Remakes... (XCom, Baldur's Gate, etc.)

[RD]

BioWare can't make BG because Atari has the license. They said that when they were releasing Dragon Age.

In any event: OH MY GODSA(F&ASDAFY(SHDFASDFKdsafjsfsfhkl

2nd Edition Rules.
BG 3.
IWD using BG rules.
BG series updated.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic on the new character. I tried to play through these fairly recently and it was too tough for me, but maybe I'll be able to get through these remakes.

[Rob Van Der Sloot]

Much like with movie remakes, game remakes are a mixed bag. In many cases they simply seem to be hitching a ride on the fame of the title. But sometimes a remake really attempts to improve on the original. Tomb Raider Anniversary is a great example of a real remake done right (although I still admire the original as well). But Tomb Raider Anniversary is a rare case (they literally remade every level, and remade all the cutscenes and boss battles from scratch). Usually when they say remake, they mean a new game using the same title, with a reimagined approach to the original idea. Or sometimes, a completely different game all together.

A Baldursgate 3 in the style of Dragon Age could be awesome, and I'd also love to see a Baldursgate 1 and 2 remake. Then again, are these games that really need a remake?

I'm excited about the Xcom remake, because to be honest, I thought the original was fun yet frustrating as hell. I think they can definately improve upon the original. But some changes, such as the 2D sideview basebuilding have me less excited. But we'll see how that works out.

A Carmegeddon remake would also be awesome. And Carmageddon TDR2000 doesn't exist.

[RD]

I would buy a BG remake if they just updated the graphics. The Widescreen mod gets you far enough, but if they made it so that the models were bigger, more detailed, and had the original voice actors voice ALL banter, I would buy that ish in a minute, even if there were NO other changes.
I hope they don't do much outside of what the Wiki article said. Remakes that try to change too much are garbage, as evidenced by Hollywood.

BG3 in the style of Dragon Age was already made: Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2. :P

I don't really know how they're going to make another BG. Throne of Bhaal was so... final.

EDIT: Also, DLC. Barf.

[shadowhand]

I really loved Baldur's Gate back in the day...

I don't think I'd like it today though. The standard has been moved pretty far since then. To replay Baldur's Gate would be an exercise in patience. The game play is quite linear and though you can explore and exploit the ad&d 2nd edition (well, it was more like 2.5 edition in BG because they had to change a few things that made no sense in a real time game with a pause option.) it all comes down to min-maxing your party if you want to play it "right"

...I never did play it right. I was already spoiled because I knew the ad&d 2nd edition rules, so I also knew how to make the ultimate munchkin party. So, I did. To me the game wasn't about the story but about exploiting the rules to their fullest without actually "cheating".

But since I played the game so much I also noticed that the story is really quite silly.

It's the kind of story a first time DM would show up with at a new D&D group and 99% of all experienced D&D players would empty the snack bowls and leave the room the moment he finished the intro... It's terrible.

BG2 was worse. And the expansion just pushed the munchkinism into overdrive. Level 40 in an AD&D setting meant being able to take down armies of dragons with both hands tied behind your back while blindfolded...

And that kind of kills the game part of the game... It doesn't help that the story was insanely convoluted and made little sense from a lore perspective. Sure. It could have happened like that. But that wouldn't be the Forgotten Realms setting that most long time players would be able to recognize...

It doesn't help that the novels were even worse.

[Lady Rhonwyn]

Carmageddon remake? Please do tell.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-reincarnation

In this case, made by the original builders. They bought the license back from the publisher.

I really loved Baldur's Gate back in the day...

I don't think I'd like it today though. The standard has been moved pretty far since then. To replay Baldur's Gate would be an exercise in patience. The game play is quite linear and though you can explore and exploit the ad&d 2nd edition (well, it was more like 2.5 edition in BG because they had to change a few things that made no sense in a real time game with a pause option.) it all comes down to min-maxing your party if you want to play it "right"

...I never did play it right. I was already spoiled because I knew the ad&d 2nd edition rules, so I also knew how to make the ultimate munchkin party. So, I did. To me the game wasn't about the story but about exploiting the rules to their fullest without actually "cheating".

But since I played the game so much I also noticed that the story is really quite silly.

It's the kind of story a first time DM would show up with at a new D&D group and 99% of all experienced D&D players would empty the snack bowls and leave the room the moment he finished the intro... It's terrible.

BG2 was worse. And the expansion just pushed the munchkinism into overdrive. Level 40 in an AD&D setting meant being able to take down armies of dragons with both hands tied behind your back while blindfolded...

