Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Love scenes and animations(NSFW)

Some of the scenes are pretty good, some are using the ol' cheap "fade to black" and some are just reusing animations made for one sex.

Problem 1) Both forms of Haarlep are using the same cowgirl animation that was made for a female Haarlep to a male player character. Watching a male Haarlep bottoming my female character(h,how?), looks funny, cheap, and breaks an otherwise powerful scene.
Suggestion: Create two more animations. One for a female/female pair(Haarlep/Player) and one for a male/female pair(Haarlep/Player). If not new animations, then change the camera angles to hide the incorrect parts of the scene? Clever camera shots can hide many mistakes and inconsistencies.


Problem 2) Karlach love scene. Reused animation that was clearly made for a female/female pair(Karlach/Player).
Suggestion: Create a unique animation for male player characters, or if not, change the camera angles to hide the incorrect parts of the scene.


Problem 3) Fade to black scenes.
Hiding the Emperor scene is understandable.
Hiding the bear scenes is understandable.
Hiding Gale's bed scene, humanoid Emperor, or Wyll's, is not.
Suggestion: Create proper animated scenes. The game is a masterpiece and deserves more than reused animations or cheap fade to blacks. You don't need expensive MO-CAP, you don't need intimacy coordinators, and you don't need a huge budget. How do i know? 'Tis what i do for a living and a hobby. You already have the assets(dialogue, narrator, music). You only have to create a few short animation loops and apply them to the proper rigs.

Is the game unplayable? Not at all. As i said, the game is already a masterpiece, but watching a cutscene with incorrect animations is like hearing a soundtrack with empty and incorrect notes. Takes part of the enjoyment out of it.

Heavily edited post for typos and formatting.

Thank you, my thoughts exactly on everything you said.

I only ever watched videos of Wyll's romance so I might be wrong, but isn't his position that he wants to wait until they are married? So it fades to black because nothing happens?

I also quite like the bed in the woods as it is, though I admit that version of the romance is very short if you didn't allow Gale to take you to Waterdeep before.

No, I think there is just no animation.

You're welcome.

Nicely done as an intro scene, but sadly there is no follow up. Showing the two characters naked with a slow pan shot can do wonders, and you don't even have to animate much, if at all.


Mizora's dialogue also suggesting that they know each other well.

Edit: Typo

What do you mean it's made for female/female pairing, It just seemed like Karlach was the top in the relationship with my male Tav when I did the scene in act 3, he has the normal male body type so he isn't build like brick house like Karlach, He's physically weaker than her, I'd understand it more if the same thing happened with Buff Male Tav since he'd be stronger than her and be the Top in the relationship, but right now it doesn't seem like it made for a female/female pairing in my experience, I'd have to do it again with Buff version of my character just to see if anything changes or remains the same.

I would deffinetly like better shot sequence for the bed in the forest scene with Gale. I was real disapointed it ended so soon when the Waterdeep one was draped in romance and...multiple positions.

The Act 3 scene is clearly made for a f/f pairing, no doubt about it. It's not about the picking up, but what comes after that.

I only had Problem 1) to watch, and I wondered how male Haarlep worked on my female main from impossible anatomical angles to make her sweat so much. I totally concur with you here, the animation takes out a lot of immersion. Either a new animation for females or the player on top (works for female and male) would be solutions.

Might be a personal thing but for me the romance scenes are about the emotional connection not the pixel sex. If, in Gale's case, you decide to skip the scene in Waterdeep and go straight to bed (as opposed to telling him you want to be with the real him in Waterdeep and then get the bed), you loose a chance to connect with Gale which isn't really replaced by anything and I don't think that showing the characters naked would really solve that.

This is so true, I don't get why people are obsessed with pixel sex. If I want sex, I ask my boyfriend but in a game it's more about the story, getting to know the character in a much deeper way, more on a soul level and not just the exchange on body fluids.
I remember the words from PFH, "Sex in BG3 is not a reward" but that's how most people see it and how its treated by Larian, despite stating the opposite.
Personally, I don't mind to only have fade-to-black on every character as much as I don't mind sex scenes, if they are mature and done with style, not just for the sake of having sex. I would like it to be seen more as part of the art. And if you decide to show a sex scene, why not show every aspect of the body, in the end it's a PEGI 18 title, instead of softcore as it is now?

Asking for anatomically correct sex animations has nothing to do with pixel sex obsession, Jesus!
Animation is a form of art, same as music, drawing, building, etc. If i watch a cutscene and the main character stabs someone with a glitchy invisible blade because the animation team forgot to render it, i'll probably come here to nag in the same way.
Even more so when we speak about a sex scene, which can elevate a scene from 5 to 11 if done right. Such special moments deserve the same quality treatment as the rest of the game.

Again, is all about the art. Depicting and animating the beautiful act of lovemaking, properly. Throwing copy-pasted animation frames to every rig available is not very artful, and that's why i'm nagging(a little bit).
Their animation team is top-notch, they can easily fix both Haarlep and Karlach, if they want.

Well, I think it’s relevant that their lead cinematic animator Jim Southworth passed away several months ago. Was very sorry to hear about it. But that may affect the quality of animations. At least until they find someone just as talented to assume the role.

Sorry but I think you got me wrong there. I am totally on your side when it comes to anatomically correct sex animations.
I was talking more about how the playerbase in generel seems to be obsessed with sex in the game, it's like this game is more of a dating & sex simulator and less RPG.

If you choose to include sex, then you should make it right and have different versions for m/f, f/m, m/m and f/f.

Same. I didn't comment on the other scenes you mentioned because I don't know them. If there's something wrong with them it's good to point it out.

When it comes to the Act 3 romance scene with Karlach and what happens after she picks you up, body type does not matter and I had this reported directly to Larian by ticket like so long time ago, this was like 3 weeks after the game got officially released on steam, don't know if this feedback report was taken to heart but once it came to my ears of the unfortunate event for our lead cinematic animator Jim Southwood, now I can understand why some animation were left as they are..

The only lovescene that bothers me out of all of these is the Act 3 dating with Karlach, like it doesn't need any changes whatsoever, just additions for the game to check for gender type and switch to using a more proper animation reflecting for male types like maybe that was intended but never came to happen due to unforeseen consequences, who knows?


Really wish Jim Southwood would still be among us, that took me completely by surprise and I feel very sorry to have heard of this, my condolences to those affected by it.

I don't know about that, no sane lesbian would ever let Karlach's long pointy nails anywhere near her private parts, even a night with Orin would probably be less painful than that.

Haha, now this is TRUE!

I… wondered about that, lol. Fortunately my Durge doesn’t have to worry about it, because her heart is with Shadowheart. <3

It's a bit of both,
I want it to be anatomically correct as well, also some horny players might not have a relationship with someone IRL.

I also love talking about the anatomy of fantasy creatures, like for an example female centaurs would have both horse teats and human breasts, or how some dwarven women have beards and some don't.

Lmao that's actually very true and i'm a lesbian. But... for the sake of my sanity and probably others, I like to think she's very VERY careful with her nails or she trims them (the latter would've been hilarious to see tbh).

I support OP btw, the scene with Harleep is so... weird because I was playing as a woman and i chose the female version of Harleep and it kind of ruined the scene. Gave me mass effect Andromeda flashbacks with Peebee romance. I also agree about the male version with Karlach as it's very obviously made for f/f.



Didn't know about Jim Southworth though, so sorry to hear that.

I would just like more romance with the scene with Gale. Its just a small chatter and then bed, and then black screen. While with the waterdeep one, you get to see Gales world and home, and you literally bond in the weave which is..how romantic is that? To literally fuse your soul with someone else? It just makes the other version seem so lackluster in responce.

I like the sex scenes to be thorough and correct, because i see it as a chance to bond with your companion. Id like to see the lead up to it and finally the consummation to be a reflection of it.

To add to that, Im aware Astarion has many scenes already, especially in comparison to other companions, and I do agree that we need to focus on the other companions first before we get back to tweaking Astarion's, but id like to eventually see ..something more int he second lovemaking scene with Astarion then him just saying he hoped the player would come.

We got a very sweet boat scene with Gale in his second bonding experience with the player, id like something similar, instead of just a short conversation and fade to black. With Astarion's route its mostly about him after all, and the scenes of helping him with Cazador and what you can do for him. Which is fine, because its part of his personality and slowly letting TAV in. Id just like to see a second intimate scene similar to that of Gale's, where it feels like its more than just about him and is dedicated to you BOTH instead.

So if people are making new wishlists for romance scenes for companions, then I'd like to see something for Shadowheart, too. Compared to the others, she doesn't have any romance specific scene in act 2 at all. Then her act 3 scene is also pretty mild compared, to say, Karlach, because it's all fade to black.

True, but if you play as Durge, in Act 2 you get a Durge-specific scene with your love interest that scratches that itch slightly. Shadowheart also has smaller/hidden special interactions throughout the game, so that helps make up for it a lot. She does ultimately ask to be a couple in Act 2 as well. So I’m happy with how things are now. But I wouldn’t say no to more Shadowheart content.

Not everyone plays Durge and I don't want to be forced to play it just to have some extra scene with her. Other LIs have it too, so it's not really making it up to her lack of content. Small interactions are here and there, but they're again, not romance specific. And she only asks us to be a couple at the end of act 2, so yeah... That's really not great either.

She needs something in act 2, for romance only, just like other romance options.

Glad to see people agreeing for the most part! Not gonna lie, when i first created the thread, I braced myself for the inevitable "sEx vErY eVil aCT!!1!" or "go touch grass" kind of answers. Reading civilized posts about this subject is a pure joy.

On the other hand, with 9 out of 10 clicks leading to 504 gateway errors, accessing Larian's forums feels like playing blackjack at the moment.

The only thing I want to add is that I'm 80% sure the Karlach scene is meant to be like that with female and male body types alike. The cast even made a joke about it at one of the cons.

Nothing wrong with liking or wanting more intimate scenes, despite what other people might think. Its not all about watching someone put slot A into slot B. I think for most people it has to do with bonding with their chosen companion and sometimes for some people that includes physical intimacy.

All these suggestions are great honestly, I hope people keep it going.

You're more likely to run into those people on Twitter, you won't get any that grass touching nonsense from me, besides I have no shame nor guilt, I'm a pervert, I'm proud of being a sexual deviant, I don't mind letting other people know, I don't masturbate, I just can't, I gave up on it, when couldn't get it to work properly during my teenaged years, I may have gave too much information, oh... well,

so I guess we can go back to the main topic of anatomically sex scenes, isn't weirdier that that none of the male characters have erections during the sex scenes, there's barely any twitching in the lower area, I'm a guy, I should know, it twitches a couple of times before a full erection,

As for the site it's tricky like that, I just wait a couple of hours before attempting again,

Agree. There's a lot of 'shaming' going on when it comes to sex in general or wanting to see some well done intimacy in games. So I can't blame OP for being afraid to post something like this. I'm so done with people who say all the time 'if you want sex go watch porn' or 'do it with your bf or gf' or 'why do you wanna see pixels fucking'. It's one thing to want to see nice, improved intimate scenes and another thing to be literally obsessed in every sense of the word. What's next, gonna shame us for reading erotica books or fanfiction?

Anyway, glad to see this thread being made for some suggestions regarding certain questionable positions when it comes to intimacy scenes in the game as some don't fit the sex your character is, at all.

And of course the suggestions made about Shadowheart, Gale and -if I may add- Minthara who (on good path) has no intimate lovemaking scenes unless you play murderhobo and get the act 1 scene.

I think that any kind of intimacy added to a game can greatly improve the whole experience itself, if done properly.

If we look at games not just as entertainment but as a nice little escape from reality, then it's normal to expect a deep and good experience instead of some boring and cheap written game. If, like in this case, romance is part of the game, then any intimacy helps building the relationship, it's like in real life, if you love someone, you are likely to have some kind of sexual desire (unless you are asexual, if I get it right) and in getting closer to someone physically, you just give in to the desire and that's fine and healthy.

So there is absolutely no point in 'shaming', unless (and I have to add that) people get really obsessed with it so they spam about it or even raise their IRL standards to match a game, which is something I don't see as healthy anymore, but that's just my opinion (not attacking anyone).

