Branimir

It sounds like this topic is about many different issues. But for those of you having the issue of the screen being solid black on game launch and Cmnd+F not working this is what you can do: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/80092-fix-screen-solid-black-on-launch-mac/

So, launched your game and everything's black but you can hear the music and see your mouse cursor? Its a bug in Fullscreen. I've discovered many ways to fix it. Firstly, what's happening is that it is not in Fullscreen, its windowed, but the game is telling it to black out everything. The intended purpose is blackening unused screen space when running the game at a lower resolution while the monitor is at a higher resolution. Fullscreen fails so it reverts to a window, and the game is programmed so that when it is set to the monitor resolution it goes into Fullscreen even if Fullscreen is unchecked, result is this bug. Q: Why hasn't Obsidian fixed this? The game has been out for months! A: From what I hear they're claiming its a bug in Unity, and Unity isn't their product so they can't alter it. But like all problems that haven't been solved the real reason is lack of imagination. If they removed the feature that makes it go into Fullscreen even if Fullscreen is unchecked when a window is at the monitors Resolution, or disabled the blackening of unused monitor space, that would fix the bug but maybe that's automatic stuff that Unity puts in I'm not sure how much they can do working with an engine they can't manipulate. But one fix Obsidian definitely could do is remove the Unity Fullscreen entirely and utilize the Mac Fullscreen. On a Mac we have a built in Fullscreen which is disabled on PoE, in Yosemite it's the green button, on Mavericks its the arrows icon in the top right. And personally I prefer the built in full screen because I can easily switch to see my desktop without effecting the game, and access the top menu from fullscreen. Not knowing how isn't an issue since the internet was invented, or at least since the invention of search engines. Fix #1: Playing in Unity Fullscreen The only way you can play using their buggy Fullscreen is by connecting a second monitor, with mirroring off, so the other monitor goes black instead. However this causes the game at all resolution settings to cut off all 4 edges of the screen for me. If that happens you can fix it by (1) setting it to a lower resolution and (2) windowing it then (3) exit and (4) relaunch then (5) full screen it and it should be fine on launch from then on. 1920x1080 is default for me so I lowered to the next option under 1600x900 and when I went to full screen from launching in window it became 1680x1050. The other issue is that the game still exists in the other monitor you just can't see it; you can click and it will run your people that way; and your mouse goes past the screen making Screen Edge Scrolling annoying (because it still uses the edges of the first monitor). Basically just write off that edge and use the arrow keys. If you have something in Mac Fullscreen on the other monitor it won't go black but you can't interact with it while the game is in Fullscreen because the mouse and keyboard are locked to it. Fix #2: Change it to windowed, in game, while its black. There's no way to manually change the resolution. But for a split second when you hit Cmnd+F you can see the windowed (but at your comps resolution so taking up the full screen) game for a second. In that second you can interact with the game. Warning: This is difficult and annoying but doesn't take much time and is a permanent fix if done correctly. Spam Cmnd+F quickly while you do this; 1: Go to Options 2: Go to Graphics 3: Select a lower resolution from the Resolution drop down. 4: Fullscreen Checkbox is unchecked, make it checked. Checking Fullscreen will make it attempt and fail, causing it to revert to a window of a smaller size, lower res window means it won't be trying to go fullscreen anymore (no more black screen bug). Not checking the box will make the game assume you want to keep the current hybrid/bugged fullscreen setting, which will make the window smaller but the black screen will still be an issue. 5: Click the X to close the window 6: Save Settings when the in game popup asks. It should launch in window and be playable from now on. WARNING: DO NOT raise the resolution to the same or higher than your monitor resolution, it will recreate the bug. Note: Sometimes the software fails to revert to Fullscreen when you change the game resolution to the same as your monitor resolution while windowed, resulting in a window that takes up your full screen, parts of which will be off of the screen. If you want that, be willing to have to repeat the glitch fix process before you do it as you may have to do it several times. Also, even if you do get it to work, on launch the glitch will be back. Fix #3: Change it to windowed, in game, at 90º 1: Change Display settings to Rotation: 90º 1a: Apple Logo in the top right 1b: System Preferences... 1c: Display(s) 1d: Rotation: 90º 2: Turn mouse+head 90º 3: Launch Game. It won't black out the screen because the default resolution is different from the screen now. Which can only be done with Rotation since the games default resolution is automatically the monitor resolution but has no options for reverse dimensions of screen resolutions, so it won't try to force Fullscreen. 4: Lower the Resolution in game 4a: Go to Options 4b: Go to Graphics 4c: Select a lower resolution from the Resolution drop down. 4d: Click the X to close the window 4e: Save Settings when the in game popup asks. 5: Change Rotation to Standard and play normally. It should launch in window and be playable from now on. WARNING: DO NOT raise the resolution to the same or higher than your monitor resolution, it will recreate the bug. Note: Sometimes the software fails to revert to Fullscreen when you change the game resolution to the same as your monitor resolution while windowed, resulting in a window that takes up your full screen, parts of which will be off of the screen. If you want that, be willing to have to repeat the glitch fix process before you do it as you may have to do it several times. Also, even if you do get it to work, on launch the glitch will be back.

