More D&D games in development at Atari!

[Dark Jezter]

This post was recently made by Grok of Atari Public Relations. It's in regard to D&D games in development.

Thank you for taking my rather obvious bait!

I expect to have an official announcement about the first title out in the next week or two. However, this is a console game and very unlike Temple, NWN, BG, etc. That said, it is absolutely fantastic -- so if you own a PS2 or Xbox you'll want ot keep an eye out for this one.

We'll also be announcing a new D&D title in May. Solid developer but not a RPG. More details to come then.

D&D Online -- this one has been announced and is being handled by the fine folks at Turbine. We'll be showing this game off for the first time in August of this year in Mexico!

There are however, two tentative annoucements we're planning for E3 that should be very big and just what you folks are looking for. I'm a big RPG geek myself and I'm excited...so that tells you something.

We've also got some new NWN stuff in the works that should be pretty cool.

So, lots of D&D goodness in the future.

Grok

Source

I don't know about you guys, but this news makes me quite excited. Every time I hear news that a D&D title is in development, it makes me hope that we'll be getting a high-quality title like Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, or Neverwinter Nights.

Additionally, I was pleased to see that more NWN stuff was in the works. I wonder what it could be? A third expansion pack, perhaps? Or maybe downloadable content that will be available for free?

At any rate, it looks like all of you fans of D&D games out there should keep your ears open for news of upcoming titles in the months to follow.

 

[Ranger REG]

As a PC user...

BOO!

 

[JediSoth]

As a PC user and a recent X-box owner: Yay!

Though, my PC is getting a little slow to run the good stuff. I essentially bought an X-box to play KOTOR. Maybe I'll get a big bonus this month from work and can upgrade to an Athlon64 or P4. Mmmmmmmm.....new computer *drool*.

JediSoth

 

[Henry]

Additionally, I was pleased to see that more NWN stuff was in the works. I wonder what it could be? A third expansion pack, perhaps? Or maybe downloadable content that will be available for free?

I certainly hope not! I want to see more of it! If they're making cash off of it, then bioware will keep being contracted to do more of it. After the awe-inspiring HotU expansion and storyline, I can't wait to see more - perhaps with expansions to dialogue capabilities, or even more freedoms for NPC's.

AND I WANNA RIDE A HORSE ONE DAY.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I don't know about you guys, but this news makes me quite excited. Every time I hear news that a D&D title is in development, it makes me hope that we'll be getting a high-quality title like Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, or Neverwinter Nights.

Additionally, I was pleased to see that more NWN stuff was in the works. I wonder what it could be? A third expansion pack, perhaps? Or maybe downloadable content that will be available for free?

Well, one of the additional RPGs is their homebrew setting that they've talked about in the past, I'd bet my life on it. Okay, maybe not my life, but maybe a steak.

The additional content is going to be downloadable content available for a low cost. This will at least include the Witch's Wake series, although I'm sure more content like tilesets and creatures will be available as well. It's been well discussed on the Bioware message boards, and recent posts by developers (you can read them at the Vault) have confirmed this.

I've also thought I heard what the XBox/PS2 game was gonna be... I'll look into it a little more, refresh my memory. Getting too old to remember stuff, and I'm only 24...

 

[Dark Jezter]

Well, one of the additional RPGs is their homebrew setting that they've talked about in the past, I'd bet my life on it. Okay, maybe not my life, but maybe a steak.

Keep in mind that this quote comes from the Atari (not Bioware) forums in a thread that is specifically about D&D games.

I know that Bioware is making an RPG based on their own intellectual property, but that dosen't mean that one of Atari's other development houses can't be making D&D games.

The additional content is going to be downloadable content available for a low cost. This will at least include the Witch's Wake series, although I'm sure more content like tilesets and creatures will be available as well. It's been well discussed on the Bioware message boards, and recent posts by developers (you can read them at the Vault) have confirmed this.

