Dragon Age Modders Remake Baldur's Gate 2

GN writes, "A podcast dedicated to Dragon Age: Origins has featured an interview with the Baldur's Gate 2: Redux mod team, focused on recreating the original Baldur's Gate 2 experience using the Dragon Age engine. The modding group has had great success so far in recreating parts of the Irenicus Dungeon, screenshots of which can be found on the team's site. The Dragon Age Podcast group's interview reveals all the secrets behind the modding effort, including how others can get involved and some very ambitious release dates.

An excerpt from the podcast and screenshots from the mod can be found below..."

[ps3ftwin]

OMG this will be awesome. Cant wait to play this on my PC. Sad such mods never make it to consoles.

[Julie]

me too me too!! where Minsc goes , Evil stands aside! meep! :D

i love Boo! <3

[harv711]

BGII Shadows of Amn is by far my favorite game. I was never so immersed in any game. To me this game was what RPG should be as your actions actually made a difference in the game.

My favorite time in this game was when I decided to destroy Amn and after killing all the guards, an adventuring party was sent after me. I thought, OMG they must of thought of everything, I can only imagine the development time they spent making that game.

[Aphe]

No rpg, even today, comes close to BG2's scale and quality of writing. Truly epic.

[champ21]

@ps3ftwin

This stuff wont make it to consoles due to all the royalties.

Plus Micro and Sony would rather have this kinda stuff sold as DLC.

[darksied]

"i love Boo! <3 "

That hamster has more character than any console protagonist.

[harv711]

This could never be released as DLC because Interplay owns the IP, and even if they could buy it from them, since the campaign takes place in Forgotten Realms, they would have to get a license from Wizards of the Coast. Bioware wouldn't do that because the entire reason for them making Dragon Age was to get away from the costly licensing fees and restrictions from Wizards.

[5yN4MWQU]

The group has taken careful steps to ensure a sound legal plan. They are not reproducing any copyrighted content, but rather drawing from the original game files to recreate it (i.e., conversations, audio, etc.). This means you must have the original BG2 in order to play this mod, and since they are not redistributing any original content, this should work out.

[harv711]

@ Lelldorianx

I don't think it really matters when it comes to a custom mod made by the community. I used to build mods for NWN, I had a Ravenloft server I built. What I was referring to in my above comment was that this would never be released for DLC for the Xbox or the PS3.

I am really happy that people are trying to do this. I would offer help, but I opened the editor for NWN2 and didn't like the changes Obsidian made. And I only opened the Dragon Age editor once but it was so different from the NWN editor I didn't feel like trying to figure it out. It's a shame to because I literally have thousands of customs scripts I made for my original mod. And I'm not sure if Dragon Age is using C++ or not.

Oh while I'm thinking of it, I also made some custom spells which included teleportations. It was a really nifty thing to have included.

[vhero]

Loved Baldurs Gate 2 way back when and a shame they didnt allow mods on PS3 version as Sony allow mods on the PS3 unlike 360..

[Montrealien]

And their you have it, it is time for me to get dragon age on the PC. :)

[Aphe]

I can't see it getting finished myself, that would be a massive task for even a full development team.

[bruddahmanmatt]

Unfortunately I agree. It's a very ambitious project but perhaps a little TOO ambitious. I like the idea though.

[tda-danny]

Hopefully it can be completed in a timely manner, as modding communities never seems to get huge projects like this out while the game-engine is still relevant.

A remake of BG1 is still under construction using the NWN2 builder & engine. I think the team is getting close on a release, but we won't know for sure until it finally comes out.

More info on the BG1 remake in NWN2 here: http://nwn2forums.bioware.c...

Screens uploaded from the author here: http://s403.photobucket.com...

[mikemike37]

looks like theyre going to release in modules, which sounds sensible - so we should have something playable soon! theyre saying by september they should have released irenicus dungeon, which from memory was proabably a good couple of hours of gameplay.

[tda-danny]

That dungeon was around 45 mins of content. Maybe an hour.

[yog-sothot]

OMG

BG2 is still in my all time top 3 ! This could be awesome

[Letros]

BG2 > all

Bioware's finest work to date.

[ChronoJoe]

What's the point? PC gamers can just go play Baldurs gate 2. Besides none of those screenshots look like the original. Looks crap.

[Dutchy]

I think many a gamer has at some point in time wondered how an epic game like BG2 would look in a modern game engine. This is the result, and IMHO, it's looking pretty sweet.

[kevnb]

If done right, it could be one of the best mods of all time. Planescape Torment could use the same treatment.

[5yN4MWQU]

To answer some questions: Yes, this module will be released in segments, meaning that you players will be able to play through it parts at a time (as opposed to waiting years for a complete product, you get them every couple of months). The project lead has currently set a target date of September.

[SephireX]

This user created content highlights the main advantage pc gaming has over console gaming. Mods and user customization lengthen the appeal of pc games increasing the value of games and giving gamers more for what they paid for. This particular mod also allows gamers who've never played Baldur's Gate II to experience this epic game running on a new engine. Open source always leads to better value when it comes to pc gaming.