Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Pre-Release Thread [EARLY ACCESS RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Sentinel]

Who's likely to be the composer?

 

[Eisenheinrich]

I'd prefer Jeremy Soule.

 

[fantadomat]

take me home
Baldurs gate
Through the mines
And berogost town

Oh cloakwood
Bite me spiders
I got antidote
And Jahera too

Take me home
Baldurs gate

Hyperlinks, take me home
To the place I belong
Rip new assholes, with king content
Take me home, hyperlinks

***

Gibberlings, type some code
Make a mod, for the world
Beamdog takes it, We all hate them
Type some code, Gibberlings

***

Candlekeep, chanters chant
Sanctum of, Gorion's Ward
Elven arses, Shank and Carbos
Chanters chant, Candlekeep

***

Candlekeep, chanters chant
Prophecy, of Alaundo
Lord of Murder, he shall perish
Chanters chant, Candlekeep

Watch out you two,Todd is watching you. He may decide to swoop in and snatch both bg3 and Lilura's blog. Don't you want BG3 to be in a wast open world that you get to explore in first person???

 

[LESS T_T]

Ars Techinica interview: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...lk-dd-turn-based-rpgs-and-dreams-coming-true/

It has no new info but strangely enough Swen re-tells the narrative he's been said during the Kickstarter times: that they always wanted to make turn-based, old-school RPGs, and that's the reason Original Sin is the one. No, he did not confirm the combat system of BG3.

Interview: Baldur’s Gate 3’s creators talk D&D, turn-based RPGs, and dreams coming true
How Larian and Wizards of the Coast gathered their party before venturing forth.

LOS ANGELES—Divinity: Original Sin developer Larian Studios and Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast didn't show any gameplay from the newly announced Baldur's Gate 3 at E3 in Los Angeles last week—but they were eager to talk about the long-anticipated project in sit-down interviews.

Ars spoke with Larian Studios co-founder and game director Swen Vincke and Dungeons & Dragons franchise creative director Mike Mearls at a hotel near the convention center. We gabbed about how the game came to be, what it's like revisiting the D&D license, and more

Here's some background: Baldur's Gate 3 is being developed by Larian Studios, the Belgian game studio behind the recent Kickstarter successes Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2. Both of those games took on the Baldur's Gate formula with a heavy emphasis on emulating table-top role-playing freedoms with Ultima-style systems-based game design.

In other words, Larian has lately specialized in adapting the experience of playing games like D&D with friends to computer RPG games.

The company recently announced (alongside D&D stewards Wizards of the Coast) that it is working on Baldur's Gate 3, a sequel to the highly influential 1990s computer role-playing game series whose influence can be felt in everything from Mass Effect to The Witcher 3 to Pillars of Eternity.

Adapting a new D&D ruleset
In fact—while they each had some previous exposure—both Vincke and Mearls said that Baldur's Gate was what really got them into D&D all those years ago.

"I discovered Dungeons & Dragons through Dragonlance, the fantasy books from Weis and Hickman," Vincke said. "I must have been 15 or 16. So I had the books lying there, and I dabbled in them to get inspiration. But then Baldur's Gate really opened my eyes."

Baldur's Gate 3 is based on the fifth edition D&D ruleset, which Wizards of the Coast designed to make the game more accessible to new people. Vincke said that made his team's job a little easier than what a still-young BioWare faced in the '90s.

We asked Vincke about the experience of adapting D&D, to which he replied:

We started by taking the ruleset that's in the Player's Handbook. We ported it as faithfully as we could, then there were some number of things that we saw that doesn't work that well, and so we started looking for solutions to do that. The hardest part—and this is the most interesting part also about it, because there's a lot of stuff from the rules that actually ports quite well, so—but the most interesting part is the role of the Dungeon Master...

Whatever is not in the book he'll say "Well, I'll do this," and the Dungeon Master says "Sure!" And then he'll think about what type of check he's going to make you do, and then that's going to be what you're going to roll with, and the entire party will work with that. In a video game, you don't have that, so in a video game you have to make systems that allow you to do this. And so, coming up with those systems has been a lot of fun, and making them link to the ruleset as it is has been the interesting bit about that.​

For his part, Mearls wanted to see Baldur's Gate 3 tell a story that was distinctly D&D—it's not just about the ruleset. "Lots of fantasy IP these days have dungeons and dragons, right? So when we can deal with something that is unique to us, I think that's great."

To that end, the story of Baldur's Gate 3 is focused on mindflayers—creatures on the weirder end of the mainstream D&D source books.

Gathering the party before venturing forth

Baldur's Gate 3 is happening in part as a result of a deal between Larian Studios and Wizards of the Coast—and most onlooking fans declared Larian + Wizards a perfect fit as soon as they heard about it. It turns out those within these organizations felt that way, too.

