Official BGII Board Update

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(Originally posted by Darien)

Senior Designer Dave Gaider had plenty to say on the Official Baldur's Gate II message board over the last few days.

1. Was the BG series originally planned to be a full trilogy, and if so have there been problems including as much plot into ToB?

There's been no problem including the ending of the story into ToB. BG2 was quite a bit longer than an 'ordinary-length' RPG would be...so while we could certainly draw out the end storyline by adding more obstacles and more plots and such, it's really not pertinent to the endgame plot. Plus, it's fairly difficult to balance an adventure meant for 20+ level characters...especially when you've got so much variance for the number and level of characters that can be imported into the game, their equipment selection and the skill levels of the players. A full-blown sequel at this point would be a monumental task.

That said, ToB is no ordinary-sized expansion, either. It's a BG2-sized expansion, so take that to mean what you will.

Wish I could be more forthcoming on some of your questions, but it's still a bit early for some of them, yet.

2. What is a REALISTIC estimate of the additional gameplay time for the ToB additions?

We've only a rough estimate, currently, which is around 40 hours (possibly more). We won't have a more realistic estimate until after we've completed all the areas and QA has had the chance to run through the complete product. The same applies to the split between the add-in and add-on...can't really say until we have a better idea of the overall length.

3. Does Throne of Bhaal have any plans to introduce final tweaks to the Infinity Engine itself?

Yes, although what exactly those will be will depend on what we can implement and get to work properly.

4. Any news on potential new romances, particularly for female players?

We plan on extending the current romances to the end of the Bhaalspawn storyline, that's for certain...as for new romances, there's nothing I can mention at the moment.

5. Is it possible to allow summoned beasties to move from one area to another with the party?

Sorry to disappoint, but as I understand it, there is a definite limitation to creatures being able to move from area to area with you. In fact, creatures that can do so have to be specified at the start of the game. Considerable programming had to be done just to allow for familiars, even.

If we could make the change you want, we would do it...believe me, it certainly wasn't a capricious thing. But the resources required are not so easily manipulated as you think.

In fact, I just asked Mark about this again just for fun and he gave me THE LOOK.

In the future, hopefully this will be something we can plan to accomodate. I wouldn't mind seeing that capability, either.

6. Idea for future games: Unlimited adventures!!

There was a game that had something like this. Daggerfall. Interesting concept, but it got pretty old pretty quick.

I suppose I could see how randomized missions could be done, but in order to prevent them from being continuously repetitive or simplistic, a LOT of work would be required. If you've a suggestion (a feasible one) on how such an idea might be implemented and still be fun, that would be interesting.

Myself, I think NWN is the way to go as far as unlimited adventures is concerned.

7. About making a game for evil PCs:

Are you joking?

I agree it might be cool, but then I'm a D&D fanatic. We may be vocal and obsessive, but our numbers are not exactly gargantuan. Making a product that would be very cool to a small number of people might make those people very, very joyous (heh) but it doesn't exactly translate into mass sales.

Not that mass sales is *always* the focus, but it is nice. Like getting paid is nice.

But who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. One can never tell what will catch the attention of the mass market. I certainly would have thought No One Lives Forever would sell a bit better than it did. But even though it'd be the marketing types telling me that catering to a niche market right off the bat would be a bad thing, they can't be wrong *all* the time.

(As for the game being completely engineered to be evil, I don't know. Maybe. Personally I think that'd be fun...once. And then it would just be kinda sad. But I know others may feel differently than me, so I don't feel very strongly about it.)

8. Just give us the name - is that too much to ask?

Yes.

I know you're eager, but we've got to reserve some stuff for the sake of surprise.

As it is, I expect that as we get closer to release we'll start seeing elements being released for public consumption on news sites. But to blow our wad (so to speak) all at once would be a bit silly, I'm sure even you have to agree (no matter how momentarily satisfying it might be).