-
Posts
160 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Posts posted by JWestfall
-
-
Comparing completely different types of games. Might as well ask if Project Eternity will have high quality racing vehicle simulation or realistic voxel fluid mechanics.
The models will likely be low poly - this doesn't mean they will necessarily be "ugly", just that there is no reason to push a 500,000 triangle mesh to the video card for a character object that is relatively small on the screen.
- 1
-
According to the lore update today, she is a priest/worshiper of Magran, goddess of war and fire. As a worshiper of a fire goddess, I can only assume she has been blessed by her goddess with heat resistance + 1. Thus - dilemma solved.
- 9
-
Looks great, my only concern is for animation. Often with they type of system you're proposing to use animations such as water and wind are left out, or at best are scripted without any enviromental interaction (Such as tossing a baddy into the water doesn't create ripple effects...)
Any insight into whether the environment will be more interactive?
FWIW, a couple quotes:
From the Kickstarter comments (through the wonderful summary post by Ink Blot):
Question: I know you're using effects for things like water splashing on rocks, but can I assume the waterfall itself, and the river below will also have animated flowing water? How far will you take it? Animated grass from the wind? Swaying trees? Too early to say?
Feargus: We are going to try to get as much as we can animating - at some point it will start causing memory and performance issues, so we will work to have the stuff that should really, really animate moving first and then work our way down from there.
From a post by Sawyer earlier today in the Update #20 Announcement thread:
We're trying out various animation solutions for the waterfall, spray, and the pool/river. They will definitely be animated, but we want to leave our options open to support a wide range of hardware without making the area art files even larger.
-
Don't think so, all characters do it weather they have swords, spears, staves, or whatever. They probably did it because it was cheaper and they didn't have to make animations for each side.
Yep, (I think that was about the time video cards started supporting flipping & rotation of 2D sprites on the card, too, so may have saved on actual art assets as well).
This definitely will not be the case in PE, though, since the characters are all going to be true 3D textured models. Animation of these models will happen in real time, as opposed to pre-rendered, and the models themselves can be rotated, sized, re-textured, deformed, etc. as needed during gameplay.
-
Lots of Paladin love here I see... but what about us poor Chanters?
Do not tempt us to use our superior Lore on you...
-
Obsidian should institute a "Screenshot Thursday" tradition, where every Thursday they post up a new screenie of some part of their current development. They wouldn't all have to be as friggin' cool as this one, of course, but even just a snippet of them working with their tools, or a screen grab of the WIP from an artist's current render scene.
Come on Obsidian, how about it?
- 3
-
Aw, bite me. I think it would be a great slap in the face to the folks who didn't LIKE Obsidian on facebook. lol Ooon the other hand, Tale probably has it right with the whole idea that it would require people to go through an optional area to get to a place that's going to take up a *lot* of resources.stuff
I vaguely recall a supplement or module for AD&D (1st ed I think) where you explore a vast underground cavern system, and one of the areas was an entire town that had long ago fallen into a giant sinkhole, and generations of people living in the dark had made them blind. Or something like that - it is from a loooong time ago.
The point to my rambling is that in all seriousness a city/ruins/village/something would definitely be cool (just no same-old-underdark-Drow-city please).
Back to the Big City: It would sure be a shame if we hit just shy (3.4) of the mark. Which is why we can't let that happen!
- 1
-
I hope the cloth map is as thick as the BG2 cloth map, mine's still in great condition.
The Dragon Age cloth map was freaking terrible.
Yes, everything you said. Also - I still even have my cloth map from Ultima 5 - along with the faint scribblings of where I translated the runes into English.
- 1
-
We might as well have Michael Bay direct the movie and Nickleback do the score if Ziets is joining the team. They're successful right? They must be great!
Mask of The Betrayer was almost like it was directed by Sam Raimi and scored by Ween.
Or something.
-
Looking at how pledges are going :D I wonder what would happen if on the last day Obsidian posted a short gameplay clip
It would be of biblical proportions.
Fire and brimstone, rivers and seas boiling.
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
- 3
-
I think 3.5 mil goal was a good choice, in that it seems plausible yet certainly not guaranteed. It will make that last day more interesting...
-
I'll have put almost 20 hours of over time in at work by the end of the week, so I'll splurge some more on my pledge. However, I think I'll wait until the end to join in with the last mad rush.
