hideo kuze
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Posts posted by hideo kuze
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I think you're mixing two different things here.
One thing is a group of individuals that pillage, plunger and... ahem... force romance upon damsels, during their journeys.
Another thing are opposing factions. Where faction A tells B is bad, and faction B tells A is bad.
Now that is something that gives room for lot of good things in terms of gameplay, roleplay and replayability (winners write history, what is good and wrong, moral dilemmas, etc, etc).
What.
What part didn't you understood?
One thing is a group of wild criminals that have abandoned everything and went on the ways of stealing.
Another thing is where you have opposing factions in conflict for resources.
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I rather have puzzles that are less mechanical (interaction with switches and tiles) and more research oriented.
For example: you read a couple of different pieces of lore and were able to see the big picture of it all. So to now you know to which location you have to travel, which items you have to combine, and the precise time when you should do it.
Other example: you found out a piece of cloth at a crime scene, you ask/persuade/bribe the tailer to tell you more about it, he tells you who bought it, you confront the customer/assassin.
This would require a bit of UI shifting from traditional molds to allow item use on item or character, but I think it can enrich the game a lot more. (hell FO allowed this, like use explosive on cave, or use rope on pit)
This is type of world interaction I like to see. Not the ahoy-check-the-barrel type of interaction we see in most "cRPGs".
If any moderator sees this thread, can he merge this one with http://forums.obsidi...bg2-yay-or-nay/ ? IMO they are practically the same.
(with this one being the main thread since it has more options)
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Oh well that closes the discussion then. I'm curious to see how well real-time rendered characters will blend with pre-rendered backgrounds; I don't find previous examples of this approach very convincing* (Beyond Divinity, Rise of Nations, ToEE). We'll have to wait and see. I hope they pre-render at way more than 1920x1200, seeing how that's the native res of most displays today, so as soon as you zoom in you'll already lose quality.
What!
How can you say this?
ToEE looks beautiful.
(remember to set at 720p, ignore the reviewer)
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Just how many bandits will we kill and what does that mean for the local populace to lose so many able men? What does it mean that so many felt compelled to banditry in the first place?
I think you're mixing two different things here.
One thing is a group of individuals that pillage, plunger and... ahem... force romance upon damsels, during their journeys.
Another thing are opposing factions. Where faction A tells B is bad, and faction B tells A is bad.
Now that is something that gives room for lot of good things in terms of gameplay, roleplay and replayability (winners write history, what is good and wrong, moral dilemmas, etc, etc).
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Sweet was involved in the Icewind Dale series, so in truth it'd be more like going back to the roots
After all, PE is very much about nostalgia and bringing back the old titles.
And should this stretch goal bring more funding into the project, all the better!
i see what you did there.jpg
One could say that going BG portraits type mode would also be going back to the roots
For me PE is not about nostalgia or bringing back the old titles.
For me PE is about bringing back GOOD cRPGs that have been quite rare for the past decade or so.
Don't get me wrong. It would also please me immensely to have Sweets doing portraits and artwork.
One simply looks at his works and goes "oh man! I want to play that game! Now!"
Just imagine if we had all relevant NPCs with his artwork. And slide shows for major plot events stamped with his illustrations. As well as ending slides (for the multiple endings).... mmmmm
*snap*
Anyway, the thing is Obsidian already has artists and I think they should be given a chance to shine, even more when this is Obsidian's game.
And the ranger dwarf concept they posted does reassure me the game will be in good hands.
BTW, I think you, and the other users interested in this thread, should vote on the stretch goals thread and go for the "More and better artwork (more portraits for PCs and diversity for NPCs, also artwork for items)" option
It needs some help. -
Can you list everyhing (or at least some things) you composed so far in Obsidian's games?
Could get a better picture.
Sure thing! It hasn't always been feasible for me to be involved with music at Obsidian, but when it has, I would always jump at the opportunity... If you visit my website www.benaturalmusic.com, click on Fallout New Vegas, and then click on Stingers so you can check everything out. That should give you a good idea of what I did for that particular project.
Outside of Obsidian, I keep busy with small music writing gigs here and there. Much of that work is as a ghost writer for TV and Film. High profile stuff too! (though part of the deal with that sort of gig is that you're sworn to secrecy about your involvment... I might be killed if I say something
) I've also done some stuff for smaller profile games as well, all fun stuff.I'm sorry to say this but... your site doesn't work very well :-/
Initially it was working, but then it stopped working, I restarted firefox, and no luck in getting "Stingers" to play.
You should have a soundcloud or a youtube account.
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It really depends on how it's done.
Blind level scaling:
I'm not even going to spend time putting arguments in this. It's illogical to say the least. Its only advantage is making the game "accessible" to players who don't even like cRPGs.
Fixed levels:
The problem with it has to do it non-linearity, which results in some battles being impossible and others being trash mobs. While I agree with the former, I find the latter a waste of resources.
What I find that makes sense from a real world perspective and works from a gameplay POV:
- have enemies/critters have an initial level, it makes sense since they were already there before you even started your adventure. If the player tries to bite more than he can chew, well then he's going to die.
- certain enemies/critters progress at a certain rate in respect to the player. While you're adventuring (and progressing) other enemies/critters are doing it too.
This becomes even more interesting with the new $5000 tier OE has introduced. All parties (your party and the enemies parties) start at the same level, exploring, adventuring, improving... and eventually they meet up. If they meet sooner it's a low level battle (from other D&D cRPGs these tend to be the most fun), if latter... then sh*t gonna' get epic.
And this also opens up for time mechanics. Example: a small group of bandits have been robbing old ladies. You decide to ignore the problem. Latter on you find out they've taken over a town. They've improved and are a lot harder to defeat now.
Not all of the npcs/critters should level up since, like real people, most tend to be lazy as hell.
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Obsidian has ALWAYS done a very good job in music for their games. I trust whoever the decide upon. I really liked the music in the KS video. In fact I wish they would share that piece, so we could hear the whole thing by itself.
Agreed.
How about sharing the the full music (or an adapted version) as a KS update?
Well, I just wanted to say, in fact copy paste, what I had already said in the stretch goals thread (when someone commented on bringing Justin Sweet, or Jeremy Soule):
Those two men are great artists' date=' but IMO Obsidian should invest on their own talent.
We only got nice things such as Fallout and PST because Tim Cain and Chris Avellone were left alone and given the chance to create something.
Give Obsidian artists a chance to shine... but if they fail... off with their heads
Just kidding guys, no pressure huh
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Sorry for forgetting about those options (multiplayer and EFIGS, and now that I think about it romances too).
I was limited to 10 options and that was what I came up with (as I started from the poll from inXile).
Not much of an excuse, but I'm also from a non-english native speaking European country, and I'm fine with english.
Playing games is always a nice excuse to improve the english language, especially when you have Sawyer and Avellone writing them
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Modding tools typically allow the player to create new content.
However the question is, how will this content even look half interesting when you have the best writers and designers working on the game?
For me the interest would mainly be in implementing a full TB mode. But I'm pretty sure that won't be possible.
But if this would be possible, as well with changing the game rules (races, spells, etc)... oh boy! Then I would all be up for it.
It would make possible for fans to re-create some old D&D games, like Darksun.
I've used mod packs in the past, but mainly because the developers stopped supporting the game.
Example: ToEE Co8 modpack because the original game was plagued with bugs. And some of the new content was also very nice (this worked for me because the combat was possibly the best in all cRPGs).
And I'm hoping for this PE to be the start of a very long term relationship.
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The poll's options are kind of misleading/limited.
Personally I only care for companions with personality. It's no fun when your adventuring with a bunch of dead bodies where nobody says a word on even the craziest situations.
(but for the record, I still enjoyed playing ToEE even though their companions are kind of flat)
However, knowing the cRPG audience, I would vote for having the option of creating any number of characters for my party.
So if I want to go 1 PC and 5 NPCs, that is possible.
But if I want to play with a 6 PCs party, that is still possible.
Just let the player decide.
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Justin Sweet is an amazing illustrator.
But shouldn't this game be made by Obsidian?
