Game News Baldur's Gate 3 rumoured to be in development

[Brother None]

I'll kill myself if anyone tries to make a sequel to PS:T. Unless of course their name starts with a 'Chris' and ends with an 'Avellone.'

Chris prolly wouldn't, tho'

RPGWatch: Do you feel it would be a good idea to make a sequel to PS:T? If so, how do you envision it? If not, how about another game in the Planescape setting?

Chris Avellone: A long time ago, I did kick around the idea of two sequels. One was "Lost Souls," an adventure that allowed the player to experience the events surrounding Torment (both past and future) but the Nameless One wouldn't be in it - it would, however, feature Deionarra, some of the members of the player's first party (Xachariah), Fall-From-Grace, Ravel, Trias, and other major characters and see the Planescape universe from a different perspective. This didn't go much beyond a one-page vision statement, though, and I never submitted it for serious consideration.

One I felt less strongly about (but still liked) was "Planescape: Pariah", which allowed the player to take on the role of Dak'kon and try to unify the githzerai and githyanki, but again, that never went past the vision doc stage.

The reason I never submitted either one was because a direct sequel somehow feels wrong (I feel the game stands on its own, and I don't want to drag a rake through the first game).

I'd be up for another game in the Planescape setting, though. Some of the Planescape mods I've seen for Neverwinter Nights 2 would probably put any ideas I had to shame, though - they're pretty amazing. I know there’s a few guys at work who would also like to do a Planescape game.

 

[shihonage]

When will people learn that "pushing technology forward" hasn't got shit to do with camera angles? Or was Wolfenstein 3d technically superior to Warcraft III when it comes to graphics?

Indeed. For instance, if Hellgate London kept Diablo's isometric view, just using a true 3D engine, it might've been an excellent game. Needless changes in perspective can ruin a product if its gameplay type does not lend itself well to that perspective.

 

[RK47]

first person Vampire sounds stupid at first to me as well, but it turned out okay. I wouldn't dismiss FPS rpg too easily. But ofcourse there are those who failed.

Wouldn't it be great if Torment dialogues are accompanied by Bloodlines hi-quality facial expressions?

 

[mondblut]

Torment lends itself well for a first person sequel. Hacking through 666 layers of the Abyss, killing demons in hundreds with blade of the immortals and crossbows, wands of fireballs, lightnings and whathaveyou, counterstrike-like followers... Blood War my ass.

I am sure some bethesda exec would drool and rub his greasy hands over that idea. Thank god the setting has been discontinued since 2000, is totally incompatible with 3e and apparently 4e lore, and is extremely unlikely to be reanimated for the sake of licensing it out to computer game developer. Some things are better left for dead. Case in point, Fallout.

 

[kenney bounces]

YES! I've always wanted to play baldur's gate with laser guns going pew pew pew.

If i shoot at the horse cart, make sure it creates a nuclear explosion ok?

 

[NiM82]

The Torment setting would make for an interesting first person environment to explore (much like Morrowind), but the gameplay would suffer horrendously. The effort needed to make a good 'next-gen' looking environment would neccistate linear design, not to mention C&C being curtailed to save dev time for teh pretty. The dialogue would also have to be cut massively (from PST) as no way would someone pay to have that all voice acted. Text wouldn't fly for a big budget FPS either... target audience can't read.

Still, at least reg BG3 there's the fact the "news" has been sent to a PC mag first, not some 360/PS3 rag... it may actually be optimised for keyboard/mouse!? :twisted:

 

[Shannow]

This is going to be soooooo awesome! You play as the new god of murder. Since you are new to godhood you are still weak and have to keep a low profile. The game will start off as a sidescrolling adventure. After you have established a powerbase is becomes a turn-based strategy game with strong economic parts, similar to Civ. Collecting "mana" recruiting demons, etc.
First you have to make your rivals in the abyss accept and respect you. Then you end the bloodwar and lead the legions of hell to conquer Mount Celestia.
After that you will have the possibility to play strip poker with Ao...

The sad thing, I wouldn't mind playing such a game *sigh*

 

[Binary]

Still, at least reg BG3 there's the fact the "news" has been sent to a PC mag first, not some 360/PS3 rag... it may actually be optimised for keyboard/mouse!? :twisted:

"To cast magic missile, press green, left, right, move the stick 180 degrees followed by red 3 times."

...hmmm an AD&D game for the Wii could be nice!

