Osvir

A Fallout/Fallout 2 traveling system would be much more fun than a Baldur's Gate one me thinks, freedom of traveling. You have the freedom to go anywhere. The Fog of War could even encase the world map as well, and as you explore (like Fallout) you reveal more of the world map. Whilst in Baldur's Gate/Dragon Age it is like "unlockable" nodes. "Go to this point to unlock 2 more points". A Fallout-esque traveling system would be effective too I think, for immersion, but more importantly interaction with the game's different features.

I feel opposite, I've been playing Baldur's Gate (the original, with tons of mods, recently) and I feel it "stutters" when I change location. If I click somewhere they walk towards that area but if I press somewhere else whilst they are on their way they "stutter" and then walk the other directed location. In BGEE the reaction is much faster, there is no stutter and they walk as directed. Don't know if that is exactly what you're after but just one of my own observations (also, try shift+click).

^Guild Wars 2, from the little I've read/seen of it is action oriented unlike many games before it. It looks like a legit game. I think AngryJoe's presentation and "image" is obnoxious but he sells his product and his reviews are still good imo and he has good valid points <- About having an open mind, I reckon many here dislike AngryJoe "just because". After seeing this review I really wanted Guild Wars 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax-_06Acj8Y Re-watching this review I'm thinking about this (Wall of text) regarding weapon skills, this review inspired me.

I remember/recall reading this somewhere.. that there was going to be a "7th" party member (a soul entity following you around). Obsidian statement by the way, I just don't remember where. Around the time we were discussing about pack mules (2-3 weeks ago?). Obsidian needs to put me down regarding this, I don't want to be spreading them lies. I think it was about that time where an in-game pet was being discussed as well. EDIT: Don't reply to this until I've checked some sources (or if you have a proper source or you recall it too). I'm re-reading/watching the updates. Update #13 Not what I'm looking for but just a tidbit of something that could work well with lanterns- I know that I've posted that several times, I just think it makes it easier to read when there's a link or two in post. Definitely "stands out" doesn't it? Still looking for the right information regarding this... here's something from the wikia that resonate with the above quote: Replying to myself; extending post past edit. I feel that a Fog of War entity/God resonates with this too, a Darkness God. If the Fog of War is an enemy by itself, there could be some pretty cool instances. The villagers running from their village because they are being hunted by the restless Shadows, being engulfed by it. Or we are out exploring the world when suddenly we come across a broken down villager who has been running for weeks. With the isometric view this could be really cool. Specially if you could see torches far away in the fog of war (encased by darkness and a vision ring around it). You wouldn't see every light spot on the map in a dungeon, but if you came up to a fork you could perhaps see if there is an enemy down the hallway holding a torch or simply a wall torch. You'd not just physically explore the map (with your party) but you would actually be exploring the map (through the map interface/scrolling the map) which I think enhances the "Adventurer" aspects. Someone could approach you from the darkness, and you can't see their face or where they are at, entirely. "Psst psst over here!" and you follow someone through the darkness. Bringing up a torch in this way could see someone just running away towards at the edge of the Fog of War. An idea I've had for a First Person game is a monster that lurks after you, follows you around (looking like a Mantis), invisible, haunting you. Kind of like an "Alien" (Alien movies), but it doesn't strike, it just haunts you, as if teasing you. An evil poltergeist~ dripping it's goo on you from above, and when you look up it attacks. Or you notice it, attack it and it disappears into the shadows just to remain "gone" or believed to be gone. Though slowly and progressively you start to hear its hissing and wheezing again as it approaches closer. Atmosphere. Something I would like to see as well, something World War Z seems to play with, is an overwhelming horde of monsters that come after you like a flood. Climbing on top of each other, just rushing relentlessly forward towards you and if you stand in their way you're going to get overwhelmed and engulfed so you better RUN. This could work very well in the isometric view. Like Hormalakh said about Firkraag (who I have yet to approach/meet), could there be dangers in the Fog of War that actually puts you on your toes? At first you see a emerald light shining alluringly in the darkness and you approach it in hopes of treasure, only to see something that makes you hightail it the other way. Likewise this would give you, the player, the experience of it and the next time you see something similar you are going to be way more careful and less naive. In Bleach -bare with me- there is one monster (a Hollow) that tricks the main character with the image of his mother. He is called Grand Fischer (yes, with a C). The tentacle on his head is a sort of "bait" which can be an illusion that he puts forward, a human being or whatever. Something that the main character is baited by and follows it, only to fall into a trap. I think this monster is based off of this fish: With a monster like this in mind, perhaps you could see a light source down the hall in the fork and naively press "Walk over here" and fail to notice the pitfall between where you're at now and there, making dungeon crawling even more focused (you need to stay focused on where you're at right now and your bearing around you. Pressing a location senselessly on the other side of the map could get you in trouble on the way if you're not paying attention). I really enjoyed this movie a lot, it portrayed a futuristic dark world, the world itself extremely dangerous with only safe-havens in well guarded cities: Now, I wouldn't want P:E to be taken down that path to the same extent, but the sense morality of it "The world is a dark cruel place". Something that neither Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale touches, in my opinion, Planescape: Torment would probably touch it if it was a big world like Baldur's Gate. It only takes place in and around Sigil right? ~and from what I understand, some obscure abstract surreal realms~ (haven't finished it)

