Tigranes

One thing I really want to see in Eternity is innovation within boundaries - so definitely, features that don't break the IE formula but make a significant difference in the rhythms and patterns of play. People have of course commented on resting, and that's been the bugbear throughout the NWN series as well. . . I really think Sawyer building the combat / character system from ground up gives opportunities to make changes at the level of combat as an abstraction. Generally, magic is a totally independent effect, self-contained upon the world; the fireball is created by magical rules through magical power, effects the world at an abstracted magical sense (hit points), then dissipates with no other impact. the elements of the combat scene that are made 'dynamic' are limited; systems remain independent. So in a RTwP IE game, yes, terrain and positioning matters, yes magic matters, yes individual character stats matters, but mostly independently. That's why when you try to add things like destructible terrain or terrain bonuses or aimed shots, they are hard to do well, aside from building yet another separate system. . . This is rather unsystematic, but the kinds of things I'd like to see is precisely this greater interaction. E.g. the AOE of an area spell should be restricted by terrain and obstacles, elemental spells should have spillage on ground terrain that changes its properties - take what was in BG1 with lightning bolt or DA:O with spell synergy and take it further. E.g. instead of evocation spells that dissipate after casting and conjuration spells that just create monsters, have summons that are more like static 'sentry' units with an area of persistent effect, i.e. a zone of silence, then have synergies; e.g. a sentry of silence maintains a silence effect in that area but the sentry itself can be taken down; you could overlap it with a immunity to arrows sentry to protect the first sentry from being felled by arrows. . . Obviously we can't suddenly destroy the concept of magic as consisting of singular spells cast by a single user, etc., fundamental things like that, but I'd like to see greater variation from standard dynamics like single-target single-effect no-time spells. There should be more magic that has a spatial, temporal and synergistic consequence, which is organised into general principles so users can understand quickly. E.g. if all fire spells were consistently more effective against leather armour or even forested terrain, and repeated damage had a distinct effect, this introduces a new level of decision-making (fire 5 fireballs or mix it up with another AOE damage spell). Again, some of this was done by DA:O's synergy, which I felt was one of the best things it did, but it could do a lot more - especially if you introduce again already-known things like crippled limbs and terrain bonuses.

Suffice to say that you should make up your own mind about AP. It's dirt cheap now, so pick it up. If it works for you, then it's a wonderful game - it's been the most replayable RPG for me for a long time. New Vegas is pretty much guaranteed to tickle your fancy, so definitely go for that.

I think it should be tweaked with too, but that way it risks getting boring in the second half.

Yes.

Science: bringing you the real sensuous texture of cloaks.

And that gun is actually an Infinitely Stretchable Walking Staff +1.

The 2D/3D options there are unnecessary, the systems could be done in any. So I'm going for a beautiful hand-crafted 2D map with SOZ-like encounters and still checks.

I want a Mike Thorton homage who is always angry people can't pronounce his name, and is living as a hobo out of a job drinking himself to death.

Oh definitely, and I totally think any homage should totally make fun of him, as in my wolf example. He wasn't really ever genuinely malicious or anything, though. I had to moderate the guy's posts and they were never that bad. And in the end it's a nice way to memorialise something about the community as a whole, not just him.

2D, 3D, anything that looks beautiful will do me. Of course, to me nobody's made an RPG that looks better than IWD2 since then, but that doesn't mean they can't. Depends on cost - I'm sure they'll be using many existing hires with 3D oriented skills and tools.

The concern is never memory, it's money. Voice acting costs a lot, a LOT of money, you wouldn't suspect it when you just play since it doesn't seem such a big deal. And with a budget of 1.1mil, or even if they hit 2 or 3 mil, VA would take up a huge proportion of the budget. Voice acting also definitely kills word count and the freedom to edit the writing. Because you have to arrange voice actors, some of them busy well known people, and rent recording studios, etc, most of the time it has to happen when they can, not when they want, and then you end up having lines 'locked down' so you can't edit them later. So if you want voice acting that's of course a legitimate opinion. But you have to keep in mind there is a heavy price for it, and it is definitely not so simple.

Heh. We'll just have to keep it up.