 

[Jaesun]

Did this un-named dev house finally come up with the Fear in the Ork's Eyes™ Technology Atari was waiting for?

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

The Bhaalspawn saga doesn't have to be over. there's so much that cna be done with it if you use actual imagination.

Let's see...the Bhaalspawn saga ended one of three ways: the Bhaalspawn became a good deity and was a force of justice; the Bhaalspawn became an evil god and bitch-slapped Cyric; or the Bhaalspawn declined godhood and retired as one of the most powerful mortals in existence. I don't see any good sequel ideas that would actually benefit from using the plot. I suppose one could come up with some absolutely fucking retarded "You lost all your power type of thing", but that would be a waste of an IP, even more than Fallout 3.

 

[Texas Red]

Who cares about Obsidian? They're developing 2 console RPGs for Sega or whatever. They have their hands full of penis as it is.

 

[Radisshu]

When will people learn that "pushing technology forward" hasn't got shit to do with camera angles? Or was Wolfenstein 3d technically superior to Warcraft III when it comes to graphics?

Indeed. For instance, if Hellgate London kept Diablo's isometric view, just using a true 3D engine, it might've been an excellent game. Needless changes in perspective can ruin a product if its gameplay type does not lend itself well to that perspective.

And an Infinity game using the same camera angle with a 3d engine, on a leash (not any zooming and stuff), could look fantastic. All those backgrounds were pre-rendered 3d models anyway. That's what I'm hoping for with dragon age though.

What I'd really love to see is a developer to change the trend and make something turn-based WITH party control. Arcanum, for example, would have had pretty great battles (during turn-based mode, otherwise they would still suck) if you could control all your party members.

 

[kris]

The Bhaalspawn saga doesn't have to be over. there's so much that cna be done with it if you use actual imagination.

Let's see...the Bhaalspawn saga ended one of three ways: the Bhaalspawn became a good deity and was a force of justice; the Bhaalspawn became an evil god and bitch-slapped Cyric; or the Bhaalspawn declined godhood and retired as one of the most powerful mortals in existence. I don't see any good sequel ideas that would actually benefit from using the plot. I suppose one could come up with some absolutely fucking retarded "You lost all your power type of thing", but that would be a waste of an IP, even more than Fallout 3.

"You wake up one day with an terrible headache and no memory of the day before. Somehow you feel you were very important before, but now you must clean this room of aggressive rats before you can reclaim your memory."

I sense an awesome plot coming this way.

 

[Atrokkus]

Okay now this is getting outta hand. We're chewing the first rumor that some random guy threw at us. There is, no doubt, a number of codex posters from Great Britain: why don't you, I don't know, borrow a copy of the magazine from a friend, or, heck, buy it yourself. (or steal). We need a scan or verbatim quote from the actual source.
No point contacting PR departments at this point, I should guess...

 

[Araanor]

Stop yammering about "bhaalspawn", the suits never cared for series consistency and the name of the series was pretty arbitrary to begin with. BG2 didn't even feature the city.

As Section 8 said, this would be a nice tie-up with 4e where Baldur's Gate is set to take a more prominent role.

It's likely to be a cross-platform game. With console interface. I'll be severely disappointed if I don't get the proverbial fear in the orc's eyes tho.

 

[Section8]

And an Infinity game using the same camera angle with a 3d engine, on a leash (not any zooming and stuff), could look fantastic. All those backgrounds were pre-rendered 3d models anyway.

Temple of Elemental Evil is a pretty good example of that. I thought it looked fantastic, and still does. Shame about the bugs.

 

[doctor_kaz]

The Bhaalspawn saga doesn't have to be over. there's so much that cna be done with it if you use actual imagination.

Let's see...the Bhaalspawn saga ended one of three ways: the Bhaalspawn became a good deity and was a force of justice; the Bhaalspawn became an evil god and bitch-slapped Cyric; or the Bhaalspawn declined godhood and retired as one of the most powerful mortals in existence. I don't see any good sequel ideas that would actually benefit from using the plot. I suppose one could come up with some absolutely fucking retarded "You lost all your power type of thing", but that would be a waste of an IP, even more than Fallout 3.

There are all sorts of stories that you could come up with. It could be a prequel. It could be a story about the aftermath of all of the Bhaalspawn. An entirely new story connected to the events of the first two games would be just fine.

