News Baldur's Gate III (Larian) - coming to Earrly Access in October 2020
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I'm just left wondering why no one in the the audience yelled out, "That's XCOM, baby!!!"
What a missed opportunity.
What a missed opportunity.
Baldur's Gate 3 will fix one of Divinity 2's biggest flaws
Baldur’s Gate 3 will let players enjoy significantly more meaningful, nuanced stories using custom characters than they could in Divinity 2, this according to Larian Studios senior writer Adam Smith. Smith (pictured below) revealed the news in an interview with Trusted Reviews at a Baldur’s Gate...
www.trustedreviews.com
Well, I'm glad Larian are acknowledging that playing a custom character in DOS2 wasn't as satisfying from a story point of view. They say they are trying to make things like race, class, background and decisions/actions have more reactivity so that custom characters aren't so blah.
I personally would prefer non-origin companions so that they all didn't have to share the tadpole-in-the-head thing.
THAT'S XCOM, BABY!!!
Bah, it's not true X-Com (the 1994 one) unless you miss at close range and your bullets accidentally kill another alien that was hiding in the shadows. That game had full bullet trajectory tracking so many years ago.
Homeworld 1 ballistics reporting in too.
New newsletter from Larian with some interesting tidbits:
Though this journey began now years ago when we visited Wizards of the Coast for the first time in 2017, these past few weeks have been momentous and emotional, since this was the first time we were able to share Baldur's Gate 3 with all of you, the people for whom the game is being made.
-------------------------------------------------------------
We will soon embark on an epic adventure as Baldur's Gate 3 enters Early Access, and we couldn't possibly venture forth without first gathering you, our party. One thousand of you gathered with us as we streamed the game live for the first time at PAX East in an auditorium filled to the brim, and an extra thousand of you were sadly turned away because there was no more space. Hundreds of thousands of you gathered online which - we're told in confidence - broke some records. Thousands of you each waited three hours to gather with us at our PAX East booth, to see what would have happened if the dice rolls weren't against us. It has been humbling and exciting to gather together as we start this new journey, venturing forth, going the way of the dice.
What you will eventually play has been in the planning at Larian and closely with Wizards of the Coast for over 4 years now, with their key creative people colliding with our key creative people in ways that we will eventually talk about in greater length. Our task is to create the ultimate Dungeons & Dragons game; a loving and modern sequel to Baldur's Gate 2. Oozing with 5e D&D greatness, set in the world that you know and love. You will explore Baldur's Gate 100 years after Baldur's Gate 2. The Bhaalspawn saga has ended, and a new threat is converging on the city of Baldur's Gate. But the gods do not forget, and the shadows and scars of the past will not stay silent. You will meet and get to know many new characters, and encounter some of the legendary characters you know and love.
Most importantly, you'll learn how their stories have evolved. And as you play, you will heavily influence their fate. Over the course of the past 3 weeks, the final missing ingredient has been added into our new development pipeline: you.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Let's look at how we've evolved since the release of Divinity: Original Sin 2 in 2017. Firstly, we finished Divinity: Original Sin 2 with 120 people. DOS2 was shipped on the second version of the Divinity engine (we still haven't found a cool name for it yet), and our Producer David Walgrave said recently in an interview with TechRaptor that in BG3 "there's about 20-30% of the Original Sin engine left and we rewrote so many systems and so many things." We've been colloquially calling this 4.0 engine the "Baldur's Gate Engine", and it's designed from the ground up for Baldur's Gate.
But how does this happen? Between 2017 and the announcement of BG3 we've grown to 250 people + we have over 100 outsourcers working on this. Still independent. Funded entirely by yourselves who dived so eagerly into Divinity: Original Sin 2. We were quiet since the announcement just before E3 of the previous year. But internally, kinetic energy has propelled us forward with new systems, pipelines, and people who when not playing D&D were all helping us to put together what you saw at PAX East, 2020. There's quite the adventure ahead.
We've built an engine that allows all 250 people at Larian collaborate to become the ultimate DM. Allowing for near-limitless reactivity, responsiveness, and a memory that never forgets who you are, or what you've done. No matter who you roll, dice-rolls, modifiers, and physical simulation have all been designed to simulate a D&D experience that feels as though it's straight from the imagination, where no matter the dice roll the story will continue. It's also a game that is intended to span the entire range of human emotion. It is in equal parts a dark and a light game. "We always want to make failure as interesting as it possibly can," said Senior Writer Adam Smith. "We don't put everything that's cool and interesting behind success."
