Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General How many acts?

Has there been any confirmation or word on how many acts will be in the game? I've been assuming the rule of 3 but that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. I wonder because they said Act I was mostly complete in EA but, if you're just focusing on story stuff, act I seems fairly short to me.

I think it's less important than how many large maps. in DOS2 you have 3 arcs but more than 3 large maps so it doesn't really say anything about the game's length ("arc 2" is very long in dos2)

I got part of the answer from this stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/763351879 about 14 minutes in. 3 acts like DOS2 but, as you said, how long those maps/acts are is the question. I never completed DOS2 so act 2 in that game being very long is probably good news for BG3. I'm definitely hoping the later maps are expansive.

Last thing from a proper source I heard was "three acts with the second one being by far the largest" or something of that sort.

I don't know if it is really indication of anything, but if you go to the edge of the EA map, you can see a map of the game and there are like four or five places you can potentially go.

Yeah, I saw that map but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I should probably take a closer look at it to see if it offers any clues. That said, I'm *really* excited to actually see the city of Baldur's Gate in this game. I think my biggest complaint with the EA map is that it doesn't have anything that feels like civilization. I know that's intentional but I live for big in-game cities.

In Baldur's Gate 1&2 some locations weren't shown on the map until you progressed through the story. Seeing how clustered the locations appear at the moment & how big the background map is, I'm hoping that's the case for Baldur's Gate 3 as well. Also... hopefully, each of those locations is as big as the EA area. I managed to clock 140+ hours on this one map and I'm sure there are still a lot of things that I missed & things that aren't currently available (that will appear further along the development process) so having five or more maps like this one would be a dream come true.

I don't think we even have the act 1 in its entirety though. Cause there are a few routes on the surface which are blocked for the EA. And as far as I understand the story, there is only one way out of act 1.

140+ hours! I applaud you--how is that possible? lol I'm proud of my 50+ hours so far. But it would be cool if there are areas we can't see right away for spoiler reasons. I only ever played BG1 ages and ages ago so I'm not sure what to expect so I appreciate insights from people more versed in 1 and 2.

I was wondering about that too. When I got to the end of act I it seemed a little surprising where it ended--it didn't feel like a complete act. I'm used to act I's having some sort of turning point/pseudo-conclusion that sets up more story. But, that could also be because we haven't seen what's next.

https://ibb.co/VpH5NmD
I had a bit of free time and I really got into the game. Until they release new areas for testing, I'm just trying out all the currently available classes one by one.

An Astarion fan. I see you are a person of culture as well.

I have to pace myself. I'm intentionally not being thorough with my playthroughs so I have new stuff to find gradually. If I go full hog I know I'll burn myself out. Ofc, when the game hits full release my social life is going to be somehow even deader than it is now. (Sorry, husband. I knew you well.)

It's not a given at all that they will ever "release new areas" before the final release.
Unless we are talking about minor expansions of the current map.

Larian concept of act is narrative, the fact that is match maps is more of a coincidence (in DOS2, act 2 has two maps: Reaper's Cove and Nameless Isle, In the Dragon Knight Saga, act 1 is 2 maps too).

They always have 3 of them: beginning (setting the stage), middle (development) and ending (conclusion). Act 2 is always the largest map and content. The ending is the smallest one. Act 1 often feels like its own story, as you get hints about the larger story but the focus is on more mundane things. There is usually a "transformation" at the end of Act 1, in the sense that your character is called to "greater" purposes by the conclusion of the first act.

Currently, BG3 act 1 is about removing the tadpole, which we cannot complete because we have to go to another inaccessible map to have more information/answers/get it done. Regardless if we get to remove it (or disable it), that story thread will end with Act 1 and Act 2 will have a new story focus.

I expect Act 2 to be set in Baldur's Gate going by all the NPCs saying "see you soon in BG".