August 2000

A Killer Review of Icewind Dale at Kebie
Posted Wednesday, August 30, 2000 - 0:33 CET by Sorcerer

Although I stopped reading Icewind Dale reviews a few months ago (when you're reading the same thing for the 50th time it gets a tad boring), this one really cought my eye.
The reviewer at Kebie managed to insult all hardcore D&D players, publicly admit that he doesn't have a clue regarding the D&D game and that Diablo II sucks, all in one review. Impossible you say?
Read on.
I laughed my ass of at some parts of the review and I can but hope that the poor guy doesn't get swarmed with REALLY NASTY mail from some of my fellow gamers who aren't as tolerant as me.
Here are a few of the more interesting bits of the review:

I have never played D&D, and by no means plan to play D&D because the game just doesn’t seem to touch me the right way. There is something about sitting down for 5 hours rolling dice, and erasing pieces of paper that seems kind of geeky.

I ended making a female gnome, and for some reason the model had a beard so I named her “Shemale”. I am not really into naming my characters real fantasy names like “Lucas Vanderhold”, or anything like that and since people consider me a hardcore FPS person (which I am not) I named my other characters things like “l337 m4Ge oF dEa7H” and so on.

If you want and RPG now and have finished Diablo 2 for the 3rd time already, you should defiantly check out a thing called a “life” because Diablo 2 sucks, and also go pick up a copy of this game because it is way better!

Today's news from the BG2 board
Posted Tuesday, August 29, 2000 - 20:56 CET by NightKin

Hey everyone, its time for today's news from the BG2 board, hope you like it.

From David Gaider, BG2 Designer

Change in the Swashbuckler kit:

I was looking at the details posted on the Swashbuckler kit at BGChronicles and I noticed that the kit has changed since the preview copy went out.

So, for you kit fanatics out there, I thought I'd post the new details:

ADVANTAGES:
- bonus +1 to AC
- another +1 to AC for every 5 levels
- +1 to hit and damage every 5 levels
- may specialize in any weapon that a thief can use
- may place 3 stars in two-weapon fighting style proficiency


DISADVANTAGES:
- no backstab multiplier


----------------

That's it.

And some info on the Druid Shapeshifter kit:

I don't remember if a +4 enchantment is needed to hit a greater werewolf, but the enchantment required IS fairly high. But yes... the shapeshifter gets all the benefits of his form, including regeneration and what-not (and the regeneration rate for a greater werewolf is pretty crazy).

Another question I noticed recently was whether or not the druid kits took on the ThAC0 of the forms they assume. The answer is no... but their stats are increased according to the form and they get the bonuses from that. Cernd, for instance, gets a +3 to his ThAC0 when he transforms, simply because the werewolf strength is higher. His AC also drops down to -2 (or something to that effect... my exact numbers may be off). He also gets 3 attacks/round and does the damage of a werewolf/greater werewolf... that I'm sure of.

Pool of Radiance:RoMD Demo?
Posted Tuesday, August 29, 2000 - 12:58 CET by Nazgul

From Jon Kromrey, Producer, SSI/Mattel Interactive

Concerning a Demo:
SSI and Stormfront are focusing on making the game as good as it can be and have decided to not release a demo until it reflects the finished quality of the game. At this time we're reviewing possible demo dates.

BigFix, a handy free tool
Posted Monday, August 28, 2000 - 21:33 CET by Sorcerer

I've been informed that the guys over at BigFix have made a cool utility for RPG players that checks their computers for outdated versions of the games, and other conflicts with RPGs and helps fix them.
The best way to look at the utility is to download it here, and try it out.
You probably want to install it on a computer with Diablo II, Icewind Dale, Vampire:Redemption or similar on it, hopefully with an outdated version to see it in action.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Shots & Concept Artwork
Posted Monday, August 28, 2000 - 7:34 CET by Chris

GA-RPG has posted a megaload of screenshots and concept artwork for BioWare's future just gonna sell a million copies Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. You can check out the twenty-one screenshots at this link, or if you prefer the fifteen concept artwork pieces right here. I highly suggest both, but I might be just a tad biased.

Pool of Radiance Interview At The Scrying Room
Posted Sunday, August 27, 2000 - 16:53 CET by Chris

The Scrying Room has an interview with Producer Jon Kromrey on Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Here's a bit of what they discussed:

Us: How exactly will the combat system work with new things such as "attacks of opportunity", interactive environment, and such? Can you give us an example that incorporates some of this?

Jon: Attacks of opportunity are triggered when an enemy passes within a character's 5' radius. This is basically when the characters get what was lovingly called a "free hack" back in the 2E days. In the new rules this also applies to actions like spell-casting and moving away from a character's attack radius. The same rules apply for the monsters!

For the interactive environment, players can use objects like tables, crates, and barrels during combat as well as in adventure mode. Simply click on an object to see its potential uses, select one, and then the game continues. An example is that if there is an orc on one side of the room and a character on the other with a table in the middle of the room, during his turn the character can push the table towards the orc and limit the monster's action to 1) smashing the table (thus using up it's attack), or 2) moving the long way around the table (thus potentially using up all of it's move and attack options).

