Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Interviews
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RPGamer:
MAC: This release is not just designed for longtime fans, but will also be a first experience for many gamers. What has been done to make this friendly for newcomers?
TO: We've done a ton of work to make the game more accessible. From adding a new in-depth tutorial to adding a number of new hint buttons to the main UI to revising the entire user-interface flow. We've added extra information to the character screen and inventory to "show the math" behind the rules systems and the calculations involved. Our goal has always been to keep the game we love, but polish up the rough edges.
PC Games N:
PCGN: Since you started development on BG:EE we've seen Project Eternity spring up and do really well for itself, and only this week Guido Henkel's Thorvalla has appeared on Kickstarter. Both cite the Infinity Engine games as a golden period in RPG development. How do you feel about the competition? And why is the revival happening?
TO: I think the attention Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition received made a bunch of developers sit up and take notice. I think the attention Diablo 3 received reinforced the interest, showing a top down RPG can still be a massive draw. As developers, we all look for a place we want to work and we can do a high quality product. I think the other developers are seeing an underserved market and are going after the opportunity. I'm anxious to play the games they make and we're going to work our butts off to make great games, so it will be a great time to be an RPG fan.
I'm just going to note that Guido Henkel actually made it clear in the Thorvalla's comments that he doesn't think Baldur's Gate is an old-school RPG and doesn't want to go into that direction (and the main page of the KS doesn't mention the game at all), and that I'm not sure a connection can be made between Diablo III's smashing success and an eventual revival of the RTwP isometric RPG.
