125-418: The Nameless One may refer to: The Nameless One (character) , protagonist of the computer role-playing game Planescape: Torment Nameless One (comics) , several characters in comic books The Nameless One (novel) , a 2014 novel by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell "The Nameless One" (song) , a 1993 single by Wendy James The Nameless One, arch-villain of
250-557: A branching bramble "stretching across the planes" and alluded to other incarnations of her that exist as characters in Avellone's other video game works; in a 2007 blog post, he considered his work on Ravel to be one of the experiences he is most proud of in his career, and that it informed his writing for the Knights of the Old Republic II character Kreia . Avellone remarked that many of
375-512: A former lover of one of the Nameless One's past incarnations who died as a result of his amoral actions; Ravel Puzzlewell, a night hag who helped the Nameless One's first incarnation to become immortal; Trias the Betrayer, a fallen deva who decides to take matters into his own hands due to his disillusionment with the gods’ stance on fighting evil forces; Coaxmetal, a giant golem confined inside
500-546: A large city located atop an infinitely tall spire at the center of the multiverse, that connects the planes with each other via a series of portals. The city is overseen by the powerful Lady of Pain, while numerous factions control different functions of the city related to each group's world view , with The Nameless One being able to join several of these factions during the game. The story eventually moves on to other planes, such as Baator and Carceri , where The Nameless One continues to discover more about his past. Throughout
625-450: A much bigger role to Fhjull Forked-Tongue, a minor supporting character from the game who advises the Nameless One to seek the Pillar of Skulls in the first layer of Baator for answers, and its ending differed significantly from the game's. The book also did not follow the source material in its adaptation of the game's characters; for example, in the game, the main character's lack of a name is
750-463: A new studio in Montreal , Quebec , to assist with existing projects as necessary. During the mid-2000s, BioWare staff developed a number of video game projects which were ultimately canceled. A handheld spin-off for Mass Effect franchise titled Mass Effect: Corsair , inspired by the gameplay of Star Control and played from a first-person perspective, was briefly explored as a potential project for
875-585: A number of changes in BioWare's corporate status. In November 2005, it was announced that BioWare and Pandemic Studios (itself founded by former Activision employees) would be joining forces (with each maintaining their own branding), with private equity fund Elevation Partners investing in the newly named VG Holding Corp. partnership. On 11 October 2007, it was announced that VG Holding Corp. had been bought by Electronic Arts for US$ 775 million (equivalent to $ 1.14 billion in 2023). BioWare therefore became
1000-483: A release would depend on the success of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition . In November 2012, Penny Arcade Report wrote that Brian Fargo , the head of inXile Entertainment , had acquired the rights to Torment . In January 2013, Brian Fargo announced that the spiritual successor , titled Torment: Tides of Numenera , was in production and would be set in the Numenera universe created by Monte Cook . The game's design
1125-542: A restructuring of their role-playing and massively multiplayer online games development into a new group that included both Mythic Entertainment and BioWare. Ray Muzyka, co-founder and general manager of BioWare, was appointed the group general manager of this newly formed "BioWare Group". BioWare's other co-founder, Greg Zeschuk, became the Group Creative Officer for the new MMORPG studio group. BioWare's studios remained unchanged and continued to report to Muzyka. Near
1250-415: A sense that they are excavating a history (the avatar's forgotten past) while exploring, more or less at will, a vast and bizarre invention. Diane Carr, Game Studies From the outset, Planescape: Torment 's designers intended to challenge traditional role-playing game conventions: the game features no dragons , elves , goblins , or other common fantasy races; there are only three swords;
1375-412: A sign of his incomplete state and a source of protection in being anonymous. In the book, the protagonist chooses a proper name and is called "Thane" by his associates. Maciej Miszczyk from Hardcore Gaming 101 found the book to be "bland and uninteresting", offering "nothing new to those who’ve already beaten the game", and an "inferior alternative" for those who have yet to experience the game. For
SECTION 10
#17328549656141500-480: A unit of EA, but still retained its own branding. In 2007, BioWare released the science fiction role-playing game Mass Effect . The following year, BioWare released Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood on the Nintendo DS , its first title for a handheld game console . Later, EA announced that BioWare would merge with Mythic Entertainment , another division of EA who would rename itself as BioWare Mythic after
1625-470: A video game company. To make their first game, they pooled their resources, $ 100,000 CAD each, which resulted in capital of $ 300,000. The company was incorporated on 1 February 1995, though formally launched on 22 May 1995. Their first game, Shattered Steel , began its life as a proof-of-concept demo, similar to the MechWarrior games . This demo was submitted to ten publishers, seven of whom returned to
1750-538: A year after the release. Obsidian Entertainment (successor to Black Isle Studios) used an updated version of BioWare's Aurora, titled "Electron Engine", to produce Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006) and its three expansion packs (2007–2009). Like the original, the Electron toolset was released with the game. The Polish studio CD Projekt Red used the Aurora Engine to develop The Witcher , the 2007 video game adaptation of
1875-412: A young and brash tiefling rogue , outside the mortuary, but she does not join the group until a later point in the game. Dak'kon is a githzerai , who once made an oath to help The Nameless One until his death, but became enslaved to him for eternity due to not knowing of his immortality. Ignus is a pyromaniacal being who was once an apprentice mage of one of The Nameless One's past incarnations. In
2000-521: Is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton , Alberta . It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka , Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip. Since 2007, the company has been owned by American publisher Electronic Arts . BioWare specializes in role-playing video games , and achieved recognition for developing highly praised and successful licensed franchises: Baldur's Gate , Neverwinter Nights , and Star Wars: Knights of
