BAdler

I'm trying to get a go-pro helmet cam set up before the end of the project. I think it would be fun to show what I see on a regular day. If you do this, make sure to let me know so I can be sick that day.

It is just a digital version of the book.

You are correct. This is a strategy guide and is completely different than the Dark Horse Collector's Book. The Collector's Book is the lore and art of the game.

Update by Brandon Adler, Producery Fellow Hey, everyone. This is just a quick and dirty update for you on the backer poll we mentioned in our update from last week, some pics of the strategy guide, and news about PAX East. Our next update will come out in the next few weeks when we will discuss how backers can redeem their game from the Backer Portal. Poll Results First, we would like to thank all of our backers for taking the time to vote. It is very important to us that you are able to express your choice and voice your opinion about the shipping of rewards. At close to 75% of the vote, it looks like shipping the physical rewards at the game's release and the game discs at a later date is the winner. This is how we will proceed with the shipping. We realize that some of our backers have been asking about the possibility of selectively opting out of this choice and instead getting their items shipped to them all at once, multiple weeks after the game's release. We don't have an answer for this right now, but we are discussing the possibility with Paradox. Depending on the logistical realities we may not be able to provide this option, but we will explore the possibility. As for now, everyone will have their physical rewards shipped as soon as possible, and their game discs at a later date. Prima Games - Collector's Edition Strategy Guide We've been hard at work collaborating with Prima Games on the strategy guide for Pillars of Eternity. The folks over at Prima Games are not only working on creating the awesome Digital Guide for you backers, but will also be releasing a beautifully printed copy of the guide. Pillars of Eternity is a big RPG, and Prima Games is working to make sure that every inch of our huge game world is covered. The guide will include: Main Quest: A comprehensive walkthrough of the main story. Side Quests and Tasks: An easy reference to all side quests. Atlas: Maps for all critical locations in the vast world of Eora. Training: How to create a character and expertly assign points to attributes and skills. Achievements, Secrets, and exclusive bonuses. The guide will also feature a Thank You section. If you pledged at a tier that included getting your name in the game's credits, you'll also find yourself featured here! As an added plus, all physical copies of the guide will include an access code for a free digital guide, viewable on any connected device. If you missed out on pledging for the strategy guide, the Collector's Edition Guide is a great option for getting all the tips and tricks you'll need for your journey through Eora. To preorder the guide, you can head here. PAX East The Pillars crew will be heading to PAX East to give a panel on March 7th. Josh, Tim, Adam, Chris, Shane, and I will be there to demo and answer questions about the project. If you are going to be there make sure to stop by the Albatross Theatre at 4:30 PM to check it out. That's it for now. Talk to you folks again when we give instructions on how to redeem your game and rewards.

I will have to check with Darren to be sure, but I think each reward can have a different distribution platform. You just choose it when you redeem that specific key. If you run into any problems with that, just send an email to support@obsidian.net and we will hook you up with the correct keys.

Right now the game is at around 14 GB installed. Each installer is different, so I am not sure I can give you specifics. Right now the Steam installer is around 6 or 7 GB. Our physical disc installers are around the same. I would hope that GOG ends up being similar.

We are not going to have Portuguese at the game's release. It is fairly expensive to translate our game into a language. Last I looked we had over 700k words in the game that would require translation. That is quite a bit. Keep in mind that you also have to add in programming, UI, QA, and narrative costs for additional languages. Typically, when choosing which languages to translate into companies will look into potential sales. If the number of sales (in their estimates) isn't enough to recoup their initial investment, then they likely won't translate into the languages. That isn't to say that we won't translate into more languages in the future, but I can't promise any specific language at this point.

Hey, everyone. This is likely what will go out in Poland. Each region/country has their own box art based on what Paradox thought would sell for each region. Obsidian does have approval/review over the pieces, but unless there are big issues we see, we usually defer to Paradox's experience with foreign markets. Obsidian was responsible for the stuff that the backers are getting (the backer Collector's Editions, for example).

