Ben Smedstad Interview
What levels are the characters expected to reach at the end of the sequel? In AD&D, characters of the levels found in Baldur's Gate 2 can build strongholds and attract followers. Are any such political aspirations introduced into the game?
The new XP cap is at 2,950,000, which means your party will be high teens or low 20s by game's end. We have included class specific quests that include just that, strongholds and other high level goodies. In AD&D, high level people tend to influence politics and the general well being of whole countries, and in BGII: SoA it will be no different.
The Non-Player Characters (NPCs) that could join your party were an amusing and memorable aspect of Baldur's Gate. Will any be making a return and how many will there be to recruit in Baldur's Gate 2? Would you reveal one such NPC?
We are making great efforts to create NPCs that not only join up with your party, but also create an immersive, fun game through their interactions. There are several characters from BG1 making a return in the sequel. For example, Minsc was a favorite for many (Boo as well :-) and will be returning.
Could you name any famous characters that are expected to make cameos given that, in many games, Drizzt, Cadderly and Volo are dead, and Elminster is in hiding?
There may be new cameos, as well as return visits by old friends. If you made enemies of these old "friends", I would suggest watching your back. The player is not the only one with access to restorative magic. (Insert spooky foreboding music here)
The design of multiplayer Baldur's Gate was found to be cumbersome for people used to the freedom of Diablo. What changes have been made in multiplayer design and stability for the sequel?
We have made several improvements to multiplayer for exactly that reason. One new feature is that when a character enters the store screen, other players are not paused or forced into the store screen as well.
Many players wanted the ability to wield two weapons simultaneously, especially those playing Rangers. Is this now possible and what was required to implement it into the game engine?
Dual wield is indeed in BGII:SoA. Fighter types with the proficiency can now wield 2 weapons. The biggest reason it was not implemented in BG1 was the time restraints and the massive animation work needed to do it right
The journal in Baldur's Gate often forgot to mention quests that you had been given or accomplished, and it was hard to track what quests you had left to do. How have the journal and maps been improved in the sequel?
Map and Journal are now annotate-able by the player. This means that the player can add notes to both the journal and the map. As well, the journal will be broken down into different sections for ease of use. Active quests, completed quests, critical path notes, and player notes are the current sections the entries are broken down into.
Before and after the release of Baldur's Gate, the fans gave many suggestions on what they would like to see incorporated into the game and Bioware itself had a long list of items they wished they had had time for. Please highlight five major and five minor features that you were able to incorporate into Baldur's Gate 2.
From a list of over 250 feature requests compiled from the internet alone we had quite the "features we'd like to implement" list. Here are just a few of the literally hundreds of improvements.
3D card support
800x600 Resolution support
Dual wield
Players getting real estate (keeps etc.)
Better pathing
Cool spells like Spell Turning and Chain Contingency
GUI panel "drop off"
Bigger monsters
New proficiencies (dual wield, brawling, etc.)
New race (Half-orc)
Writing custom scripts in Baldur's Gate was not as easy as it could have been. Do you plan to make some tools to simplify the process?
We have it under consideration, though it will come down to whether or not we have the time to do it.
Hasbro recently purchased Wizards of the Coast and, thus, has some control over the Dungeons & Dragons license used to make Baldur's Gate 2. When does Interplay's Forgotten Realms license expire? How will these considerations affect current and future D&D offerings from Bioware?
We will be making AD&D games for quite some time. Our relationship with Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) has always been very good, they are top-notch guys who have great ideas, and who will to listen our own thoughts as well. I do not deal with the contract side of the license (I do not work at Interplay or WoTC) so you would have to ask them.
What are the projected release date and system requirements? Baldur's Gate's release date was revised many times. How confident are you of your estimate?
Fall 2000. The system requirements are a Pentium 200, 32 megs of RAM, 2 meg video card (for 640x480, 4 meg for 800x600). 3D is supported through OpenGL, So Voodoo, TNT and many others will be supported.
Very confident.
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