RaccoonTOF
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Posts posted by RaccoonTOF
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4) The city is a psychic projection of all your past lives. It doesn't exist in a material sense, and all its inhabitants are you (from previous (and perhaps future?) lives). It grows via meditation (represented by quests), and since it's all in your mind it bypasses the contradictions of growing a city overnight. (What can I say, I'm a solipsist, remember?)
This is an absolutely amazing idea...and a great way to tie into the persistent souls of the world as well. I'm not sure I'd want this to be the "second big city" but I would LOVE to see this be how the "city" of your stronghold develops - either separate from or (better) in addition to the physical development of the stronghold itself. Could even have upgrades to the stronghold involve "memories" which cause the soul-city to expand as well, thus further adding additional things to do with each stronghold upgrade (ie: not just have stronghold upgrades as a result of having done things, but also have them be the key to unlocking further things to do, in a continuous cycle).
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This is very true, and I suppose that the people which make up the Order are also exactly the sort of people to get "more involved" in a project like this rather than pledging quietly too - after all, otherwise we wouldn't have joined up in the Order in the first place
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Reading through the comments section over there...10 of the 47 comments are from Order members, and close to that many again are responses to those comments from the developer. Something tells me we like to talk too much
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Love the look of it technically, and I like some of the key points in the philosophy about what content should be/do. Not much info yet as to what the game itself will be including for content, but I've backed at the £10 level and might up that later as more content info comes. If nothing else I'd love to see their core engine completed and to play with it for modding
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I think it should be a combination of all types, but not for all armors. Some armor will be built to deflect some blows entirely, resist any real damage below a certain threshold, and absorb a portion of the blows that get through (full articulated plate for example). But not all armor includes all of these aspects. Chain for example does very little if any deflection, but has a pretty decent "penetration resistance" (against attacks not specifically designed to bypass it at least) as well as still lowering the amount of damage for those attacks that do get through.
Some "armor" is purely or almost purely deflection with very little absorbtion (like would be the case if shields are included in the normal armor mechanic). Basically I'd like all "defense forms" have deflection, penetration resistance, and absorbtion ratings - but many/most defenses would not include non-zero stats for all 3 categories.
Also, if damage types are included (which I'm expecting them to be but isn't a sure thing at this time) I would also like to see armor that has the ability to "convert" damage from one type to another - especially if differing types of damage have differing secondary effects and/or defense-layering is possible. Using the chain example above, it would have good penetration resistance, but instead of just being flat damage reduction, it could convert a portion of the damage from say, slashing to crushing damage instead - negating the entirety of the original slashing damage remaining, but still passing on the crushing portion.
The "conversion" portion could also be handled in the weapon/attack itself, with say, a greatsword dealing 60% slashing and 40% crushing damage, and the chain would negate the slashing portion but leave the crushing portion to be dealt with by either other defenses, or passed through to the health mechanic.
Basically - we have the ability for the computer to handle most of the bookkeeping for the mechanics, which is a major reason many P&P combat systems abstract armor as much as they have in the past (D&D included) so let's make the most of it...
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"Oh shut up Volourn. "
Make me.
I know my fellow Obsidianites don't like differing opinions espciially if they are critical of Obsidian as fanboys are won't to do but AP is just not a good game - espicially comapred to Obsidian's other efforts.
P.S. I do find it amusing I have never been told to shut up when praising an Obsidian game here. SHOCKING!
I think the issue is people making disparaging comments without explaining why. You'll notice that many/most of the highly 'liked' comments praising games/ideas/etc around here generally include the reasons for liking those things, not just blatant fanboyism. Differing opinions that are well-reasoned/well-explained meet with a lot better response than just "it sucked, I hate it" sorts of posts.
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Well we've certainly slowed down our posting haven't we lol.
Partly I think because we've started posting more over on the Order site itself, as well as just chatting in IRC now
Edit: speaking of "other locations" - and especially in light of some suggestions to do some multiplayer with other Order members: Anyone who has a steam id and wants to post it here (or on the Order forums, or send via PM in either location) we can get you added to the OOoE group on Steam...
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From reactions I've read here, it seems to me that most of you would actually really enjoy something very very close to BG1.
With basically one modification: being given reasons to go back to some of these open areas later on; which would be a great improvement indeed
.As for Arcanum, it's way too extreme, there, of course. Plenty of open areas, sure, but there's no point walking from city to city, as it literally takes hours to encounter a single opponent on the way. Using fast travel therefore becomes a must, and then it's exactly as if you had NO open areas to begin with. I would be strongly against something like that too (but I love that game, for the rest).
