Larian Studios interview: Baldur's Gate 3 lead writer Adam Smith
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren welcome special guest Adam Smith from Larian Studios, the lead writer on Baldur's Gate 3. What's the weirdest and coolest D&D lore that Larian injected into Baldur's Gate 3, what actually makes a good RPG romance, and what weird class/background combo is Adam playing?
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Legend. Fantastic writer, an absolute powerhouse for the RPG gaming community.
ha, nice joke. shittest writing in an RPG ever.
Lead writer gets a raise and infinite praise
As soon as he says Ultima VII was his first love, everything about the quality of this game is explained. Man after mine own heart.
I've been familiar with Adam Smith since his Rock Paper Shotgun days, and I remember his takes on games in particular to be always intelligent and well-considered. Guy is smart as hell -- glad to see him achieve great success in an adjacent venture like this, since it's not a foregone conclusion that writing good stuff about games translates to good games writing.
was he a degenerate back then?
@@arkgaharandan5881what's with the hostility?
@@kevinzhu6417he's just trying to be an edgelord. Probably compensating for his lack of intelligence.
You can see the key point imo what makes BG 3 a really great game - devs played the game themselves constantly since the early development. Because it's really important to feel for yourself the whole gameplay process of moving from start to finish. I thank Larian a lot for such simple but so important approach to their work.
And watch D4 devs play the game makes me cry
Wonder if they ever realized they were making divinity 3
That section where Adam is responding to the romancing and then just goes on to talk about all the thought put into the character development for each character.. it's just 👨🍳💋. He understands the human condition so well and articulates it so vividly, and it all comes alive ingame.
Brilliant man and speaker
this game fell in my lap having no idea about its existence and have no idea about D&D .. this is the best game i've ever played and finally dethroned Witcher 3 for me .. what i cant grasp is the scope .. if the game ended at act 1 i wouldnt have been mad .. it just keeps going and going and going .. its a singularity of fantasy, thank you Larian .. i am 70 hours in on my third char only in act 2 and enjoying every second .. this will be a game i will play for years to come
Hopefully it gets a lot of people into D&D. The game is essentially a great digital D&D campaign. Best game in a long time.
That someone matched and surpassed where BG2 ranks in my mind is unreal - I've been playing different characters and builds and playthroughs of BG2 for 20 years - and they've only gone and done it!
not trying to be negative here, but there are many better TTRPGs than D&D 5e (some simpler and some more detailed). I agree though that people who try 5e might also try other TTRPGs @@Goochen
Basically same trajectory and overall feelings🎋
We won't ever play this game for the first time ever again - why would we rush it, seems like such a waste 🎋
...and replayability is just insane
Wow i was just telling my wife this earlier that witcher 3 is not my favorite game no more lol
We need to see more people like this on screen- presenters, I mean.
Humble, sincere, friendly, calm, excited and engaged, spacious.
Feels like being present with real people.
GG PCG.
You forgot the most important part - hot.
when you're all of the things mentioned in the first comment, you are also automatically hot.
@@Reinhard_von_Lohengramm so fucking demoralising.
You can see that Adam is burning. He's passion is touchable. That's why BG3 is such a masterpiece!
It's a masterpiece in every aspect EXCEPT the writing.
An unexpected follow-up to "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" but the result speaks for itself.
Disregard wealth, acquire tadpoles
This dude talks about bg3 the same way a schoolgirl talks about her first love. This is real passion. I really hope the success of this game reshapes the industry, this is what we need to advance gaming.
The fact that the Larian devs have played their game extensively versus Blizzard devs who don't how to play their own game (Diablo 4) really shows which developer poured their heart and soul into their product.
I love this guy. How can you not see he's in the perfect place & position in life. These guys made an amazing product. I grew up playing AD&D and love seeing people keeping true to who they are.
That was a fantastic interview! I would happily watch more from other creatives associated with the game as well as voice talent.
I had so much fun, as a Wild Magic Sorcerer, teasing Gale about his nerdiness.
13:20 I honestly felt very underrepresented when it came to my fruitless attempts at siding with Ketheric's evil faction, I was always positioned in opposition to him even when I was evil
This is a beautifully written masterpiece of a story and I really want to commend Adam and the team at Larian.
Voice overs were really great and believable, but the words make that possible.
Eloquent, original, and just all around beautiful game so far and I had to see who wrote it.
It's so nice seeing someone who love their craft and the history.
Adam Smith loved the previous Baldurs gate games and we can tell, he has in depth knowledge.
I saw a strong Ultima 7 influence right away but I was wondering if it was it was my imagination, so I'm glad he mentioned it.
I’m dying to play this game when I get back from holiday. But until then Disco Elysium on the laptop is more than a worthy distraction.
Disco is such an absolute blast. Don't think I've ever laughed or gasped as much playing a game. Though I'm not very far into BG3 yet :D
Expect probably the best gameplay in cRPG history and probably the worst writing in cRPG history.
@@Rzepikoh look, another pathetic edgelord, trying to compensate for his utter lack of intelligence.
