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Game News Beamdog can't make Icewind Dale 2 Enhanced Edition because the source code is lost

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Drog Black Tooth

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I don't get this.

The only difference in code between IWD1 and 2 is the rule set. They already have a working engine that can load the assets, dialogs, scripts, everything. Is it really a deal breaker to code the spells from scratch?

Spells, all the progression systems, different UI (though they probably do it from scratch anyway), most significantly special AI for all monster abilities and scripted scenes. IIRC IWD2 has plenty of scripted fights with monsters doing something as soon as they see you, especially with shamans in the beginning. To copy this behaviour you'd need to do a lot of checks on the original game and you'll still have a game that is slightly off.

Also no one in the universe knows how this damned forest works and you wouldn't want to play IWD2 without authentic damned forest experience.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of this stuff is probably not even compiled code, just scripts.
 

Infinitron

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On the other hand, it's hard to blame Beamdog for not wanting to create a half-assed reverse-engineered-from-the-scripts IWD2:EE when they've been used to having source code access until now. These are supposed to be definitive editions, after all.
 

Quantomas

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That's right. Even small differences between the IWD and IWD2 source could mean extensive problems to deal with.
 

ilitarist

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of this stuff is probably not even compiled code, just scripts.

Maybe. Even then they'll have to reverse-engineer the way game reads those scripts cause it's probably different from BG2. And then spend 10x times on testing it because they wouldn't be sure they do it right.

Of course it's not an impossible task but it's harder than, say, doing their own expansion from scratch for programmers and testers.
 

Quantomas

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The script interpreter most likely will not be different than the one from IWD. But some data formats used in the scripts could be different. However, scripts are not compiled and do not need reverse engineering like C++.
 
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Drog Black Tooth

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On the other hand, it's hard to blame Beamdog for not wanting to create a half-assed reverse-engineered-from-the-scripts IWD2:EE when they've been used to having source code access until now. These are supposed to be definitive editions, after all.
This is more common than you think.

Strife would be a very good example, it was a Doom engine game with some new gameplay elements, its source code was lost just the same. Dedicated fans reverse-engineered the release binaries and made the game playable thru Doom source ports such as Chocolate Doom and ZDoom. Eventually it was re-released on GOG/Steam as Strife: Veteran Edition based on that reverse-engineered code.
 

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It's not really that it couldn't be done, it's more "it couldn't be done quick & Beamdog cheap". IWD2:EE would probably be the lowest earner for them so it's not worth spending inordinate amounts of time, money or effort on it from a business POV.
 

McPlusle

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Their first excuse was that the interface and ruleset were too different from the other IE games, but now they say the source code's gone? If Homeworld: Cataclysm can come back, I'm sure IWD2 can at some point in the future.
 
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On the other hand, it's hard to blame Beamdog for not wanting to create a half-assed reverse-engineered-from-the-scripts IWD2:EE when they've been used to having source code access until now. These are supposed to be definitive editions, after all.
Gosh yes. It reads like a child's joke. "What's even more terrible than IWD2:EE? An half-assed IWD2:EE."
 

Tacgnol

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It's not really that it couldn't be done, it's more "it couldn't be done quick & Beamdog cheap".

This, Beamdog go in for quick cashgrabs.

Re-implementing 3e without the source code would take actual effort on their part.
 

twincast

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Sure, because some random person happened to know whereabouts these lost assets :roll:
A near-finished version of Warcraft Adventures was uploaded by a "random person". Some other cancelled games, too. Most of the scans of physical extras of classic games on GOG as well as several foreign language versions have been provided by fans, not by careless rights-holders. And earlier this year a collector discovered a disc with Starcraft's gold master source code and dutifully handed it to Blizzard. These things happen.
 
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Wouldn't count on the Source Code coming to light. Those were hectic days for Black Isle/Interplay, the storage devices probably recycled or misplaced.
 

Severian Silk

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Their first excuse was that the interface and ruleset were too different from the other IE games, but now they say the source code's gone? If Homeworld: Cataclysm can come back, I'm sure IWD2 can at some point in the future.
Homeworld: Cataclysm source code is still lost. The version on GOG is no different than the original except for a few loading screens and strings.
 

Tacgnol

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people have hopes like if it was normal thing to have FULL, up to date code of project you used to work on before leaving company.

Also, most companies take a very dim view of employees taking copies of source code off premises.
 

SwiftCrack

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I'm always surprised when these kind of news blurbs pop up. Source code getting lost under the watchful eyes of some of the nerdiest people on the planet makes my brain spin.
 

flabbyjack

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I'm always surprised when these kind of news blurbs pop up. Source code getting lost under the watchful eyes of some of the nerdiest people on the planet makes my brain spin.
That's sort of the point of posting it as news. It puts the word out. Some weirdo developer or associate out there has a backup on CD.

people have hopes like if it was normal thing to have FULL, up to date code of project you used to work on before leaving company.
Also, most companies take a very dim view of employees taking copies of source code off premises.
lukaszek It appears to be more common at gaming companies than in other software industries.

Although companies take a dim view of their technical professionals making backups, those same companies save millions upon millions of dollars when some former employee comes forward with a copy of their missing/damaged source code. It is the technical/quality workers who are responsible for backing up data, but all it can take is a single careless decision to lose or destroy the backup.
 
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