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Light and dark are really good sources of advantage," noted Swen in a recent GameSpot interview. The philosophies that define the rules in D&D 5e also define the narrative, where you'll often make difficult decisions through initiative or through the roll of the dice. The Baldur's Gate games were dark - sometimes darker than many people remember. Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception, though in 2020 we're able to take the gamut of emotion and experience and stretch it further due to systems, simulation, and of course also our cinematics team. Unfortunately we did not make it to the end of our PAX East 2020 live demo due to a feature (see: bug), but those in the hall witnessed a scene where Astarion's hunger got the better of him, and through a series of dice rolls (and often audience choice), Astarion sank his teeth into Shadowheart to varying degrees of mortality. Astarion was happy (systemically), but Shadowheart often ended up dead (also without irony, systemically).
Baldur's Gate 3 is on course to be a 'Mature' game, which is publishing language for "if you go any further the ratings board is going to be extremely annoying". We want to push the limits of every theme within the game, which should allow you to play exactly how you'd like to play. Astarion may be a Vampire Spawn, but that doesn't mean he has to be evil - if hungry. Though you saw one path at PAX East, there were many possibilities for good, and evil -- note also, everything in between. It has always been Larian's plan to create games that allow you to play however you wish. This larger team, and this new engine, allow us to push this further than ever before. Much further than Divinity: Original Sin 2.
As you delve into an epic adventure that subverts the binary morality found in many RPGs, and explore Baldur's Gate with new and existing characters, 100 years after the story of the first two games, dice roll by dice roll, we hope that together we can reignite that great sense of discovery you felt as you dived for the first time into Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, bringing the experience of an open-ended D&D game to photo-realistic realisation, albeit with 5e rules in place of 2nd edition rules. Things have come a long way in 20 years, but what's important to us is that you're along for the ride.
-------------------------------------------------------------
You have many questions, and we have answers. We'll be hosting a Reddit AMA where you can ask Swen (Creative Director), David (Producer), Adam (Senior Writer), Nick (Lead Systems Designer), and Jiji (Writing Director) your questions. 11:00 PT on March 12, over on Reddit!
See you all in Early Access.
Though this journey began now years ago when we visited Wizards of the Coast for the first time in 2017, these past few weeks have been momentous and emotional, since this was the first time we were able to share Baldur's Gate 3 with all of you, the people for whom the game is being made.
-------------------------------------------------------------
We will soon embark on an epic adventure as Baldur's Gate 3 enters Early Access, and we couldn't possibly venture forth without first gathering you, our party. One thousand of you gathered with us as we streamed the game live for the first time at PAX East in an auditorium filled to the brim, and an extra thousand of you were sadly turned away because there was no more space. Hundreds of thousands of you gathered online which - we're told in confidence - broke some records. Thousands of you each waited three hours to gather with us at our PAX East booth, to see what would have happened if the dice rolls weren't against us. It has been humbling and exciting to gather together as we start this new journey, venturing forth, going the way of the dice.
What you will eventually play has been in the planning at Larian and closely with Wizards of the Coast for over 4 years now, with their key creative people colliding with our key creative people in ways that we will eventually talk about in greater length. Our task is to create the ultimate Dungeons & Dragons game; a loving and modern sequel to Baldur's Gate 2. Oozing with 5e D&D greatness, set in the world that you know and love. You will explore Baldur's Gate 100 years after Baldur's Gate 2. The Bhaalspawn saga has ended, and a new threat is converging on the city of Baldur's Gate. But the gods do not forget, and the shadows and scars of the past will not stay silent. You will meet and get to know many new characters, and encounter some of the legendary characters you know and love.
Most importantly, you'll learn how their stories have evolved. And as you play, you will heavily influence their fate. Over the course of the past 3 weeks, the final missing ingredient has been added into our new development pipeline: you.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Let's look at how we've evolved since the release of Divinity: Original Sin 2 in 2017. Firstly, we finished Divinity: Original Sin 2 with 120 people. DOS2 was shipped on the second version of the Divinity engine (we still haven't found a cool name for it yet), and our Producer David Walgrave said recently in an interview with TechRaptor that in BG3 "there's about 20-30% of the Original Sin engine left and we rewrote so many systems and so many things." We've been colloquially calling this 4.0 engine the "Baldur's Gate Engine", and it's designed from the ground up for Baldur's Gate.
