cool will keep an eye on this

I like how you had to comment out the mp3 that was linked to this server, im guessing because it was killing it :)

This is so cool, best series of all time in my book and now we get an enhanced edition. Is this only the Baldurs Gate enhanced edition or can we expect Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal too in the near future?
Will be following this development with anticipation, keep up the good work!

Congrats on blowing up your servers. I kinda see it as a bottle of champagne smashing on the newly christened franchise...

Will this include TotSC?

I'll lay my questions down. They're probably what are on everyone else's lips as well.

1. Any graphical enhancements? Speaking personally, I'm hoping for retouched versions of the original models and maps along with high res texturing, prerendered in 1080p (the beauty of prerendered graphics is still unsurpassable by realtime, and so it could be the best looking game in existence to date, at the sacrifice of animation and camera angles), and no more smudgy character models. My second favourite option would be real-time 3D. But ultimately content and gameplay prevails over graphics, so if it's still the old graphics I can live with that (although it would look garish on modern displays).

2. Any rebalancing, or outright upheaval of the ruleset?

3. Anything new on the voiceacting front, or will it be the old voiceovers and text that we had in the original?

I'd also like to put in that I think 'enhanced' sounds understated (unless it's accurate to understate it). It almost sounds like "tweaked edition". It all depends on how far you're taking this. The current title makes me scale my expectations down a notch. Maybe that's intentional? The title '2012 edition' conjures the right things to my mind when I think of what I'd hope a HD-remake of an old favourite to be.

just confirmed via twitter, will include TotSC

Thanks Gypsy!

I hope you will have some spare time to talk to us Trent. I admit we were quietly hoping for a a new game in teh series in the old thread, but it is still better, than just an iOS port. I'm glad you already confirmed 2nd Edition D&D rules. Mu main question now is: if this and BG2 EE turns out to be a success, can we hope that you will take the next step and follow with a BG3? Or is that out of question?

From the other thread:

I'd hope they redo TOB to be a third installment in the series. I always felt the series was sold short by having the finale as an expansion pack after an epic middle that was SOA. Though I don't find many people who share my sentiments, for some reason, so this doesn't seem likely...

I do agree, ToB was short, some of the art wasn't up to par with SoA's, and the game was pretty hack and slashish. Not that it was bad, by all means, but as a follow up to SoA it wasn't that impressive.

Now about BGEE, I am curious to what the enhancements entail, I do think there will be graphical advancements, but what I'm more excited about is the new content.

I do agree, ToB was short, some of the art wasn't up to par with SoA's, and the game was pretty hack and slashish. Not that it was bad, by all means, but as a follow up to SoA it wasn't that impressive.

Another issue I had with it: it had more voice acting than SOA and BG1--but as a tradeoff it had fewer consequential dialog options. The dialog was carefully worded so that they could often give the exact same response to multiple dialog options. E.g. Abazigal; no matter which thing you say to him he will always reply: "Those insolent words will be your last!" There are other offenders that are just as bad.

I am personally very excited about BGEE. I think that BG1 will be improved a great deal by being based off the Throne of Bhaal codebase. I believe Beamdog choose the proper path.

We're inspired by the breadth of BG and the depth of BGII. We'll err on the side of less VO to make the dialogue better.

-Trent

I signed up just for this game =) I had no idea you guys (Trent) did remakes as well as sold other games! I've met you a few times at races and had no idea this is what you did.

I'll be sure to come to you guys for games first to help support you!

Cody

I hope I'm not breaking any rules but direct link to the announcement in baldursgate.com: http://www.baldursgate.com/news/2012/03/15/announcing-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/

So does this mean that there are already plans for a BG2 Enhanced Edition, or are they being released together?

I hope Daigle is getting the blame for this server nonsense...

Greetings everyone!
Great news about great game!
Wonder if you guys are planning to do only the English version of the game and leave the rest of localizations or do you have some other languages in mind?

My native language is Russian and though I have no problems playing in English, just curious on the side of all Russian-speaking fans=)

We're raising dead on all languages and looking at adding more. I think Russian is on the top of our wish list.