@Everyone thank you for your replies and advice, I appreciate it. I was just wondering though: I read online that the average pay for a Game Designer is $55,400 which sounds decent, but I also heard that they can start as low as $38k/year. I was just curious if anyone has personal knowledge regarding the anual income of game designers. @Osvir I actually ran a small business out of my home for 3 years, building and selling custom computers, gift cards, calendars, and some basic software that wasn't very good because I don't know much about computer programming. But I did write a few mods for Diablo 2, Baldur's Gate, and some other games when I was a kid, because I knew some guys who knew programming and I pick up that stuff very quickly when I have someone to line it up for me (or I have some code to read and figure it out). Most of my programming knowledge is in Web Design (to which I am certified in), and spreadsheet programming; because I had a job programming spreadsheets to interpret medical data a couple years ago and learned it on the job; and hardware programming which I learned while getting my certification in Digital Electronics. So if you are looking for someone for your game development company, there's more than a few ways I might be an asset to you even without any game design background. And I do learn very quickly, so anything you can explain thoroughly to me once I'll be able to do from then on. It would be good experience for me, for life and for my present impasse. Just to be clear I'm just asking to talk with you about this topic to see if it leads to future cooperative endeavors, which can take place online and annonymously at your preference. I am not asking for any monetary compensation. I'm perfectly willing to answer some questions and give some advice for free as well. Sorry if this over clarity seems a bit strange, I've actually been banned for offering free help in game forums before because a moderator assumed I was going to charge the guy, even though I never said that, and never asked for any private information, and explained to the moderator that I was not intending to charge anything, but I still didn't get my account back so I'm extra cautious now. We can talk about it in PM since it's off topic. I included this post here because I am equally interested in anyone else who would be willing to get me on board with a development project. Under the right circumstances I'd even be willing to work part time for free in exchange for the first hand look into the details of development that developers don't share in project updates (such as actual coding), and would be willing to sign a contract as an independant contractor denoting all the work I do for said developer is their property right and that I accept a payment of $0. I've never used this section of the forum before but... I think... this is what this section of the forum is about, game development stuff. Not that I expect to get any offers, since I've tried that before and have always been turned down due to not having any experience or education in game development. But you can't win if you don't try to play. That said I think I'm going to try to implement the advice I got from @J.Burke and make my own campaign. Just have to find a game I can do that on (like, NWN2) and teach myself how. After I buy a new computer.

Video Games are a huge part of my life, I'm one of those people that tries to see every last detail in every game I play, and I'm constantly thinking of ways they could be improved and coming up with new ideas for games. I originally went to college for Electronics Engineering but dropped out to work full time (been working mostly in labor, rarely I get some programming work). I'm planning on going back to school this year and I really think video game design is what I want to do. But I've only just thought of it as a practical career choice, and have just started looking into it. Since Obsidian is one of my favorite developers I thought I'd post here for advice about what schools I should look at and what major I should take. The areas of video game development that particularly interest me; aside from design in general; in no particular order are Programming, Writing, and Testing. I'm 24 and I've lived in Southern California my whole life, currently in the San Diego area but I move around So. Cal. a lot for jobs. So I'd prefer a school in Southern California or California in general. If not that, online. I will need to look into financial aid options to attend college and I'll have more options and discounts in my home state. I was also in the top 4% of my class at SciTech.

Is there going to be a god like Lathander? I would prefer that.

