Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound was the sequel to Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare and released on September 26, 2000. The game is the sequel to Baldur's Gate, and, opening only a few months after the events of the earlier game, continues the story of the player character, whose unique heritage...

 and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is the expansion pack for the computer role-playing game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and is the final chapter in the Baldur's Gate series. It adds a multi-level dungeon called Watcher's Keep to the game and completes the main plot...

 and was to be the third entry in the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 Baldur's Gate series and was to be developed by Black Isle Studios

Black Isle Studios

Black Isle Studios was a division of the computer and video game developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment. Black Isle Studios was a division that developed computer role-playing games, and also published several games from other developers. It was based in Orange County, California, USA. The...

. It was codenamed FR6 and Project Jefferson, this is what it was revealed to be for the public. The game was announced in 2002 and was said to use the 3rd Edition D&D Ruleset. The game was set to use a new 3D Engine that was based on BioWare

BioWare

BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...

's Aurora Engine, BioWare's successor to the Infinity Engine, this engine, aptly named Jefferson was to be Black Isle Studio's successor to the Infinity Engine.

The game appears to have been cancelled in 2003 when its engine was announced to have been used for Black Isle Studios Van Buren (Fallout 3). However with Van Buren's cancellation, the Jefferson engine was never used for any game. The game's motto would have been: "You cannot kill guilt".

Setting

The game was set to take place in the fictional Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms

Forgotten Realms

The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...

 universe, in the fictional continent of Faerun

Faerûn

Faerûn is a fictional subcontinent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described at a relatively high level in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more detail by separate...

. It would have taken place in the Dalelands

Dalelands

The Dalelands is a region in the fictional setting of the Forgotten Realms, for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In the setting, the Dalelands is set on the continent of Faerûn, somewhat influenced by rural England, and most famous for hosting the famous wizard and sage, Elminster...

, mainly Archendale, 'Deepingdale and Battledale. The area of North Sembia would have also been a major location. It would have featured many key areas in the Dalelands, such as White Ford and the Church of Lathandar, as well as many bases of the Red Wizards of Thay. It is possible that Baldur's Gate would have appeared as well, though this is unconfirmed.

Characters

None of the characters from the previous Baldur's Gate games would have returned, the cast would have been completely original as well as the story, although characters from the Icewind Dale series would have returned. The reason for this is Icewind Dale was released after Interplay lost the initial D&D license. An original NPC would have been Stellaga Brightstar, a priestess in the Church of Lathandar. The game would have revolved around the hunt for May Farrow, the evil cleric who killed a black hound. The Black Hound was the representation of the selfish acts of the game's main antagonist and would appear to the player through circumstance and remind him of his actions throughout the game.

The main faction in the game would have been the Archenriders, who are also the first faction encountered by the player, the Church of Lathandar would have been a faction at the same importance. The Red Wizards of Thay, the Sembian Silver Ravens, the Malarite People of Black Blood and the Elves of Deepingdale would have been other major factions in the game that the player would have been allowed to side with. The characters from Icewind Dale that would have come would have been the gnome, Maralie Fiddlebender and the Druid, Iselore who would have appeared in a cameo. The Harpers and the Zhentarim would have also appeared. The Zhentarim would have been seen for part of the game as the Black Network.

Story

May Farrow and her gang of raiders have spent weeks tracking down the black hound, the essence of May's guilt for unleashing a great evil. The player character is resting by the firelight in an old barn to hide from the storm outside when a black hound arrives and after being shot twice by an arrow, it cries one last time before it dies on the player lap. May almost kills the player, accusing him of being in league with the dog (meaning she thinks the player character is another essence of her guilt) and almost kills the player character (PC) before the Riders of Archendale save the PC. They question the PC, take the PC to the magistrate, who question the PC further and inform the PC not to leave the areas of North Sembia, Archendale, Battledale and Deepingdale. Whenever the player then approaches somebody with great guilt, the black hound appears to him and eventually the players actions make the player the essence of guilt throughout the four areas mentioned above. As the player unravels more secrets, he learns that he cant kill guilt, thus he cannot kill the black hound or what he has become (the player can physically die, but people wont forget about the player did). Eventually he learns the tale of a widowed farmer's wife, taking great guilt in her husbands death as for some reason she believes its her fault, she tries to resurrect him. She succeeds but finds him to be an abomination and cannot stop him, despite him being very weak at the time. Through the course of the game, the farmer is growing stronger and stronger of the guilt absorbed by the black hound through the player. The player learns of this wife being May Farrow, who believes killing the hound would be a way to stop the farmer, the hound however latched its soul onto the player and uses him as a tunnel to channel guilt to the farmer and as a guide to the world.

