Piccolo

I think they'll make the 1 million before the end, despite the modest start. If they want to get anywhere close to 2 million though, they're really going to have to tidy things up a bit and give people a much better idea of their vision.

I think a temporary effect on certain stats is enough. Maybe certain NPCs refusing to talk to you. Nothing too gimmicky, like a bad attempt at humor...

A lot of people like to create their own parties, even to the extent of coming up with their own backstories for the characters they create. This is just a nice alternative to the in-game companions. If you prefer the companions, nobody is forcing you to replace them.

I think they should add just one more stretch goal for a big final push: 3.5 million: An additional major city with storyline and quests, and modding tools / support.

The setting may not interest you as much as PS:T, but I fail to see why Project Eternity cannot surpass (or at least equal) Torment in terms of story and dialogue. It'll just have a more traditional setting, better exploration, and good combat.

Only if it fits with the game and the overall vibe Obsidian's audio team already have planned...

Direwood I think. Could be wrong though...

Fantastic update. Class system sounds good, and i'm really pleased about the 2.6m stretch goal. The concept art wallpaper is a nice touch also. That's the kind of thing that will grab peoples' attentions...

One of the biggest fears I have about the whole kickstarter concept is that developers will feel too obliged to listen to fan feedback and end up deviating from their overall vision for the game. I don't want to buy some big mess of community ideas bundled into a game. I want to buy the game Obsidian pitched on day 1, with only subtle changes / new features based on fan feedback. An example of a subtle change would be the Cadegund concept art, where they toned down the boob-plate armor. An example of a drastic change deviating from their overall vision would be switching from RTwP combat to turn-based (something I supported initially, until I heard them talk more about the planned RTwP system).

Nice quote. That's one of the most reassuring things I've heard from the devs about this project thus far.

When Project Eternity was first revealed, the developers managed to pitch their vision for a game in a clear and concise way so people had a pretty good idea what their money would be going towards. I was completely sold on that pitch. What these guys are doing is asking money for a game (or maybe even two games ... ) purely on the basis that it's "really oldschool". Sure, they can boast that their team has worked on some great games in the past, which does add weight to their pitch... but that alone isn't enough. When Obsidian mentioned games like Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale, it wasn't just to show their credibility; it was completely relevent to the project and really helped give people a clear idea of what kind of game they were aiming for. Honestly, the whole impression I get from their kickstarter page is that they haven't thought this through much at all and are just trying to jump on the bandwagon.

As much as I love Jeremy Soule as a composer (especially the Oblivion soundtrack), I think i'm more excited about seeing what Justin Bell will come up with for Project Eternity. That last music update was very encouraging.

Their kickstarter seems like a bit of a mess to me. Not very well thought out at all. Still, I hope you're right, and the success of cRPG kickstarters in general (not just PE) does lead to a big revival of the genre.

I would like to think that at the very least, it'll be as good as the old IE games. They have a very experienced team, and are striving to take some of the best aspects from all the IE games... so there's really no reason (besides nostalgia) why Project Eternity shouldn't be equal, if not better.

For modern action RPGs you might have a point... but none of those are oldschool isometric cRPGs, are they? Again, as someone who loves the traditional fantasy setting, I look at GOG.com's collection of RPGs and really don't see an abundance of great cRPGs in that setting. If you're someone who doesn't particularly care for fantasy in the first place, then that's a different issue altogether. I don't particularly care for the post-apocalyptic setting, but if Obsidian decided to make another post-apoc RPG, i'm not going to start moaning about the setting being overused. I'll just accept that that game probably isn't for me.

Game of Thrones isn't high fantasy, so no. It's an entirely different genre of fantasy. Actually, it is high fantasy. G.R.R Martin may keep stuff like magic and non-human races fairly low-key in favour of human conflict, but those elements are still present, and it's still set in a completely fictional world as opposed to a low fantasy story, which takes place in a the real world.

From what I understand, it's going to be a fairly familiar fantasy setting, with some unique / weird stuff mixed in for flavour. I'm perfectly happy with that. In fact, I would be perfectly happy if they just went with a completely ordinary medieval setting... or a completely ordinary Tolkien-esque setting. As i've said in other threads, are there really that many great cRPGs out there with a traditional fantasy setting? I'm looking at GOG.com's RPG catalogue right now, and I just don't see a setting that's been absolutely done to death. Not even close.

I know you like Justin Sweet's art since we already talked about that topic in the thread about him. I respect your opinion and your taste and I must admit that Sweet is also a great artist for sure. But claiming that Komarck can't hold the Sweet's standard isn't quite fair since they mostly differ in questions of sytle, design and handling of the abstraction level but not in questions of artistic capacity. It's a big difference if you just don't like the style of some art pieces or if you say that they are not performed well. And I won't accept that someone claims the latter without reasonable arguements (I'm some kind of strict here when it comes to art.) Sorry, you're right... saying they don't come close to the same standard as the Icewind Dale portraits did come across wrong. All I meant was, the Icewind Dale portraits are way ahead as far as my own personal preference goes. Not that Michael Komarck isn't a talented artist by any means. I even said he was talented at the start of my post. I actually really like some of his artwork that aren't character closeups, like this one for ASOIAF

Talented artist, but this style really isn't my cup of tea. For some reason, it really irks me when the faces are too real in fantasy portraits (almost to the point of looking like touched up photos)... especially when everything else, including the background scenery. has a much more painted look. Overall, i'd say better than the Baldur's Gate portraits, but not even close to the same standard as the Icewind Dale portraits.

I don't know. A manable city you can become the ruler of seems like the kind of over-ambitious feature Lionhead would attempt in one of their games. The idea sounds good on paper, but would it actually work well in game? I think it would be difficult to implement with the level of depth and complexity expected in an oldschool cRPG like Project Eternity. Look at mount and blade. Mount & Blade is a very different kind of game. I really don't think you can compare it to Project Eternity. Being a ruler only really works well in Mount & Blade because you can control huge armies and do battle with other lords. When it actually comes to managing your kingdom, there's really not a great deal of depth at all.

I don't know. A manable city you can become the ruler of seems like the kind of over-ambitious feature Lionhead would attempt in one of their games. The idea sounds good on paper, but would it actually work well in game? I think it would be difficult to implement with the level of depth and complexity expected in an oldschool cRPG like Project Eternity.

Honestly, I think I prefer the PE tracks already. You're right though, actually experiencing the music in game makes a big difference.

I think I read somewhere that they're working on a screenshot now. Just a case of being patient I guess. It's important they do it right and don't rush it. Good suggestions, except romance.

Wow. Those tracks really are amazing. Good job.

Ideally, combat in an RPG (whether it's real-time, RTwP, or turn-based) should always be character skill-based for the most part, but still very engaging and enjoyable for the player. The player should feel very involved, but their skill (whether it be twitch reflexes, tactical decisions, etc) should never override character skill.