- 1
-
This is not a bad idea, really. I tip my hat to you, sir! :Cant's hat tipping icon:The deepest level in the Mega Dungeon will actually be a Mega City!
Right guys? Who's with me?
That would be very, very, very nice.
Sometimes even I underestimate the power of my sarcasm.
-
The deepest level in the Mega Dungeon will actually be a Mega City!
Right guys? Who's with me?
- 9
-
Meh, it looks too cartoony, I knew they should have went with Cryengine
Serious Time: Holy ****, that looks fantastic! I'd download that for my art collection even if it was just non-game render - I can't wait to see these in game together with all of the animation and character models. A lot of animation and trickery can be done with just a little clever use of shaders and particle systems (which Unity3D provides a wonderful interface for).
That entrance, with the statues, exudes a feeling of ancient menace. I can't wait to see what lies inside...
-
Here's a novel idea for everybody who doesn't trust Obsidian to deliver the game in a manner which they find acceptable, don't pledge. I don't even mean that in some snarky, butthurt way -- This whole Kickstarter thing is entirely voluntary, and you should only back a company/idea you really believe in.
I agree with the logic here, but I have a feeling that at least some who post these types of things are looking for genuine reassurance from the community, or as personal justification for donating.
For the OP, as has been said many times, Obsidian has a proven track record, and they are especially experienced in this particular genre. This would be one of the least of my worries in backing this project.
-
All party members are player characters. I should have equivalent control over all of them.
I concur.
-
Great stuff in this update, excited to see what GZ can bring to the table. Chanters sound kewl - I foresee a true dilemma in choosing a starting class, which is a good thing methinks.
But most importantly - New Mouse Pad! Finally, I can retire my Max Payne pad I got with the original game back in circa 2001 (yes, I'm serious) - 'member those good ol' days, when games came in a box that was actually substantial enough to contain an entire mouse pad?
Also, I almost feel for you Obsidian guys - all the pressure from the great expectations of us frothing fans must be... intense
-
Even if they are known, I'm not sure it would provide a useful metric to compare to PE - different tech, different business strategy.
- 3
-
I can't believe they are trying to get more money out of people during a fundraising campaign. The nerve!
But seriously, while I'd love to see a (proper) XPac, it looks like due to the tier setup as they are now I'll likely have to purchase it after it comes out.
-
Good update, love the Q&A, and of course love that mod support is officially announced.
As for the pet, how about a magical paperclip or something?
- 3
-
I am still unsure of how I would vote between the two options, however. I suppose it depends on how much resources would need to be diverted into opening up the scripting side (as opposed to just data side). While I loved mucking around with NWN, and I'm a hobbyist programmer, I'm leaning towards wanting a fully fleshed out game with lots of content this time around, as opposed to what NWN had on release.
-
stuff
Interesting, thank you. I think it would be great for them to open it up as much as you say, I'd certainly love to contribute on the programming side if they expose C#.
-
Flexible engine option
Requirements:
- more algorithms
- more data structures
- more, better and cleaner coding
- at least an API or even open sourced portions of the engine
- no limitations on content creation whatsoever (maps, NPCs, bitmaps, sounds, items even some event providers that can be plugged-in)
- dedicated website where content is uploaded and retrieved from, with voting system much like Steam's Workshop
While the poll may be useful as a theoretical discussion, it has already been said that they are using Unity3D as their engine, which likely rules out some or most of these bullet points.
Unity3D is a toolset + engine combo, and it uses C# (or a form of Javascript) as its API, which would not be exposed in a built and packaged game. Also, Unity3D is closed source (unless you pay $$$ and can convince them to give you the source code).
I'm not positive, but I imagine that certain assets could be exposed externally, however, which may make modding easier - but I wouldn't count on there be any toolset or scripting.
- more algorithms
Screenshot... what ya'll think
in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)
Posted
My guess is that your eyes are subconsciously trying to force objects into a perspective view (where parallel lines converge in the distance), but the image has been rendered in orthographic view. That's why at first glance it may look like the lake is higher up in the back, even though it is supposed to be level. The lower angle may exacerbate this disconnect.
I'm sure the devs will find the sweet spot on the camera angle, but in the end it will probably take a bit of getting used to from us players who have been trained to see video games & realistic style scenery in perspective view over the years. Also, it will likely help when there are moving character models, shadows, and other visual cues.