Wait, what...Baldur's Gate teaser!?

[Evie]

http://www.baldursgate.com/

1. This site is brand new.
2. It's registered to Trent Oster, head of BeamDog studio and former Bioware developper

Per GameBanshee

-It is not related to the upcoming Steam complete edition
-Beamdog is hoping to have an announcement soon.
-The source for the site page contain the following:

Shadowy Figure- Raise Dead : Infinity Engine

For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory.

And then... it returned. Better than it was before.

Pore over the tapestries and works of art hanging from our walls if you wish, Child of Bhaal... perhaps you will find a clue. But patience, ah... patience would reveal it all.

As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does life.

edit: the source has been changed to :

<!-- Take heart fellow adventurers, for you have curried the favor of Boo, the only miniature giant space hamster in the Realm! -->

(IMO "it returned. Better than it was before" hints pretty strongly at a remake/upgrade. The NPC portraits are the cast of I, and the logo and quote are the ones from I as well, so the original getting overhauled into the modern age appear to be most likely)

 

[Maniacal]

The BG games could use an update to make them run better on modern computers and resolutions, but I am completely opposed to any other major changes because chances are they will screw it up. Updated sprites would be great too, although I love the art style as it is so they'd better not screw with it too much :thug:

 

[Evie]

Another possibility is that the game is getting ported to iSomethingorother, Android or similar.

I mean, I think I'd prefer the updated version, but Baldur's Gate I on my iPod? I'd take that too.

 

[Adam7Eight]

Oh, this could be totally awesome. I guess we'll see...

 

[GoodGame]

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere, the other day, that the game will get a major update soon.
Will try to post the linky.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/63825/New-Baldur-s-Gate-Game-In-Development-Teaser-Site-Live

Spoiler :

New Baldur&#8217;s Gate Game In Development, Teaser Site Live
Feb 28, 2012 at 11:11 PM - socketboy - 24 Comments

Yesterday a teaser site went live with the trademark grimacing skull, some music, and background art from the classic series. Eurogamer found some additional clues in the source code.

Shadowy Figure- Raise Dead : Infinity Engine.
For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory.
And then... it returned. Better than it was before.
Pore over the tapestries and works of art hanging from our walls if you wish, Child of Bhaal... perhaps you will find a clue. But patience, ah... patience would reveal it all.
As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does life.

The studio behind the site has been confirmed to be Beamdog a company co-founded by an ex BioWare employee, Trent Oster. Beamdog has confirmed an official announcement is forthcoming, and that this teaser page doesn't have anything to do with the rumored Steam re-release of the original games. Adding to the credibility that it will be a brand new Baldur&#8217;s Gate game, Atari said in 2008 that they planned to revisit Baldur&#8217;s Gate, D&D, Neverwinter Nights, and Test Drive Unlimited. Stay tuned for further updates!

Yeah, sounds like Atari hired an ex-Bioware team in the form of Beamdog.
Though it might just be a high-definition port.

What that "something" is remains to be
seen, but from the various Baldur's Gate accoutrement on the teaser site, it sure looks like a Baldur's Gate something is in the works over at Beamdog. Considering that Beamdog handled the HD port of BioWare's MDK 2, it stands to reason that an HD port of Baldur's Gate could be in the works. Regardless, we've yet to find out for sure.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/29/report-baldurs-gate-site-teases-beamdog-developed-franchise-pr/


They seem to be denying any link to Steam. I'm also confused because "Beamdog" is also a digital distributor. I'm wondering if this will be like a flagship release for a digital distribution system, kind of like the Witcher series was for GOG.com.

 

[Rub'Rum]

I still need to play through Baldur's Gate 2 I've played 1, and Icewind Dale, and Planescape Torment, but somehow I never managed to make it through Baldur's Gate 2. Personally, as for this news, I'm hoping for a new game.

 

[Disgustipated]

Well get to work already. Baldur's Gate 2 is too good a game not to finish.

What usually happens with me is I say I'll play BG1 and BG2 straight through, but by the time I finigh BG1 I'm burned out, and I never start up 2. I might actually like BG1 tutu over BG2 even though initially I preferred BG2 over BG1 (BG2 was my first BG game and first game with that engine). I do have some problems running BG2 at high resolutions and widescreen, that's another reason I don't play. It would be nice to run at that resolution.