I think you should get rid of the ++ system altogether. It is fatuous, I never understood that. If it is magically imbued, just list the magical benefit of + to armor or damage under the weapon/armor's statistics/magic abilities. And to make a larger variety like you were saying, there already is a solution, Blizzard Entertainment did over a decade ago with Diablo, and it's based on realism. If you find a weapon or armor, its base statistics (damage, armor, etc) are randomly generated from a range depending on the type/grade of the equipment. So the exact same piece of equipment doesn't always have the exact same statistics. In reality, if I was a blacksmith, and my cousin who's 10 years older is a blacksmith, and we both made the same kind of broadsword with the same kind of metal, they are not likely to be the exact same quality. And if some guy on the other side of the planet makes a broadsword, it could easily be like a completely different weapon compared to the one I made even if it's made from the same kind of metal. You've got to stop trying to make it like D&D and focus on making it good and realistic. D&D came out decades before I was born. When a car company makes a new model of car, they don't base it on the first car ever made, they use the technologies present today to make the best car they can. In your case, that means don't try to make it like D&D, take inspiration from new technologies that are available to you, open your minds and be more creative, to make it as good as possible. Would you buy a Model-T today? Or even a new design of car, claiming to be unique, based on the body, engine, et cetera of the model T. I wouldn't, I wouldn't find it appealing at all. But my great great grandpa, if he was alive today, might like it because of the nostalgia. Nostalgia doesn't make a product better, it's an illusion, a reminder of good memories not new good memories. Why go for something less good because it's nostalgic when you can make something greater and form new good memories for your customers to be nostalgic about in the future? The names and tiers that you mentioned in your example are a good start to a unique armor system. You could add more variety, and more tiers, and implement my suggestion of having exact stats and magic abilities of a specific piece of equipment be generated randomly on drop (or build), like Blizzard does in Diablo. I would very much prefer that kind of system.

Today I discovered a game on Kongregate.com with an interesting character progression system that I really loved a lot. The game is called Arkandian Explorer what do you think of this style of character progression? There are no classes, just multiple races, It is not level-based or skill-based, aside from magic spells which anyone can learn. There are a number of statistics, such as weapon attack, weapon defense, blocking, dodging, archery, blacksmithing, leadership, bargaining, and a whole lot more, which are used in calculating the success of actions in and outside of battle. They're increased while performing those actions, I don't know what the programmer used for calculating when and how much a statistic will increase. There is no strength, dexterity, et cetera.

That's very rude. Its not "dead" It hasn't been inactive for very long. I still haven't received responses to my last message, and the addition of the Stronghold adds new content to the discussion of this thread. The point of this thread, if you read it, was to discuss what features would improve the player house and the game, and now that it's going to be a stronghold the range of that has widely increased, creating additional content to the topic of discussion here. If I thought that there was no point to reminding contributors of this thread that it exists, I would not have posted. So if you don't have anything useful to contribute, I'd prefer you don't spam it. The only reason I didn't post sooner was because between the time I made that last post and yesterday I didn't have the free time to sign in here.

And now with the Stronghold, (3.0 Million stretch goal) that's going to rock.

How do you think I found this thread? Project Eternity KickStarter Update #22. http://www.kickstart...ty/posts/327839 I thought everyone read them. They're emailed to me automatically for donating to the KickStarter project. They're also here on the forum: http://forums.obsidi...one-trolls-you/ I never said it was a quote from this thread. I'm still catching up on them, I just read #22 yesterday. (I've got 6 more to go still) I was unhappy enough with what I read to search for this thread and post my preference. Since things aren't set in stone yet. That's what we keep hearing, but one never knows whether a developer will just go with their first plan or give it more careful consideration. But its better to give my preference in the hopes that they'll consider it than to not give it and then not give them the chance to.

Now that I remember it, I really liked how weapon skill worked in Baldur's Gate. I really like all of your suggestions for that matter, if we're taking it to a vote. I hope they read this thread and consider all the suggestions that people have made here when setting up how things work in the game, instead of just reading the original post and just doing this: We are working hard to make Project Eternity revive the spirit of the older IE games, and this includes making leveling up an important accomplishment, one that makes your character feel substantially more powerful afterward. I agree that frequent level-ups make the event feel less special, so we plan to space out these events over the course of our storyline. The first few level-ups will occur relatively early in the game, but the pacing of the subsequent level-ups will be much slower. For people who enjoy level-ups, they are free to use our Adventurer's Hall to swap out new companions frequently, so they are always leveling up new characters to use in later parts of the story. For people who aren't sure what character classes they will want to have available in the end game, it's always nice to have the choice of having all of them. I am unhappy with Tim Cain's answer If that's how they did it, I would deal. (I enjoy more frequent low power-boosting level-ups, if it has to be level-based progression) But as I mentioned earlier, I don't like using more than one character (with the exception of NPC interacting party members). I most likely wont use Adventurer's Hall until I've beaten the game first, or achieve max level if they put one in there (which I'd also dislike). I'm not saying that method is necessarily bad, that's why it wont stop me from playing or anything, but there are better ways. Ways where everyone wins instead of just that side wins and the other side is just thrown a rat bone. Though perhaps I'm just the odd one out with this whole Adventurer's Hall thing.