For me, it's specific areas of the BG1 layout. Some of the wilderness areas really did seem to be mostly pointless, not just due to lack of ability to return, but that they were pretty dull to begin with. I'd like there to be something "at the end of the path" like the gnoll stronghold still, with just enough content to keep the bits in between interesting and worth actually exploring rather than making a beeline from map edge to map edge, but I also don't want every area to be a forest maze filled with encounters/caves/secrets every time you turn a corner either. Ideally, things like the small cluster of fishermen in BG1, south of the city, giving some sort of feeling of purpose for that particular area to actually be on the world map - but with the addition of things changing after other events/time passes as well. Perhaps after having done the side quest to help those fishermen, you go on your way..then later thanks to the help of the PC, the small cluster of huts has prospered, and now features a new merchant who has moved into the area to support the increased traffic. Alternately, if the PC didn't help them in time, the vile plans of the evil witch could actually come to fruition...come back later in the game and find all the huts abandoned, with some clue as to their fates, spawning an alternate side quest...
Each explorable area should have SOME reason for being a fleshed out area, and not just an empty stretch of wilderness with wandering monster encounters, but they don't need to be as dense as the forest encounters in BG2 to still be interesting and worth exploring.
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I'd like to see something in the middle - ideally done by adding more "content rich" areas aside from the main "hubs", which are secondary to the core of the game but separated by lower-density exploration areas that each might have 3-5 "encounters" total (like most of the BG1 wilds areas). The post quoted by Cam about the Nashkel -> Gnoll Stronghold puts it ideally I think, that particular set of areas if fleshed out across the entire world in a similar manner would be great. I'd also like to see some more dynamic areas which are not part of the core questline, but are still worth coming back to now and again - unlike the BG1 wilderness areas which were pretty much exploration checkboxes - once finished with an area, there was no reason to not map-travel past them in the future.
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On the other hand, if done well and actually imparting an emotional connection for the player, that same liability could be used to good effect in plot hook(s) for a quest line or two...or even to show just how ruthless and apathetic the main character is, by ignoring said plot hooks/quests...
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Very much agreed here...the shopkeeper/merchant that you regularly unload your goods from your adventures on, the chamberlain of your stronghold, local "nobility" that are sending you on your quests repeatedly, etc. Basically anyone that you have frequent interactions with but that you don't necessarily bring out into the world itself with you...
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Just as an example of a Steamworks-enabled (including achievements) title which does not require Steam in any way after initial download/installation: Dungeons of Dreadmore. Once installed, the entire game can be packed up, moved around from computer to computer (including to computers that do not and never have had Steam installed) and still has the ability to use Steam achievements (although yes you can only see the achievements when the Steam app is running, as best I can tell the game just does a "sync" when the Steam client does start if you have it installed - the executable is obviously still identical). Now, if you are of the sort that views any form of installation requirement to be DRM, and not just post-install, then you will probably still consider this DRM - but in my books it's no more DRM than the "requirement" of old physical games to install from the original CD, while not needing the CD in the drive after installation to run. As far as I can recall, noone considered those CD's to be a form of DRM...so long as they were not required to be in the drive after installation. In fact, it's arguably less so, because you can directly move the files themselves without having to go through the Steam installer to transfer it to another computer.
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Remember to keep distinct the "mechanics" of the Paladin, and the "background" of the Paladin. The Paladin "background" is still going to be someone fanatically/zealously devoted to a cause, that of a "champion of the faith" still - they just aren't going to be forced to be "lawful good" (especially since there isn't going to be a strict morality/alignment system) nor are they going to be forced to have that cause be a divine one. To me, I think this is actually a good direction to go in, regardless of the effect on the "mechanics" side. I'd like to see a bit more "leading from the front by personal example" than "leading from the back with commanding orders" come from the class, but we'll see how that goes once we have more information.
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Ah yes...agreed at the 50% reduction there. But as Crash just pointed out, you might want to do the reduction on just the background prior to adding the text, to avoid losing the edge definition. The slight loss of detail on the scroll I think is actually a positive, but losing the clarity of the text detracts from the overall quality
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You might want to try doing a color/hue blend rather than a soft light? At least that appears to be the method you used...it seems to wash out the detail a bit. Then again, that might not be as obvious at the smaller size that would be seen in the forum. Assuming you can keep the border detail of the original, I like the coloration/highlights of the second one best
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Most of your examples from the article actually show how it is "based on but added to" in ways that are far more than just graphics. As for this:
Also, Star Citizen isn't solely crowd-funded. There has been ACTUAL investment by private investors. This also makes it a poor example.
Aside from their own personal funds, the only actual investment so far outside of kickstarter has been from a similar setup on their own website - similar to the paypal setup which P:E had, except that in the case of Star Citizen the "local" funding came before the addition of the kickstarter campaign. Still crowd funding though. The mention of "private investors" is there as a "guarantee to make the game as envisioned" IF there cannot be raised enough money through crowdfunding to do so, as long as a certain minimum level of crowdfunding is still met. Agreed that it is not a "purely" kickstarter funded project, and in fact so far is only about 1/5 kickstarter funded, but currently it is over 3/4 crowdfunded still, and depending on how the next month goes it may turn out to mean no need for any significant outside private investment at all.
