Larian Studios has revealed that it plucked inspiration from developers such as IO Interactive and Arkane when developing Baldur’s Gate III.
Speaking on the Official Xbox Podcast, the studio’s lead writer, Adam Smith, named the likes of Hitman and well as immersive sims by Arkane as sources of inspiration.
We’re often looking to studios like Arkane and immersive sims. And the way that they approach how level design works. And the way that you have all these different avenues to go in. They said a level is [like] a block of Swiss cheese. It has all these holes in it, and you make sure the player navigates them and keeps popping out in different places.
Smith went on to describe one of his favourite examples of problem-solving, which he dubs the Owlbear Belly Drop.
They went to Moonrise Towers which is an area in Act Two – a very, very dangerous area that we made sure was very hard to tackle if you didn’t do it carefully. If you go in all guns blazing, you’re in a lot of trouble. But somebody got a druid while shaped into an Owlbear, jumped from the top of [the tower] and the game’s systems [calculated weight and momentum], and just obliterated every enemy in the area. Just from this massive belly flop.
Baldur’s Gate III was released for the PS5 back in September, and you can read our full review here.
[Source – Official Xbox Podcast]