General Gaming Baldur's Gate III - Information Thread, update (09/05): Patch 7 (the final really big one) released for PC, Mac/console release in October

[Brian]

Our sales are insane - this is just Early Access you all. We just wanted to have a nice little community to iterate with. Now what are we going to do?

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) October 6, 2020

[Paperclyp]

I wanna get this, but it seems so bizarre as an early access choice. 

 

I might get DOS2 instead. Wish it was on sale though. 

[Keyser_Soze]

3 hours ago, Paperclyp said:

I wanna get this, but it seems so bizarre as an early access choice. 

 

I might get DOS2 instead. Wish it was on sale though. 

 

Holiday sale is right around the corner.

[Paperclyp]

30 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Holiday sale is right around the corner.

But my impulsive nature makes that very difficult. 

[Rev]

I'm a few hours in and it feels super early-access, but there are some elements of it that I really like. It's a bit like DOS2 but the combat seems better imo. The whole map doesn't catch on fire 3 turns into every fight for instance.

[legend]

I'm getting 4K ultra at >200 fps on my new machine!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Baldur's Gate 3 won't leave Early Access this year 'for sure' | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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The next update will be based on feedback from players.

 

[Mr.Vic20]

Its a shame, but its also completely unsurprising and I really have no desire to see them rush this one! Take your time as you need Larian, my faith in your efforts abide! 

[BloodyHell]

On 6/18/2021 at 5:26 PM, Mr.Vic20 said:

Its a shame, but its also completely unsurprising and I really have no desire to see them rush this one! Take your time as you need Larian, my faith in your efforts abide! 

 

I agree, but damn I want to play this, complete! I haven't touched early access because I want to play the game for the first time as a complete product. I have so many amazing memories of playing baldurs gate growing up. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Baldur's Gate 3 update overhauls visuals, adds Sorcerer class and new area to explore

WWW.VG247.COM

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The sixth major update for Baldur’s Gate 3 has been detailed, and it comes with a new playable class, a new area, and large visual update.

 

 

Sweat, Shar and sorcerers make for a killer new update for Baldur’s Gate 3

WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM

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We've been hands on with the new patch 6 for Baldur's Gate 3, including a new class, new area, and new baddies. It's looking good. And sweaty.

Baldur's Gate 3: Patch 6 impressions and a big interview with Larian

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If we count the Sorcerer, Baldur's Gate 3 now has eight classes in Early Access to play as. The plan is to have all 12 classes in the Dungeons & Dragons Player Handbook, and if Larian wants to test them, which I assume it does, presumably before launch. This is my hunch, not a commitment. By my reckoning, then, that leaves the Bard, Barbarian, Paladin, and Monk classes.

 

There's a lot more in Patch 6 besides. Another biggie is something called Weapon Actions, which gives non-magic users new moves in combat, assuming you're proficient with the weapon performing them. There are 12, and they allow you to do things like Brace, to spend your movement speed to reroll your damage dice; Heartstopper, to smash an enemy in the chest and potentially reduce their actions by one; and Mobile Shot, to make a ranged attack after you dash or disengage. They all sound useful and you can have up to three of these.

 

There's also been a serious graphics overhaul, particularly to the lighting and cinematics, and you should now notice lots of fancy fog about the place. A smaller thing connected to this, and one that delighted me when I saw it, was that characters also now get dirty, sweaty, bloodied and bruised during their adventures. They accumulate these things depending on what you've been doing. Having low hit-points will result in bruising, for example. You wash these off or recover from them when you camp.

 

 

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Baldur's Gate release date set for 2023 | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

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After a 2022 launch was deemed unlikely, Larian appears to have locked down a release window

 

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

$270

Limited production run of 25,000 units

[osxmatt]

How playable/enjoyable is the game in its current form? I’m a huge Divinity OS 1 and 2 fan.

[Mr.Vic20]

8 minutes ago, osxmatt said:

How playable/enjoyable is the game in its current form? I’m a huge Divinity OS 1 and 2 fan.

Its fully playable, but only the first act is currently available. That's 10-20 hours, depending on how you personally game. I think (not a 100% on this) the final game will have 3 total acts. 

 

Edit: a google search has confirmed that there will be 3 acts total. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #18: Baldur's Date - Steam News

LARIAN.CLUB

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Baldur’s Gate 3 releases on August 31, 2023 for PC, Mac, and PS5.