And that kind of kills the game part of the game... It doesn't help that the story was insanely convoluted and made little sense from a lore perspective. Sure. It could have happened like that. But that wouldn't be the Forgotten Realms setting that most long time players would be able to recognize...

It doesn't help that the novels were even worse.

I loved BG and still do. I have no experience with any other D&D rules or whatever, so I'm blissfully unaware of any mistakes, failures or any of that sort of things. The problems I have with BG (to play right now) is simply the screensize. Thankfully there are mods out there that allow BG1 to run in the BG2 engine, and that improves it a lot...

[shadowhand]

I loved BG and still do. I have no experience with any other D&D rules or whatever, so I'm blissfully unaware of any mistakes, failures or any of that sort of things. The problems I have with BG (to play right now) is simply the screensize. Thankfully there are mods out there that allow BG1 to run in the BG2 engine, and that improves it a lot...

Yes, that does help a lot. :) - I've used the same mods. I think it's just because I'm tainted by knowing the mechanics behind it.

Well, that and I'm sick of the story.

[RD]

...I never did play it right. I was already spoiled because I knew the ad&d 2nd edition rules, so I also knew how to make the ultimate munchkin party. So, I did. To me the game wasn't about the story but about exploiting the rules to their fullest without actually "cheating".

If you didn't find the game fun because you made a "munchkin party" (I don't know what that is), you could just play it without doing that. You know how players make up their own rule sets to make a game more challenging / fun (like playing through LoZ without a sword), you could do that. It also sounds like you played it in MP and made your own party... You could just make the protagonist and use NPCs.

For me, the fun of the game was the characters. A lot of them are pretty deep (though not all of them) and I loved their interactions with each other. I wish there was a way to see / listen to them all to experience the ones I never have / never will (like the bardic love triangle). But I suppose you're right that even that would be dated these days, since they aren't all voiced and you can miss a lot of them (either by not using the NPCs or by not spending enough time in game). Plus, while some are specifically scripted to interact with each other, some are generic compliments/arguments.

I loved BG and still do. I have no experience with any other D&D rules or whatever, so I'm blissfully unaware of any mistakes, failures or any of that sort of things. The problems I have with BG (to play right now) is simply the screensize. Thankfully there are mods out there that allow BG1 to run in the BG2 engine, and that improves it a lot...

There is a Widescreen mod, as well. So you can play BG 1 (or 2) in 1680x1050.

[harniq]

In Neverwinter Nights the ultimate one man party was a sorc or wizard with henchman, pixie familiar and summon monster. Even at hardcore dnd ruleset this was too easy :p

[shadowhand]

If you didn't find the game fun because you made a "munchkin party" (I don't know what that is), you could just play it without doing that.

A munchkin party is a party that's maximized to exploit every single rule of the game to the fullest. In a game like Baldur's Gate where the level cap was 9 (as far as I recall) that meant knowing exactly when to change your (human) character's level to maximize their combat potential.

Dual classing meant being able to more or less *solo the game if you did it just right.

Knowing that if you made your character a warrior 7, wizard 8, rogue 9, you could just stay below the hardcap for XP and gain the extra attacks per round for a level 7 warrior as well as 7d10 +1d4 + 1d6 HP (before constitution bonuses if any)

Made your character just that much more powerful. Also knowing how to distribute your loot to further push your character beyond what most pen and paper dungeon masters would deem sane just pushed it into munchkin territory.

If you tried to make a wizard 7, rogue 8, warrior 9, you would hit the XP cap before you hit the level cap, you would also wind up with fewer HP, fewer attacks per round and be unable to fully maximize your potential.

Add the fact that you can also take advantage of some of the party members' abilities and you could make some otherwise extremely tough encounters ridiculously easy. It got even easier with the higher level cap for the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion and the sequels...

What you're suggesting is that I forget how the rules work :P - and try as I might, I can't. I have a fairly decent memory.

There is a Widescreen mod, as well. So you can play BG 1 (or 2) in 1680x1050.

But what good is that if your monitor is 1920 by 1080 pixels? The 16:10 standard isn't really selling well these days (not because demand has gone down but suppliers insist on using 16:9 instead.)

*yes, I tried playing through the entire game with just my main character in the party to see if it was possible. I was that bored.

It was quite possible.

[JoeKnowMo]

I was excited about a BG remake initially but then I remembered that got around 80% of the way through and quit BG2. I also also quit DA:O really close to the end. I probably wouldn't play through a BG remake, unfortunately, let alone replay it.