"Life... is strength. That is not to be contested; it seems logical enough. You live; you affect your world." Jon Irenicus, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.
"It’s dangerous to go alone; take this!” The Legend of Zelda
Some names have earned a certain weight that comes from the accomplishments of the men that borne them. In the geek community these people stand out by their creations. John Carmack, Hideo Miyamoto, Gabe Newell are all names that have left a mark in videogame history, and they continue to be a source of inspiration to game developers around the world. But there are some, even older names that reverberate around the geek community. Two of these names are Gary Gaygax and Dave Arneson.
These two men have influenced hundreds if not thousands of gamers and game developers around the world for forty years. They are the masterminds behind the creation of a whole genre of gaming. Their Creation? Dungeons & Dragons.
"It’s dangerous to go alone; take this!” The Legend of Zelda
Some names have earned a certain weight that comes from the accomplishments of the men that borne them. In the geek community these people stand out by their creations. John Carmack, Hideo Miyamoto, Gabe Newell are all names that have left a mark in videogame history, and they continue to be a source of inspiration to game developers around the world. But there are some, even older names that reverberate around the geek community. Two of these names are Gary Gaygax and Dave Arneson.
These two men have influenced hundreds if not thousands of gamers and game developers around the world for forty years. They are the masterminds behind the creation of a whole genre of gaming. Their Creation? Dungeons & Dragons.
This tabletop roleplaying game, created over forty years ago by these two men, has been one of the most influential games in videogames history despite not being a videogame itself. D&D gives the players a rule-set that behaves more like guidelines, and leaves the rest to the imagination and creativity of the players themselves. This is what enabled game designers from across the world to make RPG's that sense of fantasy and freedom, ruled by a series of guidelines that provided clear accomplishments, rewards and power to the players provided the perfect groundwork for a videogame. Then things got interesting.
Anything from the 1979 Atari game Adventure to today's latest RPG can trace it's origins to D&D, but thought the years there have been only a couple of games that managed to capture the essence of Dungeons & Dragons completely and not just relied on it for inspiration. Chief among this games is Baldur's Gate.
Anything from the 1979 Atari game Adventure to today's latest RPG can trace it's origins to D&D, but thought the years there have been only a couple of games that managed to capture the essence of Dungeons & Dragons completely and not just relied on it for inspiration. Chief among this games is Baldur's Gate.
Developed in the nineties by a fledgling Bioware, Baldur's Gate became the first true adaptation of D&D into a videogame. Not only was the Baldur's Gate the game the shot Bioware to fame. It's sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn continues to be considered one of the best RPGs ever made, and it's held as a judging standard against all other RPGs by everyone who has ever played it.
Both games along with their siblings Icewin Dale I & II and Planescape: Torment used the Infinity Engine, a perfect tool for Bioware that allowed them to implement and modify the extensive ruleset of D&D into a series of unprecedented games. The Infinity Engine allowed for hand-drawn paper-dolls and animations to be used in an isometric world, this is what gave the games such a high level of artistic value and replayability. These games will always remain beautiful. Another important aspect of the Infinity Engine was the ability to pause the game world at will, allowing for the strategy that usually flows in a Dungeons & Dragons game to take place inside the game as the player could issue commands while in-pause.
Both games along with their siblings Icewin Dale I & II and Planescape: Torment used the Infinity Engine, a perfect tool for Bioware that allowed them to implement and modify the extensive ruleset of D&D into a series of unprecedented games. The Infinity Engine allowed for hand-drawn paper-dolls and animations to be used in an isometric world, this is what gave the games such a high level of artistic value and replayability. These games will always remain beautiful. Another important aspect of the Infinity Engine was the ability to pause the game world at will, allowing for the strategy that usually flows in a Dungeons & Dragons game to take place inside the game as the player could issue commands while in-pause.
The brilliance of these games doesn't stop there. Given that most employees at Bioware at the time played D&D they knew that their biggest problem lay in turning a multiplayer-tabletop-game into a singleplayer experience. Sitting around in a livingroom with friends, each having his/her own character while someone held control over the entire experience whilst acting as a dungeon master is relatively easy. Transferring that whole experience so that a single person in front of a computer can achieve and even higher level of immersion. not so much.
Bioware worked wonders. With the Infinity Engine in hand they had a way to build the world and apply the ruleset from D&D. But what they did to complement the experience was nothing short of brilliant. First they crafted an amazing story, one that you would expect to find in a fantasy world full of magic, gods and wonders. Then they did the characters, The NPCs that would accompany the player through the game. By hiring amazing voice actors and great scripting Bioware brought this characters to life.. Each and everyone of them had depth. their lines of dialog, their actions and even their stats reflected who they where and what they wanted, and it worked perfectly. It truly felt like having different people alongside you, not just more pawn for you to control.
Then there is the world. Set in tiny corners of the world's created for D&D these games where among the first to experiment with the notion of 'open world'. A setting where there is no ironclad route to follow and the player is allowed more freedom to choose the path to follow in order to complete a main quest, all the while exploring different lands and meeting new and interesting companions. All in all, a brilliant success.
Bioware worked wonders. With the Infinity Engine in hand they had a way to build the world and apply the ruleset from D&D. But what they did to complement the experience was nothing short of brilliant. First they crafted an amazing story, one that you would expect to find in a fantasy world full of magic, gods and wonders. Then they did the characters, The NPCs that would accompany the player through the game. By hiring amazing voice actors and great scripting Bioware brought this characters to life.. Each and everyone of them had depth. their lines of dialog, their actions and even their stats reflected who they where and what they wanted, and it worked perfectly. It truly felt like having different people alongside you, not just more pawn for you to control.