Well, typically if you are pitching a game (on Kickstarter or to a publisher) you might mention some of the pillars of the game. Specific features would be rare. For example, you might say your game pillars are: Cool, complex loot system Exploration Fluid combat From there you might identify some of the ways you will achieve those things in the game. Taking the cool, complex loot system, for example, you might mention some stuff like loot that you can upgrade through quests or loot that gains experience and can unlock new abilities. Whatever you think supports that gameplay pillar could work. When you are actually developing the game, you might go through a bunch of different features that support that gameplay pillar - some you will implement and some you will scrap - but it would be very rare to completely scrap a pillar of your game and try something else instead. The cool thing about establishing these pillars early is that whenever you want to put something in the game you can see if it would support one of the pillars. If it doesn't, it probably shouldn't be in the game. It is a good way to make sure that the game you are creating fits your initial vision for the product.

Most of the 3D meshes that are used in the renders are not game engine ready. Many of those meshes would need to be decimated and the textures would have to be down-resed before you could use it in game.

We haven't given out review code to any reviewers yet. This journalist made a review based on the backer beta. We don't have an NDA or embargo on anything in the backer beta, so it isn't something we have much control over. To be honest, though, I am not sure if we gave him a backer beta code or if he purchased it himself. We gave a small number of backer beta codes to Paradox back when we opened the beta, but I don't have a list of folks they sent them to.

Obsidian and Paradox are willing to eat the shipping costs so that the backers are able to get their rewards as soon as possible. We know that we would be bummed out if we had to wait on getting our physical rewards a few extra weeks. We want to give you guys the best experience that we possibly can.

The issue isn't really that people are going to pirate it. We know some people will. It is inevitable. Most of those people probably weren't going to buy the game anyways. The real problem is two-fold: Pirates getting to play the game before our backers. Not only is it a bad thing for all of the people that backed us and waited patiently, but Obsidian would get hurt by a loss in early sales. People playing a game that isn't final and having that get spread around the internet. We have been talking about this for a while with Paradox trying to come up with a good solution, but our DRM-free requirement ends up limiting what we can do. Hopefully, this will be a good compromise for the backers so that, if people want their cool physical rewards, they won't have to wait on those.

