Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 Interview / Preview

Developer	Black Isle Studios
Publisher	Interplay
Genre	Role-Playing
Release Date	1/6/04

One of This Generation’s Greater Pleasures Return.

Although those confident enough with themselves always knew that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was cool, it was the Baldur’s Gate games on the PC, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting that made that fact more widespread. A tight roleplaying game with a tried and true game design (that in some form powered one of the year’s best thus far, Knights of the Old Republic), the original Baldur’s Gate was widely hailed. When it was announced that Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance would be coming to consoles, much of the gaming media wondered whether the complex game system would be effective or popular to a console market.

Interview with Black Isle’s Frank Kowalkowski

We believe that Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 will be fantastic for several reasons, but one of the most important ones is simply the fact that Black Isle Studios is one of the most talented game makers in the business. Another reason? Because Senior Programmer Frank Kowalkowski and the rest of the Dark Alliance 2 team is so proud of their new baby. Want to know about Dark Alliance 2? You’ll get no simple “yes” and “no” answers here. Frank Kowalkowski has been kind enough to GWX and it’s readers to really get into the meat of Dark Alliance 2, and also to share some of the thoughts behind the new game’s design. Read below why GamingWorld X is convinced that Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is one of the best games you’ll be playing in early 2k4. GWX: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance's story was quite thrilling, but we were kind of left hanging at the end. Will the sequel be a direct continuation of that story? Frank Kowalkowski: Yes the story will continue, but not with the original three characters. You’ll find out their fate via a short movie that plays prior to the main menu. Once you choose your character and begin the game, you will get yet another short movie. The story continues just as the first game is ending and upon finishing the prologue (and every act thereafter) the player will be treated to ‘meanwhile’ cut-scenes featuring some very unsavory fellows.

But as one of the most streamlined hack-and-slash RPGs available to either console or PC gamers, BG: DA was no fluke – and the ending left open many possibilities for a sequel. As it is a widely known fact that hack-and-slash titles are probably the most healthy and enjoyable addiction, Interplay is priming the gaming community for the release of the sequel, which looks to be another classic.

At the end of BG: DA, after clearing the Onyx Tower, the heroes of the first game (a Human, an Elf or a Dwarf) disappeared along with the tower and its master, Eldtrich the Betrayer. This, unfortunately, leaves the city of Baldur’s Gate wide open for attack from the sinister forces that are planning to rally against the city. Players command one of five adventurers traveling through the Western Heartlands to confront these forces, and what follows looks to be one of the more promising offerings of the winter season.

The Who’s Who of Baldur’s Gate
One of the major changes between the first and second Dark Alliance is that characters now have backstories; before you shout, remember that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City made the same change from GTA3, and it certainly wasn’t for the worst.

- Borador is a Dwarven Treasure Hunter who specializes in crossbow use. Borador’s background in Treasure Hunting makes him able to disable traps and gain more treasure from chests and creatures.

- Allessia Faithhammer is a Cleric of the church of Helm. Allessia, a pure, holy warrior, has many self-affecting spells such as to block poisons and increase strength or defense.

- Ysuran Auondril is an Elven Necromancer. As a necromancer, Ysuruan wields a hefty assortment of life-manipulating magic; these include direct attacks with energy or to plague or chill the enemy, to incapacitate them and to possess them.

- Vhaidra Uoswiir is a Drow Monk. As a Monk, has a great deal of martial arts ability and quickness that is restrained with great weapons, shields and heavy armor.

- Dorn Readbear is a Human Barbarian. Amongst the skills available to Dorn is one to enter a heightened state of rage, and one to charm wild animal enemies into ignoring you or fighting alongside you.

GWX: What character classes can players look forward to in BG: DA2? Can characters from the previous game be loaded into the sequel in any way? Or will players discover the fate of the original three characters?GWX: What character classes can players look forward to in BG: DA2? Can characters from the previous game be loaded into the sequel in any way? Or will players discover the fate of the original three characters? Frank K.: We went back and forth on this issue for a long time—about importing characters from the first game. In the end, this game is just too different from the first game to warrant the import. We’d essentially have to strip the equipment and feats off those players and you’d wind up with just a level and some feat points. We voted thumbs down to that. As for discovering the original three character’s fates, I think I answered that above. No doubts as to what happened to them. The new character classes are the Human Barbarain (Dorn), Human Cleric (Allessia), Dark Elf Monk (Vhaidra), Dwarven Rogue (Borador), and Moon Elf Necromancer (Ysuran). Each of them plays very differently, and in some cases they play differently depending on whether you are in a single player or two-player game (you may opt for more ‘buff support’ with Ysuran and Allessia for instance, or more ranged attacks with Borador if you have a meaty tank up front like Dorn to help out). GWX: We loved the ability to talk to NPCs in the first game, and to make different choices as to what to say. Can we expect that element to make a return? Will there be more of it, or will those conversations be more complex? Frank K.: Absolutely. Dave Maldonado, our lead designer, wrote pages upon pages of dialogue. Not only will you have the option of what to say, but which character you choose will determine how some NPCs react to you as well as how you react to them. Borador, for instance, has some of the crankier responses.