Great interview! Helped me scratch my BG3 itch while at work.
same :D
As someone who loves Minthara, that bit where he mentioned wanting to give the few people who recruit her a meaningful payoff was super appreciated. Especially when you consider that pretty much no other developers would have spent that level of time or dedication to a character most people will never fully experience. Love Larian and their team for that.
Yeah, hopefully she gets patched soon so people can actually experience her full arc because the writing is great.
@@jazzoj5 According to Larian, they're aware she's bugged and are currently fixing the issue! She should be in working order in either the first big patch or the following hotfix!
I'm sure if BioWare was still alive they'd be proud.
ngl, I chocked a bit when Jaheira looked back at scimitars in one particular cutscene in Act2 (very powerful cheesy one, but in good way) like "here we go again" and "last dance" type of vibes
Oh yeah, I felt the same.
And then I also felt like I want to vomit after seeing what the game did to Sarevok and Viconia.
28:50 I was not feeling my boundaries respected with Gale's "magic trick", or Wyll's dance lol, their romances triggered because I was trying to be a good friend
Obviously so much passion and respect all through this project, as well as the great technical chops. So good to see good work getting rewarded. They didn't only do Bioware proud, it does DND and gaming proud.
This was brilliant! Thank you so much for all this.
By the time you get to act 3 you realize how good the writing is.
hope you guys do a video version of your review article :D!
and to larian: awesome job on sidequests in this game no "fetch me 30 of this item" BS its all STORY!!!! :D as it should be!!
Great interview; very lively and informative!
He did a great job with minthara. I like just about every line of dialogue she has. The problem is that she has very few, and her romance seems to be missing content or be bugged ?
I'm hoping that'll get fixed, because she seems to have more in Act III, but barely anything in Act II. She was my favorite character in Early Access.
😮I heard one of the writers saying that if you have an existing romance before you free her, it screws up her Act II stuff. Hope it gets sorted: she's my favorite character.
I knew Minthara was going to be a special so I made her my goal for playthrough 1 and It's a great payoff to know Adam worked on her personally!
Fascinating interview. It seems like past video game reviewers (like Adam Smith) are a good fit for writing video games. Guess that would make sense, right? BG3 is a hell of an experience so far ---- You can feel the developer love when you play certain games and BG3 is one of those.
SPOILER
only now i realize that the fact that Balduran himself is the emperor ilithid is described to us every time we start the game, with that fighter turning into a ilithid logo, awesome
i don't think it's a problem that more people like him don't exist. it's a problem that more big studios (self published and passionate about games) like larian don't exist where people like him can actually bloom. it's not easy to get there without getting under the corporate wheels.
congratulations Larian what a masterpiece!!! thank u so much for all your hard work!!
If Act 1 only took you 25 hours there is a good chance you missed something
💯 The execution of imagination is commendable. *cheers* Thank you for this passion project. It has definitely captured me. 👏
Hey Adam! I just wanna say Thank you and your team!
I'm doing gamedev for 16 years and watching good writing for almost the same time.
It's very rare i want to ask a writer "what do you thing you've done wrong? What would you do differently?". Usually i already have the answer (or a bunch) hence no need to ask the question.
Although i have trouble with too many stories of "horny demon-like master playing with their pets" theme over and over again, this is the question i would ask Adam. I'm sure he is aware of the obvious.
every so often there's "one of those games" like ocarina of time or space invaders. I think it's safe to say that Baldur's Gate 2 and now also 3 belong on that list.
I play a evil playthrough with the plan to get Mintara as a follower, good to know its there! Soon to meet her again after shadowland 😀
Adam, thank you for your work! You are amazing.
Definitely one of the best games, I ever played, & I never played much Crpg’s…. Or into D& D & Im glad i decided to play, its just a gem 💎 in the industry, I wish it was the new standard, but I doubt most game developers have this kind of passion, will, determination to buck the system & produce a game for the players, by the players, no game is perfect, but this comes, dang close, I enjoyed literally my entire time with the game, never has this happened for me & I am a huge Gamer, I own literally thousand games or more & this is not hype, but facts, the game is fun, I had to learn the game mechanics, because its deep, & I didn’t give up & I see why the game is so loved, its just a great, game. 15 out of 10. So happy for LarionStudios, thank you, the success is well deserved.🙏
I want more now from all of this beauty being discovered in the DnD world. I want the entire Forgotten Realms and Toril for us all!
It’s hard to decide which origin story I like best. I’m leaning to Gale. Shadowheart is amazing too though. 🤔
All main characters are so well written really, it's mind blowing
I mean we all know at this point that Durge is the intended Main character. Doesnt take anything away from playing as other origins or a custom... But it is very apparent.
Minthara is my favourite character. ❤
Last game I pre-ordered was 2018 GoW until now, can w8 for the ps5 launch.
My run in BG3 had Laezel come on to my guy, so I shut her down (team Shadowheart) and now she is extremely favorable towards her since we met the holo-vlakith and tried to kill the dream visitor)
She still only says ‘What is it?’ at camp. Cold blooded 😅
That's the interview I needed to watch. Thanks !!
This guy is a straight legend. For a hooman.
