18 replies to this topic

[Oldwolf]

This is something some of you may have heard about but I just happened across while searching for something completely unrelated to Baldurs Gate

Black Isle Studios


Overview
Black Isle Studios was a development division of developer and publisher Interplay. Originally formed in 1996, it started using the name in 1998 and it was based in California, USA. The division's name refers to Black Isle in Scotland, the native country of founder Feargus Urquhart.

The studio was a continuation of Interplay's DragonPlay, not a real division with a dedicated group of people, but rather a name used to introduce RPGs. Black Isle Studios continued this by solely focusing on RPGs. The company established and worked on 2 major franchises: Fallout and Icewind Dale. Other games are Planescape: Torment and Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (although mainly the work of Reflexive Entertainment Inc). Next to in-house projects, Black Isle also aided in the development of BioWare's Baldur's Gate series. There was one game in the series they developed by themselves, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (2004 - Xbox/PS2)

The division was closed on 8th December 2003, when they were working on Fallout 3. Three more titles had been cancelled earlier: Stonekeep II (2001), Black Isle's Torn (2001) and Baldur's Gate 3: The Black Hound (2003). Many of the employees moved on to Obsidian Entertainment.

So there actually WAS a BG3 in the works as well as a second Stonekeep! Wish they wouldn't have deep 6'd them in favor of working on a MMO version of Fallout

[berelinde]

Oh look! Elvis!

Every once in a while, talk about BG3 surfaces. Dunno. Might happen. I'm not going to place any bets.

[jcompton]

Yes, the Interplay-internal Baldur's Gate 3 is reasonably well-documented. Obsidian bought certain rights to material which was under development at Interplay before it was shut down, and lead designer JE Sawyer has talked publicly about implementing the plot of the game as an NWN2 module.

It was to have basically nothing to do with the original games but the name.

Editorially, I think it's only a matter of time before EA/Bioware and Hasbro work out a deal to do a BG3. EA is very brand-conscious and the BG brand still represents one of the biggest successes in D&D CRPGs ever. Hasbro will want video games in their portfolio to go along with their 4th edition D&D launch. It's a natural fit.

[Scipio]

I wonder how well a BG3 would work. It might have to be a sort of Baldur's Gate: The Next Generation. How else would it be a logical follow-up if CHARNAME had chosen to ascend at the end of BG2?

Thinking about it at first, I wondered how much charm it might lose if we no longer had Aerie, Viconia and other familiar and loved NPCS... or, aaargh! no more Imoen or Minsc. Then I reminded myself that BG2 brought in only a few characters from BG1 but it worked brilliantly.

Here's a horrible thought: what if they ever should produce BG3 and make it play like NWN, with solo-plus-one-ally? Yuck.

And isn't NWN effectively BG3 anyway?

I reckon if the commercial operators wanted to do a really good game they should buy up all the SHS and other mods and combine them into an expanded version of BGT, with other additions as well that they could write or commission our splendid modders to do! A BG3 with new levels of spells, higher XP caps, bigger and nastier monsters, more races from the other continents, and dozens of incorporated mod NPCs... wow. Start your game with a party of Saerileth, Fade, Kelsey and others as standard characters. Scrap the stats part of the character generation screen and build in Shadowkeeper and Level 1 NPCs. Yes, wow.

What's more, before you know it there would be a whole new set of mods as well. "Mega Dragons not tough enough? The Radioactive Tyranosaurus mod gives this beast smart bombs as well as a gatling gun. You may want to install the Improved Kevlar and Biohazard Armor mod as well."

[Sammi Somara]

Just recently another company got rights, I hear.
From the rumors I heard the BGIII project is back on.

[Scipio]

Atari may have something brewing:
http://pc.ign.com/ar...4/504198p1.html

EDIT: Or not! I've checked again and the post about Atari is four years old. Then again, it was Atari that published NWN II.

Edited by Scipio, 20 April 2008 - 06:45 PM.

[jcompton]

If anything had happened with that particular piece of (alleged) development, we would know about it by now.

As things stand, Atari would have to be the publisher as they hold the exclusive license to D&D computer titles. However, one of Atari's chief sources of income as of late has been selling licenses back to Hasbro (no joke.) So I suspect it's only a matter of time before a deal is made to shuffle that license over.

Edited by jcompton, 20 April 2008 - 07:11 PM.

[Eleima]

*sigh* I, like Berelinde, won't be holding my breath. And I'll probably be disappointed anyways, because there'll be no Minsc, no Imoen,... And it'll probably be all 3D'ish.

[Scipio]

*sigh* I, like Berelinde, won't be holding my breath. And I'll probably be disappointed anyways, because there'll be no Minsc, no Imoen,... And it'll probably be all 3D'ish.

Are you also underwhelmed by the 3D hoo-hah? The 2D in BG is much nicer than the 3D in NWN, in my never humble opinion. Game producers should use 3D for arcade games and consoles, not for real games.

[Choo Choo]

Of course, and then there's the 3D in the Elder Scrolls games and their like... but the 2D suits games like Baldur's Gate so much better.

Edited by Choo Choo, 20 April 2008 - 11:43 PM.

[SConrad]

About the 2D/3D question: Apart from some camera issues in some cases, I actually rather liked the 3D engine in NWN2. I could definitely see (and would play) BGIII in an improved version of that, or at least similar to it.

[Lord Ernie]

What JC said. While BG3 as the 'digital version' of D&D 4th Edition is far from a given, IMO, the franchise won't be abandoned forever. I'm just wondering if it will ever be used in a related storyline with high production values, or if they will simply continue in the same vein as the (supposedly horrendous) BG console games.

[Bluenose]

There's a thread on the Obsidian forums:
http://forums.obsidi...showtopic=45749

JE Sawyer is doing a project by the name "The Black Hound" in his spare time. It's a module for NWN2.

[Eleima]

About the 2D/3D issue, it's not that I *hate* 3D, but I really liked the feel of the isometric graphics (or whatever it's called, I'm no expert) in BG2, it felt more D&D'ish. For some reason, 3D has always, in my mind, been associated with Duke Nukem, Doom, Unreal Tournament, and all those "shoot them up"s. NWN in 3D just seemed... wrong, for some reason (not to mention that I kept dying, and was incredible frustrated and lost interest by the second District! ).

Doesn't mean that I wouldn't buy and play a BG3 if it came out in 3D though...


EDIT: I just played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the first time ever today, and oh wow, it was so beautiful, I thought I was gonna cry. Forget I ever said anything, I like 3D in an RPG after all.

(Although I have to ask.... What is it with RPGs and Sewers? Really... )

Edited by Eleima, 21 April 2008 - 09:05 AM.

[Sammi Somara]

About the 2D/3D question: Apart from some camera issues in some cases, I actually rather liked the 3D engine in NWN2. I could definitely see (and would play) BGIII in an improved version of that, or at least similar to it.

Didn't you hear? Some people are making a mod for NWN2 that remakes the original BG for the NWN2 engine! I've seen some screenshots, it looks absolutely *gorgeous*.

[Kellen]

Yep. Got the prologue done so far, and I've got it sitting on my pc. Not sure what the most recent updates are.

[Sammi Somara]

I like your new avatar, Kellen.

[Kellen]

Thankee!

[SConrad]

I like your new avatar, Kellen.

This is not the "Rate Avatar" thread. This is also not the Rec Room.

Back on topic, please.