But how does this happen? Between 2017 and the announcement of BG3 we've grown to 250 people + we have over 100 outsourcers working on this. Still independent. Funded entirely by yourselves who dived so eagerly into Divinity: Original Sin 2. We were quiet since the announcement just before E3 of the previous year. But internally, kinetic energy has propelled us forward with new systems, pipelines, and people who when not playing D&D were all helping us to put together what you saw at PAX East, 2020. There's quite the adventure ahead.
We've built an engine that allows all 250 people at Larian collaborate to become the ultimate DM. Allowing for near-limitless reactivity, responsiveness, and a memory that never forgets who you are, or what you've done. No matter who you roll, dice-rolls, modifiers, and physical simulation have all been designed to simulate a D&D experience that feels as though it's straight from the imagination, where no matter the dice roll the story will continue. It's also a game that is intended to span the entire range of human emotion. It is in equal parts a dark and a light game. "We always want to make failure as interesting as it possibly can," said Senior Writer Adam Smith. "We don't put everything that's cool and interesting behind success."
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Light and dark are really good sources of advantage," noted Swen in a recent GameSpot interview. The philosophies that define the rules in D&D 5e also define the narrative, where you'll often make difficult decisions through initiative or through the roll of the dice. The Baldur's Gate games were dark - sometimes darker than many people remember. Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception, though in 2020 we're able to take the gamut of emotion and experience and stretch it further due to systems, simulation, and of course also our cinematics team. Unfortunately we did not make it to the end of our PAX East 2020 live demo due to a feature (see: bug), but those in the hall witnessed a scene where Astarion's hunger got the better of him, and through a series of dice rolls (and often audience choice), Astarion sank his teeth into Shadowheart to varying degrees of mortality. Astarion was happy (systemically), but Shadowheart often ended up dead (also without irony, systemically).
Baldur's Gate 3 is on course to be a 'Mature' game, which is publishing language for "if you go any further the ratings board is going to be extremely annoying". We want to push the limits of every theme within the game, which should allow you to play exactly how you'd like to play. Astarion may be a Vampire Spawn, but that doesn't mean he has to be evil - if hungry. Though you saw one path at PAX East, there were many possibilities for good, and evil -- note also, everything in between. It has always been Larian's plan to create games that allow you to play however you wish. This larger team, and this new engine, allow us to push this further than ever before. Much further than Divinity: Original Sin 2.
As you delve into an epic adventure that subverts the binary morality found in many RPGs, and explore Baldur's Gate with new and existing characters, 100 years after the story of the first two games, dice roll by dice roll, we hope that together we can reignite that great sense of discovery you felt as you dived for the first time into Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, bringing the experience of an open-ended D&D game to photo-realistic realisation, albeit with 5e rules in place of 2nd edition rules. Things have come a long way in 20 years, but what's important to us is that you're along for the ride.
-------------------------------------------------------------
You have many questions, and we have answers. We'll be hosting a Reddit AMA where you can ask Swen (Creative Director), David (Producer), Adam (Senior Writer), Nick (Lead Systems Designer), and Jiji (Writing Director) your questions. 11:00 PT on March 12, over on Reddit!
See you all in Early Access.
OP
OP
Live Gameplay Demo Reveal Stream
OP
OP
Some info from the AMA:
-The final release will include all classes from the Player's Handbook
-The level cap in the full release will be 10
-Custom characters can choose their voice during character creation and will have spoken dialogue like the origin characters do
-No face sliders - you can choose a head, hair, skin color, etc.
-Feats will be in the final release, but not Early Access
-You can make your own mercenaries to replace the origin companions(they have no story or personality)
-Spell-casting will have chanting like BG1/2
-There will be multi-classing in the final game
-There are no short rests but Warlocks get their spells back after each fight
-Custom characters will be Baldurians and provide a unique perspective on the story. Exceptions to this are races like Drow and Githyanki, which have their own unique backgrounds
-Loot will follow D&D rather than DOS2. Magical items will be rare and unique.
-The final release will include all classes from the Player's Handbook
-The level cap in the full release will be 10
-Custom characters can choose their voice during character creation and will have spoken dialogue like the origin characters do
-No face sliders - you can choose a head, hair, skin color, etc.
-Feats will be in the final release, but not Early Access
-You can make your own mercenaries to replace the origin companions(they have no story or personality)
-Spell-casting will have chanting like BG1/2
-There will be multi-classing in the final game
-There are no short rests but Warlocks get their spells back after each fight
-Custom characters will be Baldurians and provide a unique perspective on the story. Exceptions to this are races like Drow and Githyanki, which have their own unique backgrounds
-Loot will follow D&D rather than DOS2. Magical items will be rare and unique.