Pool of Radiane: Ruins of Myth Drannor Preview At GameSpy
Posted Sunday, August 27, 2000 - 16:49 CET by Chris

GameSpy has a preview of Stormfront Studios' Pool of Radiane: Ruins of Myth Drannor based on their showing at this years GenCon. Here's a bit from the article:

Upon showing me the various character models currently available, Jon explained that they have more elf and human models than they do for other races right now. And some good news for gamers of the female persuasion. Jon stated, "We realized that there are a lot of female players out there that like to play Dungeons & Dragons and we really want to make this appeal to them." When I gleefully noticed that the female models weren't half-naked or wearing chainmail thongs, Jon replied, "That was actually one of the directives from 3rd Edition. They really want to make them not half-naked. Not the fur bikini kind of thing. Much more heroic. In fact, when we have armor for these particular models, its full body armor. Its not just like half-midriff." Then he showed me the female human wearing full chainmail and she was definitely prepared to go kick some serious monster booty!

Tons of info from the BG2 board
Posted Friday, August 25, 2000 - 18:45 CET by NightKin

Hey everyone, here comes a truckload of news from the BG2 board, so enjoy.

From Kevin Martens, BG2 co-Lead Designer

How the strongholds work:

There seems to be some confusion.

Their are 8 huge major class-specific subplots. Each of them is split into 2 parts:
1) Critical Game Section.
2) Class Only Section.


Anyone can go on the major part of the plot, the Critical Game Section. If you are of the correct class, you will receive the option to work for or take over the stronghold, The Class Only Section. If you are not of the correct class, you will get a reward but no stronghold that you can run or work for.

EG: Let's say that the fighter plot was one in which you were to rescue a princess. If you are a fighter (we'll act on the assumption of you being male) you would get the Princess' hand in marriage and a duchy as a reward when you saved her. If you were any other class, you would get a bunch of cool crap and the king's everlasting thanks.

The fighter would begin running his duchy (if he chose to take the reward - it is optional for those who aren't interested in this sort of thing). This is the Class Only Section. The other classes would move on to another plot.

The Class Only Section is a smaller and much more focused series of plots that are specifically appropriate to the class that is playing them. Thieves' Guild for the thief, Temple for the cleric, and so on.

Note: the 3 new classes go on the strongholds that are appropriate (eg: sorceror goes on the mage section)

Kensai and armor:

Kensais get a natural ac bonus. In addition, there are rings, amulets and numerous other items that also affect AC.

From David Gaider, BG2 Designer

Importing:

Playing multiplayer solo is definitely still included, if you're so inclined. And I was being misquoted... I said that importing characters after the start of the game was too often used to cheat instead of what it was originally put into the game to do. Regardless, importing after the beginning of the game is definitely still in BG2, no worries.

The Length of game:

We're saying 250-300 hours if you do all the side quests with one PC, which includes one stronghold. If we slapped all the other strongholds into one game, it would be significantly longer than that.

Some info on the figurines of power:

There are various figurines of wondrous power in the game. One of them, the Moon Dog, is available only to a Ranger PC. The others can be used by anyone, generally.

With regards to the Moon Dog Figurine, no... only the Ranger can use it once she receives it. With regards to the other Figurines, yes, anyone can use them.

Testing and bug killing:

Both Interplay and Bioware have learned a lot about both making RPGs and testing RPGs since BG came out.

I'm not sure how you think we QA our games... you obviously seem to have picked up on your own some of the things that get done by the QA department regularly (play the game with the intention of 'breaking' it, do the area transfers repeatedly, etc.). Problem is, with the PC platform, the chances of getting rid of all bugs when you're dealing with hundreds of variations of hardware set-up, is pretty remote. Take something as utterly huge and complex as BG2 and the chance is even less. That's why we've got two huge teams working on the game right now, and the amount of bugs we've had to fix is staggering... but they are getting fixed. I wouldn't fool myself to think that we will find every little thing that someone out there could think to do to break a plot (although we're coming damn close)... and I wouldn't be surprised if we have a situation that works fine for us on the various systems we use (which is a lot) but breaks on one weird card/processor combo out there.

We're professionals and we're also interested in making BG2 as relatively bug-free as BG was... so it's not going to go out until it's ready. Greg and Ray (BioWare's CEO's) are determined to make that happen, which makes designers like me happy, as I can only imagine what it must be like to work for a company that wants to ship a game before it's done.

Characters being too powerful?:

Monks are too powerful. Kensai are too powerful. Mages are too powerful. Barbarians are too powerful. Fighter/thieves are too powerful. Ah, yes, this will never change.

Everyone has a different opinion on what is 'too powerful' or even 'too weak'. Thing is to find something that works for you and not worry about what classes other people might be picking. I think the classes are pretty balanced, overall, through the levels... although likely everyone will disagree with me (because that's what you do).

Also, there's little point in looking at any given class and seeing what their power level will be at the highest level they can achieve (like level 21 or whatever). ANY class at level 21 SHOULD be god-awful powerful. And besides that, there's little chance of reaching the XP cap during the course of the game. Only the most hardcore will actually do so. And even they, unless they cheat, will still play 75% at the 12th level and up mark (the XP needed between each level in the teens is pretty huge). Those people who play the game fairly and manage to reach 17th level and above will be doing so at the end of the game... where you'll need it.

I, however, have played through the game with most of the classes and the only one that made my eyes bug out was a souped-up kensai. Of course, that was only in particular situations... taking him against a mage with Protection from Normal Weapons up was death without a mage in the party.

The size of dragons:

The dragons are all the same size, and the first time we (the designers) got to see them was in 640x480, where they take up more than a single screen (by far). That's when you heard us talking about it.

That's the largest we could do a monster, actually... if we made a creature that was larger than a screen in 800x600 it would be too large to use in 640x480.