Great guy! Wow! I love this interview!
23:00 HUUUUGE fan of Toast of London and I didn't know that! That's so cool!
I just hit 70 hours and am still at Act 2. Sort of stuck though!
Great interview, i love this game!
28:17 Hot fixes for hot romances confirmed 😂
man how talented are u! tyvm for the brilliant story
A wonderful interview, thank you!
Excellent job, I particularly admire your work on economics
GALE WAS IN TOAST OF LONDON OMG
A+ interview, My only wish for Adam is that he works back some of his love for Jahera into some of the other old characters having some options, namely the one that starts with V
Lae'zel is DS9-Worf-coded
Precisely - proud warrior race person but analyzed and challenged instead of just taken as a dumb brute to use the Worf Effect trope on (IE TNG Worf)
Justice for Karlach
We need to make them hear, she was robbed
Interview starts at 3:00.
"We do let the villains monologue a little bit" ... looking at you Gale.
So I accidentally picked the dark urge for my oathbreaker Dragonborn and I’m playing it the same way. It is absolutely mind blowing. I love the dialogue and the way my story is going so far!
dark urge is the best way to play, it makes you an even more integral part of the story.
Greatest story I’ve seen in video games and it’s not even close
that was lovely
Does anyone know where Adam is from? His accent sounds just like mine so wondering if he is a fellow South Yorkshireman?
How did she already finish act 1 in 25 hours wow
Give this man a salary increase.. love this game so much in every way❤
i wich there was a game that mixed the pathfinder games systems + the gameplay/interactivity etc. from bg3/divity OS.
Adam Smith often uses the invisible hand
This explains PC Gamers articles a lot.
“swore off ea” shes a proper gamer. ive been sayingfor yeeeeaaerrs people need to stop buying anything with ea on the box
Justice for Karlach!!!
:P
39:00 stopped
Eat this, Blizzard! I am so happy to see Larian has been praised and rewarded for bringing fun back to gaming 🙏
This game is genuinely amazing, but yes, I do sometimes want to say to a monologuing boss "Are you still talking? I lost interest half an hour ago"...or as BG1 put it: "Shut up and die!".
What?! I loved Minthara.
Total champ!
wholesome
Some dev interviews seem like you’re talking to an actual npc…the guys at Larian just glow with passion when they talk about their games.
I also play Baldur's Gate 3 like Lauren 😂😂
Minthara is my favorite character in BG3! Well done, Adam. Every time I had to choose between her and tieflings, I just couldn't give up on her. She has such an awesome background if one could dig deep enough.
The way I made my way through the goblin camp didn't leave me another option but to kill her. Can she actually become a member of your party ?
Jaheira was romancable! It was just difficult to pull off because of how fragile and damaged she was.
Act 3 and endings seems very lackluster and it’s indicative of Dos2 arx area and endings ..
So NDA is like following Shar? 🤔
I love what he says about Minthara. And it is this very great dish that they prepared to us, half of it is the excelent writing, half ot it the great voice acting performances that makes me think they so surpassed the old Bioware formula. Bioware's writing to be honest turned stale after Dragonage Origins, and sticked too much into "fanfic" territory and less and less challenging themes and situations for the player.
20:55
Been trying to get romantic with Shadowheart and am in the city now but no luck yet. No idea how but spent a romantic night staring at the stars with Gale though....can't seem to pick an option that doesn't make him want to shag me.
Is it wrong that I think I can fix Orin? 😛
Im doing dark urge halfling gloomstalker / college of swords / battlemaster and Jaheira is dead... along with everyone else, well almost everyone but soon they will be. The only interaction i had with her is entering the area. Saved Minthara but she might be on the chopping block towards end if i have the chance.
looking forward to playing every origin which is something i never thought id say
omg, you are reading this!!!!!
2:08 save scumbags unite
Maybe I'm just being weird, but I hadn't really felt this kind of reverence towards the original Baldur's Gate games from Sven Vincke in his media appearances. It almost felt like he was more eager to emphasize the D&D license and the idea of translating the tabletop experience in the Larian way in general over the privilege of actually continuing the story and legacy of the original games. Adam Smith here was really nice to listen to talking about his history with the games and his joy of getting to write more of Jaheira's story and so on. Listening to the mostly Sven Vincke interviews (which, duh, he's the leader) I didn't get that sense so much. It made BG3 seem a bit divorced from the originals in my mind.
Guy comes look for astarion cause ppl stole hes ppl , and astarion knew something , he in party , looked weird , thats why some might say story medium but go all cowboy in theyrs or so on , cowboy wear hats lol everybody know theyr point.
Diablo 4 story and voice acting is way better.....
.... Just kidding.
Diablo 4 looks neat but that's pretty much all it has for him unfortunately
can he answer why the writing fell of so hard in the act 3
Simple... it didn't.
@@Einomar did you play the game? lol
@poki580 Yes I did, did you? Maybe you weren't paying enough attention. Or maybe you are just failing to recognise the difference between your subjective enjoyment of the story and it's objective quality.
@@Einomar i can say the same to you, its all subjective and act 3 was a slugfest and writing was corny