 

[hiver]

What had happened to the project Jefferson, BIS was working on?

That was supposed to be a new Baldurs game and it was almost finished when Interplay didnt manage to get the licence from Atari. Though it didnt have anything to do with halspawn saga.
I was at the Interplay forums so i know this for a fact.

If there is to be another Baldurs game i would thought somebody would take that and finish it. Presumably someone who works for Atari... oh god, CD projekt!

Yeah fat chance....

That thing about pushing technology... sounds just like Bethesda is going to get it and ruin that too.

But then again CD projekt does that too, only in a much better way. Oh if it only could be....

 

[Ausir]

The Bhaalspawn saga doesn't have to be over. there's so much that cna be done with it if you use actual imagination.

Time for the Bhaalspawnspawn saga!

What had happened to the project Jefferson, BIS was working on?

That was supposed to be a new Baldurs game and it was almost finished when Interplay didnt manage to get the licence from Atari. Though it didnt have anything to do with halspawn saga.
I was at the Interplay forums so i know this for a fact.

Jefferson's title was The Black Hound and was named BG 3: The Black Hound simply because IPLY didn't have the rights to use any D&D name aside from BG. It's being recreated by J.E. Sawyer of BIS and Obsidian fame as a NWN2 module.

 

[the_Consumer]

The Bhaalspawn saga doesn't have to be over. there's so much that cna be done with it if you use actual imagination.

Let's see...the Bhaalspawn saga ended one of three ways: the Bhaalspawn became a good deity and was a force of justice; the Bhaalspawn became an evil god and bitch-slapped Cyric; or the Bhaalspawn declined godhood and retired as one of the most powerful mortals in existence. I don't see any good sequel ideas that would actually benefit from using the plot. I suppose one could come up with some absolutely fucking retarded "You lost all your power type of thing", but that would be a waste of an IP, even more than Fallout 3.

How about ".You declined godhood and retired as one of the most powerful mortals in existence.You are visiting a friend, when you get ambushed and are knocked out. You awake in a cage, and an evil looking mage is tortureing you. For some reason, your companions were spared too. You need to escape, and find out who this evil and poweful mage is!" ?

BTW: I'll probably get into trouble for telling you, but i just couldn't resist. Arcanum sequel is in the works. It's not being made by Troika, but by another studio. Don't expect to be playing it for at least 2 years. Or 10.

 

[hiver]

Jefferson's title was The Black Hound and was named BG 3: The Black Hound simply because IPLY didn't have the rights to use any D&D name aside from BG. It's being recreated by J.E. Sawyer of BIS and Obsidian fame as a NWN2 module.

You mean to say it really wasnt a Baldurs gate game at all?
And i dont mean Bhalspawn story either.

As far as i was able to discern at the time it was hapening in the sword coast. Maybe even partly in the city of Baldurs gate itself.

Go Sawyer! Great news! Though i hope they get the art right... NWN2 engine can come off as a little too flashy and what i have seen from Jefferson really reminded me of the old baldurs engine.

great Avatar btw
Thanx for the info. I thought it lost forever.

As for Bhalspawn saga it could be forced on, kinda if for some reason (that would be the story motivator - or atleast one of them) you were forced to resign your goodhood and become mortal again. That would take care of you being a new and unrecognized god in that setting and the need to learn stuff all over again by leveling. Though you could always have a few perks remaining in use. I dont know... such as turning into avatar of the god of murder and slaughering everyone randomly!!!

-edit-
though i dont see a point in forcing its resurection at all.

 

[Radisshu]

And an Infinity game using the same camera angle with a 3d engine, on a leash (not any zooming and stuff), could look fantastic. All those backgrounds were pre-rendered 3d models anyway.

Temple of Elemental Evil is a pretty good example of that. I thought it looked fantastic, and still does. Shame about the bugs.

You're right, although something like that without pre-rendered backgrounds hasn't really been done yet. (Damn, I've misplaced my TOEE CD)

 

[Atrokkus]

You mean to say it really wasnt a Baldurs gate game at all?

Yes, Sawyer officially stated that Jefferson had NO story correlation with Baldur's Gate saga whatsoever, besides the fact that the story takes place faaaaar away from the actual baldur's gate and sword coast.

 

[Araanor]

The Dalelands, in fact.

 

[hiver]

munch, munch...crunch, munch...

Thanx for the info. I didnt folow up on that one after BIS fell apart.