I'm sure they'll try. It's definitely the best digital platform by far, I hope they arrange it.

Deraldin's love once spurned is not easily returned, or something. Didn't the hammer use to move?

Actually, that's exactly how it would work. E.g. Codex raised a few thousand dollars internally for a Wasteland 2 location; NeoGAF and GameBanshee are doing the same for Eternity. I didn't realise how many people might contribute, but we could give it a try, an Obsidian Forum drive. It wouldn't necessarily have to be all about Hades, though definitely featuring him in some form.

Feargus Urquhart on evil Source: Twitter Feargus Urquhart on romances Source: Twitter Josh Sawyer on weapons Source: Obsidian Forums Josh Sawyer on guns Source: Obsidian Forums Josh Sawyer on respec Source: Somethingawful Josh Sawyer on level scaling Source: Obsidian Forums Josh Sawyer on Vancian and cooldowns Source: Obsidian Forums 1 2 3 A summary of the Q&A from Kickstarter comments can be found here.

Project Eternity Project Eternity is a Kickstarter initiative from Obsidian Entertainment. It has been introduced as a spiritual successor to the 'Infinity Engine' games which include the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment, characterised by a beautiful pre-rendered 2D backgrounds, a fixed isometric viewpoint for tactical views, full player control over 6 party members and real-time with pause combat. It is currently being fundraised through Kickstarter, where gamers directly fund development with no publisher involvement. The Kickstarter page is found here. For now, you should refer to the Kickstarter page for most of the information, which will be coming directly from Obsidian. You can also check out the Project Eternity page on the Obsidian website here.Please note that all information collected in this thread is unofficial and does not represent an official statement from Obsidian Entertainment. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC4w9GdFPrg . . Kickstarter Updates The Kickstarter campaign not only features the main site but a series of updates over time. You can check out the actual updates here at the Kickstarter site, as Obsidian uploads them. The relevant forum threads for each update are linked below: Update #3: Game Basics - Your Party, Your Characters, and Races Update #4: Digital Tiers, DRM, and Add-Ons Update Update #5 - Souls, Technology, and Adventuring Companies Update #6: Choosing the Best Tool for the Job [Linux Confirmed] Update #7: Non-combat Skills with Tim Cain Update #8: New Digital Tier, Novella by Chris Avellone, and Translations at $2.2M Update #9: The power of MODES and Godlike Races: Our $2.3M Stretch Goal Update #10: Characteriztion with Chris Avellone Update #12: Reddit Q&A with Tim Cain . . FAQ: Kickstarter & Technical Information Will there be a Paypal option? Obsidian have said that they are trying to put it up soon. However, due to the way Kickstarter works as a funding platform, Paypal donations would likely not count towards the official $ figure. Will there be a DRM-free version? Confirmed by Kickstarter update #4, a DRM-free version is being offered in conjunction with GOG. At the end of the Kickstarter campaign, you will be able to choose between a GOG or Steam key. Obsidian is also looking into solutions for Mac versions, and boxed copies? Will there be multilingual support? There is no official word on this yet. Localisation is often costly, and handled by the publisher; a different solution would be required here, if Obsidian were to do them. Will there be Mac & Linux support? Yes to both. Mac and Linux were originally listed as stretch goals. The Mac version goal has now been reached and with the announcement that they will be using the Unity engine, they have made a commitment to a Linux version without the need for a stretch goal. Will there be 64-bit support? Most likely, yes. What will the system specifications be like? It is impossible to say so early in development. Obsidian have, however, said that they will try and make sure the game can run even on integrated graphics chips (the primary limiting factor in laptop gaming). See exact quote here. . . FAQ: Game Information Is Project Eternity a codename or the actual name of the game? It is a codename. Art Style It will be in the same style as the Infinity Engine games, though the technology used will be different. For reference, IE games built the backgrounds in 3D then exported them into 2D form, not quite 'hand-drawn' but certainly not full 3D; this was supplemented by typical 2D sprites for moving objects. Engine Obsidian have chosen Unity as the engine for Project: Eternity. Unity is known as a versatile, relatively low-cost engine that can support both full 3D worlds and a mix of 2D and 3D, the latter being Obsidian's choice. Obsidian's internal Onyx engine (Dungeon Siege 3, South Park) was considered, but Obsidian explain the middleware and Mac/Linux compatibility raised costs too much. Note that the engine itself does not determine what the game will look like, or even the exact camera. For example, Wasteland 2 will also use the Unity engine, but is likely to look very different from Eternity. Obsidian's Roby Atadero explains: Camera Camera has been confirmed as static, though probably zoomable. Alignment / Reputation Tim Cain has confirmed that the game will not use a Good/Evil alignment system, but a reputation system: Deities Feargus Urquhart has confirmed the presence of deities: "they won't just be hanging out in bars, but they are definitely a part of the world." Show me the World Map! OK. (Sawyer has hinted that this may not be, in fact, the actual world map.) . . Media Coverage This is not a comprehensive review of coverage; usually, only coverage with new information, a lot of content, or otherwise interesting features are included. Official Project Eternity Facebook Page 4 Teaser Texts - These splash pages were released by Obsidian as part of the buildup to the Kickstarter announcement. 14/09/12: GameBanshee Exclusive - Many details on game vision and big ideas. 14/09/12: Kotaku on Kickstarter Launch 18/09/12: Tim Cain on Eurogamer 19/09/12: TIME article 21/09/12: Chris Avellone on VGA24/7 21/09/12: Feargus Urquhart on TIME . . Developer Comments Josh Sawyer on D&D style camping Source: Somethingawful Josh Sawyer on experimental and innovative features Source: Obsidian Forums Josh Sawyer on the map Source: Somethingawful Josh Sawyer on the Player House stretch goal Source: Formspring Source: Obsidian Forums Josh Sawyer on art style Source: Obsidian Forums Chris Avellone on engine Source: Twitter

