With how surface/environmental modifier happy Larian is with their games, it feels strange to me they never considered weather effects on the encounter at all.
+1. I would LOVE a night/day cycle, and when companions or PC says they are tired and want to rest to first, to show SOMETHING indicating why a character would be tired. A cycle would make that understandable.
Since my first playthrough of BG3 EA, I'm in the mood of playing more crpgs. Right now I am playing BG2 and Pillars of Eternity (I've also started a second BG3 playthrough, Yes I'm crazy like that lol).
I'm enjoying Pillars right now, and I have to say going in an Inn during the day to rest and going out in the rain during nightfall is just absolutely great. We definately need a day/night cycle in bg3. It adds soooo much to the overall immersion and atmosphere and makes the world so much more believable.
The more I'm replaying EA, the more I'm realizing that the complete lack of day/night and passing time weights like a massive boulder on the believability of the setting, making it feel artificial.
Too bad the studio has already said in no dubious terms that it's not going to happen since they consider it "too much work for too little benefit to do properly".
Well, I'd be fine even without a "proper" version of it and just a mediocre implementation, because that can't be worse than having a "cardboard scenery" world frozen in a single moment in time. They could look at Pathfinder Kingmaker as an example of game that did day/night and camping mechanics more than effectively enough using a mere fraction of the budget Larian can boast on this production.
Already said it in another thread, I'll say it again: it's not up to me to decide, but if I was offered the choice between going without a day/night cycle and getting it but delaying the final release six additional months, I'd take the latter without a second of hesitation.
Last edited by Tuco; 04/11/2003:21 AM.
Party control in Baldur's Gate 3 is a complete mess that begs to be addressed. SAY NO TO THE TOILET CHAIN
They could start an additional Kickstarter only to fund the development of day/night cycle and I'm sure they'd easily get another 1-2 million for it, if not more. I'm sure I'd pay for it tbh.
D/N is so essential and would improve the game even if it was binary (for example you could just choose to go end the day at the camp and explore during the night, so you have control of the plot).
Neverwinter Nights II had awesome night scenes. I still remember walking up the winding trail to the Highcliff ruins, and I could see the moon rising behind the distant mountains and reflecting off the water below. Ahhh, such sweet stars in a magical land.
In BG I, I had to meet Narlen Darkwalk at night in order pull off the next caper. How is BG III gonna bring back Narlen if there is no night?? Maybe Larian can't make the day/night cycle run continuously on all maps, but perhaps it could be worked into certain special areas where it is a part of the story.
D/N is so essential and would improve the game even if it was binary.
Right. That's what I meant. They could literally do the most basic, binary system (i.e. dusk/dawn mini-video pops up, like in BG1, no dynamic light change required, a new darker/lighter version of the map is loaded, most NPC disappear/appear in their bed at night, stores are closed) and no matter how bare-boned, it would still add immensely to the believability of the game world. Not to mention it would open a lot of opportunities for quest design, rest system, fatigue, exhaustion, etc.
It's fairly jarring that a feature that was considered basic in most CRPGs since Ultima and co. is now dismissed as "too expensive and unnecessary" in a game with an overall budget that probably dwarfs the almost totality of the classics (and several current competitors) combined.
Last edited by Tuco; 04/11/2003:55 AM.
Party control in Baldur's Gate 3 is a complete mess that begs to be addressed. SAY NO TO THE TOILET CHAIN
Meh, don't remember when but Sven said " we'll stop working on BG3 when we run out of money. Our Ea last usually for 1 year, not sure if it will be the case here" . So as long as they find a reason to do it, why not do it? Only time will tell how Larian looks at our " suggestions". Fact is the main argument for Day/Night cycle for now is that it looks cool.
Well cinematic for every single dialogue has exactly the same reason to exist and it's in the game so MAYBE we can count on it ? Very curious how Larian will approach the subject in the end.
Alt+ left click in the inventory on an item while the camp stash is opened transfers the item there. Make it a reality.
D/N is so essential and would improve the game even if it was binary.
Right. That's what I meant. They could literally do the most basic, binary system (i.e. dusk/dawn mini-video pops up, like in BG1, no dynamic light change required, a new darker/lighter version of the map is loaded, most NPC disappear/appear in their bed at night, stores are closed) and no matter how bare-boned, it would still add immensely to the believability of the game world. Not to mention it would open a lot of opportunities for quest design, rest system, fatigue, exhaustion, etc.
It's fairly jarring that a feature that was considered basic in most CRPGs since Ultima and co. is now dismissed as "too expensive and unnecessary" in a game with an overall budget that probably dwarfs the almost totality of the classics (and several current competitors) combined.
I think Larians current way of thinking especially for BG3 is do it perfectly or dont do it at all, and doing day/night cycle perfectly includes a lot of work considering the number of NPC and Permutations they have in the game. Maybe now with all the money from EA they will consider adding this feature.
I didnt notice if it was mentioned already but DOS had a kickstarter strech goal that said: " NPC Schedules, Day/Night Cycles and weather Systems have an impact on NPC and monsters, the weather and moons change and influence the different schools of magic" - doing all this for BG3 would take a lot of work but it would add so much to the game immersion and tactical approach to battels.
I think Larians current way of thinking especially for BG3 is do it perfectly or dont do it at all, and doing day/night cycle perfectly includes a lot of work considering the number of NPC and Permutations they have in the game. Maybe now with all the money from EA they will consider adding this feature.
Yeah, I just don't think it's a particularly productive or beneficial mindset. I mean, if you want to go out of your way to do "the best implementation to date yet", because you think you're up to the task, by all means be my guest!
