{"id":5274,"date":"2020-02-28T13:32:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T13:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1819466\/"},"modified":"2020-02-28T13:32:10","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T13:32:10","slug":"return-of-the-king-an-interview-with-baldurs-gate-iii-producer-david-walgrave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/02\/28\/return-of-the-king-an-interview-with-baldurs-gate-iii-producer-david-walgrave\/","title":{"rendered":"Return of the King: An Interview With \u2018Baldur\u2019s Gate III\u2019 Producer David Walgrave"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Larian Studios is best known for its Divinity: Original Sin<\/em> titles. These beloved games successfully blend classic computer RPG mechanics with modern-day presentation and gameplay. Many praise them as spiritual successors of the old Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em> games. It is fortunate then that Larian is now in charge of resurrecting the long-dormant franchise with Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Revealed at PAX East 2020, Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> returns players to the Forgotten Realms and the titular city of Baldur\u2019s Gate. An evil force called the cult of the Absolute seeks to destroy the Forgotten Realms and install a new order. The player-character and their companions must traverse the Forgotten Realms and beyond to stop the Absolute\u2019s quest for world domination. Along the way, they must also find a cure for an affliction placed on them by the Absolute. If they fail in that endeavor, they will become beings called Mind Flayers and forever be thralls to the Absolute.<\/p>\n

Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> is all about giving players a multitude of choices. The game has so many permutations that it is almost impossible for any two players to have the same exact experience. Players can approach combat in a number of ways. They can go straight into a fight or use the environment to their advantage. Sneaking up on enemies, using campfires to ignite arrows, or even persuading foes to lay down their arms are all viable options. Choice also extends to dialogue; some of which can impact the narrative profoundly. If one wishes to, they can spend hundreds of hours on a single playthrough simply exploring the world and seeing what they can discover.<\/p>\n

During a recent Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> event here in New York City, I had the chance to interview David Walgrave, who is the Senior Producer of the game. During our extensive chat, we discussed a wide variety of topics. This includes how Larian became the developer of Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> and how it tackled producing a new entry in the series. We also delved into how modern audiences perceive computer RPGs and how Larian is keeping the genre alive in 2020.<\/p>\n

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What does it feel like resurrecting Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>? What challenges did you face developing a new entry in the classic franchise?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing to be working on it. Sometimes I still can\u2019t believe it. Every time we hit an important milestone I have to pinch myself. For instance, this press tour made me realize we have a lot riding on this. This is a big thing we\u2019re doing. When [Larian Founder] Swen Vincke told me we were going to do it I was very happy I was sitting down because I knew he had something major to tell me. I thought he was going to fire me or something [laughs]. It\u2019s been an amazing ride.<\/p>\n

The way we\u2019re making sure everyone will like it is by approaching it as a big production. We\u2019re trying not to think too much about the shoes we need to fill or what came before. We\u2019re only thinking about the audience we need to reach and the story we need to tell with the technology of 2020.<\/p>\n

Bioware developed the first two Baldur\u2019s Gates<\/em> games. How did you come about developing Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an RPG developer, Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em> is like the holy grail. Swen visited Wizards of the Coast after we did Original Sin 1<\/em>. He showed it to them and said we wanted to do Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>. Swen tried to sell them on what a modern computer RPG is. He explained our design philosophies, what gameplay means to us, and our ideas for RPGs. They said no. I don\u2019t know whether they thought we couldn\u2019t pull it off because we (were) a small-time Belgian developer or if they didn\u2019t want to do a sequel.<\/p>\n

A year later when we were working on Original Sin II<\/em> they actually got in touch with us. They said they were still thinking about the presentation Swen gave them talking about how we\u2019d do a Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>. Wizards of the Coast became more interested in getting back into computer games and thought of that crazy guy from Belgium. So that\u2019s how it happened.<\/p>\n

We told about a dozen people at Larian Studios and started thinking about how we\u2019d do the story and gameplay for Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>. We talked with Wizards of the Coast and hit it off. There\u2019s a lot of things we have in common in terms of gameplay and storytelling. During one of the first meetings, we were sitting around a table with their Dungeon Masters. That was a nice compliment and I knew we were going to make a good game together.<\/p>\n