Update by Darren Monahan, Operations Guy and Rose Gomez, Associate Producer Hi backers! As you may have seen in our previous backer update, Update #88: Final Sprint and… Release Date!, we’ve announced our launch date. Spoiler Alert: It’s March 26th, 2015! Our physical goods have all now been finalized and produced, save the final discs themselves, so we’re getting ready to package everything up. Physical Backer? Read me! We believe the old school experience is to have all of your physical goods on or near the day a game is launched. You should be able to take out your Collector’s Edition Guidebook, unfold your cloth map, roll out your new mousepad, and enjoy it all at the same time you are playing the game. We believe you feel the same way we do! In order for us to have the best chance possible of getting everything completed by manufacturing and shipped so you have your rewards by or near our launch date, we have to resolve a conflict that has arisen between our promise of a DRM free game, and the realities of how long manufacturing takes. The realities of manufacturing require us to have a final game disc *now* in order to get it into the box with everything else. The game today isn’t the final game you’d play on March 26th. We’re continuing to fix bugs, make improvements, and polish the game. “So… what are you trying to say here? Does this mean some kind of delay you’re prepping me for?” Not at all. What we’re more concerned about is the non-final build being leaked before you, the backers, are able to play it. It’s an unfortunate part of our business; many games get leaked after they leave the developers hands. If it’s leaked early, it hurts everyone, both in the short and long term. It hurts you, the backers, who have waited with immense patience for the game, and you should be the first folks to get to play it. It hurts those who play an incomplete version of the game; that hurts us as a developer, which in turn hurts us as a business, and what may become of future projects. Normally for our other games, like South Park: The Stick of Truth, we package up a pre-load version that makes installation faster. Then, once it went live, any changes we made since that pre-load version and the final 1.0 version were patched onto your computer automatically. If we required every user of a physical disc version to use an auto-patch system, we feel we would fail on our promise of a true DRM free game. So here is our conundrum. We have a real conflict between delivering a fully working DRM-free disc and meeting our manufacturing requirements to get you your physical rewards as near to March 26th as we can. This is a real concern, again, if a version of the game that really isn’t the final version is leaked onto the internet. The pledges backers like you put in to the game are not only at risk, it just plain sucks if lots of other people are playing the game you funded before you do. Obviously, we want the game to sell well enough so we can make more of them too, and an early leak of the disc concerns us enough that we’d like to share these concerns with you too and see what you think. So, what can we do? There are two things we feel we could do that would help mitigate these concerns: We ship everything out except the game disc, which we then ship to you after finalizing the 1.0 version. Wait a minute, Darren. That sounds crazy. You’re going to ship me a game with NO DISC inside at first?! Here’s why we think that’s good: Anyone who pledged to a physical reward tier will get a digital copy. You’ll be able to get a Steam or GOG.com key on our site and play the game at the same time as everyone else. You’d be able to take out your Collector’s Guidebook, your cloth map, your mousepad and enjoy all of it at the same you’re playing Pillars of Eternity. Alternatively, we delay shipping everything out to you once we have the final 1.0 version ready. For some parts of the world, this could mean a delay of some real significance. Not just a week or two, but multiple weeks after it’s released. While it’s rather unorthodox, we really prefer option #1, even though it is going to cost us more in shipping costs. We just think it will be more fun for everyone to be able to enjoy all of the game and its add-ons at the same time. However, you’ve backed this game, so we want to hear what you think. Please share your thoughts on our official poll thread here. What about me, the digital backer? For those of you who are digital backers, you would not be affected by this at all – you’ll still get the choice of a Steam or GOG.com key on March 26th. For anyone planning to buy the physical retail version (not the physical backer version), that one uses Steam, so it would also be patched up after connecting to Steam. We’ll announce the results in a backer update next week. Fulfillment Items We have started to get final versions of our backer rewards and we wanted to share some of our favorites with you. Pillars of Eternity Collector's Book As we've announced previously, we partnered with Dark Horse to bring you the Pillars of Eternity Collector's Book. Where the Prima Strategy Guide will be your go-to companion for all your walkthrough and strategy needs, the Collector's Book is there to satisfy the most hardcore lore enthusiasts. Whether your pledge included a physical copy or a digital copy, the Collector's Book is something we're sure you'll be happy with. We're very proud of it and we think Dark Horse did an amazing job bringing it to life. We'd like to share a sneak preview with you here. The content of the book covers everything you would want to know about the world of Eora. Among the many informative chapters, you'll find detailed information on the people and gods, as well as the history of the Eastern Reach and recent events. There's even a detailed bestiary explaining the origins and habits of Eora's creatures. Taken from the back of the book: "The Wheel of Berath spins endlessly, passing the souls of the vanquished through pillars of adra, the veins of the world, and giving them new life when they emerge again. With every journey's completion, another unfurls. With every danger averted, a new calamity looms. This is the world of Eora, where all life begins and ends at the Pillars of Eternity. Pillars of Eternity Guidebook: Volume One paints in vivid detail the gods, monsters, cultures, factions, places, and histories of Pillars of Eternity - a definitive guide covering everything you need to know about this rich new setting, assembled by the acclaimed storytellers of Obsidian Entertainment." Missed out on pledging for the Collector's Book? It's available for pre-order from a variety of online retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Random House. Almanac Of the many digital-only backer rewards you'll be receiving, we'd like to present to you a few pages from the Almanac of the Eastern Reach, 2823 ai: For Colonists, Explorer, and Curiosity-Seekers. Inspired by classic games like Ultima V, we designed the Almanac as if it were written from within the game world. Our almanac happens to be penned by members of the Hand Occult. Another lore heavy item, the Almanac contains a wealth of information. Folklore, major settlements and landmarks, local cultures, languages and expressions, a calendar of events, historical rainfall and planting dates and more can all be found within its pages. Cloth Patches One of our studio traditions is having cloth patches made for our games - largely perpetrated by Josh Sawyer himself. It seemed fitting to include patches as a reward for the Kickstarter. Both the standard and elite patches are a very high quality. They're sew-on patches, and are extremely sturdy. They should stand up wonderfully to being sewn onto bags, jackets, and more. These are backer only items and come with tiers $140 and above. PAX South Last update we mentioned that we'd be showing off the game at PAX South. If you missed the live stream and want to check out the presentation, head on over to Twitch.tv and enjoy. (And you can see Adam sporting another one of our backer rewards - the Pillars of Eternity t-shirt by J!NX clothing!) Backer Beta: Now on Linux! As of our last Backer Beta update we have released the Linux build. If you are a Linux user and have access to the Backer Beta you should give it a shot. Make sure to report any Linux issues you find in our official Backer Beta forums.