Thinking about what Ieo said, could an area spawn enemies depending on your level or your progression through the story? At first, the Crossroads might not hold much, but after getting to Baldur's Gate (or even Friendly Arms Inn) something new could spawn there. However, for a player, it could become the OCD nightmare (Got to explore every area every time I finish a major plot/quest/level line!). Even if it is level based, it can become an OCD nightmare. So instead of tying random encounters to a specific area, have it in some areas and most importantly "any" area (perhaps not 100% meeting Bounty Hunters, but perhaps 5 areas could trigger that encounter). The mob of Bounty Hunters could engage you at the Crossroads, just as much as they could engage you in the Tradeway North. Every area does not need to be action packed with "something".

Darth Eddie

I completely missed part 2 and part 3. Bumping for others. (Page 2)

Houndmeat! :'D In tribute to the Black Hound Using this thread/post to gather all pet topics, bit of a necro but I think it's good to be on the same page (knowledge) sometimes: Pet Mechanics a suggestion The in-game pet (KS) Enhanced Pets Pet as a Gel Cube Pet Speculation Pets

I remember/recall reading this somewhere.. that there was going to be a "7th" party member (a soul entity following you around). Obsidian statement by the way, I just don't remember where. Around the time we were discussing about pack mules (2-3 weeks ago?). Obsidian needs to put me down regarding this, I don't want to be spreading them lies. I think it was about that time where an in-game pet was being discussed as well. EDIT: Don't reply to this until I've checked some sources (or if you have a proper source or you recall it too). I'm re-reading/watching the updates. Update #13 Not what I'm looking for but just a tidbit of something that could work well with lanterns- I know that I've posted that several times, I just think it makes it easier to read when there's a link or two in post. Definitely "stands out" doesn't it? Still looking for the right information regarding this... here's something from the wikia that resonate with the above quote:

Seeing torches and/or light in the fog of war from afar (and things around it) would be cool. If the enemy sees me if I have a torch I should be able to see them if they have a "torch" (in essence, light source). It could also give me a sense of direction and more importantly for the non-lethal or burglary approach, see where the guards are during night.

We've already discussed piss in another thread. It was short-lived. Go ahead and start advocating for it, you might break a record!

To be real.. Rape in literature is like enjoying "not enjoying" it. To give a reason for vengeance or anger in the player because the character gets somehow in some way emotionally attached. If you are the one doing it in the game to someone as the player character then, then I don't know, then it is bad design. Even if you make a cruel character intent to be utterly evil and it could be authentic to the setting I just feel that is taking it too far (for the player character). As an indication, something we figure out by ourselves and decides what to do with it (passive or aggressive reaction/morality) is more feasible when the villager chick is distressed, afraid and doesn't seem to like our approach (no matter how kind we may seem to be). Something traumatizing, blegh, I don't even want to think about it. Doesn't mean I like it, but there are times in video games where I get emotionally attached to characters (or in books) and I get so pissed off when something unfair happens to any of these attached characters (doesn't necessarily have to be rape). It really makes a story better though, with this element. I think this falls into the category of "Frustration", and getting your hands on that master sword only to have it slip to your fingers and down a drain never to be seen again is also part of this. Whatever abuse or unfairness anyone receives (male or female). I don't like it, but it could be necessary for the "journey" and the narrative. Darkness of the Soul should be as apparent as the Darkness of the Fog. And it comes in many different forms. "Postal" manages to pull it off but "Postal: Running with Scissors" is f- up by default (I had fun with it, because it felt undramatic and more of a joke). On male and female~ oh well I don't know what to do with it. * Human * Aumaua * Orlan * Elf * Dwarf * Godlike There'd probably be different branches (factions) in each of these as well. Let's say 2 factions in each Race and maybe 1 minor faction. Perhaps even an external faction that is open to all races (multi-cultural). A neutral faction where everyone is welcome. How would male/female play out in these different cultures/factions?

Did you perchance try that on the most difficult mode? I wouldn't know (haven't tried it to be honest), I only draw my knowledge from Bioware and their statement on Dragon Age: Origins. They said that soloing on harder difficulty (Nightmare) would be impossible (and it is, not even going to challenge it when my entire party goes down against an Ogre on Nightmare, how would 1 character stand a chance?). I think it was doable but challenging on Easy (solo).

Up to 6 party members. Party Size Poll Party size Party size limitations You could play with only 1 character (the main character) without any more members, but it is going to be designed for 6 party members. Playing with 1 character would be tough (near impossible? Challenge accepted?) on harder difficulty modes. EDIT: This list is the king and way better than the search function... needs to be updated with the latest threads and cleaned up a bit though (I'm just lazy ): ObsidianForumsAL.pdf ObsidianForumsMX.pdf Hint: CTRL+F

Armor on armor on armor. You start off with rags, but you build it up, put some more leather on it from those Bandits you slew and now you've not got rags (but an armor functioning as a leather armor). Later we meet some guards in chainmail, we slay those guys too and add on the resources to our rags+leather making a chainmail. Then there's some Templars being pesky and we take them down with some ease and add their Plate Mail to our composition. Rags into Leather into Chain into Plate. Of course you'd be able to get to the Craftsmen and buy a fresh piece of plate and/or upgrade your rags with some excessive vendor trash that the Craftsman is selling to you to transform the rags into something... more. ^^Craftsmen would be more important for those who play a non-lethal approach. And of course non-lethal take downs and strip the unconscious guard naked. So when I say "buff" I really mean "build" (e.g., not magically buffing, which shouldn't be excluded).

What is my goal? I'm just thinking out different aspects, new ideas, what I think is effective ways to build your character and the growth progression of your character for both player and developer alike. The goal for me is to produce as much material/inspiration as possible so that Obsidian gets more "insights" and/or ideas to make it as effective as possible. If this thread is completely down the drain of being "effective" I hope "someone" says something. ^That's my goal. If I'm not immersed by my own ideas, how is someone else going to be? I'll just stamp this thread (like I've done in other threads) so you know where I'm at: Not expecting anything, P:E will be fine with or without the involvement of anything on these forums. I have faith in Obsidian that they will make what's best for P:E they've got Final Word, Middle Word and First Word (not excluding the famous Middle Finger as well). The DM rules these forums. Unrelated but, ninjas are cool :ninja:

Apart from this post (How to make custom sound sets for Baldur's Gate, might be different for BGEE (which folder to put it in, google is your friend)) I'd also like to link to Audacity as well (freeware audio recording) If anyone is interested in doing some fan work later on for Obsidian IF they would ever ask, and if not in P:E you might get your voice heard in BGEE. It just released and should be a great ground to test out your skill, and more importantly have some material to back up any claims. EDIT: Right! If you're making some sound sets, just make one .wav file first. Let's take "Battle Cry 1" as an example. Save it, put it into the Baldur's Gate folder where applicable, listen and see if you've got the volume right in Character Creation (compared to the other characters/sound sets in Baldur's Gate). It is pain staking to make an entire 40 .wav file list and realizing that your volume was wrong (easy to fix in Audacity though, just crank up the volume a little bit, but it might make it BAD too). Articulation is very important too (I'm in the midst of creating something serious silly for laughs).

If I'm getting your post right: Could a Leather Armor become Medium Armor and the Medium Armor become Full Plate?? I think we might be onto something here.

I enjoyed it a lot Felithvian, albeit from time to time. It felt like I was on a roller coaster between good and bad. Wherein it was awesome at some points, and took a down turn, then went up again, then down (it grew on me, but I decided that it would before I even started to listen to it, mindset is a powerful thing). The presentation (the initial narration) felt oddly inserted. Though, my headphones broke and I'm relying on very poor laptop speakers. Now I've got an excuse to use my real speakers EDIT: Which brings up another interesting point, sound is different dependent on hardware. Harman/Kardon speaks for itself, that's like some monster computer speakers by themselves and that makes anything sound way better. Some headphones you got may distort your experience and you won't get the "full" experience either and will get a bad experience because you couldn't turn up your headphones to present the "depth" or immersion, though that is a bad argument for bad voice acting (bad voice acting is bad voice acting). It is still something ponder on I think.

"Entering discussion post" (read page 1&2, went through page 4 quickly) Could identifying items and the Codex/Journal be linked somehow? I find an "Sword" and I have no idea what it is, could I (the player) be a Lore Master? Could an unidentified item have a word inscribed on it, and if I go to the Codex I could find the "Word" which is now clickable because I have the item in question in my inventory which equals identifying it. <- That could be an annoying workload for Obsidian though. Concept is that... finding a Book with some lore about a Sword that I happen to have in my inventory should identify it.

Something else I'm thinking about... Resident Evil pre-rendered 2D backgrounds. It'd be cool for some areas with a close-up on combat but... yeah maybe not, just throwing it out there.

@LadyCrimson: For fan-work voice acting it requires a devoted fan, someone who is engaged and knows all of these "issues" with recording, someone who has done some research and has a small/big portfolio. The question is then, why should a fan put so much work into it if it isn't interesting for the developers or the forums to begin with? I really want to do some sound sets for BGEE and test it out (get some feedback on the forums) but if there isn't any "end goal" or someone discourages you from doing it? Why even bother trying? <- this is all about personal confidence though, and I'm probably going to encounter hardships regardless if it is good or not when or if I release anything. Did I say this another post?: The internet can be a cruel place. EDIT: Prosper is Prosper and manages to pull it off (genius, really). Voice acting is difficult in a different way and there is more prestige in it me thinks.

^I agree about the "Oh snap I don't know how to use gloves I need to become a higher level". I'd laugh if I saw this but... no, you are correct http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYU-SeVofHs EDIT: For the heck of it, my train of thought: Character Level determining the "Level" of your armor (specifically, not going to address the Weapons) is because of the Armor Experience/Resource Gathering. If you could go Full Plate instantly you'd find no use for the Leather Armor that you could've buffed up. Examples: I start off the world, get a Leather Armor, gain a couple of Character Levels. Been buffing up my Leather Armor with resources and it is really good at this point, I'm also now a Level capable of wearing Full Plate but changing to the Full Plate will give me a "blank" non-upgraded Full Plate mail, whilst my Leather Armor is well adjusted to my play style at this point (for the Rogue). For a Fighter perhaps the Leather Armor makes him better in some aspects, the Full Plate Mail would be giving more defenses and I'd be able to build it stronger but at the point I'm getting it it could be weaker in some respects. I could use it in certain circumstances and switch around between the FP Mail and the buffed Leather. Likewise I could build on the Full Plate (in my inventory) whilst wearing the Leather Armor. There were some talk about "Medium Armor" being difficult because it has no definite "value" in any of the IE games, which is what I'm trying to address with the Character based "what can you wear?" and Armor Resource Management.

I know it is a plagiarism from another post down this thread but... Live long and prosper LadyCrimson <3 thank you, that made my day.

Excellent statement and here's my rebuttal: A, It is a party based game. Why should your Fighter be good with every single weapon known to man when you've got 6 party members that you can spread the weapons out on? Where is the vendor trash when your Fighter is great with a Sword and your Barbarian is awesome with Axes and your Paladin or Priest got Blunt (Maces/Hammers) Mastery? B, For a solo character experience you would gain more experience with all weapons, making it possible for your character to have more diversity. Let me quote a section in the wall of text (one character mastering several weapons, even in a full party): ^^^that is for end-game Masteries with a 6 party in mind (how many weapons have you mastered til the end-point of the game?). A solo character would probably be able to master 6-7 weapons/styles, if not more. "(pick only one)" is asking for your input, how many weapons would be feasible to Master by the end of the game if "Level 5" is Max level on the weapon? I am not talking some small sums (take down 10 enemies, gain a level), nor a TES-like experience. In Baldur's Gate it works like this: Take down Bandit = Get 15 experience out of 1'000 experience. <- That is exactly what I'm advocating for, for the weapon experience (and not some TES variant where "Hit" determines experience and/or leveling up) Weapon Skills aren't necessary, but there should be a reward for getting a "Level" in a Weapon ("+1 To Hit Chance" or something, +1 To Damage or Accuracy basically). Like you hate the idea, I hate the idea that my characters will gain most of the experience from Questing and suddenly be master swordsmen. Specially if they aren't even Fighters (A Wizard becoming a Master Swordsman as an excellent example... how?) How many weapons do you master in the IE games? I think my Fighter in Baldur's Gate 2 got something like this (level 10-ish, 8, I'm recalling from memory... pfft okay fine I'll boot BG2 up and check it out xD): 3 in Sword & Board (2) 2 in Axes (3) 2 in something else I can't remember. (1 Warhammer) EDIT: By the way, my Fighter has been wielding Axes from the very start of Candlekeep to the point in the game where I'm at now. Just saying! 2nd EDIT: I would love to see more input on this thread, more ideas, more issues and more problems! If you see something you don't like, give me a chance to counter-argue or find solutions for it. Perhaps something completely different from what I've written spawns out of it, maybe you've got ideas that would make this idea way better and perhaps entirely different. Going to refer to my post in the "Dev Team Sharing the Process".