BAdler

I just reported the item as counterfeit. I will check in a few days to see if it is removed. If it isn't, I will try to elevate it. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Hey, everyone. We are aware of the crashing problems on Yosemite right now. After talking to some other projects that are using Unity for their engine the problems may not be unique to our game. We are going to continue to look into it and hopefully it will be something we can resolve on our side and not something that will have to wait for a Unity fix. Thanks for your patience.

Hey, everyone. We are continuing to bug fix this week. We have had a lock on new features since the beginning of last week and we have been focusing on bug fixes last week and this week. Any requested new feature gets placed on a list that we will evaluate in a couple of weeks. Starting next week we will be doing team-wide play days over the whole week. This is so everyone on the team can get a full view on everything that has been going into the game. After that we will probably spend a few days fixing the most egregious bugs we run into before putting out a new beta. What this means for you guys is that we will likely target a new update for the week of November 10th. I will let you guys know if any of that changes.

Incredible. Any ETA? Another month? Unfortunately, it isn't something that Obsidian has the ability to fix directly without completely redoing how we are loading and unloading assets. I will give more information as I get more info from Adam.

I think one update a week is probably fine. I mean, if they hoped to release it this week, but failed to, then obviously it's going to be not-this-week. And they're not going to spontaneously release it without an update. The lack of further update defaultly means "we're still working on it." And I'd hate to see it come down to daily "Okay guys, we're hoping it's today!"/"Hmmm, all right, it's not going to be today, but we're hoping it's tomorrow!" pairs of updates. The update should have been something along the lines of "we're still working through issues and won't meet our goal of releasing by the end of the week. We'll have more to share next week." Sure, by not communicating anything at all, we figure it out. Silence is certainly a way to communicate, but it's not the kind that engenders good will from your fans. But no big surprise. OE just isn't great at the whole communication thing. Happily, they're good at other things. New update is now live. See we did make it in by the end of the week.

EDIT: I forgot to add that the Mac build is now available for download from Steam! The Linux build still has a problem with loading and unloading asset bundles. Unity knows about the issue and we will release the Linux build once they post a fix. Thanks for the patience. Hey, everyone. The latest Backer Beta update is now live. We hope you enjoy. I have included some patch notes. Thanks for all of the help in testing the game and providing useful feedback. Talents and Core Abilities Over a hundred Talents have been added to allow more options for class customization during the level up process. We've adjusted how the core class abilities are granted to allow for more flexibility within each class. Revised Skill Progression You can no longer spend points to upgrade skills during level up. All skill advancement is now done through Talents, and thematically grouped Talents will award additional skill points if chosen during level up. Your background choice during character creation will also reward additional skill points. Fog Of War The Fog of War has been upgraded to obey the sight visibility for the party members. No more cheating by looking over walls and closed doors in dungeons! Experience Points We decided to add a few more ways to gain experience points to increase the regularity that XP is rewarded throughout the game. We've added minor bestiary, exploration, lock, and trap XP rewards. Bestiary XP is rewarded when new entries are unlocked in the Bestiary page in the Journal, and will stop being rewarded if the entry is complete. Exploration XP is given out when new areas and landmarks are discovered in the world. Glossary An in game glossary has been added with explanation and definitions of game and combat rules. These entries are hyperlinked so you can easily find information on what you are looking for. You can click directly on keywords in the combat log, or open up the Journal's Glossary page. Hotkeys Hotkeys can be assigned to any ability on the hot bar and additionally be access through a quick hotkey menu. We still intend to revise how this system works, but please provide feedback if you like or dislike our direction. Additional Fixes Improved 2D trigger rendering. Added new targeting indicators. Added a tab menu to quickly change between full screen UI. Update the stash UI with separate pages for ingredients and quest items. Revised lockpick UI for better clarity. Fixed many save and load inconsistencies. Fixed issue with perception not effecting the range of spells. Characters with reach weapons should now attack at a proper distance. Many fixes to placed traps. Many, many fixes to spells and abilities. Added more hairstyles. Added more icons. Fixed Issues Save/Load/Persistence BB Wizard's Cape is no longer rendered white, this was caused or fixed by Save/Load depending on the situation - Thread Link Loading saved games while in combat or with factions turned aggressive no longer persists into the loaded game - Thread Link Fixed issues with game options not persisting throughout gameplay and closing and opening the client Save/Loading in Lle a Rhemen 02 (the lower area) will no longer cause you to be unable to access certain areas - Thread Link Save/Loading no longer causes enemies in the scene to be reduced to 0 DT Area Design Backer NPCs no longer have Missing Strings for their Soul Memory descriptions - Thread Link Examinable objects are no longer losing and/or duplicating their icons - Thread Link Spells/Abilities/Classes/Gameplay Dead party members are now being removed from the party - Thread Link Perception now properly affects the range of attacks and spells Placed Traps are now working properly Missed attacks in combat are no longer causing hit reactions and hit SFX - Thread Link Characters with reach weapons are no longer moving into melee range when commanded to attack from a distance - Thread Link Druid Spirit Shift forms are now attacking properly - Thread Link Stone Beetles will no longer stay underground when in combat - Thread Link Spells already in BB Wizard's or a looted Grimoire can no longer be inscribed a second time into the Grimoire - Thread Link Large parties, especially with Ranger pets or summons, should have an easier time with transitions - Thread Link Loading games no longer clears the resting bonus gained from an Inn Spiders no longer "teleport" past your front line or moving towards a character they could not have reached - Thread Link Art Rocks near the east side of Dyrford Crossing have had navmesh adjusted to prevent clipping - Thread Link Navmesh near the ruins in the southwest of Dyrford Crossing has been cleaned up - Thread Link Scouting Circles have new art - Thread Link Items Pollaxes are now being treated as best of Slash/Crush, instead of just Slash The BB Wizard's Cloak item is no longer floating significantly out of position Minor Stamina potion is now valued less than Major Stamina potion User Interface Abilities shown in character creation update immediately as different classes are selected - Thread Link Holding the Tab Key while transitioning no longer places Backer Icons on the screen permanently You can now split stacks of Potions, Scrolls, Traps, and other Quick Items - Thread Link Steps can no longer be skipped in Character Creation Paperdoll models are no longer disappearing from the Level Up and Inventory UI Other Changing keybindings in the control options will now unbind the key you assign from its previous assignment The Cyclopedia Bestiary values are now accurate - Thread Link Known Issues Save/Load/Persistence Save/Load causes the inventory paperdoll not to show weapons and shields until another character is selected - Thread Link Fog of War does not persist on Save/Load and transitions - Thread Link BB Fighter sometimes becomes invisible after Save/Load - Thread Link Uninstalling the game does not remove all files that the game created - Thread Link Save/Load causes character shadows to disappear on the East and West sides of Dyrford Village - Thread Link Saving a paused game, closing and reopening the client, then loading that game via the Continue causes the game to load in paused - Thread Link Memory usage increases after loading the game (closing the client and opening it resets this) - Thread Link Memory usage increases after transitions (closing the client and opening it resets this) - Thread Link Area Design Hendyna wanders off to the forest at times and is not at her shop - Thread Link The Water Wheel in Dyrford Village seems to be rotating in the wrong direction - Thread Link The Temple Skaen entrance is visible on the area map without first moving the statue - Thread Link Boar companion is left behind when Medreth leaves - Thread Link Spells/Abilities/Classes/Gameplay Best of Weapons are not showing the proper damage type in the combat log - Thread Link Talents Resilient Companion, Faithful Companion, and Painful Interdiction are not working properly Charmed/Dominated creatures will attack themselves - Thread Link Crystal Eater Spiders, Crystal Eater Spiderlings, and Widowmaker Spiders are bypassing 10 DT Art Hendyna's home has a visual shaking effect when entered and zoomed in - Thread Link The Health bar indicators feel somewhat unpolished and appear to overlap the portrait - Thread Link Morning Stars (of the non-Fine Quality) are transparent in game and character creation - Thread Link Items The Sabre will sometimes strike for 0.0 damage negating the attack entirely - Thread Link User Interface Paladin's description is missing the word "Health" after the health multiplier - Thread Link Savage Endurance tooltip is showing too many decimals - Thread Link Accuracy shown in the Inventory and Character sheet do not reflect the bonus for single 1 Handed weapons and Enchant/Mod accuracy effects Character Creation buttons can have a significant delay when clicked Character Creation attribute allocation arrows continue to make SFX sounds if clicked after they have disappeared - Thread Link White damage values in the combat log only display whole numbers and not decimal values (Makes DoT effects misleading) Time stamp font is small in when viewing saved games - Thread Link Traps and Hidden Secrets change the mouse cursor when hovered over (before they are discovered) - Thread Link Saved games are not ordering properly and are sometimes resetting their play time Opening and closing the Area Map shifts 2D UI elements (Including character circles) - Thread Link Temp Status icons are sometimes appearing during combat (White Squares with Green Circles) Stash access in the Shop UI needs to be switched to page format

This isn't a bad idea. I will try to do a better job of posting build status updates for you fine folks.

