Summary
- A team of modders is recreating Waukeen’s Promenade from Baldur’s Gate 2.
- They’re working on a custom campaign for Baldur’s Gate 3.
- They’ve enlisted over 50 volunteer voice actors to flesh out the campaign.
When Larian Studios announced the release of a modding toolkit for Baldur’s Gate 3, our heads were filled with visions of entire games recreated in Baldur’s Gate 3’s engines. For example, the original two Baldur’s Gate games, or even other titles that use the Forgotten Realms setting like Icewind Dale. Then, Larian told us that the toolkit wouldn’t include options that allowed users to change scripting, bringing us all back down to Earth.
However, a final twist in the tale occurred when the toolkit was released, as modders quickly found that it was quite easy to access the relevant APIs for changing more substantial parts of Baldur’s Gate 3 like environments and character locations. Since then, onlookers have been cautiously optimistic about eventually seeing large-scale modding projects within Baldur’s Gate 3.
Welcome to Athkatla
These are going to be long projects, but it’s gratifying to see projects starting to come along. A recent post on the Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit from modder Lotrich showed off some of the progress his team has made in creating a custom campaign.
The campaign is set in Waukeen’s Promenade, which Baldur’s Gate 2 players may recognise as one of the first areas you explore in that game. It’s a massive market area in the middle of the city of Athkatla. It’s where the plot of Baldur’s Gate 2 really kicks off as the player is thrust into the open world proper.
The video provided by Lotrich is impressive, with Waukeen’s Promenade having been recreated with impressive accuracy in Baldur’s Gate 3. Lotrich also reports in the comments that they’re looking to include more of Athkatla, and the Drow city of Menzoberranzan too.
The mod creators acknowledge that Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro) is sensitive about copyright so rather than using copyrighted voice acting from Baldur’s Gate 2, they’ve assembled a team of over 50 volunteer voice actors to help flesh out the NPCs of the custom campaign. When the mod is ready to launch, you’ll be able to access the custom campaign at any time before the game’s final fight. You can support the team on their Patreon if you wish.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.