Beamdog Update, March 19, 2019

“Axis & Allies Online has been a labour of love from a lot of the developers over at Beamdog. We’ve been working hard to ensure we’ve made a game that is faithful to the source material, and just as fun to play.” ~ Cody Ouimet

These are busy times at Beamdog. We thought we’d give you a quick update on what we are up to:

• Axis & Allies Online is available to wishlist on Steam. Take a first look at screenshots and get ready for an official adaptation of the classic board game! Axis & Allies Online is coming soon to Steam Early Access for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• Next Wednesday (3/27) at 09am PT we will have an AMA session at https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/ about Axis & Allies Online with our community manager Julius Borisov! Hope to see you there!
• Beamdog is heading to PAX East! We’ll be in Boston from March 28 - 31. Come meet us at the Skybound Games booth, where Trent Oster, Luke Rideout, Alfonso Munoz, and Sarah Dawson will be showing a playable demo of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for PS4 and Switch so you can try it hands-on. Check Skybound Games’ Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts for more details on bringing Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate ll, Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights to consoles.
• The playable demo of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for PS4 and Switch at the Skybound Games booth will feature the voice and portrait of Evelyn from the Dice, Camera, Action! pack for the first time.

“We are Axis and Allies fans and we’ve worked hard to build a fun, accessible version of the game and we hope you enjoy playing it as much as we have.” ~ Trent

• Check out the latest Axis & Allies Online interview with Beamdog CEO Trent Oster and Producer Cody Ouimet by Axis and Allies.org about the origin story of Axis & Allies Online, development insights, and more.
• Back in February, Trent Oster gave an interview to The Fly where he discussed Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, console ports, creating original games, and more.
• Check out the latest issue of community magazine Wild Surge for an interview with Beamdog Marketing and PR Lead Sarah Dawson about Axis & Allies Online!
• Beamdog has 50 employees as of last week, and we’re still hiring! We’re looking for Programmers, Lead Programmers, and Designers to join our team!
• Last week we launched the new and improved Beamdog.com which now covers both the D&D games and Axis & Allies Online. As a part of our site update, the Beamdog Client also received a small update (2.1.11 ver) to point to the Beamdog Store’s new URL. If you’re using the Beamdog Client and haven’t updated yet, it should still work normally.
• Kate Welch, game designer at Wizards of the Coast, moved on to play Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition in her show, Welch's Game Juice. Join her on Twitch every Thursday at 3pm PT to win giveaways!

Let us know your thoughts on our new website!

• The next patch for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition is not quite ready. As we mentioned in December, once we started on the renderer and 64-bit integration in earnest, that became our main focus. We have a team dedicated to the renderer, and the 64-bit merge has happened, but we’ve got a road ahead of us before we’re going to be able to put a bow on it and make it public, as the console branch requires us to spend time adding controller support, to spend time cleaning up some long-overdue UI problems, and other changes that will have far-reaching benefits in the long run.
• We don’t have a full feature list we can share with players yet, but the new renderer for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition is very robust, and gives us, potentially, access to all the bells and whistles one looks for in a modern game. Luke thinks players and modders will be pleasantly surprised by its capabilities.
• A controller version of the Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition UI for PC wouldn’t be impossible. The controller branch currently is distinct from the PC branch because Neverwinter’s UI wasn’t designed with a controller in mind, meaning we have to include a number of changes to UI and camera behaviour that we would have to reconcile between the console and PC versions. But either way, it would likely be something to investigate after the Console version ships.
• The iOS port of NWN:EE is in progress. We don’t have an ETA yet, but it is being actively worked on, as well as updates to the Android version in parallel.
• We have a team of dedicated QA who are testing all of the builds, logging bugs, performing regression testing, and confirming both functionality and bug fixes on a daily basis. All of the development team are responsible for fixing the bugs on the features that they work on. The “New” status in the public bug tracker isn’t a measurement of time in the tracker, but an indication of whether an issue has been triaged and escalated. If a bug is listed as “New”, it means it’s still in the queue to be triaged.
• The Dice, Camera, Action! voice and portrait pack will introduce a new vendor - Alveus Malcanter (voiced by Mark Meer). You’ll find him in each game (Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition) selling four items tied to the Waffle Crew. Any further items he would carry would always be thematically tied to the pack they’re distributed with.
• We looked into the possibility of an easter egg banter between Alveus Malcanter and Baeloth (since Mark Meer is the voice of both, as well as a few other voices in the game) in Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. Unfortunately, it was out of the scope of what we could do for the first iteration of the Alveus Malcanter character.
• We’ve made significant improvements to pathfinding and collision in the console ports of our Infinity Engine games. Luke hopes to back-port these improvements to PC, but they’re not a part of the 2.6 patch for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition (which is still in the works).
• Luke has been interested for a while in making Ascension an official “DLC” for Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and a few other similar mods, but there are some challenges in that: we can’t legally distribute content that we don’t own or have permission from all involved parties. In the case of some, where the people who worked on it are not in communication with us, our hands are tied.
• It appears that the primary reason that Catmull-Rom was dropped in the 2.0 patch was that it caused some very large performance issues with the mobile versions of the game. It is something that might be worth looking at restoring, but we’d need to do a little more research as to why we were unable to keep it in the first place.
• There seems to be an issue with an old implementation of Android softkeys not playing nicely with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition after they were updated to work with a newer version of the Android OS, which we had to do for security reasons. On some devices running Android 4.4 KitKat and earlier, the softkeys get in the way of the fullscreen game, but we’ve been unable to reproduce and fix as the issue only occurs on select devices that are no longer supported by Google.
• The 3.1.4 patch for Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition (which includes the Czech localization) has been live on Beamdog for a while now! If you have it installed via the Beamdog Client, it should either already be version 3.1.4, or updateable to 3.1.4 now. You can confirm the version number in the lower-right corner of the main menu after launching.

