Today's load of news from the IWD and BG2 boards.

Remove all ads!

(Originally posted by NightKin)

Let's start with the BG2 board, as usual.

On the Baldur's Gate II board

From David Gaider, BG2 Designer

On the Bounty Hunter thief kit:

Well, one thing we did has already been mentioned. The Thief class has the ability to Set Traps... and the Bounty Hunter specifically has the ability to set traps that have an increasingly more potent effect as his level gets higher. Some of them are quite wicked, indeed.

It's an interesting kit... although the use of the traps does require some thought and a change in tactics. The ability for PC's to walk over them and only enemies to set them off is definitely a plus, though.

NPC information:

A couple of things to add to the list of NPCs, there...

- Haer'Dalis (pronounced HARE-da-leece, in case you were wondering) is actually a Blade, the dual-wielding kit of the Bard class.

- Cernd is actually a Shapeshifter, not an Avenger Druid (this one is my fault, not Joost's, as I had forgotten the change).

- Mazzy (not Mazzi), while a fighter, is also technically a Truesword of Arvoreen (although she is not a Cleric). I suppose it more refers to her special abilities rather than her class, but we've always called her a Truesword. She kicks butt.

- missing alignments: Aerie (LG), Anomen (LN), Haer'Dalis (CN), Jan (CN), Mazzy (LG), Valygar (NG).

Keep in mind, though, what I said about NPCs and their alignments... they are much less likely to fight amongst themselves (or you) for differences in alignment (although they are perfectly willing to argue and bicker). There are also several characters whose alignments can change during the course of the game depending on your choices and the path the plot takes.

A small novel about NPC protraits

It's pretty hard to judge the portraits when they're wee bitty things on a screenshot. Mike Sass did the new portraits in a bit different style (more pastel-ly) that takes some getting used to.

Personally, I think they look great. Minsc's chin IS a bit big, but otherwise I like them better than BG... and I think you might want to withhold judgment until you see them up close.

Of course... when has that ever stopped any of you before?

Dropping into the Land of Snap Judgments, I am a bit surprised. Someone does something in a bit different style and some of you guys jump all over it like a pack of hyenas. Typical.

The IWD portraits were different, too. Once I got used to them, though, I really liked them (as obviously many of you do). But my first reaction was that they were quite different.

The new portraits reflect the characters very well (Imoen has been through a lot. Someone commented that you couldn't change that much in a few months... I might add that the original BG generally took place over the course of 3-4 months game time depending on how long you took). In some cases, I think they look better. Jaheira in BG did not look much like a half-elf, for instance.

But whatever. You guys will decide for yourselves, in the end, what portraits you prefer. This kind of knee-jerk negativity is disappointing, though, and overlooks the fact that Mike Sass (who did the BG portraits) has done some very fine work for BG2.

The new portraits took a bit of time for me to adjust to, as well... my first reaction was not very favorable, either, just as with the IWD portraits. But after sitting down and looking at them seriously, I saw the amount of detail and work that Mike put into them. They are really quite excellent, and after playing with them for a while, I actually prefer them to the BG portraits.

Hopefully. I also think, though, that there are those people who are going to find things in the game and react to them, right off the bat, exactly the same as the portraits.

There are a few things that we know happen in the game, story-wise, that some people are just NOT going to be happy about. At least not when it first happens (and they jump to conclusions). Unfortunately, I will only get to see their 'This game sucks!' post on the board and not know that they went on to finish the game, enjoy it and decide they were wrong.

Regardless, all I hope is that Mike is avoiding the boards today. Maybe in a day or two when people have settled with the new style things will be OK.

The portraits might be touched up a bit as they get finalized... but the chances of us going and changing the style of either the portraits or the game is zero. Period.

I don't think the picture in the ad looks so much like the old portrait of Imoen. It looks nice, sure... Jason Manley did that one. We did not put together those ads.

A change in style was not required. We happen to like the new style. Yes, you are free to put whatever portraits you like wherever you like. In fact, you can add a portrait to every single character file in the game and their portrait will pop up beside their dialogue.

That's because the old game was very popular. There are a lot of people who are quite attached to characters who had maybe 20 lines of spoken dialogue all told and very little story. The average character in BG2 has over 100 spoken dialogue parts and maybe 300 or 400 strings of written dialogue (if not more).

That's a lot of story. However, there might be some people who might not like that (for some reason) and they're free to do so.

I suspect, however, that the new characters will be very popular for that reason.