The backstories should not only help to make playing through each character a more enjoyable experience, but also has some bearing on how each character plays. There is also an item and weapon creation system based on a structure of prefixes and suffixes that should allow for plenty of replay value, and a myriad of by-the-numbers upgrades – 100 levels instead of 40, hidden characters in addition to the five available ones, the ability to hold weapons in each hand, et. al. – that should add tremendously to the game’s length. The unfortunate thing is that the game appears to have sacrificed a four-player co-op mode in order to allow the game to run with two players as quickly and fluidly as possible. It isn’t so much of a problem, though, as having four characters on screen at a time, all managing their abilities and stats at once, could create a clutter that would be more problematic than enjoyable.

GWX: What new features does BG: DA2 have that will set it apart from the original game?

Frank K.: The first feature I implemented when I got onto the project was dual-wielding (aka two-weapon fighting). Anyone can fight with two weapons, though Ysuran can not spend feat points to improve his damage output.

The combat system was completely overhauled. It didn’t make much sense to have a feat that adds +5 damage when your weapon was doing 100 points on its own. This took the focus away from the character and onto the equipment. Dave again came to the rescue and suggested we allow the quality of the weapon to multiply the feat-applied damage in the same manner it multiplies base damage. Hence, grand weapons will now multiply your feat damage by 4, so citing the above example—your +5 damage feat would do +20 with a really good weapon and +5 with a really bad weapon. That’s an improvement.

I could go on with all the new features, but really, the player will notice them quite often as they play through. Some of them are more technical (better lip synching, heat shimmer effects on the Xbox torches, etc), but all of them were added only if we felt it made the game better.

Oh, before I forget, the most prominent new feature is item creation. The player will be able to make their own +5 Sword of Uberness that Lights Stuff on Fire.

GWX: Yes! We love fire! How long would you say that BG: DA2 will be in comparison to the original? Shorter? Longer? About the Same?

Frank K.: Much, much, much longer. Much. We have over 100 levels in this one. It takes our executive producer about two full work days to play through the game (and he knows exactly where everything is, where to go, who to talk to, etc). So multiply that by 3 or 4 to get the first time player duration.

GWX: Can players expect the same variety in environments?

Frank K.: We actually wound up creating more new tilesets than we thought we would. The variety will be there. Off the top of my head I’d guess no tileset is used on more than 6 or 7 levels and almost never more than 2 or 3 levels in a row.

GWX: We understand that the excellent two-player co-op will make a return. How do you feel about the idea of BG: DA2 containing more players; like three or four?

Frank K.: Moving to 3 or 4 players was something we considered and dismissed early on. For starters, the camera creates problems with more than two players. Our options are to pull the camera back at which point you lose the detail on the environment and creatures and the game becomes more like Gauntlet and less like DA. There are also memory considerations—each player character added to a level would require us to lower the overall memory footprint of the level. There’s only two ways to do that: reduce the creature variety or reduce the texture quality of the level geometry and creatures themselves. I’m very positive that people are happier having goblin wolfriders running at them rather than just goblins.

Making it Yours
We’re not entirely sure how, if at all, the choice of completely envisioned characters will affect the process of character development, but developers Black Isle studios are promising complete customization, which will be an impressive feat. And speaking of feats, there will be many, many new character-specific active feats and spells added to the game, as well. GWX outlines some of them below:

Spells
Dark Possession
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: A spell in which allows the caster to charm humanoid creatures and lesser undead.

Enervation
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: A magical attack of negative energy.

Flame Arrow
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: With this spell, the caster is able to hurl arrows made of fire.

GWX: How deep does character customization go? Frank K.: It’s all about the feats—and lots of them. Most characters will have at least two general areas they can specialize in. As an example, Allessia could put feat points into support skills, melee skills, or a balance of both. The idea is to allow the player to play the game with the same character multiple times and have a different play style. This applies to melee skills as well. Gone are the days of just picking up a two-handed axe and getting that nifty Cleave at the end of the combo. You won’t be able to even combo with a melee weapon until you purchase at least two ranks of that feat. GWX: What new creatures will players be faced with? Frank K.: Most of the bestiary is brand new. Kobolds have been retired, and who can blame them after the drubbing they took in the first game. Goblins are in, and in large numbers. Some of them will chase you from the backs of wolves (kill the wolf and the goblin will jump off and try to finish you). You’ll face plenty of undead, animated armors, abysmal constructs, and of course, bloodthirsty orcs. There are far more bosses in this game as well, at least a dozen and probably closer to 20. Expect a boss fight every few levels instead of once an act. Finally, those spellcasters will be much nastier. They will buff their comrades in some cases and Curse the player in others. Some casters will be all about the offensive spells, you won’t know until you see them cast.