 

[Firewithin]

finally!  although i bet it gets delayed lol

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Sony Has No Console Exclusivity Over Baldur's Gate 3

WWW.PUSHSQUARE.COM

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All depends on Larian Studios - Sony revealed during its State of Play showcase last night that Baldur's Gate 3 will be ma...

 

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Sony revealed during its State of Play showcase last night that Baldur's Gate 3 will be making its way to PS5 along with the PC version on 31st August 2023. Since an Xbox Series X|S version hasn't been confirmed in the time since the news broke, many have assumed Sony has paid for console exclusivity. However, this isn't the case.

 

A PR representative tells Push Square there's no exclusivity tied to the game's launch. "Right now Larian is planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW, and PS5. That said, they don't have exclusivity and will announce support for additional platforms if and when they’re ready."

 

 

[XxEvil AshxX]

I can read between the lines. The fact that they don't mention Xbox specifically points to a Sony marketing deal. It's been long known that if somebody signs a deal with Sony they have to pretend that the other console doesn't exist. They can't even mention it. 

 

If they didn't have something signed with Sony they would've said something like "Yeah we intend to bring to to Xbox eventually, but the PS5 is our first priority" or some PR fluff along those lines.

 

This is literally Sony's MO.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

9 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I can read between the lines. The fact that they don't mention Xbox specifically points to a Sony marketing deal. It's been long known that if somebody signs a deal with Sony they have to pretend that the other console doesn't exist. They can't even mention it. 

 

If they didn't have something signed with Sony they would've said something like "Yeah we intend to bring to to Xbox eventually, but the PS5 is our first priority" or some PR fluff along those lines.

 

This is literally Sony's MO.

 

A bit more information from Larian's sub-Reddit today:

 

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Hey all,

 

Thanks for all the hype and enthusiasm following yesterday’s announcement that Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 day and date with PC on August 31st!

 

Xbox players, we’ve seen your questions about if/when you can expect Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox. We’ve had an Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 in the works for some time, but we have run into some technical issues – particularly with split-screen co-op. We are still working on an Xbox version of BG3, but we’re not yet confident enough to announce it. We don’t like announcing anything until we’re ready, because we don’t want to get peoples hopes up until we’re sure we can deliver.

 

There’s no platform exclusivity preventing us from releasing BG3 on Xbox day and date, should that be a technical possibility. If and when we do announce further platforms, we want to make sure each version lives up to our standards & expectations. Thanks for understanding!

 

 

Translation: the Series S is causing us major headaches in developing the Xbox version of the game.

[Firewithin]

of all the games people were getting ready to get their panties in a bunch over a possible timed exclusive i would never imagine it was BG3 lol.  seems like a pretty niche game for most people.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

 

[Firewithin]

pc version now releasing Aug 3rd!!!

 

Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #20: A Dragonborn, a Half-Orc & a Monk Walk Into a Tavern - Steam News

STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM

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Where to begin. This week has seen you take to the streets of the Lower City as amateur sleuths in Blood in Baldur’s Gate, a community murder mystery to uncover the hidden darkness that lurks just beneath the city's surface. Where will the investigation lead? Keep digging, detectives, you’re leading us all to the Panel From Hell, where untold surprises await you: July 7th. In the meantime, it’s time to talk about Baldur’s...

 

[Massdriver]

I'm really looking forward to this! It's #1 on my wishlist. 

 

They moved the PC release to an earlier date to avoid competing with Starfield. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Microsoft Engineers Helping Get Baldur's Gate 3 Split-Screen Working on Xbox Series S - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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IGN speaks to Larian to reveal why Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox Series X and S is taking so long.

 

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IGN spoke to Larian boss Swen Vincke to discuss the situation. Understandably, he was at pains to avoid criticising Microsoft, and declined to comment when asked if he had requested a policy exemption (IGN understands at this stage in the Xbox Series lifecycle, Microsoft is sticking to its guns despite growing calls from the development community for the company to ditch its Series S launch requirements). Rather, Vincke pointed to the complexity of Baldur’s Gate 3 itself and the freedom it’s shooting for with split-screen co-op as the root cause of its troubles.

 

“You're very free in what you do, more free than people expect,” Vincke said. “That means you can run into a really big city that's much more dense than people expect. You can do all kinds of craziness, so it requires a lot of optimisation. On certain platforms we're just faster than on other platforms. It just takes us time. That's the reality of development.

 

 

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Vincke said Larian may have to make some “compromises” to get the Xbox version out, but declined to specify exactly what they are. “There may be some compromises we have to make, but we're trying to be very limited in our compromises we have to make,” he said “That's one of the reasons why we're taking more time also.

 

“But I don't want to jump ahead of the development team, which is doing remarkable things. I don't want to say it's going to be like this until we've finished and decided it's good for release.”

 

Vincke pointed to an additional issue: the nature of Baldur’s Gate 3’s development. Larian’s engineers found optimisation work on the S version difficult because as content kept being added over the years its scope increased. “It was very hard for them to do this when the game wasn't ‘finished finished’ yet, because all the content kept on coming,” Vincke explained. “Now they have everything, so they see what they're up against.”

While this is frustrating for Larian, it’s a bad look for Microsoft. Its customers are missing out on one of the most promising role-playing games in years for who knows how long because of what many players will deem an arbitrary release policy. So it comes as no surprise to learn engineers from the Xbox Advanced Technology Group (ATG) have been drafted in to help Larian get the S version of Baldur’s Gate 3 up to scratch.

While Microsoft did not respond to IGN’s request for comment in time for publication, Vincke confirmed this support. “We've certainly had support from Microsoft,” he said. “We had support from the ATG group. They've been doing great. They've been helping a lot. Everybody wants this out on Xbox. It's not that we don't want it out on Xbox. It's just that, our problem — and this is us, Larian — is that we just made a very big game. And it's a very complicated game.

 

 

[legend]

Great news about the PC release!

 

And who among us could have possibly predicted that the Series S would be a bad decision that would be problematic for developers?  

[Mercury33]

173 hours of cut scenes? That’s wild 

[Spork3245]

12 hours ago, legend said:

Great news about the PC release!

 

And who among us could have possibly predicted that the Series S would be a bad decision that would be problematic for developers?  

 

GAMES ARE SCALEABLE 

/s

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Baldur’s Gate 3 Standard Playthrough Takes 75 to 100 Hours, Larian Says - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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If you want to squeeze in a standard playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 before Starfield comes out, you'll need to put in 75 to 100 hours.

 

 

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Wondering if you’ll be able to squeeze in a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 before Starfield comes out? Be warned: one run takes on average 75 to 100 hours, developer Larian has said.

 

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a sprawling open-ended role-playing game from the makers of the Divinity: Original Sin series. Larian announced it had brought the PC version release date forward a month, from August 31 to August 3, in order to avoid a clash with the likes of Bethesda’s upcoming behemoth Starfield in early September. The PlayStation 5 version, meanwhile, is delayed slightly to September 6, and the Xbox Series X and S versions are without a release window (more on Baldur’s Gate 3’s Xbox hold-up here).

 

Speaking to IGN, Larian boss Swen Vincke said the developer is seeing a standard playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 take 75 to 100 hours. However, players who want to “do everything” should expect to double that figure.

 

“Between 75 and 100 hours, that's what we're seeing,” Vincke said. “That's not doing everything, that is just going to be a playthrough. There will be people who will be way over that, the ones who want to do everything. They will probably hit 200 hours, I think. On average we're seeing people who are going through take about 75 to 100 hours.”

 

 

[Massdriver]

I'll probably end up at the 250-300 range. I'm playing Pathfinder WOTR and I'm at the end of Act 2 with nearly 100 hours in. CRPGs take a bit.

[Mr.Vic20]

Good! I know folks want these  games to be shorter, but since games of this level of ambition only come out every half decade now, I'm happy to see them take a damn long time to beat! 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

 

Baldur's Gate 3 Shows Character Creation, Dragonborn, Bear Sex, Dates & Much More in New Gameplay | TechRaptor

TECHRAPTOR.NET

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Larian Studios just hosted an extensive livestream about its massive RPG Baldur's Gate 3, and there were certainly some interesting reveals during the show. 

 

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We then get a video about romance and relationships and more gameplay showing a date in Baldur's Gate, alongside a look at the dynamic newspaper as a bonus. But what happens when things go beyond dating and a vampire spawn decides to have sex with a druid... in bear form? You can see that here, keeping in mind that the scene is likely not safe for work. Apparently, according to studio head Swen Vincke, this got the stream removed from TikTok.