Baldur’s Gate III — Goblins are friends, not fodder
Baldur's Gate III senior writer Adam Smith lays out how Larian Studios is trying to give depth to many of the characters you encounter -- even goblins.
venturebeat.com
Really great interview that talks a lot about story and philosophy behind certain decisions.
OP
OP
nice interview
www.vg247.com
Baldur's Gate 3 isn't just Divinity: Original Sin in a Dungeons & Dragons skin
News, reviews and opinions on the biggest video games.
www.vg247.com
nice interview
Baldur's Gate 3 isn't just Divinity: Original Sin in a Dungeons & Dragons skin
News, reviews and opinions on the biggest video games.
Baldur's Gate 3: Completely New Content To Be Revealed Soon -
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the many games that have experienced a slowdown in their production. Many game studios have had to switch up
trendingnewsbuzz.com
Talks a bit about how COVID19 has effected them, but also says that new content is coming soon!
Today during the Guerrilla Collective stream there should be some new info/gameplay of Baldurs Gate 3:[UWSL][/UWSL]
www.guerrillacollective.com
It is viewable on Twitch or on Steam (9 am Pacific / 6 pm Central Europe).
Baldur's Gate 3 - Guerrilla Collective
www.guerrillacollective.com
It is viewable on Twitch or on Steam (9 am Pacific / 6 pm Central Europe).
I've seen more than enough already. I'm going blind until the full release next year.
For those who missed the stream:
Edit:Sadly the video has hiccups
Edit:Sadly the video has hiccups
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September 30th is the date, for those who don't want to watch the video.
Pretty sure Swen couldn't move at all in his armor, he was slumped over the whole time.
I didn't play DOS1/2 in EA, but I'll be there day 1 of EA for BG3. I restarted DOS2 soooo many times during Act I - this will help me be prepared for 1.0
Phoenix RISING
A phoenix always RISES!
New Larian Gazette with a re-cap of the Panel from Hell:
store.steampowered.com
Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #5 - Early Access - Steam News
Hello everyone! We hope you’ve recovered from the Panel From Hell. We have a huge, bumper community update for you today. We’re going to talk about Early Access at some length, so get a cup of something ready, and maybe a snack. Nestled in? Let’s go. What is Early Access? What are your...
Community Update #6 is up. The focus is on multiplayer and how the cinematic conversations are handled.
store.steampowered.com
Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #6 - Multiplayer & Cinematics - Steam News
“You’re telling your story, and we’re shooting it for you,” explains our Cinematic Director, Jason Latino. “We’re taking that camera down from being above the players, and down into the drama, right into the action.”<br /> <br /> “I can’t think of another Early Access game that’s done...
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Early Access has been delayed one week to October 8. As a consolation, Larian has released community update 7 which focuses on companionship and romance.
steamcommunity.com
Steam :: Baldur's Gate 3 :: Community Update #7 - Romance & Companionship
It’s a helluva year to talk about romance, but a great one to talk about companionship. We’re all going through our own journeys, and each one is different to the next. We’ve all got our differences, but it’s our differences that make us interesting, and unique. And though sometimes differences...
Community Update #8 is live, and it's all about character creation:
store.steampowered.com
Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #8 - Character Creation - Steam News
What defines you? Is it who you are, or the journey you’re on? In Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s both. Creating a character in Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t the moment the world decides how to treat you, but it’s the very beginning of the shaping of your story. BG3 is a world with great player agency, and the...
I'm counting the HOURS to this release.
I'm obsessed at the chance to try it.
I'm obsessed at the chance to try it.
I bought and started downloading before going to work this morning, be leaving work soon!
OP
OP
i am ultimately only worried about the ruseset being 5e , which isnt anything amazing :-/
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I get about 10fps more using DX11 compared to Vulkan and there are less weird frame rate moments. 70-80fps at 1440p highest settings, looks amazing.
Wow, the game is 60GB already even though it's only 1 out of 3 acts? It'll be 100GB+ in the full version, isn't it?
It's gonna be the biggest cRPG ever.
It's gonna be the biggest cRPG ever.
The VO is universally great so far, I haven't and probably won't go too far into the story in EA though, it's just the tadpole stuff so far. I expect something greater to reveal itself at some point. Baal? Sarevok? Minsc? Etc...
I'm absolutely loving the game so far, with the exception of a couple minor nitpickings.
Character models, not just upclose but also from the "isometric camera", are some of the best I've ever seen in the genre, both in term of detail than overall art direction.
