Torment Beamdog's Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition

[Sneaky Seal]

TBH the previous EE's did feel like a rip off, they didn't really do anything that wasn't done with mods (the later even doing better job sometimes). I literally ran Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: EE the same evening - there is close to none work done on it.

It'd be cool to pay $20 for a prepackaged with all the mods Torment, but if the money were going to some enthusiastic moders not a lazy company.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Melcar]

Meh, IWD EE was fine. I got my funs out of it.

 

[Sneaky Seal]

Meh, IWD EE was fine. I got my funs out of it.

All the fun was already in the "IWD" not the "EE" part.

 

[Jazz_]

TBH the previous EE's did feel like a rip off, they didn't really do anything that wasn't done with mods (the later even doing better job sometimes). I literally ran Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: EE the same evening - there is close to none work done on it.

It'd be cool to pay $20 for a prepackaged with all the mods Torment, but if the money were going to some enthusiastic moders not a lazy company.

Different UI, higher resolution, zoom feature, new kits and spells?

 

[Sneaky Seal]

TBH the previous EE's did feel like a rip off, they didn't really do anything that wasn't done with mods (the later even doing better job sometimes). I literally ran Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: EE the same evening - there is close to none work done on it.

It'd be cool to pay $20 for a prepackaged with all the mods Torment, but if the money were going to some enthusiastic moders not a lazy company.

Different UI, higher resolution, zoom feature, new kits and spells?

Well yeah, but I would kinda expect more from an "enhanced" edition. It was more like a windows 10 port.

Speaking of "Enhanced Edition" - Larian did it with Divinity: Original Sin. They've added "Thousands of enhancements, full voiceovers, new game modes, full controller support, split-screen co-op, hours of new and revised story content, a brand-new ending, new weapon styles, new skills, new puzzles, new enemies, better loot, better balancing and much, much more!". Do you see the difference? It's a whole different level of enhancement.

 

[GloomFrost]

TBH the previous EE's did feel like a rip off, they didn't really do anything that wasn't done with mods (the later even doing better job sometimes). I literally ran Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: EE the same evening - there is close to none work done on it.

It'd be cool to pay $20 for a prepackaged with all the mods Torment, but if the money were going to some enthusiastic moders not a lazy company.

Different UI, higher resolution, zoom feature, new kits and spells?

Well yeah, but I would kinda expect more from an "enhanced" edition. It was more like a windows 10 port.

Speaking of "Enhanced Edition" - Larian did it with Divinity: Original Sin. They've added "Thousands of enhancements, full voiceovers, new game modes, full controller support, split-screen co-op, hours of new and revised story content, a brand-new ending, new weapon styles, new skills, new puzzles, new enemies, better loot, better balancing and much, much more!". Do you see the difference? It's a whole different level of enhancement.

Yep. And people who already owned the Original sin got it for absolutely free. Here you just get 30% discount IF you make a preorder before april. beamdog is so full of shit.

 

[existential_vacuum]

So essentially you put a shitload of work in to port a game (PS:T) over to an engine branch inherently not meant to work with it (BG2) for near to no visible payoff whatsoever (well, BeamDog will grab the cash for any transaction that goes towards cult classic PlaneScape: Torment from now on, so there'll be visible payoff, and there's the blur and the outline thing, but aside). If it was really as hard as you make it sound it sounds like ressources would have been better spent on something that might yield some actual results, like developing your own game.

Sometimes I wonder, are people really that ignorant?
The payoff is simple - support one engine branch (or one master branch, whatever) instead of several. Fix a technical bug for all games at ones, add questinable feature to all games at once.
On the other hand, the engine is years old (enhanced or not), so there's no apparent reason to go through such pain. Unless they are planning to build something on top of it, which seems unlikely.

Well yeah, but I would kinda expect more from an "enhanced" edition. It was more like a windows 10 port.

Gonna repeat myself: tablets, Mac and Linux also.

Speaking of "Enhanced Edition" - Larian did it with Divinity: Original Sin. They've added "Thousands of enhancements, full voiceovers, new game modes, full controller support, split-screen co-op, hours of new and revised story content, a brand-new ending, new weapon styles, new skills, new puzzles, new enemies, better loot, better balancing and much, much more!". Do you see the difference? It's a whole different level of enhancement.

Larian own the IP. Beamdog don't. They won't profit if they give EEs for free or at a heavy discount. It is the nature of business.

