YOU get to design BG 3!

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Well, no, not really, but imagine this fantasy scenario...

Bioware and Black Isle decide that for whatever reason, you are the best person to give control to regarding the design of BG 3. All of the programmers, writers, and artists are awaiting your commands. How does your ideal BG 3 game look?

For me, it's a combination of the things I liked best about all of the RPGs I've played, from BG to the Wizardry series to Might & Magic to Realms of Arkania to Daggerfall...

- No race or class restrictions

- Magic users can cast spells while wearing light armor (chain mail? Leather?) but suffer a casting time penalty.

- Ability scores go up to 100 with magical enhancements, or 80 without enhancements. Ability scores increase permanently as a player specifically has their character train toward that goal; send your fighter to train for strength, use some time to have your mage study some more, have your theif utilize a guildhall's training facilities.

- A large set of major and minor skills to invest training time and effort in. Skills, including weapon skills, gradually improve with use, as opposed to getting a big jump at level advancement.

- Level advancement gets harder and harder as you reach higher levels, moreso than in standard D&D. Advancement past a certain level (15?) requires enrollment in an applicable guild and special training there. At higher levels, advancement is dependent on special quests specified by your guild, not XP alone. Level advancement rewards the character with more hot points, better THACO, saving throws, etc, as in standard game. No experience cap.

- Spellcasting based on mana rather than memorization. A standard set of spells available when a new spell level is learned, and more advanced and powerful spells available in the game through guilds or finding spellbooks. Mana slowly recharges in daylight. Mana potions used to replenish mana otherwise.

- Special skills not limited by class or race, but development of some skills goes faster for some races or classes than others. Example: An elven sorcerer should have more spells and greater mana resources than a half-orc fighter at the same level who has also studied magic.

- Game perspective is first-person, possibly using something like the Unreal engine (no more pathfinding problems and a better representation of what it would be like to be actually in a dungeon or walking around a city) , but switching to the top-down, three quarters angle for battles (better angle for battle strategy)

- Several major story arcs or main quests available in the game initially, which can be followed or disregarded as the player chooses. A large, dynamic game world with randomly generated minor quests and dozens of major towns with distinctive NPCs. Add-on expansions introduce new regions or add new storyline options along with upgrades to graphics engine or game mechanics.

- Reputation and relationships with NPCs continue to evolve beyond scripted events in a storyline.

Other than that (changing just about everything major!), keep things as they are.

Heh!

So what would you shape BG 3 into if you had the chance?

 

Your bg3 sucks... no 3d!!!
3d just slows my machine but openGL makes it tolerable.
I have a 350mhz P2.
Mana would be nice but that is more like Diablo 1&2 then.

My BG3
-no exp cap
-game starts in Waterdeep and not in a dungeon (starting a new game is more fun)
-more spells
-more memorization slots on low lvl spells (a lvl 15 mage could memorize about 10 lvl 1 spells)
-no xp cap (why don't you get xp after a certain amount?)
-5-20 different endings
-more quests that are completely in town and don't include large forests and wet sewers
-more money (I never have money to buy good magic weapons)
-faster casting, lvl 1 and 2 spells should be able to cast even if you are casting a a lvl 7 spell
example: cast disintegrate and shoot magic missiles at the same time

Wizard needs a spell that doesn't require any memorization. It should be magic missile and it should be the default attack of any wizard.
Why?
My wizards are out of spells all the time and can't do any dmg. (sling sucks)

 

if you held forests and sewers in higher regard you would not have any money problems(after all,that is where the money lies,just as in real life )

 

A Wizard that doesn't need to memorize? I think someone came up with that already. It's called a SORCERER.

And, Slings suck??
I'm playing as a Solo-Sorcerer right now (again), and I am dealing incredulous damage with the Sling of Seeking you can buy from Bernard at the Copper Coronet. I have purchased my character Brac. Ac:3, the sling, and a belt of Hill Giant Strength with my accumulated wealth. I'm about lev12 right now, and deal:

1d4+1
+2 (for bullets +2)
+2 (for Sling of Seeking, +2)
+7 (for strength bonus at Str: 19)

for a whopping total of 1d4+12, or 13-16 damage per hit @ a bonus to attack of +6. (missile adj: +2, +2 bullet, +2 sling)

Slings rock! no pun intended...