The dragon looks a little less impressive in 800x600 (although much more detailed and fluid), but it's still pretty huge. If we were to do a game exclusively for 800x600 (and exclude 640x480) then the animations could get larger, yet.

Internet portraits:

Through some of the screenshots in IGN I think you can see the small, in-progress (black-and-white) portraits of Anomen and Mazzy. Those are pretty old, though... they don't look much like they did back in those pics at all.

By the way, for the person who asked about Yoshimo's old pic... no, that will not ship with the game. Likely it will be made available on the net later, though, should people wish it.

Confusion around the stronghold quests:

I'll use an example (which isn't in the game). Let's say there is a quest to rescue a princess. Anyone can go on that quest. Let's say that this princess-rescue quest is the lead-up to the ranger quest... upon her rescue, if the PC is a ranger, he is given his cabin and all that goes with it (including the stronghold quests that continue on from that point). If the PC isn't a ranger, she says thank you and you get a reward or whatever.

The stronghold quests would be a series of stories that involved the ranger cabin, then, and would center around the PC being a ranger. One of the rewards for the ranger stronghold is the moon dog figurine.

Which, YES, means that the ONLY way to get the moon dog is to have the PC as a ranger. Equally, a PC ranger would get the moon dog and not see any of the other rewards for the strongholds.

What we mean when we say that anyone can go on these class quests is the lead-up... if the PC is not a ranger does not mean that he will not get the quest to rescue said princess. As a matter of fact, you would never know which quests led to a stronghold, either, unless you were playing as a particular class (no 'I'll give you this keep if you do this' or anything of the like).

Does this make sense, now?

Pool of Radiance:RoMD Info
Posted Friday, August 25, 2000 - 10:36 CET by Nazgul

From Chuck Yager, Associate Producer, PoR:RoMD

We do have powerful magical items in the game, some of which were indeed lost in the last fall of Myth Drannor, but I'm not sure if I would label them artifacts. THere might be one or two items of sufficient power that I would bestow upon them that mastery of all magical items title, but for the most part I would feel more comfortable saying we have really, really, powerful magical items.

As for sound, we have spent a great deal of time reviewing the coutnless ambient sound effects, atmospheric tracks, and monster/character sounds that Stormfront's genuis sound designer Andrew Boyd has constructed for Pool. It is amazing the listen to the above ground areas that have things swishing around in the grass, hear hawks keening their cry, and the chirps of birds....only to have that all slowly transition away as dusk falls and night settles in. Then the sounds of crickets and wind replaces the daylight cacophony you were used to. It is so subtle but really makes the world come to life.

The same exists in the dungeon levels, where you can hear doors opening and shutting, moans in the undead ladden portions of the catacombs, and other sounds that set just the right mood for suspense while dungeoneering.

Regarding the characters and their voices, although your own party memebers will not have a voice attached to them in game (we did this to allow for the player to conceptualize the sound of his or her own character's voice in game), the NPCs have a wide range of voice talent for Pool that really give them a depth and personality all their own.

Lastly...the AI. It will gain in intelligence and tactics as the characters progress throughout the game. They might at first just try and rush you and follow your bait but as the game moves on the AI will ambush more, utilize its spellcasters to their most effective strategy, and generally capitalize on the turn based system for setting up their units as much as it can. It will truly be a challenge at times, but then again, that what we are shooting for in the first palce....a fun challenge.


Unfortunately I can not assuage your requests for a setting for Ai difficulty. However, there will be higher intelligence AI creatures in the early part of the game that will maximize tactics to their effectiveness. Sorry if that was misleading earlier.

Yes, your characters will make sounds as far as battle is concerned. They will make the standard grunts and groans, death wails, etc. to give combat a semblance of life.

As far as the AI goes overall, I think there will be plenty of scalable encounters based on the story and party levels as you adventure throughout Myth Drannor. However, this is not to imply that there are not sufficiently difficult encounters at the start of this great mission. In fact, some of the early battles really give you a good idea of what later enemies wil be able to do. We just didn't want to create a phalanx of Cult mages to assault you with undead drow, dark nagas, and margoyle cheiftans at 1st level! But I'll be sure to through that battle in later on for those of you who want a good fight. The point I am trying to make though is that the orog/skeleton/ghoul/zombie/Cult fighter/gargoyle encounters that occur early on have a sufficient level of intelligence and AI to pose a threat, but not the same degree of strategy that the higher level monsters do later on in the game.

Hope that helped to answer some of those questions. I enjoy hearing your thoughts on AI especially and we are currently play balancing the game right now to ensure that we don't have encounters that nuke a party in the first dungeon, but also that are not so easy as to be a waste of a good adventuring party's time. You let me know if we succeeded when you get the game later on.

RPG Vault Does Baldur's Gate II Shadows of Amn
Posted Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 0:25 CET by Chris

Lots of cool stuff awaits you at RPGVault if you click here. They have their NPC of the week, spell effect of the week, and monster of the week for BioWare's Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Middle to late September looks to be a lock for this titles release.

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor Update
Posted Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 0:22 CET by Chris

The official site for Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor has undergone a massive update chock full of screenshots, concept artwork, wallpapers, and more! Here's a bit from the update to the story section on the Central Platform area of Myth Drannor.