2125-597: Is a modified version of the Infinity Engine , which was used for BioWare 's Baldur's Gate , a previous D&D game set in the Forgotten Realms . Planescape: Torment is primarily story-driven, with combat taking a secondary role. The protagonist, known as The Nameless One, is an immortal man who forgets everything if killed. The game focuses on his journey through the city of Sigil and other planes to reclaim his memories of previous lives, and to discover why he
2250-606: Is based on BioWare's previous contribution to the Star Wars franchise, and was announced on 21 October 2008, although BioWare had first mentioned an unspecified new collaboration with LucasArts in October the previous year. The other games were Dragon Age II , the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins , and Mass Effect 3 . Following the release of Mass Effect 3 in March 2012, numerous players complained about its endings failing to fulfill
2375-414: Is built on BioWare 's Infinity Engine , which presents the player with a pre-rendered world in an isometric perspective in which player characters are controlled. The game's role-playing ruleset is based on that of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition . The player takes the role of The Nameless One, an immortal man with amnesia on a quest to learn why he was created immortal. Exploration around
2500-570: Is commonly cited to as one of the greatest video games of all time and has attracted a cult following . It was given several Editor's Choice awards, was named RPG of the Year for 1999 by both GameSpot and Computer Gaming World , and won the Vault Network 's Game of the Year for 1999. PC Gamer US named Planescape: Torment "Game of the Month" in their March 2000 issue (the issue in which
2625-447: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Nameless One (character) Planescape: Torment is a 1999 role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment for Windows . The game takes place in locations from the multiverse of Planescape , a Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy campaign setting. The game's engine
SECTION 20
#17328549656142750-438: Is frequent among party members, occurring both randomly and during conversations with other non-player characters. The gameplay often focuses on the resolution of quests through dialogue rather than combat, and many of the game's combat encounters can be resolved or avoided through dialogue or stealth. The Nameless One carries a journal which helps the player keep track of the game's numerous quests and subplots. The Nameless One
2875-507: Is immortal, so running out of health points usually imposes no penalty beyond respawning in a different location. Planescape: Torment uses the D&;D character alignment system, in which a character's ethical and moral perspective and philosophy are determined based on the axes of "good vs. evil" and "law vs. chaos", with neutrality bridging the two opposing sides. The Nameless One begins as "true neutral" but can be incrementally changed based on
3000-487: Is not about saving the world, but about understanding The Nameless One and his immortality. Death (of the protagonist or his companions) is often just a minor hindrance, and even necessary at times. According to lead designer and writer Chris Avellone , Planescape: Torment was inspired by books, comics, and games, including Archie Comics , The Chronicles of Amber , The Elementals , and Shadowrun . The game's 1997 outline also makes references to The Lord of
3125-411: Is pleased with The Nameless One's answer because he offers his own thoughts; she claims she has killed many men in the past who, instead of giving their own answers, tried to guess what her answer, which they assumed was the only answer, might be. As the conversation progresses, Ravel explains that a past incarnation of The Nameless One had asked her to make him immortal. However, the ritual she performed
3250-472: Is possible to make an inventive, fun and refreshing game in this "sea of clones". Creating a computer edition of Planescape system is another triumph for Black Isle Studios." In a March 2000 article for Game Studies , Diane Carr called the game's setting "a freak show, a long story, a zoo, and a cabinet of talkative curiosities" and described the creatures and monsters in the game as "grotesque rather than scary". Cindy Yans of Computer Games Magazine describes
3375-645: Is weakened enough through combat, he tells The Nameless One that the portal to the Fortress of Regrets is located within Sigil's mortuary, right next to where The Nameless One awoke. In the Fortress of Regrets, The Nameless One encounters three of his past incarnations: one practical, one good, and one paranoid. The Nameless One learns that the "good" incarnation was the original man who was made immortal by Ravel, and learns that he had committed immeasurably terrible sins in his lifetime. Realizing that he would be damned to suffer in
3500-602: The Icewind Dale series (2000–2002). When Beamdog sought out a license from BioWare and started engineering enhanced versions of these games in 2012, they created an updated version of the Infinity Engine, referred to as the "Infinity Enhanced Engine" (alternatively Infinity Plus Engine or Infinity Bless Engine). The Aurora Engine was the successor to the Infinity Engine, featuring full 3D environments, real-time lighting and shadows, and surround sound . BioWare used
3625-520: The AD&;D rules very seriously and we follow those rules. We just take the liberty of removing some of the 'overhead'." The game's credits also cite Final Fantasy VII as an inspiration. On developing the character of Ravel Puzzlewell, Avellone thought a cryptic puzzle maker who was in love with the player character and who genuinely tried to help people only to have it backfire on her would make an interesting antagonist. Avellone likened Ravel's life to
3750-510: The Mass Effect franchise , Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was announced as well as an all-new entry to the franchise that had just started development. On 3 December 2020, both Hudson and Mark Darrah, the executive producer on the Dragon Age series, announced their departures from the studio. Electronic Arts stated that work on the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games would still continue at
3875-598: The Nintendo DS in 2008. A sequel to Jade Empire was under development at one point. The project transitioned into a spiritual successor codenamed Revolver , which was canceled by 2008. Trent Oster led a team which worked on a spy-themed role-playing game codenamed Agent prior to his second departure from BioWare in 2009. Unused concept art for Agent and Revolver are featured in the art book BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development , published in January 2021. On 24 June 2009, Electronic Arts announced
Nameless One - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-544: The Pellinor fantasy series by Allison Croggon Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Nameless One . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nameless_One&oldid=1228132648 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