Hey, everyone. We are still working on the next patch. There is a weird problem with the build right now where load times have gotten much worse. The programmers are on it and we are hoping to release the patch sometime this week.

Care to elaborate? Josh has added in a large amount of talents and restructured everything so they are more integrated into the level-up process. Because of this, you have to make choices about which class abilities you want and it allows you to build different play styles for the same class.

We are hoping that we can start releasing patches weekly at some point. As for the next patch, I would like to release it this week, but it might have to come out next week. I would like to try and get Linux fixed on Steam before pushing out a new patch.

It is animated and that was at its largest point.

Update by Brandon Adler, Lead Producer Hello, everyone. It has been a little while since our last update to our backers and there have been some important developments (and additional goodies) of which I'd like to make you all aware. Additional Time for Polish and FeedbackThrough your help and feedback, the Pillars of Eternity team has spent the past two years creating a fun, fulfilling experience. An open development has enabled us to interact with our fans and backers in a way we weren't able to in the past, and this has really helped shape Eternity into a game that we all hoped it would become. Plus, with the Backer Beta, we have been able to get excellent feedback from our backers that we are using to shape Eternity into an even better game. We really can't thank you enough. To incorporate as much feedback as possible, polish every nook and cranny of the game, and make sure we don't ship a buggy game, Obsidian has decided to push the game's release into early next year. We are going to use the extra time to make Eternity shine for our backers, and a game that we were proud to call our own and would live up to your expectations. Once again, we want to thank you for making this all possible. With your help we can bring Eternity across the finish line. Speaking of Backer BetaWe are hard at work implementing feedback and bugfixing items in the Backer Beta. One of the major focuses for the team over the past few weeks was adding in additional character progression options and cleaning up UI to make combat a little less chaotic. You can expect everything from additional Talents and Ability selection choices to UI and HUD improvements in our next update. We are also very close to getting the Mac and Linux versions of the Backer Beta to you guys. It may even make it into the next Beta update. In fact, here is one of the Backer Beta requested UI changes - Infinity Engine-style targeting reticles. Physical Replacement for Documentary DVDs and Blu-raysA while back we mentioned that we were going to be removing the documentary DVDs and Blu-rays as physical rewards because we would be unable to include the end of production so the discs could be pressed in time for delivery. The documentary will now only available as a download through the backer portal. To compensate we have created a brand new memo-style notepad for those backers that would have received a physical version of the disc. Here are a couple of pages from the Pillars of Eternity themed notepad. Plea for SurveysEven though we have locked down backer rewards on the portal, we are still able to add in memorial and credit text into the game. If you have memorials or backer credits, and you haven't filled out your survey, please head over to the backer portal and fill them out. Italian LocalizationsMany of our Italian-speaking backers asked for us to include them in the list of languages we were localizing for the game. After speaking with Paradox about the issue it was decided that we would include Italian localizations. For those folks that have access to the Backer Beta, they should see Italian languages options (and corresponding translations) as soon as our next update. BEDLAM! What do you get when you mix turn-based combat, rogue-like inspired features, and giant armored machines? BEDLAM! Check out this new Kickstarter by our friends at Skyshine Games and get into the post-apocalyptic fun. It is inspired by games like Banner Saga, FTL, and XCOM. How can you go wrong?

I really love to hear that. My friend insisted I installed the backers beta on my old notebook and it barelly runs but It runs!!! I don't really know when the backers beta he has was released but I don't think its optimized so I hold high hopes its going to be better when the game comes out... I got my a** handed to me by those damn spiders so many times and that makes me happy! am I a massochist?? My notebook specs are Intel Pentium Processor P6100 2 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache Intel HD Graphics 3 GB DDR Memory As you see is pretty much a potato... but I can play all the infinity engine games and I'm getting into this valve game Dota 2... I've been worned I'll destroy my social life but hey... not like I have one anyway hahahah Hey, Felthar. The backer beta does not have many optimizations. Usually, optimizations are one of the last things we do with a game. You should see improvements to performance over the coming beta updates. Your biggest problem will likely be the integrated graphics card, but it should only get better from here.

Brandon, I assume there are still going to be regular Beta updates, yes? Yup. We would still like to put out a new beta build every few weeks. Even if we don't have big changes to systems things should get more and more stable over time.

Hey, guys. The OP has stated his opinion and it is noted. I am closing this thread because I don't see anything constructive coming out of it.

