1123 replies to this topic

[Miraz]

OT: Obsidian is less to blame for their bugs than Bethesda/Zenimax. No developer creates bugfree code, but B/Z is infamous for rushing releases.

That would be true for Fallout: NV, but you can't blame B/Z for the horrible bugs in Alpha Protocol, or the terrible state of KOTOR:2.

[Wisp]

or the terrible state of KOTOR:2.

No, that blame falls squarely on LucasArts. Specifically, they wanted the game out for xmas, whether it was finished or not.

[Andrea C.]

Interview with Trent Oster on BGEE here.

Apparently, the new NPC will have a new class, and there's going to be a new adventure beside the NPC-related quest.

Reading about the source art assets being lost, however, it really spoils my fun.

[Miraz]

or the terrible state of KOTOR:2.

No, that blame falls squarely on LucasArts. Specifically, they wanted the game out for xmas, whether it was finished or not.

I disagree. The game could've been released in a working state quite easily ... Obsidian simply, for whatever reason, decided to leave in clearly unfinished portions of the game. It would've stood up on its own feet perfectly fine if they'd just said "Look, we're on a tight schedule, let's just cut out all these bits that we're not going to have time with", but they didn't. And Alpha Protocol, they only had themselves to blame.

Sorry, I just don't see the love for Obsidian ... they've never made a game that I'd classify as being any good.

[William Imm]

I disagree. The game could've been released in a working state quite easily ... Obsidian simply, for whatever reason, decided to leave in clearly unfinished portions of the game. It would've stood up on its own feet perfectly fine if they'd just said "Look, we're on a tight schedule, let's just cut out all these bits that we're not going to have time with", but they didn't. And Alpha Protocol, they only had themselves to blame.

Sorry, I just don't see the love for Obsidian ... they've never made a game that I'd classify as being any good.

OT: well, there's always TSLRCM...

[Vonburen]

or the terrible state of KOTOR:2.

No, that blame falls squarely on LucasArts. Specifically, they wanted the game out for xmas, whether it was finished or not.

I disagree. The game could've been released in a working state quite easily ... Obsidian simply, for whatever reason, decided to leave in clearly unfinished portions of the game. It would've stood up on its own feet perfectly fine if they'd just said "Look, we're on a tight schedule, let's just cut out all these bits that we're not going to have time with", but they didn't. And Alpha Protocol, they only had themselves to blame.

Sorry, I just don't see the love for Obsidian ... they've never made a game that I'd classify as being any good.

They didn't decide to leave the game unfinished, they were forced to. Regardless, we are talking about bugs, Kotor II had no major bug on its release, it was functional.
As a matter of fact neither Alpha Protocol nor Dungeon Siege III were overly bugged, I'd say they were in line with the current standards.
Your problem if you think none of Obsidian's games were any good. Mask of the Betrayer is easily one of the best RPGs released in the past 6-7 years, for example none of Bioware's game is comparable RPGwise, NV is excellent, a shame it rests upon that awful Gamebryo engine.
What else did they do? Storm of Zehir? The game was totally worth the 20$ you paid for it, NWN2? NWN2 is a terrible game, although it's still better than the original.

[Almateria]

And Alpha Protocol is literally the best RPG ever created. It really was plagued by bugs on release due to rushing it though, Obsidian has the worst luck with their publishers.

Edited by Almateria, 08 April 2012 - 01:47 AM.

[Eleima]

I'm willing to grant some leeway, guys, but this thread has *really* veered off topic. Let's try and steer it back in the direction of BGEE news, and you can create a thread to debate the faults and qualities of Obsidian there, 'kay?

[Galactygon]

If Asc64 was indeed onboard, the potential for epic win in BGEE would be seriously boosted

Unfortunately, this is not the case. They haven't made contact with Asc yet. Source

-Galactygon

[devicem]

Here's how I see it.

During these 12 years since BG was released, the people behind those mods made one hellova' job to make the best possible complete game of all time. And, so far, IMO, they have succeeded. So, let's assume this is one side of the coin.

The other side of the coin will naturally be what the new BGEE will look like. They can fix, change, modify, balance, nerf, add whatever the hell they want, hell they can even make the game grow its own christmas tree next to Frendly Arm Inn, but the final decision on whether to buy it or not will rest upon whether BGEE satisfies or more likely dissatisfies the hardcore fan of BG series. In case of the former, then no worries, hats off, here's your money. In case of the latter, I'll just shrug my shoulders, say "Oh, well" and go back to playing the original, which I believe is what most of you consider of doing. I'm still rooting for them, though. Reviving a game is always a good thing. -.-

Edited by devicem, 08 April 2012 - 11:35 AM.

[Ascension64]

I am hoping the new content could be backported to Tutu/BGT if possible (let's hope the file formats stay similar). Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, it will require people to own BGEE first.

[phordicus]

And thus one of the glaring problems with the industry. They're explicit that you are not buying the game, you're renting it, thus killing any secondhand market. This makes all the hype, especially about stuff they might or hope to do, really peculiar. They just need enough people to buy in early before genuine reviews come out, and not the publisher-paid-for reviews at IGN, Kotaku, RPS, and sundry other media whore outlets.

Sell me the game, not a license to install and play it. Until then...

[Suslik]

Anyway release of BG on a new platform can and will inject a lot more newcomers to the BG-fan community. More fans = more donators = more modders which indirectly will result in better modded game overall quality.

[Miraz]

Really very encouraged by the twitterings on twitter from Trent Oster about their artist working on the level art. One of the most important things is making the game look deliciously sexy in high res.

[phordicus]

Anyway release of BG on a new platform can and will inject a lot more newcomers to the BG-fan community. More fans = more donators = more modders which indirectly will result in better modded game overall quality.

The new platform is hardly mod-friendly, and the people that play games on them are certainly not more mod-proficient than PC gamers. Just look at what the shill is forced to pimp: running the art through some blur and saturation filters. Definitely not a significant contribution.

[Kaeloree]

We have no idea if the updated Infinity Engine will be mod compatible (it seems like it will), and somehow I doubt that they'll be running blur and saturation filters over the areas; I'm not sure where you're pulling that from. I doubt they'll touch the area art at all, except to create the new areas needed for their new quest.

[Andrea C.]

I doubt they'll touch the area art at all, except to create the new areas needed for their new quest.

Trent said they're looking into OpenGL upscaling algorithms for backgrounds and animations, since the source art assets are lost and can't be re-rendered.

[Kaeloree]

So they're not actually touching the art, just upscaling it. Wow, that would be awesome. Even if they can only upscale things by 10-20%, that would make a big difference.

[Archmage Silver]

Agreed, that should really work wonders with high resolutions.