Amon-Ra

[This message has been edited by Amon-Ra (edited December 29, 2000).]

 

Baldur's Gate 3 would be held in the Planes, specifically in Sigil and you would utilise her portals to go places. Paladins and Rangers would be aliens in a world full of weirder concepts.

You may achieve high levels, but you'd meet very high level enemies too. And you can't just walk up to them and kill them.....no-o-o-o....fiends this time have vorpals and can cast Gates, Balor's have access to all the Symbols (except of Torment ) and can use them at will, etc.

Kill Liches only by destroying their phylactery. Travel on the Astral and Ethereal planes. Enter a Githzerai or Githyanki citadel! Learn the powerful, unique planar spells instead of the usual! Stygian Ice Storm! Abyssal Fury! Celestial Host! Mechanus Cannon!

Take part in a Blood War! Repulse a Solar Aasimon! Travel the Grey Wastes, the Abyss, Baator, Pandemonium, Mechanus!

MUAHAHAAHHAHA!

(Thus goes the downward spiral of the planetouched mind)

 

Amon-Ra, besides the slight hint that you're trying to be a smartass with the sorcerer comment, realize that the sorcerer cannot multiclass, and cannot specialize. Therefore, in my version of the game, the need for re-memorization is done away with completely. Furthermore, although a sorcerer doesn't need to select spells to memorize, they still use up spells and have to rest to "reload" their spells like every other magic user-the effect is essentially the same.

 

Well how about when Bioware does not get a licence from WotC for doing BG3.
WotC has been purchased by the competition so this is very much possible, unless Bioware has already a license for BG3 to use the AD&D rules.
When they don't have a license and don't get any either then will Bioware do BG3?

 

My BG3:

-Two games, both exactly the same (content wise): One two run using BG1s engine on slow machines, and a super spiney whizzy new one for the rich people to use.

-Create a character and choose hometown, where you start the game.

-LOTS of inter-party banter, like in BGII

-go ALL over Faerun (nearly) discovering story along the way

-abiltity to settle down and get married once you are dun fightin'

 

I'd like to see a game where you can actually play a good or evil plotline. While BG2 is an improvement over BG in terms of actually letting the character do evil things, I'd like to be able to play an evil plotline. Have the two stories run parallel, perhaps in the same areas and with at least some of the same characters, but give the evil gamer something truly unique.

 

1: I'd rather be a smartass than a dumbass...

2: I was responding to Lukki, not you, Cuckoo.

3: Mana? Mana is basically what a Sorcerer uses. They simply summon energy to cast their spells. So the only change you are suggesting is that their casting abilities slowly recharge like in Diablo. I've played P&P with spell points. It's horrible. Imagine RECHARGABLE spell points.
*shoot monster, let it chase you in circles, recharge all the while, turn, shoot it again. repeat until monster is dead.

Amon-Ra

[This message has been edited by Amon-Ra (edited December 30, 2000).]

 

But I was also talking about magic users not having to memorize spells, Amon-ra. Also, when thinking of mana regenerating, think of Wizardy or Might & Magic instead of Diablo. I wouldn't use anything from Diablo as a template for an RPG. So no, there would be no "running around until your mana recharges"; in terms of rounds and turns, drinking a mana potion works the same as drinking a healing potion. In terms of recharging during daylight, it's a matter of several hours (gametime, not real time), not minutes. You still have to choose carefully how you expend those spell points or mana or whatever you want to call it, but if all you ever want to cast are fireball spells, you can do that for as long as your mana holds out, instead of having a certain number of them memorized that you can cast and then forget. The whole idea of casting a spell and then somehow completely forgetting it makes no sense whatsoever and is just a lame attempt at reasoning why TSR needed to handicap magic users somehow. I mean, come on, you can memorize something twice and do the spell twice as much? How about you learn a spell and it stays in your memory, but you must continue to learn to focus your energies to channel them into magical energy? That makes more sense to me.

 

So, what you are saying is:

You want your fantasy games to make sense?
...

Amon-Ra

 

Well, if they don't make some sort of sense, then there isn't any problem with one of the characters getting a mysterious "boost" in their stats or equipment or abilites, then...right?

 

*. greater story and conflict, for example a coflict betwean planes...hehehe

*. more children of Gods

*. can used horse, or train animal/monster (dragon?) for beastmaster

*. more secret, maybe even secret npc...hehehe

*. for monk, increase his speciality like speed or number of attack in round, sense of danger...mmm...maybe he can even used any items as deadly weapons (maybe it's base by his KI), like when he used ordinary sword it become sword+3 or more. Make him to be able to choose how to used his Ki energy for attact/combat or defense/armor bonus, or even to heal serious wound. KI energy is suppose to have more function then just for attack.

*. Beastmaster, he suppose to be able to train his trusted animal or monster, like familiar or Boo to Minck. And his spiritual bound is to his trusted animal/monster not to all his summon, so if he can call 10 wolf and all of them dead he shouldn't suffer any damage, except if his trusted animal, say...black panter dead, he may suffer/get pinalty from it.

*. more appereance, for example great druid in druid grove should be have other appereance then "ordinary" fighter appereance. A good example is a great druid from Icewind dale (a man with red/blue cloak and his hand crossed each other)...

*. more fantasy animal/monster, like unicorn, pegasus, medusa...

*. meet famaous character in conflict

*. can climb, swim, etc...

*. more movie, especially in special moment. A good example is torment.

mmm...ok, that's for now
how about it friends?

 

First thing I do is to make sure that the Monsters AI is more improved.

1. Monters work as a team.

2. Traps are set in random locations in the map.

3. Setting off a trap will alert monsters and your party will be ambushed, party members are randomly teleported to a different location for a possible ambush, parties magical items are taken away.

4. More random ambushes by Assassins.

5. Meet more Hero's like Drizzt's who may help you in your quest against imposibble odds.

6. NPC's Party members may get better stats like having their intelligence increased also their magical weapons which only they can use may improve from a plus one sword to a plus 2, plus 3, and ect..

7. NPC's alignment may change due to your deeds and influence over them.

8. A bigger party of more than 6 NPC's.

9. Monster using different battles tactics.

10. No stupid Exp cap.

11. Very hard quest for obtaining artifacts, rather than having cromwell forge them you. Or buying them from the shops.

12. Random Generated maps for side quest.

13. Lest exps for killing weak monsters.

14. May become a 5 class charecter like Fighter, Mage, Thief, Bard and Clerics.

15. Different game endings depending on what you did through out the game.

 

I only have 1 thing that I care about

LESS DUNGEON CRAWLS

I am sick off all the quests being the same thing over and over again.

 

I have a feeling that Jan will be making an appearance in BG3. I mean why else would he say at the end of his quest that he might need help dealing with his lover's wife if they didn't act on this, and as far as i know, nothing else ever happens concerning this.

I think that there should be more open areas in BG3 like in Baldur's Gate, but maybe not as many. The one thing that annoyed me about BG2 is that nearly all quests invovled dungeons. I got great pleasure in BG1 just roaming forests and creating armies of squirles to attack marauding Hobgoblins with. Of course they were absoloutly useles so I killed them all afterwards .

Also, a setting maybe in Suzail in Cormyr would be good.

With regards to the experience cap, i still think that they should have one, because it just wouldn't be as fun if we had ridiculously powerful characters, but if it was higher - I'm still in chapter 6 in BG2, yet i have already hit the experience cap, this is frustrating, as i still have quite a lot to do which my character wont get credit for, but i'm not going to remove the cap as it is just my first time through, and i don't want to 'cheat'.

THe problem with a 'secret NPC' is that with boards like this, they wouldn't be secret for very long, and so therefore pointless.

In BG2, they shouldn't have a limit to the number of things you can summon, i have had moments of enourmess frustration when i waste a summoning spell as i forgot i already had 5 critters out already.

It would be ridiculous having more children of Gods or heros. First of all, i may be wrong, but I think Bhaal was the only god to have children whilst walking the world. Secondly, can you seriously imagine a game wall to wall with famous heroes such as Drizzt or Elminster. It would be awful.



[This message has been edited by Wildfire (edited December 30, 2000).]

 

That is why you should settle down and get married.
Oh and the spell system is perfect as it is.

 

If Bethesda can pull off what they're attempting with Elder Scrolls 3:Morrowind, then that pretty much sums up what I think would be the perfect RPG. Check out this FAQ if you're curious as to why I'm excited about this game... http://morrowind.telefragged.com/mwfaq.shtml#9.12