If you have a question for Beamdog, don’t hesitate to ask us on our forums. We'll try to get answers from Beamdog Producer Luke Rideout and then will directly communicate them back to you (above are Luke’s answers to the community questions asked in February, 2019).

September 28 Livestream Recap

Luke plays Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on NVidia Shield and Samsung S8.

Today Beamdog Producer Luke Rideout and Marketing & PR Manager Lee Guille shared the latest studio news, updates and plans on Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition and the Infinity Engine EEs. Luke showed the current state of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on Android (everything showcased is still work in progress).

Missed the stream? It's on YouTube (yay!) and Twitch! Here's a quick summary of the highlights:

• It was so exciting to meet local fans during the Edmonton Expo. Trent dressed up as Minsc and Luke worked on his best Winthrop lines!
• Local fans at the Edmonton Expo got some hands-on time with Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition for Android. We’re already working through the feedback you provided.
• Siege of Dragonspear for Android and iOS is on its biggest sale yet! Save 60% on an exciting adventure through new regions of the Sword Coast!
• Weekend Sale at the Beamdog Store:
• 20% off Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
• 25% off Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition: Digital Deluxe
• 30% off the Saga of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition games and Soundtracks! Saga Bundle includes:
• Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
• Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
• Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
• All three soundtracks!
• Sign up for our newsletter, and be the first to know about our sales, news, contests, and more!
• We’re hiring! If you’re a web developer, programmer, or technical artist - apply!

Shy about creating a Phil Killah module? How about a Nuke Lukem forever one?!

• The 2.5 builds for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition for the Mac App Store are out! Check out the full announcement here.
• Bringing the 3.1.4 build for Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition to other platforms is something we’re working towards! Just like the 2.5 builds for the Mac App Store, it does need a fair amount of testing. We don’t have any specific ETA, but Luke hopes to get it into your hands pretty soon, especially for GOG players!
• The Dice, Camera, Action! voice and portrait pack is back on track! The portraits from the pack are almost complete, and we’ll soon start working on our contest winners portraits.
• The 2.6 patch for BG:EE, BGII:EE, IWD:EE, and Siege of Dragonspear will come at the same time the Dice, Camera, Action! Enhanced Edition pack is released. We want to get the 2.6 patch out on all the platforms simultaneously, including the Mac App Store.
• We’ve done a lot of bug-fixing for the 2.6 patch. There are 65 (!) spells now fixed to correctly follow the rules.
• The 2.6 patch isn’t the last for the Infinity Engine Enhanced Editions! These games might be 20 years of old soon, but we love them, and plan to continue polishing them up!
• If you encounter a bug, or another issue while playing our games, reach out to our support. Charles is doing a fantastic work there, so don’t be shy, and share your problem!

Saving games and whispering in Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on Android is very easy!

• Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Development Build 8181 is available in the Beamdog Client and on Steam! It addresses a few community-found issues from the previous development build. Check out the full list of fixes here.
• We have a gold candidate of the NWN:EE GoG build. It’s something we’ve been working on with GOG for some time. We’re coordinating with them on the release date.
• Ossian Studios continue to work on overhauling models and textures for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. They’re fantastic at what they do, and we’re happy to work with them.
• We’re making progress on creating achievements for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. Elysse is playing the Original Campaign, and making notes. We’re also thinking about adding achievements for Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark.
• We don’t have plans to port the Neverwinter Nights Toolset to mobile, as the Toolset and the game are two different beasts.
• Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on Android will come with much more flexible UI scaling (like x1.4, for example). All improvements will be then ported to the PC version.
• We’ll make sure Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on mobile runs on the most modern devices. During the livestreams, we showed off the game on NVidia Shield and Samsung S8. Luke used the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 at the Edmonton Expo.
• Better optimisation, and a broader spectrum of bug fixes, will be coming to NWN:EE after all the major features are done: the 64bit support, the “NWSync”, the mobile version.
• While recording professional V/O into different languages is pretty expensive, we’re open to including fan-made V/O into the Enhanced Editions!
• Although Phil is no longer at Beamdog, send your Kill Phil modules to us, and we’ll continue our tradition to kill Phil! There’s only one person who’s got a shiny forum badge for the Phil Killah module, you can get it too!

Excited for what’s next? Come and join the next livestream this Friday!

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition v3.1.4 Now Available On Steam! UPDATE! Beamdog and GOG too!

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Update 3.1.4 is now live on Steam.  

UPDATE! Beamdog and (soon!) GOG too!

Thank you everyone who left feedback and localization requests for other languages during the PST:EE Czech localization beta! We've logged reported bugs and are going through all your suggestions on ways we can improve.

Also a big thank you to the Czech translation lead, Edvin for all his work in localizing Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition.

Czech localization will be rolled out on Beamdog, GOG, and the Mac App store in the near future and will be included on Google Play and the iOS App Store in a later patch. 

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition v3.1.4 Patch Notes:

• Added Czech localization

PST:EE Patch 3.1.3 And What's Next for Beamdog

The first patch for Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition is now available on Beamdog, Steam, GOG, Google Play, iTunes, and Mac App store! 

Patch 3.1.3 focuses on bug fixes and localization improvements for desktop and mobile versions of the game. If you don’t see the patch immediately, please be patient as the update should populate in your region soon. Linux fans will be happy to hear this patch also adds 64 bit support.

A full list of patch notes is available at the bottom of this post.

And now for more exciting news! Beamdog fans have been asking about what’s next and the answer is… lots!

Our team of translators have already started work on PST:EE in multiple languages including Czech, Ukrainian, Italian, and more! Because these are volunteer-driven projects, we do not currently have a release date for any new languages. The new Beamdog Localization Coordinator is currently assessing each of our translation projects on our other Enhanced Edition titles and as projects are completed, we’ll add them to upcoming patches.

Our fans on iOS will be pleased to hear that we’re aware of the notification you’ve all been seeing regarding 32-bit applications and can rest assured that we will have all of our Enhanced Edition games upgraded to 64-bit as part of our 2.4 patch series. The Beamdog team has already started on the 64 bit update for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, and plans to address the same issue on Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition afterwards. Expect to see more details on these iOS patches later this summer.

Once the 2.4 patch series has been completed, we will bring those improvements to desktop and Android versions of BG:EE, BGII:EE, and IWD:EE alongside more bug fixes and feature requests submitted by the community, including Steam achievements for Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition.

As we get further into development, fans who own Enhanced Edition games on Beamdog will be able to opt into available betas through the Beamdog Client. Beta availability will be announced on all of our social channels, so stay tuned!

We’ve got a few other projects in the works including Steam trading cards. Watch out for more news in future updates! In the meantime, read on for a full list of bugs and features included in PST:EE patch 3.1.3! 