As we have expressed in our latest backer update, due to the combination of our game being DRM-free and piracy there is a very real concern that the game may leak early when we send the build for manufacturing. We feel that there are two ways we can handle this problem to make sure that the game doesn't get leaked before the backers get their copies: We ship everything out except the game disc, which we then ship to you after finalizing the 1.0 version. Wait a minute. That sounds crazy. You’re going to ship me a game with NO DISC inside at first?! Here’s why we think that’s good: Anyone who pledged to a physical reward tier will get a digital copy. You’ll be able to get a Steam or GOG.com key on our site and play the game at the same time as everyone else. You’d be able to take out your Collector’s Guidebook, your cloth map, your mousepad and enjoy all of it at the same you’re playing Pillars of Eternity. Alternatively, we delay shipping everything out to you once we have the final 1.0 version ready. For some parts of the world, this could mean a delay of some real significance. Not just a week or two, but multiple weeks after it’s released. If you are a backer that is getting physical rewards, please vote in the poll attached to this post. We will update everyone next week with the popular vote in a backer update. Thanks for your feedback and support.

Possibly. I still think we could put one more out in a few weeks.

Linux and Mac should now be on 435. Let me know if you guys see any problem with those OSes.

NEEDS VERIFICATION just means that the developer has submitted a fix, but QA hasn't run a regression on the issue yet. So it is most likely fixed, but it is possible it could still fail regression.

QA just gave the thumbs up for the Linux and Mac 435. It should be live now. Let me know if any Mac/Linux users see problems.

Just so everyone is aware, 435 for Windows is up on Steam. Somehow 434 was uploaded. I will put 435 Linux and Mac up tomorrow once I can get access to those OSes.

The Windows build should be 435 now. Mac and Linux will change to 435 in the morning.

I just uploaded 435 for Windows. I can't upload the other two platforms until tomorrow (because I have no way to test them at my house). I only tested the build for about 10 minutes, but it should be fine since this is the one we were testing this afternoon. Let me know if anything seems off on this build.

Odd. It should be 435. 434 had a few things that were still broken that we fixed in the afternoon. I will check tomorrow and make sure that the correct build got uploaded.

I am going to head home now, but I will check in on the thread later tonight to make sure nothing exploded. Have fun.

