Osvir

^I get what you're getting at but it contradicts the binary challenge. There could be a middle ground: A) On = You can recruit as many AH Companions as you can afford. B) Slider = You can recruit a total of "1-X" AH Companions. C) Off = You can't recruit any AH Companions at all. Or simply make it a single slider: "How many AH Companions can you recruit? 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-Etcetera-Infinite"

Adventurer's Hall "On/Off" - On = You can hire as many companions from the Adventurer's Hall that you can afford. - Off = "Closed for Business", you can't hire any extra companions at all. Having this "Off" on Path of the Damned, for instance, would make the game way more difficult because when you lose a character you wouldn't be able to replace them. You could call it a "Hero Resource". Having this "On", you have a potentially limitless "Hero Resource", whilst having it "Off" you have a limited "Hero Resource" (I.E. you only have the VIP Companions to recruit).

Thanks, I was unsure if it was permanent or temporary options

Oh the horror (Steam Early Access). UnEpic is an Early Access game?? I own this title and I didn't realize! It was released 13-Jun-2013. That's... scary. Xenonauts was released 31-May-2013. This is almost a year of Early Access now. The point I want to make is that Early Access can be degenerative in the long run during the period ("Is it ever going to be fully finished??" type of thoughts). Xenonauts is nearing completion, or so it feels. It is still almost a year. It still has bugs and needs tinkering with. Wasteland 2 and Starbound are in on their 6th month of Early Access. I don't know about Wasteland 2, how close it is to completion that is (I'm not up-to-date on that title), but Starbound feels like it is at least getting there. One perk about being in the Early Access program is that no matter how long you're in there, I do think that when the game is finally released, it pops up to the front page of the Steam Client and "New Releases" as an "Out Now!" product and that should be a 2nd spike in sales (Early Access "Out Now!" sale spike and Full Release "Out Now!" spike). I recall one game that was on Early Access that this happened to when it was finished (Don't remember the name of it). Another perk is what Ffordeson said about Wasteland 2, people were a bit "meh" about it at first, but are praising it more and more as time goes along. I feel the same thing about Divinity: Original Sin, when me and my friend first tried it out we were a bit "meh" about it, but it is constantly improving. And that is both a beautiful thing to see and very exciting thing to be a part of as well. When these games do come out of Early Access, and they prove to be awesome, people who might've complained at one point will instead of have forgotten what it was, and instead see it for what it is. In that sense, there's no disadvantage to be in Early Access for a year. It is still a bit of a bummer though.

@Sensuki & PrimeJunta cont. from previous page: Yes, but was that the only toggleable options or are there potentially more? The Quest/Journal System for instance, was that to be a toggleable option when you decide the Difficulty or an option in the options menu?

Was there any talk about sub-Difficulty Options? Toggles n' stuff like that~ I recall something early on on these forums, one of the earlier updates where it was either hinted or stated that there'd be toggles for difficulty options... For instance: - I pick Normal Mode - Then I get to toggle other stuff On/Off in a second list (One such thing being "Path of the Damned") I might've misinterpreted the message though.

Winter 2014 does mean "full release" right? Not "We will release Early Access 2014".. right? That might not be a death blow, but it will definitely be a "bummer" moment for me. The wisest strategy, I think, is to release the Early Access a couple of months before Winter 2014. Just to get some of that feedback from fans prior to release. Early Access does show a trend of pushing release dates up though, lots of fan/user feedback does that to products, so even if Obsidian releases an Early Access before Winter 2014 that does not mean it will be completed Winter 2014 (due to fan feedback). If, a big if, they decide to release an Early Access product in Winter 2014, yes, then we might even see a full release early-mid Spring 2015.

I don't think the idea is bad per say, but my personal preference is kind of minimalistic in this sense. I think this is nasty: This might sound a bit odd but Hearthstone (yeah) has some fantastic particle effects around the cards when you buff or debuff them and it is very minimalistic too. Here's an example (14:55): When he places the Dust Devil it has like all this "wind" going around it, and then it settles and it's only like 1 wind string going around~ the concept is that it shouldn't be obvious obvious extremely obvious like an icon or a massive Diablo 2: LoD Aura that sparkles and blinks like a late-night red light district sign. My personal preference is to have more subtle, light-weight FX. This is nasty FX as well, that thing around his hands: Nasty = Please avoid at all costs.

One now knows whom the main enemy of the game is, death to the Kind Wayfarer's! Their trademark move: Hug of Deathly Love

This caught my attention, in a "in-between the lines" type of way... Specifically the "Sometimes" in that sentence. Does this mean that there will be people in the world that appear at various locations at various times? I.E. an anamfath might be in the Hall of Heroes when I get there the first time, but for another Player there is no anamfath the first time they get there. Or am I just reading into it? i interpret it as there will be an anamfath companion that you can get in the hall Maybe so, maybe so. This is what an anamfath is by the way, for those curious: http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Aedyran

Great short update tells and shows a lot. This caught my attention, in a "in-between the lines" type of way... Specifically the "Sometimes" in that sentence. Does this mean that there will be people in the world that appear at various locations at various times? I.E. an anamfath might be in the Hall of Heroes when I get there the first time, but for another Player there is no anamfath the first time they get there. Or am I just reading into it?

But will some of this optional content be "time based"? Say, for instance, that I skip a part that is a Level 6 area, but I'm only Level 4 so I continue on the path forward, and when I get to Level 7 or 8 I want to return, but I progressed so far into the story that the Level 6 area got cleared out by another faction or adventuring party. Or is all optional content "set" so that I can pretty much finish the game and then return to a Level 2 area and the enemies there are still all "Hurrdidurr!" and oblivious to the progression of the rest of the world?

Windows 9

Only a few days left for Serpent in the Staglands. Looks like a promising cRPG. I hope they will at least reach their $25K expansion stretch goal. Some news http://kotaku.com/its-another-baldurs-gate-basically-a-pixelly-baldurs-1566974915 And it looks awesome :D

I hope there is some side-quest thing that allows you to choose whether or not to ressurect 1 character or get another reward. Like... being able to bind one of your dead characters souls into an animat or similar. Let's take an example: Cadegund dies. We continue the journey without her, then we find this "location" which allows for ressurrection if we want to. We choose to reanimate Cadegund and now she's an animat. There's 2 ways to do this: A) Simple method: Cadegund is gone (now her true name is Cademat!), the Cademat won't talk in dialogues or intervene in the plot anymore, there's only a soul in bronze armor! The "perk" with having her ressurrected is that Cademat has all her skills before she died, can level up and gain experience. This is the simple method. B) A bit more time-consuming method: Cademat can talk, but she has a new dialogue (due to her predicament). Maybe she or whoever becomes the Animat gets the same dialogue tree which is all spiritual and tormented "Why have you brought me back?". Basically, ressurrecting a dead soul to become an Animat isn't a very nice thing to do. So you pretty much forced someone out of the dead dimension and into the living world again. Existing in the physical realm as a spiritual being from the dead lands could be more seen as a curse than a blessing. Having the same dialogue tree for a ressurrected companion is in my opinion the way to go (if this would be an option Obsidian would choose would they allow for a single ressurrection), otherwise they'd have to write 8 new dialogue trees (for each companion). Why do I think this is cool? Shale in DA:O is one of the coolest companions in my opinion. She's a beast! But you kind of just find her on the way... what if you could make one of your companions into a golem? If there was a choice to make a character into one? I think that would be more interesting than simply finding a finished golem. The same thing with this animat thing. What the reward could be if you choose not to ressurrect a companion (if this could be possible in some side-quest stuff) I don't know. Reputation? An item? Plot-points? I don't know.

I'm trying to attempt to get some more flesh into the story I'm flirtingly speculating that Edair is Edér... like, literally and physically and not just a name-change. Edair being an undercover dude and Edér being the undercover title. I'm probably way off but it would be awesome imo! It's something that imo isn't entirely impossible, but I agree that it might be a bit far-fetched. Multi-faced companions that can take different forms on different playthroughs. @Sharp_One: Indeed it is! And I agree with you that "It's on the official wiki so it should be correct". But is the thing the official wiki pointing at (referencing) saying the same thing? If it isn't, then there's a gap in there that could potentially be filled with some interesting stuff. @Hormalakh: That makes sense. But is a detective or an undercover officer someone who would want things to be known about him? See what I'm getting at? It is of course 100% speculation and some inserted (and hopeful) inspiration.

I know Sharp_One, but did they really say "Edair is Edér now" or did they simply present Edér and we assumed it was a name-change? I don't remember 100% if I read a dev comment/update on it or not. Like, literally hearing them say that or if it was only insinuated upon. If the latter, then it isn't entirely true that Edair is scrapped. He could appear as a guardman, an adventurer of some sort, or a captain in barracks somewhere... maybe a warband leader... maybe even Edér's twin brother. I always thought Edair was going to be a Fighter character, a worn-out officer of some kind. Like Captain Basch from Final Fantasy XII. Then Edér appeared and he was a Rogue, and he kind of looks like Edair. I think there could be a potential Sabin/Edgar type of story/plot. Edér is the cool, slightly chaotic guy, a thief from the lower class districts. And Edair, the more lawful character/brother is on the other side of the Law, as an officer of a guardshouse or part of the current "police" force. In that case a detective. Maybe Edér is Edair but he's undercover? Some researching stuff~ Edair is not even mentioned in Update #71 (Kickstarter) when Edér was uncovered. I can't access the [4]th reference (Something Awful), but I looked a bit here (forums.obsidian.net./best-content/ search for "Edér"), and also a little bit over here (SA). Here (Page 21, Devtracker) it is translated to Edér. It is the only place where Edér is mentioned. This quote (Codex/Rock Paper Shotgun/) is the interviewer's own words and assumptions, not Obsidian's words. It's at the bottom of the interview/post: Are we to assume that Edér is/used-to-be Edair based on the Rock Paper Shotgun interviewers words? It's not cited by anyone from Obsidian, it is cited from Nathan Greyson over at Rock Paper Shotgun.