Features Added
64 bit Linux support
[Tablet-only] Additional font scaling range for graphics options 

Bug Fixes

General
Cranium Rats spawn in fight with Many-as-One

Missing gate guard added back to the Foundry
Drusilla now realizes Ignus has been freed

Vrischika will now purchase the Portal Lens

Mantuok does not appear again after he is dead

Bonus Hit Points from CON continue to be granted after level 10

The Rearrange Party feature now works as it did in the original game
The "Linear scaling" box now controls linear scaling consistently whether using DirectX or OpenGL

"Eye" items with alignment restrictions no longer grant the player passive benefits when they shouldn’t

Exceptional strength 18/01 no longer shows as 18/1
Ravel's cutscene with TTO no longer stops before the end
Changing character class in an area now does not cause portal triggers to cancel out

The game does not end if TNO is killed in the Smoldering Corpse bar
Zoom Lock should no longer distort cinematic spells
The "Lost Item" feedback message now appears when TNO loses an item

Cutscenes return camera to the level of zoom they started in
Turning off "Critical Hit Screen Shake" in the baldur.lua file disables screen shake during critical hits
Right clicking joinable NPCs no longer produces selection sounds
Voice actor names have been corrected in the credits

Added default names to save games

The party can now get to the Pillar of Skulls when using single file formation
Dialogue about breaking out of prison does not happen if party isn't imprisoned
The GUI returns after Ravels death
Fixed Pestle Kiln’s missing textures
PST:EE supports loading M_*.lua files
Smooth Area Transitions should no longer reduces voice volume when arriving in a new area
Fixed the Lock View on Character tooltip so it does not overlap the button/arrow 

Gameplay

Casting Chromatic Orb at night no longer leaves the screen green
Ice Knife's THAC0 penalty is now temporary

The level of zoom in the Shattered Crypt does not affect Lesser Vargouilles' spawning

Infernal Shield cannot be dispelled by quickload anymore
The Fog of War now reappears after Abyssal Fury is cast and the victim fails their saving throw
Stygian Ice Storm visuals have been fixed

Tricha in the Curst pit fight now runs
Silhouettes no longer appear during cutscene spells
Guardian Mantle does not last forever anymore
Morte's Litany of Curses now gets harder to resist as he learns new taunts
Using Guard should set the party to guard an area does not toggle the draw selection button anymore 

Steam

Expanded the description for the Enable Cloud Saves option

The "Closing the Circle" achievement description in Korean typo has been fixed
The "N'joi Ts'Cai'Sotex" achievement now always fires when joining Chaosmen 

Android-only

The "How to play" page 4 arrow indicators have been swapped and now point to the correct button

Casting Abyssal Fury no longer freezes the game
Fixed a bug causing a crash on start on the Motorola Xoom MZ604 

Localization

[French] Dialog with Fhjull is now fully translated
[French, German] Aegis of Torment description has been fully translated
[French] 'défilement' no longer contains a hyphen

[French] Quell is now translated consistently

[German, French] Fixed dialog errors in Lower Ward quests

[German] Typo fixes

[Korean] Translations suggestions and typo fixes added

[Non-English] Saving using the default name now works

Highlights from the Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Official Soundtrack

Can music change the nature of a man?

Planescape: Torment is a cult classic for many, many reasons. The bizarre city of Sigil is a joy to explore and you’ll encounter some of the oddest characters ever found in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, engaging in conversations with demons, devas, and everything in between. Throughout it all, the Planescape experience is buoyed by this amazing soundtrack which adds depth to the setting.

In Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition The Nameless One wakes to find himself in central hub of the universe, a place where every turn leads to something amazing and dangerous. Step through portals if you dare. Will it lead to a mechanized plane or to a demons' domain? Like the game, the Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Official Soundtrack transports the listener to the very heart of Planescape. Each track leads to a new discovery and sensation.

Composed by Mark Morgan, an American score composer for video games, television and films, the music in the Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Official Soundtrack is critically acclaimed and considered by fans among the best soundtracks for computer games.

The music of Planescape: Torment is not only substantially dark and eerie, but emotional as well. Mark Morgan combined ethnic and industrial sound to create 37 tracks fitting the unique Planescape setting. Each track tells a story about the multiverse and those who live within it, mixing wonder and horror in equal measure. The main theme alone is enough to send chills down your spine.

The Mortuary theme is full of muffled ticking undertones, with occasional scrapings and whispers to reflect on the nature of that building. In the Sigil theme, one can almost hear the dangers lurking around every corner. Fortress of Regrets is a grandiose and doleful melody which ties in perfectly with the story told in the final area of the game.

The Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Official Soundtrack is not only about ambient environmental music, companions themes are what makes this soundtrack truly outstanding. Profoundly sad and beautiful, Deionarrra's Theme is often named the best track composed in a game. The mechanical beats in Nordom's Theme makes it fitting for this character. Although never used in-game, Morte's theme is the most humorous track and not without good reason, this floating skull's personality is conveyed in his theme perfectly. Morte’s theme underlines that, for all its dark tones, Planescape: Torment retains a lot of humour, and the game's soundtrack follows this mix. 

The Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Official Soundtrack can be purchased along with PST:EE from Beamdog, GOG, and Steam.

Tips On Character Creation in Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition

You don’t roll abilities in Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, you forge your own destiny.

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition is very different from other Infinity Engine games and the distinctions start right at the character creation screen. Let’s take a quick tour of some of the character creation differences you’ll see between PST:EE and other IE titles.

Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition.

Character class

Your adventures in Planescape are influenced less by preset abilities and more by your actions and in-game choices. The Nameless One wakes as a fighter and later acquires the ability to become a mage or thief further in the story. After unlocking each class, you’ll be able to switch between roles by speaking with trainers or party members who are skilled fighters, mages, or rogues.

Alignment

The Nameless One begins his journey as True Neutral and your alignment towards Good, Evil, Law, or Chaos will change depending on your behavior, speech options, and quest decisions. Perform kind and unselfish deeds and your character will become Good. Lie to everyone you meet and use force to take that which is not freely given, and your character may end up as Evil. Your actions also influence whether the Nameless One is Lawful, Neutral or Chaotic. For example, if you go through PST:EE fulfilling promises, you’ll likely acquire a Lawful alignment.

Attributes

Attributes in Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition will be familiar to all Dungeons & Dragons players: strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma. However there’s no ability-rolling in Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition and at the start you distribute a limited amount of character points (21) between your stats. No attribute can become higher than 18 points at the character creation, but as you play the game it will become possible to increase attribute scores further. During your travels, you’ll discover items, tattoos, and spells that can modify the Nameless One’s  stats. As well, attributes in PST:EE can be gained through levelling, exploration, and self discovery.

Pump up Strength to successfully bash chests and locks.

Strength

Traditionally, this is a priority attribute for a Fighter. Strength determines how successfully your character hits opponents (THAC0) and the damage you inflict. Strength also determines the ability to break locked objects. If your character gains Strength 15+, you will see new lines in dialogues, which mostly serve to intimidate others. It can be a good choice to increase Strength if you’re going to become an Evil or Chaotic character.

There're plenty of items to steal in Sigil and a high Dexterity can help with that.

Dexterity

Dexterity is a priority attribute for a Thief. It affects a character’s ability to avoid enemy strikes and aids all thieving skills. A high Dexterity (14+) can provide several unique opportunities, such as catching pickpockets trying to rob you or allowing the Nameless One to snap the neck of a nosy Dustman. Thieves and thugs are all over the place in Sigil, and increasing Dexterity is a benefit to any who wishes to travel the planes as a Warrior, Thief, or Chaotic character.

A high Constitution increases your regeneration rate.

Constitution

Constitution is the attribute responsible for a character’s Hit Points (including how many of them you get at level-ups) and regeneration speed. The regeneration rate in Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition is higher than in Baldur’s Gate. At 9 Constitution, you can regenerate 1 HP every 60 seconds. Considering there’s very little access to healing in Planescape, Constitution is an important attribute for any character.

Intelligence makes possible to understand other creatures.

Intelligence

Intelligence is the most important attribute for Mages. In Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, an Intelligence of 15+ can influence available dialogue choices with inhabitants of Sigil. Also, a high Intelligence allows Mages a more successful chance to learn a spell, as well as increases the amount of spells they can memorize. In addition, Intelligence increases Lore, allowing for the free identification of magical items.

According to PST & PST:EE Lead Designer Chris Avellone, a high Wisdom can reveal what can change the nature of a man.

Wisdom

Wisdom is arguably the most important attribute for the Nameless One in PST:EE. It uncovers new lines in conversations, offers unique opportunities for solving various problems, unlocks new ways to persuade other characters, and helps the Nameless One discover memories of the past. It also substantially increases the speed of gaining experience and new levels. Wisdom should definitely be a focus for any player wanting to explore the depth of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition.

Make friends of Sigil merchants and Outland enemies with Charisma.

Charisma

The Nameless One’s face and body is covered with scars and the consequences of lifetimes of hardship. However, Charisma is not only physical beauty, it also encompasses a character’s force of personality. By increasing your Charisma, you can greatly improve your interactions with Sigil’s dwellers and other creatures you meet. This attribute also affects the attitude of merchants and prices in stores.

In the end, don’t be afraid to create a character you gravitate towards the most. The rich story of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition will give you countless opportunities to roleplay and improve your character.

New to the planes? Find out more about Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition at planescape.com!