Over the past week, dataminers have been poring over the code for Baldur’s Gate 3 and discovered the following: A treasure trove of Dragon’s “cut content”. It’s difficult to determine what they unearthed without accidentally sounding the trumpet of a major spoiler and starting Armageddon, but the estimated hoard includes additional areas, a series of conversations, and a storyline. It includes lines, cutscenes, characters, romance opportunities, and even gods. Considering how playable Larian’s huge RPG is, in a way I’m grateful that so much has been “left out.” We certainly don’t need more romantic NPCs. I’m already working around them. broom handle. However, this news has been bad for some players, especially those who feel that the overall quality of the game has decreased in the second and third acts.
Developers have come to Larian’s defense, including former Baldur’s Gate 2 and Dragon Age writer David Gaider, now creative director at Summerfall Games, who wrote the extremely jarring STRAY He is also the creator of GODs: The Rollplaying Musical. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the amount of elements that were obviously removed from BG3,” Gaider said. I wrote it on Twix. “In BG2, tons of elements were cut during development, some in the early stages and some even after a lot of work had been put into it…almost every game We do that. Every DA game did that. Hey, even Noragami had a lot of parts cut out.”
Gaider offered some important tips for conversations around game cuts. “1. If the cut was slow, it probably wasn’t working technically, conceptually, or both. 2. Many cuts were fast enough and weren’t “real” to begin with. 3. Most cuts cannot be restored. It would be easier to redo them. ”
But what if, as another Twitter user objected, the game material in question is still present in the game’s files? It doesn’t mean that.” Said Guider. “Maybe, it’s just a bug…but I don’t think it’s the same as a cut.”
Guider think somewhere else Players often form an image in their heads as if it were a perfect, functional thing that the developers removed for arbitrary reasons, when in reality, even if those developers magically Even if you get extra time to work on your game, a lot will remain cut.”
Matthew Medina, Narrative Design Lead at Arenanet, said features were being completed too slowly to undergo proper testing, and the scope of the project had “swelled” to the point where it was no longer economical to continue development. We presented our own list of possible reasons for cutting the game, including the tone of the content not matching. It’s out of sync with other elements in the game.
“You can build six games from the amount of content you cut back in your career,” Medina said. observed. “Cuts of content are usually cut for very good reasons. Players may think it’s a waste, and in some cases it may be, but it may be necessary. It doesn’t take away that fact.”
Larian also joined the conversation, and CEO Sven Vincke said: IGN The alleged cuts were an “editorial decision” to avoid player fatigue and prevent certain areas from becoming “boring.” Vinke also denied rumors that the mutilation was done to ensure Baldur’s Gate 3 was released on his August 3, 2023 date. It was originally scheduled to be released today, August 31st, but it might have turned out badly for everyone.
“Actually, we were locked into what would be in the game for quite some time, because these games are so big that we don’t want to make such big decisions or have things rolled out two weeks before release. You can’t cut it down,” Vincke explained to the site’s Kat Bailey. “So you wouldn’t do that. But I mean, that’s normal. And I think that’s kind of a compliment as well. People want more content.”
“So when it comes to the city, [of Baldur’s Gate]…and actually built a big city. Once you get to this point, you’ll realize there’s really a lot to do. However, we noticed that there were people exploring the entire city and that surprised us. That was what we intended. That’s quite a lot of content. So by that time I had already played over 100 hours, so I didn’t want to repeat that nausea to the point where it got too heavy. ”
“It’s not true that we cut most of it out,” Vincke continued. “That was our intention all along. There were little things we cut, but it’s just part of the rethinking when we finish the game.”
All of this mirrors Larian’s official update from earlier this week, where Larian insisted on cutting back on the game’s epilogue due to concerns about players losing momentum. The developer has made concessions to the fanbase in this regard, re-expanding these epilogues in his upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3 patch, starting with a new optional finale for the widely loved acute heartburn sufferer Karlach. I am planning to
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I rarely find myself outraged by “content cuts,” unless a publisher is blatantly sidelining DLC material that is genuinely supposed to be included in a game. Game development is unpredictable and uneven, and when you think of things from a writer’s perspective, making choices is only part of the composition process. Mind you, I’m still tunneling towards Baldur’s Gate 3’s endgame, so I can’t really talk about any claims about real differences between Act 1 and Acts 2-3. you can’t.
I can understand why developers are afraid to bring up this topic, but I’m usually interested in hearing what was left on the cutting room floor, and in Gaider’s words: I enjoy looking for “residue” in the game world. For example, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver has an entire populated citadel that was supposed to play a more important role in the story, but instead exists only as an optional side area. It has an atmosphere of unfinished business and is fun to explore. I’m hungry for a Soul Reaver remake, but the thought of it being “repaired” to the rest of the game terrifies me. I also like games like Analgesic’s Anodyne 2, where you simulate chopped up material and write a story about it. Have you ever found an impressive gap or scar tissue in the fabric of your game?
Disclosure: Former RPS Deputy Editor Adam Smith (RPS in Peace) currently works at Larian and is the lead writer on Baldur’s Gate 3. Her girlfriend Emily Gera, a former contributor, is also working on this.