<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Black Isle's Baldur's Gate --> <!--X-From-R13: X Q Znjerapr <pynjNhaqre.rate.ftv.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 18:56:34 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199808080152.SAA07022#under,engr.sgi.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Black Isle's Baldur's Gate</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00548.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00550.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01056.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00548.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00549">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00549">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00549">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Black Isle's Baldur's Gate</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Black Isle's Baldur's Gate</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 18:52:41 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> Black Isle appears to be doing a multi-player RPG: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/index.html">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/index.html</A> Which supports up to 5 simultaneous players per the FAQ at: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/mb.html">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/mb.html</A> Also per the FAQ they are doing a very literal model of the TSR AD&D rules. <kof> Also from the FAQ: --<cut>-- Q: Do you have to manage things like eating (rations) and such? A: No, there is no ration management. We thought this was kind of mundane - Baldur's Gate is epic and heroic. You don't have to worry about going to the bathroom either (your characters are smart enough to do that when you aren't looking.) --<cut>-- (there goes SimAD&D). and: --<cut>-- Q: Do actions not in accordance with my alignment have any effects? A: There will be a "reputation" for your characters as well as an alignment. Alignment per se doesn't change anything, since no one knows what your specific alignment is. However, you will get more or less experience points and the others in your party will react differently to each other depending upon the alignment breakdown of the party, how it corresponds with the reputation you've built up, and the initial alignment you chose at the start of the game. Reputation is something you build during the course of an adventure, and it will generally parallel your alignment. It represents how much people know of your previous history of choices - and guards may react differently to you in the next town you visit! --<cut>-- Nothing like partial omniscience by NPC's. And: --<cut>-- Q: How much control do I have over my NPCs? A: All NPCs have their own AI scripting, outlining their basic reactions to basic situations. At anytime, the player may "override" what the NPC is currently doing. AI may be turned off or on at will. The scripts can be modified to some extent; they help create a NPCs personality and adds to the immersion level of the game. There will be several levels of scripting available. We want to allow players to be able to modify scripts not at all (the scripts that come with NPCs should be quite adequate), a little (e.g. load in cautious mage, aggressive fighter, etc.), or a lot (e.g. if enemy gibberling sighted then cast magic missile at it). It will be up to the individual player to decide how much to tinker with AI on his or her party members. --<cut>-- (Sounds rule based?) And: --<cut>-- Q: Will critical hits be in the combat system? A: Absolutely! Not only are they calculated, they are graphically displayed with blood and gore! Of course, the level of graphic violence will be adjustable to allow people of all ages to enjoy the game. --<cut>-- Insta-kill? And: --<cut>-- Q: Is Baldur's Gate going to be multiplayer? A: Yes. The multiplayer and single-player games are actually based on the exact same story. The whole point of all of this is that we want to capture the feel of the old AD&D adventures, where you entered a campaign world with friends and adventured! The multiplayer game that we are creating is a simulation of the old AD&D sessions of our youth. People can "join" the adventuring party (up to six people per game) by taking over one of the NPCs and if they have to go for supper the party can either stop or continue (with an NPC AI back in the character). We are not creating a "story-less" multiplayer game, we are creating a complex story-based RPG that can be played either single player or multiplayer. Q: How many people can play Baldur's Gate multiplayer? A: A maximum of six can play (that's how many people can be in a party). ...deletia... Q: What is the difference between Multiplayer and an Online version? A: A multiplayer game features a small group of players (6 in the case of Baldur's Gate) that share the adventures and story together. The persistent world supports only the 6 players working together though a common story and quest. In contrast, an online game (text-based MUDs and Ultima Online are examples of true Online games) consists of a persistent world in which many (hundreds or even thousands) of characters play together. Typically there is not a strong story element as the many players make their own quests. We'd love to do a Baldur's Gate Online but recognize that it is truly a massive undertaking, even larger than Baldur's Gate (which has been in production for 2 years and currently has 30 people working on it). We're still not sure whether there will be a Baldur's Gate Online - we'll keep you posted on this subject! --<cut>-- UOL is the touchstone again. And: --<cut>-- Q: What happens when the leader of a multi-player game dies? A: If the main character dies (whether in single- or multi-player games), the game cannot continue and a saved game must be reloaded. The story revolves around a main character, THE main character. If he/she dies, the story cannot go on. --<cut>-- Gotta love it. The leader dies and all the other players are kicked out or have to restart from when the "leader" last saved. Talk about a versioned reality (RRCS == Reality Revision Control System). I guess there's no inheriting the crown. Screen shots are at: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/hall.html">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/hall.html</A> The screen shots are rather interesting. they appear to be doing a standard tile based approach for the graphics, but with a very small tile granularity. Examine the construction of the cliff at: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/bald02.gif">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/bald02.gif</A> and: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/baldr009.jpg">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/baldr009.jpg</A> for instance. I suspect the glowing rings about figures: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/baldr011.jpg">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/baldr011.jpg</A> indicate PC's over NPC's? (Anybody confirm?) The handling of building interiors: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/baldr019.jpg">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/baldr019.jpg</A> is also interesting if standard (black field outside of building). A couple