Baldur's Gate is a popular series of computer role-playing games that take place on Faerûn, the main continent from Dungeons & Dragons's Forgotten Realms campaign setting, set in the years following the cataclysmic Time of Troubles (1358 DR). Baldurs Gate computer game symbol and title. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Faerûn is a fictional continent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. ... For other uses, see Dungeons & Dragons (disambiguation). ... The Forgotten Realms third edition logo. ... The Time of Troubles, also known as the Godswar or Avatar Crisis, was a cataclysmic time period in the chronology of the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ... DR redirects here. ...

The original series, developed for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS by BioWare, includes Baldur's Gate (1998), Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (expansion pack, 1999), Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (expansion pack, 2001). Microsoft Windows is a family of operating systems by Microsoft. ... Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh line of computer systems. ... BioWare Corp. ... Baldurs Gate is a computer role-playing game in a high fantasy setting, developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. ... An expansion pack is an addition to an existing game. ...

The Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series were produced by Bioware's publisher Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay Entertainment. Although they take place in the Baldur's Gate rendition of the Forgotten Realms setting, they are not often regarded as a part of the Baldur's Gate series, as the plot is unrelated to previous games, and they were console-exclusive titles - never released for Windows and Macintosh as the original games in the series were and were not created in the Infinity Engine. See the Dark Alliance article for more details. Black Isle Studios was a division of the electronic entertainment company Interplay Entertainment that specialized in the creation of computer role-playing games. ... Interplay logo. ... The Forgotten Realms third edition logo. ...

Overview

The Baldur's Gate series brought many technical advancements in computer-based role-playing games, such as Bioware's famous Infinity Engine. The Infinity Engine offers a pre-rendered isometric worldview, with sprite-based characters. It was also the third computer game ever to make use of the Lua scripting language. The Infinity Engine was also used for Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series. The Infinity Engine is a computer game engine, which allows the creation of isometric computer role-playing games. ... An isometric drawing of a cube. ... In computer graphics, a sprite (also known by other names; see Synonyms below) is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene. ... The Lua (pronounced LOO-ah, or in IPA) programming language is a lightweight, reflective, imperative and procedural language, designed as a scripting language with extensible semantics as a primary goal. ... Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) that takes place in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Planescape setting. ... Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) series developed by Black Isle Studios. ...

The games are based on a real-time modification of the second edition AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) ruleset. The player's party can have up to 6 members, either created by the player according to the AD&D rules or NPCs recruited by the protagonist from the game world. Numerous side quests and plot twists are associated with particular NPCs and can be activated if they are found in the player's party. Through extensive, context-dependent dialogue, many characters inside and outside the player's party are fleshed out and given an added level of complexity. For other uses, see Dungeons & Dragons (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In 1999, Baldur's Gate won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Computer Game of 1998, and in 2000, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast won Best Roleplaying Computer Game of 1999. Baldur's Gate has also been often compared to Diablo, perhaps for similarities in dungeon-crawling and the isometric view, but is much more story driven and less hack and slash. 1999 1999 in games 1998 in video gaming 2000 in video gaming Notable events of 1999 in computer and video games. ... The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ... See also: 1999 in video gaming, other events of 2000, 2001 in video gaming and the history of video games Events June 26 - International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association Reuters reports that the Sony PlayStation 2 console will export controls by Trade Ministry of Japan since... Diablo is a best-selling hack and slash action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on January 2, 1997. ... In several different types of games, hack and slash refers to a type of game or a style of gameplay which primarily comprises defeating enemies and monsters in combat, typically with swords or other melee weapons, hence the name. ...

Games

Baldur's Gate

Main article: Baldur's Gate

The first game in the series had the player character start out as a powerless orphan, raised in the monastery of Candlekeep, to the south of Baldur's Gate and north of the kingdom of Amn. The main character had to examine the death of the fosterfather Gorion as well as the iron crisis which caused metal to crumble, while battling to stay alive. Baldurs Gate is a computer role-playing game in a high fantasy setting, developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. ... Baldurs Gate is a popular series of computer role-playing games that take place on Faerûn, the main continent from Dungeons & Dragonss Forgotten Realms campaign setting. ... For the Baldurs Gate computer role-playing games, see Baldurs Gate series. ... Amn is a fictional country in the role-playing game of Dungeons and Dragons, modeled on medieval Spain. ...

Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast

Main article: Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast

An expansion pack for Baldur's Gate, Tales of the Sword Coast did not add anything to the storyline, but presented the protagonist with more areas to explore along the Sword Coast, more powerful enemies and better equipment. It also lets the player character reach higher levels of experience. The Sword Coast is a fictional region in Northwest Faerûn, of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. ...

