Karranthain

Going with this quote (http://forums.obsidi...80#entry1261567), I think we'll be happy even if they don't end up employing Sweet.

And in both cases it's someone who has previously worked with people from Obsidian

A critical hit could, for an instance, mean that the attacker struck the weak point in the armour.

Thanks for the link, Sensuki, 'twas a good read.

Some very interesting tidbit from the latest interview with Josh :

Sez who? Says anyone who knows anything about good world buidling or design. PE is not based on the real world, it shouldn't use real world designs. That isn't a large leap of logic. I don't want to see a German Landsknecht wandering around an elven ruin, it would straight out make no sense and be lazy to boot. I am also sure Obsidian is perfectly capable of looking up authentic real world armor/weapon designs on their own so I don't know why all these pictures keep getting spammed. Why don't we trust them to do their own research and let their art team create their own original gear designs to bring their world to life? If we put you on a room on your own, would you still start a fight? Sheesh, find another thread to haunt. Morale Vampire. Or better yet, let him haunt the Romance thread Or better yet, you guys can stop acting like butt hurt 5 year olds cause someone doesn't agree with you. I rest my case.

And here's some additional ideas : http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60205-weapon-mechanics/#entry1190501.

Sez who? Says anyone who knows anything about good world buidling or design. PE is not based on the real world, it shouldn't use real world designs. That isn't a large leap of logic. I don't want to see a German Landsknecht wandering around an elven ruin, it would straight out make no sense and be lazy to boot. I am also sure Obsidian is perfectly capable of looking up authentic real world armor/weapon designs on their own so I don't know why all these pictures keep getting spammed. Why don't we trust them to do their own research and let their art team create their own original gear designs to bring their world to life? If we put you on a room on your own, would you still start a fight? Sheesh, find another thread to haunt. Morale Vampire. Or better yet, let him haunt the Romance thread

The first option in the poll basically means that a rapier and a longsword (despite the fact that both could be categorized broadly as swords) would be very different from each other. That's why I posted that I think it'd be unrealistic to expect to have both that and a large selection of weapons. From your post it seems you'd be in favour of the second option - and I'd be happy with that one too

Indeed - and we know that this game won't be a combat simulator, as it'll have a large focus on story as well. Hence the options in the poll - all of them being a compromise of sorts.

The topic first started as a plea for more believable and down to earth designs. It's only natural that people would post what they'd like to see in the game, hence various image examples. Not all of them were of medieval/renaissance arms and armor. Case in point : http://forums.obsidi...40#entry1247786 http://forums.obsidi...i/#entry1239125 http://forums.obsidi...60#entry1250353 http://forums.obsidi...60#entry1250004 http://forums.obsidi...60#entry1250890 That's your opinion. Not that the idea was complete realism anyway - just using varied influences, some of them historical. And yes, I'd love to play a sequel to Darklands, but that's a topic for another discussion. How about I quote myself then? http://forums.obsidi...20#entry1240350 http://forums.obsidi...a/#entry1188299 And : (from the original post). It really does seem that you haven't actually read this topic.

Indeed, that date was given back when the Kickstarter campaign has started - the scope of the game has increased greatly since then. Second city, stronghold, 15 level dungeon...

From what I remember from playing AoD's combat demo, it'd fall somewhere between choices 1 and 2 of the poll. Could be wrong about that, however - it's been a while.

Me too - that, however, is rather unrealistic to expect

I think they'll want to release the best possible product just as much; if they'll need time to iron out bugs - they'll have it. I don't think anyone would mind a delay - we've been waiting for a long time as it is

Aye, I think it was definitely influenced by the Icewind Dale style.

You mean the sepia ones? These are concepts then. That's a portrait (I think) :

I'll just add that they should take as long as their budget will allow - to ensure the best possible product.

Reading through this topic, I realized that I like the investigative quests the most. 1. Siamese Twins quest in Arcanum. 2. Finding Dwemer in Morrowind. 3. Snuff film quest in Bloodlines. 4. Murder investigation in Witcher. 5. Gathering evidence for the trial in NWN2. 6. Whole Deus Ex I especially enjoy those if the resolution doesn't tell you everything. And if you can actually come into wrong conclusions. Finding evidence, questioning witnesses, that's always fun for me. In short, I'd love to have as much of those as possible.

To many people, that certain portrait style is synonymous with Icewind Dale itself Since they're assaying the budget now, the decision whether to hire more external talent is still up in the air.

Sez who? Says anyone who knows anything about good world buidling or design. PE is not based on the real world, it shouldn't use real world designs. That isn't a large leap of logic. I don't want to see a German Landsknecht wandering around an elven ruin, it would straight out make no sense and be lazy to boot. I am also sure Obsidian is perfectly capable of looking up authentic real world armor/weapon designs on their own so I don't know why all these pictures keep getting spammed. Why don't we trust them to do their own research and let their art team create their own original gear designs to bring their world to life? It would appear that you haven't actually read this topic. So let me just quote one post : The historical examples posted herein illustrate the point that was made by many people in this topic : if you only look, there's a wealth of interesting designs out there, which are rarely utilized in fantasy games. We're simply sharing what we personally find appealing. Landsknechts amidst Elven ruins would at least be original - I know I'd play a game that'd have that Among cRPG games, titles utilizing historical backdrops, such as Darklands or Lionheart (albeit the latter is rather inferior) are way more unique than generic fantasy setting #15, at least in my opinion. But that's for another topic. And lastly, this is what forums are for - you might as shut down them down if you don't want people discussing design/aestethic/story topics; Obsidian isn't obligated to listen to us, or even read this - but they might. To quote Monte Carlo, it's not diktat.

Personally, I enjoyed Arcanum's way of handling this the best. You had access to store right before the game started - but your character background could, for an instance, increase/decrease the money you were allowed to spend - or even grant you a magical sword.

Unfortunately, I think most people here can't read Cyrillic, Dronios Got a version in English?

I'm guessing that they'll take 2 years. BG II was under development almost that long, and they had the engine and the assets from the previous game. Then again, it was a really huge game; I think the process of content creation is easier now too. What does everyone think?

One of the topics that was touched upon in the weapon mechanics thread was the amount of weapon types. I thought it'd make for an interesting poll question. How many weapon types would you like to see in the game? And just how different should they be? 1. Small weapon selection, but each type offers a unique playstyle and has a different animation. E.g. Rapiers utilize quick thrusts, and emphasise mobility in combat. Against heavily armoured opponents, however, a greatsword would be a better choice. 2. A good amount of weapons, divided into subsets (weapons in a subset behave identically). E.g. All polearms would be handled the same (similar reach, damage, animation etc.). 3. Large variety of weapons, but with little difference between them. Self-explantory. Each solution has its merits, what's your preference?