And shouldn't Obsidian artists (which I have not clue who they are or their portfolio) have a chance to shine as well?
The ranger dwarf looked good to me.
Not as sweet as the ones by Sweet, but still quite good.
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For me, classes & factions=replayability, since I am generally prepared to do the same quests over and over again just trying out different builds, and roleplay means that I won't always side with, or even contact, every faction on one character.
I actually think, though, that setting these things as stretch goals is slightly arbitrary: this game won't ship for long time, and the ability of the developers to add MORE will depend on how much they already have. I don't necessarily want my 200 hour game to be a 300 hour game just because Obsidian hit a stretch goal. I'd like them to be able to say 'let's give each class another cool ability' instead of 'save that ability for the twelfth class that we promised'.
Similarly, having a new continent or race can be less interesting in the end than putting more work into an existing continent or race. It shouldn't be about feature creep and ticking boxes.
Right now if Obsidian wants to shake the tree a bit more I'd like to see more physical rewards in the mid tiers. I'm a bit of a sucker for collectable loot.
You make good points.
With exception of the physical goodies, which are money succubus. They may seem as if they're funding the project, but in fact represent null funding for Obsidian since they're expensive to manufacture.
(consider this as an edit to my OP:)
One problem with voting is that for many aspects we don't know what will be there, or what if what's there feels enough.
For example, how can I ask for more or better music if I don't know what's there. How many tracks does it have? Is the music good?
Even more for the world. We have no clue of how big the game currently is. Suppose it's BG2 sized. Would you still ask for more? That was the greatest behemoth out there, I would rather have Obsidian to polish and flesh out the rest.
It's somewhat of a blind vote, but given what we know, it's the best we can do for now.
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i dont personally care what stretch goals they add at this point unless its to bring some big name into the team (like justin sweet, or jermy soule)
Those two men are great artists, but IMO Obsidian should invest on their own talent.
We only got nice things such as Fallout and PST because Tim Cain and Chris Avellone were left alone and given the chance to create something.
Give Obsidian artists a chance to shine... but if they fail... off with their heads
Just kidding guys, no pressure huh
(pic by Chris Avellone, check his twitter)
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I put my priority as reactivity. It is hard for an RPG to have too many choices and consequences.
My secondary choices were larger world, more text and modding toolkit.
These 4 things would add the most value, in my opinion. The other stuff is great too, but those are the key components for an RPG to shine.
Apart from the modding kit, I agree.
But sometimes the other things go under the radar and are not given the deserved importance IMO.
They make the difference between a rough diamond and one that is polished and shinning.
In particular I find the music really important as it really sets out the mood and the (I hate this word but...) immersion.
Or the artwork and the lore/story (as you said, more text) behind an item.
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First goal should definitely be a toolkit. Modding is awesome and enables the players to make the game their own, which is incredibly important to an active fanbase. Plus, with a good toolkit, we can add in pretty much all of the other things listed if we want to.
As for the other options, all are pretty important save for graphics, but top of the list should be choices and consequences, a larger gameworld, and more companions, with text following close behind.
But given that this game is pretty much story focused, is there really an advantage in having a mod kit?
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Yeah, there are several threads already about stretch goals, but there isn't a poll yet.
So we need another useless poll
When voting, please assume that we have reached the 2.2 goal. Which means we already have:
5 races
7 classes
8 companions
a larger story and world (region and faction)... whatever this means.
As you can see the same question is asked twice, with the difference that the first question considers what you see as having the highest priority; while the second allows you to vote on anything you want.
The reason for it was because I suspect the priorities would get too diluted as many people would vote on many things. Let's see if it was worth asking twice or not.
(poll somewhat inspired by this one: http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=336)
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Voting for Voice Characterization (introduction, dramatic reactions, small tidbits here and there) on most characters.
Companions and major NPCs can have a bit more, but not full voice overs.
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IIRC Obsidian is inclined (already decided?) to use a map mechanic similar to BG.
The problem I see with this is that is removes a nice chunk of exploration and puzzle solving from the game.
With this approach it means that you instantly get access to a new location when you talk with an NPC or get access to a map.