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Main article: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

The main character is captured by Jon Irenicus, and must escape into the city of Athkatla, the capital of Amn. Here the protagonist faces several ways to figuring out the reason behind the capture, as he or she journeys through the region of Amn, as well as the Underdark. The game presented a number of innovations over the first Baldur's Gate game, including further specialization of character classes, better graphics and even higher power levels. Joneleth Irenicus, commonly referred to as Jon Irenicus, is a fictional character in Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn, a Dungeons & Dragons computer role-playing game set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. ... Athkatla is a fictional city. ... The Underdark, a fictional region, is the vast network of underground caverns and tunnels underneath the surface of the planet in the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game. ...

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

Main article: Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

Throne of Bhaal was an expansion pack for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and included both an expansion of the original game, including new areas to explore, as well as a conclusion to the Bhaalspawn story arc started in the first Baldur's Gate game. Through the game, the player character reached almost god-like power levels. In the fictional universe of Forgotten Realms, Bhaalspawn is a name given to all children of the fictitious Bhaal, Lord of Murder, who foresaw his own death during the Time of Troubles and fathered children who could one day be sacrificed for his own return. ...

Baldur's Gate III

Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound (code named Jefferson and FR6) was mentioned in early 2001 as a new game in the Baldur's Gate series to be made by Black Isle Studios using a completely new 3D engine. Black Isle Studios was a division of the electronic entertainment company Interplay Entertainment that specialized in the creation of computer role-playing games. ...

BG3 was originally going to be a departure from the high-powered epic of the Bhaalspawn saga to a low-key, roleplaying plot. With protagonists progressing to around level four at the end of BIS' typically enormous campaign and a hard cap at level eight, gameplay was refocussed to a flat and wide adventure emphasizing quests over combat. In fact, the game was only titled "Baldur's Gate" due to Interplay's having lost the general D&D license to Atari, but still retaining the right to make Baldur's Gate branded D&D games (the same reason as for BGDA's title.) Black Isle Studios was a division of the electronic entertainment company Interplay Entertainment that specialized in the creation of computer role-playing games. ...

Unfortunately, the game appeared to be cancelled in 2003, just before its engine was repurposed for Black Isle's ill-fated ‘Van Buren’ Fallout 3 project.

However, in April of 2004 IGN released information (http://pc.ign.com/articles/504/504160p1.html) that a Baldur's Gate III is in the works. Any other information has, for now, not been released. The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ...

Baldur's Gate Compilation

Atari has recently rereleased the entire series on PC-DVD, but it is currently available only in the United Kingdom. [1]

Now also available in Australia in some Gameswizard stores however the title doesn't seem to appear on their website.

The Baldur's Gate novels

Philip Athans, editor of the Forgotten Realms novel line, wrote the first two novels in the Baldur's Gate trilogy of novels --- Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn --- based on the storylines of the computer game series. The novels introduce the basic story behind the City of Coin, Athkatla, but avoid several of the games' numerous subplots and only include a few of the NPCs, which is defendable considering the structure of a novel versus that of a game. The Bhaalspawn main character is named Abdel Adrian in the novels. The third, and final, novel - Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal - was authored by Drew Karpyshyn. Philip Athans has edited dozens of anthologies from Wizards of the Coast in Renton, WA, and also many novels. ... Drew Karpyshyn is a video game writer and novelist. ...

• Baldur's Gate (1999; set 1368 DR; ISBN 0-7869-1525-0)
• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000; set 1369 DR; ISBN 0-7869-1569-2)
• Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001; set (most likely) 1369 DR; ISBN 0-7869-2630-9)

The novels are often criticized by fans of the series for being inaccurate to the game's original story and spirit, as well as for leaving out or killing off many well-loved NPC's. Many fans have also leveled venom at the character of Abdel, calling him a sadistic, unlikeable protagonist. 1999 1999 in games 1998 in video gaming 2000 in video gaming Notable events of 1999 in computer and video games. ... DR redirects here. ... See also: 1999 in video gaming, other events of 2000, 2001 in video gaming and the history of video games Events June 26 - International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association Reuters reports that the Sony PlayStation 2 console will export controls by Trade Ministry of Japan since... 2001 2001 in games 2000 in video gaming 2002 in video gaming Notable events of 2001 in video gaming. ...

A series of unofficial and unpublished ebook novels were also written by Rhyss Hess, and are considered to be much better than the official novels by fans. They came in three novels, Baldur's Gate & TOSC Story, BG II: SoA & ToB Story (Good Side), and Baldur's Gate II Story (Evil Side). Rhyss Hess also wrote an unofficial and unpublished novelization of Planescape: Torment, which is also considered better than the official one by fans. All of them can be downloaded at Sorcerer's Place.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Baldur's Gate series

• Bioware website
• Sorcerer's Place (extensive coverage of all (A)D&D CRPGs)
• Planet Baldur's Gate
• [http://web.archive.org/web/20041214085436/http://avala.yubc.net/~svt/ Project: Jefferson FAQ (information on Baldur's Gate 3, from Wayback Machine archival)