4125-649: The Polish fantasy novel series , although the rendering module was rewritten from scratch. BioWare used an updated version of the Aurora, titled the Odyssey Engine, to produce Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in 2003 and their first original intellectual property role-playing game Jade Empire in 2005. The Odyssey Engine was the first BioWare engine to allow developing for video game consoles , with both Knights of
4250-468: The fan community to implement original adventures using the technology of BioWare's games. BioWare created the Infinity Engine to use it as a core component for development of the Baldur's Gate series (1998–2001), which were 2D role-playing video games based on Dungeons & Dragons . The engine was also used by Black Isle Studios to create the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment (1999) and
4375-412: The Aurora Engine to produce their 2002 Neverwinter Nights , as well as two expansion packs. The game included the Aurora toolset, a collection of tools allowing users to create their own digital adventure modules to be played either in single-player or in online multiplayer. The toolset enjoyed great popularity among the modding community, with over a thousand fan-made modules produced in it within half
4500-495: The BioWare team, which is already developing for the Star Wars franchise." In November 2013, teaser images from the next instalment of the Mass Effect series were released. At E3 2014 , BioWare Edmonton announced working on a new (unnamed) original intellectual property in addition to continuing their established series. Another new IP, titled Shadow Realms is an episodic 4 vs. 1 story-driven online action role-playing game, and
4625-457: The Lady of Pain. The Nameless One eventually finds a portal to enter the maze, but realizes that it requires a piece of Ravel to activate it; for this, he locates a daughter of hers and takes drops of her blood. Once in the maze, The Nameless One converses with Ravel, who asks him "what can change the nature of a man?" – a question that plays a prominent role throughout the game. Ravel
4750-607: The Lower Planes when he dies, he sought immortality to give him time to atone for his sins. Unfortunately, the memory losses he suffered after each death and reincarnation foiled this plan. After merging with his past incarnations through dialogue or combat, gaining their combined experience and knowledge, The Nameless One confronts the embodiment of his mortality, The Transcendent One, who reveals that since being separated from The Nameless One, it has enjoyed its freedom and has been erasing clues that might lead The Nameless One to discover
4875-474: The Nameless One to further the game's plot. Morte is a cynical floating skull originally from Baator's Pillar of Skulls, a grotesque entity composed of the screaming heads of individuals who dishonestly advised others in their lifetime. He is introduced at the game's beginning in the mortuary. Morte loyally follows The Nameless One, partly out of guilt for having caused the deaths of some of his previous incarnations. The Nameless One meets Annah-of-the-Shadows,
5000-524: The Odyssey Engine and, among other things, supported PhysX hardware acceleration. It was used to produce Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and its expansion pack Awakening (2010). Like Neverwinter Nights , Origins was released with a toolset to allow the players to run their own adventure modules on the Eclipse Engine. An upgraded version of the Eclipse Engine, internally known as the Lycium Engine,
5125-505: The Old Republic . They proceeded to make several other successful games based on original intellectual property: Jade Empire , the Mass Effect series, and the Dragon Age series. In 2011, BioWare launched their first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Star Wars: The Old Republic . BioWare was founded by Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk , and Augustine Yip. Of
Nameless One - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-616: The Old Republic and Jade Empire originally released for the Xbox before being ported to the PC platform. Obsidian Entertainment used the Odyssey Engine to develop Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004), a sequel to the original Knights of the Old Republic . BioWare maintained limited oversight on Obsidian's development of The Sith Lords , as well as Neverwinter Nights 2 . The Eclipse Engine succeeded
5375-541: The Old Republic , Jade Empire , and Dragon Age: Origins , as well as the game director of The Old Republic MMO, left the studio after 22 years in July 2018. On 24 September 2019, it was announced that BioWare had moved from their old location on Calgary Trail into 3 stories of the Epcor Tower in downtown Edmonton. On 7 November 2020 or "N7 Day", a date first declared in 2012 by BioWare as an annual "worldwide celebration" of
5500-530: The Outlands and Baator, where he learns that his mortality lies in a place known as the Fortress of Regrets, and that only Trias knows how to access it. Meanwhile, however, Curst has "slid" from the border of the Outlands to the neighboring chaotic plane of Carceri due to the chaos unleashed by Trias after The Nameless One freed him. After fights through the city against large groups of demons , The Nameless One and his party reach Trias, who they also fight. After Trias
5625-522: The Planescape universe. [ Planescape Torment 's ] limits are elusive. ... Even small choices have multiple and unpredictable results, leading players to incidents, to confrontations or to nothing much. The game resists resolution or even comprehension. A rambling text like Planescape Torment bounces when you try and nail it down, it resists totalisation. It has its moments of "rush" and of confrontation, but it wants to be savoured, wandered through, in
5750-545: The Rings to describe some characters. While working on Planescape: Torment , Avellone was simultaneously working on Fallout 2 . In an interview from 2007, he says that Fallout 2 helped him rethink the possibilities of dialogue in Planescape: Torment (and in later games he was involved with, including Neverwinter Nights 2 ). Producer Guido Henkel commented on simplifying the AD&D rules: "I think we still take
5875-673: The Rubikon Dungeon Construct, the Nameless One can find Nordom, a modron disconnected from its species' hive mind . Fall-From-Grace is a succubus who acts as proprietress of the Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lusts in Sigil; unlike other succubi, she is not interested in seducing mortals. Vhailor, found below the city of Curst on the plane of the Outlands , is essentially an animated suit of armor dedicated to serving merciless justice. Notable non-player characters include Deionarra,