But if that's not the case, arguing that "Iif it's not going to be top notch there's no reason for it to be there at all" is at very least questionable angle, given that as already argued even the most basic, "lazy" implementation of this feature would already be on itself a massive boon to make the game's world feel more alive. Even more importantly to sell the illusion that passing time is an actual thing and we aren't looking at at a diorama frozen into a single moment in time, which opens dozens of mechanical possibilities in GAMEPLAY terms, that bizarrely enough they are currently work their asses off to circumvent in far more convoluted ways (the whole current implementation of instanced camping/long rest mechanics seem to be a spectacularly clumsy attempt at that specific goal).
They could eventually argue "Well, actually our system will take less work overall". Hum, yeah, possibly? But it will also clearly show it. It's not like they are finding an elegant solution that "will save work for a comparable result". The hit in term of immersion and believability of the game world is going to be massive, and the result if the current impressions are anything to go by will feel like a patchwork.
P.S. I was re-reading the entire thread and aside for the amount of times I repeated myself (to my defense the current thread is actually the merging of several other on the same topic) I find vaguely jarring how I basically went from an initial "Hehe, not going to happen, deal with it" to "Oh god, we need this so badly". Because, yes, it's actually a thing that weights on the game more and more as you try to stick with it.
Last edited by Tuco; 04/11/2002:08 PM.
Party control in Baldur's Gate 3 is a complete mess that begs to be addressed. SAY NO TO THE TOILET CHAIN
So as long as they find a reason to do it, why not do it? Only time will tell how Larian looks at our " suggestions". Fact is the main argument for Day/Night cycle for now is that it looks cool.
I would say the main reason is immersion. They could put all the interactable characters to bed, not add any extra night events, etc. and I sitll think it would add something to the game. Night's here, we can't do anything. Time to go to camp and sleep some.
Yes, I am exaggerating a bit, but to have a sense of apssing time does plenty. Same goes for fast travel (it's already on the fast map). Change the teleporters to waysigns and notify the player that your travelling took an hour or two. It's the cheapest option and it could be doe plenty better with some effort, but I still think it would add ot the game.
BG1 and 2 had a dynamic weather system with a day/night cycle that gave those games an amazing atmosphere. Gorion is killed on a stormy night by Sarevok! Go to the cemetery at night looking for Bodhi taking care of the vampires.
So as long as they find a reason to do it, why not do it? Only time will tell how Larian looks at our " suggestions". Fact is the main argument for Day/Night cycle for now is that it looks cool.
I would say the main reason is immersion. They could put all the interactable characters to bed, not add any extra night events, etc. and I sitll think it would add something to the game. Night's here, we can't do anything. Time to go to camp and sleep some.
Yes, I am exaggerating a bit, but to have a sense of apssing time does plenty. Same goes for fast travel (it's already on the fast map). Change the teleporters to waysigns and notify the player that your travelling took an hour or two. It's the cheapest option and it could be doe plenty better with some effort, but I still think it would add ot the game.
The way sign thing is quite smart. Could work as a way to do things And yes, the graphic benefits of the night sky in bg3....oooh, that would be awesome.
Not sure how night impacts gameplay in D&D though. Apart from pure roleplay and infra-vision elf friends is there anything that changes for the way you play your character? Talking mechanics here, not roleplay wise obviously.
Alt+ left click in the inventory on an item while the camp stash is opened transfers the item there. Make it a reality.
Not sure how night impacts gameplay in D&D though. Apart from pure roleplay and infra-vision elf friends is there anything that changes for the way you play your character? Talking mechanics here, not roleplay wise obviously.
- Some creatures (i.e. vampires, for one) would be able to be around just at night. Or just be more active/effective then. - It would mark the passing of time, making the introduction of tiredness/exhaustion somethings that makes sense in context. - Consequently, it would mark the necessity to rest at least every now that then.
And that's obviously without going into all the large amount of possibilities it opens in terms of scripting and quest design (which on the other hand would be something Larian would need to purposefully take advantage of) and the already mentioned benefits in terms of cosmetic value/immersion.
Last edited by Tuco; 04/11/2002:50 PM.
Party control in Baldur's Gate 3 is a complete mess that begs to be addressed. SAY NO TO THE TOILET CHAIN
At night, spirits or ghosts such as Ulcaster often appear. At night, you can meet thieves to complete missions sent by Mae'Var. At night, it is the only time where you can meet Bodhi and when you have to be more careful of vampires.
The more I'm replaying EA, the more I'm realizing that the complete lack of day/night and passing time weights like a massive boulder on the believability of the setting, making it feel artificial.
Too bad the studio has already said in no dubious terms that it's not going to happen since they consider it "too much work for too little benefit to do properly".
Well, I'd be fine even without a "proper" version of it and just a mediocre implementation, because that can't be worse than having a "cardboard scenery" world frozen in a single moment in time. They could look at Pathfinder Kingmaker as an example of game that did day/night and camping mechanics more than effectively enough using a mere fraction of the budget Larian can boast on this production.
Already said it in another thread, I'll say it again: it's not up to me to decide, but if I was offered the choice between going without a day/night cycle and getting it but delaying the final release six additional months, I'd take the latter without a second of hesitation.
I agree with this. I don't mind waiting a bit longer for a mechanic like this to be implemented. The advantages to realism would simply add so much to the game. From sight disadvantages to the rogue's hide ability. It would just enhance the gameplay.
And yes, the graphic benefits of the night sky in bg3....oooh, that would be awesome. 