I hope that's not all. I wasn't impressed enough with Witch's Wake to dish out cash for it. The modules made by Rick Burton and Adam Miller are much more impressive, and they are available for absolutely free.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

I certainly hope not! I want to see more of it! If they're making cash off of it, then bioware will keep being contracted to do more of it. After the awe-inspiring HotU expansion and storyline, I can't wait to see more - perhaps with expansions to dialogue capabilities, or even more freedoms for NPC's.

AND I WANNA RIDE A HORSE ONE DAY.

Well, the Community Expansion Pack has a lot of new features, and the Vault currently has a horse-riding hakpak which looks pretty good.

But I'd be happy to pay for another NWN expansion - I'd love to be able to interact with horses - eg feats, and a ride skill, and I think flying would be wonderful, but I understand that it's really not a 3d environment, so, oh well...

What I don't need from an expansion pack is more weapons/armour, etc. What I would like to see is more prestege classes, more feats implemented, and even some more skills implemented. I've got a Mage that has more skill points than class skills, which is frustrating.

From a NWN builder perspective I wish they would open-source the toolset - if I don't like the way something works in the toolset, let me try and fix it! (programmer by trade here ;-) ) Languages would be a good addition, I think - imagine being able to talk in a tongue that only some of the players can understand, and thus read on the screen, while the rest just get garbage.

Duncan

 

[Lazybones]

What I don't need from an expansion pack is more weapons/armour, etc. What I would like to see is more prestege classes, more feats implemented, and even some more skills implemented. I've got a Mage that has more skill points than class skills, which is frustrating.

Already done. There's a Prestige Class project that's got a hak out there that has ~30 prestige classes already implemented, with more coming.

From a NWN builder perspective I wish they would open-source the toolset - if I don't like the way something works in the toolset, let me try and fix it! (programmer by trade here ;-) ) Languages would be a good addition, I think - imagine being able to talk in a tongue that only some of the players can understand, and thus read on the screen, while the rest just get garbage.

Already done. Racial languages are part of the DMFI Wand package (search for DMFI on Neverwinter Vault), and they work just fine. You can even note untranslated text with *emote* markers, so you can say [elvish] *name* [elvish] so that only elves understand what you're saying (everyone else just gets elvish-sounding gibberish) but everyone hears the proper name untranslated. The languages are tied to special objects that reside in your inventory.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Languages would be a good addition, I think - imagine being able to talk in a tongue that only some of the players can understand, and thus read on the screen, while the rest just get garbage.

A little off-topic, but Blizzard will be doing this in World of Warcraft. If you are a human and you see two orc players talking, you will only see orcish words coming from their conversation. Meanwhile, the orc players will see what's being spoken clearly.

Characters will be able to learn other languages, though.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Keep in mind that this quote comes from the Atari (not Bioware) forums in a thread that is specifically about D&D games.

I know that Bioware is making an RPG based on their own intellectual property, but that dosen't mean that one of Atari's other development houses can't be making D&D games.

True, but it seems to me they went out of their way to specifically mark any D&D properties in the post. They didn't mention D&D at all in the third to last line, and that makes me believe that at least one, and probably both of those games, are not based on the D&D property. We know Bioware is working on a non-D&D RPG currently, and it is the most logical choice to be one of those two mystery games.

If I had to hedge my bets and guess the other RPG, it would be a follow-up to Temple o Elemental Evil by Troika, who also publishes under Atari. There's a lot of room for expansions there, especially a higher-level one. I don't keep up with the ToEE fan-sites much, so I don't have a clue as to what modules may be considered. Plus, the aforementioned line intimates that both the mystery games are going to be RPGs.

I hope that's not all. I wasn't impressed enough with Witch's Wake to dish out cash for it. The modules made by Rick Burton and Adam Miller are much more impressive, and they are available for absolutely free.

While I obviously can't be 100% certain, this is what it is most likely to be. The developers have been talking about it on the Bioware boards a lot, and those posts seem to indicate they're going through with it. They wouldn't be allowed to make posts like that if it weren't a pretty sure thing by now. Sorry.