Yeah, their position is unwinnable, but oh well, they chose that way and get hated for all good and bad reasons. Reap what you sow.

aVENGER, I gotta ask you as a lead on this: you managed to get MCA on board, you got never released/shown design docs and you chose not to improve/expand Curst? With Avellone writing and designing the additions, you could have won the favor of community.
I may speculate that there are factors in play we aren't aware about and you aren't allowed to disclose. But I'm really interested in reasoning.

 

[santino27]

A big part of this that everyone ignores is that the games are then playable on tablets. That's "the payoff" (for people who game on tablets, rather than pc people) right there for all the work of porting the game over to Beamdog's flavor of the engine.

 

[aVENGER]

aVENGER, I gotta ask you as a lead on this: you managed to get MCA on board, you got never released/shown design docs and you chose not to improve/expand Curst? With Avellone writing and designing the additions, you could have won the favor of community.
I may speculate that there are factors in play we aren't aware about and you aren't allowed to disclose. But I'm really interested in reasoning.

For better or worse, that was my decision.

My goal for PST:EE was that it should deliver the canon PST experience on modern devices, which meant no new/restored content and no gameplay changes. I felt that PST is strong enough to stand on its own, time will tell if this was the correct choice.

 

[FeelTheRads]

There was the possibility of expanding Curst with Avellone on board and you said no? I'm going to guess it's because with the way Beamdog works it would have taken 5 years at least.

 

[Robespierre]

There was the possibility of expanding Curst with Avellone on board and you said no? I'm going to guess it's because with the way Beamdog works it would have taken 5 years at least.

Do not worry. Beamdog will proudly announce an expansion for "their masterpiece" Planescape : Torment Enhanced Edition (1999-2017).

Spoiler

 

[Luckmann]

I'd even take EA over Beamdog. EA is at least competent in their evil.

Yeah, we'd have a fucking pay-to-win, Planescape MMO. You think that is better than getting a Director's Cut?

Julius Borisov has answered with some bullshit PR talk why they won't credit Black Isle: http://steamcommunity.com/app/46630...47030858/?tscn=1490814082#c135512931349368796

There're legal reasons why the store pages on Steam and on GoG.com only list Beamdog. We can't disclose more information on this front.

As I've mentioned here Bethesda somehow didn't have such problems. aVENGER puts on a brave face but he knows he works in a pathetic, parasitic company. What's annoying me the most is that Chris Avellone is taking part in this scam. Truly shameful display, going from a CCO to this.

Guess he felt that it was inevitable that Parasitedog will cash in on PST so he thought why not siphon some into my own pockets?

Integrity?

Wow. Who were you calling "parasites" before?

Beamdog. What were you not getting?

Fuck me...

No thank you. Not just because I'm not a humongous faggot such as yourself, but also because all your holes appears to be taken by Beamdog at the moment.

 

[Infinitron]

There was the possibility of expanding Curst with Avellone on board and you said no?

Uh? I think it's clear existential_vacuum brought that up as a hypothetical scenario.

Anyway, fabulous optimism. If Beamdog had made any changes to PS:T, this thread would currently have twice as many pages and they wouldn't have been full of positivity, no matter how many times they said "Avellone"

 

[existential_vacuum]

Anyway, fabulous optimism. If Beamdog had made any changes to PS:T, this thread would currently have twice as many pages and they wouldn't have been full of positivity, no matter how many times they said "Avellone"

Yeah, it's Codex afterall. But what I meant is general public reaction. From what I've seen, not that many people are hyped about PST:EE around the net.

 

[FeelTheRads]

There was the possibility of expanding Curst with Avellone on board and you said no?

Uh? I think it's clear existential_vacuum brought that up as a hypothetical scenario.

And aVENGER said it was his decision not to expand it. That sounds like it might have been on the table.

Anyway, fabulous optimism. If Beamdog had made any changes to PS:T, this thread would currently have twice as many pages and they wouldn't have been full of positivity, no matter how many times they said "Avellone"

Yes, it would have probably been met with a lot of doubt and hate... but more than now? How many PST fans wouldn't have wanted obviously bad areas of PST worked on by MCA? It could've obviously ended up a disaster, but I at least would have been tempted to try it. As it is... well, I already said I see no point in it.

 

[T. Reich]

snip

The images aren't sharp enough.

 

[Alkarl]

I'd even take EA over Beamdog. EA is at least competent in their evil.

Yeah, we'd have a fucking pay-to-win, Planescape MMO. You think that is better than getting a Director's Cut?

Julius Borisov has answered with some bullshit PR talk why they won't credit Black Isle: http://steamcommunity.com/app/46630...47030858/?tscn=1490814082#c135512931349368796

There're legal reasons why the store pages on Steam and on GoG.com only list Beamdog. We can't disclose more information on this front.

As I've mentioned here Bethesda somehow didn't have such problems. aVENGER puts on a brave face but he knows he works in a pathetic, parasitic company. What's annoying me the most is that Chris Avellone is taking part in this scam. Truly shameful display, going from a CCO to this.

Guess he felt that it was inevitable that Parasitedog will cash in on PST so he thought why not siphon some into my own pockets?

Integrity?

Wow. Who were you calling "parasites" before?

Beamdog. What were you not getting?

Fuck me...

No thank you. Not just because I'm not a humongous faggot such as yourself, but also because all your holes appears to be taken by Beamdog at the moment.

While Avellone isn't a terrible guy, and I've experienced moderate enjoyment from a few of his recent works, it's a sad truth in the gaming business that all of your old heroes, who built the awesome games you love, aren't exactly in the same frame of mind these days as before. For an example, check out the interview with Arnold Hendrick where he talks about how Skyrim is the best rpg on the market. Really want that guy making an "EE" version of Darklands?

Basically, what I'm saying is, Beamdog are a bunch of shills who would probably stoop to digging up Leonardo Davinci if it meant they could cash in on another Mona Lisa. All the better if they're providing the propaganda, shit, I mean palette, and canvas.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

For an example, check out the interview with Arnold Hendrick where he talks about how Skyrim is the best rpg on the market. Really want that guy making an "EE" version of Darklands?

Absolutely. Skyrim is not an interactive movie like many big budget RPGs are today and still focuses heavily on gameplay and exploration. That is enough for me to enjoy it more than all the other popular RPGs nowadays.

 

[Longshanks]

Not a lot of interest in this for those who already own the game, bug fixes and minor touches from MCA aside (biggest is probably the definite UI improvement over mods). Not much drama to be had either, though credit a few for trying.

For new players though, having it work that bit more easily on modern machines and across platforms is nice. Also brings some renewed attention to the game.

Beamdog's business strategy may be open for question, but I don't see any legitimate criticism of this EE as a game. There's no rape here, not even tasteful. It's a minor uplift of the game without touching existing content and it really could not be less offensive. It doesn't add enough for me to be a D1P, but there's some chance I'll pick it up on a discount in the future.

 

[throwaway]

aVENGER is an absolute bro. If you guys come in and take over the Gothic DX11 thing and make it perform reasonably it'd be a day1purchase no questions asked. Then again I have a feeling Piranha Bytes would be super protective of their only actually remarkable IP.

On the actual PSTEE, this thread has been 100% typically codexian. Almost a blast from the past in a way. I for one will definitely appreciate the QoL improvements (as well as anything relating to ADnD transparency) and hope this actually becomes successful on the mobile platforms as PST's long reads would fit those just fine. That cell shading is cancer though.

I actually run into a gamestopping scripting bug when going through it fully modded (according to the GOG guide actually) in 2013 and had to dig up script editing programs to fix shit, which I guess the edgelords here never actually had to do since Skyrim/Fallout 4 aren't going to play themselves.

In an ideal world, someone would utilize the fantastic artwork and renders people have done over the years and get some more meat on a remaster. Curst thing and MCA's involvement do feel a bit iffy in that sense.

For the time being I'm trying to decide whether the GOG or the Steam version will be the definitive edition (for which all mod guides etc are written) for the years to come.

 

[throwaway]

If you guys come in and take over the Gothic DX11 thing and make it perform reasonably it'd be a day1purchase no questions asked.

If they have anything to add, they are free to make commits to the project right here: https://github.com/degenerated1123/GD3D11

Otherwise they can keep their sleazy hands far away.

Just to be clear, I was referring to the last question in this

Spoiler

https://www.pcinvasion.com/planescape-torment-enhanced-edition-interview-qa

INTERVIEW
Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition Interview Q&A with Alex Tomovic

POSTED BY: PETER PARRISH MARCH 28, 2017

Beamdog’s latest Enhanced Edition has been revealed today as the acclaimed Planescape: Torment. To find out more about how the project was conceived, the involvement of original Lead Designer Chris Avellone, and the updated features present in the Enhanced Edition, I sent over some questions to Beamdog’s Project Lead, Alex Tomovic.

Here’s what he had to say about the joys and difficulties of getting Planescape: Torment ready for a 2017 re-release, and the emphatic desire to not change or add anything to the game’s celebrated story.

PC Invasion: How did this collaboration between Wizards of the Coast, Beamdog, and Chris Avellone first come about? Who made the first approach about an Enhanced Edition of Planescape: Torment?

Alex Tomovic: We are very thankful to Wizards of the Coast for allowing us to bring the timeless classic that is Planescape: Torment to modern devices and make it available to a wider audience. When Trent [Oster] and Cameron [Tofer] came to me with the idea for the Enhanced Edition, my very first thought was to contact Chris Avellone. As a huge fan of the original game, I felt very strongly that Chris needed to be involved right from the start. Fortunately, it all worked out and we are very happy to have Chris reprise his role as the Lead Designer for the Enhanced Edition.



PCI: Were there any rights or licensing issues to sort out in order to make this happen?

AT: Not really. Wizards of the Coast have been very supportive of our efforts.

PCI: The big, broad question: what’s new to the Enhanced Edition?

AT: The Enhanced Edition of Planescape: Torment features a native 4K user interface, remastered music, Steam achievements as well as a number of quality of life improvements such as quickloot, combat log, area zooming, journal searching and object highlighting. It runs flawlessly on modern devices and operating systems including the latest versions of Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android.

PCI: When working with the older code, what was the most challenging new feature to implement?

AT: Planescape: Torment featured a number of unique spells with amazing visuals that were often linked to in-game cinematic sequences. Porting that spell system over to the new engine was definitively the most challenging part of the process and we are very satisfied with the end result.


PCI: Is there anything you wanted to include as a feature but were unable to do so?

AT: We didn’t have access to the source art for the original animated portraits and movies. Had that been the case, we would have loved to include higher resolution versions of both in the Enhanced Edition.

PCI: You were able to work with Chris Avellone on this release; do you recall any particular bugs or nagging gameplay issues that he was especially eager to fix after all this time?

AT: Chris requested to personally proofread all the text from the original game. This was something that he wanted to do for a long time and we were happy to oblige.

PCI: Was there any temptation, as you have done in the past with Enhanced Editions, to try to add new characters to Torment?

AT: None whatsoever. As the Project Lead of the Enhanced Edition, I felt that it would have been impossible to add new content to the game without changing its unique atmosphere and tone. I firmly believe that the story of Planescape: Torment stands strong on its own, which is why I focused the team’s efforts on making improvements to the technology behind the game, rather than making any changes to its content.



PCI: Regarding the remastered music – I know that with Grim Fandango, for example, DoubleFine had access to higher bitrate originals to use over the compressed in-game versions. Is that the case with Torment, or did you have to go in an ‘clean up’ older files? And was Mark Morgan involved at all?

AT: We had access to the original, uncompressed versions of the music tracks which were then used for the remastering process. Mark Morgan wasn’t involved directly, though we are very glad to have his music in our game at the best possible quality.

PCI: Of all the potential companions in the game, who is a ‘must-have’ for your own party?

AT: For me, that would be Dak’kon. Without spoiling anything, getting to *know* his story and seeing it unfold over the course of the game is an incredible experience. Not to mention that a multi-classed Fighter/Mage is very versatile in combat.

PCI: 2017 has turned out to be a pretty major year for the Torment name. Have you played any of inXile’s Tides of Numenera and, if so, what did you think?

AT: Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to play Tides of Numenera yet due to my busy schedule. I did back it via Kickstarter on day one and I intend to play through it when time permits.

PCI: With both Baldur’s Gate titles and now Torment in Enhanced Edition form, are they any other dream projects you’d like to see Beamdog to tackle next?

AT: Speaking purely for myself, I would love to work on something akin to the Gothic game series by Piranha Bytes.

in which I assume AT is aVENGER

 

[aVENGER]

Just to be clear, I was referring to the last question in this

Spoiler

https://www.pcinvasion.com/planescape-torment-enhanced-edition-interview-qa

I wouldn't read too much into that.

It's just me talking as a fan and saying that I'd love to work on a game with similar mechanics to Gothic 1&2 and Risen 1.

 

[Lilura]

It's just me talking as a fan and saying that I'd love to work on a game with similar mechanics to Gothic 1&2 and Risen 1.

How about Neverwinter Nights? Trent Oster has entertained the idea before.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

It's just me talking as a fan and saying that I'd love to work on a game with similar mechanics to Gothic 1&2 and Risen 1.

I feel like the design used in those games is very underutilized in modern RPG gaming. Would love to see a new RPG other than a Piranha Bytes game that uses some of the principles from these games.