(Reiterate the company line we've already said in every possible interview and presentation, we fear they might start losing confidence after we announce a second delay, after we claimed we were releasing it this year after our first delay) (We gave them the beta to test their reaction - hmm, apparently no way to release the game in this state without them noticing. Oh man I hope we didn't set too high expectations for this...) (We are behind schedule with a part of the development cycle that's obligatory - testing and bugfixing, but let's look for the regular cliche where we promise them that our catching up to "Gold" state will give them more than they would have gotten from a release made at "Gold" state.) (We need to communicate that the game we will release will be better than we had originally planned, thanks to the delay, and that's why we're taking the extra time - certainly not because we're behind schedule, no way) I may be too pessimistic here. I sure hope I turn out to have been such. I think you are being too pessimistic here and are attributing things to us that aren't true. We are genuine in our want to make this game a great experience and we realize that we need more time to do so. We want to be proud in what we release and make backers happy that they backed the game. Nothing nefarious in what we are saying. Also, the feedback from the beta is gold. Not necessarily the bug reports - those are helpful, but our QA team has identified many of those issues - but we really get a lot out of seeing how people are playing the game. Seeing what people find enjoyable or things that are frustrating is very helpful for us. Keep in mind that, as developers, we don't always get to see the game in the same light as an end user. We try to put ourselves in the shoes of the player, but we have a different perspective on things. The basic message is that we need additional time to get the game to where we want it to be. We are grateful that we have the time to do that.

I really don't want to. =) I don't think we are going down that route. I don't make the final decision on it, but I don't think it is in the cards for us. OK, I hope Paradox's new percentage isn't too harsh (assumptions.jpg ). You guys did seem to be very very eager to release the game this year and very sure that you would, and I have to wonder why. We were really pushing for a release this year because we felt it was possible. I still think we could have done it if we needed to, but it would have been a death march for the team, it would have lacked polish, and it likely would have been a buggy experience. We want Eternity to be good. We all have a lot of pride in what we do. Plus, we want to give the backers a game that they can be proud to have backed.

I really don't want to. =) I don't think we are going down that route. I don't make the final decision on it, but I don't think it is in the cards for us.

Through your help and feedback, the Pillars of Eternity team has spent the past two years creating a fun, fulfilling experience. An open development has enabled us to interact with our fans and backers in a way we weren't able to in the past, and this has really helped shape Eternity into a game that we all hoped it would become. Plus, with the Backer Beta, we have been able to get excellent feedback from our backers that we are using to shape Eternity into an even better game. We really can't thank you enough. To incorporate as much feedback as possible, polish every nook and cranny of the game, and make sure we don't ship a buggy game, Obsidian has decided to push the game's release into early next year. We are going to use the extra time to make Eternity shine for our backers, and a game that we were proud to call our own and would live up to your expectations. Once again, we want to thank you for making this all possible. With your help we can bring Eternity across the finish line.

Traps cannot be placed and they are not stacking correctly (along with some other problems). Hopefully, they will be fixed up before the next patch.

This was probably a change that I made to add Visual C++ 2010 Redistributables as part of the installation process. We have been getting some odd bugs that we were only seeing on specific machines and we tracked it down to people not having those redistributables installed on their machines. No stealth fixes (other than the fixes caused by not having the redistributables). Sorry, everyone.