I don't want to feel threatened by a rat for any amount of time. o.o I hope they have real enemies, even a dog would be a better enemy. But rats and cats aren't really threatening. I'd like to first say I am not knocking your gaming preference, if that's what you like good for you. But I absolutely hate games like that and won't even play them a lot of the time. I hate the idea of low level caps, and I hate the idea of the level cap growing with an expansion, it feels like I'm being conned, because my character can't get any better after a point unless I pay more money to buy the expansion. I do like Fallout 3, but it was well made, and I have the game of the year edition which has all the DLC preinstalled. The way the game was made Lvl30 seemed significant. However most of the time, games have the same feel as a game with a level cap of 99, but they just stop at 20, and it really bothers me that I can't become any stronger. This is another reason why I don't like the level system. In a game where you progress at things individually, you don't have to worry about level caps. You could still have a cap on how good you can get at certain skills, and how strong you can get, et cetera, that is determined by your character Strength and Intelligence etc scores. I like the idea of Strength not being the defining amount of how strong you are but rather a score defining your potential, and having how strong you are and how much damage you can do with a broadsword a separate determining factor. Like, (don't have a cow) the Effort Values and Individual Values in the Pokemon games. In that case they do have levels but the EVs and IVs still play a roll in how the critter grows. As in whether he will be stronger or faster when he levels up. In a non level system the EVs and IVs would directly effect the increase of your characters strength, speed, and skill. Arguably one could say that about every single roleplaying game. Because D&D is considered the origin of modern RPG. But assuming thats unarguable fact, what do you think constitutes a reason for making a game with strong inspiration and consideration to D&D? This is a completely unique game, I don't think they should base it to even a minor degree on D&D. They should go with what works best for this game, and have any similarities be coincidence (id est not on purpose). Games should be designed to work with their concept of the game, not designed to be like anything else. this is a very good...that way. Screw that. If you enjoy games without character progression you should try games like Assassins Creed and Tomb Raider, because this isn't that kind of game. The whole point of games like this is that there is statistical progression, whether it be level-based progression or skill-based progression. //Not A Reply To Quote// I've noticed a few people who are for slow level progression saying that its because enemies become too easy. I'd like to point out that there are games where enemies are always your highest level characters level, or higher. In that case, even if there are 100 levels, and every level is a huge power boost (or a small one), that also means your enemies get an equivalent boost. Meaning more customization for your character, which is what a lot of people pro quick weak lots of level ups are asking for, while keeping the game at the same difficulty throughout. Though that is not my personal preference. I like being able to work at getting stronger and be able to wipe things out with ease at a certain point after putting in the appropriate effort. I strongly agree with this. Though not necessarily the other things you said. Okay, I've seen this a few times now. Can someone explain to me what the problem with this is? I'm not saying I prefer it either way, because I don't care that much, however it makes more sense. For example, it doesn't take a sanitation specialist (id est someone who becomes a janitor) and a medical specialist (id est a medic or doctor) the same amount of schooling to become exceptional at their jobs. It makes sense that if they did the research and discovered how much training a person needed to become skilled at different things, they'd realize that it requires different amounts, and then adjust experience requirements appropriately. I agree. While I mostly don't care about whether its 30 or 100 levels as long as the game is designed well to make it work. Having a number as low as 10 with that dramatic of difference feels weird/bad to me… It wont be that way. They already announced in like update #7 that they are going to make the game have nice useful noncombat skills that you can use to progress through the game, gaining levels and progress without even having to fight basically. As for things like smithing, which I don't see how/why they would make it required to progress to the next stage in quests throughout the game, it should be something that you have to go out of your way to increase. Its more realistic like that, in reality you can't go to college studying medicine to be a doctor (taking only necessary classes) and expect to be a master painter after you graduate. Or like the olden days when a person would learn through apprenticeship, apprenticing/practicing as a doctor, or soldier, the fruits of which help you to become a skilled painter. It just doesn't work like that. However if they design equipment well, have a large range in ability and have good effectiveness, and diminishing effectiveness with durability loss and such and you are wanting to play the game in a "bash through everyone to get to the finish" kind of way then perhaps you will want to have smithing so you can repair your equipment and make better stuff a lot, and every time you do, it increases your skill ability. Or you can pay a smithy to do repairs and you can buy or find better items. //Not A Reply To Quote// I hear a lot of mention about low level cap preference, and "not able to become a god" preference and stuff. Why does there need to be a low level cap to do what you want? If they make it an 80 hour game, and they have it balanced so its fun, not too easy, not making you turn into a god before getting through the game, then why does it matter what the level cap is. If you finish the game and you're only able to get to level 20, regardless of there being a level 20 or 500 level cap, then whats the difference? Does anyone here remember Diablo 2? The level cap was 99, but it was almost impossible to get to it because the higher your level, the less experience enemies gave, and they had level caps for certain areas, so you couldn't just rush through it, to move on to more powerful higher experience giving enemies you had to go through the game properly, or if you rushed through it you'd be forced to do exp runs. And when you go to the higher experience giving enemies, they were significantly difficult still. And Obsidian can always do the reverse too. Like in Diablo 3, while you can single play through easy enemies, you can't join any games that are on easier quests if you're above a certain level. And, if they really wanted to, Obsidian could put temporary level caps throughout the game. It has been done before. Basically the way that would work in this case would be, for example, say the prologue you are meant to be level 2 by completion, but if you hang out there after reaching level 2, you gain ⅓ the exp, so it would take 3 times longer to get to level 3, then at level 3 still hanging around there you get 0exp for everything, so its not possible to progress in level any further until you move up. And say the final chapter you're meant to be level 20 or 30 on completion, so at level 20 if you haven't beaten the game you are leveling exponentially slower each level until level 30 then you don't gain any experience anymore. Then once you beat the game, you can gain normal experience again. With that style, the maximum level could be 1000, it makes no difference for you. Except that for people like me, who like to be able to continually make my guy stronger and stronger forever until I'm totally sick of the game or my guy is a god, then I never hit the dead end for character progression. With Diablo 3, I was extremely excited about it, pre ordered and everything. But when I could play it, as soon as my character hit max level I lost 90% of my interest in the game. A short while later I stopped playing the game entirely without ever making a second character or completing the final (Inferno) difficulty. My favorite thing about games like this is making my guy as strong as possible. And no, multiple characters like using the adventure hall in project eternity or new game does not count, I have little interest in that. I do have interest in it, its fun to an extent, its just not as fun. I very rarely replay games after completing them the first time, I also don't watch movies more than once, I don't like repeat. I get invested in my character and the story of his life, and thats what holds my interest, not the gameplay itself. This is why I love Fallout 3, massively long game, so I never have to make new characters and I still haven't reached the level 30 cap either so I still feel like what I'm doing helps my guy in the long run. Yes, I'm still playing it, this is why I haven't started New Vegas yet. I'm at the point where (SPOILER WARNING) I'm supposed to go to Little Lamplight but I'm finishing the dlc missions first. I finished the survival guide, getting the winterized t51b armor, the pitt, and I'm at point lookout now, finished all the missions and almost finished discovering everything there. 30 levels is perfect for Fallout 3 because of the way its designed. But one could design a game so that any number is perfect, it just has to have the right balance.

Not exactly like FF2 of course, it was designed ages ago games have progressed a lot since then. I just meant for example, instead of earning overall player experience which allows you to jump in any skills and abilities you want when you level up, have experience earned in every thing individually. Like every time you pick a lock, you gain experience towards leveling in lockpick skill. Sure this could potentially create more work for player growth, but not if the game is made right. And the normal play style is to me as gaining a level every minute would be to you, it just seems silly and too simple and easy, which is fun too but something that requires consideration is nicer. Another idea would be creating skill success rate on a slider scale. Like 1-10000 with 10000 being 100% chance of success, and every time you pick a lock, you go up a couple points depending on the difficulty of the lock. I'm slowly reading this thread from the beginning, I may post replies to peoples old messages when I've finished.

I kind of like fast level progression with low power growth, its more realistic and you can improve your character more often. Although my favorite method for character growth is getting rid of the level system altogether, like in Final Fantasy 2. I mean in reality, its not like if you do 100 pushups a day for a month you don't get any stronger, then all of a sudden over night you're buff. Or you take a class on a subject and don't learn anything or get better at what the class is for until its over and then suddenly your skill at it jumps. And it really doesn't make sense for someone to suddenly jump in skill at something when they haven't even been practicing, as in games where you just kill stuff to gain experience and you can apply skill points to anything when you level up. Earning strengths and skills comes from working at it specifically, and its a slow process but you do improve slightly every day, so I like games that use that progression style. Assuming they are using a level based system, which is a good assumption, I'd request that they give exp for everything. Most exp could come from quest completion, but a small amount from killing something, successful lock pick and other skills, et cetera, would make me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something longterm by my actions.

Ooo I'm really excited about the godlike races :D The special modes sound cool too.