older exterior shots: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/bald04.gif">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/bald04.gif</A> <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/bald08.gif">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/images/screens/bald08.gif</A> are *really* illuminating (look at the angles and shadows). Scott Grieg, Lead Programmer writes at: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/scott.html">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/scott.html</A> --<cut>-- I will have to say that those criticisms are certainly valid. This almost word for word echoes a conversation that Ray and I had about a month ago. We were discussing whether to release the NID as is or update it with the latest engine, art, sounds and animations. The NID was originally written last September. We had it essentially finished, but we had to wait for voice acting, sounds and music. Since both the sound studio and actors are hired on a daily basis, it wasn't practical to record sounds just for the NID. So we had to wait until we were ready to record the voice acting for both the NID and the final game. This meant we had to wait until we had the verbal dialog complete, and for Interplay's sound studio to be free. This didn't happen until after Febuary. So after the voice acting, was complete we were left with the decision, do we release the NID as is, or do we rewrite it using the latest version of the engine. The bad news is that rewriting the NID would have delayed the final game by another 3 to 4 weeks. So, old NID it is. Since the NID is based on a 9 month old version of the engine, I would like to tell about some the things that have changed or been improved on since the NID. -Scrolling The scrolling in the game is like Command and Conquer. It is completely under user control. You are free to scroll anywhere in the area. Unexplored areas are hidden until the characters can see them. -Line of sight Areas beyond the line of sight of the character are dimmed. The game has true line of sight. It is affected by buildings and terrain features. -Sounds The sounds in the NID are not the final sounds. The sound guys at Interplay have not sent us any of the final sounds yet. We had to make due with some misc. sounds that we scavenged, or made ourselves. -Voice Acting The voices are the final voices, although they haven't been mastered yet. There is a lot more voice acting than what is indicated by the NID. -Monster Sounds None of the monster sounds are final. We are hoping to get those soon. -Character Animations I believe we have redone almost every character and monster animation since the NID. Since we had to adjust the format of the animations, we were not able to insert the new animations. -Spell Effects There has been a lot of effort place into improving the spell effects. If you look at the recent screen shots of the lightning, you will notice it looks a lot better than those that are in the NID. Almost all of the spell effects have been improved in that way. For example the fire ball and flame arrows have smoke trails, and we have removed most of the particle effects. -Character Interaction The character interaction code was a recent addition the to game. At the time of the NID, all of the character interaction was faked using the scripting language. This is why the voices and the actions seem somewhat out of sync. -User Interface We are still in the process of refining the UI. Since this is highly sensitive to the feedback that we receive from the testers, I believe that this will still be changing right to the end of the development cycle. Overall, I would have to say that the final game looks so much better than the NID, that we were strongly considering delaying the game a month, just to update the NID. I hope that you think that we made the right decision. P.S. We also could have not released the NID at all. This was also considered since it no longer represents what the game truly looks like. P.P.S. Keep the comments coming in. Even though we have addressed most of your concerns, we are still listening to your opinions. Scott Greig Lead Programmer for Baldur's Gate --<cut>-- I didn't check out the web based discussion at: <A HREF="http://www.interplay.com/bgate/mb.html">http://www.interplay.com/bgate/mb.html</A> as its distinctly painful and tortuous to use. -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net (Contractor) Internet: coder#ibm,net ---------(*) Internet: claw#under,engr.sgi.com ...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00548.html">[MUD-Dev] Object Storage Fact Book, Release 4.0 (fwd)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00550.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Affordances and social method (Was: Re: Wi</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01056.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: The great crusade....</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00548.html">[MUD-Dev] Object Storage Fact Book, Release 4.0 (fwd)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00549"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00549"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: List of rules suggestionbox</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00640" HREF="msg00640.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: List of rules suggestionbox</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Mon 10 Aug 1998, 22:58 GMT </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="01054" HREF="msg01054.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: The great crusade....</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Thu 17 Sep 1998, 00:53 GMT </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00633" HREF="msg00633.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: The great crusade....</A></strong>, S. Patrick Gallaty <a href="mailto:patrick#gric,com">patrick#gric,com</a>, Mon 10 Aug 1998, 16:30 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01056" HREF="msg01056.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: The great crusade....</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Thu 17 Sep 1998, 01:05 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00549" HREF="msg00549.html">[MUD-Dev] Black Isle's Baldur's Gate</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Sat 08 Aug 1998, 01:56 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00548" HREF="msg00548.html">[MUD-Dev] Object Storage Fact Book, Release 4.0 (fwd)</A></strong>, Nathan F Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Fri 07 Aug 1998, 23:20 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00539" HREF="msg00539.html">[MUD-Dev] after the plague: mud report</A></strong>, S. Patrick Gallaty <a href="mailto:choke#sirius,com">choke#sirius,com</a>, Fri 07 Aug 1998, 19:03 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00537" HREF="msg00537.html">[MUD-Dev] Events</A></strong>, s001gmu <a href="mailto:s001gmu#nova,wright.edu">s001gmu#nova,wright.edu</a>, Fri 07 Aug 1998, 15:59 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00536" HREF="msg00536.html">[MUD-Dev] Protocols</A></strong>, Vadim Tkachenko <a href="mailto:vt#freehold,crocodile.org">vt#freehold,crocodile.org</a>, Fri 07 Aug 1998, 04:53 GMT </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>