Ghoul Touch
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: The touch of the caster paralyzes enemies.

Ray of Enfeeblement
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: Weakens and slows victims.

Shield of Shadows
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: The caster creates a shield from – you guessed it – shadows.

Charm
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: This spell allows the caster to charm humanoids to his bidding for the duration of the spell.

Chill Touch
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: The caster does cold damage with his touch.

Contagion
Character: Ysuran
Spell Description: Give enemies the plague with this nifty spell.

Divine Resilience
Character: Allessia
Spell Description: Boost your Greater Fortitude with this spell.

Purity
Character: Allessia
Spell Description: This spell purifies, and therefore, offers poison and acid resistance.


Active Feats
Smokepowder Bomb
Character: Borador
Feat Description: Throw lots of bombs.

Stealth
Character: Borador
Feat Description: Make sneak attacks such as backstabs, as well as get around undetected with this feat.

Animal Friendship
Character: Dorn
Feat Description: This skill allows Dorn to charm animals.

Barbarian Rage
Character: Dorn
Feat Description: Increase the damage Dorn deals with this skill, as he goes berserk.

Precise Shot
Character: Borador
Feat Description: Make more accurate shots with this feat. More accurate shots = more damage.

The Beauty of the Forgtten Realms
The graphics aren’t being ignored either, although the original Dark Alliance had such beautiful graphics and fluid animations that the visuals could be the last of Black Isle’s concerns. Running on a modified version of the original game’s engine, the game does indeed bring back the trademark water effects that blew as many minds as Metal Gear Solid 2, along with a much greater range of environments, creatures and spell effects being rendered with more than the same amount of care. The environments, especially, are showing an even more epic scale to both the setting and the detail, and it should help the ambitious scale of the game to manifest itself even more.

GWX: Does BG: DA2 run on the same engine as the first game? Is the game being built to any particular console specs?

Frank K.: Yes, the same engine is used, with some slight improvements. If implementing two-weapon fighting was my first task on the project, merging the PS2 and Xbox code base was probably the second. We did this early in the project so that there would be no game play differences between the two platforms.

Dark Alliance and the Competition
Although Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes received only mediocre reviews, it’s fair to say that Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 has the promise to both rectify Heroes’ wrongs, and hold its own against the upcoming Champions of Norrath with an impressive slew of new features and expanded ideas that almost all show plenty of promise. This is one title that we’re glad is being released in the holiday season, as the amount of gameplay that BG: DA2 is promising will most likely keep us glued to our seats for hours.

GWX: Will cutscenes reflect how many players are in the game, or will the cinemas stay the same regardless of the number of players?

Frank K.: The cutscenes that show the players directly will show 2 players in them if there are 2 players in game.

GWX: We see that BG: DA2 is being developed for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Can we expect a GameCube version?

Frank K.: At this time there are no plans for a GameCube version. The sales of the original on the GameCube simply don’t warrant a concerted effort at this time sadly. I’d love to do it, but I don’t think the cost can be justified. We’d also need to port in the GameCube codebase and merge it with our current stuff—and redo the assets.

GWX: Sorry Cubies, but don’t lose hope. Is there any one aspect of BG: DA2 that the team is most proud of? Did you have to scrap any ideas that you really wanted to include?

Frank K.: We are proud of this game. Many of us working on it have realized that you don’t always get to make a game that leaves you this happy and fulfilled. Everybody pulled through and there were many long hours put into this game just to fix things most people would consider minor because we are that proud of it.

There are always ideas that get left by the roadside. In fact, to make a really good video game you need to be prepared to cut your favorite feature if it simply doesn’t work. We had an idea of replacing the Gauntlet with an Arena where you would be able to import your player from the game and be able to face wave upon wave of creatures that spawned in. You’d save every few waves, but they’d get tougher and tougher as the Arena progressed. In the end, despite the fact we had the technology and assets to do it—it simply would have set us back weeks in the submission process to get it implemented.

GWX: Is there any chance of a Dark Alliance game taking players to other campaign worlds? At Dark Alliance's conclusion, the characters had gone through a portal, and where they ended up seemed like a perfect fit for places like the demiplane of Ravenloft.

Frank K.: Doubtful. I believe it’s a licensing issue.

GWX: Damn! Oh, excuse us. Is there anything you'd like to say to GamingWorld X readers?

Frank K.: Thank you for being patient as we go through the lengthy approval process. I think DA2 is going to surprise a lot of people—it simply goes beyond what I think anyone of the development team realistically felt we would be able to accomplish at the outset. The schedule was brutal, some cuts were made, but the game itself was never compromised and we are extremely proud of the final product. It will be worth the wait. We still play it around the office, and that should say a lot.

GamingWorld X would like to make a very special thanks to Frank Kowalkowski for taking time to talk with us, and for going far and beyond of what we were expecting. We’d also like to thank Kathryne Wahl of Interplay for setting this interview up for GamingWorld X and it’s readers.

Preview by Brendon Hivner and Adam Matlock