The Central Platform area was once a grand public area, a magnificent plaza where tiered gardens, open pavilions, shady trysting-places and graceful spires invited the passerby to linger. Woven into this elegant design were several shrines to "multi-denominational" deities: gods and goddesses who had equal attraction to elves, dwarves, humans and the other races inhabiting the city. Central was the shrine of Shaundakul, guardian of wayfarers. Shaundakul's tolerance of strangers and themes of commonality in diversity reflected Myth Drannor at its height, when elf, human and dwarf lived in harmony. During the fall of Myth Drannor, however, the plaza's central location made it one of the city's most fiercely fought-over stretches of ground. In the fighting, destructive magic swept the area; the graceful buildings were shattered and spires toppled, cutting walkways. Since the fall, the plaza's exposed position below Castle Cormanthor has kept anyone from living there for long. Over the centuries its shattered structures have been cannibalized for the elegant marble and feldspar they were made of; only the shrine to Shaundakul, a simple, solid structure of lowly granite, has resisted the pilfering of underground creatures lining their lairs. Likewise the gardens - what is left of them -- have turned wild and uncontrolled.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Preview At Daily Radar
Posted Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 0:04 CET by Chris

If you want a short and to the point article about a game then your best bet is to visit the folks at Daily Radar. Anyway, they give us their take on what you can expect to find in BioWare's just gonna sell a million copies, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Here's a small sample from the article:

With such a high experience cap, the character types that make up a party become extremely important. Multiclassing in Baldur's Gate was a good move; the experience cap was so low there wasn't much of a penalty between a single-class character and a multiclass character. But in BGII multiclassing is a more important strategic decision -- multiclass characters will be levels below single-class characters, possibly meaning less magic, weapons specializations or level-based abilities. This is especially true considering the multitude of options now available; most classes have specialization kits, and several entirely new classes have been added: Monk, Sorcerer and Barbarian.

Baldur's Gate VS. Baldur's Gate II Ding Ding!
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 23:56 CET by Chris

Let's get ready to RUMBLE! Err ... Baldur's Gate Chronicles has posted a comparison between the game we all love now, Baldur's Gate, and the game that will cause us to lose interest in it, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Here's a bit of what they had to say:

One of the most spectacular improvements to the look of the game was to the background images. The detail level has risen to a whole new level. Jungle areas now have lush ferns, vines, shrubs and mushrooms etc. Tons of detail in the game world that will really grab the player and immerse them, adding to quality of game play. Many sources were used as reference when creating these areas. Some of the artists were walking through the river valley here in Edmonton, looking at the trees and undergrowth. You can imagine them coming back all muddy with twigs in their cloths from doing "research". Because of the rich diversity that BG2 has in regards to the backgrounds much imagination had to be used. Places such as the Underdark, Hell, the Astral Plane, elven cities and mind flayer layers all had to be made, with little or no direction from official source material. This made creating BG2 background art very fresh and exciting for everyone involved, and it shows in the quality of the art.

3DGN Beta Journal Chapter 2
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 23:52 CET by Chris

3DGN continue on with their humorous look at Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn in their beta journal. Here's a little more love from the boys at 3DGN:

Minsc and I both had two-handed swords, and we do roughly the same damage. We have the same strength (18/93), but my sword was enchanted so I had a better THACO and did a little more damage. In fact, Minsc and I have pretty similar stats except mine are much higher. For instance, I only have 10 intelligence, but my constitution is 19. Ok, ok… so I used a tome or two from Baldur's Gate to raise my stats. I don't see what all the controversy about them is. I only used them once, and I can quit anytime I want. I should be able to still compete in sporting events though, and that whole rumor about tomes shrinking your testicles after repeated use is a blatant lie. Oh wait, maybe that rumor is about steroids. No matter, artificially raising stats is a good thing if you find the tome on your own!

A few magic items from POR:RoMD
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 15:05 CET by Nazgul

From the August 2000 Issue of Dragon Magazine, here are a few of the magical items that are gonna be in the game:

DEATHBANE. This staff is dedicated to the elven sect of Mystra. Deathbane has 1d8 charges and can be used to cast cure critical wounds (4d8+13) or the resurrection spell. Each casting uses one charge.

BOREA’S BLOOD. This unique item is a blue sliver of ice that can be used as a wand, considering its appearance. Make it a wand of ice storm (5d6 points of damage) and give you 1d12 charges.

MAGIC SNAKESKIN BOOTS. These shoes might not sound sexy, but they protect the wearer from reptilian attacks. They sure wouldn’t hurt in a fight with a giant guardian naga, would they?

STONE MOUTH. Speaking of that giant guardian naga, here’s an artifact you can get from one in the game (if you’re smart). This necklace has a stone head which features an open mouth. It enables you to communicate with gargoyles and margoyles.

LAMP OF DARKNESS. Since this perverse, reverse lamp covers its user in a 10-foot sphere of impenetrable magical darkness, you might suspect that the magic behind it is Drow sorcery. You would be correct. Nonetheless, you never know when you might want to be completely unobserved within the shadows of a Drow fortress, do you?

SACRED STAFF OF SUNLIGHT. Since you’ve already guessed that there are going to be lots of Drow and undead in Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, don’t be surprised that one of your most effective weapons could be this staff that shoots a beam of sunlight at your enemies. It won’t do a thing to most monsters, but it should do 5d6 points of damage to each Drow or undead it zaps.

