tablets and phones would be interesting.

You mean like:

ArsTechnica: How I rode a Samsung tablet PC to retro role-playing nirvana
YouTube: GemRB Baldur's Gate 2 on on Nokia N810

l3v1ck · 16th Mar 2012, 22:05

Baldur's Gate 2 is still my favourite game of all time, so I'll be looking forward to this.

caruga · 17th Mar 2012, 00:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by AstralWanderer

Higher definition content? You've got that courtesy of the Widescreen Mod (which works with BG2, Icewind Dale and Planescape).

No, it's they're the same low-definition graphics of over 10 yrs ago, scaled to a widescreen display so that it doesn't appear stretched. There is no extra detail; to achieve that would mean redrawing the graphics, either with 3D rendering software or by hand.

Also suggesting the modding community has surpassed the original creation sounds pretty arrogant to me. They're standing on the shoulders of giants.

rogerrabbits · 17th Mar 2012, 00:35

I'd buy it.

Imagine if this ended up selling more than Dragon Age 2

That would be the greatest event in gaming, of all time.

16th Mar 2012, 10:41	#1
brumgrunt Administrator bit-tech Staff Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 1,009	Beamdog announces Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Beamdog has confirmed that it's working on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/...announcement/1

16th Mar 2012, 11:21	#4
kosch Trango in the Mango Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 828	Loved the series I remember spending alot of time trying to do my own voice acting for the custom characters you could import. Drove my dad nuts me repeating the same lines over and over again. Think I still have some of the WAV files somewhere! __________________ Come get your Free 7 day Rift Trial join me on Icewatch! http://www.kosch.co.uk/

16th Mar 2012, 11:44	#5
greypilgers Supermodder Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Fareham - in the sticks Posts: 401	I would rather pay money for a remake of this than most games released in the past three years! __________________ Quote from Bungletron: And certainly if my house was burglarized I would phonerelize the police right away, what idiot would not? Bungletron, I salute you!

16th Mar 2012, 17:25	#13
loftie Hypermodder Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 746	Hmm, not sure about this. Never played BG, but I played BG2 and enjoyed it. Updating an engine and releasing new content seems a bit pointless. As someone already said, there's loads of content out there already, and it'd have to be a pretty big update to the engine to make it seem worthwhile. I suppose it all depends how good the game will look. Imo, the game could be released again with a new graphics engine and would sell really well. __________________ Sent from my PC using a keyboard

16th Mar 2012, 17:33	#14
greypilgers Supermodder Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Fareham - in the sticks Posts: 401	no no no no no no no! LoL... You all miss the point! Its Baldurs Gate! Cities always teem with evil and decay... Let's give it a good shake and seeee what faaalls out! __________________ Quote from Bungletron: And certainly if my house was burglarized I would phonerelize the police right away, what idiot would not? Bungletron, I salute you!

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16th Mar 2012, 10:46	#2
Tyrmot Supermodder Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: London Posts: 285	Well, I already own several copies of this, and it looks like soon I'll have one more. Can't wait!

16th Mar 2012, 11:04	#3
Whirly Supermodder Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: On top of a hill Posts: 384	Oooh, the first game announcement this year that has truly excited me.

16th Mar 2012, 11:46	#6
DLDeadbolt Space Cadet Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Somewhere, Out There Posts: 865

16th Mar 2012, 12:35	#8
Spectrator What's a Dremel? Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Japan Posts: 8	Sounds like perfect time to purchase this legend at last and go through it for the first time!! (o^-^o)

16th Mar 2012, 12:55	#9
johnnyboy700 Ultramodder Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1,221	I'll think I'll get me some Baldur's Gate time again!! I agree with the above sentiments, best gaming news in a long time - only beaten by the gameplay video of the X-Com remake.

16th Mar 2012, 14:34	#10
AstralWanderer Banned Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 749	Higher definition content? You've got that courtesy of the Widescreen Mod (which works with BG2, Icewind Dale and Planescape). New content? There's been a modding scene producing that for over a decade with the likes of The Darkest Day, Shadows over Soubar, Tortured Souls and Check the Bodies mods. You also have BGT Weidu (Baldur's Gate Trilogy) which imports Baldur's Gate/Tales of the Sword Coast into the BG2 engine, allowing you to play a single epic game from the Candlekeep Inn to Bhaal's Throne. And you can combine them all (with dozens of other mods, expanding BG to over 30GB in size) via the BiG World installer (see the Spellhold Mega Mod Help forum and How to install BWP for newbies (and up) for more details - it's a work in progress so not yet easy to use). Internal game engine limits are being tackled by projects like TobEx (several features including increasing the number of kits selectable on character creation and the number of spells accessible in the spellbook) and Infinity Animations (increasing the number of creature graphics). And then there's the open-source GemRB which may even be able to increase the existing 6-character limit (handy, given the vast range of joinable NPCs available from various mods). It's hard to see any "enhanced" version maintaining compatibility with the great swathe of mods and fixes out there - or being able to match the work done by hundreds of modders over the last decade. If a console release is planned, then it seems likely that the game engine would have to be dumbed down considerably to cope with joypad-only controls (e.g. always-on AI, smaller party size with weaker opponents to compensate, smaller spell selection, etc). BG/BG2 was (and still is, with the appropriate mods) an awesome gameplay experience and one that deserves a refresh (maybe Beamdog could fix the craptastic pathfinding algorithm that dogged so many of Bioware's games?) but it's difficult not to see the potential downsides also.

16th Mar 2012, 14:55	#11
yesitsme What's a Dremel? Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 1	[quote=AstralWanderer]Pessimist! I think it is great news. Although there are many good mods out there that improve the first two games, I think that members of the original development team will do a much better job and I can’t wait! This may even pave the way for a BG3, exciting times.

16th Mar 2012, 19:28	#16
CowBlazed Multimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 228	Baulder's Gate mobile on tablets and phones would be interesting.

17th Mar 2012, 00:35	#20
rogerrabbits Banned Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 577	I'd buy it. Imagine if this ended up selling more than Dragon Age 2 That would be the greatest event in gaming, of all time.