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Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition Mod Tweets

Discussion in 'Game/SP News & Comments' started by Taluntain, Mar 20, 2012.

  1. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    [​IMG]Trent Oster has posted a couple more tweets on his twitter account, this time with fan-made mods as the subject:

    On mod management / WeiDU:

    We have some ideas on mod management and how to improve the experience.​

    And regarding the chance that some of the better mods will be added to the game:

    We're interesting [sic] in the concept of including some of the great mods out there into BG "canon".

    Whoa. To be honest, there are precious few mods that I feel should actually be integrated, and even of those not nearly all of their components. Bug fixes (and I mean clear-cut FIXES only, ala Baldurdash, not the mixed bags of fixes and tweaks that some modding groups are pushing) are probably just about the only thing that should be included 100%.

    I hope Trent realizes how gigantic a can of worms he's just opened...

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2015
  2. Dr_Asik Gems: 6/31
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    I wouldn't mind them integrating the G3 fixpack. Does anyone play without it, if so why?

    They also could take inspiration from the tweakpack for game options, like higher stacks, bags of holding, all that sort of convenience stuff.

    I definitely don't want to see any fan-made quests or characters though.
     
  3. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I agree with our resident Doctor.

    I can hardly remember the last time i did NOT use one or two of the more famous fix and tweak packs.
     
  4. Nizidramanii'yt Gems: 10/31
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    Though I appreciated all of the fanmade contest, I must join the rest in stating that I'd rather just see the excellent 'fix' packs implemented, and not the storyline-mods or whatever. They were decent, but not enough to be really HQ material. But the more content the better? It's debatable I suppose.
     
  5. hannibal555 Gems: 9/31
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    I don't use G3 fixpack and don't want it implemented.
    So far only Baldurdash is a clean 'fixes exclusively bugs only' fixpack.

    G3 goes far too often the way: 'I THINK that is what the developers MIGHT have intended'.
    Sometimes some of their fixes feel more like balance changes.
    I wouldn't say, all in all that it is bad, but I'm a purist and even such tiny things bother me.


    Anyway, in my opinion the developers should focus on what they think
    is best for the game and not so much try to please the modding community.
    I like the modding community and some mods myself, don't get me wrong, it is just that
    I think that modding and developing shouldn't interfere.
    Mods are for after the game is done.
     
    Taluntain likes this.
  6. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I definitely wouldn't want to see mods like Unfinished Business, Kelsey/Keto and really any other content mod added to the release. In my experience there are stability issues and/or quality issues that would make them wholly inappropriate for the base game.

    That doesn't mean that I won't install some of these mods in my own games and appreciate them for what they are, but to make them "canon" would go too far. A good fixpack like Baldurdash would be welcome, however.
     
  7. Montresor

    Montresor Mostly Harmless Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    Some of the things from Unfinished Business could be implemented (e.g., Minsc's personal quest) but not everything (like, new items). On the overall I am on the "purist" bandwagon. They should stick to fixing bugs, updating the interface and making the game fully compatible with modern computers!
     
  8. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I get the feeling that they're viewing mods as an easy way to get extra content into the game without it costing them any money and very little effort. What they seem to be forgetting though is that the people who enjoy those mods have been playing with them installed over the last 5-10 years so it's not really new content for them. And the purists don't want most of the unofficial, fan-made content anyway. Forcing mods into the EEs just to inflate them and so that they could be sold as something new would be really cheap.
     
  9. Proteus_za

    Proteus_za

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    This is one of those remarks that is quite dangerous without some clarification.

    Even the Fixpack, which to me is quite... well lacking in flavour, would be a contentious thing to include. Then again, they are the developers, so, if they say Fixpack is correct and in line with developers intent, well I guess it is.

    But then again, the word canon suggests something that may affect the story, outcome or characters. I'm not familiar enough with BG1 modding to suggest what mods could be included. Perhaps even some of the AI improvements contained within SCS, on the harder difficulty modes?
     