GA-RPG Gets Black Listed
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 0:25 CET by Chris

Oh yeah, Black Isle Studios Designer, J.E. Sawyer, straight outta Irvine, CA has recently posted a new article for his Black List column hosted by those lovable guys at GA-RPG. In this edition of the column, J.E. talks about a game called Warp World he used to work on when he was, "extremely tired, extremely sick, or under the effects of extremely wacky medication." Here's a little bit from the column:

Travel through Warp World is accomplished through standard, mundane means and through magical means. The most common form of quick-escape travel is the Anpa Snake. Roughly two meters long, Anpa Snakes are found all over Warp World. To use them, a person must simply hold the snake in the air by its tail. The snake will instinctively bite its tail. The first person to jump through the resulting hoop will be transported to another location on Warp World. Only Mathemagicians are able to calculate where any give location and angle will take a traveler.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Beta Journal At 3DGN
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 0:17 CET by Chris

3DGN takes a humerous look at Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn in their beta journal. More copies of that beta floatin around than copies of Ultima IX: Ascension in stores. Here's a little nibble from the article:

I grabbed some equipment from the room to the northwest and decided to be on my way. Minsc was really the only companion who seemed to be of any use. Anytime he'd spot an enemy creature he'd shout "GO FOR THE EYES BOO! GO FOR THE EYES! RAAAAAAARRRRRR!" And that line just never gets old. Boo, of course, is Minsc's pet. He's convinced it's a very intelligent miniature giant space hamster who talks to him, but as far as I can tell it's just a regular hamster. Nonetheless, Minsc is still fun to watch in battle. We had come to a room with a strange machine in the center of it, and it was spawning mephits (small winged creatures) for us to battle. Minsc used a two handed sword to slay several of them while Imoen and Jaheira fumbled with the machine's controls to keep it from conjuring more mephits.

IGN PC Previews Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 0:13 CET by Chris

IGN PC has tossed up their preview for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. In a nice long read, the author breaks down several aspects of the gameplay and ends with these remarks:

I think most RPGers would agree that the original BG was the game they always wanted to play as well, and I know all of us at the IGNPC dungeon are looking forward to getting our hands on Shadows of Amn. Look for it sometime in late 2000 ...

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Screenshots
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 0:05 CET by Chris

You know we all love to see screenshots for games; especially screenshots for games we are dying to have. The following sites have posted lots of shots from their beta copies of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn:

RPGVault & RPG Planet

Greeting and Salutations
Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2000 - 23:57 CET by Chris

Well first off let me introduced myself, I'm Chris Johnson from over at www.ga-rpg.com , where basically I have the opportunity to cover a lot of games out their that find themselves under the RPG banner. I'll have to admit, most of these games I cover I could care less about. I do however love Black Isle and BioWare’s titles, and that is what brings me to help out Sorcerer on his site here. I'll be bringing you a lot of very cool content over the next few months that I hope you enjoy. I'll also be covering the news on Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, Neverwinter Nights, and finally Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

I look forward to bringing you all the latest and greatest on all these great titles. So let the news posting commence!

Pool of Radiance at The Daily Radar.
Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2000 - 14:39 CET by Nazgul

SSI has released new screens, along with new information on the art, character generation and interface of its upcoming RPG.

With the release of Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition at Gen Con this year, SSI is showing off Pool of Radiance, the first game to use the new system. At the convention, the company showed off some of the new art, the character generation system and the interface of the upcoming release, due by Christmas this year.

Pool of Radiance has been developed in close association with Wizards of the Coast (WotC), publishers of Dungeons and Dragons. The artists for the tabletop game have created a unified look for the product, and the art for the computer game has been informed by that unifying vision. The characters and monsters in particular animate the concepts presented in the Third Edition books. In addition, the artistic designers of Pool sought to bring the magic of the world more to the fore by creating dazzling 3D spell effects for the spells cast in the game.


Check out the rest of the preveiw from The Daily radar here.

Quite a bit of new info on the POR:RoMD site.
Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2000 - 10:38 CET by Nazgul

From Chuck Yager, Associate Producer, POR:ROMD

Which Feats will be included in the game:
The following Feats will be in the game:
Blind Fighting Cleave Combat Casting
Combat Reflexes Great Fortitude Improved Critical
Improved Initiative Iron Will Lightning Reflexes
Mobility Point Blank Shot Power Attack
Precise Shot Run Skill Focus
Spell Penetration Toughness

Concerning Power Attacks:
Power attack is split into two groups in the game. "Half" attack refers to using only half your base attack bonus figure to subtract from you chance to hit a foe and add that same amount to your damage. Using the "Full" option refers to subtracting your full amount of base attack bonus from your chance to hit and adding that number likewise to your damage.

Skills we are supporting in the game:
Concentration
Disable/Disarm Device
Heal
Hide
Move Silently
Open Locks
Search
Spellcraft
Spot
As for Combat Abilities we have normal and full attacks obviously, the initiative actions Delay and Refocus, defensive actions if you choose not to attack, and class special abilities such as stunning attacks for monks, Smite Evil for paladins, and Turning Undead for clerics.
I forgot in my earlier post to mention that we are supporting the Weapon Specilization feat for fighters. Sorry for that confusion there.
AS for some of the reasoning behind the feats and skills we didn't choose...many of the remaining skills/feats dealt with propoerties that we either were not supporting (horse back riding, craft based skills, etc.) or were not originally designed for us in our game. We have since gone back to the drawing board and added a bunch of new special abilities for the paladin and monks, which if you recall were not originally in the plan for the game, and given the time and work we have left on Pool2 this is probably where we stand for now. Hope this clears some things up.

We have heard the plaintive cry for more stuff on the site and have answered in kind (well not yet...but ver soon anyway!)
We should have a bunch of new stuff up by Wednesday. It will include a new featured character, monster, and area of Myth Drannor, as well as a few new animations and screenshots, some wallpaper and music for download, and Fihnakis' very own screensaver (yeah!)