Hey, everyone. A new backer beta build is live on all three platforms. Our major focus over the past few weeks was reducing in-game memory usage and other optimizations. We are still optimizing, but things are coming along nicely. You will also notice that Josh has been doing lots of balancing throughout various systems in the game. For example, traps should be extremely deadly now. If you weren't on the lookout before, you should be. Hope you enjoy the fixes. -Brandon Fixed Issues: Players can no longer move around with 0 health. Capes no longer clip with armor on the character's model. Hired adventurers no longer spawn inside of one of your characters. Mods and Enchants that affect accuracy are now showing in the character sheet and inventory calculations. The stash interface in shop UI was converted to the same page system that the stash uses otherwise. Transition icons that are hidden to the user no longer become visible and usable after save/load. If you convince Medreth and his party to leave the Boar Companion will now follow. The displayed Accuracy value should now properly reflect the bonus granted by wielding a 1-handed weapon with no offhand equipment. Offhand weapon accuracy no longer overwrites base accuracy. The Bronze Beneath the Lake - Cladhaliath spear is no longer invisible in-game. Boar Companion from Medreth's party no longer appears on every map if you save/load in Dyrford Village. Mods for an attack are no longer duplicated if a character is stopped from completing an attack action. Combat Music is now playing properly. Memory usage no longer increases by 300-800MB after 1-2 save/loads or transitions. Save files no longer become unreadable if PC loses power supply while the game is running. Item tooltips often appear in front of the inventory and loot UI. Distortion type FX no longer make UI elements disappear. Spells and abilities are now changing the cursor state after use or when the user attempts to cancel the action. Any Mods on acquired items now properly function after save/load Missing male Godlike heads have returned. Dexterity affects action speed now. Visual elements and animated VFX on the action bar and character portraits are now properly hidden when Inventory/Character sheet are opened. Art for scouting mode now aligns with selection circles. Now able to open trapped containers after discovering the trap. Difficulty changes take effect immediately now. On death load now functions if an entire party is knocked out while one party member is dominated. Best of weapons are now correctly displaying the damage type that they are using in the combat log. "Trap Triggered!" barks no longer last a long time. Crash when running public backer beta on Mac OSX Yosemite has been fixed. Knock Down no longer becomes stuck in the "already activated" state if the target is gibbed before Knock Down resolves. Abilities with very long descriptions are easier to read in character creation and level up. AI will no longer move into standard range if they are commanded to cast at a distant target despite Perception range bonus. Now able to equip shields in your right hand. Paladin's description is no longer missing the word "Health" after x5. The client no longer loads in paused if you save a paused game, close the client, and loading that game via the front end continue button. Wizard's grimoire no longer appears in character's offhand while some types of weapons are equipped. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Time stamp text size on saved games is now larger. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Items held by NPCs in fog can now be perceived correctly. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Abilities shown in character creation, below the Class banner, no longer display "Right-Click for details" in their tooltip descriptions. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Double clicking sound effect is no longer present when users press buttons in game menus. - NEEDS VERIFICATION If the Ranger or their Companion are knocked out near an enemy while the other is far away, they will no longer repeatedly fall unconscious. - NEEDS VERIFICATION If you hire an adventurer when you have a full party, the adventurer will no longer be made with no items. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Mip settings have been adjusted to complement our default zoom ranges. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Knock Down now has the same range as standard melee. - NEEDS VERIFICATION The "Next Tab" keybinding is no longer hard coded to the Tab key. - NEEDS VERIFICATION If Knock Down was used to start a fight with a friendly target, they were not knocked prone. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Hiring a 7th Party member and removing a BB Companion caused transitions to break progression. This should no longer be the case. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Ranges for Miss/Graze/Hit/Crit were off by one number. - NEEDS VERIFICATION Known Issues: Save/Load Menu should be organized by date created, not alphabetical. The Bloody Slaughter talent does not have a description in the Level Up screen. Brilliant Radiance is causing too much damage. Culture Bonuses applied before selection. Character shadows on the East and West sides of Dyrford Village disappear after Save/Load. Hovering over hidden objects (either hidden containers or traps) causes the default cursor to appear. Container UI placement/panning limits allow the interface to appear offscreen in higher resolutions. Passive (White) text in the Combat Log is showing decimal numbers as zero. Stormwall Gorge displays lines on the left and right side of the Area Map that show through the Fog of War. Wizards are not holding their grimoire in character creation. Abilities on the action bar are being duplicated when a hotkey is applied to them. Animals and Critters (such as Deer) should run away from the party. Unable to inspect spells that are greyed out in a Grimoire. When characters are given a movement command they all begin running in unison, perfectly synced. Abilities granted by items are added to character's quick bar permanently after save/load cycle.