The romance content in general gets a lot of hate for being frivolous and not adding anything substantial to the game and story. Though, especially after seeing Gale's new kisses at the morphic pool, I strongly disagree. Those animations do such a good job in conveying the state of mind he is in, that I'd argue they are quite meaningful - and beautifully animated. The facial animations of the embrace one are marvellous.

I would love to have more small interactions like you can have with Shart for the other companions too. An option to give the chance to have his portrait painted to Spawn Astarion for example.

Softcore is more than fine for video game related sex scenes. With a good animation and a few good camera shots, you can create beautiful and spicy sex scenes without directly showing penetration. Astarion's is the most daring one so far. Fully animated implied penetration(hip movement and everything), but the private parts cleverly hidden behind a candle item. Still a lovely scene.

Nah, assuming we speak for the same Youtube video, the cast was simply watching the cutscenes of their in-game roles. There is no voiced dialogue during the infamous ''pegging'' animation(as the community refers to it jokingly). What really happened is that Larian created the female/female version, which looks fine, then used it on the male/female version of the scene. Maybe to save time, budget, or both. Maybe some of the companions had a specific sexuality at first(gay-straight-bi), changed to 'Player-Sexual' later in development, forcing Larian to recycle the sex animations? Lots of maybes here, but the point still stands. Some of the love scenes deserve a second pass.


PREACH IT!

+1

After the first little romance scene until way into the end of Act 2 there is almost nothing for her; (Selunite "kiss me like you hate me" and Night Orchid interaction notwithstanding). It kind of makes sense, given her internal struggle being a Sharran and her Dark Justiciar ambitions. I think she is worth the wait, but the gap from the Underdark, Rosymorn Monastery and Shadow-Cursed Lands is huge. She has a little dialogue that shows her conflict but a couple of small intimate moments could go far here.

Still looking for the new Act 2 banter when she's romanced that the patch notes mentioned.

Not weird. An M rating would never get away with that; it would be rated Adults Only, which would significantly impact it's ability to release globally, and of course players that would buy it. Most things rated A are basically just porn.

She is absolutely worth the wait, but she still needs something in act 2, even something small for romance path. Shar Idol and Night Orchid aren't romance exclusive either, so... yeah.

Crossplay should be a priority for Larian Studios and not small details like these animations.

I play on Xbox SX and would really like to play with my friends on PS5 and PC, but they are waiting for crossplay so they can buy the game.

Many also want crossplay in the game.

This would result in a huge increase in sales of the game and obviously the Baldur's Gate 3 community.

I'm hoping Larian Studios wakes up to life.




Sorry for my bad English, I'm Brazilian.

It’s not either/or, they can have a variety of priorities going at once. And while I am happy with Shadowheart’s romance as it exists in game, I would also fully support adding another romance scene in Act 2. I will never say no to more Shadowheart content, as long as it’s done well. I would hate for them to add a new scene and botch the animations or something.

looks like it's pretty good English,
yeah, Kink Shaming is pretty unhealthy, like why do these weirdos stick their nose in other people's businesses, these sick people want invade your personal space and your privacy just to tell you what you do in your free time is wrong and disgusts them, like if someone is into feet, I'm not going to shame them, even though I think it's a weird fetish, I'm going to let them enjoy it because it's something they like, I tolerate them and show them mutual respect like a normal person.

Most gaming studios are divided in departments and teams. You have coders and programmers, animation teams, 2D concept artist, 3D artists, shader and fx artists, writers, etc.

Only Larian knows what's priority and what not, not you. And they know what they find important the most at this moment and as Dimos said, they have teams for that and they don't work on one thing only.

Animation is not a 'small detail' as it requires a lot of work and it is equally as important as everything else in this game and can even improve the quality of the game.

They're doing great work so far and a LOT more than most other companies do. I'm actually in awe with how they improved the game since EA.

Patience is a virtue.

Edit: also wrong thread to post this, you could've just made your own thread instead of posting here and call this feedback 'small detail'.

You are right in everything

The one who really has a type of scene for each gender is Minthara. I think they should all have the same.