Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Rhobar121]

Swen where the fuck is my monk class

Nobody cares about the monk

 

[Delterius]

Seems like just exploring the city is gonna be a joy. How many CRPGs had 'full cities' like this? Although of course I can't be sure of the scale.

 

[Rhobar121]

Seems like just exploring the city is gonna be a joy. How many CRPGs had 'full cities' like this? Although of course I can't be sure of the scale.

Even if they only give us lower city, it should still be quite a big city, maybe not the size of Novigrad, but certainly big by crpg standards.

 

[Infinitron]

Swen where the fuck is my monk class

There's still one more chance!

 

[Kem0sabe]

The city looks properly huge, likely far surpassing in scope and content the Witcher 3, which is the gold standard for rpg city environments.

 

[Infinitron]

Hmm, okay: https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-mashed-animation-pcgs-2023/

The making of the PC Gaming Show's Baldur's Gate 3 animated short​

Don't worry, Astarion is just as enchanting in two dimensions.

Getting beaten up by a frog, trading spleens with a hag, and watching a rogue party member commit cold-blooded murder before you can get a word in—all par for the course for any reckless Dungeons & Dragons adventure. At least, it seems, when the party of would-be champions and reluctant heroes of Baldur’s Gate 3 are at the helm.

Now close on the horizon, Larian’s upcoming RPG was given the cartoon treatment by irreverent geek culture parody troupe Mashed as part of the PC Gaming Show 2023. We’re used to seeing the haughty and high-cheekboned Astarion with the ever-belligerent Lae’zel and the rest of their chums in photo-realistic 3D. But maybe their second home is among the animated world's blocky colors and flat shapes. As Mashed's director of comedy and animation Tom Jenkins explains, taking the characters of Baldur's Gate 3 there was a case of simplifying their designs so the team could make them as expressive as possible within its animation style.

"Each character has their own distinct look and style," Jenkins says. "Astarion was slimmed down to help emphasize his class as a rogue, with large expressive features to emphasize his sarcastic and deadpan tone. Gale had a similar approach, but as a mage, we wanted to underline that magical foundation of his character, so we added a loose flowing robe that ripples as he casts spells and rallies the party, and small details like not being able to see his feet so he almost glides through scenes."

Jenkins breaks down the whole production process into seven steps, from creating an initial idea to fleshing it out with preliminary moving images and finally putting on the final touches. The script, he says, is the first element the team completes before work on everything else can start. "Once that happens, we get the voice actors to record their lines—and once we review, we then ask for re-records depending on the intent in the script and the energy and tone we want to convey."

After creating character designs, storyboards, and an animatic (a draft of the animation that locks down movements, expressions, and camera movement), animating begins earnestly. It’s done in three separate stages, starting with a rough cut. "It’s arguably the most challenging part of the animation, giving all the characters actual movement, defining the way they move, and their real key expressions," Jenkins says. "Then goes to clean up, which is refining and cleaning up the loose, sketchy rough animation into something a lot more refined, lip sync for the voice lines and basically what you see in the end, just without color." That's added before scene backgrounds, and sound brings the up-to-now mute characters to life.

"We bring everything together by combining the character animation with the backgrounds, and then also do visual effects," which could be anything from fires crackling, water bubbling, or any other environmental effect, Jenkins says. "Once all animation, compositing, and VFX are complete, we send the animation to our sound designer/composer who adds all the sound in the video," as well as the musical score.

With each character voiced by the same actors used in the game, and the script provided by Larian, the final piece doesn’t feel far removed from what you might find when trekking across the Forgotten Realms, even if it is a parody at heart. "While the game itself is serious and dramatic, games themselves run on game logic, which is fun to satirize and play around with in terms of its conventions," Jenkins says. "What you see play out isn't far off from the experience of actual players while they hang out together playing the game. So you combine that relatable experience with the characters' personalities and the D&D/RPG setting to hit a really rich vein comedy-wise."

It's exactly that kind of comedy that Mashed has taken to surreal places in the past, whether by turning Mario and Luigi into super-buff anime adversaries or creating a perpetually self-cloning Sonic. It didn’t push the Baldur’s Gate 3 crew quite that far, but Jenkins isn't done with the Forgotten Realms. "I'm looking forward to heading back into the world of Baldur's Gate with some mates as a bard, as (often terrible) one-liners and questionable singing are very on-brand for me." Sounds like he’ll fit right in.

 

[RegionalHobo]

who knows, perhaps sven writting tm will ruin this but damm the game looks good

 

[bobocrunch]

That frog video is one of the worst things I've ever seen. 'We want the Critical Role audience' distilled.

 

[Gargaune]

Brace yourselves, I'm not here to whine, I want to give credit where it's due - it's very refreshing to see level-headed game developers talking frankly and seriously about their work, and the smart-casual office dress is a welcome touch, too. No, really, this is a good video, they all came across as very credible and it helps to build up some confidence and anticipa...

Wait...

What's this?

Oh, God damnit!

 

[Drakortha]

no day/night cycles.

