The BEAMBLOG

Monday, January 30, 2017

Collector's Edition Update 7


Soon my precious... soon.
Fans all over the world are letting us know they're getting their Siege of Dragonspear Collector's Edition and their responses continue to be overwhelmingly positive! 

However, it's come to our attention that a few of the dice included in the Collector's Edition have been misprinted. We're looking into the cause behind these printing errors so this problem does not occur again in the future.


We're currently working on a yet-to-be announced game. Because of the issue with the dice and the delays in getting the Collector's Edition to customers, we have decided to give a free digital copy of our upcoming game to all SoD Collector's Edition purchasers. Download codes will be emailed to customers shortly after the release of this new game, which will be revealed soon. 


Shipping Imps have informed us that Australian Collector's Edition orders should be out for delivery this week. We know many people are still waiting for their Collector's Edition to arrive and we will continue to release updates regarding shipping and distribution as we receive it. Even the team here in Canada is waiting for our personal copies to clear customs. 


As always, if you have a concern about your Siege of Dragonspear Collector's Edition order, please contact our support team at support@beamdog.com.
Writer

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Beamdog at Global Game Jam 2017




Give the team a hand!

What do game developers do with their free time? Make more games!

Ten people from the office, nearly half the team at Beamdog HQ, participated in Global Game Jam 2017. The event, running from the evening of January 20th through to the end of the 22nd, had over 36,000 participants in 702 sites across 95 countries. All these teams created more 7,000 games! We’re proud to have had Beamdog represent!

Look at that face! LOOK AT IT!

This year’s theme, "Waves," was interpreted in hundreds of different ways. Here are two completely new, utterly bizarre games we're excited to share with you. For the full effect, make sure to have sound turned on for both titles.



Because You’re A Water Wizard
A bull in a china shop has nothing on a wizard. Use water powers to knock items to the floor while running from an angry security bot. Scatter 100 items across the floor to win!

Get it here.


The Queen’s Wave
All the citizenry has come out to witness the majestic parade of Her Royal Majesty. Wave to gain the approval of your subjects and, most importantly, corgis. Snub someone and they’ll voice their ire.

Get it here.

Not pictured: 100 more coffee cups.

According to Alexei, the mastermind behind Beamdog’s game jam participation, time was the most difficult factor. “Getting from an idea to a working game in just two days is tough. It's also difficult to stay in scope, you get excited about an idea and think of great features but you have to be realistic and cut it down to the core gameplay.”




In Water Wizard, the team wanted to have fires that could put out and the ability to knock down the security guard with water, but both had to be cut. In The Queen's Wave they ended up removing a 'super saiyan' Queen mode where “if you played perfectly it would go technicolor,” but even though voice lines were done, the feature had to be cut for time.


For most participating, this was an exciting chance to try out new roles and tools. Devs more comfortable with coding took on the GGJ challenge in the Unreal Engine. QA team members scaled new mountains as level designers. And the Beamdog office manager absolutely rocked as an audio designer and voice actor. Yes, just about EVERYTHING you hear in those games came from one person. 


The team practicing a proper "Queen's wave."

Congratulations to everyone who participated for making two fun games in such a short amount of time!



If you’d like to learn more about Global Game Jam and try more games made by small teams around the world, visit the official website, Globalgamejam.org.
Writer

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Collector's Edition Update 6




The first wave of Siege of Dragonspear Collector’s Editions have reached the hands of fans and from the sounds of it, people couldn’t be happier with what they’re getting. Beamdog’s Twitter, Facebook, forum, and email accounts have all been flooded by delighted mentions of fans getting their Collector’s Editions. We'd love to keep hearing about what people think about the Collector's Edition, so if one shows up on your doorstep, please let us know!


Pallets of Collector’s Editions are still on the way to Canada and Europe for distribution. We’re awaiting details on customs and arrival dates, and will continue to make announcements as we get more information.


Want a closer look at what’s inside that beautiful box? Check out Big Box PC Game Collector’s unboxing video!

Again, if you have any questions about your order, please contact our support team at support@beamdog.com.

Writer

Monday, January 23, 2017

The Familiar: Fans Give Concept Art New Life



In 2016, we were privileged to publish two issues of the Familiar, a digital magazine filled with unique behind-the-scenes material about the cRPG industry and Baldur's Gate games in particular. Since then, fans have been asking when they'll see issue three.


Dear adventurers, warriors, rogues, clerics, and mages, the Familiar has migrated to our blog as a special ongoing series of community spotlight entries. This will be the place to find great original community content about games you all love.
Julius Borisov
Beamdog Community Manager

For many players, the story of a character begins with the quest to find the perfect portrait.

Avid RPG fans will often spend hours and - in many cases - even days thinking about a future characters’ backstory, attributes, adventuring party, and relationships. All this must be summed up with a single piece of inspiring art to envision as the face of the hero throughout the coming adventure.

Writer

Monday, January 9, 2017

Collector's Edition Update 5




Current Status of the Collector's Edition

We're done!

The last Collector's Editions will be loaded for shipping on Friday, and the Great Sending will begin the next business day.

The first wave of Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Collector's Edition shipments will start on January 16th in North America. Shipments to the rest of the world will begin once the completed copies have reached international distribution centers. More news on that soon.

We're very happy with the Collector's Editions we'll be shipping out and can't wait to get them into your hands. We appreciate your immense patience, and hope that this will be a great way for you to end your holidays.

If you have any other questions about your order, we're happy to help you out through support@beamdog.com.



Writer