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It makes sense for you guys to make Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> considering how many folks see the Original Sin<\/em> games as spiritual successors of Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That was always the intent — to make a kind of old-school computer RPG but with modern technology. We wanted to make Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em> 3D and we wanted to make sure it was not just a nostalgia trip.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a whole new audience out there and they don\u2019t want to play stuff made in the 80s and 90s. They want to play modern stuff that appeals to them. But in the meantime, we\u2019re using all the tricks used in the 80s and 90s. We\u2019re using systemics and we\u2019re using the story. If you\u2019re not into certain RPG stats and this and that, you don\u2019t need to dive into it. But if you want to, there\u2019s a hardcore version waiting there for you.<\/p>\n

That is what we\u2019re trying to do with Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>. If you played the original ones we hope you\u2019re going to play this one and appreciate what we did even though it doesn\u2019t look exactly like the old ones. I don\u2019t think you can release something like that in 2020 as a sequel.<\/p>\n

What kind of research did you do when making Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>? Did you go back and play the older entries and dissect their mechanics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have a dozen or so writers working on Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> and they started something they call \u201cD&D University.\u201d They forced themselves to read all sorts of documents like the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Player’s Guide to Faer\u00fbn. They read a lot of Forgotten Realms stuff — a lot of D&D stuff in general. I can\u2019t tell you all the stuff they read but they\u2019re writers so they need to read a lot [laughs]. The writers really brushed up on their lore.<\/p>\n

All of the designers almost need to know the Player’s Handbook by heart. We all have a copy laying on our table because it\u2019s so important to us. In the beginning, a couple of the designers were afraid it would be a bit limiting. Like, this is the ruleset and that\u2019s it. But actually it\u2019s very inspiring. For instance, the Player’s Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide, they\u2019re not always so strict. They say this is how you do things but you\u2019re the Dungeon Master. Then we realized you need to implement a certain ruleset but you also have a lot of freedom because you\u2019re turning it into a computer game. The only thing that\u2019s limiting us is the fact it needs to run on a computer.<\/p>\n

You mentioned how this game uses the same tricks as computer RPGs of the past. How did you balance classic and modern mechanics that would satisfy both younger and older players?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how we keep old-school fans happy [laughs]. They\u2019re hard to please. We noticed a lot of our player-base is people in their teens and 20s. But they keep on discovering it because for them it\u2019s a big playground to play in. But the playground is possible because we\u2019re working with systemics.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a trick they pulled in the 80s because they didn\u2019t have a lot of memory, time, or personnel. They made a thing work as a simulation and got a lot of gameplay for free out of that. That gives players freedom or at least the idea of freedom. This is also what sold it to Wizards of the Coast. They said that what we built on a computer feels very much like a board game or a tabletop version of D&D because of the freedom. If you think of it, it\u2019s probably possible in the engine we built. But the engine uses all the tricks they pulled back in the day to create the simulation.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what will keep old-school players happy if they\u2019re expecting hardcore stuff and simulation stuff. It\u2019s also keeping young people happy because they can mess around and glitch it and cheese it every way they can.<\/p>\n

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How long after the second game does this take place? Do people need to have played the previous installments to understand the story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s based on Fifth Edition D&D. That and Forgotten Realms takes place in the 15th century (in the world of D&D). The original Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em> games took place in the 14th century, so there\u2019s a hundred years in-between. But you will see characters from the previous games. There are tricks you can pull in Forgotten Realms. Elves live longer, certain people fall into time prisons. There will be things you recognize. If you know the original games or if you\u2019re a fan of the novels then you will recognize places and characters.<\/p>\n

Graphically, Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> looks incredible. What was your philosophy with regard to the graphic style you wanted to present?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t want people to say this is just Original Sin<\/em> with different characters. There\u2019s about 20-30% of the Original Sin<\/em> engine left and we rewrote so many systems and so many things.<\/p>\n

The renderer has become much more realistic. We support photogrammetry right now. There are realistic textures you can zoom in on endlessly but it\u2019ll still look like a rock or tree or sand. We want to make it realistic so you believe in the story and characters. We want their personalities to become real so the interactions and the relationships between you and your companions mean something to you.<\/p>\n

If you talked to people that played the original games, they always talk about all the companions you could pick up and how much they love or hate them. That is something we also wanted to do. You can increase the relationship people have with characters by showing them. Showing their emotions, zooming in on their faces. They make dialogue come alive and that was one of the things we wanted. We wanted to create a D&D world you recognize as D&D. This has nothing to do with Larian or Divinity<\/em>. This is very D&D.<\/p>\n