Short version: Visceris was an eclectic, but fundamentally nice, guy who hung out in the Obsidian forums, and before that, the Black Isle forums - about a decade, really. He was telling us in his last years about his determination to change his life for the better, and seemed to be working hard to take those steps, but his health struck him down with an untimely death. He was a staple that pretty much any BIS/Obs forumer at the period knew, and it would be nice to commemorate him in some small way. If we can't do anything else due to $, I'll make my Kickstarter pledge in his name - that is, I'll ask Obsidian to put Visceris in the credits instead of mine.

Thought had crossed my mind, as well. Wonder if we can't do it somehow. Maybe he could be found wandering the countryside in obsessive fear of canines, sending the player off on a quest to defeat the terrible wolf that turns out to have 4 health and half a tooth.

Seems it will be a stretch goal.

Agreed, dodge is probably not the best example, but I was just running with it. It certainly could work for more primary skills like weapons, and especially could work well with magic. It'd make a nice difference from AD&D fighters where you just click 'Level Up'.

No 100% confirmation yet, but other Kickstarters have eventually added DRM free, so there's a good chance it will. Yes, Steam versions require you to keep Steam on, which sucks.

Info page coming tonight, I just have to read 400 pages first.

It'd be pretty cool to have an NPC who leads you on a romance arc, then betrays you, then promises he/she really loves you and it was only circumstance and they've changed, then betrays you again. It'd be like an abusive non-relationship in your adventuring party. "Hey, [PC]! Getting some yet?"

Which was why it had the worst combat in the history of good RPGs. Like, Superman 64 bad. I see what you mean, but as you say I think it's more for adventure-y title. Oh, yes, one thing I really really want to see - trainers a la Arcanum. I thought it was brilliant - expend skill points to get better in a linear fashion (e.g. increasing gun accuracy) but speak to a trainer to get nonlinear passive upgrades. Imagine if there was a nonlinear trainer system integrated in the world - that is, there are different dodge trainers who train you in different dodge bonuses, but because they pursue different schools of fighting you can't learn them all. So while you are expending skill points in dodge to become better at the core idea of dodge, you must actually explore the world, talk to trainers, ally with them, do quests with them, to decide what kind of master dodger your character becomes - e.g. at dodging arrows or swords, dodging in heavy armour, dodging 'offensively'. That would end up being a pretty significnat part of the entire system though. I'd be happy with any trainer model where you don' t just earn abstracted XP and spend it.