Zealer, Trent has already confirmed that BG II EE will follow.

Welcome Overlord. Trent also metioned that they will try to cover as many languages as possible. No details though.

Speaking of raising the dead... shouldn't you be helping @trentoster tweet, @mrmanlyman1 ? ;-)

MrManlyMan, norolim -- Thanks for the answers.

Another question from a really enthusiastic fan like me=) -- maybe someone can share some contact which I can use in order to somehow help with Russian localization?

Have a degree in linguistics/interpreting and really want to help to bring the game in all its greatness to all those people in Russia who will certainly appreciate the official Russian version of a good quality (something we never unfortunately had with original games)

Do you have Info on some of your Features for the Remake?
Will there be any changes to gameplay, are you going to rescan old art assets (or do you still have them from the source) to use in High Res, will there be improvements to character sprites and animations?

Will it also include UI & Usability enhancements of the last ~15 years or so that seem to frustrate people, for instance:
- Useable Journal e.g. Open/Completed Quests and/or sorted per Area and Chapter
- Improved Netcode (!!!) - no more clicking "Ready" everytime one Quickloads for everyone would be an awesome improvement in and of itself
- Mousewheel support
- Less atrocious inventory management & better recognition and selling/buying of items
- Less "You must gather your party before venturing forth"

"I hope Daigle is getting the blame for this server nonsense..."

D:

Great news, it was just as I was hopping for! Will the BGEE be possible to buy a "hard" copy and not digital, I want it in my game collection.
Btw Good Luck and Have Fun remaking BG1

at least you guys are doing the right thing with the web site--using nginx :)

Sorry Phil, bad habits..

My oft stated position is that as long as the game features new content as well as gameplay improvements, that will be the key thing.

Again I would like to see from a purely personal perspective, some multiplayer convenience tweaks, are any planned?

Will it also include UI & Usability enhancements of the last ~15 years or so that seem to frustrate people, for instance:
- Useable Journal e.g. Open/Completed Quests and/or sorted per Area and Chapter

These already exist in Baldur's Gate 2, and exist in Baldur's Gate via BGT or EasyTutu

- Improved Netcode (!!!) - no more clicking "Ready" everytime one Quickloads for everyone would be an awesome improvement in and of itself

Definately agree, there are other multiplayer tweaks needed too, e.g.
a. allowing multiple players to use a shop at the same time,
b. allowing right click info's of items in other player's inventories,
c. removing character arbitration screen once ingame totally unless it's brought up by the host,
d. making main character death not end the game (although there is a plot reason for that, it's a bit too awkward for multiplayer), as well as more convenient resurrection, i.e. removing the need for collecting all the inventory and re-equipping it.
e. Allowing all players to select a dialogue option to indicate they've read the text (it will highlight in a different colour, e.g. yellow or blue), and giving the host the final selection, so he doesn't need to check with the others

And desired tweaks:
f. Having the option for removing guards/hostile reactions from thieving in multiplayer, repeated reloads are infuriating.
g. Having harder difficulty options specifcally for multi

- Mousewheel support

For what purpose?

- Less atrocious inventory management & better recognition and selling/buying of items

I love the inventory and shops in BG, there's always an issue with space but otherwise every screen is packed full of character, which is definately to be preferred over convenience. Having a side-by-side window shop like in NWN completely removes the immersion. All the menus, UI tabs and screens all seem like they're integrated into the game, I would hate to lose that.

- Less "You must gather your party before venturing forth"

Speechless, how could you suggest such a thing? (although it does get pretty annoying if it's playing 5 times every 10 seconds).

I'm just here to let everyone know that I don't support games that have any form of DRM.

I speak for many people when I say that I will gladly pirate this game if I hear about any kind of DRM included with it, be it a client, online activation, file tampering, limited activations, ect.

@ProtoMan

If its done by beamdog it will probably be downloaded through their client, which handles all of the licensing. So it will have SOME form of DRM it sounds like, but its very mild and shouldnt be a bother at all :)