Key takeaways
- Larian Studios just released the official modding tools for Baldur's Gate 3, and some big projects are already cropping up.
- One such project aims to eliminate turn-based combat entirely, replacing it with real-time action.
The success of Baldur's Gate 3 wasn't surprising because it was competing with a tentpole Bethesda RPG when it launched, it was surprising because it was a turn-based cRPG.
The genre never went away, but it certainly became more niche with big budget action RPGs taking it away. For a more traditional look, the Dungeons & Dragons-based experience that dominated the zeitgeist the way Baldur's Gate 3 did – and, to an extent, still does – was unprecedented. It proved that turn-based games still have a place at the top.
But there are certainly those who write it off because of the old school approach. Read any comment section debating 'Spider-Man 2 being snubbed at The Game Awards'. So, one of the first big projects to come out of the official modding tools recently released by Larian Studios is to make the entire game playable in real time.
It is very much a work-in-progress right now
Baldur's Gate 3 has some of the most complex turn-based combat of any game, so I can't stress enough what a huge undertaking this is, retooling all of the game's systems to work in a completely different genre.
Last year, a tweet went viral asking Larian to add a real-time option, which was no big deal. Everyone – and I mean everyone – scoffed at how big an undertaking it would be. And that's with Larian's resources, not meant to be a hobbyist in his spare time.
So, understandably, it looks a little rough. Especially when modding tools were just released. This is an incredibly early look at what Baldur's Gate 3 will look like in real-time. Modder tinybike himself admits that this is a “very very very rough draft”. Enemies will jump you mid-conversation. So, it's not the perfect way to play right now, but you can download it from Github if you really want to try it out for yourself.