 

[ArneHD]

New comments in the source code:
Top:
<!-- March 5, 2012 -->
<!-- Shadowy Figure- Raise Dead : Infinity Engine -->
<!-- "She left me to die. YOU left me to die. But Shar... Shar wanted me to live." -->
Bottom:
<!-- "If you wish me dead, brother, it must be by your hand. No one else." -->

Edit: Heh, almost sounds like something Viconia would say.

 

[PeteAtoms]

There is now a timer on the website counting down to 12pm PST (18h 36m from now).

 

[Rub'Rum]

and the news is... BALDUR'S GATE AVAILABLE ON STEAM!!!!!!!

Spoiler :

kidding

 

[Vylinius]

Dang it Rub'Rum I actually went and looked for it.

 

[Samez]

It's already available on good old games.

 

[Evie]

It IS supposed to get a Steam release soon...

...but Trent Oster has said the two were unrelated.

EDIT.: countdown over, site is down, but Overhaul games (the Beamdog development arm) apparently now has a Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition logo somewhere on their site (says GameBanshee). They're the ones who did the MDK2 overhaul.

 

[Evie]

And there we have it folks.

 

[ArneHD]

So... basically a HD remake of Baldur's Gate?

 

[Rub'Rum]

*crickets*

 

[Evie]

I dunno, I'll have to see how much of an upgrade it is - if they're just updating the graphics (and how much!) or if they're adding new content or whatnot. Especially interested to see if they'd back-port content from BG2 or either expansions into the original BG.

But unless it's a no-change update where even the graphic upgrade look minimal they stand a good chance of having my monies. Probably better than a BG III would have.

EDIT:

More news, again courtesy of GameBanshee:

1- BOTH Baldur's Gate AND Shadows of Amn are getting Enchanced Editions
2- BG:EE will include Tales of the Sword Coast. BG II :EE will include Throne of Bhaal
3- BOTH games will be based on the Throne of Bhaal engine. Which most likely mean class kits (kensai, etc) in BG I.
4- The games will include new content, created by people from the original team.
5- They're not fixing what ain't broke. 2nd Edition it is.

 

[Samez]

I think this to be strange. To me it feels a bit like "we finally release the addon for the 10 year old game and give it a graphic overhaul so it will look only 8 years old"
Not that I don't like BG and I guess it will be okay but why now? (well 14 years after the original release)

 

[Maniacal]

Well that is a huge relief, although there is a slightly smaller but still large worry they will screw it up but I shall try to be optimistic and hope for the best OMG OMG OMG.

 

[Evie]

More and more details, from Trent Oster's Twitter (and the people watching it over at GameBanshee:

&#8226; The team is making it a point to support as many languages as they can.

&#8226; No new-fangled 3D-rendered graphics, here. They're going "2D isometric all the way", just the way we like it.

&#8226; The team is going to stick with the original BG model of limited voiceovers because it "allows for more in-depth writing." Good call.

&#8226; As of right now, our old BG1 and BG2 save games should work in the Enhanced Editions. The team hasn't had to change the save game formats... yet, anyway.

&#8226; There will be all-new characters for us to meet and recruit into our party in the Enhanced Editions. Voiced by all-new actors, no less.

&#8226; The Enhanced Editions will likely only be released digitally, so your old Baldur's Gate boxed copies will have to continue taking up your prized shelf space for now.

&#8226; The interface will see some revising, specifically to increase the size of the font (and hopefully the characters) at high resolutions. Elaborating further, Trent states that they have the original source code and are attempting to rework the UI and rendering.

&#8226; Once you're finished with the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, you will be able to import your character into the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, just as we could with the original games.

&#8226; The team is "looking for new ways" to attach Baldur's Gate + Tales of the Sword Coast and Baldur's Gate II + Throne of Bhaal into one cohesive title. And, yes, that would be nothing short of awesome.

&#8226; The outdated DirectPlay network interface used by Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II has been "macheted" to make room for something that is "better". Here's to hoping co-op multiplayer will be vastly improved!

&#8226; The ultimate goal? The new Enhanced Editions are "part of the master plan" toward the possibility of a Baldur's Gate III.