So my biggest question for Larian is will they release the tools used to create BG3? Simular to NWN's Toolset? Is it even needed, or was BG3 created using a retail engine, and there is no way, or need, for such a thing?
Releasing the Toolset for NWN allowed for literal years worth of content created (sometimes in better quality) by the community. There were whole persistent worlds created and operated by the community (Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, etc.). I dumped a lot of free time into that game over the years...
Larian has been suspiciously mum about this when asked. My theory is modding tools were planned to come out shortly after launch. Then the game blew up in terms of sales and console ports got quickly prioritized. And this delayed tools release considerably as they then had to bugfix 4 distinct platforms (PC, Mac, PS5 and Xbox). For some comparison Divinity Original Sin 1/2 didn't have console ports until their "Definitive editions" released a year after launch.
I do think they'll eventually release something, but what that something is nobody knows as of yet. For some comparison, CD Projekt
eventually released
something for The Witcher 3 (and they're even releasing a
Redkit for it later this year). Swen stated it would allow for creating custom environments but he also said it would be a lot of work on the modder's part. Hopefully it'll be at least as robust as Divinity Original Sin 1's toolset which allowed for creating entirely custom modular environments.
My theory as to when it'll happen is tricky. Larian is most likely going to release a new BG3 update relatively soon. So it may happen then. Otherwise, Swen is going to GDC in March so he may bring it up there as he's been asked to on Twitter. The latest I could see the toolset being announced is the 1 year anniversary. As I suspect Larian might release a "Definitive edition" of Baldur's Gate 3 like they did with Divinity Original Sin 1/2. Which both released a year after launch for their respective games. It would be logical if they're also already working on Definitive edition to simply make the tools exclusive to that version as well.
modding for Larian games is usually restricted to cosmetic and mechanical changes, not new content.
Uhh what? D:OS1 and 2 allowed for creating entirely new modular content. If you mean "players usually only make cosmetic and mechanical changes" that's also wrong. DOS:1 and 2's tools allow for the creating of entirely custom adventures. Here I'll post a few.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1579783444&searchtext=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1136564031&searchtext=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1415357694&searchtext=I guess these don't exist or something? People have been passionately creating new content in Larian's engines for years now. To imply it isn't possible or doesn't exist is frankly rude towards the fan community who has worked tirelessly on it.
People have already been creating cosmetic and mechanical change mods right now for BG3. A tools release is needed to go further than that.