The game would not have been a sequel to Baldur's Gate II in terms of story but rather gameplay, however, it did continue part of story of Icewind Dale II

Icewind Dale II

Icewind Dale II is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment, released on August 27, 2002. Like its 2000 predecessor Icewind Dale, the game is set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting in the Icewind Dale region...

 through joinable NPC's, specifically Maralie Fiddlebender, who would have been an adult in the story. There was a hound featured in the storybook of Icewind Dale II of which Maralie narrated, according to the developers, the game would have revolved around this hound. The game was also revealed to have a connection to another one of Black Isle Studios games, Project Jackson. Project Jackson was then revealed to be Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II is an action role-playing game released for the PlayStation 2 on December 2, 2003 and the Xbox on January 20, 2004...

. This connection was unknown and as of current, there is only one connection known: a Forgotten Realms setting. It is possible that there could be a story connection due to both the Harpers and the Zhentarim being in the game, but this was never revealed by any developer on the project. It was only stated that the projects were related once in the entire history of the project.

Game Dynamics

As revealed in several interviews, but most prominently in the one with Winterwind Productions, the gameplay of the game was revealed. It would have used the same gameplay as the previous Baldur's Gate games, just updated to fit the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons Ruleset, meaning it would have used pausable realtime gameplay. While the strategy of the gameplay would have been turn-based, Damien Foletto a developer on the game hoped to use elements from other games such as the Temple of Elemental Evil. The game was not to be turn-based because it would have cost Interplay far too much money. Many different types of weapons from the D&D Sourcebooks were supposed to be available to use in the game. Not all of the weapons were going to be available, but most of them would have been and the player would have been able to do "crazy" things with any weapon. As in Fallout 2

Fallout 2

Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...

, each weapon had its own unique trait therefore no single weapon would have been better than other weapons and each weapon would have had its own traits.

Progression

Originally, players would have only been able to advance up to level 5. This was later changed to level 8. This was for two reasons: for the player to be able to level up to higher levels in the sequels and for the player to use more strategy. The game was originally planned to have player's focus less on leveling up and more on using their brains to solve problems presented within the video game. While there would have been many DnD Character Classes and Races available in the game for use, there would not be any prestige classes. The reason for this would have been because it would have been hard to implement prestige classes with a level cap up to level 8.

Karma

The game was said to be truly non-linear, with the player able to go wherever they want, do whatever they want, whenever they want and however ever they want to. However, everything the player did, whether it was good in some peoples eyes or bad in others, it would have had a repercussions for the player's actions in the game. If the player is assigned a quest and fails/doesn't complete it, the actions for that would haunt the player later on in the game. The player would have full control over character creation, from appearance, to skills, to actions. It would not matter whether the game was level based or skill based, the player would have had full control of their character. Unlike previous games, the player was able to switch between lawful good, chaotic evil, neutral phases depending on his actions in the game, this could not be done manually and only happened because of the player's actions. This would have also required the player character to make difficult decisions which could affect their reputation with one group in order to maintain their reputation with another.

Party

CNPC's would only join a player's party if they agreed with the player's actions. CNPC's would also leave the player if the player went against their thoughts or the CNPC would display anger or sadness against the player. If the player has a high charisma this will not happen and they will be able to keep a diverse party. Just like the original Baldur's Gate, the protagonist could command the CNPC and the player would be able to play as them. If the player does things that the CNPC does not appreciate they will inform the player of this. At a certain point, which can be modified depending on the player's charisma, the CNPC will stop trusting the protagonist and simply become a follower. This means that the protagonist can no longer order the player around and the player will no longer be able to play as them. If the player keeps going against a CNPC's thoughts, the CNPC will either leave the party or attack the player. While the CNPC could never be used as the speaker character, it would be important to level up the CNPC's speech skills as the would, from time to time, interject in conversations or offer their opinions. The player needs to level up the CNPC's speech skills simply because if they don't, his whole party could get into a scrimmage with each other and some CNPC's could die in the process trying to contain the problem.

