Game News BG3 and NWN2 in next PC Gamer

[Volourn]

"meh, whats so good about FR ? its the most boring (and overused) setting, darksun, planetscape(you could even mmeh, whats so good about FR ? its the most boring (and overused) setting, darksun, planetscape(you could even mix planetscape with FR if they want their drows that much) and even spelljammer are much better, and i want my psychic warrior -_- why do they always forget about the psychic powers ? -_-ix planetscape with FR if they want their drows that much) and even spelljammer are much better, and i want my psychic warrior -_- why do they always forget about the psychic powers ? -_-"

No. Don't talk D&D unless you know waht youa re talking about. kthnxbye.


Anyways...


I hope that BIo is making these games; but sadly I doubt it. If that's the case, I could live with Troika and/or Obsidian devloping them. At least theya re better choices that Bethesda making FO3. Argh.

 

[Ultron]

Have they ever discussed the storyline for BG3? Am I safe to assume they are doing away with the Bhaalspawn?

CONFESSIONAL: I'd be happy to see a cameo of Lilacor. I seem to be one of the few people that enjoyed that crazy little fucker.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Lilarcor was very fun, but to be honest i'd prefer to see more new sentient weapons instead of having Lilarcor mentioned or cameo'd.

 

[Whipporowill]

My favourite sentient weapon is the senile magician Demens trapped in a dagger in the swedish pnp product Svavelvinter ("Sulphurous Winter" basically).

 

[DemonKing]

Well if both BG3 and NWN2 are in development, I would hazard a guess that Obsidian is developing one of them...there just isn't any other company around with the credentials and experience to pull it off.

I really can't see Troika doing either of these after TOEE.

 

[Whipporowill]

I can't see either NWN2 or BG3 being TB, so probably not Troika and their engine.

 

[suibhne]

Assuming Obsidian would be interested in doing BG3, seems like it would be a perfect fit for them. They have the experience and the team for it, and I can't imagine a better way to get their company on strong footing than to handle both KotOR and BG3. Wow.

At this point, they're also my top choice for BG3. Troika should do a (stable, full-featured) follow-up to ToEE, but my money is on Obsidian for a superior BG sequel. Hell, it would almost certainly surpass the first installments in many ways.

 

[Ultron]

Was Jefferson going to be an Infinity Engine game, or did they have an alternate engine? I hope they would never consider using that POS engine that NWN used.

 

[Whipporowill]

Jeffy and VB used that MYSTARY engine. 3d thingie.

 

[taks]

Have they ever discussed the storyline for BG3? Am I safe to assume they are doing away with the Bhaalspawn?

ToB finished that. BG3 would be a name only with perhaps some relation to the area though even that isn't really necessary. either way, it would be hard for anyone to have discussed the storyline for a new BG since atari didn't get the rights back till january and as of E3, still wasn't final in their negotiations (both BG3 and NWN2 were supposedly slated for announcement at that time...)

my guess... hehehe. well, exitium knows what my guess is, since he planted the idea

taks

 

[Vault Dweller]

New engine. Here is some info from Sammael FAQ at NMA

Black Isle has developed a new isometric 3D engine for Jefferson. Basically, Jefferson should look somewhat like a 3D version of Baldur's Gate (or other Infinity Engine games). The name of this new engine has not been decided yet.

“At every step of the development of the Jefferson engine, we have examined its components and held them up to Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Fallout. Our intention is to take everything that was well designed about those engines and incorporate them into Jefferson. At the same time, there are a lot of mistakes that we made in developing these engines -- mistakes that we hope to correct in the development of Jefferson. We are absolutely, positively dedicated to making Jefferson's engine better on every level than all of our previous engines. This includes development flexibility.” –J.E. Sawyer

“Jefferson's development has involved a significant amount of technology R&D. We believe this R&D time is justified because the reception of the game should, with humble hoping, be very good across a fairly wide group of people. We have taken great pains to insure that we can apply the technology used on Jefferson to other projects without sacrificing the integrity of those projects. This can be very difficult, but, again, the payoff should be worth it. You can't develop technology for every situation -- that's just madness -- but you certainly can make choices that allow much more flexibility within the range of games that you typically make.

The Jefferson engine's scripting, for instance, would initially have made implementing true sequential turn-based combat impossible. A lot of the programmers, designers, and script-folk talked about how we could find a solution that allowed the possibility of TB combat, then implemented it. Will Jefferson have turn-based combat? Mystery! But the engine has the potential for it.” –J.E.. Sawyer

 

[Ultron]

So this would be a fullblown 3D engine, a la NWN, but prettier? Damn, I'll miss those hand-painted backgrounds...

 

[Vault Dweller]

VB screens looked good. Silent Storm looked great too, so nothing to worry about here

 

[Voss]

So when is this PC gamer article/blurb/whatever coming out?
Rather than random speculation, it'd be nice to know who's doing what and what they are actually using...