  10. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    ^

    I'm sure the BGEE people are aware of that.
    They know that the Fan-Base would rip them a new one, should they be silly enough to do such thing.

    I don't mind them improving and/or adding what was cut or planned once but never made it into the final.
     
  11. Blades of Vanatar

    Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    If there is no new content, what would be the point of re-doing it? Only for better graphics? I wouldn't pay for that. It wouldn't hurt, but it shouldn't be the major reason for the upgrade. Enhanced gameplay on the other hand would be nice. As I have stated in another thread, I have played BG1 thru a hundred times. If only the graphics receive a small change, what is the point? IMO new content would be welcoming. I see why others wouldn't want fan-made content as alot of it is very unbalancing to the game, but what about newly developed content by Trent's group? Or subtle changes to some existing quests?
     
  12. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Trent tweeted that they they're looking at the inclusion of "popular gameplay tweaks" and that they are "looking into unfinished business and what can be done".

    Tweaks, seriously? Once you start going down that slippery slope, where exactly do you stop? There have been hundreds of tweaks made by various modders over the years and I'm sure each of them is popular with somebody (and also not somebody else). Or even more easily, they could just say "this and that tweakpack is very popular based on our perception, let's integrate the whole thing". :eek: :doh:

    But don't get me wrong, there's certainly a bucketload of things that could be improved by tweaking it that wouldn't be detrimental to any other aspect of gameplay but you'd need to make a judgement call on every single such tweak. And without actual play-testing to judge all the effects, who's to say how many of those judgements calls would be complete misses?
     
  13. Proteus_za

    Proteus_za

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    Some of the user interface tweaks, like improved stacking, should definitely be included. Maybe not infinite stacking, but higher stacks certainly.

    Put it this way, it would benefit the game if they could think about how to modernize the infinity engine interface. That doesnt mean they have to go along the lines of established tweaks, they could completely change how the interface worked, if they wanted to. Perhaps he really means that they are going to modernize the game and include extra content, and if they decide that a particular mod or tweak fits, that it will be included?

    It may cause some angst among those who are loyal to particular mods, but I think its a good approach. It shows that they are open to suggestions from the community. As in, why reinvent the wheel? Some mods out there are really good, and really improve the game. If so, why not make them standard? Remember, as I said before, these guys are the developers. They alone have the right to decide what is or is not developer intent.

    As an aside, I remember how much angst it caused when GPG would update Supreme Commander/FA, but not respond to or engage with the community. That is far more damaging.
     
  14. Splunge

    Splunge Bhaal’s financial advisor Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Except that could upset the so-called "purists"; I recall a discussion not too long ago centering around just that. Don't get me wrong - I hate inventory management, and so I love the infinite potion stacking, but as Tal pointed out, a tweak will inevitably piss someone off. And while I sometimes think purists should get a life and realize that it's just a game, by the same token, if a mod works just as well, then leave the core game alone. Of course, that doesn't address the fact the integrating tweaks into the game could avoid some of the problems that mods can create, bu where do you draw the line?
     
  15. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I don't think they will be doing any wholesale inclusion of fan mods into the game. In other words, I doubt the will be downloading fanmade game files, and using those in the game. More likely they will mirror certain popular fixes and tweaks. They've already made it clear they aren't really considering content mods, though there are a number of items from Unfinished Business that were originally from David Gaider that may be possible.

    Further, recent updates on the baldursgate.com website state that there will be one major new quest, and one new follower in the game. So it would seem that content updates will be somewhat limited.
     
  16. Topken

    Topken Elven-dragon wizard

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    And since they are backing the modders. Cant the modders just remod the gameand allow the infinite stacks like we do now? and let them up the amount for non modded games? I dont see why some of the tweaks cant be intergrated when it would be easy enough to retweak the games after they are out to suit the tastes of people again? They are allowing you guys to go back in and see if they changed to much to need a rework of the mods but if i remember right they stated they didnt want to break current mods.
     
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