 

[Takamori]

I guess I'm sniffing a massive tank of copium but the last Panel from hell they will show the remaining content like monk and missing races (dragonborn) and what will be available from the other source books (Xanatar, Tasha etc etc). But with each promo I'm guessing this game will be a one way stride and go consume other game.

 

[TwoEdge]

Wait, Schick has left Bethesda for Larian? This is potentially huge, although his LinkedIn lists him as narrative designer expert, which sounds very hands-off. Does anyone know the extent of his involvement?

 

[Strig]

I hate how flamboyant everything is in this game. The art direction is absolute ass. Why is Baldur's Gate in the middle of a coastal mountain range? On every map I've ever seen it was located on a plain near a river mouth and the descriptions only mentioned cliffs dividing the lower and upper parts of the city. Why does it look like it's vaguely inspired by the Mediterranean architecture instead of a more northern feel, let's say a Hanseatic city? I can't stand how in-your-face everything has to be with these people, no room for subtlety, magical creatures spill out of every nook and tranny, every building looks like it houses nobles or at least is a temple. Flying carpets, a fucking Dumbo, random giants... what is this shite?

 

[Drakortha]

I hate how flamboyant everything is in this game. The art direction is absolute ass. Why is Baldur's Gate in the middle of a coastal mountain range? On every map I've ever seen it was located on a plain near a river mouth and the descritpions only mentioned cliffs dividing the lower and upper parts of the city. Why does it look like it's vaguely inspired by the Mediterranean architecture instead of a more northern feel, let's say a Hanseatic city? I can't stand how in-your-face everything has to be with these people, no room for subtlety, magical creatures spill out of every nook and tranny, every building looks like it houses nobles or at least is a temple. Flying carpets, a fucking Dumbo, random giants... what is this shite?

This is what everyone wanted when they paid full retail price for early access.

It was shite since the beginning. No day/night cycles should have been a big enough red flag and enough of a reason to hold off pre-ordering this garbage. But consumers don't care about the quality of the product they are buying. They will consume new shiny thing because it's new and shiny, every single time.

 

[stendhal]

In the trailer Astarion was casting Fireball from a rooftop, right? As an arcane trickster, he would have to be level 13, so I guess this kinda indicates (confirms?) level 13-14 as max level. Guess we will see some 7th level spells then.

 

[d1r]

In the trailer Astarion was casting Fireball from a rooftop, right? As an arcane trickster, he would have to be level 13, so I guess this kinda indicates (confirms?) level 13-14 as max level. Guess we will see some 7th level spells then.

Thieves can use scrolls, can't they?

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

what is this shite?

Original Sin 3.

 

[Swen]

I hate how flamboyant everything is in this game. The art direction is absolute ass. Why is Baldur's Gate in the middle of a coastal mountain range? On every map I've ever seen it was located on a plain near a river mouth and the descriptions only mentioned cliffs dividing the lower and upper parts of the city. Why does it look like it's vaguely inspired by the Mediterranean architecture instead of a more northern feel, let's say a Hanseatic city? I can't stand how in-your-face everything has to be with these people, no room for subtlety, magical creatures spill out of every nook and tranny, every building looks like it houses nobles or at least is a temple. Flying carpets, a fucking Dumbo, random giants... what is this shite?

You dumb nogger

The literal creator of Baldur's Gate gave his fiat to me and agrees what I made is the real Baldur's Gate.

 

[stendhal]

In the trailer Astarion was casting Fireball from a rooftop, right? As an arcane trickster, he would have to be level 13, so I guess this kinda indicates (confirms?) level 13-14 as max level. Guess we will see some 7th level spells then.

Thieves can use scrolls, can't they?

You are correct. I had the impression that spells from scrolls had different casting animations. A bummer.

 

[Fargus]

Didn't know Greenwood lives in such squalor and he looks like a schizophreniac in his natural environment. Even post soviet appartments from 90s look cozier than this shit

Will there actually be any new companions? Really tired of seeing the same five posterboy cucks and goblinas since 2020.

Swen you cocksucker, where are my romancible tielfling babes?

 

[MerchantKing]

Romance? That's where you and a woman compare stock portfolios and decide whether or not combining your portfolios would be mutually profitable right? I don't ever see that happening in this game.

 

[whydoibother]

Elder Scrolls Online

 

[Infinitron]

View attachment 37305

Elder Scrolls Online

View attachment 37306

Yeah, Lawrence the Loremaster left Zenimax and has been quietly working with Larian for a while. Somebody spotted him standing in the back in a photo of the BG3 devteam back in 2021.

 

[d1r]

View attachment 37305

Elder Scrolls Online

View attachment 37306

Yeah, Lawrence the Loremaster left Zenimax and has been quietly working with Larian for a while. Somebody spotted him standing in the back in a photo of the BG3 devteam a while back.

Is this a good or bad thing?

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, Lawrence the Loremaster left Zenimax and has been quietly working with Larian for a while. Somebody spotted him standing in the back in a photo of the BG3 devteam a while back.

Is this a good or bad thing?

He's one of those tabletop veterans who has been floating around the gaming industry forever, never really making that much of an impression. As long as they have him in an advisory role writing lore sourcebooks and stuff, he's probably okay.