IWD2 source code lost, Beamdog is sad

[LESS T_T]

 

[Sacred82]

some things are better left buried.

 

[Sigourn]

Comb the archives!

 

[pippin]

More like: IWD2 has no mods we can steal.

 

[Lilura]

More like: IWD2 has no mods we can steal.

There are a few quality mods for IWD2.

 

[Tigranes]

Don't tell them, though.

 

[Infinitron]

They could always reimplement IWD2's 3E adaptation themselves. Only took Black Isle a few months!

 

[agris]

I hear beamdog has a young webmaster who's really into d&d and wants to break into game development.

they should go with that guy.

 

[Melcar]

 

[Jazz_]

 

[gunman]

I remember this

According to this discussion, it was quite playable by the time it was abandoned.

Damn, that would be interesting

 

[Infinitron]

http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/07/real-talk-icewind-dale-ii-enhanced.html

Icewind Dale II
In the last few weeks, Enhanced Edition fans who follow Trent on Twitter may have noticed few tweets like these:



At this time, the source code for Icewind Dale II can not be found. We’ve reached out to former developers and publishers with no luck. No one seems to know where it’s got to. Consider this our open call to fans for the code, patched or otherwise.

We’d love to complete the Infinity Engine series and bring you all the game you’ve been asking for, but to make Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition a possibility, having that source code, preferably patched, is needed before we can even start assessing whether the project is doable.

 

[Anthedon]

Reminds me of how the original background art for Baldur's Gate is also gone. Fucking cretins.

 

[Alkarl]

http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/07/real-talk-icewind-dale-ii-enhanced.html

Icewind Dale II
In the last few weeks, Enhanced Edition fans who follow Trent on Twitter may have noticed few tweets like these:



At this time, the source code for Icewind Dale II can not be found. We’ve reached out to former developers and publishers with no luck. No one seems to know where it’s got to. Consider this our open call to fans for the code, patched or otherwise.

We’d love to complete the Infinity Engine series and bring you all the game you’ve been asking for, but to make Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition a possibility, having that source code, preferably patched, is needed before we can even start assessing whether the project is doable.

Note to self, delete source code a few years after release...



Edit: Also, wtf do they mean "complete the IE series", I was playing Icewind Dale 2 last night! Best part is it didn't cost me $30!

 

[Sitra Achara]

Reminds me of how the original background art for Baldur's Gate is also gone. Fucking cretins.

Same for ToEE sadly.

 

[ga♥]

I really find it unlikely that there isn't a backup. You work on a project for YEARS (as a company) and you don't find measures to protect your investment (of money and time)? Hard to believe.

I think (ex-)companies are just making up stories to protect their work... from contracts and obligations that would see them give away what they did.

I may be wrong though.

 

[Wayward Son]

I really find it unlikely that there isn't a backup. You work on a project for YEARS (as a company) and you don't find measures to protect your investment (of money and time)? Hard to believe.

I think (ex-)companies are just making up stories to protect their work... from contracts and obligations that would see them give away what they did.

I may be wrong though.

Just ask Bethesda. Losing source code is a real problem.

 

[FeelTheRads]

It also sounds like bullshit to me, but you can never know.

Also, art assets would be largely irrelevant for Beamdog. They don't have the funds or the ability to redo all the graphics for these games, even if they had the assets. It probably benefits them from a PR perspective if the assets are "lost".

 

[ga♥]

I really find it unlikely that there isn't a backup. You work on a project for YEARS (as a company) and you don't find measures to protect your investment (of money and time)? Hard to believe.

I think (ex-)companies are just making up stories to protect their work... from contracts and obligations that would see them give away what they did.

I may be wrong though.

Just ask Bethesda. Losing source code is a real problem.

You mean the Daggerfall rumor? Because that's just a rumor AFAIK (or you have an official source saying otherwise?)

 

[Infinitron]

IWD2 is a product of the Herve years, could be things were falling apart and backups weren't made

 

[ga♥]

IWD2 is a product of the Herve years, could be things were falling apart and backups weren't made

If a company is at a point of not being even able to backup their work I don't see how they could finish it or publish it.
Or publish patches afterward.

 

[ga♥]

Also Icewind dale II was re-released in 2007 (Atari's Rollenspiele: Deluxe Edition) and to do that you need the source code (I suppose).

What I find strange is WOTC never asking for a copy of it.

 

[DemonKing]

I don't think I'd bother buying these again for PC given I still have the original discs and they can be modded if I want, but I actually got IWD:EE on the IPad at a discount and it was a pretty decent time-filler when I was trapped at my in-laws' house for three weeks with no internet connection.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

I really find it unlikely that there isn't a backup. You work on a project for YEARS (as a company) and you don't find measures to protect your investment (of money and time)? Hard to believe.

It might be that the people who worked on it for years are not the one's who ended up with ownership of the source code. If all the devs leave the company, but the company retains the rights then they can't take it with them and it's entirely up to the company to preserve it. If that company, like Interplay, happens to undergo a series of ownership changes, then when the dust settles the the people running the company may not even have a clear idea of what they have. If the new ownership is basically looking for IP acquisition or asset flipping, then they give no shits about the source code as long as they keep the license and/or retain the ability to sell the original game.

 

[calgary.alberta]

Backups are my jam. I deal with this crap at my company all the time, you want data from 2008. Well you never gave a damn when I asked for money to update the system and keep the hardware running.

Backups are such a complex, costly system that very few companies understand. Proper backup tapes for that project should have been locked forever and just means of finding them and recovering them.

Really can't believe that they don't exist.

However, as I said I have dealt with many companies that hate paying for backups and DR.