IndiraLightfoot

Welcome to the forums! And this question belongs in the subforum below this one - Widgets & Bytes, I'm afraid.

Any screenie?

PrimeJunta: Thanks, I really like it too. However, I swapped to it for a much sadder reason: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65939-rip-david-trampier/

I agree. I'm no Steam/Valve fanboy. Just like you, I really loathe this locking of game to certain platforms. However, EA(Origin is going too far. I mean, UPlay (which I didn't want either), but I got it, since I wanted to play M&M X so badly, and they at least allow me to buy dlcs etc on Steam.

Cubiq: Nope. I meant the forehead. It looks like it has weird eyebrow ridges and a rather special nose too, a bit like those giant people in the Avatar movie. That part I just assumed was some kind of shadow or even effect.

Indeed. I think it is an updated Aloth too. However, weird bone structure. Is he god-touched or did I miss something?

It sure looks promising, but maybe I'm daft, but I just found a post by Allan Schumacher who seems to be saying I can't buy this game on Steam (and definitely not any dlcs): " I keep seeing this excuse, but then we have games like Everquest 2 being sold on Steam. The ONLY way to get DLC is through Sony's store and you can't purchase anything but the game on Steam, yet it's still there. Fallout 3 the ONLY way to get the DLC without the GOTY version is by using GFWL. There are many, many examples that say you're making up this excuse. Because they're old games grandfathered in. Much like Dragon Age Origins (which is still for sale on Steam too). Then the question would become "why don't you want to sell your dlc on Steam?". Why are you restricting your sales to an obviously inferior system when Steam is right there? Valve and EA both lose from this arrangement, as far as I'm concerned. EDIT: This is no longer DA3 relevant. If you wish to continue the values of EA vs Valve and their digital delivery services, please take it to the off topic forum." Please tell me, this is all a misunderstanding on my behalf!

Here are some recent UIs, obviously with various demands on functionality and info. Still I must say, the version of D3 RoS would probably work the best for me in regards to PE: COH2 Obviously, the minimap is important here, but for PE this would be so much wasted space. D3RoS Something like this, where these skills get to be spells and item shortcuts, and then portraits could be in some corner. Obviously no need for gigantic mana and primary power orbs. We could even get one of those copper caryatids in here, no problem, if we think PE. M&M X Legacy This one just goes to show how much screen real estate you can waste in a block/panel UI.

Hear, hear! Then both sides will have it their way!

I for one appreciate every extra pixel I get to see in a beautiful game like this! But the keyword here is customization - those three components of the UI will most likely be movable and even adjustable. And maybe, just maybe, Obsidian have been kind enough to accommodate you block-UI-lovers too. I'd love to see as many people happy about the customization of PE's UI as possible.

Nope. It isn't copper, but it isn't wood either. Whatever it is, it sure looks good, and the symbols are very well designed too (and clearly inspired by IE games). Nice little details on the corners, like that kind of brasswork you see protecting the corners of old expensive books. Perhaps that time-n-date gadget in the middle is also brass. I'm also very happy about the copper-earthy colour. In some earlier thread, I thought wood looked a bit bad, and that it wouldn't fit very well as an UI overlay on top of the areas we pass, but this pops significantly more, while still being very neutral and sleek.

It's one very nice placeholder, if that's the case. And aren't we discerning status effects in the corners of the portraits, just like IWD2, for instance, like I'm playing now? And one portrait even seems to have turned red, as if the character has suffered damage.

It's great that they are big and all, but those gaps really hint at the UI elements being movable and customizable. Hooray! EDIT: Although the image is small, I can still tell it looks absolutely smashing!

Please, please, let this be the real PE UI!! I really, really wished for one almost exactly like that. All that I need to know now: Will we be able to move those portraits in order to get a vertical row to the left or right instead!

I've rolled up this epic 3ed D&D party and begun a real delver into IWD2 (which I saw PrimeJunta also did. What are the odds for two of us doing that?) in preparation for and just getting in the right mood for PE. One thing I noticed early on is how party members can give each other items during combat, and also swap item/weapons. The only real regulation is that the recipient can't be standing too far away. Other than that, anything goes. It saved our butts in the first big goblin battle. I had these 3 potions of healing, and I just let them relay around my hurting party members, and problem fixed. Using my imagination, I saw before me how those glass vials were thrown acrobatically in the air, like Circe de Soleil jugglers or Legolas in LotR-movies, performing fantastic feats in the midst of the battle din. I have no real problem with it being possible, I guess, but I do wonder if Josh & Co has put more restrictions on this. Perhaps you'll lose some kind of action points doing it, or maybe you become much more vulnerable swigging a potion. All in all, I'm just curious how this will be handled. The same goes for removing or swapping equipped item during combat.

Over Easter, I got this craving for some nice isometric IE-gaming, and decided to give IWD2 a real chance this time around. Long ago, I just swished past parts of it, and I never finished it, because other D&D games demanded my attention. So far, I really like it. It's D&D 3 ed (definitely more computer-friendly than AD&D), and the pacing is somewhat sluggish, but still very nice - almost comforting in more ways than one. Everything feels a bit small in the resolutions offered by the screens of today, but the music and ambient sounds all make up for that, as well as all the humour and descriptions. It offers a lot more to read, and only a few lines are VO:d, and that's absolutely fine. Hopefully, playing this, gives me a whiff of what PE will be like at the end of this year.

I had no idea all this was in! It's basically what I was hoping to get and then some!! Thank you.

Hmm, this is a forum, as in "an Internet site where users can post comments about a particular issue or topic and reply to other users' postings; a message board," all in accordance with Oxford Dictionaries. I really think you should contact them per normal channels, but I just realize I recall your group being a Steam Community group, so basically you're a bunch of eager players who also love to dabble in translation.

Quadrone: No worries, mate! If I really like a CRPG, I tend to do several re-runs, and I just find that stuff too tedious. I'd love to experience even more surprises as I try out new characters. I mean, there will still be plenty of meta-gaming sweetness, sure, but a little variety in the lewt department wouldn't hurt.

Look at the guy with the white hat! It's time for a lip-reading quiz. Does he yell "bastard" or "a-s-s-hole"?

May I commend you on your classy choice!? Playing the two big ones in one go is a wonderful experience, and the Tiger Lillies would fit right in. I'd say Bully Boys for that long Mad Hatters vs Dead Eels act, and then Living Hell for the Brigmore mansion setting.

I agree 100%! However, if those few powerful items shifted between a few scripted wps, and perhaps even was "smart" loot, that is, adapted to your characters in your party, it would be fine, I reckon. Btw, one thing that Civilization V did right was locked random seed sequences (later, they gave players a toggle for those who want to have random seeds for every reload). So, for instance, those goodie huts in that game came in a locked order that gets unravelled as you play the game. Even if you save scum and reload, it will always stay the same. That prevented you from getting a new tech or lots of gold for each goodie hut. If I were to use this system in a CRPG, I wouldn't even allow that toggle. Locked random seed sequences is the way to go. What I'd love to get rid of is stuff like this: -"Oh, kill Drizzt - he always carry those two Scimitar+3s" -"That X X Inn owner sells a broadsword+1" -"You know the barrel in the northernmost alley in Mulsantir, there you'll get a Necklace of Adaptation." And like I said in my OP, those random elements should be carefully balanced. I mean, wouldn't it be great if each and every barrel, dirt mound and larder contained something for each playthrough? Actually, Divinity of Original Sin is doing this in their beta now. However, unfortunately, they allow save-scumming, so people reload in order to get better loot.

I've been playing lots of ARPG recently, and the only thing I'd love to see is that variety in loot being carried over to a really good and deep CRPG. This isn't the first thread about loot, I know, but I want to keep the topic of this one pretty tight; a discussion about the possibility of making loot much more varied and perhaps have cleverly balanced random loot tables. And yes, I know already that they've said that PE will have hand-placed loot, a lot like NWN2. But as someone who plans on doing lots of re-runs with new pcs, I really would like to see more randomized loot. That's all: I don't want more loot or more magic loot, just more variation. I think it was JFSOCC who long ago came up with some cool concept from KOTOR2, where a few very rare magical items got to be made much more varied by the player's own input and recipes. I really like that idea too, as that would make for an even more engaging game each time I start over. What's your thought on this? I for one think this is something a computer RPG would be able to handle really well. And it needn't be much imbalance at all.

We knew you were a true gamer, and now this! Happy Easter!! :D

We do egg battles too, just like Keyrock describes them! Btw, Happy Easter peeps!