When Swen was rehearsing the presentation, he rehearsed it a million times and it always went completely different each time. But he needed to know whether or not he could do all of these things because there is so much that can go wrong. I was sitting in one of these presentations and it was also the first time I saw the game from a different point of view. When you\u2019re a developer, you\u2019re working on the game and you only seem to see the mistakes and everything that\u2019s still going wrong. But when Swen was presenting it I saw everything come together. I had goosebumps because I knew the way we\u2019re now doing dialogue works. These people are coming alive. I also got goosebumps because I thought this is D&D. This is not Divinity<\/em> anymore.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true. During the presentation, Swen made some bad dice rolls. That felt like D&D. When things go wrong, they really go wrong. It\u2019s cool to see that replicated in Baldur’s Gate III<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope people realize even if a roll goes wrong there\u2019s something you\u2019ll unlock that other players won\u2019t because their roll was successful. It\u2019s basically the same when you play D&D and the Dungeon Master is rolling stuff behind the scenes. You can\u2019t go: \u201cI want to load a save game.\u201d You can\u2019t do that. That\u2019s the big fun of D&D. We made sure every path you take is as interesting as the other one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a ton going on in the game with dialogue, combat, and exploration. If a player decides to only do the critical path, would they have a lesser experience than someone who checks every single corner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We want to support each playstyle as much as we can. If you just want to experience the story and you\u2019re not into finding secrets or whatever, maybe the normal difficulty setting is not going to be your setting. You may want to try an easier one. You can say there is a lot you will miss out on, but there are so many choices. Even not checking out something around the corner is a choice.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in finding every secret, you\u2019re going to play on hardcore mode, or whatever we\u2019re going to call it. Providing all of these different paths and options is a lot of work. But our team is very big. We now have the manpower to take all of those things into account. It\u2019s also something we\u2019ve been doing for over a decade. We have the technology for all those different dialogues, all those different options and consequences.<\/p>\n

It also supports multiple playthroughs. I can imagine some players replaying Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> to see all of the different available paths.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s cool about the origin characters. We all used to have our favorite origin character in Original Sin II<\/em> and now it\u2019s becoming hard to have one in Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>. There\u2019s enough developers that want to play through it multiple times because every origin character has a completely different story.<\/p>\n

Jumping back to dialogue, one of the things I don\u2019t like in some RPGs is characters that don\u2019t talk. They speak in Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> but I noticed they don\u2019t voice their dialogue choices. Was this done as a way to give the character a personality while also retaining many dialogue choices?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Original Sin 1<\/em>, we introduced a tag system. If you\u2019re playing a fighter, you\u2019ll have dialogue options specific to a fighter. In Original Sin II<\/em>, we kept on adding more and more tags. You made a choice and it has ripple effects. Here, we\u2019re using these things more and more. There are many dialogue choices that are custom-built for origin characters.<\/p>\n

This comes down to budget and manpower. If you don\u2019t have enough writers to come up with all of that stuff, you can\u2019t do it. Without the money to voice record all of it, you can\u2019t do it. If you don\u2019t have the scripters to script all of those different things you can\u2019t do it. We identified the strengths of Original Sin<\/em>, improved on them, and made them even stronger in Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an Original Sin<\/em> player, how much of that series will you see and recognize in Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll recognize the systemics, the interactivity, and the item interaction. As I said, there\u2019s only maybe 20-30% left of the engine. And because it\u2019s a D&D game, it feels completely different from Divinity<\/em>. It\u2019s also more serious and harsh than a Divinity<\/em> game. But I still think you will try to find ways of finishing it that you don\u2019t have in other games. This is typical for Larian so I would not call that a Divinity<\/em> thing. It\u2019s more of a Larian thing.<\/p>\n

Last question, what do you want people to take away from Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em>? What do you want them to feel and think about during or after they\u2019ve played it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

From my point of view, they need to be able to talk about it to their friends. They need to one-up all of their friends and say: \u201cI did it like that and I experienced this.\u201d The cool thing about Original Sin<\/em> was people were trying to write a walkthrough but they couldn\u2019t do it. There\u2019s so much that can go wrong as you saw during the presentation. Everyone thinks presentations aren\u2019t real but you can\u2019t stage that type of chaos.<\/p>\n

I want people to feel this is a unique experience. No two people will experience Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> exactly the same way. This is different from other games because there, you can talk to your friends about how you did specific things. If you talk about Baldur\u2019s Gate III<\/em> to people, they may say: \u201cWhat? I\u2019ve never been to a goblin camp. Oh, that town? I killed everyone there. It had a quest?\u201d I want people to think they had something that was custom for them because they made certain choices. Also, I hope that they had a lot of fun. That it was not a waste of time.<\/p>\n