Whereas with a free roaming mechanic like the one in Fallout it adds the possibility of having riddles for the player to solve and if he's lucky find some interesting and secret location. Example:
So during your adventure you read a book about some mythical location and you think "wow, really nice lore in this game".
Somewhere latter you read a bit more about it "oh man, this would be a really cool to place to explore. I wish they had this in the game. Well, maybe in a future expansion".
Latter on you're able to get your hands on a parchment, whose author claims he has found that secret area, and he gives its location in the form of a riddle.
Riddle which makes reference to topological features in the world map (rough example: Once embraced by the shadow of the bear's skull, follow the path of his paw for two days, and recite these words... then the door will open to you).
So to get access to that secret location you would have to: have the texts that point to the geodesic point of interest, travel there to get new clues (in this case the bear's skull and paw), solve a new riddle (determine where to head next), and finally use the quest item (in the above example: the parchment to recite some words on the target area in the map).
This can make exploration more interesting and also give a greater sense of reward to the player.
The need for moving to a specific grid on the map adds exploration and puzzle solving, since you're on a quest to find some secret location but have to solve a riddle first.
And the need for having to use a quest item to access the location prevents players from cheesing and combing the entire world map.
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I favor an exhaustion based casting system without cooldowns or mana pools.
Basically, mages are able to cast as many spells as they want. However, each spell tires the caster. The same number of spells cast rapidly tire more than if cast at an even pace.
Effects of exhaustion are cumulative: Spell failure chances increase, spells are less effective, defense is decreased, etc... In general, overall performance suffers.
Therefore, the tactical option of nuking is available at a hefty price, (E.g. two high level spells in rapid succession at a boss fight, and the caster collapses) while being an unreasonable course of action in regular battles.
Spells stay scant resources, but don't feel artificial in a way that "I have 3 fireballs and one confuse per day" does.
Exhaustion empties to a semi-useful 75% on its own even during exploration, but can only be dropped to 0% by rare items, or by resting in a friendly area. (Btw, that's the reason I don't call it stamina/fatigue, as those normally regenerate to 100% on their own)
I wouldn't limit this to spells, I'd actually like to see the same trade-offs for physical abilities.
I really like your idea of exhaustion. And also seeing it applied to physical abilities could also be very interesting. However I have some comments:
- the "magic vitality" you speak of, is nothing but a mana pool. A non traditional one, but it is still one. The difference is that after a certain threshold your spells start failing more and more... until you eventually collapse or even die.
- the amount of magic points (or vitality points or non-exhaustion or whatever you want to call it) should depend on some attribute. Maybe Constitution and Intelligence/Wisdom for magical abilities.
And if you consider this mechanism applied to physical abilities as well, then for those Constitution and Strength.
- and like other systems it suffers from the potion or sleep spamming. A possible solution was the one you mentioned:
make potions very rare and only allow sleeping in town.
But to avoid people going back and forth from town, have random hostile encounters.
BTW, I also recommend checking this overview of different magic systems in cRPGs:
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,1431.0.html
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I hadn't really given this much thought until recently, pretty much assuming that a minimum 40 or 50 hour game was the least we could expect. I don't know if a BG2 style 100 hour epic is reasonable for this budget. But I'm seeing some people on other boards reluctant to kicstart this because they are concerned that if they put in $140 or one of the other large tiers they aren't going to get that much gameplay. This line from the Eurogamer piece isn't helping convince those doubters:
My theory is Obsidian may opt for an episodic approach. Not literally, but to launch a realistically-sized adventure first, then to build the world out with subsequent instalments after that. The feast would be staggered over courses, rather than Obsidian faced with the daunting prospect of cooking and presenting it all at once.
The Project Eternity Kickstarter blurb mentioned taking your hero character through "future adventures", which seemed to back this theory up. "Yes," Cain answered, "we are hoping to make additional content for the game which you can explore with the same characters."
Now my interpretation of what Tim Cain said is that they want to do sequels and even expansions for this world, which is fine by me. But many people seem to think like the article writer that its confirmation that the first game isn't going to be as big as they think it should be to justify more then one of the smaller kicstarter amounts.