All of the companions from the Kickstarter are subject to change except Edér and Pallegina IIRC. Those two are the only ones that has been "confirmed" (with name and all as well). Sagani, Edair, Aloth, Cadegund and Forton might not be companions, they might be V.I.P NPC's in the world instead. Is Edair scratched and replaced by Edér? Or is Edair still in the game?

I sell fist? Yeah, I don't see that working with fists. I mean, your fists might get renown, but I don't see you selling them. Items used for mighty deeds by mighty people get fame. Simple as that. And it does work for bows too. Bows need to be strong and accurate. Well... someone is making a fortune on hands!

Like I said, it is simply put "convenience". A checkbox at character creation would be enough as well, "Skip Tutorial" type of thing, though I think it would be more fitting with a title of "Skip Prologue" really. It could be greyed out the very first time you play, and having a tooltip box when hovering over it saying "You need to finish the Prologue once before you can use this", and the next time you start from the beginning it'll be open to skip the prologue. The issue I am having with Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 is the non-skippable cutscenes. It's just 5-10 minutes out of my life but it gets awfully boring when in your own head you replay the cutscene 500 times before it is even finished. So the issue or topic isn't entirely about "Post-Prologue Chargen", it is also about Skippable cutscenes.

Big Head Mode. It's the solution... I think.

I think the whole "Rogues are just as strong as Fighters in combat" is to be taken with a bit of a situational salt. First and foremost, we are talking about Pillars of Eternity and speculating on how Rogue's are handled in Pillars of Eternity, right? I'm putting this emphasis here, because PoE's Rogues are PoE's Rogues. They aren't the IE Rogues or D&D Rogues and most definately NOT MMO Rogues. They are Pillars of Eternity's Rogues (<- Official PoE Wiki link and I suggest anyone who haven't researched or read up on this for a while should take their time to do so). Moving on then... (Speculation) A Rogue is just as strong as a Fighter in combat if utilized in it's most optimal way, and yes, a Fighter is just as good as a Rogue at sneaking if utilized in just the right way. I could get past a guardsman with a Fighter that only has 50% of the Rogue's sneaking if I am careful and patient. It might take longer times of observation and watching the guardsman's patrol path, but ultimately I will get past the guardsman with my Fighter. Sure, a Rogue might get past him faster, but the Fighter still gets past him... correct? In the same sense in combat, a Fighter in melee combat can stand his ground and act more like a static "Tower" piece on the battlefield. I wouldn't need too much micromanagement, but the Rogue on the other hand would require more of my attention. This means that the Rogue and Fighter gets to be assets used in combat, the Rogue just needs more of my attention in combat. Likewise, the Fighter would require more of my attention in a "stealth" scenario. (/Speculation End)

You are absolutely correct Mor. That prelude is amazing for instance <3 gives me all kinds of goosebumps. I myself am merely just throwing out items of various sounds in an attempt to inspire or give Justin ideas I like the Dyrford sound style and feeling, the only thing it lacks is the sound of the environment of the area (nature, the watermill, the river, bugs/crickets? Animals? Are people walking around or is it empty of life? Wind? Etc. etc.). The tune tells me a "Story/Lore" of the area, it does not tell me if there is "Life" in the area. EDIT: I also have a question for Justin, which I forgot to ask: Do you do any field work outside the office? Like, go outside and record nature sounds outside, or do you have a big library of different sound effects that you use and mix?

Thanks for pointing that out. It sounds very different in that context. I completely forgot but you are going to want to lower the volume on the Rain and the Nature sound so that it doesn't overwhelm the Dyrford theme (Rain+Birds=50%-75% 10%-20%, and Dyrford = 100%). Sound levels are really important, and you don't want the emphasis on the Dyrford theme to disappear in the noise of the other stuff. Also, this one might be better instead of the Rain one (more fitting, it is a gentle River sound). And here's a "village" sample (birds, horses, bells ringing). Conceptual only really, not very fitting with the images of Dyrford and the general feeling of it, merely a conceptual sample. EDIT: Oh cool I found a cool little website http://www.pond5.com/sound-effects/1/windmill.html I guess Obsidian probably have all their assets and tools themselves to create sounds effects but thought this one could be useful. Pond5.com. You need to buy the items to remove a copyright thing (I think) which appears in there (a woman's voice who keeps saying "Pond5.com" every 5-6 seconds or so). This is what I was looking for, Windmill Watermill sound effect (YouTube). Not the best example but it fits fairly well. I like the sound of these 4 together (A bit of a repeat, they are in the links above, but just to organize it a little bit): 1. Dyrford (100% Volume) 2. Water-Mill (5%~10% Volume) 3. Gentle Stream (10%~20% Volume) 4. Ambient Medieval (20%~ Volume)