And can you say: 'Flooding the fucking market?'

 

[taks]

So this would be a fullblown 3D engine, a la NWN, but prettier? Damn, I'll miss those hand-painted backgrounds...

yes and no... it was still a top-down, ISO view (party based) but much nicer rendering AND, the backgrounds really were nice looking (we got to see one screenie of J). NWN is tile based and kinda craptacular (not baaad, but certainly could have been better), IMO. i don't think the J engine was tile based...

taks

 

[Vault Dweller]

@Voss: October issue.

 

[taks]

i don't think we have to worry about flooding the market, voss. we can probably count on at least 2 years of development (not counting what's already done) for both titles and probably staggered releases... the guesses for DA are in the 3 year+ range... of course, this doesn't consider whatever other fantasy games come out between now and then.

taks

 

[Voss]

really? Just in terms of D&D games four get mentioned in that article, plus that FR: Demonstone thing, and who knows what else (possibly a TOEE sequel?). All in the next 2-3 years. Thats rather a lot of stuff to have the D&D label smacked on it... and a significant chunk of the fantasy market, leaving less room for other things.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I doubt Atari would buy the jefferson code from interplay, they would probably make their own thing. Maybe Troika and the Toee engine used to make BG3? lol volourn likes men. I dont know if Obsidian even has the resources to make one of those big budget games.

 

[taks]

really? Just in terms of D&D games four get mentioned in that article, plus that FR: Demonstone thing, and who knows what else (possibly a TOEE sequel?). All in the next 2-3 years. Thats rather a lot of stuff to have the D&D label smacked on it... and a significant chunk of the fantasy market, leaving less room for other things.

well, only two of which are crpg and i'm guessing there will be either a toee sequel or a BG3, but not both... take from that comment what you will...

taks

 

[Taoreich]

Regarding the invocation of Obsidian, heres what SKR had to say about some recent staffing (courtesy of seankreynolds.com)'

{On a side note, if Interplay doesn't manage to pull itself out of its current troubles, what are the chances of you and some of the remaining Black Isle staffers heading over to Obsidian? I have to admit that having the team responsible for Planescape and Fallout stay together is a dream come true for this gamer, and I'm sure many others.}

Actually, quite a few of the BIS people have already gone over to Obsidian. It's like a BIS reunion over there.

I've interviewed with them, and they're interested (from what I can tell), but they're waiting on something (can't say what) before they can hire a team for a new game. So I'm in limbo right now."

Let the (more) wild extrapolations and inferences ensue!

 

[suibhne]

I doubt Atari would buy the jefferson code from interplay, they would probably make their own thing. Maybe Troika and the Toee engine used to make BG3? lol volourn likes men. I dont know if Obsidian even has the resources to make one of those big budget games.

On the other hand, if they're using Obsidian, why not buy Jefferson? Atari could hold onto it for other projects, if it's as extensible as has been claimed, and some Obsidian devs already have experience with it. And it's not like Interplay could command a princely sum for it at this point, since Atari's the only one who holds the D&D license and ain't nobody else going to buy the engine.

Significant time could be shaved off the dev cycle, even if the assets of the previous BG3 aren't used, and we all know that Atari loves to shave time off dev cycles.

 

[DemonKing]

I dont know if Obsidian even has the resources to make one of those big budget games.

Which is why they're making KOTOR 2 now?

As long as there's a pubisher putting up an advance, resources aren't really a problem for a developer - it's when you have to self-fund you might run into problems unless you have a background of successful products like Bio who can now afford to work with their own properties.

 

[Sheriff05]

While BG3 is completely viable, given a *new* storyline, the 3rd Ed rules update and fanbase screaming for more. This game is obviously *cough*, a "slam dunk" for anybody with enough of a brain not to fuck it up.

NWN2 on other hand is completely laughable and sounds like a PR stunt.
What exactly type game would it be? What's the target fanbase?
NWN has currently devolved into basically a MMORPG, for all but the most hardcore.
*Where* do you go with a sequel when all characters can reach 40th level, they've pimped out every last cheezy feat and spell that the engine could handle and all attempts at SP campaigns are widely perceived to be flat out terrible?
My answer would be- NOWHERE.
Unless of course they are playing to remake the entire game, toolset and the DM client in image of the original abandoned concept, that seems non-sensical at this point and we'll see pigs flying before that happens.
It's very tough to bring back alienated old fans and pleasing the current ones is counter intuitive to any type of sequel other than just a full graphics update with some additonal bells and whistles. Given that's probably what they have in mind is anyone really going to give a shit?

 

[Voss]

Where do they go with NWN 2? Why to D&D 3.5 edition, of course.
How they do it is open to question however. I don't know if whoever Atari gets could/would use the Aurora engine, and backwards compatabality of all those fan-crapped-modules is going to be an issue for at least some of the people.
Sounds like a can o' worms to me. Everybody stand clear.