Mearls recalled an anecdote from a weekly D&D game of Wizards employees:

I was running my D&D game that night, and the players all worked at Wizards of the Coast. So they're all under NDA, but like I don't want to just tell them, so I... thought I was being very clever, like: "Hey guys," everyone's ready to play, and like, "If we're going to do Baldur's Gate 3, which studio would you want to do it?"

All of them, all: "Larian." They're like there's no way that would happen. But if somehow we got Larian to make Baldur's Gate 3 that would be perfect.​

Larian employees were thrilled about the pairing, too. But Vincke took the opportunity to share an amusing anecdote about a team member who jumped to conclusions just a little too fast:

So I told the team that I was working on licensing something, but I didn't want to tell them what. And they knew that I always wanted to do something out of fantasy, so they assumed it was going to be science fiction, and so somebody saw the words BGsomewhere. So the guy assumed that we were working on Battlestar Galactica license. And so he started watching all the Battlestar Galacticas! So when he finally figured out that it was Baldur's Gate, he threw out all the Battlestar Galactica!​

He went on to say that the team is made up of both RPG veterans who remember Baldur's Gatewell and newcomers who are too young to have played it when it came out 20 years ago. Both could bring helpful perspectives, he argued.

The re-turn of turn-based games
That old and new tension is by now part of the Larian formula. When Ars listed its best games of 2017, I wrote that:

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is remarkable because it's not about reliving the classics. Instead, it extrapolates the trajectory and ambition of groundbreaking games like Ultima and Baldur's Gate into the present day. The result is a game that seems to answer the question, "What would the genre look like if it had never slowed down to begin with?"​

Vincke said that's exactly what Larian was trying to do. He was irate when recalling that the genre hit a dead end in the late '90s:

I just never understood the idiocy of not continuing on everything else that was present. We had Fallout; we had Baldur's Gate. I was a big Ultima fan also, so I didn't understand why that just had to end there. Nobody wanted to invest anything more—it was just a dry—it was impossible to find investment for these type of games, right?

I mean, like, Beyond Divinity for instance was a turn-based game back in the days, and I flatly got told here at this show, at E3, "You gotta make it real time!" Right? "You have to make it real time—nothing else sells any more! You're not going to get any single minimum guarantee!" Which is how you fund studios, back in the days at least, if you don't make it real time.​

That was the situation Larian was stuck in for a long time, and some of its middle-years games weren't that great, to be honest. Fans could tell why, though, and Vincke confirmed it. "We always make the games that we wanted to play," he said, "and whether or not we succeeded was often a question of financial resources and time and were always the things that we struggled with."

He said the company turned around "when we basically got rid of publishers." The financial independence afforded by Original Sin and Original Sin 2's success made it possible for Larian to move on to the sequel to the grandparent of everything they'd been trying to make for years.

"We're not making it for nostalgia reasons," Vincke clarified, though. "We're making a new modern RPG for a new era."

This interview might seem like it's carrying an extremely positive tone—but as a player of all these games, I personally think that tone is earned.Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2are both outstanding. Many critics called Original Sin 2 not just the best RPG of 2017, but the best RPG ever made—better than Baldur's Gate, even.

It seems like quite a long time will need to pass before fans of either Baldur's Gate or Larian's Divinity series will get to play Baldur's Gate 3. But until then, there are a lot of reasons for both groups of fans to be optimistic.

 

[Reinhardt]

Current D&D artstyle is realistic, more mature, grounded

"Realistic". Sure. Kill dozen gobboz - get dragon treasures.

 

[fantadomat]

They should hire people who have zero attachment to videogames because hiring people based on something they did 25 years ago is how we end up with dozens of really shitty "spiritual successors"

And hiring someone that doesn't like games will end up delivering garbage like Ubisoft games and Call of duty. There is nothing wrong with hiring some old farts as long as you are capable enough to rein them in give them a direction. Also you need to hire some young people that also like the genre and train them. LoL mate,you are lacking basic business logic,but that is as expected,you being an american .

 

[fantadomat]

reasonable probabilities

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

In defense of ze D&D artstyle (and this is coming from someone who venerates Frank Frazetta), I have to admit that I find the art direction in 5e D&D absolutley acceptable and sometimes even great. It looks nothing like the picture above, which seems like some 4e supplement depiction of hero characters. Current D&D artstyle is realistic, more mature, grounded, drawn in earthly and darker tones and emphasizing more on a slighlty fantasic but still medieval look. Like the BG III teaser. It's miles above D&D 4e and Pathfinder:

Spoiler

I like this style very much 'cause reminds me on Icewind Dale which was the most beautiful one.


The current D&D one is also very nice but more realistic. Jaheira has gorgeous armor.

