Using BoE to Create E4

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AuthorTopic: Using BoE to Create E4
Apprentice
Member # 6889
Profile #0
I've got a question, and I don't know if this has been covered before.

I know Jeff has publically said that there would not be an Exile 4. However, with Spiderweb's permission (and I assume an agreement to charge a licenseing fee for Spiderweb equal to purchasing A4), would it be possible to use the BoE engine and some labor outside of Spiderweb to create a port of Avernum 4?

I know that there are still some holdouts like myself who don't care for the Avernum version, and vastly prefer the older Exile style.

All it should take is permission and some grunt work, right? Isn't this do-able? And if not, why?

Val Rannous
Posts: 1 | Registered: Saturday, March 11 2006 08:00
Master
Member # 5977
Profile Homepage #1
I'm very confident when saying this can not be done. The BoE editor doesn;t have a port function. The BoA editor has. besides, Avernum 4's engine is totally different.

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Give us your drek!
Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #2
Well, it wouldn't be impossible, but it'd be more of a remake than a port.

And it'd take an awful lot of grunt work, on the order of months to years. Towns and monsters would have to be redesigned to suit the BoE engine, combat would have to be rebalanced, dialogue would have to be rewritten, and all the scripts would have to be manually redone as nodes.

I'd say this falls very much into the not-worth-it basket. If you disagree, well, you can always try to do it yourself, I suppose.

[ Saturday, March 11, 2006 00:54: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Master
Member # 4614
Profile Homepage #3
It would basically be just another scenario, albeit a larger than average one.

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-ben4808
Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #4
A4 is getting most of its accolades for the scripting and combat, not the plot. On a different engine, all you have is the plot and it's nothing to brag about.

Instead of making E4, try making a huge but entirely new scenario. Like At the Gallows, maybe!

—Alorael, whose project to make A4 playable with punchcards is on hold indefinitely.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
Profile Homepage #5
It would take weeks of dedicated work just to convert one town in that direction. Ugh. Just play Exile 2 again and live in solipsistic bliss.

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Slarty vs. DeskDesk vs. SlartyTimeline of ErmarianG4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Warrior
Member # 5343
Profile #6
Same here i really don't like the isometric movement of avernum i would prefer exile any day.

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Welcome To The Darkslide
Posts: 70 | Registered: Saturday, January 1 2005 08:00
Apprentice
Member # 7084
Profile Homepage #7
Think about it: firstly you need to play the game over a few times to get the feel of directions, then you have to map out the outdoors by measuring every step. Doing so would halp you choose what to set the outdoor scale on. Then for each and every individual town/dungeon you must do the same to see if you should use a small, medium or large scaled base and then get every terrain piece (from walls right down to the amount of mushrooms on the ground) in its precise place. Then you've got to figure out how to do the special encounters. THEN you've got to talk to everyone, find out every word there is in the dialog. Then you must place every item (from swords & clubs right down to rubble and rocks). Most of all you're going to have to recreate monsters, items and the scariest one: the graphics :(

If you ask me, you're wasting your life...
and when I say life, I mean life!

I truly feel sorry for Jeff Vogel!

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Real boyz kiss boyz
Posts: 19 | Registered: Saturday, April 29 2006 07:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #8
Please don't revive two-month-old topics just to say what everybody else has already said.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00