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Justinian

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Posts posted by Justinian

    I can't see ****! Pls make combat clearer

    in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)

    Posted · Edited by Justinian

    This is what every battle with spell effects looks like. How is this acceptable at all?

     

    bR6i4tg.jpg

     

    xdOWeff.jpg

     

    I just thought of another simple way this kind of mess can be cleared up and made infinitely more playable. Just completely remove all forms of occlusion on selection circles when the game is paused. That way units and spell effects don't obstruct anything and we can just command everything via circles.

     

    Of course tuning down the spell effects and lighting is still important, but if that can't be done please at least make the circles visible at all times. It's insane that a game with tactical combat at its core can't even present it in a way that is visually coherent and playable. DO SOMETHING OBSIDIAN!!

    • Like 4

    Characters don't speak in combat?

    in Pillars of Eternity: Technical Support (Spoiler Warning!)

    Posted · Edited by Justinian

    Here's a savefile where there are no voices while paused in combat:

     

    https://www.sendspace.com/file/8kzeoo

     

    Seems like it's happening on all my saves too. Interestingly, out of combat, the characters will verbally acknowledge being clicked on right after unpausing.

     

    Might have something to do with another issue where particle effects are not activating while paused but firing all at once when unpaused:

     

    http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/77796-particle-overload-bug/

     

    Seems like they changed something up beginning with 1.04 beta.

    I can't see ****! Pls make combat clearer

    in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)

    Posted

    OK I've determined that in most cases it's the overblown lighting that accompanies spell effects that is the culprit. Another culprit is grass interacting with this lighting and blocking out selection circles on some maps. The result is that the characters and background have the same lighting values and it's impossible to make out anything.

     

    If they didn't have the resources to redo the spell effects, it might be a good idea to tweak the lighting down, together with some selection circle tweaks. I would personally prefer double circle on selected characters.

     

    Also, perhaps instead of a green glow effect on characters, there could be a flashing outline of the character on mouseover or select so they are discernable under spell effects.

    • Like 1

    I can't see ****! Pls make combat clearer

    in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)

    Posted

    It's a (crappy and stupid) modern trend to make the UI as small as possible, which is why we have those tiny char portraits and the super tiny status effect icons. It's especially disappointing after Obsidian had the right idea with NWN2's vast amount of hotbars. They should also have stolen the custom char ring colors idea from BG:EE to help you find specific chars more easily.

     

    -"Turn spell effects off on pause"

    Yes, either turning them off or making them vastly less opaque on pause would help.

     

    "Clearer markers for status effects"

    Any time a char has any effect that makes them unable to act, this effect should be VERY clearly displayed on top the character portrait along with a timer, not hidden among the ****loads of other effects.

     

    "Separating buff and debuff icons"

    Yes pls.

     

    I think toning down the spell effects in general is the solution, though may require more work. Some spells have multiple visual effects that are completely obtrusive and unecessary. As some quick examples:

    • I have no idea why the Paladin's flames of devotion is so bright and overbearing for a single hit ability. It pretty much overwhelms the paladin and characters around him when he uses it, making them quite hard to make out.
    • Wall of flame is a nightmare when it comes to visibility - often obstructing the whole battle.
    • The lighting on many spells is just way too exaggerated, completely washing out the characters environment and making them indescernible.
    • Like 1

    I can't see ****! Pls make combat clearer

    in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)

    Posted

    This has been an area of discontent since the early beta. Things have improved slightly with better combat UI, but the problem of overblown spell effects and poor visibility still plague the game.

     

    http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/67653-combat-readability-analysis-graphics/

     

    http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/77313-selected-character-highlight/

     

    http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/75109-the-only-serious-problem-i-have-with-poe/

    Hard mode is too easy.

    in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)

    Posted

    One of the latest reviews from CGM discusses difficulty:
     

    The gameplay itself is fairly standard real-time RPG fare, with a top-down perspective and a range of abilities to use. On Normal difficulty, the game starts off with a decent challenge, provided you don’t wander off into a more difficult area without picking up some help. I managed to miss the NPC fighter in the first town until I came back to check something, which is always a fear in these kinds of games, but I did notice quickly that the game was built around the main quests. My usual tactic for any RPG is to wander about, finishing every side-quest and clearing every dungeon I can before completing the main quest. The results of this in Pillars of Eternity were twofold.

     

    Firstly, I often had to return to areas I had just cleared in order to progress; this is a standard issue with my style of game, and generally doesn’t provide a problem. What is an issue, however, is that it was quite easy to become overpowered by pursuing the side-quests first, levelling up in such a way so that main encounters are trivial. The second act’s main quest became an afterthought to me in terms of challenge, burning through scores of enemies with nothing more than my Cipher’s mind-blades and paralyse attack and the rest of my party’s abilities.

     

    Hard mode is too easy.

    in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)

    Posted

    A slight ray of hope from a Shacknews interview:

     

    "Urquhart fully recognizes that even though the game is out there, there is still work to be done. That includes upcoming patches, with Urquhart noting that 1.05, in particular, set to introduce some quality of life improvements. This includes allowing players to change portraits, balance tweaks, and other adjustments based on player feedback."

     

    Sounds like a difficulty rebalance to me. Hopefully...

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