Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack content was already planned for the original Baldur's Gate

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The paper map that came with the game box had Ulgoth's Beard and Durlag's Tower on it.


The question is, to what extent did the content already exist when the original game was released? Was it stuff that they didn't have time finish up and put in the game, or were these just names on a map?

Also, was the town of Berdusk originally supposed to be in the game?

lol when you see the humanoid-xeno-genocide heads, you almost think it's actually tribes and dangerous vast lands instead of 10-20 cannon fodder next to the friendly arms inn giving 4 coins and a broken sword.

Nope, I'm pretty sure it was not on the disk - it would have been common knowledge by now if it was.

Still it's interesting how this kinda-sorta presages that.

There's that xvart village that you can genocide (where one of the xvarts calls you a snothead and summons a bear to defend the village)

Unlike modern games BG had enough content that it didn't matter. I think it was more likely that they run out of time instead of having planned to make some "evil" money.

And the map containing this stuff isn't just taken from some original AD&D sources?

Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast (1994): http://web.njit.edu/~slg3/tsr9460.pdf

Mentions Durlag's Tower and Ulgoth's Beard. But also a bunch of other places which aren't on that paper map (although they may be outside the area depicted in it)

I'm not up on my Forgotten Realms lore, but I'm pretty sure those places have been there since the setting was fleshed out. Their presence on the original game map could have been simply because they're THERE in the actual campaign setting. With a larger map, they could have even put Neverwinter on there!

Will have a look at my original map when back home. I think I remember Ulgoths Beard and the Tower were on the map (they are locations that are present in the p&p game tool), but I have a box that contains BG coupled with the addon.


EDIT: I have exactly the same map as shown above (German Edition Box; BG + Addon)

I have that paper map. It came with the TotSC bundle.

But I remember Ulgoths Beard is misplaced and I think wouldn't show up on the BG map when compared to the official maps.

It also came with the original.

From Volo's Guide:

Baldur's Gate was already kind of rushed (main reason for all the reused levels, especially houses etc.), so I wouldn't be surprised if it was planned but they simply ran out of time/money/etc.

Isn't Berdusk a city in Cormyr? Strange it being on that map.

Anyway, I also have that map (I think I still do anyway) and I used to wonder about Durlag's tower as well.

I think they put Ulgoth's Beard where they did in game because they didn't have room on the map.

I still have the paper map from Baldur's Gate 1, and it's different than the one in the OP. Maybe because it's in potato, but still, Ulgoth's Beard is not marked there, while Durlag's Tower is like a 1-cm square.

That's not the map that came with vanilla BG1. The original map was stylised on a real old map and rolled into a scroll and sealed with a red seal.
It must be a map from some later re-edition that already had TotSC included.

Pretty sure OP map is the one I got with vanilla. It has the city of Baldur's Gate map on the back, right?

Yes.

There may have been a different version in Eurofagistan, I got mine in the US

Odd. Then I think I mixed it with the ingame map and it was misplaced there?

Berdusk is just mentioned so the traveler can get an idea of where he is in relation to the world. The map is like 'pretend' and stuff you know, like it's a REAL map that some adventurer would have at the time...Ulgoth and the other locations are also there for flavor though perhaps also with an eye to having a hook in case of an expansion.

As for Infinitron's original shit post check out this map:



Does this mean that all these locations are in the game or is it for flavor and to stay true to the setting? LOOK, there's HILLSFAR!!!! Fucking SSI were already planning DLC for Pool of Radiance that they sneakily released later as a standalone game!

Actually it is the map that came with the original. What you are describing must have been some regional variation or collector's thing as I remember there being a Collector's BG with such a scroll or something. In Australia I got a two pack which had the retail box of BG bundled together with the retail box of ToSC(each with their own manuals, reference cards etc.) and unless someone specifically came along and pulled apart then resealed the original boxes just to place an updated map in them, I think it's what always was there. I got my version in 1999, just as ToSC was released.

Good thing KOTOR didn't come with a map of the galaxy.

Just thought it was a bit odd how they put everything on the map in the game except those two places (and Berdusk). Even fucking Gullykin was in the game.

BTW, I also think I remember Durlag's Tower being mentioned by name in the vanilla game by some NPC (not 100% sure though)

You're just seeing shit that isn't there: understandable with Bioware though and the gaming world we live in. I've no doubt that some of those locations were put on the map specifically in the even that could be used for future expansions or games, keeping a continuity going but I think they also might have been added for flavor and to keep with the lore. In the past we had entire maps full of wondrous descriptions and details of the world yet in the actual game you'd see fuck all of most of it. I think it's more a tribute to that. Note also how all the passes through the mountains are labeled as if you had a possibility to go there...

I thought Berdusk was way way East and thought it was strange to be on the map is all, but I see it is much closer than I thought: