Osvir

Continuation from here. The Inventory UI screen is a bit of a hassle. Something I noticed mostly from playing PotD (Path of the Damned) difficulty. Swapping gear, quick-items, giving one player this or that, is a lot of clicking back and forth, checking out each character at a time, and thinking about synchronization, and then back and forth between several character. All of this becomes more important on PotD, but it is a bit of a hassle. So I wondered... "What can you do to improve itemisation in an organized and manageable way to switch gear between the characters?" All of those inventory slots each character have? They could be lined up as "Equipped Gear" and the Equipment Slots would go there, like "Quickbars" in the inventory to the right-side. "Quickquip". By stretching this UI Window top-right and top-left would allow more "Inventory Slots" to be introduced as well. The idea is simply that some basic Equipment Slots would exist as quickequip slots in the inventory to the right. Quickslot items as well. This will allow the Player to manage and equip their characters without having to click through every single portrait, which can be left to the more detailed equipment screen+detail equipment (Rings, capes, weapon sets, helmet, gloves). Here's an example, a mock up concept. BB Wizard is selected, and I could be able to see everyone's equipment and swap it out easily from anyone's inventory space. I have only included Armor, Boots, 1 Quick-Item, due to wanting to finish the example quickly.

Most excellent GrinningReaper great post! I don't have anything further to add myself, it's like everything I've ever wanted to say! The disdain can be easily explained as PPM's I think, "Public Private Messages". Stuff that should go in Private Messages, spills out as Public Messages.

Nope, you're not the only one.Although I do understand, when being Kickstarted, wanting certain promises/expectations to be met and all. But there's still a certain point where I think the dev's should be allowed to proceed with their own vision/s. Too many cooks and all that. I thought this was one of the key elements of Kickstarter. Developers who want to remake or make something they envision or want to make, go to Kickstarter to see how much others want to see it made. If the Kickstarter is successful, the Developers gets the ability to create what they want to create, with a community bouncing wall for their ideas, "Our vision looks like this, what do you think?" and the community gets to bounce with the Devs what they think about it. It's still always the Developers product, and they have first, middle, and final word, in my opinion. Though, it is exciting to be a part of, and to advocate, pitch, and come up with your own ideas and see them considered or tested, and see what other non-developer people think about them :D In short: The "certain point" has always been the "key point", in my opinion.

I haven't read up on this thread, but wanted to throw in a bone into the thread bin: - BLOOD BOWL, Real-time with Pause Mode. Try it, Obsidian. Might give you lots of insights or inspiration. Homework.

I couldn't be capable of giving you a full insight into PotD. I have hardly gotten anywhere with it on, which is why I made this thread. I want to hear what people think about PotD in the Beta*, regardless if they are Easy-Players or Hard-Players. Thus far though, it has made Medreth's group have 2 or 3 more cowled followers, Nyfre might have 1 or 2 more dudes (I didn't check it). The amount of Beetles doesn't feel awkward or too much in authenticity or in thematic expressions, it's just really difficult. I would have to get much further in PotD to be able to give you insight into whether it is unnatural or not, or you'll have to try it yourself and get the insight first-hand EDIT: * I think that PotD is challenging thus far, it's a mountain I want to attempt to climb again. I feel I have been capable of dealing with it, but I have been making fatally bad mistakes or the wrong decisions when playing the mode. Each time has been a bit of a trial and error, as well as remembrance of "Oh right! Food bonuses! Rest bonuses! Potions of healing! Right, Crafting!". Most elements are vital to success, and it is enjoyable to use and think of all assets available. When playing Easy, Normal, Hard, I am mostly only navigating the "game board". Running around, dialogue, on-screen UI/HUD. It's less about tactical thinking, and more about playing/immersing on easier difficulties. In PotD, more chin rubbing, longer pauses in combat, more reading and researching (Glossary is great), thinking about skill synchronizations on other characters (idea for a new topic/thread incoming). This is a topic I want to throw into the "Engagement" discussion as well, which can be boiled down to "Combat" discussion. A lot of people are saying "It isn't tactical enough, it's easy, abuseable, exploitable!" and so on and forth, and my opinion is that "Most Tactical/Strategical == Most Difficult"

Oh hell no, I tried doing that in an attempt to help with spell checking and grammar and realized I was diving into a big ball of "SPOILERS" that I'd rather want to avoid. Accidentally and briefly spoiled myself doing that, want to avoid such things as much as possible just like I tripped on some of the images in the "Modding thread" by mistake, and thought it was awesome stuff, but I didn't like it that I got spoiled still. But if you're trying to say or imply that what I'm suggesting is already a thing then... :D :D :D I have nothing further to add.

And you are....! *shrug* what I'm trying to say is that your post isn't rebutting anything, but rather simply tries to take a stance and gain authority/power in the debate/discussion by nonchalantly neglecting whatever he was saying. You don't address anything he is saying in his post. A.k.a. s.h.i.t-posting. I think the point Quetzalcoatl is saying is that MANY if not ALL quests in Baldur's Gate are fetch quests. The dialogue, narrative can be everything from mediocre to good, to fun, such as the saving Dynaheir quest with Minsc (for instance). Baldur's Gate is one of my favorite games/cRPG's, but that doesn't mean that I think everything in it was "perfect" or "awesome". Critically looking at it, many quests aren't very exciting in their own, but depending on whatever character you have chosen to immerse yourself with in the game, a mediocre "Get this bottle from the neighbour" can become the best Quest in the world. Granted, that you're roleplaying and/or enjoying the game a lot as a whole. But I understand your point as well, you have to seek out the quests, you have to talk to people, you have to look into your journal from time to time to figure stuff out, use your eyes and brains. In newer games there's either an arrow pointing you to where you need to go, or the minimap shows you an "!" where there are quests, or you can see, in-game, on-screen, characters with a yellow and big "!" that could've just as well have been an Azura's Wrath Buddha finger, pointing at the character that has the quest: Haha! That'd be hilarious though, imagine if playing DA:I or WoW, and in the horizon, in the skyline and out of space, you see hands and fingers pointing down where all the quests are haha "HERE! GO HERE!" xD

PotD = Extreme/Insane/Hardcore Easy Normal Hard Insane Path of the Damned Extra Options: - Trial of Iron - Expert Mode ^That's all it is, really. Well, Path of the Damned does introduce larger mobs (Beetle battle in Dyrford Crossing for instance, there's tons more beetles). You have to be way more careful, prepared, itemized, geared up, abilities, attributes etc. etc. you have to think much more, scout more I think (which I have failed to do). However, maybe the Difficulty levels should be more normalized. Change the titles of "Expert Mode" and "Path of the Damned" a la: Easy Normal Hard Expert Extras: - Path of the Damned - Trial of Iron It could look better too in the New Game screen, unless "Path of the Damned" is too many letters and makes it look clunky. Below is an ideas: Extras: - Damned - Trial of Iron Naming "Path of the Damned", "Damned" only is in some ways fitting. Because what "Expert Mode" does is that it removes some UI elements, and being "Damned" could be seen as "Stuff is being taken away from you", and "stuff" would be "UI" elements. "Damned" is also the same amount of letters as "Expert", and only takes up a slight amount of more horizontal space on the screen. EDIT: UNLESS... unless Obsidian has a message to convey with the "Path of the Damned", to Hardcore players: "May you burn in the eternal flames!!!" xD

A long time ago we joked, discussed, inspired and what not about "Pack Animals". Someone brought up having an Ogre in your party, I don't remember if I posted it or if someone else posted it (lol). I'm too lazy to look up the 1 and a half year old dead thread (I assume). Regardless, the other day I thought about Kongrak, and about the Modding thread, "Recruit NPC's" or "Anyone" that I noticed in that thread and realized that it wouldn't be too difficult to get Kongrak, the ogre, in your party through some console commands. But what if it was official, vanilla? Dialogue options that could sway Kongrak to, hey, join your party, NPC reactions and intimidation values (Example: "No way! This is outragous! I am not giving you my most prized possession!" Party: "I have an Ogre", "Uh uh uh uh, well, uh, okay, uhm, uuuuuh"). I think it'd be super fun :D Ideas: - Kongrak would take up 2 party slots, so be prepared to either feed him 2 of your party members, or kick them out. - NPC's wouldn't like Kongrak much, so he'd stay out of cities or you would get attacked (Entering a City tile or traveling to a City could prompt Kongrak to say something like "I will wait here", and you'd have to go back to fetch him, or he'd automatically join as you leave the city). What do you think? Expansion for another Ogre companion in the future? Ditch this idea and burn it in fire?

@Quetzalcoatl: Uhm, I think those are just tutorial Quests.... in the first area when you spawn. There's tons of more quests in Baldur's Gate, but I think the main questline stands on its own. The side-quests aren't very exciting~ but it's what you do with it, how you immerse yourself and how you play and experience the games with your character(s). ALL quests in ALL RPG's or other titles are essentially "Fetch this" in one way or another, it's how the game executes it that matters, and how you tackle/execute the obstacles. Mostly, in all games, you are repetetively clicking a single button over and over, dealing with different types of enemies the same way over and over. Thus far, in the Backer Beta of PoE, the quests are the same as any other quests. I think they are a bit more interesting and fun though, intruiging. I want to know who House Deomel are, for instance, or what happens to Nyfre if you let her escape/save her, or what happens to Lord Harond and Lady Aelys afterwards, and so on and so forth and so on.

Crafting is a bit difficult to discuss, I feel, because all of the components needed. I like the "legendary crafting" (I suppose?) in the Lhe Rhemen (sp?), but for actual crafting? There's about enough material to craft 2 Enchantments in the Beta (unless I missed any loots/harvest), I looked everywhere, picked up everything, bought everything you could, and I think there was only 2 options to use to upgrade a weapon. I guess I think the pacing of crafting feels good, but I can't say much until I've actually played the real thing. Crafting seems to me to be a "If you've gotten this far you've gotten this amount of material and can do this much crafting", and to really comment on it I'd have to know how the pacing functions in the real thing, I can only get a very very very brief understanding from playing the Backer Beta.

Hello! This thread is about Path of the Damned difficulty, experiences and what you think about difficulty in general. You may discuss all aspects of Difficulty, all the way from Easy, to all the way to Expert/Trial of Iron/Path of the Damned. I named the title as seen above because I am focused on the Path of the Damned difficulty, as well as to gain some attention (Rather than "Difficulty Discussion #58"). I was thinking of making a "Challenge" or "Community Event" as well, just to see how far people manage to get on the hardest difficulty, but we'll see, maybe I will start a new thread or write it out at the bottom of this post. Path of the Damned: (1) - Have you played it? (2) - How far have you gotten in it? These are the 2 main questions. (1) Yes, and I think it's fun. You need to think about food, preparation, go to the shops, gear, items, resting, party members. This is the most tactical/challenging option (of course), and I highly recommend playing on the hardest of hard if you are interested in combat or tactical play. Difficulty enhances the tactical experience. (2) I've pretty much just grazed the Path of the Damned difficulty with my presence. I've made good and capable teams that has been strong enough to deal with Path of the Damned, problem is I have made a dumb mistake myself. I've played it both with a 4-man party and a 6-man party, and defeated Nyfre's group on the upper floor. Both times were rough, but I managed to defeat Nyfre without much problem. It's when I get to the beetles that I get destroyed, because I make the same mistake each time and I forget it for the next time. This is my error, my fault, and I could've probably gotten past the beetles several times if I hadn't forgotten it. Human error/Player error. The first batch of beetles (1 or 2) are easy to deal with, but as you trench on further east, you get attacked by like 5-6 beetles at once, and that has been my downfall each time, regardless of how prepared I have been. The Challenge: Rules - Create an Adventurer's party on Path of the Damned and defeat Kongrak. - You must kick out the BB Party members (part of the rules). - You may not use exploits/abuse or other cheese/cheat tactics. Have fun For the non-Damned: If you aren't a "Path of the Damned" Player, or too scared to even try it (I suggest you try it for good measure regardless, as a Beta tester you'll also gain more insight into the full features of the game/Beta). Or maybe it just isn't your style or what you want out of the game... what difficulty do you play on and what do you think of that difficulty? Easy, Normal, Hard? Do you pick any of the Extra options? (Trial of Iron/Expert) What do you think of the Difficulty of your choosing in general in Pillars of Eternity? Is Easy too easy? Does that matter at all? (You can just play on Normal instead?) is Normal too Normal? Does that matter at all? (You can play on Hard instead?) etc. etc. How well do the transition from Easy to Normal function? Do they match well with the understanding and skill required? (In some games, you can start on Easy, and it is Easy, but when you get up to Normal, it's like jumping from Too Easy to Too Hard, in some games). Does Pillars of Eternity succeed in hand-holding the Player on Easy, so that they can take on the more challenging experience on Normal? What I want to explore with this thread as well is, Easy Players telling about their experience of Normal difficulty, and Normal Players telling about their experience of Hard Difficulty, etc. Challenge yourself to get an idea of the harder difficulties, and is the gap "too great", or is it too short? Do you pick up the controls easy on Hard, after having played on Easy? Or do you struggle and can't win any combat fights whatsoever? Did you read the Glossary? The descriptions of skills? Did your Rest? Food? Items? Gear? Etc. etc. Thoughts? P.S. (Non-spoiler material, but it makes the post look better). Advice to keep thread organized/managed for all posters/readers/lurkers:

I actually like the "Profiency" or "Talent" screen in the character creation/level up. But... ... it is nothing, not even close, to this: This was what I hoped for when I suggested a "Scroll-Down" List for Skills. Points, leveling up individual talents, weapon proficiencies and so on. There's also 10 on-screen "Skills" in this list. In Pillars of Eternity there's 8 on-screen "Skills". Compare (Steam Screenshot, Open in tab, Skill window Pillars of Eternity). I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel something is missing from the Pillars of Eternity version. Maybe because it's too much empty space, or no level ups on the skills/feats, or the UI doesn't fit like puzzle pieces (like the IWD example above). Regardless, they are dropping it and returning to what they intended at first (If I haven't misinterpreted it), which is only good because obviously the Skills window in PoE would require more attention than what Obsidian has to spare. Other than that, I feel the Beta has progressed far in terms of functionality and playability. I too feel combat is a bit rushed, and would like to see a general/global slow down, perhaps 10%-20% slower, I'd also like to see walking instead of running when out of combat. I also think combat is fun and tactical (Try playing on Path of the Damned if you want a challenge). For the Engagement Mechanic, I want to suggest Obsidian to take a gander at Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition and try the Real-time mode. It becomes a Real-time with pause mode, and it is reminiscent of the IE games in some ways. The point or potential inspiration I want to make is a bit difficult to do in words, but it has a great AoO mechanic and great feel to it as well. It is tactical and strategical, and quite fun too. I think it could give some insights after just 1-2 hours of free time/homework play (not work hours please).

Possible as well, mix-matched some info between companies maybe.

Sorry! I recalled from memory, I must've misinterpreted it as closer than what it is.

Probably! But I thought it interesting still.

Hah, I know what you're talking about OP. I've begun to develop an Orlan fanboyism, it is in an infant state, growing fast. I used to hate the halflings in the IE games, but I found myself making an all halfling party in IWD:EE the other day, after having played some all Orlan party in Pillars of Eternity. What are you doing to me Obsidian!?!? xD

I play League of Legends a bit, and a new champion came out recently, Kalista. I know that Riot and Obsidian has a door to door office. Kalista's character is all about vengeance, and she's a soul-type-like being. She uses Spears. ---------- Calisca, is a human Fighter from the Living Lands (Starter Gear: Spear). Calisca presumably dies by the "device"/even early in the game. ---------- My speculation: Riot employees having getting a glimpse or even discussed some of the Lore with Obsidian, and they created Kalista based on Calisca's later-game appearance, where she might enter the stage to act out vengeance to the party/main character/Watcher. This might be far-fetched speculation, but there's lots of coincedences I feel. Name, weapon, and even her soul-like appearance can be briefly compared with Soul lore of Pillars of Eternity (or Soul creatures, such as the Cean Gula, sp?, for instance), and it could be a potential outcome of the device thing early in the game; I.E. Calisca (PoE) appearing as a mid-boss or side-boss later in the game as a Soul-Being. Is Kalista/Calisca a "Hint" of what might happen in Pillars of Eternity? Or is it merely an accidental and unintentional coincedence? Or did Calisca's soul disappear from Pillars of Eternity, and her Spear of Vengeance (<- Kalista's title) reborn in League of Legends?

Handstand... handing? (Cus... walking is for feet...........). Never been done before either

I could've included Crawling, Jumping, Jogging, Skipping, Crouching etc. etc. but I thought it more realistic to keep it down to 2, and comments can be expansive and elaborated ideas/thoughts/brainstorms

There's been tons of discussion on this matter. Go to those threads. You should know you can't edit after a certain point of time but, what's your input/feedback on the poll? What do you think of the topic (Walk/Run) and what sort of tweaking? You can ignore voting and comment too of course you're a bit vague Messier-31, what could be better? EDIT: This would be awesome too! Crawl through a hole, crawl up to a fortress sneakily, swim, hide.

I somewhat agree here. I think it is interesting but... just like with how I would want a Spiritshift Druid to be a path rather than "automatic gain", I'd want a Beastmaster Ranger to be a path. The standard Ranger = The traditional IE Archer, and the Animal Companion being a Ranger Skill/Ability you choose to get or not get. Generalist Druid = Standard Druid, and Spiritshift form being a choice. With how skills and talents work, regardess how the UI works, it allows me to build a melee Druid with or without Spiritshift with the clever use of some talents/skill points/attributes. If "Spiritshift" is a "Talent" you pick at Level Up, rather than at character creation, I think the Druid would be more fun. Why am I talking about the Druid?? Because I feel the exact same way with the Ranger. Animal Companion being a choice, a Talent/Ability you pick/choose (if you want) at Level Up. Probably not going to happen due to the code/strings/triggers/scripts tied to the Ranger/AC mechanic but... *shrug* I dunno, I feel like I voicing my opinion on this still. I feel I want a traditional IE Archer in my party... is the Fighter or Rogue the go-to Infinity Engine-esque Archer in Pillars of Eternity?

@kat7ra: Yep, it's one of those "If Obsidian has some extra time" before release I think.

It's the dynamic in the class that is the diversity. You have 3 of the same class early game, then mid game maybe 2, and late game maybe 1. So in the end, the Class would be functional on its own, which would allow for a standard build with it (every class different in party) or you could continue with more than 1 if you want to (summon more demons/monsters/beings than you can on your own, and stronger versions too), and could summon creatures on its own. The "hook" would simply be that it's a class that is stronger when there's more of it. It'd still be able to summon on its own in early game and mid game, but it would be most "Powerful" with more than 1, but at the same time by being more "Powerful" you also compromise the group. I think that should be a fair balancing methodic. EDIT: Just like having 2 Rangers with 2 different animal companions could be beneficial to the party composition you want to build, 2 Ritualists would be balanced to be as well. 2 Fighters (1 Tank, 1 DPS, or 2 Tanks) is the same. Or 2 Wizards in the party with different Spells (One might have more Damage Spells, Glass Cannon, another Wizard more De-Buffing, Blinding, Fear and similar spells) etc.

I think, that if a game wants to do romance the best, there should at least be like 50 different companions you can pick up, all catering to different playstyles. Naturally, this isn't a "Hey! That's easy!" thing to do. You wouldn't be able to get all of them on one playthrough, as they would be tied to Choice & Consequence in the story, so if you an evil path, the questline would adjust, or if you play a good path, the evil companions are mid-bosses or even end-game bosses. I think it'd be easier to write romances that way as well, as you wouldn't need every 50th character to be romanceable, but 1 or 2 out of 10, and if there are 5 different paths in the game, there'd be 10 companions to recruit in each different storyline. And even then it shouldn't be something that's obvious, and other factors included.