6000-639: The United Kingdom, as one of three Planescape games being developed by Black Isle at the time, along with a PlayStation game by Colin McComb based on FromSoftware 's King's Field , and a PC game by Zeb Cook ; the other two were canceled, and only Last Rites was released as Torment . McComb, one of the designers of the overall Planescape setting, joined the Torment project after his game fell through. Planescape Torment aims to provide its players with
6125-451: The ability to shape their character's journey as they wished. In 2005, GameSpot stated " Planescape: Torment has quite possibly the best implementation of role-playing an evil character ever to appear in a computer or video game to date". The heavily tattooed, egocentric, and potentially selfish Nameless One was welcomed as a change of pace from the conventional RPG hero, who was considered a predictable do-gooder. Reviewers also approved of
6250-426: The adoptive father of Annah, and is asked to retrieve a magical bronze sphere for him before he will give answers. After returning, Pharod does so, giving him further hints to help piece together his forgotten past. Later on, The Nameless One learns from a powerful sorcerer named Lothar that the night hag Ravel Puzzlewell caused his immortality, but that she is imprisoned in a magical maze for committing crimes against
6375-473: The best sound I've ever heard in a game." IGN gave the sound 8.5 out of 10 and noted that "The game has fantastic speech and sound effects, but what's more impressive is the way they fade in and out depending on how close you're standing to them." A book by the same name was written by Ray and Valerie Vallese and released by Wizards of the Coast in 1999. The book's plot follows the game's only loosely, conferring
SECTION 50
#17328549656146500-597: The character's actions throughout the game, with reactions from the game's non-player characters differing based on his alignment. Planescape: Torment is set in the Planescape multiverse, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting which consists of various planes of existence , the creatures which live in them (such as devils , modrons , and deities ), and the properties of the magic that infuses each plane. A large portion of Planescape: Torment takes place in Sigil ,
6625-401: The company lost the licence of the game to Atari and part of their Dungeons & Dragons licence to BioWare. After selling their D&D licence to Atari, BioWare developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire . It had publishing relationships with Interplay Entertainment, Infogrames , under its new name Atari, LucasArts , and Microsoft . The next few years saw
6750-442: The company of armed companions. The technical aspects of the game were also praised. Although by the time of its release in late 1999, Planescape: Torment's default 640x480 resolution was not considered particularly advanced, reviewers were pleased with the art design and color of the environments. The game's sound and music were described as "well above the norm" and "superb", and one reviewer stated that his only complaint about
6875-401: The company with an offer. A publishing deal for Shattered Steel was eventually signed with Interplay Entertainment . Brent Oster and Trent Oster formed Pyrotek Studios, which continued developing Shattered Steel but broke up a year later, with Trent joining BioWare as an early employee to finish the game. BioWare's first game was released the following year. Shattered Steel ' s release
7000-401: The confirmation ( Dragon Age: Inquisition , Mass Effect: Andromeda , Anthem , and Dragon Age: The Veilguard ) were developed using Frostbite 3 as part of the general move towards a unified technology foundation across all of Electronic Arts' development studios. The full list of awards can be found on their web site. In addition to numerous game awards, in October 2008, the company
7125-715: The deal. The growth of the MMORPG group as part of Electronic Arts in 2008 resulted in three additional studios being added to the BioWare group outside BioWare's original home base in Edmonton. The first, located in Austin, Texas , and headed by industry veterans Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel, was created to work on the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG project. Both the studio and the project were announced on 13 March 2006. On 2 March 2009, BioWare announced it had opened
7250-451: The developer's earlier promises regarding the conclusion of the trilogy. In response to the controversy surrounding the game's ending sequence , BioWare announced on 5 April that they would reschedule their post-release content production and release an "Extended Cut" DLC that would expand the original endings and address the most common points of critique. The Extended Cut was released as a free download on 26 June 2012. On 18 September 2012,
7375-579: The development of Mass Effect: Andromeda , left in December 2015 and February 2016 respectively. Alexis Kennedy , co-founder of Failbetter Games and the creative director of Dragon Age : The Last Court , joined BioWare as its "first ever guest writer" in September 2016. On 13 September 2016, EA announced the formation of EA Worldwide Studios, which would consist of BioWare Studios, EA Mobile , and Maxis , and led by DICE co-founder Patrick Soderlund . At
7500-414: The development team regarding things like package design and marketing . Henkel said that it was his main goal to prevent the game from being "crippled" before leaving Interplay when the game reached beta status. He also claimed that his overall influence on the game was greater than that of Avellone, Eric Campanella, or Dave Maldonaldo, but since a producer often has to make unpopular decisions, his role
7625-542: The devotees of Tolkienesque fantasy running for their copies of The Hobbit ." Kieron Gillen of PC Gamer UK commented that " Planescape: Torment is attempting to be iconoclastic in the most stereotyped of genres. We're cheering it on." The game's premise and writing were warmly received; a review in The New York Times noted "The game's level of detail and its emotional impact have prompted some players to cast about for literary peers." Reviewers were pleased with
SECTION 60
#17328549656147750-568: The end of 2009, BioWare released the critically acclaimed fantasy role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins . In January 2010, BioWare released the sequel to Mass Effect , Mass Effect 2 , which would go on to receive critical acclaim and many awards. The company announced that it would be opening up a new customer service office in Galway , Ireland, in 2011. BioWare completed three major games between 2011 and 2012. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Star Wars: The Old Republic
7875-437: The final version of the game or new features such as widescreen support. Initially, Interplay hired dark ambient musician Lustmord to create the musical score for the game. He worked on the project for four months, writing over 40 original pieces. However, just six weeks before the game released, one of the producers had a change of heart on the game's musical direction, who wanted it to sound less ambient and "more along