Lol, they turned Jaheira into a thot and Viconia into asexual apart from her makeup. Why is Viconia wearing full plate when her stats are too weak for it too?
It’s not terrible, just weird and out of character. None of the personality is there.

Why is Xan a ladyboy? Why is Edwin doing Raiden cosplay instead of looking like the scheming bastard we know him to be? Why is Minsc so skinny and missing his weapons? Silly.

 

[Cael]

reasonable probabilities

Reminds me of Fallout Tactics, where you can reasonably expect to miss 4 times in a row with a 95% hit chance.

 

[Cael]

In defense of ze D&D artstyle (and this is coming from someone who venerates Frank Frazetta), I have to admit that I find the art direction in 5e D&D absolutley acceptable and sometimes even great. It looks nothing like the picture above, which seems like some 4e supplement depiction of hero characters. Current D&D artstyle is realistic, more mature, grounded, drawn in earthly and darker tones and emphasizing more on a slighlty fantasic but still medieval look. Like the BG III teaser. It's miles above D&D 4e and Pathfinder:

Spoiler

I like this style very much 'cause reminds me on Icewind Dale which was the most beautiful one.


The current D&D one is also very nice but more realistic. Jaheira has gorgeous armor.

Lol, they turned Jaheira into a thot and Viconia into asexual apart from her makeup. Why is Viconia wearing full plate when her stats are too weak for it too?
It’s not terrible, just weird and out of character. None of the personality is there.

Jaheira has a Charisma of 15. Given her abrasive demeanour, it had to be made up somewhere else...

 

[Thonius]

That art's from Heroes of Baldur's Gate, an unofficial DnD adventure by Arcanum Worlds (co-founded by ex-Bioware designers).​

Too high fantasy 4e for my liking but gotta admit Viconia looks cool. Minsc looks like a bad 3D-Model.

Already discussed, it's art made by chink person and it just suck, look at it! If not for BG slapped all over it you will not notice it in pile of other generic trash art for mmo's and card games. And just look at it 1st 3rd and 5th have same face. Hate to use that phrase, but "no soul".

 

[turkishronin]

What's the appeal of Minsc

 

[Lilura]

computer RPG games.

"Computer role-playing game games."

Quality journalism.

 

[Cael]

What's the appeal of Minsc

Same as the appeal of Urggzob, I guess. Loveable psycho that is loyal to the party, and doubles as comic relief.

 

[smaug]

What's the appeal of Minsc

I’m playing BG2 right now, and I don’t see the appeal. I mean he’s meh.

 

[turkishronin]

haha boo go for the eyes DD

 

[Lacrymas]

He's the type of guy who'd appeal to those Tumblr type of nerds, you know the ones.

 

[Shrimp]

You mean the average computer game 'nerd' in 1998?

 

[Lacrymas]

The ones who roleplay a safespace cuddle-fest and like lol so random humor. You know the ones.

 

[Eisenheinrich]

Hi Reinhardt,

"Realistic". Sure. Kill dozen gobboz - get dragon treasures.

Where do you see a "dragon treasure"? I see couple of chests and coins on the floor. Anyway, this is a dragon treasure. You're welcome.

Spoiler

But honestly: Yes, this is a huge pile of gold guarded by goblins. A situation which is highly unlikely to happen in a real D&D session. But does that really distract someone from enjoying the art?

 

[Cirventhor]

computer RPG games.

"Computer role-playing game games."

Quality journalism.

Quite so.

Writing "RPG game" has spread like wildfire the last couple of years among the illiterate masses, to the point where a game category on Steam is called that. Pure idiocy and oh so annoying.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

What's the appeal of Minsc

Viconia had similar questions in Athkatla.

Viconia: "Minsc, that tattoo on your face. Does it have tribal significance or did some nursery's finger-painting class assault you with the blue pastels?"

Minsc: "I do not like the tone of your voice, Dark Elf. The face I have is the face the ladies love! Boo loves Minsc's face, too! Don't you, Boo?"

Lol, they turned Jaheira into a thot and Viconia into asexual apart from her makeup. Why is Viconia wearing full plate when her stats are too weak for it too? It’s not terrible, just weird and out of character. None of the personality is there. Why is Xan a ladyboy? Why is Edwin doing Raiden cosplay instead of looking like the scheming bastard we know him to be? Why is Minsc so skinny and missing his weapons? Silly.

I am in general agreement. Doubtful that the artist had any experience with the source material.

 

[Reinhardt]

But does that really distract someone from enjoying the art?

yes

 

[Eisenheinrich]

yes

 

[fantadomat]

What's the appeal of Minsc

He is strong two hander with good constitution. He is always part of my party. Also he is an amusing retard when part of the party. Tho he was never the face of BG for me,he was just another ok character that i wouldn't mind going on an adventure with.