Baldur's Gate Face-Off
It should be clear that BioWare has worked very hard to make Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn a worthy sucessor to the excellent Baldur's Gate. Every aspect of the game has been upgraded and much more depth added. BioWare describes some of the differences between the two games below.
Backgrounds
One of the many improvements made to Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn was to the graphics of the game. Not only has the general background art quality improved but all graphical
effects including spells, creatures and background animations has, as well. Our art team has learned many "tricks" to take advantage of the engine, and the overall quality of the game
has improved because of this.
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.
The top three images are from Baldur's Gate, while the lower six are from Baldur's Gate II.
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