Anyone seen anything that clarfiies this?
This is Obsidian. Not EA DLC milking.
They're honest and I'm looking forward to new adventures of their new IP.
I have a question to Obsidian:
how much would it cost to make a game with the size of BG2, the roleplay of Arcanum, and with the story depth of PS:T?
(I would also wanted to say, with the tactical combat of ToEE, but alas
)If it's under 5 million, you should make it a stretch goal.
And if it's more, but not much more, you should do what Fargo did: say in fact you'll be needing more, but if you don't reach it, you'll invest from your own pockets.
Alternatively if you can say a reasonable budget for a game with 75% of the content referenced above, in my book, that is still an amazing game and deal for $25 (obviously that I'm going for the 250$ tier
)FWIW, yes I know a game's quality (or anything else for that matter) shouldn't really be measure on how much time you spend with it (boring fedex quests anyone?), but on it's quality. Still, I guess we all enjoy a game that allows us to do plenty of stuff (not necessarily related to the main quest).
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My only fear in this is that with so few companions, it will end up akin to Bioware's "catch-em-all" BFF-collection "parties", with very little true choice in the way your party plays out or is shaped. This is doubly true if you "just happen" to get one of every class - something that by itself stifles replayability, but is also such a trope, as if you're making them for the sake of making them, rather than to have interesting, fitting characters. Mechanically fitting or appropriate choices is in no way mutually exclusive to good storytelling, but it is just so incredibly boring to see "The Ranger", "The Warrior", "The Mage", rather than characters developed for their own sake.Project Eternity is still early in development and we are still working on many of the cultures, factions, and ethnic groups of the world and debating many of the system concepts. However, there are certain fundamental things we want to let you know about the game and the setting for Project Eternity.
Your Party
The maximum party size is the player's main character (PC) and up to five companions for a total of six characters. This does not preclude the addition of temporary characters in special circumstances. Companions are never forced on the player. Players can explore the entire world and its story on their own if they so choose. We feel companions are excellent sounding boards for the player's (and other companions') actions, but the story is ultimately about the player's personal conflict among the larger social and political complexities of the world.
Is there no chance that we'll be seeing more companions than there are classes, or more relevant class-options than there are companions assigned to their roles? I was so very, very, very much hoping that we'd be able to get away from the ever-shrinking party options of modern RPGs. I want to do themed parties again.
First of all I don't see this project ending with less than 3 million (it's possible for it to reach 4 or 5). So that means at least 8 companions.
And while I also prefer to have a group of something like 12 or 15 characters to chosen from, I'm more than happy with 8 memorable companions to chose from.
Maybe adding another 5 or 6 not so memorable/deep characters can appease both crowds.
I wonder if you'll be able to create more than one PC during your character/party generation.
Bleh.[...] elves, dwarves), [...]It's what you do with it that counts
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Thanks for the update Sawyer!
And IMO this is exactly the type of fuel the KS needs to keep the funding going.
I'm really enjoying reading your ideas for the game.
Your Party
6 characters... sweet
(well, I guess everyone was expecting this one anyway)Formations
About the formations, are you going for a menu similar to the one in ToEE? I think that one was pretty versatile and useful.
Character Creation
What do you have in mind for the ability scores?
How do the traits, skills and talents work together? I mean, by the names there seems to be some overlapping.
Races
How many distinct races do you see this world having?
I know this must be limited for budget reasons, but if this wasn't the case, how many would it make sense to have while having significant differences between each other.
mmmm.... I'm so happy about this project
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Voice Acting, I guess.
Characters like Kreia, Ammon Jerro, Boone or Veronica would not have been the same if they weren't voiced.
Full voice acting kills what RPGs are all about. It forces streamlining (removing possibilities of interaction) and gets expensive as hell, especially in a game with lots of text.
However I'm all up for voice characterization (introductory lines, a few tidbits here and there, and critical moments that require dramatization).
I believe that to be important when trying to depict a character.
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Questions about Business Model
in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)
Posted · Edited by hideo kuze
Bioware spy detected
j/k
I see what you did there... and I don't like it.