CNPC's would display behaviors like:

• Wild
• Hateful
• Idealistic
• Sentimental
• Unprofessional
• Loyal

For Wizards and Warlocks, familiars and animal companions would have been available for the player to use. It is possible that they would have used the same CNPC system as the other CNPC's presented the games would have, although this is still unknown and not revealed by any developer thus far.

Reputation

There would have been several types of reputations in The Black Hound: Regional Reputation, Factional Reputation, Fame/Infamy, and Epithets. The first three all have positive and negative scales. Some characters may only care about positive reputation in an area, others might only care about negative reputation in an organization, and others might try to balance a number of reputations when they speak to the player. Regional Reputation is a positive/negative counter that depends on the actions the character performs in a specific region. Not only will Factional Reputation affect dealings with certain organizations, it will also affect your dealings with the allies and enemies of those organizations. Fame and Infamy would have been awarded to the player character depending on their actions. Their reputation would be displayed in epithets.

Development

As revealed by J.E. Sawyer, the game's development history was adjacent with that of Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is an official expansion pack to the computer role-playing game Icewind Dale developed by Black Isle Studios. It introduced many changes and additions to the original game, and included an all-new campaign...

, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - Trials of the Luremaster and Icewind Dale II

Icewind Dale II

Icewind Dale II is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment, released on August 27, 2002. Like its 2000 predecessor Icewind Dale, the game is set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting in the Icewind Dale region...

 and did not have a full development team on it until the end of all development of Icewind Dale II. Development on the game had started in late 2000 and early 2001. Jefferson was scheduled to be released in Christmas 2003, but was canceled in mid-2003 for an extension of Interplay's license to release D&D games on the console, the game was about 80 % done, according to a developer on the project, before being canceled; the result of this was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II is an action role-playing game released for the PlayStation 2 on December 2, 2003 and the Xbox on January 20, 2004...

. The Interplay License to release Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games on the console expired in 2008, when Interplay was recovering from their financial woes.

Jefferson Engine

The game was going to use the Jefferson Engine, which was Black Isle Studios continuation of the Infinity Engine. They had decided on using a new engine because to them the Infinity Engine was a mess and was being extensively overused, as it had already been used in six projects. The Jefferson Engine was said to be a very powerful 3D Engine that would have incorporated everything from the previous Baldur's Gate games, the Temple of Elemental Evil and some elements from Fallout and put them into one. The engine would have allowed armor worn by the player to be shown in the game. The ability to import characters from one game to another was going to be available as well.

Trilogy

The game was intended to be part of a trilogy of video games with the first part being released in 2004, this was to be The Black Hound, the other parts were set to be released in early 2005 and late 2005. This was in hopes that Wizards of the Coast would renew their PC D&D License. Interplay did, however, use the Jefferson Engine for the canceled Fallout 3, Van Buren, of which only a tech-demo was released.

Future

J.E Sawyer, who then moved on to help found Obsidian Entertainment, began working on a module for Neverwinter Nights 2. This module would have been worked on in his spare time and was entitled the Black Hound. The module was to be a re-working of Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound minus the Baldur's Gate part of the game. The module was then canceled by Sawyer as it took up too much of his spare time.

However, in April of 2004

2004 in video gaming

-Events:*January 20 — Wireds Vaporware Awards gives its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recurring winner Duke Nukem Forever.*March 4 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Peter Molyneux into the AIAS Hall of Fame*March 22-26 — Game...

 IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 released information that a Baldur's Gate III was in the works at that time, no longer to be developed by Black Isle and published by Interplay, but to be published by Atari.

On December 2, 2008, Atari stated in a press conference that the Baldur's Gate series (among others) would be revisited after 2009.

On February 7, 2010, in an interview about Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...

, IGN asked Ray Muzyka of BioWare about the future of Baldur's Gate, noting the sighting of Boo

Minsc

Minsc is a fictional character in the Baldur's Gate series of Dungeons & Dragons computer role-playing games developed by BioWare. Minsc originated in pen and paper Dungeons & Dragons sessions held by Baldur's Gates Lead Designer James Ohlen, and was expanded upon by the game's lead writer, Luke...

in the Citadel souvenir shop. He replied, 'Hey, that's just a space hamster. Boo's brother. And again, you'll have to talk to Atari about that, they've got the license.'