We will also be posting some new stuff for 3rd Edition D&D on the site, including new pictures for the artist in all of us as how Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor wil be using the rules. Right now we'll be posting a list of classes (in case not all of you are familiar with what we offer by now) and soon to follow: spell lists with features screenshots, feats, skills, special treasures. etc.


Jon / Chuck, what are the most enemies we will be fighting at one time:
There is not an easy question to give an accurate answer to. If you wanted an average for that much screen real estate I would say around 12-16, but it could be much more. If you look at the screen shots showing the initiative bar at the top, the game will allow for 13 entries; that would mean one enemy initiative marker between each PC marker, and one on each end. Each marker however can stand for multiple enemies in a combat if thier initiatives are close to each other. Therefore, I would say you are probably pretty close to the number of foes one might face at one time. I was just playing the other day and had about 10 foes on one screen, with four more spellcasters one screen over pummeling me with disintegrates, fireballs, and slow spells. Pretty harsh indeed.

Any possible way we could get a spell list of all the spells in the game:
I'd love to but then that would spoil all of the fun! No, but seriously, we are still working out the final list and seeing what we can squeeze into the game to add to its magical might. Soon, though...very soon.

Some questions that were missed were: "Will Counterspells be implimented? If so, how will it be done:
Counterspells will not be implemented in the game as it presented a gameplay problem with a turn based system.
How would you cast a counterspell if the round before the enemy already got his spell off:
There is dispel magic however, which can be just as useful if prepared in advance.
Which Skills will be implimented in the game, and how will this be done?
Some things I'm thinking of are the Rogue skills, Spot checks, Concentration and Spellcraft checks etc.
Which (if any) of the 3e Tactical combat features will be implimented? Aid Another? Attacking objects? Bull Rush? Disarm? Overrun? Trip:
You will be able to defend, destroy objects in the enviornment, and heal others while in combat via the skill.
The feats that were listed as in the game. Is that the full list or just a current list with more to come:
There is some discussion over some feats not being in the game that seem to be easier to implement than some of the ones that are included.
Just curious if the Drow encountered in the game will be in their own subteranean city or if they will just be in, say the elven sect dungeons:
Whose to say that the elven section of the catacombs hasn't become a drow city of sorts....hhmmmmmmm.

Its that time again kiddies!
Posted Monday, August 21, 2000 - 22:31 CET by NightKin

Yup, it's that time again. Time to see what's been going on at the Baldur's Gate II board. Enjoy.

From David Gaider, BG2 Designer

The Paladin stronghold:

The 'strongholds' are not all strongholds in that there is a place that you 'rule', ok? These are class quests, and the stronghold part is just a place that is 'for' the character. The cleric no more runs his temple than the paladin runs the Radiant Heart (which would be silly), and that's just the way it is. We have, however, taken great efforts to make sure each class quest is equally interesting and rewarding.

All the information is not out there regarding the class quests, and while I've answered a couple of questions regarding the status of, say, Fallen Paladins and the fact that the Holy Avenger is not restricted to the paladin class quest, that's about all that's going to be said about it prior to the game coming out.

Kits and minimum ability score requirements:

The answer is 'probably not.' This is a dumb answer because the kits aren't finalized, as you well know, and the answer does you no good.

I promise that as soon as the kits are locked down and final I will tell all of you everything you need to know.

The Armor of the Heart:

Armor of the Heart exists in the game, but who said it had anything at all to do with the Paladin quest?

On Red dragons and what role they will play in the game:

The red dragon attacking the fighter keep? I will just say 'absolutely not' on that one. It has a lot more to do with the paladin and his quest than ANYTHING else.

Kit balancing information:

Part of the debugging process is changing things that don't work or are unbalanced. Features may be locked down, but that means that they don't get changed without good reason. Kits and several other things in the game are things that we test constantly... and therefore tweak constantly.

I wouldn't worry about it overly much. We're still on schedule, here, believe it or not.

Well well... look who's back!
Posted Friday, August 18, 2000 - 16:19 CET by NightKin

Hey everyone, It's been a while since last time I updated, but I assure you that it was all due to technical difficulties. At least it gave me some time to finish Icewind Dale which is an excellent game by the way. But now I'm back and I will try to update more often. And now, without further ado, lets see what's been going on at the Baldur's Gate II message board...

From David Gaider, BG2 Designer

On dialogue and stats:

Well, it varies according to the dialogue choice. We don't use this as much as Planescape does, but we DO use it in BG2... but honestly the minimum to have ALL dialogue options open is 18.

Come to think of it, I remember a couple of places where there is another option if CHR is over 18, so there you go.

But if you're asking how high your stats need to be to notice a difference... well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. All the quests are solvable in multiple ways... high stats just might make a few quests easier, is all.

More on NPC portraits:

To my embarrassment, Mike came up today and told me that I was mistaken about Aerie's pic. It's not based on Fiona, after all (like I thought). They had decided with the pics not to base them on anyone in particular and have them as more free-form drawings (not even based on us employees like in BG1), and I mistakenly thought they were.

So all of you are now officially allowed to disbelieve anything I say, as I am likely to be talking out of my butt.

Character editing:

Editing a character is always a risk. We guarantee nothing if you do so.

From Brent Knowles, BG2 Designer

Script editor information:

The program doesn't make scripting a lot easier, but it does speed up the process.

It basically integrates the several steps necessary in creating a script into one program. For example: you would create the script, press a compile button, and then press another button to copy the script to where you need it.

In addition there are drop-down lists of actions/triggers and spells. The program doesn't super simplify scripting but it does make it easier to create scripts.