8000-454: The fine-tuning of the Infinity Engine, such as the use of a radial menu , which allowed the player to stay focused on the game instead of managing multiple screens and "messing with windows and buttons". ... we were swept away by Planescape: Torment . It wasn't the effective engine, demented characters, or lavish lands that won us. It was the rich storyline. This tale is more a reflection of your true self than any game ever made. Criticism of
8125-538: The firm's monthly top 10. Richie Shoemaker of PC Zone noted at the time, "January saw only one new release make an impact: the bizarre role-player from Black Isle Studios, Planescape: Torment ." In the German market, the game sold 50,000 units by mid-2000, after debuting at No. 6 on the charts in January. It proceeded to claim positions 12, 30 and 53 from February through April. According to PC Player , Virgin Interactive
8250-475: The founding team, Muzyka, Zeschuk and Yip had recently graduated from medical school at the University of Alberta , and had a background in programming for use in school. Together with Yip, they had created a medical simulation programme. The three also played video games for recreation, eventually deciding to develop their own. Their success in the medical field provided them with the funding they needed to launch
8375-521: The fourth instalment in the Dragon Age series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard , was released. The game received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for its Windows and PlayStation 5 versions and "universal acclaim" for its Xbox Series X/S version, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic . Dragon Age: The Veilguard was review bombed by users for being " ' woke ,' ' DEI ,' ' propaganda ,' and ' agenda-driven ' " on Metacritic, causing
8500-479: The game starts, The Nameless One wakes in a mortuary as a result of his latest death. He then sets out on a quest to discover how he died and why he is immortal, also hoping that the adventure will help him regain memories of his past incarnations. During his quest, The Nameless One meets several characters who can join him as companions: Morte , Annah-of-the-Shadows, Dak'kon, Ignus, Nordom, Fall-From-Grace, and Vhailor. These playable characters can also interact with
8625-413: The game was minimal and problems were generally described as minor, but included complaints about long load times on computers of the day, or the game slowing down during combat. Bugs were responsible for slowing down the game when a high level of graphical assets were on-screen at the same time, but it was reported that a fix was released that solved the problem. Allgame 's Derek Williams considered
8750-466: The game would be only about 20 hours long. In several interviews, producer Guido Henkel stated that he was increasingly frustrated by the pressure the management of Interplay put on the development team after Interplay's initial public offering . Although only a few additional subplots and characters had to be discarded to meet the planned release date, he accused the Interplay management of disregarding
8875-473: The game's 2010 re-release on GOG.com , a second, more accurate, novelization produced by Rhyss Hess was bundled with it, based on the game script by Chris Avellone and Colin McComb . A third novelization was completed in 2013 by fans through a combined amalgamation of the in game text, the Rhyss Hess novelization, and a text based Let's Play by the user ShadowCatboy on the forum Something Awful . The project
9000-449: The game's combat simplistic (with a comparison to Diablo ) , which made the game too easy. The most negative major review came from Eurogamer , who gave the game seven out of ten (and later increased it to eight when the game was patched). Their reviewer expressed distaste at the immortality of the player character, saying that it made the lives of characters "cheap and meaningless", although other reviews welcomed this aspect, saying it
9125-475: The game's lifetime retail sales as roughly 400,000 units. The game was re-released on DVD in 2009, and for purchase on GOG.com on September 28, 2010. Following the announcement of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition , Beamdog 's Overhaul Games announced their intention to make overhauls of more games set in the Dungeons & Dragons universes, at first naming only Planescape: Torment . They said that such
9250-486: The game's premise and vision statement , and was used to pitch the idea to management at Interplay . Initially, the game was to be called Last Rites , and they described the game as "avant-garde" fantasy to distinguish it from high fantasy . The document also contained concept artwork for characters and areas of the game. It was released for Windows on December 10, 1999, in the United States and on January 7, 2000 in
9375-420: The game's release, a reviewer for Game Revolution praised its sound, saying that "When you're in a crowded city, it sounds like a crowded city. Walk past a bar, and you'll hear the noise of the drunken patrons inside. Wander near a slave auction, and you'll hear the auctioneer calling. Go to a party in the festival hall, and it sounds just like a party". The same reviewer also stated " Planescape has just about
9500-662: The game's review appeared). The magazine also nominated Torment for its 1999 "Best Roleplaying Game" award, which ultimately went to System Shock 2 . At the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , Planescape: Torment was named as a finalist by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for "Computer Adventure / Role-Playing Game of the Year" and " Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development ". In 2006, The A.V. Club included Planescape: Torment in their list of "11 of Video Gaming's Strangest Moments", due to
9625-414: The game's use of death as a means to advance the plot. In 2006, Gamasutra polled video game industry professionals with the question: "Which role playing game over the entire history of the genre do you think has made the biggest 'quantum leap', and why?". Planescape: Torment was ranked second overall after Fallout , earning it a "Quantum Leap Award". The game also received an honorable mention for
9750-482: The game, The Nameless One slowly learns about his previous incarnations and the influence they have had on the world. Planescape: Torment 's protagonist is known as The Nameless One, a man cursed with immortality for thousands of years. Every time he dies, another person in the multiverse dies to fuel his resurrection. Upon rebirth, The Nameless One has little to no recollection of his past life, and often with completely different personality than before. When
9875-452: The game, with the studio's CEO Trent Oster saying that making larger improvements to their work would have been comparable to "basically going in and repainting the smile on the Mona Lisa here". Skybound Games, a division of Skybound Entertainment , released Beamdog's remastered version to Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , and Xbox One on October 15, 2019. BioWare BioWare