I absolutely hate the chain/unchain mechanic to manage the full party, though, and in fact I even started a thread about it on the official forum with the overwhelming majority of the feedback being on my side so far:
forums.larian.com
Besides, I also agree with the very vocal group claiming that a 4-men party feels way too restrictive.
Character models, not just upclose but also from the "isometric camera", are some of the best I've ever seen in the genre, both in term of detail than overall art direction.
I absolutely hate the chain/unchain mechanic to manage the full party, though, and in fact I even started a thread about it on the official forum with the overwhelming majority of the feedback being on my side so far:
BG3 Party Movement Mechanic
Mod edit: previous title; "The way Larian manages party movement is dreadful" Sorry for the blunt title, I tried a more polite "Honest feedback: I don't like the way Larian defaults control of the whole party" but I ran out of characters half way throu...
forums.larian.com
Besides, I also agree with the very vocal group claiming that a 4-men party feels way too restrictive.
I want to stop playing but I can't! My biggest concern was that it was going to feel like a reskin of D:OS with it's incredibly restrictive level gating but it definitely has it own thing going on, fights don't feel like puzzles but more like opportunities for silliness and imagination, wider areas where you don't have to tiptoe around in case there is a crab 2 levels above you etc...
Spoilers for level 2 crypt stuff:
Dropped into the crypt though the hole I made killing a couple of guys outside with a giant rock, 5-6 guys outside of a door. Got killed the first time by the dead body of Gale and his answering machine, long story. 2nd time I move a chest in front of the door and pinged away with my ranger and Vamp dude picking them off and lighting them on fire.
Spoilers for level 2 crypt stuff:
Dropped into the crypt though the hole I made killing a couple of guys outside with a giant rock, 5-6 guys outside of a door. Got killed the first time by the dead body of Gale and his answering machine, long story. 2nd time I move a chest in front of the door and pinged away with my ranger and Vamp dude picking them off and lighting them on fire.
I'm absolutely loving the game so far, with the exception of a couple minor nitpickings.
Character models, not just upclose but also from the "isometric camera", are some of the best I've ever seen in the genre, both in term of detail than overall art direction.
I absolutely hate the chain/unchain mechanic to manage the full party, though, and in fact I even started a thread about it on the official forum with the overwhelming majority of the feedback being on my side so far:
BG3 Party Movement Mechanic
Mod edit: previous title; "The way Larian manages party movement is dreadful" Sorry for the blunt title, I tried a more polite "Honest feedback: I don't like the way Larian defaults control of the whole party" but I ran out of characters half way throu...
Besides, I also agree with the very vocal group claiming that a 4-men party feels way too restrictive.
Good to see people agreeing. I've also despised that system, it's way too cumbersome and awkward. I shouldn't have to fumble getting it to cooperate when in Pillars/Pathfinder/IWD, etc. it makes me a few seconds. I hope they listen, but sometimes they seem to be stubborn over feedback sometimes. Maybe my memory is wrong, but I remember in Early Access for DOS2 that the reception of the armor system was pretty negative and they ignored it, only after release for Swen to say "Yeah, the armor system sucked".
Phoenix RISING
A phoenix always RISES!
I'm absolutely loving the game so far, with the exception of a couple minor nitpickings.
Character models, not just upclose but also from the "isometric camera", are some of the best I've ever seen in the genre, both in term of detail than overall art direction.
I absolutely hate the chain/unchain mechanic to manage the full party, though, and in fact I even started a thread about it on the official forum with the overwhelming majority of the feedback being on my side so far:
BG3 Party Movement Mechanic
Mod edit: previous title; "The way Larian manages party movement is dreadful" Sorry for the blunt title, I tried a more polite "Honest feedback: I don't like the way Larian defaults control of the whole party" but I ran out of characters half way throu...
Besides, I also agree with the very vocal group claiming that a 4-men party feels way too restrictive.
I didn't notice this until I jumped over a hole with my main to go around the Goblin camp (I refuse to cover my face in poop), and my party didn't follow but tried to go back through the camp entrance, triggering the convo with the goblin. But this time, the wizard dude (Glenn? Gale?) spoke, and I had an Illithid check instead of an intimidation/persuasion check. and so I passed through.
Weird how I found out the multiple-path solution.
Something similar happened with a goblin ambush. I failed the perception (x4) on my way to the ambush site, and was able to intimidate them to not fight. When I passed the perception check, I called them out, won the intimidation check, yet ended up in a fight .
WUT????
Anyway, the opening is a great attention-grabber, but 3 of my party members I wanna slap, and yes, that's a small number I'd like to go up to 5-6.