[How should the UI look?]

I would just like to say that a minimap has no place in a fixed angle, isometric game. The whole point of a minimap is to provide at a glance directional orientation to quest markers and surrounding landmarks - none of which are needed in this game.

[Idea: Remove of quest markers and inclusion of detailed journal.]

I think there should be a variety of "natural" directions and subtle indicators instead of the modern waypoint for everything method.

 

Sometimes directions will be vague, other times specific. For example, in the cities, there should be some kind of street and numbering system. That way they can be both specific and require the player to look for them. Out in the wilderness, directions can reference landmarks or general areas.

 

A huge part of the fun of these expansive RPGs is using your common sense and wits to orient yourself and give the world a true sense of place.

[Level scaling]

Josh said they would implement level scaling like in New Vegas, so I'm curious about how well it worked there since I've never played it.

[How should the UI look?]

The nice thing with the UI in the BG games was that it didn't intrude on the actual view of gameplay. You had the border around the gameplay window that had all your information and no minimaps or portraits obfuscating the actual gameplay.

 

This is an excellent point. Since every screen is going to be gorgeous prerendered graphics, I would like a UI that "frames" that rather than "intrude". Something like Icewind Dale's quickslots and portraits laid out on one bar but without the text log and rest of the UI taking up too space perhaps?

[It must be nice !]

Totally share the sentiment of the OP. This is Obsidian's dream project and I'm thrilled they are getting an opportunity to make their ideal RPG.

 

Just bumped my pledge up to 280 dollars

[Graphics style of Project Eternity]

I'm interested to see what standard they are going to render the 2D backgrounds to, considering the expectation that it will still look crisp and detailed in 1920x1080 at least.

 

There's also a cost to benefit consideration since those ultra detailed backgrounds are going to need huge amounts of modelling and art assets. At what point does it become more economical to just use a real time 3D engine for the world?

[Bugs and polish]

I guess working on a relatively simple engine with less moving parts also reduces the potential for technical bugs. Fingers crossed!

[Bugs and polish]

I feel the stars have really aligned on this project and I'm ecstatic that Obsidian can finally work on their dream game.

 

I have NO doubt that Project Eternity will be absolutely phenomenal, however I DO have doubts that Obsidian can deliver a polished and relatively bug free game.

 

That said, the lack of publisher pressure does put Obsidian under different circumstances to prior projects. Ideally, I envision more time being available to polish the game properly before release.

 

What do others think? Will the lack of deadlines give more time for Q&A? Or will the smaller resources being devoted to the game mean less?

 

It would be very reassuring to many of us to have confirmation from Obsidian that Q&A is going to be a prime focus this time around. It's about time Obsidian broke it's reputation for releasing buggy games.