All I've seen so far are people expressing how much they dislike the differences after seeing the portraits and artistic style of the game for 1 day. Oh dear... the style has changed from my beloved old BG1 that I played forever. Something DIFFERENT... gosh, well, I don't like it.

You and others may not end up growing 'used' to it and may hate it forever. Whatever. I have little doubt, however, that the majority of the people who are griping over 'style' (like doing so makes it a critique) are really unsettled because we've done something different, period.

But that's not surprising. Nor is there any reason to be bitter about it. The game will be awesome, regardless... and there is as much stylistic difference in the story as there is in the portraits. Some people will like it, some won't. I simply hope some of these people give the story more of a chance than they have the portraits or they're going to be very disappointed, I guess.

I did. But I also decided, later, that I was being awfully prejudiced based on the simple fact that the portraits were so different from what I was used to. I was not giving them a fair chance.

Once I did, I didn't mind them so much and, as I said, I now like them more.

But I do understand what you say about the connection. GOD, do I. If there weren't so many of you who felt such a personal ownership for BG and D&D, do you think such a thing as portraits or whether or not damage vs. large is implemented would be a personal issue? Probably not.

I must admit my patience ebbs with my stamina from these long hours... I didn't mean what I said to be interpreted as 'there's something wrong' with anyone who disagrees with me.

The fact that a few people who don't like the new portraits feel the need to repeatedly post and be the loudest out of the bunch, and yet not really say anything useful escapes me, though.

I come here to hear ideas and suggestions, for future projects if not necessarily this one. I come here to hear thoughts on RPG'ing and CRPG'ing and argue with people, even if (and maybe because) you don't always agree with me. I also come hear to hear people's thoughts on what they would like to see in BG or in their gaming. And while I don't desire universal praise, I don't come here for pointlessly harsh criticism. Fine. You don't like the style, just as you obviously didn't like the story. Fair enough... there's not really much I can do about that. There's a big difference between a thoughtful criticism and some of the thoughtless insults that have been flying about hear today.

Now I'm not trying to say the portraits are high art. There are some I don't care for, myself (I would probably use Minsc's old picture, for one, although I certainly don't hate the new one). But I would never go into Mike's office and tell him or the rest of the art department: "Gosh, I've been looking at these pictures and MAN do they blow! They really suck! Look how fat Minsc is! And what's with this pastel crap?! Why did you try anything new, what's wrong with you?!"

Yeah that would go over well. About as well as Mike coming to tell me that the story I had written was 'not to his taste' but nothing more specific beyond that.

So why should I come here for more of the same?

Someone asked earlier today if we had finalized our decisions regarding MC/DC strongholds and the soft cap. We have... but I'm not about to bring it up here and get jumped all over for it. Best to see it and judge it as part of the game, rather than bring out just the one piece and put it under a microscope and rip it to shreds.

Or at least that's what I feel like. Mind you, I could just be weary and tired.

In a way, I suppose us designers get away a bit scott free at this point... I suppose our turn will come once everyone has his or her chance to play out the story. (shudder)

I suppose I might be a bit sensitive to that, as well... but is it too much to ask for some thought-out commentary rather than mean criticism with no point?

Only one dwarven NPC:

There were two dwarves in BG because we had 24 or 25 (I forget which) NPCs to work with. We have 16 in BG2. One might ask why there's only one halfling? Why only one gnome? Why only one elf (unless you count drow)?

And he's evil because that's the way we made him (or that's the way Kevin made him, anyway). What other reasoning is there supposed to be? Sorry we couldn't accommodate your hope for more dwarves... but with 16 NPCs there are a lot of people who aren't going to find their fondest wish, either, which is too bad.

Will it be possible to buy more then one thing at the same time?:

Yes, that's in.

From Nathan Plewes, BG2 Line Producer

Even more on NPC portraits:

Well keep in mind that the portraits are still being played with (i.e., the funky yellow tint and 'big eye' thing). Constructive criticism would involve suggestions for improvement not just "These suck.. change them." I agree with Dave that the new portraits took a bit of getting used to but they suit the look and feel of the game better than the old portraits, and as states many times if you don't like them import the old portraits.

And on the Icewind Dale board.

From Darren Monahan, IWD Producer

Const. bug:

This problem has been fixed in the patch coming this weekend.

Game crashing at start up:

One suggestion is to make sure you have the absolute latest drivers from both your video and your sound card manufacturer. This typically clears up the problem for most people. If it still continues to crash, lowering the sound hardware acceleration in the DirectX Diagnostics (CProgram Files\DirectX\SETUP) can fix this as well.