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Actually...with Star Citizen and the microtransactions, that's only half true
Difference being that you CAN get the content through normal gameplay, unlike many/most f2p games.As for this:
Star Citizen is pretty, but mechanically it blends several of Chris Roberts' 90s children. The big floating text at the start of the video makes it clear: "We're bringing back 90s PC space sims". What do you think "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" referred to? Chris Roberts accidentally choking on a chicken wing?
The same video you use in your own argument states pretty clearly that what is being referred to are two things - PC focused (as opposed to console) games, and the GENRE of the space sim. There is a huge difference between being in the same genre, and being the same mechanics. I'd have to say that from what is available in the video, comments, and the site itself, it is certainly going to be a lot more than just a prettier Wing Commander. The "living world" aspects of the multiplayer just as one example, without making it a "purely MMO".
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...since when are 90s space sims like Wing Commander anywhere close to being more popular? I don't know what universe you're living in, that's an extremely niche old genre.
I dunno, if you include not only the Wing Commander series, but also things such as the Freespace series? That's a lot larger market than you think. Just looking at GoG stats for actual purchases, while the IE games do have a lead in total sales, they've also been available on the site longer. If you limit your rankings to only go as far back as Freespace has been available as well, Freespace is right up there in the middle of the pack with the IE games.
Edit: And Veeno you are evil for posting that...I'm just glad it still has 30 days left to go, because after the P:E KS I'm totally tapped out now
Definitely think I'll be backing that one as well... -
The members list on the forums is still a "WIP" - and likely will remain so until the final membership count is over tomorrow. In fact, lots of the site still has a lot of work that needs done on it, but please come stop by the IRC chat there, it gets awfully quiet during the US daytime hours
Website: http://obsidianorderofeternity.net/index.php
Chat: http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=ObsidianOrderofEternity
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$3-4 million is a drop in the bucket for these people. Banner Saga got $700k? That's nothing. You're not competing with the people who spend $100 million to make GTA IV, $55 million for Halo 3, $22 million on Crysis, etc. Budget-wise they are, at best, five times smaller than the smallest AAA game. If you're a 6 foot tall man, it's like standing next to a 30 foot tall giant. Hell, ti's like standing next to a machine that can churn out 10 30 foot tall giants every year.
My entire point is that budget spent =/= quality games, but that quality games do still equal "competition". All of those games have generated significant publicity, consumer awareness, and are expected to sell well beyond their KS figures in both earnings as well as sales numbers. Whether that happens or not we still have to see, but that is the current expectation. And if they DO manage to follow through with that expectation, then we should expect to see those numbers go up, not down - which then means a real honest competition for market share with the big publishers. Sure, not on the scale of The Sims, or CoD, or Madden, or WoW perhaps - but competition for Elder Scrolls? Deadspace? GTA? Prototype? With Prototype 2 the total sales were so low in comparison to costs that Activision basically completely destroyed Radical Entertainment as a studio, and PC-sales were only a little over half of what the total KS pledges already are for P:E. That's got to be enough for them to at least sit up and notice...
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Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more...
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1 - Project: Eternity
2 - Double Fine Adventure
3 - Wasteland 2
4 - Homestuck
5 - Planetary Annihilation (hand 1)
6 - Shadowrun Returns
7 - Broken Sword
8 - Banner Saga
9 - Leisure Suit Larry
And others as well...but those are all ones which are popular and well-known, discussed in a variety of forums/blogs/etc, with post-release sales expected to be significantly higher than their KS funding. It really depends on how you consider "compete with the major publishers" too I suppose - but all of those reached the "tens of thousands" figure mentioned earlier as well, just in KS supporters.
Edited to remove smiley in numbering
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Ya I really wish I could afford it myself when I saw it..but between P:E and GoG...my gaming budget is really blown for quite a while (really more than I should have...but it should hopefully keep me busy until P:E comes out
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The only developers who get enough money to compete with the publisher-funded projects can be counted with the fingers of one hand.
As opposed to the number of "major publishers" of AAA titles? Not counting platform-specific publishers (since by previous argument that makes them automatically not AAA titles) that leaves us with what? EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard/Activision, Take-Two, Square? There are a few others in there that are "up there" but I'd say those are likely the publishers of the vast majority of AAA titles released...
[301] Admeth Hadret, Part 1 - Grammar issues in text
in Backer Beta Bugs and Support
Posted
The book (scroll?) "Admeth Hadret, Part 1: Rise to Power" has a section with poor grammar in the fourth paragraph: