Graphic, gameplay, new BG

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 4:24 am

Some evening ago i had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine. I think that with BGII we have reached a really good level of graphic. I said that i would prefer developers spending their time on gameplay improvements (but it's OK now) and making more games in the BG series (like they're doing with ToB). My friend said he preferred more graphical improvements (like 3D) and less gameplay or games. If more of the BG series will be done, in his opinion, BG would become a game without a really good story.
What do you think??
Would you prefer seeing graphic or gameplay improvement??? And what about more BG games to play????

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Edwin, mighty founder of the Council of Mages

Garcia · Post by **Garcia** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 4:57 am

Of course the best would be both it is very possible these days.
Gameplay and story always comes first no matter what genre of games some graphic is more important than others are.
One of the games that I have played a lot lately is DX-ball (remember the old megaball c64? this is the PC version) very simple made but shi* lots of gameplay. Come to think of it a lot of old games were as good and some better that many of the new ones even though they have the resources to make a much better graphic game. What many games today do IMDO is they use a super graphic to compensate for a poor gameplay. These games are at first very impressive but there are not that many hours of gameplay in them since one tends to get bored pretty quickly. Just think of the good old days when a game was a game and graphic was for homos and cyberfreaks

gameplay first then graphic on a close second.

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 5:37 am

Graphics are just enough. Gameplay is the essence. However i believe BioWare anyway should develop both directions. There is a lot of games with good graphics failed and forgotten, though.
BTW, improvement of graphics might almost surely lead to higher requirements for hardware necessary. It may become OS-dependent, too (for example, NT do not have official DirectX higher as 3, it would be nice BG running on Linux as Neverwinter is supposed to, etc.) In these terms better is foe of good

Just my 2g,
L.

Mielikki · Post by **Mielikki** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 8:45 am

the graphics are decent for me, but if they stop altogether their emphasis on graphics and concentrate on gameplay, other firms wont be sleeping and after a while we ll be unhappy with the currently awesome graphics.
so i guess %50 %50 is kewl for grahics/gameplay development.

for the question if bg should continue its storyline i m not sure.. the current lvl's achieved (even without expansion) and the unbelievable numbers of AC's and THACO's sadden an AD&D and Forgotten Realms fan like me.
i dont wanna be stronger than Drizzt, Khelben or Elminster.
cuz that ruins the fun of it, removes the idols that u fight and imagine to become one.

this is my opinion =]
if ppl want god level hack n slashing, they might wanna try Diablo2, lvl 99 is pretty god like(even for D2)

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~Goddess Of Forests and all Rangers~

Sabretooth · Post by **Sabretooth** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 8:56 am

I think that with RPG type games especially that graphics should have a lower proirity than gameplay. The graphics in BG2 arent spectacular but they get the job done and thats fine. If BG3 came out tomorrow (...sure) then I would rather see a game that was as twice aslong as BG2 with the same graphics than if it were as long as BG2 with minor graphic enhancements (although some wouldnt want BG3 to be twice as long).
BG2 is all about gameplay and that is what makes it the worlds greatest game.
Of course an improvement in both areas would be ideal.

Ro´Jadre · Post by **Ro´Jadre** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 8:59 am

There won't be a BG3, ToB will finish the Godhild story.

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Ro´Jadre - Mighty Kensai/Mage of the Council of Mages

Garcia · Post by **Garcia** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 9:09 am

Originally posted by Ro´Jadre:
There won't be a BG3, ToB will finish the Godhild story.

wanna bet? if it becomes a hit I am sure that they will find out a way to carry out the story a little furter.
Alien 3 she dies (to say the least) *pop* here is Alien 4.
james Bond....he can't die.
quake....
movies or games they will find a way if they find it a succes. BG 3 is not that unimaginable. come to think of it Jon I. died pretty much the same way as mrs. Reaver did in Alien 4 (you lost me right?

)

Sabretooth · Post by **Sabretooth** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 9:51 am

BG3 could just focus on another Child of Bhaal and so the series could drag on for another 10 or so versions. Hooray!
Of coure this wont happen (unfortunately) because Bioware sold the rights to the BG engine I think, stupid move!

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 10:14 am

Maybe there will not be a BG3, but a different game with the same rules and a new story, like Icewind Dale. What makes great this game, IMO, is its structure. I mean, the possibility of creating a party, the different classes, the exp. points....the plot can be different (and good, obviusly...) but the game still great

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Edwin, mighty founder of the Council of Mages

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 12:01 pm

Sure, and there are lot of worlds besides TSR's - Feist's, Edding's, .... even Tolkien's, if you dare. (Feist, though, perhaps is still in claws of Sierra.)
L.

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 2:20 pm

It's really something of a non-issue. As long as the Infinity engine continues to make money, it will be used--witness SSI's endless rehashing of its old RPG engine for those Silver, Gold, Platinum and whatever series in the early 1990's. Nobody throws out a profit-making game engine. (Well, with one exception--Garriott's chucking of the U7 engine. But then, he's a self-admitted techno-freak.)

Once the engine appears to lose some interest for players, Interplay will finance a new engine's development while wringing the last coin out of the old one.

Satyr · Post by **Satyr** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 3:10 pm

Pretty graphics are great the first time through, but gameplay is what gives it re-playability. They can;t stand still on the graphics or course, but I'd rather see them put the greater effort into the AI and storylines.

Also, better graphics usually means additional hardware requirements. I'd hate to have to upgrade my hardware for every new title.

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"There's nothing I like better than the sound of the banjo. Unless its the sound of a chicken being strangled."

Slayer296 · Post by **Slayer296** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 3:28 pm

Sabretooth, Hasbro bought the D & D license. I don't believe Bioware sold it to them. But there will not be a BG3 since Hasbro will not let Bioware, Black Isle or Interplay work together to continue the series beyond the ToB expansion pack.

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