Hello, everyone. We have released an update to the backer beta on Steam. We are still working on the Mac and Linux builds, so they are not currently up there (we are working as fast as we can on them, I promise). We have lots of new changes and fixes. As always, please play the build and give us feedback on our forums. Here are the patch notes for the newly released Backer Beta Build 301. Important Information Regarding Saves Saved game location has changed. You can now find your saved games located in C:\Users\\Documents\Saved Games\Pillars of Eternity. Keep in mind that old saved games will not be automatically moved to the new location and it is suggested that users start new games instead of trying to load old ones. Loading old games on the new build may cause undesirable behavior. New Features Rebalance to Attributes: Might: Damage and HealingEvery point of Might over 10 increases a character's base Damage and Healing by 2% (penalties if under 10). Constitution: Stamina and HealthEvery point of Constitution over 10 increases the character's base Endurance and Health by 2% (penalties if under 10). Dexterity: Action SpeedEvery point of Dexterity over 10 increases Action Speed by 2% (penalties if under 10). Perception: Accuracy and RangeEvery point of Perception over 10 increases Accuracy by 1 and Range (for non-melee) by 5% (penalties if under 10). Intellect: AoE Size and DeflectionEvery point of Intellect over 10 increases the character's AoE sizes by 5% and Deflection by 1 (penalties if under 10). Resolve: Concentration and DurationEvery point of Resolve over 10 increases a character's Concentration by 3% and Durations by 5% (penalties if under 10). Stealth has been revised: The new stealth system relies on the distance of a scouting character from an NPC to determine how quickly the creature will enter Alert and Combat states. A comparison of characters' individual Stealth skill ratings and creatures' levels modifies this rate. N.b.: A character that does not have LoS on the creature is not considered to be "inside" their radius. When characters enter the scouting state, they gain a Stealth Meter. Currently, it's simply a solid circle completely filled with color (green or, if in colorblind mode, blue). This is a basic implementation and the art will change. Every NPC in the world has one of five stealth detection ratings (from Oblivious to Supernatural) that correspond to radii in the game. When a scouting character gets into a creature's stealth detection range, their Stealth Meter will start filling from green/blue to yellow. This informs the player of how much time they have before the creature will enter Alert and Combat states. If the meter fills completely yellow, the creature will move up to a constant-defined max distance toward the character (e.g. 3m). At the same time, the yellow meter will begin to fill red. If the meter reaches full red, the scouting state is dropped, the character is detected, and hostile creatures enter Combat. We will have a base rate at which these fills occur, but they can be modified by two elements: 1) the relationship between the character's Stealth and the target's level 2) the character's proximity to the target within the radius. The two modifiers both directly multiply the standard rate. While this system is fully implemented, it has not been tuned and does not have final art. Stamina is now called Endurance: The stat previously known as Stamina is now called Endurance since that seems clearer to more people. Additionally, we are no longer doing the behind-the-scenes conversion of a percentage of received Stamina damage into Health damage as the system was opaque to players. Now, Max Endurance is multiplied by a factor determined by class to arrive at Max Health. This does mean that Health values are much higher than a traditional "D&D range", but in practice these values were already used in the background. In this update, when a character receives damage, it's applied equally to Endurance and Health. Here are the current Endurance to Health multipliers for each class. "Front line" classes tend to have more Health as they are expected to be damaged and healed in combat with much greater frequency. Barbarian - 6 Chanter - 4 Cipher - 4 Druid - 4 Fighter - 5 Monk - 6 Paladin - 5 Ranger - 4 Rogue - 4 Priest - 3 Wizard - 3 UI arrows have been added to show active engagement. We are still evaluating their appearance and functionality internally, so please give us feedback on their usefulness. Hit effects for elemental damage, blood, and gibs have been added. Fire, shock, corrode, and frost damage will display visual effects on hit. Some creatures will gib when critically hit on death. Dead bodies now turn into loot containers and can be looted directly. New Talents.This is the first batch of new talents more will be added in the coming weeks. All icons for the new talents are temporary. New icons. New sounds. New portraits. Many, many rules fixes and bug fixes for class abilities. Fixes Spells: many spells have been tuned to have faster casting times, shorter ranges, do/heal more or less damage, apply different effects, attack different defenses, or do different damage types. Of note: Fireball, Jolting Touch, Minoletta's Bounding Missiles, Winter Wind, Talons' Reach, Returning Storm, all Restore ____ Stamina spells, Vile Thorns, Lay on Hands, and many others. Renormalized all attributes scores to 10 in character creation. Enemy AI will now scan for new targets when path is blocked. Caster AI can now investigate stealth. Improvements to AI instruction sets. Most enemy AI can now target specific party members, including back line characters and casters. Engagement is now cancelled on knockdown. Fixes to stat calculations in character sheet. Many fixes and adjustments to the combat log, including improved performance. Added many improvements to "feels" of action bar. Ranger animal companion, summoned creatures, and newly hired adventurers will not stomp on existing party members. Sound effects and music should not cut out during combat or during long play sessions. Improved footstep sounds. Improvements of character models and textures. Added highlight effect on mouseover for 3D objects, including doors and plants. Added 'G' for opening Chant Editor and Grimoire. Added exit button for character creation, level up, and adventurer's hall. Improvements to loot tables. Added notification for when stash can be used. Adjusted fog of war and view distances. Max wounds is now 10. Intellect deflection bonus is applied to Ranger animal companion. Changed many spells/abilities to be combat only. Many more fixes too numerous to mention. Known Issues Placed traps do not work as intended. Perception does not currently increase the range of attacks and spells. Three of the new talents are not working correctly: Resilient Companion, Faithful Companion, and Painful Interdiction.

We have identified lots of things for optimization, but we haven't started full force on them yet.

Some, but some are case sensitivity problems. More for the Linux build, but Mac can suffer from problems too.

Probably today. I am having QA run through it right now to make sure it is generally stable for release.