In addition, the player scripts that will ship with BG2 give examples of basically everything a person would want to do in a script. What I'm hoping is that users will do a lot of cutting and pasting to create their own scripts. If they want to combine a cool fighter script with the basic mage script it will hopefully be easy for them to do so.

As well, John Winski has prepared several documents to help explain the scripting process and the numerous commands.

Pool of Radiance: RoMD at GENCON
Posted Thursday, August 17, 2000 - 14:36 CET by Nazgul

Published by SSI.

GenCon 2000, this year’s version of the annual roleplaying and strategy gaming convention best known for its D&D-oriented spin, has been something of a bust for fans of computer games. Conspicuously absent at the affair are Bioware and Interplay, two of the industry’s major roleplaying game collaborators.

Not at all unhappy with the absence of Bioware, though, was SSI and Mattel whose new Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor game became the PC highlight of the show. And a highlight it was, as it has come a long, long way since last we saw it at E3 back in May. Since it is the first PC game to incorporate the Third Edition ruleset, SSI has spent a lot of time working with Wizards on the features of the new D&D.

Pool Producer John Kromrey was pleased as punch to demo the game to the masses and said, "It’s so much easier to demo here than it is at E3. The people are so into it and are just easier to talk to." The game looks absolutely gorgeous with its fixed three-quarter perspective and wonderfully detailed characters. Since May, SSI has revamped the spell animations and they are breathtaking. The team has also added more character models such as the Half-Orc, the Sorcerer and the Monk.


Check out the full preveiw here.

HELP WANTED
Posted Wednesday, August 16, 2000 - 22:08 CET by Sorcerer

As you might have noticed if you keep track of the news over here, I've been kind of overwhelmed with other work to do any real daily news updating, so I'm looking for a few dedicated news posters.
If you're able to stay on top of all news regarding Icewind Dale/Baldur's Gate II/Neverwinter Nights, have a few spare minutes every day to make the newsposts and most of all, love the games as much as I (we) do, I would be glad to have you on our team.

Positions that need to be filled:
-Daily News Editor (covers all the reviews/previews/screenshots etc. that show up on other sites)
-Icewind Dale Official Message Boards news poster
-Neverwinter Nights Official Message Boards news poster

So if you think you've got what it takes and want to be a part of a great team, drop me a note in e-mail or contact me via ICQ (1508832).

Icewind Dale Online Solution Complete!
Posted Wednesday, August 16, 2000 - 0:14 CET by Sorcerer

I posted it in the Site News already, but it should be mentioned here as well, I think.
Sylvus has just completed his excellent Icewind Dale solution. It is a detailed walkthrough with maps and just about everything else. You can expect us to have more great walkthroughs like this for the upcoming titles such as Baldur's Gate II as well. Check back often. ;)

Newest info on Pools of Radiance:Ruins of Myth Drannor
Posted Tuesday, August 15, 2000 - 14:59 CET by Nazgul

From Chuck Yager, Associate Producer, POR:RoMD

Sammaster is the one the Cult of the Dragon worships guys. As for the deities theory, don't you think there'll be enought to deal with taking on drow, undead slave hordes, the Cult, and perhaps some large undead dragon thing ([cough]..dracolich...[cough, cough])?

Well, another great feature to mention is that should you drop any of your created PCs, they stick around for you to possibly come back to later and have them rejoin. I do need to verify that 100% but that is what I gathered:
Actually it is only 8 joinable NPCs with a host of others that are not joinable but will forward the story.

Scott Warner Updates Designer Notes
Posted Monday, August 14, 2000 - 22:26 CET by Sorcerer

I just noticed today that Scott updated his designer notes. This time he talks about a co-worker of his, Adam Heine who has recently left Black Isle.
You might recognize the name, for Adam is responsible for many parts of the game I (and many others) remember fondly. Of course, I'm talking about Planescape: Torment.

Check the notes here.

Sorcerer is back!
Posted Monday, August 14, 2000 - 21:01 CET by Sorcerer

And not a second too late... Obviously if things could go wrong, they will do so with a vengence.
While I was gone my temp that was supposed to post news hasn't moved an inch so there were no current news from around the net except from Nazgul, who covers the Pool of Radiance happenings. The ad banners were changed so those aren't working either. Poll is also starting to grow a beard so it'll be changed ASAP.
Just making sure you know I haven't abandoned the whole thing. ;)
Everything will be back to normal before you can say Aaaarghnotthefireballyoubastard.
Stay tuned.

Update from Pools of Radiance:Ruins of Myth Drannor
Posted Friday, August 11, 2000 - 13:27 CET by Nazgul

From Chuck Yager, Associate Producer, POR:ROMD

In a previous discussion it was brought up about having to repeatedly tell your character to keep swinging at an opponent during each turn. Will there be an option to 'repeat previous action' so that you don't have to tell your fighter to keep pounding on the Drow standing right next to him:
There will be hotkeys assignments that a player can give to their heroes to have them repeat their favorite actions in combat. We are also working on one click move and attack design for combat to expediate the process of closing the distance to your foe and chopping him/her to bits.

Are there going to be any centuars or minotuars in Por:II:
NO...sorry. No centaurs or minotaurs were able to be found by the team when investigating Myth Drannor. We did stumble across some nasty dragon-kin and ormyrr though...(shudders at the memory..)

GENCON
Posted Thursday, August 10, 2000 - 15:06 CET by Nazgul

Well folks. Looks like GENCON gets underway today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Third Edition D&D Player's Handbook will be released today in stores around the world.