10000-578: The general manager of BioWare Austin since 2012; after his promotion, Jeff Hickman took over as the general manager in Austin. Aaryn Flynn remained in charge of BioWare Canada (Edmonton and Montreal) and Jon Van Caneghem , the head of Victory Games and Waystone Studio (also parts of the BioWare label). After acquiring and dismantling LucasArts , The Walt Disney Company announced in May 2013 that Electronic Arts will produce future Star Wars games, "in addition to
10125-472: The ideas in the game "could only have been communicated through text, simply because no one would have the budget or resources to fully realise many of these fantasy works through TV or movies". Ultimately, Avellone has expressed some regret about the game's heavy focus on dialogue, as he feels this interfered with the overall game mechanics , particularly the combat system. The game's script contains around 800,000 words, after early previews had indicated that
10250-632: The lines of John Williams ". His first time working on a video game project, Lustmord considered the experience "terrible", eventually reusing some of the elements from the score in his 2001 album, Metavoid . Needing a replacement soundtrack done quickly, Interplay then reached out and asked Mark Morgan , who had worked on other Black Isle Studios games, to do it. Two additional themes were penned by Richard Band . The game's cast of voice actors included Michael T. Weiss , Sheena Easton , Rob Paulsen , Mitch Pileggi , Dan Castellaneta , Keith David , Jennifer Hale , John de Lancie , and Tony Jay . After
10375-413: The market still unknown. Black Isle made modifications to the engine to suit the game. For example, playable characters were able to run, and both the character sprites and backgrounds were larger and more detailed. The greater size and detail was achieved by bringing the perspective closer to the ground. Magic was also an important part of the game's design, and a team of four designers worked solely on
10500-586: The maze, Ravel is revealed to have faked her death. A being known as The Transcendent One then appears, and kills Ravel after a short conversation. The portal that The Nameless One and his party found in the maze takes them to the city of Curst, a gate town on the border of the Outlands and Carceri , to find Trias. Finding him magically imprisoned underneath Curst, The Nameless One offers to help free him in exchange for answers. Doing so, Trias then claims not to know where The Nameless One's mortality lies, but points him in another direction. The Nameless One then visits
10625-436: The music was that "there wasn't enough of it". Another reviewer said that Planescape: Torment had "just about the best sound" they had heard in a video game. GamePro stated, "... the characters talk with the talent of real professional voice actors during crucial bits of dialog". The game's graphics were moderately well received, with incite PC Gaming saying that "[the graphics] can be a little lackluster, although some of
10750-496: The new game. In July 2017, Aaryn Flynn, general manager of BioWare, announced that he would depart from the company. Hudson returned to BioWare as its new general manager. Lead story developer for Jade Empire and Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw announced his departure from BioWare in October 2017 after 14 years with the company. James Ohlen , the lead designer of the Baldur's Gate series, Neverwinter Nights , Knights of
10875-650: The next Mass Effect [game]" in an interview with Rolling Stone . Amazon MGM Studios officially confirmed on 7 November 2024 that a Mass Effect TV series is in development, following negotiations that had started in late 2021. BioWare executive producer Michael Gamble will also act as an executive producer on the TV adaptation. Between 1998 and 2011, BioWare developed a number of in-house video game engines to serve as technical basis for their games. Some of these engines were then licensed to other companies to develop their own games. Others came with modding toolkits , allowing
11000-450: The next day after the official announcement of the third Dragon Age title , both Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk , two of the remaining co-founders of BioWare, simultaneously announced they would be retiring from the gaming industry. After almost a year without a formal head, EA appointed Matthew Bromberg the group general manager of the BioWare label on 9 September 2013. Former CEO and president of Major League Gaming , Bromberg worked as
11125-422: The other enhanced editions. Avellone provided assistance by helping to curate the improvements to the game. Beamdog had access to the original source code and design documents for the game, and through that were able to recover and include some content that was dropped from the original release, using Avellone's assistance to flesh out parts that were incomplete or missing. They otherwise did not significantly change
11250-408: The painted scenery is accomplished by clicking on the ground to move, or on objects and characters to interact with them. Items and spells may be employed through hotkeys, quick slots, or a radial menu. An alternative to armor is the use of magical tattoos which can be applied to The Nameless One and certain other characters to enhance their abilities. The game begins with character creation, where
11375-499: The platform to respond with a statement and by removing user reviews which had violated their guidelines. Veilguard is the first BioWare game that allows the player character to identify as transgender . On 7 November 2024, or "N7 Day", BioWare released a patch which added several Mass Effect -inspired costumes into the game. In late October 2024, following the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard , creative director John Epler stated that BioWare's attention had "shifted entirely to
11500-428: The player assigns attribute points such as strength, intelligence, and charisma to The Nameless One. The Nameless One starts the game as a fighter class , but the player may later freely change it to a thief or wizard . The player may recruit companions throughout the game to join the party. There are seven potential companions, but only a maximum of five may accompany The Nameless One at any given time. Conversation
11625-585: The previous Mass Effect games. Given the circumstances Electronic Arts had reportedly frozen the entire Mass Effect series, downgrading the BioWare Montréal branch from a leading development team to a support team, and later merging it into Motive Studios . During EA's EA Play pre-E3 press conference on 10 June 2017, BioWare revealed Anthem , a new action role-playing game , with BioWare's story writer, Drew Karpyshyn , who previously worked on Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 , contributing to
