But that's all about to change. Developer BioWare and publisher Interplay are in the final stages of creating Baldur's Gate, which is shaping up to be the best AD&D computer RPG ever released. Using an isometric perspective that will be familiar to Ultima and Diablo veterans, Baldur's Gate features stunning graphics and gameplay that is true to official AD&D second edition rules.

Baldur's Gate is set in the Sword Coast, a geographically diverse and formerly prosperous region currently in turmoil from a shortage of iron ore. The central storyline, divided into seven distinct chapters, involves uncovering who or what is behind the recent events in the Sword Coast region.

When creating your character, Baldur's Gate allows you to choose from seven different races, 26 character classes, and all of the alignments allowed by AD&D. Your initial character can be joined by up to five additional party members, who can be either non-player characters or human-controlled (via LAN or Internet). Embracing its AD&D setting, Baldur's Gate will explore the history of the region and include lots of AD&D items and monsters. The development team promises that gameplay will be more faithful to AD&D rules than any previous computer game. Obscure AD&D rules that will be included are weapon damage and speed factor, spell casting times, morale, and the effects of character attributes such as charisma.

The outstanding graphics are fully rendered, not tile based, include MMX support, and are displayable in up to 24-bit color depths. BioWare's proprietary graphics engine, The BioWare Infinity Engine, is capable of dynamic full-color lighting effects, rain, snow, lightning, and fog. Combat occurs in real time, but it can be paused to allow you to give orders to party members. The developer is also promising a branching storyline with multiple paths, nearly 100 sub-quests, and nonlinear gameplay. BioWare and Interplay already have plans for a variety of expansion packs and sequels.