New Staff Member at Sorcerer's Place!
Posted Sunday, August 6, 2000 - 3:48 CET by Thorgal

Well met everyone, my turn to finally say something ;-)
My job at Sorcerer's Place will be to collect all the important new info around the RPG community on the net. I will focus on all of the Bioware/Blackisle developments, that includes Icewind Dale (I can't stop playing this game!!), Bladur's Gate II, as well as Torment.... I will alternate with Nightkin with some of the messageboard news as well. My main area of expertise, however, will be the Lord of the Rings, and D&D Movie news. All new links and updates will be put in the Fantasy Movie section.
Hope you all enjoy the new site....

This week I will be filling in for Sorcerer and Nightkin, doing general news updates and handling the messageboards. So stay tuned :-)

Where is Sorcerer?
Posted Thursday, August 3, 2000 - 22:39 CET by Sorcerer

I will be gone for the next ten days (from 4th to 14th), enjoying myself on a well-earned vacation. You can still mail me at the address that is on all pages (sorcerer --AT-- sorcerers.net) but I won't be able to get back to you until I return. And it'll probably take me a while to reply to all the mail that's bound to arrive at my address in those 10 days...
So if you don't mind waiting for a bit, go ahead. But if it can wait, please delay it till I get back. My inbox (and me) will be grateful. ;)
If you need any help with anything while I'm gone, try our message boards, Boards O' Magick.
I'm sure you'll get an answer to all your questions there. ;)

New Official Message Boards
Posted Thursday, August 3, 2000 - 22:30 CET by Sorcerer

Interplay has finally closed the old message boards down, so now these new ones are the only place to post:

Baldur's Gate I, Tales of the Sword Coast and Baldur's Gate II related messages -> here

Planescape: Torment related messages -> here

Icewind Dale related messages -> here

Chris Mann (BG II Artist) Profiled
Posted Thursday, August 3, 2000 - 22:13 CET by Sorcerer

RPG Vault scored yet another interview with a member of the Bioware staff, this time with Chris Mann, the artist on the team. In this Developer Profile he tells us about his position at BioWare, how he found it, his background before that, some of his personal interests, and more:

What is your professional background in terms of education, training and previous jobs? How did you get into the games industry, and do you feel making games has lived up to your expectations?

A year ago I made the decision to go to college for an eight-month accelerated course in 3D graphics. I had been working as a traditional artist before this, which helped me produce my vision for my demo reel. BioWare came down recruiting, and here I am.

Working in the games industry has met my expectations very well. I love the creative and casual atmosphere, and the best part is actually making a living doing what I want.

A Bio of Bioware at Daily Radar
Posted Thursday, August 3, 2000 - 22:04 CET by Sorcerer

An interesting article about Bioware has turned up at Daily Radar today. It is a short overview of the company's history, from the very beginning till today:

Bioware has gotten about as big as Ray and Greg want it to be right now. Currently the company has roughly 100 employees. And, interestingly, most of their crack staff is new to the industry. "We've never hired anyone who has worked on or completed a videogame at another company. All of our employees, every single one, have all come from school, whether it was art or programming school, or just a BA in English. And they've all come because they like videogames."

GameSpot's Neverwinter Nights (Updated) Preview
Posted Thursday, August 3, 2000 - 21:49 CET by Sorcerer

Curios as to what the fuss is all about? Need more info about what exactly Neverwinter Nights is, and what it'll look and feel like?
Well one way to find out is to read the FAQ on our site, but a bit shorter preview was posted at GameSpot today. It doesn't hold any new info for all of you NWN veterans who follow the progress of the game carefully, but it might be interesting if you're just a casual gamer and want to know more about it.

Eurogamer's BG II Review
Posted Wednesday, August 2, 2000 - 23:25 CET by Sorcerer

Eurogamer kicked up a short review with a couple of screenshots today.
Here's what they said:

Details of the game's story are still somewhat vague at this point, but what we do know is that your character wakes one morning to find himself in a cage, and that things rapidly go downhill from there on in, as you face a powerful new villain and have to choose between the lesser of two evils in order to defeat him. Expect another epic struggle for survival, sanity and justice, with an endless succession of plot twists to keep you guessing as to who or what is behind it all.

You can read the whole thing here.

More Cool Stuff at the Official IWD Site
Posted Wednesday, August 2, 2000 - 23:23 CET by Sorcerer

Check this out:

We decided to give you guys a bigger treat 2 times a week rather then every day but these updates are definitely worth the wait, we have 2 new animated gifs, a Male elf fighter, Half elf wizard portrait, and 2 new screenshots so be sure to visit the Downloads & Archives section, Animated Gif section and the Screenshots section.

You can find all of the above at the Official Icewind Dale site.

5 New Baldur's Gate II Screenshots at VE
Posted Tuesday, August 1, 2000 - 22:40 CET by Sorcerer

More screenshots...
This time at Voodoo Extreme. They got 5 exclusive screenshots from the most anticipated CRPG in the works. Check them out here.

Win a Free Copy of Baldur's Gate II!
Posted Tuesday, August 1, 2000 - 21:10 CET by Sorcerer

I have been informed today that GameSentinel is giving away copies of some of the popular games that are about to hit the streets.
They have just announced a giveaway of Interplay's much anticipated sequel to the best-selling Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II. You can win one of 5 copies.
This giveaway expires on August 25th, 2000 and winners will be announced on their site a week after the end of the contest.
As always (unfortunately), the contest is open for US and Canada residents only.

Be sure to check it out here if you're interested.