Beamdog - Interview @ Edmonton Journal

[Couchpotato]

Beambog was interviewed on the Edmonton Journal to talk about reviving the Baldur's Gate games, and mentions their new game in development called Adventure Y.

EDMONTON - The pressure is on for video game startup Beamdog, which will soon release its first original title.

It has set its sights high by taking over the beloved Baldur’s Gate franchise from fellow Edmonton developer BioWare. It will be the third game in the series of fantasy role-playing games and the first in more than a decade.

“We’ve gone into the chrysalis. We either come out a butterfly or we fall into the ground as an ugly caterpillar and continue on,” says president Trent Oster, who earned his chops as a BioWare co-founder.

With offices on Gateway Boulevard just south of Whyte Avenue, where Oster says he thrives off of the energy, Beamdog has grown since 2009 from two people to 19.

Dubbed “Adventure Y,” the new game, which is still under development, is not a full-fledged Baldur’s Gate sequel. Instead, the story will centre on what occurs between the first two games.

More information.

 

[rjshae]

Do we know who owns the rights to the BG series now? Is it Beamdog, EA, or did Hasbro take it back?

 

[Couchpotato]

Hasbro owns all D&D licenses Beamdog got their okay to make more BG games.

 

[Carnifex]

I need to send these guys more pizza and beer when their new product comes out. After the stellar work on Icewind Dale and both Baldur's, I'm expecting the new game to be quite good.

 

[Archangel]

I need to send these guys more pizza and beer when their new product comes out. After the stellar work on Icewind Dale and both Baldur's, I'm expecting the new game to be quite good.

This will be their biggest test yet. They barely added new content so far and out it all I only really enjoyed Neera's Thayan parts from BG2 and only because it was made to be a challenging combat for that level (well I don't know what Rashaad and Dorn get to do in BG2EE and I didn't play ToBEE yet).

I really don't have the confidence that Adventure Y will be of same quality as Bg1 and BG2 but I am really really hoping Beamdog surprises me.

 

[Edgy]

Hasbro owns all D&D licenses Beamdog got their okay to make more BG games.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...re-y-interquel-set-between-bg1-and-bg2.96369/

Jaesun said: ↑
This is the part about trademarks I don't fully understand. Currently (I just checked) BioWare/EA own the rights to the Baldur's Gate™ name. They obviously do not own the IP rights of the setting (that is Wizards of the Coast). But the characters and story I *assume* BioWare/EA still own?

EA probably agreed to it in return for a revenue share agreement. I remember when BGEE was first announced Beamdog mentioned that they had to deal with Bioware as well as WOTC to get it approved.

I am preparing myself for shit writing.

 

[Couchpotato]

Sorry Edgy Hasbro issues licenses for all WotC material to Overhaul/Beamdog. Nobody else owns the licenses, or can use them without Hasbro's permission nowadays.

They won them all back thorough a lengthy legal case a few years back.

 

[rjshae]

I'm wondering how they can cram more than, say, a couple of levels of character development in between the two games. The XP cap for BG was 161K; the initial XP for new characters in BG2 was 89K. So unless you're playing the background of one of the new characters in BG2, that doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.

 

[Couchpotato]

I wonder who you will play as so any suggestions anyone? As based on what little information is available the game is set between both Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2.

 

[Dennis14]

Any info on possible Enhanced Editions for Planescape:Torment and Icewind Dale 2 ?

 

[Couchpotato]

Based on past interviews/forum posts they have no plans yet.

Link - http://www.rpgamer.com/games/icewind/icewindee/icewindeeint.html

Do you plan to follow this up with Icewind Dale II: EE?

If Icewind Dale is a brother or sister to the Baldur's Gate games in terms of code and gameplay differences, Icewind Dale II and Planescape: Torment are more like third cousins. You can see the lineage, but the changes are deep. At this point we haven't gone spelunking too deep into those changes, but we are aware of many differences which will drive up the effort to do our thing on those projects. We hope to do more spleunking once we finish up with the 1.3 Updates for Baldur's Gate: EE and Baldur's Gate II: EE and ship Icewind Dale: EE.

Link- http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/38657/will-we-ever-see-planescape-torment-enhanced-edition

Will we ever see "Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition"?

It's pretty much a maybe. A lot of people in the office (including me) would LOVE to a Planescape update. It's one of my favorite games of all time. Trent has said "we'd like to, there are issues to work out first but we're interested" (I paraphrase). So nothing is officially in the works but maybe, someday, hopefully.

Anyway right now Overhaul/Bambog are developing two new RPG games.

Link - http://www.beamdog.com/beamblog

Adventure Y

This year, the eagerly anticipated Adventure Y will finally navigate the dark underground caverns of development and venture out into the Sword Coast. We’ve mentioned before that Adventure Y will be an addition to the Baldur’s Gate line using the Infinity engine, bridging the gap between Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition. Keep an eye on the Beamblog in late spring for announcements regarding the content and release date of Adventure Y. We have an exciting release planned for this game, something bigger than we’ve ever done before. If you’re looking for more information on Adventure Y, check out these pictures which were mysteriously leaked to the forums.

Adventure… Z?

By late summer we should be ready to talk about our next project after Adventure Y. “Adventure Z” sounds boring, so let’s call it Project: Beartrap. Right now all we can say about Project: Beartrap is that it exists and it’s a departure for us in terms of what we’ve done in the past. Also, the project might involve sharks. Maybe we should call it Project: Sharktrap? Either way, we’re looking forward to giving you more details mid-year.