rjshae

As long as it doesn't say "Bite me!" on the back.

Yep, even Baldur's Gate had weather. I think it adds a lot of depth to the environment and provides a sense of time flow. People running for cover during a shower was one of the really nice touches in the first Witcher game. The PE designers could put in puddles that appear following showers then dry up. Coastal regions could be foggy in the morning and breezy by the evening. Rain drops on a water surface would be a nice detail, as would roofs getting wet and water flowing down into rain barrels.

It might depend on whatever type of inventory panel they decide to build. That sounds like the one place where you could see a closeup. But I don't think that would require a high polygon count to implement decently.

Yeah I hope they fudge the numbers a bit on purpose so you'll be excited when you find out it goes down another 3 levels. I enjoy it when dungeons explore the whole three-dimensional space, rather than just being a series of levels to be cleared. Making it a three-dimensional maze-like structure adds to the feel of mystery and uncertainty. Features like ramps, sloped floors, elevators, pit traps, chutes, spiral staircases; they all create the sensation of a vertical dimension. I wonder if they will stream the floors together as per Oblivion, or if they will just use old-style level transitions?

I was picturing an ill-tempered, slightly crazy race of people wearing kilts. Except with large, pointy ears.

The lower legs on the Monk looks a bit disproportionate, but otherwise good.

Darnitol, the god of minor inconveniences. He lives on the plane of lost socks. Is worshipped by pranksters and sock makers.

They kind of are overdone, just a little. Some pleistocene megafauna might make for a nice change of pace. Giant flightless birds, smilodons, glyptodonts, mastodons, crurotarsi; that sort of thing.

They could always add a Mezzanine...

The dice poker mini-game in the Witcher was at least entertaining and it added to the character of the setting. If they do have a mini-game, something comparable to that would be good.

That is a nice look. The figure looks a lot less "cartooney" than in BG; just the right amount of detail without crossing into the uncanny valley. I like the inventory grid sizing as well.

There should be a mysterious, unpleasant odor that everybody keeps commenting about.

If they do, I'd actually prefer a smaller map than normal so I can squeeze it into my desk space. Big fold-out maps take up too much room. Maybe they can make it double-sided with the city map(s) on the back?

I'm fervently hoping they will show a sky shot in a date/time panel so we can do a little weather forecasting.

If I might make a note: the party members look perhaps a little too large. They need to be able to individually fit into that tent and not swamp the canoe. Or maybe it's just the perspective and my old eyes are deceiving me.

They could give a significant +XP% bonus to characters that are at lower levels than the party leader; perhaps +25-50% per level difference. Basically, the noobs are learning more from their peers than they would on their own. (Kind of like a rookie does on a sports team.) The greater the level disparity, the higher the bonus. This would allow for rapid catchup over the course of a few levels.

Yes, that's an interesting question. I don't think they used moving shadows in the old BG/IWD games; night just make the scene go darker and perhaps more monochromatic.

Perhaps there is an in-bred community of Necromancers living deep in the dungeon? They've discovered the secret of living (somewhat) safely among the undead, but in the process have become living dead themselves. The community established themselves early in the history of the dungeon and have become cut off from the outside, forming their own culture. They employ the undead as their slaves while working to solve the great eternal mystery of how to become immortal. As they very slowly age and die over the course of centuries, the experiments in necromancy are used to transform their corpses into various sentient abominations; often different from each other and with varying special abilities. These wander the rest of the dungeon, engaging in incomprehensible tasks and using the other undead as their minions. The abominations battle among themselves for power, forming factions and engaging in long-running feuds. The more powerful dwell deeper in the dungeon, while the weaker are forced nearer to the surface, where they scheme to work their way deeper down the pecking order.

Shrug. We're all descended from kings and slaves. Perhaps the best solution is just to have a mix of cultures and biases; let the players decide for themselves what they don't like.

Please, no caps. Point-based with increasing cost at higher levels will take care of the maxima. I don't see a need for (or want) caps; the 3-18 range in D&D just represents the range for the large majority of the population. If a player wants to pour all of their points into a single stat, they should be allowed to do so. People should be able to play whatever type of character they want, even if it is a freakishly strong, clumsy, sickly, blockhead.

Since it is based upon a stretch goal, it is almost certain to have a good deal of customization options. I'd just prefer that the options were significant to the game in some manner. Otherwise, the players options will boil down to decorating your stronghold or buying better equipment.

Very nice, yes, but perhaps a much higher cost in terms of 2D artwork?

Okay, I'll take the low road and wonder how expensive it would be in time and resources to provide DA2-like detailed 3D models of the characters and all possible equipment? I mean, wouldn't a Diablo III-style inventory interface be sufficient for this purpose? Perhaps they can use a basic interface for the release, then go more fancy with a sequel?

Historically, soldiers carried 25-35 kg of weight for long marches. A suit of plate armor was around 20 kg. Plus most knights with plate could also afford a decent warhorse to carry most of the load. Modern U.S. infantry soldiers carry loads of up to 45 kg, but drop most of it for combat.

Had a closer look. Besides the overall beauty, I love the level of surface clutter detail you get in this illustration. It looks much more plausibly realistic than many 3D rendered surfaces in games like Oblivion or Fallout 3.