11750-540: The protagonist's ability to gain new powers by "remembering" past lives. The dark and diversified representation of the D&D setting of Planescape was lauded as a fresh departure from the traditional high fantasy of computer role-playing games. A review in Next Generation praised the game, saying that " Torment offers the best RPG gameplay anyone can find on store shelves, hands down." Uros Jojic of Actiontrip commented that " Planescape: Torment proves that it
11875-452: The rats faced in the game can be quite challenging to defeat; and the undead sometimes prove more sympathetic than humans. The designers explained that most RPGs tend to have a "correct" approach to solving problems, which is almost always the morally good approach. They called this "predictable and stupid" and wished to make a game with greater moral flexibility, where a particular problem might have "two wrongs or two rights". The main quest
12000-403: The release of Baldur's Gate . Baldur's Gate II sold two million copies, matching the sales of the first game in the series. However, the success of both Baldur's Gate II and MDK2 was not enough to stabilize Interplay financially. Subsequently, BioWare began to work with Infogrames , which was later renamed to Atari . Neverwinter Nights was originally to be published by Interplay, but
12125-411: The same awards in the "Storytelling" category. In December 2008, IGN praised the game as having "some of the best writing and characterization seen in gaming". In 2009, Bit-tech included Planescape: Torment on their list of "30 PC Games to Play Before You Die". Avellone was awarded Eurogamer's "Gaming Globe" award for Best Designer in 2000 for his work on Planescape: Torment , and The Nameless One
12250-431: The same time, Samantha Ryan, head of EA Mobile and Maxis, was appointed the new head of BioWare Studios. Released in March 2017, Andromeda was at the center of controversy of equal proportions, if not higher than that around the third chapter; starting with heavy criticisms that were addressed before the video game was released to the lukewarm response received by the specialized press and the fandom with sales lower than
12375-420: The setting as "a world where knowledge and thoughts wield more power than the sword. Belief has the ability to reshape worlds, kill and resurrect powers and change the laws of physics." Cindy Vanous of Computer Games Magazine notes that " Planescape' s bestiary features legions of the unknown, and its landscape is an ever-changing tapestry of the bizarre." Planescape: Torment is the first video game to be set in
12500-489: The siege tower in Sigil's Lower Ward who forges weapons for the inhabitants of the planes to destroy each other in the name of entropy; and the Transcendent One, the embodiment of the Nameless One's mortality and the final boss of the game. The game begins when The Nameless One wakes up in a mortuary. He is immediately approached by a floating skull, called Morte, who offers advice on how to escape. Morte also reads
12625-537: The spell effects certainly look very good", a statement echoed in NextGen which stated that "mind-blowing spell effects ... will remind you of a two-dimensional Final Fantasy game." The game's interface received positive remarks. The US edition of PC Gamer commented on the automap , which automatically marked important locations and allowed the user to add custom notes, and on the journal, which separated completed quests from unfinished quests. PC Gamer also praised
12750-484: The studio. On 10 December 2020, a teaser trailer for the next Mass Effect game was shown at The Game Awards . On 14 May 2021, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was released on Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 , and the Xbox One series. On 23 August 2023, about 50 BioWare developers were laid off. A group of former employees later sued EA, seeking better severance following their layoffs. On 31 October 2024,
12875-496: The success of Baldur's Gate , the Infinity Engine was used for the games Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series . The success of Baldur's Gate was followed by an expansion pack for the game: Tales of the Sword Coast . At this point, BioWare decided to return to the action genre. The company's initial thought was to develop a sequel to Shattered Steel , but eventually a sequel to MDK from Shiny Entertainment
13000-419: The tattoos written on The Nameless One's back, which were inked there as reminders by a previous incarnation of himself, that contain instructions to find a man named Pharod. After a conversation with the ghost of Deionarra, and passing by enslaved undead who work at the mortuary, The Nameless One leaves to explore the slums of Sigil. He finds Pharod, who is the chief of an underground village of scavengers and
13125-433: The top for this one, crafting an utterly unique experience that has yet to be equaled by any RPG since". The gameplay was often compared to Baldur's Gate , another Interplay game that used the same engine as Planescape: Torment. Robert Mayer of Computer Games Magazine commented that it was "one dark and interesting game. There's lots of macabre humor, some rather deviant sexual references, and enough weirdness to send
13250-480: The truth. Depending on the player's choice, The Nameless One either slays The Transcendent One through combat, convinces it to rejoin with him, or commits suicide with a special weapon, with either option ending his immortality. The Nameless One then awakens on a battlefield in the Lower Planes, and accepts his fate to fight forever in the Blood War. In 1997, the game's designers produced a 47-page document that outlined
13375-507: The visuals and mechanics of spells. In addition to official localizations , for example the one by CD Projekt for the Polish market, fan communities developed Spanish, Hungarian, and Italian fan translations of the game. When Interplay dropped support for Planescape: Torment after the official 1.1 patch , several not yet fixed bugs were corrected by fan-created unofficial patches . Other mods add back items and quests omitted from
13500-429: Was Baldur's Gate , with a development cycle of three years. During this time, the three doctors continued to practice medicine. The demands of development later prompted Muzyka and Zeschuck to leave medicine and move into full-time development. Augustine Yip decided to continue with his medical practice. Baldur's Gate sold more than two million copies after its release, nearly matching the sales of Diablo . Following
13625-428: Was "implemented perfectly" and did not make the game easier. Eurogamer also disapproved of the amount of experience that was awarded for certain dialogues later in the game. However, other reviews cited this as one of the main things that elevated Planescape: Torment above the standard RPG format. Some reviewers also criticized the game's pathfinding AI as being "less than impressive". Planescape: Torment
