I've never heard that this started as a mod. Last I knew, even Witcher 1 was a licensed product even at the initial development. It's been a couple years since I watched the CDProjekt documentary though.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It didn't, technically, but it WAS originally build on the Neverwinter Nights toolset/engine. A licenced version, then modified. Which is sort of my point. Why mod if you have a big group of devs and you're working at speed? Just pay to license the toolset you're using and ship a game.

[–] metaldream@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Because Larian wouldn't let them do that. It's extremely rare for companies to legitimize and officially adopt a fanmade mod as a real product. Larian isn't licensing the BG3 engine as a game toolkit so there's no legal avenue for fans to do this.

They would need to make it a new IP with different tech and new assets, which is much much harder than what they're doing now.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Well, I don't know that Larian is the problem. They don't own the D&D or the BG license and they´re moving on from both, apparently. That said, I don't know how willing they are to license their engine. I'm guessing not particularly, since they haven't done it so far, to my knowledge.

[–] naticus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah, definitely not Larian, they've always been pretty open to players and other devs alike. And if they really do end up moving on, I cannot wait to see what they do next. Maybe a new Divinity game that's as in-depth as BG3?