EA remastering Dragon Age Origins feels like a pipe dream post-Veilguard, so six developers are trying to bring back BioWare’s iconic RPG.
Dragon Age: Origins is, to me, the quintessential fantasy game. Its narrative is magnificent, and its gameplay - while clunky by modern standards - set a new standard for real-time strategy. Its sprawling, perfectly-crafted universe is one that I revisit time and time again, and I'm openly desperate for BioWare to finally remaster or remake it.
Post-Veilguard, however, that feels like a pipe dream. Bioware's latest sits at a measly 67% on Steam, and EA itself confirmed that it performed "nearly 50%" worse than expected. The franchise appears to be on ice for the foreseeable, with a new Mass Effect likely taking priority over anything Thedas.
All the while Dragon Age: Origins is a mess. It suffers from serious performance issues on PC, with crashes being pretty much par for the course. As a fan, I've suffered through Origins' PC quirks, much in the same way I have with Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, but I'd be a liar if I said that's been easy - if you were new to the franchise and were starting at the beginning, you'd be forgiven for calling it quits. Thankfully, six developers have been hard at work attempting to decompile Origins' source code, potentially allowing for easier modding and some much-needed modernization.
The project - which currently sits at around 60% complete after three years of work - remains fully closed at this time, with developer 'Shot_Let_1344' specifically stating that "our (especially my) intention is not to profit.
"We are not shipping any of the game's assets," they state on Reddit. "All we are doing is decompiling and modernizing the code base. We plan on adding support for controller, and co-operative campaign support," with the final intention being a re-released version of the game that the team can manage.
With the source code decompiled, modding becomes significantly easier. While Shot_Let_1344 notes that "Dragon Age: Origins' modding is already very robust," the team's version "will allow for broader modding support." This could potentially lead to controller support (finally!), as well as custom campaigns, but the team is unsure if it'll go on to decompile the game's full toolset, potentially putting a slight limiter on the latter.
The project - whatever the devs choose to name it - will only be released when it's 90% complete, with Shot_Let_1344 citing concerns over "people taking it and trying to 'improve' it by feeding it into AI or using it to release more AI slop mods that could cause issues with the game." Post-launch, "the community can do what they want with it," they conclude.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.pcgamesn.com/dragon-age-origins/modders-decompiling-source-code