Then there is the world. Set in tiny corners of the world's created for D&D these games where among the first to experiment with the notion of 'open world'. A setting where there is no ironclad route to follow and the player is allowed more freedom to choose the path to follow in order to complete a main quest, all the while exploring different lands and meeting new and interesting companions. All in all, a brilliant success.
Just looking at Bioware and the list of games they have made it is possible to see the influence of Baldur's Gate in all of them. Their latest work, still in development looks towards bringing the D&D experience they embedded into the Infinity Engine games by using the vast improvements in technology to their utmost advantage. Traces and influences of Baldur's Gate and the other Infinity Engine games can be seen thought the trailer, showing and improvement on everything that made this games a masterpiece.
Dragon Age: Inquisition looks beautiful, that is undeniable. How such beauty will hold through time remains to be seen, as 3D graphics age much worse due to the speed at which the technology improves. They have an incredible open world one that promised to be beyond anything Bioware has ever created. They implemented the real time pause and allow for the player to move the camera to an almost isometric view of the world, allowing for the same tactical combat that existed in Baldurs Gate. Sadly in this Inquisition fails to deliver as the speed and complexity of combat rarely requires pausing or deep strategics.
Dragon Age: Inquisition looks beautiful, that is undeniable. How such beauty will hold through time remains to be seen, as 3D graphics age much worse due to the speed at which the technology improves. They have an incredible open world one that promised to be beyond anything Bioware has ever created. They implemented the real time pause and allow for the player to move the camera to an almost isometric view of the world, allowing for the same tactical combat that existed in Baldurs Gate. Sadly in this Inquisition fails to deliver as the speed and complexity of combat rarely requires pausing or deep strategics.
Games from big developers tend to go along with the flow of both technology and the market. This explains the trends that most AA games tend to follow, but for the last couple of years something amazing has been happening. No only are indie developers experimenting with new ideas and mechanics, but there are some that are trying to resurrect some of the older ones, the ones that didn't make it thought the passage of time and technology. This is the case for the Infinity Engine games.
Then there is Beamdog, which acquired the rights to Baldur's Gate and released 'Enhanced' versions that adapted to today technology like tablets and newer operating systems, not to mention adding content and fixing bugs from the original games. They did all this in the hopes of kindling the interest for the genre once again and to start developing Baldur's Gate III. Beamdog was criticized by fans of the original games for the amount of bugs the enhanced editions shipped with, and due to the huge modding community already present seeing their efforts as nothing but a 'Glorified mod'. Due to this mixed success it remains to be seen weather or not there will indeed be a third title in the Baldurs Gate Series. So far they have enhanced both BG titles and Icewind Dale and they have an upcoming expansion for the first Baldur's Gate called Siege of the Dragonspear which promises to bridge the gap between the two games
Then there is Beamdog, which acquired the rights to Baldur's Gate and released 'Enhanced' versions that adapted to today technology like tablets and newer operating systems, not to mention adding content and fixing bugs from the original games. They did all this in the hopes of kindling the interest for the genre once again and to start developing Baldur's Gate III. Beamdog was criticized by fans of the original games for the amount of bugs the enhanced editions shipped with, and due to the huge modding community already present seeing their efforts as nothing but a 'Glorified mod'. Due to this mixed success it remains to be seen weather or not there will indeed be a third title in the Baldurs Gate Series. So far they have enhanced both BG titles and Icewind Dale and they have an upcoming expansion for the first Baldur's Gate called Siege of the Dragonspear which promises to bridge the gap between the two games
There is however a better initiative. Two actually. Crowd founding and Kickstarter have allowed for thousands of ideas to come to fruition and games are not an exception. Two Kickstarter projects in particular have it in their goals to bring the Infinity Engine type of games back. The Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter is, as the name implies, a tribute to Planescape: Torment. But having achieved over 400% of their initial goal in a single month of Kickstarter campaign showed them that we where not only ready for an IE-style game, we hungered for it.
Numenera is based not on D&D, but on a much newer Pen and Paper RPG created my Monte Cook who was the original designer for the Planescape setting in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. So the inspiration from D&D is still there, but it has gone through a series of refinements by both players and game designers thorough the years and by Monty Cook's vast experience. Torment: Tides of Numenera promises to deliver exactly as they promised, and epic role-playing game that will surpass even Baldur's Gate.
Numenera is based not on D&D, but on a much newer Pen and Paper RPG created my Monte Cook who was the original designer for the Planescape setting in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. So the inspiration from D&D is still there, but it has gone through a series of refinements by both players and game designers thorough the years and by Monty Cook's vast experience. Torment: Tides of Numenera promises to deliver exactly as they promised, and epic role-playing game that will surpass even Baldur's Gate.
Aside from Torment there is another Kickstarter project that achieved similar results in its crowd-founding. Pillars of Eternity also owes it's name in part as a tribute to the infinity engine. It uses a modified ruleset from P&P RPG to exploit the presence of a processor and improve combat and game mechanics, all the while maintaining the classical isometric look from the Infinity Engine Games and the painstakingly drawn areas. I looks beautiful in a way that few AAA games can look, and it has all the elements that made Baldur's Gate such and iconic game: The open world, the characters, the setting, the music and the game mechanics. It is the spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine games and perhaps the beginning of a new era en gaming, on based on revamping the classics. Pillars is also getting its first expansion: The white march which promises to expand upon the epicness of the original game.
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