13750-449: Was "only slightly disappointed" by its commercial performance in the region; writer Udo Hoffman noted that the game by nature was tailored to "a more mature and therefore smaller target group." Ernest Adams of Gamasutra later described Torment 's overall performance as a "commercial disappointment". According to Chris Avellone, the game was not a major monetary success, but was ultimately profitable. In 2017, Brian Fargo estimated
13875-503: Was announced on Gamescom 2014 . On 9 February 2015, BioWare Austin announced that development on Shadow Realms would not continue. Casey Hudson , the creator of the Mass Effect series, left BioWare in May 2014, while Drew Karpyshyn , writer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the first two Mass Effect games, returned in 2015. Dragon Age ' s writer David Gaider left BioWare in January 2016. Chris Wynn and Chris Schlerf, both of whom had an important role in
14000-406: Was chosen for development. MDK2 was released on PC, Dreamcast , and eventually PlayStation 2 , offering BioWare their first taste of developing games for consoles . MDK2 drew the same level of praise as its predecessor but, despite the success, BioWare returned to the Baldur's Gate series for their next project. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn was released in 2000, two years after
14125-515: Was considered to be the Best Male Lead Character. IGN ranked Planescape: Torment second on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time" in 2014. Ian Williams of Paste rated the game #1 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames" in 2015. PC Gamer included Torment on their best RPGs on PC list. It was placed at No. 13 on Game Informer 's "Top 100 RPGs Of All Time" list, and
14250-496: Was described by IGN as a "modest success" with "decent sales". Two noteworthy points were the deformable terrain (player weapon damage caused craters in the environment) and zone damage (well-aimed gunfire could shoot mounted weapons off enemies). A sequel to Shattered Steel was planned for 1998 but never realized. BioWare's founders and staff were keenly interested in both computerized and pen-and-paper variants of role-playing games . Their next development project, therefore,
14375-494: Was determined to be a role-playing game. When Interplay financed "exploratory development", BioWare presented the publishers with a demo called Battleground: Infinity . Interplay suggested that the demonstrated gameplay engine would be well-suited to the Dungeons & Dragons licence which it had acquired from Strategic Simulations . Accordingly, Infinity was reworked in line with the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. The result
14500-503: Was edited by Logan Stromberg and is widely regarded as the best adaptation of the game. Planescape: Torment received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. GameSpot 's reviewer said that "It's clearly the best traditional computer role-playing game of the year", a comment which the website would later expand to "one of the greatest ever". Allen Rausch, writing for GameSpy 's 2004 retrospective "A History of D&D Video Games", commented that Black Isle Studios "went way over
14625-471: Was flawed, which causes The Nameless One to risk losing his memory each time he dies. She also reveals that the mortality she separated from him was not destroyed, and that as long as he was alive, his mortality must still be intact somewhere. Not knowing where it is, she suggests that the fallen deva Trias might know. Ravel then attempts to keep The Nameless One and his party there by force, with them having to defeat her in combat. After they do so and leave
14750-466: Was included among PCGamesN 's "best RPGs on PC" as well. In the United States, Planescape: Torment sold 73,000 copies by March 2000, a figure that Desslock of Computer Gaming World regarded as substandard. Comparing the game's commercial performance to that of Ultima IX: Ascension , Desslock remarked that "most of Torment 's sales have been in the year 2000, while Ascension 's sales were predominantly in 1999, even though Ascension
14875-423: Was later downplayed. In 2011, Henkel also revealed that The Nameless One's face on the game box art is based on his real face, because the day before the cover photo shoot was scheduled to take place, the model contracted to appear on the box backed out over a scheduling conflict, so Guido Henkel was proposed to use his face. Make up lasted for about two hours, and photography took 45 minutes, Henkel said: "My face
15000-566: Was lauded for its immersive dialogue, for the dark and relatively obscure Planescape setting, and for the protagonist's unique persona, which shirked many characteristics of traditional role-playing games. It is commonly cited as one of the greatest video games of all time . An enhanced version for modern platforms was made by Beamdog and released for Windows, Linux , macOS , Android , and iOS in April 2017 and for Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , and Xbox One in October 2019. Planescape: Torment
15125-485: Was led by Colin McComb , who helped design both the Planescape setting and Torment , and was released in February 2017. Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition , an upgraded version of the game, was created by Beamdog and released on April 11, 2017. It was announced in March 2017 for Windows, macOS , and Linux PCs, as well as for iOS and Android devices. It features similar improvements that Beamdog has done for
15250-477: Was made immortal in the first place. Several characters in the game may join The Nameless One on his journey; most of these characters have encountered him in the past or have been influenced by his actions in some way. The game was not a commercial success, but it received critical acclaim and has since become a cult classic , claimed by video game journalists to be the best role-playing video game of 1999. It
15375-424: Was red as a beet and burned for the rest of the day, because of the solvent that was used to remove the appliances. Nonetheless, it was all well worth it". The game used the Infinity Engine , a game engine initially developed by BioWare for Baldur's Gate . However, Planescape: Torment was being developed using the Infinity Engine before Baldur's Gate had been released, leaving the engine's acceptance in
15500-462: Was released later in 1999 than Torment ." He attributed Torment 's relative sales growth in its second year to positive reviews and word of mouth . In the United Kingdom, Torment appeared at No. 3 on Chart-Track 's weekly computer game sales list for the January 9–15, 2000 period. The game remained in the Chart-Track weekly top 5 for another two weeks, and secured a third-place debut on
15625-466: Was used to produce Dragon Age II (2011). In September 2004, BioWare acquired a license to use Unreal Engine 3 from developer Epic Games . Unreal Engine 3 would ultimately be used to develop the original Mass Effect trilogy (2007–2012), as well as the remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in 2021. In 2013, EA confirmed that all future games developed by BioWare will be made on DICE's Frostbite engine . All of BioWare's games since
#613386