Written by: Kuiriel
Right, this is the second in my series of interviews on
up and coming MODs and Utilities. If you have a MOD or something else in
development for an IE game, let me know! Contact me at kuiriel@teambg.org
and chances are I'll interview you.
The Darkest Day happens to
be one of the BG2 MODs thats been longest in development. Therefore it
is also probably the one closest to completion.. Do you want to know what
it's about? When it's due? What it adds? Read on and find out - and we've
got an extra special treat this time. I managed to get CoM
to give me two screenshots showing off some of their animations and effects!
Kuiriel: So, for those of us who
don't know who the CoM are and what you're working on, let us know..
Minto: CoM is just the name for the team, aka the Council
of Mystra. I guess we felt that to have a name kinda gave you an aspect
of importance and the team would like to be refered to as CoM, as opposed
to "..those mod guys". We have been working on a large MOD for Baldur's
Gate 2 that will easily match the TeamBG effort with Dark Side of the Sword
Coast, and should make a worthwhile extension to the already quality game.
Kuiriel: ..I've heard rumors of
reshuffling of power in CoM.. can you tell me more, and about how it's
affected the creation of the MOD?
Minto: Well the previous head guy has been unable to commit
to the team which has halted progress. In order to make this work, other
members of the team have taken his place in compiling the expansion. This
might affect what was planned as becoming familiar with others work is
tough - but we'll manage.
Kuiriel: Right, the players grow
impatient. How does your MOD fit into the BG2 scene? What can you tell
us of the storyline?
Minto: The main plot begins late in the game by choice,
before you go to the Elven Citadel. This involves elves and their settlements
a lot, along with a greater force of evil that has come to Faerun and is
corrupting the land. From here the new story will be easy to find and will
represent the bulk of the addon. But other things happen early on in the
game, like small quests to accomplish, NPCs and so on - also, new strongholds
are going to be available.
Kuiriel: What does it add on? I've
heard a lot about possible new areas, monsters, over fifty kits, etc.
Minto: As for what we added, well just about everything;
You can expect 100 - 150+ new weapons easily, 120 spells, 100+ innate abilities,
75 kits and 8+ npc's with detailed involvment. It also adds new areas using
other IE graphics and possibly custom ones. We have many new areas made
but to use them still requires a wee bit more. And we have planned to take
a few other IE creature animations and bring them in.
image from Minto (Minto's Creatures)
Kuiriel: This does sound like a
fair bit. How many hours should this add up to in total? And what about
the size of the download?
Minto: I would say that all this when done should be easily
the length of DSotSC and maybe even double that. I think this alone justifies
the potentially large download size which will be anywhere from 60 to 150+
megs.
Kuiriel: For something this large,
how long have you & CoM been working on this for?
Minto: Well CoM have been on this for 5 months but many
have come and gone. As it happens I am only 1 of the 2 originals that remain,
but the new fellas have done their bit to help the process along.
Kuiriel: Out of curiousity, what
motivated you to work on this?
Minto: Well.. personally I am doing it because (A) I have
the skill to make a mod and (B) I love the Baldur's Gate games. The thought
that you can dictate what others do in a game is kinda cool - I think in
5 months I can count on one hand the days where I have not done something
for this MOD, so it is kind of a magnetic hobby if you like.
Kuiriel: Will we get to see any
previews or demos?
Minto: Demos, no, I doubt it, I gave out some screenshots
and other info, but to cook up a demo would just take time away from the
overall goal of getting it done and done good, so the final product will
be the publics first taste of The Darkest Day.
image from Kazz (The Abyss) - An example of TDD artist's
work.
Kuiriel: Will it go into beta-testing?
When is it due out?
Minto: As for beta, well, we have a tester but I guess
a few might get it prehand. we will be suprised if it has any chronic errors
as we have checked it up high and low for perfection. Of course the daft
thing is all the tough stuff gets done well and we end up with the odd
simple spelling error, hehe.
Kuiriel: Dammit. You guys really
like to dodge the question we all want to know.. when is it due out!
Minto: 6-10 weeks..
[Writers Note:
Here, Potencius from
CoM said "ya,
you can never really tell. I hate release dates... just say it'll be done
in a year, then when it's released early, everyone will be happy that it
didn't take as long as expected.." but
I'm pretty sure it won't go over 10 weeks from what I've heard!]
Kuiriel: Finally. Anything you'd
like to add?
Minto: Hhmm? Well, all I can say is don't let the potentially
massive download turn you off. It's big for a reason but I think you know
that already; it'll take time but I can't see anyone who will not appreciate
this. I know as I did with DSotSC that it made the game better with it
than on its own.
So, The Darkest Day has a crapload of new features. However,
the download size may seem dominating to all the 56k modem users out there.
I'd say get a better modem, or get a friend to burn the download onto CD
and distribute it, at least until we can send out copies of the game on
CD by airmail. Still.. by the sound of it, I'd put up with a download speed
of a couple of K myself just to get my grubby little hands on this piece
of artwork.
Don't forget, if you have a MOD,
TC or add-on in the works or know someone who does, get them to contact
me or someone at TeamBG.org and chances are you or they will have your
interview put up! :]~
Kuiriel
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